The Power of Corporate Culture in Sustainable Transformation ft. Emily Nketiah (Transdev)

Have you ever met someone for the first time, and, within minutes, you knew they were bound for greatness? These are those rare individuals whose positive energy is contagious, they are have a genuine zest for life, and they typically also have a clear vision as to where they are going.

Well, the first time I met Emilie Nketiah, I had just that thought. And I am so excited to be able to share some of her charisma, energy, and wisdom with you today on this episode.

So who is Emily?

She’s an experienced banker who successfully leaped into an exciting career in Organizational Development. She has held both formal and informal leadership positions within the financial industry, academia, real-estate and more recently transportation. 

Currently Vice-President of Talent & Culture at Transdev Canada (a global leader in transportation), her responsibilities center around creating, implementing, and sustaining business and HR practices that ensure Transdev continuously has the right people, in the right roles, at the right time. 

Her extra-curricular activities include mentoring and coaching adult learners, facilitating workshops on intercultural communication, emotional intelligence, and sensitivity training – all while completing post graduate degrees!

With her high energy, ability to inspire others, and drive to get results that matter, Emilie is the perfect person to discuss the key topics businesses face as we embark on our own respective sustainability journeys: the critical role of company culture, change management, navigating acquisitions, and so much more.

Like I mentioned: it took me only a few moments to realize that Emilie is going to move mountains; I have no doubt that you will leave this episode inspired and feeling the exact same way!

Well, thank you so much for joining me today, Emily. I’m so happy to have you on The Resilience Report.

My pleasure. Thank you for having me.


 Well to get things started, I know you, but would you mind sharing a little bit more about who you are, and how you got to where you are in your professional journey now?

Who I am. Oh, my gosh, big question! 

I've started saying “I just am”, right? 

Because I’m a sister. I’m an aunt. I’m a professional. I’m a student. I’m a friend. So, after a while I just started saying, “I am”. Period.

In terms of professionally, I work at this company that I’m in love with called Transdev Canada, and the experiences that have led me to this moment is working in the banking industry for 8 years, working in academia, working in industrial real estate. Always in capacities that involve people.

And I love it; so that is me.

Your title is that of VP of Talent and Culture. To start things off, would you mind sharing what that means? 

So talent and culture, I think, in its purest form, when we think about culture, it's looking at attitudes, beliefs, behaviours that transpire within an organization and trying to create something that allows the business to push its business results.

So do you need innovation? Do you need ideas? Do you need precision? Right? So, depending on what the business needs to do, what they want to be doing, then you'd have a culture that would support that. So really, in its very basic form, at Transdev I get to do elements of that.

In terms of the talent piece, it's really simple. It's making sure you have the right people at the right place at the right time. Right? So it's, you know, looking at strong recruitment practices, strong retainment practices, engagement, development understanding people because you're trying to keep them. So, on paper is very simple. And then comes the structure of the processes, the systems to really support what we're trying to do.

If the past few years have shown us anything, it's that change is not going to slow down and probably the companies that can best adapt to change are the ones that are going to come out ahead. How does your role and what you do translate to supporting employees with change management?

For change management, there are a whole lot of models out there. There's, for example, the McKinsey 7S model that is one of my favorites where we're looking at structure, system, style, staff, all of this kind of thing. 

But really for me, in my everyday practical sense of things, it is supporting employees with the emotional intelligence. When I’m faced with a situation, and I've got a little bit more time for reflection, I can sit down and look at the theory, I can sit down and try and teach the theory. But, to me, it's not organic, right? What is organic? What translates between 2 people is saying, “I’m going to support you with emotional intelligence, so you can better support your teams with navigating the change”, or rather the stress that change induces. I’m going to help you understand what the person across from you is feeling, so that you can better get their buy-in to facilitate the change you want. So change is people, right? Change is mobilized by people. So, I think you need to understand what matters to them and how to get them alongside you.

You just mentioned finding out what matters to people, and we've seen reports coming out that the idea of sustainability is playing an increasing role in attracting and then certainly retaining talent. Is this something that you've seen translated into where you are now?

I have seen it translate to our existing workforce, as well as the people who are considering joining the organization. 

I’m fortunate to be part of an industry that has something very concrete to support the move towards sustainability with our zero emission buses, electrification and trying to support elements like the first and the last mile that people are trying to move out of those kinds of things. 

So people gravitate towards the industry, because when you look at public transportation, it just, in itself, it's sustainable. But what we are also seeing is that the type of projects that we're working on, it's bringing people in that maybe it wasn't about sustainability, but it was about innovation. It was about being part of something big, being part of change, being part of an international movement. 

So, I am seeing a new pool of candidates joining the organization and we can hopefully have them fall in love with sustainability as well. But we have a new audience. And if you have a new audience, you can share a new message or the same message and get them to join it.

I love that, and I’m definitely seeing that innovation and sustainability are not mutually exclusive, and that sometimes you'll get profiles that, like one or the other. But you're certainly seeing a crossover as well, which sounds like you have it your organization, which is fantastic. 

Maybe before I ask my next question, would you mind giving a little bit of a baseline as to what Transdev does, because maybe not everybody is familiar with the business model.

Sure. In all honesty, I wasn't familiar with what Transdev does when I first applied, so no worries there. 

Transdev, in a nutshell, is a company that helps people – well, ultimately we give people the freedom to move. So, moving in different ways. So, it's moving with buses, trains, where it's services like non-emergency medical transport, school busing, charter work. In some countries we have helicopters, or at least I have seen helicopters to support with emergency transport. Train, of course, light rail, looking at now automatic metros. 

So really, if it allows people to move, we're likely in it. 

We are in 17 countries, I believe (last time I checked: 17 / 16 / 18), depending on the time that we get the question.

So, it's really this international body that really believes in moving people. Like I said, it is giving people the freedom, the power to move and to do it in a way that is sustainable. Do it in a way that you treat people well as you do it. So yeah, that's Transdev. That’s where I get to work every day. It's awesome.

Well, that really helps because I’m curious as to whether you're working on a project (and this can be maybe if the company is working on a project, or if individually in your role) that you're particularly excited about right now?

Context: my passion, the thing that makes me wake up in the morning (I think this was when I got to 22-23) is supporting people to have better lives by affecting positively the systems or the structures that they operate in. 

That's my baby.

I was in clinical psychology for a while, and it was great. I got to help people, one by one, but I said, “No, I want to help 40,000 people at a time”. So, at Transdev, the project that I get to work on right now is supporting, 2,000 nearly 2,500, maybe 3,000 employees integrate into Transdev, because we acquired a new company.

To me, if we do this integration well, it means that 2,700 employees are not feeling stressed about what's going to happen tomorrow. Right? It means those 2,500 people, plus their families, can plan their future. 2023 is not a year of hold because we don't know what's going to happen.

That's one of the big projects that I get to work on right now, and it has to do with people, business growth, emotional intelligence, structure, strategies, so it has everything. How could I not love it?

That's so refreshing, too, because I think historically, we've thought of acquisitions as “it's my way or the highway”, once you do the acquisition, and that everyone kind of must conform to the rules of the larger or the buyer in that case. Are there approaches in particular that you're mindful of? It sounds like you're really thinking of the whole self of the associates that you're pulling in as well. 

I think, at least for us, in terms of our values/our culture, you cannot say (or rather, we cannot say) that we're pushing for innovation, and we can only do innovation through a diversity of thought and then purchase a company and say, “you must assimilate”.

It doesn't it doesn't work, right? So, you know what we're doing is investing time and really listening, understanding, asking. You need to, you know, take some time to understand what worked, what didn't work? Why didn’t it work? What matters to you? What doesn't matter to you? If we touch this thing, will the house come down? If we touch this thing, are people sensitive to it? 

So, it's not, we're going to start this system, we're going to integrate that, we're going to buy this thing. No, no, it's “We're going to take the time to listen to people”. We are, Lauren, like what 80% of our workforce is drivers, mechanics, cleaners, right? There's a small component, that is corporate office professionals.

To move our product, it could only be done through engaged people. So, take time to understand them. What makes them want to drive a bus? What makes them want to drive a train? What makes them invest additional attention and care when you are moving a child from the NICU to another hospital. How do you take care of someone who is a terminal patient that's being transported to the palliative care at another hospital. So, it's not just the cargo, right? It's people. You need to understand them. Just basics to me. It's just basic. It's the right way. It's just the right way to do it well.

As you're talking, I was going to ask you about how you've navigated taking care of people and your people over the past few years and especially as we went to hybrid mode. 

But you know what, when I was thinking about the question originally, I was thinking that most or a large portion of your employees are in offices.

But you probably also had a large percentage of your employees who didn't stop over the past few years, and they were part of those essential roles, and delivering and just helping move the population. 

So, I’m curious as to how you approached culture during that time, where you had some people who had to continue to go in, while others had the luxury, if you will, of working from home. And then how have you navigated that hybrid situation since then?

For that piece I would say that we allowed ourselves to evolve. We allowed ourselves to pivot. We leveraged humility and saying, we don't know all the answers, but what we do know we'll make decisions, and we'll pivot together if we need. So that was sort of the bedrock of how we approached it.

For us, with the people in the office, we did say, okay well, with the with the government legislation, you can't be in the office, and xyz said that was fine. 

But when we started with can we start going back to the office, it was important for us to support and represent the other 80% of our workforce. 

So we said, how do we feel about someone being at home, and our drivers are waking up at 4 AM, sometimes 3 AM, Lauren, to get their buses fueled, washed so it could be on the road so that person, that student that has an 8 o'clock exam that lives in St-Eustache that needs to be on the bus at 6:30, he's up and ready, so that that person can ace their test. Right? 

So we said, listen: because of who we are, we would much rather that there is this hybrid at the very minimum at the office, in a sense of solidarity. 

That being said, again, we talked to people, we need to have our relationship with people be very strong. So, we asked, how do you feel about coming to the office? How does your team feel about coming to the office? Because there is a point where this is what is good for me? Okay, great. But what about your unit, your team? Are people able to do their best work if you’re at home? 

It wasn't this top-down organizational decision; it was in the spirit that we're trying to embody at Transdev. What does your team need? What do you need? And then we sort of went from there.

Other things that we did: I’m West African, and we believe in food. I like food.

So, we were like, we're not going to / we didn't want to have to decree that everybody needs to come to the office. So, we incited:

We had breakfast Mondays. All you have to do is show up. Just get here. The rest, we will take care of. Just make it to the office. There'll be bagels, so just try right. Just get here.

On Wednesdays, we had different kinds of lunches, so that maybe your fridge is starting to empty out. So once a week we had lunches. 

There were times during the year that we had ice cream machines over the summer, so it's just things that would encourage people to come back and have conversations with each other.

And we felt that, because we trust we have good people, because we trust the project that we're doing, because we push for good working relationship, for like, if they come back, they'll remember, and so far they have, so we haven't had a need to do a kind of decree. 

And then lead by example. We're there, my colleagues, the other executives are there. 

Well, I can personally attest to the fact that if an invitation says that food will be served, I show up to the offices without fail. 

 Exactly. And good food. 

And, in staying on the more personal note, this is one of the main reasons why I absolutely wanted to have you on The Resilience Report, is that you are so passionate about everything that you do. And I’m curious if there was there a catalyst moment in your life where you knew that you wanted to be involved in sustainability, and probably the full sense of the word in terms of having the social component and that human connection.

I’m just wondering if there was a real moment that you can circle back to?

A real moment? 

I think it goes back to my volunteering days in university, where I was on the, let's say, oscillating between… No actually wasn't even oscillating… It was really understanding that I was arriving at the end of my love for clinical psychology. 

For those who are thinking about their careers and what to do, one of the things that I did was just to speak to a clinical psychologist and other psychologists and say “Can you talk to me about your work environment? Can you talk to me about not the job, but the things that surround it?”

And I learned that it was a lot of one-on-one. It was hard to travel because of your clients and stuff like that and I’m like the environment is not what I want. 

I want to be able to travel. I want to be able to take my theories and go to another country and try to get to see how good you are with those theories. Does it work? Does it not work in this culture? It was tougher to do that in/with that profession. 

So, I fell in love with organizational psychology, and then later organizational development. 

And then this idea of legacy, right? This idea of big. This idea of helping many people at a time, and that's when it switched. That's when I said I want to do something that is going to support many, many people at a time. I want to do something that when someone walks across my tombstone like years from now they'll be like, yeah, she was kind of awesome. 

And more than that, I want, I tell myself my tombstone will say Doctor Nketiah, because yes, I want a Phd! But I want them to see this weird last name, this name that looks foreign and to be like Dr? Awesome! Cool. These foreign people are really awesome! 

That it. That is the thing I want. I would like for myself years, years, years from now. 

And why? Because I want it to be easier for the next group of people. 

That is what motivates me, and how it connects to sustainability is that all of this doesn't matter if our planet blows up, right? So really, that's it. So, the beauty is that it is all connected. It's all connected. 

So, this idea that you need to pick if you're going to support left, or you're going to support right, or you're going to work on this: we need everybody working on different things to find the center. My center is that I want people to have better lives and the lives that they can lead - that would feel good. But it really doesn't matter if the planet doesn't make it.

And when we look at what climate change is doing to migration, and as a society, are we ready, or do we have that emotional intelligence to welcome someone who doesn't look like us? And what does welcome mean? And so on, and so forth. So climate change is pushing, I find, a need for us to be better at managing emotional intelligence. So it's connected. 

I was so excited to ask you this specific question, and you definitely delivered!

And on to the next question, I have to exceptionally read it, because you mentioned your doctorate, and I need to read it because you have so many other degrees that I need to read this:

So, in addition to your Bachelor of Arts, and 2 graduate diplomas in Business Administration and HR Management, you're now pursuing a Masters in Organizational Development. Can you speak to this idea of continuous education and what it means to you, and angle you would recommend to others to maybe pursue this. I’m just very curious, because it is multiple years of education and you're also working full-time. 

I think the first piece is to really understand why you're doing it right.

There is no degree that I've completed on, you know, my academic record that had the same reasons for doing it right.

My bachelors, it was something else. 

When I did my Business Admin degree, it was something else.

HR, something else. 

They're all connected because it's a story that I was trying to build for myself. But they had different motivations, and it also required different investments in time, and it also happened at different levels of my confidence as a person. 

And the advice that I have for someone who would want to do it is that there isn't just one way. So take that out of your head.

The second thing: forgive yourself quickly. So, this this thing I need to be, listen, in 3 years you might forgive yourself. So why wait 3 years? Let's do it in 3 hours and move along. Let's keep it moving along. And forgive yourself comes in when, well, you know, I didn't get that A, I didn't get that B+ that I wanted, or (if you're working) well, I didn't get to do so much more on this project. Well, hold on. Why are you doing it? What do you want out of this? 

If B is what you want out of it, then don't get upset if you didn't get to C, you know what I mean. It’s those kinds of things. So, I think, mindset is very, very important. 

Concretely. When I started my Masters in Organizational Development, I was doing it because I wanted the job I have now. This job that I’m doing is the culmination of everything that I wanted, where I wanted to get to. Anyways, that's a different topic, but it's everything coming together. 

But I started this degree in 2019, and I got this job in 2020. So, then my motivations for finishing this degree changed in that I’m in part doing it because it's the gateway to my PhD that I want right. I plan to do my PhD when I’m 60 or something, we'll see what you know happens. Because the goal for my PhD is I just want Dr. on my tombstone. That's it. So doing it any time. 

Because I didn't need the Master's degree anymore to get this job (because I got this job) so it became “I’m doing it to support me and doing my job well”. The kind of classes I’m picking, the relationships I have with my professor, the thesis that I pick to write about: it all changes. 

And then also, do I need an A, do I need a B? You know what I mean.

I like to win right, so I’ve taken like 6 classes or something, and they're all A+ or A (in terms of final grade). 

And then this semester, with the acquisition happening at work, I'll say, can I maintain A+ or A averages? And I said, maybe not. Maybe so.  I can, but if I do, there's something I’m not going to do. I’m like, is that other thing that I’m not going to do, do I want to give it up? I said, no. So, I’m like, then it means we both agree we're going to be okay with B plus or B.

It's intentional. If not, you feel bad, because there's something you're not doing. Then you feel like a bit of a crappy human, and you're not achieving it. It's like “No, you're pretty awesome”. So love yourself and keep going. Just do it.

Another piece of advice: don't think about it too, too much. It gets nerve-wracking.

So a bunch of a bunch of tidbits. But really, if it's been a few months and you're thinking about doing it, in the time you were thinking about doing it you could have started, and then it's 6 months gone, 3 months gone. Start, all right. Just go!

And are you open to sharing what your thesis is on? Have you selected the topic yet?

I have. I have selected the topic. I need a supervisor to support me with that. So my thesis topic is looking at the mesquite (and I say I say thesis topic very loosely, because I’m waiting for certain approvals). But I’m looking at emotional intelligence as an ability, and how it influences change management, culture, strategy. So often we see that, in an organization, you have change management like strategy, structure, systems, shared values, staff, skill, style, and it's all very rational. 

And what happens if you take emotional intelligence and the 4 abilities of emotional intelligence? 

So, you have the ability to perceive emotion, use emotion, understand emotion, and manage it. If you have these 4 pillars, and you've mastered it, or you're good at certain pieces of these 4 pillars, how does it affect effectiveness with change management. And so on, and so forth. So that's sort of like the overarching umbrella. I need to like work on it, develop it, and stuff, and think about my KPIs and objectives. There are all these ideas, but this is the baseline is looking at emo and then change management in the business setting.

Well, I’m excited to hear more as that rolls out. You did mention earlier about a transition in your career from banking to what you are doing now in terms of kind of overseeing the human capital of an organization, and truly understanding those individuals.

What advice would you give to somebody either who is studying and then choosing to change what they're studying or mid-career and looking to do the pivot. What advice would you have for them as they navigate that situation?

In 2015 (2014/2015) is when I had to do that pivot for myself and the first opportunity in that new world was working at McGill in the Career Transition Services Department.

And there was a tool that Maia Korotkina put together which I think was excellent called the Career Roadmap / 7 Step Career Roadmap. And if someone Googles it, or maybe we can put the resource online later, it is really looking at how you would navigate, how would you progress through this transition. 

The advice / the first advice I have for people is stop working on your resume as the first thing. Stop going on Indeed and looking for that job. Just to stop, because what you need and what we used to say was clarity, confidence, know how (or rather clarity, know how, confidence).

There is understanding yourself, which is the first piece. Why? Because when you do an interview, and you do 7 interviews in a row, and someone tells you “you're not good enough, you're not good enough, you're not good enough,” you really need to remember who you are and why you're doing it instead of doing it. So, instead of doing that when the world has destroyed you, how about we start with that? 

Understanding the labor market would be step 2. Understanding your job, your industry. If you're going into sustainability, it's a great time to go into transportation right? If you're going into gaming, not sure right? Or do they have government funding still, or are they removing? So to understand, because at some point you think it's because you're not good enough. But the real reason is, there is no more funding in this industry right? So your chances of lining something. Your network, your gaps understanding, like all those kind of things, your research. 

So, if you want to transition, you start with the research.

Your last step is step is like posting and looking for jobs, and so on, and so forth.

And if you've done the 6 other steps when you interview, you're unstoppable, right? Because you know. You know that you know that you know. You really get it. So you're not trying to pretend, you're not trying to show off. You're just talking about something, you know. and I think people feel that. And I think with that you get that job right? Transition, research, homework.

Well, the listeners at this point have seen that Emily operates at an 11 on 10 almost all of the time. I think every time I've ever engaged with you you've been so full of energy.

We were all human at the end of the day. I am curious. Are there any tips or resources or practices that you have found over the years, that if you are in a moment that feels particularly challenging, or even if it's in the larger macroeconomic environment as to what's going on in the world: is there something that helps to re-energize you and re-engage you so that you can continue in your purpose?

I think the first piece for anybody, I think the advice that I can share that is really for everybody is: it's intentional. Sometimes we sort of wait to feel better. I’m like “No, you're gonna have to jumpstart this. You're gonna have to give it a boost”. 

Now this intention is different, and it's allowed to be different for people. For me, some of the things that I like to do is work is a huge part of my life. Huge, and I love it, and it's been that way for a while.

I don't do it for the money. I like pretty things right, so don't just screw me over for those kind of things, but I don't do it for the money. And because I don't do it for the money, it gives me freedom. And freedom gives me energy, because it's like, at any time if I don't want to do this, I’m not doing it anymore.

And that kind of freedom matters to me. So, when I think about lifestyle and stuff like that, I like more conservative because I always want the freedom to walk away, but that is sort of like this big macro way of approaching life. 

Smaller things that you can do is pick your friends. Oh, my gosh, Lauren, I have awesome friends, and it's a gift. It is a gift to have friends that cheer you on. And listen to your friends; hear what they are saying. Do they encourage you, or do they not? I’m not saying if they don't, get rid of all your friends. But think about how much time you spend with them. Really pick your friends. I have cheerleaders who remind me of who I am when I’m starting to forget. That has been powerful for me. Pick friends who think you're awesome; hence cheerleader, friends. 

I have a happiness jar. That's something that you could do which is great. 

On December the 31st first of every year, I go into my jar and read all the things that happened that year that I’m grateful for. So that's my thing because it's really easy to focus on what we've lost - it's just human condition, right? But what we've gained we tend to forget. The problems that we had, or the challenges that I had December the 31st, 2020 leaps like it's tiny compared to 2022, and to be thankful for that. So, my happiness Jar, I love it. I started creating some for my friends.

My vision board is something that reminds me of my progress.

What helps is meditating in the morning 6 minutes for me. I say 6 minutes, because people can do it for 20, and so I’m like good for you, not for me. 

So I take my stopwatch and I like to see the circle, you know, close right because it's like my achievement this morning and I just reflect and stuff like that. I let things go, and I feel like it allows me to start my day the way I want as opposed to I am / I fall victim to whatever was going on in my head. It's sort of I’m going to set my mind and keep it set for the day right. I’m going to decide that it's going to be an awesome day. I’m going to acknowledge if my body is tired and we're going to do things at a different rhythm. But it's just my moment. So that's my 6 min.

I also really enjoy this podcast called “Enjoying Everyday Life”. It's not for everybody, because it's spiritual. So if it's not your thing, run with it, it's fine. But what I like is that in my circle, you know I've got Christian friends, Buddhist friends, atheists, agnostic, Jewish, and with these kinds of podcasts that we all share, you take the pieces that work for you, and you drop what doesn't. And then you realize, oh my gosh, we have more things in common than we don't! 

So, it's all these things. In some years I am doing one more than the other, and so on, and so forth. But it is those kinds of things, and like I said earlier, Lauren: you forgive yourself. Keep going. I assure you, you're gonna mess up on other things. So just get over this one on to the next one. And yeah, with that, you know life is fun. You know do things you want to do, and that's me.

I just love talking (…) Every time I talk to you, I walk away with energy. You are a giver of energy, and so I am so grateful that you are sharing this on this podcast. 

I do like to end every episode by asking the guest: What do you think it's going to take for businesses and leaders to be truly resilient, going forward?

I feel like there's so many things. If I had to pick one, when I think about the leaders that I've had a chance to work with (that is attainable to most people, because sometimes we get into these solutions that are like it's never going to work for me) I would say having a kind of well-roundedness is very important. Because when, if everything you have is in one place, if everything you have is in one area just like banking, like, you know, mitigating diversification of your portfolio, it's diversification of your life. It's really the same thing, right? So, you have maybe great work experience, and richness. But what else do you do? Do you like puzzles? Do you have a network of friends in an area that is totally disconnected to work so that you don't have this feeling that you need to be anything?

Is there a hobby that you really like? What are the other areas in your life that you're growing, so that when something is not going well at work, you can be re-energized with something else. There was a moment when we were really, truly specialist jobs. This is what you're working on. And what I’m seeing is that people want diversification on projects, because sometimes one project is not going great, and you just don't want to touch it. So, you want to go through this other thing. We have figured it out for work, but we've sort of said this doesn't apply to my life. So, when I think about business leaders and resilience, obviously it's really important to look at other things that offer richness to your life, so that when one area is not great, you're still okay. 

I think that is excellent advice; this whole episode has been full of excellent advice. So, thank you so much for being part of this episode. It means the world to me. 

Oh, my gosh, Lauren, thank you for calling, and thank you for asking. Plus, it’s Lauren; you are like a unicorn. Lauren, you are a unicorn. So, when Lauren calls, you answer. It's like I have a chance to rub shoulders with magic. I’m here. I’m here.