Eat Sleep Work Repeat - better workplace culture The more you talk about culture, the less people believe you
31 snips
Feb 26, 2026 Benjamin Laker, Professor of Leadership at Henley Business School and author on work and culture. He talks about why many culture change programs fail, how visible leader behaviour matters more than slogans, and the rise of employee cynicism toward superficial initiatives. He also explores cultural differences between regions and practical steps like transparency to rebuild trust.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
National Context Shapes How Culture Is Framed
- National and ideological contexts shape how organisations conceive culture (rules vs feelings).
- US emphasis on reward/punishment and profit contrasts with European focus on wellbeing and social protections, producing different cultural priorities.
Why Culture Programs Commonly Fail
- Cultural change programs often fail because they focus on messaging not behaviour change.
- Study found 72% of formal initiatives showed no meaningful improvement in trust, engagement, or retention after one year, highlighting campaign fatigue.
Small Leadership Inconsistencies Become Big Trust Breakers
- Employees watch leader behaviour closely and amplify inconsistencies.
- Even small perceived mismatches (eg saving money message vs business class travel) get magnified and damage credibility.
