When Populus Group hit about 100 employees and was growing fast, founder and CEO Bobby Herrera did something his team revolted against: he intentionally slowed the company down.

They came at him "with pitchforks," asking why he was hitting the brakes mid-growth. His answer was that they had been building on a shallow foundation, and to build something that lasts, they first had to dig deep into culture, purpose, and values.

Herrera, a U.S. Army veteran, former Disney cast member, and author of The Gift of Struggle, runs his business on one belief: trust is the single most important asset a company owns, and the more of it you have, the faster things move and the less they cost.

This episode is his playbook for how a CEO and an HR leader build a healthy culture together, and the consistency that makes it stick.

What you'll learn:

• Why great cultures select, welcome, and develop instead of hire, onboard, and train

• The first-week "welcome" that gives new hires "one day to be new" before any job work

• How to reframe the ROI conversation with a CFO around keeping people inspired, interested, and involved

• Why Herrera calls the HR leader the "unsung hero" of every business, and what CEOs owe them in return

🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. [GAP — episode links]
📕 Bobby's book, The Gift of Struggle: https://a.co/d/0hcdz9bd

Culture Creators is produced by Nectar in partnership with SHRM.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

04:38 The "era of slow": why he slowed a growing company on purpose

07:00 Consistency, trust, and the chaos at 100 employees

10:15 "We select, we don't hire": select, welcome, develop

12:55 "One day to be new": the first-week welcome

23:00 Why the HR leader is the unsung hero

32:00 The first-week ROI argument (50% lower attrition, 3x NPS)

44:30 Selling the ROI of culture to a CFO

49:15 Culture Crush, and offering people back to the marketplace