The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) has been recognised as one of the nation’s leading organisations, receiving a Constructive Culture Award at the recent Human Synergistics conferences in Melbourne and Sydney.
The award recognises organisations that achieve a constructive culture on their first Organisational Culture Inventory (OCI) assessment and highlights SACA’s commitment to building a positive, collaborative and high-performing workplace.
The recognition follows presentations by SACA Chief Executive Officer Charlie Hodgson and General Manager of People and Culture Lisa Coderre at Human Synergistics conferences in Sydney and Melbourne, where they shared the organisation’s culture transformation journey and how it has driven success both on and off the field.
When Hodgson joined SACA five years ago, he saw an organisation with passionate people, rich history and enormous potential.
“We had great people and an amazing home, but nonetheless, we weren't really performing either on or off the pitch,” Hodgson said.
While SACA enjoyed on-field success through its women’s programs, Hodgson said the broader organisation was not achieving the outcomes it aspired to. Employee engagement was declining, staff turnover was increasing and the organisation was struggling to create alignment across departments.
The arrival of Coderre marked a significant step in that journey, shifting the focus towards people, leadership and creating a shared understanding of what high performance looked like across the organisation.
Recognising the need for change, SACA partnered with Human Synergistics to better understand its culture and create a roadmap for improvement.
Working alongside Human Synergistics consultant Dave Rundle, SACA introduced leadership development, coaching and a structured approach to building stronger connection, trust and accountability across the organisation.
“There was a realisation that the leaders go first,” Hodgson said.
“We had kind of identified what needed to be done, and that we were all willing to pull in the same direction.”
For Coderre, creating stronger relationships across the organisation was central to the process.
“When I first started at SACA, there was quite a disconnect between ELT and the employee group, disconnect across leadership, and even disconnection around business priorities,” Coderre said.
“We all knew that we were aspiring towards this future state culture.”
Guided by the values of Be Kind, Be Brave and Do Great Things Together, the organisation focused on strengthening connection, trust, accountability and leadership consistency, while creating a common language around behaviour and performance.
“The top thing was connection,” Coderre said.
The work extended beyond leadership development and culture programs. SACA reviewed its strategy, operating rhythm and business planning processes to ensure every part of the organisation was aligned.
A new strategic framework centred around growth, people, performance, community and customer was introduced, helping to break down silos and create greater collaboration across the business.
The impact was significant, with staff engagement scores increasing from 62 to 80 over an 18-month period, while new measures of workplace engagement also showed strong improvement.
Beyond engagement, the transformation has coincided with growth in participation, stronger player development pathways and sustained success across South Australian cricket, demonstrating what can be achieved when people, leadership, strategy and culture align.
Perhaps most importantly, Hodgson said employees could feel the difference throughout the business.
“How quickly it took to change the culture surprised me,” he said.
“Dave came in the first time, and I think he said something like, ‘You'll notice it in six months,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, right.’
“But he was right, and we still have a long way to go, but it definitely changed quicker than I expected it to.”
The cultural shift has also, not coincidentally, coincided with a period of success across South Australian cricket.
In 2024/25, South Australia claimed the Sheffield Shield, ending a 29-year drought and delivering the state's first title since 1995-96.
The following season, Ryan Harris’s side successfully defended the title, becoming the first South Australian men's team in more than 40 years to win back-to-back Sheffield Shield championships.
While Hodgson is cautious about judging an organisation solely on sporting results, he believes the achievement reflected the broader progress being made across SACA.
“The video you've just seen was us winning the Sheffield Shield for the first time in 29 years,” Hodgson said.
“That, in many ways, felt like the end of the beginning of the process we were going through, and it was a really nice kind of stamp on the fact that we felt like we were moving in the right direction.”
“It's really easy if you work in sport to judge yourself on outcomes on the pitch, but in lots of ways that's the one you have the least effect on.
“Some of the other achievements and outcomes have actually been way more rewarding.”
The Constructive Culture Award is further recognition of SACA’s commitment to its people and the deliberate work undertaken across the organisation to build a culture centred on connection, collaboration and high performance.
As SACA continues to build on its success both on and off the field, the award serves as recognition of the work undertaken across the organisation to create an environment where people can thrive and achieve great things together.