In Episode 15 of Vita Talks, host Gianna Ricciardi is joined by Rita De Luca, Partner and Senior HR Consultant at DRH Solutions, to explore the foundational role company values play in building scalable, high-performing organizations.

Rita shares a compelling case study of a 1,000-person company that, despite its size, lacked clarity and consistency—resulting in disengagement, poor accountability, and internal conflict. Her discovery? The root of the problem was a lack of clearly defined organizational values.

In this conversation, Rita outlines how values aren’t just words on a wall. When defined with intention and embedded across hiring, onboarding, performance reviews, and leadership, they become the operating system of a company’s culture—a concept she calls “The Legacy Effect.”

This episode is essential listening for founders, people leaders, and HR teams looking to build resilient cultures, especially in fast-growing or scaling environments.

💡 Key takeaways:

• How values influence behaviour and accountability
• Case study: Fixing disengagement with a values-first approach
• Embedding values into recruitment and performance
• The role of managers in modelling values
• What “The Legacy Effect” means in HR strategy

🎧 Who Should Listen?

• Founders and business owners scaling their teams and looking to build a strong, sustainable culture
• HR professionals and consultants tasked with implementing or refreshing company values
• People leaders and managers aiming to align behaviour, performance, and culture across departments
• Recruiters and talent acquisition teams interested in hiring for cultural fit, not just skill
• Organizations struggling with engagement, accountability, or internal conflict and seeking a foundational reset

🔗 Mentioned Links:

• Rita De Luca | LinkedIn Profile
• DRH Solutions

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In this episode #14 of the Vita Talks Podcast, host Gianna Ricciardi welcomes Elissa Shorrock, Founder and Senior HR Consultant at ZOLERNA HR Consulting, for a candid look at how communication—when not managed intentionally—can derail even the most promising organizations.

Elissa shares a case study from a growing marketing agency that introduced multiple collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams, Monday.com, and email in hopes of improving team efficiency. But without clear guidelines, these tools created confusion, delays, and misalignment, especially between remote and in-office staff.

What began as a simple tech fix turned into a deeper investigation into how communication habits were impacting culture and performance. Elissa explains how her team diagnosed the issue using employee surveys, then co-created a communication strategy and playbook that brought clarity to the chaos.

This episode is a must-listen for HR professionals, team leads, and business owners navigating growth, hybrid models, or internal friction. Learn how to unify your communication approach, prevent silos, and build stronger collaboration across distributed teams.

🎧 Key takeaways:

• What causes miscommunication across hybrid or scaling teams
• How to build a simple but powerful communication playbook
• Why performance issues often stem from poor messaging, not poor talent

Who Should Listen?

• HR leaders at small to mid-sized companies experiencing growth
• Team managers struggling to align remote and in-office employees
• Operations leaders looking to reduce friction and missed deadlines
• Founders and executives aiming to improve internal communication
• Anyone building a hybrid team or scaling their collaboration infrastructure

Mentioned Links:

• Elissa Shorrock, Founder & Senior HR Consultant
• Website: https://www.zolernahr.com/
• Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elissa-shorrock-crha-chrp-04158314/

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• LinkedIn
• Website - Group Employee Benefits

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💡 Share this episode with colleagues and leaders in your network
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🔔 Subscribe for future conversations about benefits, leadership, and workplace wellness

In Episode 13 of Vita Talks, host Gianna Ricciardi is joined by Sophie Babinski, Principal Consultant at Pli & Repli and Co‑Founder of Manella, to explore how fast-paced organizations can better support employees through their parental leave experience.

Sophie shares a compelling case study from a pre‑IPO SaaS company of over 1,000 employees. Despite strong parental leave policies and DEI values, employees returning from leave often encountered vastly changed roles, emotional disorientation, and unclear expectations, especially in a culture built for speed.

Sophie and Gianna discuss how the consulting process uncovered discrepancies between policy and lived experience, and how interventions—like manager toolkits, intentional re‑onboarding, and new “empathy guides”—helped bridge those gaps. They outline practical changes, including comp-review cycles for returnees, manager check-ins during leave, and enhanced employee communication strategies. Sophie emphasizes that these improvements are low-lift but high-impact in terms of retention, trust, and employee well-being.

Who Should Listen?

• HR professionals seeking to improve return-to-work experiences after parental leave.
• People managers navigating how to better support employees during and post-leave.
• DEI and culture leads looking to bridge policy with real employee experience.
• Leaders in fast-paced or scaling companies aiming to retain talent during life transitions.
• Founders or HR teams at early-stage companies designing or rethinking parental leave policies.

Mentioned Links:

• Sophie Babinski’s LinkedIn
• Pli & Repli LinkedIn

Stay Connected to Vita Assure: Insurance and Workplace Benefits

• Vita Talks Podcast
• LinkedIn
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Ways to Support This Podcast:

💡 Share this episode with colleagues and leaders in your network
⭐ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
🔔 Subscribe for future conversations about benefits, leadership, and workplace wellness