Building Culture at Scale

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About This Event

Join Emma Thompson for an interactive workshop on one of the most challenging aspects of mid-stage growth: maintaining and evolving company culture as you scale. Emma grew ConnectHub from 25 to 150 employees across three offices while actually strengthening their culture—a rare achievement that most founders struggle with.

In this hands-on session, Emma will share the frameworks, rituals, and communication strategies that allowed her team to stay connected, engaged, and aligned with company values despite rapid growth and geographical distribution. This isn't theory—it's battle-tested approaches from someone who's lived through the chaos of scaling.

What You'll Learn

• Defining Your Culture: How to articulate values that actually guide decisions and behaviors
• Hiring for Culture: Interviewing and assessing cultural fit without creating homogeneity
• Onboarding at Scale: Creating experiences that immerse new hires in your culture from day one
• Communication Cadence: Establishing rituals that keep everyone aligned as you grow
• Remote & Hybrid Teams: Building connection and culture across distributed teams
• Managing Multiple Offices: Maintaining cohesion when you expand to new locations
• Performance & Culture: Holding people accountable to both results and values
• Cultural Evolution: When and how to evolve your culture as the company matures

About Emma Thompson

Emma Thompson is the Founder and CEO of ConnectHub, Australia's leading employee engagement platform serving over 500 companies. Under Emma's leadership, ConnectHub has grown to 150 employees across offices in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, and has been named one of Australia's Best Places to Work for three consecutive years.

Before founding ConnectHub, Emma spent five years in HR leadership roles at high-growth tech companies. She's passionate about proving that culture isn't just "nice to have"—it's a competitive advantage that drives business results. Emma has been featured in HRM Magazine, Smart Company, and was a finalist for EY Entrepreneur of the Year.

Who Should Attend

This workshop is ideal for founders who:

• Are experiencing cultural dilution as they hire rapidly
• Have expanded to multiple locations and struggling with cohesion
• Want to maintain startup energy while building structure
• Are managing remote or hybrid teams
• Face tension between preserving culture and achieving results
• Need practical tools for culture-building, not just aspirational ideas

Interactive Workshop Format

This isn't a passive presentation—you'll be actively working through challenges with other founders:

• Culture Audit: Assess your current culture honestly
• Values Workshop: Define or refine your company values
• Communication Plan: Design your ideal communication cadence
• Ritual Design: Create meaningful rituals that reinforce culture
• Peer Learning: Share strategies and learn from each other's experiences

Event Schedule

• 6:00 PM - 6:30 PM: Arrival, networking, and light refreshments
• 6:30 PM - 7:15 PM: Emma's story and framework presentation
• 7:15 PM - 8:15 PM: Interactive workshop exercises in small groups
• 8:15 PM - 8:45 PM: Group sharing and Q&A
• 8:45 PM - 9:00 PM: Open networking

What You'll Take Away

• Culture assessment framework
• Values definition worksheet
• Interview questions for assessing cultural fit
• Communication cadence template
• Company ritual ideas and implementation guide
• Remote team engagement playbook
• Culture metrics dashboard

Venue

Fishburners is one of Australia's largest and most successful startup communities. The collaborative space in Wynyard is designed to foster connection and innovation—a perfect environment for our culture-focused workshop.

Address: Level 2, 11 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Getting There: Located above Wynyard Station with easy access via train, bus, or light rail. Multiple paid parking options nearby.

Why This Matters

Culture isn't just about pizza Fridays and ping pong tables. It's about whether your team can make good decisions without you in the room. It's about whether new hires thrive or struggle. It's about whether your best people stay or leave.

At the 20-200 employee stage, culture becomes your operating system. Get it right, and everything else gets easier. Get it wrong, and everything becomes a battle.