Mandy Clark
Chief Human Resources Officer
Shutterfly
Episode 130
The 'academy' approach: Building unshakeable leadership through employee loyalty.
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleJune 25, 2025 · 17:09
Thesis
“The long-term investment in employee development and loyalty, often seen in 'academy-like' companies, is crucial for building strong leadership and organizational culture, a practice often missing in today's short-term focused corporate landscape.”
Show notes
GE and Pepsi were famously "academy companies" — organizations so deliberate about developing leaders from within that alumni went on to run some of the largest companies in the world. Mandy Clark spent formative years inside that machine, and when she arrived at Shutterfly as CHRO, she brought the ethos with her — even when the budget didn't cooperate.
Shutterfly is a seasonal business with high turnover, limited resources, and real operational complexity. It's exactly the kind of environment where "people-first leadership" can feel like a luxury. Mandy's conviction is that it's actually the opposite — that investing in long-term employee development, promoting from within, and practicing "back-to-basics" leadership behaviors are the things that hold organizations together precisely when everything is hard. The leader she describes most vividly isn't a polished executive; it's someone who took the time to learn the business from the floor up, listen to frontline employees, and earn trust before asking for performance.
Her scrappy approach to leadership development — "Exec Connect" sessions, emerging leaders summits built with minimal resources — shows what's possible when the will is there. And her advice to non-HR business leaders is just as pointed: the discipline required to genuinely invest in people isn't separate from the discipline required to run a great business. It is the discipline.
- What "academy companies" actually produce — the leadership legacy of GE and Pepsi's development culture
- Back-to-basics leadership that works — listening, presence, courage, and integrity as operational tools
- Promote-from-within in a high-turnover environment — how Shutterfly built a more committed leadership bench
- Scrappy leadership development that sticks — what "Exec Connect" and emerging leaders programs look like with limited budgets
- Long-term investment vs. short-term extraction — the business case for treating employee relationships as assets
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What you'll take away
- 1Invest in long-term employee development to foster loyalty and build strong leadership, rather than focusing solely on short-term gains.
- 2'Back-to-basics' leadership, emphasizing listening, connecting with employees, courage, and integrity, is essential for earning trust and inspiring high performance, especially in distributed workforces.
- 3Even in seasonal or high-turnover businesses, a 'promote-from-within' mentality and investment in employee growth can build a more effective and committed leadership team.
- 4Scrappy, informal approaches to leadership development (e.g., 'Exec Connect,' emerging leaders summits) can be highly effective in tough environments with limited resources.
- 5True leadership is about growing others, putting ego aside, and focusing on the long-term legacy rather than immediate personal gain.
What most organizations get wrong
- •The conventional wisdom of focusing on short-term employee output over long-term development leads to a lack of loyalty from both sides and a self-fulfilling prophecy of job hopping.
- •Even with a seasonal workforce, investing in career paths for seasonal employees, rather than viewing them as 'exchangeable,' yields more effective leaders and a stronger culture.
- •Formal, expensive leadership development programs (like GE's Crotonville) are no longer necessary; scrappy, less elaborate approaches can achieve the same outcomes.
In Mandy's words
“I think all too often, you know, we're focused on the short term and what we can get out of the employee in the here and now, and not so much about that long-term relationship that we're trying to build.”
This highlights the guest's core criticism of modern corporate approaches to employee relations.
“He took the time to learn the business from the bottom up. He took the time to see exactly what these employees were doing on a day-to-day basis, the challenges that they faced, the, you know, learning from them and listening to them, what they— the suggestions that they were making.”
This illustrates a practical example of 'back-to-basics' leadership building trust and credibility with frontline employees.
“Most of the time in my career, it's been in a tough environment that I had to inspire great leadership. And sometimes being in the trenches together can do that.”
This emphasizes that shared challenges can forge stronger leadership and team cohesion.
“I think the critical piece is remembering that these kind of fundamental back-to-the-basic values maybe the lost art of leadership is so critical to role model.”
This encapsulates the guest's call to return to core leadership principles.
“before you're a leader, success is all about growing yourself. But then when you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”
This Jack Welch quote is presented as a fundamental philosophy for effective leadership focused on team growth.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Companies struggle with employee loyalty and high turnover due to a lack of long-term investment in development, leading to a 'self-fulfilling prophecy' of job hopping.
- •Leaders often lack credibility with frontline employees because they fail to understand the day-to-day challenges of their roles, hindering effective decision-making and inspiration.
- •Building consistent leadership practices is challenging in highly seasonal or distributed workforces, making it difficult to foster a cohesive culture.
- •Organizations need to inspire and develop great leadership in tough, resource-constrained environments where traditional, expensive programs are not feasible.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
Dave Schumacher is the CHRO at photo-sharing company Shutterfly
In the Elevator With Dave Glass
Your experience at GE shaped your perspective on leadership development
In the Elevator With GE's Leaders
Mandy says back-to-basics leadership principles can boost company performance
Mandy: Back to Basics
Mandy, how does leading HR in a seasonal business influence your approach to leadership
How Shutterfly's HR Practices Influence the Company
Mandy had to balance strong people-first leadership principles with challenging business objectives
In the Elevator With Pepsi's Leaders
Mandy shares her advice on leadership on Built by People podcast
Built by People: The Long-Term Strategy
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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