Nahla Khaddage Bou-Diab launches new culture risk management framework

29 January 2025 Consultancy-me.com

Nahla Khaddage Bou-Diab, the founder of business consultancy firm Oneness Management, has launched a new Culture Risk Management Framework that helps leaders tackle workplace challenges that threaten organizational success.

The launch of the new framework draws on her global experience in financial services and management consulting, and follows its extensive application in industry, including at AM Bank, a Middle East-bank which implemented the framework to enhance its working culture.

Bou-Diab is currently General Manager at Oneness Management, a business consultancy she founded in 2022, and CEO of AM Bank, an institution based in Lebanon. Previously, she held several leadership roles at AM Bank during her 25-year tenure at the company, and spent years at Big Four firm EY, where she setup and launched its management consulting business in Lebanon around the turn of the century.

Having started developing the culture risk management framework after receiving her doctorate from the University of Liverpool, Bou-Diab said that approach provides company executives with a proven methodology to identify and mitigate culture risks in the workplace. Notably, the framework leverages both qualitative and quantitative findings, allowing companies to quantify and report on culture risks in an integral manner.

The launch comes at a time of heightened focus on the impacts of culture risks on organizations. Studies from among others Deloitte and McKinsey & Company indicate that poor culture is a leading cause of governance failures, resulting in both financial losses and reputational damage.

“Despite its devastating impact on performance, cultural harm is often overlooked in favor of other risk management areas such as health & safety and credit risk,” said Bou-Diab. “The inability to depict these culture risks before they materialize ultimately undermines the organization’s risk management abilities, and this is becoming increasingly critical.”

The culture and leadership expert added that as technology continues to rapidly change the way organizations and people work, cultural risks are expected to rise further. “In today’s high-pressure global, technologically driven environment, what will differentiate one organization from another is its ability to foster a culture that ignites human potential, unleashes a sense of belonging, and triggers innovation and creativity – these are the factors that differentiate humans from robots.”

“Businesses that fail to acknowledge the criticality of culture on organizational performance may be exposing themselves to hidden costs, and big risks they don’t see. The Culture Risk Management Framework is scientifically backed and tried-and-tested.”

Alongside her role as a banking executive and consultant, Bou-Diab is the author of two books focused on organizational change & culture, titled ‘Untamable’ and ‘A Leadership Shift’.