Dave Ulrich Selected for LinkedIn Top Voices for Company Culture

Workers are rethinking their relationship with employers in light of the pandemic — and in order to attract, retain and grow great talent, companies are reinventing their cultures to meet the expectations of professionals today. Organizations are recognizing that the keys to their own success start with prioritizing the mental, physical and financial well-being of their employees. And as flexible work takes hold, the companies that are also reimagining how work gets done will have a decisive edge.

Today, LinkedIn News is debuting our first-ever Top Voices in Company Culture — a collection of 10 thought leaders covering what you need to know about cultivating a great culture in today’s world of work. Whether you’re a professional weighing your next move or a leader hoping to transform your organization, one of the defining questions facing workers today is: What makes a company a great place to work and grow your career? On the heels of our annual LinkedIn Top Companies rankings, these experts are shaping the conversation and sharing actionable advice on management, talent acquisition and more.

While this is our latest Top Voices list, it joins a family of features highlighting creators in areas ranging from remote work to marketing and advertising. All Top Voices lists are editorially curated by the LinkedIn News team and highlight the creators to follow who are writing and sharing about today’s important workplace, career and industry topics. You can find more about how we compiled the list and who is eligible to be a Top Voice at the bottom of this article.

Check out this year’s #LinkedInTopVoices in Company Culture — and follow them to stay plugged into the conversation.

Honorees are listed in alphabetical order. Reporting by Josh M. Carney.

• Byron Auguste, Co-Founder & CEO, Opportunity@Work 

  • What he talks about: Attracting the right talent is key to building a strong culture — and "employers are leaving so much talent on the table," Auguste says. The Co-founder and CEO of Opportunity@Work shows how to expand opportunities for workers who are skilled through alternative routes — other than a four-year degree — so they can achieve their full potential and companies can build more skills-based talent pipelines. Auguste digs into why companies need to reimagine the way they think about talent in order to build more resilient, diverse and skilled teams.

    His top piece of advice for building company culture: Companies build inclusive cultures best by focusing on their core business processes. Rather than “screen out” skilled candidates lacking degrees, adopt methods to “screen in” those with skills gained in other ways. If too few suppliers come from communities of color, expand your sources. Set metrics; learn by doing; reward progress. Don't stop until inclusive practices are improving business results.

• Latesha Byrd, CCEO, Perfeqta 

  • What she talks about: Byrd, the CEO of a talent development agency, shares actionable advice for company leaders who want to nurture inclusive cultures. In her “Future of Work” newsletter, she covers the latest workplace DEI trends, ways to build a healthy remote work environment, how to retain diverse talent and more. Byrd hosts live interviews with industry leaders about increasing representation at the top and how to create a company culture of wellbeing.

    Her top piece of advice for building company culture: Building a great company culture is about creating a psychologically safe workplace and implementing equitable policies, programs and practices that make ALL employees feel valued, supported, and inspired to grow professionally.

• Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, Harvard Business School 

  • What she talks about: Edmondson explains why no organization can afford to have a culture of fear and how psychological safety is a key building block in establishing a collaborative environment. The business school professor shows what leaders can do every day to encourage others to speak up and why asking more questions is critical for supporting teams. For companies who seek to reinvent their culture, “it’s less about grand gestures,” Edmondson says, and “much more about everyday action in the moment, on the manufacturing floor, in the break room, anywhere and everywhere.”

    Her top piece of advice for building company culture: Building company culture is best understood as a deliberate learning process aimed at encouraging behavior that supports an organization’s mission. It’s a learning process that targets the creation of a learning culture to help everyone learn and innovate – ensuring a healthy amount of experimentation and avoiding blame.

• Charlene Li, Chief Research Officer, PA Consulting 

  • What she talks about: How do organizations get culture and strategy to work together? Li, who heads up research at a consulting firm, explains why companies need to move beyond thinking of culture as a side effect of strategy in order to prioritize beliefs and behaviors. For the more than 74,000 subscribers to her “Leading Disruption” newsletter, she breaks down how to integrate culture and strategy, create strong employee relationships and emphasize “the whole self” when supporting workers. Li also regularly shares videos on how to create a culture of disruptive growth. “The future of human resources is maximizing human potential — not managing ‘people risk,’” she says.

    Her top piece of advice for building company culture: Cultures are made up of beliefs and behaviors. If you don't have the culture that you want, then systematically and intentionally identify the limiting beliefs and behaviors and stop them. Replace them with new beliefs and behaviors consistently. It's simple but definitely easy!

• David McLean, Executive Advisor, McLean & Company 

  • What he talks about: McLean uses informative graphics to explain what employees value most, how to cultivate inclusive environments and lead in an era of constant change. As the executive advisor of an HR leadership firm, he emphasizes why organizations need to foster a culture where effective feedback is supported and how to bolster holistic wellbeing. McLean breaks down the critical components of organizational performance to show how leaders can develop trust and emotional intelligence to better engage with their teams.

    His top piece of advice for building company culture: Great company cultures are adaptive, agile, and built by effective leadership teams who create a workplace climate that fosters transparency, inclusion, and candour. Organizations have an ethical responsibility to ensure all employees have a leader who really listens and adapts to feedback and who demonstrates competent decision-making, emotional self-awareness, and personal accountability. This promotes trust - a crucial element to a successful corporate culture - and ultimately leads to a more engaged, more productive workplace.

• Bill Schaninger, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Co. 

  • What he talks about: Schaninger outlines the principles for transforming company culture and the actions that leaders should prioritize for engaging and retaining talent. The senior partner at a management consulting firm is focused on the long-term role that HR teams will play in navigating the lasting effects of the pandemic. Schaninger looks ahead to how emerging sustainability teams can hold their organizations accountable and the keys for building a talent strategy that invests in employees, strengthens leadership and integrates meaning into everyday work.

    His top piece of advice for building company culture: This is an unbelievable moment for leaders to rethink culture and create an environment that workers want to be part of—with a unique set of rituals, symbols, and experiences as connective tissue that unites the organization. Focus on the relational factors that workers are craving, placing greater emphasis than ever before on meaning and purpose in work, flexibility, community, and inclusivity.

• Raquel Tamez, Chief Inclusion & Engagement Officer, Charles River Associates 

  • What she talks about: “Diversity and inclusion must shift from a trend to a true cultural cornerstone in today’s workforce,” Tamez says. As chief inclusion and engagement officer for a consulting firm, she emphasizes why company culture requires a holistic approach and courageous leadership. There’s no “one size fits all” approach for DEI initiatives, and Tamez shows how real progress can be achieved with concrete strategies that put underrepresented professionals in the best position to succeed.

    Her top piece of advice for building company culture: Fostering a truly dynamic company culture means ensuring everyone is engaged (and empowered with inclusive leadership skills), from the folks in the C-suite to the middle managers whose day-to-day insights are so incredibly valuable—“Mind the middle,” I like to say—to the new hires looking to gain a foothold on the organizational ladder. By getting everyone involved, we have a much better chance of integrating DEI into the DNA of the organization.

• Johnny C. Taylor Jr., President & CEO, Society of Human Resource Management 

  • What he talks about: Taylor, the President and CEO of the largest HR professional association, shows why a company culture where all employees feel they belong is critical for shaping the future of work. For the more than 83,000 subscribers to his newsletter, he breaks down how mindful leaders can build a more skilled, diverse and representative workforce. Through informative graphics and videos, Taylor also highlights how a remote workforce can maintain a cohesive culture, why second-chance hiring is so important and how HR departments can prioritize mental health.

    His top piece of advice for building company culture: Most CEOs and CHROs who commit to establishing great company culture never achieve it because they lack "cultural clarity." Business leaders naively believe great culture is arrived at by engaging in a comprehensive best practices exercise: What are the so-called "best" companies doing?

    The reality is the organizations that get it right engage in serious introspection and put a stake in the ground to make clear what the unique feel and experience of their work milieu will be and what behaviors employees must exhibit to join and remain. The process of being intentional about who you, as an employer, are is invaluable and leads to cultural alignment and business success.

• Dave Ulrich, Rensis Likert Professor, University of Michigan Ross School of Business 

  • What he talks about: Ulrich shares what leaders need to know about empowering teams and responding to emerging trends in people management. The business school professor outlines blueprints and explicit actions to expand mental health resources, lead with a clear direction, mobilize information and foster collaboration. Ulrich breaks down different leadership styles and confronts old management practices to help HR professionals navigate the next generation of corporate culture.

    His top piece of advice for building company culture: The "right" culture evolves from values and behaviors to systems to patterns to marketplace identity. Make sure you build the "right" culture that translates customer promises to employee, organization, and leadership actions.

  • See more of Dave Ulrich’s content

• Coryene Woodman-Holoubek, Founder, Progressive HR

  • What she talks about: Woodman-Holoubek, the founder of an HR services firm, sparks conversations on how everything from new laws to the latest blockchain technologies will redefine the future of work. She shows why the workplace value proposition needs to be reimagined to democratize decision making and give employees more flexibility. Her focus on the mounting creator culture within HR reveals how professionals are leveraging new tools and inclusive benefits to recruit a more representative workforce.

    Her top piece of advice for building company culture: Building great company culture is about people and honoring our unique human resourcefulness. Reorganize ‘work’ where everyone can be enabled – digitally, personally, mentally, and whole-humanly – to succeed.

How we compile the list

Top Voices is a series of lists that have been editorially curated by the LinkedIn News team, with the goal of highlighting creators to follow who are covering the chosen segments and/or topics. To compile each list, editors consider each individual’s content on LinkedIn. Specifically: Are they covering the topic at hand on a regular basis? Are their contributions insightful, conversational and timely? Have they built up and engaged with their communities? Do they seek to give and get help vs. being self-promotional? We aim to highlight a diverse set of voices, so that the list reflects the world we live and work in today. 

Who is eligible

Any LinkedIn member who shares content and drives professional conversations on the platform is eligible to be a Top Voice, with the exception of LinkedIn and Microsoft employees, members who have violated LinkedIn’s User Agreement, including our Professional Community Policies, or individuals currently running in an election for an executive, legislative or judicial position.

Top Voices may include individuals who are a part of the LinkedIn Influencer (invite-only) or the Creator Accelerator (application-based) programs. However, being a part of either does not automatically boost a member’s chance of being a Top Voice, nor is it a requirement or prerequisite for success on the platform.

Interested in building your audience on LinkedIn? 

New voices emerge every year — and there’s nothing stopping you from turning your own ideas into powerful conversations. Try creating a post to share your expertise or thoughts on the latest trending news, and you may be surprised at the community you find. If you’re struggling with where to start, follow our LinkedIn for Creators page for content inspiration, tips, news, education and more. And if you’d like to recommend someone for a future Top Voices list, let us know in the comments (just be sure to tag them and let us know why you love following them). We’re always looking for new individuals to highlight.

Who would you recommend for a future LinkedIn Top Voices list? Let us know in the comments section below by tagging them and sharing why you enjoy following them.