Creating a Positive and Inclusive Culture_LB - check.pdf

Inclusion means more than having policies on paper. It means people from varying backgrounds, identities, and experiences feel heard and empowered. It means decision-making processes, promotion tracks, feedback systems, learning and development opportunities are accessible and fair. It also means removing barriers, such as rigid job descriptions, unconscious bias in hiring, inflexible work arrangements, or communication norms that exclude people who don’t share dominant styles.
Eric Hannelius has emphasized that when employees see the company moving toward inclusion externally, they expect similar values internally: fairness in opportunity, respect in dialogue, openness in leadership. When those links remain consistent, trust grows. When internal and external values diverge, employees notice.

1. Creating a Positive and Inclusive Culture

In the rapidly evolving world of fintech, technology and product innovation get a lot of
attention. Yet culture—the way people feel about where they work, how valued they are,
how fairly they are treated—shapes outcomes more deeply than many realize. A
company with great tech and weak culture often stumbles. Under strong leadership,
culture becomes a force multiplier. Eric Hannelius, CEO of Pepper Pay, has shared
insights on how fostering a positive and inclusive culture. It is strategic, transformative,
and increasingly demanded by employees, customers, and regulators alike.
The Shifting Landscape: Why Culture Matters More.
Recent reports show fintech firms are no longer evaluated only on financial performance
or innovation speed. Stakeholders are scrutinizing internal practices: who is hired, who
becomes leader, whose voice gets heard. In many markets a gap persists between the
diversity of customers served and the diversity within the teams building products.
Inclusion has become part of trustworthiness. If staff feel alienated, or unable to bring
their full selves to work, then product quality, employee turnover, brand reputation.
Industry-studies indicate that firms with inclusive cultures tend to show better customer
retention, lower absenteeism, higher internal mobility, and stronger innovation metrics.
Conversely, fintechs that fail to reflect the values of fairness, belonging, transparency
often face internal friction, public relations risks, and difficulty in recruitment especially
among younger talent who expect workplaces to align with their values. Fintech’s
growth into global, cross-border markets means culture has to bridge many kinds of
identity, background, regulation, and expectation.
What Inclusion Means in Practice.

2. Inclusion means more than having policies on paper. It means people from varying
backgrounds, identities, and experiences feel heard and empowered. It means decision-
making processes, promotion tracks, feedback systems, learning and development
opportunities are accessible and fair. It also means removing barriers, such as rigid job
descriptions, unconscious bias in hiring, inflexible work arrangements, or
communication norms that exclude people who don’t share dominant styles.
Eric Hannelius has emphasized that when employees see the company moving toward
inclusion externally, they expect similar values internally: fairness in opportunity, respect
in dialogue, openness in leadership. When those links remain consistent, trust grows.
When internal and external values diverge, employees notice.
Steps Leaders Can Take to Build Culture.
Building culture takes intentional effort. One tool Pepper Pay uses is culture audits.
These are more than satisfaction questionnaires. They allow the leadership to listen to
employee perceptions around trust, psychological safety, inclusion, leadership
behaviour. Surveys and interviews reveal what’s working and what’s not. Observing
behaviors—how meetings are run, who speaks up, what happens when someone raises
concern—sheds light on unspoken norms. “You can’t manage culture based on
hunches,” Eric Hannelius has said. “Culture audits give you a clear picture so you can
take action based on facts, not guesses.”
Another dimension involves leaders and managers modeling inclusive behaviors: asking
for input, acknowledging mistakes, being accessible, making performance evaluation
transparent. Recognition matters—not only when someone succeeds in a visible
project, but when someone contributes quietly, supports teammates, offers ideas that
solve problems. Ensuring employees see that their locality, background, gender identity,
disability, or life circumstance are respected (for example, in meeting times, remote
work options, communication styles) plays into how welcomed people feel.
Learning and training also help. Bias training, mentoring, forums for discussing cultural
norms, safe channels for raising concern. For fintech firms scaling quickly, onboarding
often defines culture more than many realize; people who join when the company is
small carry those norms as it grows. Embedding values early and reinforcing them often
yields consistency.
Challenges Along the Way.
Even well-intentioned efforts encounter friction. When growth is rapid, culture can lag
behind; new hires may find practices unclear or inconsistent. Leaders can misread what
employees say (they may report satisfaction while avoiding conflict). Feedback isn’t
always easy to collect or act upon. Sometimes inclusion efforts become symbolic—
policy statements without accountability or resources.
Regulatory and regional differences add complexity. What counts as inclusive behavior
in one geography may offend or confuse in another. Companies operating across
borders or cultures need sensitivity and humility. There is risk of overload: too many
programs may strain budgets or attention; too little consistency in metrics or follow-up
undermines credibility.
Measuring Culture, Seeing Impact.

3. To know whether culture is improving, firms need signals. Employee retention,
absenteeism, internal promotions across demographics, levels of participation,
feedback scores, turnover intention, psychological safety indicators are examples.
Pepper Pay tracks internal mobility and sentiment as part of its culture audit process.
When people leave because of unclear career pathways, or when complaints about
fairness arise, that signals gaps.
Also, external reputation—customer feedback, community perception, investor
sentiment—often responds to perceived fairness, transparency, inclusivity. When a
fintech brand serves underserved communities well and treats its employees well, that
reputation becomes a competitive asset. Conversely, missteps in culture can lead to
backlash more visible today thanks to social media and rapid news cycles.
Why Culture Will Be a Differentiator.
As fintech becomes more regulated, more competitive, and more exposed to global
scrutiny, culture will distinguish companies. Customers and partners are increasingly
evaluating firms by values: whether they treat employees fairly, whether their
governance is transparent, whether their internal operation respects privacy and
fairness. Talent markets reward workplaces where belonging and inclusion are lived
experience.
In an economy where many fintech startups offer similar functionality, culture becomes
part of the brand. Prospective employees often look for cultural fit; customers, especially
those in communities that have felt excluded, look for trust and respect.
Creating a positive and inclusive culture is not optional in today’s fintech environment. It
responds to what employees, customers, communities demand. It supports innovation,
quality, trust, retention, reputation. Leaders who diagnose culture with care, who align
internal practices with external mission, who listen, act, and visibly treat people with
respect tend to build stronger, more resilient organisations.