Battling toxic company culture—without leadership buy-in

Before joining Tempo, battling toxic workplace culture was Laura’s day-to-day. This wasn’t passive aggressive notes on the office fridge—this was a cycle of belittlement, physical intimidation, and outright sexual harassment.

After individuals shared their experiences with her, Laura tried to remove the perpetrators from the team, regardless of their wider performance. But instead of backing her, management told her to silence those who had spoken out.

You’ll hear what happens to company culture when results are valued above all else, why HR folks sometimes end up as ‘emotional sponges’, and how trust has a transformative effect on workplace wellbeing.

Laura has over a decade of experience in HR, spending time in corporate giants like Tesco, BT, and Natwest, before transitioning to the startup scene.

As Chief People Officer at Tempo, she’s there to make sure companies grow sustainably—and to protect their culture in the process.

Oliva is the UK & Europe's #1 rated employee mental wellbeing benefit.

We help companies respond to the pivotal moments that impact mental wellbeing at work and beyond—driving employee retention and exceptional effort.

We do this by:

• Empowering individuals to take control of their mental wellbeing
• Developing manager emotional intelligence
• Helping HR teams create org-wide psychological safety