How do you help employees thrive? As it turns out, that’s a trillion-dollar question.

Disengaged employees cost their organizations $7.8 trillion last year globally, 11% of total GDP, according to research from Gallup. Engagement is a byproduct of great company culture, but as workforces become more hybrid–and companies become more thoughtful about their initiatives in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)–the definition of company culture has evolved.

“Culture is not free lunches. Culture is equity for your employees,” said Alawna Ozoka, coach-operations acquisitions lead for BetterUp, a platform helping companies deliver personal and professional growth to their employees. Ozoka said the Gallup research points to four areas that employers can focus on to better engage employees: clarity with expectations, opportunities to learn and grow, feeling cared about, and cultivating a deeper connection to the organization’s larger mission and values.

“Really, what quiet quitting means for employers is that employees are looking for something beyond just a salary,” Ozoka said. “They're looking for deeper meaning, deeper growth, and deeper connection when it comes to work, a place where they’re spending 40+ hours of their week.”

How can leaders reinvigorate employees in a hybrid world–and in the face of potential headcount reductions? Okoza shared her top tips in From Day One’s webinar “Thriving in the New Year: How Individuals Find Meaning and Purpose in Their Work.”

Improve Culture to Increase Revenue

In a recent BetterUp report entitled “How coaching culture builds resilient future-ready organizations,” an analysis of 18,300 users found that companies whose employees reported a high coaching culture had 14% higher revenue growth over a five-year period than low-coaching-culture companies.

“What you’ll see with coaching is you have these little flywheels that continue to reap benefits when it comes to employee happiness, growth, and purpose at work,” Ozoka said. She describes coaching culture as “combining strength-based processes and mindsets with organizational success,” and notes that employees who are continuously learning are more resilient. “I think that’s something that’s particularly important in this environment of uncertainty where, again, we have layoffs, and a potential recession looming.”

Performance review cycles are top of mind at the moment, but they’re not as impactful as you might think. A separate study from Gallup found only 14% of employees “strongly agree” that performance reviews inspire them to improve. Ozoka said there are several initiatives you can take year-round to embolden culture without needing a bigger budget.

“When I think about culture, I think about salary, and benefits, and transparency,” she said. “That is absolutely culture. I think about time off, leave policies, employee assistance programs, and coaching. I encourage employers to think about those things.” She also noted that, amidst tightening budgets and new-year layoffs, leadership should think strategically about incentives. “Maybe certain roles aren't available, and your team really has to bootstrap in and get things done. What type of behaviors are you incentivizing?”

Cultivate Belonging in Three Ways

BetterUp’s report found that, when it comes to predictors of retention, a sense of belonging was the second-highest indicator of intent to stay with a company. But what is belonging, really? And how is it different from culture? Ozoka suggested thinking of belonging as having three components: personality, awareness, and top-down relatability.

“First, understand that everyone is different. The way they show up is going to be very specific to them,” she said. “I love to be in everyone’s face and be very extroverted, because that’s who I am. But that doesn’t make me more belonging, or exhibiting more belonging, than someone that may be more quiet and reserved.”

“The second thing I’d say is being able to evaluate what your people are saying about you,” she added, citing platforms like Fishbowl and Glassdoor, which can sometimes influence an employee’s perception of company culture. “And then the last thing is for our leadership teams to show up not only as leaders, but also as people. Model that behavior, showing up as your full self, so that others are encouraged to do it too.”

Culture and belonging take time to develop. As we enter a new year, consider ways to measure to improve your organization’s coaching culture, and you’ll have a bigger impact on the bottom line for years to come.

Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, BetterUp, who sponsored this webinar.

Nick Wolny is a senior editor at NextAdvisor, in partnership with TIME. He has previously written for Fast Company, Fortune, Business Insider, Entrepreneur Magazine, and OUT Magazine, and was named a “40 under 40” by the Houston Business Journal in 2021.

Winning Strategies for Delivering an Inclusive Employee-Engagement Experience

The integration of new technology has transformed HR, enabling people leaders to shift their focus from traditional desk tasks to using this technology to build more inclusive and genuinely engaging workplaces.Sloan Kendall, head of global partnerships at Blink, and Caroline Mikhail, director of advisory services at LineZero, spoke in a thought leadership spotlight about winning strategies for delivering an inclusive employee-engagement experience at From Day One’s November virtual conference.The Five Engagement StrategiesThe first key strategy is leveraging technology to create an inclusive experience. Newer technology should meet employees where they are, provide easy authentication, and be highly personalized.For example, Blink helped a transportation company improve communication with their non-tech-oriented frontline workers using a mobile app with manager-led activation, says Mikhail. This successfully executed and personalized solution accommodated employees who have access to mobile phones instead of computers.Caroline Mikhail, director of advisory services at LineZero, spoke during the thought leadership spotlight (company photoThe second strategy is utilizing the strengths of a multigenerational workforce, as the social skills and technological knowledge of each generation differ from one another. Reverse mentorship programs facilitate younger generation employees sharing modern tech knowledge with older generation employees. Further, they learn valuable social skills from older employees.A workforce with diverse and inclusive skill sets enables leaders to use modern social tools, like short-form videos, to share information and provide feedback effectively. This approach ensures that socially and culturally relevant communication channels are accessible and beneficial for all employees.A third key strategy is to develop authentic connections in the workplace. When combined with technology, it cultivates more authentic employee engagement.Shadowing programs are ways for company executives and leaders to meet employees within different departments and learn about their daily responsibilities. Posting videos of the experience, featuring different employee experiences each time, encourages participation and enhances employees’ connection to one another.Other mentorship and development programs further facilitate direct communication between leaders and employees. Mikhail shared how an executive created a skill-sharing channel to recommend books and create discussion among employees. Such programs and initiatives, enhanced by new social mediums using technology, provide enriching and unique engagement where employees feel authentically seen, understood, and appreciated by their leaders and peers.The fourth strategy is to embrace champions as workplace ambassadors. Champions further help employees adapt to new technology and communication channels by answering questions and explaining the advantages to employees and the organization.The fifth key strategy is data-driven iteration. While traditional data remains essential for informed decision-making and improving financial outcomes, leveraging technology to filter and display diverse employee data on dashboards enables leaders to better strategize around engagement and development.They can obtain data on individual employees and teams and access summarized data revealing specific trends, helping people leaders create relevant solutions and development and mentorship opportunities. More inclusive datasets also inform leaders on the ways new tools are used so they can shift to more intuitive approaches that reap the most benefits.Inclusivity MattersInclusive solutions sustain hybrid workplaces. Frontline workers aren’t working at desks on computers and may not see their supervisors, managers, or people leaders on a day-to-day basis.Making technological innovation accessible to all employees drives better business outcomes by addressing the unique needs of both teams and individuals.Inclusive engagement fosters stronger peer connections through improved internal communication, boosts productivity by delivering role-specific solutions, and increases employee visibility through diverse social engagement channels.Kendall highlighted the partnership between Blink, a mobile-first employee experience and communication platform, and LineZero, a consultancy specializing in employee experience and change management. Together, they aim to help organizations strengthen connection, culture, and communication in the digital age.“Together we’re really setting up to deliver an experience that enables organizations to empower their employees to better communicate, to engage, and to access relevant systems and tools all in one centralized application,” said Kendall.Editor's note: From Day One thanks our partner, LineZero, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight. Stephanie Reed is a freelance news, marketing, and content writer. Much of her work features small business owners throughout diverse industries. She is passionate about promoting small, ethical, and eco-conscious businesses.

The Connection Cure: Reviving Inclusion and Restoring Belonging in a Divided World

In 2024, 52% of workers say that increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a good thing—a 4% decrease from 2023. Meanwhile, 21% of workers say DEI is a bad thing, a 5% increase from last year. Workers’ perceptions of DEI and its significance have shifted.What has contributed to workers starting to see division rather than belonging with DEI? Teresa Hopke, CEO of Talking Talent shared her insights during a thought leadership spotlight at From Day One’s Brooklyn conference.Hopke discussed several important factors contributing to a shift in the perception of inclusion. The biggest factor is not prioritizing more inclusive connections, she says. Organizations must redefine what inclusion is and bridge the gaps in workplace connections to restore confidence in DEI. Because DEI, Hopke emphasizes, will always improve rather than harm business outcomes.Inclusion and Belonging StrategiesHow can business leaders redefine and optimize DEI to become more inclusive? How can DEI strategies restore belonging in the workplace and continue to help marginalized employees authentically achieve professional success? Hopke shared three strategies for fostering inclusion and belonging within the workplace. First, creating connection circles, a structured group or gathering designed to bring together people from various levels, positions, and cultural backgrounds within an organization, helps unite workers.Next, the Human Library methodology offers a unique, voluntary approach where individuals “check out” an employee to learn about a topic or experience they are unfamiliar with. The employee, possessing specialized knowledge, shares insights and teaches them about that subject.Hopke led a thought leadership spotlight about "The Connection Cure: Reviving Inclusion and Restoring Belonging in a Divided World"Finally, reverse leadership programs involve a reverse mentorship approach, where leaders gain insights from employees at different professional levels about the experience of belonging to an outgroup within the organization.These are authentic solutions promoting connection and understanding among different groups, says Hopke.Becoming More Connected, Not DividedRestoring connection within the workplace is at the heart of Talking Talent, coaching leaders at organizations on how to create and strengthen their DEI initiatives.The company offers several solutions, from safe communication practices to “helping systematically oppressed and underrepresented groups into senior leadership roles.” Its coaching solutions have led to positive business outcomes: 75% of their clients have won awards and occupied top league tables for DEI.However, outside of Talking Talent, one drawback of DEI that organizations have observed is employees feeling categorized and labeled. The compartmentalization can make workers feel ashamed and ostracized. For example, Hopke discussed how society normally perceives white men as the group historically embodying the status quo, yet this doesn’t account for white men who didn’t attend prestigious colleges, are neurodivergent, or aren’t heterosexual.This may explain the growing disconnection that white men feel from DEI efforts. A study from the Pew Research Center shows that 47% of white workers believe DEI practices hurt white men.Furthermore, Hopke emphasizes that DEI practices can tokenize marginalized groups and their experiences, also contributing to decreasing positivity toward DEI. “We also have to make sure that we’re not using connection and thinking of it as a fluffy term. It actually can create change in your organization,” she said. This is because connection is a biological need and addressing this need creates better business outcomes.“I am going to guess that there isn’t one business problem you have in your strategy that can’t be solved with more connection, whether it’s client-facing, whether it's market-facing, whether it’s internal—connection is the cure,” she said.So, how can organizations make the work around belonging prioritize connection rather than division? Hopke says to focus on what unites people rather than divides them and engages them in cross-cultural dialogue. People stay at organizations when they feel authentic belonging and connection.“We have to make this about everyone,” she said. “We can’t use shame, we can’t use labels, and we can’t put people into categories. We need to create cultures where everyone uses empathy, understanding, and curiosity to connect with each other.”Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, Talking Talent, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight.Stephanie Reed is a freelance news, marketing, and content writer. Much of her work features small business owners throughout diverse industries. She is passionate about promoting small, ethical, and eco-conscious businesses

Compensation-Planning: Best Practices and Trends

When you think about compensation planning for your organization, what comes to mind? If it’s not approached strategically, it can harm your business. HR managers often face the challenge of balancing company budgets with the need to offer competitive pay scales. Research from Visier, a platform that helps businesses and employees by combining people and business data to provide insights, found that a failure to identify and quickly address wage compression issues in teams can lead to faster resignations.Business News Daily defines compensation planning as encompassing all the compensatory elements of a company’s strategy, including employee wages, partner discounts, and raise schedules. These compensation decisions impact more than just finances; they shape an employee’s attitude toward the company, influence their work effort, and determine how long they stay with the organization.“When pay is adjusted quickly the length of tenure is significantly longer,” said Sean Luitjens, general manager, total rewards at Visier. Luitjens spoke during a From Day One webinar about “Compensation-Planning: Best Practices and Trends,” moderated by journalist Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza.Visier research revealed that new employees who received a raise within their first month stayed with their company for an average of 31.5 months. In contrast, employees who received a raise within six months quit 1.8 times sooner than those with annual raises, and those who had no raise at all quit 2.3 times sooner. That’s why more compensation planning cycles are crucial for your overall company success.Sean Luitjens, general manager, total rewards at Visier, led the webinarUtilizing data analytics to identify key issues for your company enables informed decisions around pay. This process shouldn’t be rushed just to check a box. The advantage of having a tech and data strategy is clear: “When you start to break it down between the details, eligibility, budget, bonus LTI, and then try to take all that and create a pay philosophy, it’s exceedingly complex,” said Luitjens.Organizations can leverage data analysis by tapping into various sources, such as performance reviews and sales targets. Building more data points and reference benchmarks allows for continuous improvement. The key is aligning this data with your business goals to inform pay decisions. Factors such as an employee’s role, performance, and tenure in the position should also be considered.Managers must also gain the knowledge of compensation planning. If they cannot understand it, how can they execute and communicate it to their team? When you give them an anchor point, explain why you are giving them that number, says Luitjens. “Put yourself in a B2C marketing position and put on your UX hat, and start to work yourself back on how they would work through the process, rather than sending an Excel spreadsheet,” he said.Luitjens ended with a summary of three compensation planning best practices, again emphasizing the importance of the manager experience in the process:Define your destination and the road there.Place manager experience at the center of delivering pay philosophy. Create a cynical and ever improving data strategy.“When it comes to compensation planning specifically, really place the manager’s experience at the center of delivering the pay philosophy.”Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, Visier, for sponsoring this webinar.Mary Jones is a freelance writer out of Ohio. Her work is featured in several publications including The Dallas Express, NDash, and The Daily Advocate.

Thriving in the New Year: How Individuals Find Meaning in Their Work

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Winning Strategies for Delivering an Inclusive Employee-Engagement Experience

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Compensation-Planning: Best Practices and Trends