February 23, 2023 • 19 mins
In today's fast-paced and dynamic workplace, employees' expectations of their work experiences have changed significantly. It's no longer enough for organizations to offer competitive salaries and benefits. Today, employees seek meaningful work, a sense of purpose, and opportunities for growth and development. To attract and retain top talent, companies must create an exceptional employee experience.
Join host Shari Simpson and guests Tracy Klein and Noreen Macmahon as they discuss how organizations can enable their managers to create unforgettable employee experiences. They explore the key elements that contribute to creating an outstanding employee experience, such as a culture of trust, transparency, and inclusivity, as well as opportunities for growth and development, recognition, and work-life balance.
Guest(s): Tracy Klein, Senior Manager of Employee Experience and Noreen MacMahon, Director of Organizational Development at Paylocity
Tracy leverages digital analytics to implement, transform, and drive meaningful business decisions at all levels of an organization as a strategic, forward-thinking leader with over 15 years of HR experience, Whether in her current role as Senior Manager of Employee Experience at Paylocity, where she curates moments that matter or in her previous roles establishing Total Workforce strategies and forecasting, Tracy is always seeking her next opportunity to work cross-functionally. Her unique point of view comes from working across many industries with a desire not only to learn but help bridge the gap.
Noreen MacMahon has been able to grow and practice many skills over the last 20+ years. Some favorites are, facilitating, debriefing assessments, coaching professionals at all levels, designing and implementing change management plans focused on people, and supporting people in being their most capable and confident versions of themselves. She values the trusted relationships she has built. Fairness and respect are core values for her. These are the differentiators that have enabled her success Her constants are that she loves to learn, is an evangelist for curiosity, is an early adopter of technology, and is energized by change.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
(bright music)
- Hey, and welcome to PCTY Talks.
I'm your host, Shari Simpson.
During our time together, we'll stay close
to the news and info youneed to succeed as an HR pro.
And together we'll explore topics
around HR thought leadership, compliance
(00:22):
and real life HR situationswe face every day.
Joining me on the podcasttoday is Tracy Klein
a senior manager of employeeexperience here at Paylocity
and we have another guesttoday, actually, Noreen MacMahon
our director of organizational development
also here at Paylocity.
(00:42):
So Tracy and Noreen, thanks somuch for jumping on with me.
- So happy to be here.- To be here.
- So we have a reallyinteresting topic today
and it's something that I've been thinking
out loud about in talking to a bunch
of different people about when it comes
to how we think about employee experience
and the pressure expectationsthat we're putting
(01:04):
on our middle managersto really bring some
of these employeeexperience moments to life.
So I wanna center ourconversation around that
and I'd love to start with youTracy, and your background.
You know, when you think aboutwhat employees really want
when we talk about employee experience
what are you hearing?
- So for me, I think employeeexperience, we do try
(01:26):
and overcomplicate it withwhat are we giving them?
What surveys have we doneto find out what they want?
And I think the reality
of it is it starts verysimply when they start
in the organization, you wannabe seen, you wanna know that
that they wanted you there.
And it moves into being heardwhen something is going well
(01:49):
or when something is not going so well.
Do you have somewhere to go to feel heard?
But then eventually
once you've created those relationships
is what you have to say being valued?
Is your expertise and thethings you're bringing
to the table being valued?
And we can value things in different ways.
(02:10):
It's by through influence.
It's being asked to join at times.
It's seeing a project go to to end
it's delivering aproduct, whatever that is
that value is interpreted
by each individual in a certainway, how they feel that.
And then eventually tobe empowered to have
the ability to makedecisions, to make change
(02:32):
to see your impact on the organization
to see your impact withinsomething that you wanted changed.
And so I think
if we just break it down tothose four things, as we move
through our own employeejourneys and as managers
are we paying attention to those things?
And how do we show the employees
that that is happening for them?
(02:54):
- How have you seen leadership initiatives
or business initiativeschange as this push
for more experience-basedemployee moments has risen?
- So I do feel like we have gotten
into a space where we wanna map things
and we wanna look atpersonas and we wanna do lots
of surveys because we wannaknow like what's happening
(03:17):
and how we choose those initiatives
how we choose the thingsthat an executive wants to do
or leadership wants to do.
How are we aligning our business needs
with what the employee is asking?
Where do those go?
And so I think we can do thosesmall moments that matter
(03:38):
within a manager space
within each other on teamslistening to each other
and valuing each other inthose safe environments.
But from an initiative standpoint, I feel
like we we're lookingmore at personas like how
did the DEIA path fit in forthat specific employee set?
(04:00):
How are we treating mothers?
We're following those typesof paths, but I think we can
we can go a little bit deeperwith our managers and say
you don't have to digto the persona level.
You really can justlook at the person level
and who you're working with
and ask yourself those fourthings, are they being seen?
Are they being heard?
Are they being valued?
(04:21):
Have you empowered them inevery little thing you do?
- I think those are really good points
for managers to start to consider.
And so this next questionis for you, Noreen.
When I think about thosebusiness initiatives layered
on with the expectations we have
for employees, where dowe even start to begin to
equip our managers tomeet these business needs
(04:44):
and create these greatemployee experiences?
- I really believe that it all starts
off with just recognizingeveryone's human.
I think sometimes managers forget
that they're human as well.
And these days, mental health,the whole person at work
there's different stressorsand they're not the same
(05:05):
for every employee, butthey're just as impactful.
So I think sometimesit's just easier to focus
in on the work rather than the person.
And I echo what Tracy said.
You really have to knowhow to see your people
the way they wanna be seen,
value them the way they wannabe valued and include them.
(05:30):
It would really just be
for the managers to be more comfortable
with the human side or theempathetic side of leadership.
- So what is that exactly?
What are the skills that ourmanagers either need to learn
and or we need to help themdeepen or widen their skillset?
(05:50):
What are some of those thingsthat you're seeing translate
into creating these greatemployee experiences
if the managers have these skills?
- When I think about theskills our managers need
especially in today's workforce,
it number one is communication.
How do you communicate face-to-face?
How do you communicatewith a virtual team?
(06:11):
I think it would also behow do we include everyone?
So we see lots of companies saying return
to office 'cause we wannadrive collaboration.
I don't necessarily thinkit happens in an office
but you do have to be aleader that is sharing
what's top of mind
(06:32):
and not having everythingso perfect or buttoned down.
So that would lead me to the next skill
which is just being comfortable
with being wrong and knowingyou tried your best, right?
Showing up the way youwant your employees to.
I always say it's better tomake a mistake really big
so we can fix it.
(06:53):
And then you don't have to worry
about making that mistake again
rather than being so fearful
or thinking you need tohave it all buttoned down
that you don't try or you do it you know
halfway and you can't reallybe sure if it landed correctly.
I would also say askyour employees, right?
(07:15):
Sometimes we're afraidof the emotional side
or the people side, but askthem, how did that feel?
I know I threw that at at the last minute.
How did that make you feel?
Or really, sorry thiswork didn't move forward.
I'm sure that made you feel a certain way.
And the last thing I would sayis remember what it was like
(07:38):
when you were an employeeand you had a middle manager
and how many things did youthink that your manager knew?
And now that you are themanager, how many things just
don't even come your way?
So I just think it's importantto remember the expectation
that your employee has
of you, and to recalibratethat whenever possible.
(08:01):
- Communication is so important.
And I loved your examples.
It made me think of onethat I encountered this week
which I hadn't before.
I was in my one-on-one andI have a great relationship
with my supervisor, greatpsychological safety.
And she started the conversation by saying
are you open for some feedback today?
Which she's never done that before.
And I was like, well, that thatwas kind of a weird question
(08:23):
but she explained it something that
she's trying herself tobe empathetic, right?
And to know where somebody'shead at, excuse me
where somebody's head is at in the moment.
And that simple act I thoughtwas really interesting
because it put this perspective
on the relationship fromemployee and manager to say, Hey
I wanna make sure I'm supporting you
(08:44):
and giving you the feedback you need.
I also wanna make sure that you're
in a moment where you can receive it
'cause those things don'tnecessarily always match.
So I think communicationwas a really great one
to start with, as youthink about this Noreen,
what responsibility do you think lies
in the space of HR and L&D
to train our managers tobe able to do these things?
(09:07):
- I think there's responsibility
in exposing and reinforcing.
I would also say that it's more
about training theleader of leaders, right?
More like you're not gonna send somebody
to a class and suddenlythey're gonna be empathetic.
(09:28):
It's about creating experiences where they
can step their toe in andrealize, you know what?
I didn't lose credibility.
They're still following me.
Okay, it's safe, right?
It's creating those opportunities.
In my past life, I worked
for a company that had theCEO was just frustrated
(09:51):
and annoyed by the levels of hierarchy,
the flow down of information
and the fear-based leadership approach.
Like do what I say and do it now.
And he brought in a team of experts
(10:11):
and he started doingtraining from the top down
but he also changed theway people were rewarded.
He changed how feedback wasgathered and responded to.
There was no spinning the results.
He came right out andsaid, look, we're low.
We're really low.
There's nowhere to go but up,but we're gonna get there.
And he shared the progress
(10:33):
and he was transparent aboutwhat results were important
in his mind and what results were not.
So that's where I see it moreas an organizational approach
but HR and L&D support elements of that.
But if there's not aculture of transparency
(10:55):
from the top or awillingness to be vulnerable
and share what you're working
on and what's important to you,
I wouldn't say it's trainingand hr, it's leadership
acknowledging what's important to them
and then lining up theirbehaviors to match.
- I agree.
I think modeling that behaviorat the top is really key.
(11:19):
You're not gonna changethe mindset of anyone else
in the organization if it'snot being modeled at the top.
And if safety and opennessand vulnerability is what we
believe the culture tobe at that organization
and you want to cascade that down,
(11:41):
it does have to start there.
It's not gonna work its way to the top.
At some point you'regonna meet the ceiling
and those employees are gonna have a very
different experience onceyou hit that ceiling, so.
- With all of thesedifferent components, right?
When I think about the softskills we talked about, right?
Communication, transparency,you know, the example you gave
(12:03):
about changing how thisleader was recognizing people
aligning performance, rewards
sharing what was happeningin the organization.
So you take all that and then you take
in kind of what employeeshave been expecting now
and the way they'redefining experience, right?
So it might be, I get to go fully remote
I have unlimited PTO, I have, you know
(12:26):
my medical fully paid for, you know, Tracy
as you've kind of gone downthis road of employee experience
and just digging into it more and more
what's realistic toexpect for outcomes when
you're implementing strategiesaround employee experience?
Because there is a component
of some tactical things tochange to look at, right?
Benefit offerings andthose kinds of things.
(12:48):
But I think a lot of this leans
into what we've already talkedabout, more communication
more leadership development,more transparency.
So what can we expectto be able to accomplish
in our organizations?
- That is a tough question.
What can we expect?
And I think that's again, it starts
at your leadership spot.
Like what tone, what cultureare they planning to set?
(13:10):
And then that will drivewhat you can deliver.
We can throw in all of theextra pay and the extra PTO
but if you don't have time autonomy
within your organization andit's not appreciated and given
back and empoweredemployee isn't empowered to
make those decisions in their space
(13:30):
it doesn't matter how much time
off or how much money you give them.
So all of those pieces that Ithink historically we've seen
as like the, the perks, thebenefits, the employee things,
they're just that, they're things.
And I think the employeepopulation now has woken up
to the fact that timeautonomy is important.
(13:52):
Being respected, being seen,being heard, their value
what they bring to the table
their point of view isthe most important thing.
And when your leadership values that,
your initiatives will come
they're all just supportingextra icing on the cake, right?
You will see peoplecollaborating better together.
(14:14):
You won't need these hugeprojects to make people feel
like they wanna stay or
that they wanna participateor be productive.
It will be something thatwill just come naturally
because who doesn'twant to be around people
that see them and valuewhat they have to say
and want more and wannachange what they're doing
(14:37):
based on the experience
that somebody else has thatthey're bringing to the table.
Those are the best collaborative moments
and creating those environments to work
are the biggest employee experience.
And you don't need hugeinitiatives to do those things.
- If you're listening and you're wondering
how do I get my leadershipto get on board with this?
(15:00):
That's a great question
and I'm gonna pose that to you Noreen
'cause I think it's acombination of, there's things
of like what's gonnaget in our way and then
how do we influence leadershipto see this as a priority?
Because I have definitelyworked with managers
over the years who arebeing judged against KPIs
but they're creating terribleemployee experiences.
(15:21):
And so that's somethingthat gets in our way, right?
The way that metrics are being looked at.
So what are some thingsthat we need to be aware of
and that we can helpinfluence as HR leaders?
- I'm feeling that since the pandemic
and with the most recent changes
in just being able toattract talent, retain talent
(15:44):
and now it's flipping again, right?
Where maybe the employerhas the upper hand
but what I'm most passionate about
is behaviors lining upwith whatever's being said.
So don't tell me we value transparency
(16:04):
and you bringing the whole person to work
and then you tell people they need to be
in the office five daysa week and you don't care
that they have elder careissues or childcare issues.
So it's lining up behaviorswith what is important
(16:24):
and being honest about what is important.
I would also say thatcompanies that are going
through significant growthor restructure need to think
about what can stay and what needs to go
and how do we help employees understand.
(16:46):
Smaller companies mayhave people who are always
involved, right?
So maybe I'm the OD person
but I also facilitatenew hire orientation.
So you start doing two jobs,three jobs and you're used
to being able to justdo it because you know
and now when you get bigger
(17:08):
not everybody knows what you bring.
Not everybody knows
that you are the personthat does that, right?
Even though it's not on the org chart.
So to help our leadersunderstand is what are the parts
of your culture that you wanna proactively
and mindfully keep andwhat needs to change
(17:31):
and how do I explain that to employees?
That would be the biggest thing.
I think what gets
in the way is we stayfocused to your point
on KPIs and money and onceyour bills are being paid
once you know you havethat security and safety
then you wanna self-actualize.
(17:52):
You wanna know that youmade a difference that you
know you were the go-to personor that you got that done.
The last thing I wouldjust say about that though
is not every employeebrings value the same way
and being able to recognizethe different ways.
(18:12):
'Cause being an employee,you're in a relationship, right?
Just like there's the fivelove languages for, you know
your relationship witha significant other.
There's the five lovelanguages of work as well.
So taking the time to getto know what's important
and what's valued.
- Such great advice overall.
(18:33):
Noreen and Tracy, I think this is a topic
we're gonna continue to talk about
and it's gonna evolve as thelandscape of work evolves
as the expectations on whatflexibility means, changes.
As we put more on our middle managers
I think this is a reallyunique opportunity
for us in HR to helpsupport the business goals
(18:53):
and really create betterexperiences overall.
And I like that you leanedin and said Tracy, like
it's not necessarily about, you know
PTO and the the things, right?
It's much deeper than that.
And so helping our leadership understand
that it's much deeper than that.
And starting with communication
and transparency I think is key.
So Tracy and Noreen, thanks
(19:14):
for taking a few minutes ofyour day to chat with me.
- Thank you.
- Thanks Shari.
- This podcast is broughtto you by Paylocity
a leading HCM provider thatfrees you from the tasks
of today so you can focus moreon the promise of tomorrow.
If you'd like to submit atopic or appear as a guest
on a future episode, email usat PCTYtalks@paylocity.com.
(bright music)
- Hey, and welcome to PCTY Talks.
I'm your host, Shari Simpson.
During our time together, we'll stay close
to the news and info youneed to succeed as an HR pro.
And together we'll explore topics
around HR thought leadership, compliance
(00:22):
and real life HR situationswe face every day.
Joining me on the podcasttoday is Tracy Klein
a senior manager of employeeexperience here at Paylocity
and we have another guesttoday, actually, Noreen MacMahon
our director of organizational development
also here at Paylocity.
(00:42):
So Tracy and Noreen, thanks somuch for jumping on with me.
- So happy to be here.- To be here.
- So we have a reallyinteresting topic today
and it's something that I've been thinking
out loud about in talking to a bunch
of different people about when it comes
to how we think about employee experience
and the pressure expectationsthat we're putting
(01:04):
on our middle managersto really bring some
of these employeeexperience moments to life.
So I wanna center ourconversation around that
and I'd love to start with youTracy, and your background.
You know, when you think aboutwhat employees really want
when we talk about employee experience
what are you hearing?
- So for me, I think employeeexperience, we do try
(01:26):
and overcomplicate it withwhat are we giving them?
What surveys have we doneto find out what they want?
And I think the reality
of it is it starts verysimply when they start
in the organization, you wannabe seen, you wanna know that
that they wanted you there.
And it moves into being heardwhen something is going well
(01:49):
or when something is not going so well.
Do you have somewhere to go to feel heard?
But then eventually
once you've created those relationships
is what you have to say being valued?
Is your expertise and thethings you're bringing
to the table being valued?
And we can value things in different ways.
(02:10):
It's by through influence.
It's being asked to join at times.
It's seeing a project go to to end
it's delivering aproduct, whatever that is
that value is interpreted
by each individual in a certainway, how they feel that.
And then eventually tobe empowered to have
the ability to makedecisions, to make change
(02:32):
to see your impact on the organization
to see your impact withinsomething that you wanted changed.
And so I think
if we just break it down tothose four things, as we move
through our own employeejourneys and as managers
are we paying attention to those things?
And how do we show the employees
that that is happening for them?
(02:54):
- How have you seen leadership initiatives
or business initiativeschange as this push
for more experience-basedemployee moments has risen?
- So I do feel like we have gotten
into a space where we wanna map things
and we wanna look atpersonas and we wanna do lots
of surveys because we wannaknow like what's happening
(03:17):
and how we choose those initiatives
how we choose the thingsthat an executive wants to do
or leadership wants to do.
How are we aligning our business needs
with what the employee is asking?
Where do those go?
And so I think we can do thosesmall moments that matter
(03:38):
within a manager space
within each other on teamslistening to each other
and valuing each other inthose safe environments.
But from an initiative standpoint, I feel
like we we're lookingmore at personas like how
did the DEIA path fit in forthat specific employee set?
(04:00):
How are we treating mothers?
We're following those typesof paths, but I think we can
we can go a little bit deeperwith our managers and say
you don't have to digto the persona level.
You really can justlook at the person level
and who you're working with
and ask yourself those fourthings, are they being seen?
Are they being heard?
Are they being valued?
(04:21):
Have you empowered them inevery little thing you do?
- I think those are really good points
for managers to start to consider.
And so this next questionis for you, Noreen.
When I think about thosebusiness initiatives layered
on with the expectations we have
for employees, where dowe even start to begin to
equip our managers tomeet these business needs
(04:44):
and create these greatemployee experiences?
- I really believe that it all starts
off with just recognizingeveryone's human.
I think sometimes managers forget
that they're human as well.
And these days, mental health,the whole person at work
there's different stressorsand they're not the same
(05:05):
for every employee, butthey're just as impactful.
So I think sometimesit's just easier to focus
in on the work rather than the person.
And I echo what Tracy said.
You really have to knowhow to see your people
the way they wanna be seen,
value them the way they wannabe valued and include them.
(05:30):
It would really just be
for the managers to be more comfortable
with the human side or theempathetic side of leadership.
- So what is that exactly?
What are the skills that ourmanagers either need to learn
and or we need to help themdeepen or widen their skillset?
(05:50):
What are some of those thingsthat you're seeing translate
into creating these greatemployee experiences
if the managers have these skills?
- When I think about theskills our managers need
especially in today's workforce,
it number one is communication.
How do you communicate face-to-face?
How do you communicatewith a virtual team?
(06:11):
I think it would also behow do we include everyone?
So we see lots of companies saying return
to office 'cause we wannadrive collaboration.
I don't necessarily thinkit happens in an office
but you do have to be aleader that is sharing
what's top of mind
(06:32):
and not having everythingso perfect or buttoned down.
So that would lead me to the next skill
which is just being comfortable
with being wrong and knowingyou tried your best, right?
Showing up the way youwant your employees to.
I always say it's better tomake a mistake really big
so we can fix it.
(06:53):
And then you don't have to worry
about making that mistake again
rather than being so fearful
or thinking you need tohave it all buttoned down
that you don't try or you do it you know
halfway and you can't reallybe sure if it landed correctly.
I would also say askyour employees, right?
(07:15):
Sometimes we're afraidof the emotional side
or the people side, but askthem, how did that feel?
I know I threw that at at the last minute.
How did that make you feel?
Or really, sorry thiswork didn't move forward.
I'm sure that made you feel a certain way.
And the last thing I would sayis remember what it was like
(07:38):
when you were an employeeand you had a middle manager
and how many things did youthink that your manager knew?
And now that you are themanager, how many things just
don't even come your way?
So I just think it's importantto remember the expectation
that your employee has
of you, and to recalibratethat whenever possible.
(08:01):
- Communication is so important.
And I loved your examples.
It made me think of onethat I encountered this week
which I hadn't before.
I was in my one-on-one andI have a great relationship
with my supervisor, greatpsychological safety.
And she started the conversation by saying
are you open for some feedback today?
Which she's never done that before.
And I was like, well, that thatwas kind of a weird question
(08:23):
but she explained it something that
she's trying herself tobe empathetic, right?
And to know where somebody'shead at, excuse me
where somebody's head is at in the moment.
And that simple act I thoughtwas really interesting
because it put this perspective
on the relationship fromemployee and manager to say, Hey
I wanna make sure I'm supporting you
(08:44):
and giving you the feedback you need.
I also wanna make sure that you're
in a moment where you can receive it
'cause those things don'tnecessarily always match.
So I think communicationwas a really great one
to start with, as youthink about this Noreen,
what responsibility do you think lies
in the space of HR and L&D
to train our managers tobe able to do these things?
(09:07):
- I think there's responsibility
in exposing and reinforcing.
I would also say that it's more
about training theleader of leaders, right?
More like you're not gonna send somebody
to a class and suddenlythey're gonna be empathetic.
(09:28):
It's about creating experiences where they
can step their toe in andrealize, you know what?
I didn't lose credibility.
They're still following me.
Okay, it's safe, right?
It's creating those opportunities.
In my past life, I worked
for a company that had theCEO was just frustrated
(09:51):
and annoyed by the levels of hierarchy,
the flow down of information
and the fear-based leadership approach.
Like do what I say and do it now.
And he brought in a team of experts
(10:11):
and he started doingtraining from the top down
but he also changed theway people were rewarded.
He changed how feedback wasgathered and responded to.
There was no spinning the results.
He came right out andsaid, look, we're low.
We're really low.
There's nowhere to go but up,but we're gonna get there.
And he shared the progress
(10:33):
and he was transparent aboutwhat results were important
in his mind and what results were not.
So that's where I see it moreas an organizational approach
but HR and L&D support elements of that.
But if there's not aculture of transparency
(10:55):
from the top or awillingness to be vulnerable
and share what you're working
on and what's important to you,
I wouldn't say it's trainingand hr, it's leadership
acknowledging what's important to them
and then lining up theirbehaviors to match.
- I agree.
I think modeling that behaviorat the top is really key.
(11:19):
You're not gonna changethe mindset of anyone else
in the organization if it'snot being modeled at the top.
And if safety and opennessand vulnerability is what we
believe the culture tobe at that organization
and you want to cascade that down,
(11:41):
it does have to start there.
It's not gonna work its way to the top.
At some point you'regonna meet the ceiling
and those employees are gonna have a very
different experience onceyou hit that ceiling, so.
- With all of thesedifferent components, right?
When I think about the softskills we talked about, right?
Communication, transparency,you know, the example you gave
(12:03):
about changing how thisleader was recognizing people
aligning performance, rewards
sharing what was happeningin the organization.
So you take all that and then you take
in kind of what employeeshave been expecting now
and the way they'redefining experience, right?
So it might be, I get to go fully remote
I have unlimited PTO, I have, you know
(12:26):
my medical fully paid for, you know, Tracy
as you've kind of gone downthis road of employee experience
and just digging into it more and more
what's realistic toexpect for outcomes when
you're implementing strategiesaround employee experience?
Because there is a component
of some tactical things tochange to look at, right?
Benefit offerings andthose kinds of things.
(12:48):
But I think a lot of this leans
into what we've already talkedabout, more communication
more leadership development,more transparency.
So what can we expectto be able to accomplish
in our organizations?
- That is a tough question.
What can we expect?
And I think that's again, it starts
at your leadership spot.
Like what tone, what cultureare they planning to set?
(13:10):
And then that will drivewhat you can deliver.
We can throw in all of theextra pay and the extra PTO
but if you don't have time autonomy
within your organization andit's not appreciated and given
back and empoweredemployee isn't empowered to
make those decisions in their space
(13:30):
it doesn't matter how much time
off or how much money you give them.
So all of those pieces that Ithink historically we've seen
as like the, the perks, thebenefits, the employee things,
they're just that, they're things.
And I think the employeepopulation now has woken up
to the fact that timeautonomy is important.
(13:52):
Being respected, being seen,being heard, their value
what they bring to the table
their point of view isthe most important thing.
And when your leadership values that,
your initiatives will come
they're all just supportingextra icing on the cake, right?
You will see peoplecollaborating better together.
(14:14):
You won't need these hugeprojects to make people feel
like they wanna stay or
that they wanna participateor be productive.
It will be something thatwill just come naturally
because who doesn'twant to be around people
that see them and valuewhat they have to say
and want more and wannachange what they're doing
(14:37):
based on the experience
that somebody else has thatthey're bringing to the table.
Those are the best collaborative moments
and creating those environments to work
are the biggest employee experience.
And you don't need hugeinitiatives to do those things.
- If you're listening and you're wondering
how do I get my leadershipto get on board with this?
(15:00):
That's a great question
and I'm gonna pose that to you Noreen
'cause I think it's acombination of, there's things
of like what's gonnaget in our way and then
how do we influence leadershipto see this as a priority?
Because I have definitelyworked with managers
over the years who arebeing judged against KPIs
but they're creating terribleemployee experiences.
(15:21):
And so that's somethingthat gets in our way, right?
The way that metrics are being looked at.
So what are some thingsthat we need to be aware of
and that we can helpinfluence as HR leaders?
- I'm feeling that since the pandemic
and with the most recent changes
in just being able toattract talent, retain talent
(15:44):
and now it's flipping again, right?
Where maybe the employerhas the upper hand
but what I'm most passionate about
is behaviors lining upwith whatever's being said.
So don't tell me we value transparency
(16:04):
and you bringing the whole person to work
and then you tell people they need to be
in the office five daysa week and you don't care
that they have elder careissues or childcare issues.
So it's lining up behaviorswith what is important
(16:24):
and being honest about what is important.
I would also say thatcompanies that are going
through significant growthor restructure need to think
about what can stay and what needs to go
and how do we help employees understand.
(16:46):
Smaller companies mayhave people who are always
involved, right?
So maybe I'm the OD person
but I also facilitatenew hire orientation.
So you start doing two jobs,three jobs and you're used
to being able to justdo it because you know
and now when you get bigger
(17:08):
not everybody knows what you bring.
Not everybody knows
that you are the personthat does that, right?
Even though it's not on the org chart.
So to help our leadersunderstand is what are the parts
of your culture that you wanna proactively
and mindfully keep andwhat needs to change
(17:31):
and how do I explain that to employees?
That would be the biggest thing.
I think what gets
in the way is we stayfocused to your point
on KPIs and money and onceyour bills are being paid
once you know you havethat security and safety
then you wanna self-actualize.
(17:52):
You wanna know that youmade a difference that you
know you were the go-to personor that you got that done.
The last thing I wouldjust say about that though
is not every employeebrings value the same way
and being able to recognizethe different ways.
(18:12):
'Cause being an employee,you're in a relationship, right?
Just like there's the fivelove languages for, you know
your relationship witha significant other.
There's the five lovelanguages of work as well.
So taking the time to getto know what's important
and what's valued.
- Such great advice overall.
(18:33):
Noreen and Tracy, I think this is a topic
we're gonna continue to talk about
and it's gonna evolve as thelandscape of work evolves
as the expectations on whatflexibility means, changes.
As we put more on our middle managers
I think this is a reallyunique opportunity
for us in HR to helpsupport the business goals
(18:53):
and really create betterexperiences overall.
And I like that you leanedin and said Tracy, like
it's not necessarily about, you know
PTO and the the things, right?
It's much deeper than that.
And so helping our leadership understand
that it's much deeper than that.
And starting with communication
and transparency I think is key.
So Tracy and Noreen, thanks
(19:14):
for taking a few minutes ofyour day to chat with me.
- Thank you.
- Thanks Shari.
- This podcast is broughtto you by Paylocity
a leading HCM provider thatfrees you from the tasks
of today so you can focus moreon the promise of tomorrow.
If you'd like to submit atopic or appear as a guest
on a future episode, email usat PCTYtalks@paylocity.com.
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