How Leadership Development Can Reverse Turnover Quickly with the CPO of Bristlecone

The Culture Code

Gallup research indicates that 70% of engagement can be traced back to an employee’s relationship with their manager. This just goes to show that at the heart of any thriving culture is thriving leadership.

Bristlecone is no exception. When the company attrition rate grew to 27% nearly two years ago, Chief People Officer (CPO) Lisa Lesko knew she needed to take action. After designing and delivering the “High Engage” Leadership Development Program, results began to stream in:

• Attrition dropped 15%.
• The employee net promoter score doubled.
• Bristlecone’s Glassdoor rating increased from 3.7 to 4.1.

In this interview, Lisa covers:

1. how she reduced attrition by 15% through leadership development.

The biggest issue showing up on the employee engagement survey was that employees wanted to talk more and connect with their managers.

So, Lisa designed the "High Engage" program, equipped managers with tools like engagement report cards, and designed a system of career pathing.

2. 5 initiatives that help sustain company culture.
- learning month, where the org sets aside time for people to learn. The average employee spent 42 hours learning.
- people week, to promote collaboration and networking.
- my day friday, where employees devote the second half of Fridays to aspirational projects, self-help, and planning.
- work from home
- Triumph, an awards event devoted to recognition.

3. 6 ways she collects employee feedback
- town halls with exec leadership
- quarterly "let's talk" meetings instead of "Quarterly Business Reviews"
- exec leader "up close" meetings where exec leaders meet with random groups of employees.
- peer groups. a council of seven people who anonymously share concerns of employees.
- code champions who champion company values and advocate for the needs of employees
- an online feedback tool that allows for anonymity

This one is packed with steal-able ideas. Give it a close listen.