Leadership · Culture · Performance

Your best people aren't broken. The fit is.

The leadership program got rebuilt. The survey went out. The managers got coached. Good people still leave and change still stalls. These are usually fit problems: a mismatch between people and how their work is set up. The training was fine. The setup never changed.

We redesign the setup, together.

Sound familiar?

What HR leaders reported in recent large surveys of their profession. Their findings, our sources.

The managers are running on empty.

71% of leaders report increased stress, and 40% of those have considered leaving leadership to protect their wellbeing. Trust in immediate managers has fallen to 29%.DDI Global Leadership Forecast, 2025

We rebuilt the leadership program. Results didn't follow.

75% of organizations made significant updates to leadership development, and more than half raised spending. They report not seeing results.Gartner, 2024

Every change initiative dies in the middle.

Just 32% of business leaders report achieving healthy change adoption. 73% of HR leaders say their employees are fatigued from change.Gartner, 2025 and 2024

We hired for diverse thinking. Nothing else changed.

Only 14% of U.S. workers say their workplace trains managers on neurodivergent employees. 56% want that training.Eagle Hill / Ipsos, 2024

Each of these gets treated as a people problem: more training, more feedback, a performance plan. Then it comes back. We treat it as a fit problem, and we show you the math before you spend a dollar.
What you've already tried

The training was good. The setup didn't change.

U.S. organizations spend more than $100 billion a year on training, and the management share keeps growing. The research on why so much of it fades is consistent, and it isn't about the trainers.

$102.8B
Spent on training by U.S. organizations in 2025, about $874 per learner. Management and supervisory training takes 13% of budgets, and 30% of organizations plan to fund it more.
44% vs 91%
Job satisfaction where organizations are ineffective at addressing workplace needs, versus where they are effective. In the ineffective group, 51% of workers say they are at least somewhat likely to leave within a year.
22%
Of managers worldwide were engaged in 2025, down from 31% in 2022. The people expected to carry every program are the least engaged in it.
Why it fades. Harvard Business School researchers found that after training, people "soon revert to old ways of doing things," because the system around them never changed: strategy, senior alignment, and the design of the organization itself. McKinsey's review of failed leadership programs names the same causes: ignoring context, separating learning from real work, and never measuring results. That system is what we call the setup. It's the part nobody inside the organization is assigned to fix.
The workarounds

What organizations do instead, and what it costs

Each workaround moves the problem. None of them changes the setup that made it.

What we do about it

We change the setup, with you. Three doors, one method: assess first, design together, embed through your managers, measure before and after.

The belief underneath all of it: talent is everywhere. The setup decides if you can see it.

What poor fit is costing you

An example, using two numbers already in most budgets.

A 40-person team, $70,000 average salary, 15% annual turnover
$88,200
a year in turnover costs
Six exits a year, each costing about 21% of salary, the published median. The same team spends about $34,960 a year on training at the 2025 U.S. average of $874 per learner.
Not every exit is a fit problem. This is the total; the share caused by poor fit is what we work on.
What the evidence says

Why fixing the setup can pay for itself

Most of the money is already in your budget: what you spend on training and what you lose to exits. The question is whether the setup lets either one work.

1.2x to 3.6x
An example of a conservative return on investment (ROI) for a mid-sized team, crediting us with only half of any measured benefit. Your own estimate comes with the proposal.
7 in 10
Chance a trained leader outperforms an untrained peer on the job, across 335 samples.
70%
At least this much of the difference in engagement between teams is explained by the manager.
Free guide

Five Fit Fixes That Cost Less Than One Resignation

Five changes to how work is set up that any manager can start this week. Most of them cost nothing.

You'll get the guide and occasional emails from Wikstroo. Unsubscribe anytime. See our .

Watch the setup change the outcome

One talented (hypothetical) employee. Only the setup changes.

Interactive. Drag the sliders and watch what happens

The setup around them

50
Higher = they know exactly what good looks like in this role.
50
Higher = real say over schedule, workspace, and how work gets done.
50
Higher = the role uses what they're great at, instead of fighting it.
50
Higher = quieter, calmer, fewer interruptions. Matters most for in-person teams.

60
Some people do their best work in long, uninterrupted stretches. Higher = the role depends more on protected focus time.

What their day looks like

Role clarityModerate
AutonomyModerate
Strengths matchModerate
Sensory fitModerate
Poor fitStrong fit
50
Fit score
Drag the sliders on the left. This panel will show you what changes and why.

Recognize this setup on your team? Let's talk about it.

The talent is already on your team.

The setup decides whether you can see it. Fifteen minutes tells us both whether this fits.

In person across New England, remote everywhere else.

How we work

Three ways to work with us

We don't do this work to your organization. We do it with you.

Wikstroo is an organizational effectiveness consulting practice. We help HR leaders and executives solve people problems that usually get misdiagnosed as skill gaps, motivation issues, or "culture." Most of the time, the problem is simpler and harder: the way work is set up doesn't fit the people doing it. If you've already invested in training, coaching, or a survey, we start from what you learned, not from zero.

Leadership & teams

Coaching and development for leaders whose teams are underperforming, stuck, or losing good people.

  • Executive coaching for senior leaders and managers
  • Team diagnostics and alignment sessions
  • Finding what's holding your team back, and coaching through it
For: CEOs, COOs, CHROs, people managers

Culture & change

Getting people ready for change, not just told about it. Fewer than half of CHROs say their culture currently drives performance.

  • A clear read on your culture, and a plan to shift it
  • Change management that sticks past the announcement
  • AI and technology transitions framed as fit problems
For: HR leaders, leadership teams, executives

Brain-friendly design

Our research specialty. We design work with you so every kind of mind on your payroll can do its best.

  • Redesigning how people work best
  • Training your managers to lead every kind of mind
  • Addressing burnout at its causes, not only its symptoms
For: HR teams, people operations, operations leaders
How engagements unfold

Lasting results come from the full engagement. You can start smaller.

One-off events rarely change much on their own; measured work over several months is what moves retention and engagement. If you'd like to see how we think first, the first two steps are there for that.

1

A fit call

Fifteen minutes, no pitch or cost. You describe what's going on, we tell you candidly whether it looks like a fit problem.

2

A half-day working session

A focused session (3 hours) with your leadership group or specific team, five to twelve people, built around your actual situation. Dr. Mike can even go in blind without prep. Real work and confidentiality in the room, not a canned pitch. (He really doesn't like those anyhow.) It's a low-risk way to see how we think before a larger engagement.

Ask about a working session →
Where results come from
3

A measured engagement

A multi-month engagement built around your situation: assessment, co-designed changes, manager coaching in spaced sessions, and often a leadership retreat, all measured before and after. This is where lasting change happens. Talk with us before deciding on scope or budget.

See what that looked like →

Every engagement, four moves

1

Assess

We look at where fit, motivation, and performance are leaking. With you, not behind your back. Programs built on a needs analysis produce stronger learning and on-the-job transfer, so we never skip it.

2

Design

Together we pick changes that fit your budget and your real world. Training that ignores the context it lands in is the main reason training fades.

3

Embed

We teach your managers to run the changes themselves, so the results don't leave when we do. Spaced sessions beat one-off events.

4

Measure

We measure before and after, together. Many programs are never measured, which is why nobody can say what they bought. You'll know what worked and what didn't.

The measurement promise: we agree with you how success will be measured, or we don't start.
Alongside you, not handed to you

What working together looks like

No off-the-shelf program. Every engagement is built with the people who will live with the result.

Who's in the room

Your HR lead and a small working group of the leaders closest to the problem. They shape the diagnosis, so they recognize it when they see it.

What we design together

We bring the evidence and the options. You bring what will actually work in your organization. Every change is chosen jointly and fits your budget and your calendar.

What your managers own

Managers run the changes with their teams, with coaching from us in spaced sessions. The skills stay after we leave.

How you'll know

Regular check-ins against the measures we agreed on at the start, plus a before-and-after report you can share with your leadership team.

What changes on your dashboard

The measures HR leaders already track. We agree on the baseline before we start, and report the change as percentages.

1

Retention

Regretted attrition, time to fill, and what each exit was costing you.

2

Engagement

Survey scores, participation, and the gap between your best-led and worst-led teams.

3

Manager effectiveness

How teams rate the people who lead them, before and after we coach those leaders.

Dr. Mike Neilio facilitating a working session

In the room, doing the work.

Not sure which door is yours?

Fifteen minutes, no pitch. If we're not the right fit, we'll say so.

Questions first? Email solutions@wikstroo.com. You'll hear back from Mike, not a sales team.

Results

What clients say happened

What changed for each client, followed by what they told us. Quotes are from real clients, shared with permission and shortened to initials; each reflects that client's experience, and results vary by organization.

Culture and performance turnaround · Real estate investment trust

A turnaround that leadership believes will last

Situation

Manager turnover every year, revenue leaking in ways they couldn't pinpoint, and client commitments going unmet.

What we did

On-site discovery, then a six-month plan of interventions built with stakeholders, delivered through the REIT's third-party operations.

Result

Culture, performance, and client outcomes all moved, and the leadership team believes the new level is sustainable.

"Mike and his team completely turned around the culture and gave us hope that this new level of performance is sustainable for the future."
— M., SVP
Culture and leadership effectiveness · Hospital system

A culture problem they couldn't name, made actionable

Situation

A hospital system knew its culture was struggling but had no idea where to start, and the problem wasn't one their usual metrics could capture.

What we did

Worked with the senior leadership team to see it from their view, ran diagnosis through group interviews across department cohorts, and identified interventions leaders could act on and employees could get behind.

Result

A shared, actionable path that engaged staff at every level in a new era of organizational success.

"Mike and his team were patient, compassionate, and understood that the problem was possible to identify even if it wasn't something we could nail down through the usual metrics."
— O., EVP
Change consulting · Organizational transformation

Change work a client ranks among the best they've hired

"You have been one of the most capable consultants for change I have worked with in any capacity. Any organization in need of your expertise will find deep value in what you do."
— A., organizational leader
Leadership team alignment · Retreats and working sessions

Divided rooms to shared agreements, sometimes on days' notice

Situation

One leadership group faced decades of history, an uncertain future, and major change inside and out. Another lost its facilitator days before its session.

What we did

Prepared with each group before the room, built the right questions, and ran working sessions where every voice got heard.

Result

For one, its most successful meeting to date. For the other, clarity and alignment on vision and direction, on very short notice.

"His incredible pre-meeting organization, insightful questions, and thoughtful summaries along with a calm, assured presence allowed everyone to feel heard and brought us to collaborative agreements."
— G., organizational leader
"[Dr. Mike] helped our board gain real clarity and alignment on our vision and pitch. Thoughtful, engaging, well-run."
— E., executive director

Your organization could be the next case study.

In person across New England, remote everywhere else.

Or email solutions@wikstroo.com.

Return on investment

What the work is worth, in your numbers

We don't promise a multiple. We build the estimate with you, from your own numbers, as part of the proposal, and we measure it with you afterward. Most of the money is already in your budget: what you spend on training and what you lose to exits.

1.2x to 3.6x

An example of a conservative return on investment (ROI) for a mid-sized team, with Wikstroo credited for only half of any measured benefit.

Read this range with care

  • It comes from an example, not from your organization. Your number depends on your headcount, pay, turnover, and what you're trying to change.
  • We count two benefits only: people who stay, and productivity that improves. Morale and reputation often move too, and we leave them out.
  • We credit ourselves with half of any measured change. The rest belongs to your people and everything else that shifted that year.
  • Published research supports these links on average. No single engagement is guaranteed to match an average.

We finish the estimate with you as part of the proposal, from your own numbers, then measure before and after so you can see what actually changed.

Sources and statistics

The sources behind the figures used across this site, for anyone who wants to check our work.

Show the statistics and citations
Lacerenza, C. N., Reyes, D. L., Marlow, S. L., Joseph, D. L., & Salas, E. (2017). Leadership training design, delivery, and implementation: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(12), 1686–1718. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000241. 335 independent samples. Transfer δ = .82, results δ = .72, converted to "about 7 in 10." Needs analysis significantly strengthened learning and transfer; spaced sessions significantly strengthened transfer and results.
Theeboom, T., Beersma, B., & van Vianen, A. E. M. (2014). Does coaching work? A meta-analysis on the effects of coaching on individual level outcomes in an organizational context. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 9(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2013.837499. 18 studies. Performance and skills g = .60, converted to "about 2 in 3."
Jones, R. J., Woods, S. A., & Guillaume, Y. R. F. (2016). The effectiveness of workplace coaching: A meta-analysis of learning and performance outcomes from coaching. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 89(2), 249–277. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12119. Used as the lower bound: overall δ = .36; skill-based outcomes δ = .28 (about 58%).
Kristof-Brown, A. L., Zimmerman, R. D., & Johnson, E. C. (2005). Consequences of individuals' fit at work: A meta-analysis of person–job, person–organization, person–group, and person–supervisor fit. Personnel Psychology, 58(2), 281–342. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2005.00672.x. 172 studies, 836 effect sizes. Person-organization fit with intent to quit ρ = −.35 and with commitment ρ = .51; person-job fit with job satisfaction ρ = .56. Fit's direct correlations with overall job performance are weak (ρ = .07 to .20), so this site does not claim fit alone raises performance.
Humphrey, S. E., Nahrgang, J. D., & Morgeson, F. P. (2007). Integrating motivational, social, and contextual work design features: A meta-analytic summary and theoretical extension of the work design literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(5), 1332–1356. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.5.1332. 259 studies, 219,625 participants. Work characteristics account for 43% of the variance in 19 worker outcomes on average. Beyond motivational characteristics, social characteristics add 24% for turnover intentions and 40% for commitment. Correlational and mostly cross-sectional: evidence of association, not of intervention effects.
Harter, J. K., Tatel, C. E., Agrawal, S., Blue, A., Plowman, S. K., Asplund, J., Yu, S., & Kemp, A. (2024). The relationship between engagement at work and organizational outcomes: Q12 meta-analysis (11th ed.). Gallup. https://www.gallup.com/file/workplace/645380/Q12%202024%20Q12%20Meta-Analysis.pdf. 347 organizations, 183,806 business units, 3.35 million employees, 53 industries. Top versus bottom quartile: profitability +23%, productivity +14%, sales +18%, absenteeism −78%, turnover −21% (high-turnover organizations) to −51% (low-turnover organizations). May 2024, revised July 2024. Gallup-authored, instrument-linked, unit-level correlations.
Beck, R., & Harter, J. (2015, April 21). Managers account for 70% of variance in employee engagement. Gallup Business Journal. https://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/182792/managers-account-variance-employee-engagement.aspx. Summarizes Gallup's State of the American Manager (2015): managers account for at least 70% of the variance in engagement scores across business units.
Boushey, H., & Glynn, S. J. (2012, November 16). There are significant business costs to replacing employees. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/there-are-significant-business-costs-to-replacing-employees/. Median cost of turnover 21% of salary across all positions except executives and physicians (27 case studies); 20% for roles paying $75,000 or less. Compiled from 30 case studies published 1992 to 2007. Used as the exit-cost input.
Job Accommodation Network. (2025, September 17). Costs and benefits of accommodation. Funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy. Retrieved September 26, 2026, from https://askjan.org/topics/costs.cfm. Of 1,425 employers reporting cost data (2019 to 2024 survey), 61% said the accommodation cost nothing; 33% had a one-time cost, median $300; 6% had ongoing costs, median $2,400 a year. Employers who had contacted JAN, so a self-selected sample. The page is updated in place; the April 2024 version reported 56% at no cost.
Eagle Hill Consulting. (2024). New Eagle Hill Consulting research finds U.S. employees have low awareness of neurodiversity in the workplace [Press release]. PR Newswire. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-eagle-hill-consulting-research-finds-us-employees-have-low-awareness-of-neurodiversity-in-the-workplace-302091752.html. Ipsos survey of 1,261 U.S. employees, January 11 to 18, 2024. 14% say training on managing neurodivergent employees is offered at their workplace; 56% would be interested in it; 68% are unfamiliar with the term neurodiversity or its meaning. Employee-reported; commissioned by a consulting firm.
SAP Africa News Center. (2024, March). Transparency, empathy key to supporting neurodiversity in the workplace. https://news.sap.com/africa/2024/03/transparency-empathy-key-to-supporting-neurodiversity-in-the-workplace/. An SAP HR leader reports a 90% retention rate for Autism at Work hires. Company self-report. Austin and Pisano (2017, Harvard Business Review) describe program employees as loyal with low turnover but give no figure.
Thompson, E., & Miller, J. (2024). Neuroinclusion at work report 2024. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. https://www.cipd.org/en/knowledge/reports/neuroinclusion-at-work/. UK corroboration of the U.S. training gap: YouGov survey of 1,003 UK employers and 1,047 employees; 27% of employers train line managers on what neurodiversity is and its value. Co-authored with Uptimize, a neurodiversity training company.
Development Dimensions International. (2025, January 22). Global Leadership Forecast 2025 [Press release]. https://www.ddi.com/about/media/global-leadership-forecast-2025. 10,796 leaders and 2,185 HR professionals in more than 50 countries. 71% of leaders report increased stress; 40% of stressed leaders have considered leaving leadership roles to improve their wellbeing; trust in immediate managers 29%, a 37% decline since 2022. Global sample, U.S. included; published by a leadership-development vendor.
SHRM. (2026, January 8). 2026 State of the Workplace. Society for Human Resource Management. https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/research/state-of-the-workplace-summary-and-report. 1,856 U.S. HR professionals (October 24 to November 6, 2025) and 2,079 U.S. workers (October 31 to November 7, 2025). Job satisfaction 91% where organizations effectively address workplace needs versus 44% where they do not; 51% of workers in ineffective organizations at least somewhat likely to leave within a year. Companion CHRO survey (129 CHROs): leadership and manager development the top priority for the second year (46%).
Gartner. (2024, October 15). Gartner survey finds leader and manager development tops HR leaders' list of 2025 priorities for third consecutive year [Press release]. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-10-15-gartner-survey-finds-leader-and-manager-development-tops-hrleaders-list. 1,403 HR leaders surveyed July 2024. 73% of HR leaders say employees are fatigued from change; 75% of organizations made significant updates to leadership development programs and more than half are increasing spending, yet report not seeing results. HR-leader self-report.
Gartner. (2025, October 2). Gartner says CHROs' top priorities for 2026 center around realizing AI value and driving performance amid uncertainty [Press release]. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-10-02-gartner-says-chros-top-priorities-for-2026-center-around-realizing-ai-value-and-driving-performance-amid-uncertainty. 222 CHROs surveyed July 2025. Just 32% of business leaders report achieving healthy change adoption; 47% of CHROs say their culture drives employee performance.
Basu, S., Das, A., Bretas, V., & Shepp, J. (2024, April 11). 4 reasons why managers fail. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2024/04/4-reasons-why-managers-fail. Gartner analysts report managers are accountable for 51% more responsibilities than they can effectively manage. Survey method not disclosed in the article.
Gallup. (2026). State of the global workplace: 2026 report. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx. 141,444 employed respondents in more than 140 countries. 20% of employees worldwide engaged in 2025; manager engagement 22%, down from 27% in 2024 and 31% in 2022; low engagement estimated to cost the world economy more than $10 trillion in lost productivity in 2024. Global figures used for direction, not as U.S. benchmarks.
Training magazine. (2025). 2025 Training Industry Report. https://trainingmag.com/2025-training-industry-report/. Annual survey of U.S. organizations. Total U.S. training expenditures $102.8 billion in 2025 (up 4.9%); $874 per learner; management and supervisory training receives 13% of training budgets; 30% of organizations expect to fund it more. Used for the training-spend line in the Home page calculator.
Beer, M., Finnström, M., & Schrader, D. (2016). Why leadership training fails, and what to do about it. Harvard Business Review, 94(10), 50–57. https://hbr.org/2016/10/why-leadership-training-fails-and-what-to-do-about-it. Practitioner article by Harvard Business School faculty. After training, people "soon revert to old ways of doing things, and company performance doesn't improve"; six organizational barriers including unclear strategy, misaligned senior leadership, and weak organizational design. Case-based, not a meta-analysis.
Gurdjian, P., Halbeisen, T., & Lane, K. (2014, January). Why leadership-development programs fail. McKinsey Quarterly. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/why-leadership-development-programs-fail. Four causes: overlooking context, decoupling reflection from real work, underestimating mind-sets, and failing to measure results. Consulting-firm analysis.

Method. Evaluation follows Kirkpatrick's four levels (Kirkpatrick, J. D., & Kirkpatrick, W. K., 2016, Kirkpatrick's four levels of training evaluation, ATD Press) and the Phillips ROI formula (Phillips, J. J., & Phillips, P. P., 2016, Handbook of training evaluation and measurement methods, 4th ed., Routledge). "N in 10" figures are the common-language effect size: the probability a treated person outscores an untreated one, computed from δ or g (McGraw, K. O., & Wong, S. P., 1992, A common language effect size statistic, Psychological Bulletin, 111(2), 361–365, https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.111.2.361). No Wikstroo-specific case ROI is asserted on this page.

Free guide

Five Fit Fixes That Cost Less Than One Resignation

Five changes to how work is set up that any manager can start this week. Most of them cost nothing.

You'll get the guide and occasional emails from Wikstroo. Unsubscribe anytime. See our .

Bring last year's turnover count and average pay.

Add headcount and what you most want to change. We'll sketch a first estimate on a 15-minute call and finish it with you in the proposal.

Or email solutions@wikstroo.com.

Research

The research behind the work

Original research on how the fit between people and their work relates to motivation and performance.

Our working model, in one picture

Neurocognitive style (moderator) Person-environment fit Motivation Adaptive performance Organizational outcomes
Dashed lines are what our studies are testing: whether how someone thinks and focuses (their neurocognitive style) changes how fit turns into motivation and performance. Fit by itself is only loosely tied to job performance (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005), so we study the path through motivation.

Neurotokenism

/ ˌnʊə.roʊ. ˈtoʊ.kən.ɪzəm/ · noun · coined by Dr. Mike Neilio

Hiring people who think differently without changing anything around them first. The job, the management habits, and the workspace stay built for one kind of mind. The hire gets celebrated. The setup stays hostile. And when it fails, the person gets the blame.

Our consulting exists to make this term unnecessary.

Selected work

Social and Organizational Cognitive Neuroscience of Adaptive Performance Across Neurotypes. Doctoral research, William James College, 2025.
Neilio, R. M., Toohill, K. A., McCreedy, R. T. W., Young, A. F., & Tortez, L. M. (2022). The invisible co-worker among us: Understanding childhood trauma and workplace well-being. European Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 5(3), 25–35. https://doi.org/10.33422/ejbs.v5i3.918
Neurophysiological Correlates of Team Effectiveness for Consulting Psychologists. Unpublished white paper.

Want this rigor pointed at your organization?

Fifteen minutes with Mike, about your situation. Questions about the science are welcome.

About
Dr. Mike Neilio

Dr. Mike Neilio, PsyD is Founder and Principal Consultant of Wikstroo. He came to this work from inside operations, not from a lecture hall. His first job was as a janitor at a fitness center in Derry, NH. He went on to manage a $400 million commercial real estate portfolio for a publicly traded REIT in Washington, D.C., running engineering teams and budgets north of $20 million.

He kept noticing the same thing: the problems that stalled good teams were rarely skill problems. They were fit problems, and no one was trained to see them. So he went back for the science, earning a doctorate in organizational leadership psychology at William James College, focused on motivation, adaptive performance, and organizational cognitive neuroscience. Wikstroo is where the two halves meet: the operator who has run the building, and the researcher who can explain why it works.

He supports graduate courses in Organizational Behavior and Essentials of Management at Harvard Extension School, leads Leadership in Human Services Organizations as an adjunct at William James College, and has supported more than 500 leaders and learners since 2022. His work is grounded in measurable outcomes, not wellness trends, and has spanned organizations from 20 people to 1,200.

PsyD, Leadership Psychology (Neuroscience) Harvard Extension School Teaching Fellow William James College Adjunct Faculty Published researcher APA · SIOP · AOM member Coined "Neurotokenism"
The name Wikstroo honors an old family name, Wikström: "where the river meets the bay." Navigating the rough water is the work; the calm bay is the goal.

Fifteen minutes tells us both whether this fits.

In person across New England, remote everywhere else.

Frequently asked questions

Questions leaders ask us

What does Wikstroo actually do?

Wikstroo is an organizational effectiveness consulting practice. We help HR leaders and executives solve people problems that show up as turnover, disengagement, culture change, and leadership development. Most of the time, the root cause is the same: the way work is set up doesn't fit the people doing it. We fix the fit: leadership coaching, team development, culture change, and designing work for every kind of mind. All of it rests on research about how brains work at work. And we measure before and after, with you, so you know whether it worked.

We've already invested in leadership training. How is this different?

Good. We start from what you learned, not from zero. The research on why training fades is consistent: it gets delivered into a setup that never changed, and it's rarely measured, so nobody can say what it bought. We work in the opposite order. Assess the setup first, design changes with you, embed them through your managers in spaced sessions, and measure before and after. If your last program was good, it will finally have somewhere to land.

Is this therapy or clinical work?

Wikstroo's services are developmental and non-clinical. We do not provide medical, psychological, or diagnostic services. Assessments and exercises used in our work are teaching and development tools only. If we believe a participant needs clinical support, we will recommend appropriate resources privately.

Will this be used for hiring or firing?

No. Wikstroo will not design, deliver, or endorse any product, assessment, or process that is used for hiring, promotion, termination, or discipline. This is a firm commitment, not a preference, and it's stated in every engagement agreement. Our assessments and tools are used for development only: understanding how a team works so the setup can improve.

What return should we expect?

We don't promise a multiple. Our ROI page runs a conservative model that credits Wikstroo with only half the measured benefit. On a worked example (60 people, $75,000 average pay, a $25,000 engagement), the floor-to-stretch range is about 1.2x to 3.6x. Your organization's numbers will produce a different range, which is why we build it with you. Coaching-industry claims of 5x to 7x are published. We don't use them, because they rest on participant self-estimates without independent isolation of effects.

What we do instead: build the arithmetic with you from your own turnover and pay numbers before the work starts, then measure before and after. See the ROI page to run your own scenario.

What is "Neurotokenism"?

Neurotokenism is a term coined by Dr. Mike Neilio to describe what happens when organizations hire people who think differently, including neurodivergent talent, celebrate the hire, and change nothing about the environment. The job, the management habits, and the workspace stay built for one kind of mind. When the fit fails, the person gets the blame. Our design work exists to make the term unnecessary. See the Research page for more.

Who do you work with?

CHROs, HR leaders, and people managers. CEOs, COOs, and their leadership teams. Founders and owners. If you lead people, the door is open. Whether we're the right fit gets settled on the call, not by a dropdown menu.

Where are you based?

The Seacoast of New Hampshire. Engagements are delivered in person across New England and remotely anywhere in the world. Most engagements blend both.

How much does it cost?

Every engagement is scoped to your situation, so an honest number needs a short conversation first. We put a number on the problem before we put a number on the work, so you can weigh the investment against what poor fit is already costing you. Ask on the fit call and you'll get a straight answer.

How do you measure success?

Together, in your numbers. Before the engagement starts, we agree on what success looks like in your numbers. After, we measure the same things and report the change as percentages. If something didn't move, we say so.

Do you do one-time workshops, or only longer engagements?

Both. Offsites, alignment sessions, and working workshops are all on the menu. But single events rarely create lasting change on their own, and our best results come from measured work over time. On the fit call, we'll tell you candidly which one your situation calls for.

What happens on the free fit call?

Fifteen to twenty minutes. No pressure. You describe the problem as you see it, and we'll ask some questions, maybe the hard ones. We'll tell you where the real problem sits, what we'd try first, and whether we're the right people for it, including if we're not. You'll leave with at least one concrete thing to try next week, whether or not we work together.

Who does the work?

Mike Neilio, PsyD, Founder and Principal Consultant. Wikstroo is a principal-led practice: the person you meet on the fit call is the person who designs, leads, and stands behind the results, start to finish.

How do you handle our data?

With the same care we'd want for our own. We never share, sell, or publicize client data. Assessments and diagnostics stay internal and are never used for personnel selection decisions. Data handling terms are in every engagement agreement.

How does Wikstroo approach AI adoption?

As a fit problem. We help leaders bring in artificial intelligence, including generative AI (GenAI) tools, without burning people out or losing their trust. The framework is the same: understand how people work best, redesign the setup to support the new tools, and measure whether it worked. If a team is resisting a rollout, we look at what the rollout is asking them to give up, and fix that before blaming the resistance.

Still have a question?

Bring it to the free call.

Questions first? Email solutions@wikstroo.com. You'll hear back from Mike, not a sales team.

Free 15-20 minute fit call
Dr. Mike Neilio

Let's find out if we fit.

No pressure. You talk, we listen, and we'll ask some questions, maybe the hard ones.

You bringThe problem as you see it.
You leave withAt least one concrete thing to try next week, whether or not we work together.
Prefer email? solutions@wikstroo.com. You'll hear back from Mike, not a sales team.
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Wikstroo is a trade name of Wikström & Associates, LLC. Wikstroo's services are developmental and non-clinical; we do not provide medical, psychological, or diagnostic services. The interactive demo and illustrations of our working model are for conversation, not measurement. Engagement measures are used for development only, never for diagnosis, individual evaluation, or personnel selection decisions.

Mike Neilio, PsyD, Founder & Principal Consultant · Wikstroo · Seacoast, New Hampshire

solutions@wikstroo.com · LinkedIn (personal) · LinkedIn (company)