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Killer Quote: "Creating a company culture isn't just a top-down directive; it's a journey you take with your team. It's about respect, collaboration, and openness, fostering an environment where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute. That's how we move from 'us versus them' to 'we're in this together.'" - Bonnie Tulley
Welcome to The Chemical Show™, where chemicals mean business. If you're looking for insights from business leaders of mid-market to Fortune 50 companies, this is the place to be.
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Episodes are published every Tuesday.
Host Victoria Meyer gained her industry experience at leading companies, including Shell, LyondellBasell and Clariant. Before taking those insights and experiences to launch a strategy & marketing consultancy, Progressio Global, and The Chemical Show podcast. Victoria brings a informed and engaging perspective, making this podcast not just about the chemical business, but about people, leadership, business challenges and opportunities, and so much more.
The Chemical Show brings you the latest insights into trillion-dollar chemical industry. You will hear from leading industry executives as they discuss their companies, business, markets, and leadership. You’ll learn how chemical, specialty chemical, petrochemical, material science and plastics companies are making an impact, responding to the changing business environment, and discussing best practices and approaches you can apply in your business.
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Bonnie Tully: What we found is
if you can just even engage in
that conversation with with young
people coming out of, university
or whatever, you can be impactful.
You can say like, uh, you know, We're
going to be industry that's going to
create those materials of the future
that we're going to need that don't
exist today for whatever medical devices
or going to Mars it's this industry
that's going to do it and, and they're
willing to, willing to engage on that.
And I think one of the things that's
important about that is, uh, is to
get that engagement with them is,
um, your social media presence.
It's, it's so huge.
A key component of the modern
world economy, the chemical
industry delivers products and
innovations to enhance everyday life.
It is also an industry in transformation
where chemical executives and
workers are delivering growth and
industry changing advancements while
responding to pressures from investors,
regulators, and public opinion.
Discover how leading companies
are approaching these challenges
here on The Chemical Show.
Here's your host, Victoria Meyer.
Microphone (2- AT2005USB) & c922 Pro Stream Webcam:
Hi, this Victoria Meyer.
Welcome back to The Chemical Show
where Chemicals Means Business.
Today's episode, it features a fireside
chat that I conducted with Bonnie Tali,
chief operating officer of Ivanek north
America at this year's chemical summit.
We dug deep into the evolution of
industry roles, the future of work.
And the critical need for
middle management and employee.
Um, Hm.
Mm.
Mm.
We dug deep into the evolution of
industry roles, the future of work and
the critical need of middle management.
In maintaining employee cohesion.
Bonnie shared her transformative
experience, starting a plant in Singapore.
And highlighted the importance of
respect and cultural inclusivity,
and a really unique collaborative
approach for solving team conflict.
We also talked about the ongoing war
for talent and how innovation and
sustainability are a key attractant for
future talent in the chemical industry.
This episode.
Is a lesson in leadership and culture.
Now speaking of leadership, head on over
to the chemical show.com/leadership.
To download the guide to top 10
career and leadership lessons
from chemical industry executives.
These are insights that are harnessed
from dozens of interviews that
I've done with industry executives
this year on The Chemical Show.
And we provide not just the insight,
but also some actions that you can
take as you reflect on how you want to.
Develop as you go into 20, 25 and beyond.
So again, that is the chemical show.com.
Slash leadership.
And by the way, Bonnie's tip,
which is the power of speaking
up is number five on that list.
Don't miss it.
Microphone (2- AT2005USB)-2:
Now onto today's episode.
Victoria M: Bonnie Tully is the
Chief Operating Officer of Evonik.
Um, and she has spent a big part
of her career in Well, it seems
like you've been all over the
company, starting in operations,
starting with Rohm & Haas, correct?
And then getting acquired and moving
on and you know, as things happen
in the chemical industry, right?
Nothing stays the same.
But what I think is interesting about
Bonnie, what some of the insights she
brings, is this diversity in her career,
in terms of types of companies, size
of company, different experiences, is.
Starting up plants in Singapore and
helping to build things building
organizations here and throughout
it all recognizing that culture and
people and evolution is part of this so
/Thanks for joining me today Bonnie
You've been part of the industry
for your entire career, right?
Um, several companies and countries, how
is it different today versus where it
was when you began early in your career?
/
Bonnie Tully: Yeah.
So, um, first of all,
thank you for having me.
This is, this is great.
This is a really, a nice event.
I said, it's just a nice size.
Like you can actually visit with people.
So very nice event.
And, um, the other thing is I've
talked to a couple of people about,
um, They said, it's so nice that
you have somebody from operations
actually talking about culture and not
just farming that out to HR and then
saying like, HR is going to handle it.
So, um, but when I think back
over my career, um, Three
things come to my mind really.
So technology has changed a lot since
I started my career, but we've talked
a lot about that already today.
Um, And then the two other areas I
think have changed a lot and they
go a lot with culture is I think the
concept around safety has changed a lot.
So when I started my career, he said
started working for Rohm & Haas right
here on the Houston ship channel.
And, uh, you know, it was kind of
like "accidents happen, you know,
like you try, you try really hard
to not get anybody hurt, but you
know, sometimes things happen."
And, and, um, if you, you know, So if
you doubt that, I challenge you to go
watch the old movie, Urban Cowboy, it's
a 1980s movie and just watch that movie.
You can, you don't have to watch the
whole, you know, writing the, the,
the mechanical bull and all that, but
how they represent, um, the chemical
industry and working in the refineries.
And, you know, it was just a
real cowboy culture, right?
Some days you make it,
some days you don't.
And, uh, we know now, no.
can go home safely every day, and we
can control that, um, in our industry.
So I think that one, and then I would
also say, I'll call it, uh, regulations
or, um, respective regulation.
So again, uh, let's just, just
start talking in round numbers,
uh, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act.
They come around 1970.
All right.
I started my career and I saw it 1990.
And when I came into the industry.
There were still people who were fighting
the Clean Air and Clean Water Act.
They were, there was still legislation
fighting it, uh, in the courts.
Um, and I think if you look now and you
look, you know, I don't think anybody
would argue against the Clean Air and
Clean Water Act now, like we all like
clean air and we all like clean water.
But I bring that up because
that has been a major change.
And, um, it's, uh, been something
that society wants as a culture,
the culture wants this change.
And I also think it gives us some kind of
some messages around the sustainability
changes that are going on now.
I feel like that is what it felt like
30 years ago, where you still have legal
challenges and some people are accepting
it and some people are fighting against
it, but the tide is moving in a direction.
So I think 30 years from now.
We'll be looking back and saying, like,
Oh, I can't believe we were fighting
whatever, you know, uh, Carbon Capture.
What were we thinking?
Victoria M: /Yeah, I think
it's a great example.
Um, and certainly I've seen it.
I've been in the industry about
the same amount of time, and it is
an evolution from from where it's
been to where it is today, you
know, so you referenced it already.
A big part of your career
and even today is overseeing
manufacturing and operations.
And I think, you know, you said, well,
a lot of times culture is left to HR.
We know that's not the answer.
Do we have any HR people in the crowd?
I don't think we do.
Right.
So, but, but it's, it's really with
the people in the vast majority of
people are in manufacturing operations,
supply chains, the things that
are producing, moving, et cetera.
Um, how do you see, um, How
do you see that evolution?
And I think there's this aspect,
certainly with sitting where we are
today in 2024, where people are fighting
the going back to work and back to
the office, and yet manufacturing has
never left the manufacturing office.
Do you see bigger differences
today in manufacturing versus
non manufacturing roles?
Is it all part and parcel of the same?/
Bonnie Tully: Yeah, so, uh, two
things come to my mind, um, on that.
So, one is, um, I, one where I see the non
manufacturing roles and the manufacturing
roles coming very close together is, I'll
call it the expectation of those roles.
So, what I mean is, uh, I think everybody,
whether you're talking about, uh, a
chemical operator or a procurement
person, you want them to be self managing.
And self motivated.
And I really saw this,
uh, during, um, COVID.
So, um, so I'll talk about the
operations people in a moment.
Like you said, they
never, they never left.
But if you talk about people who
are like in home and in the, um,
corporate offices, um, right.
As you know, as we all had to leave the
offices and we had a lot of managers
saying like, I need to get my people back.
I need to be watching them.
I need to be seeing what they're doing.
And that's how, the only way I
can control, uh, whether they're
going to be, you know, productive
or not that message in, in a short
period of time, maybe six months.
You know, I really don't want employees
that I have to manage like that.
I want, I want employees who self manage.
I don't want to have to worry.
I want to be able to give them tasks.
I don't care where they're
sitting in the world.
And it's one of those tasks done and
that self managing self motivated.
I see that, uh, in the, uh, people
want that in operations people as well.
We want, we want operators, uh, uh, who
are self managing and self motivated.
Um, and.
I think if you look again, it's, it's
been fun kind of thinking about this
because if you go back, uh, again,
when I started in the, in, in, um, in
the industry, you had some people that
they just wanted to be order takers.
They wanted their shift foreman
to tell them what to do.
And then they would do that task and
then they would wait for the next task.
We don't have operators like that anymore.
We have people who are,
who are quite self-driven.
And I, I always say, um, when I look at
the control rooms, uh, in our, in our
plants, and we have about 45 here in
North America and we have hundreds across
the world, those, uh, control rooms and
what those operators have to do is more
complicated than like an airline pilot.
You'll look at it.
I mean, look at a cockpit and then
look at what our operators are running.
I think our operators have the harder job.
So.
To do that, you need somebody who
is self managing and self motivated.
So, that's why I think they're so similar.
Victoria M: /I think that's great,
and I like that characterization
of it, because, um, you know, as I
would say, I just don't want whiners.
Bonnie Tully: /Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
No whiners anymore.
Victoria M: /Um, where are we heading?
I mean, so that's where we are.
So if I think about, you talked a little
bit about the evolution of, Um, so
we've moved from a time of the cowboy
culture to today, where we are much
more resonant and embracing of some of
the regulations that have come in, um,
around clean air, clean water, being
good stewards, being self managing.
Where are we going?
What's next?
Bonnie Tully: So, um, it's interesting,
some of the conversations, uh, or some
of the presentations today, because I've
been thinking a lot about, um, I think
the future, uh, uh, for the chemical
industry is, I think there's a time
when, uh, we're going to be working very
project centric and we're probably going
to bring people and resources together.
So it was during the AI, they were
talking about, maybe you're going to have
a bot that's part of your team, right?
That's Data, Data.
I always think about like Data,
like Star Trek Data, right?
Something that's, that's as part
of the team that you can ask them,
you know, How, you know Data, how
many Romulin ships are around us,
and this is 491 or whatever, right?
Um, as part of the team, you're
gonna have your expertise and you're
gonna have data, and you're gonna
be interacting with each other, um,
uh, to solve a particular problem.
But I That's down the road.
Yeah.
I think there's some, uh, we still
have a ways to get there, and
right now we're still, we're still
very organizationally structured.
And, uh, one of the trends I, I'm kind of,
it's kind of, uh, making me nervous right
now is, uh, wiping out middle managers.
So I don't know about your
companies, but I know my company,
everybody's getting lean and mean
and taking out middle managers.
And you just saw Google's getting rid
of 13, 000 or, or rumored, rumored to be
getting rid of 13, 000 middle managers.
Well, you know, that future that I talked
about where we're all just kind of working
in projects, trying to solve the problem.
We're not there yet, and right now, a lot
of the care and feeding of our employees
happens with those middle managers.
They take care of the people.
They keep people connected
to our companies.
They help develop people, and all those
things about, you know, people don't
leave a company, they leave a manager.
Well, if there's no manager there,
there's not gonna be a company.
People aren't going to be
connected to their companies.
And so this is, so I think where we're
going again are going to be these self
organized teams, but in the interim,
um, I don't like this trend of losing
middle managers and I think we're going
to be worse for it as a, as an industry.
Victoria M: Well, and I think it's to me,
I think it's part of this evolution that
happens because we've gone through this
before where we've cut layers and then
we realized, Oh, maybe we cut too far.
Let's add a bit back.
So I feel like there's
always a bit of fluctuation.
How do you help your leaders
manage thru that change?
So as you say, we're getting leaner,
we're cutting out layers and you
know, it's happening at companies all
across our industry, other industries.
That's really stressful.
It's stressful when you're executing it.
It's stressful to be the person
that you're told, Hey, you know, one
of you guys is going to go because
we're getting rid of your lair.
How do you help people navigate that?
Bonnie Tully: Yeah.
Well, I think last time we
talked, I talked about this.
I, what I always tell my managers is,
um, these are, these are difficult topics
and they're hard conversations to have.
And I don't care how much
you've been trained up.
You, you don't get trained up
for all these conversations.
So I always just tell them.
You know, I just go back to,
um, The Golden Rule, right?
Treat people like you want to be treated.
If, if you've got no other tool, have one
tool, which is that like sit, when you sit
across from that person, realize they're
another person, how would you want to be
treated if you were sitting in that chair?
And I think a lot of times
it's, you want, you want to.
You want to be dealt with
honestly, like you said, Hey,
some of this is just the reality.
And, and I think, uh, people want
to know what's really coming.
And, um, uh, you know, being
able to hopefully help them find
whatever the next opportunity is,
whether it's within the company.
Or outside the company.
Um, but, uh, you know, these are, these
are never fun conversations to have.
And so, like I said, if you have
like just one thought in your mind as
you're having them, that's what it is.
Victoria M: Yeah.
Makes sense.
So, Bonnie, I know you've had the
opportunity, maybe you can even
share a little bit of the story that
to set up several new sites, right?
And I know when we spoke earlier
this year, you talked about going
to Singapore with a very young
family, setting up a new site.
Challenges personally, challenges
professionally, and then challenges
and learnings, obviously, in helping
that site and that organization grow.
So what lessons can you share with us?
Bonnie Tully: Yeah, so
maybe on the personal side.
So, um, so the company
asked if I would go over.
Uh, so I was with Evonik.
Asked if I would go over to Singapore and,
uh, first build and then run a facility
in Singapore, our first one there.
Um, I had a 18 month old
son and a four year old son.
And my husband and I had to sit down and
have a conversation about, uh, could,
could I, should I take this opportunity?
And would he be willing to put his
career on hold for us to go to Singapore?
And um, I'm blessed with
a very supportive husband.
He said yes.
He put his career on hold.
We went to Singapore with two little kids.
And I was there for five years, two
years to build the plant, uh, um,
three years to run the plant, uh, and
could not have done it without him,
you know, uh, sacrificing his career
for a few years to be able to do that.
So I say all that to say, uh, sometimes,
um, people want to be superheroes,
super women, super men or whatever.
Sometimes you need help to do that.
Um, and, um, So two years to build the
plant and then three years running it.
Uh, we get there and, um, we, uh,
in Singapore, we were able to bring
together a very international or
Asian international workforce.
So I had employees there from
seven countries, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Singapore, India, China.
So, um, and so, um, very early we
had to set up some ground rules.
Like, um, we were going to use,
um, English, um, In the control
rooms and on the radios and that
type of thing, which is okay.
It's the, it's the language of business
over there, but we had a rule that
people could, you could go back to
their mother tongues in the lunchroom.
So I always said it sounded
like a mini UN in there, right?
Cause everybody, everybody switched
back and just get relaxed and
go back to their mother tongue.
Um, and, um, but you had this opportunity
to set up a culture like from scratch.
There was nothing there.
Right.
And so, uh, when I hired my managers,
we really sat down and said, what
do we want our culture to be?
All right.
So you're creating out of scratch, you
know, how do we want to treat each other?
Uh, what are our values going to be?
Um, we're bringing together
this international team.
How do we get them to work together?
And then, um, and like literally
made slides like, okay, we think this
will be what our culture should be.
And then we hired the employees and then
we, Um, we went over that with them.
What do y'all think?
Good culture?
Yes is what you want.
Yes, yes, yes.
We like, everybody got bought in.
Um, we build the plant.
We, we, uh, we start up the plant.
And, um, like I said, I've,
I've, I've started up other
facilities, built other facilities.
And, um, Any of y'all have
ever started up even projects.
I call it, I call it the
startup hangover, right?
Like, so you have this whole
team, you've been working
together, shoulder to shoulder.
You, you know, you get to the top of
the mountain and then all of a sudden
everybody starts picking on each other
and, and fighting with each other.
And, and you're like, what is this?
Like, I know these are great people.
I know they like each other.
They've liked each other for two years
and now they're all picking at each other.
And, um, so I brought in a coach.
Okay.
to work with us.
Um, and just see if we could
kind of turn the culture around.
And the coach and I had set up
three days of coaching, very
strict, you know, I'll call it
very standard stuff, trust circles.
And, um, you know, what
should we start doing and stop
doing and this kind of stuff.
And then at the, on the side, she had
this sheet where you could sign up
if you wanted to have her facilitate
a critical conversation or difficult
conversation with somebody else.
And we realized after the first day
of, of all these, you know, exercises,
everybody had signed up on that sheet
and every manager had signed up to talk
to every other manager and in a meeting.
So she now had this list of like, you
know, 60 conversations she needed to have.
And so we said, scrap,
scrap the next two days.
We are just going to let you
facilitate one on one conversations.
And what we found Was that transition
from when you're fighting the big
fight to like, just to the day to
day minutia of running a facility.
You, um, you have to like
totally change the conversations
you're having with each other.
And so everybody got to vent.
With a third party there to facilitate
the conversation, you know, what,
what you've been doing, you know, is
what's been driving me crazy is, and
you know, QC got to tell production
and production got to tell maintenance
and maintenance got to tell RD and I,
and everybody got to air all that out.
And after that, and I would have
never thought of doing that.
Right.
But after that, after two days of
that, I watched our, like, so we had
been like our, um, our operations, you
know, we had been running pretty good.
As startup.
And then we really started dropping off.
And then after everybody just got to
vent, it shot back up again and our PR our
productivity went really went very high.
So I, this was one of my, like a
little tip or trick that I learned,
uh, that these critical conversations
one on one, like if you just ever have
that where you're just like, what the
heck is wrong with this organization?
It just seems to be falling apart.
I've gone to it again.
I was going I've used it again
and and it, it, it helps.
It really, sometimes those little,
uh, whatever niggling topics,
they, they just ruin productivity.
Victoria M: So let's talk a little
bit about talent and we, I know that
came up earlier today with in terms
of business challenges that people
are concerned about is talent, talent
management, talent retention, et cetera.
Um, it can be a little difficult to
attract people to our industry, right?
Um, is, and, It's got negative
connotations depending on where you
are, um, in this post COVID world.
And frankly, even in the non COVID world,
when we think about manufacturing and
expectation that people come to the
office every day, um, it can be difficult.
And then, and then adding on top of
it, Evonik as well as many companies
have a pretty distributed workforce.
Number one, how are you tackling
this and this attraction, the
talent attraction perspective?
That would be part one.
And then part two is how do
you create a unified culture
when you're very distributed?
Bonnie Tully: So I guess on the
first part around, um, around
talent, I'll say talent retention.
I think, um, We're probably
in the same boat with a lot
of companies in in this room.
Right?
Um, so right now, when I look so for North
America for us, which is Canada, the U.
S.
And Mexico, our, uh, resignation
rate, which also includes
retirements is running at about 10%
right now, which is high for us.
So in the past we've
been running about 5%.
During Covid we were running about
13%, so we're down off the peak.
Um, but it's still pretty high.
And, um, you know, one of the things
that, um, we've, we've seen is, uh,
we of course, um, we are now competing
with brand new markets, right?
I mean, we're losing people to battery
manufacturers, to SpaceX, to Amazon,
to like, and, um, that is a kind of
a new reality and that we have to
position ourselves to be interesting.
as interesting as SpaceX,
but you know what I'm saying?
Yeah.
Well, we're not just competing
against chemical industries
anymore, um, for that talent.
So, uh, We have to have , a
different value proposition.
And, um, I think part of that,
um, is these topics you've been
talking about today, right?
AI and sustainability and, um,
showing the people who are coming
into the labor market, um, that, um,
Um, we are cutting edge and that we
are the solution providers, right?
And I think if, what we found is
if you can just even engage in that
conversation with, um, with young
people coming out of, out of university
or whatever, you can be impactful.
You can say like, uh, you know, We're
going to be industry that's going to
create those materials of the future
that we're going to need that don't
exist today for whatever medical
devices or going to Mars or whatever.
It's this industry that's going
to do it and, and they're willing
to, willing to engage on that.
And I think one of the things that's
important about that is, uh, is to
get that engagement with them is,
um, your social media presence.
It's, it's so huge.
And again, I'm going to guess people in
this room have had that experience where
you walk into an interview with somebody
and they, um, they already know all about
you and your, maybe you personally, uh,
from your, uh, from your, um, social
media, uh, they know about your company.
Uh, maybe they've watched your videos,
uh, Chemical Show, Chemical Show.
Shout out.
They'll say, Oh yeah, I've seen you.
I've heard you talk about that.
And, um, they already come in with
their opinion made about your company,
what you stand for, uh, and whether
they want to engage in you or not, just
from your presence on social media.
And I mean, I have that experience
more than I don't now in interviews.
Victoria M: Yeah, I think that's, I
do think that's interesting because
people have always done research, but
there's so much more content available.
And of course, what I, you know, what
I could say is either you control
the narrative or somebody else will.
And if, and if you as an individual,
um, as a business leader, as a business
are not defining the message that
you want out in public, out on your
social media, somebody else will.
Um, and that becomes critical to,
to finding and attracting talent.
And then even potentially
the retaining it.
Cause again, with the company as
big as Evonik, some of this, , I
imagine social media in some
respects is also a rumor mill, right?
So people, people like, well, I
heard this, who'd you hear it from?
Oh, TikTok.
Okay.
Bonnie Tully: It absolutely is.
And I think, uh, uh, Leon from Lummis
was talking about it today, right?
Allowing.
allowing people from your company
to post, post about good things.
Um, uh, I think we're
pretty open with it as well.
We, um, so we like, we like
our employees posting about
what, what work they're doing.
So they, so that people get an
impression about our technology.
We like about sustainability, uh,
things we're doing in our communities.
Um, there's like, like, So, uh, you don't
know what's going to speak to somebody.
You don't know what's going to
help, uh, uh, you, uh, retain them
or, um, uh, interest have them
get interested in your company.
So you need a lot of voices putting
stuff out there in social media
saying this is who Evonik is.
Victoria M: Yeah.
And by the way, hashtag
The Chemical Summit.
Don't forget.
Yeah.
Same.
So, so people today, and we maybe
touched on this a little bit, but.
People today have different
expectations of work life balance.
And you know, one of the
phrases we often hear is around,
bring your whole self to work.
Okay, do I really want your whole self?
Um, maybe yes, maybe no.
Or, or this thing of creating safe spaces.
So I think all of us, I mean this
is not just a Millennial and Gen Z.
I do think it's all of us
have an expectation that
we can be a bit more real.
Um, that we can be, you know,
authentic, that we should feel safe,
um, not just physically safe, but
emotionally safe in the workplace.
Um, how do you see that playing
out in a corporate environment?
Bonnie Tully: It's something that, uh, in
the corporate environment, um, we, we have
to address at this point in time, right?
Like you have, um, I think, um, something
that came out, um, This was during COVID.
And there was so many, so many things
happening, whether, uh, around the, um,
social and environmental justice topics.
And, um, there was a, I heard
somewhere, if you don't say anything,
you're saying something right.
And sometimes companies want
to just be quiet on something.
We're chemical companies.
We don't have to have, we don't have
to have statements on everything, but
maybe there are times when we want
to have a statement on something.
For our company I would say, Where
we've really put our focus on that is
with our ERGs, our employee resource
groups, which, Those are very new to us.
I know some some companies have
had them for years or decades.
We haven't ours really started coming
up around 2019, right before COVID.
And then with COVID, they were really
helpful, the employee resource group.
So, oh, from then, so let's call
it from 2020 to now, we now have
six employee resource groups.
We have one for women, uh, black
professionals, Asia Pacific
Islanders, veterans, LGBTQ.
And early career professionals, how it
works in our company is, uh, a group
of a minimum of 10 employees have to
put together a charter of what they
want to do and they have to present it
to, uh, management and say, we would
like to have an ERG for this group.
And that's why we have the groups.
We do.
It's not picked, it's
not from the management.
It's from the employees saying.
And that we did that because we said,
if we're going to create an ERG, you
got to make sure you have some mass of
people who want to go with you on that.
Um, uh, also when we first started
those, we had, we got some good advice.
Uh, we, we were told make sure
your ERGs have a purpose, make
sure that the company provides them
psychological safety to your point.
And number three, don't
let them get politicized.
So, um, make, and I think don't let
them get politicized and make sure
they have a purpose or tied together.
Um, so, um, how do I say it?
So our ERGs are not there to like change
the world, but they are there to help
and support our employees feel like
they, um, uh, are supported and that
they belong at our, at our company.
Right?
So they do a lot of like networking.
Activities they have helped
us change some of our policies
around things that matter to them.
Like, like our, um, our veterans leave
policy, our bereavement policy, our
our parental leave policy, right?
So these are things that matter to them.
Our employees took it on.
We had them actually put the, let's
say, call it the business case together,
present it up to, to, up to management.
And then, and then just to be
a network there for each other.
Um, like I said, I guess the point I
want to make in all that is this is
very much a, uh, a pull, not a push.
It's there for our
employees to support them.
It is not that we are pushing any
kind of agenda on our employees.
And I think that's, uh, been kind
of, uh, the secret sauce for us.
It's worked very well.
And we've got, um, really, we've
got, uh, So we've got thousands of
employees who participate in those now.
Yeah.
I think, I mean, it's one of these cases
where the employees can define what
they want better than management can.
Victoria M: Yeah.
Yeah.
Awesome.
Um, last question I have for
you, and then we've got a
bunch coming from the audience.
Um, so thinking about the trends that
drive the future of the industry,
sustainability, innovation, globalization,
and regionalization, what role does
culture play in helping, um, I guess us.
Successfully navigate those trends.
Bonnie Tully: Yeah.
So, um, who said culture's everything?
I was right here in the front.
So culture is everything.
And I think if, if a company really
wants to, uh, address the things
that you were just mentioning, you
know, um, it has to start at the top.
Uh, and it has to be, those things
have to be supported and nurtured
in the, in the organization.
Um, period.
I like, it's really, I liked your comment.
It's really a very
bottom line thing, right?
What's the culture of
this company going to be?
And I can tell you, you know, that
site I set up in Singapore where we,
you know, years ago, we sat down and
were very thoughtful about the culture
and what we wanted to start there.
It's still the culture in that site today.
Crazy, right?
Uh, but once you've created it, it stays.
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