What’s in a Name? Sony Music’s Shift From HR to ‘People Experience’
BY Jeff Zbar December 30, 2022When Sony Music Entertainment decided to change how it manages and motivates its workers, it was more than a renaming of “HR” to “People Experience.” The record label transformed how it approaches the entire employment continuum. In this fireside chat at From Day One’s conference in Miami, Andrew Davis, the record company’s executive vice president and global chief people officer, talked about the work in progress to “change HR.” Serona Elton, professor and associate dean at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami, asked Davis about what precipitated the change and how it was received. Edited excerpts of their conversation: Why was the transformation necessary? We had an image problem. We were known as the policy police, when there’s bad news, the negative side of people. Also, I’ve always struggled with the term “human resources,” even when I got into HR 20-plus years ago. When you break it down–human resources–people interpret that as, “I’m a human and you use me as a resource.” To me it has to be at least a 50-50 proposition between employees and employer. Those two forces came together to say we have to find a way to reinvent ourselves so we can show up differently for our employees. So the function itself had to change its image. Dive a little deeper into the contrast between the human resources and the people experience. What looks different? It’s not just rebranding the name. It’s more about a mindset shift. I wanted to make sure people understood why we existed. You don’t just come in, do your work and then get out. We know that the world has changed. There’s behaviors as well. We have to show up, act and behave differently. So we have to have the mindset of thinking about people first. What I love about putting that out there is you’re kind of putting a mirror to yourself and saying “we’re a people-first organization.” So we really modeled this name change into everything that we did, especially how we showed up, how we were structured, what we needed to do. If you think about what’s going on right now with the employee base and management, there’s tension, especially around returning to the office and how the workforce is choosing themselves and their families first. That’s been long overdue. We’re trying to embrace where people are and meet them there with a people experience that will make their lives easier and better and ultimately add to their happiness. I want to find a way to infuse happiness into their work. If you were talking to a student getting ready to graduate, how would you explain that people-first perspective? All of us know what’s happened in the last 2½ years. Employee sentiment has changed and employees’ needs have also changed. If we’re not meeting when and where they are, we’re already missing out on what is now here. In HR, we’ve been talking about this for 20 years. Finally, it’s real. You’re feeling that Great Resignation, some of the things about “why we are quitting.” We have to think about the right solution, which we think is the people experience. If I’m speaking to one of your students about what’s different now, employers have woken up. They’re saying we’ve got to find a way to make sure we’re not only attractive, but we’re retaining great talent in our workforce. How do we do that? We have to make sure their experience is positive. Davis was interviewed by Serona Elton, professor and associate dean at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami So we try to look at every aspect of the employee journey, from the time they are recruited to the time they [leave the company and] become ambassadors. We want to make sure when you’re coming into the company, you know what it’s like working here, what’s the value proposition of being here at Sony Music Entertainment, what we want to get from you. It should be a 50-50 proposition. It should not be a war with your workforce. We should be able to work together in this new era in the workplace and really embrace that for what it is. As you look back over this initiative, what are you most excited about? The early work we’ve done around the hybrid flex programming that we instituted. The music industry itself is a creative industry and that requires a lot of collaboration and connections to make the magic sauce of great music and telling these stories. We learned to do it right. We found a way to do it virtually. Now you could ask, What have we left on the table? Would we have more acts and top artists out there? But I would say we did a pretty good job. Not every single role needs to be “flex types,” which is what we call our hybrid. It took a ton of change management, a lot of influence and a ton of data to share with our leaders. We’re still in the early days. But I’m pretty proud that we’ve embraced it. One size is not going to fit all… It shouldn’t. When you rebrand it as a people experience, a lot of things get exposed. I’m good with that. I’d say we weren’t really ready for this. I’d say we didn’t know what we didn’t know. We thought we did. But when you actually flip the switch and are now saying “people experience,” it really forces you to make sure that you are walking the talk every day in what you do, how you show up, how you deliver results. If anyone is thinking about this, it’s not about the name, it’s about behaviors. I encourage you to think about the needs of your employees. These shifts are going to continue to happen. The world is in a volatile state of change. Put on some kind of people-first, people-experience hat. Because if you don’t, you’re going to miss out on some great talent. Especially the people you don’t want to lose will start to question if this is the place for them. South Florida native Jeff Zbar has enjoyed a three-decade career as a freelance journalist and marketing copywriter, including 25 years exploring home officing and telework as the Chief Home Officer. His portfolio of print and digital work appears in media outlets and for corporate clients across all areas of business and industry.
Fresh Approaches to Competing for Talent as the Labor Shortage Persists
BY Jeff Zbar December 30, 2022The Great Resignation by multiple generations of American workers has brought to life the Chinese proverb “may you live in interesting times” for HR professionals in the post-pandemic era. Employers are finding it hard to fill vacancies with diverse talent, while also keeping existing teams engaged and loyal. To retain their current talent and recruit their next generation of workers, today’s employers are focusing on culture, communications, technology, and a commitment to training to boost engagement and reduce feelings of marginalization among increasingly diverse teams. Creating a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) requires a holistic process across the entire employee lifecycle, said Raymond Hall, chief HR officer with Harvard Maintenance, a managed-services company with more than 10,000 employees. Hall spoke on an executive panel focusing on “Improving the Talent Pipeline, From End to End,” part of at From Day One’s recent Miami conference. Hall’s company removes college-degree requirements for job postings where possible; trains managers in new approaches to interviewing, hiring, and onboarding talent; and avoids referral programs that “end up getting people from the same background,” Hall said. Avoiding a “piecemeal” approach helps drive results, he said. Hiring is part instinct, part research and assessment. Every hiring manager will claim to know how to make a great hire, and they’re not wrong, said Ernie Paskey, chief regional officer for Aon Assessment Solutions. But it doesn’t happen every time. Deploying data insights to make relevant decisions regarding each individual can help managers thrive and the organization earn it reputation as an employer of choice. The full panel of speakers, from left: Raymond Hall of Harvard Maintenance, Dettorre of IBM, Ernie Paskey of Aon, and Gabriela Gomes de Freitas of Mastercard A deliberate, strategic approach to hiring and employment, which also includes branding across social media to build the organization’s reputation, will enable people to connect with the brand, said panelist Gabriela Gomes de Freitas, VP and people business partner for Mastercard in Latin America and the Caribbean. This approach also must address the unique needs of different groups, whether that’s inclusiveness, compensation, social impact and community outreach, or the type of workplace the company will offer going forward, she said. This all must be reflected in job posts and company social media. Her company strives to boost authenticity with job candidates by engaging current employees in the recruitment process, allowing them to share their stories about the opportunities they’ve been provided or the value they bring. “How can an organization rethink the language they put out?” she asked. “Different generations appreciate different things about their work experience.” Research reveals more challenges ahead, said Joy Dettorre, global diversity and inclusion leader with IBM. Research reveals a workplace in flux, with one study claiming four in 10 workers intending to leave their employers within three to six months. Another finding: almost seven in 10 of U.S. adults have no bachelor’s degree. What did IBM do with those findings? They, too, have removed the requirement for a four-year degree for about half their job postings, and instead are posting “skills-based” descriptions, Dettorre said. They’re also rewriting job descriptions “with a lens of inclusiveness,” removing words that are “gender coded, age triggering, rooted in bias against somebody’s mobility,” she said. The result? By removing the “systemic inequality among the candidate pool,” IBM increased candidate matching by 42% and increased their candidate diversity pipeline by 63%. That’s not to say IBM doesn’t appreciate higher education; the company paid for both Dettorre’s masters and doctorate degrees, she said. That speaks to the need to keep skills fresh. Whether through traditional education or skills-based training, employers can keep teams on the leading edge–and engaged–by investing in ongoing training, she added. Moderating the panel was Joe Johnson, morning host of Miami NPR affiliate WLRN Hiring with an inclusive lens and investing in ongoing training are two ways employers can improve their employee experience. At Aon, managers are tapping creative ways to develop non-traditional career paths to attract new hires and keep existing workers, Paskey said. If a worker leaves, the company explores why–and what barriers may be in place preventing them from returning: skills, training, culture, or even the worksite demands in the post-Covid era, he said. Harvard Maintenance seeks to support its reputation as an employer by living up to its core-values statements, Hall said. They measure them regularly and “with the same vigor as you’d measure any other business metric: safety, quality, productivity,” he said. Then the company rewards employees and especially managers who embrace those values. “The No. 1 spectator sport in business is boss-watching,” he said. “The quickest way to increase turnover is to not walk the talk.” How can HR professionals ensure their companies stay competitive as the talent shortage persists? Commit to culture. Encourage feedback, listen to the language, then act on what you learn. Culture isn’t created in what’s done once, Dettorre said, but “the things we do over and over and over again.” “People are reevaluating not only where they want to work, but who they want to work for,” she said. “People are realizing the authenticity of what people are saying, but also feeling empowered to make a good decision.” South Florida native Jeff Zbar has enjoyed a three-decade career as a freelance journalist and marketing copywriter, including 25 years exploring home officing and telework as the Chief Home Officer. His portfolio of print and digital work appears in media outlets and for corporate clients across all areas of business and industry.