Culture

Create an environment where people are motivated and enabled to deliver.

Culture
Why this matters

Culture isn't a poster on the wall — it's the lived experience of every person in your organisation. When culture is healthy, people bring discretionary effort, innovation flows naturally, and retention improves. When it's not, everything becomes harder.

At Five, we don't prescribe culture. We help you discover what's truly driving behaviour in your organisation, surface the gaps between intention and reality, and co-design the shifts that will have the biggest impact.

Whether you're navigating a merger, rebuilding trust after change, or simply want to understand what makes your people tick — our culture work starts with listening and ends with action.

Our team

Meet the Fivers who specialise in this area.

Racheal Reeves

Chief Creative and Behavioural Strategist

Nick Mackeson-Smith

Chief Curiosity Officer, Founder and Director

Helen Mackeson-Smith

People Experience Director

Anna Kingston

Performance Coach

Services we offer in this area

AI Compass

Performance
Every organisation knows AI will reshape how they operate, but the challenge is not awareness, it is knowing where you stand today and what to prioritise next. AI Compass gives leadership teams a clear, measurable view of readiness across strategy, performance, culture, people, and technology. We capture perspectives from every layer, surface the gaps that traditional approaches miss, and translate findings into a prioritised, board-ready roadmap your team can own, execute, and track over time.

AI Strategy & Enablement

Strategy & Leadership
AI is transforming the way businesses operate, but knowing where to start can be overwhelming. We help organisations explore how AI can support their teams, identify the most impactful opportunities, and develop a strategic roadmap for successful adoption. Our approach includes upskilling people, creating a deployment plan, and fostering engagement across the organisation.

Culture Advisory

Culture
Culture plays a critical role in shaping an organisation's success and defining its values and identity.

Culture Discovery

Culture
Get to know your culture and turn it into your superpower.

CultureXpert

Culture
Uncover deep and actionable insights on where enhancements can be made to establish a culture geared towards superior business performance.

Related articles

Nick Mackeson-Smith

The Gap Between What We Say and What We Do

I was sitting in a boardroom a few months ago, watching a leadership team talk with real pride about their culture. They used all the right words, and they meant every one of them. Then I spent two days walking the floors, and what I saw was different. Not dramatically different, but quietly and persistently misaligned in ways that nobody seemed to notice. That gap between intention and action is where most culture work needs to start.

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Nick Mackeson-Smith

What happens when leaders wear their tradition with pride

What does it take to build a workplace where everyone feels safe and proud to bring their full heritage to work - not just during language weeks, but every day? This short piece reflects on a conversation with a leader who showed up to a meeting in Tongan dress, and discusses what leaders can do to support visible, everyday cultural expression at work. It covers practical advice, evidence-based insights, and why it matters for engagement, retention and performance.

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Nick Mackeson-Smith

What's psychosocial legislation all about, and what can we do about it?

On a recent business trip to Sydney, one topic emerged with striking consistency - the new psychosocial legislation. For the CPOs we were talking to, it wasn't just a matter of legal compliance; the conversations revealed a deep-seated concern for the well-being of their workforces, which reflects an increasingly significant shift towards a more holistic approach to workplace safety. Interestingly, this wasn't something we’d heard of at all in our conversations with CPOs in New Zealand. Not yet, at least! After day one of our trip (and three separate conversations where CPOs asked us “what are you guys doing about Psychosocial?”), we realised that our knowledge needed sharpening up, and that there was a clear need being articulated by leaders in the Sydney business community for something to help them address their challenges. Inspired by these discussions, we wanted to share our insights on psychosocial legislation in Australia, and offer insights to New Zealand businesses who may proactively choose to adopt similar frameworks for their employees here. From what we’ve seen and heard, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before this kind of legislation becomes more commonplace.

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Nick Mackeson-Smith

The imperative of understanding organisational culture

In the rapidly evolving business landscape, understanding what drives and creates organisational culture is not just important, it's imperative. At Five NZ, we believe that the right culture is the bedrock for the effective execution of strategy. Understanding and shaping organisational culture is not a luxury, it's a necessity. It's the key to unlocking an organisation's full potential and achieving amazing results.

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Megan Bissett

The Ultimate Guide to Accessibility for Tāngata Whaikaha

As the world has changed there has been greater awareness and drive for diversity within workplaces - but a large section of the population's needs are still being regularly ignored.

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Nick Mackeson-Smith

Changing your mind

This month, I heard the return of “Make your mind up and stick with it”, but what surprised me is that it came out of my mouth! I cried “re-litigation”!But I’m an agile practitioner? I’m adaptable? I’m open to change? I’m ENORMOUSLY flexible. How could this happen to me? When did I lose the ability to pivot and roll with the changes? It was frustrating as hell, and I’ve reflected a lot on it in the last few days.

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Nick Mackeson-Smith

Making Meetings Magic

Oh, meetings! I’ve had countless conversations in my career, and can’t remember a single instance where I’ve heard someone say “I just adore spending my time in meetings - they are so valuable to me and my organisation”. I’ve certainly never said it.

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Nick Mackeson-Smith

COVID-19 - Time for lemonade

When times turn tough it becomes much easier to notice hardship all around you, and to experience hardship for yourself. It’s everywhere right now. People are losing jobs. Doors that once were open have started to close. Business and livelihoods that were successful are already starting to fail. Relationships are beginning to become strained under the increased pressure and stress people are experiencing. It can be crushing.

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Nick Mackeson-Smith

Employers - get ready for your future employees

Education today is changing. It’s different to what many of us grew up with, and may feel unfamiliar or “loose” to those of us who had a more formal and structured education. These days, knowledge can be accessed instantly and doesn’t necessarily need to be committed to memory for ever. The skills our children will need to be successful in this world are demonstrably different to the ones we developed at school. The rate of change has increased significantly, and our approach to education has had to make some pretty big leaps to stay relevant.

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Nick Mackeson-Smith

Unbelievable new joiner experiences

In my whole career of joining and saying goodbye and then joining organisations again, I’ve only experienced an unbelievable new joiner experience once. I also met my wife in the process, so it obviously sticks in my memory! The great thing is, this sort of experience isn’t actually that hard to replicate. The bad thing is, organisations and hiring managers often get in the way of making it a reality for their new people.It’s actually a lot easier than people think.

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