Why Conflux is One of the UK’s Most Loved Workplaces.
Feature with HYER
How a business consultancy specialising in fast flow and Team Topologies built a workplace recognised as one of the UK's most loved companies to work for.
Conflux has established itself as the leading business consultancy helping organisations navigate fast flow with Team Topologies. Under the leadership of CEO/CTO Matthew Skelton, co-author of the award-winning book Team Topologies, the company empowers CTOs and CEOs to drive digital transformation while creating an internal culture that prioritises team-centricity, humanity, and sustainability.
Through their proven Adapt Together™ approach, Conflux bridges the gap between IT/Engineering and the business, delivering strategies, playbooks, and skills pathways that shape organisations for fast flow and decrease time-to-value. This expertise has earned them industry recognition, including the "Best Digital Transformation Consulting" award at the Netty Awards 2024, but it's their internal approach to workplace culture that secured them a place on the Breakthrough Culture Award list.
At Conflux, the leadership team has built a culture that fundamentally reimagines the relationship between work and personal well-being. They operate with the absolute conviction that excellence doesn't require sacrificing wellbeing; instead, creating space for both professional achievement and personal life enables better outcomes for everyone.
As Carolyn Berry, Director of Business Operations at Conflux, explains, “I've completed my degree while working at Conflux. The flexible hours, support from colleagues, and time spent with people gaining further insights really consolidated my learning. Everyone here has their own personal goals and ambitions, having their own podcast, writing music, playing as part of a band, and I love that we get to support people with their bigger picture."
The company's team-centric approach transcends traditional hierarchies to create an environment where collective success is celebrated and collaboration is the norm. They are committed to treating people as human beings, rather than interchangeable parts, providing team members with the time, tools, and autonomy they need to perform at their best while maintaining meaningful lives outside of work.
Leadership actively models healthy work practices, celebrates career milestones, and encourages volunteering initiatives. People who thrive at Conflux resonate with their vision of sustainable, humane work — individuals who understand that peak performance comes from maintaining a sustainable pace that enables both professional excellence and personal fulfilment.
The annual cost to businesses due to highly coupled delivery processes is substantial, with a typical department of 400 people losing around $30 million per year solely on dependency-related waiting time. As Matthew Skelton notes, "There's a huge amount of value to unlock by switching to a fast flow way of working."
Conflux helps organisations navigate fast flow at three interconnected levels: operating principles, organisational and system architecture, and social and technical practices. This whole-organisation approach extends to their internal operations, demonstrating the effectiveness of their methods.
Carolyn Berry emphasises their authentic approach. “A lot of what we work with clients on comes from internal discussions and ways of working. Matthew believes in ‘dogfooding,’ where we trial practices internally beforehand, which helps us improve our own ways of working too."
Conflux’s Breakthrough Culture Award recognition represents the ultimate endorsement of their approach. Conflux’s goal is to guide businesses to become "thriving organisations, delivering at speed™", and this award demonstrates that the path to achieving this begins with creating a workplace where people can truly thrive.
