Now Live : 2025 Global Most Loved Workplaces® — See the Top 100 Companies
The 2025 America’s Top 100 is live. See the list →
The 2025 America’s Top 100 is live. See the list →
Hello everyone, welcome back to The Leader Show with Lou Carter. Our guest today is Pamela Maynard, CEO of Avanade.
Avanade is an international leader in technological solutions, dedicated to delivering a comprehensive suite of IT consulting and services grounded in Microsoft technology. With expertise spanning artificial intelligence, business analytics, cloud, and application services, the company is at the forefront of digital transformation.
With that said, let’s find out what makes it a Most Loved Workplace®.
Pam has aways believed in the unique, special nature of Avanade’s workplace enviroment, and the Most Loved Workplace® recognition helped validate its ‘people-first’ culture. She recounts the pride, gratitude, and excitement from Avanade’s employees upon hearing the news and mentions that many shared this on social media, along with personal anecdotes about what makes Avanade a great place to work.
This, according to Ms. Maynard, has strengthened the understanding and importance of the company’s people-first approach.
Pam pinpoints three critical factors that contributed to the company’s success: a united purpose, a culture of innovation, and a commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Pam underscores that in her leadership role, she solidified the company’s purpose of making a humane impact. She illustrates this with examples like aiding the NHS during the pandemic, working with nonprofits such as UNICEF, and partnering with the World Health Organization. She also mentions their response to societal events, like encouraging discussions around systemic racism following George Floyd’s murder and enabling increased volunteering during the pandemic.
In addition, Pam suggests that innovation has always been integral to Avanade, being essential in meeting the accelerating demand for technology evolution from its clients. Despite the shift to a virtual setting due to the pandemic, it has been able to maintain its focus on innovation and support clients’ innovative needs.
Last but not least, Pam expresses a personal responsibility as a black female CEO in the tech industry to make it more inclusive and diverse. Avanade has made strides in this area by appointing a Chief Diversity and Inclusion officer, investing in leadership development programs, reassessing talent acquisition processes to mitigate bias, and introducing gender transition leave, among other initiatives.
These three factors, according to Pam, have been pivotal in making Avanade a Most Loved Workplace.
Moving on, Pam discusses the importance of people-centric leadership, which she defines as a top priority in her role as the CEO of Avande. According to her, putting love for employees as a leadership priority means fostering a sense of purpose, authenticity, and belonging among her teams.
She strongly believes that when people feel loved and feel like they belong, there’s nothing the company can’t achieve.
According to Pam, the COVID-19 pandemic made her realize the importance of employees’ emotional, mental, and physical well-being. During that time, she ensured that the teams were taken care of and located where they needed or wanted to be during the global lockdowns.
This care included hosting webcasts, and town hall conversations, relieving pressure, and offering a differentiated employee value proposition that emphasizes limitless learning, distinctive experiences, and ambitious growth.
Pam concludes by reiterating that fostering a sense of belonging and putting people first also results in good business. She refers to a Harvard Business Review study that linked purpose with profit, suggesting a more engaged workforce is a more productive one, thereby bringing better results in business.
Lou and Pam go into much greater detail throughout this conversation.
Thank you for listening!
