People and culture partners to know in 2026

People and culture work is rarely contained within one project or one simple problem. A change programme can raise questions about trust and leadership behaviour. A values refresh can test whether leaders, managers and employees understand what the organisation is really asking of them. A wellbeing priority can point to wider issues around workload, culture and employee experience. 

For large and complex organisations, this can make it difficult to know what kind of support is needed and where to start. Sometimes the priority is insight and benchmarking. Sometimes it is professional standards, research, peer learning or communication expertise that turns people and culture priorities into something employees can understand and experience in their everyday work. 

This guide brings together five people and culture partners to know in 2026, and where each one can support you.

When you need to understand where your culture stands: Great Place to Work

Great Place to Work gives organisations a clear way to benchmark employee experience and workplace culture. Its Trust Index employee survey and certification process can help people and culture leaders understand how employees are experiencing trust, leadership, fairness, pride and belonging. 

This kind of data is valuable when teams want to move from assumptions to evidence. It can help HR and leadership see where culture is working well, where employees may be having a different experience and where focused action may be needed. 

Turn to them when you are asking: where are we now, what are employees really experiencing and where should our culture work focus next?

When you want to strengthen internal communication as a professional discipline: Institute of Internal Communication

The Institute of Internal Communication supports internal communicators through professional standards, membership, learning, qualifications, events, awards and insight. For organisations looking to build stronger communication capability, IoIC can provide useful structure, evidence and shared language. 

Its annual IC Index is particularly helpful for teams making the case for better communication with leaders and stakeholders. The research explores how employees experience communication at work, including trust, leadership communication, change, attention and confidence in the future. 

Turn to them when you are asking: how do we strengthen internal communication as a strategic function, what skills do our communicators need and what evidence can help us show the value of communication beyond sending updates?

When you need evidence and inspiration around employee engagement: Engage for Success

Engage for Success brings together research, case studies, events, ideas and practitioner insight around what helps people feel more engaged at work. As a voluntary movement based in the UK, it helps organisations and practitioners share learning, evidence and practical thinking around employee engagement. 

For HR, culture and communication teams, this can be helpful when you need to explain why engagement matters and what it can influence across performance, wellbeing and organisational health. It can also support broader conversations about leadership, employee voice, meaningful work and how people connect to the organisation they are part of. 

Turn to them when you are asking: how do we build the case for employee engagement, what does good engagement look like in practice and how can we help leaders understand why this matters?

When you want to learn with others facing similar challenges: Work Wonders

The Work Wonders community offers practical insight, peer connection and space to explore people and culture challenges with others doing similar work. 

We created Work Wonders to be a free peer community for people working to create fairer, healthier and happier workplaces. Members join from internal communication, HR, DEI, wellbeing, employee experience and other roles focused on workplace culture. 

Through monthly calls, regular webinars and practical resources, Work Wonders gives members fresh thinking and space to sense-check ideas. It is especially helpful when a topic is emerging, sensitive or complex, and you want to hear how others are approaching it. 

Turn to them when you are asking: how are other organisations approaching this challenge, what can we learn from people working through similar issues and where can we sense-check our thinking before moving forward?

When you need strategic people and culture communication support: Something Big

This is our area of expertise. At Something Big, we partner with large and complex organisations, often with global, distributed or frontline workforces, to turn people and culture priorities into communication that employees can understand and trust. 

That might mean helping a global workforce connect with a new strategy, supporting leaders and managers through change, building a campaign to support belonging, wellbeing or safety, or making a complex people priority feel more relevant to everyday working life. 

Our role is to bring together strategic thinking, creative craft and human judgement, so communication feels relevant to employees and supports what the organisation needs to achieve. This is especially valuable when the topic is complex, sensitive or stuck, and when communication needs to do more than just share information. 

Turn to us when you are asking: how do we make this meaningful for employees, how do we support leaders and managers and how do we turn a people and culture priority into communication that supports trust, behaviour change and business performance? 

Choosing the right support at the right stage

People and culture work can need different kinds of support depending on the challenge, the organisation and where the work has already got to. 

You might need data to understand the current employee experience, professional standards and research to strengthen your internal communication approach or peer learning to sense-check your thinking and understand how others are approaching similar issues. 

Sometimes you need support to define the challenge and shape the approach. Other times, the direction is already set and the priority is creating the communication approach, tools or campaign that will help it land well with employees. 

As a strategic communication partner, we can support both. We help organisations turn people and culture priorities into communications that employees can understand, use and experience. 

If you are working through change, culture, inclusion, wellbeing, engagement, safety or another people-focused challenge, we would be happy to explore where communication could help you move forward.