Strong cultures don’t happen by accident.
“Lasting culture change happens when leadership teams develop a shared understanding of the culture that they want to create and take collective ownership for building it.” -Dr. Misty Janks, Chapman Foundation CEO & Organizational Psychologist
The Stories Behind the Data | Capital Credit Union’s Caring Workplace Journey
In Episode 015 of Beyond The Class, we explored survey data and measurable outcomes from Capital Credit Union’s partnership in the Chapman Foundation’s Caring Workplace Program. In this episode, we go beyond the numbers to hear directly from the leaders bringing that work to life every day.
Joined by Erin Wojkiewicz, Assistant Vice President of Talent Development & Financial Education, and Tammy Williams, Chief Experience Officer, we explore how the Caring Workplace strategies helped uplift existing programs, create a shared language for more than 500 team members, and support Capital Credit Union’s vision of becoming a “Leading with Heart” Caring Workplace.
Erin and Tammy share how the Caring Workplace Program provided a framework to connect and uplift efforts already underway, from engagement surveys and onboarding to learning, recognition, and employee development. Most importantly, they share the stories behind the data and the human impact they’ve witnessed through stronger relationships, more courageous conversations, and a culture where people can thrive.
RELATED RESOURCES
- Learn more about the Caring Workplace program – https://chapmancommunities.org/caring-workplace-program/
- Explore Chapman Foundation classes – https://chapmancommunities.org/learn-to-connect/
- Continue your journey by listening to the Replay & Retool episodes 010, 011, 013, and 014.
CHAPTER MARKERS
00:00 – Introduction and Episode Overview
04:00 – What “Leading with Heart” Means at Capital Credit Union
07:05 – The Culture Strategies Creating Impact
10:07 – Employee Voice, Feedback, and Leadership Roadshows
13:01 – Appreciation Practices and Meaningful Recognition
17:41 – Bringing Foundational Classes to More Than 500 Team Members
20:22 – Onboarding Culture and Living the Values
22:30 – Building a Culture of Learning
24:02 – Engagement Data and the Stories Behind the Numbers
27:54 – How the Chapman Foundation Partnership Supports Capital Credit Union
31:05 – The Way We Lead Impacts the Way People Live
34:59 – What’s Next in the Caring Workplace Journey
36:14 – Closing Reflections
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Through the Caring Workplace program, culture grows and sustains when organizations intentionally connect existing programs to a shared vision and strategy.
- Chapman Foundation classes can help create a common language that strengthens relationships at work, at home, and throughout the community.
- The most powerful measure of culture isn’t just the data. It’s the stories, experiences, and lives impacted along the way.
LEVEL UP OPPORTUNITY
As you listen, consider which of the six Caring Workplace culture strategies is most developed in your organization and which one presents the greatest opportunity for growth.
What intentional action could you take this week to strengthen trust, appreciation, accountability, meaningful work, intentional connection, or learning?
AI-generated dictation of the podcast audio
Please note that this transcription was completed using AI software. Occasionally, unanticipated grammatical, syntax, homophones, and other interpretive errors are inadvertently transcribed by the software. Please excuse any errors that have escaped final proofreading.
Adam Salgat 00:10
Welcome to Beyond the Class: From Knowledge to Action, the audiocast that helps Chapman Foundation alumni turn skills into practical, intentional actions for everyday life, I’m your host Adam Salgat, and in this episode, we’re taking a slightly different approach. Rather than focusing on a specific leadership concept or skill, we’re highlighting the real-world impact our foundational classes and caring workplace program can have on the organization and the community it serves. In episode 15, with our CEO Dr. Misty Jenks, we took a deep dive into Chapman Foundation’s Caring Workplace program and explored how intentional culture building can transform the employee experience and drive stronger performance. During that conversation, we shared survey data and measurable outcomes from one of our caring workplace partners, Capital Credit Union, illustrating the progress they’ve made since joining the program in 2024. As we discussed in that episode, when organizations commit to the caring workplace journey, they’re making a strategic investment in their culture for Capital Credit Union. That journey has helped strengthen both their strategic and cultural framework while aligning leadership behaviors with their mission, vision, and values. The result is a thoughtfully developed culture centered on care, accountability, recognition, and positive impact within the workplace and throughout the communities they serve. While data tells an important part of that story, in this episode we have the opportunity to hear directly from the people leading that journey.
Joining me on this audio cast are Erin Wojkiewicz and Tammy Williams. Erin serves as Assistant Vice President of Talent Development and Financial Education, and has been with Capital Credit Union for more than 17 years. She also serves as a facilitator for the foundational class Our Community Listens. Tammy is Capital Credit Union’s Chief Experience Officer and has served in that role for nearly four years. In our conversation, we explored Capital Credit Union’s vision for becoming a leading with heart caring workplace, and how the culture strategies from the Caring Workplace program helped uplift existing initiatives while creating a shared language and foundation for nearly 500 team members. We also heard how employee feedback and engagement data have guided their journey, the stories behind that data, and how the program has helped set the tone to bring Capitol’s mission, vision, and values to life. Finally, we discussed what makes the Caring Workplace program different, where Capital Credit Union is headed next, and how their work reflects the belief from our founder Bob Chapman that the way we lead impacts the way people live. But before we jump into the conversation, a few quick housekeeping items. If you’d like to learn more about the Caring Workplace program, you’ll find links in the description of this audiocast to visit our website and a form to connect with our team. And for our alumni listeners looking to develop their skills, I encourage you to check out our replay and retool episodes 10, 11, 13, and 14, and download the accompanying toolkits to help put those lessons into action. All right, now that that is taken care of. Let’s get into the conversation and hear directly from Erin and Tammy about Capital Credit Union’s caring workplace journey. Erin and Tammy from Capital Credit Union, thank you both so much for joining me today on the audio cast.
Erin Wojkiewicz 03:56
You’re welcome. Happy to be here. – Our pleasure.
Adam Salgat 04:00
Erin, I’m going to ask you to take this first question. So we’re going to start immediately talking about why this work matters. At Capital Credit Union, your goal is to develop a leading with heart caring workplace. What does that mean for the organization? And can you provide a couple simple examples of where you see it showing up in some of your daily experiences.
Erin Wojkiewicz 04:22
Sure. So I think it really starts all with living our mission. We do the right thing, one member, one employee, and one experience at a time to strengthen the communities that we serve. And to me, leading with heart, which is a little undercurrent of our culture here at the credit union, is the whole heart philosophy really aligns a lot with the caring workplace program? Some of the examples that I have seen, just off the top of my head, are really the conversations that we’re having on Teams. I’m noticing a lot that employees are considering each other’s perspectives quite a bit more. Than I had ever seen before. We started really putting some attention into this program and really sitting and thinking, okay, from that employee’s point of view, what am I missing? What are the pieces that make this whole picture come together? And it leads to a lot more productive conversations. The other piece that recently has come into play for us, and we’ve been spending a lot of time and intention on, is accountability, and having honest and clear conversations with each other in order to not only hold ourselves accountable but to hold each other accountable. What we’re really finding is beneficial is that in order to support our mission, in order to support leading with heart, and all the things that we are doing with care and inside our organization, is working with the Chapman Foundation on the six strategies that are involved with the Caring Workplace Program. Aligning everything that we’re doing to one of those strategies really helps bring everything to life.
Adam Salgat 06:00
That sounds awesome, and I’m interested, Tammy, if you have anything you want to add to that, or anything that you’ve seen show up in some of your daily experiences.
Tammy Williams 06:08
Yeah, Adam, I think um, and Erin said it brilliantly. I mean, leading and serving with heart is just at the core of who we are and what we do, and it’s really interesting when you look at it business from a business perspective. It’s just not about you know what we do every day, but it’s the people that bring it to life. And we’ve been on this journey now with with Chapman over the last couple years, and we’re really going through that full organizational transformation of how we approach things. And it’s not about the end result, of course, that matters. Of but at the end of the day, it’s the people along the journey, whether it be our team members or our members or communities, so just having a different lens and helping our team members looking at it and how we impact people in all areas just has really looked at things differently. And it’s been a it’s been an awesome opportunity to see how some of the tools that we’re going to talk about today and some of the class learnings that we’ve had how they’ve impacted the culture here at Capital. We definitely are transforming our culture here at Capital.
Adam Salgat 07:05
That’s great to hear, and I’m glad you talked about the what you do. and And the next set of questions here, as we continue our conversation, is going to be about how you do it. When you think about the caring workplace leadership model and the culture strategies of trust, intentional connection, accountability, meaningful work, appreciation practices, and culture of learning. Which one has had some of the greatest impact at Capital Credit Union, and why? Erin, is there one that you want to touch more on? I know you spoke about accountability, so maybe if you have anything else you want to touch on there, or maybe another one.
Erin Wojkiewicz 07:38
I think accountability is certainly important, and to be fair, accountability is probably one of the strategies that we are really exploring ways to bring to life with our team. So maybe, like a lot of organizations, still have a lot of work to do in that area. So we are working really intentionally on the types of conversations that we have with each other, and we like to use a terminology here that’s called clear as kind. And in our conversations with each other, we understand that part of holding ourselves accountable, part of holding our teams accountable, is really having conversations with clarity as the intent, so that the other individual in the conversation doesn’t need to guess about what we’re saying. We don’t bury it in a layer of fluff. It is very clear. They don’t have to read between the lines. They know exactly what we’re saying. And in in so doing, these conversations have been more productive, and we’re seeing better outcomes from them. Now we’re just scratching the surface. One of the ones that we really have found particularly beneficial and have done a lot of work in is the intentional connection. For us, that piece has really allowed those conversations to happen because it builds a layer of trust between a leader and an employee, or between two coworkers, because we are intentionally creating opportunities. We’re intentionally seeking out ways that we, as people, can connect with each other on a deeper level beyond just the professional. Like really getting to know people and what makes them tick, what is important to them outside of work. When we do that, it helps us have those conversations so much easier. And the intention going in, folks know you’re coming at it from the heart. You’re coming at it from the right place. You have the right mindset. You have the right motive as you go into those conversations. And so we have just found accountability and intentional connection have been so helpful to focus on for our some of our strategies.
Adam Salgat 09:48
That intentional connection, I believe, is something that Tammy can touch on a bit more. If you could tell me more about the leadership roadshows or the boots on the ground conversations, I you’ve either. Had a part in signing up or even leading. I’m not sure. Fill me in. Tell me about those two experiences, Tammy.
Tammy Williams 10:07
Yeah, and I really like the words that we’re using as intentionality. I would say here at Capital we are very intentional with all of the things that we’re doing, and as Erin said, intentional connection. So one of the things that we do do here at Capital is on an annual basis we do an employee engagement survey. So that survey, once we get those results, we actually work with all the departments and the leaders here at Capital, and we each work on our own action plans for our particular areas. So we’re again very intentional with that. We support them because we know that it doesn’t always come natural for all leaders to be able to put those plans together and what they’re working on, but then as part of that, we actually go out and we do what we call our road shows. So throughout, it’s typically over the summer months. It’s actually Lori, myself, and some of the other executive team members. We actually go out and we meet with every single team member. We meet with them in groups. So sometimes it’s a couple departments on their own. Sometimes you know it might be 20 people in the group. Sometimes it’s 50 people in the group. But we cater we cater to those particular questions that they had. So the intent of it is going back and making sure we keep the dialog open with them and making sure that we’re hearing their voice. At Capital, we have something that calls your voice matters, and it’s our opportunity to give feedback to us, and we take that very serious. So there’s a lot of things that come out from those, like we hear our team members, but we don’t just sit on it. We actually move those into action, and I think that’s the really cool part about it is the connecting with the road shows, making sure that our team members feel heard and valued for the voice that they have at capital, and then the biggest part of it is the execution, making sure we follow up with those things. And again, we can’t do all things, but we have learned some really cool things from our team, and little things that can make their days better every day. So those road shows have become like our signature get together every year, and it’s a fun opportunity to stay connected with all of our team members. We have over 500 team members. So again, it’s an intentional event that we do because it takes a little time and commitment. But again, going along the lines of the intentional connections, the more we can collaborate, communicate, we just find that alignment is so much better coming out of those.
Adam Salgat 12:17
So it sounds like you know really taking to heart the idea of what these culture strategies to build a caring culture and integrating them into the work you’re doing-that intentional connection. Erin, I know that one of Capital Credit Union’s desired outcomes is to have team members utilize feeling, behavior, impact statements, so FBI statements, and you want them to utilize them in the space of confrontation, if necessary, but your goal here is to demonstrate appreciation and utilize them as meaningful recognition. Another culture strategy. In what ways has the organization been doing that on a one-on-one basis consistently? And then, are there any large-scale efforts the organization has created to help execute this?
Erin Wojkiewicz 13:01
Yeah, yeah. I can speak to one-on-one and to large scale here because they kind of intersect with each other. And we have, I mean, of course, yes, you can walk up to any person and you can deliver a beautiful feelings, behavior, and impact statement as a facilitator that is near and dear to my heart and something that I try to model every single day, and often in those critical conversations that you’re speaking to, yes, the feelings, behavior, and impact message comes up. But in the recognition celebrations and conversations, when that comes up for us, we most often see that through a program that we call Cheers for Peers. So Cheers for Peers is a program that is visible throughout the entire credit union. It’s on our intranet, and teammates can go in and they can give a cheer for peer to their fellow employee or group of employees. And basically, what they’re doing is they’re able to align what they’re saying to one of the values that we hold near and dear at the credit union. But the way that they are doing that is often using a feelings, behavior, and impact message because they’ve learned that in the foundational class of listens. And so, by doing so, then the recipient of that-it’s a very public thing. You can see it right on our intranet.
Speaker 1 14:15
Nice.
Erin Wojkiewicz 14:15
You can give it a thumbs up and like it by doing so. It’s really helping model what that looks like across the organization, and in turn inspires other employees to do that. Now, one of the other things that we have done that is organization-wide is not only delivering the feelings, behavior, and impact messages internally, but externally as well. And so the way that we have done that is we have developed these heartfelt message cards, and they’re basically just a little postcard. They say a heartfelt message from our team, and then on the back of the card, you’re able to write a message. Writing a very impactful, very meaningful message on the back of this card truly represents. It’s on the front of the card a heartfelt message.
Adam Salgat 15:02
Nice, I really love that. I think it it is often easy to tell people what we want them to change, but it’s really so much more meaningful when we express the things that we want them to continue doing, and that is great space to do that with recognition. Tammy, is there anything you would like to touch on when it comes to recognition?
Tammy Williams 15:23
So when we do our engagement survey, we have like our top three words every year, and this year appreciation made it into the top three. So it’s just a measurement of some of the things that you know we’re seeing happen. So we have the top three: the team, people, and coworkers were mentioned like 664 times, and then love was actually mentioned 189 times, and appreciate was 178. And what we thought was really cool about that is it had not showed up in the top, you know, three up until this year. So we we really, you know, it’s kind of an indicator that as we continue to, you know, be intentional about talking about heartfelt messages, not just a quick thank you. People are really starting to feel that appreciation, so that feels really good. Part of our all employee meeting, we get together once a year and we actually go through and we look at the from a business side of things of how we’ve delivered. We look at our scorecard, and then we also give a sneak peek of what’s happening into the next year, so it’s a really good opportunity. Typically, a lot of high energy, but one thing that we do do is we give awards out for production, but also more importantly, living the capital way. And it’s a matter of how are our team members day in and day out living our values and bringing those to life. So what’s really cool about that? So for a second, Adam, just feel the energy in the room. Everybody’s all clapping, cheering, and it’s just a-it’s a really cool opportunity for all of us to celebrate one another.
Adam Salgat 16:50
That-that’s-that sounds like a spectacular opportunity to bring in, I suppose, as many team members as you possibly can, right? And I know you guys are somewhere near. You mentioned I think 500 or more than 500 even team members at this point, and I bring that number back up because I want to ask Erin about that number because in previous conversations, Erin, you’ve been on the the audio cast before. When you first took the Our Community Listens class, you mentioned how excited you would be to bring this back to your team, your 500 plus people at Capital Credit Union. So now that you’ve had the opportunity to do that and bring it in and start working towards this caring workplace program designation, how does it make you feel knowing that that vision is becoming a reality?
Erin Wojkiewicz 17:41
Oh boy! How does it make me feel? What is the word? It is inspiring. I think I would say inspiring. I’m a little awestruck that we’re here right now. We started our first class for our community listens was in January of 2023. So thinking back then, and my mindset was, wow, this is a huge hill decline. We have so many employees to to have attend these classes, and are we going to be able to do it all? And fast forward, here we are. It’s a few years later, and my goodness, we’ve got them in, and it is it’s just inspiring. I think you know, it’s not. It’s one thing to think about like, wow, I I did that. I brought that to our team, but it’s more so about we did that. We did that as a credit union. Our employees are the most fantastic employees that I’ve ever had the privilege of working with, and I’ve been here for almost 18 years, so it has been a long time of working with some of our employees, and just to see the enthusiasm and the excitement that they have for these classes, and the thirst for the knowledge and the skills, and understanding how these classes benefit the relationships that we have to work together. I very rarely have empty seats within the classes, and am able to. When we do have another class coming up, so at our credit union, obviously you take listens first, and then it goes serves, and then transforms. The wait lists are full for these classes coming up, and there’s no shortage of employees who want to attend. And the cool thing is, is the second I walk out the door, because again I’m a facilitator, so I get to see it from both ends of the spectrum. When we walk out the door of the classroom, they’re applying it immediately, and it it just fills my heart to see that. And it fills my heart not only as a facilitator, but as a fellow employee, we’re all reaping the benefits of using these skills in real life.
Adam Salgat 19:42
It’s so it’s awesome for me to see how big your smile is in in sharing that because I I remember you saying that specifically a few years ago and how excited you were about the opportunity and it’s so cool. So congratulations to that and congratulations to your team as you said, it’s a wee it’s a wee piece of work, right? Everyone’s involved. Yeah, yeah. Tammy, from your perspective, with the whole organization being involved and and everything, how how does that affect new employees coming on board and the common language and the focus on culture? How has that helped new employees step in to help live the values at Capital Credit Union.
Tammy Williams 20:22
Yeah, Adam, our we take our onboarding here at Capital pretty serious. I think a lot of times when people are going to a new organization, immediately they figure out what they’re doing, right? So at Capital, obviously we have financial services, but it’s really in the first three days we spend a lot of time and intentionality of talking about who we are, you know. Walking out of there, people are going to know our vision, our mission, our values that we’re caring workplace that we serve with heart, we lead with heart. And what’s really interesting are people that have been part of a lot of industries, but also other financial institutions. They are just in awe about how much time that they we spend on really on the culture component of it, but we know that when people are embedded in who the work that we do, and they’re going to come out and continue to carry that forward, it just helps the whole organization get stronger. So it’s been really cool to watch it happen, and I think you know Erin has talked about about you know individuals, coworkers, how we continue to strengthen the lives that we live here. But we know that that also trickles out to all of their families and the communities. So it’s just such a cool opportunity for us, and it begins at onboarding. There’s people two weeks in; they’re like, I’ve never experienced anything like this that we have here at Capital, so they’re feeling it as part of the culture. And the cool part about it, they’re telling other people, so they want to be a part of it as well. So our onboarding is is pretty serious. In the first three days, as mentioned, we also do some volunteer work. So we actually go out boots on the ground once again, showing them how to volunteer, and because it is such an important part of who we are at Capital, so they not only get to hear it, but they get to see us in action right out of the gate.
Adam Salgat 22:08
I love that. Yeah, it’s it’s actions speak with the words, right? You know, actions and words at the same time. I want to touch on one more of the culture strategies-a culture of learning. So, Erin, can you talk a little bit about the CCU University program and how that pairs with that culture strategy from the Caring Workplace program?
Erin Wojkiewicz 22:30
Of course, the CCU University program is something that we developed in 2022, but it really has been strengthened over these last few years, and it’s very intentional. We have mentioned the word intentional several times. I think today already. That is, it is on purpose. We actually developed the CC University program to reward employees for seeking out additional learning opportunities. The result is we are all getting this extra learning and these extra skills that really we can tie right into our work immediately and start using in our day-to-day interactions with each other for technical things and even to serve our members. So it’s been a very popular program, but it all comes back to that culture of learning and just celebrating the learning that we’re doing and promoting the use of, hey, you know what? You have control over your own learning journey. Which way do you want to see it go? One of the most probably critical pieces that we’ve seen is with leadership development. At Capital, we believe that anybody is a leader. You do not have to have that formal title, and so we have a lot of our learning opportunities geared towards what we call aspiring leaders or people who aspired to maybe some sort of a leadership position, and current leaders as well. But also, like, how can you lead from your own role right now with everything that you’re doing? What does it mean to be a leader from your own position? So we’ve seen a lot of growth and a lot of development in that area as well.
Adam Salgat 24:02
We have talked about what you’re doing. Let’s talk about the impact and the measurable parts of that that you’ve already seen. So you’ve mentioned that you conduct engagement surveys, and I know there have been measurable increases in engagement, trust, meaningful work, recognition, communication. You mentioned the recognition, the recognition growth that you’ve seen along the survey side, which of the results stands out to you the most? Is there something that either of you would want to touch on?
Tammy Williams 24:31
I’ll start with a high level, and then Erin, if you want to add into a little bit, but it’s not in particular. But I think it’s important. One of the things with our engagement survey that has been really cool is our results just from the overall participation, and our in 2025 we had 96 participation rate in our engagement surveys, which is absolutely amazing. I’ll tell you, in my entire career, I haven’t always seen that type of participation, and we ask our teams to show up because we want to show. For each other, and that is pretty awesome. And then, in addition to that, we’ve also have an 89% engagement rate. So, industry standard is half of that. So, we’re incredibly proud of that, and it’s the work and the foundational things that we’re we’re laying out there. Again, we talked about the your voice matters and things of that. When they know that you’re going to listen and respond, you’re going to get more of that engagement, so we’re really proud of those of those numbers. And the the thing about it is that the numbers are one thing. The responsibility that we take that when we get that type of engagements for is that it’s our duty and responsibility. It’s tremendous responsibility to keep it at that, right? So we know that the only way we do it is in partnership with all of our teams and through some of the work that we’re doing,
Adam Salgat 25:43
that’s wonderful. Yeah, those are super high engagement numbers, and it’s a testament to people wanting to be a part of the organization. Erin, is there anything you would like to add about the engagement surveys or the results that you’ve seen?
Erin Wojkiewicz 25:56
I can only speak to it personally. So for me personally, one of the things that we do, yes, we have an overall engagement survey number, but what also happens is each team has their own engagement numbers. And for my team personally, so I oversee talent development at financial education. I’m thinking back to a few years ago, few years ago, we were not necessarily in a, I would say a place where I was satisfied, and our employees on the team were not as satisfied with our score on the engagement survey. It was not maybe where we would have liked it to be, and there were a lot of factors that went into that workload and things like that. But we have really taken some efforts over the years, especially with our action plans that we have developed after every single engagement survey, and to be honest, conversation those action plans for us are a living, breathing document that we add to consistently as we have new information, as we meet goals and do things. We consistently add to that action plan, but really having honest conversations on our teams and knowing that it’s not all about the score; it’s about how it feels to work in our department. I have seen, and our team has shown that that score has increased for us, and to a point right now where I never would have dreamed that our score is what it is. It’s nearly 100% Congratulations!
Tammy Williams 27:22
Which
Erin Wojkiewicz 27:22
is amazing. I would never have guessed that that we would be there at this point in time, and it’s it is because we are very intentional and we really strive hard to have honest conversations with each other and to understand that there are two perspectives to everything that happens, and how can we get a better understanding and a better appreciation for what the other person is feeling in that moment, and support them, and that support has made all the difference.
Adam Salgat 27:54
Congratulations on that, and that is awesome. And I think it is a great transition to kind of start talking about why should others care about this caring workplace program, and so I’m going to ask the two of you to reflect on how the Chapman Foundation, as a partner, has helped uplift and implement Capital Credit Union’s vision, mission, and values. And Erin, I think you touched on a little bit in the results that you’re seeing, but talk a little bit about the partnership between Capital Credit Union and Chapman.
Erin Wojkiewicz 28:28
Sure. So one of the things that I found refreshing when we started talking about the caring workplace with the Chapman Foundation is that this isn’t just theories pulled from the sky. This there is actual research and theory behind what is happening with the with the caring workplace program and with the six strategies that are put into place to develop a caring workplace. There is intentional thought and effort into what each of those strategies are, and then what I really loved is there are actionable things that the Chapman Foundation encourages us to think about for each of those strategies, but it’s not just a canned. Here you need to have this meeting every quarter without fail, and you will satisfy the intentional connection strategy. Right? It’s not that. It’s really what I appreciate is that the Chapman Foundation takes a listen to what our strategies are as a credit union, what our culture is, what we what our goals are, what we’re trying to develop internally, and then together it’s a journey to mold what the strategy is getting at. If it’s intentional connection, then what works for our particular workplace and what fits our culture, what fits our employees, what fits our work style, and that helps bring things to life. So it’s really it’s such a partnership in that we’re listening to to the Chapman Foundation, yes, to get the ideas behind the strategies, but they’re listening to us in turn to make it workable and a real. It
Adam Salgat 30:01
was awesome that customization. That’s what I’m hearing. Tammy, is there anything you’d like to touch on with working with the Chapman Foundation from your perspective?
Tammy Williams 30:11
Yeah, when I was first introduced to the partnership with Chapman, I really didn’t know a whole lot about it. I came into capital, it had already started a little bit, but throughout the last couple years, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside with Erin and the Chapman team, and first and foremost, not knowing everything that was happening with it, to have them walking with us, and Erin kind of talked a little bit about that, but it truly is that journey that we’re on together, and being able to partner up with them, but them providing some guidance, but allowing us again the autonomy to build it to what we have here at Capital and how it fits us, I really think the thing that stands out the most is the alignment of our our missions and our visions and our values. We are two organizations that want to make better humans, right? And at the end of the day, when we can combine our efforts to do that and work alongside one another, it just-it’s a really cool opportunity to be a part of.
Adam Salgat 31:05
That’s awesome. Yes, at least from my perspective, and say yes, we want to make better humans. And in this final kind of reflection moment, and the opportunity to think about a message that I believe is, you know, at the heart of what our founder Bob Chapman used to say is the way we lead impacts the way people live. So when you reflect on Capital Credit Union’s caring workplace journey, where have you personally seen the impact on the people, and how does it make you feel knowing you’ve helped make that impact possible? Erin, I’ll let you go first.
Erin Wojkiewicz 31:40
Well, I have a unique perspective because I get to see that impact in a classroom setting as I’m facilitating our community listens. I get to see it as a leader. I get to see it as a coworker, and they’re not my stories to share per se. But I can say that I have just seen conversations that I never would have dreamed folks having the courage to have with each other happening every single day. So if something is bugging someone, they now have the skills and the trust with each other to speak up, and they know how to do it in a way that not only gets their needs met, but it also cares for the person that they’re having the conversation with. I see that every single day on my team. I hear it from folks in classrooms. I hear it from emails back and forth, and chat messages back and forth with employees who are, you know, thinking out how am I going to handle this conversation that I need to have? And honestly, before maybe that conversation would never even have happened. Certainly, the thought wouldn’t have gone into having the conversation. It just would have been, it just wouldn’t have happened.
Adam Salgat 32:54
It’s wonderful to hear that it’s making that kind of impact, and it is also your perspective of seeing it in the classroom, seeing it as an employee, seeing it as a leader and your team, I love knowing that you’re kind of picking up on it in all of those areas. What about you, Tammy? How does it make you feel knowing that you’ve helped make an impact on the people at Capital Credit Union and really the people in the community that you serve?
Tammy Williams 33:18
I feel blessed and grateful. I’m in a role of impact that I actually get to help influence some of the policies that we have here at Capital, and our people practices have shifted. Right when you look at everything through the lens of a caring workplace and the responsibility that we have to our team, and look at it from a caring heart and leading with heart, it it just drives different decisions. And I think I’m really excited about the opportunity that we’re also rippling that out to the entire organization to have everybody think through things a little bit differently. So we create, for instance, we’ve had a couple different policies that we’ve looked at differently. We do bereavement for our pets because we know that pets are an important part of people’s lives, right? So we now instituted that we we look at miscarriages a little bit different and allow time off for that because people are going through real life things and we want to be a part of that and support them through their journeys, and even from a workplace like you know it used to be like if somebody got written up, well we look at plans for success. How do we help support you in every way possible to really help drive who you are as an individual and help you be your best best self and show up your best self and what that looks like. So I’m really proud to be able to be a part of an organization where the the caring workplace is the filter by which we make those decisions and influence the policies by which we deploy to all of our teams-it makes a difference.
Adam Salgat 34:45
Exceptionally well said, Tammy. I I think that’s awesome. I’m going to ask really quickly, Erin, if you have the opportunity to say what is the next step for the Caring Workplace Program for Capital Credit Union.
Erin Wojkiewicz 34:59
Sure. So the next step is definitely continuing to offer the classes to our employees. We have new employees coming in all the time. Our team is always growing, and so continuing to to offer those classes to those employees, but also to continue to keep it a focus for employees who have gone through classes, learned skills, have check-ins and monthly touch points with those employees to just reiterate the the skills that we can be using day to day to make conversations easier, to make just work the workplace easier, but then also checking in with employees with how it’s going in at at home. I hear a lot from employees that not only does the way that we treat each other at work happen at work, but that also filters into their relationships at home, and in fact has improved a lot of relationships at home. So bringing that to light, really focusing on monthly teaching sessions that focus on specific concepts and specific skills. That’s really what’s next for us. Just really keeping it alive and keeping it going, and not putting it on a shelf and saying, “Oh, that was nice. I’m so glad that we did that, but just making sure that it is part of what we do in every interaction that we have with each other, and in turn with our community and our members.
Adam Salgat 36:14
That’s awesome to hear. And yes, culture continues to evolve, and if you don’t have a strategy for it, then you don’t have control over it, and so it’s a great opportunity to continue building that culture. Tammy and Erin, I want to thank you both for being part of this conversation and sharing the stories. Capital Credit Union.
Erin Wojkiewicz 36:31
Very happy to be here and very happy to talk about this. We love this topic.
Tammy Williams
Absolutely, and thank you, Adam, for the opportunity. We appreciate it.
