How Thrive Homes reinvented its culture and became one of the UK’s top housing providers
When Elspeth Mackenzie became CEO, Thrive Homes was a cautious, process-heavy organisation focused on maintaining the status quo. She saw the potential for something far greater: a bold, customer-focused housing provider with a dynamic culture and empowered people. Together with changemaker, Thrive redesigned its culture from the ground up, transforming employee engagement, leadership capability, and organisational performance.
Outcomes
Bronze to Gold
jumped from Investors in People
Top 100
not-for-Profit Organisations to Work For
Shared Language
for change across the entire workforce
People before process
When Thrive Homes took over the Three Rivers District Council’s housing stock and workforce, it inherited a conservative, risk-averse culture. Processes were sound, but innovation was lacking. Elspeth wanted to create an agile organisation where people took initiative, worked collaboratively, and served customers with empathy and confidence.
She knew this transformation couldn’t happen with new systems alone. It required a deep cultural reset. That’s why she partnered with changemaker: to embed lasting change by focusing on the people who would drive it.
What we did differently
We started by helping Thrive understand itself. Using Lumina Spark, a world leading psychometric tool, we helped employees to better understand how they saw and interacted with the world around them, providing human based insights into their strengths, preferences, and behaviours under pressure. This gave Thrive a shared language for growth and change, sparking curiosity and high engagement across the organisation.
Building on that foundation, we helped leaders compare their current culture with their desired future state and plan how to bridge the gap. We introduced peer coaching, action learning groups, and accountability frameworks to make change practical. We rolled out Lumina Team to improve collaboration and celebrate diversity of thought. And we embedded Lumina Select into recruitment, enabling Thrive to hire for the organisation they wanted to become.
What began as a coaching initiative quickly evolved into a company-wide movement, with leaders and staff embracing new ways of working and communicating.
Our Approach
We owned the entire implementation journey:
- Using Lumina Spark, we created psychometric profiles for every employee
- Created a shared language for growth
- We introduced peer coaching, action learning groups, and accountability frameworks
The difference it made
Bronze to Gold
jumped from Investors in People
Top 100
not-for-Profit Organisations to Work For
Shared Language
for change across the entire workforce
Thrive Homes became a benchmark for cultural transformation in the housing sector. In three years, they moved from Bronze to Gold Investors in People accreditation, skipping Silver entirely… a rare achievement. They also earned national recognition, being listed among the Top 100 Not-for-Profit Organisations to Work For and Top 25 Housing Associations.
Inside the organisation, change was even more profound: teams developed a shared understanding of themselves and each other, leading to improved collaboration, faster decision-making, and a genuine culture of accountability. Thrive’s people no longer saw transformation as a project; it became part of their DNA.
What made us proud
We’re proud of the extent to which this project became a true transformation of identity. Thrive now recruits, promotes, and develops people based on values and behaviours, not just qualifications. Leaders feel confident, teams are empowered, and the organisation has built lasting cultural resilience that continues to evolve.
Our insight
True transformation starts with self-awareness and shared understanding.
By giving people the tools and confidence to see themselves and their colleagues clearly, we helped Thrive create a culture where growth and accountability come naturally, turning a conservative organisation into a sector-leading housing provider.
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