Building Better Cultures

In the post-pandemic, work-from-home world, it can be especially hard to feel like your small tasks are having any impact on the overall strategic mission of your company. But this is where alignment comes in. The brands who make an investment in ensuring their workforce is in alignment—or on the same page, strategically—can ultimately bring about better cohesion of vision. To be in alignment is for everyone to be working towards the same goal, and to understand that their place matters. And Zora Artis happens to be an expert on alignment.

On this episode of the Inspiring Change podcast, Scott talks with Zora Artis about how a concrete grasp of strategic alignment can help everyone in your organization to see the "red thread" that connects all parts of the business. Alignment, Zora says, can help empower even those at the very frontlines to see the value of their day-to-day grind. It gives people the opportunity to buy into the story of the brand, and to own it for themselves.

Zora explains the various components of alignment, which include the culture, the structure, and all the things that will cascade and ultimately impact the rollout. But how do you actually do this? Zora says that there are several steps to alignment, but one she digs into is "knowing your enemy." It's ultimately about asking the right questions and figuring out how to connect the dots.

The episode concludes with Zora talking about buy-in from the top. She insists that you must have executive buy-in if you want to see alignment really gel. You want to develop a narrative around where you are, where you want to be, and how you're going to get there. Using the storytelling piece connects back to the brand. Make sure everyone knows what the brand is really about.

Key Takeaways:

- It helps to look for knowledge beyond the area where you're playing.

- You need to understand how to create the right business case if you want to get executive buy-in.

- Alignment is about getting everyone on the same page.

- Go back to your core. Understand why you exist in the first place.

- The articulation of your purpose needs to mean something to your people.

- It's important to make the comms personal—be a good storyteller.

- Perhaps it's the role of everybody to make sure they're aligned.

Inspiring change in a field like accountancy might seem like an insurmountable task. We often think of accountants as boring individuals who prefer to work in gray-walled basements, refusing to interact with anyone unless they have to. But Cooper Parry's chief people officer, April Bembridge, thinks differently, and so does Cooper Perry.

On this episode of the Inspiring Change podcast, Scott talks with April all about how Cooper Parry, a Midlands- based accountancy firm, is disrupting the industry, in the best way. Throughout their conversation, April hits on how Cooper Parry's culture has evolved in recent years to accommodate and promote diversity of thought and values, create a more creative and flexible work environment for their people, and get away from the idea that all UK companies have to be based in London to be considered relevant.

The episode concludes with an in-depth look at some of Coop Parry's company values—how these values were collaboratively created with employees over a series of months, and why living out those values is a shared experience that not only enriches the lives of Cooper Parry's clients, but also the lives of those who work in the firm's offices. For April, culture is about those shared values, not having employees who are robots and simply exist to produce a product and think the same way. The way Cooper Parry has promoted a change in the field of accountancy is inspiring, and a trend we hope to see lived out in other companies across a variety of fields.

Key Takeaways:

- A healthy company culture is good for people and good for business

- "Color" in accountancy adds humanity to all relationships involved

- It's not about location, it's about the people you have

- Healthy culture lets people be themselves and celebrate those differences

- Disruption and shaking things up creates positive change in the world

- The value of "making life count" involves spending time in service and playing to individual's strengths

- Asking questions of your people leads to being able to serve and know them better

- Lived out values make them stick in your company

- The value of "keep learning" is about becoming more self-aware as a person

- Lived out values are self-policing when they're not actually lived out

- Culture is about shared values, not being a robot

Links:

CooperParry.com

Jim Egan always knew he wanted to be in communications to connect with and inspire people. As he says, he wanted to be Julie McCoy character in the TV Series 'The Love Boat' 😊. He started work in the agency world and has been with Kerry since 2005, working in both internal and external comms roles.

Today Jim is Regional Corporate comms lead for Kerry North America

Show Notes:

4.00 – A bit about Jim – 6.45 – What makes amazing change comms – 8.20 – How do we make change personal – change stories – 10.20 – Making execs more personable - 17.30 – Leaders need to inspire change – 19.20 – Know it, believe it, own it, lead it – 27.40 – Advice for small business owners going through a change - 33.30 – The power of 'I don't know' – 35.00 – The power of creating connections.

Chuck has over 20 years of experience in the internal communications world and is the self-confessed cheerleader of Internal Comms. By his own admission, he's about helping communicators to strengthen communications, engage with employees and change businesses for the better.

He has worked with brands like General Motors and Rolls-Royce where he has seen the benefit that really good internal communications can have on business performance. He's currently a Senior Advisor with SocialChorus - where he focuses on digital employee experience - and he's also the host of the Culture, Comms and Cocktails podcast.

Show Notes:

2.40 – A bit about Chuck – 5.00 – The importance of purpose – 7.30 – Culture is an interesting and moving feast – 10.00 – Focus is key to success - 17.30 – How can internal comms help to maintain cultures – 20.00 - The role of leaders and checking in on people – 24.00 – We're starved of connection to co-workers - 28.00 – Internal Comms in small businesses - 36.30 – Making onboarding more human and creative – 45.00 – Maintaining connection in 2021 – Social activism and mental health?

Covid Christmas Craker Podcast episode 2-part series.

This is part 2 of 2. It has been a wild year with many ups and downs. And, while times have often been tough, there are silver linings on many of those clouds.

We wanted to give you an early Christmas present - some REALLY practical leadership, internal comms and engagement ideas that you can take and apply in your businesses.

Our guests range from large to small organisations and commercial to not-for-profit.

I asked them; From a leadership, engagement and internal comms perspective, how they maintained connection, motivation, productivity and empowerment since March.

TELL me what you are planning to do in 2021 within your business below️?

Shout out to our guests:

• Pedro Angulo, Head of Performance
• Brendan Foley, Managing Director
• Dennis Doolan, Chief of Organizational Excellence
• Margot Slattery, Global Diversity and Inclusion Officer
• Leontia Fannin, Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications
• Carmel Doyle, CEO of the Jack and Jill Foundation
• Denise Black, Executive Director of Human Resources
• Lisa Melody, Head of Talent & HR Transformation

Covid Christmas Craker Podcast episode 2-part series.

This is part 1 of 2. It has been a wild year with many ups and downs. And, while times have often been tough, there are silver linings on many of those clouds.

We wanted to give you an early Christmas present - some REALLY practical leadership, internal comms and engagement ideas that you can take and apply in your businesses.

Our guests range from large to small organisations and commercial to not-for-profit.

I asked them; From a leadership, engagement and internal comms perspective, how they maintained connection, motivation, productivity and empowered since March.

TELL me what you are planning to do in 2021 within your business below️?

Shout out to our guests:

• Pedro Angulo, Head of Performance
• Brendan Foley, Managing Director
• Dennis Doolan, Chief of Organizational Excellence
• Margot Slattery, Global Diversity and Inclusion Officer
• Leontia Fannin, Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications
• Carmel Doyle, CEO of the Jack and Jill Foundation
• Denise Black, Executive Director of Human Resources
• Lisa Melody, Head of Talent & HR Transformation

Jenni started her career, not in internal communications but, having studies marketing at uni, went into more public sector communications roles. She then moved into media relations and realised quickly that what she was missing was seeing the true impact of what she was doing - PR wasn't fulfilling enough. And so came the move into internal communications which started when she was working in an internal communications agency, got totally immersed in the industry and could see the impact that great internal communications have on people.

Jenni now runs Redefining Communications, is a founding member of the IC Crowd and is currently President of the CIPR.

Show notes:

3.30 – A passion for IC – 5.20 – What's really good internal communications? – 8.00 – Challenges of communicating in Covid – 10.30 – Creating magic moments with leaders - 13.30 – The power of purpose – 16.30 – Values and behaviours - 20.00 – The importance of internal audience segmentation - 26.00 – The benefits of diagnosing communications problems – 33.30 –Who's best placed to fix the issues – 42.00 – Examples of great internal communications during Covid. Links

Simon Sinek's 'Start with Why' TED Talk

Ross Edgley - Art of resilience

Gillian French has a passion for people and for scaling indigenous Irish start-ups. She is Chief People Officer at Cubic Telecom an indigenous Irish tech firm with 200 employees. Gillian is responsible for people strategy – ensuring that the business has the right people in the right jobs doing the right things in order to deliver Cubic's business strategy.

Prior to joining Cubic Telecom, Gillian was CPO at Car Trawler where she grew the business from 25 to 600 people.

Show Notes:

3.00 – Gillian and Cubic – 5.00 – A growing passion for people - 7.30 – Are leaders born or made? – 10.15 – Leadership IS a job! - 13.30 – Things get in the way of us being our best – 16.00 – Dealing with poor leadership behaviour - 19.30 – Everyone has a role in creating culture - 25.00 – Mind your people leaders – 30.00 – The power of communications during COVID – 33.00 – Good communications is about connecting people - 36.30 – What benefits might the COVID experience bring to business? – 40.00 – Where does Gillian go for inspiration?

Zoë Routh is a Canadian-Australian leadership expert specialising in the people stuff. She shows leaders and teams struggling with office politics and silos how to work better together. From the wild rivers of northern Ontario to the remote regions of Australia, Zoë has spent the last thirty years showing teams how to navigate the wilderness of people stuff.

Zoë is the author of four books and the producer of the Zoë Routh Leadership Podcast, dedicated to exploring perspective in people stuff.

Show Notes:

3.00 – Zoë's background – 6.20 – The challenges of getting to the people stuff - 9.00 – It's hard to find the work/leadership balance – 13.00 – Trust is a huge issue right now - 21.40 – The paradox of power –30.30 – Asking for feedback is key for growth - 35.00 – Elders, Mary Robinson and the practice of perspective - 41.10 – When good Elders go bad – Adam Neumann – 32.00 – Three things to avoid hubris – humility, curiosity and care – 46.30 – 'People Stuff – beyond personality problems'

You can find Zoë's podcast here and details of her 2020 book, 'People Stuff' here.

Find 'The paradox of power' on Amazon here.

If you live in Ireland and follow the sport, Jamie Heaslip is a household name and one that's synonymous with Ireland's rugby success over the past 15 years. As well as having earned 95 caps for Ireland and played 230 matches for Leinster, he was also part of two British and Irish Lions Tours.

Due to injury, Jamie had to retire from rugby in 2018. He's since carved out a very successful career for himself, investing in and setting up a business; and, more recently, a high-performance coach, supporting executives and their teams to be the best they can be.

Show Notes:

4.00 – Jamie, rugby and where he is now – 10.00 – High-performance leadership is highly individual - 13.00 – In sport, your mid-year results are every week! – 15.40 – Purpose and success - 18.10 – Jamie's leadership traits – 24.30 – Joe Schmidt's leadership traits - 27.10 – Healthy conflict is positive - 29.30 – What you measure matters – 32.00 – Emotional intelligence and authenticity – 34.30 – Compassionate leadership - 36.00 - The challenges (and benefits!) of remote working – 43.40 – How can leaders build belief – 49.45 – Helping local businesses in tough times

You can find Jamie's new podcast here and details of his 2019 book here