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The Talent Economy Podcast

Corporate Culture Renovations

Season 2, Ep. 4

A healthy, empowering, and people-centered culture is vital for any company to thrive, but leaders must model the company’s culture every day for it to take root. Toptal’s Chief People Officer Michelle Labbe speaks about this with Ana White, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer of F5 Networks.

Ana White earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a minor in Economics from Seattle University. She graduated with honors and received both academic and athletic scholarships. Early in her career, White discovered that her love for people was more prominent than her other passion, her love of numbers. Before joining F5 Networks, she worked as a Compensation Consultant at Watson Wyatt Worldwide and as General Manager of Human Resources at Microsoft. 

White, who is dedicated to generating social impact through her work, shares her thoughts on the importance of bringing the company’s culture alive through rewards and recognition and focusing on creating an environment of support and positive feedback rather than a competitive one. We also speak about how crucial it is for companies to provide a platform for employees to realize the personal satisfaction that comes from helping the community and what F5 Networks is doing to raise awareness about mental health issues. 

Some Questions Asked:

  • Now that COVID-19 is upon us, how have you all had to shift or pivot with the people’s needs?
  • I read a really great article that you wrote on LinkedIn about empowering employees to make a personal connection and social impact. Can you tell us more about that?
  • F5 Networks has around 6,000 employees. How are you keeping everybody together to feel like it’s a family with that many people?

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

  • About shifting into an agile mindset from the engineering perspective.
  • The importance of the people-first approach at F5 Networks bringing clarity and certainty during difficult times.
  • How normalizing the conversation about mental health issues through education, understanding, and support is an essential part of well-being.

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