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What if your company culture wasn’t just an HR buzzword but the secret weapon to scaling your business?
Welcome to Kan Talk Kulture, the podcast that dives deep into how remarkable company cultures are intentionally built and how they can transform your team, your business, and your bottom line.
Hosted by Kylie Anne Neal, founder of Kan Kulture and a passionate expert in people, culture, and leadership, this show is designed for business owners, CEOs, HR professionals, and anyone who believes that empowered people are the key to long-term success.
Each episode features real conversations with inspiring CEOs, business leaders, and culture champions who share how they’ve shaped their team environments alongside case studies, practical tips, and bold questions that challenge the status quo.
Whether you're looking to boost employee engagement, create a high-performance team, or align your people with your vision, this podcast will help you connect the dots between culture and growth.
At Kan Kulture, we believe in Kindness, Understanding, Learning, Trust, Uniqueness, Respect, and Evolving, and this podcast brings those values to life.
If you're ready to turn your team into your biggest brand ambassadors and create a workplace people love, this is the podcast for you.
Find out more at www.kankulture.com
Hi, I'm Kylie Anne Neal, founder of Kan Kulture and welcome to Kan Talk Kulture. In this podcast, I sit down with some of Australia's most progressive founders and CEOs to explore the heart of their company Kultures. What drives them, what they value, and what it's really like to work for the companies they lead.
You'll also find occasional episodes packed with practical HR insights to help you build safer, stronger, and more trust. So whether you're a new team member, getting to know your workplace, curious about creating remarkable company Kultures, or just wanting to know more about implementing HR best practice, you are in the right place.
Let's dive in.
Hello and welcome to Kan Talk Kulture. I'm Kylie Neil, and. Joining me today, although Georgina's gonna be in the question seat today. You're in the hot seat. I've got Georgina Walker with me, who is a people and Kulture consultant at Kan Kulture. Hello, Georgina. Hello,
Kylie. How do you feel?
I'm a little bit nervous, to be honest.
Georgina, today is going to fire. 10 questions at me. So we're doing a bit of a rapid fire today.
It was 10. It's now 11. Good. Should we, should we get straight into it? Let's go. All right. Question number one. What's the most overused phrase in HR?
Synergy.
Oh wow.
Synergy Dovetail. Uh, I used to have a joke with my colleagues where we would sit in leadership meetings and every time the word synergy or dovetail, we'd have a word each.
And the more times they were said, um, would be who won. In that meeting. Wow.
What was the, the top score? I think in one meeting. Uh, in one meeting, I
think we had 22 dovetails. Gee. Yeah. It was a three hour meeting. But what's
the, what's the
meaning of dovetail when you dovetail something in, you kind of put it in, and then when you've got a synergy, it's like one thing with another.
It creates, its Yes, yes. Synergy.
Perfect. Thank you. Yes. Didn't have to think twice about that one, no Question number two. Yes. Culture fit or culture add.
Ooh, Nancy. Oh, that's a spicy question. Culture fit or culture add? Mm
oh. I do feel like it's both and I know that's a bit of a cop out, but you recruit for culture fit, but everyone brings their unique qualities. Definitely. So they are a culture add. You don't wanna prescribe a culture to someone without inviting their uniqueness. So I am actually going to go with culture add.
Think about what? About, what about this? Let me pose this. The culture of the company isn't great. Mm-hmm. You are hiring a new person. Do you culture add to change the
dynamic? No. Okay. No. You work with that dysfunction and you sort that dysfunction out before you bring in the culture ads and
this is why you're an expert.
That's exactly why. Okay. Question number three, performance reviews. Yes. You'll be so passionate about this. I love pick them or scrap them.
Fix them. Mm-hmm. Performance reviews are definitely required. They create space between an employee and their hiring manager too. Align. Mm-hmm. And it's not just aligning on have you done project to A, B, or C, um, it's not about what, what have you worked on and what are your weaknesses?
Mm-hmm. Like, uh, in can Kulture, we do love performance reviews. Mm-hmm. We do. And we have crafted them in a really unique way of looking at. Energy rather than time looking at advice rather than feedback. So performance reviews, I'd say definitely don't scrap them. Mm-hmm. But definitely look at ways that they are engaging and informative and are able to bring an employee and a manager on the same page.
Mm-hmm.
We'll do a whole podcast on performance reviews. We will probably
several.
Yes. Question number four. What underrated quality, sorry. What is the most underrated quality in a leader?
Underrated,
quality. I've got a couple actually that come to mind. I have a lot. Uh, I do feel active, active listening, uh, in today's working environment. Everyone can get so busy. Mm. Everyone just wants to move on to the next thing. Everyone, you know, everyone wants to be agile and pivot and you know, all that type of stuff, but often they don't actively listen to what their employees are saying, which means they're going on a journey and the movement and pace is very quick, but they're not taking the employees with them because they can't.
Pause to actively engage with where their employees are at.
Mm-hmm.
Yep. Thank you. You're welcome.
Number five. Yes. I think I know your response to this, but every leader has a different opinion. Remote, hybrid, or back to the office. I think it depends on the workplace as well, but
yeah. Yep. God COVID is like really thrown this on its head, hasn't it?
Yes. Yeah. And things are obviously set settling down. Mm-hmm. Um. Mm. Back to the new normal. Um, I would be, if I were to choose one, I would support hybrid. Mm-hmm. You know, I think connectivity, human connection, being in the same room as people, definitely, definitely has. Its, its positives and those little kind of like incremental moments and, you know, I get a.
We were corporate hippie sometimes. So being around people's energy when everyone's aligned and you know, they may not be working on the same tasks, but they're working for a same or similar purpose because it's a organizational purpose is really, really powerful that you don't get that energy from a teams meeting.
Yes.
Very much agree.
And we work hybrid, so it works perfectly. We are the best team ever. Uh, number six, what is the biggest misconception people have about hr? Oh gosh, so many. Sometimes you say the word HR and I can visibly see people rolling their eyes. Yes,
yes, unfortunately. I absolutely, I, I love hr, I love everything that we do.
Sometimes I tell people I work in HR and they just look at me like I've lost a child. Like they just do not understand how you could even contemplate going into HR as a profession. Um, so I think, to be honest, I think the biggest misconception, if I was to put it down to one, is that. Employees if they don't understand what we do.
Okay. They don't see what we do. Like sometimes the managers don't see what we do if we are spending our time, um, you know, guiding or working through grievances with employees. Mm. Um, employees don't see what we are doing if we're guiding the managers. Mm. So it's. Um, a really significant balancing act and dance that we play with lots of sensitivities, lots of confidential things going on.
So I think the biggest misconception is that we are just there for the employer.
Yeah,
I think we hear that a lot from employees. Um. But little do they know they're not privy to those conversations and hand on heart. We are absolutely there for the employees and we are navigating those conversations behind the scenes to make sure that the leaders are showing up as best they possibly can through our guidance and, you know, through us setting the tone.
The people practices are foundations of how they treat their employees, and that's what we do day to day. But employees don't see that. So they often think we are just there to be pro employer and not there for them.
Yeah. Thank you. Question number seven. Yes. If you had a magic wand, what HR challenge would you solve overnight?
Uh. Is leadership a HR challenge that we can solve overnight? I think,
oh no. Yeah. No, not overnight, but it's, it's magic. So Yes, it's magic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes.
If all leaders were strong leaders and knew how to navigate. Their employees to get the best out of themselves and the best out of their teams. Mm.
Um, our job will be a lot easier.
Mm-hmm.
We don't live in a utopian society yet, and you know, when you throw people in an organization, you've got a mix of characteristics and personalities and some work well and some don't work well. And that's why we have a job, and that's why we're so good at what we do.
Mm-hmm.
Thank you. Question
eight. Slack teams or email?
Mm,
I am. If you could only pick one. Well, you could attest to this. Georgina. I'm not the most tech savvy person. Oh, come on.
You're okay.
Uh, what was just slack? Slack teams. Slack teams
or email?
Mm, I'm gonna actually say slack.
Really? Yeah. You prefer Slack?
I prefer Slack. It's quick. It's responsive. You can be casual enough.
God, I thought you were gonna go with teams. I know. Wow. I think
Teams has a lot of functionalities that I don't know about.
Mm-hmm. I keep hearing about people, you know, in the office platform saying that. Like teams is the way to go and I do love teams. Um, but yeah, let, let's put that on the to-do list and we can explore that in can culture Georgina?
Perfect. I can't wait. Let's workshop that. Let's
dovetail
again now. Number nine.
Yes. Just one. I know there's many. Okay. One book every HR person should read
Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goldman. I don't know.
I haven't read that
one. It, Daniel, Daniel Goldman. I'll put it on my to-do list. Yes. So emotional intelligence, it's, it's, it's been around for a really long time, but every HR practitioner should be working with a lens of high emotional intelligence.
Agreed. Question 10, almost. Almost finished. Yes. Best HR advice you've ever
received? Ah, yes. I can definitely speak to this. And this was back. Many years ago, um, when I was a business partner for a global organization, um, had the, the senior global director of the research and development department, so very established in her career.
I was, you know, just a, um. I probably mid, mid twenties trying to find my way in the HR world, and she said to me, you are. My best sounding board. Aw. And for her to say that to me with her level of experience, but the appreciation that she had, because she would have conversations with me about how to be a leader for a team, about how to show up for her team and for her people about how to align strategy with her team.
Um, but for her to appreciate the way that I. Probe in and I've got my master's in coaching psychology. So it's, it's something that I hold really dear to my skillset to be able to probe in and, you know, poke around in conversations to create that clear articulation for her to then take to her team. That was the best feedback that I have.
Ever. And that was early on in my HR career, and I've taken it in my pocket every role I've been into. Oh, that's really nice. Yeah.
It's making me feel a warm and fuzzy. Don't cry. Uh, and finally, yes. Number 11. What's one thing HR teams should stop doing immediately?
This is going to sound a bit harsh. People pleasing. That's got my
name all
over it. I'm a people pleaser, but yes, go on. We, we are there for the people. Mm-hmm. Um, and I think people do gravitate towards the profession of human resources or people and Kulture because they are people. People. Mm. But I do think that.
It takes a fine balance of being there for people and not overcompensating what our role is. Mm-hmm. And I think sometimes employees can really. Overcompensate that and almost create a dependency of the role that we play within the organization. Um, I know that there's lots of HR practitioners around there that aren't people pleasers that probably go to the other extreme.
But
I think, you know, if there's one thing that we can do to, to function in a healthy way, in a business environment, I think it's not to lead with people pleasing. Thank you. That is all for me. You are welcome. You are welcome. And thank you everyone for joining us on this episode of Rapid Fire. Mm-hmm.
Thank you, Georgina. Thank you. Next time I promise I'll get more rapid. Thank you so much. Until next time, thanks for joining me on Kan Talk Kulture. I'm Kylie Anne Neal. I hope today's episode gave you a clear review into the values driving your workplace. All sparked new ideas about building a remarkable company culture.
If you're a founder or CEO interested in sharing your culture story, or if you are looking to build a safer, stronger, and more trusted workplace, let's connect. Visit Kan Kulture.com. That's K-A-N-K-U-L. TUR e.com to learn more. Please hit that subscribe button to hear more real conversations with founders and CEOs and hands-on episodes full of people.
First culture advice. I look forward to connecting with you on our next episode