Below is a curated, market-research style list of 20 leading workplace-culture consulting firms you can brief executives with. Selection criteria: proven methodology (culture assessment + interventions), measurable impact (engagement/retention/productivity), global delivery or strong regional reach, modern capability stack (people analytics, surveys, platforms, coaching) and thought leadership (research/case studies). Use this as a short-list when commissioning RFPs or prioritizing pilots – each profile includes founders, founding year, HQ, product categories, a ~100-word market summary, and 5–10 key features you can compare quickly.
Note on methodology: firms were selected for market influence (research coverage & client footprint), product breadth (assessment → design → embed), and measurable outcomes (benchmarks, analytics, certification/awards). The top five entries include source citations for core facts.
1. Great Place To Work
Founders: Robert Levering & Milton Moskowitz (originators); Institute formed by Levering & colleagues
Founded: Origins 1981 (book) → Institute ~1991
Headquarters: San Francisco / global network
Product categories: Culture assessment & certification, employer branding, employee surveys, training & research reports
Description – In one line: the gold-standard certification and benchmarking authority for employer culture. Great Place To Work built a globally-scaled model (Trust Index™ + Culture Model) that turns employee survey data into a certified employer brand and Best-Workplaces lists. That combination of independent recognition + survey platform makes them the default partner for many HR leaders who want external credibility and public employer lists alongside internal diagnosis and action planning. Their offering now sits in a larger HCM ecosystem after a strategic transaction.
Key features
- Proprietary Trust Index™ survey and Trust Model for benchmarking
- Great Place To Work Certification & Best Workplaces lists (external recognition)
- Large cross-industry benchmarking dataset (tens of millions of employees)
- Practical playbooks and leader workshops for trust-based culture building
- Employer brand amplification and PR support for certified organizations
- Integration readiness with HRIS/HCM platforms (for global clients)
2. Gallup
Founder: George Gallup
Founded: 1935
Headquarters: Washington, D.C., USA
Product categories: Employee engagement measurement, strengths assessment, leadership coaching, analytics & advisory
Description – Gallup is best known for rigorous survey science and its global Q12 employee engagement metric. For executives, Gallup combines long-running analytics, validated instruments (Q12, CliftonStrengths), and advisory services aimed at turning engagement into measurable business outcomes (productivity, safety, retention). Their work is heavily data driven: measurement, manager training, targeted coaching, and analytics-driven interventions that translate survey signals into manager-level actions and ROI.
Key features
- Q12 engagement survey backed by decades of research
- Manager and frontline coaching programs linked to engagement scores
- CliftonStrengths individual assessment and development integration
- Analytics that tie engagement to business outcomes (revenue, safety)
- Scalable programs for multinational rollouts with local benchmarking
- Advisory services for program governance and capability building
3. McKinsey & Company – Organization / People Practice
Founder: James O. McKinsey
Founded: 1926
Headquarters: New York / global (origin Chicago)
Product categories: Organization design, culture transformation, leadership development, people analytics
Description – McKinsey brings strategy-level rigour to culture work: combining change-leadership frameworks, large-scale change programs, and advanced people analytics. Their culture consulting is typically embedded inside enterprise transformation engagements (digital, M&A, operational change) and focuses on aligning behaviors and leadership systems with strategic priorities. Expect deep diagnostics, change roadmaps, and capability building – valuable when culture work is part of a strategic transformation.
Key features
- Integration of culture design into large strategy or transformation programs
- Advanced people analytics and digital change platforms
- Leadership alignment, role modeling and governance redesign
- Capability-building programs for managers and change agents
- Benchmarked best practices drawn from large cross-industry projects
4. Deloitte – Human Capital / Culture & Organisation
Founders (firm): William Welch Deloitte (Deloitte origins)
Founded: 1845 (firm origins)
Headquarters: Global (London & New York presence)
Product categories: Change management, culture diagnostics, people strategy, DEI, learning & reskilling
Description – Deloitte’s Human Capital practice blends HR transformation with culture interventions – typical for enterprises looking to make culture a lever in a broader re-skilling, organizational redesign or tech-enabled HR transformation. Deloitte emphasizes change at scale (systems, processes, HR tech), governance, and embedding new leader behaviors through measurable KPIs and learning ecosystems. They’re often chosen when culture work must connect directly to systems and rewards.
Key features
- Culture-by-design approach tied to HR transformation programs
- Large delivery teams able to operate at enterprise scale and geography
- Strong learning, reskilling, and talent mobility capabilities
- Change management playbooks and digital enablement tools
- Cross-practice integration (tax/benefits/operating model) for business impact
5. Korn Ferry
Founders: Lester Korn & Richard Ferry
Founded: 1969
Headquarters: Los Angeles, USA (global network)
Product categories: Leadership development, talent assessment, organization design, culture transformation
Description – Korn Ferry is widely used when culture initiatives intersect with leadership, performance systems and succession planning. Their strength assessments, leadership pipelines, and role-profile work combine with culture advisory to align talent practices with desired cultural behaviors. In practice, Korn Ferry is often selected to embed cultural expectations in hiring, pay, and leader succession – making culture tangible at the talent process level.
Key features
- Deep competency and leadership assessment tools
- Linkage of culture to selection, pay, and succession frameworks
- Leadership coaching and tailored development programs
- Consulting for organization design and role clarity
- Scalable global delivery and integration with talent platforms
6. Mercer
Founders: William M. Mercer (origins)
Founded: 1945
Headquarters: New York (part of Marsh McLennan)
Product categories: Rewards & total rewards, talent strategy, DEI, employee experience, people analytics
Description – Mercer pairs deep rewards and total-rewards expertise with culture initiatives that require compensation alignment and workforce planning. Their practical orientation – benchmarking, pay design, and HR operations – is ideal when culture change must be supported by incentives, job architecture, and global mobility policies. Mercer also provides DEI advisory and analytics to track culture indicators alongside compensation equity.
Key features
- Compensation and rewards alignment for behavior-change incentives
- Workforce planning and job architecture to support cultural shifts
- DEI analytics and pay equity audits
- Employee experience measurement and practical HR operation design
- Strong benchmarking datasets across industries and regions
7. Willis Towers Watson (WTW)
Founders/Origins: legacy firms (Willis Group & Towers Watson)
Founded (merged): 2016 (combined corporate history extends back centuries)
Headquarters: London / global operations
Product categories: Benefits & rewards, engagement measurement, consultative HR tech
Description – WTW brings actuarial and benefits strength to culture projects that intersect with wellbeing, benefits design and risk. Their employee-survey, rewards consulting, and change advisory help organizations design wellbeing programs and policies that reflect cultural priorities. WTW is often chosen when culture initiatives require precise linkages to benefits, pensions, or risk management.
Key features
- Benefits and wellbeing program design integrated with culture aims
- Employee engagement surveys and diagnostic tools
- Total rewards and recognition program design
- Actuarial insights for long-term people strategy
- Global delivery with local regulatory know-how
8. Culture Amp
Founders: Didier Elzinga, Jon Williams, Doug English, Rod Hamilton (co-founders)
Founded: 2009
Headquarters: Melbourne (global offices)
Product categories: Employee survey platform, people analytics, performance & engagement tools
Description – Culture Amp is a product-first company built on continuous employee feedback and people analytics. Their platform is used by HR teams to run pulse and engagement surveys, perform manager action planning, and measure culture change over time. Culture Amp’s strength is speed and UX: HR teams can deploy scientifically designed surveys, track trends and turn manager nudges into measurable improvement – ideal for fast-moving companies with distributed workforces.
Key features
- SaaS survey platform with templates and benchmarks
- Actionable manager insights and nudges tied to survey results
- Customizable pulses and eNPS flows for continuous listening
- People analytics and integration with HRIS systems
- Marketplace of interventions and learning content
9. Bain & Company – Organization Practice
Founded: 1973 (Bain & Company)
Headquarters: Boston / global
Product categories: Culture transformation (results-oriented), leadership alignment, M&A culture integration
Description – Bain approaches culture as a means to deliver measurable business results. Their approach uses diagnostic tools to identify culture levers, rapid experiments (pilot squads), and rigorous KPIs to show bottom-line impact. Bain is frequently brought into large commercial transformations where culture must accelerate strategy execution and where leadership alignment and operating-model changes are central.
Key features
- Strategy-aligned culture interventions focused on measurable outcomes
- Rapid pilot/scale methodology to test culture interventions
- M&A culture integration services and pre-deal diagnostics
- Leadership alignment workshops and role clarity work
- Integration of performance metrics and cultural dashboards
10. PwC – People & Organisation (P&O)
Founders (origins): Price Waterhouse & Coopers & Lybrand (historic)
Founded (PwC lineage): historic firms 19th century; modern PwC from mergers (1998 formation of PwC)
Headquarters: London / global network
Product categories: People strategy, cultural change, DEI, HR tech & transformation
Description – PwC’s P&O practice helps clients embed culture inside major technology or operating-model changes. Their advisory blends strategic diagnostics, stakeholder mapping, and training with HR tech enablement – a logical choice when culture work needs to be synchronized with broader risk, finance, or compliance imperatives. PwC also offers targeted DEI and inclusion programs with measurable KPIs.
Key features
- Integration of culture work with digital HR transformations
- DEI program design and inclusive leadership training
- Change communications and stakeholder alignment expertise
- HR-technology and data enablement for culture analytics
- Cross-functional delivery (tax/compliance/operating model)
11. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) – People & Organization
Founded: 1963 (BCG)
Headquarters: Boston / global
Product categories: Organization design, culture transformation, people analytics, leadership development
Description – BCG brings a strategy lens to cultural transformation, with emphasis on aligning incentives and operating models to desired behaviors. Their people analytics and change platforms help quantify capability gaps and design interventions targeted at leaders and teams. BCG is often selected when culture change must support large operational transformations or a move to new business models.
Key features
- Strategy-linked culture design and operating model alignment
- Advanced people and network analytics to map influence and change pathways
- Leadership programs tailored for top teams and high-impact managers
- Implementation playbooks for scaled rollouts
- Cross-industry best-practice repositories and case studies
12. Zenger Folkman
Founders: Jack Zenger & Joe Folkman (and team)
Founded: early 1990s (Zenger/Folkman partnership became prominent)
Headquarters: Provo / Salt Lake City region (US)
Product categories: Leadership assessment, strengths-based development, 360 feedback
Description – Zenger Folkman specializes in evidence-based leadership development and 360 feedback programs designed to change leader behaviors that shape culture. Their approach is strengths-based and focused on measurable leader improvement – valuable for organizations where leader capability is the primary lever to shift culture.
Key features
- Research-backed 360 assessments and leadership profiles
- Strengths-based development programs for leaders
- Behavior-change roadmaps tied to performance metrics
- Public research and practical leader toolkits
- Scalable coaching and train-the-trainer offerings
13. The Table Group (Patrick Lencioni’s firm)
Founder: Patrick Lencioni
Founded: 1997 (The Table Group formed; Lencioni’s books earlier)
Headquarters: Silicon Valley area, USA (consulting & publishing)
Product categories: Organizational health, leadership teams, team assessments, workshops
Description – Built on Patrick Lencioni’s “organizational health” frameworks, The Table Group focuses on leadership team effectiveness, clarity, and healthy organizational practices. They are a go-to for C-suite teams seeking straightforward models (e.g., 5 Dysfunctions) and workshop-driven alignment rather than heavy analytics. Ideal when teams need pragmatic, behavior-based fixes and governance clarity.
Key features
- Proven workshop formats for executive and leadership teams
- Team assessments and facilitation based on the “organizational health” model
- Practical playbooks to address conflict, accountability and clarity
- Book-based frameworks used as change levers across the org
- Executive coaching and facilitated offsites
14. Denison Consulting
Founder: Daniel Denison & academic origins (Denison model)
Founded: model and consulting practice evolved from academic research (Denison Organizational Culture Model)
Headquarters: Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA (global affiliates)
Product categories: Culture diagnostic, leadership alignment, culture-performance linkage
Description – Denison’s consulting is built on the Denison Organizational Culture Model and assessment tools that link specific cultural traits to performance outcomes. The method is robust for companies wanting to measure cultural traits (adaptability, mission, involvement, consistency) and translate them into targeted interventions. Denison is popular with manufacturing and global enterprises seeking evidence-based culture KPIs.
Key features
- Denison Culture Survey and trait-based diagnostic model
- Clear links from cultural traits to specific performance outcomes
- Change roadmaps that prioritize highest-impact culture levers
- Industry benchmarking and cross-company analytics
- Consulting plus training to build internal culture capability
15. O.C. Tanner
Founder: Obert C. Tanner (origins)
Founded: 1927 (company roots; recognition solutions matured later)
Headquarters: Salt Lake City, USA
Product categories: Employee recognition platforms, rewards, culture programs, recognition analytics
Description – O.C. Tanner specializes in recognition and rewards design – the practical mechanics that make values-based culture visible every day. Their technology and program design help embed recognition across the employee lifecycle (onboarding, milestones, performance) and provide measurement for the impact of recognition on retention and morale. When culture goals include increased appreciation and recognition rituals, O.C. Tanner is a specialized partner.
Key features
- Enterprise recognition platform integrated with HR systems
- Program design for values-based recognition and peer-to-peer praise
- Analytics showing recognition impact on engagement and retention
- Global catalogue and administration for rewards/awards
- Consulting to align recognition with performance and values
16. The Predictive Index (PI)
Founders: Arnold S. Daniels (earlier psychology origins) / modern PI team evolved over decades
Founded: 1955 (origins in behavioral assessment) / modern PI company established and productized later
Headquarters: Boston / US & global
Product categories: Behavioral assessments, talent optimization, team design, recruiting tools
Description – Predictive Index offers behavioral and cognitive assessments that help leaders build teams aligned to their roles and culture needs. Their Talent Optimization framework ties hiring, onboarding, management, and culture to predictable behavioral patterns – useful for scaling teams and building role-fit cultures. PI’s cloud tools help HR use assessments at scale for hiring and team composition decisions.
Key features
- Behavioral and cognitive assessments for hiring and team fit
- Talent Optimization framework linking strategy → structure → people
- Practical playbooks for managers based on assessment results
- Integration with ATS and HR tech for hiring workflows
- Workshops and certification for internal practitioners
17. Human Synergistics
Founders/Origins: academic researchers (Human Synergistics International)
Founded: 1970s (assessment lineage)
Headquarters: US & Australia (global network)
Product categories: Culture and climate assessments (LSI, OCI), leadership development, workshops
Description – Human Synergistics is a long-standing provider of validated psychological instruments (Organizational Culture Inventory (OCI), Life Styles Inventory (LSI)) used to diagnose cultural norms and leader styles. Their psychometric rigor suits organizations wanting a deeper behavioral diagnosis and structured development pathways for managers and teams.
Key features
- OCI & LSI psychometric assessment tools for culture and leadership
- Diagnostic reports that map normative behaviors and gaps
- Targeted interventions and leader development programs
- Extensive practitioner certification and facilitator networks
- Research-backed models used in global organizations
18. WorkXO
Founder: Amanda Munday (company evolved; small, specialized team)
Founded: mid-2010s (WorkXO as culture design studio)
Headquarters: USA / remote model
Product categories: Culture design, DEI strategy, employee experience, culture playbooks
Description – WorkXO is a boutique culture-design consultancy that helps organizations choose a distinctive cultural identity and operationalize it through policies, rituals and onboarding. Their sticky value: rapid prototyping of culture interventions and translating values into manager accountabilities, rituals and hiring practices – attractive for fast-growing tech companies or scaleups.
Key features
- Culture design sprints and rapid prototyping of rituals
- Practical playbooks for onboarding, rituals, and manager behavior
- Small team with tailored, hands-on facilitation and coaching
- Focus on employer value proposition and candidate experience
- Actionable measures to embed culture at team level
19. BetterUp
Founders: Alexi Robichaux & Eduardo Medina
Founded: 2013
Headquarters: San Francisco, USA
Product categories: One-on-one coaching, leadership development, wellbeing & performance
Description – BetterUp is a coaching-centric platform that scales behavioral change through 1:1 coaching and micro-learning. While not a traditional culture consultancy, BetterUp is used by enterprises that see leader and manager capability as the primary lever to shift culture – their analytics tie coaching outcomes to engagement, retention and performance metrics. It’s a match for companies prioritizing coaching at scale and leadership development.
Key features
- Scalable, digital coaching platform with certified coaches
- Leadership development programs and micro-learning content
- Analytics linking coaching to engagement and performance outcomes
- Integration with broader L&D and HRTech stacks
- Wellbeing and resilience coaching services
20. Aon (Aon Hewitt legacy)
Founders/Origins: Aon plc (formed 1982 + historic Hewitt acquisition)
Founded: Aon origins 1982 / Hewitt 1940s (Aon’s HR consulting via Hewitt lineage)
Headquarters: London / global presence (Aon plc)
Product categories: Talent & rewards consulting, engagement measurement, HR outsourcing
Description – Aon’s HR consulting (including Hewitt heritage) offers robust survey practice, reward consulting, and people-risk advisory – strong where culture goals must be designed alongside benefits, risk transfer or pension/insurance mechanics. They’re often engaged where culture change must be reconciled with compensation structures and enterprise risk considerations.
Key features
- Large datasets for benchmarking compensation and engagement
- Integrated workforce risk and reward advisory
- Employee engagement surveys and program governance support
- Consulting for large-scale HR program rollouts and administration
- Broad global delivery and compliance capability
How to use this list (quick procurement checklist)
- For diagnosis + external credibility (certification/benchmarks): shortlist Great Place To Work, Gallup, Culture Amp.
- For strategy + enterprise transformation: prioritize McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Deloitte.
- For leader & talent systems (succession, pay, hiring): consider Korn Ferry, Mercer, Aon, Willis Towers Watson.
- For practical recognition & day-to-day behavior change: consider O.C. Tanner, WorkXO, The Table Group.
- For psychometric rigor and validated assessments: assess Human Synergistics, Denison, Zenger Folkman, The Predictive Index.
