Attracting and Retaining Employees: Essential Tips for Leaders
BY Christopher O'Keeffe March 18, 2025Gone are the days when competitive compensation alone could secure top talent. As external pressures mount, Robert Foster, AVP of TA at Amtrak, has observed that candidates are prioritizing long-term security over pure compensation. He emphasized the need for transparency in hiring while highlighting that employees can enhance their value through continuous skill development. “I encourage people to control what they can control, which is their own work ethic, skill set, ability to stretch and reach across the aisle,” he said during an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s February virtual conference. Felix Mitchell, co-CEO of talent solutions business Instant Impact, highlighted the organizational responsibility that accompanies this shift. “We need to think about what we’re doing with learning and development, with re-skilling, and with career pathing, to make sure that we’re preparing our teams for a world where maybe we’re seeing a lot of restructuring and a lot of change,” said Mitchell. Amid the anxiety that comes with uncertainty, maintaining humanity throughout the recruitment process has become essential. Kim Stevens, senior TA manager at Employ, says the importance of clarity and communication while balancing the use of AI is crucial. A compassionate approach isn’t just good ethics, it’s good business, she says. “Uncertainty is, unfortunately, the norm in our space,” Stevens said. “What comes with that is that high anxiety from candidates who are applying, who are going through rigorous interviews. For me, it starts with really making sure that clarity and communication are top of mind.”Technology can help in the communication process as well, says Mitchell. Technology should enhance rather than replace human interaction during the recruitment process. “I absolutely love that framing of bringing that humanity back into the candidate experience,” Mitchell said. “The technology and all this cool AI... they’re only impactful where they can improve that candidate experience, and where they have really human impacts at the end of the day.”Reimagining Employer-Employee RelationshipsAttracting and retaining talent has also evolved, says David Bach, senior director of TA at LabCorp. “Attraction and retention comes down to redefining the model that worked in previous generations,” Bach said. “I saw a LinkedIn post the other day. It made me giggle. It said, 'My salary is just my employer’s subscription fee to me every month,’” he said. “It’s really kind of almost become that.”Journalist Alexis Hauk moderated the panel discussionBach suggested a more structured approach to these modern employment relationships, including “defined employment contracts with notice periods, long-term incentives for all employees, fair and transparent severance policies, and comprehensive benefits that meet modern needs.” This shift recognizes that while the pension-based employment model isn’t returning, organizations can create frameworks that provide both flexibility and security.Evolving Expectations Across GenerationsThe panel explored how different generations approach employment, with Shantra Laye, VP of campus recruiting at South State Bank, offering insights on Gen Z candidates.“Gen Z’s are looking for culture. They’re looking for purpose-driven organizations,” Laye said. “They’re asking questions about sustainability, community impact, and less about traditional benefits. They’re looking for flexibility and work-life balance.”While acknowledging these patterns, Mitchell cautioned against overemphasizing generational differences. “I think the difference between Gen Z and the rest of the workforce is overplayed,” he said, suggesting that broader workforce trends affect all generations, though they may be felt more acutely by younger workers.The thorny question of remote work continues to divide corporate America, with some executives pushing for full returns to office while others embrace hybrid or fully remote arrangements. “Having been remote for seven years, it’s harder to get noticed. You have to make a really concerted effort,” said Bach. However, he added, “I think it improved upon my mental health and my relationship with my family.”Bach suggested that companies uncomfortable with remote work often have more fundamental issues to address: “If an organization is uncomfortable with people working in a remote environment, it’s because they don’t have the right systems and processes set up to monitor productivity and employee performance. And if that’s the reason that you’re not allowing remote or hybrid work, fix your process.”Sometimes the solution isn’t to revert to old ways, and instead looking to fix a process. In an uncertain job market, the most valuable offering employers can provide isn’t permanence–it’s authenticity. Successful recruitment and retention today is about creating environments people “want to stay and where they feel valued,” said Stevens. In a world where uncertainty has become the norm, perhaps the most valuable offering isn't a promise of forever, but a commitment to honesty, growth, and mutual respect.Chris O’Keeffe is a freelance writer with experience across industries. As the founder and creative director of OK Creative: The Language Agency, he has led strategy and storytelling for organizations like MIT, Amazon, and Cirque du Soleil, bringing their stories to life through established and emerging media.(Photo by BrianAJackson/iStock)
How to Improve the Candidate Experience From the Very Beginning
BY Tabitha Cabrera March 11, 2025“Taking a moment to slow down and understand the candidate experience and finding time to focus on that is incredibly important,” said Kristen Baller, head of talent acquisition at DISH Network. “The candidate experience actually has a fundamental impact on our organization’s bottom line, meaning every candidate is a customer. And so, talent acquisition, while we may be looked at as a cost center, ultimately, has the ability to help drive revenue,” she said during a fireside chat at From Day One’s February virtual conference. Focus on the Candidate“What we’ve missed is where we actually carve out time to focus on creating a better candidate experience, focusing on the candidate—whether they’re going to be an employee, or whether we move forward with somebody else,” she said.One of the company’s core values is that opportunity is their number one benefit. Baller says that when looking at skills for both current and future positions within the organization, it’s important to assess whether someone has the energy to overcome adversity and the intelligence to think critically and outside the box.Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, reporter for the Denver Post, interviewed Baller of DISH (photo by From Day One)Internal mobility is also top of mind at DISH. Finding opportunities within the organization as Baller highlighted provides candidates confidence that “we go to the market and tell people to come build your future with us. There is someone and somewhere for everybody.” Leading With Empathy“When we think about our employer brand, one of the things that our team’s focused on is how we are taking the time to give back?” she said, highlighting their EchoStar Cares and Dish Cares volunteer work initiatives. “But how are we actually giving back to those that don’t join our organization? How do we create the space to just be more human and empathetic?” she asks. With this in mind, the company is focused on giving back and building their brand around that. Baller outlines that what she wishes industry leaders would do differently is to start carving out space for more empathy and human connection. Many of the metrics used by leaders and talent acquisition focus on efficiency and optimization, such as the number of positions filled in a quarter, time to fill, and time in process. Instead, leaders should shift some of that thinking to focus on metrics that measure candidate experience.Transparency can provide great value to the recruitment process, and overall candidate experience, says Baller. “How do we give them more transparency around what they can expect with the next steps of the interview process?” While Baller focuses on the candidate experience, the employee experience remains equally important to her. Baller highlights the importance of celebrating each other, “from a diversity, equity, and inclusion standpoint, it’s really important as an organization that we’re still investing and making our employees feel safe,” she said. Employers need to find ways to invest in and celebrate one another, recognizing that our differences and diversity of thought are what make businesses thrive and help move us forward as an organization.Tabitha Cabrera, Esq. is a writer and attorney, who has a series of inclusive children's books, called Spectacular Spectrum Books.(Photo by everydayplus/iStock)
Modernizing Talent Acquisition: Enhancing Efficiency and the Applicant Experience
BY Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza March 06, 2025For any given job opening, an employer will receive hundreds of applications. Multiply that by the number of open recs at any given time, which could be dozens or even hundreds, and you have an impossible task. Use this number for reference: In 2024, the global power management company Eaton Corporation hired 9,000 new employees across the US and Canada alone.Recruiting teams are doing more with less, says Steve Bartel, founder and CEO of recruiting platform GEM. “Thousands of GEM customers and teams are a lot smaller than they were a few years ago. Recruiters are managing 56% more recs. Recruiting teams are getting about 3x the applicants compared to a few years ago. In fact, 20% of our customers see thousands of applicants for a single role,” he said.With too much to do and not enough people to do it, HR teams are looking to automation and artificial intelligence to help. “For a lot of administrative tasks, AI is going to be great,” said Rob Kumengi, who leads North American talent acquisition at Eaton. By automating routine parts of the job, both recruiters and candidates will have more time for human interaction. While Eaton has replaced the back-and-forth of scheduling a phone screening with a tool that lets candidates pick a time that works for them, it doesn’t replace the interview itself—that meeting is still with a human being.Recruiters are aware that job seekers are frustrated, and that many believe their applications are sent into a void, never to be considered. With that in mind, these companies are modernizing recruitment not only in terms of the technology they use, but also in the way they facilitate human interaction with candidates.This was the topic of discussion for a panel of senior TA leaders. During From Day One’s February virtual conference, panelists spoke about how they’re modernizing recruiting with efficiency and experience.The last handful of years have demonstrated the importance of empathy in the workplace, and some employers are resisting the pull to sever friendly contact with applicants in the name of efficiency. For these panelists, feedback for candidates is where they were finding ways to improve connection while preserving efficiency.Employers Asked and Applicants Answered: We Want FeedbackAt telecom company Comcast, where 84% of their applicants are also customers, the candidate experience is also a matter of customer experience, says Shelly Gross, VP of talent acquisition and experience.Comcast centralized its global talent acquisition function in the last two years, and Gross says it’s been a boon to efficiency: more agreement, less redundancy. “We’ve allowed the candidates to tell us where we could get the most experience lift for our buck,” she said, and candidates told them they want feedback.Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza, journalist and From Day One contributing editor, moderated the session (photo by From Day One)“When we provided feedback after an interview, we were seeing overall [Net Promoter Score] swings of up to 50 points,” Gross said. “That’s just an amazing and unheard of opportunity to take advantage of.” The inverse was also true: “Where we weren’t delivering feedback, we were seeing swings into the negative 50 range.” Turns out they were providing candidate feedback just 40% of the time, so that’s where they put automation to work first, “implementing some feedback capture and delivery mechanisms for our leaders and recruiters in our ATS.”At professional services firm Avanade, Paul Phillips, who leads global HR and talent acquisition, was having a similar experience. Given the flood of applicants, Avanade wasn’t able to respond to each one. “At a minimum, you have to be able to reply to a candidate, and it was clear that many candidates were falling by the wayside,” he said. So, he ran an engagement survey of both successful and unsuccessful candidates. “My scores were horrible,” he said, and it was because they weren’t getting any feedback.OK, but easier said than done, right? When you have hundreds or thousands of applicants, recruiters can’t spend all their time giving notes.Scaling Candidate Feedback“Especially in our world,” said Kumengi. “Feedback is gold.”And employers are finding ways to offer it. Andy Nelesen, global solutions director at talent assessment firm SHL, is one of them. “If we were going to design a hiring program for the candidate that wasn’t hired, what would that look like?”By conducting so many psychometric evaluations, SHL learns a lot about job seekers, “and historically, we’ve only used that insight to help hiring managers and recruiters to make smarter, faster decisions on who to move forward,” Nelesen said. But SHL was forfeiting an opportunity to provide feedback to the ones who didn’t advance, “so we rolled out personalized video-based feedback for all candidates based on the results of the assessments.”Some start the feedback early. At Avanade, Phillips is working on “social talent training,” where candidates can improve their interview technique, whether they get the job or not. “How to answer and ask great questions, how to prepare for an interview, how do you get ready for day one?”Of course, all panelists emphasized the importance of modernizing for augmentation, not substitution. Even when AI is used to review and stack-rank applications, humans need to be heavily involved, Bartel said. “I think companies should be a little bit wary of anything that claims to replace recruiters. The technology is just not there, and I’m not sure if it’s ever going to be there, because that human touch is so, so important.”Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is an independent journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about business and the world of work. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Inc., and Business Insider, among others. She is the recipient of a Virginia Press Association award for business and financial journalism.(Photo by dusanpetkovic/iStock)
Modernizing Benefits at a Mature Organization to Appeal to Today’s Changing Workforce
BY Matthew Koehler February 19, 2025Employee retention and engagement are one side of the human capital coin. The other, perhaps, is the total rewards package. Most people think of total rewards in terms of pay and health benefits, but it's far more than that. “Total rewards encompasses all forms of compensation and benefits needed to attract, motivate, and retain our employees,” said Fannie Mae’s VP of total rewards, Brian Copeland. Copeland discussed the evolution of total rewards during a fireside chat with Denver Post reporter Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton at a From Day One’s January virtual conference.A Total Approach to Job SatisfactionJob satisfaction isn’t one-size-fits-all, says Copeland. So total rewards must be tailored to each employee’s unique needs. “It’s for us in our overall leadership team to try to figure out ways to better understand what those inputs are to an employee's job satisfaction,” he said.He puts total rewards into four “buckets”: Career advancement – A clear talent architecture that outlines career paths, including vertical promotions and lateral opportunities.Compensation and benefits – innovative total rewards designed to support employees’ diverse needs at every career stage.Learning and development and cross training programs – tools like training, certifications, and tuition reimbursement to help employees own their career growth. Culture and psychological safety – continuous feedback and engagement efforts to ensure employees feel supported and heard.Tapping into that second bucket, and to a greater extent what Fannie Mae’s mission is, the company also tries to make housing affordable for their employees. “One of our long standing benefits that we've offered is our employee assisted housing. So it's directly tied to our mission, which is making sure that we provide sustainable access to home ownership.” To this extent, they offer a one-time stipend to employees buying a new primary residence. Aside from that, given that home ownership is a complex process, especially for new homeowners, they provide education on how to buy a home and what it’s like to own one. Copeland says these types of benefits have been around a long time.Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton of the Denver Post interviewed Brian Copeland of Fannie Mae, discussing the companies innovative total rewards On the more innovative end, they’re working on a pilot energy efficiency program where, working with vendors or local energy companies, they do a scan of an employee’s current home. “The energy efficiency audit will go through, and they'll look at somebody’s home and see –maybe they need new insulation. Maybe it’s Windows. Maybe the inverse of the availability for solar panels or energy efficient appliances, whatever it may be, and they go through and get kind of a scorecard on how efficient their home is.” He says employees can apply that one-time stipend to update or upgrade their homes.Fannie Mae also expanded its benefits to support employees’ mental health and well-being by introducing enhanced leave programs, including parental and grandparent leave. Furthermore, they’ve launched a lifestyle spending account, an after-tax benefit that employees can use for personal needs like pet insurance, home office supplies, or hobbies. “We really created it to try to meet the ancillary benefits that are more one-off,” Copeland said. “[We were] trying to be creative and different to make sure our employees [are] able to say, 'Hey, I'm working with Fannie Mae. I love Fannie Mae, and it supports me and who I am inside and outside of work.’”Managing Cost Constraints With Total RewardsRising healthcare costs, especially increased use of GLP-1 medications, have led Fannie Mae to refine its benefits strategy in that area. “We still wanted to provide access, but we wanted to be very thoughtful." Copeland says they balance availability with preventative care like lifestyle programs to help control costs. Given the constant flux of costs in healthcare, they review their offerings every six months and work with providers to find cost-effective solutions. Attracting digital talent has also raised costs as inflation drives up salaries. “We've had to pay tech talent right to get them in the door to make sure we're competitive.”Lastly, Copeland points to two seemingly “small” areas of cost constraints that “add up quickly”: regulatory compliance and evolving employee expectations. New laws create administrative costs, while demand for personalized benefits like loan repayment and mental health support requires multiple vendors. “If we're going to offer that, usually we have to go out to a new vendor. There's very few vendors that may offer a one stop shop,” which increases overall costs. “We found ways to mitigate some, but some are just going to be something we’ve got to focus on over the next couple years.” As their current generation of employees nears retirement, Fannie Mae expects to introduce even more tailored benefits.On that retirement piece, Copeland says there isn’t a perfect solution but they take a holistic approach. They auto-enroll their employees in a 401(k) that has a generous employer match, even for employees who don’t contribute. “We spend a lot of time on financial literacy...providing them education on savings investing through webinars and workshops.” Fannie Mae also offers one-on-one coaching.Beyond retirement, Fannie Mae focuses on overall financial well-being, providing tuition reimbursement, student loan repayment, and guidance for parents planning for college costs. “I don’t know if that’s fully innovative, but I think it’s something that we can control. And, that’s bringing awareness and options for our employees.”Looking towards the future, Copeland says the industry will start seeing “more personalized benefit options.” “We're probably going to start moving towards more individual total rewards programs, almost like a menu style where you can select what you need for yourself.”He sees AI and new technology options accelerating personalized benefit programs. For healthcare options, for example, in network doctors might be going the concierge route, “focused on more of [a] holistic medicine.”Ultimately, Copeland believes the total rewards space is on the verge of an evolution. “I think we're on the verge of a lot of advancement in the total reward space, given some of the technology changes that are probably coming over the next decade.”Matthew Koehler is a freelance journalist and licensed real-estate agent based in Washington, DC. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, Greater Greater Washington, The Southwester, and Walking Cinema, among others.(Photo by AaronAmat/iStock)
Redesigning Employee Recognition and Rewards for Better Results
BY Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza February 12, 2025Companies are thinking more holistically about benefits than they did in the past, says Britt Barney, manager of client success at financial benefits platform Northstar, where she consults across industries. “There used to be silos where the benefits team was responsible for benefits, and maybe HR and people experience were responsible for rewards, but companies are starting to realize that recognition, rewards, benefits, and salaries are all ways to show appreciation to employees.”Yet at the same time, the focus on employee well-being seems to be waning. The pendulum has swung from taking care of people at all costs, to taking care of business at all costs, says Meredith Haberfeld, founder and CEO of management coaching firm ThinkHuman. “But if we can’t take care of the people, we can’t take care of the business.”Barney has noticed the swing too. As organizations pay closer attention to the bottom line, benefits leaders are being made to look at their packages with a lot more scrutiny, asking “Why? Why are we having these programs? Why are we doing recognitions and rewards? What is it tied to?” she said. But that exercise isn’t a bad one, ultimately. It is the first step in making a better program that employees and the business both benefit from. This was the topic of a panel discussion at From Day One’s January virtual conference on innovation in total rewards, where Barney and Haberfeld were joined by their colleagues in employee benefits, who outlined how they’ve carefully retooled recognition and rewards programs for better results.Redesigning Recognition and Rewards in a Growing CompanyThe multinational energy management firm Schneider Electric saw double-digit growth last year, “which is unusual for a company that has typically grown 2% to 3% per year,” said VP of total rewards Marina Vassilev. To keep pace, she retooled the performance management system, and along with it, the company’s recognition practices. That included increasing the number of reviews, “providing feedback and recognition throughout the year through performance check-ins, not just at the end of year during the annual appraisal process.” Like reviews, recognition at Schneider now happens throughout the year, with “the accomplishments sometimes celebrated publicly on our internal social media network, and this shifts the focus to what we want to celebrate as an organization: Our impact,” Vassilev said. “We are recognizing contributions in real time, and we are motivating our employees and creating an environment where the achievements are acknowledged and celebrated.”At insurance company Assurant, SVP of global total rewards Mike Katz took on a similar project, which included selecting a new recognition platform. Katz had four criteria: First, a platform that can operate in multiple languages. Assurant is a global company, and though English is the preferred language, it’s not the first for many frontline workers. He wants everyone to get the recognition they deserve in the language they want.Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza moderated the panel about "Employee Recognition and Rewards: How Managers Can Be Empowered" (photo by From Day One)Second, a wide variety of rewards so employees can pick something that’s meaningful to them. Katz doesn’t want to hand someone a Starbucks gift card if what they really like is kombucha. Third, reporting and analytics capabilities, “so you’re able to slice and dice the data to understand what’s working and what's not working.” And finally, a platform that allows for public recognition. When employees see their colleagues recognized for their good work, they may be more likely to pick up the habit too.That kind of culture matters, but it can be hard to scale, says Sonya Mansur, director of global total rewards for ZS, a management consulting and tech firm. When the company was small, it was easy for an executive to stand up and praise a manager’s hard work in a public forum. As ZS grows, she’s carefully shepherding those same habits. Recognition needs to feel pretty seamless in order to work, Mansur said. “It needs to be organic in your company, and very common.” Especially in an ultra-competitive, customer-facing industry like management consulting, recognizing your colleagues’ good work can directly affect business.Haberfeld encouraged employers to build a culture where people can do their best work, then worry about a recognition and rewards program. “I was recently talking to a VP level leader who was like, ‘I get my job done, but the culture here is so challenging, it’s probably only getting 50% of me.” The VP said he’s been given raises and bonuses, but what he really wants is just a better place to work. The company is treating the wrong problem. “ I do good work,” he told her. “But I have so much more I could give.’”Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is an independent journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about business and the world of work. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Inc., and Business Insider, among others. She is the recipient of a Virginia Press Association award for business and financial journalism.(Photo by jacoblund/iStock)
In Employee Benefits, Balancing Cost Efficiency with Good Employee Outcomes
BY Katie Chambers February 12, 2025Did you know that 20% of pre-menopausal and 50% of post-menopausal women suffer from sleep apnea? And that 90% of them go undiagnosed? These startling statistics can have a significant impact on your female workforce’s well-being and performance. This is just one example of why a truly inclusive and holistic benefits package should cover more than just the basics – it should address everything from mental health support to women’s healthcare, fertility support, sleep wellness, and much more.As the cost of healthcare keeps rising stubbornly, benefits leaders need to be ever-more innovative in finding ways to keep spending under control while serving an increasingly diverse set of employee needs. How are benefits leaders using new tools and approaches toward evaluating their prospective and current providers? At From Day One’s January virtual conference, a panel of leaders discussed the latest offerings.Building an Inclusive Benefits PackageNow more than ever, the modern workforce has remarkable age diversity. “Supporting a multigenerational workforce is a huge challenge and it’s important that benefits cater to the needs of all their employees, especially as these needs vary with different life stages,” said moderator Rebecca M. Knight, contributing columnist for the Harvard Business Review.At Micron Technology, HR uses “Personas” to “look at people from a couple of different lenses,” including age, gender, and career stage, said Marni McDowell, senior director, global well-being & experience, Micron Technology. “When we look at it from a mapping perspective, we can take an approach of, ‘How do we create a customized experience for everyone?’” The persona approach eschews a one-size-fits-all approach to instead focus on what is useful and personally meaningful.Maven, too, approaches the different life stages holistically when it comes to benefits planning. And Katie Wallace, senior director of client success at Maven, says that these stages don’t necessarily fall into tidy buckets, especially for women and families. There’s a lot of overlap. “Every individual's journey to and through parenthood and reproductive health is completely unique, and their needs are completely unique,” Wallace said, citing an employee who is coping with an older child being diagnosed with a learning disability while simultaneously facing the legal, financial, and emotional realities of trying to adopt a second child. “At Maven, we have a platform that is one-size-fits-one, that is able to meet the individual where they are.”Wallace also notes the importance of including different work setups within benefits planning. For example, certain remote workers may live in areas where there is less access to quality care compared to their city-bound colleagues. And employers should also be prepared to let some in-person perks, like on-site gym offerings, fall by the wayside as fewer employees are physically going to the office.Addressing All Aspects of WellnessHealthcare and family planning are just some of the benefits forward-thinking employers should consider offering to their workforce. Especially post-pandemic, employees are valuing mental health and sleep health more than ever before. Nox Health is one organization that focuses on the clinical impact of sleep-related chronic conditions. “There’s an incredible amount of friction in the current care pathway related to getting and treating sleep disorders [like] obstructive sleep apnea and chronic insomnia,” said Jonathan Fox, CCO of Nox Health. “We step in and streamline the testing and acclimation phase, [it’s] tech-driven with a human touch.”Financial wellness benefits are another crucial offering. Bureau Veritas takes a creative approach to providing employees with financial literacy. It provides the basics: one-on-one coaching, 401Ks, and monthly financial health seminars. But it also takes it a step further: the finance department offers all employees an inside look at how certain financial decisions are made, such as cost analysis and corporate budgeting. “We’re trying to be very transparent with employees. But at the same time, as we do this, we’re teaching them how to budget,” said Techy Madrid, director, NAM Center of Excellence, benefits & payroll, Bureau Veritas. Feedback has been positive, with some employees sharing how the courses taught them to create a better budget for their household expenses.Incorporating Employee FeedbackThe best way to find out what works best for employees? Just ask! MilliporeSigma feedback is an essential part of the decision-making process. “Our feedback is gathered through a variety of channels. We conduct post Annual Enrollment surveys, which provide us with a lot of tangible data, both positive and negative. We also conduct an annual employee engagement survey to document some baseline responses and monitor employee sentiments over time,” said Elizabeth Chappelear, head of benefits strategy, MilliporeSigma. “We tend to work with a very curious and innovative population, so they regularly come across things in their own day to day interactions [and] want to share these new products or offerings that would benefit not only themselves but their coworkers.” Employee resource groups (ERGs) are another way for the different generations within the organization to support one another, and a good way to keep tabs on their interests and needs.Panelists spoke on the topic "In Employee Benefits, Balancing Cost Efficiency with Good Employee Outcomes" (photo by From Day One)Wallace says many organizations are finding that right now, “excuse the pun: menopause is absolutely the hot topic.” It’s much discussed now in the media and among employee resource groups. With 1.3 million women entering menopause every year, it has a marked impact on the workplace, especially on senior leaders. “Research has shown that one in five people going through menopause have either quit or considered quitting, and it’s estimated that the average global productivity losses top $130 billion so this is a really huge issue,” Wallace said. Having it addressed in workplace conversation and benefits programs helps employees feel seen, heard, supported, and empowered.Keeping it PersonalIn listening to employees’ needs and providing a wide range of options for all lifestyles and life stages, modern benefits packages are becoming highly personalized. This can make it challenging to find a service that will satisfy every customer, but certainly not impossible. Chappelear says that programs like Maven and Nox Health that rely on a combination of technology and human interaction work the best. “[Through Maven], employees are able to reach out to a clinician to help connect the dots and have somebody validate what they're feeling,” she said, which aligns with the values of her data-driven workers.“Oftentimes, people just need someone to talk to,” McDowell said. So Micron offers team member advocates to help explain what is available and help employees consider their options. “They’re not a licensed professional counselor, but they are very well-versed in all of the benefit programs, all of the things even available in our local communities, [and then] they can help hand off [the employee] to the right next best resource,” she said.Ultimately, the most successful benefits package will be the one that is easy to explain, easy to use, and inspires repeated engagement. As Fox says, a plan’s effectiveness can be measured in three ways: “adoption, adherence, and persistence.”Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost and several printed essay collections, among others, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photo by WANAN YOSSINGKUM/iStock)
How to Support Workers in Times of Crisis, From Natural Disasters to Personal Challenges
BY Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza February 03, 2025“What I love about benefits is that it’s not stagnant. What was considered a hot benefit 20 years ago ain’t a hot benefit today, and there’s always a need to make sure what we’re providing through benefits–yes, we want to make sure it’s competitive–is truly meeting the needs of the people,” said Chris Smith, a veteran of the benefits field with more than two decades of experience.Yet he’s surprised by how few people will simply ask employees what they need. “There is this belief that, if we ask, if we do a survey, we are signing a promissory note,” he said. So rather than promise something they can’t deliver, some don’t ask at all. But that’s not how Smith sees a survey or a sit-down meeting: It’s not a promise, it’s an exercise.Smith is the head of benefits at Universal Music Group, the music label supporting massive stars including Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Stevie Wonder, and the Rolling Stones. Smith spoke during a fireside chat at From Day One’s January virtual conference on benefits and total rewards. He offered frank advice for how employers can support their workers in crisis and in peace.Smith prides himself on delivering great benefits, so he was disappointed to find, during an open enrollment roadshow, that employees simply didn’t know what’s available to them. The same weakness so many benefits leaders find in their own organizations. And Smith prides himself on great communications emails, so he was equally disappointed to learn that those weren’t making traction.But that was the point of this listening tour, to find ways to make the system better. He’s now exploring creative ways to strengthen comms and lower barriers to access so employees can find and get what they need in good times and in bad.Though this isn’t a part of UMG’s process yet, Smith says he’d like to introduce text messaging or mailers. “People are bored of emails. People are overwhelmed with emails, and because of that, they’re missing really important information.” He’s also exploring old-school methods like mailers. If he can “shock” employees with novel or unexpected communication methods, they may be more likely to listen.Journalist Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza interviewed Christopher Smith of Universal Music Group (photo by From Day One)In the meantime, they’ve made access easier. “People are not thinking about benefits between nine and five. It’s around 5:15 when you’re at the pharmacy and you’re trying to remember, ‘Oh, shoot, who do I call for my pharmacy benefits? What’s that phone number? I can’t find my ID card.’”So, he stood up a microsite with basic information on benefits–which company handles this or that and which phone numbers to call for help. There’s no log-in required, so employees don’t have to bother with a lengthy sign-in process as the line at Walgreens forms behind them.Universal Music Group is headquartered in Santa Monica, at the epicenter of the recent Los Angeles fires that killed 28 people and displaced more than a hundred thousand. When employees came looking for support and resources, Smith was clear on his team’s role in providing disaster relief: They pulled together every resource, whether directly or indirectly related, into a single place that employees could reference and use. Removing barriers to access was priority number-one.He also made himself personally available. “One of the things that I do–and my family sometimes chastises me for doing it–is make my personal cell phone number available in a heartbeat. I might not be able to get to you as quickly through an email, but you will be able to get to me pretty quickly by calling my cell phone. I don’t want there to be any guard rails or barriers to getting information.”Smith is preparing for the next disaster, hoping it never comes. “However, I think we’d all be irresponsible if we came through this, and didn’t take anything away from the experience and ask ourselves, what can we do better? How can we be more prepared?”Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is an independent journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about business and the world of work. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Inc., and Business Insider, among others. She is the recipient of a Virginia Press Association award for business and financial journalism.(Photo by VectorMine/iStock)
Adapting to Evolving Workforce Expectations: Key Areas for Leaders’ Focus in the New Year
BY Jennifer Yoshikoshi January 29, 2025Looking ahead in 2025, leaders are setting their priorities. At From Day One’s December virtual conference, leaders shared their plans to advance development initiatives with a focus on diversity, inclusion, and artificial intelligence in 2025.As companies progress in developing diversity, equity and inclusion goals, Rebecca Warren, director of talent-centered transformation at Eightfold, says that the DEI objectives will continue to move forward and become more integrated within the workforce.“The general definition of diversity is widening. We’re moving from just focusing on demographic, cultural and social identities to also thinking about abilities and perspective and cognitive capabilities as well,” said Warren.DEI can also be reflected in how companies include and engage with their staff. Laura Mazzullo, founder and owner of East Side Staffing, says that when she spoke to undertrained internal recruiters, they expressed a desire to sit in meetings with HR business partners, executives and be involved with creating plans and strategies.Many employees lack the confidence to pursue their goals because they’ve never been given the opportunity. Companies can address this by fostering inclusivity and developing emotional intelligence and other important soft skills.AI and New TechnologyAI is rapidly evolving within companies, particularly in human resources, where it’s being introduced as a tool for task efficiency. But as Warren points out, its full potential is still unfolding with continued use. As AI advances, leaders face a key question: How can companies balance automation with the irreplaceable human touch?At Hearst, the company hosted a learning program to create a cultural switch in the integration of AI. For 2025, Hearst is planning for more programs to be available for staff to continue their education on AI as well as maintaining and developing human based skills such as empathy, collaboration, communication and leadership.“We absolutely envision an environment where technology and power human skills are working together, because we don’t believe that generative AI is going to replace people,” said Maris Krieger, senior director of talent programs at Hearst Corporation.These learning and development efforts are a result of staff feedback and input, says Krieger. “It wasn’t a corporation doing something behind closed doors. We collaborated. We asked what [staff] needed and what their priorities were,” she said.Investing in Development During Times of ChangeAs the workforce undergoes changes with technological advancements and evolving work expectations, companies need to be prepared to adapt. Especially during times of change, it's important for leaders to be a guiding hand for their team.SiriusXM is actively working on leveling up managers, said Bhavna Sharma, vice president of talent enablement and engagement at SiriusXM. Investing in leadership creates a ripple effect on the company’s culture, employee experience and business outcomes, she adds.SiriusXM began by building a leadership profile that reflected the company’s core values to create a baseline of what it means to be a leader. HR also conducts quarterly conversations and succession plannings to assess not only manager readiness but also identify developmental needs.They also launched SiriusXM University, a curriculum based program that aims to support and cultivate a growth mindset for leaders. Sharma emphasized the importance of empowering managers as career coaches. The program provides leaders with quick training sessions and resources that help boost manager accountability and team collaboration, helping them support their employees.Lydia Dishman, senior editor at Fast Company, moderated the panel about "Adapting to Evolving Workforce Expectations: Key Areas for Leaders’ Focus in the New Year" (photo by From Day One)The company dedicates its training to all employees as well, embracing the idea that career progression can be taken in different ways and that the company encourages everyone to develop their skills.At MiTek, the company will be conducting its first upward feedback manager survey, an assessment of the managers performance. Christopher Rotolo, vice president of global talent at MiTek, says that the feedback from the survey will start off as a way for managers to assess their own development, but after a couple of years the survey data will be used to discuss succession and talent mobility.MiTek also encourages managers to hold Aspiration, Capability, Engagement (ACE) conversations with each of their employees at least once a year to hear about their personal aspirations, capabilities and engagement.Holding one-on-one meetings with employees allows managers to gain a better understanding of how they can support their team.When companies around the world evolve, employees might feel pressure from the change. These new evolutions might look like the recent increase in shifting back to in person work or work expectations changing. In these cases, Warren thinks it's more important for companies to focus on the outcome of the employee’s work, not the amount of hours they put in. Companies should be looking at “skill and performance based metrics rather than focusing on schedules or presenteeism,” Warren said.Sharma says that productivity will increase when companies foster a culture of trust and autonomy. By eliminating micromanagement, employees will be empowered in decision making within their role.At Hearst Corporation, Krieger has witnessed many successes with remote work. Although some companies are encouraging people to return to offices, Krieger emphasizes that in person work is not necessary for successful outcomes. Working a remote or hybrid position also plays into mental health and work life balance, agrees Rotolo.HR can sometimes be resistant to trusting data that shows employees are happier and more productive working from home or with a flexible schedule, says Mazzullo. “We talk so much about tech and AI but you’ve got to actually look at the information and then do something with it,” Mazzullo said. “There’s data there that would allow employees to have the flexibility they want. There’s no reason a company should not be listening to that.”Jennifer Yoshikoshi is a local news and education reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
How Far Should AI Go? Exploring the Workforce Limits of Generative AI
BY Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza January 28, 2025Artificial intelligence is like a cool race car, says Marcus Mossberger, future of work strategist at cloud-based software maker Infor. “Everybody wants it, but have you thought about where you’re taking this race car? Have you built roads to drive it on? What are you going to fuel it with?”Companies have been racing to incorporate AI into their workflows, betting that the tech will make good on its promise to make employees more productive and the business more competitive. But despite the enthusiasm, adoption can be stymied by regulation and risk. In other cases, the speed of adoption can be reckless or unnecessary. In a panel discussion during From Day One’s December virtual conference on pioneering approaches to the future of work, Mossberger and other leaders debated the limits of AI in changing the way we work.AI Adoption by IndustryAdoption tends to be high in the tech industry simply because of its proximity to AI and general openness to change, but in others, like healthcare, regulatory constraints slow the process, says Sumana Srikurmam, who leads HR for the network services division at Tech Mahindra, a global tech services firm.“But even within the tech industry,” she said, “no two organizations will be in the same place at the same time, because the cultures differ, the restrictions may differ, and the stage of growth may be different.”Therefore, move with cautious determination, she says. Compliance is an important part of her job, and keeping up with changing regulations is a complicating factor that is currently multiplying the tools needed. Despite its benefits, there will always be risks, like data privacy, biased language-learning models, and misinterpretation. Many companies are required to deploy even more tools that will mitigate those risks.Marcus Mossberger of Infor, Anita Jivani of Avanade and Sumana Srikurmam of Tech Mahindra spoke with journalist Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza during the webinar (photo by From Day One)Yet a rigid deployment plan isn’t necessarily the solution when it comes to innovative applications, says Anita Jivani, global head of innovation at Avanade, a management consultancy that advises on cloud and AI technologies. “In design thinking, we often think about convergent and divergent thinking. When are we in the problem space? When are we in the solution space? This is one where we have to be in the problem and solution spaces at the same time.” Without flexibility, the problem may change before the solution has been decided.Forward-Thinking Applications in HRHuman resources teams are finding their own applications for AI. Most begin with eliminating administrative tasks. “Tasks most of us don’t want to be doing anyway,” said Mossberger. For instance, “you always have to do payroll processing, which includes reconciliation, so you’re looking for errors and exceptions. Why not AI do that for you?”Agentic AI, or artificial intelligence capable of making decisions on its own, also holds a lot of promise for HR. Being able to “outsource” questions about benefits or PTO or company policies to AI-powered chatbots is freeing many practitioners to spend their time on higher-level reasoning tasks.Assisted authorship is another application Mossberg enjoys. He no longer starts a writing task with a blank page, but with a ChatGPT prompt. Others use AI to track and aggregate employee tasks, “so when it comes time to do your performance evaluation, you have a record of all of the great work that you’ve done,” he said.The Limits Practical and Ethical Limits of Artificial IntelligencePanelists agreed that AI will never be a substitute for human empathy or judgement. As AI gets better at generation, we shouldn’t be tempted to allow it to make decisions on our behalf. Nor should we overvalue the accuracy of its results, Jivani explained. “There’s this view that AI is like a god, an all knowing thing, but we need to re-shift and think of it as a super nerdy, really smart neighbor.” That is: fallible.“Anything that is complex and needs human judgment, any ethical decision making, issues, creativity, innovation–these are things that will need human intervention,” said Srikurmam.Mossberger, who considers himself an optimist when it comes to AI, believes that if we use it wisely, we’ll only have more time to interact with each other.And if AI is giving us back time previously eaten up by tedium, “the question is, what are we doing with that time?” said Jivani. “When a meeting ends 15 minutes early, you could take a walk or make a meal, but what you end up doing is refreshing Outlook. Is that what’s going to happen with the extra time that we have? Are we being intentional, or are we just adding more noise to an already very noisy environment?”Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is an independent journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about business and the world of work. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Inc., and Business Insider, among others. She is the recipient of a Virginia Press Association award for business and financial journalism.(Photo by SmileStudioAP/iStock)
Empowering Your Team: How Innovative Companies Put New HR Technology to Work
BY Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza January 22, 2025Ask your nearest HR leader how many pitches they’ve gotten this week from tech vendors promising to make their jobs easier. It’s likely that your company has already shelled out serious money thanks to some of those promises, and all they’ve really gotten is another portal to manage.There’s a lot of noise in the HR tech sector, said Ardie Sameti, senior director of AI and automation at healthcare tech platform Accolade. The overload of tech tools workers are made to use at work is costing businesses time and money, and generating a lot of frustration. “Don’t get caught up in innovation, although that’s a super attractive and sexy thing. Look for practicality,” he explained during From Day One’s November virtual on how the most innovative companies are using new HR tech.Before you even evaluate a new tool or product, identify the problem it’s going to solve. You’ll be in a far better position to shop for HR tech that might actually help. Then, commit to rigorous testing. “There are a lot of free pilots out there that you can use to really measure the impact of what you’re looking at,” explained Sameti. Accolade has a sophisticated in-house process that pulls stakeholders from across the business. “Engineering, product, our HR team: Everybody’s very much involved, and we test assumptions in a very controlled manner.”When vetting new tools, senior director of HR at Sony Interactive Entertainment Ritu Shrivastav asks two questions: First, “what is the lift for the people managers?” And second, “where in the talent journey does this help me?”How HR Is Adopting Artificial IntelligenceAs long as you’re adopting new tools for specific business reasons, there are plenty of possibilities to get excited about. Within the media and entertainment industry, “there’s a leadership-advocated intentional focus on adoption of AI,” said Shrivastav at Sony, where they’ve created a bespoke artificial intelligence training program for engineers.Panelists spoke about "Empowering Your Team: How Innovative Companies Put New HR Technology to Work" (photo by From Day One)Of course, she’s quick to acknowledge reticence toward AI and its job-replacing potential. “Keep in mind that technical leaders have carefully curated their careers over several years,” Shrivastav said. “Yes, change is hard, but enhancements are loved and enhancements are easy, so keep in mind that AI is an enabler. It actually enhances your productivity and takes away a lot of that repetitive work.” Once you can get early adopters excited about the potential and evangelizing, that enthusiasm spreads.Geeta Mahindroo, global VP for finance, HR, and GBS technology at The Estée Lauder Companies, is optimistic about the potential of AI to help employees seamlessly operate the myriad different platforms that exist. “In our personal lives, we have information at our fingertips, but when we go into an organization, we have to navigate so many places to get to the information we need,” she said. Mahindroo is working on a plan to access it all more seamlessly, or what she’s calling “the employee Siri.” By prioritizing experience, she says, “we can say we treat our employees just like our customers.”Using Tech to Adapt to New Working ModelsAs career trajectories take new shapes and evolve from job-based work to skills-based work, U.S. Bank is using HR tech to help employees plan their unique future with the company. “It’s important for employees to have the tools they need to have visibility into what’s out there,” said the company’s head of employee engagement Veronika Lantseva. “What are the different roles that could be a potential next step for me, whether lateral or upward, and what are the skills for those roles? And how do I acquire them?”At Estée Lauder, Mahindroo enlisted a team of tech-savvy interns to update an old employee onboarding process. The team collected feedback from employees across the organization and at all levels, from “interns joining the company for a few weeks to people in mid-career and people who’ve been there a long time.” In just six weeks, the interns had built a prototype.Their thoroughness “gave me a lot of confidence to say, ‘if we were to take this approach and bring that insight and deploy it, it would have much better adoption within the organization because it factors in the insights from everybody,” Mahindroo explained. It was energizing for the interns and the leadership team as well, she said, “to learn how different generations think about technology, how they thought about enabling it–and how fast.”To Ensure ROI, Hold Vendors AccountableOf course, being successful requires a pragmatic, and even ruthless, commitment to numbers. Jeff Williams, CEO of benefits administrator Aptia, encouraged HR leaders to hold their vendors accountable to their pitches. “Many times I talk to clients who just don’t know where they’re at relative to their original assumptions,” he said. “Being a strategic HR leader requires us to talk in real economic terms, and not as much in narrative, to get our fellow executives invested,” he said. “And anyone who’s actually tracking their case on an ongoing basis and revisiting their ROI: They’re in the top decile of heavy HR tech implementation.”Measure your outcomes unflinchingly, and if there’s some tool collecting dust on a shelf, use it or get rid of it,” Williams said. “Drive toward success-based outcomes, not only getting the thing installed, but getting up to the adoption levels that they committed to and they were helping you with your business case.”HR leaders must be active tech evangelists, said Sony’s Shrivasta. A lot of leaders talk about why they’ve adopted some tool, “but very few can showcase in their behaviors, embracing it and using it and holding their [direct reports] accountable to saying, all right, we’re going to embrace this as well.”Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a freelance journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about work, the job market, and women’s experiences in the workplace. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Inc., Quartz, Business Insider, Fast Company, and Digiday’s Worklife.(Photo by NanoStockk/iStock)
Hope for Cynics: How to Replace a Lack of Trust With “Hopeful Skepticism”
BY Katie Chambers January 13, 2025“I wrote this book because I needed it,” said renowned psychologist and author, Jamil Zaki, Ph.D. about his latest book, Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness. “I’ve been studying the science of kindness and empathy and connection for 20 years, and oftentimes people assume that must mean that I walk around blissed out by human goodness constantly. But the secret is that this entire time, I’ve tended towards cynicism,” Zaki said during a fireside chat at From Day One’s December virtual conference.In life and in work, cynicism is making us sick, but Zaki offers a cure. While cynicism is an understandable response to injustice and inequality, in many cases it is misplaced. Dozens of studies find that people fail to realize how kind, generous, and open-minded others really are. Dr. Zaki imparts the secret for beating back cynicism: “hopeful skepticism”–thinking critically about people and our problems while honoring and encouraging our strengths.“We are living through a quiet but devastating epidemic of cynicism,” Zaki told session moderator, Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, reporter at the Denver Post. In 1972, about half of Americans believed most people could be trusted. By 2018, only a third believed the same. He cites the financial collapse of 2008 as a time when our faith in institutions plummeted. “We are living in a trust deficit. When trust is depressed, cynicism rises. Cynicism is poisonous for our mental health, our physical health, relationships, our communities, including our businesses and organizations and our culture.”But not all hope is lost, cynicism is often just a mistake or a bias. “When you pay closer attention to the data, people tend to be more generous, trustworthy, open minded and kind than we realize,” Zaki said. That’s where his “hopeful skepticism” comes in—“acknowledging that oftentimes our bias means we underestimate each other and by connecting more with the data and with people in general, we can rebuild our sense of faith in each other and use that to fight for a future that more of us want.”Hopeful Skepticism in ActionThe difference between cynicism and skepticism is key. “Skeptics withhold their judgment and look for evidence,” Zaki said. And while optimism, in assuming a positive outcome, can lead to complacency, hope instead can inspire action. “Hope is the belief that things could improve, but that we don’t know that… the future is uncertain, and in that uncertainty, our actions matter.” Therefore, hopeful skeptics are data-driven and withhold assumptions, while knowing that people and situations can surprise us in a positive way.Jamil Zaki, Ph.D., Director of the Stanford Neuroscience Lab and Author, “Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness” was interviewed by Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, Reporter, the Denver Post (photo by From Day One)At work, cynicism can be lethal, says Ulu-Lani Boyanton. “[There is] a heavy price for mistrust in a corporate environment.” The data shows that cynics are less likely to rise to positions of leadership, have poor morale, perform worse, and are less loyal to organizations. Cynicism spreads easily and having too many cynics at an organization can lead to a collapse of collaboration, innovation, and productivity. “Why take a risk if the person next to you would prefer to see you fail?” Zaki said. “Leaders need to be quite intentional about fostering trust and cooperation, because without that, our tendency is to focus more on the negative.”Political and social polarization can also breed cynicism. “Americans have lost contact with folks who are different from them. We no longer rub shoulders with people who are politically different from us. We’ve sorted so that we interact less with real folks we disagree with. So how do we know who they are?” Zaki said. We rely on media depictions for that information, and often it’s inaccurate. “We conjure up a version of people we disagree with that is quite frightening and quite wrong. And we miss out on the common ground.”This extends to workplace disagreements and divisions. “People stop talking with one another. They start to exaggerate the negative qualities of the other side. They start to think a ‘win’ on the other side is a ‘loss’ on their own. We focus so heavily on what separates us that we lose sight of all the things we have in common,” Zaki said. To solve this within the workplace, Zaki says, bring both sides together and have them list all the things they agree on and disagree on. They will be shocked at how the agreements outweigh the disagreements.Seeing Each Other More ClearlyIt’s incumbent on HR to help team members move past their own biases and internal disagreements. When Zaki surveys employees, he always finds that the vast majority want collaboration and trust to be at the center of their work, and that they also don’t realize that other folks want it too. “If you’re a leader, one way to fight cynicism is not to lie to people, but to tell them the truth and to show them the truth in as quantitative and specific a way as you can,” Zaki said.One way organizations can inspire collaboration, creativity, and trust, Zaki said, is by “rewarding people for not just their individual performance, but how they showed up for their colleagues.” Mission-driven companies like Patagonia or Cotopaxi, that are not only focused on product development but also “advancing a philosophy of caring, not just for ourselves, but for the planet” all speak to Zaki’s tenets of hopeful skepticism.He encourages organizations to invest in developing “soft skills,” or what he calls “human skills,” so that employees can get better at understanding themselves and others and communicate more effectively. Empathy and emotional intelligence are vital to success.Humans suffer from a negativity bias as part of an evolutionary response to physical threats. Noticing that knee jerk response within oneself is key to moving past it. “Being a hopeful skeptic can open us to incredible numbers of social opportunities, whether that’s pleasant conversations with strangers, bridging differences with people we disagree with, building relationships, friendships, collaborations, parenting more effectively, and building more trusting communities. And in all these cases, the steps are simple,” Zaki said. “I’m much more positive and hopeful since researching cynicism, because I realized how much of it is just an error, and that’s true in our politics, in our organizations, but just in our everyday lives as well. Hope is not naïve, it’s not privileged, it’s not toxic. It’s an adaptive and adaptable response to the best data that we have. We can fight for that better future together by seeing it more clearly.”Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost and several printed essay collections, among others, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photo by Liudmila Chernetska/iStock)
How to Leverage AI to Make Room for the Important Stuff
BY Carrie Snider January 02, 2025With HR technology revolutionizing how organizations operate, companies that embrace innovative tools can boost employee engagement, streamline processes, and strengthen their bottom line. At From Day One’s November virtual conference, Sonya Echols, vice president of HR at Comcast, shared her insights on HR technology in a fireside chat moderated by Denver Post reporter Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton.Echols highlighted strategies for integrating technology that elevates HR from a traditional administrative role to a strategic business partner. “There are just so many choices that people have today,” Echols said. “And really trying to differentiate ourselves is something that we continue to focus on.”At Comcast, the focus on employee development informs their approach to technology: first, choose the right tools, then integrate them effectively. “Making sure that we have a robust learning and management system that meets the needs of our teammates is key,” Echols said. Choosing the Right TechnologyThere are three critical factors to consider when introducing HR technology to an organization, says Echols:Return on Investment (ROI): Investing in HR technology should bring significant value to the organization. "There’s so many things out there that seem exciting, and we all get distracted by the shiny new thing,” Echols said. “But if we’re going to really invest in HR technology, we need to make sure that it’s going to pass the sniff test around ROI.” Organizations must assess whether a new tool will truly enhance operations and deliver measurable benefits.Must-Have vs. Nice-to-Have: HR teams must prioritize essential tools over optional ones. “There are things that we as HR really, really need to be investing in, and then there’s things that are nice to have,” Echols said. By focusing on must-haves, organizations can free up time and resources for high-impact work. The goal is to choose technology that allows HR to concentrate on strategic tasks rather than administrative processes.Buy or Build?: Deciding whether to purchase or develop HR technology in-house is a crucial step. Echols encouraged companies to weigh the pros and cons of each approach. “When you think about buying HR technology off the shelf, you need to ask yourself, ‘Is this going to be customizable at all, or can I configure this at all?’ Even that could be a little bit costly,” she said. Organizations must also consider whether they have the technical expertise to manage custom solutions.Additionally, Echols stressed the importance of asking the right questions when evaluating technology vendors. “As soon as we deploy this, is it going to be outdated? Is there a newer version coming out? When are there upgrades that we will automatically be able to get from this vendor?” Understanding these dynamics is essential for making informed decisions and avoiding unnecessary expenses.Sonya Echols of Comcast, right, spoke with Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton of the Denver Post (photo by From Day One)By focusing on ROI, prioritizing must-have solutions, and carefully evaluating the decision to buy or build, organizations can ensure their HR technology investments are effective and future-proof.Thoughtful Integration Is KeyHaving the technology is one thing—integrating is something entirely different. Companies must approach integrating new technologies of any kind as thoughtfully as possible, starting with trust.A culture of trust is imperative. Echols says this should be developed constantly over time. When it comes to building trust during integrating a new technology, open communication is crucial. “Your communication cadence with your folks is also going to be important in building that trust,” Echols said. If you’re not open with employees, people are going to be afraid to ask questions. “But if you let people know, ‘Hey, this is where we’re going, and here’s how we’re going to get there,’ people are receptive to that.”Echols also highlighted the importance of involving end-users early in the process. “Getting more of the users involved sooner is probably the biggest lesson learned,” she said. “Having the people who are going to use it day in and day out get their hands on it as quickly as possible is key.”Interactive training programs, tailored to different user groups, help ease the transition. Additionally, limiting workarounds ensures employees adopt the technology rather than bypassing it. “The number one thing that helps folks adopt new tools is to limit the workarounds,” Echols said. “If people have no choice but to use it, and you show them the way and gently nudge them, they’ll get there.”Change management plays a critical role in integration. Organizations must understand potential resistance points, communicate frequently, and show employees how the technology will improve their work lives. By treating the rollout like a marketing campaign—tailored to address user pain points—companies can foster a smoother adoption process.Helping Employees Take OwnershipOne great feature of modern HR tools is that they allow employees to take ownership of their experiences, creating room for HR teams to focus on strategic initiatives.“When we think about HR technology, most people think about a human capital management system, right? We use Workday here at Comcast,” Echols said. “It has helped us in HR a lot by empowering our employees, both business leaders and non-people leaders, to own their experience. They can go in, they can look at their information at any time.” Instead of HR personally handling every employee request, technology enables individuals to access information themselves. This evolution is reshaping how HR is perceived within companies. “I think a lot of technology is moving toward self-service versus the white-glove service that we in HR typically provide,” said Echols. “Now that is shifting and evolving so folks can self-serve and allow HR to really be seen as business leaders who happen to sit in HR seats.”By empowering employees with self-service tools, prioritizing strategic technology investments, and focusing on seamless integration, companies can elevate their HR functions from administrative to transformational. Companies should approach HR tech adoption thoughtfully by focusing on ROI, scalability, and trust-building to unlock its full potential.Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.(Photo by metamorworks/iStock)
Technology and Humans: How to Reinvent the Working Relationship
BY Matthew Koehler December 30, 2024A lot of conversation around generative AI in the workforce feels dire, and many are speculating that when the dust of the AI revolution clears, humans, in many professional roles, will no longer be relevant. The counterpoint, however, is that AI will change how work is done but not necessarily as a replacement for humanity, but as an enhancement. “My team wakes up every morning thinking about, How do we discover and understand the new patterns of work, and where is work going?” said Matthew Loys Duncan, the head of future of work thought leadership at Microsoft.“I think people are scared about change, right? But in general, I think it's the concept of change, and how willing are we to really know that with change comes growth and new opportunities. And we’ve never seen that more so than recently with AI." Duncan spoke with Nicole Smith, the editorial audience director for Harvard Business Review, in a fireside chat at From Day One’s December virtual conference. They discussed the emerging patterns between technology and humans, and how AI will enhance humanity in the workplace. Distinguishing Fad From the Actual Future“First and foremost, let’s put the facts on the table. AI has been around for 40 years. It’s helped us correct our sentences [for years]. So it's been in our world; it’s just been behind the scenes.” Duncan believes AI’s potential impact on the workforce is going to be as big as the industrial revolution or the emergence of the internet. “I remember a day when there wasn’t a .com and we didn't have all this massive information. We can’t imagine a world where we don’t click and shop and it’s at my front door in a matter of hours. It’s going to have that profound of an effect.”Matthew Loys Duncan, the head of Future of Work Thought Leadership at Microsoft (Company photo)However, the profound impact and change is not going to come from one direction, and people will have to experiment with it. Duncan points out that people already are, indeed, experimenting with AI. “We’ve never seen such a massive experimentation—millions of people basically, overnight, started using it.”“The challenge is always, with anything new like this, you have to experiment. [U]nderstand how it’s applicable. And what’s unique at this moment with generative AI is its usefulness. It’s only a breakthrough when it’s useful." From planning a vacation to a big event at your kid’s school to freelance writers experimenting with it to condense information and produce workable outlines to generating ideas—everyone is still experimenting with AI. “I think it starts with individuals, but what we’ve seen in the last almost two years is leaders that believe this is a new way of how you’re going to create greater efficiency and productivity. Or a new opportunity to innovate and create like we've never done before. I’m sure everyone’s seen the meme: It’s not that you're going to lose your job to AI, you're going to lose your place in the market to those that are applying AI,” Duncan said.One of the ways Duncan points out AI’s inventiveness is in how it’s able to take the overload of information, all the historical data of, say, one organization and make good predictions from that data. “If you apply AI to that, you can actually, for the first time, layer over all that data and information and start to understand your business very explicitly.”AI is transforming how businesses approach customer retention and sales as well, Duncan observed. In customer service, AI can analyze subscription data to predict churn by identifying patterns, such as reduced usage or complaints, or signaling when a customer may cancel. This allows businesses to intervene with personalized outreach—both digital and human—to retain customers. In sales, AI acts as a copilot, helping sales representatives sift through leads to pinpoint those with the highest conversion potential. It also provides real-time coaching, offering suggestions and strategies to close deals effectively. As Duncan put it, AI enhances decision-making “at the right time and right place.”AI Could Potentially Make Us More HumanAnother fear of AI, and indeed a problem with automated customer service already, is that it’s taking the humanity out of our interactions. This raises the question, as Smith pointed out: Will there be room for human emotional intelligence in the workplace of the future? Duncan seems to think so. “I have a premise that AI will make us more human.” He cited research Microsoft has done on human performance that points to 68% of people saying “they struggle with the pace and volume of work.” After surveying 31,000 people in 31 countries about where they focus most of their time, 60% of that time goes to emails, chats, and meetings. For every email someone sends, they have to read four. “There’s not enough time in the day, not enough energy to get it done. That’s where, oddly enough, AI and generative AI, in this more useful natural-language reasoning world, become[s] our assistant and really help[s] us break through.” Duncan says that if AI can take over mundane tasks, then it can give us back about 10 hours per month, which he says can help “unlock” what makes us and allow us to focus more on “communication, connection, empathy and relationship with other humans.”Expanding on with that theme of lost time regained with AI, Smith pointed out a ubiquitous sentiment out there in the world: Technology hasn’t freed us from overwhelming work obligations. In fact, it has made us feel that we always have to be on. “Do you think AI is going to intensify that pressure to stay connected? Or do you think it can help us break free from our digital addiction?” Smith asked.“When was the last time, or where were you, when you had your last great idea?” Duncan said. “I usually hear in the shower, on a run, walking my dog. What’s common there is, we’re at a place with our own mind, where we have space to think and be creative and focus, and we need to bring that back.”Duncan touched back on the research they’ve done at Microsoft showing how AI, when utilized effectively both at work and at home, can recoup many hours of time a month lost to drudgery. “And what do you want to use with those 10 hours? And my answer is, whatever is going to make that human do better. The reality is, it’s meant to refuel and re-energize and give people the space to actually innovate and create like we’ve not been able to do for a while.”Matthew Koehler is a freelance journalist and licensed real-estate agent based in Washington, DC. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, Greater Greater Washington, The Southwester, and Walking Cinema, among others.(Illustration by Moor Studio/iStock by Getty Images)
Enhancing Global HR Tech: Balancing Data, Automation, and Human Touch
BY Matthew Koehler December 20, 2024Ankit Saxena, now the global head of people insights and HR technology at PPG Industries, has had a long career in data analytics. He has seen it all, from fraud to operational to financial to people analytics. In his experience, there are four critical takeaways: a clear business case, good storytelling, solutions, and action plans.“Whether you work in any kind of an analytics or technology environment, you have to have a clear business case. The second thing is the storytelling. Unless you connect the dots, your story is not impactful. The third thing is the solution. So you told me the problem. How do you fix it? [Finally], the action plan you're going to have. And those principles, whether you work in X analytics, y analytics or HR analytics, remain the same across the board.”Saxena spoke to the editorial audience director for Harvard Business Review, Nicole Smith during From Day One’s November virtual conference. They discussed the importance of maintaining a human touch in a rapidly evolving AI world and retrofitting existing technology with the new.When making a big move in any organization, especially one centered around people, you have to have your finger on the pulse of a lot of analytics. Saxena says it’s typical to pay attention to internal movements—how the company is performing, how the market is shifting, what major internal events are taking place, and more.There’s also people insight, which is all about gathering and analyzing employee data to understand their motivations and engagement.“If you’re looking to make a very broad kind of a decision, if you’re looking to understand what needs to be the future way of the organization from the people perspective, you have to have a pretty clear line of sight of what is happening externally as well,” said Saxena.Saxena points to how external events like Covid and inflation created ripple effects within organizations by influencing talent supply, attrition, compensation, and career dynamics. “As a professional in the analytics space, you keep a tab on all those things, not just your internal but also externally. During my career of 15 to 17 years, I have realized that if you are myopically focused internally, you will lose sight of the external environment, and if you focus too much on the external, you will lose sight of the internal.”To not get overwhelmed on managing all the external and internal metrics, Saxena says all organizations are focused on how they are [using] automation and AI.To narrow down the aperture of information and really focus on what is needed, Saxena says it’s imperative to look at the internal use case for technology. “What exactly is the benefit that you’re going to generate for your end stakeholders? Is there any kind of a buy-in that you see? Because AI is a prime example where everyone wants to jump in, but they don’t know exactly what the outcome is.”To answer that essential question above, Saxena developed a framework based on five ‘whats’:What’s the use case? What benefits do the different technologies generate? What’s the cost of implementation and maintenance? What are the future growth opportunities for any specific technology? And, what does change management look like?“Every organization struggles with their technology implementation if they don’t have robust change management,” Saxena added.Nicole Smith of the Harvard Business Review interviewed Ankit Saxena of PPG Industries “There are a lot of traditional technologies that do exist and will continue to exist. And I think that is important for us to understand that a lot of companies invest into technologies, but they are not able to make them work.”Saxena believes there’s an opportunity here with companies making their existing technology work. At previous companies, he said they would buy a technology but not fully implement it. “I think making your existing technology or tech stack work appropriately and providing you the full benefit” is a theme he's seeing in the market.Another piece of advice he offers is that before you look at the next big AI product being offered, look internally. “Rather than buying an AI technology, you should kind of look upon your current tech stack and how it kind of aligns with your AI capabilities.”“Make sure that you are using [traditional technology] to the fullest capability. Second, before you go outside [to buy] any AI capability, you should explore what tools you have and if they offer any AI capability. And can you leverage it for certain use cases to show some success and have an investment for the future?”Saxena emphasizes the importance of evaluating technology investments carefully to ensure they align with a company's vision and strategy. He notes that technology companies frequently introduce new capabilities to stay competitive in the AI space, which can create a challenge for businesses locked into long-term contracts.“Companies are not going to invest into anything new unless you have made the existing ones work, so this is a kind of a catch 22. Once you invest into long term contracts, you have to make them work,” Saxena said.Matthew Koehler is a freelance journalist and licensed real estate agent based in Washington, DC. His work has appeared in Greater Greater Washington, The Washington Post, The Southwester, and Walking Cinema, among others.
Using AI to Revolutionize Hiring for Top Talent
BY Jennifer Yoshikoshi December 11, 2024With the help of artificial intelligence, a task that would take hours, days, or even weeks to complete can now be done in five minutes, says Mike Aronson, senior director of talent acquisition at Johnson Controls.In talent acquisition, AI has been a useful tool in generating job descriptions, screening applicants, and sourcing candidates. During a panel at From Day One’s November virtual conference, executives touched on how AI has revolutionized hiring the best candidates and streamlined productivity.Balancing AI and Human OperationsLesli Stasiek, senior director of human resources at Cencora says that they maintain the “human touch” through the hiring process by still interacting through recruiters and hiring managers, while also using Phenom AI as a way to drive efficiency in filtering through applications on a daily basis. “We don’t have enough recruiters to go through everything, so we’re leveraging the AI at the top of the funnel,” said Stasiek.Cencora is still at the start of its journey with utilizing AI but Stasiek shares that she hopes it can be leveraged “internally to empower employees and give them the resources to build their careers and drive better discussions.”AI is being implemented into talent acquisition to quickly check off tedious tasks that may be taking up time that can be investing towards more productivity. When it comes to creating job postings, AI is also used to source the best candidates through algorithms within job boards. During the hiring process, AI minimizes the time recruiters spend on summarizing interview notes and conversations to provide to managers.“It’s not replacing the person. It’s making the job a bit easier so that they can have a conversation around why [they] think this person’s good,” said Aronson.Companies who use skills-based hiring processes also benefit from the efficiencies of using AI to filter through applications that match the best skill sets. Angie Lombardo, global director of operations for talent acquisition at Arcadis, says the company’s applicant tracking system has an AI that will help rank the talent pool based on skills.This tool is helpful in regions like India and the Middle East where they receive thousands of applications within a week of posting a job opportunity, says Lombardo.Mitigating Bias in AIAI functions through system memory and if human bias has already been incorporated, machines will learn to replicate the same bias. Jenny Cotie Kangas, director of talent-centered transformation at Eightfold, says that it’s important to understand how you’re using the AI, how it’s coded, and the necessary guardrails to prevent wrong decision making.“When we’re talking about job descriptions and leveraging [generative] AI for job descriptions, it’s always important to run that through some sort of anti-bias tool,” said Kangas. “We want to kind of reset and recalibrate and make sure that we’re creating job descriptions that are truly inclusive.”AI is useful in eliminating the natural human bias such as what Kangas describes as the decisions she’ll make when she’s really hungry and when she’s not. Generative AI tends to be more male leaning, she added. The system may also be seeking “charged words” to identify patterns from the past in order to predict next steps. Kangas adds that even when companies use tools like AI, it’s always important to layer other tools on top to make sure all pieces are being covered.Utilizing AI for Internal GrowthAI’s efficiency not only helps with sourcing applicants but it can also help identify current employees who are ready for development and growth as future leaders. Especially in organizations with thousands of employees, it’s almost impossible for managers to know every employee well enough to identify possible candidates.Lydia Dishman of Fast Company moderated the discussion among industry experts (photo by From Day One)“Tools like this allow us to look at not just career pathing within a function, but across multiple functions or business units,” said Stasiek. “You drive that connectivity and you drive that networking and then you can grow your pipeline and your succession planning exponentially.” Investing in the career development of current employees also increases engagement and retention.Tracking the Applicant ExperienceThe digital platform of AI, allows everything to be tracked and digitized for future data analysis. For example, hiring managers can see what questions candidates are asking a website’s embedded chatbot and understand what they are looking for and what problems need to be solved, says Aronson.The reason why websites like Amazon are visited so regularly is because it’s easy to use. Company pages should be emulating this simplicity to improve the candidate experience during application processes, he added.Especially with the culture of recruiters “ghosting,” improving the candidate experience is also a key aspect to attracting the best candidates, said Kristen Baller, head of talent acquisition at DISH Network. By using AI to cut down tedious tasks, recruiters have more time to focus on “engaging and partnering with the candidate throughout their journey,” she said.The Challenges of AIAI is a powerful tool within the corporate space and it’s now being used by more companies, but what challenges can rise with increased use?“I think education is what we’re going to have to really think about,” said Baller. “We’re giving all these teams a Ferrari but nobody’s taught them how to drive it.” Stasiek emphasized that education is important to create awareness, but change management is where leaders can really see the impact of implementing a new system.As we remember that AI is a machine, Lombardo points out that “the more that we use AI, we do have to be careful that we’re not just using AI to do our work, but we are putting that human touch on it before we put anything out to be viewed.”Jennifer Yoshikoshi is a local news and education reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Constant Change Is Bad for Business Because It’s Bad for Human Performance
BY Matthew Koehler November 20, 2024In the corporate world, change is inevitable and organizations that can’t change don’t last long. Oftentimes, change is considered a good thing until you talk to people on the frontlines of it.“At some point you have to recognize that there is a contradiction between the simplistic idea that change is necessarily a good thing and the lived experience of change on the front lines, which seems to be anything but a good thing,” said Ashley Goodall, a leadership expert and author of The Problem With Change: And the Essential Nature of Human Performance.Goodall spoke with Vox's editorial director of tech, climate, and world teams, Bryan Walsh, at From Day One’s October virtual conference. They spoke about how to navigate constant change in the business world.Uncertainty, Control, and Work Without MeaningGoodall has had a long career in the corporate world as an HR executive, most recently at Cisco. He's seen major change from the outside and inside and identifies three key themes prevalent in any chaotic change. The first is uncertainty. “We don’t do very well when the future is uncertain and when somebody says there’s a big change coming, that’s almost the definition of uncertainty.”The next is control. “When you take away our sense of agency, we feel helpless. There’s a phenomenon called learned helplessness, where people just phone it in, because they’ve been trained by their environment that whatever they do won’t make that much of a difference.”Learned helplessness is the psychological name for a loss of control, Goodall says, but it also goes by another name. “Quiet quitting is probably pretty close in a business context for people saying, ‘Hey, I don't know what I do here. Why am I trying?’”Bryan Walsh of Vox interviewed author Ashley Goodall, left, during the fireside chat (photo by From Day One)The last theme is having a sense of meaning. “We have a desperate need for the world to make sense to us,” Goodall said. Organizational change often disrupts the essential social connections that define how people work and identify themselves. Shifting teams or altering org charts can dismantle these "social graphs," leaving employees struggling to adapt. On top of that, humans have an innate need to make sense of their environment. When conflicting messages about the organization’s direction emerge, employees often feel lost and disconnected, unable to contribute effectively.Goodall noted that while leaders often recognize these challenges, their focus tends to remain narrow—fixing one change initiative at a time. The issue arises when multiple initiatives, driven by different leaders or consultants, pile up, creating chaos. To address this, organizations must rethink change holistically and prioritize creating a work environment that supports human connection and meaningful contribution.“And it’s the aggregation of all of this that is really pernicious, which means that organizations need to think differently about change, and more broadly about the experience of work here every day, and does it support human contribution,” Goodall said."What can leadership do when it comes to actually executing change?” Walsh asked. Goodall says there needs to be a sliding scale to determine when change is necessary. “The first thing to say to organizational leadership is, do less. Change. But do less. If we get through our collective heads that this isn’t an unalloyed good, this is something that can create harm more than it creates good, then I think you pause and set the bar higher on organizational change.”This doesn’t always happen but leadership can be proactive about “turning the volume down,” he said.“You can involve employees in telling you where the volume currently is,” Goodall said. "What would happen if a leader came in and said, I’m going to spend the next few weeks learning everything that works really well here, or everything that we should preserve, or everything that’s valuable, or everything that’s special, or everything that you really care about, so that we know what to protect. And once we’ve understood that, then we can think about how to improve things.”Leaders can help employees navigate change by anchoring on stability and framing it as a clear, process-driven outcome, while taking steps to promote consistency amid the chaos of multiple initiatives.Stability is a Necessary Precondition for Improvement“You could say stability is kind of the opposite of change. What does that look like?” Walsh asked.Goodall distinguished between change and improvement, which he says aren’t the same things and given a choice between the two, people would choose improvement. “The thing that we’re chasing in all of this is improvement. Well, stability is a necessary precondition for improvement.”People struggling in an organization amidst a sea of instability don’t lend to improvement. Goodall believes that improvement and positive change come from team environments, where employees know what’s going on and are valued. “If we are able to stipulate that organizational value, organizational productivity, organizational innovation, organizational goodness comes from humans working together.”If you have the above, then you’ll have something like stability, Goodall says.“What does stability look like? Stability looks like I have space to figure out the best use of my time. I’m given some autonomy.” For Goodall, true stability at work comes from personal confidence, strong team dynamics, and leaders who foster meaningful connections and mutual support.Digging more into that predictability and stability, Goodall talked about his use of weekly all-hands meetings, something Walsh pointed out that, in his experience, executives tend to despise.Goodall did not spend a whole lot of time prepping for these meetings. Instead, he used them as a personnel barometer. “It was a conversation for the leadership team that everyone got to tune into and ask questions of us.”“What we were trying to solve was, if you know what’s going on, you have space, you have agency, [then] you have predictability. You get to see the people leading your organizations when they’re not on script–when they’re not following the talking points that the communications team has put together for the all hands," Goodall added.The meetings would start with slides of birthdays, service anniversaries, or something random with a photo to spark conversation or a laugh. Then they would move onto business, and different teams would simply talk about what they were working on, what was working for them, areas of difficulty and challenge, what was coming up in the future, and more.And making things weekly, instead of a few times a year, gives organizations the opportunity to handle change as it’s happening, according to Goodall. All of this is "profoundly stabilizing." “We did this every week for years and years, and it became an organizational ritual, and people still talk about it. All we were doing was ritualizing stability and explaining to people what was going on.”Matthew Koehler is a freelance journalist and licensed real estate agent based in Washington, DC. His work has appeared in Greater Greater Washington, The Washington Post, The Southwester, and Walking Cinema, among others.
Creating a Purposeful Workplace Experience
BY Katie Chambers November 20, 2024With the major threat of the pandemic behind us, the big question is unavoidable: should we all return to the office? If you feel like opinions are sharply divided, well, you’re right!“A recent survey from McKinsey found that 52% of employees prefer a mix of both: they love that hybrid workplace, valuing flexibility, but also recognize the benefits of working in person,” said moderator Lydia Dishman, senior editor for growth and engagement at Fast Company. “And research from Gallup shows that employees who feel engaged in their workplace are more likely to want to return to the office, particularly for team collaboration and relationship building.”Deloitte reports that organizations with a strong focus on employee experience see a productivity increase of up to 20% and it also helps with turnover rates. “Ultimately, it's up to the leaders to set the policy and model what the ideal workplace situation looks like,” Dishman said during an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s October virtual conference.Corporate leaders have been saying it a lot lately: We want to make the office a magnet, not a mandate. They can make that a reality by creating the kind of experience that re-engages workers with their leaders, their colleagues, and their roles. How can employers be intentional about the workplace as a welcoming community and place where workers can fulfill their need for connection and purpose, inclusion and belonging?Encouraging In-person InteractionIt can be hard to encourage in-person interaction, even when back in the office, when employees are plugged into a post-pandemic productivity mindset of sitting at a desk, powering through tasks, and then going home. Providing team leaders with additional support can help them facilitate the organic in-office interactions that so many of us have been missing.“We’re trying to guide leaders with tools. At CSL, we’ve just launched a series of tools called Moments That Matter,” said Kim Robbins, senior director, HR change and culture at CSL Behring. “It’s encouraging leaders to coach their teams about being intentional about the work that needs to happen.” The training helps them understand the difference between moments that require ‘heads down’ focus time alone in the office or at home vs. times when they should be providing face-to-face support, such as when onboarding new hires. “Could we be encouraging people to randomly meet for lunch or come together for events? We’ve positioned all this in a framework about planning the way you work, so that people could be intentional and do some assessments for who might be missing in their network that could really help them feel that greater sense of connectivity and belonging,” Robbins said.Executive panelists from JLL, HR Media & Co., CSL Behring, and Lam Research spoke about "Creating a Purposeful Workplace Experience" (photo by From Day One) Antoinette Hamilton, global head of inclusion & diversity at Lam Research, says that employee resource groups, which first came into prominence as a way to stay virtually connected during Covid, are now another structured way to encourage organic in-person interaction. ERG’s can “be a place to connect, meet some new people, and do something for a great cause,” Hamilton said.Taking an Empathetic Approach“Empathy is a foundational principle of making a workplace someplace you want to go to,” Dishman said. Much of empathy, says Judith Ojo, CEO of HR Media & Co., comes down to open communication. “Some employees are not fond of being in the office. Maybe they can’t get enough work done or they’re constantly interrupted,” Ojo said. Make sure you understand where your employees are coming from and what they are looking for, then respond in kind. For the issues Ojo noted, creating a quiet zone, collaboration space, or wellness area for meditation can go a long way to making an employee feel comfortable, seen, and supported. Such an adaptive workspace can be helpful for fostering inclusion.Empathy can mean different things for different people, and leaders need to be prepared to take the cue from the employees. “I think listening sessions are really important. The key is you’re not trying to solve the problem. You’re listening,” said Tina Leblanc, Ph.D., head of DEI, Americas at JLL. “You listen. You pause. You come up with a solution. And then go back and say, ‘What I heard was…And these are some ideas.’ And then also ask them, ‘What do you feel we can do as a team to be more inclusive?’ That way you’re not putting your own biases [onto it].” Regular employee surveys can encourage employees to come forward.Building the Ideal WorkplaceFor many employees, Dishman says, it seems like a hybrid environment is the ideal. But making organizations cohesive and productive in a hybrid setup can seem far easier on paper than it is in practice. “Building trust within hybrid teams is really crucial to ensure collaboration and productivity,” Hamilton said. Her team does this by leaning into their core values: clear communication, mutual trust and respect, and transparency. Her organization wants its teams to feel cared about, and have created a manager track with training that incorporates inclusive leadership.Senior leaders need to communicate goals and parameters, Dishman says, so that the office continues to be a hub of connection – and so that everyone doesn’t come into the office two days per week only to spend those days on Zoom. “One thing that we have is collaborative conversations, where we bring people throughout the whole office, and even in different buildings, together,” Leblanc said. The company also encourages group lunches on Mondays, coffee on Wednesdays, and desserts on Fridays. The key is to keep thinking, ‘How do I make this more enjoyable?’ to encourage people to get up, get dressed, and commute into work. Employees should leave feeling happy and productive, says Leblanc.Hamilton says managers should be given the tools to be able to articulate the benefits of on-site work. “You’ve failed if you walk into an office and everyone is on a Zoom call,” she said. “We have to be intentional about how we work differently when we come back into in-person environments,” she said. “Managers are the catalyst for getting that done in a consistent way across organizations.”Robbins’ office encourages employees to be intentional about their meetings and not jam their schedules unnecessarily through a collaboration audit. “Do you really need to still be a part of all these meetings? Could you just only attend when there’s an agenda topic relevant to you, where you're a subject matter expert or [the] person to move this goal forward? Or could you delegate it to a junior team member to give them exposure and have greater connectivity in the office?” she said.Her organization has also invited “puppy trucks” from local animal shelters to visit so employees can play with puppies during breaks. Such activities should feel organic, and companies must be careful to avoid scheduling what feels like “mandatory fun.” Again, employees will look to their leaders to set the tone, so managers should be the first ones to dive into activities and bring the team along, Leblanc says. Let them know attendance is optional, but if they do go, ask them to bring a friend. Such participation also makes senior leaders feel more accessible. “Humanize yourself,” Leblanc said.Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost and several printed essay collections, among others, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.
The Flexible Workplace: Making It Fair for Employees and Effective for Companies
BY Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza November 14, 2024As remote workplaces become hybrid and hybrid ones adopt on-site requirements, how do companies ensure that opportunities are available to all? It’s a challenge for many. Workers made to return to the office may feel like they’re not trusted, and those who cannot report to HQ may feel like they miss out on opportunities afforded to their in-office peers.Distributed workplaces have their benefits and drawbacks, of course, but they can still be inclusive, equitable environments for all. This was the topic of conversation during a panel at From Day One’s October virtual conference on modernizing workplaces for a more flexible and inclusive era.Remote and hybrid work has expanded talent pools for employers and opened job opportunities for workers. But with dispersion comes isolation, said TJ Mercer, the director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at biotech company AbbVie. He misses the interpersonal connections that form naturally in a shared office environment. “I’ve worked in the organization for two and a half years and never got to see anybody out of the blue Zoom box.” There is value in the passive time before meetings start, when people sitting in a conference room swap stories about their weekends or their families. “Some of that small talk just doesn’t happen as organically or naturally [on Zoom]. And I think that people do miss that from time to time.”Seema Bhansali, VP of employee experience and inclusion at Henry Schein, a company that distributes medical and dental supplies to healthcare providers, sees the benefits of remote and hybrid work for DEI. A lot of folks need to be able to work from home to care for a family member, for example. But she too knows that staying connected is a challenge and, sometimes, a problem. “You don’t really get to see people that often. And what does that do for your wellness in terms of relationships and relationship building? That is one of the balance issues we still have to work out.”Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza moderated the session about "The Flexible Workplace: Making It Fair for Employees and Effective for Companies" (photo by From Day One)To encourage workplace camaraderie, “we bring people together, either virtually or in-person, for ‘connection days,’” Bhansali said. Their most recent connection day was spent building care kits for colleagues who were affected by Hurricane Helene. “We try to do these across the globe in different, culturally relevant ways, with some frequency.” They also gather people virtually for games and good-spirited competitions. “We try to be really intentional about how we are setting the culture,” she explained. “What do we want people to experience? And how are we making sure it’s good for folks who are in person, folks who are hybrid, and folks who are fully remote.”At insurance company Aflac, where employees living within 50 miles of an office are on-site at least three days per week, VP of total rewards Kelli Henderson encourages managers to make the most of those in-person work days. “That’s the day that you have your team meetings,” she said. “There are things that you have to be really purposeful about. It does take a little bit more time, a little bit more coordination and organization, but we have seen the benefits.”Of course, Henderson has felt resistance from employees who don’t want to return to the office at all. “We announced last March that we were going to have a 60% return-to-the-office. Our executive team really saw the importance of bringing people together, having people work together, and we got a ton of pushback from our employees.” Many equated the mandate with mistrust since they have been working fully remote for years. “We had to have a lot of conversations about the importance of coming together to be able to collaborate,” Henderson explained. The company expected some workers to leave as a result of the change, but they ultimately lost fewer than a dozen. “I think as much as you hear griping and complaining, we do work really hard to show the importance of being in the office, so people understand.”Calling the workforce back to the office must be done tactfully, said Michael Watson, senior director at AI-powered talent intelligence platform Eightfold. “It can’t just be about ‘Well, this is the way it used to be, and I’d love to see you now, and I’m the boss,” he said. Such a mandate won’t land well. “That’s not the type of organization that I’d want to work in. But if the organization said, ‘Mike, love the work you’re doing. We would love to see if it’s possible for you to come back in. Let’s have individual conversations. Let’s understand everyone’s circumstances.’” With that request, he says, he may be inclined to change his tune. Allowances should be made discerningly for those who need them: Someone might be a caregiver and needs some flexibility, and employers need to be willing to help them out. “You just can’t have a blanket policy,” he said.If you do have a distributed workforce, managers must be careful to not favor on-site workers over remote ones if their results and productivity is the same. “Those intangibles are really starting to show up,” AbbVie’s Mercer noted. But overall, he’s been pleased with managers’ cognizance, and they’ve lately seen a number of women promoted within the company.Aflac examined the experience for remote workers and found it lacking in some ways, so Henderson and her team made adjustments. “We went as far as testing all of our conference rooms because we realized that it wasn’t [a great experience] for those that were remote–maybe they could see one person or they had trouble hearing–so we really had to beef up the equipment and technology. That’s important to do if you’re going to have a mixture of on-site and off-site employees, so that everybody feels that they have the same seat at the table.”Sponsorship and mentorship can also help level the playing field within a distributed workforce. “Sponsorship is taking somebody’s career under your wing, having the conversations about them in rooms where they aren’t and don’t have access to,” Bhansali explained, proud of their practices at Henry Schein.Mentorship can be especially helpful for the youngest members of the workforce, many of whom started their careers during Covid lockdowns and have little exposure to office environments. The Washington Post reported in October that office etiquette classes are increasingly popular.“How do early career team members really get some of the unwritten rules of the workplace?” Henderson asked. The company set expectations for both technical and soft skills all workers need, then encouraged both sponsorship and mentorship to reinforce those skills and behaviors. Early career development is not the task it used to be, she says. “I think the mistake people make is they just try to use what worked and keep going, and that is not functional today.”At Eightgold, Watson helps workers create a path between where they are and where they want to be, and the appetite is there. “That’s where our business is really booming with these large organizations–just getting a grip on what skills they have, and not just skills, but what skills adjacencies they have.”“Expectations are different than they’ve been in the past,” Bhansali said. “And that’s not just about the hybrid workforce. That’s about a generational change in the workforce.” New workers expect skill development and a chance to exercise those skills, and leaders expect support. “Those layer onto the hybrid conversation in ways that folks don’t realize, but we have to put all these things together.”Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a freelance journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about work, the job market, and women’s experiences in the workplace. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Quartz, Business Insider, Fast Company, and Digiday’s Worklife.
A New Model for Inclusive Engagement, Built on Trust and Innovation
BY Stephanie Reed November 11, 2024Most people picture farmers on tractors plowing fields as part of traditional agriculture. However, now the use of iPads, drones, and AI can map fields and direct smart tractors. These solutions are easing the workload of farmers and attracting non-traditional talent.At From Day One’s October virtual conference, Courtney White, head of human resources at BASF, discussed several of these modern-day farming solutions that redefine agricultural work. His goal at BASF is to attract a wider scope of talent into the agricultural industry.“We think that this notion of feeding the world is amazing in itself, but a lot of folks don’t think about it that simply,” White said. “They don’t think about the technology that goes into it and the fact that we need people from a variety of backgrounds in order to deliver what we refer to at BASF as solutions to do the biggest job on Earth.”White discussed BASF’s employee engagement model, emphasizing that a foundational culture of trust is essential for sustaining productivity. Data and science-driven innovation opens up fresh opportunities to engage and attract both internal talent and non-traditional external talent, says White.Trust and an Employee Engagement ModelBASF’s effective employee engagement model comprises six fundamental values: safety, reward & recognition, development, empowerment, inclusion, and purpose.Courtney White of BASF was interviewed by Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton of the Denver Post (photo by From Day One)White reflected on an experience with a millennial employee, engaging with and navigating through their generational differences according to those values. “[H]ow do we lean into the freshness of what each generation brings to the table, and then where we have differences, the question is, how do we work through them?”Lastly, establishing rapport through transparent communication is the foundation of trust. White stressed that ambiguity challenges trust, making it essential to communicate with others. This employee engagement model upholds inclusivity, development, leadership, productivity, and trust.Sustainable Agricultural InnovationBASF is an organization combining scientific models with innovation to create sustainable solutions. Its services include agricultural innovation to help farmers overcome environmental and economic challenges while producing more sustainable food.By 2030, the organization will have implemented more than 30 major research and development projects providing seeds, crop protection products, and digital services for sustainable agriculture solutions, says White. The organization projects that farmers will have to feed 9.7 billion people by 2050 and that further digitalization will be necessary to achieve this.Some other examples of digitalization include a Smart Spraying Solution that “recognizes weeds and allows a precise application of herbicides, which maximizes productive land use and reduces the environmental impact by lowering the volume of herbicides applied.” BASF has also invested in indoor growing systems like hydroponic systems for growing lettuce in any location to avoid long transport distances and cut CO2 emissions.Modernizing agricultural work via digitalization involves the contribution of the non-traditional worker: this is why investing in the innovation pipeline through engagement and inclusivity is crucial to the organization.The company invests in externships and works with youth leaders to inspire people to consider agricultural work. Externships invite non-traditional talent to spend a week learning about agricultural innovation at BASF. Then, they are offered roles.Next, by engaging youth leadership in groups such as Agricultural Future of America (AFA) and Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (MANRRS), BASF invests in the innovation pipeline as early as elementary school and extends to college students.“They have the tagline, we’re changing the face of agriculture,” White said of one group he works with. “And I appreciate that so much because I think behind it comes this great spirit of, how is it that we can be a part of the change that agriculture is going through?”Stephanie Reed is a freelance news, marketing, and content writer. Much of her work features small business owners throughout diverse industries. She is passionate about promoting small, ethical, and eco-conscious businesses.
Investing in Employees: A Key to Resilience in Challenging Times
BY Carrie Snider October 29, 2024Investing in employees is not just a good practice—it’s a necessity, particularly in challenging times. Companies must prioritize their people across all facets, from recruitment and retention to leadership development. When the going gets tough, the best organizations focus even more intently on their workforce, knowing that their success is deeply intertwined with the well-being of their employees. This was the core message shared by a diverse panel of industry leaders at the From Day One’s September virtual conference. Moderated by independent journalist Jenny Sucov, the discussion explored the various strategies companies are employing to put their people first in today’s uncertain environment.Recruiting in Rural AreasMarvin, premium manufacturer of custom windows and doors, is based in Warroad, Minnesota, with over 17 locations across the U.S. and Canada. They’ve struggled to find enough workers in smaller communities, so they took a different approach.Panelist Renee Rice, senior director of communications and culture at Marvin, says to address the problem, they implemented the Path North program. They work with staffing agencies to bring in employees from Puerto Rico and different areas of Florida. “It definitely has been a successful program for us,” Rice said. “We've hired over 150 employees at a couple of our major northern plants. Some of them have come on their own. A lot of them have come with their families, and they’re truly becoming a part of the community so that they want to stay with Marvin for the long term.”Marvin also worked with local schools to help them prepare for an influx of students, and with with local grocery stores to make sure there is a variety of foods depending on the population coming in. By fostering a sense of belonging, Marvin ensures these employees are more likely to stay with the company long-term.Their key to success comes down to providing stability, a sense of security, and community, says Rice. Companies can’t think of culture as separate from business, she says. Culture is in the service of the business. Not only that, but it’s not static. Organizations should expect culture to shift, especially as business and people change. She suggested that companies ask themselves the following: “Where is the business headed? But then also how might our culture need to evolve to best enable and. best support that business strategy and that business direction?” It takes a lot of research but it’s important to keep your eye on it to truly understand your company culture. Employee EngagementDocuSign recently underwent a rebranding effort, evolving from a company known primarily for electronic signatures to an intelligent agreement management firm. But it wasn’t only about what the company offered customers—it also involved an internal cultural alignment. Panelist Iesha Berry, VP, chief talent and diversity officer at DocuSign, says that they engaged with employees so they could be an important part of the rebranding journey. To support this cultural shift, DocuSign has implemented several initiatives focused on employee engagement. One key effort is the creation of a talent brand video that offers a day in the life perspective at the company, including insights from leadership and employees worldwide.The panelists spoke on the topic, "People First: The Crucial Role of Investing in Employees in Challenging Times," during the virtual conference (photo by From Day One)“We created a video that highlights DocuSign with a global view, including a message from our CEO and our president of growth, but also including employees from around the world talking about their roles [day-to-day],” Berry said. The initiative aims to attract and engage new talent, focused on increasing diversity and accelerating career development. One very successful employee engagement initiative was a company-wide hackathon, designed to foster cross-functional collaboration and innovation. The event involved over 550 employees from around the world put into teams from different functions to help develop different types of thought leadership and foster a differentiated employee experience. “Through the hackathon, we had 110 projects,” she said. “The goal was to bring our values to life, particularly our innovation value, our simplicity value, our trust and unity value, and, of course, our customer focus value. And as a result, we had 30 plus teams and winners from around the world that were recognized for their efforts to deliver hacks that will ultimately be assessed for particular potentiality of getting a patent.”The CEO was thrilled with what our employees were able to deliver, Berry says. Beyond the hacks, the shared vision and engagement was everything. Employee RetentionChedraui encompasses three grocery chains: Smart & Final, El Super, and Fiesta. Joe Tischbern, VP of talent development and engagement at Chedraui U.S.A., says recruitment isn’t the issue. With 25,000 across its grocery stores, the issue is retaining talent. “It’s not hard at an entry level to get a lot of people to apply for jobs. My very unique career path is that I went from cashier a lot of years ago, I won’t say how, long ago, to vice president today. And one of the things we try to do is help people find themselves,” he said.Some who start at entry level in college may not initially think it will be a long-term gig. But then there are others who wonder if there are opportunities if they stay. Can they move up? How? So they’ve created career paths so employees can better see how to get there. “We do it very intentionally,” Tischbern said. The results have been promising. “While we might have very high turnover at entry level, we have much lower turnover once people get to, let’s say, full time status, and then move toward management, very low turnover, because people can see the career path for them.” The company went through a lot of changes in the past several years, following the purchase of El Super and Fiesta. Each of the three grocery store chains had unique ways of doing things, and they had to come together into one corporate office. “The interesting moment was when we all moved into the office together, and we had to look at each other and say, Okay, how are we going to go to work?” There wasn’t a lot of trust at first, which was understandable. So they implemented a learning program so they could all learn together.“What we found was that as people learn together, their walls start to come down.” They also involved store leaders and developing core values. Turns out, they all mostly wanted the same things. But to have that ownership and trust was invaluable. On the corporate side, one of the companies was used to having a lot of meetings, but another one had hardly any. So they had to look at the reasoning behind them. Do we need them all? Or are there any key collaborations we’re missing?“Now they’ve found a happy medium. And I think that was one of the, one of the beautiful moments that we saw as we came together.”Leadership DevelopmentThinkHuman is a leadership development organization, including cohort-based programs and executive coaching for senior leadership. Founder and CEO Meredith Haberfeld says they have the opportunity not only to hear their own employee challenges, but also facets of what clients are facing. “We are hearing much more from the collective employee voice, the desire for security. If you imagine the pendulum swing, there are times where it's a growth economy,” she said. In times like those, people are thinking about their next job opportunity. But the pendulum has swung the other way. “Right now, it is much more of a mode of, how do I ensure that the company is secure and my job is secure, and that I'm doing the right things to have an important place here over time?”Along with that, employees want transparency. They want employers that are honest about the state of the business and the work. Employees always want a sense of community inside the workplace, and focusing on managers and leaders can help to make that happen. They must intentionally focus on creating that sense of community within the organization, she says.“People leaders are really coming to understand they have to create that interconnectivity within their teams and cross functionally. That really strengthens the fabric for people to feel like, oh, I have a place here that I can feel inside this community.Since the pandemic, ThinkHuman saw a lot of investment in frontline managers who were the core of the teams, so companies needed to equip them with proper training and the tools to be the leaders they needed to be. A few years past the pandemic, that has shifted somewhat. Now, there has also been a push on investment in senior leaders, rather than frontline managers. “I think with the global uncertainty and election year, we’re seeing a lot of more conservative approach to how people are running their business and employees wanting security and transparency.” That’s good, she says, but companies should not forget about their managers. Leadership development at all levels is key, as it trickles down to employees and helps put them first. Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.