On a recent episode of the Culture Decoded podcast, host Charlie Coode spoke with Mark Cuddigan, serial food entrepreneur and CEO of plant-based protein company THIS.
Mark’s career spans more than 30 years. He began at Dorman Foods and spent 12 years at Ella’s Kitchen, where he moved from sales director to CEO.
They discussed business growth, acquisitions, purpose and the power of organisational culture. Mark’s experience offers a useful reminder for anyone responsible for shaping or measuring culture: culture is a malleable, living system. It is shaped by leadership behaviour, trust and the everyday choices people see.
For organisations trying to understand that living system, a culture measurement tool can reveal how employees experience leadership in practice. A culture management platform such as Culture15 can then help turn those insights into focused action. See the Top 10 Culture Management Platforms here.
How quickly can culture change?
One of the most striking parts of the conversation was Mark’s view on how quickly culture can change. Asked how long it might take a CEO to change a culture that had taken years to build, he said: a matter of months.
That responsiveness is an opportunity. Culture is shaped by behaviour, and employees closely observe what leaders do. They notice:
- Who leaders listen to
- How decisions are made and explained
- Whether information is shared or withheld
- What behaviour is rewarded or tolerated
- How people are treated when they leave
When leaders consistently model the behaviours they want to see, employees notice that too. Culture changes through repeated, visible action — not through values statements alone.
Mark saw the value of a strong culture at Ella’s Kitchen. For most of his time there, the business operated as an independent unit within Hain Celestial. That autonomy helped the culture remain strong.
During periods of integration or organisational change, culture needs deliberate attention. New systems, processes and management layers can change how people work together. Acquirers may say they are buying a brand, product or market position, but they are also buying a group of people and the way they work together. Protecting and strengthening that culture helps protect the value of the acquisition.
This is why culture measurement matters. Without data, leaders manage culture based on assumptions. A culture management platform can help organisations understand the gap between leadership intent and employees’ day-to-day experience, so they can act early and with confidence.
Measuring trust and leadership behaviour
Mark sees trust as essential to collaboration and high performance. At THIS, it is built into how leaders are held accountable: biannual employee surveys ask team members about trust, honesty and transparency, and invite them to anonymously rate the senior team against six behavioural commitments, including a commitment to communicate openly and honestly.
This approach does three things:
- Makes trust observable. The organisation tracks how employees experience trust over time, rather than assuming it exists.
- Creates accountability. Leaders are not just asking employees to trust more. They are being measured on whether their behaviour earns that trust.
- Opens conversation. Survey results become a starting point for discussion about what is working, what is not and what needs to change.
Mark believes openness strengthens trust. Where possible, information should be shared openly. When people understand what is happening, they are better able to contribute, adapt and move forward together.
Why culture management matters
Culture is responsive and adaptable. It changes in response to leadership behaviour, and it can be strengthened through consistent action.
That is why a one-off survey is rarely enough. A culture survey can show where culture stands today. A culture management platform helps leaders understand what is changing, why it is changing and what to do next.
Culture15 is a culture measurement and management platform that helps organisations move from vague aspirations to concrete, trackable behaviours. It turns employee feedback into actionable insight, helping leaders close the gap between the culture they have and the culture they need.
From culture measurement to management
A survey measures culture. A culture management platform helps managers act on what the survey finds and track what changes.
Culture15 does not stop at measurement. It puts responsibility for managing culture into every manager’s hands. Built on more than two decades of consultancy experience, it is used by more than 80 organisations in 59 countries.
Shared responsibility creates more opportunities to drive change. Culture15’s AI assistant, Rose, helps managers make sense of culture data, set priorities and take targeted action.
The lesson for leaders
Culture can change within months, and it follows what leaders do. Organisational culture is shaped by what people experience every day, not by what a company says it values.
Measuring culture is the first step. The next is helping leaders and managers use what they learn to act consistently — turning everyday behaviour into stronger cultural alignment and a driver of higher performance
