The Leisure Industry’s best practice Systematic Culture Audit
Your best facility manager just handed in their notice. Again. Your customer service scores are inconsistent across shifts. Staff morale seems to dip every winter, and you’re not sure why. Sound familiar?
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: most leisure operations are flying blind when it comes to workplace culture. We measure everything else – utilisation rates, revenue per square foot, energy costs, customer satisfaction. But culture? That’s still treated like some mystical force that either exists or doesn’t.
Culture Isn’t Soft – It’s Strategic
In public sector leisure, culture directly impacts your bottom line and your community impact. When culture works, you see:
- 23% lower staff turnover (that’s £15,000+ saved per prevented departure)
- 31% higher customer service scores
- 37% better collaboration between operations, programming, and facilities teams
- 18% improvement in health and safety compliance
When it doesn’t work, you’re constantly firefighting staffing crises instead of focusing on what matters: delivering exceptional experiences for your community.
The Problem with Culture “Initiatives”
Most organisations approach culture with good intentions but no methodology. They run team-building days, put values posters on walls, and hope for the best. Then they wonder why nothing changes.
The issue isn’t effort – it’s measurement. You can’t improve what you don’t measure, and you can’t measure what you don’t define.
Introducing the 11-Point Culture Audit System
We’ve developed the first comprehensive culture audit specifically designed for leisure operations. This isn’t generic HR theory – it’s built from the ground up for the unique challenges you face:
The 11 Cultural Touchpoints:
- Hiring Process – Are you attracting people who’ll thrive in your environment?
- Onboarding Excellence – Do new starters feel prepared and welcomed?
- Cross-Functional Collaboration – Are your departments working together or in silos?
- Manager Effectiveness – Can your supervisors actually develop people?
- Meeting Culture – Are your meetings driving progress or wasting time?
- Learning & Development – Do people see a future with you?
- Wellbeing & Benefits – How do you support teams through demanding periods?
- Recognition Systems – Do people feel valued for their contributions?
- Psychological Safety – Can staff speak up about problems and ideas?
- Retention Strategy – Are you keeping the people you want to keep?
- Values Alignment – Do your stated values match lived reality?
Each touchpoint gets scored on a 4-point scale, giving you a clear percentage score and priority action list. No more guessing – just data-driven culture improvement.
Built for Leisure, by Leisure Professionals
This audit understands your world. It accounts for:
- Seasonal staffing variations and maintaining culture through workforce changes
- Customer-facing pressure and the emotional labour of leisure services
- Mixed employment types – permanent, casual, volunteers, and contractors
- Budget constraints in public sector environments
- Community accountability and the values-driven nature of your work
Join Us for the Deep Dive
On 21st October, 9:30am – 1:00pm, we’re running an intensive session that will equip you with everything needed to audit and improve your culture systematically.
https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/4fd22a03-1c4b-4bec-b8bb-a4a952959a0a@bbc10560-da20-499e-9f87-2275e1e6306e
What You’ll Learn:
- How to conduct a comprehensive culture audit
- Which cultural touchpoints have the biggest impact in leisure
- How to turn audit results into 30-day action plans
- Case studies from trusts, councils, and university operations
- Implementation strategies that work within public sector constraints
Who Should Attend:
- Operations Directors and General Managers
- HR and People Development leads
- Senior leadership team members
- Anyone responsible for team performance and engagement
Your Expert Panel:
- Craig, OpsExcellence – Operational excellence consultant with 15+ years in leisure management
- Libby Kirkley Bryan – Culture transformation specialist with proven track record in public sector leisure
- Helen Jagger – Organisational development professional focused on people-centred operations
This Changes Everything
By the end of this session, you’ll have:
- A complete culture audit conducted for your operation
- Your top 3 priority improvement areas identified
- A 90-day implementation roadmap
- Connection to peers facing similar challenges
- Ongoing support through the OpsExcellence community
Ready to Stop Guessing
Culture isn’t mysterious – it’s measurable, manageable, and transformable. The question is: are you ready to treat it as seriously as your other business metrics?
About the Author: Craig founded OpsExcellence to help leisure operations move from reactive management to proactive excellence. As someone living with dyslexia, he understands the importance of clear, actionable frameworks that work in the real world of leisure operations.
Sources
- Gallup State of the Workplace Report, 2024
- CIPD Employee Outlook Survey, 2024
- Quest Professional Development Research, 2024
- Internal case study data, OpsExcellence, 2024-2025
