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Ellen Chang | May 17, 2023

Employing Empathic Leadership to Unlock Productivity

Empathic leaders will motivate, retain, and ensure more productivity from their employees, several hiring managers said.The Covid era showed managers that employees have varied experiences and living situations that impact their work, as well as their colleagues. This topic remains at the forefront for many employers, says Shelby Stewart, news editor of Houstonia, who moderated a panel titled “Employing the Skills of Empathic Leadership to Unlock Employee Potential and Life Productivity” at From day One’s 2023 live conference in Houston.Being aware of an employee’s needs and challenges can help them perform better.“It simply means that we lead from a place of humanity that we view our employees as human beings and not robots, not machines, not workhorses,” said A. Denise Malloy, global vice president, diversity and inclusion at Johnson Controls. “We view each employee as an individual that's unique, that has a unique set of attributes and a unique set of contributions that they will make to the organization.”Giving employees recognition, rewards, and a path for advancement are all crucial, Malloy says.“It is my job and responsibility as your leader to give you the development and coaching that you need,” she explained. “When you find an empathic leader who really cares and who's committed to the growth and the development of their employees, then you'll find that your employees will thrive. They'll be more productive, they'll be more loyal, and they'll produce better outcomes.”Acknowledging employees for their efforts is “just low-hanging fruit in every corporate environment,” Malloy said. “It takes very little to give an ‘attaboy’ to tell someone that they did a good job. But yet for some of us, it's not our natural bent.”Managers should avoid making assumptions about their employees, said Pedro Neiva Botelho, human resources director, total talent management at Schlumberger.“We started to realize how many assumptions we were making on a day-to-day basis in many of the situations that we have in life and in our personal lives, as well,” he said. “As we went through Covid, we started entering much more into the personal lives of our people and our colleagues on our teams and realized how many of those assumptions actually weren't reflecting some of the initial understandings that we had.”By not making as many assumptions about generations, cultures, and genders, managers can avoid putting people into various categories that are not always accurate, Botelho says.Some managers were making assumptions based on an employee’s generation–for example, concluding that younger generations, such as Millennials and Gen Z, would be “thrilled the most in regards to hybrid work or working from home,” he said.The full panel of speakers discussing the importance of empathic leadership (photo by Cassandra Sajna for From Day One)After receiving feedback from some employees, he learned that many of them found it challenging to work from smaller apartments, where they lacked an office and often completed their work from a kitchen table.“One of the specificities of empathic leadership and the nature itself of empathy is to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and be able to view the situations through that lens,” he said.During the pandemic, when CEOs and managers showed, via online video conversations, that they were dealing with life experiences similar to those of their employees, it resonated with workers, says Julie Hulet Keller, executive human resources director, Baker Hughes.“Whenever there's any important initiative in any organization, people are going to look at the top-level leaders,” she said. “One of the things that we saw in our company that I think was just so impactful is that CEOs of our business divisions would show up on camera, in their homes, with their kids around, with their pets around, really showcasing that they have a life, also.”Employers should not, at this point, ask their workforce to compartmentalize their personal lives, since personal matters were often intertwined with professional ones during the pandemic.“What has resonated from an empathic standpoint is that we aren't asking people to undo that now,” Keller said. “I think the best-case scenario is that we figure out ways to move forward.”Managers must provide flexibility to their employees, open the lines of communication, and continue to provide psychological safety to promote inclusivity, says Debi Yadegari, founder and CEO, Villyge.“In order to drive belonging in our organizations, we need to see employees for their full selves, not just how they look on the outside,” she said. “What kinds of invisible handicaps might managers be dealing with? How do we provide organizations with the skills to do that?”Being an empathic leader means taking the time to speak with employees, as 49% of people report that they have left jobs because their managers failed to support them personally, Yadegari says.“That's a huge statistic that basically means five out of 10 high-performing employees have left a job at some point during their career because the manager didn't show up for them personally,” she said.A leader “who shows up” will receive ten times the effort back from an employee, Yadegari said.Empathic leadership needs to trickle down within an organization and is “not just kumbaya. It really drives productivity forward and creates organizations of care,” Yadegari said. “And when managers and companies care, employees care even more about their work.”Morale in the workplace can improve through coaching, mentoring, and acknowledging the needs and goals of employees, says Hailey Herleman, vice president of client partnerships, BetterUp.Data from research says that 60% of employees are languishing, while 55% “of us are just not as awesome as we want to be,” Herleman said. Acknowledging the fact that it is normal to have lower expectations about work will normalize the discussion.“Acknowledgment makes a big difference,” Herleman said. “From our research, we know you can grow, you can achieve, and you can get to where you're thriving.”Ellen Chang is a freelance journalist who is based in Houston and writes articles for U.S. News & World Report, TheStreet, Kiplinger’s and Bankrate. Her byline has appeared in national business publications, including USA Today, CBS News, Yahoo Finance and MSN Money.

Krista Sherer | May 17, 2023

Employee Engagement and the Macroeconomics of Talent

“Unless you’ve been under a rock, employee engagement is a hot topic,” said Matthew Willis, senior vice president, North America of Advantage Club. In a talk at From Day One’s 2023 Silicon Valley conference, Willis stressed his love for “employee engagement, or the employee experience, culture, or whatever it is we're calling it today.” Advantage Club currently works with companies such as Target, H&M, and Bausch + Lomb to run their in-house recognition programs, but intends to take a more prominent role in the coming year as a branded provider of employee recognition and engagement programs. “Think of it as an Uber for recognition, mindfulness, and wellness,” he said. According to Willis, with 45 percent of employees working from home, and the average cost of hire in the United States at $4,700, the most critical factor for people in talent acquisition, human resources, or people strategy is the employee experience. Because of these numbers and the data from employee satisfaction scores, companies are paying more attention to this issue, or they should be.“Talent acquisition teams are kicking and scratching to get people in, and the job market is still very hot,” Willis said. “So, all of a sudden, the chief executive officer who said, ‘Yes, I was interested in the Employee Satisfaction scores (ESAT), and I'm interested in turnover,’ is now saying, ‘I'm interested in turnover and the ESAT scores, but I'm also interested in our employee net satisfaction score.’”Companies have always been attentive as to whether their customers refer them, but Willis said that businesses are now focused on whether their employees will do the same. As a result, leaders are assessing engagement surveys and analyzing data using metrics that were overlooked three or five years ago. “What we're getting, as a result of this, is a kind of human resources tech boom and the macroeconomics of talent,” Willis said. “We're getting a spotlight on employee engagement, experience, and culture.”Willis said that this moment could be a unique time for professionals who live and breathe this information. But there is a caveat. “The information can be skewed in a lot of different ways,” Willis said. “What we do know is that 90 percent of businesses indicate they recognize their employees.”Working against this data, Willis said, are the statistics showing that 40 percent of employees said they had not been adequately recognized by their supervisor in the past, and 65 percent say they have yet to receive any recognition at all.“So we think we're doing a good job, but if you ask the front lines, we're not,” he said.Willis acknowledges the challenges that come with employees working from home, asking for flexible scheduling, and still wanting to feel like they belong. Also, although compensation is the number-one motivator for workers, employees are showing they need more recognition and credit, as well. And only 21 percent of global employees are engaged at work.“What does that mean on an active weekly basis?” Willis asked. “It means employees are not getting involved with company activities. So, we know there's disengagement, there's silent quitting, there's career cushioning. And there are the layoffs.” These are tough problems for leaders to solve. Conflicting data points make it difficult to find immediate answers, but identifying employees’ needs is the first step. Willis says that recognition culture is rooted in hearing employees, celebrating successes, and creating a feedback loop to create a healthy employee experience and increased engagement. Relating recognition to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Willis adds that, as you address employees’ needs, their motivation rises.“This is consistent in all companies,” he said. “I don't care if your company size is 100 or 250,000.”Willis also notes recurring themes in employee satisfaction surveys: “I want the opportunity for growth. I want a sense of belonging. I want to believe in the company or product,” he reiterated. “We’re seeing a greater need for flexibility and scheduling in the workplace. And we're literally seeing the words ‘recognizing, achieving, belonging’ more, and more, and more.”He stresses that this input predicts a company’s turnover and that leaders should take responsibility for the outcomes.Willis led the thought leadership spotlight (photo by David Coe for From Day One)Willis also points out that the six predictors of job satisfaction, according to Gallup, are culture, autonomy, growth, opportunities, flexibility, purpose, and recognition. However, he cautions that employees’ needs differ depending on factors like generation, business function, and location.“Paying more attention to employees’ needs creates avenues for recognition,” he said, adding that top companies are working on monetary and non-monetary recognition and celebration across channels. This type of recognition can look like acknowledging work anniversaries or birthdays. There is also value-based recognition, when employees receive badges or rewards for living up to a company’s core values. Cultural commitment is also something that can be recognized. “What is our culture?” asked Willis. “Let's ask what we want to see in our culture. Then, let's start recognizing those things,” he said. “Not just with a sales quota for the quarter. How about service? How about above-and-beyond awards? We're creating those awards, and then we're celebrating across the organization.” Willis and Advantage Club are seeing flexible awards and point systems in larger companies with 250,000 employees and above. Swag is still essential, but it’s thoughtful swag. More importantly, they see rewards like online team building, online communities, experiences, wellness, and non-traditional benefits like pet care or self-care. Having buy-in from your leadership and CEO is crucial, Willis adds. Using data and tying the employee experience to metrics is critical, but you have to get support from the top. “Our job is to manage up during this time, as well as sideways, and use data. We have to tie it to metrics,” he said. “And no matter how we slice this or dice that, we may have all the data in the world, but if you have the CEO who has not bought in, it's going to be very difficult.”Willis says the time is now to use recognition and awards to your advantage in your company. If you have the ear of your executives, use it; if not, tie the metrics to turnover rates or absenteeism. “To get executive buy-in, track what you normally do, but then say, ‘We're gonna adopt this new engagement platform,’” he said. “‘And at this point, we're going to tie that into our turnover rates. We're going to anchor that to absenteeism.’”Feedback loops embedded into engagement events create communities, Willis says. One way to be successful in this strategy is to have an engagement manager. “You can create exciting, fun activities aligned with the cultural values,” he said. “You have to keep things fresh. We have an engagement manager for a number of our clients, and they meet with you every month.”The pandemic changed many things about how we work, and Willis says that innovation is at an all-time high in the HR tech world. But employees speaking up about their challenges and needs is primary. “We’ve been talking about engagement and recognition for years,” he said. “All of a sudden, we are feeling the pain, and our employees are telling us about that pain.”The beauty of hearing this message from employees so clearly is that we can do something about it.“At the end of the day, I'm going to join an organization where I can thrive and where I love the culture,” Willis said. “The companies that don’t step on the gas with employee experience and engagement will be outpaced by those that do.”Editor's note: From Day One thanks our partner, Advantage Club, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight. Krista Sherer is a strategic communications consultant with a background in journalism and corporate communications. She resides in Sebastopol, Calif.

Feature

HR, How Did You Get So Influential? The Evolution of a Profession

Long before the notion that you could love your work, the HR profession was founded on the fact that work could be harmful to your health. In many ways, the profession's growing focus on well-being is not a touchy-feely detour, but a natural outgrowth from its roots–maybe even a nod to its origins.“The birth of human resources today came out of the concerns for individuals, starting off with their actual physical concerns,” says Barbara Holland, HR knowledge advisor at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). “It’s moved well beyond that at this point.” Born on the dangerous shop floors of the Industrial Revolution, human resources has been gathering responsibilities, but not losing any, for 100 years. Where it once was charged with the physical safety of workers, HR’s list of responsibilities now includes employees’ mental, financial, and social well-being, and it’s contending with AI and all its practical, ethical, and regulatory implications.The HR department of 2023 takes on more workload and influence than ever before, and many practitioners are shifting to strategic roles and automating tasks that were once the purview of the “personnel department” of 50 years ago, like benefits enrollment, tax documentation, and fielding FAQs. They’re freeing up time to focus on the more creative elements of the job, like developing leaders, creating equitable work environments, and bolstering employee well-being.How did HR get here, and where is it going? From Day One spoke with HR scholars and specialists to provide perspective about how the last three years of disruption fit into the longer game.In the 20th century, HR went through a tremendous amount of existential change–it evolved from protector of safety to negotiator to compliance officer to paper pusher to strategic business partner–and as of the 21st century, it has come full circle. In many instances, HR has again assumed its role of employee advocate. Now, the profession is tapping into policymaking, giving employees a seat at the table and a say in their working conditions.The Modern Origins of HR: The Safety and Well-being of the WorkerThe modern practice of human resources originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in response to the dangerous working conditions of the Industrial Revolution. “As there were factories and more workers working in one place, that’s really where the whole idea of a personnel department started,” said Kristie Loescher, who teaches HR and management at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.Not only were the physical working conditions dangerous, “the emotional and psychological hazards of working consistently in these conditions were immense as well. Long hours, limited sustenance, and impersonal treatment contributed to an already stressful work environment,” wrote the academics Robert Lloyd and Wayne Aho in their paper, “The History of Human Resources in the United States: A Primer on Modern Practice.” Miserable conditions led to the proliferations of labor unions and their calls for workplace reforms. For instance, following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, in which 146 workers were killed as a result of locked doors and inadequate escape routes, both the city and the state of New York passed dozens of workplace safety laws in response to pressure from newly formed unions, community organizers, and the general public.Labor unions gave workers a say in their working conditions, and the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 compelled employers to give them a seat at the table. Now that there was a need for someone to negotiate with the unions, the discipline of “industrial relations” was born. HR Becomes a Compliance OfficerBy mid-century, among HR’s chief concerns was compliance with regulation. Following the passage of laws that protect employees from discrimination in the workplace–including the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act in 1967–installed a department designed to keep the company from getting sued. Its stance was a defensive one, said Holland.Under the new name “personnel,” what would become the modern HR department was steeped in the bureaucracy of mitigating legal risk and all the record-keeping it requires. Exchanges between HR and the workforce were minimal and transactional.Andrea Osborne, who has more than three decades of experience in HR and is currently the VP of people for the product team at the software company Genesys, describes the mentality of the HR department of that time like this: “Here’s your badge, here’s your documentation, here’s your tax paperwork. Bye! I’ll see you on your way out the door.” HR Becomes a Business PartnerThe globalization of business spurred the changes that produced the influential HR department of today. Companies turned their attention to the strategic capabilities of the HR department when, in the 1970s and 1980s, it became increasingly clear the U.S. was now competing in a global economy. In a paper on the international perspective of HR, Randall Schuler and Susan Jackson, both scholars of HR, wrote that “during that period, the focus of business shifted from domestic to multinational to global; the speed at which business was conducted increased; organizations recognized that labor costs and productivity must be address from a world-wide perspective; and many companies realized that competitive advantage could be seized and sustained through the wise utilization of human resources.” SHRM’s Holland began her HR career in the mid 1980s, driven to improve the cool and distant personnel department she encountered in the past. Holland saw transformation beginning to take place. “We were looking to make a difference,” she said. “I came in right on the cusp of the old still hanging on with some organizations, but newer organizations really embracing that HR was more than just a police department and signing people up with their paperwork and then walking around making sure nobody was breaking the rules.”HR operations itself benefited from globalization, according to Holland. “You had influences from other cultures and how people management was handled based on wherever their headquarters was.”Decades ago, the PR department was known for paper-pushing and complicance (Photo by iStock/Getty Images)At the same time, the U.S. transformed from a manufacturing economy to a “knowledge” economy. Where we once made products, we now made services, and that required a new approach to employer-employee relations. “If I have analysis work to do, and customer service work to do, and work that requires more autonomy on the part of the worker, all of a sudden I have to treat that worker very differently. As jobs changed, the way we treated employees had to change,” said UT-Austin’s Loescher. “This whole new area of HR was added in the ’80s and ’90s about employee engagement and development–that if we invest in our employees and give them working environments that are satisfying and then help them develop and learn and grow, they’ll not only be ready for today’s challenges in our business, but they’ll be ready for tomorrow's challenges.”James Bailey, who teaches leadership development at the George Washington University School of Business, noted the influence of social science research in the 20th century, which asserts that people, not factories and machinery and financial assets, determine future business success. “It’s culture, it’s selection, it’s finding the right people, it’s properly motivating them to do their work better,” Bailey said. “Why you can have two firms of equivalent assets and one far outperforms the other is because of the people factor.”Though labor unions declined in popularity by the 1980s, Thomas Kochan and Robert McKersie noted in their 1989 paper “Future Directions for American Labor and Human Resources Policy,” the “rising expectations of workers for increased influence over their immediate work environment and long-term careers.” Following a period of bureaucracy that kept distance between employer and employee, the HR department now had to operate with employer and employee best interests in mind.As companies had to compete in a global economy that could access to talent all over the world, business strategies were adapted to include skills development and employee engagement. According to Loescher, “the profession was changing from one of mere rule implementation and screening of applicants to one where it included connection to the business strategy as well as a connection to the analysis and design of jobs that not only would meet the strategic need of the company, but would be motivating for people to do,” said Loescher.The “personnel” department became “human resources,” and in university classrooms, moved from industrial relations to business schools, said Bailey. HR was officially a business asset. Human Resources Becomes the People DepartmentHR practitioners today will have noticed another change to the department’s name. Just as the change from “personnel” to “human resources” marked a change in the existential purpose of the department, the more recent shift to “people operations” reflects the further expansion of the function in business.“Currently, even the term ‘human resources’ does not seem to convey the importance of human capital as we’ve moved more into a ‘knowledge’ economy, in which human thought, creativity, and innovation are critical to the success of new economy businesses,” said Sherry Moss, the associate dean of MBA programs at the Wake Forest University School of Business.In corporate America, the new term is “people operations,” in academia, it’s all about “human capital management,” marking “yet another step symbolic of ‘We are part of the capital that makes this organization function and we want a seat at the table,’” said GWU’s Bailey. Automation of repetitive tasks, or ones that are at least more easily handled by software and AI, frees practitioners to focus on the strategy of developing talent and better workplaces. As mundane functions are automated, “it will leave more opportunities for the HR business partners to have more human interactions,” said Amy Freshman, senior director of global HR at the HR software company ADP. “Automation will certainly help remove the repeatable mundane tasks. At the same time, what is being asked of HR is changing. In many ways it’s growing, which just adds more to the plate.”As the department gets more involved with the human elements of business, its reputation among employees is changing dramatically. Kam Hutchinson, a global director of talent acquisition who has spent more than a decade working in HR, said workers are more open to interacting with HR than they were in the past. “There’s more of an openness to reaching out to HR for support and seeing them as an advocate for you and not necessarily for the company,” she said. The HR Department of the Future is ProactiveSo, what comes next? As HR cements itself as a key player in business success, where is there to go? HR is no longer just a responsive organization. Its latest goal is anticipation, prediction. For instance, contributing to the excitement around the new discipline of “people analytics” is its potential for predicting things like employee engagement or employee attrition. And the leaders in the department aren’t just thinking about what goes on inside a company, they’re considering the outside influences as well. When Jackson and Schuler wrote their article in 2005, they noted HR’s growing responsibility to monitor the external environment. As people operations is called upon to respond to national crises, social unrest, and mental health needs, that responsibility is even greater today.Holland believes the next HR frontier is public policy. In the last handful of years, SHRM has become involved in influencing lawmakers. Its Government Affairs team has advocated in Washington for policies like paid leave, removing barriers to employment for immigrants, and employer-sponsored education assistance.“Where before we were a reactionary industry or occupation to what’s happening in employment law and things like that, now we’re inserting ourselves to try to actually influence that before the law is made,” said Holland. “HR is trying to actually influence change before it hits us.”Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a freelance reporter and From Day One contributing editor who writes about the future of work, HR, recruiting, DEI, and women's experiences in the workplace. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Fast Company, Quartz at Work, Digiday’s Worklife, and Food Technology, among others.(Featured photo by Violeta Stoimenova/iStock by Getty Images)

Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza | May 16, 2023

Michael Stahl | May 16, 2023

‘These Are the Plunderers’: A Dim View of Private Equity

Front-line health care workers had a grueling job in the pandemic, and shortages of protective personal equipment and medical supplies didn’t help. Some of those issues made widespread headlines, but the cause of these issues, which led to a widespread loss of human life, has been less well-explored. In their new book, These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs–and Wrecks–America, authors Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner provide insight on the root cause of these issues, exposing the ways in which private equity groups made billions in health care, while shortchanging Americans when they needed help the most.“We felt after Covid landed, and it was so devastating across the country, that it was really exposing what had gone on for the past 30 years [in private equity],” said Morgenson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who is now the senior financial reporter for the NBC News Investigative Unit.“We were watching as the government was trying to set up programs to protect the public [and] here these firms were, right at the government trough, with lobbyists leading the charge, trying to explain that they were systemically important and needed access to the [Federal Reserve Bank], and for the Fed to start protecting and buying their assets,” said Rosner, a New York Times bestselling author and managing partner at the independent research consultancy Graham Fisher & Co.The pair spoke at From Day One’s Brooklyn conference in a session titled “A Dim View of Private Equity: How an Insidious Financial Industry Harms Everyday Americans, Tanks the Companies It Acquires, and Puts Our Entire Economic System at Risk.” Observing these bleak scenes of hardship for working class people, Rosner said he and Morgenson thought it was a “Charles Dickens moment.” They quickly recognized, Rosner said, that “nobody was talking about the fact that those shortages were driven” by the private equity industry. “Private equity had been buying up health care businesses for years, and really eviscerating them,” said Morgenson. They went the route of “sucking the profits and the earnings of the assets right out.”Discussion moderator Robert Boynton, director of the literary reportage program at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, said that to achieve this, the private equity firms made severe cuts to “ventilators, extra rooms and emergency rooms and other things like that, which in normal times perhaps you don’t need, but hospitals are supposed to be prepared for abnormal times.” However, in the minds of the new school of hospital overseers, Boynton said, “the bottom line doesn’t allow that.”Boynton asked Morgenson and Rosner why the health care industry became such a target for private equity firms.Boynton, left, holding Morgenson’s and Rosner’s new book, These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs-and Wrecks-America (Photos by Cassandra Sajna for From Day One)“Well, it’s 17% of the gross domestic product in this country,” said Morgenson. “It’s a very, very rich vein to mine for these people and you also have government programs that are standing there waiting to be milked or manipulated.”She added that it’s dangerous when profits come into play while individual care for human beings is on the line. “This should be a utility,” said Morgenson. “These hospitals should be things that serve the public, not some financial interests.”Much in the way that the pandemic helped rejigger our cultural outlook toward the workplace–with a growing number of employees prioritizing well-being as much as paychecks–it seems as though the crisis has also prompted an examination of the private equity industry, with people starting to question the sustainability of the business model, Morgenson said. It perhaps couldn’t have come at a better time. “These are extremely wealthy, extremely powerful people; Washington is very happy to see their money and very happy to either act on their behalves of do nothing on their behalves, depending on how that benefits them,” Morgenson said. “I’m very disturbed that that is continuing to be the way they do business.”But can change truly come about? Rosner said it might depend on the level of frustration readers of his book might have after consuming it. The general public still has a say in how the world operates; just look at the corporate response to the wave of worker empowerment the past two years.“Get angry out there,” said Morgenson.“Yeah, get your pitchforks out,” added Boynton.Michael Stahl is a New York City-based freelance journalist, writer, and editor. You can read more of his work at MichaelStahlWrites.com, follow him on Twitter @MichaelRStahl, and order his first book, the autobiography of Major League Baseball pitcher Bartolo Colón, at Abrams Books.

Emily Nonko | May 16, 2023

The State of DEI: Why Many Efforts Fail–and How Companies Can Overcome the Barriers

“DEI” is an umbrella term, but not all marginalized groups have benefited equally from this movement. In 1985, women made up 22% of management positions in corporate America, while African-American employees made up three percent. Fast forward to 2020: Women make up 38%—a 60% growth in representation—while African Americans still only represent 3.2%.“It’s statistically insignificant. In 35 years, corporate America was unable to move the needle,” said Robert Perkins, chief global diversity and inclusion officer for Mondelēz International, Inc. He believes that this statistic represents the challenges involved in making progress with diversity, equity and inclusion work, and why corporate America has an extremely long way to go to achieve equity in the workplace.Perkins joined John Simons, executive editor at TIME, for a fireside chat at From Day One’s February virtual conference on the state of DEI. As diversity chief for a global snack maker, making everything from Cadbury to Oreos, Perkins revealed that, since 2020, his company has doubled the number of women in leadership roles and experienced 72% growth in the number of Black managers.Perkins shared a “three-pillar strategy” that’s been adopted by Mondelēz: “First of all, we look at our colleagues; workforce representation, at the end of the day, is in my eyes most important,” he said. “You need to look at your pipeline and how you’re building it.”Robert Perkins was interviewed by John Simons of TIME during the fireside chat (photo by From Day One)He continued, “Our second pillar is culture. We’re very focused on engagement and how engagement drives higher productivity and business results,” Perkins said, stressing research that says leaders give 60 to 65% of capacity on any given day, but more when they feel most connected to organization. “That’s when companies are getting better productivity and results,” he noted.The third pillar is community. “Externally, what are we doing in the communities where we work and live?” Perkins asked. “One of our biggest initiatives is around economic inclusion and supplier diversity.” The company’s goal is to spend $1 billion with women and minority-owned businesses by 2024; they’ve spent over $500 million already.“I’d say this is the most overlooked by all of corporate America,” Perkins said of supplier diversity. “This impacts the economic wealth-building of women and minorities, and it has the larger societal impact of creating gender and racial equity.” Perkins also emphasized the importance of internal education and training to bring employees on board with DEI goals. “My subjective statement is that the majority of leaders across corporate America are not comfortable, confident, or capable of having DEI conversations,” he said. His suggestion is for companies to take these conversations “head on” and to invest in education on matters having to do with equity, equality, and representation. Perkins also called for bold, large-scale change to reach the level of equity to which many companies aspire. “We need creativity and to have difficult conversations,” he said. “Otherwise it won’t happen in our lifetime,” he said. Even though the position of chief diversity officers remains one of the fastest-growing jobs since its peak in 2020, Perkins cited a 60% turnover in chief diversity officers since that year. “That’s largely because of their disappointment with the commitment and accountability to DEI goals, and because they don’t feel like they can accomplish what they were hired to accomplish,” he said. Investments must be made across the company, from leadership down the employee ranks. Short-term goals should be replaced by long-term commitments. “It starts with leadership’s commitment to an articulated and defined strategy and goals,” Perkins said. “And leadership’s accountability to the systems in place for measuring progress against goals.”Emily Nonko is a freelance journalist based in Brooklyn, NY. In addition to writing for From Day One, her work has been published in Next City, the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian and other publications.

Lisa Jaffe | May 16, 2023

Checking In to Reduce Checking Out

The current reality of the workplace leaves little doubt that it is bad for the physical and mental health of many workers. At a From Day One conference in Seattle, Steve Arntz, chief executive officer of Campfire, noted that this opinion is not his alone; rather, it’s shared by the Surgeon General of the United States, Vivek Murthy. Dr. Murthy has “‘slapped a warning label’ on work. It is destroying our mental health right now. It’s killing us.” This is not as it should be. Murthy believes that work needs to be an engine for mental health and wellbeing. Instead, work is hurting people physically and mentally, and the results are hitting companies hard in terms of retention and employee engagement. According to a 2022 McKinsey report, 32% of people leaving their jobs say it is because of uncaring leaders. How does a company change from seeming not to care to demonstrating that they do? Arntz believes it is by asking questions and creating an environment where honest answers are not just welcomed but really listened to. Three questions can help lead to metamorphosis: What are you feeling? What are you thinking about that might be distracting you from being present? Who are you right now? Would you know how your team members would answer? “You probably don’t know for sure,” Arntz said. What Are You Feeling? Researchers have discovered more than 23,000 emotions. You can find a list of 53 that are grouped into five major categories on Healthline. “It can be hard to name the precise emotion you're feeling,” Artntz acknowledged. “But there is a vocabulary.” No one feels anything 100% of the time, he says. “You probably feel enjoyment maybe five or 10% of the time. There are moments when you feel joy and think, ‘This is what work is all about, this is my purpose.’ But it isn’t all the time.”What Are You Thinking Now? The second question hones in on distractions that can take away from work. “We think the big distractions are office politics and Netflix and sporting events and social media. We think everybody's stuck in their LinkedIn feed, that they can't get enough of this thought leadership on LinkedIn. But that's not the case. Friends being laid off, divorce, mental health challenges, finding a therapist, global conflict, inflation: This is the hard stuff people are thinking about now, not social media or what to stream on Netflix.”Who Are You Right Now? If you lead sales people, you might think they’re all outgoing, sociable, sports-loving closers who are motivated by money. But that’s not the case. In three years of research with 200 groups of salespeople, Arntz found that money and rewards were core motivations for only 20%. “It shocked me. At our own company, money and rewards weren’t in the top group of motivators either. [Respondents] were motivated by problem-solving, collaboration, and people. They want work that's purposeful and meaningful, and to do it with people they enjoy collaborating with.” We can often fall into traps of identity rather than figuring out who the people we work with really are.Steve Arntz of Campfire led the interactive thought leadership spotlight (photo by David Ryder for From Day One)Asking these questions is already working at companies. Microsoft does this weekly, Arntz said. They ask: What are you thinking? What are you feeling? And what are your intentions for this time and space? These questions are used in small to medium sized group meetings. Initially, there was concern that meeting time would increase. But this approach actually reduced both the number and length of meetings by 30%. “You start to become connected to each other in a way that helps you to move about the cabin a little more safely and confidently,” he said. “You can move forward productively, come up with great solutions, and collaborate.” These check-ins can sometimes illuminate intense challenges that some people are having, including childcare and finding a therapist, both issues that were exacerbated by the pandemic. Discussing one topic by itself can bring relief to someone who is worrying. But in a group setting, participants may gain insights or information from their peers that can help address specific issues. The name of the company, Campfire, evokes camping trips, where sitting around a dying campfire and eating s’mores can facilitate deep conversations and true connections, sometimes even without eye contact. “You're staring straight in the fire telling each other stories. You are centered. That is what we call campfire culture, and we need to create it in our workspaces. We need to re-create psychological safety.”In her research into psychological safety, Harvard researcher Amy Edmondson says there are three keys to creating a safe space conducive to such a culture: 1. Framing work as a learning problem, which means everyone is there to learn, and work is a learning experience. 2. Being able to readily acknowledge your own fallibility, and sometimes even celebrating it. 3. Modeling curiosity as a leader by asking questions.If you want to grow a great company, invest in your middle layer of management, Arntz recommends. “They are the linchpin, and the linchpin to their effectiveness is conversations.” Conversations about what you expect of a team or team member, conversations about what they expect of you: these are the details that are often missed. “A manager will come to you wanting to fire someone, and when asked why, they say it’s because they don’t meet expectations. But did you ever tell them what you expected of them?”Ask them: What got you here? Where do you want to go? How can I help you get there? “These conversations are a lot less about talking and a lot more about asking questions.” Arntz said. He likes approaching them with a “GROW” model: What are your Goals? What is the Reality of the situation you are in now? What Options have you considered? What is the Way forward? To that he would add the regular check-in: What are you feeling? What are you thinking about, and what might be distracting you? Who are you? What are your intentions for this space? “The future of work will be built on connected leadership,” he concluded. “It sounds like a buzzword, but I think what will differentiate us is what makes us human. Creating and innovating will need this kind of leader.”Arntz says that everyone should ask themselves if their work is meeting the rallying cry of Dr. Murthy and creating an engine of mental and physical wellbeing. The key is connected and caring leaders: “Give a voice to everyone and prioritize connection. Ask someone: How are you? Honest answers only.”Editor's note: From Day One thanks our partner, Campfire, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight.Lisa Jaffe is a freelance writer who lives in Seattle with her son and a very needy rescue dog named Ellie Bee. She enjoys reading, long walks on the beach, and trying to get better at ceramics.

Judd Bagley | May 15, 2023

Stimulating a Culture of Healthy Feedback to Boost Innovation and Productivity

Achieving a culture of feedback demands first instilling a culture of safety. That was the consensus of a panel discussion at From Day One’s live conference in Salt Lake City, where five expert panelists offered advice backed by stories demonstrating both what to do and what not to do when helping employees feel safe while providing feedback. The conversation was moderated by Robert Gehrke, government and politics reporter at the Salt Lake Tribune.Connie Washington, VP of people at Progressive Leasing, made the case for a culture of safety by defining the manifold benefits of getting it right.“When somebody feels like they belong and they're safe, you get higher engagement, you get better performance, you get better retention,” Washington said. “And so that psychological safety is huge, that ‘I can make a mistake, I can do something wrong, and it's not the end of the world.’”Washington feels that a true culture of safety should be 360 degrees, in that employees should feel safe both giving and receiving challenging feedback.“One of my employees, when I would give her feedback, would go into a death spiral if it wasn't positive,” Washington recounted. “So I figured out a way to converse with her. During a one-on-one I said, ‘listen, here's my vision for you and where I see you being, but for you to get there, you're going to need feedback. And so I'm going to ask your permission to give you feedback. And that'll be the cue that we're going to talk about something.’ And it really changed the dynamic, because she wasn't blindsided by it. And she knew that my goal was for her to continue to grow and to get to the next level where she wanted to be.”The panel of speakers, from left, Carter Lee of Overstock, Whitney Harper of Extra Storage Space, Ivan Iordanov of Zions Bancorporation, Connie Washington of Progressive Leasing, and Steve Sonnenberg of Awardco (photo by Sean Ryan for From Day One)Washington adds that a culture of safety must begin at the top of the organization.“At a previous company, the CEO would host employee lunches and say, ‘tell me, whatever, this is open, let's talk.’ And so one person was like, ‘well, then let's talk. Do you have any idea what is happening and such and such?’ There were 50 people in the room and it made everybody uncomfortable and she walked out crying, and the CEO wanted her fired,” Washington recalled. “Creating that sense of safety, it’s important that people are comfortable and not crying when they walk out of an interaction with the CEO.”Whitney Harper, SVP of people at ExtraSpace Storage, finds that employees will open up in meaningful ways when they are encouraged to go deeper in their feedback sessions.“Sometimes, by asking ‘what else?’ you get to the next layer down, and you're kind of role modeling like, ‘this is safe, I want to hear everything that you have to tell me,” Harper said. “You have to role model it regularly. If you don’t receive feedback each week, it's been too long. Just ask your team members what you can do to help them make their jobs easier. Role modeling that behavior creates that culture of safety.”Acquiring measurable data is good, but quarterly or annual employee surveys are not the best way to get meaningful feedback, according to Ivan Iordanov, VP of enterprise learning and development at Zions Bancorp.“Surveys are the wrong questions at the wrong time for the wrong reason. You’re less likely to hear positive feedback. Or you may just hear generic feedback. Companies need to develop something more organic that’s able to capture the data but not just as part of a survey,” Iordanov said. “One-on-ones and coaching [sessions] are when employees tend to open up, especially when the person they talk to shows empathy and support and it's safe, and there's no fear of retaliation, particularly if the employees want to remain anonymous. If you want to collect survey data, do a survey afterwards. You will be more successful.”Helping employees feel both safe and valued can be as easy as adding a few minutes to company meetings, according to Head of People at Overstock, Carter Lee.“We have a culture document, listing our values and our leadership principles. We like to bring examples of employees living those leadership principles to the surface. And so we start most of our meetings with an example of it,” Lee said. “And I think that creates a safe zone, because you're not only saying these things, but you're highlighting people that do those things in your organization and when employees are saying good things about each other, when we challenge ideas and not people, they're more likely to give feedback all the time.”Steve Sonnenberg is the founder and CEO of the employee recognition firm, Awardco. Understandably, he feels that helping employees feel appreciated is key to building a culture of safety in an organization. “You need to develop a culture of appreciation, to then create that safe environment where people feel a sense of belonging,” Sonnenberg said. “When they feel they belong and are appreciated, they’re going to feel that their feedback is also valued.”Sonnenberg went on to effectively frame the value that feedback offers an organization. “It's extremely important to take feedback, process what you learned, and recognize that individual for giving it to you,” Sonnenberg added. “Feedback is a gift. And if it's not received or appreciated as a gift, you might not get it again.”Judd Bagley is a Utah-based marketing communications professional and freelance journalist.

Lisa Jaffe | May 15, 2023

How Performance Management Needs to Change Along With Employee Expectations

Before the pandemic, performance management seemed to be more straightforward. You had certain expectations of employees and you reacted depending on whether they met them or did not. But with the pandemic came the recognition that employees have lives outside of work. Systems grew more compassionate. Employees felt empowered to quit if they didn’t feel seen and heard. At a From Day One conference in Seattle, a panel of experts talked about how their companies have handled performance management in these turbulent times.Staff development was one of the biggest areas of change at Microsoft, said Ki Thompson, global leader of diversity and inclusion for executive engagement. Before, they would hire based on needs. Now, they look at overall corporate strategy, which existing staff may have needed skills, and what competencies they need to acquire to move the organization forward. The company is also changing job descriptions to match future goals and “intentionally working to develop that talent for the future,” he said. “We can’t necessarily buy talent now. We have to develop it internally instead. We have 220,000 employees. I’m sure we have the skill set internally to move forward.”The pandemic brought more compassion to a lot of business policies. At Talkspace, the online mental-health company, leaders strive to find the middle ground between performance and compassion, said Aidan McMahon, the director of employer sales. Sales can be hyper-competitive, she said, and it can be difficult to find that line between business goals and empathy and compassion. McMahon said that knowing that she tends to fall on the empathy side of that spectrum, she makes sure to work the expectations side of management as well. You can’t be all one thing and succeed, said Nicole Tanzillo, co-founder and chief operating officer of the leadership-development company Ceresa. There is an internal slogan used in the company that “clear is kind,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many conversations I've been in at the team- member level and at the leader level where both sides are frustrated because it seems there are unspoken expectations. Our employees are amazing and talented, but they aren’t mind readers.”Being clear about expectations is critical, Tanzillo said. “You don't have to have a full-blown competency matrix and progression plan, but having clarity around the outcomes that we need someone to drive is critical. We have to talk about how we can get there.” Those conversations are not as common as they should be. “If we're all guessing, it’s hard and stressful.”“We have always had a culture of care at Hearst,” said Maris Krieger, the company’s senior director of talent programs. “It wasn’t ever all about performance and then with the pandemic a sudden shift to empathy. We had it before. But we did become more patient and flexible.” The company didn’t do any RIFs or furloughs or pay cuts during that time. Now the business environment is changing, and people will have to demonstrate their value to the company going forward. But she said that doesn’t mean the company won’t still be patient and flexible.Nicole Tanzillo, co-founder and chief operating officer of the leadership-development company Ceresa (Photos by From Day One)Changing performance management to be more compassionate doesn’t mean there aren’t clear measurements of success. Julie Johns, who is in charge of talent acquisition for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said she thinks about performance as the what and the how. “What is your role, what are you trying to achieve, and what are the outcomes you are striving for? I want to know what ‘good’ looks like to them and what success means to them. Where are they making progress and where aren’t they? I want to know too, how they show up and whether and how they collaborate. Do they bring people along and bring people in? When you aren’t talking about hard numbers, like sales, it isn’t black and white. But you do have to have clear expectations. And I think that moving away from having these conversations just once a year is a good idea. The more conversations you have, the fewer surprises can occur.”The criteria on which you base measurements should change over time, said Thompson. “I used to have development plan conversations with people and one of the top competencies that would come up was the balcony and the dance floor.” That is, about micromanaging what is happening on the dance floor, or looking at something from the perspective of the balcony. “When leaders are trying to develop this competency, it is easy to say, well if a worker is remote, I can’t be micromanaging. But if you are still checking in and emailing them constantly, you are.”If you can’t be in a room full of people, but instead have to influence them remotely, the results might be different, and your criteria for success should reflect that, he added. “Adjust the performance criteria to meet the world we are in today.”One misstep Tanzillo said she made early on was in trying to develop balance between being more directive and telling before asking, versus someone who connects with someone first, understands their world, and then works with them to create expectations. Questions she might ask now: How are you doing? How do you think things are going for you here? How can we help you bridge any gaps? These questions can help create a connection that leads to very different conversations than walking in and telling someone that you’ve noticed something about their behavior or performance. “Almost certainly, they are aware of problems and probably feel worse about it than you. Creating a connection makes it a different conversation.”You hire people because they are smart and good at what they do, said Johns. “When things aren’t going well, call it out early and often. Don't wait for it to pile up into something bigger.”If there is one truth about the last three years, it is that we now understand the impact of mental health on work and workers. Krieger said at Hearst, they understood the additional stressors that were put on employees, and they added more benefits related to childcare and well-being. “What we didn’t do well was figure out how to make these perks work in the new world of work. We had all these wonderful well-being webinars for people, but they had no time to attend them. That was really annoying. We tried, but we still have work to do.”Mental health is always a factor, even when we aren’t in the middle of a pandemic, said McMahon. “When you have a team member who may have performance not going in the direction you want, don’t assume it’s because they don’t care or aren’t working hard. Often it’s something deeper.” You can have a huge impact on them just by having a conversation, she said. Ask if there is anything you can do to support them. Be ready to provide them with resources. McMahon also recommends modeling the words and behavior of self-care. “When I need a mental health day, I tell them I am taking a mental health day. They respect that and support me. In turn, they will also ask for mental health days. I encourage people to do what they need to take care of themselves. For me, it is often taking a walk to clear my head. I do that and I come back like a completely new person.”Lisa Jaffe is a freelance writer who lives in Seattle with her son and a very needy rescue dog named Ellie Bee. She enjoys reading, long walks on the beach, and trying to get better at ceramics.

Webinar Recap

Empowering Your People to Be Better Health Care Consumers

Offering your employees a health care benefit isn’t where the work ends—it’s where the work begins. When your team is healthy, they’re able to show up more powerfully both at work and for themselves.“What we've learned over time is that your healthy employees actually are happier,” said Patty Starr, president and CEO of Health Action Council, a coalition of employers that works to secure more affordable and effective health care for employees. “And they're actually more productive. They're more able to deliver not only on their personal goals, but also their professional goals and the organization.””What we see as well is that often there's a big disconnect between what employers think and what their employees and family members think,” Dr. Mike Sokol and senior vice president for clinical strategy at Quantum Health, a health care navigation company for employers. Sokol pointed to an internal Quantum survey in which 88% HR professionals said their employees knew how to navigate their health care system, but only 35% of employees agreed.“All of us can get into those times where we're extremely busy, there's a lot going on,” added Miycol Jones, senior director of employee experience and growth at Quantum Health. “It happens with our employees, and it happens with the HR professionals as well. Employers need to be really intentional about making the time to help provide those resources, because everybody's stretched.”These leaders weighed in on how stakeholders can help their employees become more cost-effective health care consumers in From Day One’s webinar panel discussion titled “Empowering Employees to Be Better Health Care Consumers,” moderated by journalist Anna Maltby.Employees Are Hungry for Health Care SolutionsYour workers not only want access to health care; they also want simple, straightforward instructions on how to utilize that health care effectively.“You can provide your employees with a go-to resource for all things health care,” said Jones. “But honestly, a lot of times people just want to [be able to] call someone. They want to get a really quick answer. A navigation partner like Quantum can provide a single point of contact for members and providers.”The speakers from top left, Patty Starr, Miycol Jones, moderator Anna Maltby, and Dr. Mike Sokol (photo by From Day One)Starr agreed. “As employers, we sometimes forget the human side of things, and what's happening in somebody's life on a day-to-day basis that we might actually not know,” she said. “So there might be a whole bunch of chaos, things pulling them like Gumby in a whole bunch of different directions, but all we see is what’s happening in front of us on a day-to-day basis. There's sometimes a disconnect between what our employees need and want at that moment.”When it comes to human resources leadership, part of being effective means knowing about the latest trends and changes in health care that can add value for your organization’s employees.“We're seeing a number of interesting trends,” Sokol said. “One that we're seeing quite a bit now is an explosion of these “point solutions.” We have a number of vendors out there now that are focusing on one specific area, like diabetes reversal, weight loss, musculoskeletal conditions, or fertility management. There are probably hundreds if not thousands of these companies popping up all over the place. And what we're finding is that a number of large and medium and even small self-insured employers are starting to contract with the solutions, but in some cases, they may have multiple solutions in place.”Sokol added that these layers of complexity are causing some companies to engage with marketplace navigation providers, who can track all the changes and ensure multiple plans aren’t contracted inadvertently.Help Workers Improve Health Literacy, EquitablyDon’t underestimate the level of support your employees may need to grasp fundamental health insurance terms, added Sokol.“Do they really understand the basic concepts of health insurance and the health care system?” he said. “If they don't, how can we really expect that they can take care of themselves? [health literacy] really is a very important topic.” Sokol cited one industry study in which only 4% of workers could correctly define the terms copay, coinsurance, deductible, and out-of-pocket maximum.When it comes to health insurance, don’t be afraid to repeat your message often in order to help workers get comfortable with the benefits they earn and deserve each month.“I definitely encourage teaching it all year long, all the time,” Starr said. “The number of people who don't know the basics today is overwhelming. Just keep on repeating it.”Editor's note: From Day One thanks our partner, Quantum Health, for sponsoring this webinar.Nick Wolny is an editor, journalist, and consultant. Currently a senior editor at CNET, he has previously written for Fast Company, Fortune, Business Insider, and OUT Magazine, and is a frequent television commentator on technology and work life. He is based in Los Angeles.

Nick Wolny | May 15, 2023

Christina Cook | May 12, 2023

The Workplace of the Future: A Magnet for Collaboration

In the hybrid work era, the future of office culture is an important consideration for business leaders. CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate and investment firm, has 600 offices in 100 countries. Elizabeth Jenswold, senior vice president and global head of people for CBRE, has an inside look at how workplace design can foster a purposeful culture. “An office should be a magnet and a destination,” she said recently. “Not an obligation.”In a fireside chat at From Day One’s Dallas conference, Jenswold told moderator Christine Perez, editor of D CEO Magazine, “Likely everyone in this room is starting to reimagine what the new office will potentially be.”As some business leaders focus on how to bring employees back into the office, each business is taking a different approach. Culturally, Jenswold said, “We have to acknowledge that we’ll all have a different approach, and we have to ensure that people are having an experience when they’re coming back to the office.”At CBRE, offices are used to express their brand. Jenswold said, “That means that we are bringing people together in a meaningful way, and we impress our culture on them by having an environment where people like to come.”“The office environment should be used to empower people,” she continued. The pandemic brought incredible changes to how we work, and Jenswold suggested that, as we move into this new way of working, companies should focus on environments that help employees be their “most productive selves.”To accomplish this, CBRE trains their managers to openly communicate with employees about what it means to be productive at work.She said, “What we’ve designed in our practice more than our policy is to have managers to have open conversations about what productivity means for their team.” This approach requires strong leaders who can have open and honest conversations with employees, can see each employee as an individual, and are willing to be flexible.Jenswold and Perez kicked off the From Day One Dallas conference (photo by Steve Bither for From Day One)Jenswold continued, “That’s a big change in the way we work, for both employees and managers. Not just at CBRE, but across all of our companies globally. What does it mean to be heard?”When it comes to returning to work, whether a company chooses to ask all of their employees back to the office, or a company chooses to remain all remote, employees are feeling the pros and cons of each choice. Jenswold said, “The businesses who have gone to one extreme or the other are having more challenges. The hybrid work environment seems to be the sweet spot.”With this, Jenswold said that companies should carefully consider creating a “harmonious, collaborative environment.” One strategy: offering a more casual office dress code. Additionally, the technology at home should transition back to the office with ease. Ultimately, she said, “We want the transition from home and in-office work to be seamless.”She added that “reimagining the role of your managers” will help with the back-to-work transition. She said, “HR professionals are spending a lot of time on that. What is the role of that manager, and how is that manager helping with this seamless transition, when half of the staff is at home and half of the staff is in the office?”She said, “It’s critical that managers get good at that. How do we replace an inclusive environment for people who aren’t in the same room every day? Managers need to be focused on being equitable versus fair by recognizing people as they are, as individuals with imperfect lives.”Business leaders need to consider creating an in-office experience, which Jenswold says should include all of the technology they need, a quiet space, and a social space. Ultimately, she said, “workers want companies to care about them.” She continued that this includes a healthy environment with clean air, healthy snacks, pleasing lights, and sunshine.The evolution of the workspace speaks directly to the purpose of the office. The purpose of the office goes back to branding and is an opportunity to reflect the values of the company. Jenswold said, “When you think about a reflection of your brand, you have to be careful that you’re authentic. If you’re saying our brand is bold and smart, for example, but have leadership that isn’t taking risks or making good decisions, it doesn’t really matter what your offices look like if you can’t model that for your employees.”Finally, she said, “The workplace has evolved to be incredibly inclusive. Think about all of the people that work for you. Consider neurodivergent employees regarding lighting and noise control, for example. How do we make offices a peaceful place to be, and how can we operate with more humanity?”Christina Cook is a freelance writer based in Dallas, TX, where she covers a variety of topics, with favorites including art, film, and live theatre. Her work can be seen on Rawckus.com, RedDirtNation, and DallasArtBeat.com. Christina is also a creative writer. Her children’s book Your Hands Can Change the World was a 2017 regional bestseller.

Angelica Frey | May 12, 2023

Making Work Meaningful in an Era of Rapid Change

Paul Rumsey, senior vice president of strategic operation of Atrium Health, believes that purpose starts in small actions. He has urged his employees to block calendars until 9am on Monday mornings and after 2pm on Fridays. Likewise, emails should not be sent in the evenings or on weekends unless the matter is absolutely urgent. Meetings are to be cut from 60 to 45 minutes, or from 30 to 25 minutes. Also, as he revealed to journalist Lydia Dishman in a panel at From Day One’s March 2023 virtual conference, a defining characteristic of Atrium Health is its usage of “Code Lavender.” First developed in the Cleveland Clinic, this initiative is meant to take care of the secondary victim: for example, a nurse who needs to cultivate calm after a stressful situation, such as a difficult diagnosis or the loss of a patient. All of these implementations undergird the purpose of the organization: Hope, Health, and Healing for All.In fact, while a sense of stability might be hard to come by in the work world, a sense of meaning can be both durable and attainable. In 2021, McKinsey surveyed more than 1,200 managers and frontline employees, revealing an overwhelming consensus on the importance of purpose at work: 72% of respondents maintained that purpose should come before profits. Only 42%, however, felt that their company’s stated purpose made a real difference. A major source of this problem are overly generic mission statements like “contributing to society” and “creating meaningful work.”Leaders can examine their own experiences to discover what’s genuinely inspirational and motivating. “I want to be able to look my kids in the eyes,” said Susan Hunt Stevens, chief executive officer of the ESG engagement software company WeSpire, referring to the climate crisis and how it will unfold in the next decades. Tequilla Lopez, who leads the social impact team at consumer electronics retailer Best Buy, has drawn on her extensive nonprofit background to help shape the company’s sense of purpose. “It’s easy for our team,” she explains to Dishman. “Everything we do has a tie to our youth population: ensuring they have access and exposure in a way they wouldn’t ordinarily have.” Identifying the WhyIdentifying the “why” behind a company goes hand-in-hand with addressing business concerns. “Everything we do, I make sure it’s advancing the business,” said Susan Moore, vice president of corporate responsibility for semiconductor company AMD. “If we get untethered from where the business is going, whatever we’re doing may not be sustainable.”The full panel of speakers from top left, moderator Lydia Dishman, Paul Rumsey of Atrium Health, Susan Hunt Stevens of WeSpire, Susan Moore of AMD, and Tequilla Lopez of Best Buy (photo by From Day One)In the case of Atrium Health, an initiative called “Voice of the Team” helps keep track of what’s important to people in the organization. “We do work anniversary surveys; we ask what people are doing, what’s important to them, and we come up with solutions to really address that,” said Rumsey. Lopez also stressed the importance of “speaking from a place of knowledge, not just theory.” Hunt Stevens added a major caveat: “One thing we have to think about,” she said, “is whether the company itself has made purpose a core of its strategy or if it’s just a pair of Mickey Mouse ears.”Between Burnout and Purpose: The Role of BalanceWe can’t talk about purpose without considering the looming risk of burnout. The more an organization wants to accomplish, the more eagerness employees will feel to undertake purpose-driven actions. But to what extent? “It’s a process,” said Lopez, whose reports are often tasked with a lot of travel. “It’s my goal to avoid burnout for employees, so I’ll be the bad guy and tell them no. And honestly, over the last year, we completely revamped the ways in which we engage to make sure there’s enough time to get your desk work done and then be present when on the road.” Hunt Stevens relies on a tool developed by HBS to measure psychological safety, since the highest levels of psychological safety correspond to the highest levels of performance. “We’ve all been in organizations where, even if we’re only working a shift, it’s painful,” she reasoned. “Then we’ve worked in places where going overtime is a flow. It comes down to psychological safety and how safe we feel in groups and on teams. We will see people feel much better about work and life integration.” (Big) Little Acts of RecognitionEven the most altruistic person needs a pat on the back for a job well done. To Hunt Stevens, recognition and morale boosting start with belonging. “One of the most powerful things I’ve seen are affinity groups,” she said. “ERGs are a mechanism for test-driving leadership, activating belonging, and recognizing people to galvanize impact.” Hunt Stevens also points to an initiative by fellow panelist Moore. During a recent SXSW festival, AMD sponsored an event where attendees volunteered to clean up a river. “We volunteered together at an industry event: this is how I think leaders can start thinking really creatively,” Hunt Stevens. Moore, on her end, has one crucial piece of advice, which can be career-defining for junior-level employees but isn’t labor-intensive: “At the end of emails, acknowledge person X, Y, Z for their contributions,” she said. “It recognizes a great team and helps people understand what their contributions ended up achieving.” Angelica Frey is a writer and a translator based in Boston and Milan.

Nick Wolny | May 11, 2023

Unlocking Innovation Starts With Compensation

If you want to drive innovation at your company, start by creating compensation plans that catch the eye of top talent.That was the big takeaway from a recent fireside chat with Patti Taylor, vice president of total rewards at Xerox, at From Day One’s virtual event, “Creative Total Rewards To Set Employers Apart.” According to Taylor, innovation starts with attracting the people who can help you enter new markets and industries, and it’s never too late for a company to pivot or explore.“Xerox is a 118-year-old company with a very iconic brand,” Taylor said. “And that brand has been aligned for many years to brick and mortar work locations around the world. This core business still exists, and it's quite prominent in our business model. However, we are creatively forging into the future with digital services solutions to meet the needs of today's clients.”Many other companies have similar initiatives. But how exactly do you get started with such an overhaul? Taylor suggests keeping the following advice in mind.Don’t Be Afraid to Get CreativeSkilled workers became increasingly scarce in the wake of the Great Resignation, and some began demanding higher salaries as a result. Taylor encouraged attendees not to count themselves out if the cost of top talent is outside their budget. Instead, embrace creative compensation workarounds.“We need to be thinking outside of our tried-and-true compensation boxes that we've played in all these years,” Taylor said. ”What if we offered more days off? What if we offered an attractive sign-on bonus? Perhaps you find out a little bit more about what matters to the candidate. The total compensation package must become more flexible, and that means it's going to look more individualized.”Patti Taylor of Xerox was interviewed by Nick Wolny during the fireside chat session (photo by From Day One)Taylor says that this customization can push up against org chart protocols but urged professionals to prioritize agility when they can. “It’s absolutely going to stretch our ‘reward muscles,’” she added.Of course, one of the challenges to entering uncharted territory for your organization is that it may mean adjusting or even completely reimagining existing compensation structures and procedures.“We've got to truly figure out what matters and what is really valid and with our positions,” Taylor said. “So first of all, we have to look again at what positions really do work. What we thought was going to go away three years ago is still here, and what we thought would sustain us from all these years before is not often working anymore.” Many companies are requiring decades-old structures in light of the fact that hybrid work is here to stay.To Win Over Decision-makers, Use the DataEnterprise-level changes can be impactful, but for them to work, you need the buy-in of senior leadership.“Always lead with data,” she said. “The C-suite is going to want to see the data, and you’re going to have to show with data how the business is being negatively impacted by turnover.” Taylor shared an anecdote from her career. At a previous company, a finance job had three different people in the role within a two-year period. “I experienced firsthand the impact of just going over and over the same things we thought that we had already set said groundwork on,” Taylor said.As your company explores new ways to attract and retain top talent, compensation and rewards leadership might be the strategic linchpin that ensures future innovation.“Again, I can't get away from my challenge to everyone about being creative,” Taylor said. “Think about what you would want and what you know about what’s important to workers today.”Nick Wolny is an editor, journalist, and consultant. Currently a senior editor at CNET, he has previously written for Fast Company, Fortune, Business Insider, and OUT Magazine, and is a frequent television commentator on technology and work life. He is based in Los Angeles.

Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza | May 11, 2023

How Employee Coaching Has Evolved to Boost Inclusion

Forget the typical images of corporate coaching: A senior executive dispensing theoretical advice to a shiny subordinate hungry for a small measure of wisdom that will propel his career. Others might think of an executive enjoying lunch with their coach—perhaps a CEO emeritus—who imparts the secrets of corporate ladder-climbing.Or maybe your image of a coach is this: An overloaded middle manager drafted into compulsory coaching duty, offering unwanted and unsolicited advice to an intern who just wants to know if this six-week stint will get him hired.These kinds of coaching have produced homogenous leadership, tired coaches, and wasted time. HR leaders are throwing out the book on coaching and reworking it for a greater purpose: inclusion.As the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion becomes clear to business success, leaders in DEI and learning & development are working together to build coaching and mentorship programs that don’t just produce the same old results, and don’t sap the energy of the coach or the ones being coached, but actually provide value to everyone, making way for the proverbial rising tide.During From Day One’s April virtual conference on how employee motivation can supercharge learning and development, four panelists, who represent companies of creative and technical professionals at the top of their fields, participated in a panel discussion about how employee coaching can be used for inclusion.Effective Coaching Doesn’t Require an AppointmentEmployers don’t need to mount a structured coaching program in order to be effective, said panelists. Though formal programs can help get a company started, effective coaching doesn’t require calendar invites or evaluation rubrics.Panelist Marie Potter, the senior director of culture and development at media company Getty Images, said her company doesn’t have a formal internal coaching program in which coaches and coachees sign up for sessions. Rather, the company tries to instill the spirit of the thing among its staff, and it starts with a unit on coaching in its leadership development program.“We believe that every people manager, every leader, has the opportunity to sit in that coaching relationship with their teams,” Potter said. “This has helped our managers have better conversations with employees at the point of need, whether a one-on-one turns into a coaching session, or whether a performance development conversation boasts some coaching.”The full panel of speakers, from top left, Shivani Dhir of NYU's Tandon School of Engineering, Mary Vinette of Technicolor, Mark Cousino of Kyndryl, moderator Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza, and Marie Potter of Getty Images (photo by From Day One)“I’m a big fan of informal programs because you’re not limited by who you can engage as a coach,” said panelist Mark Cousino, the VP of learning and effectiveness at IT infrastructure company Kyndryl. “When you get into informal coaching, it’s more about who can help me solve a particular challenge.”If coaching is a means of making better decisions, everyone is capable of being a coach. This way of thinking opens the door for more people in your organization to contribute to the growth of the team and of the company.Coaches can be found almost anywhere in an organization, not just among executives and senior leaders, says Cousino. “Don’t have them all be your age, don’t have them all look like you. Get coaches and perspectives from all kinds of places, because then that’s really what helps open your mind and gives you a better appreciation for different ways of thinking.”One might look to different “coaches” depending on the problem at hand. “I have somebody that helps me connect the dots that I can’t see are connected. I have somebody that helps me think through decisions I need to make,” he said.Coaching Is No Longer PrescriptiveMary Vinette, who is the global head of learning and development at creative production company Technicolor, has more than a decade of experience in employee training and development. She said the corporate approach to coaching—its purpose and who is considered a coach—is changing.Employers are recognizing the need for coaching that supports better decision-making rather than simply reinforces a corporate “way.” Vinette describes it as “coaching for what it’s meant to be: for human beings to find their own best solutions to whatever they’re going through.”In this way, coaching can be used to solve a range of problems, like when a first-time manager needs help running a large team or a business unit needs ideas for ways to recover sinking revenue.With an Open Mind, Coaching Becomes a Means for AdvocacyShivani Dhir, the assistant dean of digital learning at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, works with employers that are investing in their workforce with degree and non-degree corporate upskilling.Coaching and mentorship work in concert with skill development, she says. “You’re at this pivotal point and you’re developing new skills—what are you going to do with them?” Dhir said. “How are you going to go back and apply them in your organization? How are you going to navigate whatever new opportunity this brings about within your organization?”When everyone in an organization, not just those at the top of the pecking order, can see themselves as a coach, there’s room for those typically excluded from old-school corporate coaching programs to rise, grow, and bring others along with them.Dhir said that Tandon coaches students to return to their organizations to make change, “to be the advocates within their organizations, and identify talent across representation. These leaders have the power and the leverage within the organizations to be able to look for the right signs, look for what barriers to remove within.”Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a freelance reporter and From Day One contributing editor who writes about the future of work, HR, recruiting, DEI, and women's experiences in the workplace. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Fast Company, Quartz at Work, Digiday’s Worklife, and Food Technology, among others.

Michael Stahl | May 11, 2023

The Five Pillars of Belonging: Why They’re Significant

Right now, David Bator is the managing director of the Achievers Workforce Institute, the information wing for the employee-experience platform Achievers. But at a previous time in his life, he worked for a different company, and had a boss that did not make him feel as though he belonged in the organization—at all. Bator was injured in a bike-riding accident on his way to work one day, and though in the moments after his fall, in which he suffered a broken leg and a gash above his eye that required many stitches, his first thought was, “Let me fix the chain on my bike and get to work.” Seeing Bator’s condition, a construction worker stopped him from doing so and, eventually, Bator served a two-day stay in the hospital.Still, he worked remotely from his home as soon as he could, but his manager was so worried about a productivity drop that he ordered Bator to return to the office. Bator walked the office on crutches and paid for car services out of his own pocket for a month so he could commute to and from his job. At one point his boss stopped him in the hall and asked how he was doing. Bator opened up about his struggles managing the commute, his pain and his family, which included a couple kids, while recovering from his injuries. Then came the a-ha moment for Bator. His boss said, “No, how’s your work going? I only care about what goes on here.”“Needless to say, I no longer work at that place,” Bator told a room full of guests, who issued a round of applause. He recounted the story at From Day One’s conference in Salt Lake City, where he led a workshop titled, “The Significance of the Five Pillars of Belonging,” the title of which was initially part of an Achievers Workforce Institute report.“The definition that we came to out of that body of research was that belonging is an experience of connection, security and community,” said Bator. “And it’s really a feeling of being at home, without reservation, regardless of who you are, the job you do or where you do that job.”In order to foster a sense of belonging across a workforce, per Achievers’ five pillars, leaders must ensure that they feel “welcomed,” “known,” “included,” “supported” and “connected. “These five pillars have a particularly elastic quality, to build employee experiences that engage our people,” Bator said. “Again, regardless of who they are, the job they do, how long they’ve been doing it, their level of seniority or, fundamentally over the last number of years, where they physically do that job.”WelcomedStarting with the first of the five pillars, Bator suggested leaders distribute tangible greeting cards signed by team members that welcome new hires to the company. He urged managers of new hires to make sure they provide recognition to a new team member within their first week of work in their new organization. “Do they have the opportunity through things like onboarding surveys, to reflect on the support and the resources that they received during their first 30, 60, 90 days?” Bator said. “These are all great instruments that you can use to drive that feeling of someone feeling welcomed when they join a team or, indeed, your organization.”He added that efforts to help a worker feel “welcome” in the office should be extended to every worker, not just new ones, across their respective stays with the company—which, with this and other steps taken by managers, will hopefully be long and productive ones. “That feeling of being welcomed is about every space we share with anyone,” Bator said. “It’s about every transaction that we have at work. It’s about every room we walk into every experience. And so the challenge for all of us in creating conditions for hopefully award-winning employee experience, is thinking about what are the things we can do every single day. How do you make every day feel like a ‘day one’ for your people?”According to research from the Achievers Workshop Institute, Bator said if employees are made to feel “welcome,” they are twice as likely to feel like they “belong,” too. If a given organization’s workers are anything like Bator was when he had his unfortunate bike accident, making them feel unwelcome will lead to all the pitfalls that come with poor retention rates.KnownIn making employees feel “known,” at a baseline level, all it takes is a little bit of listening. Give workers a space to express themselves freely and when they do open up, take stock in their values and their needs and try to align with them and supply solutions when possible. This will enhance a worker’s sense of connection with their employer.“Our obligation is to create conditions so that an individual can bring their whole self to work,” said Bator. “And on a tactical, practical level, this can look like a bunch of different things.”Giving more specifics he said making workers feel “known” could be the byproduct of recognizing them for accomplishments and milestones, both personal and professional. Even something as simple as making sure managers know how to pronounce a worker’s surname could have an outsized impact because it shows care and attention to detail. “It means giving your employees the opportunity to use pronouns that express their true identity,” said Bator. “And you can only do [all this] if you begin to ask, and if you begin to create safe spaces for people to share who they are. When you do this, you build trust.”IncludedHelping an employee feel “included,” Bator continued, may have the most significant impact in terms of nurturing a worker’s sense of belonging and better ensuring their engagement and retention. “It’s, ‘Do I have a shot here, to begin with?’” said Bator. “The narrow view, ironically, is when we think about inclusion through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the things that we can do to create table stakes for every single employee. I think the broader view, however, is about creating opportunities for our people to share in co-creating what their employee experience actually looks like.”He suggests building a safe space that gives employees a comfort level to not only make their opinions heard and acknowledged, but to also come up with “a great idea” and have it “heard by the right person in an organization.”Data from recent Achievers Workshop Institute research said organizations that for feedback from their employees at least four times a year have 50% higher levels of engagement, Bator said, while 88% of those employees are more likely to feel valued.SupportedTo make workers feel “supported,” Achievers research says, give them a sense of empowerment tied to their potential long-term success by supplying them with necessary tools, training and resources. Provide them opportunities for professional growth and to have a healthy work-life balance as well.“When I think about what this pillar really means, I think immediately of managers,” Bator said. “Whether you pick social justice, the pandemic, new modes of working, take your pick, your managers are on the frontlines with their people every single day. And what we see is that when an individual has a strong relationship with their manager, they feel individually resilient.”Thus, they are more capable of overcoming challenges, a belief that aforementioned Achievers research shows many workers don’t have.ConnectedAnd calling back to the fifth and final pillar of employee belonging, Bator said, “At a basic level, what being ‘connected’ is about is: Do your employees have the opportunity to build a diverse network, inside their work circle and outside of their work circle?’”He revealed that more Achievers Workshop Institute research shows that when organizations have connection tools, they are great at driving not only connection, but trust and support, as well as other worthwhile sensations. “But what I would argue to you is that connection is much more of a philosophy than it is a cool feature that you can share with your employees,”Bator said. “Fundamentally, it’s about: Is it easy for your [managers] to access the people and the skills that they need every single day so that they can be productive and positive from anywhere.”It’ll be much less of a challenge for employees to sever those connections, with their managers, fellow workers and their general work responsibilities, if they don’t feel a strong sense of belonging. Bator knows this first hand. He has the scars to prove it.Editor’s note: From Day One thanks its partner, Achievers, for sponsoring this workshop.Michael Stahl is a New York City-based freelance journalist, writer, and editor. You can read more of his work at MichaelStahlWrites.com, follow him on Twitter @MichaelRStahl, and order his first book, the autobiography of Major League Baseball pitcher Bartolo Colón, at Abrams Books. (Featured image: David Bator conducting the workshop in Salt Lake City.)

Susan Kelly | May 11, 2023

Work Is Changing. Is Your Company Culture Keeping Up?

A strong company culture built on shared values is essential to the success of your team but difficult to define, let alone cultivate, says Mike Kaupe, global director of sales engineering for HiBob, a provider of HR platforms and analytics. Companies first need to understand why a healthy culture is so important, then they must go about the very hard work of creating it.Kaupe spoke during a Thought Leadership Spotlight at From Day One’s recent live conference in Chicago, a city known for its skyscrapers, blues music and deep dish pizza. While those elements have helped define the city’s culture, it’s richer and more varied than that, said Kaupe, who was immersed in different cultures as a child growing up in a U.S. Army family.“Culture is an accumulation of relationships that you cannot copy, and you cannot fake. You can't do it. It's unique to every business, every organization,” he told the audience.For companies striving to build a strong culture, the changing nature of work is making the challenge that much harder, even as it fosters creativity. Your employees may work from home, or in hybrid, flexible or dynamic arrangements. Communication is often through digital collaboration. Engagement is now a tool for shaping culture.Like that gooey deep dish pizza, the layers pile on. Mass layoffs, hiring freezes, the uncertain economy and slowing corporate growth, or none at all, have been added to the mix. Even companies that have been around for many years are re-evaluating their values in the face of these enormous challenges. Amid all the shifting variables, is it possible for an organization to maintain the values that its employees hold dear? “It's not easy. It's very difficult, and very, very challenging,” said Kaupe. “But it's not impossible.”Start By Being HonestThe first step is to be transparent, Kaupe advised. Employees may have different perceptions of their role in the company’s vision. At HiBob, sharing the context in which decisions are made has helped to bring employees on board with those decisions and “gave us permission to continue the mission,” he said.Embracing transparency has meant being inclusive, which has been key to earning employees’ trust, he said. The company looked for policies and procedures that created experiences of exclusion and removed them.“This transparency helped to build the culture of trust that we wanted, and that we needed, across the business,” Kaupe said.Kaupe led the thought leadership spotlight in Chicago (photo by Tim Hiatt for From Day One)What followed next was greater collaboration, as people felt empowered to speak their minds, share their thoughts and be vulnerable. “When employees perceive that their organizations are transparent, they engage better,” Kaupe said. “They have better job satisfaction compared to employees who believe that their companies are not being transparent. They believe that their companies may be hiding something. Why? Because there's a lack of trust.”At HiBob, because a culture of trust was developed, groups and teams started giving each other feedback on how well they were doing, what they were doing wrong, and how they could improve. The process led to a recognition that praising group achievements, and not just giving individual accolades, could help build trust. “This fostered some really cool group cohesion,” said Kaupe.“We've learned that trust, transparency and teamwork are the keys to putting your people first. It sounds like a no-brainer. But this is really, really difficult,” he stressed.The High Cost of Lost TrustKaupe argues that leaders who push their workers back into the office because they think people will be more productive in the workplace environment are directly at odds with employees who believe they are more productive at home. The cost is “quiet quitting,” in which employees may spend months getting paid for doing as little work as possible.Similarly, organizations that use so-called tattleware installed on computers to monitor their employees who work from home pay a price in lost trust. It’s a big cost to pay for that control, he said.“Cultivating culture must start with knowing what your employees really, truly value,” Kaupe said.HiBob has not been immune to the economic uncertainties affecting companies around the globe. As a result, said Kaupe, his team has a different perspective about work, greater insight and more empathy for what its customers are experiencing. The lesson learned is, “we grow through what we go through,” he said.Editor's note: From Day One thanks our partner, HiBob, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight. Susan Kelly is a business journalist based in Chicago.

Lisa Jaffe | May 10, 2023

After Three Years of Crisis, What Does It Take to Keep Workers Engaged?

The last three years have taken a toll. Upheaval, changing government guidelines, and concerns over physical and mental health have impacted workers and organizations alike. Retaining employees, as well as keeping them engaged and productive, has become more difficult through the turmoil. At the recent From Day One conference in Seattle, a panel of four HR executives, moderated by Puget Sound Business Journal’s Alex Halverson, discussed some of the strategies that have shown promise in their organizations. 1. Ask them what they want. At Providence Healthcare, a hospital system based on the West Coast, Denise Bowen, who leads the people strategy and solutions team, emphasizes flexibility in the workplace. “We engaged focus groups before we started inviting people back to the office,” she said. Among the factors considered was what work could be virtual and what needed in-person participation. Surveys for feedback found a 10-point increase in engagement with this flexible model. But there was also a desire for more connection. “We asked them to return to the office based on that feedback,” said Bowen. “We told them how, why, and when to return, and we made it more invitational than a mandate.” Murika Matz, the chief customer officer at the people analytics firm Visier, said talking to employees about what they want is key: “They have to express to us what they are looking for so we can all be accountable.” The last three years there required nearly constant communication between organizations and their people. Moving forward, Matz suggested, keep some of that up by asking team members where they want to go: “If they are remote, ask them how you can help ensure they are ‘seen’.”Alex Halverson of the Puget Sound Business Journal moderated the discussion (photo by David Ryder for From Day One) 2. Be clear with expectations. At Fortive, Shannon Flynn, the head of HR, said they have tried more than once to get people back into the office. The first invitation back was in July 2021. Almost no one returned. With the rise of the omicron variant, RTO was put on hold until May 2022. “Our culture is in-person problem solving, so we really wanted people back.” That second time, the corporate team was required to be in 2 to 3 days a week – every Tuesday and Thursday, with the third day personal choice. More people responded, but leadership wasn’t getting the 2-3 days they wanted. “Productivity wasn’t the issue. We were missing out on collaboration – especially cross-team collaboration,” Flynn said. Some of the newer hires had never worked in-person, and engagement with them was lower than with those who had longer tenure. Half of all attrition came from those newer hires, too. Last fall, Fortive asked managers to have one-on-ones with each team member and inform them they needed to be in four days a week. “We figured if we said 3-4, we’d get 2-3. So we said four.” It wasn’t just a directive, though. Employees were asked what they needed in order to meet the goal. “We asked, ‘What can we do to get you to four days?’” Flynn’s own request was to be remote one week a quarter. “Those were my parameters. We are trying, through these one-on-one conversations, to avoid any misconstrued group message and to help them figure out how to be intentional about being in-person.” Managers will be accountable for making progress on the goal. So far, it’s working, and 70% of the corporate team is back full time. 3. Show them what you know. You might tell your people about results, goals, and plans, but it’s better to show them, said Bowen: “Transparency has to be authentic.” Even layoffs can be transparent, says Janine Yancy, founder and CEO of the online learning and predictive analytics firm Emtrain. “Do employees understand why this is happening? Open the lens so that employees can see what the executives see. Instability comes when there is no visibility of what is going on, and they have to simply receive decisions. That’s when people feel unsafe. There is always some level of business information you can share about what needs to be done to be successful. ” While executives may craft the policy, HR people should help create the message. It isn’t about performance of the individual, and Yancy said HR can help ease the transition for those impacted by a reduction in force by emphasizing their contributions and strengths and reminding them they are still part of a community. 4. Focus on people, not just the bottom line. Bowen says that if you view employees only as means to an end, they will feel it. “There are still opportunities for talent,” she said. “This can’t just be about business outcomes. They know if there is genuine care, and it’s the right thing to do to show up for and invest in your team.” Flynn likes the analogy of the three-legged stool: individual, team, and business. While business results matter, the stool won’t stand if the other two legs aren’t considered, as well. The last three years have helped individuals become more known to their managers and other team members, said Matz. Zoom calls featured pets and kids and updates on how people were handling lockdowns, isolation, and quarantine. That improved knowledge of each other is one of the things that we should try to hold on to, she said: “There were things we were missing that we didn’t know we were missing.” 5. Be consciously inclusive. Emtrain has more than 100 million poll responses related to inclusion, and Yancy says that, without equity, you won’t achieve inclusion. If you are implementing a RIF, ask yourself if the process is transparent so that people have context. Check to see the impact on key demographics. “From our own research, we know that not everyone has the same experience. White men have the best, then men of color, then white women, and women of color have the worst experience.” HR can’t just be a recipient of strategy, but rather needs to drive it, said Bowen: “We aren’t just about organizational excellence on the back end, but are a partner in shaping strategy. We can help manage culture and experience.” Flynn says that, even in a time when many businesses are contracting, there are opportunities. Indeed, Bowen points out that tech company layoffs were often an opportunity for organizations like hers. “There are other options,” Flynn said. “If they don’t feel connected, if they aren’t engaged, you will lose them. I want it to be hard for people to go.”Lisa Jaffe is a freelance writer who lives in Seattle with her son and a very needy rescue dog named Ellie Bee. She enjoys reading, long walks on the beach, and trying to get better at ceramics.

Erika Riley | May 10, 2023

What Moves Us: How Intrinsic Motivation Has Changed Since the Pandemic

While employers can readily calculate the market rates for external rewards like pay and perks, what’s more elusive is an understanding of the internal factors that light their workers’ fires.Knowing what moves you and your employees, also known as intrinsic motivation, can be the key to increased productivity, better working environments, and improved relationships. Yet here’s the tricky part: over time, those factors can change among individuals, as well as change among groups. The pandemic, for example, changed virtually every aspect of our working lives. For many of us, it made us come to terms with our most important values, or perhaps changed those values altogether.Attuned, a company that helps employers understand what motivates their teams, focuses directly on intrinsic motivation, which it defines as the individual combination of values and preferences that drive us from within. Knowing an individual’s motivators and playing into them can help increase engagement, elevate performance levels, and improve well-being.Attuned has collected tens of thousands of intrinsic motivator profiles through its 55-question assessment. With its 2023 data, the company has compiled trends that show how the most popular core motivators have changed over time.The company developed a list of the 11 key intrinsic motivators with the help of psychologists and experts in the field. They are altruism, autonomy, competition, feedback, financial needs, innovation, progress, rationality, security, social relationships, and status.After taking the assessment, the assessment-taker receives a score of 0-100 for each of the key motivators. The higher the number, the more important this value is to them. If they score between 68% and 100%, the motivator is a “need-to-have.” They need this motivator to be satisfied and feel like they’re working on something that matters.So how have the most popular key motivators changed over time? Attuned’s team discussed the evolution of its findings from 2018 to 2022 in its State of Motivation Report 2023 and an accompanying webinar. Among the highlights:Increasing MotivatorsTwo motivators saw an increase between 2018 and 2022: security and financial needs. In a time of crisis and uncertainty, it makes sense that these two motivators, which are very popular among people in general, became even more common during the pandemic.People motivated by security have a desire for planning and predictability and feel a need for precisely defined rules and clear frameworks and spheres of responsibility. Security had an all-time low average of 45% in the fourth quarter of 2018 and an all-time high of 65% in the third quarter of 2019, then dipped back to 54% by the fourth quarter of 2022. It is the third-most common of all motivators, but is the No. 1 motivator for women.The increase of security as a motivator can also be explained by the shift from a promotion focus to a prevention focus. “People are moving away from the idea that we need new things; now we just need stability for a little while,” said Paul Kay, head of content at AttunedFinancial needs are the most common top motivator and highest motivator score across the board. Its average scores fluctuated a lot between 2018 and 2022, with a range of 17% between its all-time high and all-time low scores. However, it’s seen an upward trend overall, with a steady rise from the first quarter of 2018 to the fourth quarter of 2022.The financial needs motivator is not all about pay and bonuses. People motivated by financial needs have a desire for financial security and well-being, and prefer activities that generate profit and endeavors that accumulate and safeguard wealth.“I think what we see with these motivational shifts is people don’t jump too often from something being on the left-hand side of those charts, where it’s a low need-to-have, all the way to the high need-to-have. These are based on your values, which are really deep inside you,” said Casey Wahl, the company’s CEO and co-founder. “The way I look at it is something has to happen really emotionally and leave a deep emotional imprint on your brain to shift things up. And I think what we’re seeing in these shifts in financial needs and security is people that were in the middle somewhere, but then the importance just shifted up.”Declining MotivatorsMeanwhile, other intrinsic motivators declined between 2018 and 2022: autonomy, competition, feedback, innovation, progress, and rationality.People with the autonomy motivator want to develop and preserve financial freedom and be able to do things in a way that makes sense for them. They strive for independence in decision-making and time management. There was a 9% decrease between the fourth quarter of 2019 and second quarter of 2022, perhaps as a result of autonomy needs being over-satisfied by the increased prevalence of remote work during the pandemic.“Most people in the time of remote work and work from home probably had more autonomy than they've ever had,” said Kay. “A need has been over-satisfied for a lot of people. I’ve had more autonomy than I perhaps need and now I need a little bit more structure.”However, because there was only a 9% decrease, it’s a stat worth keeping an eye on in the future.Competition is the second most common top motivator, but saw a decline from 66% in the third quarter of 2019 to 51% in the fourth quarter of 2022. People with the competition motivator are attracted to challenges and competitive situations and enjoy testing themselves against others to determine their level of success.“These I find quite interesting, because, sure there’s a Covid explanation, but I actually miss the competition. I have high competition. I've been craving that,” said Chad Lafferty, VP of global sales at Attuned. “Me being in the office and around people a little bit more has been very very helpful just because competitive people tend to play these little games in their head, right? Like, ‘I’m going to do this just a little bit faster and nobody else knows that you're doing it but you’re constantly competing.”Feedback falls in the middle of the pack among top motivators, and took a deep fall during the pandemic. It reached an all-time high of 52% in third quarter of 2019, and an all-time low of 39% in the fourth quarter of 2022. People who are motivated by feedback need evaluation and recognition in all areas of life, but especially to validate their work efforts and reinforce a sense of worth.Kristine Ayuzawa, Attuned’s director of people operations, wondered if new tech and virtual workplaces have filled a need for feedback, with standard one-on-one meetings and feedback forms. The environment we work in and the tech we use can influence our motivators over time.Added Wahl: “I've talked about how emotions change our values as well, but it’s also a lot from our environment. So what are we experiencing day to day and how is the environment changing our behavior and our habits? All that kind of sinks in and affects our values.”Innovation and progress also took hits during the pandemic. Innovation saw an all-time high of 59% in the second quarter of 2018 and an all-time low of 33% in the the second quarter of 2022, although it did see an upward trend in the second half of 2022.The Attuned team hypothesizes that this decline might be related to many people and companies switching from a promotion focus to a prevention focus. This shift often happens in times of uncertainty and stress. People begin to value stability more and take fewer risks.On the other hand, some people thrive on innovation during economic downturns.“When you get into downturns or recessions, it’s when they say generational startups are created,” said Wahl. “I wonder if that’s partly because there’s less competition, less people chasing ideas, less people pursuing ideas that they stand out.”Progress took a similar downturn from an all-time high of 60% in the second quarter of 2018 to an all-time low of 35% in the second quarter of 2022. People motivated by progress are driven to acquire new skills, expand their knowledge, and grow personally and professionally.Progress might be less important right now as people are burned out in many areas of life, the Attuned team thought. Coming out of a global pandemic and facing a recession can make it difficult for people to want to pursue growth.“It's just a differentiation in where people are putting their attention and what's going to be most critical to them,” said Ayuzawa. “I'm curious to see where things go as things improve.”Lastly, rationality took a strong downturn from an all-time high of 45% in the first quarter of 2019 to an all-time low of 23% in the third quarter of 2022. Rationality is the rarest of all top motivators. People motivated by rationality are attracted to logical, objective, and scientific methods and processes. “You can come up with all kinds of rational explainations for stuff but it doesn’t necessarily lead to emotion,” said Wahl. “So people’s emotions are being affected in different ways. My finances are killing me, my credit cards are maxed out, the interest rates are going up, and I feel that emotional pian every single day. Whereas something like rationality might not drop that chemical bond in your head to move your values there.”The Most Steady MotivatorsThree motivators largely stayed the same over the course of 2018 to 2023: altruism, social relationships, and status.People with the altruism motivator are grounded in the desire to help, support, and maintain the well-being of others and crave mutual support and encouragement in their workplace. It’s the fourth-most-common top motivator, and displayed only a 6% difference in its minimum and maximum values during this time period.Social relationships also stayed fairly steady, with an all-time high of 46% in the second quarter of 2018 and all-tme low of 38% in the fourth quarter of 2022. People with the social-relationships motivator need frequent and mutual social interactions and want to belong to a group. The status motivator can be defined as a desire for reputation, recognition, and respect, along with continuous progress through the ranks. It’s the fifth-most-common of all motivators and its average scores rarely changed between the first quarter of 2018 (53%) and the fourth quarter of 2022 (49%).“The reality that we are social creatures and the reliance we have on other people and wanting to know where we stand in the pack is something that’s probably pretty deeply engrained in us just as humans,” said Ayuzawa. Wahl agreed, positing that the need for social relationships, working for the common good, and being respected are perhaps core human traits.“Slightly above half of the population has these deeper needs for connectivity,” he said. “Maybe those are deeper, stable human desires and we’ve kind of evolved psychologically to get to this point.”Addressing Intrinsic MotivatorsEmployers and managers can use their teams’ intrinsic motivators to help shape their work environments and communications with them to drive engagement and output. However, some motivators are easier to affect than others.For example, the two motivators that saw an increase in popularity over the last few years: security and financial needs, are hard for individual managers to address.“I think talking about financial needs, even though I’ve been running companies and stuff, it's never so easy,” said Wahl. “It’s personal, and people have emotional attachments to it.”However, it’s still possible for companies to address these motivators in the way they offer benefits, their workflows, and their company cultures. For instance, employees motivated by security will feel more motivated when they know what’s expected of them and how a project will play out than they will if there are no standard workflows in place and they’re not so sure of their role.Ultimately, addressing intrinsic motivators will not be a one-size-fits all application. Everybody’s motivators are different, so companies need to find different ways to address different people’s needs.“Finding ways to not necessarily get everybody looking the exact same way–not looking for alignment or everybody in the company to have the same motivators–but for ways to be able to tailor your communication as a leadership team so you can understand each other and appreciate the different perspectives people are bringing to their work is increasingly recognized as being really valuable,” said Ayuzawa.Editor’s note: From Day One thanks its partner, Attuned, for supporting this sponsor spotlight.Erika Riley is a Maryland-based freelance writer. (Featured image by RomoloTavani/iStock by Getty Images)

Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza | May 10, 2023

A Financial Literacy Plan That Works for Your Employees

In a job market where workers are ready to change jobs for a chance at higher compensation, employers are looking for ways to make their total rewards stand out. Financial wellness tools are becoming a more common feature of benefits packages—if you can’t raise pay, then you can help your employees make the most of their salaries.Why the new emphasis on financial wellness? Workers are preoccupied with money-related stress. More than three-quarters of Americans are anxious about their financial situation, according to a recent survey by Capital One and The Decision Lab, and 52% say they struggle to control their financial worries.“As these pressures start to mount on your employees, they’re going to be looking to you to help them get more guidance on how to build wealth and how to lose this debt,” said Russ Cloughen, an account executive at financial advising company Betterment, during a recent From Day One webinar titled “How to Build a Financial Literacy Plan for Employees.”Everyone is feeling the financial squeeze at the moment. “You’re all being asked to do more with less to retain talent, support diverse teams, and keep productivity high,” said Cloughen about employers’ current predicament. “Employees are essentially doing the same thing.”Companies are in a prime position to help lighten the load, and it’s expected of them. According to Betterment’s own data, Cloughen pointed out, 65% of workers said they expect their employer to offer more financial support than before the pandemic.Betterment's Nick Holeman and Russ Cloughen led the webinar during Financial Literacy Month (photo by From Day One)Templatized financial advice isn’t helpful. Some workers need to prioritize retirement savings and some need to focus on paying down student debt, others need to downsize while planning to send kids to college. Economic concerns change too, and financial wellness tools need to keep up. For instance, workers have shifted their financial priorities since 2020, now working toward saving for retirement and paying down student loan debt more than they did before the pandemic, according to Betterment’s survey.Cloughen and his colleague, Nick Holeman, who is Betterment’s director of financial planning, recommended employers provide financial tools that let employees seek the advice that helps them reach their personal goals. Still, many employers—and workers—think of financial advising as something for the wealthy, who have millions in the bank and even more bundled up in assets.“Everyone needs financial advice,” said Holeman. “It can be as simple as maxing out your 401(k) match, understanding Roth versus traditional [IRAs], or building a three- to six-month emergency fund.” Even within traditional financial goals, there are infinite variations in execution, like how to prioritize what to save for and where to invest when money is tight.Many of Holeman’s clients are just beginning to consider their finances strategically, “trying to figure out the first few steps that you need to take financially, whether it’s covering basic emergency expenses, maybe it’s just trying to contribute to your 401(k) for the first time.”Employers can consider financial wellness tools an opportunity for differentiation, said Cloughen. If you can’t offer a unique set of benefits to each individual employee, at least you can provide a package that can be personalized.People have come to expect personalization. Seventy-one percent of consumers expect companies to provide customized experiences, and 76% are unhappy when they don’t, according to a 2021 McKinsey report. It’s not surprising, then, that employers are looking for flexible benefits options.Employers have the chance to stand out among their peers, said Cloughen, noting that 83% of workers that Betterment surveyed view financial wellness benefits as a sign that their employer values them. “These are the things that are going to help you stand out.”Editor's note: From Day One thanks our partner, Betterment, for sponsoring this webinar. Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a freelance reporter and From Day One contributing editor who writes about the future of work, HR, recruiting, DEI, and women's experiences in the workplace. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Fast Company, Quartz at Work, Digiday’s Worklife, and Food Technology, among others.