Shaping organisational culture from the inside out.
By applying behavioural science models such as COM-B and APEASE, organisations can identify barriers to change, enable action, and foster trust, inclusion, and wellbeing.
At MacMartin, we’ve recently conducted behavioural insights work with Surrey Police to inform two internal behaviour change campaigns. While the details of this project must remain confidential, it reinforced something we see time and again across hierarchical organisations: culture change doesn’t happen by chance. It happens by design.
Why culture matters in hierarchical organisations.
In public services such as policing, fire and healthcare, culture isn’t just a backdrop to operations – it underpins performance, wellbeing, and public trust. These organisations rely on discipline, hierarchy and procedure, but they also need adaptability, openness and a learning mindset.
Balancing those forces is no easy task. High-pressure environments demand decisions that are both quick and consistent. Yet, without a positive culture, those same environments can become places of stress, resistance, and disengagement.
When culture is thriving:
- People feel supported, respected, and motivated.
- Teams collaborate effectively because trust is present.
- Colleagues speak up when something isn’t right.
- Staff role-model the behaviours the organisation wants to see.
- Individuals feel proud to be part of something bigger.
When culture falters, however, the ripple effects are felt everywhere – from frontline service delivery to staff retention and wellbeing. Performance dips, burnout rises, and public trust can erode.
Internal communications as culture-shapers.
Too often, internal communications are seen as functional: a way to share new procedures, updated policies, or changes to reporting structures. And while clarity of information is important, information alone doesn’t change behaviour.
Think of it this way: most of us know we should eat more healthily or exercise more. But that knowledge alone rarely shifts our day-to-day choices. The same is true within organisations.
This is where behavioural science adds real value. It recognises that behaviour is influenced not only by knowledge, but by three critical factors:
Capability
Do people have the skills and confidence to act?
Opportunity
Are the right systems, resources and social norms in place?
Motivation
Do they feel the personal drive and value behind the change?
Internal campaigns designed with these in mind move beyond “telling” and start actively shaping culture. Done well, they:
Build psychological safety, where colleagues feel confident to speak up.
Signal what behaviours are valued and rewarded.
Normalise positive action until it becomes second nature.
Internal comms, in other words, is not just about what you say, but about how you design the environment around that message.
How behaviour change supports culture.
Behavioural science provides a structured, evidence-based process for shaping culture from the inside out. Instead of beginning with the question, “How do we get people to follow this policy?”, we start with more fundamental ones:
- What is the current behaviour, and is it really a problem?
- What is the specific behaviour we want to see?
- What barriers stand in the way – is it a skills gap, lack of resources, or low motivation?
- How can communications and interventions support people to act differently, consistently, over time?
To answer these, we use:
COM-B
Capability, Opportunity, Motivation – Behaviour: helping us diagnose the real drivers of behaviour.
APEASE
Affordability, Practicability, Effectiveness, Acceptability, Side-effects, Equity: ensuring interventions are realistic and ethical.
BCT’s
Behaviour Change Techniques: such as goal setting and problem solving.
IF’s
Intervention Functions: such as Modelling, Education, Persuasion and Incentivisation.
For example:
- If capability is low, internal campaigns might focus on education, training or simple step-by-step tools.
- If opportunity is the barrier, we look at restructuring processes or providing prompts and resources.
- If motivation is lacking, we focus on storytelling, credible role-modelling and demonstrating positive outcomes.
This structured process ensures we’re not just raising awareness, but enabling action – the crucial difference between campaigns that merely fade into the background and those that drive meaningful, lasting change.
Internal comms and the bigger picture of culture.
Culture is ultimately the sum of the behaviours that people see, accept and repeat every day. Internal campaigns are powerful levers in shaping that, because they can:
Embed organisational values in day-to-day practice.
Create consistency across departments and teams.
Role-model expectations from leadership downward.
Shift narratives – reframing challenges into opportunities for growth.
Foster inclusion by ensuring messaging reflects diverse voices and perspectives.
In hierarchical organisations, especially, communications have the dual role of informing and signalling priorities. Every internal message, whether from the Chief Constable, a team leader, or a campaign poster in a break room, says something about what matters here.
When designed well, those signals build a culture that is not only compliant with rules, but also committed to shared values.
Looking ahead...
Culture isn’t transformed overnight. It requires consistent reinforcement, visible role-modelling, and communications that empower people to act, not just to know. But the payoff is significant.
When organisations commit to behaviourally informed internal campaigns, they don’t just inform their people – they create a culture that is more resilient, inclusive, and aligned with their goals.
At MacMartin, we believe every message is an opportunity to shape culture. When designed with behavioural insight, internal communications stop being an afterthought and become one of the most powerful levers for lasting organisational change.
Whether you’re looking to embed new practices, strengthen values, or improve well-being, our team at MacMartin can help you design internal campaigns that don’t just share information but spark action.
