According to Andee Uren, the executive head for workforce planning, optimisation and engagement at Nedbank, culture is reflected in everyday actions and unspoken norms that guide how people behave and collaborate. She shares how real cultural change happens when behaviours shift and the small barriers that slow progress are removed.
Culture is one of those elusive organisational forces. You can’t always describe it, but you can feel it, in the energy of a meeting, the pace of collaboration, the silence that follows a tough question. It’s not what’s written on a wall or tucked away in an induction pack. It’s how people behave when no one is watching. It’s the norms, signals and expectations that shape how we move and whether we move forward.
At Nedbank, we’re fortunate to have a culture where people care deeply about. It’s not unusual to hear someone say, “My blood is green”, and they mean it. There’s a real sense of belonging here that doesn’t feel manufactured or performative. But even the strongest cultures need to evolve. People’s needs at work, home and the messy space in between are shifting. So, too, must the environments we create.
That evolution matters. Culture attracts talent. It keeps people engaged. It enhances performance. It helps you stand out in a crowded market. But here’s the hard truth: culture doesn’t shift just because we say it should. It shifts when behaviour shifts. And behaviour is challenging to change.
At Nedbank, we’ve found that behavioural science helps us ask better questions: Why do people say one thing and do another? Why do good intentions fall short? Why do some teams thrive under pressure, and others stall?
The answers often lie in friction, the subtle blockers that trip people up. For example, a lack of clarity, an impersonal process, or a meeting that gets pushed again. These moments seem small, but over time, they erode trust, performance and morale.
So we started experimenting, not with grand change programmes but with practical interventions that made it easier for people to do what they already wanted.
One of our most impactful areas of focus was psychological safety. We hear this term often, but for us, it boils down to this: Can I speak up without fear? Can I admit I don’t know something? Can I challenge constructively and trust that I’ll still belong?
We noticed that teams with strong psychological safety shared one common trait: their managers prioritised regular, meaningful one-on-one check-ins. So, we ran a simple experiment. One group of managers received regular nudges to hold these sessions. Another group received those same reminders and structured guidance on running them well.
Feeling heard
The results spoke volumes. Meetings didn’t just happen more frequently; they improved in quality. The “how” made the biggest difference. Teams reported feeling more heard, supported, and empowered.
It confirmed something we’ve long suspected: people don’t always need to be told what’s important. They need to be shown how to do it. Culture work isn’t about changing people. It’s about removing the friction that gets in the way of their best intentions.
That’s the ethos behind The Nedbank Way, our cultural compass. It’s not a top-down rulebook. It’s a shared understanding that how we win matters as much as whether we win. That purpose isn’t a poster. It’s the reason people show up.
Culture doesn’t live in inspirational quotes. It lives in systems. That means leaders must design culture with the same rigour they apply to strategy or capital allocation. It needs to be infrastructural, not just aspirational. And that takes time. You don’t “fix” culture. You nurture it. Tune it. Course-correct when needed.
We still have work to do, and we’re okay with that. Because culture isn’t a destination, it’s a practice. And when you get it right, it becomes your organisation’s greatest accelerant.
