AHRI’s 2024 HR Leader of the Year is proud to be the custodian of delivering cultures that drive both people and business success – and isn’t afraid of doing so amid a period of transformation. 

The moment Hazel Thurlow joins a new organisation, she requests three years of employee engagement survey data. Then she sits down and, as well as absorbing the figures and trends over time, reads each and every word in those surveys.

In conducting this deep research three years ago, when she joined property investment firm ISPT, her analysis uncovered a strong connection among employees to the organisation’s purpose, paired with a desire for greater empowerment to drive change in an industry characterised by rapid evolution. This insight became the foundation for a broader cultural transformation strategy. 

“Creating value starts with unlocking the collective potential of your people,” says Thurlow, who was recently recognised as HR Leader of the Year at the 2024 AHRI Awards and Scholarship program. “By aligning purpose, strategy and culture, you can create an organisation where people and business thrive together.”

See the full list of 2024 AHRI Award and Scholarship winners.

A strategic direction for culture transformation 

Early into Thurlow’s tenure at ISPT, the organisation embarked on an ambitious growth and transformation journey, recognising the need for a strong culture and enhanced capability to support its strategic goals. The appointment of a new CEO, Chris Chapple, brought fresh energy and focus to this vision, she says.

“We saw an opportunity to modernise and refine key areas of the organisation. This included everything from our go-to-market strategy to the products and services we deliver. By building on what was already working and addressing areas where we could improve, we were able to optimise and elevate our approach.” 

This transformation also involved a company-wide cultural evolution.

“We needed a step change in culture to ensure we had the right capabilities and an exceptional people experience to support the transformation,” says Thurlow. “It was a significant task, and not for the fainthearted, but when you see the positive impact on the organisation and its people, the effort is more than worth it.”

Becoming a trusted partner

Thurlow’s journey into HR began unexpectedly when a recruitment agency, instead of finding her a job, offered her one within its business. From there, she progressed through roles at HR outsourcing providers and then into senior HR roles with ME Bank, BUPA and the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. Each role was instrumental in preparing her to step in as the Chief Human Resources Officer at ISPT.

At ISPT, Thurlow had an ambitious view on what needed to happen to set the business up for success. With the support from ISPT’s executive team and board, she developed a people strategy tightly aligned with the organisation’s commercial objectives. 

Her collaboration with the CEO, who shared her commitment to a thriving organisational culture, was instrumental in organisational enablement and locking in on the priority areas of focus.

“That’s an essential part of the recipe for success: alignment with your CEO and leadership team. It’s not about always agreeing, but about having a shared commitment to the people agenda and the outcomes it delivers,” she says.

A clear focus on the organisation’s strategic intentions helped settle ISPT’s P&C team into the role of ‘trusted partner’ in the business.

“It’s important that the business knows HR is working in alignment with its priorities,” she says. “Being a trusted partner requires a commercial mindset and a deep understanding of business objectives. 

“That’s an essential part of the recipe for success: alignment with your CEO and leadership team. It’s not about always agreeing, but about having a shared commitment to the people agenda and the outcomes it delivers.” – Hazel Thurlow, Chief Human Resources Officer, ISPT

“But trust also begins on a personal level… If you’re straight-talking, willing to be vulnerable, own the fact that you don’t have all of the answers and are genuinely interested in what people are feeling and what will help them thrive, trust naturally follows.”

Co-creating culture

ISPT recognised that the most effective cultures are those shaped collectively. Therefore, employees were invited to explore what aspects of the culture they valued and what they would like to see evolve. 

“We brought the entire team together to explore our purpose, vision and values, and asked them to co-create its evolution.”

As a result, ISPT shifted away from generic terms like ‘accountability’ and ‘respect’ to actionable values such as:  ‘Love what we do’, ‘Be bold and brave’ and ‘Play to win’.

“I think any organisation is most effective when it uses the collective brain. This means engaging your workforce to co-create,” she says.

Once the new cultural DNA was established, Thurlow developed a strategic plan to drive culture change at pace, which included seven key levers:

• Leadership commitment: Leaders inspire high-performance by consistently modelling and driving the desired culture.
• Values and behaviours: The workforce is clear about what’s expected of them and holds themselves and others to account.
• Workforce capability: The workforce, particularly leaders, are equipped with the skills and qualities that enable cultural change and the valued behaviours to be lived every day.
• Recognition and consequences: The desired culture is reinforced when valued behaviours are frequently identified and recognised, and poor behaviours are addressed.
• Practices and procedures: Barriers are removed and policies, practices and procedures are realigned to shift habitual behaviour.
• Underpinning structures: Organisation structures, rituals, hierarchy, locations, physical layout, and ICT investment enable the purpose, vision, values and behaviours.
• Monitoring and evaluation: Cultural change is systematically measured and reported for early insight and adjustment.

Leadership development was identified as a key focus of the strategy, which resulted in over 130 employees, from emerging leaders to senior executives, participating in programs designed to improve self-awareness, impact and leadership effectiveness.

“Leadership is the single most powerful lever for culture, so investment in those programs was non-negotiable,” she says.

Listen to AHRI’s Let’s Take This Offline podcast episode on how HR practitioners can become cultural leaders with Dulux’s Executive General Manager of People, Culture and Change, Siobhan McHale. 

A focus on wellbeing, diversity, equity and inclusion were also integral aspects of the cultural transformation. 

“The willingness and ability for a person to show up and be their true self in the workplace creates safety and makes people feel like they belong. But it can’t be just talk. It had to be represented in all of our policies and in the lived experiences of our people. 

“We had an initial focus around leave and flexibility, gender affirmation support, cultural inclusivity and equal parental leave, regardless of gender. We needed to refresh our policies to ensure they reflected our evolved organisational DNA.” 

Thurlow says success comes down to developing a culture of listening and seeking to understand. One example of this is ISPT’s CEO advisory committee. 

“Our CEO has a forum every month with team members from across the business. Everyone in the forum is a representative for 12 months, and they have a monthly active audience with the CEO. Their job is to keep him informed, in an unfiltered and unfettered environment, about what’s happening internally and externally.”

Practical insights from ISPT’s culture transformation

The success of the transformation program over the past few years reveals several actionable takeaways for senior HR leaders, including:

• Align HR with business strategy: Ensure every initiative supports commercial outcomes by integrating HR and business goals to drive performance through people. 
• Secure alignment with leadership: Build strong relationships with senior leadership to ensure strategic priorities are supported and met. 
• Model open, fearless communication: Authentic and transparent leadership inspires others to follow suit and helps build trusted relationships.
• Co-create culture with employees. 

“You spend so much of your life at work – everybody should have the opportunity for that to be meaningful. Being the custodian of curating those experiences is a privilege.”

Thurlow describes her journey at ISPT over the past three years as an “exhilarating ride” and she is optimistic about 2025 and beyond. In March, she’ll be moving to a new role as Chief People Officer at Alinta Energy.

With the title of HR leader of 2024 under her belt, she is even more emboldened to help create workplaces where cultures can thrive and organisational potential is fully unlocked. 

“It’s an honour to be recognised by AHRI with the prestigious HR Leader of the Year award,” she says.

“As an institution renowned for its expertise and integrity, this acknowledgement holds great significance for me and reinforces my passion for creating workplaces where people can flourish and businesses can perform at their peak.”

A longer version of this article first appeared in the February/March 2025 issue of HRM Magazine.

Want to prepare yourself for a future HR leadership role? AHRI’s Women in HR Leadership short course can set you up for success.