January 10, 2024 • 36 mins
Description: In this episode, we explore cutting-edge HR trends. From optimizing employee experiences to balancing tech with humanity, we delve into the evolving landscape. Discover how HR navigates challenges like hybrid teams and sustainability, while implementing innovative recruitment and leadership development strategies to shape the workplace of the future.
Resources:
Let's Connect:
Guest LinkedIn Profile - Keri Wozniak
Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler
Transcript:
Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:04 Unknown Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler and we are so glad you're here.
00:00:21:05 - 00:00:54:07 Unknown Now it's time to thrive. Hello, everybody, and thanks for joining us today. In this episode specifically, we're going to be talking about cutting edge trends with MRA, our business partner, Kari Wozniak. From optimizing employee experiences to balancing tech with humanity, we'll give you advice on how to navigate challenges like hybrid teams and sustainability, while also implementing innovative recruitment and leadership development strategies to really shaped or the workplace of the future.
00:00:54:09 - 00:01:16:15 Unknown So, Kari, I know you really work directly with a lot of our member companies and you've been in HR for over 20 years, I think so you've really seen it all when it comes to trends and challenges. So I'm excited about the opportunity to really sit down and talk with you on what you're currently seeing trend wise. So thanks again for being here today.
00:01:16:15 - 00:01:44:08 Unknown I'm excited. Thanks. I'll be excited to be here to all just kind of kick in kicking it off. Employee experience is often cited as a critical factor in organizational success. So how are HR Professionals really working to enhance and optimize the overall employee journey with their companies? Sure. You know, this is an ongoing area of concern and has been for for for quite a while.
00:01:44:10 - 00:02:07:15 Unknown As as everyone is aware, we've been involved in a labor shortage for quite a while. It's not expected to change anytime soon. As you know, birth rates are low and generational changes and all that stuff's kind of coming through. So the employee experience becomes critical to attracting and retaining your talent. So some just key things to think about is you really need to be listening to your employees.
00:02:07:17 - 00:02:23:03 Unknown You know, it's okay to read the articles out there, listen to trends, you know, pay attention to what's going on in the world because that will help guide you in the rig
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minuteThrive, your go to podcast for anything
and everything HR, powered by MRA,the Management Association.
Looking to stay on top of the everchanging world of HR?
MRA has got you covered.
We'll be the first to tell you what's hotand what's not.
I'm your host, Sophie Bolerand we are so glad you're here.
(00:25):
Now it's time to thrive.
Hello, everybody,and thanks for joining us today.
In this episode specifically, we're goingto be talking about cutting edge
trends with MRA,our business partner, Kari Wozniak.
From optimizing employee experiencesto balancing tech with humanity,
we'll give you advice on
(00:45):
how to navigate challengeslike hybrid teams and sustainability,
while also implementinginnovative recruitment and leadership
development strategies to really shapedor the workplace of the future.
So, Kari, I know you really work directlywith a lot of our member companies
and you've been in HR for over 20 years,I think so
(01:07):
you've really seen it allwhen it comes to trends and challenges.
So I'm excited about the opportunityto really sit down
and talk with you on what you'recurrently seeing trend wise.
So thanks again for being here today.
I'm excited.
Thanks.
I'll be excited to be here to all just kind of kick in kicking it off.
Employee experience is often cited as acritical factor in organizational success.
(01:32):
So how are HR Professionalsreally working to enhance
and optimize the overall employeejourney with their companies?
Sure.
You know, this is an ongoing area of concern and has been
for for for quite a while.
As as everyone is aware,
we've been involved in a labor shortagefor quite a while.
(01:54):
It's not expected to change anytime soon.
As you know, birthrates are low and generational changes
and all that stuff'skind of coming through.
So the employee experience
becomes criticalto attracting and retaining your talent.
So some just key things to think aboutis you really need to be listening
to your employees.
You know, it'sokay to read the articles out there,
listen to trends, you know, pay attentionto what's going on in the world
(02:16):
because that will help guide you in the right direction.
But your teams,your environment is going to be
a little bit different than anywhere else.
So you want to make sure that you're
you have frequent and targetedfeedback loops of your employees.
So think about things like pulse surveys,small group listening sessions,
day interviews, things like that,so that you understand why people stay
and why you believeand you can address those
(02:37):
to make sure that you have the rightemployee experience.
You also want to make sure that you'restarting small and implementing quickly.
We just don't have the time anymoreto plan for a year
and then take a long time to implementand have the perfect programs.
Instead, we need to look at these thingsas continuous improvements.
Pick a few things
(02:58):
that you can implement quicklythat will have an impact on your team
and move those over the finish line sothat you actually see the impact of those.
And then, of course,circling back with your employees,
making sure that did you actually hitthe mark?
Is this what they wanted?
So that's general guidelinesand how to tackle things.
But some actual specific ideashere are communication tools.
(03:18):
So you need to make sure that you are
communicating with your employeesfor the channels they actually use.
And, you know,we are so used to using email newsletters,
even home mailingsthat are now pretty old school versions.
You still need thosebecause you have a lot of people
who are comfortable with them.
But now you need to be lookingat your texting your employees.
Are you recording video messagesor are you utilizing instant messaging?
(03:42):
What about like communicationapps like Slack, things like that?
You need to make sure that you'recommunicating with your teams in
in those areas.
It is in all of these placesor at least in a select few,
and that you're havingthat same consistent message
regardless of where you're communicatingbecause you want them all to hear the same
things, but where they're actually goingto go, where they're going to go use it.
(04:04):
And in that you're considering
your generations, you're consideringlearning and communication styles
and then what technologyis actually available to the individual.
You know, your manufacturing employeesdon't necessarily have the same access
to drop as team has.
So how are you making surethat they're still getting the messages
that you need to have them out there?
And time is
always an issue, so don't overwhelm
(04:27):
your communications team with a milliondifferent things to focus on.
Make sure it's a sustainable processand that you're automating
where you can.
So some other thingsbeyond communication tools is
you want to make sure you're integratingand simplifying your technology tools.
Again, the more things you have,the more you going to manage.
(04:48):
So looking at fewer sources
of truth or better aggregated toolsto be able to pull your information
and think about thethe consumer experience
your employees are used towhen they're at home, right?
They're using Alexa, Siri and Googlein order to get the information they need
to do their personal work in seconds.
(05:08):
But then at work,we're going into different THRIVEs,
different disparate systems.
You got to rememberwhere everything's housed
and how you actually pull everythingtogether.
It's time consuming and it's frustrating.
So how do you mirrorthat consumer experience
at work that they're used to at home
or actually watching technology things?
(05:30):
absolutely.
And I feel like just to add on that,
the employee experience, it comes down tohow well you can listen to your employees
and implement the things that they wantand that they're interested in.
So I like that you highlightedthat you don't always have to listen
to that outside conversationsthat might be kind of pulling you in.
It's really about what does your companyvalue, what do your employees value,
(05:54):
and something that might work for oneperson might not work for another.
But I'm glad that you personalization,right?
Like at the end of the day, your employeeswant to know that you know them.
You absolutely very well kind of moving onnow into flexible work arrangements
that's been a keytrend the past couple years now.
(06:15):
So how how is really
addressing the challengesof managing hybrid teams then
and what strategies are being implementedto ensure collaboration
and communication remain effective? Sure.
So there's a couple differentdifferent things in there.
So being flexible in the first place,creating
those flexible work arrangementsis going to be really, really important.
(06:37):
And we're all we're hearing a lot about.
It's no longer about work life balance,it's about work life integration or fit
and the concept there is it's nothow do I fit my life around my job, it's
how do I how do I have meaningful work
that's going to support the lifethat I want to have?
And while that seems like a nuance, it's
(06:57):
a really important distinctionbecause employees maybe
don't want their whole identityto be what they do for a living anymore.
And everybody has different challenges,whether it's the raising children,
if they've got aging parents,if they've got just hobbies
or, you know, desires to travel the worldor whatever, those things are,
they want to figure out how to balancethat while providing
(07:19):
the opportunity to be a professional,to contribute in different ways.
So to me, one of the key thingsthat employers need to do is be creative.
We can't just sit there and look at, well,everybody has to work 9 to 5
in an office and do things exactlythe way that we've historically used it,
you know, the pandemicthat we always want to bring that up.
(07:40):
But it just changed
people's expectations and how they canhow they know they can get work done.
So so whether it's remote hybrid,
so where you actually do work, butthere's also the actual schedule itself.
So can I work maybe four tens?
Can I work long hours on weekendsor even a combination of those things?
(08:01):
Is it more I just need to get my work donewhen I get it done, maybe matters
a little bit less.
You can even look at hiring people into
job sharing kind of situationswhere maybe you're hiring
two part time people to accomplishthe tasks of one full time job.
A lot of companies are startingto use contractors and consultants,
kind of this gig concept.
(08:22):
Like, I have a project, I'm going to pickthat up, I'm going to work on it.
So if you're employing people in thesethese new ways, it's
not all just full time Mondaythrough Friday kind of employees.
Then you've got to figure out how do youhow do you communicate
amongst all these different schedules?
How do you ensure that people feellike a part of a team and that
(08:43):
especially you hear it on weekends
and like night shiftsand things like that,
They don't feel likethey're part of the team anymore.
So so a key is actually pulling peopletogether
in collaborative and communityand strong communication ways.
So with a focus on actuallygetting to know each other, having that
social connectionwhile you're still being productive.
(09:04):
And so can you build your teammeetings in person, maybe have core hours
that everybody has to bethere on Wednesdays from from tended to.
But other than that,we can kind of work around it.
But in those times when
you're having people in these more collaborative work
environments, make sure it's funand make it worth driving into the office
(09:27):
when if I could have just donemy meeting on Zoom
at home anyway, why did I THRIVE45 minutes into the office today?
So make sure it's worthwhile that they'rehaving that those connections.
And it's not always just worklike some of it's getting to know
your team, having just that time to talkso that they can work
better on other thingsoutside of those meetings too.
(09:50):
So I think it's just really importantthat there is that environment
when you're together, that you're havingfun, you're still getting things done
and you're buildingthat that team environment, you know?
Absolutely.
I love all those ideas.
Kari And we talk a lot with Jim Morgan.
You mentioned the generational differencesand export work arrangements,
(10:11):
brings up a lot of ideasand even challenges with
with generations and workingflexible hours.
I know sometimes we talk about these like,why are you emailing me at 2 a.m.
and it's like, Hey, that might work for meand it might not work for you.
But if the employer can understandthat not everybody is the same,
(10:33):
I think that will I don't know.
It just helps createkind of that more cohesive team.
Even if I'm working the same 9to 5, like you mentioned one,
when you get with employers,I think the resistance comes from
we've never really learnedhow to manage people that way.
You know, historicallyI kind of button seat management,
which is maybe not the best term,but we're so used to like, I see you,
(10:57):
I see working on your computer,you're actively engaged in a meeting.
I can tell that you're doing your jobwhen you're not in front of me,
when I can't actually see the work that
not even seeingan output in that scenario.
But when I can't see that you're working,then people question, Well,
maybe they're doing something else.
And then there startsto be this little bit of distrust.
(11:19):
We need to change our
management stylesto focusing on outcomes instead.
So it's not as much abouthow many hours I worked or when I worked
or, you know, whether or notyou went through 100 emails today or,
you know, all of that isI need to produce this result.
So is it in my doing something of quality?
(11:40):
Is that effective and am I havinga positive impact on my team?
You know, those are thingswe need to start measuring.
But the harder they're just becausea lot of jobs, they don't make widgets.
You know, it's not that I'm goingto produce 30 of these things an hour
so how can you say I have strong outputin, in what I'm doing?
(12:00):
So managers and I need to take a stepback in these and evaluate the roles?
How do I manage thesethese positions effectively
so that I'm not questioning whether or notthey're actually doing the job,
the right thing.
The right thing is, is what I produce now,
how long it takes me to produceand where I do it.
Absolutely. That's a great point,
(12:22):
Harry.
We're also in the age of social mediaand increased transparency.
So I'm curious, how is employerbranding evolving then, with that in mind,
in what role doesit really play in shaping and promoting
a positive employer brand and culture?
Sure,a lot of this goes back to that employee
experience that we talked aboutas the first question, and
(12:46):
this is now your content for your employerbrand, right?
Like when you're asking the questionsof your team, of what they want,
then when you actually put programsin place, when things are effective,
then that's what you need to do
and tell tell the outside world about itand remind your your current employees
when you're doing those thingsand what the benefits of having them are.
So making sure that you're telling people
(13:09):
the things that you're working at and getting that out there.
But you need to also make sure
that the employer brand ringstrue to what your environment actually is.
I think historically, marketingwould put together
this really professional and buttoned upprogram that made everything look perfect.
We're seeing now insteadthat employers are taking their phones out
(13:32):
and they're recording things just as muchmore casual, but it's more real.
And I think the candidates todayand employees
are they connect to that because they knowthat things aren't always produced.
And it's not that everyone's
always beautiful in an actressand they should leave things instead.
I want to see my coworkerwearing their uniform actually
working on a piece of equipment,talking about what their day is.
(13:56):
This comes in as like workers alwaysrefer to it as the realistic job preview.
You know, you want to know
if you're coming into an organization,what you're actually going to experience,
not just whatyour leadership wants people to see.
So being very, very honest about it,making sure that what you're putting out
(14:17):
about your employer brand,whether it's on social media,
whether it's just through word of mouth,that it actually matches
what your organization does,so that when someone comes into
the organization that you know, okay,this is what I thought I was getting into.
And there's fun ways to do that,especially in small businesses.
I think the they tend to think they needa full marketing team to build this out.
(14:39):
You can put little notes outabout employee
promotions or new hires and anniversaries.
You can talk about your long termemployees and you know,
what is their career path, kind of thenthrow out the time they've been there
or, you know, you brought in pizza postedthat's okay.
But those are truly thingsthat you're doing as an organization.
(15:00):
But then try to encourage peopleto do more.
Like if you do volunteer days,can we post about those?
If there is trainingthat's been received,
maybe you sent somebody to Emoryand they got certified.
Put that out there too,because these are things
showing how you're actually supportingyour employees in real life.
You know, absolutely.Those are all great examples, too.
(15:21):
And I like that pulling out your phoneand just taking a casual video
feel like I've heardthat so much recently.
And I think Amanda Mostellerone of our working and developing
instructors called it like the TikTok era,where you just do
a quick 32nd video, kind of showcasewho you are, what the brand is.
(15:41):
And I had a story about that.
Our marketing team was in.
We worked on some project for,like we to bring in the light,
to bring in the cameras,kind of like you said, the full produce.
And it's like, no,just take out your phone,
your cart recorded selfie style.
That's what everyone wants to see.
And like you said, it's very relatableand it may
(16:01):
or may not be a generational thing,
as in, I think the younger generation
is used to seeing that same all over.
And maybe that's something that
the more seasoned professionalshave to get used to that style.
But I definitely agree that that's that'swhere branding
(16:23):
and kind of digital content is goingis the more relatable content.
And I
think while it is generationalfrom the standpoint of expecting it
in, I think all the generations kind
of recognizethat it feels more accurate in
(16:44):
that it's like, okay,that actually probably happened, right?
They didn't spend $100,000to produce this video, you know,
and the questions behind that messaging.
So I think it is a
it's more about being transparent
as an organization.
And I think there's toolsto make that easier to do.
(17:05):
And actually, just as I'm saying,the word transparent,
the other thing that is really importantwith employer brands and HR Knows this is
is your pay paytransparency is really, really important.
It's it's coming.
If it's not already in your state,it's coming
and know the legislations their candidatesexpect it.
We got to stop trying to pretend it'ssomething
(17:27):
nobody talks about and start being more upfront about it.
And so how do you wrap thatinto your employer brand?
And, you know,we can't necessarily be the top payers
and with all the benefits, you know,you have to balance your your dollars.
But you can talk about what's key,you know,
do you have incentive compensationthat helps you stand out?
Do you you know, maybe you are payingat the higher, higher level
(17:51):
or you have some special employeebenefit to your total rewards is is a
is a balancing act.
But make sure that you're talking aboutthat and
and that you're just you're being upfrontabout what you believe the job is worth
because then you're goingto get the people to apply who
and who also think that'swhat the job's worth, right?
For sure.
(18:11):
So just continuingwith the digital digital training here
with the rise of automationand I was really balancing technology
adoption with the human touchin managing talent
and fostering a positiveworkplace culture.
So that's been a big challengefor a lot of people recently.
Well, it's so new and it's inI mean, my guess is not new.
(18:35):
I grew up in the nineties.
If we're watching The Terminator, right?
Like, I mean,you expected it to come and, and now
it's a question of what does it meanin reality and not in science fiction.
And so every business function,
including ours, is grappling with thisat some, some level.
I think the most important thingthat needs to get out in front of
(18:56):
this is to remind employeesand themselves they are not replacing you.
There isstill another job on the other side of it,
no different than
in in the Industrial Revolutionwhen we started seeing machines
come into manufacturing,
we didn't stop hiring peoplebecause the machines were there.
Now we just needed a different skill set
(19:17):
and so we had to make sure that that we'rekeeping people trained,
that they're learning along the wayso that they don't get left behind
because the DNA not your replace your job,
but you are not learning how to use it,will make someone else replace your job.
The person who actually doeshave that skill.
And so that's important for for each of usas as professionals,
(19:40):
You know, we're employees too, butwe need to stay in front of our employees
and remind themthat their that jobs will exist.
It just might not look tomorrowexactly the way that it looked today,
but it never has.
So that's not completely unheard ofanyway.
But so we need to get in front of that.
We need to communicate with them,you know, where we see
(20:00):
AI coming into their particular roles
and then take the time to build trainingand adoption
tools to help them get there becauseit is going to be new for everybody.
So let's just keepeverybody moving at the same time.
Things
that I think about andwhere I probably should be coming into
play is you're trying to automate manual,repetitive processes that don't require
(20:26):
creativity, strategic
thinking or what I think is important,an empathetic response, right?
People need to do that.
But if the rules are already there
and it's a plus B, we'll see.
Get people out of that.
It's not worth their time.
That's when you startto have the technology come come into
play too, to do that.
(20:47):
So for our specifically,that might be answering
questions on policiesand benefit inquiries like it's factual
and be able to use a chat botfor something like that.
How do you,how do you use systems and tools?
You don'tnecessarily need to have somebody
standing in front of themdoing the training.
How can you help affected training thatthat's there that they can utilize
(21:07):
and access without the
withouttaking up the time of an individual?
Things like metrics and data reporting.
I mean, I'll be able to set upautomated resume screening
and interview coordination are hugely timeconsuming things that again,
as long as you define your factors
and can can very much be doneby by software
(21:31):
and then performance cycle administration,
I think is an area that can really getfocused on what I want.
Scaring people is the ideathat performance management,
actual management might get inbeen used with
I, I don't see that happeningfor quite a long time because there is
still that's the creativityand strategic thinking and
(21:53):
we have to have pretty pretty fancysoftware to be able to get that right.
But that leads into HR
Has to be a gatekeeper ofif you want to call it algorithms,
if you want to call parameters, whateverthe rules are that are being built,
HR Has to review those for bias.
(22:14):
So you can't have your recruitment
software picking your hires because there is inherent bias in the data
that we're using to automate this process
in the first place,and we have to question it.
We got to put those on that scenewith compensation, career development,
anything that is truly careerand employment impacting
(22:35):
HR Really needs to be reviewingwhat those rules are
that are being put into the system and and doing adverse impact analysis
to make sure that we're not going to havewhether conscious or unconscious
bias come in becausethat's going to get you in legal trouble.
But more importantly,it's unethical, right?
No, i'm i'm really glad you reiteratedthe point that I is not
(22:57):
going to get rid of your joband that we still need you.
I feel like I've heard that
in a lot of
places and we've talked about iton a couple of podcasts.
But those are all great examples of whereHR and just business overall can use
AI and how you can kind of integrate itinto your automated processes
(23:19):
so you can focus on all of the strategicplanning processes
if the things you don't like to dobecause they're boring.
there you go, There you go.
And then you can focus on like the stuff
that you actually really want to do,which is using your brain.
Exactly.
Well, the concept of agileHR Is also gaining popularity.
(23:39):
So my question is,how are HR teams embracing agility
to respond quickly to changing businessneeds and marketing market dynamics?
Yeah, this is a
it mentioned a little bit
earlier,but it's it's changing your mindset from
only implementing thingswhen they're perfect
(24:00):
to getting into an iterative continuousimprovement process.
We just don't have timewith how quickly things change
to make sure everything is perfect.
We can't build a handbook, have to go
sit on a shelf and five years from nowlook at it again.
But you have to be pulling things outevery six months, reviewing,
(24:21):
making sure that there's minor tweaksand rolling things out.
Was looking at some of my concepts
like technologyis becoming obsolete in 3 to 5 years.
So if it takes you six monthsto select a new system
and a year to implement itand six more months to optimize
and get it really working for you, you'renow ready to replace it again.
(24:46):
So you need to be
constantly changingand tweaking and adjusting
and that is going to
to be the case forfor not just your technology tools,
not just your HR Resources,but really anything that you were touching
in support of the business.
So when you're talking about career
development, maybe you're creating careerladders, trying to retain people.
(25:07):
You can't just build the programand come back to it a couple of years
later and expectthat it has been working the whole time.
So we something out
80% good.
Learn from that and then make adjustmentsand be transparent with your employees.
Be like, Hey, we tried it.
We found something that didn't work.
So now we're going to adjustand try to make it better.
(25:30):
So that's necessarywith just about everything.
When regulations keep changing
your employees and candidates,expectations are changing so rapidly.
We're just in a in a worldwhere the iterations
are coming so much faster that you have to
you just have to
keep adjusting along the wayand don't worry about perfection.
(25:53):
And then of course, we sort of automatewhere you can
so that you don't have to spend
your time on administrative tasksand you can focus more on on these things
that need to keep changing in responseto the needs your business.
And I would say and celebrate winsbecause we kind of forget that step.
We keep the burnout,
(26:13):
all that stuff kind of comesbecause everything is coming so quickly.
So when you do implement something,remember to celebrate it.
Say thank you,Remind people that it's happened
so that they see the work and effortthat's happening.
Take a little bit of a breathbefore you move on to the next project.
Yeah, no, absolutely. That's great advice.
(26:33):
I'm kind of moving the conversationto a little different topic here.
How is HR addressingthe growing importance of sustainability
in corporate social responsibility,in shaping workplace values and practices?
I think this is somethingour listeners are very curious on
(26:54):
and they kind of want to want to knowmore about this topic.
So we set out on this questionthat it's it's it's very different
now than when when I started my career,I was even in even five
or ten years ago when people were talkingabout corporate responsibility.
But itwas more like, don't be a bad player,
(27:15):
you know, don't don't have the you know,
the Environmental Protection Agencycoming in and
doing somethingfrom a legislative standpoint.
Now it's more about aligningyour organizational values
with your business process.
So if you go out on many,many company websites,
they'll have their mission,vision and values.
(27:35):
You see common things about integrityand ethics.
You know, maybe environmentalsustainability is is listed out there.
But I think the most important thingis aligning
that to, again,what you what you're actually doing.
So it's important to to walk the talk.
So you want to make sure that you'reintegrating your business practices
(27:58):
in in that that social responsibilitythat you're saying you feel is important.
So think about
like maybe
you needto review your supply chain contracts
because you want to align with, you know,maybe you've got a DEA and B program
that you're very vocal aboutyou're putting on your employer brand.
(28:21):
You can't sit there and say, I'min support of a particular group,
but then never use them as your supplychain.
So what are your criteriafor selecting vendors?
How do you bring that in fromfrom a social responsibility standpoint?
You know, looking at your manufacturingpractices, it's great to sit there
and say we willwe recycle, reduce, reuse, recycle.
(28:45):
But what if your manufacturing practicesare creating significant amounts of waste?
You need to look at that processand find ways to to have a direct impact.
You might want to implementa scholarship program that's in support
of, you know, organizations or groupsthat you're providing support to. So
(29:06):
again, just
that deeper integrationthat rings true to your organization.
So it's not enough just to to postsupport out on social media
or write a donation check.
You need to align
who you are as an organization,which you're saying in your values.
This is who you are with,what you're actually doing.
And so that's going to help withyour employees will see that it'll gain
(29:29):
trust with them candidateswhere this is important to them.
They'll be attracted to your organizationbecause it aligns with their values.
And I mean, that's the perfect scenario isif you can recruit
people who believe what you believe,they're going to fit your culture.
They're going to they're going to
(29:49):
they're going to stick with you, too,because there is more to the relationship
than a paycheck.
Instead,they feel good about what they're doing.
So a couple
of common areas, because I think peoplequestion, you know, what is it all mean?
What's the definition of this?
Some common areas that organizations are
consideringunder that social responsibility
(30:10):
kind of umbrella is, as I mentioned,the diversity equity inclusion, belonging
activities, environmental sustainability,fair trade.
You know, again,you want to buy from vendors
in potentially third world countriesthat are not paying people effectively
or just have to the sustainable wages
and then responsible labor practiceswithin your own,
(30:31):
your own environment, withinanybody that you're doing business with.
So those are things to to measure
as well as make sure that you'reconsidering when you're making decisions.
And as an organization.
Absolutely.
Those are great examples and I feel likea common one too, is just volunteering.
A lot of organizations say they valuevolunteering, but then it's like,
(30:54):
do you give your employees
volunteer opportunities to sit out,kind of start to finish thing?
Like, do you follow up with them?
How is their experience?
How how they get involvedin the community?
Like you can't just stop at 25%.
You got to keep it going kind of thing.
There are some organizationsand I won't name any, but I'm very
recognizable that you see out in the worldwearing their volunteer t shirts
(31:17):
and you see them at eventsall over the place.
And so, you know that
that's really somethingthat that organization takes seriously.
Right? Right.
Well, just kind of wrapping up here today.
One more question for you.
Leadership development is obviouslycrucial for organizational growth.
So what initiatives are HR Departmentsimplementing
to identify and nurtureleadership talent within organization?
(31:42):
This is a really key area for me,
and i feel like we don't spendquite enough time and energy on this
in an actual practice.
You know, so oftenwe promote the best individual contributor
into running a department, but we haven'tnecessarily stepped back and said,
are they a leader?
Are theysomebody that people go to naturally when
(32:06):
when when the managers in a meeting,who do they actually reach out
amongst their team membersto get support and help?
So first, I think your selection process
needs to definitely be evaluateda little bit more
and you need to make sure thatthe individual contributors can still grow
without becoming managers because notevery person should become a leader.
(32:27):
But then another aspect of leadershipdevelopment for me
is actually the job evaluation of
our front line and mid-level managers.
We have a lot going on in these positions.
There's high, high expectations of them and they don't always have the time
and resources to be ableto actually do the job effectively.
(32:47):
So it's a really common pressure point.
And what I mean by that is seniorleadership has expectations of goals
and initiatives and growth plans that needto be executed on by these team members.
And now we're seeing employee expectationsand the employee experience
has increased a lot of what they expectout of their frontline manager.
(33:09):
You know, they're expecting that their managers want to know them
as individuals, that they adjusttheir leadership style to them,
that they're helping themdevelop in their careers, that
they're representing the organizationon a day to day basis.
Strong communication, regular feedback.
You know, there's just a there's a lotthat's being expected at that.
(33:30):
And then these roles commonlyhave extremely high spans of control.
So you see it'snot uncommon to see a supervisor
have 20 to 30 direct reports
if you expect them to know their employees
on an individual basisand provide a strong employee experience,
while also meeting the strategic goalsand needs of the organization,
(33:54):
probably need to take a look
at the span of control because that'sprobably not a realistic ask.
And they also have a lotof administrative work, whether it's time
cards and performance reviewsand you just all these tools and resources
that they have to do on an ongoing basis.
So I think it's a really important
that we especially as we take a step backand then
(34:14):
look at whether it's a program we'reimplementing, what's the impact on them,
but also
are we really designing the jobs in a waythat's going to make them successful?
So that's a it's just a
it's a key area for me is making surethat they're spending that time,
especially givenwe know the direct managers are a key
(34:35):
reason why employeesstay or leave an organization.
So if we don't provide the supportto those specific individuals,
how are we really long termimpacting our ability to
to get the right talentin the organization?
So it's like I said, we need to make surethat we're focusing on evaluating
what those responsibilities are,how many direct reports they might have,
(34:58):
what's the
the individual contributor taskswe ask them to, because oftentimes
they're also expected to be a produceron top of being the manager
of a very large team that you might needto provide administrative support to them
or an automation tools or somethingto make their jobs a little bit easier.
And then being clear on training themand the skill sets
(35:20):
that they need to do their job welland providing very clear expectations
of what they're responsible forso that they can be successful.
And of course, Emery can helpwith the training and the development
and even the job evaluations if that'ssomething that people are interested in.
But I do think it's important.
We very often look at our senior leaders
and we're looking a lotat our individual contributors these days,
(35:42):
but this group in the middlegets kind of forgotten.
Well, I think that's a great
place to close out on a great conversationtoday.
So, Keri, I want to thank you forfor your expertise in ensuring that
sharing the trendsthat you've been seeing in HR currently.
But to our listeners,I want to thank you also for tuning in.
(36:03):
When Keri mentioned we have resourceslinked in the show notes,
so make sure to check those out todayor you can find them at MRA.
Net dot org.
We also I'm curious LinkedInprofile linked in the show notes.
So if you like to connect with her or ask
or any follow up questions, be sure to connect with Keri.
I'm sure she'd be happy to do that.
(36:25):
Keri Again,thank you for joining me today.
And to our listeners,we will see you next week.
And that wraps up our contentfor this episode.
Be sure to reference the show noteswhere you can sign them to connect.
For more podcast updates,
check out other MRA episodeson your favorite podcast platform.
And as always, make sure to follow MRA's30 minutes THRIVE
(36:46):
so you don't miss out.Thanks for tuning in
and we'll see you next Wednesdayto carry on the conversation.
Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minuteThrive, your go to podcast for anything
and everything HR, powered by MRA,the Management Association.
Looking to stay on top of the everchanging world of HR?
MRA has got you covered.
We'll be the first to tell you what's hotand what's not.
I'm your host, Sophie Bolerand we are so glad you're here.
(00:25):
Now it's time to thrive.
Hello, everybody,and thanks for joining us today.
In this episode specifically, we're goingto be talking about cutting edge
trends with MRA,our business partner, Kari Wozniak.
From optimizing employee experiencesto balancing tech with humanity,
we'll give you advice on
(00:45):
how to navigate challengeslike hybrid teams and sustainability,
while also implementinginnovative recruitment and leadership
development strategies to really shapedor the workplace of the future.
So, Kari, I know you really work directlywith a lot of our member companies
and you've been in HR for over 20 years,I think so
(01:07):
you've really seen it allwhen it comes to trends and challenges.
So I'm excited about the opportunityto really sit down
and talk with you on what you'recurrently seeing trend wise.
So thanks again for being here today.
I'm excited.
Thanks.
I'll be excited to be here to all just kind of kick in kicking it off.
Employee experience is often cited as acritical factor in organizational success.
(01:32):
So how are HR Professionalsreally working to enhance
and optimize the overall employeejourney with their companies?
Sure.
You know, this is an ongoing area of concern and has been
for for for quite a while.
As as everyone is aware,
we've been involved in a labor shortagefor quite a while.
(01:54):
It's not expected to change anytime soon.
As you know, birthrates are low and generational changes
and all that stuff'skind of coming through.
So the employee experience
becomes criticalto attracting and retaining your talent.
So some just key things to think aboutis you really need to be listening
to your employees.
You know, it'sokay to read the articles out there,
listen to trends, you know, pay attentionto what's going on in the world
(02:16):
because that will help guide you in the right direction.
But your teams,your environment is going to be
a little bit different than anywhere else.
So you want to make sure that you're
you have frequent and targetedfeedback loops of your employees.
So think about things like pulse surveys,small group listening sessions,
day interviews, things like that,so that you understand why people stay
and why you believeand you can address those
(02:37):
to make sure that you have the rightemployee experience.
You also want to make sure that you'restarting small and implementing quickly.
We just don't have the time anymoreto plan for a year
and then take a long time to implementand have the perfect programs.
Instead, we need to look at these thingsas continuous improvements.
Pick a few things
(02:58):
that you can implement quicklythat will have an impact on your team
and move those over the finish line sothat you actually see the impact of those.
And then, of course,circling back with your employees,
making sure that did you actually hitthe mark?
Is this what they wanted?
So that's general guidelinesand how to tackle things.
But some actual specific ideashere are communication tools.
(03:18):
So you need to make sure that you are
communicating with your employeesfor the channels they actually use.
And, you know,we are so used to using email newsletters,
even home mailingsthat are now pretty old school versions.
You still need thosebecause you have a lot of people
who are comfortable with them.
But now you need to be lookingat your texting your employees.
Are you recording video messagesor are you utilizing instant messaging?
(03:42):
What about like communicationapps like Slack, things like that?
You need to make sure that you'recommunicating with your teams in
in those areas.
It is in all of these placesor at least in a select few,
and that you're havingthat same consistent message
regardless of where you're communicatingbecause you want them all to hear the same
things, but where they're actually goingto go, where they're going to go use it.
(04:04):
And in that you're considering
your generations, you're consideringlearning and communication styles
and then what technologyis actually available to the individual.
You know, your manufacturing employeesdon't necessarily have the same access
to drop as team has.
So how are you making surethat they're still getting the messages
that you need to have them out there?
And time is
always an issue, so don't overwhelm
(04:27):
your communications team with a milliondifferent things to focus on.
Make sure it's a sustainable processand that you're automating
where you can.
So some other thingsbeyond communication tools is
you want to make sure you're integratingand simplifying your technology tools.
Again, the more things you have,the more you going to manage.
(04:48):
So looking at fewer sources
of truth or better aggregated toolsto be able to pull your information
and think about thethe consumer experience
your employees are used towhen they're at home, right?
They're using Alexa, Siri and Googlein order to get the information they need
to do their personal work in seconds.
(05:08):
But then at work,we're going into different THRIVEs,
different disparate systems.
You got to rememberwhere everything's housed
and how you actually pull everythingtogether.
It's time consuming and it's frustrating.
So how do you mirrorthat consumer experience
at work that they're used to at home
or actually watching technology things?
(05:30):
absolutely.
And I feel like just to add on that,
the employee experience, it comes down tohow well you can listen to your employees
and implement the things that they wantand that they're interested in.
So I like that you highlightedthat you don't always have to listen
to that outside conversationsthat might be kind of pulling you in.
It's really about what does your companyvalue, what do your employees value,
(05:54):
and something that might work for oneperson might not work for another.
But I'm glad that you personalization,right?
Like at the end of the day, your employeeswant to know that you know them.
You absolutely very well kind of moving onnow into flexible work arrangements
that's been a keytrend the past couple years now.
(06:15):
So how how is really
addressing the challengesof managing hybrid teams then
and what strategies are being implementedto ensure collaboration
and communication remain effective? Sure.
So there's a couple differentdifferent things in there.
So being flexible in the first place,creating
those flexible work arrangementsis going to be really, really important.
(06:37):
And we're all we're hearing a lot about.
It's no longer about work life balance,it's about work life integration or fit
and the concept there is it's nothow do I fit my life around my job, it's
how do I how do I have meaningful work
that's going to support the lifethat I want to have?
And while that seems like a nuance, it's
(06:57):
a really important distinctionbecause employees maybe
don't want their whole identityto be what they do for a living anymore.
And everybody has different challenges,whether it's the raising children,
if they've got aging parents,if they've got just hobbies
or, you know, desires to travel the worldor whatever, those things are,
they want to figure out how to balancethat while providing
(07:19):
the opportunity to be a professional,to contribute in different ways.
So to me, one of the key thingsthat employers need to do is be creative.
We can't just sit there and look at, well,everybody has to work 9 to 5
in an office and do things exactlythe way that we've historically used it,
you know, the pandemicthat we always want to bring that up.
(07:40):
But it just changed
people's expectations and how they canhow they know they can get work done.
So so whether it's remote hybrid,
so where you actually do work, butthere's also the actual schedule itself.
So can I work maybe four tens?
Can I work long hours on weekendsor even a combination of those things?
(08:01):
Is it more I just need to get my work donewhen I get it done, maybe matters
a little bit less.
You can even look at hiring people into
job sharing kind of situationswhere maybe you're hiring
two part time people to accomplishthe tasks of one full time job.
A lot of companies are startingto use contractors and consultants,
kind of this gig concept.
(08:22):
Like, I have a project, I'm going to pickthat up, I'm going to work on it.
So if you're employing people in thesethese new ways, it's
not all just full time Mondaythrough Friday kind of employees.
Then you've got to figure out how do youhow do you communicate
amongst all these different schedules?
How do you ensure that people feellike a part of a team and that
(08:43):
especially you hear it on weekends
and like night shiftsand things like that,
They don't feel likethey're part of the team anymore.
So so a key is actually pulling peopletogether
in collaborative and communityand strong communication ways.
So with a focus on actuallygetting to know each other, having that
social connectionwhile you're still being productive.
(09:04):
And so can you build your teammeetings in person, maybe have core hours
that everybody has to bethere on Wednesdays from from tended to.
But other than that,we can kind of work around it.
But in those times when
you're having people in these more collaborative work
environments, make sure it's funand make it worth driving into the office
(09:27):
when if I could have just donemy meeting on Zoom
at home anyway, why did I THRIVE45 minutes into the office today?
So make sure it's worthwhile that they'rehaving that those connections.
And it's not always just worklike some of it's getting to know
your team, having just that time to talkso that they can work
better on other thingsoutside of those meetings too.
(09:50):
So I think it's just really importantthat there is that environment
when you're together, that you're havingfun, you're still getting things done
and you're buildingthat that team environment, you know?
Absolutely.
I love all those ideas.
Kari And we talk a lot with Jim Morgan.
You mentioned the generational differencesand export work arrangements,
(10:11):
brings up a lot of ideasand even challenges with
with generations and workingflexible hours.
I know sometimes we talk about these like,why are you emailing me at 2 a.m.
and it's like, Hey, that might work for meand it might not work for you.
But if the employer can understandthat not everybody is the same,
(10:33):
I think that will I don't know.
It just helps createkind of that more cohesive team.
Even if I'm working the same 9to 5, like you mentioned one,
when you get with employers,I think the resistance comes from
we've never really learnedhow to manage people that way.
You know, historicallyI kind of button seat management,
which is maybe not the best term,but we're so used to like, I see you,
(10:57):
I see working on your computer,you're actively engaged in a meeting.
I can tell that you're doing your jobwhen you're not in front of me,
when I can't actually see the work that
not even seeingan output in that scenario.
But when I can't see that you're working,then people question, Well,
maybe they're doing something else.
And then there startsto be this little bit of distrust.
(11:19):
We need to change our
management stylesto focusing on outcomes instead.
So it's not as much abouthow many hours I worked or when I worked
or, you know, whether or notyou went through 100 emails today or,
you know, all of that isI need to produce this result.
So is it in my doing something of quality?
(11:40):
Is that effective and am I havinga positive impact on my team?
You know, those are thingswe need to start measuring.
But the harder they're just becausea lot of jobs, they don't make widgets.
You know, it's not that I'm goingto produce 30 of these things an hour
so how can you say I have strong outputin, in what I'm doing?
(12:00):
So managers and I need to take a stepback in these and evaluate the roles?
How do I manage thesethese positions effectively
so that I'm not questioning whether or notthey're actually doing the job,
the right thing.
The right thing is, is what I produce now,
how long it takes me to produceand where I do it.
Absolutely. That's a great point,
(12:22):
Harry.
We're also in the age of social mediaand increased transparency.
So I'm curious, how is employerbranding evolving then, with that in mind,
in what role doesit really play in shaping and promoting
a positive employer brand and culture?
Sure,a lot of this goes back to that employee
experience that we talked aboutas the first question, and
(12:46):
this is now your content for your employerbrand, right?
Like when you're asking the questionsof your team, of what they want,
then when you actually put programsin place, when things are effective,
then that's what you need to do
and tell tell the outside world about itand remind your your current employees
when you're doing those thingsand what the benefits of having them are.
So making sure that you're telling people
(13:09):
the things that you're working at and getting that out there.
But you need to also make sure
that the employer brand ringstrue to what your environment actually is.
I think historically, marketingwould put together
this really professional and buttoned upprogram that made everything look perfect.
We're seeing now insteadthat employers are taking their phones out
(13:32):
and they're recording things just as muchmore casual, but it's more real.
And I think the candidates todayand employees
are they connect to that because they knowthat things aren't always produced.
And it's not that everyone's
always beautiful in an actressand they should leave things instead.
I want to see my coworkerwearing their uniform actually
working on a piece of equipment,talking about what their day is.
(13:56):
This comes in as like workers alwaysrefer to it as the realistic job preview.
You know, you want to know
if you're coming into an organization,what you're actually going to experience,
not just whatyour leadership wants people to see.
So being very, very honest about it,making sure that what you're putting out
(14:17):
about your employer brand,whether it's on social media,
whether it's just through word of mouth,that it actually matches
what your organization does,so that when someone comes into
the organization that you know, okay,this is what I thought I was getting into.
And there's fun ways to do that,especially in small businesses.
I think the they tend to think they needa full marketing team to build this out.
(14:39):
You can put little notes outabout employee
promotions or new hires and anniversaries.
You can talk about your long termemployees and you know,
what is their career path, kind of thenthrow out the time they've been there
or, you know, you brought in pizza postedthat's okay.
But those are truly thingsthat you're doing as an organization.
(15:00):
But then try to encourage peopleto do more.
Like if you do volunteer days,can we post about those?
If there is trainingthat's been received,
maybe you sent somebody to Emoryand they got certified.
Put that out there too,because these are things
showing how you're actually supportingyour employees in real life.
You know, absolutely.Those are all great examples, too.
(15:21):
And I like that pulling out your phoneand just taking a casual video
feel like I've heardthat so much recently.
And I think Amanda Mostellerone of our working and developing
instructors called it like the TikTok era,where you just do
a quick 32nd video, kind of showcasewho you are, what the brand is.
(15:41):
And I had a story about that.
Our marketing team was in.
We worked on some project for,like we to bring in the light,
to bring in the cameras,kind of like you said, the full produce.
And it's like, no,just take out your phone,
your cart recorded selfie style.
That's what everyone wants to see.
And like you said, it's very relatableand it may
(16:01):
or may not be a generational thing,
as in, I think the younger generation
is used to seeing that same all over.
And maybe that's something that
the more seasoned professionalshave to get used to that style.
But I definitely agree that that's that'swhere branding
(16:23):
and kind of digital content is goingis the more relatable content.
And I
think while it is generationalfrom the standpoint of expecting it
in, I think all the generations kind
of recognizethat it feels more accurate in
(16:44):
that it's like, okay,that actually probably happened, right?
They didn't spend $100,000to produce this video, you know,
and the questions behind that messaging.
So I think it is a
it's more about being transparent
as an organization.
And I think there's toolsto make that easier to do.
(17:05):
And actually, just as I'm saying,the word transparent,
the other thing that is really importantwith employer brands and HR Knows this is
is your pay paytransparency is really, really important.
It's it's coming.
If it's not already in your state,it's coming
and know the legislations their candidatesexpect it.
We got to stop trying to pretend it'ssomething
(17:27):
nobody talks about and start being more upfront about it.
And so how do you wrap thatinto your employer brand?
And, you know,we can't necessarily be the top payers
and with all the benefits, you know,you have to balance your your dollars.
But you can talk about what's key,you know,
do you have incentive compensationthat helps you stand out?
Do you you know, maybe you are payingat the higher, higher level
(17:51):
or you have some special employeebenefit to your total rewards is is a
is a balancing act.
But make sure that you're talking aboutthat and
and that you're just you're being upfrontabout what you believe the job is worth
because then you're goingto get the people to apply who
and who also think that'swhat the job's worth, right?
For sure.
(18:11):
So just continuingwith the digital digital training here
with the rise of automationand I was really balancing technology
adoption with the human touchin managing talent
and fostering a positiveworkplace culture.
So that's been a big challengefor a lot of people recently.
Well, it's so new and it's inI mean, my guess is not new.
(18:35):
I grew up in the nineties.
If we're watching The Terminator, right?
Like, I mean,you expected it to come and, and now
it's a question of what does it meanin reality and not in science fiction.
And so every business function,
including ours, is grappling with thisat some, some level.
I think the most important thingthat needs to get out in front of
(18:56):
this is to remind employeesand themselves they are not replacing you.
There isstill another job on the other side of it,
no different than
in in the Industrial Revolutionwhen we started seeing machines
come into manufacturing,
we didn't stop hiring peoplebecause the machines were there.
Now we just needed a different skill set
(19:17):
and so we had to make sure that that we'rekeeping people trained,
that they're learning along the wayso that they don't get left behind
because the DNA not your replace your job,
but you are not learning how to use it,will make someone else replace your job.
The person who actually doeshave that skill.
And so that's important for for each of usas as professionals,
(19:40):
You know, we're employees too, butwe need to stay in front of our employees
and remind themthat their that jobs will exist.
It just might not look tomorrowexactly the way that it looked today,
but it never has.
So that's not completely unheard ofanyway.
But so we need to get in front of that.
We need to communicate with them,you know, where we see
(20:00):
AI coming into their particular roles
and then take the time to build trainingand adoption
tools to help them get there becauseit is going to be new for everybody.
So let's just keepeverybody moving at the same time.
Things
that I think about andwhere I probably should be coming into
play is you're trying to automate manual,repetitive processes that don't require
(20:26):
creativity, strategic
thinking or what I think is important,an empathetic response, right?
People need to do that.
But if the rules are already there
and it's a plus B, we'll see.
Get people out of that.
It's not worth their time.
That's when you startto have the technology come come into
play too, to do that.
(20:47):
So for our specifically,that might be answering
questions on policiesand benefit inquiries like it's factual
and be able to use a chat botfor something like that.
How do you,how do you use systems and tools?
You don'tnecessarily need to have somebody
standing in front of themdoing the training.
How can you help affected training thatthat's there that they can utilize
(21:07):
and access without the
withouttaking up the time of an individual?
Things like metrics and data reporting.
I mean, I'll be able to set upautomated resume screening
and interview coordination are hugely timeconsuming things that again,
as long as you define your factors
and can can very much be doneby by software
(21:31):
and then performance cycle administration,
I think is an area that can really getfocused on what I want.
Scaring people is the ideathat performance management,
actual management might get inbeen used with
I, I don't see that happeningfor quite a long time because there is
still that's the creativityand strategic thinking and
(21:53):
we have to have pretty pretty fancysoftware to be able to get that right.
But that leads into HR
Has to be a gatekeeper ofif you want to call it algorithms,
if you want to call parameters, whateverthe rules are that are being built,
HR Has to review those for bias.
(22:14):
So you can't have your recruitment
software picking your hires because there is inherent bias in the data
that we're using to automate this process
in the first place,and we have to question it.
We got to put those on that scenewith compensation, career development,
anything that is truly careerand employment impacting
(22:35):
HR Really needs to be reviewingwhat those rules are
that are being put into the system and and doing adverse impact analysis
to make sure that we're not going to havewhether conscious or unconscious
bias come in becausethat's going to get you in legal trouble.
But more importantly,it's unethical, right?
No, i'm i'm really glad you reiteratedthe point that I is not
(22:57):
going to get rid of your joband that we still need you.
I feel like I've heard that
in a lot of
places and we've talked about iton a couple of podcasts.
But those are all great examples of whereHR and just business overall can use
AI and how you can kind of integrate itinto your automated processes
(23:19):
so you can focus on all of the strategicplanning processes
if the things you don't like to dobecause they're boring.
there you go, There you go.
And then you can focus on like the stuff
that you actually really want to do,which is using your brain.
Exactly.
Well, the concept of agileHR Is also gaining popularity.
(23:39):
So my question is,how are HR teams embracing agility
to respond quickly to changing businessneeds and marketing market dynamics?
Yeah, this is a
it mentioned a little bit
earlier,but it's it's changing your mindset from
only implementing thingswhen they're perfect
(24:00):
to getting into an iterative continuousimprovement process.
We just don't have timewith how quickly things change
to make sure everything is perfect.
We can't build a handbook, have to go
sit on a shelf and five years from nowlook at it again.
But you have to be pulling things outevery six months, reviewing,
(24:21):
making sure that there's minor tweaksand rolling things out.
Was looking at some of my concepts
like technologyis becoming obsolete in 3 to 5 years.
So if it takes you six monthsto select a new system
and a year to implement itand six more months to optimize
and get it really working for you, you'renow ready to replace it again.
(24:46):
So you need to be
constantly changingand tweaking and adjusting
and that is going to
to be the case forfor not just your technology tools,
not just your HR Resources,but really anything that you were touching
in support of the business.
So when you're talking about career
development, maybe you're creating careerladders, trying to retain people.
(25:07):
You can't just build the programand come back to it a couple of years
later and expectthat it has been working the whole time.
So we something out
80% good.
Learn from that and then make adjustmentsand be transparent with your employees.
Be like, Hey, we tried it.
We found something that didn't work.
So now we're going to adjustand try to make it better.
(25:30):
So that's necessarywith just about everything.
When regulations keep changing
your employees and candidates,expectations are changing so rapidly.
We're just in a in a worldwhere the iterations
are coming so much faster that you have to
you just have to
keep adjusting along the wayand don't worry about perfection.
(25:53):
And then of course, we sort of automatewhere you can
so that you don't have to spend
your time on administrative tasksand you can focus more on on these things
that need to keep changing in responseto the needs your business.
And I would say and celebrate winsbecause we kind of forget that step.
We keep the burnout,
(26:13):
all that stuff kind of comesbecause everything is coming so quickly.
So when you do implement something,remember to celebrate it.
Say thank you,Remind people that it's happened
so that they see the work and effortthat's happening.
Take a little bit of a breathbefore you move on to the next project.
Yeah, no, absolutely. That's great advice.
(26:33):
I'm kind of moving the conversationto a little different topic here.
How is HR addressingthe growing importance of sustainability
in corporate social responsibility,in shaping workplace values and practices?
I think this is somethingour listeners are very curious on
(26:54):
and they kind of want to want to knowmore about this topic.
So we set out on this questionthat it's it's it's very different
now than when when I started my career,I was even in even five
or ten years ago when people were talkingabout corporate responsibility.
But itwas more like, don't be a bad player,
(27:15):
you know, don't don't have the you know,
the Environmental Protection Agencycoming in and
doing somethingfrom a legislative standpoint.
Now it's more about aligningyour organizational values
with your business process.
So if you go out on many,many company websites,
they'll have their mission,vision and values.
(27:35):
You see common things about integrityand ethics.
You know, maybe environmentalsustainability is is listed out there.
But I think the most important thingis aligning
that to, again,what you what you're actually doing.
So it's important to to walk the talk.
So you want to make sure that you'reintegrating your business practices
(27:58):
in in that that social responsibilitythat you're saying you feel is important.
So think about
like maybe
you needto review your supply chain contracts
because you want to align with, you know,maybe you've got a DEA and B program
that you're very vocal aboutyou're putting on your employer brand.
(28:21):
You can't sit there and say, I'min support of a particular group,
but then never use them as your supplychain.
So what are your criteriafor selecting vendors?
How do you bring that in fromfrom a social responsibility standpoint?
You know, looking at your manufacturingpractices, it's great to sit there
and say we willwe recycle, reduce, reuse, recycle.
(28:45):
But what if your manufacturing practicesare creating significant amounts of waste?
You need to look at that processand find ways to to have a direct impact.
You might want to implementa scholarship program that's in support
of, you know, organizations or groupsthat you're providing support to. So
(29:06):
again, just
that deeper integrationthat rings true to your organization.
So it's not enough just to to postsupport out on social media
or write a donation check.
You need to align
who you are as an organization,which you're saying in your values.
This is who you are with,what you're actually doing.
And so that's going to help withyour employees will see that it'll gain
(29:29):
trust with them candidateswhere this is important to them.
They'll be attracted to your organizationbecause it aligns with their values.
And I mean, that's the perfect scenario isif you can recruit
people who believe what you believe,they're going to fit your culture.
They're going to they're going to
(29:49):
they're going to stick with you, too,because there is more to the relationship
than a paycheck.
Instead,they feel good about what they're doing.
So a couple
of common areas, because I think peoplequestion, you know, what is it all mean?
What's the definition of this?
Some common areas that organizations are
consideringunder that social responsibility
(30:10):
kind of umbrella is, as I mentioned,the diversity equity inclusion, belonging
activities, environmental sustainability,fair trade.
You know, again,you want to buy from vendors
in potentially third world countriesthat are not paying people effectively
or just have to the sustainable wages
and then responsible labor practiceswithin your own,
(30:31):
your own environment, withinanybody that you're doing business with.
So those are things to to measure
as well as make sure that you'reconsidering when you're making decisions.
And as an organization.
Absolutely.
Those are great examples and I feel likea common one too, is just volunteering.
A lot of organizations say they valuevolunteering, but then it's like,
(30:54):
do you give your employees
volunteer opportunities to sit out,kind of start to finish thing?
Like, do you follow up with them?
How is their experience?
How how they get involvedin the community?
Like you can't just stop at 25%.
You got to keep it going kind of thing.
There are some organizationsand I won't name any, but I'm very
recognizable that you see out in the worldwearing their volunteer t shirts
(31:17):
and you see them at eventsall over the place.
And so, you know that
that's really somethingthat that organization takes seriously.
Right? Right.
Well, just kind of wrapping up here today.
One more question for you.
Leadership development is obviouslycrucial for organizational growth.
So what initiatives are HR Departmentsimplementing
to identify and nurtureleadership talent within organization?
(31:42):
This is a really key area for me,
and i feel like we don't spendquite enough time and energy on this
in an actual practice.
You know, so oftenwe promote the best individual contributor
into running a department, but we haven'tnecessarily stepped back and said,
are they a leader?
Are theysomebody that people go to naturally when
(32:06):
when when the managers in a meeting,who do they actually reach out
amongst their team membersto get support and help?
So first, I think your selection process
needs to definitely be evaluateda little bit more
and you need to make sure thatthe individual contributors can still grow
without becoming managers because notevery person should become a leader.
(32:27):
But then another aspect of leadershipdevelopment for me
is actually the job evaluation of
our front line and mid-level managers.
We have a lot going on in these positions.
There's high, high expectations of them and they don't always have the time
and resources to be ableto actually do the job effectively.
(32:47):
So it's a really common pressure point.
And what I mean by that is seniorleadership has expectations of goals
and initiatives and growth plans that needto be executed on by these team members.
And now we're seeing employee expectationsand the employee experience
has increased a lot of what they expectout of their frontline manager.
(33:09):
You know, they're expecting that their managers want to know them
as individuals, that they adjusttheir leadership style to them,
that they're helping themdevelop in their careers, that
they're representing the organizationon a day to day basis.
Strong communication, regular feedback.
You know, there's just a there's a lotthat's being expected at that.
(33:30):
And then these roles commonlyhave extremely high spans of control.
So you see it'snot uncommon to see a supervisor
have 20 to 30 direct reports
if you expect them to know their employees
on an individual basisand provide a strong employee experience,
while also meeting the strategic goalsand needs of the organization,
(33:54):
probably need to take a look
at the span of control because that'sprobably not a realistic ask.
And they also have a lotof administrative work, whether it's time
cards and performance reviewsand you just all these tools and resources
that they have to do on an ongoing basis.
So I think it's a really important
that we especially as we take a step backand then
(34:14):
look at whether it's a program we'reimplementing, what's the impact on them,
but also
are we really designing the jobs in a waythat's going to make them successful?
So that's a it's just a
it's a key area for me is making surethat they're spending that time,
especially givenwe know the direct managers are a key
(34:35):
reason why employeesstay or leave an organization.
So if we don't provide the supportto those specific individuals,
how are we really long termimpacting our ability to
to get the right talentin the organization?
So it's like I said, we need to make surethat we're focusing on evaluating
what those responsibilities are,how many direct reports they might have,
(34:58):
what's the
the individual contributor taskswe ask them to, because oftentimes
they're also expected to be a produceron top of being the manager
of a very large team that you might needto provide administrative support to them
or an automation tools or somethingto make their jobs a little bit easier.
And then being clear on training themand the skill sets
(35:20):
that they need to do their job welland providing very clear expectations
of what they're responsible forso that they can be successful.
And of course, Emery can helpwith the training and the development
and even the job evaluations if that'ssomething that people are interested in.
But I do think it's important.
We very often look at our senior leaders
and we're looking a lotat our individual contributors these days,
(35:42):
but this group in the middlegets kind of forgotten.
Well, I think that's a great
place to close out on a great conversationtoday.
So, Keri, I want to thank you forfor your expertise in ensuring that
sharing the trendsthat you've been seeing in HR currently.
But to our listeners,I want to thank you also for tuning in.
(36:03):
When Keri mentioned we have resourceslinked in the show notes,
so make sure to check those out todayor you can find them at MRA.
Net dot org.
We also I'm curious LinkedInprofile linked in the show notes.
So if you like to connect with her or ask
or any follow up questions, be sure to connect with Keri.
I'm sure she'd be happy to do that.
(36:25):
Keri Again,thank you for joining me today.
And to our listeners,we will see you next week.
And that wraps up our contentfor this episode.
Be sure to reference the show noteswhere you can sign them to connect.
For more podcast updates,
check out other MRA episodeson your favorite podcast platform.
And as always, make sure to follow MRA's30 minutes THRIVE
(36:46):
so you don't miss out.Thanks for tuning in
and we'll see you next Wednesdayto carry on the conversation.
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