Culture-Driven Strategy

It was several months ago when I was having dinner with two friends that an interesting opportunity was presented to me. The local state (South Carolina) SHRM convention needed a human resources strategy track for the show. A full day of training on human resource strategy, and to my shock, I believed they were asking me if I could do it? I left somewhat bewildered… but left with my brain on fire. I needed to pull together a team, come up with a theme and put something I have been thinking of for a while to the test.

Shawn Parr in January of 2012 wrote an article call Culture EatsStrategy for Lunch, in the article Shawn explains how a great strategy comes out of a great culture. I believed this but here was an opportunity to do all the research, bring it all together and maybe ever teach others how to create a great culture and use it to drive a great strategy. I was in! The next day I wrote up my thoughts, themed the track Culture-Driven Strategy and pitched it to my team and SC SHRM…  To my surprise they loved it and even qualified it for 7.5 business management and strategic HRCI credits of continuing education, which took some convincing.

Here’s what we came up with:
 - Culture: The What, Why and Why Now
 - Culture in Text: The Documents you Need to Create a Great Culture
 - What Talent Gap? Use Culture to Attract, Hire, & Retain
 - Recognition: Change the Game and Make It Last
 - Human Cadence: Integrated Goals, Reviews, & Alignment
 - Complete Communication: Win the Company Communication Battle
 - Leadership Tools for Culture-Centric Strategy
 - Culture Shift: Where to Start

See below for the full flyer. 

The team and I crushed it!!! :D I could not have been prouder of them presenting and the content we created. I really felt like we had created something net new, innovative, insightful and could be applied to anyone in any organization (to different levels and styles of course). The feedback we got back the next few days were amazing as well. One person even said, “ I have been coming to these for years and this was been the very best! Thank you!” …again, I am just really proud of this! :D

Not all the comments were good though… and there was some constructive feedback. We had only a few, but the constructive feedback had a trend in a few areas. 1. We could never do this, and it does not apply to us. 2. SPARC can only do this because they have young people. 3. This can’t last.  And finally… they curse too much in their presentations… shit! Did we do that? :D

After some deep thought, reflection and discussion… it all made sense to me. THESE PEOPLE WERE WRONG (well, except for maybe the cursing)! This supportive culture and engaged employees thing is a major shift, and whenever something drives this much change this fast there will always be people who hang on to the current structure. Its what they know, its where their value is and change is hard even when it’s a change for the better.

I am here to tell you that this change, shift, movement is coming… and nothing will stop it. Does it happen today? 2 years? 5? 10? I do not know, but it is coming and it will happen and if you want to compete as a successful organization with a great strategy it will require a supportive culture and engaged employees.

So I ask you? Do you want to be part of leading the way or is your chair just too comfy? :D

PS… One key way you can tell if you have given a good presentation is to see how many of the leave behind documents get left on the table. We created index cards for each session with check lists, key learnings and exercises. I am sure this is the first time I can say this, but none were left behind! :D You can find the presentation here -> Memories from a Culture-Driven Strategy. 

Join the SPARC team for “Culture-Driven Strategy”

Attend the SC SHRM Strategic Workshop and learn how encouraging a healthy company culture can be the key to the success of your organization.

SC SHRM Strategic Academy

SC SHRM is offering Conference attendees “Culture-Driven Strategy” – a full-day workshop that teaches you how to use company culture to drive business success. Kick-off your conference right with this educational workshop approved by HRCI for 7.5 Business Management & Strategic Credits.

Culture: The What, Why and Why Now

Culture in Text: The Documents you Need to Create a Great Culture

What Talent Gap? Use Culture to Attract, Hire, & Retain

Recognition: Change the Game and Make It Last

Human Cadence: Integrated Goals, Reviews, & Alignment

Complete Communication: Win the Company Communication Battle

Leadership Tools for Culture-Centric Strategy

Culture Shift: Where to Start

Speakers

John Smith

John has started a wide-range of technology-focused companies over the last 20 years and received the honor of being chosen as one of the nation’s top 25 CTO’s by InfoWorld magazine. Currently, John focuses his passion through leadership in corporate culture, employee recognition, and engagement as the Chief Product Officer and Chief Evangelist of SPARC, a software product company that has been able to balance, both high growth, and an amazing culture and a best place to work in SC.

Christina Lock, PHR

Christina has over 10 years of human resources and recruiting expertise with a proven track record of driving results, implementing ‘best-in-class’ processes, and instilling a business-minded approach to functional situations. A strategic problem solver with excellent aptitude in client negotiations and building rapport. As the Vice President of HR and Recruiting at SPARC, Christina and her team have hired over 200 Team Members in less than 3 years, all the while standing up internal HR processes from the ground-up. Previous to her position at SPARC, Christina held positions as Lead Recruiter for the Corporate Headquarters of a Fortune 500 (ARAMARK), as well as a highly successful career in an external search firm.

Chad Norman

Chad is a digital marketing strategist, a proven leader, speaker, and author. As Director of Marketing at SPARC, he manages marketing and communication strategy across all products and services, and represents the company as a Social Evangelist. Previously at Blackbaud, the leading provider of nonprofit technology solutions, Chad managed digital marketing and online training teams. His book, 101 Social Media Tactics for Nonprofits: A Field Guide, was published by Wiley in February 2012. Chad has presented at dozens of industry events including IHRIM, SXSW, NTC, DMA, AFP, and has lectured at Wake Forest University.

Tim Limbert

Tim is a Servant Leadership Evangelist who has thrived as a successful team builder in some wildly different environments. He is a veteran and former Officer-In-Charge of a navy bomb squad team that supported combat operations throughout the Middle East. He developed globally dispersed teams for rapid development efforts across multiple products as Director of Project Engineering at General Dynamics Land Systems – Force Protection. As a Project Manager at SPARC, he is responsible for aligning team member skills and goals with commercial client happiness. Tim also teaches a course in management and organizational behavior as an Adjunct Professor at The Citadel School of Business Administration.

Lee-Anne Scalley

Lee-Anne is a cutting-edge innovator, leader of diverse teams, and a self-driven executor. As the Director of Talent Acquisition and Human Resources at SPARC, Lee-Anne Scalley and her team are known as the top recruiters in the Charleston-area. They hire only top talent with a true turnover rate of less than 3%. Lee-Anne has taken SPARC’s Human Resources/Talent Acquisition department from zero to success in a rapid time frame. Lee-Anne comes as a seasoned Recruiter from Aerotek and Innovative Hiring Technologies. Lee-Anne can be found presenting all over Charleston, and blogging monthly at lascalley.com.

Are you ready for a culture-driven strategy?