One thing that has become clear from the #MeToo movement: workplace harassment can be more nuanced than we realize. Research indicates that 78% of employees face some sort of unfair behavior or treatment at work, which can include being talked down to, psychologically manipulated, or made physically uncomfortable.

Many of these cases go unreported because employees fear losing their jobs or suffering repercussions from a boss or manager. The abused employees may even question their own experiences: “Is this really that big of a deal? Am I just making this up?”

Speakfully, a startup company, tackles that gray area. Providing a reporting and conflict-resolution platform, Speakfully empowers workers to document harassment and any experiences that they are feeling uncertain about on the job in a secure and private way. The platform also provides confidential data to HR managers, helping them to be proactive about problems within their organization. From Day One interviewed Speakfully co-founder and CEO Jana Morrin about the creation of the company and why it’s needed now in an era of cultural transformation in the workplace.

From Day One: What does Speakfully offer?

Morrin: We offer a safe and private space for employees to be able to journal the experiences that they're having within the workplace. And when they're ready, have a safe place to go and submit that to the organization within our platform. At the same time, we offer HR and leadership data and analytics on the trends that are happening within the organization, even prior to anyone submitting anything.

The hope is to be able to allow the organization to be more proactive with the things that are happening within their environment, versus reactive. This will organically build transparency and trust with their employees, who will then feel more safe to come forward sooner. Regardless of the size of the organization, they need to have visibility into these concerns. Speakfully can help do that.

How does the platform work exactly?

Employees go in and write about what they’re experiencing. So it is private until you submit. When you're writing about your experiences, you might not be ready to submit [to HR] yet. You might not even know what it is that you're experiencing. But then we ask a series of questions. And the answers to those questions becomes the data and analytics that the organization can see. And that's the anonymous piece.

What happens when an employee submits something on the platform?

Once they feel safe enough to submit, then it is no longer anonymous for a couple different reasons. One is, we want the organizations to be able to take action and be able to actually make change. It's really hard to do that when you don't know any of the specifics about who or what. So we're trying to provide this platform of data and analytics prior to that submission process in order for the employees to feel more safe and comfortable coming forward sooner. And that’s because the organizations are getting these data and analytics, allowing them to have these conversations. It shows that they are taking an interest in what is happening and trying to actually make a difference.

Why is there a need in the marketplace for something like Speakfully right now?

With a pandemic going on, it has changed a lot of things. But one thing it hasn't changed is that there has always been a need for the platform itself. Because organizations don't know what they don't know. What used to be an open-door policy for complaints, where you could go into an actual office, doesn’t apply. Right now we're dealing with a more remote situation, where everyone is dispersed.

Since the #MeToo movement, everything has been really magnified as people are coming forward sooner or are coming forward more often than they did before. This has allowed companies to get visibility, vs. not having any intel. In the past, something might come across your desk two years after it happened, and you had no idea anything was going on.

Do you think workplace harassment will change now that many people are working from home?

Now that everyone is remote, it is even more difficult to try to get a pulse on your culture and what's going on within your organization. Nobody can see each other in real life, there's no water-cooler talk, there's no getting a feel for the room anymore because there is no room.

I think that just because people are working remotely doesn't mean that things don't happen. I think about my own experience, and I think about all the emails, all the instant messages, all the texts. I mean, a lot of the things that happened were through different channels like that. Just because we are now behind a screen most of the time doesn’t mean harassment won’t happen. People still need to have tools to navigate that, and be able to try to determine what is going on. There was an open-door policy and now there's no door.

You mention that some of your own experiences in the workplace inspired the creation of Speakfully. Can you share some of that story with us?

I think what's really important is to talk about my personality first, because a lot of people don't realize that this can happen to anyone, no matter what type of personality you have. I've always been very focused on my career and a go-getter, really wanting to always make a change within whatever organization that I'm in. And I always wanted to help the business grow. And I'm very tell-it-like-it-is. People sometimes think the word “assertive'' is bad, but I do not. I’m just a very blunt type of personality. Because of that, I never thought that I actually would be put in a situation like I ended up finding myself. I didn't think that anyone would do it. I also didn't think that I would allow anyone to do it. And it still happened to me.

I worked for a C-level executive. Little things started happening, and it would start out small and I just didn't really know what it was. And I wasn't entirely sure but I knew something didn’t feel right. At the same time, I was confused. And it just continued to build and build. And over time, all of a sudden, I'm in the middle of it. You kind of look back and you're like, “Whoa, how did I get here? What am I doing?” It wasn't a black-and-white situation. I would call it an emotional rollercoaster. And it really affected my productivity. I got to a point where I just couldn't handle it. And that's not my character. I never leave a job without having another one. I would never in my wildest dreams think about doing that. And I did.

How did this lead to you creating Speakfully?

The co-founder of Speakfully is Zach Halmstad and he is a previous founder of a successful tech company that has since been acquired. He and I started this, and he is a good friend of mine. Before we started this, he knew about what was happening with me and we started having conversations about what we could do to try to help people in situations like this. One of the things that stuck out to him was the way that I wrote about what happened to me. I just threw a bunch of stuff into a Google Doc. I didn't know what I was doing. It was all over the place. I didn't know if I was writing the right thing. And so we started talking about that in particular, and like, “OK, what could have been helpful in that situation?”

What has it been like for you being a female founder in the tech field?

Starting this from the ground up and being female, you know, it's challenging. I mean, startups in general are hard. It's been really eye-opening and a whirlwind. I think about where we were last year at this time, we didn't even have a product yet, didn't have anything in the market. So just seeing where we've gone has been really exciting.

What we're trying to do, and the impact that we're trying to have, is to change the status quo. That is a challenge. People really do want to make a difference within an organization, but people are scared, and rightfully so. I think having a platform like this will really tell you what's going on.

So many cases of workplace harassment go unreported. How is Speakfully looking to change that culture?

What we're trying to do is let these organizations show people that they do care and that they want to have these ongoing conversations with them. Because they don't want these types of people, [the bad actors], in their environment. And they don't know that they're there. Because if they knew, they wouldn't be there. Throughout this process, some people have actually been like, “Well, we don't have a problem.” And then I say to them, “Well, how do you know that?” Clearly they don't know. Of course, everyone wants to have the best culture ever, 100%. Statistics say 78% of employees face some form of unfair behavior or treatment at work. That is a majority of people, which is hard to even fathom.

It’s a scary place, so having more conversations about it as an organization is the best way to get people to come forward sooner, so that you can take action. Opening up these conversations to everyone just makes everybody vulnerable, not just the employee, but the organization too. These aren't comfortable conversations to have. But if you continue to have them, it's going to continue to build that trust with employees.

You’re in Small Town, USA. What has it been like creating a company in Eau Claire, Wis.?

Eau Claire is such a strong community and everyone's so supportive of each other. There's actually a lot of different tech startups here. It's becoming a bigger thing. The downtown area has really started to develop. And so it's really exciting to see and I think having a start here just seems like it makes sense. Zach, the co-founder, is from Eau Claire as well. So I think it was important for him to be able to continue to build something like that. I think that especially now, the times we're in, with the pandemic, I'm even more happy that we did start it here. It's a cozy town, you know?

A few years from now, where do you see Speakfully?

I'm super passionate about what we're doing and what we have. And for good reason. This would help a lot of people. It's meaningful to me and to my entire team. As cliché as it sounds, we want to make a difference. We want to change the way that people operate. And we want the organizations and their employees to have a sense of safety and feel good about their culture, and how it is formed. I think that we can really do that. But it's not gonna come overnight. It’s like an ice block, you know. We can slowly chip away at it. It takes a lot of work and a lot of people to want to make a change.

Mimi Hayes is a New York-based author, comedian, and assistant director of content at From Day One. You can read her work at mimihayes.com, check out her podcast "Mimi and The Brain," or find her first book, a comedic memoir about her traumatic brain injury on Amazon.

The Role of GLP-1s in Employee Benefits

Companies that offer inclusive care benefits are not only seeing higher retention rates but are also attracting job seekers who prioritize well-being over just a high salary. With obesity on the rise in the U.S., leading to increased rates of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes, employees are looking for workplaces that support their health holistically, recognizing that inclusive benefits can be life-changing.The prevalence of chronic disease presents a challenge for employers over increasing healthcare costs. 60% of employers expect healthcare costs to surge over the next three years. Yet, it is critical to offer comprehensive care and wellness for higher retention.The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) found that workers would choose a job with benefits over a similar job providing 30% more salary but with no benefits. Consequently, employers also face more competition with other companies that provide more inclusive healthcare benefits.The growing off-label use of GLP-1 drugs, originally approved for treating Type 2 diabetes, has fueled discussions around treatments for cardiometabolic diseases. However, cultural misuse has also associated these drugs with rapid weight loss management.What are the potential risks and benefits associated with including FDA-approved weight loss drugs in care benefits? Is there an ROI of covering weight loss medication?The Reality of CardiodiabesityDeanna Critchley the AVP of Cigna led the sessionDeanna Critchley, area vice president at Cigna, provided insight into the reality of cardiodiabesity management at From Day One’s NYC half-day benefits conference in a thought leadership spotlight.There are several factors to consider when adding FDA-approved weight loss medications such as Wogovy into care benefits. While GLP-1s are automatically covered to treat Type 2 diabetes, weight loss drugs such as Wogovy are considered add-ons or buy-ups, which affects claims costs.Currently, there is no evidence suggesting a decrease in cancer, stroke, heart attack, or other emergency room visits by taking these prescriptions alone.Secondly, drugs such as Ozempic and Wogovy generally have to be taken for an extended period of time, or even a lifetime. People gain back ⅔ of their weight within two years of stopping.Cigna conducted an internal study and found that 66% of people on weight loss medications stopped taking them within 6 months due to rapid weight loss, social pressure, and significant side effects from taking the drugs.This further presents the risk of employers facing increased medical expenditures without guaranteed positive results. It can become unsustainable to find it as pharmacy claims rise. “That’s where we’re still looking at the longevity of this to see if it’s worth you as an employer covering these drugs if they’re not even going to continue taking it.”But if employees are more likely to choose a job that covers weight loss medications, companies face undeniable pressure. “You have to actually consider your benefit philosophy, how you cover it, and what type of population you have,” Critchley said.“Do you use it as talent acquisition? Are your competitors offering that? Do you offer lifestyle management programs and that’s part of your well-being philosophy?” she asked.The benefits of investing in weight loss supplemental coverage, then, lie in having long-term employee populations, the ability and foresight to invest in long-term cost avoidance, and incentivizing customers to enroll in holistic weight management programs.Utilization Management Is KeyCritchley recommended that employers not yet covering weight loss medications should first confirm with their carriers whether utilization management measures are in place. This safeguard helps ensure that GLP-1 drugs are prescribed only to individuals with diabetes.At Cigna, their utilization program confirms clients with Type 2 Diabetes and asks if they would consider taking Metformin, a more affordable and generic prescription drug similar to Ozempic.Cigna Healthcare has developed several solutions, including RxClaimsConnect, which automates claims processing for clients with documented Type 2 diabetes. For self-funded clients offering weight loss coverage, Cigna provides access to EncircleRX, a program equipped with safeguards to ensure the appropriate individuals qualify. Eligible clients must have a BMI of 30, or 32 with two additional co-morbidities. The program also includes a cost cap or a pricing guarantee.More importantly, it includes required enrollment and ongoing engagement with a lifestyle modification program. Nutritional counseling and exercise programs are required management systems in place. This demonstrates the effectiveness of integrated and holistic healthcare as effective and inclusive care benefits.Editor's note: From Day One thanks our partner, Cigna, 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.

Conversations: The Currency of the Future

Steve Artnz, CEO of Campfire, poses the question, “what is a conversation to you?” In the digital age, conversations can include verbal communication, texts, phone calls and even interactions with artificial intelligence.During a thought leadership spotlight at From Day One’s October virtual conference, Arntz spoke about the art of conversations to build stronger relationships, productive work environments and inclusive workplaces.Conversations are fundamental to fueling relationships with everyone in your life, but some conversations are harder than others. Arntz presents the audience with a mnemonic to help people focus on the key aspects to a conversation: FLAME for fluid, lively, authentic, meaningful, engaging.Fluidity “creates a mutual understanding and respect,” he said. Liveliness provides the enthusiasm and engagement between people. Authenticity helps build trust and opens up meaningful conversations that strengthen relationships. Engagement is crucial to maintain participation from both sides in the conversation.As conversation tools in the workplace, Arntz focuses on check-ins, asking deep questions and listening generatively.Steve Arntz, CEO of Campfire, led the virtual thought leadership spotlight In a general check-in, you might ask “How are you feeling?” but Arntz suggests posing deeper questions like “What are you feeling? What are your distractions? What are your intentions for our time and space together?” These can serve as more effective starting points for teams to check-in on each other.Starting off with these questions,“will reduce the number of meetings on your calendar” and “increase the path to efficiency in those meetings,” Arntz said.To dive even deeper, ask people why, how and what questions to learn more about their feelings. For example, “why is this situation frustrating you?” or “how does this feeling impact your work right now?” Asking these types of questions will allow the conversation to flow into greater discussions on feelings, thoughts and intentions.Following this tool, Arntz provides four ways to engage in conversations fully: download, which is confirming that people are heard; facts, listening with an open mind and asking questions to gather information; empathy, connecting with experiences and emotions; and creation, which is the act of creating something new together.“When you practice this generative listening with intent to learn from the unknown, to connect with the broader, bigger thing, then you can really build on each other’s insights and create new insights,” Arntz said.Although these questions and conversations can provide deeper connections between managers and employees, an existing feeling of distrust can also hold people back from being honest and vulnerable. Especially when companies are aiming for efficiency and profitability, actions can seem more transactional.“If my manager were to ask me, ‘what are you feeling?’ I might have a hard time really trusting that person actually cares and sometimes it’s because I don’t trust that the organization cares,” said Artnz. “So the manager and organization start to become conflated and they inherit each other’s weaknesses and strengths.”In these cases, it can be helpful to see vulnerability from the manager first. Prior to opening up the conversation on what employees may be feeling, start off by sharing your own thoughts and emotions, creating an environment that welcomes and encourages others to share.These skills can be utilized when holding conversations with people, but with the increased use of AI, it’s important to remember that communicating with robots is much different. “Artificial intelligence does not equal conversational intelligence,” said Arntz.Conversations with AI focus on logic, accuracy and efficiency, lacking the emotion and authenticity that takes place in human interactions. But this is not to say that technology is not useful in bettering conversations.“It’s not robots or humans. It’s robots and humans together. I see a world in which we can stop tripping on each other as much as we are today,” said Arntz. “As we get assistance from these robots…we can have much more impactful and meaningful and creative relationships and that’s a world that I'm really excited about helping to shape and create.”Arntz encourages people to use the conversational tools he discussed in addition to interactions with both robots and humans. Blending the two can help expand their insight on how to engage, create partnerships, and take action with others.Editor's note: From Day One thanks our partner, Campfire, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight. Jennifer Yoshikoshi is a local news and education reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Leveraging Generational Diversity: Moving from Ageism to Age Inclusion

In a recent survey from Resume Now, 90% of workers age 40+ said they experienced ageism in the workplace. And a study from AARP found that 64% of the same age group experienced age discrimination, meaning tangible impact on one’s ability to advance, stay in the workforce, and get paid fairly. “The data shows that ageism is still with us, unfortunately, in the workforce, and that it’s actually quite prevalent,” said Heather Tinsley-Fix, senior advisor, financial resilience, AARP, at a From Day One webinar.The five-generation workforce is a well-known phenomenon—in fact, 83% of executives believe that creating a more multigenerational workforce would drive their organization’s success and growth. But how should companies begin to build cultures that shift away from unconscious ageism toward age inclusion?Dr. Megan Gerhardt, founder & director of thought leadership at Gentelligence, has spent the last 15 years speaking and consulting with top organizations worldwide on leveraging generational diversity in the workplace. Gerhardt spoke with Tinsley-Fix and Heather Ainsworth, CEO of Workable Concept, on creating cultures in which all ages thrive, psychological safety enables fruitful interaction, and intergenerational collaboration drives bottom-line value. They also shared a sneak peek of a new suite of resources AARP designed specifically to help HR leaders address this opportunity. It translates research into specific actions and creates custom plans that takes into account your own areas of personal power and influence.Turning From Ageism to Age InclusionThe World Health Organization defines ageism as “the stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel), and discrimination (how we act) toward others or oneself based on age.” The workplace can be rife with generational stereotypes, with headlines constantly decrying both Gen Z and Millennials as “the worst colleagues” (and also sometimes, puzzlingly, “the best”), while also insisting that Baby Boomers retire to free up jobs for those younger folks. And while many, Tinsley-Fix says, wrongly peg those 45-55 at “late career” and 55-65 in “decline,” in fact, “people 65 plus are the fastest growing segment of the workforce.”Conversely, age inclusion is “when a team or organization creates policies, tools, and culture that enable people of all ages to thrive without needing to navigate age-based stereotypes, prejudice, or discrimination.”An effective leadership team will build a complex, inclusive culture where workers of all ages and stages can thrive. It’s not only a kind choice, it’s what Tinsley-Fix calls “a value creation strategy hiding in plain sight.” The depth of experience and skill sets in an age-diverse workforce, whether technical, professional, or durable human skills, creates major opportunities for employers who can unleash those synergies. The best results occur when people from different life and career stages work together to define problems and create solutions. Having workers of different ages allows you to connect with a wider customer base and gives you a more nuanced knowledge base to call on.“Having workers of different ages is also a talent management necessity,” Tinsley-Fix said. In the near-term, workers 65+ are the fastest-growing portion of the talent market, but over the coming decades, more people will exit the workforce than will enter it. AARP posits that “declining population or labor force participation rates among younger workers may lead to talent shortage. Retaining older workers (considered age 40+) can help employers address this challenge.”Learning to Work TogetherContrary to popular belief, the five generations in the workforce work well together. “Data shows that multi-generational teams perform better when they’re managed well than teams which are more age-siloed. In companies that utilize mixed age work teams, the productivity of both older workers and the younger workers is higher than in companies that do not use mixed age teams,” Tinsley-Fix said. “That myth that productivity declines as we age is based on measuring individual productivity rather than team productivity. Mixed age teams outperform teams on things like decision-making, creative tasks, and complex problem solving.”With this in mind, it’s important for leaders to encourage generativity, which is defined as “a person’s interest in and dedication to establishing and guiding the next generation.” Gerhardt encourages cultivating “gentelligence,” the idea of helping people have smarter intergenerational conversations. This shows up at work through co-creation, providing expertise freely, setting up organizations for success, consulting, coaching, and mentoring.The panelist spoke about "Leveraging Generational Diversity: Moving from Ageism to Age Inclusion" during the webinar (photo by From Day One)“This can also show up just in how people approach conversations,” said Ainsworth. “Is a conversation between people of different generations seen as transactional, or do they approach it with a sense of curiosity in order to co-create value and the culture that they want to be working in?”Creating an Organization That Supports Generativity“An age-diverse workforce left to its own devices is not necessarily going to be more productive,” Gerhardt said. “It has the potential to be, but like almost all forms of diversity, that rests solely on how well it's managed and led. And that includes the cultures and climates we're creating.”It’s important to encourage intergenerational interaction since it may not occur naturally, Gerhardt says, as employees often work their way up through the ranks alongside colleagues similar in age who become their friends. This lack of relationship-building can lead to age polarization. And without regular proactive exposure to other generations, stereotypes can flourish. Encourage employees to “see the value that every generation brings,” Gerhardt says, and build out a benefits package that offers perks specific to every stage of life, from student loan repayment to childcare, elder care, retirement, and more. And determine the level of psychological safety for each age group and career stage, noting that low levels of safety can result in disinterest or even concern about sharing knowledge.Much of this comes down to helping different generations understand each other better in order to strengthen trust and collaborate effectively. “I think it’s a myth that our younger generations aren’t interested in listening or learning from people who are older. I think it’s that how they want to communicate, learn, and listen has changed,” Gerhardt said. One example she shares is that Gen Z grew up having all the answers at their fingertips, so if they don’t immediately receive the “why” behind something—like why it might take 18 months to get promoted—it can impact their psychological safety. That doesn’t mean a workplace needs to cater exclusively to the young, but it should be extra mindful to have inclusive communications that account for all learning and work styles.Gerhardt suggests proactively creating opportunities for those significantly older and younger to collaborate on meaningful work where diverse expertise is needed for success. “Generativity comes from being curious,” Gerhardt said. Smarter intergenerational conversations can be sparked by “Gentelligent” power questions like: “How would you approach this? Can you help me understand that perspective? What barriers can I help remove for you to reach this goal?”Generations at WorkAn age-inclusive organization should:Welcome workers of all ages and value their experienceLive by the mantra that everyone has something to teach and everyone has something to learnBe flexible, recognizing that longer lives mean loopier career pathsSupport caregivers with leave, resources, and other benefitsManage differences and celebrate similarities across multiple generationsNot put people in buckets or make assumptions about them based on ageAARP just launched Generations at Work, a new tool packed with resources to help you take action to build and leverage a multigenerational workforce. It guides you through a self-assessment to help you create a customized plan based on your existing strategies and future priorities; provides free resources to help you executive each of three key actions; and ensures you distill your learnings and bring them back to the team.AARP believes setting a handful of targeted goals to improve age inclusion makes us more likely to achieve the changes we seek. Leveraging a multigenerational workforce requires us to consider actions across HR, both with teams and individual employees. Learn more and create your customized plan at https://employerportal.aarp.org/generations.Editor's note: From Day One thanks our partner, AARP, for sponsoring this webinar.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.

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