info@howlettbrown.com
+44 (0)20 3758 6720CULTURE & SUSTAINABILITY
THE FUTURE SUCCESS OF EMPLOYERS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS DEPENDS ON THEIR CULTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES. WE ASSESS AND ADDRESS ROOT AND RISK CAUSES, ENABLING FUTURE AND SUSTAINED SUCCESS.
Culture & Sustainability overview
When serious concerns arise, trust is everything and trust starts with how an employer or service provider responds. Our investigation services are clear, confidential and credible. We offer a neutral, thorough, and discreet process to get to the facts while maintaining fairness, safety and respect, protecting integrity, and reducing risk for employers and service providers.
The types of issues that arise requiring investigation or a hearing, are more nuanced and complex than ever before. There is a view and growing trend perception that investigations and hearings conducted internally by managers, employees, partners and HR lack the objectivity and independence required to thoroughly navigate issues and reach a fair and objective conclusion, leading to greater escalation of the issues and associated risk.
Equally, managers, employees, partners and HR staff are being asked to make decisions that are impactful and potentially career altering for those involved, whilst managing their day-to-day roles and responsibilities. This has resulted in pressure and concern relating to their ability to undertake investigations or hearings to the standard and skill required.
Those involved in the process, whether they are a complainant, accused or witness also face pressure and worry during a process. They must all be supported and feel safe throughout a process. We combine investigative rigour with a human touch, demonstrating respect and care, understanding that these are sensitive, high-stakes situations for everyone involved.
Our work in this area includes:
Social Sustainability & Culture
- Change and engagement programmes
- Communication strategies for driving and targeting culture and sustainability
- Culture strategy, checks, assessments, reviews and benchmarking (internal and external)
- DEEI (diversity, equity, equality and inclusion) strategy and guidance
- Development and governance of employee networks and forums
- Talent, recruitment, retention and performance development strategies and programmes
- Workplace wellbeing reviews, strategy, advisory and design
- Workforce sustainability strategy and green reskilling
Governance, Risk & Strategic Advisory
- Building and reviewing management accountability frameworks
- Conduct and culture risk reviews, investigations and assessments
- Cultural due diligence for business acquisitions, sales and mergers
- Data compliance, collection and strategy in relation to culture and DEEI
- Ethical business practices and anti-corruption
- Modern slavery and supply chain reviews and reporting
- Product advisory and guidance
Transform Your Culture. Sustain Your Success.
Gain guidance and support in facing the dual challenge of fostering an engaged, inclusive culture while meeting sustainability and performance goals. We are here to help you bridge the gap, using data-driven insights and tailored strategic solutions.
Environmental & Climate Sustainability
- Environmental sustainability
- ESG strategy development
- Sustainable supply chain management
- Sustainability governance frameworks, policy and integration strategies
- Sustainability KPI design and performance management
- Sustainability strategy, checks, assessments, reviews and benchmarking (internal and external)
Culture & Sustainability Checks, Assessments and Reviews
We work with employers and service providers to create environments that are compliant and healthy from a legal, cultural or sustainable standpoint. The meaning of compliant and healthy includes:
- Anti-corruption
- Anti-discrimination
- Anti-racism
- Anti-sexism
- Environmental (including net zero and carbon neutral)
- Equity and equality
- Health and safety
- Modern slavery
- Risk management
- Safeguarding
- Speak up
- Succession
- Supply chains
- Systemic risk management
- Systems and controls
- Wellbeing
To create culturally and sustainable compliant environments, where active and passive behaviours counter to this aim are resolved and do not destabilise environments, our work assesses all data, findings and insights by our Cor3 Code.
Our Cor3 Code assesses and investigates environments on a structural, procedural and experiential level. All three levels collectively must be assessed and work in alignment.
- STRUCTURAL – How the environment is set up, the hierarchy, strategy and leadership
- PROCEDURAL – How the environment runs, its policies and processes, the outworking of the strategy
- EXPERIENTIAL – How employees, leaders, trustees, partners and end users as relevant, think and feel about the environment and service, what their experiences are like and the impact of them
In addition to utilising our Cor3 Code, for our full reviews, we map our findings against the core constructs of good culture and sustainability.
our six principles:
People
We have five phases to our culture and sustainability assessments and reviews.
Our five phases to our culture and sustainability assessments and reviews
Phase 1 – Positioning a safe space:
In our planning with employers and service providers, we map our approach practically, understanding their ways of working, hierarchies, demographic diversity split, preferred communication style and frequency, and any specific tension points. As part of this process, we answer any questions or queries stakeholders may have about the process and discuss the branding and positioning of the work to employees and other stakeholder groups. We work with key stakeholders on the announcement, communication plan and communication channels for all employees and stakeholders, at all levels establishing trust, transparency and understanding about the process.
Phase 2 – Discovery:
We conduct initial discussions with leadership, understanding any key areas of concern as well as their ambitions. We obtain and assess key documentation relevant to our work. This includes strategic, culture, sustainability and health and safety documentation, as well as any key policies relevant to standards and practices.
Phase 3 – Exploration:
We will conduct facilitated discussions into the areas of our assessments and reviews. These discussions can take place online or onsite. We create a safe space for discussions, we take a human-centred approach and ensure that people feel confident and safe to speak up.
Phase 4 – Analysis:
Once we have conducted the facilitated discussion, we compile our analysis building a matrix of themes, patterns, positives, risks and notable outliers. We assess these findings against our Cor3 Code as well as our six principles as relevant to our work.
Phase 5 – Insights, recommendations and next steps:
We prepare a summary report which sets out our findings and recommendations. Our findings comprise of our review of documentation and facilitated discussions (anonymised of all contributions). Our report includes detailed recommendations, remediation and a future state plan that is designed to address any problematic findings. We provide briefings to stakeholders when requested, presenting our findings and answering questions asked.
Transform Your Culture. Sustain Your Success.
Gain guidance and support in facing the dual challenge of fostering an engaged, inclusive culture while meeting sustainability and performance goals. We are here to help you bridge the gap, using data-driven insights and tailored strategic solutions.
KALEIDOSCOPE - ENTERING INTO NEW MARKETS
When employers and service providers are considering entering new markets and jurisdictions, our Kaleidoscope services provide a deep dive insight into:
- Business culture and practice
- Country overviews, basics and demographics
- Cultural insights, languages and practices, communication, standards of respect. professionalism, and dress code
- Employment and hiring
- Environmental factors
- Foreign relations
- Industry specific considerations, regulations and standards
- Key geographical considerations
- Legal, set up, tax and insurance landscape
- Social, cultural and political insights and how they may impact decision making
We compare across each country and jurisdiction, the areas of interest as well as rank the countries that our analysis suggests are more beneficial to employers and service providers. We prepare our findings in two formats which are ‘Mini Scope’ providing a snapshot overview of our insights and ‘Wider Scope’ a deep dive into the areas providing more information and detail. We also flag areas of challenge or concern with recommendations of what should be considered before making a decision and taking next steps.
Transform Your Culture. Sustain Your Success.
Gain guidance and support in facing the dual challenge of fostering an engaged, inclusive culture while meeting sustainability and performance goals. We are here to help you bridge the gap, using data-driven insights and tailored strategic solutions.
Product Advisory
We bring people insight into product design. Service providers that create products often do so with a target market, country and audience in mind. It is also the case that those service providers want to maximise accessibility and user experience wherever possible. Our product advisory services help service providers build products that are inclusive, ethical, and user-first.
From embedding DEEI principles and privacy by design, to aligning with laws, compliance standards and human-centred user experiences. We are the partner with expertise across product, legal, and design teams to ensure service provider solutions do not just meet compliance; they build trust, broaden reach, and reflect the real-world diversity of their service users.
Our work in this area represents the cultural and DEEI expertise on the product development journey, ensuring that product design, useability and how the product is marketed is curated in a meaningful, inclusive and commercial way.
Transform Your Culture. Sustain Your Success.
Gain guidance and support in facing the dual challenge of fostering an engaged, inclusive culture while meeting sustainability and performance goals. We are here to help you bridge the gap, using data-driven insights and tailored strategic solutions.
DEEI
Our DEEI services are built to meet the world where it is and move it forward. We help global employers and service providers turn intent into impact by embedding diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion into every layer of their business, legally.
Internally, we work with leadership, HR, and people teams to assess DEEI maturity, identify systemic barriers, and design strategies that foster true belonging. This includes policy reviews, inclusive leadership training, equitable talent frameworks, and support for ERGs and diverse hiring practices. All our work is tailored for global scale and local relevance.
Externally, we guide employers and service providers in embedding DEEI into the products and services they bring to the world. From advising on inclusive language and representation, to ensuring accessibility and ethical alignment, we help them create offerings that reflect and respect the diverse needs of a global audience, building trust, widening reach, and strengthening brand reputation.
Our DEEI services:
Strategy & Leadership
- Board and senior stakeholder engagement on equity
- Culture mapping and inclusive behaviours workshops
- DEEI audits and maturity assessments
- DEEI goal setting, OKRs, and success metrics
- DEEI strategy development and roadmap design
- Employee experience surveys with a DEEI lens
- ERG (Employee Resource Group) setup and support
- Focus groups and listening sessions
- Guidance on global anti-discrimination compliance
- Guidance on hybrid/in-person inclusive cultures
- Inclusion and belonging diagnostics
- Leadership alignment workshops
- Policy and process equity reviews
- Psychological safety assessments
- Support for inclusive parental, health, and flexible leave policies
Partnerships & Ecosystem Impact
- Community investment and impact advisory
- Cross-sector collaboration strategies on equity issues
- Diverse supplier and partnership programme development
Advisory & Strategy
- Cultural competency and market-specific inclusion insights
- DEEI integration into go-to-market strategies
- Global DEEI benchmarking and best practices
- Inclusive customer journey mapping
- Inclusive product strategy consulting
Research & Insights
- Bias audits in user testing and feedback loops
- Community engagement and co-design practices
- Data analysis through a DEEI lens
- Diverse persona development
- Inclusive user research frameworks
Compliance & Risk Mitigation
- Accessibility standards alignment
- ESG and brand reputation alignment
- Global inclusion and anti-discrimination compliance support
- Privacy and human rights risk assessments in design
- Supplier/vendor DEEI review and guidance
Transform Your Culture. Sustain Your Success.
Gain guidance and support in facing the dual challenge of fostering an engaged, inclusive culture while meeting sustainability and performance goals. We are here to help you bridge the gap, using data-driven insights and tailored strategic solutions.
Cultural Intelligence
Utilising our expertise in culture, analytics and research, we provide cultural intelligence insights to our employers and service providers. This includes insights into conducting business in certain countries and industries, cultural fluency guidance on engaging and communicating across cultures and countries, as well as insights and lessons learnt from our analysis of decisions and events in the public domain relating to other employers and service providers, helping to reduce risk and mitigate potential issues.
Transform Your Culture. Sustain Your Success.
Gain guidance and support in facing the dual challenge of fostering an engaged, inclusive culture while meeting sustainability and performance goals. We are here to help you bridge the gap, using data-driven insights and tailored strategic solutions.
