FAQs
We understand that cultivating high performing cultures is a journey filled with curiosity and inquiry.
Below, we have compiled answers to common questions to guide you through our approach and services.
Diagnostics and Assessment
A diagnostic typically involves an online survey completed by employees and contractors, senior-level interviews, and representative focus groups. Where appropriate, we also conduct site observations and review incident reports to gain deeper insights into behaviours, habits, and culture. This blended approach provides a multi-dimensional view of your organisation that goes beyond perception alone.
The survey phase generally runs for four weeks, though this may extend depending on shift patterns, site access, or holiday periods. Alongside the survey, we conduct focus groups and interviews. Once data collection is complete, we allow two to three weeks for analysis and reporting. A full diagnostic typically takes six to eight weeks from start of the live survey completion to initial findings.
Ideally, everyone across the organisation, including contractors, should be given the opportunity to take part. Where a diagnostic is focused on a particular project or team, participation is limited to those directly involved.
If everyone is given the opportunity to participate in the survey, any level of response is considered representative. However, if surveying a sample of the organisation or team, the required size depends on the total population. Smaller groups require a larger percentage of responses to ensure reliability. We work with clients to recommend an appropriate approach and ensure coverage across relevant groups, such as departments, locations, and roles.
Our diagnostic can use a mix of online surveys, in-person or virtual interviews, focus groups, and on-site observations. Where necessary, paper surveys or offline data collection methods are available. We also review incident reports and safety data to deepen cultural insights, particularly in safety-critical environments.
The diagnostic provides a clear picture of your current culture, highlighting strengths and identifying gaps between perception and reality. It helps pinpoint areas that are supporting or hindering high performance and cultural maturity. The results guide the design of any subsequent programme, ensuring interventions are focused, relevant, and evidence-based.
We can work with your existing data, analysing it through the lens of our framework. While survey questions may differ, we align available insights with our methodology to avoid duplication and ensure value.
An Assessment refers specifically to the online survey element, which captures opinions and perceptions across your organisation. A Diagnostic is broader, combining the assessment results with interviews, focus groups, site observations, and additional analysis to build a deeper, contextual understanding.
The survey itself takes around 20–30 minutes to complete, depending on the level of written feedback participants choose to provide. The survey typically remains open for four to six weeks, allowing time for all participants, including those on shifts or remote sites, to respond. Preparation, communication and analysis add several weeks on either side.
Yes. The survey platform we use supports over 50 languages. We work with clients to ensure translations are accurate, culturally appropriate, and aligned with the organisation’s terminology.
Yes. We offer solutions for offline participation, including paper surveys and the use of tablet devices with offline functionality. Responses collected offline are uploaded securely once internet access is available.
No. All responses are confidential. Results are only reported for groups of five or more to protect confidentiality. Our analysis tools safeguard against identifying individuals through combining demographic categories where required.
Yes. We provide a real-time response tracking dashboard showing participation rates across key groups and demographics. This helps ensure good coverage and allows us to follow up where response rates are low.
Yes. Both the Lumina Spark questionnaire and the resulting individual reports are available in multiple languages, ensuring accessibility and relevance across global teams.
Programme Design and Support
A typical programme may include a combination of workshops, one-to-one or group coaching, leadership team development, dynamic coaching (on-site, in-the-moment support), and learning sprints. Programmes are designed to embed non-technical skills such as psychological safety, leadership behaviours, communication, and team cohesion.
Programmes often include:
- Skill-building workshops (targeted at leadership, workforce, or both)
- Coaching (executive, leadership, supervisory, or dynamic coaching on site)
- Pulse surveys to check the ‘temperature’ and gather feedback throughout
- Progress monitoring tools to track behaviour change and programme impact
- Embedding capability through training internal coaches and facilitators to sustain the work long term
Each programme is tailored to your organisation’s context, culture, and goals.
Programmes are co-designed with you, and supported by a dedicated FidesOak® Programme Manager who works alongside your internal contact, working group, or steering committee. Together, we plan delivery, schedule activities, and align with your operational needs.
We support you with communication, logistics and coordinating workshops, and provide ongoing advice and support to ensure smooth implementation across sites and teams.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer. Cultural change takes time, and programmes may run from several months to two years, depending on your organisation’s needs, scale, and readiness. Our approach is flexible and collaborative; we work with you to agree on duration and milestones.
Where possible, we focus on building your internal capability so that over time, your people can carry the work forward independently as we exit.
Our goal is to leave behind sustainable capability, not dependency. Long-term support may include:
- Training internal facilitators or coaches (including the option of the EMCC-accredited DECADE® Academy)
- Train-the-trainer programmes for workshop delivery
- Use of the HPT® Monitoring Tool to continue tracking behaviours and cultural health after the programme concludes
- Coaching supervision to support the development of your internal coaches
- Optional re-engagement for pulse surveys, diagnostics, or refreshers if desired
We work with you to ensure capability is embedded before we step away, with a clear exit strategy that aligns with your organisation’s needs.
Tailoring and Flexibility
Yes. We regularly align our programmes with an organisation’s existing strategies, frameworks, behavioural standards, and values. Our role is not to redesign your processes or write new procedures. Instead, we work alongside what you already have, helping to bring these frameworks to life through behaviours, leadership support, and cultural alignment.
Workshop content, coaching remits, and diagnostic demographics are all adjusted to fit your language, context, and organisational structure. We also integrate your values, strategy, and documentation into the programme where appropriate.
Yes. We have experience supporting organisations during mergers, acquisitions, restructures, and other periods of significant change. While we do not manage the operational integration itself, we focus on the cultural and behavioural aspects — helping teams align, share information effectively, and build psychological safety during times of uncertainty.
Our work helps people across merging organisations come together with shared purpose, behaviours, and leadership approaches.
We are experienced in working globally and across multiple sites. Our diagnostic tools are designed to handle multi-location delivery, including survey translation into local languages and culturally appropriate facilitation.
Where needed, we work with local associates or bilingual coaches to ensure meaningful engagement across regions. We have delivered programmes in locations including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Trinidad, Germany, the Netherlands, and others.
Our approach balances central coordination with local delivery, ensuring consistency while respecting local context.
Engagement and Communication
We recognise that resistance to change is natural. Our approach focuses on involving people early, being clear about purpose, and creating opportunities for people to share their views.
We support communication through:
- Tailored messaging aligned with your organisation’s existing communication channels
- Early engagement with leadership, key stakeholders, and influencers to build buy-in
- Providing templates, content, and advice on effective messaging
- Explaining clearly what the programme involves, why it matters, and what to expect
Our diagnostic process itself helps build engagement by giving people a voice through surveys, focus groups, and interviews, and by ensuring the findings are shared back across the organisation. This transparency helps build trust and encourages participation.
Yes. All survey responses are confidential. Data is only reported for groups of five or more respondents to protect confidentiality. Our analysis systems also prevent indirect identification through demographic breakdowns.
Feedback from interviews and focus groups is kept confidential, and names are never attributed to comments. Throughout the programme, we maintain strict confidentiality to protect participants and encourage honest engagement.
Sustainability is built into the way we work. We focus on transferring capability into your organisation, not creating dependence on FidesOak®. This may include:
- Training your internal coaches (including the option of the EMCC-accredited DECADE® Academy)
- Train-the-trainer support for workshop delivery
- Providing ongoing access to our HPT® Monitoring Tool for tracking behaviours and cultural health
- Coaching and supervision to develop your internal team’s capability
We also work with you to agree an exit strategy, ensuring the right level of capability and confidence is in place before we step away.
Yes. We collaborate closely with your leadership and internal communications teams to shape effective messaging. We share advice, templates, and examples to help you communicate what the programme is about, how it will work, and why it matters.
We also tailor communication strategies for different parts of the workforce, including those with and without regular access to technology.
Absolutely. While the diagnostic tools belong to FidesOak®, the data belongs to you. We encourage your leaders and managers to own the communication of the findings across the organisation.
We can support this by:
- Providing facilitator coaching for those leading the feedback sessions
- Co-hosting feedback sessions alongside your internal teams
- Offering advice on how best to cascade the findings across different groups
Our aim is to empower your people to lead these conversations, while we provide support and guidance behind the scenes.
Practical and Logistical
We offer both, but recommend in-person delivery where possible for greater impact, particularly for workshops and focus groups. In-person sessions support stronger engagement, group dynamics, and energy.
However, we are flexible. Where needed, we adapt to remote delivery for interviews, coaching, and some focus groups, particularly where participants are dispersed or offshore. Leadership coaching can be delivered remotely or on site. Diagnostics and assessments are run online by default but can be supported offline where required.
This varies depending on the programme design and role. Examples include:
- Surveys: around 20–30 minutes to complete
- Focus groups: typically 90 minutes
- Workshops: anything from half-day to 2-day sessions depending on content
- Coaching: usually 60–90 minutes per session, scheduled in agreement with participants
- Learning sprints: brief 45-minute sessions on-site
We work closely with you to balance impact and operational demands.
Yes. Some clients choose to pilot a specific workshop, trial coaching, or start in one location. This allows time to gather feedback, build confidence in the approach, and refine content before full-scale delivery.
We offer train-the-trainer programmes for workshops and internal coach development through either tailored training or the EMCC-accredited DECADE® Academy.
DECADE® is a 40-week coaching programme that equips selected individuals with a globally recognised qualification and the confidence to coach within their organisation. Alternatively, we offer shorter skills-based coaching programmes to develop internal capability.
All options are designed to embed coaching and behavioural change into your culture long term.
Our team brings a diverse mix of qualifications and lived experience. Backgrounds include psychology, sociology, organisational development, employee experience and culture measurement, safety, leadership, professional coaching, the military, police force, elite sport, and industry-specific experience in high-hazard sectors like oil and gas.
Qualifications across the team include:
- EMCC, ICF, ILM, and AC-accredited coaching
- Safety certifications (e.g. NEBOSH)
- Academic backgrounds in social sciences and management
- Experience in delivering cultural and behavioural change globally
What unites our team is a shared track record in high-performance environments and a commitment to practical, people-centred transformation.
Yes. Progress reporting is a core part of how we work. We use the HPT® Monitoring Tool to track behaviour change and programme activity, supported by monthly (or agreed frequency) reports.
We also run pulse surveys every two months to capture how the programme is being experienced on the ground. These insights help us and you to adjust focus and maintain momentum. A repeat diagnostic can also be run later to show measurable culture shift.
We coach at all levels of an organisation:
- Executive and senior leadership – typically through structured one-to-one sessions
- Middle and front-line managers – through one-to-one or group coaching
- Workforce level – through dynamic, on-site coaching focused on everyday interactions and behavioural habits
The type and style of coaching is adapted to suit each level, always aligned to your goals and context.
Trusted by Those We Challenge
Drawing inspiration from the virtues that have always mattered to people, the FidesOak® team places trust, honesty and sincerity of intent at the core of everything we do.
Our clients trust us because we challenge with care, always in service of the change they're seeking and the outcomes they value. We ask the questions others might not think to ask - the ones that help clients find clarity and insight they can act upon.