CULTURE, ENGAGEMENT & EXPERIENCE
Engagement isn't a survey score. It's the signal of a healthy system.
Collecting engagement data is straightforward; designing the conditions where high performance happens naturally requires intentional focus. We conduct research-led diagnostics, identify the levers that drive performance in your business, and build employee experience systems that deliver results.
Why surface-level perks don't fix low engagement
Cultural friction
When engagement drops, many organisations default to superficial perks, wellness apps, or one-off events. Real engagement is a byproduct of a combination of factors including clear purpose and direction, leadership and manager capability, a strong learning culture and authentic communication that supports commercial delivery.
Our approach
We act as employee experience system architects working in close partnership with your internal teams. We start with a research-led diagnostic to identify the root cause behind the presenting symptom. Then we design the precise interventions that impact business performance, taking action alongside your team where it matters most.
Core culture & engagement challenges we solve
Survey action paralysis (turning data into impact)
The problem
You have rich survey data from Peakon, Culture Amp, or Glint, but leaders and HR teams are overwhelmed. Employees suffer from survey fatigue because previous feedback resulted in minimal visible change in day-to-day operations or performance.
Our collaborative solution
We see survey results as one data point. We augment this insight with targeted focus groups and interviews to isolate the primary performance blockers and drivers of engagement. Then we rapidly co-design the solutions that will have the biggest impact.
Key deliverables
Post-survey performance synthesis, co-designed solutions and 90-day action plans, and leadership comms coaching.
Preserving culture while scaling
The problem
Scaling past 100 to a 500+ headcount can dilute the founding identity. Silos can form between departments, communication slows down, and operational agility drops.
Our collaborative solution
We research the whole system, including cross-departmental friction points, and identify, design and embed the employee experience architecture needed for a high-performance culture.
Key deliverables
Culture blueprints, engagement strategy, manager toolkits, and leadership coaching.
New hire productivity and retention
The problem
New hires take too long to be fully productive and integrate into the culture, with high attrition, while exit feedback is collected in isolation with disjointed action.
Our collaborative solution
We audit the end-to-end lifecycle alongside your team, turning onboarding, recognition, and offboarding into systems that accelerate time-to-productivity and retain talent.
Key deliverables
90-day onboarding journey design, custom recognition architecture, manager toolkits, and exit/alumni system design.
Candidate drop-off & employer brand friction
The friction
Top candidates drop out during hiring stages, employer value propositions feel generic, or poor Glassdoor ratings hurt recruitment speed.
Our collaborative solution
We systematically review your EVP and employer brand so we can co-design a refreshed candidate experience, employer narrative and elevate recruitment performance.
Key deliverables
EVP narrative refresh, candidate experience design, and Glassdoor/benchmark elevation strategy.
Location on the Employee Experience System Map
We see culture as a whole system made up of tangible employee experience factors we map and measure.
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This enables us to identify exactly where to focus to make the biggest impact on business performance.
An example SaltX Employee Experience Radar
Our advisory & design services
01
End-to-end system diagnosis
Research-led diagnostics using our Employee Experience System Map to uncover the levers to drive high performance in your business. By looking at the whole system we unlock performance.
03
Engagement strategy and action deployment
Translating survey outputs into co-designed engagement strategies with 90-day roadmaps supported by leadership coaching and comms.
02
Employee experience design
Designing a high-impact experience across onboarding, recognition, L&D, manager and leadership capability and comms, exit and alumni programmes that protect people investments.
04
Employer brand and EVP architecture
Redesigning hiring workflows and employer value propositions to eliminate candidate drop-off and attract top-tier talent.
C-suite people strategy meets workforce engagement leadership
The Chief People Officer lens
Connects culture and engagement directly to retention metrics, productivity, board reporting, and commercial ROI. A focus on the impact of leadership teams and their strategy.
Co-Founder Ben Howells is a former Chief People Officer.
The Engagement & Comms lens
Translates cultural goals into clear internal narratives that drive active engagement across teams to impact business performance. A focus on root-cause analysis through seeing the whole system.
Co-Founder Matt Morgan is former Head of Engagement & Comms.
Frequently asked questions
How do you work in partnership with our internal HR team?
We work with your team, not to them. Rather than operating as external auditors who hand over a static report, we integrate with your HR and business leaders during the diagnostic and design phases. We provide coaching, frameworks, and build capability so your internal team owns and sustains the outcomes long after our engagement completes.
How do you demonstrate the commercial ROI of engagement work to the board?
Our research-led diagnostic phase isolates factors that impact commercial outcomes—such as time-to-productivity for new hires, voluntary turnover among critical talent, and impact on revenue and net profit—providing the data required for Board buy-in.
Do we need to replace our current engagement survey software (Peakon, Culture Amp, etc.)?
No. We are software-agnostic. We work directly with raw data exported from your existing survey platform, combined with targeted focus groups, interviews and desk research to build actionable execution roadmaps. We can also conduct fresh surveys if you are between software tools.
Ready to identify the levers holding your business back?
Book a 30-minute initial discovery call directly with our founders. We'll explore your current workplace friction and share how our research-first mapping approach can support your business goals.
Matt Morgan
Head of Engagement & Comms
Ben Howells
Chief People Officer
Insights & research
Executive briefings on leadership alignment, culture and change. Read the insights into how to connect your people & culture to business performance by our co-founders.
