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The Steps to Managing a Healthy Hybrid Workplace

Company-wide transitions are never easy. Challenges abound. Stumbles: inevitable. And right now, many organizations are navigating large-scale transitions toward a permanent hybrid workplace. As much as 89% of the workforce, according to one study, desires at least some work-from-home time in their career. Considering the competition in the job market today, it behooves leaders to make work-from-home accommodations whenever possible. How to go about doing so was the focus of a panel discussion titled, “Managing a Healthy Workplace in a Hybrid Environment,” moderated by Kelly Yamanouchi, business reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, at From Day One’s Atlanta conference. A few key takeaways from the conversation: ‘A Big Cultural Shift’ Prior to the pandemic, about 20% of the workers for insurance giant Aflac operated remotely or on a hybrid basis. Going forward, 55% of the company’s workforce will be entirely remote; the rest will have hybrid schedules, consisting of a mix of on-site hours and work-from-home time. “It’s a big cultural shift for us as an organization, as it relates to helping leaders to maneuver through [the change],” said Jeri Hawthorne, VP of corporate HR at the company. “When everybody was on site, managing was a certain way. When everybody was off site, it was consistent. And now it’s a mixed workforce, so how we support and help them in engaging and managing their employees? And giving them equal access to development opportunities? T hose are some of the biggest challenges that our team faces in helping and supporting our leaders.” One area in which this challenge is manifesting is day care. A benefit of going remote is that a company like Aflac can now hire workers from anywhere when, historically, most of its workforce lived in the Columbus, Ga., area, and reported to its headquarters. Under those circumstances, Aflac employees enjoyed company benefits include on-site day care. How the company provides day care to remote workers, which will have a potential butterfly effect in giving more employees opportunity to step up on the corporate ladder, is something Hawthorne said Aflac is examining. “We’re looking at how do we better level the playing field for those types of perks and benefits so that all of our employees have access to things that are in demand that are competitive, and that are important to them in this hybrid environment,” she said. Building-Out and Leveraging Employee Resource Groups Another way organizations can ensure that all their workers enjoy equal equity and opportunity in terms of their well-being is through the building of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), which are worker-led teams whose mission is to foster a diverse workplace that’s aligned with their company’s values and goals. Cierra Boyd, global diversity-and-inclusion communications leader at Cummins, the manufacturer of engines and generators, said her company’s ERGs have been a valuable resource in its new, hybrid environment. “With our Cummins Black Network that represents our Black employees globally, we have been able to [launch] so many platforms and programs [and] I’ve heard verbatim from our employees saying it re-energized them,” said Boyd. “It really helped make them feel connected and have the camaraderie and collaboration that you sometimes miss when you’re not in-person.” The full panel also included Jeri Hawthorne of Aflac and Davida Rivens of E4E Relief  Bria Griffith, director of inclusion and diversity at Honeywell, said at her company ERGs are referred to as “employee networks” and have proven a valuable resource, particularly in helping leaders understand and carry out allyship initiatives. Honeywell’s employee networks also informed the construction of what Griffith called a new “concierge benefits service,” focusing on mental health and wellness as the pandemic lingers on, mindful of the different ways that different communities struggle with the fallout. Across those employee networks Honeywell conducts polls to find out how different pockets of employees are responding and what sources they need. The concierge benefits service can then be better equipped to respond, ensuring that workers who need it, for example, are receiving psychotherapy treatment. “Equity is making sure that the imbalances and the systems and structures get removed,” Griffith said. “Inclusion is making sure [that] not only do people feel like they belong, but you’re creating the environments in which they do their best work.” Educating Employees About Benefits Packages Generating a concierge benefits service, for example, is only as great an idea as it is utilized, however. Greater equity and a more robust sense of inclusion can only be cultivated through employee awareness and engagement with such programs, and just the presence of those programs alone can have outsized positive impact on a workforce. Employees in such circumstances “feel more supported; they’re able to turn more of their attention to work because they’re getting supported,” said Davida Rivens, VP of product management and sales at E4E Relief, which provides charitable grants to employees in financial need because of natural disasters or other emergencies. When workers experience that type of support, they worry less about short-term financial crises, Rivens said. The panel was moderated by Kelly Yamanouchi of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution “It makes you feel like, ‘Oh, this company cares,’” Rivens said, referring to workers. “And when [leaders] start to show that you care, [employees] want to give more to you. They don’t mind spending an extra 30 minutes, they don’t mind responding to that email at whatever time it might come through because they know that you’ve given them that flexibility.” “The caregiving issue is huge,” said Wendy Whittington, chief care officer at the caregiving-support platform Cariloop, “and it’s also a diversity, equity and inclusion issue because communities of color have suffered more with the mental health issues, but caregiving itself is a huge burden.” Whittington noted that caregivers have much higher rates of mental health concerns than people who don’t carry those burdens. She added that 53 million Americans are caregivers for older adults or children with special needs, and 73% of the workforce prior to the pandemic identified as caregivers. “So it’s just really great to hear others talking about it. It’s a big one,” Whittington said of the caregiving issue. “And it’s not that difficult to support them.” 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.

Michael Stahl | October 23, 2022

Trouble Finding Workers? Hire Through Diversified Talent-Supply Chains

When Vijay Swaminathan, CEO of Draup, an AI-powered workforce-building platform, first visited the U.S., he decided it was the country he wanted to settle in for the rest of his life. But his decision was not precisely driven by the presence of baseball, jazz, or endless opportunity. For Swaminathan, it was the supermarket. “Look at the modern day grocery store, and the grapes: Whether it’s summer or winter, they’re always there,” Swaminathan said in a thought-leadership spotlight at From Day One’s Atlanta conference. “That’s because they switch the supply chains. They source from California; from there, they source from Mexico, they go to Peru, they go to Latin American countries. They ensure a perennial supply of inventory.” In observing the difficulties organizations are experiencing this year in hiring talent–a ManPower Group survey said 69% of employers are having difficulty filling jobs, up from 40% in 2016–Swaminathan hypothesized that an application of produce-section-style supply-chain diversification could serve as a solution. This can more readily be the case given industry’s need for digital talent, which, Swamanithan explained, “basically includes people who give the requirements; people who map out all the experiences, workflows, integrations and so on.” Where can these supply chains be rendered exactly? Swaminathan provided a host of options. In one heavily sourced slide, he pointed out that 24% of graduates from large talent-pool countries, including India, are ready for software-based jobs. Companies should also look toward female populations, as less than 20% of tech workers in mature economies are women, and they also account for only 14% of the workforce in cloud-computing ventures. Domestic companies are at a distinct advantage in this regard, with one in four women considering a change in job status. Draup did some research of its own, including the tracking of 250 million job descriptions and examining 600 million résumés around the world. Among the conclusions the company was able to draw: Talent is blooming around the world in new places. “Argentina and Brazil have done phenomenal work in education,” Swaminathan said. “About 20% of their GDP actually goes into education now. So countries are competing for global markets, they are creating such talent, and companies are going to these locations.” Tech talent is spreading far and wide, domestically, as well. “The U.S. market, especially from a technology-talent standpoint, prior to the pandemic largely operated in bigger markets,” Swaminathan said. But smaller cities like Nashville, Indianapolis, Albuquerque, and Salt Lake City are producing tech talent, too. “So this type of disruption is happening within the boundaries of U.S. and companies are still kind of stuck in the previous rhetoric that the talent is available only in big cities,” Swaminathan said. Corporations should also analyze individual office or outpost strengths and hire accordingly, or they can reimagine their locations and develop their workforce to fit local talent provisions.“What is it that you are doing in comparison to what the market is doing?” Swaminathan posed as a hypothetical. “Understanding that component is extremely critical in transforming your hiring process into a supply chain-based view.” In a preview of coming capabilities at Draup, Swaminaithan said his company is developing what he called “experimental design” in recruiting. “What I mean by that is, there are certain factors that make you actually successful in certain markets; it’s not just talent availability from a macro perspective, but the employee value proposition may resonate better in certain markets in certain generational segments of the market,” he said. Workforce developers can now examine their portfolio through this lens. Swaminathan said they should consider: “What are my top markets?” “What are my mature markets?” “What are my needs in markets?” “Where may I not have the best volume, but I have phenomenal speed at which I am making things happen?” Such insights can inform hiring tremendously, he said, making company processes more efficient and effective. Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner who sponsored this thought-leadership spotlight: Draup. 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.

Michael Stahl | October 23, 2022

Why You Should Hire for ‘Culture Add’ as Well as a ‘Values Fit’

Mecca Mitchell still shudders when she remembers an onboarding experience at an old job. Now the SVP of equity and inclusion at Burlington Stores, Mitchell recalls it took just one week for a feeling of dread to sink in. “I remember sitting at my desk, with my head in my hand, saying, Dear God, what did I do?” she recounted during a recent From Day One webinar about keeping both diversity and corporate values in mind when hiring workers. “And it was because the onboarding was so incredibly awful. I mean, everything from just people who were there to receive me to paperwork to conversations about what comes next and the organization.” That first week left a first impression that took a long time for Mitchell to unwind. Essentially, she sensed a fundamental disconnect between the company’s purported culture and values and the company’s ability to put them into practice. We’re at an inflection point in talent acquisition and retention, where hiring for culture fit is now a relic of the past, even though a great many managers still cling to it. What forward-thinking companies want to pursue instead is talent that brings both a “culture add” and a “values fit.”  What Makes ‘Culture Fit’ an Obsolete Notion In an era when employers are striving to do better on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), recruiting only people who look they they will fit into the current corporate culture looks like a regressive idea. “A culture fit is not a bad thing, but it sets in motion a cascade that makes us narrow,” said Scott Nycum, VP of diversity, inclusion, and giving for the professional-service consultancy General Dynamics Information Technology. “A culture fit has always meant, ‘Are we hiring them to reflect who we are currently, someone who behaves in ways that are familiar to us?’” said Salima Bhimani, who is chief strategist  and director of equity, inclusion, and systemic change for the Other Bets at Google. “There’s a pressure that comes from the top to have this kind of culture fit.” Culture add, by contrast, represents a shift in emphasis. “We should be looking for people who are bringing in perspectives, but the challenge is that in both cases we don’t necessarily ask the question whether the culture per se is where it should be,” Bhimani said. “We probably interview a bunch of people who are talented but didn’t really fit. That’s our loss,” said Nycum. “When you’re looking at values,  you’re looking at underlying behaviors you want to drive. You have to understand values are deeper than personality, and these are things that are hard to assess in a job interview,” said Chad Lafferty, VP of global sales of the AI-powered employee analytics service Attuned. “Some of our bias comes from what we like, and this creates pockets of unhealthy culture. We need to break away from that; we need to change how we think of the interview process.” Leading With Values One of the essential responsibilities of leaders is to be cultural architects. “That’s their role,” said Mitchell, who sees leaders as builders of a well-intentioned and energized workforce. “If you have toxic leaders, it all falls apart. Leadership is informed by investors, constituents; leaders have to take ownership over their roles.” Speaking on hiring for diversity as well as values, top row from left: moderator Steve Koepp of From Day One and Mecca Mitchell of Burlington Stores. Bottom row: Chad Lafferty of Attuned, Scott Nycum of General Dynamics, and Salima Bhimani of Google (Image by From Day One) All this values-based talk might sound like a new concept, but not for those who have long worked in equity and inclusion circles. “At Burlington we lead with our values. I think it’s part of that evolution to break out of the mold. The unconscious bias is that we want people who remind us of ourselves,” said Mitchell. “I am a lawyer–I always say that with lawyer candidates, I have affinities for them.” The bigger the company, the harder it is to determine who should set the values to emulate. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, for example, has more than 150,000 employees. “I think we need to start with leaders having that conversation because people are looking to leaders to say, ‘Hey, are you emulating the thing that you say is really, really important?’ Now, I think that that’s a starting point,” said Bhimani. “But I think that leaders have to gut check that with their current talent pool of people that they have within the organization, because there might be a mismatch between expectations and reality.” Leadership, however, does not necessarily hold all the power. Now more than ever, interviews have become a two-way street. “Leadership sets the values, but you have to have buy-in from the top all the way through. Everyone you hire has to be bought into these values,” said Nycum. Candidates want to see how managers live by the values they profess.  Ensuring the Application of Values in the Hiring Process Research has shown that in interviewing and onboarding, extrinsic motivation alone doesn’t work. “The thing is, we tend to structure the interview and offer a process around extrinsic motivation,” said Lafferty, rather than getting at what motivates people from within. A related issue is that values are abstract until they’re made real. Nycum has a playbook for that. “Accessing the values part of someone’s brain has to be a practical set of questions,” he said. Questions can go along the lines of, “Think about a time when you were in an environment where you did your best work. Unpack it: When were you motivated and ran through the next challenge?”  “It’s almost a coaching session. It can be incredibly powerful,” said Nycum. “I want someone to be self-reflective; I never want a gotcha question. We need a novel question in service of someone unpacking something, unrehearsed. We can crack open the next door and then get to reality as fast as possible.”  Yet organizations cannot fully set extrinsic motivation aside, especially with candidates from underrepresented and marginalized backgrounds. “If you’re not getting paid well, you’re not gonna take it,” said Mitchell. “We have to be careful who we’re talking about. With intrinsic motivation, when we don’t have managers and leaders who are prepared, we can end up in the same situation all over again.”  The speakers agreed that onboarding does not end with the candidate’s first day on the job. “Onboarding is not a week-long process, it’s not a 30-day process, it’s a 360-day process, because, especially if you’re an underrepresented person, we have to think of it as a long-term investment in that person,” said Bhimani. “From the data we see, people who don’t have the support in the first year, they’ll leave.” Angelica Frey is a writer and a translator based in Milan and Boston.

Angelica Frey | October 21, 2022

How to Combat ‘Quiet Quitting’ With These Five Steps

Do you remember the movie Office Space? In the 1999 cult classic, the lead character, Peter, has a soul-destroying office job and, after a traumatic hypnotherapy session, decides the answer to his work woes is to refuse all requests to work overtime–something he would have accepted before–and to no longer go above and beyond at work. And Joanna, the female lead, berated by her manager for wearing too little “flair” on her uniform (even though he grudgingly concedes she is wearing at least the required amount), endures supervision that makes her job more miserable than it might otherwise be.  These are examples of what we have come to call “quiet quitting,” as in the example of Peter’s decision, where one does only the bare minimum required to keep their job, and “quiet firing,” as in the example of Joanna’s situation, where managers treat employees poorly to encourage them to quit. Claire Barnes, the chief human capital officer at the employment platform Monster, brought up the movie and its prescient portrayal of the current debate over “quiet quitting” in a presentation at From Day One’s September virtual conference. Former generations of employees embraced the work ethic of “first in, last out,” and saying yes to any and all requests. Barnes mentioned the oft-quoted Elon Musk statement to the effect that nothing revolutionary comes from putting in a 40-hour week. “When I was a junior HR assistant, I came at the same time or earlier than my boss every day and left at the same time or later. No one set that expectation for me, but I picked up that this was the culture of the organization,” Barnes said. But has that way of working reached its peak? A recent Gallup poll showed that at least half of American workers fit the definition of quiet quitting, and the number has grown by more than 25% since before the onset of the pandemic.  Why Are We Talking About This Now? Many employees believe they have the upper hand, said Barnes. “Despite the fact that we live in fear of recession, we remain in an incredibly tight labor market,” she said. “Most of us who are employers or who are trying to hire and retain employees feel the pain of talent scarcity on a day-to-day basis. If you look at the statistics in the U.S. today, there are two job openings for every unemployed American. Employees are more confident that they'll still have their job tomorrow, so it doesn’t really matter if they do the minimum today.” On the other hand, there are people who want to quit, but can’t afford to. The increasing financial pressure related to inflation and an increasing cost of living is already affecting employees. “Eighty percent of job seekers say that inflation is affecting their career decisions,” Barnes said. Mortgage rates are at a 14-year high, and the cost of renting a single-family home is up to almost $2,500 per month, according to House Canary. “Some people are stuck in a cycle of wanting to leave employment, but not being able to.” The main reasons people do quit, according to a study by McKinsey & Company, include everything from being under-compensated to a lack of career development. But Barnes also identified other reasons that differ from those more traditional factors behind one’s decision to change jobs. Among those are a lack of support, a lack of meaningful work, and uncaring and uninspiring leadership; the latter is the third-biggest reason for leaving. “It’s a well-known fact that employees stay or leave companies because of their managers,” she said, “and a Gallup survey found that 70% of employee engagement is influenced by managers.” Claire Barnes, the chief human capital officer at the employment platform Monster  Barnes pondered the evolution of the attitude that taking on more work, working overtime, or–in Joanna’s case, wearing more flair–is the only way to demonstrate commitment to a job. “What happens if we measure performance and ability, or even potential on the number of hours an employee dedicates to work outside of their standard working hours? What happens if you’re an employee who can’t work that extra time? Or take on work outside of your standard hours? Does that mean you’re not valued? And does it mean you can’t progress in an organization?,” she asked. “We know that women, and more so women of color, still bear a considerably higher burden of unpaid care outside of work, so if we are judging based only on overtime or taking on extra duties, we are at risk of excluding the diverse groups in our workforce and creating a culture that is not inclusive,” Barnes said. “Why do we view productivity as the number of hours worked, and not the actual work output? Shouldn’t getting the job done within your hours be seen actually as a more productive worker than someone who takes more hours to get the job done?” Stress is another factor in quiet quitting. Another Gallup survey found that 44% of employees globally experience more stress now than they felt previously, with that number higher now than it was even during the height of the pandemic. Nearly 60% of Americans over 40 feel the same, the survey indicated. Interestingly, Gen Z feels less stress, which is likely because they are better at setting boundaries and saying no to uncompensated extra work. “They are far more aware of the impact of work on life and their mental health. We also see the youngest generation is the one that prefers splitting their time between working from home and on site and seeking more balance,” said Barnes.  Five Steps You Can Take Right Now Barnes offered a short list of suggested solutions: 1.) Make well-being a priority. During the pandemic, a lot of employers made well-being front and center because of what was happening all around them. We have seen some of those benefits trail off as we come out the other side, she said. “When we ask our employees what’s important to them, well-being is front and center,” Barnes said. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but can be as easy as adding recharge or self-care days to the calendar so that employees see you respect their need to look after their mental health.  2.) Lead by example and show appreciation. It's crucial that managers take the time to listen to their employees and demonstrate care and support. “Yes, they need to be inspiring, but it doesn’t have to be theatrical. It means you have to be authentic and show appreciation.” A survey by Glassdoor, which gathers reviews of employers by workers, found 53% of people believe more appreciation from their boss would help them stay longer at a company. “A simple thank you doesn’t have to cost anything, but it means a lot,” she said. 3.) Focus on development. Recall that one of the main reasons for quitting is a lack of career development. “We found that 45% of workers would feel more valued and more likely to stay at a company if they were offered reskilling or upskilling training.” Like showing appreciation, these programs don’t have to be expensive. They can include experience-led development, coaching, or simply contributing to projects which offer opportunities for development of different skills.  4.) Create a purpose-led authentic employer value proposition. Defining the purpose of your organization and make sure that’s reflected in the market. “70% of Gen Z workers say they want to work for companies whose values align with their own,” Barnes says. “Think about your company's purpose. What are your values? What is the culture that your organization is creating? How is that reflected in the image portrayed both internally and externally?” 5.) Conduct ‘stay’ interviews. While exit interviews are common, how often do you ask your employees why they are staying? Barnes said that stay interviews are one way of getting feedback from employees. “It doesn’t need to be a prescribed stay interview,” she said. “It can be that you’re having regular conversations with your employees to understand how they’re feeling. Ask them what's frustrating them, what are they fearful of, what are they excited about.” As long as there is a tight labor market, there will be people who will quiet quit. But those companies that look after their employees’ well-being, embrace their potential, and show appreciation for their efforts are much less likely to suffer the consequences of it.  Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner who sponsored this Thought Leadership Spotlight: Monster. 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.

Lisa Jaffe | October 21, 2022

Cultivating a Company-Wide Culture of Well-Being and Inclusion

It’s the eternal corporate question: Are employee performance and employee well-being inherently at odds? The chief of HR at the legendary life-insurance giant John Hancock has a definitive answer: “To be high-performing, you need your employees to be well-minded.” Julie Law, who also serves as global head of talent management for John Hancock parent's company, Manulife, joined Nicole Smith, editorial audience director of Harvard Business Review, to discuss how to cultivate a company-wide culture of well-being and inclusion. The conversation was part of From Day One’s September virtual conference on “Stress, Anxiety and the Modern Company’s Role in Promoting Well-being.” Law characterized the current moment in the evolution of workplace culture–marked by a return to in-office work, the debate about of “quiet quitting,” and continued conversation about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)–as “the great reset.” She asked, “How are we going to drive a culture where people feel belonging and a sense of connection to the company’s mission and purpose, so they’re not quiet quitting, they’re getting more engaged whether they’re at home, in the office, or a blend of the two?” She shared insight on the responsibility of a company when it comes to employee well-being. “There’s accountability on the organization, the manager, the team and the individual,” she said. “It’s a joint responsibility.” John Hancock’s resources include leader toolkits focused on well-being, an on-site counselor at the office, and inclusive benefits offerings. “We’ve introduced Hurdle Health, which is culturally-sensitive counseling,” she added. There are also specific services for LGBTQ+ cohorts and employees with medical needs like cancer care. Law stressed that a well-being approach should be multi-pronged, with buy-in at every level of the organization. “There need to be checkpoints and connections that are established with a frequent cadence, especially as people are working remotely.” Fireside chat, from left: Nicole Smith of Harvard Business Review interviewing Julie Law of John Hancock (Image by From Day One) Companies can take different approaches to checkpoints and wellness metrics. John Hancock shares an employee survey a few times a year: “It’s a great barometer to understand intent-to-stay. We ask specific well-being questions, and there’s some indicators around if employees are connecting to the organization and the manager.” Other metrics, Law added, are tracking absentee rates, the volume of mental health benefits being used, and simply observing and asking how employees are doing. “It’s about having intentional conversations, like how you’re feeling about being back in the office,” she said. When employees do need help, the organization should have resources ready for them, From assistance in navigating benefits to mental health tools. “People in HR can help support that. There should be candid conversations about how to really support people,” Law said. The big takeaway, Law stressed, is that companies should build well-being into their culture “as early as possible.” She added, “You don’t want to wait for an acute event for it to happen. It needs to be embedded into the culture.” 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.

Emily Nonko | October 19, 2022

The Chief Diversity Officer Will Be a New Kind of Executive, If We Let Them

Among all of corporate America’s problems with job retention, one of the most concerning is the turnover in a newly prominent role: chief diversity officer. CDOs tend to stay in their roles only two to three years, about half the tenure of other C-suite officers. For many CDOs, as well as their colleagues, this is the result of one thing: frustration. How did a role that so many companies created with great fanfare in the racial-justice movement of 2020 become a dispiriting job for many–and what can be done to improve the situation? From Day One talked with people who’ve held the job, as well as experts in the field, to get to the sources of the problem and look toward solutions. To start with, the scope of the job is unlike almost any other top-leadership role. “Leading our inclusive culture efforts is an honor that requires a diverse skillset and the ability to anticipate the needs of a vast array of audiences,” said Vanice Hayes, chief culture, diversity and inclusion officer for Dell Technologies. “As rewarding as the job is, it can also be taxing. At times, it can feel like you're trying to solve world peace, like you’re a teacher, a counselor, a politician, a lawyer, a historian–you name it.” A New Kind of Career Path As befits a job that’s freshly emerging, there’s no traditional career path that leads to the CDO position. Read the resumes of ten chief technology officers, and you will see very similar backgrounds: advanced degrees in computer science or engineering, a track record building products or designing systems, years of experience managing tech workers and operations. The resumes of chief marketing officers and chief financial officers are similarly consistent. Even new C-suite additions, like chief information security officers and chief human resources officers, have identifiable backgrounds. By contrast, leaders in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) who have spoken at From Day One events have included executives who began their careers in law enforcement and the ministry. Graduate-school programs on how-to-be-a-CDO are still relatively new, points out Rachel Marcuse, the chief operating officer at ReadySet, a DEI-focused consulting firm. “That being said, we see successful CDOs come from varied backgrounds and experiences, including finance, HR, culture, and products or services. Deep expertise in DEI is crucial and can come from a combination of professional background, education, and lived experience.” There is little consensus on the ideal resume for a chief diversity officer, but we may not need one. Andrés Tapia, the global DEI strategist at the management-consulting firm Korn Ferry, who was himself a pioneering CDO in the early 2000s, said that when he coaches clients on what to look for in a CDO, background doesn’t matter. He looks for someone who can think strategically, integrate perspectives, communicate well, and influence powerful people in the company. “Notice how non-functionally-specific those are,” Tapia said. Though a handful CDOs have been around for decades, the majority have been in the role only a few years. The field is developing, and the recent swell in CDO appointments is in part a reaction to the ineffectiveness of the corporate DEI programs of the last 20 years. The old way may have been wrong, but it’s not clear what the new, right way will be. Still, DEI practitioners are looking in earnest. “Coming into the role, depending on your previous perspective, you may think ‘I got this,’ but then when you get there, you realize it is quite expansive,” said Hayes. “Your previous perspective may have been both accurate and potentially narrow or limited in scope. So the way I handle that is just through focus: How do I make sure every single person that comes to work feels like they're included? Everyone should have the right to enjoy an inclusive work culture. That’s my baseline.” Vanice Hayes, chief of culture, diversity and inclusion officer for Dell, will be speaking at From Day One’s Austin conference on Oct. 26 (Photo courtesy of Dell) The chief diversity officer at Indiana University Health, Lisa Gutierrez, believes that without self-awareness, CDOs will repeat the mistakes of their predecessors. One of the biggest “is to only use your lived experience. A lot of people say, ‘Well, I have a lived experience.’ And I go, ‘I do too, but in the D&I space, it’s not just my lived experience, but everybody’s.’ The practice has gone to short-handing diversity work into just a couple of things,” she said. “If I were a newer practitioner right now, I’d be looking at what didn’t work in the past, and get into the front of the line of not doing that.” Why CDO Is a Different Kind of C-Suite Job Newly minted CDOs, whether or not they have the right experience or expectations, are not to blame for turnover. The C-suite has yet to accept that the CDO is a different kind of executive. Unlike other executives who own a department and run a P&L, the work of a CDO doesn’t happen in a single department, and there’s seldom an elaborate financial statement. “We don’t own much,” said Channing Martin, who is the CDO at the advertising company IPG. “You’re being held responsible for diverse talent coming in the organization, but you don’t own recruiting. You’re being held responsible for developing underrepresented talent or women being promoted, but you don’t own L&D, you don’t own talent management.” The job, then, is influencing other executives to make DEI a long-term priority. “What works is when the leaders who run P&Ls start to own responsibility for DEI. That’s a game changer,” Martin said. Tapia has found that in some cases, the C-suite appoints a CDO without much thought to qualifications or expectations because a figurehead, not an executive who influences global operations, is what the CEO wants. As a result, the key performance indicators for the role are simplistic: we want more people of color, we want more women leaders. When this is the case, the CEO isn’t likely to value long-term strategy, and the work becomes programmatic. “If you’re not a strategic thinker, you’re going to become a tactical leader,” Tapia said. “The death knell of D&I is a tactical leader in charge because D&I lends itself to a lot of very fun programs, a lot of tactics,” Tapia said. “But they don’t bring about transformation.” Executives like the sound of “unconscious bias training,” but “the nonsexy stuff is a structural and policy change that takes a long time,” said Martin. For example, designing a global system for employee self-identification. “That’s tedious and time-consuming and not fun. It requires legal insight, the risk team, the privacy team, the HR team, and the IT team to transform technology systems. Those are the things that really change an organization, but that could take a year and a half, two years.” The programmatic CDO is also reduced to being reactionary. “You shouldn’t have to wait for somebody’s murder to be designing social-justice strategies,” Gutierrez said. The Importance of Learning the Business Many companies underestimate the amount of business acumen CDOs need. “Now you’ve got employment lawyers that are becoming HR leaders. You’ve got MBAs that are becoming HR leaders. As the HR function is being asked to be more of a business operation, you’ve got to have a skill set that can make that happen. And I think the same is going to be true for the diversity function,” said Janine Yancey, founder and CEO of Emtrain, a virtual HR training platform. Chief diversity officers can be more effective by immersing themselves in their organization’s business, like those in the role of “HR business partner.” Said Gutierrez: “You have to understand the business of the business. The CDO has to fold themself into the natural rhythm of the business and find opportunities to change it.” For example, Gutierrez said that the “rhythm” of one of her previous employers was the Six Sigma framework for process improvement. “Six Sigma is about reducing variation. Diversity is about increasing variation, but in the methodology there are places to build variation in.” When ReadySet advises on CDO appointments, Marcuse said, “we want CDOs to really understand the organizational mission or business and have substantial leadership or executive experience.” Martin acknowledges how hard it is to set meaningful quantitative goals when there is no P&L. “There’s a standard of corporate governance, there’s standards around strong financial analysis. There’s no standard in DEI,” she said. Measuring effects on employee behavior is a good place to start. For example, instead of counting the number of people who participate in unconscious-bias training, Martin says, look for the results, like when employees are celebrated on a peer-to-peer recognition platform, “how many people are responding when a woman is recognized, vs. a man?” What are the stakes involved in CDO success? Aarti Shyamsunder, the global head of DEI at Accenture’s YSC Consulting, told Fortune recently that the cost of CDO turnover is significant, even if it may beunquantifiable. The loss is more than one of dollars and cents, “it’s about the message that it sends out, the loss of reputation, the suspicion or fear that it might cause, especially in minority group members’ minds. With all these sorts of intangible costs, it’s impossible to put an amount on it,” she said. Tapia believes a good CDO sets the tone. “A smart, strategic, influential CDO will say to the leaders, ‘I’m happy to take the role. I am your right person, but I’m not the one that’s going to change it. You are. I’m going to work with your CEO and the C-suite because the only ones that can change anything in this organization in terms of culture and processes and priorities are the C-suite.’” Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a freelance writer based in Richmond, Va. She writes about the workplace, DEI, hiring, and issues faced by women. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Fast Company, and Food Technology, among others.

Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza | October 18, 2022

In a Hybrid Era, What Promotes a Healthy Work Environment?

In a workplace marked by uncertainty and lack of boundaries, employers need to be extra vigilant about the health and well-being of their workers. But what does that support look like in action? Leaders can boost morale and productivity when they show they care, and respond with empathetic and effective solutions. In a panel conversation at From Day One’s conference in Dallas this month, five industry leaders talked about the innovative approaches their companies are using to bolster a healthy hybrid workplace.During the discussion, moderated by Will Maddox, managing editor of D magazine, the leaders acknowledged the tensions that accompany hybrid work–and suggested tools to mitigate them. They highlighted the importance of having candid conversations, offering benefits that enrich their employees’ lives beyond the workplace, and letting the work itself aid in decision-making. In sprawling companies like American Airlines, there is often a stark difference in job positions, from jet mechanics to marketing executives. Additionally, many large companies see mini-cultures develop based on teams or location. How can leaders create unity among a large workforce with vastly different experiences and responsibilities? Ashley Heis, director of employee experience at American, said that a positive culture must include an individualized approach. She said, “First, it's having clarity on expectations in your role, connecting that to the business, and how you aspire to the higher purpose,” she said. “The second thing we really focus on is engagement, understanding, and having empathy as a leader. Just because you’re in the same group doesn't mean that that particular work environment works best for you. Finally, we really stress open and consistent communication, and to maintain that connection.” She said that this approach seems to work for all team members and groups, regardless of the nature of their role. Taking a per-person approach, practicing empathy, and communicating clearly were common themes among the panelists. Eujin Ahn, director of learning and development for One Medical, a primary-care provider, added that a positive culture is centered in the idea that clarity is a form of kindness. He said, “Clarity-is-kindness is basically an employer or manager being able to provide upfront, ‘These are the expectations. This is what we really want to see from you.’ And asking, ‘How do we work through this together?’ Letting it be a conversation. We also take into account the entire person. Our values are human centered, and we always want to measure with a compassionate lens.” Will Maddox, managing editor of D magazine, far right, moderated the conversation Heis agreed and added that candid conversations are crucial when it comes to implementing policies and procedures. She shared that at American Airlines, many of their global initiatives came from the ground up. During one particular focus group, employees shared stories of their most challenging days–times of natural disasters and loss of life. The common lesson of their stories: Because the teams rallied together, the most challenging days became their best days. “That’s ultimately how we came to our purpose,” she said. “We distilled these stories into one phrase: We focus on ‘moments that matter.’ I share that because that is a great example of how we took something so simple, but so meaningful, and scaled it–because we listened to our team members.” Companies that are more tech-based, with larger numbers of remote associates, are promoting work-life balance by offering benefits that support all aspects of life. Dasha Crosby, senior VP and HR lead for Citigroup, talked about her company’s recent launch of a tuition-assistance program, which will help ab out 38,000 employees continue their education goals with no out-of-pocket expenses. Citi also offers a 12-week sabbatical program. She said, “Through all the pain and suffering of the pandemic, what we learned is we have to take care of ourselves as a whole. And we are asking at Citi, How can we really invest in our employees as a whole?” The focus on caring for the whole person amplified the fact that remote workers often have a lack of boundaries when it comes to taking time off. PTO is a popular benefit, but the ‘always on’ culture fed by the pandemic means it goes unused or it’s used ineffectively. Rilee Buttars, CEO and co-founder of Dónde, created her company to help solve this very issue. Donde’s goal is to fix PTO by offering travel benefits. Buttars said, “Let’s think about this idea of taking a break. What can it do for your productivity? What can it do for your engagement and satisfaction as an employee? Let’s put the company at the center of that conversation and make them the hero because we can’t have employees feeling so burned out. Productivity and the ROI of coming to work and feeling good about it–that needs to happen.” Buttars cited a trendy word for the growing practice of workers adding leisure time to their business trips: bleisure travel. Another aspect of the rise in hybrid and remote work is that on the employer’s end, there is sometimes a tension felt about having office space or physical locations. Many companies are struggling to justify the costs of physical locations for a largely remote workforce. How can companies balance this while still caring for employee morale? At Dallas-based Builders FirstSource, the largest U.S. supplier of building materials, management decided to take a highly flexible approach. Amy Messersmith, the company’s chief people officer, said, “We took the opportunity to reevaluate our physical footprint in our headquarters location. After two years, it’s clear that there are some roles that can be done very effectively in a hybrid status or completely remote status. We saw no degradation in our productivity. In fact, in many cases we saw our team’s productivity go up.” The company offered their remote employees the option of office space, either on a permanent basis or as-needed, she said. “We decided to let the work drive the decision. I think those tensions can be resolved with honest conversation and listening to our people.” Christina Cook is a freelance writer based in Dallas. She writes about a variety of topics, including art, film, and live theater. Her 2017 children’s book, Your Hands Can Change the World, was a regional bestseller, and she is the founder of the hyperlocal arts blog Dallas Art Beat.

Christina Cook | October 15, 2022

How Primary Care Can Help Fix the Health-Care System

A recent study found that some 30% of U.S. adults delayed primary care during the pandemic, and as yet, society hasn’t realized the public-health ramifications of it. What is clear is that any negative results on an individual level will have a knock-on effect in corporate America. The results from that peer-reviewed study echo the results of one published in August 2021 by One Medical, a membership-based primary care practice that more than 8,000 companies use as a benefit for employees. Josh Dunsby, PhD, the company’s VP of client advocacy and consultant relations, says that while deferred health care is declining this year, there is a still a backlog. And behavioral health issues, which were exacerbated during the pandemic years, continue to be a problem for people. There is a shortage of providers, of providers who accept the insurance a person has, and often long waits to find a therapist or counselor to deal with mental health concerns. There is an answer, though: to return the focus to primary care, which Dunsby calls the “front door to well-being.” The One Medical survey found a desire by employers for primary care to pay a bigger role in caring for employees and become the “foundational partner” for navigating the larger health care system. Primary Care for the Win The One Medical survey posed questions about health care to more than 1,600 people–half of them HR executives and half workers–and found that 9 in 10 believe that primary care is important to maintaining good health. About 85% felt that robust primary care can save money spent on health care over all, and two-thirds of executives felt that good primary care can reduce sick days and increase productivity. The percentage of workers agreeing with the last two items was significantly higher: 82% and 90% respectively. The survey reports that a large majority of workers and HR executives believe regular visits with primary care doctors is a win-win for both company and employee, with less money spent by the former, and better health and well-being for the latter. Dunsby said primary care is not just for getting vaccines and checking blood pressure–rather, it can be a method of better controlling chronic conditions and the first stop for patients with behavioral health needs. Many primary care doctors don’t regularly screen for depression and anxiety, but it is a regular feature of One Medical annual exams, Dunsby said, and given the level of both conditions in the lingering Covid era, that’s extremely important. Primary care physicians can prescribe medications to help combat conditions, but also help the patient develop a plan, whether it’s   finding a therapist or getting outside to exercise or taking “me time” to decompress from the pressures and stressors of life. Josh Dunsby, PhD, One Medical’s VP of client advocacy and consultant relations Recognition of the need for better mental health care started before the pandemic, said Dunsby. An August 2022 report from the Business Group On Health revealed businesses’ long-term concerns about mental health and desire to address the issue in the coming year. Access to treatment, reducing the stigma attached to mental health needs, and finding appropriate treatment are the top three goals they mentioned for the coming year, along with dealing with issues like burnout, affordability, and loneliness. “I was expecting that it might drop from the top of the list of concerns, but it still has legs,” Dunsby said. Giving Patients Choices While virtual visits via telehealth were commonplace during the pandemic shut-down, some providers and payers are reducing their virtual presence, requiring patients to see them in a brick-and-mortar setting. Others are going all in for virtual options. Dunsby said that surveys show that patients would like the choice of both in-person and virtual care, which is the model that One Medical has invested in. “I think that at some point, having only virtual care will be limiting. As other people are only investing in virtual care, we are opening more brick-and-mortar options. The need to form a relationship with another person who will take care of your health is strengthened by in-person interactions. Much can happen virtually, but part of what is broken in the health care system is a lack of trust between it and the patient.” The Business Group on Health survey found that most business leaders are worried about the cost of caring for people with chronic conditions, an increase in late-stage cancer cases, and disability costs related to long Covid. Much of this could be addressed with greater use of primary care providers and the wide range of services they provide. “There needs to be more visibility and awareness around primary care,” he said. “People know that they are supposed to have a primary care provider.” As the first stop in health care, Dunsby said primary-care providers know the local specialists, and hospitals, and understand local health systems. “They don’t just look them up in a database, but they have relationships with them.” One Medical is deeply invested in creating a team approach to care that relies on those kinds of relationships. “We are moving to an environment of greater integration of health care enabled by technology. People can access it through the web, or apps, or in person. And it isn’t just your primary care doctor, but maybe a health coach or a social worker. We are developing a model that we think will demonstrate the value of this approach, and which we think will become accepted as the ideal.” There is still a need for more primary care physicians, and Dunsby hopes that the One Medical model will allow primary care to become a more sustainable career option. The model already allows for more of the kind of work most providers enter the profession to do: time with patients rather than paperwork. They offer 30-minute appointments, compared to the industry average of only 12 minutes per patient. “With that extra time, you can work through more nuanced issues.” While that means more costs associated with primary care, the savings in urgent care, emergency room, and costs associated with untreated chronic conditions or late discovery of cancer is significant. “Americans are dissatisfied with healthcare now,” he said. “This is the lynch pin to changing it. We need to get this piece right.” Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner who sponsored this story, One Medical. 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.

Lisa Jaffe | October 14, 2022

How to Respond When a Crisis Tests Your Values

Successful institutions create cultures that further their vision and reflect their values. How do these organizations maintain those values–and that culture–in a crisis? The pandemic created unprecedented challenges for one of the nation’s best children’s hospitals. In a fireside chat at From Day One’s conference in Denver this summer, Betsy Rodriguez, senior VP and chief human resources officer at Children’s Hospital Colorado sat down with me to discuss how the board and staff at her hospital kept their culture alive. Rodriguez started her career at the University of Missouri, where she completed a doctorate in psychology and developed an interest in HR. After 20 years at the University of Colorado, she returned to Columbia, where she was chief HR officer at the university. An interest in academic health care led her to Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, where she spent three years as VP of HR. “But Colorado was calling me. This is home. I had a wonderful, wonderful opportunity to take the position I have now, and it is the best job I’ve ever had. And they didn’t pay me to say that!” A Four-part Mission, a ‘Crazy’ Culture, and Core Values One hundred years old, Children’s comprises the flagship hospital on the Anschutz Medical Campus (in partnership with the University of Colorado Health System), and a system of smaller hospitals as well as clinics across the state. “Our mission is really simple. It’s to improve the health of children. Can’t get more simple than that,” said Rodriguz. In addition to the first mission–patient care–Children’s focuses on education, research, and advocacy. “We’re really proud of the research that we do. We don’t just treat their diseases. We actually try to find cures for them. Advocacy means that we get involved in legislative issues that impact the health of children, either positively or negatively.” When CFO interviewing Rodriguez for her prospective role at Children’s described working there as “crazy,” Rodriguez thought, ‘That’s not for me.” But then her future colleague elaborated on what he meant by that: “We’ll do anything for a kid.” Anything, Rodriguez learned, could cover anything from paying for million-dollar doses of lifesaving medicine to helping parents cover housing and transportation. The hospital’s four core values (caring community, humble expertise, generous service and boundless creativity) might sound like the product of a C-suite marketing meeting. They aren’t. A group of employees gathered stories and distilled them. “These values did not come from the top and they weren’t pushed down. We live these every day.” Some of that boundless creativity is celebrated in rituals like the Halloween Flash Mob, in which a thousand or more costumed employees, including the CEO, dance in the hospital’s atrium to the delight of their pint-sized patients. “The music comes on. They line the kids up, maybe wheel out their bed. Whether they’re in a wheelchair, they may come out with mom and dad. And if they can’t come out of their room, we put it on the videos in the rooms. Things like that really cement our culture and bring us together.” The second part of the culture at Children’s is their safety program, called Target Zero. “That means that we want to harm no kids. And you’re probably thinking, ‘Well, duh,’ but the reality is health care is really dangerous. You have to have a team of people who are laser-focused on safety. And we have it pervasive throughout our entire community, to the point that we have empowered the lowest-level team member to speak up. So if that person thinks that something doesn’t feel right, they are empowered to ask a question and the entire group will stop and step back and respond to that question. And we celebrate that. We say thank you.” The Two Sides of the Two Pandemics Initially, the Covid-19 pandemic battered Children’s budget, while improving children’s health. Kids weren’t in school, weren’t playing together, weren’t being in accidents. “Respiratory [illness] season kind of didn’t even happen that year, it was just unbelievable. In our biggest hospital, usually 350 to 400 kids, we had less than 100 for a very sustained period of time. So what are we going to do? We made people decisions, not financial decisions. That’s the thing I'm the most proud of. And that's where I say ‘Here, it’s different.’ It really was different.” Led by the hospital’s “amazing, incredibly supportive board,” Children’s covered full pay for eight weeks for staffers who were idled during that period. “I remember the board chair saying, ‘You guys need to do whatever you have to do to take care of team members, we are not going to worry about the finances right now.’’ As the pandemic dragged on, the focus remained on protecting jobs. Some nurses painted walls and planted flowers on the ground, while some staff left, joining the Great Resignation. Executives took pay cuts, and benefits and paid leave were reduced. Then came another wave of the pandemic. Highly contagious variants sickened workers and threatened the compromised children who suddenly filled the now short-staffed hospital. “Nobody wanted to work in health care. It didn’t matter if you were a nurse, or in food service, or in finance. People were scared, and they didn't want to work in health care.” The hospital hired traveling nurses, but at much higher wages, to the detriment of the morale of the long-term staff. In the midst of the staffing crisis, Children’s was one of the first institutions to realize the crippling effects Covid-19 had on pediatric mental health. Leadership responded with boundless creativity, spending whatever was necessary (especially for recruitment) and increasing wellness resources. Weekly leadership calls helped to combat fear-mongering and rumors, as did total transparency on every decision possible. Slowly, the pandemic storm is receding, and Rodriguez has found a few silver linings, including extremely high safety numbers even while the hospital was understaffed and overwhelmed. “I’m a very optimistic person. You build the right culture, and then when you have a crisis, you can rely on that. We had shortages of leaders, too. But we had team members who just knew what to do, and they did the right thing. We have a huge issue around health disparities in our country, particularly for communities of color. And the pandemic brought light to that. I think it’s going to make a difference for the communities that we serve, and I'm happy about that.” And at Halloween, Rodriguez will dance. Cynthia Barnes has written about everything from art to zebras from more than 30 countries. She currently calls Denver home.

Cynthia Barnes | October 13, 2022

Shaping the Future of an Iconic Company With Inclusivity at its Core

During a fireside chat at the From Day One conference in Dallas this month, Andre Joyner, the chief human resources officer of JCPenney, shared how the company is making workers feel that they, too, are part of its 120-year legacy and its future growth through shared purpose and inclusivity. He also addressed ways the company is responding to shifting values in both their consumers and employees and supporting purpose-driven work. JCPenney, one of America’s iconic department stores, often elicits memories of family shopping trips. From Day One co-Founder Steve Koepp opened his conversation with Joyner by sharing one such memory. He said, “I have a special recollection, like it was yesterday, of shopping at your company back in a small town in Wisconsin. We were a family of six, and of course it was a family expedition. I really liked the slacks with no belt.” The image painted by Koepp’s anecdote is still at the core of JCPenney’s mission. About the company’s rebirth after some difficult years, Joyner said, “We are in a very exciting place. We’re an organization with an ownership group that’s really invested in our growth and success. We have a clean balance sheet, which is important. We have a newly established leadership team with deep and diverse capabilities. And I’d say, most importantly, we have a mission that matters, and that’s to celebrate and serve diverse American working families.” Joyner, in fact, has four children of his own. Today, companies are tasked with adjusting to rapid social change, a lingering pandemic, and economic uncertainty. Many companies are looking at their values and adjusting them. But Joyner said that JCPenney’s values have remained consistent. “Our primary core value is the golden rule. That’s what we are anchored in and on. We have belief systems that have evolved and the one that we amplified most consistently is the focus on inclusivity. In our company, we approach inclusivity as a verb, and focusing on how that shows up in both our customer engagement and our associate engagements,” he said. The employment market is seeing the same shift in values, and the Great Resignation has been a challenge facing companies of all kinds and sizes. When asked about how, or if, this phenomenon is affecting JCPenney, Joyner said he takes a contrarian view. He said, “I see it as the Great Reflection. To me this suggests that people want to do less, but I actually think they want to do a lot more. I would say aspiration and engagement are alive and well. I think organizations that enable their associates to live more purpose-driven lives vs. pure profits will win.” How is JCPenney supporting purpose-driven work? How is the company, which has a large employee base and locations nationwide, harvesting collaboration and growth? Joyner said that JCPenney has a particular benefit in that their associates represent their customer base. So when Penney’s managers are engaging with their associates, they are engaging with their customers. “Our focus is on how we get to more time spent on shared purpose and shared commitment. Because by nature we’re trying to get to a common place,” said Joyner. At the Dallas conference, Joyner spoke with Steve Koepp, co-founder of From Day One This approach to shared purpose and commitment follows through to the opportunity for individualized career growth within the company. When looking at how best to offer this, Joyner said he looks for three things: what the person enjoys doing, what they are really good at, and what the organization needs. He said, “We’re leaning a little bit more into being hyper-focused on what that individual wants and needs from an experience standpoint, maybe to a greater degree than you would historically in traditional career-path models.” This is a telling example of how the HR role is changing. Joyner said that finding the very best talent is an opportunity to offer individualized benefits, career growth opportunities, and substance and purpose–“something that’s deeper than maybe the recent past. I think you see some companies taking a human-centered approach. I’m going to care about your whole experience and whether that’s going to help you put the tools in your tool kit that’s going to help you live the life that you want to live. I think companies to a greater degree need to think about it that way. And that’s in some ways a bit of a departure, but I believe it’s the right way to go.” Christina Cook is a freelance writer based in Dallas, Texas. She writes about a variety of topics, including art, film, and live theatre. Her 2017 children’s book Your Hands Can Change the World was a regional bestseller, and she is the founder of the hyperlocal arts blog, Dallas Art Beat.

Christina Cook | October 12, 2022

Leveraging Technology to Solve the Hybrid-Work Disconnect

Smile Direct Club disrupted the orthodontics industry by demonstrating it wasn't necessary to make multiple trips to a brick-and-mortar dental office to get straight teeth. So it was fitting that the teledentistry company, which calculates it has saved its customers more than $5 billion on the cost of braces since its founding in 2014, embraced telecommuting in a big way when the pandemic struck. In spring 2021, Smile Direct launched a fully flexible virtual-work policy that allows its eligible employees–those not working in manufacturing or in its shops–to live and work from anywhere. Employees can go into the office if they want, work from home, or do a combination, working with their teams and leaders to choose the schedule. “As the pandemic played out, we had kind of a big aha moment,” said Michael Linstroth, Smile Direct’s senior director of culture and engagement, speaking at From Day One’s September webinar on mastering the tech-enabled employee experience. “We knew that we had to double down with that same approach.” Flexible scheduling has made it possible for the company to hire from a wider talent pool and has helped its employees achieve better work-life balance, Linstroth said. But Smile Direct knew it could not roll out the new policy without having the supports in place to ensure its success. Enter Achievers, a provider of employee recognition and engagement platforms. Smile Direct had already been working with Achievers, which it hired in 2019 as it was scaling up, to help foster a workforce culture grounded in appreciation and gratitude, Linstroth said. The platform facilitates frequent, meaningful recognition, celebrating special moments and accomplishments, he said. Pleased with the partnership, Smile Direct added more modules to the platform as time went on, Linstroth said, including a listening function in 2021 that lets employees provide feedback and has enabled the company to conduct its first full engagement survey. Results can be accessed easily, allowing leaders to create and implement action plans. Speaking on recognition and technology, clockwise from upper right: Cheryl DeSantis of Smile Direct Club, Natalie Baumgartner, PhD, of Achievers, and Michael Linstroth of Achievers (Image by From Day One) The recognition feature, which the company calls “Champions,” has been especially popular, quickly gaining a more than 90% adoption rate across Smile Direct’s workforce. “We had people hungry to give and receive recognition,” said Cheryl DeSantis, chief people and diversity officer at Smile Direct. “It became a flood where people were just like, ‘This is amazing, I can go in and I can share the greatness of the people that I work with.’” As the company transitioned to its fully flexible work policy, it introduced a program to guide its employees through the process called “Creating the Space.” This component helps virtual team members set boundaries and block off chunks of time during the week for wellness, for example, or to focus on finishing up projects on Fridays before heading into the weekend. Smile Direct is now testing a mentoring program through Achievers that it plans to launch later this year. The mentoring function will allow team members to connect virtually with new colleagues or catch up with old work friends. Fostering a sense of belonging is critical to attracting and keeping talent in the new business landscape, said Natalie Baumgartner, PhD, chief workforce scientist at Achievers. Employees who report a strong sense of belonging are three times more likely to be engaged, committed, productive and advocates for their company, she said. Yet almost half of remote workers fear missing out on events and opportunities because they are not in the office. “So what’s the secret sauce?” asked Baumgartner. “Well, there’s no question that one of the critical ingredients is technology–the type of technology that truly scales the experience of belonging and connection at work. The right technologies, used in the right way, help organizations to democratize a culture of belonging for all employees.” She shared results of a recent survey conducted by her organization that showed that 85% of employees whose roles make working from home possible said they preferred remote or hybrid work. Asked whether they had changed jobs in the last two years and why, respondents indicated work flexibility was the top motivator for changing jobs, beating out career progression and salary. “All of that means that there is high demand for roles that offer at least some flexibility. People are really determined to find work options that align with their needs. And they are simply no longer willing to compromise,” Baumgartner said. Achievers’ research demonstrated that organizations with employee-connection tools in place enjoy higher engagement and productivity because their workers can see they are being offered accessible and reliable ways to connect and bond, regardless of where or how they are working, she said. DeSantis agreed that fostering belonging is the key to attracting, engaging and retaining employees. When Smile Direct moved to its fully flexible work arrangement, “we knew very, very quickly that we were going to have to rely on technology to create those moments that matter,” she said. The company now leverages technology to celebrate personal milestones such as getting married and having a baby, as well as its employees’ professional successes. “We're super passionate about it,” DeSantis said. Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner who sponsored this webinar, Achievers. Susan Kelly is a freelance business writer based in Chicago.

Susan Kelly | October 09, 2022

How Corporate Spending Can Benefit the Community–and the Planet

When companies consider how to maximize their spending to do the most good, they take into account business and social value. Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest health care providers in the U.S. “That means we're big,” said Ije-Enu Udeze Nwosu, Kaiser’s VP of market operations, performance, and impact. “We’re spending big. So how do we make sure that we’re leveraging that spend?” One way to positively impact communities is by purchasing goods and services from diverse suppliers–the majority of which are small, local businesses. In 2014 Kaiser became the first health care provider to reach the Billion Dollar Roundtable with its diverse supplier program, joining 18 other U.S.-based corporations that spend $1 billion or more annually with certified minority- and women-owned businesses. Nwosu and her team wanted to go deeper. She addressed how in a fireside chat titled, “How Corporate Spending Can Have an Impact for Good,” with moderator Ken Howe, managing editor of the San Francisco Examiner, at From Day One’s recent San Francisco conference. “Health is really 10% about how you’re feeling today,” she said. “But that’s only part of your health story. Think about your environment. Think about access to healthy food, jobs, and health care. We’re trying to tackle those upstream so that our communities are the healthiest ones that exist.” Based in Oakland, Calif., Kaiser serves 12.6 million members and has nearly 220,000 employees. It makes sense for a managed care consortium like Kaiser to address social and environmental determinants of health, which often reveal significant racial disparities. “When you think about the climate crisis that we’re facing, that’s a health crisis as well,” said Nwosu. “Because the same communities that are disenfranchised when you think about total health, are the same communities that are disenfranchised when you talk about the climate.” Kaiser has declared that by 2025, the organization will increase its purchase of products and materials meeting environmental standards to 50%. It also reached carbon neutrality as an organization several years ago, according to Nwosu. And Kaiser made a pledge that by 2030, it will have reduced its greenhouse-gas emissions by 50%. “The uptick of asthma in communities of color is astronomical, it’s all tied to climate change. If we don’t proactively target those areas, we’re creating a greater health crisis,” she said. Ken Howe, managing editor of the San Francisco Examiner, moderated the conversation In addition to supply-chain diversity and carbon footprint, Kaiser needed to factor in the economics of the community in order to maximize its impact spending. “We are still in the midst of Covid right now,” Nwosu said, “and businesses were hit really hard; 50% of African American businesses didn’t make it. How do we stand up businesses so that they make it through Covid? How do you build up and restore, not just the financial health of the business, but also the mental health of the business leaders, which was just as important?” As a benefit to its health plan, Kaiser began offering its members a mindfulness app for free. It developed a Resilience and Restoration Toolkit for its suppliers. Kaiser also made a commitment to spend and provide direct services for Black- and brown-owned businesses, assisting upwards of 2,000 of them, Nwosu said. None of its community programs were cut during the pandemic. One such program, called Inner City Capital Connections, combining executive education, webinars, coaching, and access to capital, was created to help small businesses led by underrepresented groups survive the economic impact of the pandemic. In order to assess community needs, Nwosu emphasized the importance of leaving the corporate four walls to actually go talk to people, business owners, and agencies. She stressed the value of being able to pivot on the spot and stay nimble. “We have to also reset the way that we worked and the way that we thought about things.” And to make the greatest impact with spending, what’s most needed is courage. “You have to be bold with your voice,” said Nwosu. “What is happening is bigger than you, but you taking that step is going to make it better. We can all do good and do well at the same time.” Samantha Campos is a freelance journalist who’s written for regional publications in Hawaii and California, with forays into medical cannabis and food justice nonprofits. She currently resides in Oakland, Calif.

Samantha Campos | October 08, 2022

Four Ways to Get Employees to Engage in Your HR Programs

Today’s workforce is struggling to pay attention. Remote and hybrid work has led to increased communication and decreased connection. Burnout is rampant. Meanwhile, HR departments are juggling multiple priorities: streamlining recruitment and onboarding processes, keeping up with hiring demands, making hybrid-work workable for employees, training managers to be great people leaders, and increasing the impact of organizational initiatives. Phew! How can employers cut through all this to create a more engaged workforce? During a thought-leadership spotlight titled, “Four Ways to Get Employees to Engage and Participate in Your HR Programs in 2022,” at From Day One’s San Francisco conference in September, speakers Matt Frank and Matt Dardenne–a/k/a “the Matts”­–presented timely data and practical solutions to increase engagement and connection. Both work for Enboarder, an onboarding platform, which surveyed 2,000 full-time employees globally in a People Insights Report from 2021. “Collaboration has become harder during the pandemic,” said Dardenne, Enboarder’s senior enterprise relationship manager, “especially for hybrid workers–73% agree that genuine collaboration takes more effort than it did in March of 2020.” According to the report, 67% of hybrid workers said they felt burned out and overwhelmed. And they’re not alone: 61% of managers receive 21 or more notifications in a day, which can also lead to feeling overwhelmed. “Leaders are feeling this in a major way,” said Dardenne. “Across Slack and all the other nifty tools we have, I receive 20 notifications before I even wake up oftentimes.” Burnout is an obvious de-motivator. Nearly two-thirds of employees say they haven’t changed their behavior at work because of an HR initiative in the last 12 months. At the same time, 70% say their manager doesn’t frequently encourage them to engage in HR initiatives, and 36% say they haven’t made the most of the learning-and-development programs available at their organization. Consequently, HR programs are not as impactful as they could be due to poorly timed communication, a lack of connection (especially among hybrid and remote employees), poor engagement across the board, and too much friction to act quickly. To resolve this, the Matts explained the “four pillars of a people-centric journey,” starting with engagement. No. 1: “How do we get engagement and participation up?” asked Frank, Enboarder’s enterprise customer success manager, who recommended making communication more personable and customized to the specific employee. “Like you’re basically talking to a friend. Maybe including some funny memes. And then don’t be afraid to have some fun with the content that you’re providing your employees.” Matt Frank of Enboarder joined his colleague Dardenne for the presentation The second pillar: nudges. “Having bite-sized pieces of information throughout the course of a workflow seems to be more impactful and digestible,” said Frank. Nudges are particularly helpful during onboarding. A few days before an employee’s start date, leaders can send a reminder to the hiring manager to send the new hire a text message, to congratulate and thank them for joining the team. Managers can send a form to a new hire to get to know them a bit more, perhaps asking what their favorite afternoon snack is. “So, on their first day, you could have Pringles or whatever their go-to snack is on their desk waiting for them.” Ease, or making communications and programs easy to interpret, is a third pillar of the people-activation model. “A lot of employees give up on a learning and development initiative because they don’t understand the ‘why’ behind it,” said Frank. “They just think they’re being forced to do something.” Leaders need to clearly explain the purpose behind the program or initiative. With myriad communication platforms available, having employees choose their preferred method of contact makes it easier for them to ingest content. Reducing the number of system logins by incorporating a single sign-in authentication also makes the process more streamlined. “A lot of folks will give up on a simple task simply because they can’t log in through the system that you’re trying to have them access,” said Frank. Connection is the final pillar. “Through our research and study, 82% of employees say they’re more motivated to work on a project or program when they feel closer to the team,” said Frank. “And 84% of employees find it easier to do their best work when they feel close to the team they’re working with.” So how can employers make connections more effectively? “Take an audit of your current initiatives,” said Frank. Rethink generic content. Consider revising the way HR initiatives are communicated. “A mentor or buddy program also has a great effect on building that connection across departments or within the same team.” Samantha Campos is a freelance journalist who’s written for regional publications in Hawaii and California, with forays into medical cannabis and food justice nonprofits. She currently resides in Oakland, Calif. Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner who sponsored this thought leadership spotlight, Enboarder.

Samantha Campos | October 08, 2022

Helping Workers Find Strengths to Take on New Roles

“It’s a fascinating moment to be talking about work with so much disruption, so many fast-changing cultural conversations about race and gender equity,” said Esther Kaplan, deputy editor of investigations at Insider. “A tight labor market, rise in unionization, a shift to remote and hybrid work, a major rebalancing of work and life. So, within all that, how do we make the workplace a meaningful site for investment, learning, and growth?” Kaplan moderated a panel titled, “How Employers Can Help Workers Find Strengths to Take on New Roles” at From Day One’s San Francisco conference in September. Her question sparked a discussion on how and why companies need to continue developing their workforce in order to keep it. “Despite the tumult of the past few years, employee growth–development, learning opportunities–remains one of the most stable drivers of engagement and retention,” said Molly Delaney, head of people analytics at X, the Moonshot Factory, an innovation lab that’s a division of Google. “This is true regardless of markets, industries, different employee types.” The top reason employees leave their jobs is lack of career development and advancement, according to recent McKinsey research. “If you want to compete for and retain your best talent, then you absolutely need to invest in learning and development,” said Tom Griffiths, CEO and co-founder of Hone, a leadership-training platform. “Not just for the first-order benefit of people getting better at their jobs, but for the second-order effects of people wanting to stay longer.” A generational shift is influencing workplace culture as well. It’s no longer the norm to stay at one job on a linear track for 30 years. Millennials and Gen Z new hires want to be cared for and developed. At the same time, business is changing rapidly when it comes to speed, agility, and adaptability. “We need to make sure that our employees are not just comfortable where they’re working, but also are getting ready to manage those changes,” said Shveta Miglani, PhD, head of global learning and development at Micron Technology, a semiconductor manufacturer. “How do we help them to navigate through and make sure they’re building that muscle continuously to learn?” Miglani advocated for upskilling or reskilling, which encourages talent mobility where people can move within and even across different functions. “We really need to invest in giving people time,” said Evan Graner, VP of employee experience at Edelman, a global communications firm. “We are time-starved, and we continue to be time-starved.” “We really need to invest in giving people time,” said Graner. “We are time-starved, and we continue to be time-starved.” “We like to use busyness as an excuse,” said Tyana Owings, head of people at Cloverleaf, an automated coaching platform. “If you want to know what somebody’s priority is, look at their checkbook and planner. Make time for the things that are important. Where are your obstacles and how can I help you overcome those obstacles to make time for your own development?” “Not every training and development opportunity is created equal,” said Delaney. “The best learning and development programs are not programs at all. They are highly intentional efforts to match the types of skills and abilities that an employee wants to learn, with the types of skills and abilities that a team needs within the organization to meet their strategic goals.” That approach avoids many of the common pitfalls of training by allowing an employee already in a role to continue doing the work and learning skills as they go. It’s highly feedback-driven and an effective use of the employee’s time, which is in high demand and low supply these days. “It’s a supply-chain problem,” said Graner, who cited an Edelman report with Microsoft from earlier this year. “Not only do you have 152% more meetings on your calendar, you spend 252% more time in meetings. You receive one-third more instant messages than you used to, and you respond to half of those in less than five minutes. So not only is the workday 13% longer [by] 46 minutes, it’s more intense.” “We’re trying to shove new business into the way we did old schedules,” said Owings. “So, we always did this on Wednesdays, we’ve done it at noon for the past five years. Maybe that’s not the best thing anymore. Sometimes we have to step back and think more strategically. Is the way that we’re organizing our work week accommodating 2022 business needs or are we still accommodating 2017 business needs?” Organizations must create the infrastructure to allocate growth and development opportunities. For example, employers can encourage “no meetings Fridays,” so that employees can catch up on email, attend workshops, or do brown bag sessions with teams. “We started that at the organizational level,” said Miglani, “and it’s really helping us because now people are looking forward to it and they are making time for it.” Esther Kaplan moderated the conversation “Where we’ve seen companies really succeed in driving a learning culture is when it comes from the top down,” said Griffiths. Leaders must communicate early on and very experientially how much they value learning and development. “We need to think about the modalities in which we’re training,” said Delaney. “Democratizing learning and development, which should become easier to some degree now that we’re remote or virtual, and making those opportunities available through multiple modalities. We need to not only refresh how we’re doing training but specifically what we’re training on and how we’re equipping our workforce for a continually hybrid or remote environment.” “I have a 13 year old who keeps arguing with us, ‘Why do I need to learn math every single day?’” said Miglani, who’d give her son tasks to spend $10 at the store. “The application of what you are learning is the most important thing.” Moderator Kaplan summarized the insightful discussion: “Don’t get stuck in current job descriptions or current ways of structuring the work week. Try to align learning with work assignments. Create psychological safety in which people can say what they want and need to learn, and don’'t approach it as a checkbox thing.” Samantha Campos is a freelance journalist who’s written for regional publications in Hawaii and California, with forays into medical cannabis and food justice nonprofits. She currently resides in Oakland, California.

Samantha Campos | October 06, 2022

Making Your Company a Magnet for a Diverse Workforce

Diversity strategies have transformed from lofty concepts to more focused and effective policies, carried out with attention to metrics. Leaders are reporting increased transparency and accountability when it comes to tracking the impact of their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, as well as attracting the future workforce. “There’s been a real push to quantify and report on how you’re doing as a company,” said Caitlyn Metteer, director of recruiting at Lever, a recruitment software company, “which is definitely pushing things in the right direction.” “I would not join an employer that didn’t have some kind of outward-facing information about their DEI efforts,” said Komal Chokshi, chief DEI officer and principal counsel for UC Legal at the University of California. “What are they hiding if they’re not able to be accountable and tell the public what they’re doing?” As more companies incorporate DEI initiatives, workplace culture is evolving. Diversity is more integrated and at the forefront, but differentiation is key to making an impact with inclusion efforts. During From Day One’s conference in San Francisco last month, a panel of experts discussed a shift from visible diversity to diversity of thought in “Making Your Company a Magnet for a Diverse Workforce,” led by moderator Spencer Whitney, digital editor at KQED, a public broadcasting company for Northern California. “There are a lot of dimensions of diversity,” said Antoinette Hamilton, global head of inclusion and diversity at Lam Research, a supplier to the semiconductor industry. “There are dimensions of diversity that matter as it relates to innovation, as it relates to productivity. But some dimensions don’t matter. We have to ensure that we’re looking at our organizations and understanding those differences that matter to the work that we do.” Other panelists agreed. “Previously a lot of the focus was how many diverse candidates applied for the job, how many interviews for the job,” said Chokshi. “It’s much more nuanced than that now.” For example, search committees or recruiting teams at the University of California receive anti-bias training. They then work with the institution’s equity advisor program, which includes people who are not part of the search committee, to review resumes and conduct interviews to ensure implicit bias doesn’t sneak in. Said Chokshi: “I always think about who’s counting on me. In the legal industry, I think about the types of people who are languishing, people who are not getting promoted” Issues of diversity are integral to other areas of work, as well. “We have become the people who are crisis communicators,” said Miriam Warren, chief diversity officer at Yelp, the crowd-sourced review platform. “We help to determine when a company is going to speak out on a particular issue. We have become strategic advisors to our executives in order to help them understand how employees are feeling and what their sentiment is.” A corporation may know the demographics of its workforce, but demographics are a lagging indicator. Panelists advise going a level deeper, beyond just visible differences. How are people moving throughout the organization? What are promotion rates? How is attendance for employee resource groups (ERGs)? Don’t measure just to measure. “You measure these things so that you understand where you need to focus on your policies and practices within your organization to enhance those things so that your culture really does become inclusive,” said Hamilton, “and you’re giving folks benefits that matter to them.” Look for consistent results of engagement surveys as one measurement of an inclusive culture. Surveys also provide good opportunities to investigate where people are engaged, and where they are not engaged. There’s not one singular metric or workstream around DEI; engagement surveys, promotion rates, retention rates, and recruiting rates all present a picture of workplace diversity. “In order for it to feel authentic and holistic, [diversity] has to be a lens that you take to every aspect of your company,” said Metteer. “Otherwise, if it’s just an initiative it can feel really flat and not very engaging.” Diversity initiatives require intentionality and a holistic strategy, influencing recruitment efforts with things like removing biased language from job descriptions and performing equity reviews for salaries. “The best way to attract people from underrepresented groups is to be a company where people from underrepresented groups want to work,” said Metteer. “You want to make the immediate impact, but you have to realize that at its core, inclusion and diversity is a change-management initiative,” said Hamilton. “And we all know change is really hard. So, stay focused.” Key in on one or two things where you want to have big change, where you feel like it’s going to have the biggest impact in the organization and do that work.” Spencer Whitney, digital editor at KQED, moderated the conversation A more integrated diversity strategy helps companies recruit and retain a diverse workforce. But how and where the company invests its dollars also matters. Workers want to know where companies stand on social issues. So how do companies decide when to speak out? “We’ve broken it down into three areas that we look at when we think about whether or not we should speak out on an issue,” said Warren. “Are our values consistent with this issue? We’re looking at our various community constituencies. And can our platform actually help to push this issue forward?” “I always think about who’s counting on me,” said Chokshi. “In the legal industry, I think about the types of people who are languishing, people who are not getting promoted, people who are not making partner at law firms. And that’s something that really keeps me motivated because there’s just so much need out there. It emboldens me to speak up in my role.” Companies need to be prepared to take action beyond mere platitudes. Leaders can utilize ERGs to ensure they’re getting a diverse set of perspectives, and to get buy-in from everyone in the company, not just DEI officers. Panelists advise being consistent and realistic with diversity efforts. And to stay focused, since it’s a long game. “You really have to understand your organization,” said Hamilton. “We have to move from best practices to right practices for our individual organizations. One size does not fit all with inclusion and diversity. We have to be really crisp and clear on where you want to affect and impact change.” Samantha Campos is a freelance journalist who has written for regional publications in Hawaii and California, with forays into medical cannabis and food-justice nonprofits. She currently resides in Oakland, Calif.

Samantha Campos | October 03, 2022

Rewriting the Rules of Human Capital Development

If there’s one thing that’s certain in today’s turbulent labor market, it’s that employers want to show workers that they’re highly valued. That’s one reason that companies are re-assessing their approach to employee engagement as well as learning and development (L&D) as they decide how to invest in their workforces. “I see this very intentional pause right now,” said Liz Pavese, PhD, director of behavioral science and solutions at CoachHub, a digital coaching platform. This deliberation she’s witnessing among CoachHub customers is crucial because organizational capabilities are radically shifting and even entire industries are “going through major changes and transformations, requiring whole new skill sets and capabilities from people.” As a result, L&D programs require a whole new mindset on the part of the teams who coordinate them. Christopher Shryock, senior VP and chief people officer at the retailer Sam’s Club, suggested altering the language they use to better convey their new goals. “I’m not an enormous believer in the concept of ‘lifelong learning,’” Shryock said. “That’s just kind of a means in and of itself. I don’t really know what to do with that, but I’m a really big believer in ‘lifelong employability,’ which is going to mean different skill sets and different capabilities are required [over time]. And if you put that lens on it, it starts to make a lot more sense from an organizational point of view–and from an employee point of view as well.” The ways in which companies can achieve these outcomes was the topic of a recent From Day One webinar, “Rewriting the Rules of Human Capital Development,” in which Pavese and Shryock joined three other HR leaders. Moderated by Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Kelly Yamanouchi, the speakers offered a series of helpful tips and examples of successful initiatives they’ve rolled out thus far. Among the highlights: For Starters, Maximize Onboarding Instead of throwing a bunch of instructional information at a new hire during onboarding, utilize the process to set a positive tone. Then the new talent will help reinforce the company culture that so many have worked hard to build. “​​We start by clearly identifying why our company exists—not just how we generate revenue. [It’s] how we become clear about our company and what we are trying to do: Inspire love around the world,” said Robert Solomon, VP of leadership and organizational development at Signet Jewelers. Solomon added that Signet is very intentional about the roles that are created within the organization. They should “support the company’s existence,” he said. Solomon then cited the Peter Principle, reminding listeners that many workers leave their jobs because of bad managers. Therefore, Signet prioritizes manager upskilling to ensure that they are actually “ready for the next level,” Solomon said, and aren’t moving up simply because they’ve “served their time.” “And then finally, how do we lower the barriers to success [and increase] the opportunities to learn, grow and advance?” Solomon continued. “For those roles that [employees] have passion, they want to grow and learn more about,” so Signet’s people leaders provide workers opportunities to do so. Investigate Unique Employee Needs People leaders cannot address the needs of workers without first knowing what they are. Denise Malloy, VP and global head of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)  at Johnson Controls, said yearly employee surveys won’t cut it any longer. Asking what employees require to remain content, engaged and productive should be almost a daily requirement, she said. Considering how to invest in human capital, top row from left: Robert Solomon of Signet Jewelers and Liz Pavese, PhD, of CoachHub. Bottom row, Denise Malloy of Johnson Controls, Darci Hall of Providence, and Christopher Shryock of Sam’s Club (Image by From Day One) “The route that we have now chosen to take [at Johnson Controls] is around pulse surveying, surveying our employees on an ongoing basis, getting the voice of the employee just as I would if I were out selling, I’d seek to get the voice of the customer,” Malloy said. “We’re getting the voice of our employees through roundtables, through listening sessions; we have a perspective listening series where we invite employees to share experiences, what’s happening in their lives.” When acts of violence increased against Asians and members of other minority groups, Johnson Controls leaders organized panels that Malloy said “bring folks to the table” to discuss the company’s response. “We allow them to share, to talk about the things that are meaningful to them, so that we can understand, What are their needs?” Malloy continued. “What are the things that you look for in your employer, and what would give you a sense of belonging here and create an atmosphere of inclusion?” Enhance the Employee Experience Accruing all the data in the world about employee needs won’t do company people leaders any good unless they act on its insights. After the pandemic, if there’s one sector that might need an update to its employee experience it’s the healthcare industry, particularly where its frontline workers operate. Darci Hall, VP and chief talent officer at Providence, a health care system on the West Coast, said the health care industry didn’t experience the Great Resignation in quite the same way that many other areas did. She described something that might equate to a Great Sigh, instead. Workers communicated that they were experiencing tremendous fatigue and a lack of fulfillment. “What we’ve done is taken a step back and said that we need to start to look more at the human side of the business,” said Hall. “It’s not about work/life balance, it’s about a whole person.” Among the outcomes of that shift in approach at Providence has been what Hall called a reevaluation of its caregiver-value proposition. The organization surveyed thousands of employees, as well as customers, to find out where the company stood since the pandemic arrived. Hall said that the company found that “people come to Providence for the mission, [which] is caring for the poor and vulnerable.” They also show up to Providence for a “deep connection and sense of belonging,” Hall said. After learning all this, Hall said Providence has since grounded itself as an organization in its mission, encouraged people to “come to work and be who they are,” and made sure that they feel included. In short, she said Providence is “really honoring the well-being of our caregivers.” “And we wanted people to know that they had opportunity to grow and to develop,” Hall added. “Maybe one day you’re a nurse, but you want to be in HR tomorrow. We have the ability to support, skill and reskill you, and make sure that you are enabled all the way through for those people that might not see themselves in roles today.” Enhance Leadership Training As the panel speakers mentioned multiple times, strong leaders help build a company culture that workers want to be a part of. Considering that, and the fact that upskilling and promotions are vital in retention, effective leadership training is a must. Shryock, the Sam’s Club executive, said that the most important best practice in leadership training is “anchoring learning and development to ensure it’s supporting what the actual business strategy is, what the actual capabilities are that you want to build. He added that organizations must identify and address gaps in those capabilities and gaps in leadership development as well. This can be achieved through mindful surveys, Shryock said. With the virtual office technology that’s become widely adopted over the past two years, Shryock said it’s also important to create “better, more integrated learning journeys for people.” This requires thoughtful programming, perhaps a combination of experiential learning and classroom content. “But we want to do that in a way where we’re able to not only apply that on the job, but apply that with kind of a cross-functional group that they may be working with,” Shryock said. “The companies that can better integrate learning into a broader ecosystem that’s more personalized get much further ahead.” Leverage the Democratization of Coaching People leaders can leverage coaching to help employees feel valued. Liz Pavese of CoachHub went so far as to call coaching a tool of “learning intervention.” It has been “democratized” now, too, with the advent of virtual office technology. “When we can take interventions like coaching or mentoring and be able to provide it to more people at more moments that matter, it’s really going to help fuel their learning in the moment, their skill development in the moment,” said Pavese. “And when you think about what it takes to change an organizational capability, like more innovative, creative thinking, you need lots and lots of skill and capability development across lots and lots and lots of people. So when you can find tools like digital coaching to add to your mixture of interventions, it’s really going to help fuel organizations for the future.” Still, Money Talks So there’s coaching, upskilling, access to opportunities, the cultivation of an inclusive culture, and other ways companies can invest in human capital, with a contemporary mindfulness. The panel participants outlined myriad programs their organizations have coordinated to facilitate their respective approaches. Yet as Shryock noted, for many workers, staying with an employer is going to come down to dollars and cents. Calling wages an “evergreen issue,” Shryock said, “I’ve never met anybody that’s left for less money.” He called frontline associates “perfect economists,” and observed, “if they can earn $1 an hour more, they’re probably going to leave for $1 an hour more. So that becomes a hygiene factor that has always been important, it is important, and is going to continue to be important.” 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.

Michael Stahl | October 02, 2022

Employee Financial Wellness: What It Takes to Build a Great Program

The era of worker contentment over the mere presence of a 401(k) has passed. In a recent survey by Betterment, a financial-advisory platform, nearly all workers polled had a skeptical attitude toward the benefit, saying, “You’ve given us a 401(k), now what?” “Today, almost every employer offers a 401(k), and it is not seen as a differentiated benefit to attract and retain employees,” said Kumud Sharma, chief people officer at Betterment. “The pressure is on employers to define what is worth more than a 401(k).” Sharma spoke about financial wellness in a Thought Leadership Spotlight during From Day One’s September virtual conference on “Stress, Anxiety and the Modern Company’s Role in Promoting Well-being.” She asserted that the financial needs of American workers are in a state of flux. “While benefits used to mean health insurance and retirement savings plans,” she said, “employees have grown to expect and need much more support from their employers.” In this period of talent-market volatility and worker empowerment, it’s especially imperative that companies get their compensation and benefits packages right. But doing so takes more than money. It requires mindfulness in the kinds of programs companies are offering. So what will satisfy valued employees and candidates  in this area? Here’s a rundown of Sharma’s recommendations, heavily grounded in Betterment survey data and other research, with particular focus on priorities found within a diverse workforce: Help With Student Debt Young professionals are not the only ones whose lives are impacted by hovering student debt. According to Sharma, even senior employees might still be paying down school loans and other education-related debts, due to high interest rates and other factors. Kumud Sharma, chief people officer at Betterment (Company photo) Women, LGBTQ+, and Black workers are disproportionately affected by student debt compared to other groups, Sharma said. “So by offering a broad range of student-loan management options,” she continued, “you signal that your company values are meeting its employees’ needs today.” Sharma said women are twice as likely to stay with an employer if they offered student-loan repayment options. Offer Wealth-Building Options While 55% of men have three months’ worth of living expenses saved, according to data Sharma presented, just 39% of women can make this claim. Furthermore, 35% of men believe they are on track to retire with “enough money,” but only 19% of women feel that they’re heading toward such long-term financial sustainability. The Hispanic community is struggling in this regard as well. More than two-thirds of such households are not saving money through workplace vehicles like 401(k) plans. “If you plan to build a loyal, well-distributed, diverse employee base, make sure you help them build for the future through wealth-building options that serve their specific needs,” Sharma said. “What better way to show your employees that you want them and stay for the long haul than by providing them tools for the long haul?” In another Betterment survey the company recently conducted, Sharma said the most-enticing benefits for workers were a high-quality 401(k) plan with company matching, a flexible spending account, a health savings account, and an employer-sponsored emergency fund. These could certainly serve as starting points for a company looking to upgrade their compensation and benefits packages to appeal to a contemporary diverse workforce. Enhance Personalized Financial Literacy Educating workers–of all backgrounds and genders–on the ways they can improve their financial standing will help them feel more comfortable and confident about their financial well-being. Doing so can be as simple as enhancing visibility of the employer’s benefits and compensation packages. Company leaders can also go above and beyond by offering financial advice to employees, Sharma said, and encouraging them to plan for the future. This may also help get employees more engaged with their job and the company they work for, which helps the employer’s bottom line. “Keeping employees engaged can lead to less turnover and happy employees,” Sharma said, adding that, according to a Gallup poll, 74% of disengaged workers are actively looking for new employment. Find Out What Employees Want Finally, Sharma suggested that companies survey their workers on a regular basis to learn more about their needs. “Ensure that you ask what benefits are important to them and where they may need additional support,” she said. “Your benefits packages cannot and do not need to meet every need of every employee. However, there are simple, cost-effective ways to provide them with a financial-wellness solution that can offer retirement benefits, emergency funds, access to financial advisors, student-loan management, and other planning tools.” 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.

Michael Stahl | October 02, 2022

How to Create a More Emotionally Intelligent Workplace

Read a stack of resumes and you’ll probably see lots of references to decision-making skills, leadership experience, and technical training. But increasingly, companies are prioritizing emotional intelligence (sometimes called EQ or EI) above many other traits. A new Harvard study finds that more C-suite job descriptions than ever before include keywords focused on social skills. That’s a good thing, says Liz Colizza, a licensed professional counselor and the director of research and programs at Talkspace, an online and mobile-therapy company. “Emotional intelligence makes for more clear communication and ensures that everyone’s voices are heard and problems are solved more easily,” Colizza said. Further, “emotionally intelligent people are more able to keep cool under pressure to resolve conflicts and make better decisions.” Research supports the idea that emotional intelligence is an asset at work: In one study, researchers administered an emotional-intelligence inventory test to 186 executives and found that those with higher EQs were more likely to helm companies that earned high profits. Another study found that employees with higher EQs tended to perform better at work and even experienced less burnout. So what is EQ, and why does it make such a difference at work? And–more importantly–what can be done to increase EQ within a company? Read on to learn more. Tapping Into Curiosity First things first: Emotional intelligence is not mind-reading. “You’ll never know exactly what someone’s really thinking and feeling,” Colizza said. Instead, it’s about perceiving, evaluating, and (when it comes to your own experience) controlling emotions. Though EQ has been described in countless ways, many experts break it down into five key components: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. And the throughline, Colizza says, is curiosity. If we can approach both others’ point of view and our own experience with curiosity rather than judgment and hesitation, we can tap more deeply into what’s really going on, help others (and ourselves) feel valued and understood, harness strengths, and weather the storms of conflict and change more easily. Because of past experiences, cultural expectations, and even trauma, many of us have been taught to ignore or suppress our own feelings and keep others’ emotions at arm’s length, Colizza says. But what if we approached feelings in a more open-minded way? Think of it this way: You notice a colleague is looking a little down. What if, instead of, “Yikes,” your first thought is, “I wonder what they’re going through?” That’s an opening to a kinder, more supportive interaction—and it works when you’re going through something yourself, too, Colizza says: Instead of trying to ignore or shut down your own feelings of stress or burnout, what happens if you approach those feelings with open-mindedness and compassion? “Curiosity has to be at the foundation of self-awareness and empathy,” she said. “A lot of people want to be more empathetic and support other people, but we really can’t do that unless we’re empathizing and having compassion for ourselves and our own experience.” High-EQ Leadership Though the emotional intelligence of individual employees will always vary, an organization can grow its EQ overall by instilling emotionally intelligent leadership practices, Colizza says. A few ideas managers can consider: •Observe and wonder: High-EQ leaders pay attention to those around them. If someone doesn’t show up to a meeting they normally attend, or if their tone of voice or other behaviors seem different than usual, they check in (with, you guessed it, curiosity), Colizza says. It’s not an attack (“Why weren’t you at that meeting?!”), it’s a human-to-human conversation (“I noticed you didn’t make it to the meeting today and was curious to know if everything was OK. Is there anything you need?”) Liz Colizza, a licensed professional counselor and the director of research and programs at Talkspace (Company photo) •Let people in: While boundaries are important, and no one needs their boss to dump all their feelings out on the conference table, leaders who let people know how they’re feeling show that it’s OK not to be a robot at work. Think, “I’m feeling nervous about the presentation next week. How are you all feeling?” Or even, “My toddler had a nightmare last night and I’m pretty tired. Anyone want to do a coffee run?” •Give others an opening: One way to get people talking is to ask an open-ended question at the start of each 1:1 meeting with direct reports, Colizza says. Questions like, “What are you excited about right now in your position?,” feel supportive and intentional. •Give yourself grace: Managers who welcome feedback and show they want to improve set an important tone. “When you can recognize that you’re not perfect, and you don’t have it all together, you’re so much more freed to accept people giving you feedback and not feel threatened by it,” Colizza said. “You’re less likely to overreact.” That’s a valuable skill for anyone in an organization. Emotionally Intelligent Policies At an even higher level, companies can infuse emotional intelligence into the way they do business–instituting policies, benefits, and procedures that facilitate the whole team feeling seen and valued. Some Colizza recommends: •Review the review process: Performance reviews that are approached with emotional intelligence (on the part of both the manager and the employee) tend to be more helpful and lead to feedback actually being implemented in productive ways. Ensure your company’s reviews are done at regular (but not overwhelmingly frequent) times, and train managers on how to give effective feedback. Offer employees an overview of what to expect, too (perhaps highlighting that everyone gets notes on how to improve), so they’re prepared to receive feedback in an open-minded way instead of taking it as an attack. •Consider mental health-friendly policies and benefits: Show employees the company is there to support them as a whole person by offering mental health benefits and personal days–and remind people that it’s important to take their vacation days. •Acknowledge life outside the workplace: During the holidays, back-to-school, or any other time of year when some employees may be under additional stress, HR or leadership can consider reaching out to all employees to let them know HR or their manager is there to help if they need extra support, Colizza suggests. And when difficult, upsetting things are happening in the news, “a lot of good comes from managers even just naming that,” Colizza said. “Something like, ‘We just want to recognize that this is happening in the world, and it may be weighing heavily on people. Please know that I’m here if you need support,’” she suggests. It’s also a time to remind them of mental health and other benefits they can take advantage of. Essentially, Colizza said, “emotional intelligence at its best is our ability to use our emotional experience to move toward being a more integrated person–and to connect to others in successful ways.” Anna Maltby is an editor, content strategist, and exercise specialist. She has served as executive editor of Elemental, the health and well-being publication on Medium, as well as deputy editor of Real Simple and Refinery29.

Anna Maltby | September 30, 2022

How Employers Can Prepare Workers and Managers for the Next Crisis

Workers have come to expect employers to provide crisis support in the way of mental health care, flexible schedules, financial assistance, and backup childcare. As we emerge from the worst of the Covid-19 crisis and see new uncertainties ahead, including an economic downturn, the workforce is expecting companies not just to meet workers in the next crisis, but help them prepare for it. “Sixty-eight percent of employees and 81% of the C-suite say that improving their well-being is more important than advancing their career. Maybe five years ago, that wouldn’t have been the case,” said Michael Heinrich, citing figures published by Deloitte in 2022. Heinrich is the founder and CEO of Garten, a company that stocks workplaces with healthy foods. “Companies have a large role in supporting the mental health of their workers. In fact, times have shifted, and workers expect this type of support from their employers,” said Brandy Lappi, director of workforce health and employer onsite services at the health care system Kaiser Permanente. “Companies can start by providing resources that foster a psychologically healthy work environment.” Heinrich and Lappi were a part of a conversation on how employers can prepare workforces for the next crisis, moderated by Vox’s Future Perfect editor Bryan Walsh, part of From Day One’s September virtual conference on “Stress, Anxiety and the Modern Company’s Role in Promoting Well-being.” Key advice from the five expert speakers on the panel: Train Managers to Care for Employees’ Mental Health  Step one: Train people managers on mental health best practices. Mentally healthy employees are resilient employees, they said. “Get your managers general mental health and well-being training,” Lappi said. “You can do this by partnering with your employee assistance program [EAP]. If you don’t have an employee assistance program that can bring this training to your managers, partner with your health plan, they might be able to help.” Distribute the workload, said Lappi. Employers’ expectations of managers are getting bigger, and it’s easy to overload them with the responsibility of protecting their employees’ mental health. Once managers are trained, get non-managerial staff involved. “We establish wellness ambassadors so that all of the knowledge doesn’t stay in one person. We empower a broad network of other employees to be able to take that baton and help their fellow employees.” Lappi has found that an employee in crisis may be more likely to ask their colleague for help than a manager. In some cases, they may be more candid with a peer than a superior. “By distributing that work responsibility, it empowers the entire workforce,” she said. Set Expectations for Self-Care Heinrich encouraged employers to set new workplace expectations for taking care of oneself. Garten backs three pillars of health: mind, body, and environment. Heinrich said he inherited those values from his grandmother, a physician in his childhood hometown of Berlin. “Her message to me was very simple: Eat from my organic garden, go to bed on time, exercise regularly, and have a good friendship circle,” he said. Speaking on building resilience in advance, top row from left: moderator Bryan Walsh of Future Perfect on Vox, Jamies Kinney of Media.Monks, and Sheila Krueger of Zoom Video Communications. Bottom row: Rachel Schneider of Canary, Michael Heinrich of Garten, and Brandy Lappi of Kaiser Permanente (Image by From Day One) In the service of the three pillars, Garten reimburses its employees for activities like transcendental-meditation coaching, gives Fridays off to pursue well-being activities, and offers plenty of flexible time during the workday to get out and take walks, meditate, or “whatever it is that you choose,” Heinrich said. The company gives well-being bonuses to employees who participate. “Your job is to exercise, sleep well, meditate, eat well, because you show up in a specific way.” Digital marketing firm Media.Monks has turned its offices into “hubs,” where employees can get work done and get enrichment programming that reinforces well-being of all kinds, like “learning how to buy your first home, learning how to eat better, learning how to meditate, or get some coaching,” said James Kinney, the company’s global chief diversity officer. Media.Monks is rolling out a bicycle program at all of its office locations that encourages people to bike to work. The agency’s programs double as a means to attract workers back to the office. “We call them hubs versus offices, [and they] give people a reason to come into the office.” Make a Menu of Your Benefits To prepare the labor force for the next crisis, employers should plan with specific needs in mind, but solutions to specific problems–like financial crises, for example–shouldn’t be prescribed before the contours of the situation are known. Instead, make a menu employees can pick from. In the case of financial crises, this menu might include emergency relief funds, financial-counseling services, and earned-wage access. “People’s situations are so variable, so if you start going down that personalization road, then you really need a lot of options. The danger is that you’re increasing complexity for the person on the other end, having to navigate, ‘Which of these things benefit me, and how do I access them?’” said Rachel Schneider, the founder and CEO of Canary, a company that manages emergency relief funds for workers. The same is true for mental health benefits. “Mental health is not cut-and-dried, but on a continuum,” said Lappi. “Companies can support their workforces by making sure employees have access to a wide range of resources, from self-care tools to short-term interventions to specialty care for people who have mental health conditions or substance-abuse disorders.” Keep the ultimate objective in mind, said Kinney. “There are so many different ways that we could slice this cake. It’s about honoring, respecting, and supporting those nuances.” Set Up 24/7 Access to Crisis-Support Benefits Employers can prepare their workforces for the next crisis by documenting available benefits and making them easy to access anytime, anywhere. Employees should be able to opt for help as needed, said Sheila Krueger, head of global benefits at Zoom Video Communications. Let people know “not just what you have, but how they can access that information around the clock as well.” Krueger called it “self-serve.” She recommended two types of support: a point person available during work hours to answer questions about benefits and 24-hour digital access to help with instructions on how to use it. “I come from an era where customer service and that personal touch is really, really important, so even though it sometimes pains me to not be able to answer every question through chat, it’s nice to make sure that we’re building out a knowledge base for people so they can get the information whenever they need it,” Krueger said. Zoom built a tool that “allows our employees to have 24/7 access to live coaches on a myriad of topics. It goes all the way from financial wellness and mental wellness to physical wellness,” she said. All-hours access with instructions on independent use is another way to avoid prescriptive engagement, Canary’s Schneider said. “How do you locate the control and the choice and the trust in the individual who’s receiving the benefit? It’s great for us to say, ‘We think everybody should exercise, we think everybody should eat right, we think everybody should get a lot of sleep.’ But people have different life constraints, and they’ll each make different choices around that. That has to be okay, too,” she said. “We provide guide rails for what we think is useful for each other and we know that there’s variation within that.” “The key is trying to make life as simple as possible in very complicated times,” Krueger added. Create a Community That Can Weather the Next Crisis Together Crisis support is best delivered through community. According to a paper written by psychologists at Nottingham Trent University in England, “The role of communities in providing social and psychological resources to residents is well-established in social psychology. The Social Identity Approach to Health demonstrates that a range of physical and mental health outcomes result from identification with social groups, constituting a ‘social cure.’ ... These community relationships are also critical during disasters because they motivate cohesive, prosocial responses and coalesce around a sense of solidarity and support.” Kaiser Permanente’s wellness ambassadors, community-based programming at Media.Monks, human support for crisis benefits at Zoom—these are community supports put in place ahead of the next crisis. For Schneider, emergency-relief funds represent “a really important way to send a message that we’re a community, we’re all in it together, and we have each other’s backs.” That’s how employers can cultivate resilience, said Kinney. “From a resilience framework perspective, when you allow individuals to have a contribution towards a solution that’s bigger than themselves, we find that engagement is higher and that communities are the keys to solutions.” Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a freelance writer based in Richmond, Va. She writes about the workplace, DEI, hiring, and issues faced by women. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Fast Company, and Food Technology, among others.

Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza | September 30, 2022

Employees Strike Back: a Look at the New Worker Moment

How influential is labor becoming in corporate American? A case in point: When the pandemic hit, Sara Nelson, the head of the largest flight attendants’ union, joined a meeting with five airline CEOs discussing how to save the industry. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA chief presented the union’s demands, including a halt on stock buybacks and a cap on executive compensation. “They agreed to those things quickly and we made that happen,” Nelson said. “That was from a union demand.” Nelson told that story during this week’s Fast Company Innovation Festival on a panel titled “Employees Strike Back: A Look at the New Worker Moment.” She was joined by Christian Smalls, the celebrated president of the Amazon Labor Union, and Saket Soni, the founder of Resilience Force, an organization that supports workers who rebuild after environmental disasters. Together they discussed the growing workers movement, how to unionize, why it’s important, and the need to reframe and value so-called “unskilled labor.” So what’s behind the broader worker’s movement? As Nelson summed it up at the beginning of the panel: “Unchecked capitalism is no way to live.” The panelists agreed that the Covid pandemic put a spotlight on the economy’s essential workers and the unsafe, unfair working conditions they often have to navigate. “The pandemic definitely was a catalyst for a lot of these efforts,” said Smalls, who was fired in the middle of the pandemic. “I realized I was disposable after I poured my blood, sweat and tears into this company.” Soni described the process of organizing marginalized workers in the disaster-recovery industry. “The organizing happens deep in disaster zones, often in parking lots or falling-down buildings, and it’s slow work with people who are in the margins of labor law,” he said. “But these are the people who are at the center of recovery and believe they are the white blood cells of America’s preparation and recovery.” When it comes to popular sentiment about worker rights and protections, Smalls pointed to a Gallup study released this summer that found that 71% of Americans approve of labor unions, the highest figure since 1965. “The numbers don’t lie,” he said. Speaking on labor, from left: moderator Morgan Clendaniel of Fast Company and speakers Sara Nelson, Christian Smalls, and Saket Soni (Photo by Emily Nonko for From Day One) The panelists talked about engaging corporate CEOs and what they want executive leadership to know about the movement. Nelson asserted that unionizations can “bring power back to CEOs” who have increasingly lost it to the demands of shareholders. Smalls offered a different perspective, saying that “CEOs should expect that workers will fight back.” Soni stressed that executive leadership needs to revisit how it deems certain workers “unskilled.” Disaster recovery workers, he said, “are highly skilled, deeply responsible workers.” Nelson boiled it down for the audience: “It’s about who made the mess, and who does the cleanup,” she said. “It’s time for women, people of color, and young people to lead.” The panelists called for more white-collar workers to get involved the movement. “Tech workers have a direct line of communication to upper management, as opposed to what we have in the warehouse,” said Smalls. “For them, it’s even more important that they speak up when they see us complaining about what’s happening in the warehouses and the working conditions.” The movement needs more government buy-in to support and advance unions, the speakers said. “There’s an incredibly low bar, we’re only able to have some grounding to move forward [in the Biden Administration] as opposed to having the administration completely against us,” said Nelson. “But this administration, franky, is risk averse, and we need to make the CEOs and the billionaires risk averse.” When it comes to the climate crisis and disaster recovery, Soni added, “We live in a calcified country that is not prepared and not adaptive to the future,” he said. “What it takes to be adaptive to the future are the kind of workers I represent, resilient workers, and they’re hanging by a thread.” He proposed a 1-million-person strong resilience force, with full working protections and liveable wages in place, working to make homes and infrastructure resilient and secure. The discussion ended on an agreement of the importance of workers realizing their power–and taking action to organize at a propitious moment. “Unions are a check on everything,” Nelson said. “If you’re tired of pension defaults from mainstream stock buybacks, build your union. If you believe health care is a human right, build your union. If you believe women are equal with men, build your union. And if you just want to tell your boss to kiss your ass, build your union.” 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. 

Emily Nonko | September 24, 2022