Enhancing Workplace Flexibility to Improve Employee Well-being and Productivity - ep. #004

In the latest episode of the Return to People Podcast, we’re joined by Caroline Yost, VP of People at Serenity Kids and a powerhouse in the world of People & Culture. With over a decade of experience scaling high-growth organizations, Caroline has built her career on fostering human-centered, high-performance teams in fast-paced environments. At Serenity Kids, she leads with empathy, strategy, and a deep commitment to building inclusive workplaces where employees can truly thrive. Caroline’s perspective is especially relevant today, as organizations navigate hybrid and remote-first work models while trying to preserve engagement, connection, and trust. She openly shares both the challenges and the successes of leading culture in a flexible, distributed workplace. One of the biggest challenges for her as VP? Engagement across remote and in-person employees. While remote work has brought freedom and flexibility, it can also create barriers to connection. “There’s always that blockage of a screen that makes it harder to connect,” Caroline explains. For extroverted team members who crave face-to-face interaction, her team continues to experiment with ways to create meaningful touchpoints. Despite those challenges, Caroline emphasizes the deep trust that anchors Serenity Kids’ culture. Trust isn’t something that was built overnight—it has been embedded since the beginning by leadership who believed in empowering employees. “There is a baseline of trust that whoever is in the seat will carry that torch,” she notes, underlining that people simply want to feel heard and validated. What ties all of this together is Caroline’s employee-centric approach. She invests time in truly listening to employees, gathering feedback, and adapting systems to meet evolving needs. Whether through engagement surveys or one-on-one conversations, her goal is to build psychological safety and belonging. As she puts it: “People just want to feel heard and validated.” This episode is a masterclass in empathetic leadership, cultural resilience, and people-first flexibility 👉 Don’t miss this conversation! Tune in now to learn how to build trust, foster engagement, and create thriving workplace cultures in a hybrid world. Learn more about Caroline: Caroline´s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinejyost/ Serenity Kids: https://myserenitykids.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices