WHAT THE CULTURE PULSE IS SHOWING BOARDS — AND WHY IT MATTERS
Early signals about culture, leadership behaviour and human risk — before they show up in performance data or formal reports
What the Culture Pulse is showing boards — and why it matters
Early signals about culture, leadership behaviour and human risk — before they show up in performance data or formal reports
How culture and leadership behaviour quietly shape risk long before it’s visible
Boards rarely get surprised by financial risk.
Human risk is different.
By the time issues show up in attrition data, engagement scores or formal complaints, the conditions that created them have usually been in place for some time.
That’s the gap the Culture Pulse is designed to explore.
The Culture Pulse draws on data from leaders across organisations, asking where pressure is showing up, where trust feels fragile, and where intent and lived experience are starting to drift.
It’s not designed to produce a scorecard. It’s designed to surface patterns early.
What we’re seeing
Across responses, several themes consistently emerge:
- leaders often sense something is “off” before they can name it
- pressure changes behaviour faster than policies or values statements
- most cultural risk is unintentional — and accumulates quietly
- psychosocial risk is rarely a standalone issue; it’s a signal of how work is designed and led
- the gap between intent and impact widens fastest under time, growth or reputational pressure
None of these are dramatic on their own.
Together, they shape decision quality, trust and sustainability.
Why this matters at board level
From a governance perspective, these patterns matter because they:
- affect judgement under pressure
- influence how risk is discussed or avoided
- shape whether issues surface early or late
- determine the human cost of strategic decisions
Culture risk is rarely about “bad culture”.
It’s about systems, incentives and pressure interacting in predictable ways.
How this informs our advisory work
The Culture Pulse doesn’t replace conversation. It sharpens it.
It informs:
- where to look first
- what questions to ask
- what not to dismiss too quickly
- when to intervene early — and when to proceed carefully
This is how human risk becomes visible before it becomes expensive.
Boards don’t need more dashboards. They need a better signal. That’s what our work is designed to support.
If you’re interested in the underlying data, you can access the full Culture Pulse report here.
