The Evolution of Workplace Culture with Stacy Cullinan of Talent Growth Solutions

Adrian McIntyre: 00:00

From avad3 Event Production, this is Culture Amplified. The very concept of “corporate culture” has evolved significantly over the last few decades, from an emphasis on conformity in the “just a job” era … to today’s quest for meaning, purpose, and belonging.

In this episode … What is the past, present, and possible future of workplace culture in a rapidly changing world? How can HR executives navigate the unique challenges and opportunities presented by mergers and acquisitions? What is the role of listening and flexibility in fostering a positive and inclusive environment? And how can live events be a powerful tool in creating “moments that matter” that help to reinforce an organization’s culture? All this and more, coming up.

Adrian McIntyre: 00:55

Welcome to the Culture Amplified podcast. I’m Adrian McIntyre. My co-host for this episode is Amy Bates, Senior Director of Strategic Projects for avad3 Event Production. Hi, Amy.

Amy Bates: 01:08

Good morning.

Adrian McIntyre: 01:10

We’re joined by Stacy Cullinan, who is currently Head of People and Culture for Talent Growth Solutions, but has a long and storied career in human resources and people leadership. Stacy, thank you for joining us.

Stacy Cullinan: 01:23

Thank you for having me.

Adrian McIntyre: 01:24

Now, I’m curious, as we start this conversation about people and culture and the ways in which they are adapting and evolving as the world and the workplace both change, you started your career in the 90s at McKesson. Were people talking about culture in the same way as they are now back when you began?

Stacy Cullinan: 01:43

Yeah, it was very different back then as compared to today. And I think then it was really, it was a different company too. And it was smaller. I think things were much scrappier. But it was a lot of freedom to try things. I think now, as we’ve moved into the 2000s here and 20 24, I think companies are really, and even post-pandemic, companies are really focused on meaning and purpose. Just recently I was reading the Great Places to Work, a new report just came out, and purpose is really one of the key drivers of culture now. And I think that’s what I’m finding in my career is that meaning, belonging, purpose, those are really the key aspects of culture and organizational culture.

Adrian McIntyre: 02:40

If you take us back, when you started this and you were thinking about your role, a lot of human resources leaders come in with their focus on the reactive aspects of the job, the policies, the procedures, the manuals, the payroll, the things of that nature. How did you start to develop your expertise in some of these more soft topics, the meaning, the purpose, the things that matter. Is there something that helps you to shape the way that career unfolded?

Stacy Cullinan: 03:12

Yeah, I’m pretty lucky. When I started out at that company that I talked about that was ultimately acquired by McKesson, it was a small company but with great leaders. One in particular, our chief operating officer at the time, just he’s someone I still to this day want to emulate because he showed the care and concern for employees. I started as an intern right out of Tulsa University And they hired me after six months and really launched my career. And just being able to be part of that organization, it really set the foundation. So not only all the structures and processes that you just talked about, but what does it mean and how we do things around here, right? What culture really is and what good looks like. And so he was really key in that and helped shape my career and how I think about culture and work today even.

Adrian McIntyre: 04:15

Good leadership is so important. Amy Bates, you’ve been in event production for a long time. You have a reputation as someone who brings excellence and insight to what you do. How did that evolve for you? Coming at it from a very different perspective, but you’ve gotten to a place now where you’re as tuned in to what clients want and need for their culture and people initiatives when putting on live events. Did you start out with that mindset? Is that something that evolved over time? Tell us a little bit of your journey.

Amy Bates: 04:45

It definitely evolved over time. My career started in the corporate world and kind of grew into the event world. And then when my husband and I were relocated to Northwest Arkansas 21 years ago, there was a need in the market. And my very first client was Procter & Gamble. And the large companies that pod all over Northwest Arkansas were looking for event planning, event production. And so when I started initially with Procter & Gamble doing their events, you know, you are starting already to see the culture. “Okay, Procter & Gamble has this personality, Dr. Pepper has this personality, Ghirardelli has this personality.” And you find yourself molding to meet the personality of each one of those. And then you try to mirror it and you try to fit events within that personality.

And so you find yourself being a little bit aloof in terms of, okay, well, what are they looking for? What are they looking for? Because some people want you really buttoned up. Some people want you really creative. Some people really want that to shine through. And so you would have to go through and figure out how you morphed into that culture. Then I started finding my own pace. And I was like, okay, you know what? It’s actually not about what they’re looking for and how I fit into their box. It’s more so they’re looking to me to say, we want you to initiate that. And so as I got older and more mature, I was like, they’re looking for me to set the tone of the culture of the event and of the planning. And that’s been really fun. And at my advanced age, you know, you just kind of find that cadence and you stop apologizing. I think as women, we often, we apologize way too much. But I started finding my voice I began to have more pride in what I came to the table with. And then people started adopting that and go, we want you, we want what you bring to the table. And I mean, it’s been a lot of fun. A lot of fun.

Adrian McIntyre: 06:53

There’s so many themes in what you said that I hope we can unpack. Certainly the role of women in organizations in general and in leadership in particular is critically important. Let’s talk more about that. But I want to follow up on something, Amy, that you said. And I’m curious, Stacy, what your thoughts are here. There is a personality that organizations have. And it’s not necessarily what the marketing department or the Chief Learning Officer or even the C-suite leadership has determined should be our culture, right? So there’s often a disconnect between the aspiration or the idealized version and what you actually encounter inside of a company. What does culture even mean to you, Stacy, given that it can be one thing in the boardroom, but another thing amongst the workforce.

Stacy Cullinan: 07:43

I’m so glad you picked up on that. I thought that too, when I heard her say personality, because it really, it is, and each company can be different. And you’re right, they may have their stated vision of what they want to do, and then the values and beliefs and behaviors. But really what it is, culture is those unwritten rules. And I loved when you said you kind of have to morph. I think all of us, when we come into an organization, we try to figure out, like, how do you be successful here? And that is culture, figuring that piece out. And we learn culture by sitting next to each other, observing how things work, having conversations with people. And so for me, that’s really what culture is.

Adrian McIntyre: 08:33

I love this so much because as a cultural anthropologist, we’ve grappled in the academic world with what is this thing called culture and how do you study it? What does it mean to be a scientist of human experience and culture in that way? And you touched on some things there that are so critical, this idea of patterns of behavior, the things we learn without necessarily being explicitly taught that we pick up from the people around us in our environment. And it really, I think, challenges some of the easy assumptions about culture and people. It’s very easy to pat ourselves on the back and say, well, our culture is outstanding. But then you get out there into the nitty gritty of the interactions, the conversations, and you realize that there are toxic aspects or there are disempowered people, and there are little groups and pockets of dissatisfaction that also are part of your culture. They’re not what you would want to put on a billboard, but it’s the reality of it. How do you, as a people leader and now as someone who advises leaders of companies or small businesses, how do you help them connect those two, how they want it to be and how it actually is?

Stacy Cullinan: 09:48

I think that’s a great question. And I think the heart of it is listening. So it is that you talked about the observing. So it’s the listening. And I think now we have so much data, right? So with pulse surveys, listening sessions, one-on-one conversations, that relationship with the manager and the employee. I mean, that’s really where it happens. And so understanding what’s important to people. And it could be different for Amy and me, right? So we could be at the same company. We have the same shared experiences, but what she gets out of it and what I get out of it could be very different and meaningful. But to really get at it, you have to understand what’s going on with the people. So then you see where the gaps are. So if you have the stated values and behaviors that you’re trying to achieve for your vision of your company, and you see where that gap is. So I think there’s tools where we can diagnose … mergers and acquisitions are another place where that happens, where you have to diagnose, right? So how do we bring these two companies together? And you unpack your backpack, I unpack mine of how we’ve been successful in the past at our companies, but how do we want to go forward? And I think that’s where the advisement, the insights really come from those really important listening conversations.

Amy Bates: 11:21

And wouldn’t you say also, Stacy, because everyone, you know, we spend so much time at work. This really has to be a family atmosphere because everyone’s coming from a different place in their home. And this is the commonality here. So you don’t know what’s happening in that person’s home. You don’t know what’s happening in that person’s life. And so you have to meet them where they are. And so that listening element is so important because we’re all experiencing the same thing at work and the same culture. But what we come to the table with affects how we respond to it. And so the listening is so important. I need to hear where you’re coming from. I need to hear where your head’s at. And now that mental health is such on the forefront of the work environment, I think even more so. You know, back in the 90s when we were starting out our careers or even when you look at previous generations, it wasn’t about that. You weren’t listening. It was, you come to the table, you do your job and you leave. Remember, we had to be there at eight on the nose. You leave at five. I don’t if you have a sick child, it’s no big deal. If you’re aging parents or, you know, it wasn’t it wasn’t the culture.

Adrian McIntyre: 12:29

And 40 years later, you get a gold watch. And thank you very much.

Stacy Cullinan: 12:32

Yes.

Amy Bates: 12:33

After 30 years of service. Right. And a two-line blurb of we’re so happy you were here for all these years. And that stings, you know, but you’ve got to meet your person where they are. So I think that listening is super important.

Adrian McIntyre: 12:45

Now, I hope our audience is going to clue into the fact that we’re intentionally putting the two of you together because there’s something in the in-between of your experience that I think is really interesting and compelling for folks who are trying to think this thing through. So, Amy, on the event side of things, a lot of folks have this assumption that an event planner or a production company is primarily in a directing mode, that we’re going to come in, we’re going to essentially take what you want us to do, and then we’re going to make it happen. But the listening is critical, and you alluded to this earlier in getting in tune with the personality or even taking the lead on it. So how have you partnered with leaders like Stacy to deliver big events, big productions, the most important day of the year, as you say? Tell me a little bit about the listening for some of these dimensions and how you would then try to bring that to life in the production.

Amy Bates: 13:45

First of all, when we’re going to be planning an event, production side or the optics side, we want to come to your place of employment. We want to experience the culture one-on-one. We want to sit and we want to talk with not just one person, but people of a variety of leadership and employment levels, because each person comes with a different story. And we want to make sure and hear each one of those stories and then meet that in our event or in our production mode. So if you have a more casual environment, there’s a lot of joking around, there’s a lot of inside jokes, you want to portray that in your event. Because the two have to match, or the production or the outcome isn’t true. And your audience is going to sense that and feel that.

If you’re a super buttoned up company, you want to portray that as well. A joke might come off very awkwardly. So we want to meet you where you are. And we have to take all of those elements of your personality and your culture. We have to put that on the stage or in an event to where it’s natural. It’s like going on a blind date with someone that it’s not a match. You’re awkward. They’re awkward. You’re not going to kiss at the door and I’m certainly not going to see you next time. You want to find the commonality and you want to then bring that to light for whoever your audience or whoever your attendees or guests are.

Adrian McIntyre: 15:16

Can you give us some examples, without necessarily mentioning any specific names or clients, but can you talk about some of the unique ways in which culture comes to life in events? I’m imagining for a minute that a Chief People Officer or someone of that nature is listening to this, and they maybe have done their one big leadership conference, but they haven’t thought about other ways they could amplify culture, they could impact culture, they could use in-person gatherings or even virtual remote productions to help steer in the direction they’re are trying to go. Do you have any interesting anecdotes to share that might help them imagine what’s possible?

Amy Bates: 16:00

Sure. I’ll give one example of environment first, and then I’ll kind of drive from there if I may. A large company dealing with some economic issues, struggling with some financial issues, and leadership is not aligned, and it’s tumultuous. And they’ve got this large company meeting that they need to have. And they walk into this massive ballroom for the general session. There’s an enormous screen, and the lights are down. And on the screen is a storm raging. And the storm is raging, and the production company has put together some lighting, and it’s like thunder and lightning, and they’re walking into this. And immediately, what do you feel?

Adrian McIntyre: 16:49

It sounds stressful.

Amy Bates: 16:50

It’s intense.

Adrian McIntyre: 16:50

I’m having an anxiety attack.

Amy Bates: 16:51

It’s intense. And they start the general session, and they announce the issues they’re having, and they bring it to light. Then they bring the people into more of an intimate one-on-one conversation. Let’s have a listening session over here. Let’s have a town hall meeting over here. Bringing them into smaller areas where they can talk about this, where they can meet the leader where they are and understand what’s going on, receive some validation, calm down. Then when they entered back into general session, the seas were calm. And that’s what you left with.

You’ve got to create an environment where your attendee, your guest, your whomever, is feeling. You take them on the roller coaster with you, and then you leave them, and you’re creating the environment of how they’re … what personality am I leaving with? You know, how have you taken me on this ride? That’s what an event is, is I’m going to create this environment for you and I’m going to take you, I’m going to tell you the story. I’m going to, you’re going to be in the story with me. We’re going to walk this path together. Then when you leave, I’ve created the environment and the mindset and the attitude of when you leave.

Adrian McIntyre: 18:07

It’s amazing to me that this mirrors so much of what has been said in the past, in a more traditional cultural anthropology study of peoples around the world. That’s not all anthropology does today, but it’s kind of where we came from. Often the analysis of ritual or the calendar with key events will point to certain spaces that are outside of the everyday as a place where highlights, where rituals are enacted, where stories are told at a more of an epic scale. And then, of course, you have your everyday interactions that define the mood, the personality, the culture of that particular group. Stacy, as you think back over your career, you’ve been with a number of really large organizations. Sometimes you’ve acquired smaller companies and had to bridge those two. You talked about this a few minutes ago. Do you have any examples to share of moments where that changed how you think, or how you had to adapt in order to either include or in some way embrace a culture from outside, and what that did to the culture that was already there when it happened?

Stacy Cullinan: 19:22

So what comes to mind for me, there are really … and what Amy was saying with the planning of the events. So at these large organizations, we typically would have quarterly events or town halls where we would have a production company that would help us. And it was exactly what Amy was saying is like you worked with that organization to help amplify the voice of whatever it was we were talking about. And that’s where you had the chance to really reward also and encourage certain types of behaviors from a culture standpoint that you wanted to get across. And there you were able to showcase really different employees that were demonstrating, you know, what you wanted in your culture. So I think that’s one aspect of it.

The other aspect, you mentioned the acquisition. I think, again, bringing those different aspects together and coming up with moments that matter, because if we think, all of us, we think about the careers that we’ve had, there were the peaks and the valleys. Those were really probably what stand out to us in terms of what we remember. And I think being able to intentionally create and use production to help tell those stories of a company. And Amy and I were talking, I really believe that companies, when you think of the life of a company, there’s different chapters. And each of us may join that company in a certain chapter, and we’re able to leave our mark. And I think that these events that happen intentionally or not, but most of them like you said on a calendar would happen whether it’s through town halls or you know large events where you’re bringing leaders together because you really want to make sure that the leaders who are going to be out there having those individual conversations are really kind of aligned so that that they can then cascade the messaging. So I think those are really important pieces.

Adrian McIntyre: 21:45

Now, this isn’t always clean and neat and tidy. Let’s talk about challenges. Could you tell me a story about a moment in your career where there was a culture challenge, something that needed to be addressed?

Stacy Cullinan: 21:59

Yeah. These happen. You know, I go back the acquisitions that have happened along the way. And we did have this moment where we had acquired a company. They had a really strong culture of how they were successful in their town, what mattered to them, that was different from the headquarter location. Actually that’s happened a couple of times in my career, through acquisition, because the smaller company can have a very strong culture, and you don’t want to break that, right? If something’s working, why break it? But how do we also balance that and help them fit in to the overall so that we’re all wearing, you know, I think of the team with the name on the back, that we’re all wearing the same shirt and not just a bunch of different teams coming together. And again, it gets back to what we celebrate and what we tolerate. So are we able to tolerate some of those things?

And in this specific memory that I have, it was important to their culture and the way that they celebrated the end of the week and recounted the successes that they had. And we were able to look at that and say, you know what, it’s okay. Even though that wasn’t part of the larger culture. So microcultures, those things are important. And it’s going to happen, right? You have the individual, you have departments and then you have the whole organization. And so different departments can also have different cultures and work groups can have different cultures.

Adrian McIntyre: 24:20

Amy, when you think about the ways in which you’ve had a window, for whatever moments in time you’ve had, into a company’s culture, what are some of the things that have stood out to you as something that gets you lit up? I mean, obviously you want to serve every client to the best of your ability, meet them where they are. You’ve got to have seen some things that were examples of what not to do, or how not to be, but what were some of the things that have inspired you? What are some of the things companies are doing that when you see that you go, “Oh, I wish more people were like that.”

Amy Bates: 25:58

We did, we’ve done conferences all over the United States and you find the cultures change by different regions, different states, different cities. Everyone’s got a different mindset. And there was one particular company, we went to a conference once in a situation where there was a number of homeless people, there was a number of street peddlers and whatnot. And the company had decided that one of the after-hours events was going to be, we’re going to hop on a cruise and we’re going to do a dinner and there will be awards and all this. And there was quite a bit of money involved in this. And I think there was about 125 executives that were going to be participating in this. And I was concerned about getting to the boat safely because of this homeless and street peddler problem. And I had shared my concerns with my point of contact and something struck them. And they said, we don’t feel right about this. I think we need to pivot. And I said, what do you want to do? And they said, well, let’s take our executives. Let’s go to large retailer. Let’s purchase a number of things and let’s go hand out these items to the homeless instead.

Adrian McIntyre: 26:15

I’m so glad this is the direction the story went because I was imagining water cannons and clearing the sidewalks …

Amy Bates: 26:18

Of course you were.

Adrian McIntyre: 26:22

Not everybody has this outlook. But anyway, continue.

Amy Bates: 26:23

Right. And it was such a beautiful moment to watch these executives who were about to, you know, thinking they were going to board this high-end cruise for dinner and drinks and awards and all and instead they changed and said we’re going to give and then we all went back to the hotel and of course there were you know appetizers and drinks following but the way that the entire culture changed after the giving and they went back to the hotel and the conversations and it just it diffused everyone into a different mindset. And I was so impressed by that, that they took those funds on the fly and said, here’s how we want to do this? And I think that leadership spoke volumes. And from that point forward, we did that conference for a couple of years afterwards and the mindset changed. They were like, where can we go next year and have this effect? Because look at what it did to our team. I was blown away by that. And I was like, that’s good leadership right there. That’s the way to go.

Adrian McIntyre: 27:27

I mean, if events are about designing and leading human experiences, what a powerful way to give people a personal memory of something that sticks with them, that embodies a value that their company upholds.

Amy Bates: 27:42

Well, and Stacy mentioned a phrase earlier that I just I totally tagged on to, “moments that matter.” And I think in events and in production, you have to find those moments that matter and you have to elevate them. And you’ve got to bring light to them and say, hey, this moment mattered. It might be a small moment. It might be a big moment. But you’ve got to really embrace those moments that matter and find ways to then place that into your regular business culture and mindset and personality again. Again, that’s what I keep going back to.

Adrian McIntyre: 28:12

One of the key themes that you brought up earlier, Amy, that I want to explore is women in leadership and also the role of mentoring, both in terms of receiving it and giving it. Because one of the things that is so important in the evolution of cultures is that those mentoring roles, whether it’s the managers, whether it’s the leadership, whether it’s the C-suite, people are finding ways to demonstrate by example, not just by policies or posters on the wall, how we do things around here, how we think, what it means to be someone of this organization. Stacy, can you speak a little to this dimension of your own career, what it’s like to have progressed as you have, and then also the ways in which you’ve looked for opportunities to pass on that mentoring and leadership ability to others, including, in particular, women?

Stacy Cullinan: 29:04

Yeah, absolutely. And this is really important to me. And also, as I think about my career. Like I said, I started as an intern, and I’m a huge believer in internships. And when I think about my career and I think about the mentors I’ve had, both with women and men—actually, I’ve probably had more men mentors along the way.

Adrian McIntyre: 29:28

Just demographically, it’s going to be that way, right?

Stacy Cullinan: 29:29

Yeah, it’s going to happen. But what’s been important to me is at those different stages of my career. And it’s been, you know, I’ve reached out for different needs along the way, and those people have been very impactful at the time, helping me understand what it takes to be successful. Because I have been in these different organizations. It’s different in the different organizations and what’s important for those organizations. And I think being a mentor and a sponsor, I’ve been a sponsor as well, which is a different aspect of it. But I think being a mentor is important to me as I think about the next generation.

Amy and I’ve talked about this where it’s the new generation coming along does see work differently, and I think they are really wanting more, the world is much more complex now, and they’re really wanting more meaning in work, right, and what livelihood looks like. And I think helping them, again, listening, understanding what it was like for me may be different than for them. But I can talk to them about what has been successful for me in the past, especially as they run into different challenges along the way in their career.

I’m also a mother. So being a working mom along the way was very different than it is today. And I think that’s a good thing, right? I don’t think we had the flexibility. Like, when my kids were young, I didn’t feel the freedom to be able to leave, and I missed some things along the way. And now I do think it is important, and we’ve learned along the way that it is important not to miss those things and to prioritize those things with our family as well. You still get the work done, but it doesn’t have to be in the 8-to-5 timeframe. And so I think flexibility has also helped.

Adrian McIntyre: 31:48

There are of course many more axes of difference than just gender roles. And one of the big conversations, which has been a long time coming and we’re still only just beginning to address, is conversations around diversity, equity, inclusion, and what it really means to create a culture of belonging, where you don’t have to change who you are to be part of what we’re about. For some reason, that’s been a struggle. And we can analyze the historical, patriarchal dimensions of it, the economics of it, etc. That would be a different conversation. On the experiential side, how have you grown as a leader through your career? How have you come to see different perspectives on what it means to lead and what it means to be responsible for a large workforce that represents so many different dimensions of difference—religious, national origin, sexual orientation, every form of outlook, cognitive diversity, neurodiversity. I mean, we got it all, right? The human race has it all. And now we have it all at work in a much more open way. And that’s creating some important and sometimes challenging conversations for folks. What are your thoughts?

Stacy Cullinan: 33:07

I think it’s beautiful, first of all. And I do think that it has changed, right? And I think that the companies that I’ve been part of, we have employee resource groups that, because all of us are seeking to find where we belong. And so the first thing that we do, I mean, even when Amy and I first met many years ago, it’s finding the similarities. Even with our differences, you seek to find where you’re going to fit in. And so I do think the employee resource groups have helped with that. Um, and it’s also helped, you know, as, as a, um, HR leader to join different of these so that you really understand the different, uh, employee groups. So you understand, you know, um, what, what’s important to them and what, you know, what the topics they, they, they talk about and what it means to them, you know, as, as a woman, you know, what’s, what’s important to me. But I’ve learned so much over my career in these experiences. Like I said, it’s beautiful because it really does, it just weaves this blanket of all these different aspects of the human life and the work life and those coming together. So it’s been beautiful.

Adrian McIntyre: 34:32

One of the things that I’ve always found provocative is the assertion that privilege, by definition, is invisible to those who have it. And yet it’s very obvious in a very daily and almost menial way to those who don’t. And privilege, of course, can be assigned in any number of different dimensions. How do you think leaders should be making themselves available and/or uncomfortable in order to see beyond the—and again, this isn’t anybody’s fault, it’s cognitive bias, it’s the way our brain works—but we don’t tend to see other people’s perspectives the same way we see our own. We take our own for granted. The male perspective sees men as the dominant point of view and everything else is different, not us, right? The white perspective sees us as the primary point of view and not us, right? So that fundamental us / not-us dichotomy is in part what needs to be broken, but that’s not easy because it means changing the way we see, changing the way we think. How would you advise folks to embrace that and get uncomfortable about it?

Stacy Cullinan: 35:39

I do think you have to get uncomfortable about it. And especially at the manager level, that manager-employee relationship and understanding. Because, I think with being able to see someone else’s point of view, like, putting yourself in that. It is incumbent upon manager to understand daily what’s going on. And it’s harder now, right? In a hybrid or a remote environment, how do you make that happen? You have to be intentional, whether it’s one-on-one calls, but really understanding what’s going on and asking, putting yourself out there and understanding what’s going on in someone’s life. And that’s where you’re going to get uncomfortable. You’re going to be vulnerable. You’re going to share more. You’re going to share what’s going on in your life to really understand what’s going on in someone else’s life and why it matters.

Adrian McIntyre: 36:46

Amy, thoughts about this? You’ve certainly seen a lot of things. What’s changed you along the way?

Amy Bates: 36:54

So what’s changed me? I mean, at this age, you know, we’ve had decades of different work environments and the way that you adapt to each of them. And I have a wonderful opportunity at an academic college here to be a mentor and have developed a mentoring organization. We’ve got about 150 students, and they’re predominantly women because it’s in the field of hospitality. And watching them grow and move into the world of the career and the work environment and whatnot and looking through their lens because, as Stacy mentioned, it is a different workforce now. And we are meeting people and we’re seeing them for what they are.

And they’re okay being uncomfortable. It’s our generation that’s a little off-putting with that. They embrace the differences and being different is celebrated now. And it is beautiful. And I think that tapestry that Stacy’s talking about where you’re weaving in all of these cultures and experiences and whatnot really forms just a beautiful tapestry. And I think that is what the workforce is more so now. And I know that here at avad3, we have some people who are maybe a little more on the quiet side and they’re not as vocal and out there. And one of our leaders mentioned that we should do, if you’re a reader, I want you to come and share your favorite book. And those books and talking about the books has led us into conversations that can be quite uncomfortable, but in the name of a book. And so you can kind of put the veil, you know, up and say, well, this isn’t about me, you know, but you’re talking about these very uncomfortable topics and everyone chimes in and whatnot. So you can find ways to open those doors. And I think that is one of the way that we’ve grown as a culture and, you know, through the decades that I’ve been in the workforce.

Adrian McIntyre: 39:02

Stacy, one of the things that you’ve spoken about that I think is really quite compelling, as we move toward the end of this episode I’d love you to address it, is finding ways to link business strategy with culture with structure. So you’ve got these three components, and you view them as connected and essential to achieving long-term outcomes. Can you speak to that a little bit?

Stacy Cullinan: 39:28

Yeah, I absolutely do. And I think it really starts with a business strategy because when you have, that’s all what it comes back to, right? So it is work for a reason, for an outcome. So when you change, have a change in your business strategy, you also have to then look at your culture. And so it could be your structure, too. So if you want to be more market focused, you could have a very different structure in place to get closer and more external focus than internal focus. focused. And then your culture, your culture would really probably have to shift to and what you’re wanting more of in terms of the behaviors that you’re looking for, for a more customer focused experience, right? And so I think that’s kind of how all those three must work together. So it is the business strategy first, then looking at your structure and your culture on how to bring it all together.

Adrian McIntyre: 40:31

As we look toward the future, what do you see on the horizon that’s either exciting or intimidating, maybe a little of both? What are we moving towards, in the areas that you’re focused on, that we need to start dealing with, we may not have yet figured out, but is coming, is important, is something that we need to do a better job of addressing?

Stacy Cullinan: 40:53

I think for me, there’s really kind of two things. I think AI, it’s still relatively new, but how companies and employees are going to utilize this really tool, right? And so how it will impact our businesses and our culture. There’s a lot there. And you think about AI from an HR perspective in helping an organization. So from the beginning of the employee life experience with recruiting and attracting, how we’re going to utilize that, through all the different aspects, with performance management and talent management, succession planning. How will that tool, if you will, impact those different processes and practices really that we have all the way through down to an exit interview or someone’s retirement. So really looking at the employee journey and how it’s going to play out. The other one is really well-being. And I know we’ve talked about it, but I think that’s going to be even more important. Just again, with the complexities of the world and life right now. It’s shown itself to be really important. And how we really look at the whole human, the person, the worker, and what that means for them to feel successful and feel like they’re doing meaningful work is going to be important. Those two things, I think.

Amy Bates: 42:11

I think for me in the event realm—event and production—is we’ve got to meet our attendees where they are. And as our world has changed and as the culture has changed and with the complexity that we’ve all talked about, we’ve got to meet our attendee where they are. And so when we’re crafting events, when we’re thinking about opportunities in production where you’ve got large gatherings of people, we need to understand, well, what do you need? And what are you going to walk away with? And how can we create that environment for you? We’ve got to listen to what the content is and then provide direction and say, I think that would be better discussed in a town hall setting or in a listening session. We need to take that off of the general session. We don’t need that to be the topic of conversation for everyone. One. Let’s move that into a smaller environment where we can have those one-on-ones because today our general session and our attendees who are coming to these events, they’re not afraid to speak up. And we need to listen and we need to create an atmosphere where they feel safe and we can still give the content to them in a way that they receive it. Everyone has a personality And I think we’re embracing personalities more than ever now. And I need to meet you where you are. And I need to provide those moments that matter for you in the way that you receive them.

Adrian McIntyre: 43:43

Amy Bates is Senior Director of Strategic Projects for avad3 Event Production. Stacy Cullinan is Head of People and Culture for Talent Growth Solutions. Thank you both for this really stimulating conversation.

Stacy Cullinan: 43:54

Thank you.

Amy Bates: 43:55

Thank you so much.

Adrian McIntyre: 43:59

Thanks for listening to this episode of Culture Amplified. If you enjoyed the conversation, please share this podcast with a colleague who might also find it valuable. It’s easy to do! Just click the “Share” button in the app you’re listening to now.

Culture Amplified is brought to you by avad3 Event Production, located in Northwest Arkansas and serving clients nationwide. avad3 believes that event production should be flawless so your message can shine. They provide many free resources for corporate and non-profit event planners on their website, including planning checklists, technical guides, and templates. You can download them free of charge at avad3.com. That’s A-V-A-D-3 dot com

Special thanks to Cameron Magee, Tabitha McFadden, Amy Bates, Jessica Kloosterman, Steve Sullivant, Kimber Reaves, and Olivia Martin at avad3 for helping bring this podcast series to life.

Podcast strategy, on-site recording, and post-production by Speed of Story, a B2B communications firm led by Adrian McIntyre – that’s me – and Jen McIntyre. Music by Diego Martinez.

Most of all, we’d like to thank our featured guests, who so generously shared their time, stories, and insights with us. You can learn more about them in the written notes for each episode, at avad3.com/podcast.

For all of us here at Speed of Story and avad3 Event Production, thanks for listening – and for sharing the show with others, if you choose to do so. We hope you’ll join us again for another episode of Culture Amplified.