Make It Human

Image of Grand Prix race by Thierry Carpico from Pexels If we’re honest, this is where most  people get stuck.   You know culture matters. You can see the impact it has on performance, energy, and retention. You’ve likely invested time and effort into trying to improve it. And yet, when it comes to shaping it in a deliberate way, it can feel too big, too abstract, and too complex to really get your arms around.   So, despite the best intentions, very little actually shifts.   Start smaller...

In this Coffee & Culture session, Paul Emberlin shared insights from his recent research exploring a side of change that is often overlooked: the emotional experience of leaders themselves.   For decades, organisations treated employees as “cognitive stick figures” — assuming personal emotions and experiences stayed outside the workplace. But in reality, change is rarely just structural or strategic. It’s deeply emotional.   Drawing on interviews with senior leaders, Paul explored five...

In our Growth Cultures Insight Report, we analysed 4,000+ employee comments across highly rated UK workplaces.   The most common pattern wasn’t toxic. It wasn’t chaotic. It wasn’t broken.   It was something far more subtle.   Kindly Stretched.   High trust. High goodwill. Strong performance.   …paired with rising strain.   Helpful people carrying more than their share Meetings multiplying Ownership blurring Fast responses quietly rewarded Innovation squeezed by capacity Work drifting into...