Inside Wolff Olins: Julia Race and Saakshi Joshi on Culture

We sat down with Senior Director Julia Race and Associate Director Saakshi Joshi to understand a little bit more about the Culture practice here at Wolff Olins, where it sits within wider brand transformation and the impact it can have for clients. 

Hey Julia! Can you tell us a little bit about your role and team at Wolff Olins, and the kind of work you deliver for global clients?

JR: Sure, I head up the global Culture practice. I’ve been with the team for just under a year now; it was an exciting opportunity to build on the great culture work Wolff Olins had been delivering for clients by expanding how we offer end-to-end culture transformation.

Our practice sits within the Strategy community, which is a great articulation of the way Wolff Olins thinks about culture transformation as being part of wider brand strategy: brand is our way into creating cultures that are enduring, emotionally connective, inspiring. Ultimately we inspire behaviour change in employees through the power of brand. 

How does this practice flex across global regions? 

JR: Employee attitudes and behaviours are increasingly nuanced from country to country. Therefore, our approach is always bespoke when making a plan for how to activate culture strategies and brands. The type of client, the industry, the size of the company, as well as where within the organization our clients sit, are all factors that influence how we partner. It’s crucial that we stay agile and continuously explore the new and evolving needs of a global workforce.

Saakshi, from your perspective, what is ‘Culture’ and why is it important to business leaders? 

SJ: Culture is the combination of an organization’s values, shared beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes – both explicit and implicit – but even that doesn’t capture the importance of culture’s impact on an organization. A definition that is quickly becoming my favorite is, ‘Culture is how people’s hearts and stomachs feel on Sunday evening about going to work on Monday morning’.

Employees are smart. They can sniff out when brands are inauthentic and when what they say externally to customers does not match their internal employee experience. Business leaders need to care and prioritise Culture because it can make or break how people show up to deliver the best experience to customers and deliver on the company’s mission. Culture matters to every employee, current and future, and is at the core of your ability to deliver your brand promise. 

So much of internal Culture feels nebulous or intangible - but we believe it can in fact be tangible. We want to create inspiring and motivating workplaces where people actually want to show up to work and believe in what the business does, as this will trickle out into every interaction and even how employees interact with customers.

Julia, can you talk us through one of your favourite projects you’ve worked on, and why? 

JR: It’s hard to choose a favorite, as all cultures are different; but it’s always fun to work with clients and businesses that understand the benefit and are willing to change. 

10 years ago, I worked with a technology company that was founder-led. After the founder died, the organization went through a period of trying to find itself again in his absence. Amidst a leadership transition, leaders decided to recommit to the importance of Culture as a core differentiator for their brand. It was always intrinsic, but had never been codified. We went through a process together of formalizing the values that were true to the company via a group of brand ambassadors that included everyone from C-suite leaders, to admin and custodial staff to brand new employees. 

There was definitely a mindset shift from learned humility to more integrated confidence that happened along the way. I saw a business rally around its enduring Culture in a way that enabled external transformation next to louder, flashier competitors. It was inspiring to be part of and I look on with pride to see the task-force still at large today.

Saakshi, what do we mean by the term ‘employee value proposition’? And what makes for an impactful one?

SJ: An ‘EVP’ is the vision for the Culture that the brand wants to set for its people. It’s an inspiring tool that serves as a rallying cry for the whole employee base, that defines who they are, what they stand for, why they joined and stay at the company.

Usually EVPs are done as a bit of a checkbox activity - it captures the benefits, the perks, and the standard agreement between a company and its people - but when it is done really well, and how I think Wolff Olins does it differently, is when it becomes the jumping off point to design better ways of working, guides decision-making, and is a compass for how employees experience the brand in the day-to-day.  

A strong EVP can turn your culture from a feeling to a single phrase that orients your organization to your Culture in a more tangible way.

Julia, what advice would you give a newly appointed CEO when assessing their own company culture? 

JR: It’s both an immense privilege and a challenge to be a new CEO right now. We are keenly aware of the pressures that senior leaders are facing from their board, shareholders, and now the public, as their performance has never been on a larger stage.  

I see today’s CEOs juggle the competing priorities of these audiences and sometimes forget to champion the wisdom of their own employees. Employees are the people that know and represent all facets of the organization the best; the passionate loyalists, the skeptics, and the folks that often fall somewhere in between. My frequent advice to new CEOs is to establish an employee steering committee to engage throughout their transition into the business and beyond. There is no more valuable resource than a representative group from the people that you’re about to lead, to act as a sounding board for new ideas and honest feedback. 

Saakshi, what do you personally look for in a workplace when considering a role, and what made you land on Wolff Olins? 

SK: People and creativity were the main drivers for my decision to join Wolff Olins. Throughout the interview process, I quickly realized that the people were kind, talented and have successfully delivered the most creative brands I have seen. 

Another main reason I was drawn to Wolff Olins is because it’s an agency with an incredible reputation and portfolio of work, and yet they still are expanding their services, and still believe there is a bigger positive impact to make in the world. The passion, creativity and ambition here inspires me and I am thrilled to be part of it.