Window into Wipfli

Strengthening our culture through engagement

By Maureen Pistone

Each year, Wipfli’s engagement survey gives us a valuable window into how our associates are experiencing their workplace. Associate engagement is a reflection of the emotional and psychological commitment our people bring to our clients and to one another, and this year’s results show, once again, that our culture is a powerful differentiator. Even as the pace of change in our industry continues to accelerate, we are holding strong with our engagement.

With an 82% favorability score, our 2025 results exceed industry benchmarks and demonstrate the resilience, care and collaboration our associates bring to Wipfli every day. They tell a story of a workplace where people feel their work matters, where they are trusted to do what they do best and where opportunities to learn, grow and contribute are part of the everyday experience. They also reinforce something we deeply believe: When we invest in our people, we elevate everything — from how we work together to how we serve our clients.

What our associates told us

Through the survey, associates shared meaningful feedback about purpose, recognition, growth and belonging. These are the core elements of a strong and healthy culture. These strengths continue to be a hallmark of the Wipfli experience. For many, their work feels meaningful; they see how their contributions matter, and they feel a deep connection to their teams. They also expressed appreciation for the flexibility and autonomy they have in how their work gets done. It’s this trust that fuels engagement and performance.

We also introduced two new elements to the survey this year: open comments for each survey item and questions about how consistently our values show up in daily experiences. These insights helped us understand not only where we’re thriving but also where we have opportunities to create more clarity and consistency.

One theme rose to the surface: communication during change. As Wipfli continues to grow and our pace of transformation increases, associates expressed a desire for more transparency about decisions, more context about the “why” behind major initiatives and clearer communication about how changes may affect their roles. Change is real and often emotional. Navigating it well requires intention, communication and partnership with leaders, teams and each other.

How we’re moving forward together

In response to what we heard, our leadership is focusing on two firmwide priorities this year: strengthening how we communicate strategy and enhancing how we lead through change. Where the firm is headed, how associates can meaningfully contribute and how they can help influence the path forward are at the core of continuing to reinforce our culture. Staying focused on guiding periods of transformation, clear expectations and more visibility into decisions and space to discuss how change affects people and processes are the drivers we are committing to across the firm.

When engaged associates “want more” and desire to contribute to organizational success, it’s a win-win for associates, our firm and our clients. We have several initiatives underway to continue building on our culture of feedback and performance: leveraging digital performance check-ins, adding rigor to our performance coach model, and providing resources to help our leaders connect the dots on firm priorities, performance and progress. We are continuously building ways for our associates, coaches and leaders to have the right conversations and build on the moments that matter and live those Wipfli values.

This is all part of a broader commitment: to listen, to learn and to improve together. At Wipfli, engagement is not an annual event. It’s a continuous dialogue, one that strengthens our culture and supports the success of our people. Every conversation, every idea and every piece of feedback helps us keep building a workplace grounded in trust, clarity and connection. These are bold and important commitments for all organizations, and at Wipfli, they are at the top of our list so that we can live our promise to provide exceptional associate and client experiences, furthering our vision for growth, value and mutual success.