Making Inclusivity a Business Imperative with Kate Venne of Brady Corporation

Dec 11

Kate Venne is Senior Director of Corporate Communications and Social Responsibility at Brady Corporation, a global leader in safety, identification and compliance solutions for a diverse range of workplaces.

In this episode of Let's Talk Limbic Sparks, Kate reveals why inclusivity is a business imperative. She shares details of her role representing the company externally and rolling out messaging internally to a global workforce of approximately 5,700 employees. We talk about why seeking input and understanding various viewpoints in the planning process is crucial, and the value of having a nuanced approach for communicating to best represent the perspectives of individual audiences.

We discuss why a one-size-fits-all broad-brush approach doesn't work when it comes to communicating leadership initiatives. Kate emphasizes the importance of anticipating and addressing the range of concerns and emotional responses individuals may have, and that, no matter what the message, honesty, transparency and clarity is what people value most.

Key Takeaways and Soundbites:

“I hope that the people who are here feel like it's a good place for them to be.”

“It's about getting people to collaborate and to feel like they are a valued part of the organization.”

“We might start with a message from our CEO, but we'll follow that up with something from our regional Presidents or from the Sales Leader that then starts to drill down into what matters to that smaller group of people. We can't just broad brush everything.”

“I think what we did really well (for the restructuring) was think through anything that could come up, and then figure out how to address it. Our guiding principles: 1) is it true, 2) are we transparent, and 3) is it easy to understand.”

“You have to be as honest and transparent as you can. Share what you can, and sometimes it's ok to say 'here's what we don't know' or 'I don't know this yet.'.. as long as you're leveling with people and you're open and honest about that, people can live with that.”

"Something I'm really proud about here on our diversity, equity and inclusion work. We're still new to it, I'm kind of new to to the world of formalized DEI programming, but we've launched a series of panels around inclusion, discussion panels, which is something we've not really done before."

“Inclusivity and allyship is actually a business imperative. It helps with a collaborative environment. If you're not being inclusive, you're not being collaborative.”

“As long as you're having fun, you start to have some sparks show up. You can't fake that passion.”

“Whether you're driving things like the emotion around safety, or I just want my job to be easier. The relief of making your job easier, those are all emotions. It's not just happy, sad, angry.”

“It's about being inclusive in your process. Whether an internal or external campaign, the more voices, the more eyes you have on something, the more ears on something, the less likely you'll be to make a mistake because all perspectives are represented.”

Here are some fun facts about Kate…

Kate is responsible for Brady's global internal communications as well as the company's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and community engagement strategies. She joined Brady in 2015 and was appointed Senior Director, Corporate Communications and Social Responsibility in February 2023. She is responsible for developing messaging on key initiatives on behalf of leadership while ensuring consistent communications throughout the organization. In this role she also provides counsel in communications tactics when issues or crises arise. In addition, she serves as Secretary for the Brady Foundation, where she sets direction for Brady’s community partnerships and philanthropy. She also leads Brady's DEI efforts to recruit and retain diverse talent and foster an inclusive workplace.

Prior to Brady, she led communications strategy for clients with Capstone National Partners, and before that was Communications Director at Marquette University where she served as the school's spokesperson. She has held communications and public affairs roles in state government and with mid-sized nonprofits, and is currently on the Board of Directors for Community Advocates and Forest Home Cemetery Preservation Association in Milwaukee, and serves on the City of Wauwatosa's Community Development Block Grants Committee.