A toxic workplace culture can undermine even the best business strategies, warns Richard Chambers, senior risk and audit advisor at AuditBoard, emphasizing the critical role of CFOs in managing cultural risks. Chambers highlighted that while 80% of governance, risk, and compliance professionals recognize culture’s importance, responsibility for addressing it remains unclear, according to AuditBoard’s 2025 Organizational Culture and Ethics Report.
CFOs are uniquely positioned to tackle cultural risks, as risk management and internal audit teams often report to them. Chambers stressed that finance chiefs must connect the dots between toxic cultures and financial implications, providing accurate data to guide C-suite and board decisions. “A healthy culture is the strongest control, but a toxic one is the greatest risk,” he said, noting that culture—defined as “how things are done around here”—varies across regions and departments.
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AuditBoard’s report advises embedding cultural assessments into every internal audit, as culture often underlies operational issues. However, the 2025 findings caution that internal audit alone cannot bear the full burden of cultural oversight, especially with emerging risks like AI ethics, ESG authenticity, and hybrid work norms. Misalignment on these issues can disconnect businesses from regulators, employees, and stakeholders, risking performance losses.
Chambers urged CFOs to foster collaboration among siloed risk, compliance, and audit teams, ensuring integrated technology solutions provide a “single source of truth.” While CFOs should not manage these technologies directly, they must ensure teams have the resources for cross-functional solutions. “Culture is the wind that can take you far off course if not monitored,” Chambers said, underscoring the link between a healthy culture and long-term business success.
