Business leaders love action. Culture workshops. Values posters. Leadership training. All the bells and whistles.
It feels like progress.
It looks like you’re building culture.
But according to organisational culture expert Dr Jessica Kriegel, you might be stuck in what she calls the action trap—and it’s quietly killing your employee engagement efforts.
What is the action trap?
The action trap is what happens when organisations launch straight into initiatives—without addressing the beliefs that shape culture in the first place.
It’s all action, no strategy. All effort, little impact.
This is where many well-meaning culture strategies fall down. You throw everything at the wall—team days, HR programs, employee value statements—yet employee morale stays flat, trust is low, and nothing truly shifts.
The problem? You’re focusing on results, without changing what your people actually believe about the business, their leaders, or their roles.
How real culture change happens
According to Dr Kriegel’s research-backed culture framework, transformation happens when we flip the approach:
Beliefs → Experiences → Actions → Results
Start with beliefs.
Shape those beliefs with intentional employee experiences.
That leads to new behaviours.
And then you get results—like improved employee engagement, trust, and productivity.
When employees consistently experience trust, fairness, recognition, and open communication, they believe in the culture—and that belief influences their behaviour.
In short? Workplace culture isn’t something you do, it’s something you design—from the inside out.
A culture audit reality check
Ask yourself:
- Do your people believe that leadership acts with integrity?
- Do they feel safe speaking up?
- Do they believe that performance is recognised fairly?
- Do their daily experiences reinforce the values printed on your website?
If the answer is no—or even a maybe—it’s time to pause the culture campaigns and dig deeper.
Instead of just telling your team “we value respect,” ask yourself:
- How do we design experiences that show them respect is a lived value here?
- How do we reward respectful behaviour?
- How do we call out when it’s lacking?
- How do leaders role model respect in the messy, unscripted moments?
Because a morning tea celebrating your Core Values won’t undo 12 months of being talked over in meetings.
How to escape the action trap
If you want to build a strong workplace culture that drives business performance, it’s time to focus on:
- Organisational beliefs – What assumptions are shaping how people show up?
- Employee experiences – How do policies, leadership behaviours, and internal processes align with your cultural aspirations?
- Leadership capability – Are leaders modelling the culture you want?
- HR strategy alignment – Is your people strategy driving employee experience and engagement, or ticking compliance boxes?
Culture is a long game—but the payoff is worth it
At The People & Culture Office, we help businesses move beyond superficial culture fixes. Our people-first strategies are rooted in behavioural science, engagement data, and a deep understanding of what drives trust and performance at work.
If your workplace culture strategy feels performative, disconnected, or just… stuck—we can help you get out of the action trap and back on track.
📩 Ready to transform your culture with intention? Let’s talk.
We design HR and culture strategies that work—because your people deserve more than posters and platitudes.
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