Disclaimer: this is a burner account so my employer can't trace.
The company I work for is a large (4k employee) R&D consulting company. The management structure is very flat: 1 EVP, 4 GMs, 20 Directors, 60ish Managers. The management structure, metrics, and culture reflects a 'turn the crank' type of operations; all employee hours are logged and management very closely monitors operational efficiency metrics like % time on project vs non-project down to each employee each time card. There is micromanagement of budgets, forecasts, strategies, etc from all levels of management. This creates an unhealthy underpinning of a lack of empowerment and trust for any front-line manager or individual employee. This approach is not uncommon to manufacturing or gov't contractor sectors.
The core issue is we are an R&D services consulting company. No two projects are identical, and as such our SOPs are high level policies, not instructions. Being R&D, the employee's roles, education, experience, and capabilities are extremely broad and not cookie cutter. New staff are hired for one purpose, and if they're dynamic and capable, are quickly pulled into 1000 other things, mostly internal side-projects that are necessary to support an internal metric (revenue growth, intellectual property records, CAPA closures, etc.). But because we're largely at the mercy/direction of our clients, we have very few documented processes. A large part of our operations is based on tribal knowledge. Internal decision making ability on anything is consistently unclear. This exacerbates the environment/culture lacking empowerment and further, when combined with the incessant focus on % time on project actually creates a culture of fear. This is not a new phenomenon. This company has operated this way for decades. The employees that last the longest in this environment are the ones who are complacent. Anyone with creativity, drive, excitement to drive change, etc is quickly stamped out or burned out with trying to support all the conflicting needs.
The company conducts an annual culture survey every year. Every year it scores low in the areas of: Empowerment, Openness to Change, Feedback and Coaching, Appreciation and Value, Optimism, Understanding and Forgiving. This year management has stated that they are committed to addressing and improving these scores. IMO this will never happen because management must be willing to implicate themselves as the root cause of the unhealthy culture, and they have no motivation to do so. Yes people will leave, but they'll just continue to hire; Nothing new here.
The reason I'm seeking your advice is that I see no reasonable way to 1) point out the root causes in a way that doesn't get me blackballed, and 2) do it in a way that actually leads to change for the better.
TL;DR: Management operations is the root of the unhealthy culture, but why would they ever hold themselves accountable and how can I possibly drive any change?