How to Improve the Candidate Experience From the Very Beginning
BY Tabitha Cabrera March 11, 2025“Taking a moment to slow down and understand the candidate experience and finding time to focus on that is incredibly important,” said Kristen Baller, head of talent acquisition at DISH Network. “The candidate experience actually has a fundamental impact on our organization’s bottom line, meaning every candidate is a customer. And so, talent acquisition, while we may be looked at as a cost center, ultimately, has the ability to help drive revenue,” she said during a fireside chat at From Day One’s February virtual conference. Focus on the Candidate“What we’ve missed is where we actually carve out time to focus on creating a better candidate experience, focusing on the candidate—whether they’re going to be an employee, or whether we move forward with somebody else,” she said.One of the company’s core values is that opportunity is their number one benefit. Baller says that when looking at skills for both current and future positions within the organization, it’s important to assess whether someone has the energy to overcome adversity and the intelligence to think critically and outside the box.Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, reporter for the Denver Post, interviewed Baller of DISH (photo by From Day One)Internal mobility is also top of mind at DISH. Finding opportunities within the organization as Baller highlighted provides candidates confidence that “we go to the market and tell people to come build your future with us. There is someone and somewhere for everybody.” Leading With Empathy“When we think about our employer brand, one of the things that our team’s focused on is how we are taking the time to give back?” she said, highlighting their EchoStar Cares and Dish Cares volunteer work initiatives. “But how are we actually giving back to those that don’t join our organization? How do we create the space to just be more human and empathetic?” she asks. With this in mind, the company is focused on giving back and building their brand around that. Baller outlines that what she wishes industry leaders would do differently is to start carving out space for more empathy and human connection. Many of the metrics used by leaders and talent acquisition focus on efficiency and optimization, such as the number of positions filled in a quarter, time to fill, and time in process. Instead, leaders should shift some of that thinking to focus on metrics that measure candidate experience.Transparency can provide great value to the recruitment process, and overall candidate experience, says Baller. “How do we give them more transparency around what they can expect with the next steps of the interview process?” While Baller focuses on the candidate experience, the employee experience remains equally important to her. Baller highlights the importance of celebrating each other, “from a diversity, equity, and inclusion standpoint, it’s really important as an organization that we’re still investing and making our employees feel safe,” she said. Employers need to find ways to invest in and celebrate one another, recognizing that our differences and diversity of thought are what make businesses thrive and help move us forward as an organization.Tabitha Cabrera, Esq. is a writer and attorney, who has a series of inclusive children's books, called Spectacular Spectrum Books.(Photo by everydayplus/iStock)
Beyond the Paycheck: Investing in Caregiving to Drive Employee Retention and Productivity
BY Tabitha Cabrera February 20, 2025Recent BCG research finds that childcare benefits deliver returns of up to 425% of their cost for companies across the United States. At From Day One’s January virtual conference, Rachel Peterson, VP of marketing at Upwards, provided insight on sustained care and creating holistic solutions for employees.“How can we ask “why” a few more times to really get ourselves to the heart of what is the holistic need that isn’t being met here? We can do a better job of serving and that will then help [improve] everything from mental and emotional well-being at work, to financial well-being when there’s a steady care system in place,” she said. “When we offer that organizationally, we see employees that are happier, that are healthier, that are more successful. If we care for an employee, they take better care in their day working responsibilities.” Peterson spoke on not only the lack of childcare resources, but the growing need for adult care resources for employees across organizations. A highly impacted demographic of employees are those working nontraditional hours when child care or adult care is not available. “Are we able to offer something to employee populations that creates a sustainable improvement in their lives?”Rachel Peterson of Upwards spoke during the thought leadership spotlight (company photo)“So, we know that over 50% of families in the U.S. live in a child care desert, and that means that there are not adequate care centers to meet the needs of families within an area. In areas that are seeing that desert, there are also 18 plus month wait lists for childcare centers,” said Peterson.According to a 2020 U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation study, 58% of working parents reported leaving work because they were unable to find childcare solutions that met their needs. Outside of the lack of childcare resources the cost of childcare leaves families balancing if working outside of the home is feasible. “I remember hearing around the middle of last year, a new report came out that childcare for two children is now more expensive than rent in all 50 states, which is really one of the other things that makes this no longer nice to have, but really a need for employees,” said Peterson. With a lack of available resources and resources that most working families cannot afford, a family care benefit provided for employees could make all the difference when balancing working outside of the home. “We’ve seen 80% reduction in turnover for organizations that do offer this benefit, a 30% reduction in absenteeism and, unsurprisingly, improved employee satisfaction,” she said. Not only do employees feel strain when trying to balance child rearing and a career but many also have an added weight of caring for aging parents. “65% report a negative career impact as a result of not having the support they need in that caregiving and its complex journey right now,” said Peterson. Not only do many employees struggle to find appropriate childcare but they may be caring for aging parents at the same time, navigating insurance, medical resources, and appointments. Rachel proposed a question for all employers, “Keep going down into the ‘whys,’ and oftentimes, what we find is that the central why of what holistic care and holistic benefits mean for an employee population is, what can we offer them that makes them feel valued, safe, secure, and know their families are being taken care of,” she said.“The challenge of work-life balance is without question one of the most significant struggles faced by modern man,” as said by Steven Covey. What’s important for the modern company is listening to the concerns of their employees and shifting to find solutions not only in the workplace but lightening whatever struggles employees face.Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, Upwards, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight.Tabitha Cabrera, Esq. is a writer and attorney, who has a series of inclusive children's books, called Spectacular Spectrum Books. (Photo by Visual Generation/iStock)
When You Take Care of Yourself, You Take Care of Your Business
BY Tabitha Cabrera January 21, 2025The importance of well-being in the workplace has remained a focus of organizations around the globe, as William “B.J.” Warren, head of HR effectiveness at Bayer describes, “Pause, reflect, and recognize. It’s all right to take a beat. You have to take breaks.”Constance Jones of NBC 6 South Florida, moderated a panel discussion at From Day One’s Miami conference about “Cultivating Well-Being Through Workplace Culture.” How do you foster a workplace environment that your employees are excited to be a part of? The panel brought insight into that question with a variety of viewpoints but a general theme that workplace culture fosters well-being within the organization. The Three F’s of Creating a Sense of Community and BelongingWorkplace autonomy fosters a community environment as Kathleen Procario, VP of HR, North America, Bacardi, outlines the three F’s that build a culture of community and belonging at Bacardi. “We have something called the three F’s, which are our fearless founder, fearless family and founders mentality, and it’s ingrained in everything we do. It’s very rewarding to be working at Bacardi. It’s a place where we’re encouraged to be ourselves and really be authentic in our work.”Procario emphasizes that fostering a sense of connection to the organization requires employees to see community culture reflected throughout the business while also promoting individuality and authenticity in the workplace.Creating a Workplace that Promotes a Desire to be PresentAs with many large organizations around the globe, many employees find themselves spending more time at home, away from the office and co-workers, and using technology to bridge the lack of physical connection. What keeps employees connected not only to the people they directly work with, but also with the company as a whole? Fernando Casadevall, CHRO of World Kinect Corp., shares the importance of trying new things in the workplace to keep the environment fresh. It’s important to “create those opportunities where people can be seen, and maybe have opportunity for advancement as well–-seeing and working with each other and kind of sprinkling in some events, and then mix it up, right? You do something for a couple of months, change it up, because people just get bored of it, right? So you have to always be trying to change things around that, and maybe go seasonal, do things that are important. It’s not one size fits all for a company, because what’s important for us here in Miami is different for our employees in Singapore than it is in the UK, right?”Panelists shared their ideas on the topic "Cultivating Well-Being Through Workplace Culture," at From Day One's Miami conference Knowing where people are working is a major factor in bridging the gap between large spaces created by remote or hybrid work. Organizations need to be creative with what is important to their specific employees. Taking a survey of what is important to the company as a whole while pairing down to the individual to see what community building activities make sense for all. How to Make Every Worker’s Encounter with HR SatisfyingMaking HR more than just a logistic place for procedural points of contact within a company changes the willingness of employees to seek out those connections when it is needed the most. What moments matter to the employees sitting across from you and what can you do to foster a conversation centered around understanding. “For us it’s about looking at what are those moments that really matter for employees, where the interactions that they have with HR or the conversations that they have with people leaders are those about very meaningful things,” said Warren. “So even in the introduction, about if you lose a family member, or maybe you’re bringing someone new into your life, that’s the conversation you’re having and talking about those not where do I find my paycheck or how do I enter my performance goals? And so, we really focus heavily on first staying, what are those moments that matter?” he said. The Power of Food in the WorkplaceWho doesn’t like a free lunch but more importantly who doesn’t like a mental break in the middle of the day? Zak Kovat, director, people operations and talent at ezCater said “From our lunch rush report last year, we surveyed 5000 US office workers. 90% of them said that they’re more productive when they actually take a lunch break.” But they found that only around 38% of people take their lunch break–so offering it and encouraging it is an inclusive perk. Food might not always be the answer but often a snack paired with the company of a coworker might be. Promoting a Culture of Well-being in the WorkplaceEach of the panel members discussed what they do to make sure they are taking care of themselves in the workplace. Some of the practices of the panel members included, being intentional with breaks, yoga, going on walks, using technology like an Apple Watch as a reminder to move, weekly check ins on Sunday, participating in mini learning activities of 5-30 minutes, and doing things that you really enjoy. Jeff Williams, U.S. president and CEO of Aptia, says it’s important to ensure people are taking their time off. “Make them take time off, because not only are they going to do better, but the employees that you keep saying are two years away gives them a chance to step in and lead on behalf of those leaders, not just notionally, but really making quality decisions while those leaders are off. Make the leaders take the time, make the people step up and get some real experience as part of your succession plan.”There is life outside of work, and well-being can be brought into the workplace. It takes a conscious effort of awareness and practice not only for companies to promote well-being but for employees to feel good about participating. Tabitha Cabrera, Esq. is a writer and attorney, who has a series of inclusive children's books, called Spectacular Spectrum Books.