Total Rewards: How the Definition Is Changing
BY Tim Zyla September 06, 2023It was a bounty that wasn’t destined to last. During the Great Resignation and its war for talent, employers offered workers abundant new benefits and other rewards. But now, with employee-retention numbers at high levels and corporate austerity taking hold, finance departments are looking to tighten reward budgets. That has caused some tension with HR leaders charged with attracting and retaining talent. “We’re in this constant battle with finance,” said Ken Wechsler, VP of total rewards at Akamai Technologies. “We’re fighting for it, and I would guess my colleagues on this call will also fight it. We might not get as much moving forward, but we will fight.” Weschler and three other leaders in the benefits and compensation sector of HR spoke last month in a From Day One webinar about the constantly evolving dynamic of total rewards packages. Todd Cowgill, VP of global rewards at the data-center company Equinix, says it’s essential to “speak their language” when negotiating with finance and business departments about rewards programs. “If you cannot tell what the return on investment of your program is, you will lose that program,” he said. “You have to understand what the company as a business gets because of the program, what it costs and what it gets back.” David Kirby, senior VP of total rewards and operations at the customer-experience company Epsilon, says once programs are lost due to cost-cutting, it becomes very challenging to revive them in a reasonable amount of time. “I’m very concerned about our secondary benefits,” he said. “We have a company where there’s a snack allowance. That’s the last thing I want to see removed or cut.” Working From Home a Must, But Trips to the Office Help Finding a cutting-edge company in 2023 that isn’t offering some form of work-from-home option is a challenging task, but many HR leaders believe a few trips to the office –even irregular ones–can be highly beneficial. “We give employees the choice of where they want to work, and 90% of them have said they want to work from home,” Wechsler said. “Everything is in play now–things I had never even thought of when it comes to total rewards.” Arvind Kumar, director of total rewards and HR operations in the Asia Pacific for the ad giant McCann Worldgroup, said his workplace policies are as varied as the countries of operation he oversees.The panel on total rewards, top row from left: Arvind Kumar of McCann Worldgroup and David Kirby of Epsilon. Bottom row: Lydia Dishman of Fast Company, Ken Wechsler of Akamai, and Todd cowgill of Equinix. (Image by From Day One; featured illustration by Lemono/iStock by Getty Images)“Asia has a completely different culture,” he said. “I think since Covid we aren’t planning on changing it back to how it used to be. We accepted that hybrid work is here to stay and that’s where we changed our way of working.” Kumar says some countries McCann operates in are more predisposed to working in an office environment, while workers from other Asian countries may enjoy working from home. Though quickly becoming a minority of workers, some will avoid working for a company if its work-from-home policies are too permissive. “They’ll self-select,” Weschler said. “We make the effort to do things in the office a lot–but now a lot means quarterly. We know that most will not want to come, and some folks will want to attend an event because they get to go to the office. Our recruiters ask if you’re looking to be in the office a lot because our package doesn’t include that.” All four total-ewards executives agreed that having opportunities to make intermittent trips to the office is beneficial and allows employees to expand their network by meeting new faces. Kumar says communication with prospective employees is vital for both sides to manage expectations. Fringe Benefits Are a Big Slice of the Pie HR leaders typically seek to gauge what their employees want from their organization. McGill says one of the most tried-and-true methods remains the pulse survey–a short set of questions sent to employees regularly. “That’s the short and efficient way to get into things,” he said. “But then you have to find specific ways to target whatever the issue is.” Ideas from those surveys often get implemented as policies that benefit the worker. “We have five wellness days per year. We completely shut our doors and there’s an unwritten rule that you don’t send emails on those days or on weekends,” Weschler said. “On Fridays, we don’t have any meetings–that has come from leadership.” The speakers reported that requests for childcare assistance have become less common, perhaps due to the increase in remote work that allows childcare to coincide with working. “I think people have gotten better on Zoom with the kid coming in and saying hello,” McGill said. “That blend between home and work has happened in a much more open way and, I think, healthy way than what we’ve seen in the past.” Even so, childcare policy experts warn of a looming “child-care cliff” starting at the end of this month, when many of the child-care programs supported by the American Rescue Plan Act’s stabilization funds expire. Kirby said Epsilon does not track time off for exempt employees and the organization operates on a culture of trust. “We expect folks to work and get their job done,” he said. “Sometimes that means 2 p.m. and other times that means until 9 p.m. We want people to have that flexibility.” Good News on the Health Insurance Front Despite many companies facing double-digit increases in health-insurance costs in 2023, those on the webinar reported that their companies have been absorbing the cost hikes amid the post-Covid inflationary market. “Our trend is nothing near what the market is,” Weschler said. “I’m not sure why, but we are absorbing most of it and trying to keep that minimal increase and maintain the balance of how employees and employers split health care.” Kirby says that Epsilon has also “eaten” the increase in costs at the corporate level. McGill said he attributes some of his company’s ability to absorb the increases in health care costs to an effective wellness program offered to employees. “It varies from country to country, but how do you engage with employees on health care?” he asked. “In some countries, it’s a state-run enterprise and not something we can get into.” Weschler said Akamai provides $500 in wellness reimbursement for employees to allow for fitness equipment purchases or other wellness-related items. “The working life is integrated, so we try to focus on encouraging our employees to participate in healthy activities,” he said.Tim Zyla is the managing editor of a community newspaper in Pennsylvania and has a strong interest in business and finance.
Manager Effectiveness as the Path to Individual and Organizational Success
BY Tim Zyla August 10, 2023“People don’t quit companies, they quit managers.”Adam Bouse, manager of performance coaching at 15Five, often hears this saying in business circles — but if it were up to him, he’d amend the quote. “People don’t quit companies, they quit managers who haven’t been set up to succeed,” he said during From Day One’s July virtual conference. Bouse led a thought leadership spotlight on manager effectiveness as the path to individual and organizational success.While it’s not uncommon for employees to criticize direct superiors due to unsatisfactory work conditions, Bouse said 15Five looks higher up the ladder to help reverse negative trends such as voluntary turnover among employees.“The majority of managers want to be good at their job,” he said. “Most managers come in with the best intentions. They simply haven’t been given the training, coaching and tools to succeed. It used to be considered progressive to have free snacks, ping pong tables, or dry cleaning at the office, but today the true measure of progressive human resources is human-centered leadership and human-centered cultures.”Helping Managers SucceedHuman resource leaders are constantly prioritizing what initiatives may best benefit the organization they work for, and often it is taken for granted that managers are working to improve their ability as leaders.“Managers are wearing many hats,” Bouse said. “They’re a coach and a player, and we need human resources to come in and say, ‘This is a key priority, and we will intentionally create some protected time to invest in our managers.’”Adam Bouse, performance coach at 15Five, led the thought leadership spotlight (company photo)That direction is needed in the modern-day workplace, where a study from 15Five found 57% of employees leave their jobs due to negative workplace culture, 52% because of unsupportive management and 48% due to work-life balance concerns. Additionally, 75% of employees who voluntarily left a company said their departure was influenced directly by managers.In the same study, managers reported they wanted training in four primary areas of concern; learning how to help set and track goals, give effective feedback, motivate people and conduct strength-based management.“If we work from the assumption that managers want to be good but aren’t getting the training and support they need, now it makes sense why employees and managers become frustrated,” Bouse said. “All of this is a drag on human resources.”Building Intrinsic MotivationWhile extrinsic motivation such as giving praise, salary increases or providing other perks should be in every manager’s repertoire, studies show the benefits are often short-lived.“It works for about 60 days, and then you need to again figure out what will inspire,” Bouse said. “A higher salary doesn’t correlate with employee engagement.”Instead, the goal for managers should be to create a work environment that helps employees motivate themselves, otherwise known as intrinsic motivation, which Bouse says can be built in four ways.Relatedness: Build a sense of belonging and connection to others, which helps employees feel understood and, as a byproduct, creates more motivation.Autonomy: Give employees the ability to make meaningful decisions about their work and work experience. Managers should schedule regular check-ins to discuss the work environment, which helps to make employees feel part of the overall conversation in the company.Mastery: People want to get better at what they’re doing. Managers should help develop skills throughout their teams to help employees meet challenges confidently, leading to success.Purpose: It is human nature to want to contribute to something bigger and employees are no different. Many workers want to see how they fit into the big picture of their organization. Managers should be clear and aligned with employees on the company’s goal and how to achieve the goal.Bouse says this science-backed, four-factor model of building intrinsic motivation is vital in building sustainable and predictable success. All managers can begin making positive changes now using these tools.“They have everything they need to take the next step,” he said. “It’s as simple as gaining self-awareness of the strengths, gaps and opportunities in front of you. If you trust the process, that will help you grow and develop as a manager.”Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, 15Five, who sponsored this thought leadership spotlight.Tim Zyla is the managing editor of a community newspaper in Pennsylvania and has a strong interest in business and finance.
Family-Forming Benefits Add Value for Companies, Quality for Employees
BY Tim Zyla July 31, 2023The case for companies adding family-forming benefits for their workers can be persuasively summed up in two statistics. Surveys show that 70% of millennials would change jobs for fertility benefits and 97% of employers say adding infertility coverage did not significantly increase medical plan costs.Considering both data points, Dr. David Adamson, founder, chairman and CEO of ARC Fertility, says there is plenty of value for companies looking to begin offering family-forming benefits for employees. And because of the low cost of adding fertility benefits to a medical plan, Adamson says companies do not need to worry about sacrificing quality in the interest of budget adherence.One in seven couples will experience infertility at some point in their life, a problem that often leads to productivity, engagement and satisfaction issues for employees in the workplace.Adamson utilizes his three decades of experience in the reproductive health field to help businesses increase family-forming benefits to raise morale and, in turn, employee efficiency.“I’m delighted to see companies and employers paying attention to this important part of life,” he said during From Day One’s July virtual conference on family health. “This has become a really important topic in the past few years.”Offering Employee BenefitsDue to the low cost and high importance of fertility health plans, Adamson said companies must provide options for quality care to employees and ensure that the costs of the programs are not prohibitive due to high deductibles or other out-of-pocket expenses.“The end game is you still have to have good medical outcomes to have quality,” he said, adding that the flow of information to employees is essential when dealing with complex issues such as infertility.Dr. David Adamson led the virtual thought leadership spotlight session titled, “How to Identify High Value Family-Forming Benefits” (company photo)“The health care system is complicated,” Adamson said. “It’s good to start out with an app to provide initial information, but employees need to be able to talk to someone one-on-one and find out their actual needs, because it’s so different for everyone.”He also stressed the importance of fertility care among LGBTQ+ and single employees, who often seek the care at much higher rates — and can be helped by receiving fertility-minded guidance.“Diet, exercise, and how I should be thinking in respect to my age if I’m single — it’s important,” he said. “If you might be planning a family later, what should you be doing now? There are general questions that can help people understand reproductive life later and help them make better choices.”Value for Companies, Quality for EmployeesBundling care packages helps companies reduce the overhead and allow for high-quality care to be offered to a specific person to let them get precisely what they’re looking for out of a health program, Adamson says.“This can help reduce maternity and NICU costs,” he said, adding that there is a lot of “hidden” waste in health costs for employers that can be reduced by offering fertility care.He says companies that cover 1,000 employees will typically lose about $32,000 per year due to miscoding. “This is hidden in the general medical plan,” he said.Small subsidies for employees can reduce those losses significantly, and Adamson says the recommended subsidy of about $20,000 per employee is known to cost companies only about $100 per employee for a year.He said the addition of family-forming benefits by an employer is also considered a win on the public relations side of the business and often aligns with employees who want to work for an organization that supports diversity, equity and inclusion and the improvement of employees’ lives.“These benefits can improve the emotional health of employees and increase their engagement,” he said.Editor’s note: From Day One thanks its partner, ARC Fertility, who sponsored this thought leadership spotlight. Tim Zyla is the managing editor of a community newspaper in Pennsylvania and has a strong interest in business and finance.
Trailblazers of Change: How DEI Leaders Are Paving the Way Forward
BY Tim Zyla July 25, 2023When Nicole Hughey was hired as VP of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at Sirius XM in July 2020, she joined executives at hundreds of other companies who were tasked with effecting “real change,” according to a memo from Sirius XM.Now, across corporate America, that “real change” may be headed in the opposite direction.“I’m seeing colleagues laid off, entire teams wiped out, and DEI budgets are being slashed because folks are focusing on other things,” said Hughey, now a senior VP. “That’s the biggest obstacle right now.”The murder of George Floyd in May 2020 led to a surge in businesses and organizations across the country pledging an increased focus on DEI efforts. In the past year, however, that momentum has been stalled by corporate austerity, “diversity fatigue” among some members of the workforce, as well as political backlash.How can DEI leaders and advocates adapt? In one sense, the push to foster a more understanding and accepting workforce has evolved from leaders wanting to teach employees how to be inclusive to current strategies based on listening to the experiences of individual workers.“We should listen with curiosity and not listen to solve,” Hughey said. “If you listen, you get data, and that can help us directionally with where we need to go.”Hughey and four other DEI leaders spoke during a panel moderated by New York Times deputy managing editor Monica Drake as part of From Day One’s live conference in Brooklyn.Funding DEI and its Profit PotentialAs businesses experience economic headwinds spurred by the aftereffects of heightened inflation, DEI funding has been caught in the crosshairs as companies look to preserve profits.Atrium’s VP of people and engagement Cara Zibbell said it’s essential for executives to understand that DEI efforts can bring monetary value to a business, albeit indirectly.“This is about employee engagement and DEI is part of a pillar in that,” she said. “I think we all stand to achieve both goals — people goals and profit goals. Marry the two and run them parallel.”Monica Drake of the New York Times moderated the panel discussion at the Brooklyn Museum (photos by Cassandra Sajna for From Day One)Keeping experience on the payroll by maximizing employee engagement benefits companies in the long run, says Heather Tinsley-Fix, senior advisor for financial resilience at AARP. “The Mercer Workforce Sciences Institute released a study last year that said tenure is directly related to business success,” she said. “There are two implications I take from that: Experience does, in fact, matter, and the other is it’s important to have employees who are employees rather than consultants or gig workers. Bringing employees in and keeping them there has a real impact on the bottom line.”Saks VP of DEI Alicia Williams said her team uses the acronym CAPS to operate under budget restrictions and said it’s important to remember that not all problems must be solved for DEI efforts to be worthwhile. “We go into “All CAPS” mode,” she said. “CAPS stands for collaboration, asking, prioritizing and strategizing.”Williams says her team is always looking for other businesses to combine forces to achieve a common goal, and said they’ve also learned that sometimes a solution can be found just by asking company executives for help.“Prioritizing is learning to have a realistic conversation with yourself — hey, we may want all of this, but what are the priorities for this year?” she said.Identifying Goals and ToolsSince creating a DEI-focused program in 2021, NAF, a nonprofit that supports career academies within traditional high schools, has embraced an internal and external strategy for helping its leaders create a feeling of safety among its employees, said Tara Bellevue, VP of diversity, equity and access strategy.“We’re a lesser-known company, but we’ve made progress in the last few years,” she said. “We talk about brave spaces and invite people into it. This is where we’re sharing and have that happen not just once, but on a regular basis.”Panelists agreed that both formal and informal avenues of employee engagement should be considered.“They’re both really important,” Hughey said. “Not every structure you set up will get you the information you might want or need, so those informal conversations are critically important.”About 70% of executive senior leaders fear showing empathy because it is often perceived as a weakness, Zibbell says.“How do we bridge that gap?” she asked. “Listening is not just tuning in or taking information and putting yourself in their shoes. It’s stopping and understanding that I can’t just know what it’s like in your shoes.”Taking a Top-down ApproachWhile adverse conduct exhibited by employees in organizations is often the result of ingrained behaviors, Drake asked panelists if it is possible to be taught how to appropriately speak, listen and engage more productively.“Yes, you can, but it starts with creating an environment within a space,” Bellevue said.Hughey agreed, “But with anything you learn, it takes time to get it right. I ask leaders to give themselves grace and give themselves permission to go into something that is uncomfortable. Two or three years ago when I first joined Sirius XM, we forced leaders into conversations about race. I know they thought I lost my mind, but it was important for me to say, ‘As leaders, you must lead the way. I need you to show up authentically as yourself.’”The full panel of speakers, pictured, discussed the topic “How to Keep Momentum Going on Diversity and Inclusion”Tinsley-Fix, who focuses on generational biases that may lead to the pushing aside of older Americans in the workplace, says it’s key for employees to have humility.“You have to have a balance of people with different levels of experience. Older white men do have something to bring to the table, but you must have that humility. Recognizing the explosion of all of these different aspects of diversity is important, but it also makes it challenging.”Noting that in the beginning of the DEI movement it was referred to as EDI, Williams said more shifts will occur as the initiatives continue to evolve.“We must stay up on trends, on how communities are impacted and use inclusive language libraries. DEI shouldn’t just be in HR, it should extend to marketing, finance and merchandising — not just during holidays and heritage months. In the future, think about how you will restructure DEI in your organization, so it remains relevant.”Hughey concluded, “We all have egos, but at the end of the day, if I leave my organization and they think DEI has gone away because I left, I have not done my job.”Tim Zyla is the managing editor of a community newspaper in Pennsylvania and has a strong interest in business and finance.
Hiring Hourly Employees: Nine Ways to Diversifying Your Sourcing Strategy
BY Tim Zyla July 17, 2023While posting an open position on an online job board like Indeed is common for hiring managers looking to attract hourly workers, employers need to take a far more comprehensive approach in a job market that has moved heavily in favor of workers.“I hear from most people who are hiring hourly workers that they get most of their candidates from Indeed. We want to keep doing what works. Let’s stick to that, but we also should be diversifying and finding other ways to attract applicants that will be good options for you,” said Jackie Adams, a hiring specialist at Workstream, a mobile-based recruiting platform. Adams spoke in From Day One webinar focusing on how employers can attract hourly workers by diversifying their sourcing strategy. She distilled her advice into nine points:Text-to-ApplyPosting QR codes at physical locations in the local community that permit applicants to apply through mobile devices has proven five times more effective at attracting applicants than job board postings.“Farmer’s markets, gas stations–anywhere and everywhere,” Adams said. “A great place is your local schools and colleges. Pass out flyers at sporting events or concerts. Meet your community where they are.”Referral ProgramsCompanies with solid referral programs are nearly nine times more likely to attract qualified job applicants than businesses that utilize only job boards. Adams suggests hiring managers take advantage of employees’ connections with others in the community by offering incentives for attracting new talent. “Your employees are the best ambassadors for your business,” she said. “They know how the company functions, and they know what personalities are the best fit for your company.”Adams says high-performing employees are often acquainted with other valuable workers, and employers should work to create clearly defined referral programs to make use of those connections.“The biggest mistake HR leaders make with referral programs is treating them as a ‘set it and forget it’ initiative. You must regularly monitor and optimize them,” she said.Social MediaWith most people spending up to 147 minutes on social media daily, it’s a no-brainer to utilize diverse platforms to promote open positions. “This is a massive way to capture an audience that could be applicants,” Adams said.Sixty-nine percent of adults in the U.S. use Facebook, while 73% use YouTube. “These are awesome outlets if you’re looking for adults in the U.S.,” Adams said. “Do your own research and build social media content.” She stressed the importance of posting daily.Jackie Adams, a hiring specialist at WorkstreamAs an example, Adams says Disney has had a lot of success posting day-in-the-life videos of its employees, which has the dual benefit of attracting applicants and boosting morale among established employees. “McDonald’s does food prep videos–it makes it seem like an interesting place to work,” she said.Job BoardsConsidered the baseline for most hiring managers looking to fill positions, online job boards must be utilized in a creative, tech-savvy way for managers to see success. “Although you need to find other ways to diversify, we do need to spend more time on job boards,” Adams said. She says search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the keys to success, allowing for better visibility among thousands of job listings.“Write job posts so the right people will feel qualified and will apply,” Adams said. ”You can have ChatGPT create job posts. I’ve seen many companies do this and it does a great job.”Indeed recently changed its algorithm to emphasize employers interacting with prospective employees, leading Adams to recommend constant communication with applicants.“Seventy-nine percent of internet users scan instead of reading something,“ she said. ”Put information in bullet points, not blocks of text.”She also recommended that companies always highlight the pay range for open positions, whether or not the law requires it in the state the company is from.Branded Career PagesA staple of most mid- and large-sized businesses, career pages on business websites greatly influence how candidates view a prospective job. “One of the main places you can highlight culture is this,” Adams said, adding that polls suggest that 56% of applicants believe they can tell what it will be like to work for a company from its career page. “It should share the company story with genuine photos and videos. If you can get away from the stock imagery and photos, then do that,” she said.Community-Based OrganizationsEmployees hired through local organizations have a retention rate 70% higher than the average employee, Adams said, sharing an example of using such an outlet in her job working for a hotel chain earlier in her career. “They were struggling to find chefs and cooks, so they created a mini culinary school and brought students in so the current chefs could mentor them.”Upon graduation, the hotel chain’s staffing woes disappeared as many of the most valuable students from classes became full-time employees. “Get creative, build relationships, build programs, and everything you can sponsor goes a long way,” Adams said.Underrepresented GroupsAnother hiring technique that provides businesses multiple benefits is targeting underrepresented groups to hire employees. Adams says the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, a federal program, could provide companies up to $10,000 per hired employee who may have a criminal history, receives government assistance, or qualities as a refugee, immigrant, or military veteran.“Studies have found that 82% of managers think that employees with criminal records perform as well, or better, than employees with clean records,” she said, adding that those same employees are often less susceptible to turnover due to a sense of loyalty to the company.“Many think sourcing applicants in this group can be hard,” Adams said. “Just do a quick Google search for someone who helps hire veterans or other groups. There are many job boards and agencies geared toward these underrepresented groups."Applicant PoolSometimes it pays not to try to reinvent the wheel. If you have applicants from a previous job posting, contact them to see if their interest abides.Career FairsOne of the most old-fashioned approaches on the list, attending career fairs can be lucrative if the right people are staffing the company’s booth. At one experience at a career fair where she assessed the presentations of various employers, “there were some people that really stood out to me and then there were some I couldn’t tell you what the name of their company was,” Adams said.She says businesses must send people who are passionate about the company and will reach out to potential applicants instead of waiting to be approached. Current employees should attend as well to talk about their experience working with the business.Editor’s note: From Day One thanks its partner, Workstream, who sponsored this webinar. Workstream’s mobile-based recruiting software helps businesses hire smarter and faster. Through sourcing from many places, the program helps hiring managers to engage with candidates while they’re motivated to apply.Tim Zyla is the managing editor of a community newspaper in Pennsylvania and has a strong interest in business and finance.(Featured photo by Dusan Petkovic/iStock by Getty Images)
Putting Talent Where it's Needed: Companies Search Internally to Find Ways to Close Skill Gaps
BY Tim Zyla July 13, 2023When USAA’s Head of Talent Marketplace Lya Icaza reflects on her early career, she remembers being advised not to mention her family or children in the workplace.Icaza and a panel of four other female leaders used their personal experiences and business knowledge to highlight how companies can better foster career growth among employees during a From Day One conference last month in Austin, Texas.“[In previous workplaces,] if I had gone to my leader and said, ‘Hey, I think I want to go work for somebody else,’ then [I’d be] terminated tomorrow,” said Ramona Arora, chief learning officer and vice president of global talent and development at Dell Technologies. “That talent-hoarding mentality, that's part of a culture.”A culture that all five women were happy to report is becoming increasingly scarce in the 21st century, thanks to the advent of more flexible work schedules and a drive among managers to keep productive employees happy.Focusing on Internal MobilityWhile the U.S. economy experiences a slowdown in hiring and increased reorganizations within companies, especially in the technology sector, NXP Semiconductors Senior Vice President for Talent and Culture, Elsa Zambrano said her company is increasingly focusing on internal mobility.“Development can start with where you're at,” Zambrano said. “You can change a job, and you can do it within the company.”Zambrano said NXP, a company of about 30,000 employees, recently began measuring internal mobility and set a goal to reach 30%. “We're just under 20% — it's too low. But we started at 14%, so we're making good progress on that,” she said.Icaza said USAA is also beginning to focus more on internal mobility and the intentional upward, lateral and downward movement of employees.“We want to be able to recognize that careers have seasons,” she said. “Depending on where you are in life, not just your professional life but in your personal life, you may want to change, and that could mean a demotion. Careers aren't just upward.”Arora shared that buying labor is a demanding task for technology companies in the current economic environment, so companies like Dell have turned inward to find talent opportunities.“It's our talent. So how do we move people gracefully, and also intelligently, across the company?” she said.The Tech SideRebecca Warren, who oversees customer success for Eightfold, a company that provides artificial intelligence talent acquisition and management services, said the importance of AI in helping to boost skill sets among employees can be invaluable to many organizations.Tom Miller, the morning anchor at KXAN, moderated the panel discussion (photos by Cassandra Sajna for From Day One)“We look at internal employees using a career hub model so they can say, ‘I want to do this so I can bolster my skills,’” she said.AI can also impact the hiring process, with some companies opting to analyze skill sets instead of the traditional resume and cover letter. “When you focus on what skills are needed or what someone's potential looks like, it's a completely different conversation compared to looking at a resume and thinking that's all someone can do,” Warren said.Arora said technology plays a large part in supporting a company's philosophy and culture, and AI is essential to achieving success. “I think this is an opportunity for HR,” she said. “You really need to lean into technical analysis. You have to lean into your technology teams to build that technology infrastructure and find out how that's going to support the philosophy and the culture that you're wanting to drive. We need technology. We need AI.”Achieving Personal FreedomWarren’s husband left his career as a talent acquisition specialist in search of an opportunity that would permit him to work 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day and not deal with stressors outside of the workplace.“He was very transparent, and from the organization's side, you have to be really clear about what a job like that might look like,” Warren said. “He basically said, ‘I want to go into leadership, do my job, and go home.’”Warren said he was able to find the job, even if decades ago, that would have been a nearly impossible task. She said the company created a remote work policy for her husband to work from home to provide even more flexibility for the valued employee.Those opportunities, Icaza said, in some cases allow for employees to work part-time jobs, which can help with advancing a skillset to benefit the full-time employer.Mel Faxon, COO & Co-Founder of Hey Mirza, said her company is dedicated to helping employers retain employees by offsetting the cost of childcare. “I spent the bulk of my career in startups across the U.S. and Europe. If you don't have care, you can't go to work, and you can't get paid.”Faxon said she remembers being shocked at the announcement that one of her mentors at a previous job was quitting because she “couldn't be a mom and work here.”“Mirza aims to solve that problem," Faxon said. About 61% of households in America are dual-income families, a number that has doubled in the last 50 years, she said.“If you think about the gender pay gap, when you control for everything except kids, it is 98 cents to a dollar—having kids is really where you create the gap,” she said. “That's mostly attributed to women, but any stay-at-home parent and someone taking time out of the workforce is affected.”Tim Zyla is the managing editor of a community newspaper in Pennsylvania and has a strong interest in business and finance.