The Work Place Podcast

The Work Place is a podcast where we talk to experts about the cultures we work in, and how to make them better.

Learn how Dow Chemical discovers, supports, and develops high potential employees with guest John Kolmer.

Host: Andrew Scarcella
Guest: John Kolmer

Topics covered:

• 3:55 - Company culture
• 4:28 - Aligning your own values with company values

“It’s so important to be aligned to a company where your values and your culture are in line with the company culture.”
— John Kolmer

• 6:00 - Differences in workplace culture globally
• 6:55 - Leadership Development / Emerging Leaders

“Every voice matters, every experience matters, and it’s only through that cacophony of different experiences and different voices that we become the best that we can be.”
— John Kolmer

• 10:19 - Purpose and job satisfaction
• 11:55 - How to create a leadership development program at your organization

“In the world of making the world better, it’s not a competition.”
— John Kolmer

• 13:00 - Innovation through rapid failure
• 14:44 - The business benefits of giving back

John Kolmer: Head of Global Leadership Development at The Dow Chemical Company
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-kolmer-2305b516a
Twitter: @johnkolmer

Tangible Takeaways:

• Embrace “oh crap” moments. Moments of crisis can bring about real change and growth, so lean into the chaos and use it as an excuse to shake things up and question the way things are done.
• True job satisfaction comes when your company’s values and goals align with your own. But don’t just take John Kolmer’s word for it. The recently released 2018 Global Culture Study (done by our lovely sponsor, O.C. Tanner) found that only 53% of respondents work at companies where they find the purpose to be personally inspiring. But simply by communicating your company purpose in newsletters, emails, posters, in-person, what have you, employees are 32% more likely to think their organization positively affects the lives of others, and 30% more likely to believe their organization inspires them to work towards a common goal. So speak up!
• Dow Chemical sounds like an awesome company to work for, doesn’t it? Think they’re looking for a better than average podcaster? I kid, I’m very happy with my job. (Call me.)

The Work Place is sponsored by O.C. Tanner, the global leader in engaging workplace cultures. O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud️ provides a single, modular suite where all employee experience apps are in sync, giving teams the integrated tools they need when, where, and how they need them. If you want your organization to become a place where people can’t wait to come to work in the morning, go to octanner.com.