We geek out about designing a future of work that works for everyone.
Most firms treat equity and organizational change as separate workstreams. We’ve spent over a decade proving they’re the same work, and that lasting change only happens when you do both at once.
Five Common Questions on Workplace Culture in 2026
Aligning how you use AI with your company’s values and culture will help build trust with your team.
Most AI rollouts get decided by a small group without asking what the people doing the work actually need, or whether the tool fits the values the organization claims to hold. A Stanford study of 1,500 workers across 104 occupations found that 41% of current AI implementation occurred in ways employees either didn’t want or the technology couldn’t reliably do yet, which is what happens when the decision gets made in isolation.
How we’d respond
Ethical AI use starts with naming your organization’s actual values, then checking every tool and rollout against them instead of against convenience or hype. That means asking who’s affected before you decide, being honest about what the tool can’t do yet, and being willing to walk back a rollout that doesn’t match what you say you stand for.
The acronym matters less than the work itself.
Public DEI disclosure among Fortune 500 companies dropped 65% in 2026, and plenty of legal teams are telling leadership to go quiet. On the flipside, a Catalyst and NYU Meltzer Center study of 2,500 employees, executives, and legal leaders found that 76% of workers are more likely to stay with an employer that supports inclusion, regardless of what it’s called on the website. The label and the substance are two different decisions. You’re definitely not alone in figuring out how to thread this needle.
How we’d respond
Despite what the press might have you believe, this work has always been about creating and supporting a level playing field for everyone. Power and positionality, bias and trust, are all still very much a part of workplace dynamics and culture. We’d help you focus on the work of understanding how inclusion is critical for hiring and attrition, with practical tools and strategies for ensuring every team member not just shows up, but shows up well.
Layoffs are hard on everyone. Don’t forget about the people who are still on staff.
Research from Perceptyx, based on a survey of more than 5,400 U.S. employees, found that at organizations going through layoffs, only 54% of employees say leadership communicated openly, and 53% say they still don’t understand why the cuts happened at all. That confusion has a cost. Full engagement drops to 44% at companies with recent layoffs, compared to 51% overall, and 58% of employees say a layoff makes them more likely to start looking elsewhere, even when their own job wasn’t touched. The one number that should give you hope: among employees who did get open communication, 61% stayed highly engaged, three times the rate of those who didn’t.
How we’d respond
We’d tell you the town hall was necessary but not sufficient. Rebuilding trust after a layoff means honest answers about why decisions were made, real conversations about workload so survivors aren’t absorbing three people’s jobs, and giving people some genuine say in what happens next. None of that happens in a single all-hands, and none of it happens if leadership goes quiet right when people need the opposite. It’s also critical to empower your managers with as much support as possible so they can support their teams during this challenging time.
Managers are there to support you, but you need to support them, too.
Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace found that manager engagement fell five points in a single year, the largest year over year change since Gallup started tracking it, dropping from 31% in 2022 to just 22% in 2025, while overall global engagement hit its lowest point since 2020. Managers are being asked to set the tone for their teams with little support.
How we’d respond
We’d start by asking what your managers actually have the authority to change, because a lot of manager burnout comes from being held responsible for outcomes they can’t influence. We help organizations give managers real training, real backup from above, and enough actual authority to do the job they’ve been handed, instead of leaving them to absorb pressure from both directions with nothing to push back with.
If you’re being met with silence in meetings, it may be worth looking at team dynamics.
A 2026 Radical Candor survey of 600 U.S. workers found that six in ten employees are hesitant to speak up at work, and 45% cite psychological safety and trust as their single biggest workplace concern. Most of the time, we see how this happens. Someone spoke up once, the person in charge reacted poorly, and the rest of the team learned it’s easier or safer to say nothing.
How we’d respond
We’d ask what happened the last few times someone told a leader something they didn’t want to hear. The way to address this is by learning how to take feedback in a way that ensures that person feels not only like they’re heard, but taken seriously. Responding in a way that shows understanding and compassion can go a long way to making people feel comfortable sharing their thoughts. We can help you build the habits that will support a culture that will strengthen your team.
What We Do
01
Strategic Consulting
Partner with us for advisory work that transforms how your organization approaches change. We help you develop strategies for culture evolution, organizational redesign, and change readiness grounded in human-centered practices and inclusive systems thinking.
02
Workshops & Training
Prepare your teams for what’s next with practical, interactive workshops. From leading through uncertainty to building adaptive, inclusive cultures, our facilitated training equips people with the tools and mindset they need to navigate change with confidence and compassion.
03
Online Learning
Access our expertise on your timeline and at your own pace. Our self-paced courses, live and recorded webinars, and downloadable resources give individuals and teams the flexibility to build essential skills and deepen their knowledge when and where they need it most.
Tell us what your organization is navigating.
Let’s have a 30-minute conversation to learn more about what your needs are and how we can support you and your team.