Cultural entropy costs the UK economy an estimated £122 billion per year, equating to 5% of GDP.*

Cultural entropy, as defined by the Barrett Values Centre, is a measure of unproductive and fear-based leadership behaviours such as blame, bureaucracy, and mistrust, which divert critical resources and energy away from productive activities, hampering revenue growth and impacting employee engagement across various sectors.

The research carried out by Katharine Williams, Founder of Neema, reveals two distinct scales at work: the economic impact and the level of cultural entropy experienced.

While the healthcare sector leads in terms of wasted salaries due to workplace fear, the utilities sector experiences the highest levels of cultural entropy, indicating significant unproductive behaviours and fear-based practices are affecting employee engagement and organisational performance.

Top 15 Sectors by Cost of Workplace Fear

Sector	Cost of Entropy (£)
Healthcare	£36,792,000,000
Manufacturing	£17,333,700,000
Real Estate and Construction	£14,299,500
Financial services	£12,180,000,000
Retail	£10,834,100,000
Non-profit	£9,705,600,000
Technology	£6,540,750,000
Shipping & Logistics	£6,206,400,000
Advertising, Marketing and Media	£5,354,400,000
Tourism and Hospitality	£4,582,800,000
FMCG	£3,618,000,000
Insurance	£3,463,700,000
Legal	£2,730,600,000
Utilities	£1,465,200,000
Telecoms	£1,246,400,000

Top 15 Sectors by Level of Cultural Entropy

Sector	Cultural Entropy Level
Utilities	22%
Healthcare	21%
Financial services	20%
Advertising & Marketing and media	19%
Manufacturing	19%
Insurance	19%
Tourism and hospitality	19%
Telcos	19%
Non-profit	18%
Shipping & Logistics	18%
FMCG	18%
Legal	18%
Retail	17%
Tech	17%
Real estate and construction	16%

The study finds that although good leaders don’t intentionally foster fear-based cultures, many unwittingly do. Despite over 50% of UK organisations offering leadership development programmes, between 15% and 22% of all leadership behaviour remains fear-based.

This is because, like all humans, 90-95% of a leader’s thoughts and behaviours are driven by their subconscious processing—which is often fear-based and shaped by emotional triggers, habits, and learned responses. As a result, even highly experienced, well-intentioned leaders operate with fully deliberate, intentional thought only 5-10% of the time, making them susceptible to automatic responses that may not align with either their own or the company’s values.

Comments Katharine Williams, Founder of Neema: “I see this as positive news for CEOs. For those who have been left dissatisfied by the results of costly, time-intensive cultural interventions and leadership development programmes, there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel. Cultural Entropy costs will drastically reduce as leaders increase awareness of the subconscious patterns and habits that fuel fear-based leadership behaviours. As a coach, I use neuroscience-backed techniques, honed intuition, and rigorous diagnostics to help clients access and integrate what’s hidden in their subconscious.  Integrating the subconscious with the conscious makes the invisible, visible – and what you can see you can address. We call this ‘Integrated Leadership’.”