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Welcome to The Culture Code podcast. On this podcast, you’ll learn how to grow, shape, and sustain a high-performance culture with the CEO of LEADx, Kevin Kruse. From designing and delivering highly effective leadership development programs, to measuring and improving the employee experience, you will understand what it takes to cultivate a thriving company culture. Through interviews with Chief People Officers, deep dives into key topics, and recordings of our invite-only community sessions, we bring you cutting-edge, data-backed insights from the most desirable companies to work for in the world.
Kevin Kruse: Hello, everyone! I'm Kevin Kruse. Welcome to Culture Code. Our guest today is the chief people officer at Scyp's, Michelle Kemlene. Michelle, welcome! Where are you joining from today?
Michelle Kemling: Thank you so much, Kevin. I am actually in Traverse City, Michigan, working from my home office today.
Kruse: Traverse City, Michigan. Now, I'm normally from the beautiful town of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but I've been spending some extra time in San Jose, California. The weather has been perfect. I don't want to go back to Philadelphia. How's the weather been in Michigan lately?
Kemling: It's been a little rainy, but it is actually quite perfect right now. I relocated here from San Francisco. I miss that weather a great deal, but we're heading into fall. It's absolutely beautiful.
Kruse: I love that. For those who might not be familiar with Syapse, how big is your organization and in plain language, what do you do?
Kemling: Yeah, we're a relatively small but mighty company with about 115 employees right now. We partner with health systems, life science companies, labs, and regulators. We use our proprietary technology to transform real-world data into insights that can directly impact cancer care. In simpler language, one of the things we do is empower healthcare workers to work together, who otherwise wouldn't be able to, through transparent partnerships. This helps them to better deliver complete patient insights that can inform patient care strategies.
Kruse: And I want you to break it down for me, even simpler, not being a medical professional. So, you're doing important work. If unfortunately, you know, I have been given a diagnosis of cancer and I've got a care team in place, you would become an extension of the care team, helping interpret data and things of that nature.
Kemling: What we really do is, if you think about the healthcare systems now and the different large community health systems, they tend to work more within their own system and not necessarily have access to data and insights across systems. For these types of community health systems, we aim to gather really high-quality data from disparate sources and consolidate it. This unified data provides them insights on what might be the best care or line of therapy to treat someone with. That's just one aspect of our work. You know, our mission overall is focused on advancing real-world care in a profound way, and alleviating some of the fear and burden that comes with a severe diagnosis like cancer.
Kruse: Yeah, now I think I talked to chief people officers from super big companies to smaller companies. How would you describe your company culture in just a few words?
Kemling: Yeah, you know, I think you're right on your first point. Sometimes you have to be a little scrappier, and you have to do a lot more with less. I definitely think we pride ourselves on that. But getting to what we do and our mission, many folks join our company because they're passionate about it and the impact we can have on cancer treatment. Through my conversations with employees across the company, what I hear the most is how they feel cared for and valued as individuals, not just as an employee within the organization. That really translates to a group of super smart people leading with heart and caring for each other as much as our mission. This has resulted in us building tremendous cultural strength over time.
Kruse: What are some of the ways you foster or sustain this culture? Any unique rituals or traditions related to your culture?
Kemling: Yeah, that's a great question. Starting off, right out of the gate in onboarding, we talk about our culture. We discuss our leadership principles as a part of that onboarding. I actually like to be the person that meets people on their first day, you know, right now it's via Zoom since we're a fully remote company, and deliver that message along with other folks from my team. It's a way to form those connections and talk about it firsthand. One of the things that has been a tremendous experience for me is, upon joining the company, one of the top initiatives I had was to define our culture and build upon it. I've had the good fortune of having worked at some incredible companies with amazing leaders who had built outstanding cultures that I was a part of and learned so much from. This was the first time I was joining a mission-driven company, something I deeply care about, and had to work to define who we are and who we want to be, focusing on culture improvement. It's been an incredibly rewarding experience. That's not just the job of a chief people officer; it takes a village. We have formed a culture leadership group, composed of influencers across the organization who are passionate about this. They were part of assessing where we were, where we wanted to be, and defining our leadership principles. We have four leadership principles. We go deep into them each quarter, and these groups present at all hands, put initiatives in place, and have a ton of fun with it. They really own it, which is pretty cool.
Kruse: Yeah, can you give me an example of one of the leadership principles? I might have missed it.
Kemling: No, I didn't share those. We call them our CORE leadership principles, and that acronym stands for Communication, Operational excellence, Relationships, and Expectations. This quarter, for example, we're focusing on the "Relationships" principle. They've put a lot of different fun initiatives in place. Especially in a remote environment, it's important to foster those connections. One such initiative is the introduction of baseball cards featured in Slack. You can put a fun picture on the front that represents who you are as an individual. For instance, I had one of myself wearing my "Leading at Syapse" baseball cap with my yellow lab, Sasha, whom I adore. On the back are stats that include details like your hobbies, your superpower, a fun fact about you, and if you had to name your own baseball team, what would it be? Seeing these cards from everyone in the company is just really enjoyable. It helps us discover commonalities with colleagues, fostering connections. Additionally, they organize a day of service, a gratitude day, spirit week, and various other events throughout the quarter to emphasize the importance of relationships.
Kruse: Yeah, that's incredible. Again, it's amazing how much attention, time, and resources you're investing into this for a relatively small company.70% of engagement is correlated to the manager, and front-line managers touch more employees than any other leadership group. What are some of the ways you develop your front-line managers?
Kemling: First and foremost, I'm incredibly proud of our managers. I want to highlight that. We recently conducted our pulse engagement survey, and our managers achieved the highest scores across all parameters, which is truly remarkable. To support their development, we use a blend of training, experiential learning, and exposure to real-world situations. Regardless of company size, I believe the priority should be fostering strong leadership and hiring individuals who align with our culture. Even though we've undergone organizational changes and downsizing, like many businesses out there, our managers continue to excel, which speaks volumes about their capabilities. Among the initiatives we've introduced is our "Leading at Syapse" program. Spread across several months, this program comprises a mix of assignments, readings, videos, and practical experiences, culminating in a graduation where participants receive a baseball cap, which I mentioned earlier. We also collaborate with BetterUp, an on-demand coaching platform renowned for its top-tier coaches. These coaches adopt a holistic approach, which is invaluable given the prevailing uncertainties and stresses in the world. Additionally, we've established a mentoring program to ensure managers can connect with leaders across the company. Furthermore, we offer informal leadership opportunities through programs such as our "Culture of Leadership" group. Volunteers spearhead these initiatives, and we also have the "Syapse Neighborhoods" program, where employees can take on leadership roles.
Kruse: You are doing a lot, and perhaps more than many companies I know that are much bigger than you. How do you solicit feedback from employees about the culture and their engagement (e.g., engagement or other surveys, town halls, ?)
Kemling: Yeah, there absolutely are. We do a monthly all-hands meeting, and we recently announced that we're kicking off something called "hot topics". We're going to use Lattice, our talent management platform. They have a newer Q&A tool. Employees can submit questions, vote them up or down, and we're excited because that will let us know what topics are top of mind for everyone. When you're pulling the whole company together, let's discuss what really matters when you have everyone in the room, if you will. At the same time, our CEO conducts skip-level meetings across all departments in the company. I've been attending these, and we just discuss whatever's on an individual or a team member's mind. They ask questions, we ask questions. It's free-flowing and provides fantastic insights. And I think, when I reflect on the surveys, the key thing is both measuring how you're doing and following through on the feedback you receive. If you don't, gathering that feedback is just meaningless. Our track record of taking action on feedback and answering tough questions in an open environment encourages further feedback. It also shapes our people's strategy and programs. The feedback we receive has led to some really cool initiatives across the company.
Kruse: Yeah, the guaranteed way to disengage your employee base is to ask them all those questions and never get back to them. Then, the next time it comes around, they wonder, "What are we doing this for, anyway?" So, that's survey fatigue.
Kemling: It's lack of action fatigue.
Kruse: Yeah, that's going to have to be a pull quote in an article, because what you usually hear is, people have survey fatigue, and it's not necessarily that. Related to culture, are there any special initiatives or results you’re most proud of?
Kemling: Yeah, I mean, there are a few cool things that people would be excited about, that have helped to drive our engagement and initiatives that have come out of that. One is our "Innovation Staycation". The Innovation Staycation is all about having an opportunity to sit back, relax, and innovate, with nothing else getting in the way. We offer a week off for employees to spend time learning, crafting, and innovating on whatever topic, project, or idea they're passionate about. Then, they present that back to their team, so everyone knows what they focused on. They share their experience and their learning so everyone can benefit from it. People love it. And it really does give a whole different type of time off. I mentioned neighborhoods a little bit earlier, but those connections and relationships are a critical part of our culture. When we went from being primarily in offices to fully remote, we launched this program that ensures all employees are a part of a neighborhood based upon where they live. We have a budget and encourage in-person or remote connections, really depending on proximity to each other, and do things throughout the year. We have a Slack channel by neighborhood where groups can communicate, support each other, and just connect. Like I said, it also gives another opportunity for informal leadership across those regions where folks can head up that region and really lead the way. So, those are a couple of the more fun programs that we've put in place. Probably the two things employees comment on most, or the two words I see the most in our engagement surveys are "recharged days". Before they were in vogue, we put recharge days in place, which are generally one or two Fridays a month where everyone's off on the same day with the philosophy: If everyone's not off, it's going to be really hard to recharge. And because of their feedback, those have stuck around post-pandemic as well, which is absolutely fabulous.
Kruse: Yeah, that's brilliant, and it's so astute. What book would you recommend that your colleagues read? (or podcast, video, etc.)
Kemling: You know what? That is a hard one for me to pick just one book. I have a history of giving many books to colleagues over the years, and I've had the good fortune of also working for a lot of exceptional leaders that have written great books that I've gifted as well. I'm going to go with the one that I just gifted to my team over the holidays, and I actually borrowed from this book for a recent all-hands meeting as we were going through organizational change this year. It was "The 5 Graces of Life and Leadership" by Gary Burnison, the CEO of Korn Ferry. My reasoning behind it was that it's relevant, it's meaningful. There's the added bonus of being full of really great pictures, big thoughts, and an easy read. But most importantly, it's a great reminder for all of us to choose to move forward with grace. The message behind it was really incredible. It focuses on the fact that true grace emerges through pressure, sometimes under fire. It calls us to accountability, responsibility, and action. After all, the accountability we want to see in others starts with each of us, and it's our choice to move forward with grace. It just really resonated with the moment and the times right now. He also has a great email series, by the way, that I subscribe to. Short snippets, inspiring, that I read every week.
Kruse: Yeah, I think Gary's work is incredible. I've been a fan of his. He's sort of a modern-day philosopher king. He's the CEO of this massive organization, yet he speaks with so much wisdom, heart, and emotion. His contributions during the pandemic and the protests were perhaps some of his best work. Just sharing as a friend, it's amazing. I've been blessed to meet and interview all kinds of people around the world for my podcast and books. People like President Obama, actor Alan Alda, etc. Yet, I've never been able to connect with Gary. I feel like I can reach almost any human on the planet at this point for a good interview or a cup of coffee, but I've never gotten through to him. Still, I'd encourage people to read his emails and his books even if they can't meet him face to face. He's truly a great thinker. I believe he's undervalued, probably because he's still actively running a company in this space. He's an invaluable thought leader for all of us these days.
Kemling: I couldn't agree more. He's just so relatable.
Kruse: Very relatable. Yeah, which is not easy. So let me shift it up again. IWhat skill or behavior do you wish your employees did more of?
Kemling: What a fun question! Hindsight really sharpens your vision, doesn't it? You know, I think it's a lot of learning on this journey. When you hear "Chief People Officer", it's certainly a lot of responsibility. Shaping people's strategy and driving the experience for everyone, I don't take that lightly. I've learned your strategy is going to evolve over time, but the importance of having a people strategy, a strong culture, and being deliberate about it, won't. I think that's really key. I've also learned it's the little things that have the biggest impact, both the things you do and don't do. When I step back and really think about it, it's about empowering and inspiring others to do great things and create an exceptional culture. It starts with really building a kick-ass team. I feel like my team is exceptional. I know I totally have a biased opinion, but who you work with really matters at every level, from having an amazing boss to hiring people that align with your culture and mission to bring out everyone's best work. Not being afraid to make tough decisions. You know you're successful when you can watch everyone around you own and drive all things people. It's not all on you. If I could look back, stepping into it, I'd be like, "Listen, don't take yourself so seriously. Learn from what goes well and what doesn't. Boldly encourage change and innovation. You don't need extreme disruption to force it like we've seen over the last several years. Your resilience and comfort with ambiguity are going to pay off in spades. Who would have known? Just have fun." Because truly, being a CPO here at Syapse has been one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had. It's just been absolutely incredible.
Kruse: No, that's fantastic. It's great that some of that advice is, it sounds like you've learned to relax into the role. Maybe that wasn't the case early on. You said it in your own words, and I'm just reflecting on what I heard.
Kemling: I think, you know, if you look at it that way and think of the past few years, the pace of transformation in the workplace is unprecedented. The people team has largely been leading and transforming culture right through all of that. The business has depended on it. It's been incredible for me to experience how people leaders have come together and shared knowledge, whether it's crowdsourcing what's working for you or just putting everything out there in a way that you didn't see in the past. That has really lifted each other and the people function up entirely. I think, you know, the ability to lead through ambiguity to impact our teams positively, regardless of what the world has thrown our way, has been bigger than any one of us. That has also been something different than what I've seen in the past, and I'm just so grateful to my fellow leaders out there. Everything they've shared, and the partnership that you've seen in a whole new way, has been something really cool that's come from the last few years.
Kruse: You, I mean, all of that good work and those efforts are going to continue. But you mentioned your kick-ass team. What will you and your kick-ass— you're the first; you're gonna be the first you could say that. So, what will your priorities be with all this cool stuff going on for the year ahead? What do you want to explore, experiment with, double down on?
Kemling: Yeah, culture and employee experience is gonna continue to be front and center for us. And I think when you look at our employee value proposition, we build everything around that. For us, it's about flexibility, wellness, and growth and really different ways to continue to propel that in a fully remote environment. And I think that a fully remote environment also largely does fuel wellness and flexibility, and all of that, which is terrific.
Org design and change management are going to be super critical. We've had a lot of change this year and continuing to manage through that is certainly going to be a top priority. Leader and manager effectiveness, you know, we talked about that a little bit, but that's critical, no matter what, and continuing to focus on that and communication around our business strategy in those areas that are top of mind for our employees are focal points.
Kruse: What about the business itself? IWhat excites you the most about your company right now?
Kemling: Yeah, there's a lot that's going on that I'm excited about, I think. One, with all of the change we've been through, some of it's been tough. And at the same time, there's been a lot of folks promoted with growth opportunities, and we've had leadership opportunities that have brought just new creativity and thinking to our leadership team, which is super exciting. We've also had a change in how we're structured, and our way of working has evolved with really inspiring levels of collaboration and innovation. And from a product standpoint, our balance of service and technology offerings is evolving. And we've got some new things in the works that I'm excited about, but I think people will have to keep an eye out to learn more about that. I know I'm being a little bit vague.
Kruse: But I was going to say, we'll just have to have you back on later in the next year, and you can reveal all of these things that you're just hinting at right now.
Kemling: Right? Exactly.
Kruse: Michelle, I really appreciate it again. You know, time is our most valuable asset, so I don't take it lightly. You've blessed us today with some time to talk not just about the great work you're doing, but some ideas that I think people are going to be able to steal next week; they'll be able to go to their own teams and say, "Hey, I heard about this idea we ought to try." So that's very generous. Thank you for all the time.
Kemling: Thank you so much, Kevin. It was very nice meeting you.