By: Treasure Tunnel

One simple question changed everything for Janice Brathwaite and the companies she serves:

“Why aren’t things getting better for employees?”

After 17 years of watching the same patterns repeat in healthcare organizations and Fortune 500 companies, she realized the answer wasn’t going to be found in policies or procedures.

The answer was culture.

Brathwaite says, “The state of your organizational culture is the foundation of your success. Too often, leaders overlook culture until it becomes toxic. My mission is to help organizations identify which ‘bricks’ need repair and rebuild a culture where people can thrive.”

So she did something radical. She walked away from a stable career to build Workplace Transformations, a consulting firm dedicated to helping organizations identify and fix what she calls “culture debt,” the accumulated costs of swept-aside problems, misaligned values, and toxic behaviors that leadership tends to ignore.

When Experience Becomes Expertise

Brathwaite’s path to reforming organizational culture began in the trenches. She worked at Xerox, Motorola and Procter & Gamble, experiencing firsthand how corporate cultures could either energize teams or slowly suffocate them.

In healthcare settings, she saw the stakes rise even higher. When culture fails in medical services, it doesn’t just hurt employee morale, it affects patient care. 

“I became immersed in understanding why some organizations thrived while others struggled, even when they had similar resources,” she recalls.

The patterns became clear: successful organizations lived their values instead of endlessly talking about them. And they didn’t wait for culture problems to escalate before addressing them.

But recognizing the problem and solving it are different challenges entirely. Brathwaite earned a Master’s in Management from Cambridge College, became certified in Lean methodologies, and trained as an executive and life coach. And she used every tool in that arsenal to develop what would become her signature approach.

Honor the Past, Look to the Future

The Workplace Transformation MethodTM emerged from a philosophy Brathwaite describes as “honor the past, but look to the future.” She translated that philosophy into a five-pillar framework that functions elegantly because of its carefully crafted sequence.

First, diagnose. Before changing anything, organizations must understand their current culture honestly. Brathwaite conducts deep assessments using Human Synergistics Organizational Culture Inventories, interviewing staff at every level to surface what’s really happening deep inside the company.

“Many organizations recognize the need for change but struggle with where to start,” she explains. “We begin at 30,000 feet, looking at the big picture, then refine down to ground level to uncover hidden dynamics, strengths, and opportunities.”

Second, align. Once problems are identified, leadership must align on values and direction. This doesn’t always mean crafting a new mission statement. What’s most important here is ensuring leaders’ actions match their stated beliefs.

Third, attract. With a clear culture foundation, organizations can implement what Brathwaite calls “value-driven hiring,” recruiting people who fit the desired culture instead of filling roles with warm bodies.

Fourth, engage. Collaboration becomes the engine of change. Brathwaite works with teams to build systems that keep culture healthy rather than hoping good intentions will suffice.

Finally, sustain. Accountability measures ensure progress continues long after the consulting engagement ends.

Starting Over, Strategically

Launching Workplace Transformations meant Brathwaite had to practice what she preached. She couldn’t build a company built on establishing an authentic culture while operating inauthentically herself.

“I had to ask myself the hard questions,” she admits. “What kind of leader did I want to be? What values would I refuse to compromise on? I knew integrity had to be the cornerstone. Without it, I couldn’t build strong relationships or create meaningful cultural change.”

Brathwaite went on to build credibility through results, not just credentials. And it paid off.

She was named Employer Partner of the Year by Operation Able and her thought leadership appears on podcasts including High Velocity Radio, Amplifying Leadership, and Notes on Resilience. She also publishes The Culture Catalyst, a monthly LinkedIn newsletter that has become required reading for HR leaders and executives grappling with culture challenges.

Her approach resonates because it’s grounded in lived experience, not theory. She’s been the employee watching leadership make decisions that undermine stated values. She’s seen the damage toxic leaders inflict. And she’s studied how they’re often created and rewarded by broken systems.

“Toxic leaders aren’t born, they’re created. Organizations inadvertently reward behaviors that destroy culture because they’re focused on short-term results instead of long-term health,” Brathwaite says.

The Question That Drives Her

Workplace Transformations now serves nonprofit and for-profit organizations with 100 to 1,500 employees, specializing in healthcare and medical services, the sector where culture failures carry the highest human cost.

But Brathwaite hasn’t stopped asking the question that started everything: Why haven’t things gotten better for employees? The answer, she’s learned, carries a nuance that culture transformation requires more than awareness. It requires courage. The courage to look honestly at what’s broken, to hold leadership accountable, and to prioritize long-term health over short-term comfort.

“When leaders finally understand that culture isn’t just HR’s problem, that it’s the DNA of everything they do… that’s when real transformation becomes possible,” she reflects.

For organizations ready to stop patching and start rebuilding, culture up, Brathwaite offers both a roadmap and a mirror. The Workplace Transformation MethodTM provides the structure. But the real work begins with the same question she asked herself years ago, the one that refuses to go away:

Why aren’t things getting better for employees?

It’s the question every leader should be asking. And Janice Brathwaite is here to help organizations translate any organization’s honest answer into a workplace where people truly thrive.

Learn more about Workplace Transformations at wptransformation.com or connect with Janice Brathwaite on LinkedIn.

Disclaimer: The content provided in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice.