Less talk, more action: Transforming culture in 2025

Over the last 12 to 18 months, conversations around corporate culture have shifted notably, grounding themselves in practicality and realism.

While it’s been refreshing to see these some of these conversations translate into action, more remains to be done. Based on our conversations with businesses, here are five key themes shaping the next year of workplace culture—practical insights that will turn talk into action.

One: the great untangling

In 2024 we helped several organizations simplify their story for their employees. Over time, corporate narratives have become unwieldy. Mission statements, visions, values, promises, principles, and ways of working—all too often, they conflict and confuse. Organizations must streamline their messaging.

Complexity clouds understanding, and “employer branding” is the hot topic that people are focusing on because all too often it adds to the chaos. Although it does have an important role to play, a lot of the time it does more damage than good. It often is unclear about how this differs from the business brand and when to use one over the other.

The call to action is clear: identify the core idea driving your business. Examine your vision, values, and related frameworks. Do they connect? Are they essential? Progressive businesses are simplifying their cultural language, resulting in clearer communication and better alignment.

And on the employer branding point, feel free to drop me a note if that one hits a nerve.

Two: the big pushback

For a long time, the world of culture has been full of some pretty big claims. Want one global culture in your organization of hundreds of thousands of people? Want to shift your culture from A to B? Ready to sign up to this three-year culture change program where at the end it’ll be “done” and neatly wrapped up?

It’s time to embrace honesty: culture cannot be forced into a one-size-fits-all mould. We’d rather be transparent—you can’t change a culture from A to B like that. And there are no issues with your organization having multiple cultures. Different departments and teams will naturally develop subcultures. Instead of resisting this, organizations should capitalize on it. Reject expensive, multi-year transformation programs and adopt an approach that values adaptability over rigidity. For 2025, we hope to see the tide turning.

Three: the “start small, start anywhere” mindset

Which brings me nicely to a different approach that we hope becomes the norm. Rather than trying to change an entire organizational culture in one go (you can’t), businesses should embrace smaller sprint-style interventions to shift specific behaviors. They’re experimental and based on speaking to, and working with, the people whose behaviors you’re seeking to shift.

And while there’s a methodology to follow, the solutions will differ based on the audience you’re working with. However, you can take those learnings, adapt them, and scale more widely. The future of driving change is not a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach. We’re starting to see more organizations adopt this way of thinking—it’s fast (weeks not months), there’s less risk (it’s not a multi-year, multi-million-dollar program), and it delivers results. Let’s hope it continues.

Four: embracing new players

For too long, culture has been pigeonholed as HR’s domain. But the reality is, it can’t just belong to the people function.

Encouraging and driving the right behaviors is as much about the experience you have, the “why” you’re working towards, and the removal of barriers and obstacles to achieve it. It can’t be owned by just one function. It needs cross-functional collaboration, drawing on a range of different skillsets to design and create the conditions where people can do their best work.

And, as highlighted in point three, that does not need to be a huge program. How can you simplify someone’s day, week or month to free up time that enables them to perform? We’re seeing this more and more—small, tight-knit teams with different backgrounds helping drive performance (under the name of culture).

Keep your eyes posted for a report we have coming out shortly on this subject.

Five: impact-driven measurement

Finally, we hope to see a shift from traditional employee surveys towards a focus on measuring the impact of sprint-style cultural interventions that are embedded into specific business areas. Those measurements should focus on how well those interventions have driven the performance of individuals, teams, and the business. Employee engagement, once an isolated metric, becomes a natural byproduct of a results-driven culture.

Looking ahead

Progressive businesses are starting to shift. It’s not about nebulous ideals but about eliminating barriers, fostering engagement, and unlocking performance. Employees want to excel, and organizations must provide the tools and environment to enable that.

The path forward demands action: simplify your story, reject unattainable promises, and embrace an iterative, collaborative approach. In doing so, businesses can not only transform their workplaces but achieve meaningful results. It’s time to move beyond conversation—and deliver. If you’d like to chat to find out more, drop us a line.