What a HOP Culture Feels Like and How to Start Building One

Recently, I attended an Inspiring Workplaces event called “What Makes an Inspiring Workplace Culture?” where an expert panel dug into what we actually mean when we talk about culture. One comment stuck with me: culture is a feeling – it’s how a place makes you feel when you walk through the door. And if a business is performing well, it’s because the culture is performing well. They are inseparable. 

What really struck me was the reminder that culture isn’t something you can measure with a single score or survey. You see it in the small things – in the quality of relationships, in how people talk to each other, treat each other and in the way the work really gets done every day. 

At G.R.I.T., our work is about helping organisations shape that kind of culture – one that lets both people and the business truly perform. One of the approaches that has influenced our thinking most is HOP – Human and Organisational Performance. Although HOP began in safety-critical industries, its insights are relevant everywhere. 

So what does a HOP culture actually feel like?  

To answer that, you need to look at the principles that sit underneath it. These five principles are deceptively simple, but together they shape a very different way of thinking about people and performance: 

1. Error is normal and people are fallible. Even the best of us makes mistakes.
2. Blame fixes nothing and in fact, error likely situations are predictable, manageable and preventable. 
3. Context shapes behaviour. Most actions make sense when you understand the pressures and conditions around them.  This is often seen in how certain organisational processes and values influence individual behaviour. 
4. People achieve high levels of performance based largely on the encouragement and reinforcement they receive and that can be from leaders, peers and subordinates 
5. Events can be avoided by understanding the reasons mistakes occur and applying the lessons learned from the past events. 

These ideas change the conversation. They shift the focus from fault to understanding, from compliance to learning and from fear to trust.  

I see these guiding principles as a change in mindset. 
 

So what does that feel like in practice? 

When these principles are lived – not just written on a wall – the workplace feels different. 

If you ask someone what it’s like to work in a HOP culture, they won’t talk about frameworks or systems. They’ll say things like: 

“If I make a mistake, we look at why it happened and what needs to change, rather than who to punish.” 

“Leaders come to see what it’s really like on the ground – they listen, and they want to understand.” 

“I feel safe to speak up because I know it’s about improving together, not proving who’s right.” 

That sense of safety and curiosity changes everything. It turns problems into opportunities for learning and builds a stronger connection between leaders and the people closest to the work.  

Beyond high-risk work 

HOP thinking may have started in industries like energy, (specifically in the commercial American nuclear power industry) where mistakes can be catastrophic, but the principles are just as valuable in settings where the risks are reputational or financial. 

In an office, it might show up as a missed deadline, a poor client experience, or a decision that didn’t land well. 

Instead of looking for someone to blame, teams with a HOP mindset look for what the situation is telling them about the system: Was the process clear? Were the expectations realistic? Did we have the right information at the time? 

It’s a shift that allows organisations to adapt faster, reduce friction and make better decisions because they are closer to reality. 

Where to start if you want to build a HOP culture 

Here are a few practical ways to start bringing these principles to life: 

• Respond with curiosity. When something goes wrong, pause and ask, “What happened?” before “Who did this?” 

• Go where the work happens. Spend time with people at every level to understand what their day really looks like. 

• Create regular learning moments. Debriefs, huddles and after-action reviews create safe spaces to reflect without judgement. 

• Look at what goes right. Most of the time things work well so start to ask why and do more of that. 

• Model it as a leader. When leaders admit mistakes and share what they’ve learned, it sets the tone for everyone else. 

These small shifts compound. They gradually create a workplace where performance isn’t driven by fear of failure but by a willingness to learn and adapt. 

A final thought 

That comment from the panel – that culture is a feeling – has stayed with me. 

Because when you stand in an organisation that has embraced this way of thinking, you can feel the difference.  

It’s not just about safety, or productivity, or engagement.  

It’s about creating a place where people are trusted to be human and where that trust becomes a source of strength. 

That is the kind of culture that HOP builds.  

 Helen Hayes is Head of Wellbeing Services for G.R.I.T and works with organisations to create healthy and people-centred cultures by bringing together G.R.I.T.s Health, Wellbeing, Leadership and HOP Services.

If you want to learn more about creating a HOP Culture get in touch – we’d love to chat.