Benefits of a Positive Workplace Culture for Large Businesses

Positive workplace culture is the set of shared values, behaviours, and attitudes that shape how people work together. It is not about perks like free fruit or games. It is about whether employees feel respected, trust their leaders, and believe their contributions make a difference.

In large organisations, culture shows up in everyday actions: how managers give feedback, how teams collaborate across departments, how decisions are communicated, and how success is recognised. These patterns build over time, creating either an environment where people thrive or one where engagement declines.

A strong culture matters because it influences retention, productivity, and overall business performance. When employees feel they belong and their work is valued, they are more likely to stay, contribute, and help the organisation grow.

As Zoe Wilson, Director of ReThink HR, observes in Episode 1: Mastering the Employee Lifecycle of our Do the Best Work of Your Life series: 

"It's making people feel that they belong—and everybody is so individual and unique. That's a real challenge. And I think it's something that's quite exciting about technology because you can start to personalise things."

A strong culture delivers measurable business outcomes that influence recruitment, retention, and overall performance. Here’s what research shows:

Improved Recruitment and Retention

When employees advocate for your organisation, attracting talent becomes easier and more cost-effective. According to LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends report, companies with a strong employer brand experience 50% lower cost per hire and receive twice as many applications.

Retention is equally impacted. CIPD estimates the average cost of replacing an employee in the UK is around £30,000, including recruitment, training, and lost productivity. Organisations that integrate HR and recruitment systems can see lower turnover as the employee experience reinforces cultural consistency from onboarding through development.

Authentic employee advocacy is key. As Zoe Wilson, Director of ReThink HR explains:

"They need to be authentic. And that's why the employee voice is so important. It catches your eye when you see pictures of people doing things on charity days. It's the storytelling. It's pictures, but it's also if you get your employees being fans, they're the ones that are helping attract the next tranche of people in."

To tackle high turnover and strengthen engagement, explore our guide to retention strategies in operational workforces, which includes actionable tips for reducing attrition in large teams.

Cost Reduction and Operational Efficiency

Employee turnover is costly, not only in recruitment expenses but also in lost productivity and knowledge. When someone leaves, their expertise, relationships, and process understanding go with them. Remaining team members absorb extra work, customer relationships can suffer, and projects often slow down.

According to the CIPD Resourcing and Talent Planning Survey, the average cost of replacing an employee in the UK is around £30,000, factoring in recruitment, training, and lost productivity. Beyond this, disengagement and inefficient processes add further strain. Research from Gallup shows that highly engaged teams are 18% more productive than their less engaged counterparts, highlighting the link between culture and operational performance.

Technology also plays a role. Organisations that implement workforce management systems report significant efficiency gains. For example, Deloitte notes that automating scheduling and absence management can reduce labour costs by up to 6% through better resource allocation.

A practical example comes from Cineworld, which streamlined its rostering process:

"A task that took six hours to write a roster now takes less than 60 minutes. Holiday requests and shift swaps are automated, taking no management time. It's not very often we get the chance to hand back five hours to every senior manager every week," 

Tom Manning, Operations Project Manager at Cineworld

Enhanced Employee Wellbeing

The link between workplace culture and employee wellbeing is well documented. When employees feel valued and supported, they report better mental health, lower stress, and higher job satisfaction.

According to CIPD’s Health and Wellbeing at Work report, organisations that actively promote wellbeing see improvements in engagement and retention. Similarly, Deloitte research estimates that for every £1 invested in mental health support, employers can save £5 in reduced absenteeism and turnover costs. However, the challenge is not just offering benefits—it is ensuring employees know what is available and can access it easily.

A practical example comes from TFG London, which consolidated its benefits into a single platform:

"As soon as we went live, we were getting an average of 150 logins every day. Instant discounts were immediately very popular. In our first month we had over 1,000 clicks on instant discounts alone... Because the app is clear and easy to navigate, and only the relevant benefits are visible to each person, engagement is high,"

Dianne Hoodless, Head of Group Compensation and Benefits

Wellbeing initiatives can fail when they are scattered across multiple platforms, buried in intranet pages, or mentioned once during onboarding and then forgotten. Centralised, mobile-accessible platforms make it easier for employees to find and use support, driving real engagement.

Better Compliance and Governance

Regulators and stakeholders increasingly view organisational culture as a key factor in managing risk and ensuring ethical behaviour. In sectors such as financial services, culture is often assessed when evaluating conduct risk and governance standards.

A positive workplace culture supports compliance because employees understand the purpose behind policies, feel confident raising concerns, and take responsibility for maintaining standards. 

Stronger Brand Reputation

Your workplace culture is never hidden. Glassdoor reviews, social media posts, and everyday conversations shape how candidates, customers, and even competitors perceive your organisation.

Authentic employee advocacy is one of the most powerful ways to influence that perception. As Zoe Wilson, Director of ReThink HR explains:

 "They need to be authentic. And that's why the employee voice is so important. It catches your eye when you see pictures of people doing things on charity days. It's the storytelling. It's pictures, but it's also if you get your employees being fans, they're the ones that are helping attract the next tranche of people in."

Research backs this up. According to LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends report, companies with a strong employer brand see 50% lower cost per hire and receive twice as many applications compared to those with weaker reputations. Better culture attracts better candidates, and that competitive advantage compounds over time.

Building culture at scale requires structured strategies that work across multiple departments and locations. Here are practical steps to get started:

Establish a Clear Organisational Identity

Your mission, vision, and values are the foundation of your cultural identity. In large organisations, these values need to be embedded throughout.

• Create a compelling mission statement that employees can connect with, answering questions like: Why do we exist? and What difference do we make?
• Communicate consistently across all channels and throughout processes like onboarding, internal comms, performance reviews, and recognition programmes
• Make values tangible through behavioural examples

For a deeper dive into creating a strong organisational identity and embedding shared values, see our blog to building company culture in large businesses.

Embed Shared Values and Behaviours

Values only matter when they shape decisions and everyday actions. To make this happen, integrate them into core HR processes:

• Recruitment aligned with values - Incorporate values into hiring by asking candidates for examples of behaviours that reflect your culture. Use realistic job previews to set clear expectations.
• Recognition that reinforces values - Link achievements to organisational values when recognising employees. This highlights the behaviours that matter and creates role models for others.
• Performance management tied to culture - Include cultural behaviours in performance reviews alongside technical skills. Someone who delivers results but undermines team morale should not be considered high-performing.

Foster Transparent Communication

Breakdowns in communication undermine culture. When employees don’t understand decisions or feel unheard, engagement drops. Focus on three essentials:

• Enable upward feedback - Use anonymous surveys, forums, and feedback tools, and show that input drives change. 
• Train managers to communicate well - Many managers lack formal training. Offer short, on-demand modules like “conducting difficult conversations” before key discussions.
• Make information easy to access - Mobile HR platforms give employees 24/7 access to policies and answers.

Address Subcultures and Promote Inclusion

Large organisations often develop subcultures. Some strengthen the overall culture, others create competing values. Focus on three actions:

• Spot problem areas early - Use engagement data to identify departments with low scores, high turnover, or unusual absence patterns. Investigate what’s different.
• Break down silos - Encourage cross-functional projects, secondments, and job rotations to build relationships across teams.
• Ensure leadership consistency - Inclusive behaviour must be modelled at every level. If middle managers act differently from senior leaders, you risk creating competing cultures.

Embrace Continuous Development

Culture evolves as your organisation grows. Resilient cultures adapt while staying true to core values. Key steps:

• Normalise learning - By 2030, 20% of the UK workforce will be under-skilled, costing the economy £63 billion (The Future of Work Jobs and Skills in 2030, UKCES). Make development part of everyday work.
• Encourage experimentation - When mistakes lead to learning, not blame, you create psychological safety and innovation.
• Stay responsive - Use pulse surveys and focus groups to track how employees experience culture and where it needs to evolve.

Even with good intentions, large organisations face predictable obstacles when building culture:

• Resistance to change - Cultural shifts can feel uncomfortable. Address this with transparency: explain why change matters and link it to outcomes employees care about, like better collaboration and clearer career paths. Identify and support change champions to lead by example.
• Managing remote and hybrid teams - Remote work can make culture harder to sustain. As Zoe Wilson, Director of ReThink HR notes:

“Sometimes you go through your whole employee life cycle never actually meeting your colleagues… But that's the reality now with remote interviews and onboarding processes.”

• Invest in digital tools and clear communication norms. Create intentional connection moments, like virtual coffee chats or quarterly meet-ups, and ensure fair access to opportunities.
• Balancing global consistency with local flexibility - Define what must stay consistent everywhere (values, ethics) and what can adapt locally (communication styles, recognition). Empower local leaders to interpret culture intelligently without fragmenting it.

Track these key metrics to see if your cultural initiatives are working:

• Employee engagement scores: Use regular pulse surveys to monitor trends and compare across teams. Research by Gallup shows engaged employees drive 21% higher profitability and 17% higher productivity.
• Retention and turnover rates: Analyse voluntary versus involuntary turnover and spot patterns by department or location.
• Wellbeing indicators: Track absence rates, EAP usage, and wellbeing survey results for early warning signs.
• Recruitment metrics: Monitor time-to-hire, offer acceptance rates, and Glassdoor reviews to gauge external perception.
• Performance outcomes: Compare productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction alongside cultural measures.

Many cultural initiatives can start with better processes and communication. But at scale, manual approaches eventually break. You'll know you need technology support when:

• Managers spend 5+ hours weekly on HR administration instead of people development
• You can't quickly answer basic questions like "What's our engagement score by department?"
• Cultural inconsistencies emerge across locations because different managers use different approaches
• Employee benefits and wellbeing programmes show low engagement despite good offerings
• Your team is drowning in spreadsheets and can't access the data needed for strategic decisions

If you're ready to explore how integrated HR technology can enable rather than complicate your culture-building efforts, discover how PeopleXD Evo's talent and performance management capabilities support organisations building positive cultures at scale. 

For practical strategies on implementing cultural change, explore our blog on building company culture in large businesses.