May 2025 Edition

May the Force Be With You. And also with you!

People and culture folks are out here juggling politics, AI, equity, and just weird vibes—and guess what? We're all in this together. Let's keep cooking, squad! 

Also just want to call out that this monthly newsletter has been now going effectively for two years! Woah!

💡Leaders Forum Recap: How to Sustain High Performance 

Culture Amp just gathered with 200+ of the most inspiring people leaders in London for our Culture First Leaders Forum. The theme? Sustainable high performance.

Key takeaways from our research and insights: 

• Sustaining high performance is rare. Research shows only 2% of employees are rated high performers across two review cycles.

• High performance isn’t a characteristic trait. The #1 differentiator that makes someone a high performer? They feel psychologically safe.

• High performers create more high performers. Employees with high-performing leaders are 4.5x more likely to become high performers themselves.

• Excellence ≠ Exhaustion. Research from our Chief People Officer, Justin Angsuwat, showed that championship teams rest more and rotate the bench often. The takeaway? Give your people time off the field.

💬 Memorable quotes from the forum: 

• “Your culture is unique, but your problems are not.” – Didier Elzinga, Culture Amp CEO

• “Performance is doing the best you can with the resources you have in the moment you’re in.” — Damian Hughes, expert on high-performance sporting cultures

• "Psychological safety isn't a destination, but a journey." – Didier Elzinga

• "We want to help people dance with their edge of vulnerability at work, but help them practice discernment when they share. What's the balance? What's helpful to share in this context and what's not? What do you need? What does the other person need?" – Didier Elzinga

• "A beautiful question can be interpreted in multiple ways. What matters is the question under the question. It's not just the words on the paper." – Esther Perel

• "A performance management process can take a lot of time. Marie Kondo the process." - Justin Anguswat

🎲 Relational Intelligence at Work: New Culture Amp x Esther Perel Game

Esther Perel is an external advisor to Culture Amp and we have now created a new version of her iconic game called “Where Should We Begin? At Work.” It's a powerful card game created to bring depth and trust into workplace conversations.

This game is a shortcut to diving deeper and actually getting to know your colleagues. What's even cooler is this game has been designed specifically with our People Science team of I/O Psychologists so you know it's the real deal. It's been an honor to be a part of the much bigger team that brought this game to life.

Bonus: You’ll be getting a deck. Stay tuned!  🙌

📚 Check out the facilitation guide (we'll be updating this with the new graphics in the coming weeks) 

🤝 People Geek Slack 101 (Two Sessions!)

Want to grow your chapter, promote your events, and tap into a network of 30k+ professionals? Don’t miss People Geek Slack 101 led by Acey Holmes.

🕐 30 min

🌍 Offered twice for timezone ease on June 3/4

Session A 

Session B

📽️ Sessions will be recorded

*You should have calendar invites for these already.