Creating a "Powerful" Workplace Culture

Todd Davis, Chief People Officer at FranklinCovey and author of "Get Better: 15 Proven Practices to Build Effective Relationships at Work" discusses the book's emphasis on the importance of workplace culture and relationships between employees. Davis notes that what is most important for each organization is to realize the value of each individual person and to treat them as a whole. We discuss this in reference to the sexual assault and harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein and the similar issues companies like Google and Uber have faced. Davis also discusses what he calls the "Pinball Syndrome" in the book, where sometimes employees confuse what is important with what is urgent. He also discusses his role of Chief People Officer at FranklinCovey and the importance of nurturing employees. We talk company culture and how every employee that is hired contributes to it. It is not just something that the CEO or founder sets. Davis also stresses the importance of each employee adding his or her own unique perspective and ability, which adds to that company culture.

Jaime Klein, President and Founder of Inspire HR, discusses the rise in sexual harassment allegations in the workplace today and the role that HR plays in curating an accepting workplace culture.

Donna Morris, Executive Vice President of Employee and Customer Experience at Adobe, joins Cheddar to discuss how her company, and Silicon Valley in general, can help close the gender gap in tech. She says it all starts with the type of people a company hires. Adobe, for example, invests in STEM education for women in order to broaden its pipeline of candidates. But, with only 20% of students in that category being women, she says we need to do better as a country to encourage young girls to be involved in math and science. Plus, keeping women in the workplace is just as important as a hiring them. She talks about having robust family packages that include maternity and paternity leave, as well as paid personal time. Morris says the most important thing is creating an environment where employees feel comfortable bringing up matters, like sexual harassment, to their manager. And in turn, the company then needs to act on it and not brush those type of claims to the side.