The Culture Works Podcast

Putting the Right People in the Right Seats w. Chris Mari

Most insurance companies are racing to automate. Chris Mari, CHRO of ECBM, is doing something different, doubling down on human connection while the rest of the industry consolidates under private equity. In this conversation, Chris shares how he restructured a 150-person family-owned brokerage to get the right people in the right seats, why integrity is the one cultural value he'll never negotiate on, how AI is creating opportunity (and noise) in talent acquisition, and what leading with empathy really looks like when you're managing change. A grounded and practical conversation for any leader navigating growth without losing their culture. Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 01:14 Industry Change and Culture 01:56 Restructuring for Growth 03:48 Keeping Morale Through Change 05:29 Raising Leadership Expectations 08:29 Purpose and Company Overview 11:29 Culture as Differentiator 14:21 Integrity as Nonnegotiable 14:50 AI in Operations and HR 17:35 Hiring in the AI Era 18:39 Culture Challenge Burnout 20:47 Rapid Fire Leadership Lessons 22:31 Closing and Host Recap Follow Chester, Adrian and Chris: Connect with Chester & Adrian:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thecultureworksofficial/ Website: https://thecultureworks.com/ Connect with Chris:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismari/ Website: https://www.ecbm.com/

The Smartest HR Hire You've Haven’t Considered w. Libbie Lamott

The real cost of getting HR wrong isn't the consultant. It's the drift. Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick host Libbie Lamott, market president at HR Edge Consulting and part of the Peak Road fractional CHRO practice. Lamott explains how fractional HR works: senior-level HR support on a flexible, pay-for-hours basis, with engagements averaging about 25 hours per month. The model helps companies assess retention, operating systems, and leadership blockers, then build frameworks and even transition to internal staffing. Lamott describes supporting founders who don't want to "play therapist," and makes the case for measurable HR impact through tools like applicant tracking systems, engagement surveys, and metrics such as time-to-fill and hiring cost reductions. She shares how she scaled a company from $8M to $32M using EOS and hiring assessments like the JPTI to match sustained energy and culture fit. The conversation closes on scaling culture by embedding values in hiring, rewards, and performance reviews, and on compliance as a frequent blind spot. Lamott warns the real cost is organizational "drift." Timestamps: 00:00 HR Isn't Here to Tell You No  00:10 Meet the Hosts  00:29 Introducing Libbie Lamott  01:48 What Fractional HR Means  03:12 When Fractional Works Best  04:25 Engagement Hours and Staffing  05:41 Founders Stop Playing Therapist  06:43 Scaling With EOS and Hiring  07:35 Assessments for Culture Fit  10:11 Measuring HR Impact  12:04 Cut Hiring Costs With Tools  14:19 Coaching Lab: Scaling Culture  16:18 Common Pitfall: Compliance  17:34 Lightning Round Takeaways  19:44 Where to Connect  20:22 Hosts Debrief Key Takeaways  24:20 Final Wrap and Thanks Follow Chester & Adrian and Libbie: Connect with Chester & Adrian:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thecultureworksofficial/ Website: https://thecultureworks.com/ Connect with Libbie:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-lamott/

Owning The Room w. Jim Scarfone

Most HR leaders say they want a seat at the table. Jim Scarfone says if you have to ask for it, you haven't earned it yet. As Chief Human Resources Officer and Human Capital Operating Partner at Mid-Ocean Partners, Jim has spent four decades building people infrastructure at companies you know — Toys R Us, Kind Healthy Snacks, Duane Reade, and Ulta Beauty — and now applies that experience to help mid-market private equity portfolio companies build the talent foundations that actually create value. In this conversation, Jim breaks down what PE firms consistently get wrong about human capital, how he scaled Kind's "hungry and kind" culture without losing it, why first-line managers are the single most important variable in any organization, and what it really takes for HR professionals to stop being support players and start running the business. If you're an HR leader who wants to lead differently, this episode is a masterclass. Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction01:28 - What is a Human Capital Operating Partner?05:23 - The first 90 days: why diligence starts before acquisition08:07 - What PE gets right vs. wrong about people09:36 - "How do you get to know the unknowable sooner?"11:04 - Scaling KIND's "hungry and kind" culture without losing it14:50 - The fundamentals of high-growth HR: finding your voice16:13 - Embedding values across every HR process18:25 - Why training first-line managers is the highest-leverage program20:23 - Lessons from negotiating union contracts at Duane Reade24:09 - Culture Challenge: expanding internationally for the first time26:37 - Lightning round: what's changed in HR over 40 years28:08 - "The future of work is unpredictable"29:21 - Where to find Jim and MidOcean Partners Follow Chester & Adrian and Jim: Connect with Chester & Adrian:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thecultureworksofficial/ Website: https://thecultureworks.com/ Connect with Jim Scarfone:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-scarfone/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-scarfone/] Website: https://midoceanpartners.com/ [https://midoceanpartners.com/]

Unlocking HR Potential w. Roseanne Donohue

An 866% increase in diverse candidates just by letting AI rewrite a job description. That's not a projection. That's something Roseanne Donahue actually did. As a former Chief People Officer in cybersecurity and a veteran of Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and JP Morgan, Roseanne has operated at the intersection of highly regulated, high-stakes environments and fast-moving tech culture. In this conversation, she walks Chester and Adrian through exactly how she's using AI right now in recruiting, L&D, performance management, and engagement surveys and why the companies winning with AI aren't the ones moving fastest, but the ones moving smartest. Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 01:01 From Finance to Cybersecurity 01:54 Attracting Cybersecurity Talent 02:54 Career Pathing and Retention 04:30 AI in Recruiting Wins 05:26 AI Augments HR Work 06:13 Leading Adoption Without Fear 07:34 AI for Learning and Development 09:06 Tools and Performance Reviews 10:48 PE Networks and Agentic AI 12:11 Culture and Engagement Analytics 14:13 Culture Challenge Core Building Blocks 17:19 Privacy Guardrails and Ethics 18:20 Lightning Round and Wrap Up Follow Chester, Adrian and Roseanne: Connect with Chester & Adrian:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thecultureworksofficial/ Website: https://thecultureworks.com/ Connect with Roseanne:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiefpeopleofficerchro/

Collect, Gather, Go w. Cory Rose

Most HR leaders inherit a system. Cory Rose inherited a vacuum. Stepping into Eyecare Services Partners as CHRO with no predecessor for 18 months, a brand new C-suite, 1,500 employees across multiple states, and a core HR team of four, she had every reason to play it safe. Instead, she got on a plane. In this conversation, Cory breaks down her "collect, gather, go" philosophy, why she flew to a remote practice in Redding, California before building a single initiative, how she ran a five-question SurveyMonkey engagement survey that outperformed anything a big consulting firm had done, and why translating people metrics into EBITDA language is the only way HR gets a seat at the PE table. If you lead a lean HR team inside a fast-moving organization, this one's for you. Timestamps: 00:00 Collect Gather Go Mindset 00:25 Meet Cory And The Challenge 01:34 Interviewing Into Change 04:06 Diagnosing The Field Reality 06:29 Fixing Systems With A PEO 09:17 Building One Culture Many Practices 11:58 Redding Visit And Trust Building 14:56 Survey Action And Follow Through 16:26 Authentic Leadership Follow Through 17:17 Accountability Through Surveys 17:53 Trust Updates Even When None 19:21 Balancing PE And Culture 21:33 Translate People Metrics To EBITDA 23:19 Leading Transformation As A Team 26:23 Managing Urgency With Team Charter 28:29 Lightning Round CHRO And IPO 31:05 Healthcare Workforce Future 32:16 Wrap Up And Where To Connect Follow Chester & Adrian: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thecultureworksofficial/ Website: https://thecultureworks.com/ Connect with Cory:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coryrose/ Website: https://www.espmgmt.com/leadership/cory-rose/