Strategic Cultural Activation to Strengthen Engagement and Business Performance
Following the pandemic, a leading Nordic hospitality company experienced a cultural gap driven by high employee turnover. The organization needed to re-establish a shared culture and reinforce its core values across thousands of employees in several countries.
The objective was clear: increase engagement, drive lasting behavioral change, and strengthen the connection between culture and business results.
Ahead of a broader cultural initiative, the organization required a common framework to consolidate, clarify, and visualize its culture—both as strategic direction and as practical guidance in everyday work. The objective was to develop a Culture Playbook to serve as the foundation for activating and embedding culture throughout the company.
What we did
The ambition was not to redefine the culture, but to reinforce what already existed and sharpen focus on selected values to meet future demands.
The challenge was to ensure that culture was not merely communicated—but genuinely experienced in everyday work. The initiative needed to create sustainable behavioral change, stronger belonging, and a clearer “why” behind each value.
At the same time, culture had to be explicitly linked to business outcomes: engaged leaders create engaged team members, which in turn drive stronger guest experiences and performance.
We supported the organization in developing a new cultural activation concept built on the existing values. The approach included:
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A unified and scalable activation framework
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Clear linkage between values, behaviors, and business impact
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Strong anchoring with steering committee and executive leadership to position the initiative as business-driven—not purely HR-led
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A structured roll-out model ensuring consistency across several countries and functions
Results
The result is a scalable cultural activation concept designed for roll-out to thousands of employees across hotels and support functions in several countries, launching in autumn 2025.
The concept includes:
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A common workshop format for leaders and employees
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A detailed implementation roadmap
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Presentation material with structured speaker notes
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A culture-based board game to stimulate reflection and dialogue
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Marketing and communication material (e.g., posters and films)
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A digital Culture Toolbox to support ongoing activation after workshops
Outcome
The organization now has a cohesive and business-aligned cultural activation platform—designed to strengthen engagement, increase alignment, and reinforce the link between values and performance.
By embedding culture into leadership practices and everyday behaviors, the initiative lays the foundation for long-term engagement and measurable business impact.
