EMPATHY RESILIENCE & KINDNESS

Winning people with technology

Launched in Melbourne in 2009 to facilitate anonymous employee surveys, Culture Amp may be at the epicentre of the business cultural revolution but, ironically, the company is far from immune from the game-changing forces impacting the employment landscape.

Although its mission is to change the world of work, Culture Amp is as much a part of the story as the more than 5000 clients it works for, concedes Katherine Rau, director of people operations at the company that officially hit unicorn status with a $2-billion valuation in mid-2021. With 750 employees working throughout Australia, the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Culture Amp is grappling with the same challenges as every other organisation, says Rau, who’s watched the remit of HR teams grow exponentially.

Take staff wellbeing. “In the context of keeping our employees productive and happy to sustain high performance, it’s now an expectation that we’re looking after people. But try customising two people’s needs. For some it’s about having strong flexibility; for others it’s more about deep mental health support or helping with their physical pursuits, like gym, yoga or nutrition. How do you have myriad programs that talk to each of these?”

Culture Amp now has roles dedicated to increasing mental health support and, not surprisingly, leans on technology and tools to extend the capabilities of its 30-strong people team. “We’re looking at new platforms to help us scale virtually, to give employees access to trained professionals in areas like mental health and coaching, and with resources that are self-serve for different demographics, such as parents.”

Leaders also need skills they haven’t required before, says Rau. Empathy, resilience and kindness, for instance, were not traditionally seen as standard leadership competencies – and some leaders are adapting better than others.

On Culture Amp’s side is its Culture Lab, which has an abundance of aggregated data from survey results to analyse and identify trends.

The company is far from alone in having a higher attrition rate than it would like. From one million responses to exit surveys, it’s zoomed in on “regrettable” attrition numbers – those staff members who their employers don’t want to lose – to discover why people are leaving. Topping the list? Lack of investment in professional growth. Role enablement for remote teams and ways of working. Commitment to diversity and inclusion.

“We can learn from our customers,” says Rau, “and we can use ourselves as a testand-learn in different programs and to inform our products.”

With technology at its core, how does Culture Amp keep the human element alive for its staff? “People want to see humanity play out in leaders. They want to see vulnerability and transparency. You can do that virtually. Our CEO and executive team have really focused on shining through with those qualities and showing up on Slack, Zoom and various other platforms, making our people feel connected and important.”

How you communicate in person, in writing and across platforms remains the critical skill for today and tomorrow.