Culture transformation consultancy The Culture Equation (TCE) has launched its new audio channel with its first podcast series, Stories from The Culture Equation. The series shares real stories of cultural transformation to drive business growth and ultimately improve quality of life.
Lead image: Hiam Sakatini
Produced by Sonic Experience Agency, Ampel, the first drop of 6 episodes interweaves the experiences of multiple employees of the same company to describe why culture change was needed and how it dramatically affected their business after it was brought in.
Hiam Sakakini, CEO and Founder of The Culture Equation, said high employee turnover, constantly changing modes of work (remote, hybrid, back to the office), and a lack of real meaning and purpose are having a dramatic impact on organisations’ cultures. However, with the right culture in place, companies can rapidly transform from storming to performing.
“Lots of companies use podcasts to communicate about themselves. We want to share the importance and value of culture’s role in a business’s success. Real stories of the process, emotion and happiness of our clients’ culture changes are best told by the company themselves; senior leaders, mid-level and junior team members reveal their journey of improving the culture for company success,” said Sakakini.
“Stories from The Culture Equation has given us the platform to share these stories through each unique episode and has established our audio channels as a destination to collectively learn about culture change”.
Narrated by Sakakini, Stories From The Culture Equation features organisations including Western Sydney University, Ingleburn RSL, First Focus and Digital Creators sharing the highs and lows of the reinvention of brand culture as a means to improve performance and, in turn, improve client service.
Rebecca McCulloch, Executive Coordinator of Western Sydney University, said WSU underwent a huge cultural transformation from a historically hierarchical structure with little flexibility and lacking protocol to a drastically improved workplace environment. There was a flattening of hierarchy and more streamlined and personalized service to its students, which dramatically improved service results.
“Sharing WSU’s story is an opportunity for other organisations to realise culture is a starting point for business success. If your team and clients don’t align with your business philosophies and culture then you will have little success for business growth,” said McCulloch.
“In partnership with TCE, WSU developed a set of values, established high levels of trust and collaboration, embedded constructive feedback processes, and developed a sense of equality within WSU’s senior leadership team that has flowed down through the organisation; our workplace has been transformed”.
Glenn Cushion, CEO of Ingleburn RSL, shares his story of a struggling Club with poor staff retention post-COVID era and how the business has been transformed for success. “Getting our culture right was important for The Club’s vision – we’re a community venue, so it’s crucial our staff enjoy a supportive and collaborative team space so we can focus on continuously improving our service to patrons. Giving the opportunity for multiple team members to share their experience of this story, rather than it just being me or a senior leader, just speaks to how successful the process was”.
“Listening to stories is hardwired into our brains – it makes us feel in a way that reading or watching can’t. Everything we do is geared to be heard by our audio-ences, especially when it comes to workplace comms. Audio and podcasting are the world’s fastest-growing media and the perfect channel to hear about culture change,” said Josh Butt, chief audio officer, Ampel.
Stories from The Culture Equation launches in early March, with new episodes fortnightly and sonic reels in between. Follow the show on Spotify, Apple, or your podcast app of choice.
