Shelley Wells
VP (Visionary of People)
PeopleInk
Episode 218
Culture is Not HR's Job: How Leaders Build High-Performing, Values-Driven Teams
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleApril 24, 2025 · 18:57
Thesis
“Building a high-performing, people-centric organization requires a consciously designed, values-driven culture that is integrated into every aspect of the business, from hiring to accountability and customer branding, and sustained through continuous discipline with unwavering leadership buy-in.”
Show notes
Creating Values-Based, People-Centric Organizations with Shelley Wells
In this episode of the Built by People Podcast, host Dave welcomes Shelly, an HR leader with extensive experience in building values-based, people-centric organizations.
Shelly shares her career journey from an HR admin in the hotel industry to co-founding People Inc., a company dedicated to helping organizations create high-performing cultures.
She discusses the importance of defining values, hiring the right people, and maintaining continuous discipline.
Shelly provides real-world examples of implementing her 360 approach at companies like JetBlue, resulting in impressive outcomes such as low turnover rates and high customer satisfaction.
The conversation also covers overcoming challenges, involving employees in the values creation process, and practical advice for HR professionals. Shelly emphasizes the critical role of CEO buy-in, focusing on retention, and leveraging technology in HR.
00:00 Introduction to the Built by People Podcast
00:39 Meet Shelly: A Journey in HR
02:45 Creating Values-Based, People-Centric Cultures
04:04 Implementing the 360 Systematic Approach
06:10 Case Study: Building JetBlue's Culture
11:23 Challenges and Overcoming Them
13:20 The Impact of Defining Specific Behaviors
15:27 Frontline Employees in Values Creation
16:56 Parting Advice for HR Leaders
18:51 Conclusion and Farewell
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What you'll take away
- 1Consciously design organizational values with clearly defined behaviors to serve as the foundation for all business decisions and actions.
- 2Ensure CEO and senior leadership are fully bought-in and lead culture initiatives as business imperatives, not just HR programs.
- 3Integrate values into every stage of the employee lifecycle, including peer-based behavioral interviewing and performance management where 'how' work is done is as important as 'what' is accomplished.
- 4Maintain continuous vigilance and discipline in nurturing culture daily, recognizing that it is never a 'one and done' initiative.
- 5Shift HR's focus to retaining top talent, building personal relationships across all levels, and learning the core business to become a stronger strategic partner.
What most organizations get wrong
- •HR should move beyond rigid 'policy books' to 'guidelines' to allow for 'gray' areas, treating people fairly rather than strictly equally.
- •Rebrand 'HR' to 'team services' or similar to shed the negative stigma of being where employees go only for termination.
- •Prioritize re-recruiting and retaining A-players daily over solely focusing on talent acquisition, using AI to free up capacity for retention efforts.
In Shelley's words
“people need to be treated fairly, not necessarily equally. We need to insert gray into HR”
This quote challenges conventional, rigid HR policies, advocating for flexibility and fairness over strict equality.
“without the CEO and senior leaders, it's not going to work. It can't be an HR program. It has to be a business initiative led by the CEO and then partnered with people.”
This emphasizes the critical role of top-level leadership buy-in for the success and sustainability of culture initiatives.
“when you think you're hot, you're not.”
This short phrase captures the essence of continuous improvement and vigilance in maintaining a strong organizational culture.
“you are on the outside what you are on the inside first.”
This highlights the intrinsic link between internal company culture and its external brand perception.
“focus on retaining your A-players versus just the recruiting side of things. Re-recruiting them every day”
This offers a contrarian perspective, urging a shift from pure acquisition to continuous engagement and retention of top talent.
“50% of compensation was based on the what you accomplished and 50% of that compensation was based on the how, through the values and the behaviors.”
This provides a concrete example of integrating values directly into performance evaluation and compensation structures.
The problems this episode addresses
- •High employee turnover (e.g., department with 66% turnover).
- •Skepticism and cynicism from employees regarding new culture or HR initiatives ('flavor of the month').
- •Difficulty maintaining consistent values and culture during rapid organizational growth and across dispersed locations.
- •The negative stigma and perception associated with traditional HR departments ('human remains').
- •Challenges in finding talent with specific cultural fits (e.g., 'friendly people' in a difficult job market).
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
Dave Miller started in the hotel industry in 1982 as an HR admin
Career Journey: Dave
You became passionate about creating values-based, people-centric cultures
The Passion of PeopleLink
Can you share a specific case where you implemented your 360 systematic approach in an organization
WSJD 360: The Process of Hiring A-Players
The biggest challenge was maintaining the values as we opened new stations
Challenges to Implement the Values of the Company
Shelley: defining specific behaviors around a company's values can impact performance
Developing a Company's Values
Integrating frontline employees in the values creation process can lead to meaningful change
Have We Already Changed the Way We See Our Employees?
Shelley, what parting advice would you like to share with our community
Building a Built By People
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
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