Lead the culture you want, every day
Every business goes through cycles of growth, pressure, and change. As leaders, we often carry that weight at the top. But it’s easy to overlook the fact that our people feel it too. Whether you’re pushing for the next big milestone or navigating uncertainty, the way you lead your team matters.
We could list a hundred sources here that demonstrate how important culture is to your bottom line, here are a three:
Executives attribute 30–50% of their companies’ value to culture.
Companies aligning culture with strategy report up to 117% greater return on investment.
Firms with strong, intentional cultures achieve revenue growth rates nearly double their peers.
Read on for five ways to lead an impactful culture that will help drive the success of your business.
1. Check in with your people, not just their performance
Culture is built in the moments where you pause and connect with your people on a personal level.
At Sprout People, we’ve been running in depth team check-ins for more than seven years. We call them Sprout Conversations. These sessions are dedicated to understanding where each person is at, what they want from their journey, and how they feel about their work and the business. These conversations have helped our clients uncover opportunities to improve performance, retain key people, and even rethink parts of their strategy.
If you’re looking for a place to start, here are three questions we often suggest:
How are you feeling about the months ahead?
What would a great run into the end of this year look like for you, both professional and personally?
How can I support that?
Small conversations can lead to big results.
2. Invest in growth, even when resources are tight
When things are busy or budgets are under pressure, development can slip down the list. But your best people will still want to grow.
If they don’t see a path forward with you, they may start looking elsewhere.
Regular check-ins will often uncover ambitions, interests, or untapped strengths. What you do with those insights is what sets great leaders apart.
Whether it’s a stretch project, a peer mentoring opportunity, or a more structured approach to development, what matters most is creating space for growth.
Sprout People support this through two programmes called Growing Leaders and Growing Technical Leaders, designed to help leaders raise their capability and impact, and help recent promotions transition from 'doing' to leading.
3. Hire with purpose, not pressure
Hiring decisions have lasting impact. Every new person shifts the culture, pace, and direction of your business. That’s why it’s important to hire with intention.
At Sprout, we approach recruitment differently. Before we start sourcing candidates, we step back with our clients and ask some key questions:
Does this role align with where the business is heading?
Should the role be reshaped for better impact?
Is there another way to meet this need without hiring?
Our recruitment and consulting teams work together to make sure each hire fits the structure and strategy of the business. We believe strong hiring starts with good design, not just a job ad.
When you hire well, everything else becomes easier.
4. Onboard with clarity and care
Finding great people is one thing. Setting them up to succeed is another.
A strong onboarding process makes a measurable difference. Organisations with structured onboarding see higher productivity, better engagement, and longer retention.
At Sprout, we build 12-month success plans for new hires. These plans lay out the first 90 days clearly and define what success looks like across the first year. Regular check-ins ensure expectations stay aligned as people grow into their roles.
The more clarity your people have, the more confident and effective they become.
5. Make culture a priority, not an afterthought
You can push for productivity and ignore culture for a while. But it’s not sustainable. People burn out, disengage, or leave. And as a leader, that’s exhausting to manage.
A strong culture doesn’t just feel good. It supports performance, loyalty, and momentum.
At Sprout, we’ve spent years building our own team and culture. We followed the same advice we give our clients. We designed the right structure, created roles with purpose, hired carefully, and gave people clarity on what success looks like for them and the business.
The result is a team we’re proud to lead and excited to work alongside.
