How O.C. Tanner's innovations boost company culture and recognition

I saw Dr. Becky Kennedy speak at Fast Company's Innovation festival last week and there were so many takeaways that can apply to workplace dynamics and interpersonal relationships. She was talking about kids but the same concepts apply for adults at work. 🎯 Parenting doesn't come naturally The only thing that comes naturally is how you were parented. The same is true for leadership and communication. So often, we are replicating what's been modeled for us even when it's ineffective. 🎯 Requests are different than boundaries. Boundaries don't require your kid (or your colleagues) to do anything. They require you to communicate limits. 🎯 Kids are born with all of the feelings and none of the skills to manage them. Bad behavior comes from a gap between skills and feelings and that gap doesn't automatically disappear with age or job status. That's why it's so important for companies to invest and ensure their employees have skills to manage emotions and communicate clearly. Leaders, teams and kids are more resilient when they can cope with a wider range of feelings. People are often surprised that we talk so much about emotions in coaching. How you're feeling impacts how you present your work, how you set boundaries, how you communicate directions and give feedback. I can help you (and your team) develop these things with more clarity, confidence and calm. Reach out to talk about what that looks like. Were you at the festival? I'd love to hear your takeaways from this talk. Thanks for the ticket Danielle Zeitlen Hughes and great to run into you Steven Dry. #communication #parenting #leadership #teamdynamics #resilience

Life Lately: Refocusing My Energy and Expanding My Voice Through Content Creation Life lately has been about refocusing my energy. With my book launch just a week away, I’ve been reflecting on what it means to pour into something that’s uniquely, divinely mine and to create space for what’s next. A friend recently said, “Now that you have a little more space, lean into content creation and start sharing more of your leadership expertise, the lessons, insights, and real talk that people don’t always get to hear behind the scenes.” That advice really resonated. I’ve been intentional about building my brand for years, but this season feels like an invitation to show up differently, to share what I’ve learned about leadership, culture, and personal growth in ways that reach new audiences. At Google, I led our global Sourcing team’s implementation of our organizational health insights, designing a strategy to turn data into meaningful action that strengthened how our teams worked and led together. That same curiosity now fuels my work exploring what disrupts healthy culture, especially behaviors like “Mean Girl Energy”, which can quietly erode trust, belonging, and psychological safety. My recent video on a leader’s responsibility in addressing Mean Girl culture has reached nearly 80,000 views on TikTok and close to 30,000 on Instagram. My full Mean Girl Energy series has now reached over 100,000 views on each platform, with people across industries engaging deeply in these conversations. What’s been most fascinating is seeing how these discussions connect to broader themes of leadership, personal branding, and discovering your superpower. Whether it’s addressing culture challenges or developing self-awareness, it all comes back to alignment and intention. This chapter is about using my voice intentionally, connecting leadership, authenticity, and creativity to spark conversations that matter. ✨ What are you refocusing your energy on right now? #LifeLately #AuthenticLeadership #LeadershipLessons #OrganizationalCulture #PsychologicalSafety #WomenInLeadership #MeanGirlEnergy #LeadershipDevelopment #PersonalBranding #Superpower #WorkplaceCulture #Inclusion #LeadershipAuthenticity

If you’re a CEO, here’s something to remember: You can’t market your way out of a culture problem. People don’t just join companies anymore. They join an experience, a culture, and a promise. And that promise gets tested every day: how your leaders lead, how your people are treated, and how they feel walking in on a Monday morning. Your retention rate tells the real story. The best employer brands aren’t built through fancy campaigns or slogans. They’re built quietly through trust, consistency, and real values people can feel. When trust breaks inside, it shows outside. When people stop feeling seen, your best ones leave. When that happens, your brand starts to fade no matter how strong your marketing is. Culture doesn’t just attract talent. It attracts customers. It builds trust. It drives performance. Because at the end of the day, what your people feel becomes what your customers see.

This is Day 2 of my 30-day LinkedIn Consistency Challenge, and I want to talk about something that every leader, manager, and team member needs to hear: people don’t just want to work, they want to matter. As someone who has worked as both a leader and a team member in different organizations and companies, I can tell you this for a fact: every team member is first a human being with a story, a dream, and a heartbeat. They have ambitions, goals, and passions that don’t stop when they clock in. And when they step into your space, your team, your vision, you have to see them. You have to value them. You have to make them feel like they belong. Too many workplaces treat people like positions, not people. No wonder engagement drops. People don’t just want to clock in; they want to count. Here’s something I’ve learned that I need to say clearly: if you want to scale anything in this world - any vision, any dream, any product - aside from having the right resources, you need the right team. And if you have the right team but you don’t make them feel like they matter, or you don’t make them see themselves in your vision, then you are getting it wrong, and you most likely will not be able to scale anything. They will not be convinced to carry your vision and run with it. Plain and simple. Leaders who put humans first build teams that last, teams that care and Teams that give their best, not because they have to, but because they want to. Here’s my question for you: what’s one thing your team has done that made you feel valued beyond your job role? #WorkPlaceCulture #HumanConnection #LeadershipMatters #TheGlobalTiana #LinkedinPost.

I stumbled upon this thought during a recent conversation with my colleagues: culture isn’t something you declare it’s something you live every day. At first, it sounded simple, almost obvious. But the more I reflected, the more I realized how complex and delicate it really is. Cultural change isn’t about slogans, policies, or big initiatives. It’s about the small, consistent choices we make: how we listen, how we give feedback, how we celebrate wins and learn from failures. These tiny moments, repeated over time, shape the environment we work in and the relationships we build. 🤝 As James Clear writes in Atomic Habits, 📖 “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” Culture is that system — what guides us when no one’s watching. Change is never easy, but it’s worth it. When culture evolves, people flourish and everything else follows. Without it, even the best strategies and plans can falter.💬 #Culturalchange #Workplaceculture #Reflection

10 Worst Ways to Build Company Culture Credits to Victoria Repa , make sure to follow! _________ I’ve never admitted this before: I made some of these mistakes when I started my leadership journey. I learned my lessons long ago. We built our company culture, and I do everything I can to keep it healthy. But many companies are still making the same mistakes when it comes to culture. 📌 Here are the 10 worst ways to build Company Culture:  1. Pizza Fridays as a fix for burnout.  2. Pushing the “family” rhetoric.  3. Asking for non-anonymous feedback.  4. Micromanaging under the guise of “care”.  5. Big promises with no follow-through.  6. Giving praise without genuine recognition.  7. Underpaying while overpromising “growth”.  8. Forcing employees into social events.  9. Assuming “everyone loves competition”. 10. Confusing perks with culture. Let’s aim for real, meaningful culture — not just superficial fixes. If we want to retain top talent, we must invest in building a culture that matters. What steps are you taking to avoid these common pitfalls? Let’s share ideas. ♻️ If this resonates with you, share this post. ________ 👉 Want free PDFs of top LinkedIn infographics? 👇 Get them here: https://lnkd.in/gytiznfT (These are not from this post/creator) Follow SourceSolve for more daily content!

📍Employees Digital Relationship📍 In today’s digital era, the quality of our content interactions matters more than ever. When content highlights academic or work achievements or publicity, every comment and like sends a signal about who we value and why. 💡 If reactions are uneven—favoring some employees over others—it can create sensitivity, erode trust, and undermine the positive, healthy culture we strive for. This is especially critical when such dynamics originate from issue executives or senior management. 💡 Key takeaways 📥 💡Engage with all employees at different levels to foster a sense of belonging and recognition. 💡Encourage every team member to be a brand ambassador, amplifying authentic culture and values. 💡Build inclusive digital interactions that reinforce respect, transparency, and fairness. 💡Strengthen relationships across the organization to promote collaboration, motivation, and a shared sense of purpose. 💡Use thoughtful, consistent feedback and recognition to elevate merit and effort, not just visibility. Call to action☑️ Let’s commit to thoughtful engagement that reflects our company culture: 👌Applaud achievements, provide constructive feedback, and celebrate the diverse contributions of every team member. 🌟When senior leaders model equitable interactions, we reinforce a positive workplace vibe and sustainable culture. Together, we can transform digital relationships into a powerful driver of trust, engagement, and excellence. #CompanyCulture #EmployeeEngagement #BrandAmbassador #Leadership #WorkplaceWellbeing #DigitalRespect

You're people aren't the problem. The power structure, systems and unspoken rules are the problem. Latesha Byrd is a thought leader in company culture, and someone I've had the good fortune to build a professional connection with. She speaks truth to C-suite leaders looking for easy fixes to their culture problems. According to Dayforce’s Annual Pulse of Talent report (2024), 48% of global respondents said they have quit a job because of a bad company culture. In addition, 69% of respondents said they have or would turn down a job opportunity because the culture didn’t feel like the right fit. Without leaders making impactful changes to how they interact with their people, the culture will not improve. Engagement scores will not increase. What we need are leaders who care more about their people than the structures and systems they've built. Tell me: would you be willing to break it to rebuild it better? #culturetransformation #leadership #workplaceculture

I reflect a lot on Core Values…why? Because they sustain the ‘cult’ in culture. When you roll out a new program, make a decision, or engage in a crucial conversation, I encourage the Core Values Lens. (they answer the why, the how, and the R in ADKAR - to reinforce the change)… Core Values aren’t just words on a wall. They’re the quiet decisions made in the moments no one is watching. In business, they show up everywhere: • In the hiring choice that favors integrity over shortcuts. • In the meeting where someone speaks up—even when it’s uncomfortable. • In the customer promise kept, long after it would’ve been easier to walk away. Core values don’t just guide culture; they define it. They shape trust, set expectations, and make it clear how success is earned. Strategy may evolve. Markets shift. Products change. But when your core values are lived, not laminated—they become the throughline that scales excellence, attracts the right people, and sustains performance. At the end of the day, culture isn’t declared. It’s demonstrated. #HeadHeartHands #corevalues #changemanagement #culture #humanresources