Pellet uses her 20 years of expertise in company culture to help businesses and individuals navigate the pandemic.
You can cook up the perfect startup, sprinkling in funding, employees and a great product, but the key ingredient to any business is culture. Lizz Pellet, innovation advisor at UCI Beall Applied Innovation and chief culture officer at The Inside Solution, emphasizes the importance of company culture in generating productivity and empathy in business, especially with stay-at-home orders. Company culture encompasses the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a business operates.
“We’re seeing that cultures have to shift right now,” said Pellet. “You’re going to have to pivot that change and it’s going to have a trickle-down effect on how people work and collaborate.”
Despite the pandemic’s effect on company practices and cultures, Pellet’s goal remains the same: build a company culture that works for employees and leaders alike. Pellet emphasizes three tenets of building culture: mission, vision and values, which should guide company decisions. She recommends that companies adapt these tenets to the pandemic as well.
At The Inside Solution, Pellet’s company, she meets with individuals and companies to help assess their cultures, value alignment and employee engagement. Currently, she focuses on businesses that rely on in-person interactions, which must completely pivot during the pandemic.
In her work, Pellet determines the health of company culture through detailed evaluations that become action plans to mend any issues. She also helps individuals leverage their LinkedIn profiles, advising them to populate their profile to follow the website’s algorithm.
In her role as an innovation advisor, Pellet is part of a network of industry experts that offer their knowledge to Wayfinder startups. Since Pellet cannot meet in person with startups during stay-at-home orders, she conducts virtual webinars and workshops for the Cove @ UCI. In one titled, “The Ultimate Guide to Working Virtually,” Pellet discussed best practices for remote work.
“If I can share a piece of knowledge with a startup innovation team, which, by the way, is going to teach me something, too, I’m giving back,” said Pellet.
Pellet is also a member of Executive Next Practices Institute’s advisory board. There, she hosts webinars for C-Suite executives about pivoting their cultures in the pandemic.
Additionally, along with her current company, Pellet’s expertise in culture building shows in her three published books and a consulting company she sold in 2011.
“When you get 20 years under your belt, especially in the area that you could say is human resources but is really about talent development, you want to share that knowledge because there’s really no point not to,” said Pellet.
Pellet is available at lizzpellet@gmail.com and through her website.
Learn more about Applied Innovation’s Innovation Advisor program.
*Photo and Illustrations: Julie Kennedy, UCI Beall Applied Innovation