Why culture?

It enables human and business flourishing.

We founded Cadence Culture because we believe your
organisation’s unique culture is the lifestream of business &
people growth. Like a well-tuned orchestra, when people move
in tandem with each other and the organisation’s rhythm, a
harmonious flow emerges, driving human and business flourishing.

18 Nov
Leadership, Culture Building, Personal Development, Psychological Safety, Quality Conversations

Why Most Organisations Fail at Culture Transformation (And How to Get It Right)

Culture by default or by design, the choice shapes everything.

The Great Resignation revealed a truth many leaders weren't prepared to face: organisational culture had become the make-or-break factor for business survival. Workers were 10.4 times more likely to leave because of toxic culture than compensation issues. This isn't just a workplace challenge, it's a business crisis demanding our attention.

Here's what makes me come alive about this work: companies with strong, healthy cultures show four times the revenue growth of those with weaker cultures. Yet the cost of getting it wrong is devastating, $223 billion wasted annually on turnover due to poor culture, with workplace stress alone costing businesses over $500 billion yearly.

Organisational culture had become the make-or-break factor for business survival.

The Reality Organisations Face

After years of journeying with culture builders, I've discovered that 70% of culture transformations fail, not because of strategy, but because of how we approach the human element. Most leaders treat culture as a side project, sprinkling perks and posting mission statements without addressing the underlying rhythms that actually shape daily behaviour.

I've discovered that 70% of culture transformations fail, not because of strategy, but because of how we approach the human element.

The disconnect happens in three critical areas:

  • Unclear definition beyond vague values statements
  • Inconsistent measurement leaving leaders without actionable data
  • Leadership behaviours that contradict stated values

Culture isn't something you mandate through policy or create with team-building retreats. Like a well-tuned orchestra, it emerges when people move in harmony with each other and the organisation's cadence. When that harmony breaks down, the discord affects everything, from psychological safety to innovation to retention.

Like a well-tuned orchestra, it emerges when people move in harmony with each other and the organisation's cadence. When that harmony breaks down, the discord affects everything, from innovation to retention to psychological safety.

Image Source: Breathe HR

The Hidden Costs of Getting Culture Wrong

The numbers tell a story every business leader needs to hear. Beyond the $67 billion annual cost of toxic workplace culture, we're seeing deeper human costs that ripple through organisations (Gallup 2023).
  • 73% of professionals have left jobs due to poor cultural fit
  • Two-thirds of workers won't consider companies with toxic culture reputations
  • 78% of executives believe poor culture blocks innovation efforts
  • Employees experiencing workplace injustice face 35-55% higher odds of major diseases

These costs compound like interest on debt you never intended to take on. What started as poor leadership decisions becomes systemic toxicity affecting every aspect of business performance.

Successful transformation doesn't emerge from inspirational speeches. It grows from creating psychological safety, those safe spaces for quality conversations where people feel secure to contribute, fail, and grow.

Creating Cultures Where People Flourish

Here's what I've learnt from working with culture-builder communities: successful transformation doesn't emerge from inspirational speeches. It grows from creating psychological safety, those safe spaces for quality conversations where people feel secure to contribute, fail, and grow.

Shaping culture needs to leverage these key elements:

  1. Clarity: Define specific, observable behaviors that exemplify the organisation’s core values.
  2. Conviction: Integrate values into hiring, promotion, and reward systems.
  3. Courage: Confront issues by creating psychological safety for honest feedback and course correction, reinforcing breakthrough learning.
  4. Celebration: Celebrate cultural wins visibly, supporting others to succeed.

Middle managers become crucial culture carriers, translating values into daily actions through countless decisions and interactions. Cultural alignment begins with belonging, and belonging begins with psychological safety.

Building Rhythms That Last

Culture lives in the daily actions & ways of working, not just in what gets communicated in townhalls & meetings. When leaders consistently model desired behaviours, something beautiful emerges: trust builds, engagement follows, and performance improves. This is how we create trusted communities of practice where both business and human flourishing happen naturally.

The organisations that succeed understand this truth: culture becomes your strongest competitive advantage when it emerges from aligned actions, systems, and behaviours. This is how you build workplaces where everyone feels safe to contribute their best work.

Culture becomes your strongest competitive advantage when it emerges from aligned actions, systems, and behaviours.

Ready to Design Culture Intentionally?

Every organisation has the potential to create workplace cultures where people thrive alongside business success.

It starts with leaders willing to examine the gap between stated values and lived reality—then doing the purposeful work of closing that gap, one conversation, one decision, and one authentic action at a time.

Together, we've discovered that the most powerful transformations happen when leaders commit to the 4Cs and create psychological safety as their foundation. We'd be grateful to explore how we might support you in designing a culture where your people thrive and your business flourishes.

Because what makes this work powerful is that culture transformation isn't about perfection, it's about creating the conditions for authentic connection and sustainable growth.

It starts with leaders willing to examine the gap between stated values and lived reality—then doing the purposeful work of closing that gap, one conversation, one decision, and one authentic action at a time.

SOURCES

  • https://www.hcamag.com/ca/specialization/employee-engagement/nearly-half-of-workers-quit-because-of-bad-company-culture-report/513768
  • https://www.gallup.com/workplace/509069/diagnosing-broken-culture.aspx)
Everything at work is influenced by the quality of conversations. The key to developing better conversations is understanding how we talk. The SoundWave assessment helps uncover the nine voices within us, enabling more effective communication.
18 Feb
Quality Conversations, Culture Building

Quality Conversations at Work

Everything at work is shaped by the quality of conversations.

Eddie Eng

How can we develop quality conversations at work?

Everything is influenced by the quality of conversation at work. So, how do we develop quality conversations? It starts with understanding how we talk—our talk forms our preferred speech patterns, which are often habitual and unconscious. Empowerment and growth happen when we move our understanding of how we talk from unconscious to conscious. The SoundWave assessment tool can help us understand how we talk and unlock the nine Voices within us to develop quality conversations.

Which Voice resonates with you? Is it the voice of inquiry for engagement, probe for insights, or diagnose for solutions? Or is it the Voice of articulate for influence, advise for credibility, and advocate for impact? Or is it the Voice of critique for good judgment, correct for improvement, and challenge for change?

These are the nine Voices. Which Voice resonates with you?

Empowerment and growth happen when we move our understanding of how we talk from unconscious to conscious.

Eddie Eng

Calvin Yeo

Do you know HOW you talk?

As a consultant, facilitator and coach, my work pretty much revolves around conversations. However, I was surprised one day when someone asked me, “Calvin, how do you talk?”


I said, “Actually, I don’t know. This is just how I talk.”


So, this quest to find out how I talk led me to discover new research and a new diagnostic tool called SoundWave. SoundWave reveals that everyone has nine voices that form their speech patterns, but like many people, I only use four to five Voices actively, and the other four to five are relatively passive. This opened up my mind to the possibility of reactivating my passive Voices so that I could have more effective conversations. It was like me discovering that I've got a larder full of spices, sauces and herbs, and I didn’t have to just rely on soy sauce, pepper and tomato ketchup.


And now I use my repertoire of nine Voices to create more tasteful conversations, depending on the need for that conversation. Supposing it's a conversation that was more to do with, you know, something that was comfortable with kaya and eggs. Then I would use my Asking Voices, and one of my suggest voices called "Articulate" to deepen my understanding of the other person's opinions, perspectives and concerns. However, if the conversation required a spicier outcome, then I would activate my passive Tell Voices, complimenting it with my often used Asking and Suggesting Voices to get a more effective outcome.

What about you? How do you talk? And how does that impact your conversations?

Calvin and Eddie dive deeper in Episode 4 of Cadence Culture Dialogue. Click here to learn more.

It was like me discovering that I've got a larder full of spices, sauces and herbs, and I didn’t have to just rely on soy sauce, pepper and tomato ketchup. And now I use my repertoire of nine Voices to create more tasteful conversations, depending on the need for that conversation.

Calvin Yeo

Learn more about SoundWave and nurturing quality conversations at work

Watch Episode 4 of the Cadence Culture Dialogue here.

18 Feb
Quality Conversations, Cadence Culture Dialogue, Culture Building

Cadence Culture Dialogue Ep. 4: The Power of Quality Conversations

Welcome to the Cadence Culture Dialogue.

It's a dialogue on how we can be culture builders in our workplaces.

 

To be culture builders, there are skill sets that we need to strengthen. For example, the ability to communicate what organisational culture is and its value to people and business growth, the ability to create psychological safety, and to have quality conversations.

We invite you on this journey with us.

CADENCE CULTURE DIOLOGUE - EPISODE 4

The Power of Conversations

The way we talk shapes relationships and outcomes. The way we talk influences how others experience us and reflects on our brand and reputation.

Eddie Eng, Co-Founder

Transcript

Calvin: Welcome to the Cadence Culture Dialogue. It's a dialogue about how we can be culture builders in our workplaces. The previous dialogue was about organisational culture, so if you've missed it, check it out.

Click here to view the previous episode.

Eddie: Today's dialogue is about the quality of conversations at work. Please share with us your perspectives, questions, and comments.

 

Calvin: Let me begin with a question. Eddie, what is your view on improving the quality of conversations at work?

Eddie: Everything is influenced by the quality of conversations at work. According to research conducted by U.S. firm Gartner, poor communication is responsible for 70% of corporate errors. On the other hand, quality conversations that lead to well-connected teams can increase productivity by 20-25%, based on a McKinsey report.

Calvin: Wow, indeed. Our ability to have quality conversations at work is a powerful catalyst for achieving good work results.

Eddie: The way we talk shapes relationships and outcomes. The way we talk influences how others experience us and reflects on our brand and reputation. Calvin, how do we improve the quality of conversations?

Calvin: The quality of conversations is closely linked to how we talk. We don't lack the ability to talk, but what we do lack is the awareness of how we talk and the capability to do it better. Did you know that most of our talk is habitual and fixed? We don't even think about how we talk—we just talk.

Imagine if we could shift our talk from being unconscious to conscious, from being fixed to fluid. You could then adapt your conversational prowess to different situations and personalities. You could target your talk to be more effective and strategic. That way, you can foster more predictable and positive results in your conversations—both at work and in life.

Eddie: Amazing things can happen when the quality of conversations is great. I love this quote from Kevin Eyre, the creator and founder of SoundWave. SoundWave is a powerful tool that measures the nine voices in each of us. What are the nine voices, Calvin?

Calvin: Bro, you're testing me here. The nine voices are divided across three verbal styles: Ask, Suggest, and Tell.

The Ask Voices are Inquire, Probe, and Diagnose.

The Suggest Voices are Articulate, Advise, and Advocate. The three A’s.

The Tell Voices are Critique, Correct, and Challenge — the three C's.

Now, some of us intuitively have a sense of what these voices are, but only through a SoundWave learning journey will we get a deeper understanding of these nine voices. We also get a deeper awareness of the voices that we use. So each one of us has a Brilliant Three—our top three voices that we use most often. We also discover what are some of the voices that we run the risk of overusing, which has a negative impact, as well as the voices that we run the risk of underusing, preventing us from having a more effective outcome.

Eddie: I can think of one conversation that didn't go well. I was with a client, and you know, my top voice is the Advocate voice, and I would use my top voice to persuade my clients to take action. However, in this situation, the client wasn't too keen on my suggestion and pushed back with a long silence. Guess what voice came out of me so naturally and immediately?—Advocate voice.

Calvin: So with SoundWave, right, how did you adapt in that situation?

Eddie: Based on my natural self, when a person pushes back against my suggestion, I will Advocate with greater intensity, and the conversation will reach a standstill. With training from SoundWave, there is a greater awareness when a voice is not connecting with the other person, and to adapt by applying another voice, such as the Inquire voice, to seek to understand rather than to advocate my point of view. And you know what? It is amazing to experience how by applying a different voice, it leads to a very different outcome—greater engagement in the conversation.

Calvin, can you give us an example of how a SoundWave learning journey helped a company or a team to strengthen the quality of conversations at work?

Calvin: There was a workshop that we conducted recently. This was with an American MNC, and they were a regional sales team with about people from 10 countries around the region. So they are experts in their field of work, and many of them would leverage their experience and their expertise to Advise, Advocate, Correct, and even Challenge the people that they were engaging with, you know, that they were speaking with.

And what they realized through SoundWave was that they were underusing their Ask voices of Inquire, Probe, and Diagnose, and they were also not using one particular Suggest voice, which is called Articulate—being able to play back what they hear the other person saying.

Because of that, what happened is that all their efforts in trying to solution didn’t hit the nail on the head, because they didn’t quite understand the other party’s challenges, perspectives, and concerns, and therefore, they were not able to really resolve issues in a timely manner. They were not able to get through what they wanted to achieve.

But through SoundWave, realizing that they needed to turn on their Ask voices, after the workshop, for the next 90 days, that’s what they began to do. They began to use their Ask voices and Articulate voice, complementing their Advise, Advocate, Correct, and Challenge voices. And in so doing, they had much more effective conversations.

Eddie: I can imagine that. I'm curious to find out—what are the business outcomes that they achieved in this process?

Calvin: Through this process, over that 90 days, they were able to win new customers that they wanted to. They were able to retain some of their existing clients that were under competitive pressure, and within the organization, they were able to strengthen cross-team collaboration, plus improve performance management of their staff.

Eddie: The application of SoundWave is even more powerful when we look at helping organizations increase the quality of conversations in specific areas of need, such as developing the leadership team, culture, performance, coaching, stakeholder management, giving and receiving feedback, selling with confidence, and delivering the best customer experience.

Calvin: So Eddie, how does all this, which is related to the quality of conversations, link back to the core of what we do at Cadence Culture, which is culture building?

Eddie: The quality of a culture is defined by the quality of relationships, and the quality of relationships is defined by the quality of conversations.

Calvin: That is so true. So therefore, one way to strengthen culture is to work on the quality of conversations. Let's continue to do that—to strengthen the quality of conversations, one conversation at a time.

Eddie: Deepening the quality of conversations is at the core of what we do, and we keep working on it to get better.

Come journey with us at Friends of Cadence Culture. 

Calvin: Yes, we welcome you to join us as Friends of Cadence Culture. Do look out for the next Cadence Culture Dialogue. See you soon. Goodbye.

The quality of a culture is defined by the quality of relationships, and the quality of relationships is defined by the quality of conversations.

Eddie Eng

Eddie Eng talks about psychological safety
17 Jan
Psychological Safety, Culture Building, Leadership

Psychological Safety: The Key to Innovation, Engagement, and High-Performing Teams

Psychological safety isn’t just a feel-good concept—it’s a business imperative.

Research has found that it’s the single most important factor in building successful teams. But psychological safety is often misunderstood. It’s not about avoiding conflict or creating a culture of unchecked positivity. Let’s explore what it truly means and how to cultivate it for a thriving organisation.

Calvin Yeo

What Is Psychological Safety—and What Is It Not?

Psychological safety is the pioneering work of Dr. Amy Edmondson, a Harvard professor who has studied this concept for more than two decades. She defines it as the experience of feeling safe to take interpersonal risks with others.

Psychological safety is about creating a safe environment—not just between two or three close friends, but one where most people can candidly express ideas and share diverse views. It enables individuals to ask difficult questions, admit mistakes, and even confront others while holding them accountable.

Psychological safety is not an end in itself but a means towards excellence, where people bring their full selves to work and contribute the best of what they have to offer. When people strive to do their best, conflict is inevitable. However, psychological safety is not the absence of conflict—it is a space where people can passionately advocate for their ideas, not to suppress or attack others, but to value everyone’s contributions in co-creating solutions. This fosters more effective problem-solving and drives better innovation by incorporating diverse perspectives.

What about you? What does psychological safety mean to you, and what is it not?

Eddie Eng

How Do You Create a Psychologically Safe Culture in a Top-Down Organization?

The most critical factor in driving cultural change is securing buy-in and commitment from the leadership team.

As the principal consultant, I partnered with an organization to address their top-down culture, which was stifling employee engagement and hindering business performance. By collaborating with the HR team, we presented compelling case studies demonstrating the tangible consequences of a low-psychological-safety environment. We highlighted the internal challenges—employees were reluctant to speak up about client feedback, which directly impacted the organization's ability to deliver quality and timely results.

Recognizing the detrimental effects on business performance, the leadership team became open and committed to change. We facilitated a shared understanding of the importance of psychological safety and developed new ways of working that encouraged open communication and collaboration.

Today, this organization is no longer top-down, and employees feel more comfortable speaking up freely.

What strategies have you found effective in fostering psychological safety?

Psychological safety is not an end in itself but a means towards excellence, where people bring their full selves to work and contribute the best of what they have to offer.

Calvin Yeo

Are You Building or Eroding Psychological Safety at Work?

Google research has identified psychological safety as the most important factor in building an effective team. But how do you know whether you are fostering or eroding psychological safety in your workplace?

People do not judge us based on our intentions; they judge us based on our behaviours. Take a moment to reflect on how you interact with others at work:

  • Do you intentionally invite others to share their diverse views, or are you more focused on sharing your own?
  • Do you proactively seek feedback, or do you wait for others to initiate it?
  • Do you ask for help when needed, or do you prefer to work independently

The practice of actively inviting others creates psychological safety. By demonstrating genuine curiosity and a willingness to understand different points of view, we foster an environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and encouraged to contribute freely. What do you do to build psychological safety in your workplace?

Calvin Yeo

Driving Innovation with Psychological Safety

Every organisation wants innovation. How does psychological safety f

uel innovation? I recently heard a definition of innovation as doing things differently or doing different or new things. Yet, many organisations face innovation challenges due to fear barriers. For example, is it safe to bring up new ideas that might seem silly to others, or to highlight gaps and mistakes that need new fixes and changes?

Quoting Dr Amy Edmondson, psychological safety addresses these fear barriers by doing three things:

  1. Reframing failure.
  2. Inviting participation.
  3. Responding productively.

Let me touch on the first area—reframing failure—because failure is such a taboo word in many organisations. This requires a re-understanding of the different types of failure and knowing how to learn well from failure. Furthermore, when we learn from failure, how can we share that with the organisation so others can also benefit?

As I often say, if I’ve already paid the price for my failures, why not share that with the organisation so they don’t have to pay the price too?

How does psychological safety play a part in fueling your organisation’s innovation? 

By demonstrating genuine curiosity and a willingness to understand different points of view, we foster an environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and encouraged to contribute freely.

Eddie Eng

Calvin Yeo

Driving Innovation with Psychological Safety​

Google research has identified psychological safety as the most important factor in building an effective team. But how do you know whether you are fostering or eroding psychological safety in your workplace?

People do not judge us based on our intentions; they judge us based on our behaviours. Take a moment to reflect on how you interact with others at work:

  • Do you intentionally invite others to share their diverse views, or are you more focused on sharing your own?
  • Do you proactively seek feedback, or do you wait for others to initiate it?
  • Do you ask for help when needed, or do you prefer to work independently

The practice of actively inviting others creates psychological safety. By demonstrating genuine curiosity and a willingness to understand different points of view, we foster an environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and encouraged to contribute freely. What do you do to build psychological safety in your workplace?

Learn more about fostering Psychological Safety

Watch Episode 3 of the Cadence Culture Dialogue here: https://cadenceculture.sg/cadence-culture-dialogue-ep-3-psychological-safety/

12 Nov
Culture Building, Cadence Culture Dialogue

Cadence Culture Dialogue Ep. 2: Organisation Culture

Welcome to the Cadence Culture dialogue.

It's a dialogue on how we can be culture builders in our workplaces.

 

To be culture builders, there are skill sets that we need to strengthen. For example, the ability to communicate what organisational culture is and its value to people and business growth, the ability to create psychological safety, and to have quality conversations.

We invite you on this journey with us.

CADENCE CULTURE DIOLOGUE - EPISODE 2

Organisation Culture

Culture shapes the thoughts, decisions, and actions of everyone in the organisation. Culture determines the rhythm of work and relationships.

Eddie Eng, Co-Founder

Transcript

Calvin: Welcome to the cadence culture dialogue. This is where we talk about how we can be culture builders in our workplaces. The previous dialogue was about the journey that we've had and the power of why. Do check it out if you missed it.

Eddie: Today's dialogue is about organisation culture. Please share with us your perspectives, questions, and comments.

Calvin: Now on to this relevant topic of culture. People may have different ideas of what culture is, so let's begin by sharing what organisation culture is and why it is important.

Eddie: Organisation culture is the way that people work and relate with one another, comprising values and beliefs, assumptions and expectations, practices, and ways of working. Hence, culture shapes the thoughts, decisions, and actions of everyone in the organisation. Culture determines the rhythm of work and relationships.

You know, I’m working on a culture transformation project with a company from the real estate sector, right? And I observed that the culture regards seniority, expertise, and work experience as the key criteria for the organisation's success. Make a guess—who are the people proposing solutions and making decisions?

Calvin: The seniors, those with experience, the leaders.

Eddie: Spot on, bro. Apart from this group of seniors, everyone else takes orders and executes without questioning. The impact of such a culture is top-down, with hardly any bottom-up feedback. Without feedback, leaders aren’t able to anticipate challenges and address them ahead of time. By the time these challenges surface, the company risks not being able to deliver on time or deliver as agreed, impacting both revenue and bottom lines—and people’s morale hits an all-time low.

Calvin: That’s why organisational culture is so critical, because culture enables business. It’s the single most important determinant of an organisation's success. Culture is not an end in itself, nor is it just for the wellbeing of people—even though that’s important—it’s also for the organisation’s achievement of its mission, vision, strategies, and goals.

Eddie: In fact, I see a rise in business leaders investing in their organisational culture. Calvin, share with us your experience on how culture impacts business strategy.

Calvin: In my previous role as the head of business development in a telecom multinational, the organisation had great products, a strong mission, vision, and business strategies. However, we were steadily losing market share to fierce competition, and employee engagement levels were dropping. What was lacking was actually a culture strategy—a way of engaging with both clients and colleagues, internally and externally, so we could work better together. I developed a culture strategy with the senior leadership team to be more people-focused rather than solely product-focused, taking a strong consultative partnering approach. This turnaround improved employee engagement scores and business results.

Eddie: Wow. Culture really can be the strategy to turn a business around. I’m curious, Calvin, about your view on organisations applying the same culture strategy to achieve success. What do you think about that?

Calvin: Well, culture needs to consider the organisation’s business, industry developments, and people. So, a cookie-cutter approach doesn’t work, because every organisation’s culture is unique in achieving its business success. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all culture that can apply to every organisation.

Eddie: I agree, because culture is also dynamic and living, needing to grow and change over time to adapt to the organisation’s evolving goals and strategy.

Calvin: This reminds me of a recent project I did with an organisation that had a bold vision of tripling its output and expanding overseas. They needed to increase their workforce, particularly in areas like AI and analytics, and had to leverage the team’s collaboration and creativity to break through to a new level of effectiveness.

Eddie: I think many organisations want to grow in these areas. So how did you help this organisation build its desired culture?

Calvin: I started by helping them to appreciate their current culture. What had made them successful so far? What aspects were core to their identity and needed to be preserved as they transformed? We celebrated their successes, competencies, and attributes that were essential to who they were. At the same time, we recognised that what got them here wouldn’t necessarily get them to where they wanted to go. With new business and tech strategies, they needed a new culture strategy to support their growth.

We used an instrument called the Organisation Culture Assessment Instrument to map out their current culture and identify the preferred culture for the future. This allowed us to develop a strategic plan to help them transition towards this new culture for greater success.

Eddie: I really like this term—“culture strategy”—it feels like a trending word! Let me summarise what you said into three parts. First, know your current culture and appreciate its strengths. Second, define your preferred or desired culture and agree on what will enable business success. And third, implement the culture strategy. Simple? Perhaps in theory—but in reality, it’s a highly complex process. We’re curious to hear from you! What works for you in building your desired culture? What challenges do you face in building it? Share with us in the comments box.

Calvin: Yes, and do look out for the next Cadence Culture Dialogue. Our next session will cover the important topic of psychological safety.

Eddie: Let’s continue to make a difference in our culture. Thank you for joining us.

Calvin: Goodbye, and see you at the next dialogue.

Culture is not an end in itself, nor is it just for the wellbeing of people—even though that’s important—it’s also for the organisation’s achievement of its mission, vision, strategies, and goals.

Calvin Yeo, Co-Founder

Calvin and Eddie talk about culture and personal cadence
05 Nov
Culture Building, Leadership

Culture & Cadence: Sustainable success for people and business

When personal cadence is in synergy with organisational culture, both the individual and the business thrive.

Calvin Yeo

Culture and Cadence

What is culture? In simple terms, culture is the subconscious way in which we relate to people and do work. It begins early at home with family and ethnic culture, then later on, school culture, and much later, work and organisational culture. It affects how we think and feel, how we listen and speak, how we work and rest. So, our culture determines the rhythms of living and working—in other words, our cadence.

Each one of us is uniquely created to thrive with a certain personal cadence at work, so it’s important for us to discover what that is. Furthermore, there is the collective cadence of everyone working together, which informs an organisational culture.

Finding the synergy between our personal cadence and organisational cadence would help us as individuals to be fulfilled and for the business to flourish. What about you? Have you discovered your personal cadence at work, and how is it aligned with your organisational cadence?

The Purpose of Work Culture

What is the purpose of work culture? Work culture enables good work and business. It is the single most important factor to an organisation's sustainable success. Culture is not a means in itself, nor is it just for the well-being of people, important as that may be; it is also a means to achieving the organisation's vision, mission, strategies, and goals. Every organisation develops business strategies, IT strategies, and other strategies. What about culture strategy?

Furthermore, the operating environment around an organisation is constantly changing with new customer needs and demands, competitive landscapes, new technologies, and even regulatory changes. All of this has an impact on culture—the way that people relate to one another and work together. Moreover, the workforce itself is continually evolving, with new generations entering and a greater diversity of both foreign and local talent. What is your organisation's culture strategy, and how is it helping your organisation get from where it is today to where it wants to be in the future?

 

Work culture enables good work and business. It is the single most important factor to an organisation's sustainable success.

Eddie Eng

Formation of Culture

We are building our work culture all the time, even if we don't think about it—it just happens. Our thoughts, behaviours, and interactions are deeply ingrained in the fabric of our habits. Our work culture is a reflection of our collective work habits, as each of us brings our personal values, beliefs, personality, and preferred ways of working to our work.

Take a guess: when a culture is built randomly, does it lead to people feeling fulfilled and businesses flourishing? Not a chance. An effective culture doesn't happen by accident; it is created by being intentional in designing the work culture to support the business strategy. Culture is either built by default or by design. What do you do to build your culture by design to enable your business strategy? I'd love to hear from you.

Leaders are Culture Builders

Organisational culture development and leadership development are two sides of the same coin. What is your view regarding this statement? In our practice, we see that they influence and shape each other, creating a mutually reinforcing relationship that drives organisational success. Therefore, the starting point for building the desired culture must be a commitment from every leader to be a culture builder.

While everyone in the organisation contributes to building the culture, the leader has an outsized influence due to the functions and roles of leadership. That is why, in the culture work we do, leadership development is crucial in building the desired culture. So, what do you do to develop leaders to be culture builders?

the starting point for building the desired culture must be a commitment from every leader to be a culture builder