How Can Companies Stay True to Their Values, While Making Enormous Changes?

Almost three years into the pandemic, what has the workplace revolution revealed? Our one-day conference at the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture in San Francisco brought together leading thinkers and top executives in HR, hybrid work, diversity, benefits, social impact and employee engagement for a conversation about how organizations can build stronger bonds of trust with their workers and their communities. The event focused on such topics as creating equity in a hybrid workplace, balancing productivity with well-being, offering better career paths, developing diversity in leadership, and supporting working parents. Among the timely questions: How can companies stay true to their core values, and accountable to their stakeholders, while making enormous changes? Highlights from three of the sessions:Building a Team Sparked by Worker Potential and CuriosityWhile the 2020 pandemic recedes into the past, the American workplace continues to adapt to the changes it brought. As EVP and chief people officer of the digital-storage giant Western Digital, Christine Bastian understands the way company culture has shifted to give employees a greater voice within the workplace.Bastian joined Justine Waldman, anchor and reporter for KRON4 TV, for a fireside-chat discussion about ongoing changes in workplace culture and performance measurements. Hybrid work has shattered the myth that remote work results in lower productivity. If anything, it’s exposed the ongoing need to “reverse the dynamic,” where employees–not managers–set the tone for the workplace culture.Bastian said that today’s collaborative approach offers the opportunity for employees to have a “very important voice in the conversation,” having a profound impact on the rest of the workplace. This cultural component represents a shift in the role of managers and an increased emphasis on curiosity and empathy rather than relying on mere productivity checklists.A fireside chat with Christine Bastian, left, chief people officer of Western DigitalBastian reflected on her experience at Western Digital, which relies on biannual employee-engagement surveys to give workers a greater voice in the company culture. The results of these surveys can reveal how well managers are seeking to listen to their employees and understand their needs. Like most post-pandemic businesses, Western Digital adopted a hybrid work schedule for its knowledge workers. But Bastian also noted that manufacturing employees didn’t have the luxury of performing their duties from home. Western Digital sought to bridge the divide by creating three deliberate collaboration days to form “centers of gravity” for the workweek. And a series of “giving back” activities (such as the company’s backpack drive for kids) encouraged collaboration between departments and different areas of the business.The Great Resignation of 2021 and debate about “quiet quitting” have prompted companies to reevaluate how they measure performance. Bastian said it’s less about “butts in seats” now. Employee performance may be reflected in a number of different activities.Justine Waldman, left, an anchor and reporter for KRON4 TV, led the conversationManagers especially play a role in fostering employee morale and keeping their teams unified around a common mission. Company values play an important role in that. Bastian described how her company was able to bring its values to the forefront as part of a multi-pronged, re-branding campaign. But more than that, corporate leadership can instill these values by talking about them more broadly to stakeholders. “Employees see how important your company is putting its culture and values on the forefront,” Bastian said. This can likewise promote a sense of purpose and meaning that fosters employee engagement.According to Bastian, the future of the American workplace will shift to emphasize collaboration. While healthy competition is necessary for businesses to thrive, companies will seek to improve by collaborating between one another and even across industries.This collaboration also extends to “extracurricular” activities, as Bastian called them–seminars and other leadership events that allow managers and employees alike to incorporate new ideas. Cooperation will become “a new level of currency” that enriches the entire workplace. The future workplace will be marked by increased dialogue, she said. The right culture allows employees to thrive and helps companies attract and retain star talent, all while appreciating the diverse perspectives that add vibrancy to American businesses.How High-Performing Workplaces Can Show Compassion, TooVirtually every business proclaims that people are its greatest resource, yet it can be a challenge to balance high-level performance goals with care for employees. At the San Francisco conference, a panel of industry leaders deconstructed the idea that the workplace should be solely organized around the bottom line. Even high-performing workplaces can show compassion.Rebecca Dishotsky, the head of global employee communications at eBay, noted that compassion and performance should never be an “either/or” proposition. On any given day, employees have to fill such roles as mom, dad, spouse, and employee. Performance won’t always be consistent, and it’s important to acknowledge and become comfortable with this reality, she said.Dishotsky emphasized the role that leadership can play in reminding workers that “it’s OK to not be OK.” During the pandemic, her company showed a video featuring interviews from people around the world. The shared tears did more to unite the company than she could have possibly imagined. Moving forward, she said, mental health advocacy can spark changes in the way employees seek treatment and remain engaged in their company culture.As for employee performance, Dishotsky said that “quiet quitting” is nothing new. It’s just that during the pandemic, companies “messed with the boundaries” in the work/life balance. The American workforce is reevaluating what it means to perform, and companies can rethink what performance truly looks like. For Dishotsky, the most important element to drive performance is a common mission, which binds people together and provides the means to evaluate company success.A panel on productivity and compassion, from left: moderator Scott Thurm of The Information, Rebecca Dishotsky of eBay, Stephanie Denton of Northstar, Davida Rivens of E4E Relief, and Chad Nico Hiu of the YMCA of San FranciscoAs the leader in a non-profit organization, Chad Nico Hiu, the SVP the of strategy, equity, and impact at the YMCA of San Francisco, sees an opportunity to “knit together the social fabric, which is more frayed now than ever.”Hiu acknowledged that the “boundaries of work have gotten blurry,” prompting leaders and employees to reconsider what to expect from one another in the workplace. Hiu agreed that it’s important to give people space when they “cannot be resilient.” Not everyone is in the same place, so humanity and compassion are increasingly expected from supervisors.But even nonprofits have to be results-oriented. Hiu said that policies can set the expectation for workplace culture, but employees themselves are the ones influencing what engagement and productivity look like. Consequently, performance can vary between organizations based on their individual goals, and it’s important to help employees have a voice in how these goals are achieved.For Stephanie Denton, the people operations lead at Northstar, a financial-wellness platform for employees, the most important thing is to recognize the diversity that can be found in a typical workplace. For example, the Northstar workplace is fully remote. As a result, the workforce occupies multiple time zones. A practical way to show compassion is to respect the different schedules of each worker, for example by not scheduling meetings outside of someone’s preferred schedule.It’s also important to appreciate that every person’s circumstances are different. As an example, Denton shared an anecdote about a coworker who did not take the same amount of maternity leave as she did. Denton also noted that productivity and results aren’t always about money. Every company’s mission is different, and the way they measure results will be different as well.Davida Rivens is the director of product management and sales at E4E Relief, a non-profit that partners with companies to help employees during times of need through grants and other programs. Understandably, Rivens’s company is built around compassion, both for the workplace staff as well as for their many clients. The company intentionally hires “compassionate people,” she said, meaning those who understand what it means to “be someone’s guide through a really hard and difficult time.” But that same compassion must apply to one another so that “everybody is caring about someone else.”Rivens speculated that some people are “quiet quitting” simply because they need a break. At E4E, employees are often encouraged to take a “minimally viable workday.” This means they show up to work but avoid going above-and-beyond in the hopes of conserving energy for the next day. This approach, Rivens said, allows her organization to balance compassion for employees with the needs of the company as a whole.The future workplace will increasingly be one where employees set the tone and direction of company culture. These panelists suggested that it’s possible to run a successful company while still addressing the needs of employees’ well-being and mental health.Taking a Winning Approach to Leading People and Culture  It takes nearly 3,000 workers for the Golden State Warriors to deliver world-class experiences to their loyal fans. Although most of these workers will never set foot on a basketball court or shake hands with the players, they are all part of the same team.During a fireside chat at the conference, Erin Dangerfield, the team’s SVP of people and culture, spoke with Michal Lev-Ram, an editor-at-large for Fortune, about what it’s like to be part of this globally-recognized organization–and to play such a key role in shaping the Warriors' culture.A fireside chat on people and culture with Erin Dangerfield, SVP of the Golden State WarriorsThe Golden State Warriors organization consists of 550 full-time and 2,300 part-time employees. This figure does not include the many people the organization employs at Chase Center, nor does it include the extensive business staff that supports the organization’s many interconnected operations, which now include the Golden Guardians, an e-sports team, as well as Golden State Entertainment and other entertainment ventures.Central to everything the Warriors do is delivering a “world-class experience” to fans and guests, Dangerfield said. “A fan that comes with their family from another country just because they want to get close to Steph Curry, and what role do you play in delivering that experience to them?”Everyone in the organization plays a role in delivering that world-class experience. Dangerfield says the Warriors emphasize four key values: safety, respect, presentation, and efficiency. But within those broad parameters, team members have the flexibility to “stay on the court” and bring the pieces together for a memorable guest experience.It helps when leadership is aligned on these central values, Dangerfield said. Most importantly, the company works hard to reward its workforce for a job well done so that they feel included in every win. For example, when the team faced the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals at the end of last season’s playoffs, the company took the entire full-time workforce to Boston.Like many other companies, the Warriors found it challenging to maintain alignment during the pandemic, but the organization helped its employees pivot to new roles and even adapted the ticket windows at its venues into payroll-check pick-up locations for those who couldn’t receive electronic payments.The Warriors organization believes in giving back to the community as well, maintaining a community-relations team to strategize the team’s community focus. The organization set up a disaster-relief fund during the pandemic to help employees impacted by the Chase Center’s closure. The team also recently contributed $25 million toward educational equity. During election seasons, the team works to promote voter education and voter access.Leading the conversation was Michal Lev-Ram, left, editor-at-large for Fortune  Many of the players have their own causes and projects as well. Dangerfield said that the Warriors help to amplify players’ voices when their chosen causes align with the organization’s values. In fact, there’s a full-time staff member committed to helping new players select a cause that’s important to them.Although many of those who make the games a world-class experience never see a single game or attend a single concert, Dangerfield says, the ushers, ticket-checkers, and elevator operators share in every victory. Organized around this shared purpose, the Warriors are able to deliver an experience that reflects the team’s values, passions, and drive.John Boitnott is a journalist and digital consultant living in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has worked at TV, newspaper, radio and internet companies for 25 years. He currently writes at the Motley Fool and Entrepreneur.com and has also written for Fast Company, NBC, Inc. magazine, USA Today and BusinessInsider, among others.