Written by Sarah Clarke, Founder & Principal Organisational Psychologist at Cortex Worx (June 2026)

On the site of the world’s first inter‑urban passenger railway station, at the Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI) last week, we were all reminded why “Good employment is good for everyone.” As we celebrated the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter good employment awards, the symbolism of the location wasn’t lost on anyone. Celebrating in a place built on power, innovation and movement last Thursday night was filled with the same energy.

The atmosphere didn’t just buzz; it hummed, like an engine warming up before something big.

The perfect venue. The perfect message. The perfect reminder that progress, whether industrial or organisational, is always powered by people.

At our table, Tom Fletcher from Firstplay Dietary Foods and I laughed as we reflected on how we first met three years ago, and it was genuinely inspiring to hear how much has progressed and shifted since. Meeting his latest mentee, who is from a completely different industry to his, spoke candidly about the realities employers currently face in the voluntary sector. Hearing the support provided by GM Business Growth Hub and the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter has provided was inspiring. On the same table, Dr. Christopher Owen and I talked about the importance of citizens, the people at the heart of every system, every service, every decision. As conversations evolved, we found ourselves circling the same themes that leaders, and many of the clients I am working with, are currently wrestling with everywhere right now, but each one from a slightly different perspective: communication.

Communication is often described as a 'soft skill' but in reality it is one of the hardest elements of leadership. Being able to impart knowledge in a way that another human being can understand, absorb and act on is communication. But it is only the mechanism. Because successful communication creates connection. Connection is the outcome.

Connection: the part that makes everything else move

Fundamental to the challenges facing organisations, successes delivered all came down to the importance of connection, because without it, none of the other parts would move. It is the same principle that powers an engine. You can have fuel, gears, pistons, ignition… but unless they connect, align and move together, nothing happens. Communication creates connection. Connections create culture. Invisible forces that allow all the visible parts to function. It is what turns intention into momentum.

Across the room, and throughout the night, the word culture was mentioned more than 200 times, and that is something that simply wouldn’t have happened two decades ago when I started working in this space.

People feel culture instantly. They know when it’s good, and they know when it’s bad.

Culture is was described with words like: supportive, fair, energising and safe at one end, with draining, inconsistent, political and toxic at the other. As many of us know, culture is often spoken about as if it is abstract, but it isn’t. As you read this you will remember how bad, or good, organisational cultures felt when you were part of them. Culture has never been abstract. It needs to be defined. Because it is mechanical. It is engineered. It is the sum of interdependent parts, much like an engine. Which really got me thinking, as I sat surrounded by engines from history hearing such inspiring stories from employers across Greater Manchester last week.

Leadership is the ignition. Values are the fuel. Behaviours are the moving parts. Systems are the gears. Connection is the oil that keeps everything running.

When one part fails, the whole engine judders. Like an organisation when some teams aren't performing. When every part works together, the organisation moves with power, direction and purpose. Culture is emotional. It is behavioural. It is systemic. But above all, culture is human. And as humans we know when the engine is running smoothly and when it’s misfiring, just as we know what it feels like to work in a team.

The best part is what happens when we work together 🐝

The highlight of the evening was witnessing what becomes possible when people align their energy, intention and effort. A room, unlike any other awards ceremony, felt less like a room of individuals and more like an engine, with every component different, every part essential, every part unique, but all working in sync to generate something extraordinary. And no one embodied this more than Dr Shirley Woods-Gallagher, Mari Saeki, Adam Micklethwaite, Adrian Bird, Eve Holt, Nancy Doyle, and many others who have been building the BeeNeuroinclusive. To receive the Partner of the Year award when everyone works for different organisations really highlighted what a team of people can achieve, and that culture isn’t a slogan or a strategy document. Culture is what happens every day, culture exists in the small actions, the shared commitments, the way people show up for each other. Just like this team of people have. 

And where better to feel our collective culture than in Manchester?

A city built on power, invention and collective ambition. A city where engines were forged, railways were born, and movements, from industry to music to social change, have always started with people coming together. Manchester doesn’t just have culture; Manchester is our culture. It is the way the city collaborates, challenges, creates and keeps moving forward. It doesn't matter who you are, or what your role is, from politicians, civil servants, trade unions, business leaders, founders, frontline teams good employment matters to us all. Different roles, different pressures, different perspectives, yet we are all part of the same system. The same movement. And just like an engine, it only works when the parts work together. Which is what the Good Employment movement has been empowering people to do since its inception.

As Ian MacArthur often says, we don’t need to make this complicated. We simply need to work together and create good employment because: it is morally right, it is economically beneficial, and it is socially transformative.

The keynote Matthew Taylor, from the Fair Work Agency shared how fairness is key. A culture of fairness ensures all engines can run smoothly, with trust as the oil, leadership as the ignition, and everyday behaviours as the moving parts, organisations don’t just function, they accelerate.

Working together, the hosts John Herring and Carol Halford brought an energy to the evening which was impossible to ignore. They presented with the kind of enthusiasm that makes a room lean in, and the room responded. People tried to follow the instructions (well… ish!), laughed at themselves when they didn’t, and fully embraced the collective moments. With references to ChuckleVision, co-ordinating an evening of many moving parts, with everyone attempting to move in time, it felt like watching an engine spark into life: different parts, different rhythms, somehow syncing into something that worked. And felt awesome. It was an evening of celebration which has lingered long after we all headed back to our own organisations.

Culture in motion - the Manchester way

The event, with hundreds of people was playful, human, and very Manchester, that mix of humour, graft and “let’s just give it a go” spirit that this city is famous for. And in that moment, you could see culture in action. Not the written‑down version. Not the strategic framework. The lived version. The everyday version. The version that happens when people feel safe enough to join in, brave enough to try, and connected enough to laugh together. And just like an engine, the collective movement created the power of good employment.

Manchester has always understood this. It is a city built on collaboration, invention and a bit of organised chaos. The GEC Awards were no different. It was people, power and culture, all working together, all moving forward, all proving exactly why good employment really is good for everyone. And even as we celebrated, conversations naturally turned to what comes next: people arranging to meet up, organisations planning to collaborate, ideas being shared across tables. The momentum was unmistakable, throughout the evening you could feel it gathering, strengthening, accelerating. As people said their goodbyes, they were already talking about how they would refine, improve and push further in the year ahead, ready to return next year with even more progress to celebrate. With different awards to enter, and celebrate together.

Because momentum matters. Connection matters. Culture matters.

And if we want to keep this engine moving, we all have a role to play.

So here’s the call to action: Keep talking. Keep meeting. Keep collaborating. Keep building the kind of employment culture that powers people, and in turn, powers places like Manchester.

Good employment is good for everyone. Now let’s prove it again. And again. Together. With momentum, with intention and with our Good Employment Culture engine running stronger than ever.