In my 24 years working in HR and plant operations – across green field projects, union negotiations, and day-to-day shop floor management – I have seen something that no audit report captures: culture does not die with a bang. It quietly fades.
You notice it first in small things. Meetings that once had energy become agenda-driven checkboxes. Supervisors stop giving honest feedback. Workers do just enough. The values poster is still on the wall – but nobody is living by it.
We call this culture atrophy. And in my experience, it is one of the most dangerous – and most ignored – risks in any manufacturing organisation.
“Culture is not what leadership announces. It is what employees repeatedly experience.”
What I Have Seen on the Ground
Early in my career, I joined a plant that had beautiful value statements, integrity, teamwork, and excellence. The induction programme covered all of them. But within three months on the floor, I noticed a very...
