The Ridiculous Edge Companies Gain By Doubling Down On Company Culture Early with the CPO of Syapse

Considering that 70% of employee engagement can be traced to an employee’s relationship with their manager, you might expect companies to get intentional about leadership development and company culture early on.

BUT, most companies don’t do so until it’s nearly too late.

Despite having just 115 employees, Syapse boasts more robust and effective leadership development offerings and cultural initiatives than many large organizations.

It’s an enviable model for companies that aim to launch leadership development efforts early on.

To learn more, I met with Chief People Officer (CPO) of Syapse, Michelle Kemling.

Michelle broke down:

1. Her robust approach to leadership development.

It includes:

• A months-long leadership development program.
• Coaching for ALL leaders
• Mentoring
• Informal opportunities to lead groups
• A “neighborhoods” program where employees lead regions

2. 3 cultural initiatives she uses to foster and sustain culture

• “Innovation staycations” - Employees devote time on the job to innovation.
• “Neighborhoods” - Regional groups of remote employees.
• “Recharge days” - Employees all get off at the same time two Fridays every month.

3. How they decode culture at Syapse

The key is a blend of:

• Q&A with upvotes
• CEO meetings
• Engagement surveys that they take clear and quick action on

We covered all of the above and much more in the full interview! Hope you enjoy.

By the way, curious to hear what you all think of this leadership development program. How does it stack up to yours?