The S2B2C Model: How Experiences Become Culture

Organizations often struggle to turn aspirational values into actual company culture. It’s one thing to say what your culture is, but a very different thing for employees to live it day-to-day. Research shows that when employees have positive, meaningful experiences at work, engagement soars – in fact, positive employee experiences correlate with 16× higher engagement levels and employees are 8× more likely to stay at the company. This is because culture is built through experience: each interaction, event, and story in the workplace shapes how people think and behave. Simply put, “Culture must be lived, not stated” – it emerges from collective experiences. This talk explores S2B2C, a model for deliberately designing immersive employee experiences that transform workplace culture.

What is S2B2C?

S2B2C stands for “Service to Business to Culture.” It’s an organizational development model and strategy pioneered by ROSY SKY employee engagement agency to bridge services (experiential initiatives) to business outcomes by way of culture change. In this model, a professional service partner works with a company (Business) to engage and inspire its people, ultimately translating those interactions into a sustainable culture (Culture). In other words, S2B2C means using employee-focused services to drive business goals through cultural transformation.

• Example: Traditional consulting might focus only on strategy (B2B), but an S2B2C partner designs immersive employee programs (S) that directly influence employees’ mindsets and behaviors (B), which over time become embedded norms and values (C). Employee activities are turned into culture; engagement is turned into performance. The S2B2C approach recognizes that business results (performance, customer experience, innovation, etc.) are ultimately driven by culture, and culture is driven by how employees experience their work.

Why Experiences Are Key to Culture

Experiences shape beliefs, and shared beliefs are the foundation of culture. When employees participate in authentic, engaging experiences, they internalize the intended values far more than if they simply read about them in a handbook. Several principles explain why deliberate experiences are so powerful in shaping culture:

• Psychology of Engagement: Positive emotional experiences fulfill core human needs – for example, Self-Determination Theory shows people thrive when they feel autonomy, competence, and relatedness at work. Well-designed programs give employees ownership (autonomy), opportunities to learn and achieve (competence), and strong social connection (relatedness), leading to higher intrinsic motivation and engagement. Similarly, a culture of psychological safety (Harvard Professor Amy Edmondson’s research) is built by experiences where employees see that speaking up and taking risks is welcomed without fear. By crafting experiences that satisfy these psychological factors, organizations foster a culture of trust, collaboration, and innovation.

  
  

• “Culture must be lived”: As ROSY SKY’s philosophy states, “People are the culture. Culture must be lived, not stated. When culture lives, business grows.”. This means that every day, the actions and interactions of employees define what the culture really is. A company that wants a culture of, say, customer-centricity or agility must create situations for people to practice those values – e.g. through role-playing customer scenarios or hackathon sprints – rather than just exhorting them. Over time, repeated experiences become shared stories and habits, i.e. culture.

  
  

• Impact on Outcomes: Investing in employee experience has tangible benefits for the organization. McKinsey finds that companies co-creating personalized, authentic experiences with their people see stronger individual, team, and company performance. High-quality employee experiences also improve retention and well-being: Employees who feel a strong sense of belonging (often cultivated by team-building experiences and inclusive culture programs) exhibit 83% more personal growth and 36% better well-being, and are far less likely to suffer burnout or quit.

  Conversely, when people lack positive connection at work, stress and turnover spike dramatically. These statistics underscore that culture isn’t “soft” – it directly affects productivity and retention through the employee experience.

  
  

• Experience Economy Insights: Borrowing from Pine & Gilmore’s Experience Economy concept, memorable immersive experiences serve as “memory anchors” for important values and lessons. Just as a great customer experience builds brand loyalty, a great employee experience (like a meaningful company offsite or recognition ceremony) builds cultural loyalty – employees remember it and adjust their behavior accordingly. The more an experience resonates on a personal level, the more it shapes mindsets and norms going forward.

Designing Immersive Cultural Experiences

How can leaders deliberately design experiences that foster the desired culture? S2B2C uses a structured, creative approach to embed cultural messages in every initiative. Two key frameworks guide this design process: the Four Layers of immersive design and the Four Touchpoints of the employee journey.

1. Four Layers of Immersive Design: 

When planning an engagement initiative (e.g. a company event, workshop, or campaign), ROSY SKY ensures it engages employees on multiple levels:

• Narrative: Craft a compelling story or theme that ties into the company’s purpose or values. The narrative gives meaning to the experience – for example, framing an annual kickoff as “Our Voyage to Customer Obsession,” complete with journey metaphors, to reinforce a customer-centric culture. A strong narrative creates emotional buy-in and helps employees connect the experience to a bigger cultural message.

  
  

• Space (Environment): Design the physical or virtual space to reinforce the desired feeling and behaviors. This could mean an open, creative setup for an innovation workshop (to signal that new ideas are welcome), or using company history displays in a town hall venue (to celebrate heritage and encourage pride). The environment should immerse participants in the theme – think of how the layout, visuals, and even lighting or music can influence mindset.

  
  

• Interaction: Plan engaging activities and interactions that embody the values. Instead of passive listening, get people actively involved. For example, to instill collaboration, include team problem-solving games or peer discussions in the program. To promote ownership, you might have employees contribute ideas that leaders respond to. The key is to make participants agents in the experience – learning by doing, which is far more impactful than listening.

  
  

• Media: Leverage communication media and visual content before, during, and after the event. Branded graphics, videos, storytelling content, and interactive digital tools can all reinforce the message. For instance, a short film of customers thanking employees can be shown to drive home why a customer-centric approach matters. Branded giveaways or digital badges might serve as post-event reminders. Media elements ensure the experience’s key takeaways are clearly conveyed and remembered.

By intentionally layering story, environment, interaction, and media, the experience becomes immersive – it engages hearts and minds, making the cultural lesson difficult to forget.

2. Four Key Touchpoints: 

To maximize impact, the S2B2C model considers the entire lifecycle of the experience – not just the event itself. There are four critical touchpoints in an employee’s journey through any program:

• Pre-Event (Prepare): This is the build-up phase. It includes communications and activities before the main event to set expectations and generate excitement. For example, teasers or challenges sent to employees ahead of a culture workshop get them thinking about the theme. The pre-event touchpoint hooks people in and aligns their mindset early (e.g., a CEO email about why the upcoming “Customer Obsession Day” matters).

  
  

• On-site/Event (Experience): The actual moment of engagement – e.g. the day of the event, the workshop session, the team-building day. Here, all the immersive design layers discussed above come to life. It’s critical at this stage to facilitate active participation and emotional moments: whether it’s a moving storytelling session, a collaborative game, or a recognition ceremony, the on-site experience should exemplify the best of the desired culture (e.g., teamwork, innovation, inclusivity in action).

  
  

• On-Stage (Leadership Messaging): Within the on-site experience, special attention is given to leadership communication moments – the “on-stage” touchpoint. This could be an executive’s speech, a panel discussion, or any forum where leaders visibly model the culture. Employees take cultural cues from leaders, so this is a chance for leadership to demonstrate vulnerability, recognize employees who embody values, or announce commitments that reinforce the cultural narrative. Done right, these moments lend authority and authenticity to the experience (for instance, a leader sharing a personal story of learning from a customer can reinforce the customer-centric theme in a heartfelt way).

  
  

• Post-Event (Reinforcement): After the big event, reinforce and sustain the momentum. This touchpoint often gets overlooked, but it’s where initial excitement converts into lasting change. Follow up with post-event communications and actions: recap highlights in a creative way (infographic or video), encourage employees to share feedback or stories, initiate challenges or pledges that extend for weeks or months after (e.g. a 30-day habit challenge related to the event’s theme). Managers should continue the conversation in team meetings, tying lessons from the experience back to daily work. The goal is to make sure the cultural messages “stick” and become part of daily routines rather than fading away.

  
  

By engineering all four touchpoints, the S2B2C approach ensures that a cultural initiative isn’t a one-off event but a journey that influences employees before, during, and long after the experience. This systematic approach greatly increases the likelihood that the desired behaviors and mindsets will take root.

Case Insights: Experiences Becoming Culture in Action

To illustrate S2B2C’s impact, here are a few anonymized examples of real projects where immersive experiences tangibly shifted organizational culture:

• Case 1 – “RetailCo” (Customer-Centric Culture): Background: RetailCo, a global luxury retail brand, wanted to strengthen a culture of customer obsession among frontline teams in Asia. Employees were used to standard training modules, but customer empathy wasn’t truly ingrained. Intervention: Using S2B2C principles, ROSY SKY designed an immersive program called “In Your Customer’s Shoes.” It kicked off with pre-event storytelling – short videos of real customers sharing their expectations and experiences. On the event day, the venue was transformed into a simulated boutique environment (visual merchandising as immersive space), and employees rotated through interactive stations. At one station, they role-played as customers encountering various service scenarios; at another, they solved problems as a team to delight a “difficult customer” (an actor) – building collaboration and empathy. Company leaders participated too, sharing personal customer stories (on-stage moment demonstrating that even executives serve the customer). Outcome: In post-event surveys, employee empathy scores jumped significantly and many participants cited specific insights (“I never realized how a small gesture makes a big difference for the customer”) as takeaways. More importantly, over the next quarter RetailCo saw a measurable uptick in customer satisfaction ratings in the region, which leadership attributed in part to frontline staff applying the mindset from the program. The experience didn’t just talk about customer-centric culture – it allowed employees to live it firsthand, turning an abstract value into daily practice.

  
  

• Case 2 – “FinServCorp” (Collaboration & Innovation): Background: FinServCorp, a large financial services firm, was undergoing a digital transformation and needed to break down silos between departments. The desired culture was one of collaboration, continuous learning, and innovation, but employees were entrenched in their routines and hesitant to interact outside their teams. Intervention: We organized an “Innovation Festival” as a capstone to a 6-month internal engagement campaign. Leading up to it (the pre phase), employees across different departments were mixed into small cross-functional teams and given monthly mini-challenges (e.g. “pitch a process improvement idea”) with friendly competition and recognition. This built anticipation and cross-team familiarity. The Festival event itself was a dynamic day with interactive booths (each booth run by a mixed team showcasing a prototype idea), collaborative workshops, and an “open mic” session where anyone could share quick ideas or lessons learned (reinforcing psychological safety and voice). The space was designed like a tech expo (to excite people about innovation), and media displays showcased success stories of famous industry innovations to inspire. Executives visited each booth and publicly praised teams’ efforts on stage, signaling that experimentation and collaboration were truly valued. Outcome: Following the festival, FinServCorp reported a surge in inter-department project initiatives – employees who met at the event continued collaborating on new ideas. An internal culture survey a month later showed a marked increase in the statement “Silos and barriers between teams are breaking down.” The program effectively created new cross-organizational relationships and a shared sense of purpose, seeding a more collaborative culture. One senior manager noted that “for the first time, marketing is talking to IT daily – and it started because they brainstormed together at the Innovation Festival.”

(These cases are anonymized composites based on real ROSY SKY engagements, demonstrating how purposeful experiences can create lasting cultural change.)

Conclusion

Culture change doesn’t happen by accident – it happens by design. The S2B2C model provides a blueprint for designing that change through immersive employee experiences. By treating every employee interaction as an opportunity to reinforce desired values and behaviors, organizations can translate abstract ideals into concrete habits and “the way we do things here.” Over time, those shared habits become the culture. Importantly, this approach aligns culture with business outcomes: when employees live the culture (engaged, connected, purpose-driven), performance and results follow. Companies that have embraced experience-driven culture-building are reaping benefits in agility, innovation, retention, and overall employee happiness.

In summary, **S2B2C – Service to Business to Culture – is about using professional expertise to craft experiences that empower the organization, drive business goals, and forge a resilient culture. Every town hall, training, celebration, or campaign is a chance to shape beliefs and behaviors. Leaders should ask: What experience can we create that will exemplify our values? Instead of issuing mandates, create moments that inspire. When done consistently, these moments accumulate into a powerful cultural momentum. As ROSY SKY puts it, by creating “talking points and magic moments” for employees, we can turn companies into communities, invigorate culture and drive results.

Takeaway: Experiences are the seeds of culture. If we plant the right experiences and nurture them, we will grow the culture we envision. Organizations that master S2B2C will not only see a more engaged workforce, but also a culture that can adapt and thrive – one immersive experience at a time.

FAQs:

Q1: What does S2B2C stand for?

A: S2B2C stands for “Service to Business to Culture” — a model where professional services (S) support a business (B) in designing immersive employee experiences that shape and sustain corporate culture (C).

Q2: How is S2B2C different from traditional employee engagement?

A: Unlike one-off activities or surface-level initiatives, S2B2C is built on psychological theories and structured to influence long-term behavior change, culture reinforcement, and business performance.

Q3: Why is experience design important for company culture?

A: Experience design translates abstract values into lived behavior. When employees participate in immersive, emotionally resonant experiences, they internalize desired values more effectively than through words or manuals.

Q4: What are examples of cultural transformation through experience?

A: Examples include onboarding rituals that boost belonging, innovation hackathons to promote psychological safety, and values-based storytelling events that reinforce corporate purpose.

Q5: How do I implement S2B2C in my organization?

A: Start by mapping culture goals to key employee experiences. Partner with an agency like ROSY SKY to co-design immersive programs using four-layer experience architecture and behavior-change frameworks.