The Wates Principles: building the culture your board reports on.

If your organisation reports against the Wates Principles, culture is not a “soft” footnote.

If your organisation reports against the Wates Principles, culture is not a “soft” footnote. It runs through the framework, from purpose and leadership at the top to how you engage your workforce. That is exactly where we work.

Want to talk it through? Book a call and we will map your culture against the principles that matter most.

A flexible, “apply and explain” structure for reporting corporate governance.

The Wates Corporate Governance Principles for Large Private Companies are a UK governance framework, published in December 2018 by a coalition chaired by Sir James Wates CBE and overseen by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). They give large private companies a flexible, “apply and explain” structure for reporting their corporate governance arrangements.

There are six principles:

1. Purpose and Leadership – an effective board develops and promotes the company’s purpose, and ensures values, strategy and culture align with it.
2. Board Composition – an effective chair and a balance of skills, experience and knowledge, with directors able to contribute meaningfully.
3. Director Responsibilities – clear accountability, with directors who understand and meet their duties.
4. Opportunity and Risk – a board that promotes long-term success by identifying opportunities and managing risk.
5. Remuneration – reward structures aligned to long-term, sustainable success.
6. Stakeholder Relationships and Engagement – meaningful engagement with stakeholders, including the workforce, with their views considered in decisions.

The Wates Principles are published by the Wates coalition and overseen by the FRC. Tribe365^® is independent of, and not affiliated with, the framework or its authors. We help organisations meet the culture, purpose, leadership and workforce-engagement expectations within it. Always check the current FRC guidance for the latest reporting requirements.

Three of the six principles are where most boards struggle to show real, lived evidence.

Three of the six principles depend heavily on culture and people, and they are where most boards struggle to show real, lived evidence rather than a statement of intent:

• Principle 1 – Purpose and Leadership. A purpose only counts if values, strategy and culture genuinely align with it. We help you turn purpose into everyday behaviour, with a HIGH Uniform Vision (everyone pulling the same way) and HIGH Purpose-led Autonomy (people trusted to act on it) – the definition of a Collaborative culture.
• Principle 6 – Stakeholder Relationships and Engagement. “Having regard to the workforce” means listening and acting, not surveying once a year. Our approach builds the habits and feedback rhythms that make workforce voice real.
• Principle 2 / 3 – Board Composition and Director Responsibilities. Effective leaders set the tone. Our HPTM® leadership work helps directors lead consistently and model the behaviours the culture needs.

For the framework behind this, see our 4 Culture Structures – the four culture types and where most organisations get stuck – and what a Collaborative culture actually looks like.

A common language that connects culture, leadership and behaviours across the organisation.

Tribe365^® is a culture, leadership and behaviours consultancy. Our work is built on the HPTM® (High Performing Team Member) framework – five plain-English systems that high-performing teams share: Belief, Balance, Inclusiveness, Agile Structure and Honesty. These form a common language that connects culture, leadership and behaviours across the organisation.

Alongside HPTM®, we develop individual HI-PB’S™ self-leadership so each person can manage their own mindset and contribution, and we measure where your culture is today so progress against your purpose is evidenced, not assumed.

This is grounded in years of real business experience watching organisations of every size make the same culture and leadership mistakes – and building a practical approach that fixes them. To put leaders at the centre of it, see our collaborative leadership work, and our team development sessions for the teams beneath them.

Reporting against the Wates Principles is easier when culture is evidenced, not assumed.

Reporting against the Wates Principles is easier when culture is measured and managed, not described:

• Baseline your culture against the 4 Culture Structures, so you know where you are and what “good” looks like.
• Develop leaders and teams through HPTM® and HI-PB’S™ self-leadership, so the behaviours behind your purpose become habit.
• Build workforce engagement that is continuous, giving directors real evidence of stakeholder voice for Principle 6.
• Track the shift over time, so your governance reporting reflects what is actually happening, not just intent.