For nearly two decades, I’ve had the privilege of working as a performance psychologist, merging a lifelong passion for sport with a deep curiosity about human behaviour. On and off the field, I’ve seen the incredible impact that mindset, culture, and leadership can have on performance outcomes.
And yet, there’s a persistent challenge I’ve observed — both in elite sport and in the corporate world.
Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, performance psychology is still often seen as a “nice to have” rather than a non-negotiable. The same can be said of organisational effectiveness (OE) strategies in business.
So, why is something so fundamentally linked to results so frequently undervalued?
The Psychology-Performance Disconnect
We know from countless studies that organisational culture, leadership capability, and employee engagement are directly correlated with business success. Research from Gallup, Harvard, and McKinsey consistently shows that investing in people pays off through higher productivity, lower turnover, and increased innovation.
But here’s the catch: translating the intangibles of culture and people into tangible ROI can feel daunting. That uncertainty often leads organisations to deprioritise OE, especially when budgets are tight.
However, forward-thinking organisations are turning this narrative around, because they know that OE isn’t fluff. It’s strategy.
Measuring What Matters: OE in Economic Terms
When assessing the value of organisational effectiveness, we must ask the right questions:
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What does it cost when we lose a high-potential employee?
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How much productivity is lost through disengagement?
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What is the return on a leader who can coach, motivate, and inspire their team?
These questions have measurable answers. In fact, many leading companies now assess metrics such as:
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Employee turnover and replacement costs
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Selection accuracy and recruitment expenses
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Performance variability between high- and low-fit hires
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Training impact and retention of capability
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Employee wellbeing and self-care behaviours
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Organisational commitment and job satisfaction
When captured and analysed effectively, these metrics tell a compelling story—and build a strong business case for a robust OE strategy.
A Case Study in Strategic OE: Arts Centre Melbourne
Arts Centre Melbourne (ACM) provides a powerful example of OE done right. After reporting a $7 million loss in 2013, the organisation reimagined its approach—elevating people and culture to the centre of its strategic plan.
As CEO Claire Spencer explained:
ACM partnered with OE consultants to define its desired culture, align leadership behaviours, and embed these values into every system and process. The results were telling:
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A significant increase in staff engagement (2015–2016)
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A 97% customer satisfaction rating
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Clear articulation of purpose, values, and vision
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A return to commercial profitability
This transformation wasn’t magic. It was method. And it’s repeatable.
Building a Strategy that Sticks
You might already have elements of an OE strategy in place—but is it comprehensive? Is it aligned to your organisational goals and culture? Is it grounded in behavioural science?
A truly effective OE strategy considers the entire talent lifecycle:
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Recruitment and Selection: Using evidence-based assessment tools to hire for both skill and culture fit
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Leadership and Team Development: Fostering self-awareness, capability, and trust through coaching and targeted development
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Culture and Engagement: Creating psychologically safe environments where people thrive
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Wellbeing and Resilience: Supporting sustainable performance through individual and systemic wellbeing initiatives
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Career Alignment: Enabling growth through career pathways, transition services, and organisation design
Each element must be tailored to your unique context—and regularly reviewed to ensure it evolves with your organisation’s needs.
Strategic, Not Reactive
The most successful organisations treat OE as proactive, not reactive. They don’t wait for cracks to appear before investing in their people systems. They build the capability, clarity, and culture needed to unlock performance before it’s urgent.
Yes, developing an OE strategy requires commitment. But approached systematically, and supported by skilled practitioners in organisational psychology, the return on investment is significant—both commercially and culturally.
As Robert Levering famously said:
Is your organisation set up to be that kind of workplace?
If you’re ready to explore the ROI of organisational effectiveness, let’s start a conversation.
Reach out to a Steople consultant and discover what’s possible when psychology meets performance.
Contact us to learn more.
In today’s fast-moving, talent-driven world, building a great culture isn’t optional—it’s a strategic imperative.
But great culture isn’t built on perks or posters. It’s built on behaviours. Specifically, the consistent, everyday behaviours of leaders and teams: how feedback is given, how decisions are made, how conflict is handled, how people show up when things get hard.
At Steople, we know that real culture change starts with individual leadership transformation. But it doesn’t end there. To make change scalable and sustainable, organisations must embed the behaviour change coaching philosophy into their broader systems, turning it into a cultural operating model.
Why Culture is a Collection of Behaviours
Organisational culture is often described as “how things are done around here.” But what drives that? Repeated patterns of behaviour. That’s why any effort to evolve culture must focus not just on values or vision, but on shifting the specific behaviours that bring those ideas to life.
Through our work across industries and regions, we’ve seen that lasting change happens when:
- Coaching is not reserved for the top but is cascaded across levels
- Feedback is normalised and appreciated, not feared
- Behavioural expectations are clear, observed, and reinforced
- Individual growth is supported by team reflection
Scaling the Steople Behaviour Change Model
The beauty of the Steople model—Awareness, Desire, Skill-Building, Practice, Feedback, Measurement—is that it works at scale. Here’s how:
✅ Awareness at Team and Org Level
Use team assessments, engagement surveys, and culture diagnostics to generate collective insight. Understand, for example, where the gaps are in collaboration, trust, or psychological safety?
✅ Desire Through Shared Purpose
Connect behaviour change to team and business goals. Why does improving accountability or communication matter to this team? How will it improve their success?
✅ Skill-Building via Training & Enablement
Equip teams with practical skills—like constructive feedback, conflict navigation, or inclusive leadership—through targeted workshops and just-in-time learning.
✅ Practice in the Flow of Work
Encourage action plans tied to real-world tasks. Use retrospectives, sprint reviews, or meeting rituals to reinforce new habits.
✅ Feedback Loops Across Levels
Foster a feedback culture where individuals seek, give, and act on feedback—vertically and laterally.
✅ Measurement as Culture Pulse
Use pulse checks, behavioural metrics, and outcome indicators to track cultural shifts. Don’t just measure sentiment—measure what people do differently.
Case Spotlight: Rajini’s Team and the Trust Turnaround
In Blog 3, we introduced Rajini—a high-performing leader learning to delegate and empower her team. As she applied the Steople behaviour change coaching model, her own transformation sparked a broader shift.
What changed?
- Her team began reflecting on their own styles in response to her modelling new behaviours.
- Rajini introduced peer feedback sessions and encouraged everyone to share learning goals.
- The team adopted a “Growth Moments” ritual in team meetings, where members shared what they were practising and what support they needed.
- Trust scores on their internal team health check rose by 22% in 3 months.
Why it worked: The change wasn’t isolated. It was supported, shared, and sustained.
From Coaching to Culture: Steople’s Scalable Tools
Here are some of the ways we help organisations embed a behaviour change culture:
- 360° Feedback Programs that focus not just on awareness, but on development plans
- Team Coaching aligned to group goals and interpersonal dynamics
- Psychometric tools across hiring, onboarding, and development stages
- Manager-as-Coach programs that scale coaching capability
- Pulse surveys that track behavioural culture indicators over time
The Future of Work is Behaviour-Driven
AI, automation, and disruption are transforming what we do. But how we do it—how we lead, connect, grow, and collaborate—will continue to define our performance and wellbeing.
That’s why behaviour change culture is not just an HR project. It’s a business advantage.
Ready to scale behaviour change in your organisation?
Let’s talk about building a culture of growth, feedback, and psychological safety with Steople
Book a time to speak with a Steople consultant today!
Self-awareness is essential, and self-reflection is the key to gaining it. But awareness on its own isn’t enough.
How many times have you heard someone say, “I know I need to change,” yet nothing shifts? Maybe you’ve even said something similar yourself.
Leaders aren’t always aware when they’re being overly reactive, caught in the details, or avoiding difficult conversations, but their teams feel it. They notice when trust is low and communication starts to break down. Recognising the issue is just the first step.
The real transformation happens when insight leads to action and that’s where behaviour change coaching becomes a game-changer.
The Missing Link in Most Coaching Programs
Many coaching approaches stop at awareness. They deliver a great psychometric report, a few compelling insights, and maybe even an inspiring conversation. But without a structured follow-through, the momentum stalls and nothing actually changes.
What makes Steople’s coaching approach different is our commitment to helping clients move from insight → clarity → action → reinforcement. We don’t just coach for awareness; we coach for lasting and meaningful change.
Applying the Model: How Behaviour Change Coaching Works
Let’s look at how the Steople Positive Behaviour Change Model shows up in practice.
Case Example: From Micromanagement to Empowerment
Rajini, a senior leader in an accounting firm, scored highly on drive and analytical thinking, but struggled with delegation and trust. Feedback from peers described a tendency to “take over” and “get in the weeds.”
Stage 1: Awareness
Psychometric data and 360° feedback helped Rajini recognise this pattern and its unintended impact: disempowering their team.
Stage 2: Desire
With support from their coach, Rajini connected this behaviour to their identity as a “problem-solver”, realising that holding on too tightly was limiting both team growth and strategic focus.
Stage 3: Skill-Building
Together with their coach, Rajini practiced setting clearer expectations, using coaching-style questions, and holding space during team check-ins.
Stage 4: Practice
Over eight weeks, Rajini committed to stepping back in meetings and allowing direct reports to present updates. Rajini journaled their reflections and shared progress with their coach.
Stage 5: Feedback
Midway through, Rajini invited feedback from team members, who noticed a shift in tone in Rajini’s approach and letting go of tasks. This validation was a key motivator for Rajini to continue practising these new skills.
Stage 6: Measurement
By the final session, Rajini self-rated against the behavioural goal of “delegates appropriately” and tracked improvements in team engagement survey scores.
Outcome:
Rajini increased delegation and team accountability, which provided them more time for strategic focus. This was a real and noticeable positive shift in behaviour, which is measurable and meaningful.
Coaching as a Catalyst, Not a Crutch
At Steople, we don’t create dependency on coaching. We create self-generating growth. The coach acts as a catalyst, challenging thinking, introducing tools and resources, and holding space for reflection. But ultimately, the power lies with the coachee.
Using our Steople model, leaders learn how to:
- Translate feedback into action
- Reinforce new habits through repetition
- Build their own accountability loops
- Measure their growth in ways that align with business goals
- Make changes that are meaningful to the leader and impactful to others
What Makes Steople Coaching Stick?
✔ A psychologically grounded model
✔ Personalised behavioural goals
✔ Real-time practice and feedback
✔ Organisational alignment
✔ Measurement over time
✔ Great relationships between coach and coachee
It’s this holistic approach that enables Steople to drive meaningful and measurable behaviour change across all levels of an organisation.
Up Next
In the final article of this series, we’ll explore how to scale this impact: embedding a culture of feedback, growth, and continuous development at the team and organisational level.
Curious how coaching could shift behaviour—and culture—in your business?
Contact us to learn more.
If you think investing in employee wellbeing is just a “nice-to-have” or solely HR’s responsibility, it’s time to reconsider. Groundbreaking research from the McKinsey Health Institute (Jeffery et. al., 2025) reveals a compelling truth: companies that genuinely prioritise their people’s health consistently outperform their competitors. And not by a small margin.
Between 2021 and 2024, the “Well-being 100” — a portfolio of companies rated highest for employee wellbeing on the job platform Indeed — significantly outperformed major market indices like the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Russell 3000. (Jeffery et. al., 2025, De Neve et. al., 2024) This research clearly shows that employee wellbeing is not just an ethical imperative; it’s a powerful business advantage that directly affects your bottom line.
Sourced From: Jeffery et. al. (2025) Thriving workplaces: How employers can improve productivity and change lives. McKinsey Health Institute.
The Reality Check: Where Does Your Workforce Stand?
McKinsey’s comprehensive global survey (De Neve et. al., 2024) of over 30,000 employees across 30 countries paints a sobering picture. Only 37% of employees reported experiencing good holistic health, a broad concept encompassing mental, physical, social, and spiritual well-being. Meanwhile, about 20% showed signs of burnout, an alarming figure for any organisation.
The challenges vary by industry. Higher burnout rates were observed in sectors such as accounting, retail, agriculture, and arts/media. On the other hand, industries like education, engineering, and human resources tended to report better wellbeing scores and lower burnout levels.
One notable insight is the heightened risk faced by employees juggling caregiving responsibilities alongside work, a segment that requires tailored organisational support to avoid burnout and disengagement.
From an economic perspective, McKinsey estimates that improving employee well-being could unlock up to $11.7 trillion in global economic value. This stems from increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and presenteeism (when employees are physically at work but not fully functioning), better talent attraction and retention, and significantly lower healthcare costs.
Why Leadership Is the Critical Link Between Wellbeing and Performance
While these findings are enlightening, they also raise a crucial question: how do organisations translate data and insights into meaningful action?
The answer lies in leadership. The McKinsey research highlights that leadership commitment and behaviours are foundational to embedding well-being into workplace culture. Leaders who understand and model behaviours that promote wellbeing help foster environments where employees feel valued, supported, and motivated, directly impacting organisational success.
At Steople, we have taken these insights to heart by developing the Leading for Performance and Wellbeing Assessment™, a 360-degree leadership assessment designed to identify and cultivate the critical behaviours that drive a healthy balance between performance and wellbeing.
What Does Effective Leadership for Wellbeing Look Like?
The Steople Leading for Performance and Wellbeing model™ highlights seven key leadership capabilities:
- Builds Capability and Accountability: Effective leaders empower employees with the skills and responsibility they need to succeed.
- Purpose and Direction: Leaders provide clear vision and meaning behind work, which fuels engagement.
- Consistency: Predictable, fair behaviours build trust and psychological safety.
- Authenticity and Genuineness: Sincere interactions foster real connection and loyalty.
- Emotional Adaptability: Leaders who demonstrate resilience and flexibility inspire their teams to do the same.
- Supportiveness: Genuine support motivates beyond transactional relationships.
- Trust: The cornerstone of positive workplace relationships and collaboration.
These aren’t abstract ideals; they are measurable behaviours that translate directly into increased employee well-being, engagement, and performance.
How Steople Helps Bring This Leadership Model to Life
We know leadership development requires more than theory—it demands practical tools and measurable outcomes. That’s why Steople offers an integrated approach:
- Organisational Insights: Our bespoke surveys and data analytics reveal your organisation’s unique culture and wellbeing landscape, identifying areas for targeted improvement.
- Engagement, Performance & Well-being Surveys: We measure what truly matters across all levels—from CEO to frontline staff.
- Leadership Assessments & Coaching: Our Leading for Performance and Wellbeing™ assessment delivers personalised insights and development plans to strengthen leaders’ critical capabilities.
- SCORE Program: An award-winning initiative designed to reduce workplace stress and incivility, enhancing retention and overall morale.
- Mental Health Ambassador Training: Our Working Wellbeing program equips employees to become skilled mental health champions who support colleagues and foster resilience.
- Workshops & Espresso Series: Practical sessions on topics such as boundary management, mindfulness, gratitude, and mental health tailored for leaders and teams.
- Acceptance & Commitment Training: Interactive sessions that build psychological flexibility, helping individuals manage stress and stay aligned with personal and organisational values.
Why This Matters — And Why It Matters Now
The McKinsey study—and decades of psychological research—make one thing clear: employee wellbeing is inseparable from organisational success. Happier, healthier employees are more productive, more innovative, and more loyal. They take fewer sick days, perform better while on the job, and stay longer, reducing costly turnover.
But creating this environment requires leaders who are equipped, accountable, and genuinely committed to fostering a culture where wellbeing and performance coexist.
Steople’s Leading for Performance and Wellbeing model™ offers a proven, practical pathway to develop those leaders. Paired with our evidence-based programs, we help organisations unlock their people’s full potential — for the benefit of employees, investors, and customers alike.
Take Action Today: Invest in Leadership, Invest in Your People
The future of work demands that we rethink leadership and wellbeing as inseparable pillars of success. If you want to move beyond talk and make tangible progress in creating a thriving workforce, the time to act is now.
Connect with us to explore how Steople’s leadership and wellbeing solutions can help you build stronger, more resilient teams, equipped to meet today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities.
Whether you’re facing high turnover, low engagement, or simply want to future-proof your organisation, we’re here to partner with you. Together, we can turn insight into impact.
Reach out today at info@steople.com.au for a no-obligation conversation or to schedule a complimentary organisational wellbeing snapshot, or visit steople.com.au to learn more.
Interested in reading the full studies? Find the links below:
Jeffery, B., Weddle, B., Brassey, W., & Thaker, S. (2025). Thriving workplaces: How employers can improve productivity and change lives. McKinsey Health Institute.
De Neve, J.-E., Kaats, M., & Ward, G. (2024) Workplace Wellbeing and Firm Performance. University of Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre.
If you’ve ever led change in an organisation, you know this: insight alone doesn’t create transformation.
You can run a 360° survey, deliver feedback reports, even provide executive coaching—but without a structured and supported pathway forward, behaviour change is often short-lived. People slide back into old habits, even when they know better.
That’s why we created the Steople Positive Behaviour Change Model—a simple yet scientifically grounded framework that turns self-awareness into sustained behavioural growth.
In this article, we’ll unpack the six stages of our model and explain how it underpins Steople’s coaching, assessment, and leadership development programs.
A Model Rooted in Psychology and Practice
At Steople, we draw from core psychological theories including:
- Transtheoretical Model of Change – which emphasises readiness for change across stages
- Self-Determination Theory – highlighting the importance of autonomy, competence, and relatedness
- Social Cognitive Theory – where modelling, reinforcement, and self-efficacy fuel behaviour adoption
Combined with our experience coaching hundreds of leaders, we’ve distilled the process into a pragmatic sequence that guides clients from insight to embedded habit.
The 6 Stages of the Steople Behaviour Change Model
- Awareness
“You can’t change what you can’t see.”
Change starts with clarity. Through experience and attention, we can understand where the need for change exists. We may use psychometric assessments, 360° feedback, structured interviews, and facilitated coaching, as a catalyst for individuals develop deep awareness of their behavioural patterns, strengths, and blind spots. This is where coaching begins—not with advice, but with reflection.
- Desire
“Insight creates opportunity. Desire fuels commitment.”
Awareness alone doesn’t guarantee action. People need to want to grow. Steople coaches work to uncover personal motivations—connecting behavioural change to identity, values, or goals. This taps into intrinsic motivation, the most sustainable driver of change.
- Skill-Building
“New behaviour requires new tools.”
Once a client is committed, we help them build the practical capabilities needed to show up differently—whether it’s conflict resolution, strategic delegation, or coaching their own teams. We draw on evidence-based tools, frameworks, and real-world examples to support this step.
- Practice
“Repetition is the path to mastery.”
Theory becomes real when it’s applied. Through role-playing, shadowing, scenario analysis, or guided experiments, clients put new behaviours into practice in the flow of work. This echoes Bandura’s Social Learning Theory—we learn by doing, especially when feedback follows.
- Feedback
“Progress needs perspective.”
Constructive feedback from managers, peers, or coaches is crucial. We encourage structured feedback loops to reinforce what’s working and calibrate what’s not. This builds self-efficacy—the belief that one can change—which is essential for sustained effort.
- Measurement
“What gets measured gets reinforced.”
The final—and often overlooked—step is tracking change. Through pulse surveys, coaching check-ins, or behavioural metrics, we create accountability. Measurement turns subjective improvement into visible momentum and reinforces organisational commitment to growth.
Why the Model Works
What makes the Steople behaviour change model different is its blend of science and application. It’s:
- Simple enough to be memorable
- Flexible enough to adapt to different individuals and contexts
- Rigorous enough to hold up under scrutiny from HR, executives, and psychologists alike
And it works—because it was designed to work with how people actually change, not just how we wish they would.
Bringing the Model to Life Through Coaching
Every Steople coaching engagement is tailored, but the underlying rhythm remains consistent: generate awareness, ignite desire, build skills, practice them, reinforce with feedback, and measure outcomes. This structure allows our coaches to deliver consistent, measurable impact—while empowering individuals to take ownership of their own growth.
Next Up
In our third article, we’ll explore how this model shows up in real-world coaching engagements—sharing practical examples of how behaviour change coaching leads to breakthrough performance and stronger cultures.
Want to explore how the Steople behaviour change model could drive measurable growth in your leaders or teams?
Reach out to us to learn more.
Let’s face it; real, lasting behaviour change is hard.
Whether you’re trying to coach a leader to delegate more, help a team communicate better, or guide someone through a transition, change doesn’t happen just because we want it to. Even with the best intentions, people often revert to old habits. Why? Because without structure, support, and science, change simply doesn’t stick.
At Steople, we believe positive behaviour change is not just possible, it’s essential. It’s the foundation of everything we do. Whether we’re coaching a senior executive, assessing a team, or designing an organisation-wide program, we draw from psychological science to build sustainable, human-centred development strategies.
The Psychology Behind Why Change Fails
Many change initiatives overlook one simple truth: humans are not logic machines—we are emotion- and habit-driven beings. According to the Transtheoretical Model of Change, people move through distinct stages: Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action, and Maintenance. Without guiding someone through each phase, especially the messy middle between insight and implementation, change stalls.
Likewise, Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci) tells us that to be intrinsically motivated, people need three things:
- Autonomy – to feel they are in control of their decisions
- Competence – to believe they can succeed
- Relatedness – to feel supported and connected
Traditional coaching often neglects these core needs—pushing people to “improve” without understanding what matters to them. At Steople, we do things differently.
The Steople Positive Behaviour Change Model
Our model is built around six critical stages, rooted in decades of psychological research and practical coaching experience:
- Awareness
We begin by developing deep self-awareness—using data-driven tools such as personality assessments, 360° feedback, and behavioural interviews. Self-awareness activates the contemplation phase of change and creates a readiness to improve. - Desire
Insight alone doesn’t create action. The individual must develop an internal motivation—a desire—to grow. This aligns with intrinsic motivation theory, which states that change is more likely when driven by personal values and goals, not external pressure. - Skill-Building
Drawing on Social Learning Theory (Bandura), we know people learn new behaviours by observing, modelling, and practising. At this stage, we work with the individual to develop specific, relevant capabilities aligned to their role and aspirations. - Practice
New behaviours need repetition to become habits. This is where coaching becomes hands-on—integrating real work challenges and using behavioural rehearsal, feedback loops, and direct observation to embed learning. - Feedback
Feedback reinforces self-efficacy. According to Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory, people need to see progress to sustain effort. We help leaders seek timely, constructive feedback so they can adjust and continue growing. - Measurement
Measurement provides accountability and closure. Whether through pulse surveys, behavioural KPIs, or coach reflections, monitoring change over time solidifies progress and helps organisations quantify impact.
Why Coaching Needs This Model
Without a structured psychological framework, coaching risks becoming aimless, nice conversations with little follow-through. But when coaching is grounded in science, it becomes transformative.
Our coaches use this model not as a rigid formula, but as a guide—tailoring the experience to each individual’s readiness, goals, and context. That’s what makes our approach both human and high-impact.
What’s Next
In our next article, we’ll explore how we bring this model to life in practice, and how behaviour change coaching can help leaders thrive, teams align, and strategy come to life.
Because with the right insights, tools, and support, positive behaviour change isn’t just possible. It’s powerful.
Ready to explore Steople’s coaching approach for your leaders or teams?
Contact us to learn more.