Building Organizational Culture: Tips to Understand and Build Yours

Does your EVP attract potential employees or push them away? Is it a bad thing if it DOES repell people? You want your EVP to help you attract the RIGHT people. EVP was the focus of a fantastic conversation with Bryan Adams of Happy Dance. Not Bryan Adams the singer of course. Our Bryan recently left the role of CEO of Ph.Creative which is an Employer Brand agency. He has written a few books - the most relevant of which is 'Give and Get: Repel the Many and Compel the Few'. He has consulted to the likes of Apple and many others so he knows what he is talking about. We had a fantastic conversation during which I was actually surprised (the video below). And delighted. These are some of the insights that delighted me and hopefully will delight you: ‼️ EVPs should be authentic - AND aspirational?? 🥪 The EVP is the meat in the Employer Brand sandwich. Watch the video to see which parts are the bread. ➡️ A quote which should go on walls: "You could achieve any number of tactical steps, but if it doesn't strategically add up to what the business needs... then you're set to fail." 😭 One creative metric for the success of his results is how many people cry. So fantastic. Check out the full discussion! Find Bryan on LinkedIn at   / bryanadams1   HappyDance: https://www.happydance.love/ Ph-Creative: https://www.ph-creative.com/ And don't forget to look up his book 'Give and Get: Repel the Many and Compel the Few with Impact, Purpose and Belonging' on Amazon Find me, Andrea Adams, for consulting support http://thehrhub.ca

Do you feel trepidation at the thought of looking for talent outside the country? It's an intimidating process for sure! I'm not American, but I feel the same way here. Surprisingly, it might not be that hard. This one is for all my American HR friends! I interviewed Sergio Athanasso for this. He's an American corporate immigration lawyer and knows the ins and outs of bringing workers to the US. A few tips that he shared: 🚀 It's a lot easier than you might think, but you should hire an immigration lawyer and/or experienced recruitment firm. 🌟 Success is a combination of the person's background matched to the position matched to the visa category. 📅 The lead time can range from 4 weeks to a year. Eg Canadians are the easiest and it goes up from there. ⛔️ If you hope to hire someone who is in the US illegally or a visitor: nope. It won't work. ‼ Foreign workers often make excellent employees! Despite being Canadian, this opened up a window of opportunity in my mind. It's feasible for almost any talent acquisition strategy. Why not consider it? You can find Sergio at https://sergiolaw.com or [email protected] You can find me on LinkedIn or my website https://thehrhub.ca

"Labelling, though it provides ease of conversing about something, it muddies up meaning." This is certainly the case for "toxicity". It's really easy to label someone or a workplace as toxic and not have to think constructively about them anymore. It's easy say a leader is creating a toxic work environment when someone objects (maybe strongly) to something they're doing. This muddiness has been on my mind a while so I reached out to Dr. Kevin Sansberry. He is a behavioural scientist, host of the Toxic Leadership Podcast, executive coach and deeply thoughtful and articulate human. Especially when it comes to organization leadership and toxic workplaces. We don't get muddy thinking from him. There were many insights in this conversation about toxic workplaces and far more: 🕺🏻 Label behaviour not people. And be careful about the labels themselves. They may be a means to minimize a whole person. 😖 Performance management is not toxicity although someone who is being performance managed may feel deeply uncomfortable and unwelcome. ⤵️ Toxicity is destructive to relationships and connection and thus business outcomes. ☣️ Toxicity can spread reducing psychological safety and all the related positive outcomes. 🏃‍♂️‍➡️ Someone who is prone to action may come across as toxic if they're in a slow culture. 🔥 Don't gaslight yourself into thinking you're the problem. AND don't avoid considering your role. It’s a fine balance. This conversation was wonderful. As I said at the beginning and the end, I felt lighter for it. And if you're wondering what HR's role in managing toxicity is, that will be coming in towards the end of October.

Do your employees experience trauma at work or are some of their 'off' behaviours a result of trauma somewhere else? I spoke with Dimple Dhabalia about what she learned about trauma. She started out as a lawyer and then worked with refugees around the world. I think we can all appreciate how hard it might be to hear those horrifying and heart-breaking stories over and over. Unsurprisingly, she burned out. However, instead of getting therapy and going on leave like the rest of us might do, Dimple wrote a book: "Tell Me My Story: Challenging the Narrative of Service before Self" In it she shares her insights on recognizing and addressing trauma at work. The experience of our employees might not be as remarkable as Dimple's but we also don't know what people have experienced. How can we be mindful of that? Dimple explained: - the difference between "big T" and "little t" traumas, emphasizing how seemingly minor stressors can accumulate and impact an employee's ability to function effectively • How recognizing the humanity in employees can lead to better decision-making and a more supportive work environment. • Exploring practical methods for managing stress responses and improving emotional intelligence in the workplace. • Creating a psychologically safe workplace: Gain insights on fostering an environment where employees feel comfortable expressing themselves without fear of retaliation. After this discussion, I may have more questions than answers. HR has a job to do that sometimes can cause or trigger trauma. How do we get the job done with sensitivity? It's a big question - and this episode will get you thinking. Find Dimple at Roots in the Clouds: https://www.rootsintheclouds.com/ Her book, Tell Me My Story: https://www.amazon.ca/Tell-Me-Story-Challenging-Narrative/dp/B0CN3TYYP7 Find Andrea at https://thehrhub.ca/

This episode on incivility at work was soooo welcome. It doesn't matter if you're on the left or the right, it might make you uncomfortable! I love it when this happens! After well over 200 episodes, it's thrilling to be unexpectedly challenged! Sara Taylor has been a DEI expert for a long time. She started her company, deepSEE Consulting in 2002. She has authored two books including, recently, 'Thinking at the Speed of Bias'. She has been a Chief Diversity Officer. She was on my panel discussion around DEI. So, in light of these facts, you might think she would blindly advocate for any DEI perspective, but you would be wrong! We all have biases. Every single one of us. Whether we're white, black, asian, gay, straight... etc. We all know it's true, it's just that some people with biases have power. Sara also said: 2️⃣ Most of the incivility that HR is dragged into have to do with people in the second stage of culture competence. 🤝 With cultural competence we are not talking about ethnicities or geographies, we're talking about our ability to interact effectively with people who are different. 👯 Everyone is different. It's a rather obvious statement, but this includes the people you think are in your tribe almost as much as the people you think are NOT in your tribe. Don't get too smug: When we think we are so great because we're getting along and ignoring the differences, remember, we are NOT fully developed. Back to the previous point: all people are different. So fantastic! You should watch it or listen and join me in feeling delighted by the new ideas! Links are in the comments! Find Sara Taylor at https://www.deepseeconsulting.com/ or on LinkedIn. You can find her books wherever you buy them starting with the most recent: Thinking at the Speed of Bias: How to Shift our Unconscious Filters Filter Shift: How Effective People See the World Find me, Andrea Adams, for small and medium business consulting and HR project management at https:/thehrhub.ca

"If you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism." It's a saying in the neurodiverse space. Neurodiversity recognizes that all brains work differently, including those with conditions like ADHD, dyslexia and autism spectrum disorder. In this illuminating conversation, Curtis Braun addressed assumptions about neurodivergent individuals and shared how we can create truly inclusive workplaces. Curtis Braun is an HR instructor, consultant and coach who brings first-hand experience as the father of a neurodivergent son. He has recently started a coaching business focused on men with neurodivergent children so they have the mindset and support they need to help their kids. He discusses: • Not that we will become diagnosticians, but there are 5 dimensions for assessing neurodivergence: language, perception, sensory skills, motor skills and executive functioning. • 5 dimensions is a lot of a variety - putting people in boxes is not helpful. • Common misconceptions include ideas like we need to lower our expectations and they do poorly with change. Not necessarily! • Fostering psychological safety allows neurodivergent talent to thrive. Curtis made the case that neurodiversity is a societal reality - and a competitive advantage for inclusive organizations willing to "unlearn" biases. Find Curtis on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/curtiswbraun Check out his company at https://advc8.ca/ Find Andrea https://thehrhub.ca

So you want career growth. But how do you make it happen? You need to answer the question of 'what do you mean by career growth'. And the answer could be ANYTHING. Time with family. Travelling. Money. Praise. Promotions. Prestige. Specialization. Really it could be anything and an honest, personal answer will help you achieve it. This was the focus of my conversation with Adam Pekarsky. He's had career growth, but not really of the traditional kind. He started out as a lawyer and now he is a leader and majority shareholder at Humanis Advisory - an executive search firm. He reflects on career growth in his new book (out this month) called "The Ampersand Chronicles Vol 1: Stories of a Small but Mighty Business in a Rough and Tumble Town". He writes the most amazing blog you've read and has organized his best into a book! So his insights on career growth from his own perspective but also that of the people he helps: - All motivation is valid, but you have to know what yours are. - Maybe you want to climb the ladder, but maybe you want something else as well. There may be trade-offs. - He resists the idea of work life balance because it's limiting, a zero-sum game. For him it's 'work-life integration' and it enables more possibilities. - Passion is important. Think about what Tiger Woods said in his prime "I'm not the best golfer in the world because I have the most talent. I'm the best golfer in the world because I practice the most." It would be hard to 'practice the most' without passion. It was wonderful conversation full of good stories and good advice Find Adam on LinkedIn or at https://humanisadvisory.com/ To get a copy of the book, please contact Kiara Tyler at [email protected] and they will add you to the list! Find Andrea for consulting support: [email protected]

The future of DEI is murky. So the purpose of this panel discussion was to reflect on the recent developments in DEI and consider how we might evolve our effort to become more effective. We collectively dove into DEI around the murder of George Floyd - often with little to no experience. And it was a great discussion! The following were just a few of the ideas I took away: - We HAVE made progress. - And this problem is 400 years (or more) in the making. While we want to see change now, this is the work of generations i.e. a marathon not a sprint. - Much of our effort has been spent on diversity where the real work should focus on inclusion and equity. - To be effective we need to meet people where they are at. - If you are on the extreme right or extreme left, you may be contributing to the polarization. Overall, I'm left with a sense of hope and a reframed perspective. Thank you to the panelists: Amy E. Hull M. Ed. Amy is the Head of DEI for Paycor. She is a consultant and Former School Administrator. She recently won bronze from Brandon Hull for her DEI strategy. She is working on authoring her first book on the relationship between power and empathy.   / amyehull6   Toby Mildon. Toby is the author of 'Inclusive Growth' and Host of a podcast by the same name. This year, he also released another book 'Building Inclusivity'. He runs Mildon consultancy and previously worked for Deloitte, Accenture and the BBC. https://www.mildon.co.uk/ Dr. Leeno Karumanchery has PhD in Sociology and Equity Studies from the University of Toronto. He is an author of a number of books including an upcoming book called 'The Old Black Lesbian Elephant in the Room: Why the Woke Need to Wake Up'. He is the head of Mesh diversity which takes a numbers and data science approach to helping organizations with DEI. https://meshdiversity.com/ Sara Taylor. Sara is the author of recent book called Thinking at the Speed of Bias, and another bestselling book called 'Filter Shift'. She is a consultant, owner of deepSEE consulting and has 35 years of experience in the field. https://www.deepseeconsulting.com/ You can find me [email protected]

Curious about how Indeed is using AI to help employers and candidates? And how they apply it as an Employer? I certainly was. I spoke with Hannah Calhoon about how Indeed is using AI. She is the VP, Product at Indeed and AI is her responsibility. They've recently launched some generative AI improvements like Smart Sourcing. Smart Sourcing enhances the our user experience and improves the quality of matches. In the discussion, we ALSO learn about how to incorporate AI in our own organizations - Indeed aside. Here are just a few insights: ♾️ Indeed has been using AI for a long time but now they are incorporating generative AI. It will help with personalized job recommendations, skills extractions out of resumes, and recommendations to employers. 📈 There are already signs of success. They can do deeper analysis of resumes and help employers and candidates make better matches. 🎓AI can lessen the use of proxies in hiring decisions e.g. we use education as a proxy for assessing intelligence, ambition, perseverance, and industry knowledge. There might be other clues elsewhere in the resume of these same qualities that are harder to spot. ❌ They won't be using AI to make final decisions. That would go against their set of AI principles. 🛠️ TOIL. It's my new favourite word. And AI will help reduce it. Woohoo! How have you been using proxies? Do you have AI principles? How have your older systems been using AI? Are you tired of toil? There were a remarkable number of insights in this discussion that extend well beyond Indeed. Find out more about Indeed's Approach - AI Principles: https://www.indeed.com/esg/responsible-ai Hiring Lab: https://www.hiringlab.org/ AI Articles: https://www.indeed.com/lead/artificial-intelligence SmartSourcing - Just Google it. Find me for HR consulting https://thehrhub.ca

I think we know that "culture is not about ping pong tables and snacks." Too often, company culture gets reduced to these superficial perks. Or perks like this become the symbols of culture everyone points to. But true culture runs much deeper - it's about your core values and how those get lived out through behavior, communication, leadership and more. I spoke with HR consultant Tiffany Castagno of CEPHR consulting about culture. She helps her clients with it all the time and breaks down the key dimensions of workplace culture that you need to be intentional about shaping. She says: 📝 Assess your current culture through surveys, conversations, audits - but make sure to take action on the findings. 🏆 Leaders play a crucial role in modeling the values and norms you want to reinforce. 🔍 Look at metrics like engagement, belonging, growth opportunities to measure if you're living your desired culture. ⚠️ Common culture mistakes: Lack of consistency, not listening to employees, and having the wrong hires misaligned with your values. 0️⃣ And none of what we talked about has to do with perks. Although those are nice and we like them! So want to build a magnetic culture that attracts and retains top talent? Check out this episode!