Great workplace culture doesn't need a big budget. Lou Matthews, Founder of Culture Craft, shares the systems that make it real for SMEs.

Building a strong workplace culture is one of the most common challenges for UK small businesses, and one of the most misunderstood. Too many employers think culture is about perks, ping-pong tables or away days. Lou Matthews thinks that's exactly the wrong approach: culture needs to be operational, embedded into everyday behaviours, habits and systems, not treated as something separate from the work itself.

Lou is the Founder of Culture Craft, a consultancy helping SMEs build cultures that are practical, sustainable and genuinely felt by the people inside them.

What you'll learn:

• Why "culture as an operating system" changes everything for small businesses
• The concept of Anarchy Day: a low-cost, high-impact way to drive innovation
• How to embed culture into day-to-day systems rather than treating it as a one-off
• What UK SMEs can do right now to shape the future of work inside their teams

[00:18] Introduction: Kevin introduces the show and Lou Matthews [01:13] SME pressures heading into 2026 [03:22] Culture as an operating system: what that actually means [04:56] Does great culture need a budget? [06:01] The three things SMEs can do now: alignment, clarity and accountability [08:02] Wellbeing, Gen Z burnout and how HR teams can help [10:06] The Anarchy Day concept and why it works

Employment Hero helps UK businesses manage their people, from hiring to payroll, all in one place. See how it works: https://employmenthero.com/uk/

Follow Inside the Workroom so you don't miss the next episode.