From Day One | Stories

How Your Workforce’s Culture Directly Affects Your Consumer’s Experience

Build a workplace culture that empowers employees, and in turn, you’ll elevate customer service. That’s the key takeaway from a discussion with Ash Hanson, EVP and chief HR officer of AmeriHealth Caritas. She spoke during a fireside chat at From Day One’s Philadelphia conference. Stephen Koepp, editor in chief and co-founder of From Day One moderated.But how exactly do you build a workplace culture that empowers employees? Hanson offered several main points.Treat Employees Like ShareholdersAs stewards of human capital, HR leaders play a pivotal role in an organization’s success, according to Hanson. The pandemic certainly brought that fact into focus. “When you fully leverage the potential of your human capital, it truly makes a difference between the performance of a company from being good to being great,” she said. At AmeriHealth Caritas, a managed care organization serving Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, and Health Insurance Marketplace members across 13 states, employees aren’t just fulfilling tasks—they are living the organization’s mission every day. With over 9,000 associates, the company manages care for millions of Americans, often in times of critical need. “Our mission is not just something on paper,” Hanson said. The organization’s structure enables team members to view their work as essential to clients’ well-being, creating a culture in which employees feel accountable and aligned with the company’s goals. This approach connects employees to the organization’s outcomes, inspiring them to perform at their best.As Hanson says, treat your employees like shareholders. Invite them into the conversation. Their quarterly virtual town halls are well attended, and leaders spend time talking about not just what’s happening in the company, but within the competitive marketplace.Ash Hanson, EVP and CHRO of AmeriHealth Caritas, spoke during the fireside chatWhat other discussions would you have with shareholders? A mission statement is one key focus. At healthcare companies like AmeriHealth Caritas, the mission is to help people get care, stay well, and build healthy communities.“We really take care of over 4 million of the most disadvantaged Americans, very often at the time of their most critical need,” Hanson said. “This is an organization where every single employee lives the mission every single day.” That purpose helps drive employee culture, which in turn elevates customer experience. Along with that is ensuring team members have the proper training to get the job done well. While technology is useful, she added, an employee’s expertise and human care can’t be replaced or undervalued. “We spend and invest a lot of time upskilling our associates and making sure that they are ready and prepared to be responsive to member needs.”Finally, being transparent must be woven into everything you do, Hanson says. The more open and honest leaders are, the more open and confident employees can be. Holistic Employee BenefitsThere’s the expected medical and retirement benefits many companies offer. And then there are benefits that look at the whole employee. What do employees need and want? The more companies can offer these to their people, the greater the company culture. Physical needs are important, but leaders should also pay attention to employees’ emotional needs and financial needs. “Coming out of the pandemic, we implemented Lyra because we had a lot of employees talk about how they couldn’t find therapists for either their own needs or for their children,” Hanson said. “We implemented a program which offers 12 free counseling sessions, not just for our employees, but for their families as well.”The company has a state-of-the-art gym on site, but those working elsewhere have access to fitness apps to help them with fitness, plus nutrition and even sleep. A well-rounded, happy employee is better able to show up for work in a way that helps the employee and customers. As far as financial well-being, the company provides education on preparing for the future. Hanson emphasized the impact of authentic employee recognition, stating that recognition is integral to promoting engagement and reducing feelings of isolation. Their social recognition platform allows team members to acknowledge each other’s efforts, creating an authentic culture of support and mutual appreciation. This culture of holistic care and recognition has a direct effect on employee satisfaction and productivity, leading to improved service quality for clients.Balance Conviction with CuriosityOne core HR strategy is balancing conviction with curiosity, Hanson says. HR professionals are often sought after for their expertise, yet cultivating curiosity is essential to inspire innovation and creative problem-solving. Hanson suggested that HR leaders stay curious. “Curiosity opens up opportunities for creative, new ideas. It's a place where inspiration comes from. It's a place where innovation comes from,” she said. And especially as the needs of employees continue to change, HR leaders must continually stay ahead and change with them.By following these points, leaders can start to build a company culture that enhances both employee and customer satisfaction. By treating employees as stakeholders, supporting holistic well-being, and fostering a culture of curiosity, organizations can strengthen their workforce’s commitment to service excellence, benefiting customers in the process.Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.

BY Carrie Snider | November 22, 2024

Boosting Retention and Productivity Through Workforce Agility

Today’s talent has a lot of choices. Which means companies must build adaptable and agile workforces to drive both retention and productivity. This approach goes beyond standard policies, recognizing the distinct career aspirations and evolving expectations of workers across a diverse range of roles.In a recent panel discussion at From Day One’s Denver’s conference, moderated by Erica Breunlin of the Colorado Sun, industry leaders shared insights into strategies that empower employees, close skills gaps, and foster flexibility. Their insights highlight a shift toward greater workforce transparency, mentorship, and the restructuring of traditional work expectations.In a recent survey of employees at Randstad RiseSmart, they asked: Is it easier for you to find a job within the company or outside the company? Forty-five percent said it was easier to find a job outside the company.“We then asked corporate recruiters the same question,” said panelist Chris Harrington, SVP, sales and customer success at Randstad RiseSmart. “55% of them said from outside the company, like they know the secret’s out.”For many, being a gig or contract worker has become easier and more attractive, he says. And it’s not just IT workers or other similar industries. A Fortune 100 CEO recently told Harrington that when trying to hire a CIO, the candidate asked if they could be a contractor rather than an employee.“Employees and the employers together are realizing that there’s a huge gap,” Harrington said. “Employees have a lot of choices, candidly, and so the choice has really exploded.”When there’s a lot of choice, employees will go where they get the most flexibility. Some will go towards remote work, meaning those who mandate back-to-office days could be shrinking their talent pool. Others will be attracted to career potential within the company.Employers should be very thoughtful about how they approach these types of decisions. Ultimately, it comes down to transparency, he said.Executive panelists spoke about "Boosting Retention and Productivity Through Workforce Agility" at From Day One's Denver conference“I don’t think as employers, we're doing a great job being transparent with our employees around what their own opportunities are, let alone how we go out to the external market and start to market,” Harrington said. “There’s an entire generation of workers that are coming into the workforce looking for a diverse set of experiences. We can do that, and I think we need to get a little bit smarter around it and figure out how to better market it to the employee base.Closing the GapsThere are three distinct gaps with this workforce–a skills gap, an expectations gap, and a visibility gap, says panelist Erick Allen, principal at Cornerstone.“There’s data that says one in three employees don’t feel they have the skills to do the job that they’re currently employed in. Just think about that,” Allen said. There’s a huge opportunity for organizations to close the skills gap by paying attention to those, then offer learning opportunities and mentorship.Second is the expectations gap. In a Cornerstone survey, 49% of employees felt that their employers were doing a poor job at either upskilling or reskilling. “Yet 89% of executives felt they were doing a great job,” he added. That’s a huge gap between employees and leaders that needs to be closed by offering opportunities for upskilling.Third, there is a visibility gap. The hiring process typically involves a narrow set of skills in order to land the job. But what after? What other skills do they have and how can the company best utilize them?“We have done ourselves in disservice with applicant tracking systems in relation to skills visibility,” Allen said. “Once you get someone in, allow them to open up, and you will find out they have skills and abilities and things that they can do far outside of what they did.”Allen says that the Great Resignation of 2023, when 27% of the workforce voluntarily shifted jobs, hasn’t slowed down. Retention relies on closing major gaps and giving workers opportunities and flexibility.MentorshipRetention becomes significantly more challenging in large organizations, where a lack of personalization and difficulty scaling effectively can disengage employees. People don’t want to feel like just another face in the crowd.“Every employee is very unique and individual in the path that they want to pursue,” said panelist Elizabeth Bruns, director of business HR and global business group HR lead of Avanade. “Careers are no longer linear, so the career journey is going to be very much driven by that particular employee.”Not only that, but rapidly evolving technology means careers can change quickly, and companies should offer ways for them to gain skills. At Avanade, they’ve offered a Microsoft certification program that is constantly evolving with new technology. Plus, they developed an AI school so employees could learn more.Perhaps the biggest impact they’ve seen, though, is from a more one-on-one approach: career advisors. “The idea of a career advisor is they’re like your guiding light for your career journey,” she said. A project manager is the day-to-day work focus, but a career advisor is like a mentor for your career goals.“They can help aggregate performance feedback that you may have received, provide you with that developmental feedback, help you identify the specific paths that you might want to pursue from a development learning perspective, or just be a separate party that the person can talk to,” Bruns said.The personalization piece helps drive it home. Because in an organization with thousands, employees are getting the specific direction they need to have confidence in their current role and possible roles to come. Flexibility for the FrontlineWorkers want flexibility, but how does a company accomplish that for the non-remote worker? According to panelist Kristen Baller, head of talent acquisition at DISH Network, more than 60% of the workforce is blue collar, performing jobs that involve physical labor.“I would encourage us to really start to think about how we are talking to our leaders, to think not just about remote work, but flexibility,” she said. “How are we starting to think about the hours? Are we able to start to create shifts that align more with the school schedule, or start to thin through four day four day work weeks?”It becomes more complicated when you’re talking about large organizations with lots of people and factors to consider. As with any job, no matter whether they’re remote or frontline, keeping track of skills is paramount. With the right systems in place, a company can offer upskilling opportunities and ultimately better retain workers who feel valued.“As leaders, we’re responsible for not only keeping track of them, but giving the feedback and helping them understand what skills they’re doing to accomplish their jobs,” she said.Building an agile workforce is a multifaceted process that requires transparency, gap-bridging, personalized mentorship, and flexible thinking across all job types. By tackling these areas, organizations can foster a culture that values both individual career goals and collective success. Adapting to the demands of today’s workforce is essential for driving retention and boosting productivity.Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.

Creating an Optimal Workplace for Hourly Employees: Essential Tips for Leaders

In an industry where employee turnover is famously high, what might keep a grocery store employee with the same company for decades?Mayerland Harris, group VP of talent at Texas retailer H-E-B, started at the company right out of college, taking her first job in store operations before moving into HR. She spent some time in the pharmacy department then held a few corporate roles where she oversaw all the centers of excellence for compensation, talent development, recruiting, and people analytics. Recently, she’s taken over HR for all store operations. Harris estimates she’s had a new role roughly every three years, and more than three decades later, she says the experience still feels fresh. Though Harris isn’t an hourly employee, the majority of H-E-B’s 160,000 employees are.“But the fundamental reason I’ve stayed all this time is the company has never really given me a strong reason to look outside,” Harris said during a From Day One webinar on creating an optimal workplace for hourly employees. “To take another job, you have to take that call from the headhunter, and you have to go on the interview, and you have to have some level of curiosity or dissatisfaction.” Harris just hasn’t felt that. “By the time I started thinking, ‘Hey, this doesn’t seem right,’ the situation would change, or my role would change, or that person would leave.”Lots of hourly workers start at H-E-B with a temporary summer job—then they end up staying, and it’s not uncommon for careers to last decades like Harris’s has. Some have been at the same store for 55 years. “I believe it is 100% the family orientation,” she said. “People will tell us they feel like when they work here, they’re a part of a family. Your [direct supervisor] is a big part of that, but so many people have best friends that are co-workers that they feel like they’re coming to, if not a reunion, at least a place that’s very, very comfortable.” Those who come from other organizations tell her they feel a genuine sense of respect from all levels of the team that they haven’t felt elsewhere.When Harris goes into the stores, she doesn’t put her title on her name tag, just her years of service. “The line employee or sweeping the floors or bringing the carts in is just as important as a manager or a leader, because it’s all about serving the customer.”Mayerland Harris of H-E-B spoke with journalist Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza during the webinar (photo by From Day One)A good employee experience depends on having a good team. “We try to find people who are able to start and hold a conversation easily. There is an expectation that we’re talking to our customers as they’re going through the line or while we’re bagging groceries without being too intrusive about what you’re purchasing. We’re looking for people who genuinely like talking, who like interacting, especially for those roles that are customer-facing. Everything else, you learn on the job.”Growing the Careers of Hourly EmployeesAt H-E-B, even hourly roles can expand. There are career development tracks for those who want to be a specialist in their department. Hourly employees who want a chance at being a department manager can apply for a multi-week program called the School of Retail Management, where they gain both technical and leadership skills they still need for the job. Those who want to can keep going, progressing through the organization to become a top store leader or move into corporate. “We love when partners who start in hourly, non-management positions rise all the way to the top.”It helps that the company doesn’t contract with external companies for any of its store employees. That means they employ their own doctors and nurses for on-site health clinics. They also have pilots, engineers, and food scientists on the payroll. “We joke that we have every single career path in the world except for astronauts,” she said. “People see that and they feel like, ‘OK, I don’t have to be stuck here in this one role.’ There’s so much flexibility to do different things.”The operational implications for such a large organization are huge. Those who regard grocery retail as boring soon learn this isn’t the case. Front-end managers might be responsible for 500 or 600 people in a store that’s open 17 hours a day. Inventory and store experience has to flex with consumer preferences. “We’re always having to reinvent who we are, having to reinvent what we are providing. Do we do self-checkout or not? Do we provide meal solutions and all the different things people are looking for? You have to stay on top of that.” One TikTok video or news story can spike demand for a single item, and stores need to meet that need quickly. “That speed of change keeps everything pretty exciting.”Rewarding Excellent Work and Long TenureTo reward those with outstanding contributions, H-E-B has a company-wide recognition program where employees can nominate a colleague or a manager can nominate their direct report. The rewards are prestigious, she said. “You can win at your store level, your facility level, your regional level, or your division level, and then you can make it all the way up to the top person in the organization.”To get a sense of what it’s like to be an hourly worker, Harris uses the annual engagement survey to find a company baseline and identify aberrations, then address them at the store level with on-the-ground research and focus groups. “We have a whole department called customer insights, and these people are amazing at talking to customers and doing focus groups,” she said. “Well, now we’ve been using them to help us internally, because they are so good at asking questions and coming in with recaps. We use them also to spot-check and get feedback from our employees. And then we figure out what we can do to make the environment better.”One thing that makes the store environment so great is that the hourly workforce is so diverse, and that’s something employees really love, Harris said proudly. Hourly workers range from teenagers to octogenarians. “You’re not just working with people who have your same life experiences or your same background; the thing that you have in common is that store or that facility that you work in; the thing that you have in common is H-E-B.”Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, Deputy, for sponsoring this webinar.Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a freelance journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about work, the job market, and women’s experiences in the workplace. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Quartz, Business Insider, Fast Company, and Digiday’s Worklife.

Constant Change Is Bad for Business Because It’s Bad for Human Performance

In the corporate world, change is inevitable and organizations that can’t change don’t last long. Oftentimes, change is considered a good thing until you talk to people on the frontlines of it.“At some point you have to recognize that there is a contradiction between the simplistic idea that change is necessarily a good thing and the lived experience of change on the front lines, which seems to be anything but a good thing,” said Ashley Goodall, a leadership expert and author of The Problem With Change: And the Essential Nature of Human Performance.Goodall spoke with Vox's editorial director of tech, climate, and world teams, Bryan Walsh, at From Day One’s October virtual conference. They spoke about how to navigate constant change in the business world.Uncertainty, Control, and Work Without MeaningGoodall has had a long career in the corporate world as an HR executive, most recently at Cisco. He's seen major change from the outside and inside and identifies three key themes prevalent in any chaotic change. The first is uncertainty. “We don’t do very well when the future is uncertain and when somebody says there’s a big change coming, that’s almost the definition of uncertainty.”The next is control. “When you take away our sense of agency, we feel helpless. There’s a phenomenon called learned helplessness, where people just phone it in, because they’ve been trained by their environment that whatever they do won’t make that much of a difference.”Learned helplessness is the psychological name for a loss of control, Goodall says, but it also goes by another name. “Quiet quitting is probably pretty close in a business context for people saying, ‘Hey, I don't know what I do here. Why am I trying?’”Bryan Walsh of Vox interviewed author Ashley Goodall, left, during the fireside chat (photo by From Day One)The last theme is having a sense of meaning. “We have a desperate need for the world to make sense to us,” Goodall said. Organizational change often disrupts the essential social connections that define how people work and identify themselves. Shifting teams or altering org charts can dismantle these "social graphs," leaving employees struggling to adapt. On top of that, humans have an innate need to make sense of their environment. When conflicting messages about the organization’s direction emerge, employees often feel lost and disconnected, unable to contribute effectively.Goodall noted that while leaders often recognize these challenges, their focus tends to remain narrow—fixing one change initiative at a time. The issue arises when multiple initiatives, driven by different leaders or consultants, pile up, creating chaos. To address this, organizations must rethink change holistically and prioritize creating a work environment that supports human connection and meaningful contribution.“And it’s the aggregation of all of this that is really pernicious, which means that organizations need to think differently about change, and more broadly about the experience of work here every day, and does it support human contribution,” Goodall said."What can leadership do when it comes to actually executing change?” Walsh asked. Goodall says there needs to be a sliding scale to determine when change is necessary. “The first thing to say to organizational leadership is, do less. Change. But do less. If we get through our collective heads that this isn’t an unalloyed good, this is something that can create harm more than it creates good, then I think you pause and set the bar higher on organizational change.”This doesn’t always happen but leadership can be proactive about “turning the volume down,” he said.“You can involve employees in telling you where the volume currently is,” Goodall said. "What would happen if a leader came in and said, I’m going to spend the next few weeks learning everything that works really well here, or everything that we should preserve, or everything that’s valuable, or everything that’s special, or everything that you really care about, so that we know what to protect. And once we’ve understood that, then we can think about how to improve things.”Leaders can help employees navigate change by anchoring on stability and framing it as a clear, process-driven outcome, while taking steps to promote consistency amid the chaos of multiple initiatives.Stability is a Necessary Precondition for Improvement“You could say stability is kind of the opposite of change. What does that look like?” Walsh asked.Goodall distinguished between change and improvement, which he says aren’t the same things and given a choice between the two, people would choose improvement. “The thing that we’re chasing in all of this is improvement. Well, stability is a necessary precondition for improvement.”People struggling in an organization amidst a sea of instability don’t lend to improvement. Goodall believes that improvement and positive change come from team environments, where employees know what’s going on and are valued. “If we are able to stipulate that organizational value, organizational productivity, organizational innovation, organizational goodness comes from humans working together.”If you have the above, then you’ll have something like stability, Goodall says.“What does stability look like? Stability looks like I have space to figure out the best use of my time. I’m given some autonomy.” For Goodall, true stability at work comes from personal confidence, strong team dynamics, and leaders who foster meaningful connections and mutual support.Digging more into that predictability and stability, Goodall talked about his use of weekly all-hands meetings, something Walsh pointed out that, in his experience, executives tend to despise.Goodall did not spend a whole lot of time prepping for these meetings. Instead, he used them as a personnel barometer. “It was a conversation for the leadership team that everyone got to tune into and ask questions of us.”“What we were trying to solve was, if you know what’s going on, you have space, you have agency, [then] you have predictability. You get to see the people leading your organizations when they’re not on script–when they’re not following the talking points that the communications team has put together for the all hands," Goodall added.The meetings would start with slides of birthdays, service anniversaries, or something random with a photo to spark conversation or a laugh. Then they would move onto business, and different teams would simply talk about what they were working on, what was working for them, areas of difficulty and challenge, what was coming up in the future, and more.And making things weekly, instead of a few times a year, gives organizations the opportunity to handle change as it’s happening, according to Goodall. All of this is "profoundly stabilizing." “We did this every week for years and years, and it became an organizational ritual, and people still talk about it. All we were doing was ritualizing stability and explaining to people what was going on.”Matthew Koehler is a freelance journalist and licensed real estate agent based in Washington, DC. His work has appeared in Greater Greater Washington, The Washington Post, The Southwester, and Walking Cinema, among others.

By Katie Chambers | November 20, 2024

Creating a Purposeful Workplace Experience

With the major threat of the pandemic behind us, the big question is unavoidable: should we all return to the office? If you feel like opinions are sharply divided, well, you’re right!“A recent survey from McKinsey found that 52% of employees prefer a mix of both: they love that hybrid workplace, valuing flexibility, but also recognize the benefits of working in person,” said moderator Lydia Dishman, senior editor for growth and engagement at Fast Company. “And research from Gallup shows that employees who feel engaged in their workplace are more likely to want to return to the office, particularly for team collaboration and relationship building.”Deloitte reports that organizations with a strong focus on employee experience see a productivity increase of up to 20% and it also helps with turnover rates. “Ultimately, it's up to the leaders to set the policy and model what the ideal workplace situation looks like,” Dishman said during an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s October virtual conference.Corporate leaders have been saying it a lot lately: We want to make the office a magnet, not a mandate. They can make that a reality by creating the kind of experience that re-engages workers with their leaders, their colleagues, and their roles. How can employers be intentional about the workplace as a welcoming community and place where workers can fulfill their need for connection and purpose, inclusion and belonging?Encouraging In-person InteractionIt can be hard to encourage in-person interaction, even when back in the office, when employees are plugged into a post-pandemic productivity mindset of sitting at a desk, powering through tasks, and then going home. Providing team leaders with additional support can help them facilitate the organic in-office interactions that so many of us have been missing.“We’re trying to guide leaders with tools. At CSL, we’ve just launched a series of tools called Moments That Matter,” said Kim Robbins, senior director, HR change and culture at CSL Behring. “It’s encouraging leaders to coach their teams about being intentional about the work that needs to happen.” The training helps them understand the difference between moments that require ‘heads down’ focus time alone in the office or at home vs. times when they should be providing face-to-face support, such as when onboarding new hires. “Could we be encouraging people to randomly meet for lunch or come together for events? We’ve positioned all this in a framework about planning the way you work, so that people could be intentional and do some assessments for who might be missing in their network that could really help them feel that greater sense of connectivity and belonging,” Robbins said.Executive panelists from JLL, HR Media & Co., CSL Behring, and Lam Research spoke about "Creating a Purposeful Workplace Experience" (photo by From Day One) Antoinette Hamilton, global head of inclusion & diversity at Lam Research, says that employee resource groups, which first came into prominence as a way to stay virtually connected during Covid, are now another structured way to encourage organic in-person interaction. ERG’s can “be a place to connect, meet some new people, and do something for a great cause,” Hamilton said.Taking an Empathetic Approach“Empathy is a foundational principle of making a workplace someplace you want to go to,” Dishman said. Much of empathy, says Judith Ojo, CEO of HR Media & Co., comes down to open communication. “Some employees are not fond of being in the office. Maybe they can’t get enough work done or they’re constantly interrupted,” Ojo said. Make sure you understand where your employees are coming from and what they are looking for, then respond in kind. For the issues Ojo noted, creating a quiet zone, collaboration space, or wellness area for meditation can go a long way to making an employee feel comfortable, seen, and supported. Such an adaptive workspace can be helpful for fostering inclusion.Empathy can mean different things for different people, and leaders need to be prepared to take the cue from the employees. “I think listening sessions are really important. The key is you’re not trying to solve the problem. You’re listening,” said Tina Leblanc, Ph.D., head of DEI, Americas at JLL. “You listen. You pause. You come up with a solution. And then go back and say, ‘What I heard was…And these are some ideas.’ And then also ask them, ‘What do you feel we can do as a team to be more inclusive?’ That way you’re not putting your own biases [onto it].” Regular employee surveys can encourage employees to come forward.Building the Ideal WorkplaceFor many employees, Dishman says, it seems like a hybrid environment is the ideal. But making organizations cohesive and productive in a hybrid setup can seem far easier on paper than it is in practice. “Building trust within hybrid teams is really crucial to ensure collaboration and productivity,” Hamilton said. Her team does this by leaning into their core values: clear communication, mutual trust and respect, and transparency. Her organization wants its teams to feel cared about, and have created a manager track with training that incorporates inclusive leadership.Senior leaders need to communicate goals and parameters, Dishman says, so that the office continues to be a hub of connection – and so that everyone doesn’t come into the office two days per week only to spend those days on Zoom. “One thing that we have is collaborative conversations, where we bring people throughout the whole office, and even in different buildings, together,” Leblanc said. The company also encourages group lunches on Mondays, coffee on Wednesdays, and desserts on Fridays. The key is to keep thinking, ‘How do I make this more enjoyable?’ to encourage people to get up, get dressed, and commute into work. Employees should leave feeling happy and productive, says Leblanc.Hamilton says managers should be given the tools to be able to articulate the benefits of on-site work. “You’ve failed if you walk into an office and everyone is on a Zoom call,” she said. “We have to be intentional about how we work differently when we come back into in-person environments,” she said. “Managers are the catalyst for getting that done in a consistent way across organizations.”Robbins’ office encourages employees to be intentional about their meetings and not jam their schedules unnecessarily through a collaboration audit. “Do you really need to still be a part of all these meetings? Could you just only attend when there’s an agenda topic relevant to you, where you're a subject matter expert or [the] person to move this goal forward? Or could you delegate it to a junior team member to give them exposure and have greater connectivity in the office?” she said.Her organization has also invited “puppy trucks” from local animal shelters to visit so employees can play with puppies during breaks. Such activities should feel organic, and companies must be careful to avoid scheduling what feels like “mandatory fun.” Again, employees will look to their leaders to set the tone, so managers should be the first ones to dive into activities and bring the team along, Leblanc says. Let them know attendance is optional, but if they do go, ask them to bring a friend. Such participation also makes senior leaders feel more accessible. “Humanize yourself,” Leblanc said.Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost and several printed essay collections, among others, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.

HR Planning & Budgeting 2025: How To Maximize Your Employee Experience Investment

The end of the year approaches fast, and for businesses and organizations, this indicates the time to complete annual budget plans for the coming year. Decisive strategies delivering the highest ROI are driving an industry shift, placing employee experience (EX) at the forefront of organizational priorities.“We are in a new wave of focusing on our employees, which is different from the way organizations used to operate,” said Rob Catalano, chief marketing and strategy officer for WorkTango. “We need to be intentional that employee experience is important. When we create our plans and strategies we are thinking about them as well.”Emily McCrary-Ruiz Esparza, journalist and contributing editor at From Day One spoke about the importance of employee experience when approaching the budget planning with Catalano during a From Day One webinar titled, HR Planning & Budgeting 2025: How To Maximize Your Employee Experience InvestmentBoosting employee relationship management yields the benefits of higher morale, and in turn increases retention and employee engagement. A Gartner survey supports this, with these five priorities for HR leaders in 2024: Leader and Manager Development Organizational Culture HR Technology Change Management Career Management and Internal MobilityThe survey's top three priorities highlight how HR leaders are embracing change and the need for strategic agility. Happy employees drive stronger company profits. According to Harvard Business Review's study, How Employee Experience Impacts Your Bottom Line, organizations that prioritize employee experience in their budgets see revenue and profits rise by at least 50%.Organizations that fail to integrate employee experience into their current and future strategies risk falling behind, says Catalano. HR leaders must leverage technology, AI, and other digital tools to achieve the same success through robust employee experience initiatives.Rob Catalano of WorkTango led the webinar (company photo)“Technology needs to be that critical part of your strategic planning and your budget carved out for these types of things if you want to impact that employee experience,” said Catalano.Annual employee surveys don’t yield the fastest employee experience results anymore. Many employee issues aren’t identified and resolved until several months later. “No one’s going to act or do something different if you’re only getting your engagement index of how people feel once a year,” Catalano said.How To Approach Budgeting and ROIInvesting in employee experience doesn’t require a large portion of a company budget. Two thirds of companies that invested less than $10,000 saw a ROI up to 5 times. What is more important is identifying and measuring what Catalano calls the three pillars, People ROI, HR ROI, and Company ROI.Every company will determine these metrics differently as they should–ROI is not one size fits all. One company can receive a high ROI with the same plan another company used, who only saw a minimal ROI.“If we think about employee experience and all those pillars, there isn’t a silver bullet when companies are thinking of a multi threaded experience strategy. You can’t do it all, but be thoughtful. What are the right things that are employee focused versus company focused?”Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, WorkTango, 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.

Want to Retain Your Workers? Show You Genuinely Care About Their Mental Health

When employers make a sincere effort to support the well-being of their workers, does that investment have a positive return for the company? Does it go beyond goodwill to improved corporate performance? Nivati, an employee mental-health platform, decided to find out.In a study of 25,741 workers at 56 companies that used the Nivati platform during 2023-24, the company found a dramatic impact among employees who were fully engaged with the platform: a high level of employee retention. The overall turnover rate within this group of employees was only 1.7%, meaning they were eight times more likely to stay in their jobs than co-workers who were only casually engaged with the program.Retention is a key number for employers because unwanted turnover can be so expensive. According to Gallup research, “replacing leaders and managers costs around 200% of their salary, replacing employees in technical roles costs 80% of their salary, and replacing frontline workers costs 40% of their salary, excluding unmeasured losses in morale and knowledge.”Yet reducing employee turnover is not merely about cutting costs; it’s strategic investment in an organization’s future. By embracing programs that enhance engagement, satisfaction, and overall workplace culture, employers can cultivate a loyal and motivated workforce. The benefits—ranging from improved productivity to enhanced customer satisfaction—far outweigh the costs.The American workforce’s state of mental health is often described as a crisis. How does that present itself on the job? “Employees often approach Nivati struggling with mental health challenges like stress, burnout, anxiety, relationship challenges, and work-life balance issues, which are major contributors to workplace dissatisfaction,” said Nivati CEO Amelia Wilcox, who founded the company in 2020. “When companies don’t provide mental health support, employees are more likely to leave due to feeling unsupported or unable to cope with their work environment.”In the nearly five years since the start of the pandemic, many factors inside and outside the workplace have aggravated employee stress. “The shift to remote and hybrid work, combined with economic uncertainty and social isolation, has significantly affected employee wellness,” said Wilcox.Amelia Wilcox, CEO and founder of Nivati (Company photo)While many companies have stepped up their support for good mental health, there’s still a significant gap. “Many employees are still unaware of these benefits and underutilize them. This commonly stems from lack of communication and engagement strategies that remind employees and make employees feel like the resource is readily accessible and OK for them to use,” Wilcox said.Cultural challenges are a factor too, especially when a company talks a good game about mental health but fails to make it a core value. “For instance, if a company is saying they value mental health and then covertly sends the message that taking time off is not OK, the employees internalize those covert messages over the overt messaging the employer is trying to send,” said Wilcox. “Effective onboarding, consistent conversations on mental health, periodic reminders, and visible support from leadership increase utilization, making employees more aware that their employer genuinely cares about their well-being.”Karen Fikse, senior director of HR at Cummins, the engine manufacturer, said in a From Day One panel discussion that the idea of leaders practicing what they preach formed the basis of her company's “It’s Okay” campaign, which provides managers with resources to process whatever they’re going through–be it anxiety, stress, pressure or hardship.In the five years since its Nivati’s inception, said Wilcox, “we’ve learned that the key to impactful mental health support is a holistic approach, including therapy, fitness, finance, and self-care tools, all made accessible within a flexible platform that meets employees where they are. We’ve also learned that some people aren’t comfortable with jumping right into therapy. So our platform was designed to allow people to start in an area that’s less ‘scary’ for them and build trust with the platform and team. They can take baby steps to grow into therapy.”Before any therapy or other steps happen, the pathway needs to be a welcoming one. Nivati’s platform “provides an intuitive experience for employees to seek help: from signing in and selecting self-guided resources around mental health, nutrition, or finance—to scheduling and engaging with qualified professionals in each of those areas of well-being. The entire process is designed to be simple and confidential,” Wilcox said.Nivati partners with a network of hundreds of licensed therapists, registered dietitians, life coaches, financial advisors, meditation practitioners, yoga instructors, personal trainers, and more. These providers work 1:1 with employees, they facilitate group training and education for Nivati’s customers, and they create the content for the self-guided resources on the company’s platform.Even for workers who aren’t at risk of quitting their jobs, in many cases because they need the financial security, paying attention to their mental health can lead to thriving on the job rather than every day being a struggle. They can reframe their work experience and boost their resiliency. Nivati’s platform has a career development and coaching category to help workers grow in their roles as well. “Even if these employees aren’t leaving,” Wilcox said, “providing them with support can increase their satisfaction and productivity, ultimately benefiting both them and their employer.”Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner Nivati, who sponsored this spotlight.(Featured photo by SDI Productions/iStock by Getty Images)

Focusing on Well-Being to Evolve Your Employee Value Proposition

An employee’s well-being is closely tied to their work environment, and employers must take ownership to support it. “Our job as HR professionals and as leaders is to return them to their loved ones in at least as good a position, if not a better position, than they were when they came to the company,” said Kenneth Smith, vice president of human resources at Vail Resorts.Smith joined four other executive panelists during a session about “Focusing on Well-Being to Evolve Your Employee Value Proposition,” moderated by journalist Cynthia Barnes. Getting the right perspective is everything, Smith says. Leadership must begin by understanding and connecting with team members on a personal level—because well-being is personal. “One of the most critical components of well-being is empathy, and I think that it’s important for us as leaders to understand our people, and that is a pathway to empathy which only comes from really paying attention to them and noticing them,” he said. Only then can employers truly focus on what their people need to succeed as people. Vail Resorts has adopted a core strategy, “Explore, Grow, Belong” to emphasize inclusion and belonging, which in turn fuels employee well-being. They also shifted their hiring approach, focusing less on whether employees ski and more on their skills and contributions. Because at some point, everyone is a beginner skier, Smith says. Psychological SafetyAn employee’s well-being in the workplace begins with psychological safety, says Donald Deas, director, HR business partner at the E.W. Scripps Co.“We have a different group of employees that are coming into the workforce now, and providing some psychological safety for them is critical to how we move them through the process of their personal and professional development,” he said.It all starts with onboarding, which Deas says should focus on fitting individuals into the organization’s culture by identifying what is meaningful to them, which fosters a sense of belonging. A company’s value proposition is part of a holistic package of benefits that attracts and retains employees. Beyond the typical medical and retirement benefits, what else can you offer employees? “We have counseling capabilities free for our employees,” Deas said. “We have different activities that keep them physically in shape,” as health is top of mind, he says.Executive panelists spoke about "Focusing on Well-Being to Evolve Your Employee Value Proposition"He also emphasized the need for processes to address unique employee needs while maintaining a fair approach that respects individual circumstances without confusing fairness with equality. Engagement and PurposeRecently, Discover has started having ASL interpreters at town halls and are looking at how they can bring in more neurodiverse people into the organization. It’s part of a bigger effort to help people feel included and engaged at work, says panelist Jill Coln, vice president of talent management, development and culture at Discover Financial Services.“If people are not engaged in the work that they’re doing, then that just starts to degrade their desire to be at the job, their desire to do well,” she said. Engagement goes hand-in-hand with purpose. When an employee doesn’t feel purpose in their position, it’s hard for them to feel value or well-being in the work community, says Coln.With a possible pending acquisition by Capital One on the horizon, the company has had to work harder to answer the questions on their employee's minds. People have been wondering, “What’s going to happen next, if this company buys us? Am I going to have benefits?” she said. “It’s all about communication, communication, communication.” Even if you don’t know details, Coln added, you can let employees know something is coming soon and that they will be kept in the loop.Since the merger, Discover has introduced programs called “Excelling Throughout Transformation” and “Leading Through Ambiguity” to guide leaders and employees through the changes, helping employees focus on what they can control. It helps keep them engaged and offers purpose, even amid changes. Diversity of Mental HealthFostering a healthy work environment requires a physically safe environment and a psychologically safe environment, says panelist Melissa Doman, organizational psychologist and BetterHelp business advisor. But there is another key, and that includes helping employees develop communication skills so they can feel confident in advocating for themselves. “One of the most pivotal things to employee well-being at work is actually giving people the words and the skills to talk about mental well-being at work,” she said. This helps employees gain confidence in advocating for themselves, and helps employers understand the diversity of mental health among employees. “I think a huge miss [in the workplace,] is when you have things like a Wellness Wednesday or something to bring people together, it does not take into account people’s experiences of mental health,” she said. Emphasizing that mental health should go beyond that, Doman added.She referenced David Rock’s SCARF model (Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, Fairness), suggesting it as a framework for employers to understand and meet employees’ motivational needs, ultimately enhancing their sense of purpose.Integrating WellnessPanelist Marisa Carson, vice president of talent management and organizational effectiveness at Elevance Health, agreed that employers should dive deeper in order to help address workers’ mental health.She advocates for ongoing, year-round mental health initiatives beyond designated awareness days, encouraging managers to engage daily with their teams, showing empathy and addressing mental health needs“I would encourage all of you to look at that evergreen culture of mental health at work as something that runs parallel to any other form of professional development,” Carson said. “If it is seen as this optional wellness endeavor, people will treat it as such, and it’ll only come up a couple times a year.”Of course, something is better than nothing. Talking about mental health awareness on World Mental Health Day is great. But when mental health support is integrated into the company culture, it’s more effective. “What about all the other days in the year when life is still happening?” she asked. “There needs to be consistent messaging and consistent training.” It’s an ongoing conversation, not a box to check. It’s integral, not words on a website for new hires to hear about once a year. Rather, offer training once a quarter, or whatever makes sense in your organization,” Carson said. One big piece of integrating wellness is utilizing managers, as they are those who are reaching employees every day. So keep managers trained and sensitive to the needs of their people, and companies will see better employee well-being. In today’s evolving work environment, integrating well-being into an employee value proposition is no longer optional, it’s essential. When well-being becomes an everyday priority, companies don’t just improve retention; they cultivate a more resilient, motivated workforce that’s better prepared to face challenges together. Ultimately, it’s about creating a workplace where employees can thrive personally and professionally, benefiting both the people and the organization as a whole.Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.

Boosting Productivity and Engagement: How HR Can Show Workers the Way

A 2023 study conducted by Harvard Business School with the Boston Consulting Group found that consultants using AI to solve realistic and complex tasks completed work 25.1% more quickly. The completed work was also 40% higher quality than the control group. With the help of robust technological advancement, organizations are forging new ways to boost productivity and engagement.During an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s Philadelphia conference, HR professionals and business leaders shared insights on adapting to the digital era, empowering employees, and crafting unique strategies to drive positive business results.The HBS study highlights how organizations that successfully combine generative AI with human work in knowledge-intensive fields experience significant boosts in productivity. Such new technology is also seen transforming workplaces across multiple industries.For example, Cindy Alisesky, VP of talent acquisition, onboarding, and digital talent solutions for GSK, shared that the company integrated Microsoft Bookings to support admin work. This tool gave leaders back time for important conversations to achieve better business outcomes. GSK also integrated a new internal ChatGPT called GiGi, improving time efficiency and allowing recruiters to focus on other productive tasks.Jason Radisson, CEO and founder of Movo, shared the significant ways technology is used to organize frontline employee schedule preferences to improve productivity. He highlighted how improved work allocation sees a 30-40% employee productivity increase.Radisson highlighted that using technology to assign work to frontline employees is a game changer, allowing them to take on the jobs they want faster and with less bureaucratic procedures. This new ease and flexibility over their work has substantially improved the productivity and career trajectory for frontline workers.Tonia McMillan, vice president of HR strategy and shared services at Amtrak, spoke about the company’s Extra Board for frontline managers with open availability to complete different roles within the company. The system gives managers opportunities to work in other areas and develop new skill sets that will be advantageous when being considered for promotions.Panelists spoke about "Boosting Productivity and Engagement: How HR Can Show Workers the Way"While many workplaces are reaping the benefits of innovative software and generative AI, these technologies have yet to be fully integrated across all industries, leaving some still missing out. However, that may change by 2030 where tasks adding up to 30% of work hours could be automated because of the widespread trend of generative AI use.Learning, Development, and EngagementAriella Cohen, Deputy Managing Editor, News at the Philadelphia Inquirer, moderated the sessionStreamlined workloads free up more time for employees to take on new roles and learning opportunities. As software and AI handle complex, repetitive tasks, organizations can refine and reshape HR models, fostering more engaging and fulfilling workplace cultures.HR leaders are establishing more projects, initiatives, and programs to support skill development and maintain employee engagement.Jamaal Sebastian-Barnes, VP of talent and culture at Bristol Meyers Squibb, spoke about the launch of a new skills-based platform where employees within the organization can apply to work on different projects. They also receive training to fulfill new roles posted on the platform. This supports internal mobility as employees can advance from part-time gigs into new full-time roles within the company.Finally, Nicole Boyko, senior workforce transformation consultant at Perceptyx, emphasized the effectiveness of nudging to boost and maintain employee engagement. Using multiple listening channels and chat channels to gather employee feedback is crucial to boosting engagement, Boyko says. Managers at Perceptyx use insight from those channels with company data to strategize employee development.Changing listening strategies with new objectives to encourage participation, having discussions about employee feedback, and delivering changes using the feedback combined with accurate data as quickly as possible creates positive behavioral changes. Acknowledging the feedback, and incorporating the insight gained into action planning to facilitate coaching, leadership development, and more improves engagement. The process reinvigorates trust and confidence among workers.Undoubtedly, the integration of new software and generative AI supports HR professionals in creating newer and more dynamic programs, policies, and strategies to boost company productivity and culture.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.