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The education sector has never faced greater pressure on its people.
Recruitment and retention remain challenging. Staff wellbeing continues to dominate conversations. Leaders are balancing increasing operational demands while supporting children with increasingly complex needs.
In response, many schools have invested in wellbeing initiatives, from mindfulness sessions to employee assistance programmes, but are these enough?
In our latest webinar, Thriving Cultures: Building workplaces where people and performance flourish, Julie Liddell, Managing Director of Still Human, Part of Edwin People, explored why the conversation needs to move beyond wellbeing alone and towards intentionally creating workplace cultures where both people and organisations can thrive.
For many years, staff wellbeing strategies have focused on reducing stress and preventing burnout. While these initiatives remain valuable, Julie argued that they're only one piece of a much bigger picture.
“It's about shifting the conversation from supporting individuals in isolation to intentionally shaping the culture that allows relationships and everything else that sits around that, the environments and the norms that enable people to be at their best and thrive.”
The real opportunity lies in creating workplaces where people don't simply cope, but flourish. Research consistently shows that over half of workplace wellbeing is influenced by organisational factors rather than individual circumstances. In other words, workplace culture is at the heart of the issue.
When schools create environments where people feel valued, connected, supported and purposeful, wellbeing becomes an outcome of the culture, not simply a programme of activities.
At Edwin People, we acknowledge the reality facing education leaders today.
Schools are managing multiple pressures simultaneously, including:
High levels of staff stress and burnout
Ongoing recruitment and retention challenges
Increasing mental health needs among pupils
Attendance concerns
Greater levels of disadvantage and inclusion needs
Preparing young people for an increasingly uncertain future
These challenges aren't disappearing any time soon.
One of the strongest messages throughout the webinar was that every organisation has a culture, whether it has been designed intentionally or not.
As Julie explained, culture isn't created through a mission statement or a wellbeing policy alone.
It's shaped by the everyday experiences of staff:
The most successful organisations don't leave culture to chance, they build it deliberately.
Rather than viewing culture as an HR responsibility, Julie encouraged leaders to see it as everyone's responsibility.
Thriving cultures are co-created. Julie commented “When we’re thinking about thriving cultures, I think it’s really important to remember that culture is co-created and that every single member of the organisation, whether that’s a school or MAT, has a role to play.”
That means involving staff in shaping:
When people feel ownership over the culture they're helping to create, they're far more likely to feel connected, engaged and committed to the organisation.
Many schools already offer wellbeing support, including counselling services, wellbeing champions and employee assistance programmes.
These remain important.
However, the webinar challenged leaders to ask a different question:
What thriving organisations have in common
Drawing on Edwin People's experience of working alongside schools and trusts across the country, Julie highlighted several characteristics consistently found in high-performing organisations.
They make culture a strategic priority: It's embedded within people strategies, leadership development and organisational planning.
They invest in leaders: Leaders and line managers play a critical role in shaping day-to-day experiences. Thriving organisations invest in developing leaders who create psychological safety, support staff effectively, and model positive behaviours.
They listen continuously: Staff voice isn't limited to an annual survey. Successful organisations create regular opportunities for feedback, conversations and co-creation throughout the year.
The prospect of creating a thriving culture can seem overwhelming for some leaders. Julie encouraged leaders to begin with practical, manageable actions rather than large-scale transformation.
These included:
Review your culture: Ask staff what it genuinely feels like to work in your organisation—not just what your values say.
Put staff voice at the centre: Create regular opportunities for feedback and involve colleagues in shaping future improvements.
Review systems, not just individuals: When introducing new policies or initiatives, consider their impact on workload, wellbeing and day-to-day experience.
Invest in leadership development: Equip leaders and managers with the skills to build positive team cultures, support wellbeing and create psychological safety.
Keep culture sustainable: Culture is never "finished." Continue revisiting your values, celebrating successes and adapting as your organisation evolves.
Creating a thriving culture isn't about eliminating every challenge schools face.
Education will always involve complexity, responsibility and periods of pressure.
But schools that intentionally shape their culture create environments where people feel energised, connected and supported. Not despite those challenges, but because of how they work together.
As Julie concluded during the webinar, thriving cultures benefit everyone. Staff are more engaged, organisations perform more effectively, and ultimately children and young people receive the greatest benefit.
For school and trust leaders, investing in culture isn't an optional wellbeing initiative; it's a strategic investment in the future of their workforce and the outcomes they achieve.