Are HR and People leaders the guardians of the challenges and opportunities presented by AI in the workplace? The answer, according to Aviva Chief People Officer Danielle Harmer and ChenMed Chief Learning Officer, is yes. The inherent connection between AI and people mandates HR leaders to support, develop, and upskill their colleagues.

Harmer and Lind are the latest HRD Live podcast guests for the Future of Work series and agree that HR’s responsibility is to consider and nurture the skills of its future workforce, including AI capabilities. In this episode, we cover how and why organizations can drive the best business outcomes through AI by carefully supporting their people through upskilling and clear communication.

“People create technology,” begins Harmer. “People lead the people… …you need people with the skills to build digital journeys for customers or colleagues.”

Lind echoes this sentiment: “Even with large language models… …it’s all built with people. People were the ones behind it.” Both leaders are acknowledging that all too often, organizations portray AI as ‘fairy dust’ that overpromises when people are not given the skills they need to work alongside the technology.

Neglecting the relationship between AI and People and the implications this has for skills development constrains the impact of AI on business outcomes; or, as Harmer describes it, “a chatbot circular hell.”

This reality is already facing organizations that have rushed into AI implementation without taking the necessary time to plan what it means for their people. Lind, taking an optimistic view, sees this as an opportunity for HR: “There is an opportunity, if we’re as familiar with the technology as we possibly can be, to be almost trilingual…being able to speak the business language and technology language, but then also bringing the human experience lens to it.”

Aviva is already seeing the benefits of a people-centric and considered approach to AI implementation. Its learning community, ‘The Aviva Foundry,’ is designed to equip employees with the skills they need to thrive in a digital world of work. “There is no magic cupboard somewhere of people with digital skills,” explains Harmer. “You need to equip them with some of the technical skills. And so, we set up the Foundry to do that.”

In July 2023, the first graduate of The Aviva Foundry, formerly in the customer experience team, became a software engineer. “It’s her dream job, and it’s what she always wanted to do,” adds Harmer. Moreover, this employee is now solving business-critical technical problems.

Harmer’s story emphasizes the importance of the human side to AI implementation. Lind draws on the story, and his own experience within healthcare: “There’s an emotional side of this to help people understand. We didn’t hire you to do these tasks. That’s not what you bring to the table. But let us help you see beyond the tasks.”

Focusing on the connection between AI and people, and taking a human-centric approach to reskilling, is critical. “We’re dealing with people, and people aren’t robots. We can’t just deprogram them and reprogram them to do something else,” explains Lind.

Harmer goes on to highlight the need for organizations and HR teams to be realistic and reassuring during times of change and digital transformation. “We’re focusing heavily at Aviva on saying, ‘We’ve got the people we need; we know where jobs are heading.’ All we need to do is give the skills to our people.”

Aviva begins this process by developing a thorough skills architecture to compare technical and non-technical roles and assess the similarity and transferability of skills. The people team then positions itself to communicate exactly how it is prepared to invest in its people’s development.

Lind agrees that this approach is the most beneficial to an organization and its people. “Have some of those open and honest conversations with your employees,” he says. “Bring them along for a ride and give them a choice.” Trusting employees and inviting them into the conversation about skills adjacencies ensures those who take part in upskilling and reskilling are not just able, but also willing.

Tune into the full HRD Live episode to hear Harmer and Lind discuss the importance of workforce planning and break down further examples from Aviva and ChenMed about the connection between AI and People.

00:09 – Are HR leaders the guardians in navigating the challenges and opportunities presented by technologies such as AI?

08:00 – Danny, Aviva has made lots of progress by introducing learning academies and data fluency programs – can you share more about the progress you have made?

09:48 – Chris, how would you describe the journey that you’ve been on with upskilling and preparing employees for a future where hopefully they’re using AI?

18:29 – How do we get people to a point where they’re excited, rather than anxious, about AI?

_______________

Danielle is Chief People Officer at Aviva, leading its global People and Culture strategy. She is passionate about supporting its people and keeping things simple. Before joining Aviva, Danny was the Chief People Officer at Metro Bank for over seven years and previously held a variety of roles in HR and business leadership at Halifax, HBOS, Lloyds Banking Group, and Barclays. She was recognized as one of HR Magazine’s ‘Most Influential Practitioners’ from 2016-2022.

Chris Lind is Chief Learning Officer at ChenMed. He is a globally recognized, digital-first leader in learning and workplace technology, living at the intersection of business, technology, and the human experience. He is the author of Relentless Intention and host of Learning Tech Talks.

The post AI and People: How HR can lead digital transformation through participative upskilling appeared first on HRD.

Positioning leaders as infallible, flawless, and without struggle does not make sense in a rapidly changing world. The future of work is as uncertain and complex as our current volatile work landscape and requires organizations to re-evaluate the role and nature of their leaders. HR and People leaders must now push against the stereotype of traditional leadership. Instead, they should position themselves and train fellow business leaders to embrace vulnerability.

Futurist and author Jacob Morgan is a strong advocate for leading with vulnerability. In the latest HRD Live Podcast episode, we discuss the need for vulnerable leaders and the role HR must play in championing vulnerability both now and in the future.

Whether your organization is struggling with the tough business landscape, or thriving in ‘the new normal,’ all leaders are navigating a constantly changing landscape. Morgan argues this becomes impossible without ideas, advice, and recommendations from your people. By projecting an all-knowing aura of confidence, leaders will miss the advice and insights from employees working on the ground floor.

“If there’s one thing we all know, it’s that leaders today, and you could argue ever, don’t know everything.

“If you want to rely on the collective intelligence and wisdom of your people, [vulnerability] is the only way you’re going to be able to get that out of them.”

Without vulnerability, Morgan argues leaders risk creating organizations that stifle growth, engagement, innovation, and productivity: “You’re going to be doomed for failure.”

Leading with vulnerability creates a working environment where HR leaders can engage in a closer relationship with their workforce. It gives employees the room to co-create strategy around the employee experience in a volatile work landscape. But HR leaders also have an obligation to facilitate leadership development and champion vulnerability across the business. “The best thing you can do is lead with example,” Morgan explains. “As with anything, if you want to encourage those around you to lead with vulnerability, it starts with you.”

Whilst companies expect their employees to be more innovative and challenge conventions, this is not possible if people do not feel safe to do so. Having surveyed over 14,000 employees across the world, at levels of seniority, Morgan reveals the biggest barrier to vulnerability:

“The number one response that we got back by far from everybody is ‘I don’t want to be perceived as being weak or incompetent.’ In other words, leaders, and employees across all levels, are not willing to talk about mistakes, failures, challenges, or anything that opens themselves up to emotional exposure. They’re worried that the people around them are going to think that they are not good enough.”

Morgan also offers advice for HR leaders seeking to model vulnerability:

“If you want others to lead with vulnerability, it’s going to start with you as a leader. You are going to have to open up. You can certainly talk about your mistakes and failures and what you’ve learned from them, and you can talk about some of the challenges or struggles you’re facing and how you’re trying to overcome them.”

Listen to the full episode to hear Jacob Morgan’s full analysis of the need for vulnerable leaders and pioneering frameworks including the vulnerable leader equation and the vulnerability loop.

00:09 – Introduction

00:45 – How do you differentiate between being vulnerable and leading with vulnerability?

04:44 – How does vulnerability help HR leaders lead to navigate through this ongoing and tricky period of change?

07:21 – As we look to the future of work, when might vulnerability not be a good thing?

11:24 – As HR and people leaders, our audience will need to train fellow business leaders on the attributes of vulnerability. How can they teach people to lead with vulnerability?

12:47 – What barriers are there that might keep people from leading with vulnerability at work?

18:41 – Why bother to lead with vulnerability? There are plenty of leaders out there who don’t do this who appear to be quite successful!

________________

Jacob Morgan is an international best-selling author, keynote speaker, and professionally trained futurist. Jacob’s work has been endorsed by the CEOs of Mastercard, Best Buy, Unilever, The Ritz Carlton, Nestle, Cisco, Audi, and many others. He has a popular podcast called Great Leadership With Jacob Morgan. Jacob lives in Los Angeles with his wife, two kids, and two Yorkie rescue dogs. He is releasing a fifth book, Leading With Vulnerability, in October.

The post Jacob Morgan: The future of work needs leaders with vulnerability appeared first on HRD.

As we dive headlong into a future of work characterized by rapid change and ongoing business transformation, are traditional and transactional change management models still fit for purpose? Existing practices no longer keep up with the pace of change. New models such as Michael Arena’s network approach are gaining popularity.

In a new era of AI-enabled transformation and heightened employee expectations placing higher expectations on HR leaders, progressive change management initiatives are now a business imperative.

UC Faculty member and change management expert Alex Budak, and Ford Motor Company Chief Talent Officer Chris Yates, join the HRD Live podcast to advocate for a greater emphasis on strategic change initiatives that will engage and retain employees during a time of unprecedented change.

Digital transformation is widespread across every industry and business model. “From the executive level down, they’re having to learn new skills and mindsets,” explains Yates. Employees previously experienced periods of change followed by time to rest and re-calibrate.

Now, change is a continuous process. Basic human fight or flight behavior dictates it’s better to be conscious of where dangers lie. When change is continuous, it creates sustained stress that quickly leads to burnout.

Budak echoes Yates’ analysis by introducing Martec’s Law, which proposes that whilst technology changes exponentially, organizations and teams grow much more slowly.

Accordingly, HR leaders must strive bridge to bridge an ever-increasing gap. To best do so, organizations must shift their focus away from transactional change management strategies to strategic change initiatives.

Budak draws on an analysis from Patti Sanchez to emphasize the need for empathy in strategic management processes.

“50% of C-suit executives, when they leave change, don’t take into account how change will be perceived by people on the frontlines,” he explains. “It’s not just about coming up with the right strategy, it’s also about seeing people where they are, empathizing with them, and being able to generate ideas from there.”

Yates reiterates the importance of communication throughout strategic change initiatives. Whilst transactional change models very rarely involve co-creation and feedback cycles, effective leadership requires creating space and time to speak with people. “We have to be more intentional,” he argues. “I’m busy doing all of this transformational work, as we all are, and yet, to be an effective leader at this time, I’ve actually got to spend more of my time talking to people and checking in with people.”

Budak and Yates agree that this approach retains many of the fundamental principles of traditional change management practices. “Chris is pointing out some of the classic research by John Kotter around making sure you communicate the vision over and over and over,” explains Budak. He continues:

“I’ve seen a lot of executives that communicate something once. We’re finding that people need to be approached in many different ways. As leaders and HR leaders, we need to communicate to people in a way that’ true to hear they are.

“You’ve got to be consistently repeating messages and finding different ways to reach people.”

Whilst traditional change management processes such as Kotter’s eight-step model require modern adaption and application, the fundamentals remain the same.

Tune in to the full episode to hear more analysis from Chris Yates and Alex Budak on adapting and applying fundamental change management principles to a new era of chaos and disruption, from navigating employee fatigue to co-creating change strategy.

00:09 – Introduction

01:17 – How is the digital age accelerating the rate of change at work?

05:35 – And how has this impacted the role HR leaders play in effectively managing change in the era of transparency and heightened employee expectations?

10:06 – In a fast-paced marketplace, why is it crucial for organizations to shift their focus from transactional approaches to change management and place greater emphasis on strategic change initiatives?

13:19 – How can organizations provide the necessary support, energy, and growth opportunities to engage and retain employees during times of change? With such high levels of change fatigue, is it best to prioritize and pause certain initiatives?

16:30 – What strategies and best practices can organizations employ to actively involve employees in decision-making and idea generation as part of change management initiatives?

_________________

Alex Budak is a UC Berkeley faculty member, social entrepreneur, author, and speaker. He teaches, speaks, and writes to make change less scary, leadership more accessible, and impact more inclusive. His book, Becoming a Changemaker, has been endorsed by Nobel Prize winners, Olympic athletes, and most meaningful of all—his former students who are using these ideas to change the world.

Chris Yates serves as the Chief Talent Office for Ford Motor Company and has led Values Based Leadership efforts in several organizations, including Caterpillar and Microsoft. His diverse range of experience also includes founding Ethical Organizational Design, a consulting organization in the UK that promotes ethical values in business and beyond. Chris has co-authored two books, “Rewire: A Radical Approach to Tackling Diversity and Difference”, and “Share: How Organizations Can Thrive in an Age of Networked Knowledge, Power, and Relationships”.

The post Adjusting change management models to cope with rapid digital transformation appeared first on HRD.

“Your future of work strategy is your DEI&B strategy,” argues Shujaat Ahmad, Director of People Analytics and Future of Work Strategy and Innovation at LinkedIn. Creating unity in these strategies requires data-driven future of work planning.

Ahmad is joined on the HRD Live Podcast by Karthik Varatharaj, Global Chief Talent Officer at Levi Strauss & Co, for an in-depth discussion on using data to guarantee an equitable and inclusive future of work.

To begin designing an inclusive future of work strategy, Ahmad argues you must ask why. “For a lot of companies, they’re doing it because it’s good for the business,” he states. “It’s either good from a customer’s perspective or it’s good because they want to retain and attract talent.”

Data insights then offer the route and guidance for achieving this goal. Monitoring progress keeps you on course and nudges you to course correct where necessary. Simply put, if you wish to create an inclusive future of work, “You cannot do this without being able to measure and iterate along the way.”

Echoing this perspective, Varatharaj confirms Levi Strauss & Co.’s future of work strategy is a natural outcome of its DEI&B strategy. “Data and insights reinforce, validate, and give us signals as to where we should be targeting our efforts, he notes.”

“The data we picked up from listening surveys and external benchmarking has truly helped us create a practical framework that is, supportive of the diversity of our employee base, not just in the US, but globally.”

As a values-driven organization, Levi Strauss & Co. leads with a ‘profit through principles’ approach. But, with limited budgets for investment, there is always a trade-off when investing in strategies and policies that will drive impact and rally the organization. Varatharaj emphasizes the role managers play at these crucial inflection points.

“A core piece of what we’ve done at Levi Strauss and Co is manager empowerment. Having managers and empowering them to have agency over how they make decisions, and encouraging them to lean into flexibility, empathy, and psychological safety.

“We set a central strategy and framework, and we allow managers the power to play within that framework to make decisions that best work for them. And it’s been really successful so far.”

Ahmad underpinned this argument with an analysis of data-driven DEI&B.

“In the DEI&B world, there are two levels. You go to the abstract level, where we start at the top, look at data, and understand where sentiments are and what’s working for different populations.

“But the action has to be coupled with a more grounded approach where employee resource groups come into play. In the culture of storytelling, managers learn from other managers, peer-to-peer learning is very strong.”

He argues by building stories that add texture to data and employee insights, managers buy into more grounded stories that foster a culture of inclusion.

Approaching an inclusive, data-driven future of work strategy requires an iterative, adaptive approach to strategic planning and execution. HR should empower managers to experiment and equip them with data to test and learn. Ahmad highlights sentiment data and behavioral data as two excellent data sources, alongside talent metrics, that allow organizations to innovate and myth-bust unsuccessful and harmful policies and practices.

Varatharaj also vies for this approach to strategic planning, highlighting the work at Levi Strauss and Co. He adds that an iterative and transparent approach to future of work planning can prepare employees for change.

“Employee sentiment is always going to be grounded in facts. But also, what’s happening on a macro level? Is there guidance from the CDC or other external benchmarking research bodies which inform the decision-making?

“Employees appreciate the transparency to understand why something is shifting, and to have the time to adequately adapt to it once things are rolled out. We take this iterative approach.”

Tune in to the full HRD Live Podcast episode to hear further examples of data-driven future of work planning at LinkedIn and Levi Strauss and Co, alongside analysis from Ahmad and Varatharaj on implementing data-led DEI&B planning at the executive level.

00:09 – Introduction

01:14 – What role do insights and data play in continuing to intertwine DEI&B strategy within future of work strategy?

05:15 – How can organizations meet people where they are when not everyone has the same vision for DEI&B and the Future of Work?

08:07 – What are some strategies for generating buy-in and engagement at the manager level?

12:39 – What about at the executive level? How can HR leaders influence executive decision-making based on DEI&B data insights?

16:14 – How would you recommend using data insights to innovate, test, execute, and prove future of work theories in practice?

_______________

Karthik Varatharaj is the Global Chief Talent Officer at Levi Strauss & Co. He oversees all aspects of talent and culture, including acquisition, career development, and employee engagement, and has led and executed multiple global people transformation efforts spanning Retail, Financial Services, and Technology. Both in and out of the office, he strives to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in all that he does. 

Shujaat Ahmad is the Director of People Analytics and Future of Work Strategy and Innovation at LinkedIn. Shujaat is also the Global Co-Chair of Embrace ERG, a global LinkedIn employee resource group, and a guest lecturer at the Wharton School. He is an established trusted strategic advisor to global executive business and talent leadership. He focuses on myth-busting beliefs and influencing mindset change to align evidence-based talent strategy with business strategy and make people “the” enabler of competitive advantage.

The post Creating an inclusive, data-driven future of work: Lessons from LinkedIn and Levi’s appeared first on HRD.

The rapidly changing landscape for work is shifting the requirements for leaders at all levels of the business. The role of the CHRO is evolving to become more data-driven and strategic than ever before. HR leaders must seize a unique opportunity for greater strategic input, and to do so must develop their digital literacy. In the first episode of the HRD Live Podcast series on the Future of Work, we are joined by AI HR Chief Scientist for HR & OD, Dieter Veldsman, and former L’Oréal CHRO Stephane Charbonnier, to discuss the evolving CHRO skillset and the leadership learnings for current HR Leaders.

The role of the CHRO, argues Charbonnier, has become that of an orchestra conductor. “Not long ago, the head of HR had the role of an expert,” he explains. “The role of co-ordination, prepping for the future, and fostering greater collaboration in the company between different functions was the role of the CFO or CEO.”

CHROs and HR leaders are now responsible for this type of work: Co-ordinating dialogues, anticipating future challenges and becoming closer to the business. Veldsman builds on the metaphor, comparing the use of data to the sheet music a conductor draws from. “How do I connect the people data I am seeing to the priorities of the business?” he asks. “And how do I coordinate these different parts to bring the right conversations to the executive table?”

Veldsman emphasizes the need not just for driving data literacy as a part of an HR Leader’s skill set, but also to develop an evidence-based mindset; to stick closely to the sheet music to create a symphony of insight. By doing so, HR leaders can continue to change the expectations that surround HR and add further strategic value.

Both Charbonnier and Veldsman also have plenty of advice for developing the skillset and mindset detailed above. Charbonnier is keen to point out the need for curiosity. “Go and find out what’s happening outside of your company, throughout the industry,” he says.

“The key word is curiosity,” agrees Veldsman. “An openness to experimenting, finding new ways of thinking, and adopting new practices.” He emphasizes the need for today’s HR leaders to ask why they want this role, and what motivation sits behind their ambitions. This journey of self-discovery will help leaders to understand exactly what skills we get them to this role, from business acumen to data literacy.

Listen to the full episode to hear Charbonnier and Veldsman discuss the changing role of the CHRO, how HR leaders can develop data-driven productivity with human-centric and ethical work cultures, and much more.

00:10 – Introduction

01:12 – Stephane, how are you expecting the CHRO role to change in the next five years, and what are you doing to prepare?

03:03 – What influence will the shift to data-driven HR have on the CHRO role in the future?

09:15 – What steps can current HR Directors and VPs take to improve their overall digital literacy?

12:40 – Historically we have seen CHROs undervalued as strategic partners at the C-Suite level – does this statement still match reality?

16:34 – How can CHROs bridge the gap between data-driven decision-making and human-centric cultures, to build organizations that are productive, ethical, and sustainable?

21:41 – Are there any other future of work challenges or imperatives you think are important to note?

________________

Stephane Charbonnier was the CHRO at L’Oréal USA at the time of recording. Before joining L’Oréal in 2013, Stephane worked for more than two decades in key HR leadership positions at global organizations including PepsiCo, American Express, and McDonald’s in Europe and the United States.

Dieter Veldsman is Chief Scientist for HR & OD at AIHR. He has an extensive career in Work Psychology and Human Resource Management and more than 15+ years of experience working with organizations in EMEA, APAC, and LATAM, with over 5+ years at an Executive level. He speaks frequently at conferences and panels on strategic HR, OD, and the future of work.

The post Leadership learnings: How to upskill for the future of work appeared first on HRD.

DE&I programs desperately need a refreshed approach, argues Simon Fanshawe, OBE. “It’s become a set of prohibitions and rules,” he explains. It’s all about what you can’t say, or what you can’t do.”

Fanshawe argues the point of diversity and inclusion celebrate our differences. Whilst we attempt to walk in other people’s shoes, we will never fully understand their experiences. Diversity and inclusion programs should be a tool to prevent conformity. “What we have to be able to do is collaborate, and we only collaborate through our differences,” he explains.

In the final episode of the HRD Live podcast mini-series on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, Fanshawe talks through some of the biggest misconceptions, mistakes, and consequences of ill-informed DE&I programs. We learn how HR leaders can focus on tackling deficits and communicating dividends to deliver a long-term solution to DE&I programs that avoids finger-pointing.

Fanshawe breaks down problematic language and behavior into three main categories: Careless, thoughtless, and malicious. For the most extreme case, malicious behavior, he argues organizations need to treat incidents carefully and with evidence to assess what happened.

Careless or thoughtless cases are “where our intentions and impact have a gap between them. It is inevitable,” he explains. Fanshawe argues DE&I programs shouldn’t (and can’t) try to stop these mistakes. Instead, they should “help people contribute and collaborate with each other at their best, so that we accept difference.”

Fanshawe believes it’s useful to think about diversity in terms of deficits and dividends. The deficits are the negative experiences of minoritized groups that we know have historically existed in the workplace. “To make progress on this, the first thing is to really understand what’s happening with those deficits,” he states. “So, don’t stop with the headlines.”

By this, Fanshawe means thoroughly researching deficits to understand whether it is a problem specific to your organization, or whether it’s an industry-wide issue your company may struggle to control and offers the example of engineering and white-male-dominated stem programs.

Having understood your deficits, Fanshawe goes to explain you will have a greater idea of the mechanisms that will unleash and celebrate your diverse talent.

Diversity dividends will depend on your objectives and how you bring people together to collaborate. He offers the example of a College English Department that needed help hiring an English from a location outside of the UK such as India, Nigeria, or the Caribbean. On the face of it, this may suggest a dividend of ethnic diversity. However, the Department was seeking cultural diversity, and making such a hire brought a necessary understanding of English Literature authors from such countries were publishing.

By following this model, Fanshawe argues organizations can develop a far more collaborative and celebratory approach to diversity and inclusion. He emphasizes the importance of understanding who and why you are bringing each individual into strategy conversations. “Think about what everyone is bringing differently into the achievement of the goals you’ve set yourself,” he says.

The vital step is to create spaces that are safe for disagreement, rather than safe from disagreement. By doing so, people can bring and celebrate their differences into conversations around talent or performance strategy, rather than fostering conformity.

Timestamps

00:07 – Introduction

00:55 – What are the biggest misconceptions about DE&I programs among HR directors?

04:10 – What are some potential unintended consequences of DE&I programs, such as employee resource groups (ERGs)?

08:42 – Once organizations have defined their DE&I goal, how can they go about creating and equipping their workforce to achieve it?

13:09 – How does this approach to DE&I programs help meet organizational or business goals?

16:32 – Why does this approach deliver a long-term solution to DE&I rather than reducing it to a set of rules, language, and finger-pointing?

________________

Simon Fanshawe is a writer, broadcaster, speaker, and non-executive director in the public and private sectors. He is a partner at Diversity by Design. He was a co-founder of the lesbian and gay equality lobby group Stonewall. Simon is also a co-founder of The Kaleidoscope Trust, the only British charity working exclusively on gay human rights worldwide.

To listen to more episodes of the HRD Live Podcast view our full archive on HRD Connect. Alternatively, listen and subscribe on Apple or Spotify!

The post Collaboration not conformity: Why DE&I programs must not be a set of rules appeared first on HRD.

The root word of allyship, explains Greenhouse Chief People Officer Donald Knight, is ‘All.’ “Allyship is, how are you inviting, engaging, championing, and empowering all people?” This slight difference in approach to allyship is hugely significant. It demands a continuous approach to inclusion, as Knight explains:

“Regardless of how much of a great ally we’ve been with one demographic or with one group, championing that group, or walking alongside that group, there’s still room for improvement for us to do those (things) for other groups as well.”

When Knight was an intern, he received the support and allyship of his then-CHRO, Kay Kennedy. Kennedy encouraged leaders from across the organization, including another future ally, Diane Harris, to reach out to Knight and encourage him to pursue a career in HR. Without the support of Kennedy and Harris, who pushed through his initial resistance to the HR profession, Knight acknowledges his life would have been very different.

Of course, not all HR leaders are like Kennedy and Harris. Many organizations struggle with the concept of allyship, and as a result, alienate minoritized workers. Knight points out some common pitfalls of people leaders. “They feel like there’s no room for improvement,” he notes. “That there’s nothing for them to learn since they’re surrounded by people.”

Demographics at a societal and organizational level are constantly changing. Employees constantly gain new information, perspectives, and skills. Accordingly, HR leaders must constantly seek new ways to engage and champion their people.

Equally, many organizations simply don’t know where to begin. Knight shares some typical concerns: “I don’t know how to connect with people from different backgrounds. I don’t know how to champion women.” Although fear is natural, Knight argues this does not absolve any leader of their responsibility. Instead, he suggests HR leaders seek out organizations that handle allyship well and learn the fundamentals of allyship habits, behaviors, and actions.

As someone who has both benefited from allyship and served as a powerful ally, Knight was able to share two simple examples of how to champion and support minoritized individuals in the workplace. “We have to make sure we don’t talk over people,” he begins. “But it doesn’t have to be something so philosophical. One easy example is men who talk over women on meetings. It’s not OK. An ally would call that out.”

By respectfully pointing out that someone was about to say something and has been talked over, an ally can quickly implement a ‘micro-improvement,’ Knight’s solution to micro-aggressions.

He offers another example of a micro-improvement. “What I like to do at the end of my meetings is to say, ‘Hey, I’m going to do a round robin to make sure we got everybody’s perspective,’” he explains. This ensures everyone present hasthe opportunity to share their voice.

When HR and business leaders miss these opportunities for micro-improvements and allyship, Knight emphasizes the organization-wide impact it can have.

“We recognize diversity drives creativity, creativity drives innovation, innovation drives revenue, and revenue drives profit. Well, if you don’t have that diverse voice in there, you’re stifling your innovation, you’re stifling your creativity, and thusly, you will see it adversely impact the balance sheet.

Listen to the full episode to hear Knight’s perspectives on measuring progression, bringing the gap between allyship expectations and reality, and sustaining allyship initiatives into the long term.

00:09 – Introduction

00:59 – How do you define ‘Allyship,’ and why does it not mean we all have to view things the same way?

02:15 – Can you share a time when you felt you had the support of an ally? What can HR learn from it?

05:36 – What common barriers does HR face when encouraging employees to become an ally?

07:56 – What structures, training, or practices can you recommend to make allyship a more tangible practice?

10:00 – How does a lack of allyship negatively impact organizations?

11:45 – We know that allies are not always as effective as they think. What can HR do to remove this gap between expectation and reality?

13:54 – How can HR leaders measure progression in a more abstract concept like allyship, to ensure intentions are matched with actions?

14:14 – How can HR leaders ensure that their efforts to promote allyship are sustained over the long term?

________________

Donald Knight is the Chief People Officer at Greenhouse. He is a commercially focused HR Leader with a proven record of driving financial results, business growth, and asset value through the development and delivery of people strategies. He has lived and worked abroad and excels in finding and optimizing talent on a global level.

To listen to more episodes of the HRD Live Podcast view our full archive on HRD Connect. Alternatively, listen and subscribe on Apple or Spotify!

The post Micro-improvements, long-term strategy: Allyship in action with Donald Knight appeared first on HRD.

From HR thought leadership to Hollywood Press, the consistent message is that diversity, on its own, is not enough. True equity, inclusion, and belonging extend far beyond token diversity gestures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics, shares this view.

Quite literally emphasizing ‘inclusion,’ Philippa Bonay, People & Business Services Director for the ONS rephrases DE&I as inclusion and diversity. But what is the significance of this semantic switch? And how does the UK’s recognized statistical institute use data to keep accountable with inclusion objectives?

In the latest HRD Live Podcast episode in our mini-series on inclusion and diversity, we discover how the ONS has created dashboards to meet inclusion objectives, and why focusing solely on diversity is simply not good enough.

“It feels like a small change. But actually, it’s really important,” explains Bonay, referencing the switch in language from DE&I to inclusion and diversity.

“If you don’t feel included, and we don’t make sure that everybody feels included, then it doesn’t really matter if we have lots of diversity because we’re not creating an environment for everybody to thrive.”

Inclusion is invisible to those who enjoy it, and painful to those who are excluded from it. Without inclusion, all the benefits diversity promises – creativity, innovation, productivity – fly out of the window. It can even result in greater conflict. Accordingly, organizations and HR leaders must embed inclusion as an instinct.

Bonay recommends several steps HR leaders can take to ensure they embed inclusion within the DNA of their organization. “The first is to have a really clear plan that supports the business strategy,” she notes. At the ONS, this means applying an inclusive lens to all outputs and statistics it produces for the UK. “Then it is about how we behave within the organization,” explains Bonay.

Feeding into this is the need for high-quality quantitative and qualitative data. This data is needed to take data-informed decisions, but also to measure how decisions impact the performance of DEI&B metrics. This approach allows HR teams to track whether their inclusion strategy is operationalized across all areas of the employee experience, including reward and recognition, recruitment, onboarding, office equipment, technology, and beyond.

“In HR, we set the support. We set the tone and a vision. But then, the important thing is devolving it to the wider business. We should be encouraging affinity groups and senior leaders to be role models. Inclusion, interesting, is the one thing that is most susceptible to team behaviors.”

Bonay oversaw the introduction of an inclusion, culture, and wellbeing dashboard at the ONS in 2022. As a data-driven organization, this may not be entirely unexpected. However, this dashboard has become a one-stop shop for senior leaders of the ONS. It allows them to have the information they need on inclusion, culture, and well-being to drive improvements at a local level. “The ICW dashboard moves us from looking purely at diversity data to insightful inclusion data because it looks across the employee lifecycle,” explains Bonay.

The metrics covered on the dashboard include attraction, retention, attrition, promotion, reward, recognition, and engagement: “We can see the story of our colleague’s life experience with us.”

This story creates a compelling narrative for action that feeds practical support to specific teams, each with its own improvements around inclusion. Senior leaders meet with the CEO and Deputy CEO every six months to discuss the data for their team and actions taken since the last session. The focus is on what the data showed six months ago, what actions they took, and what differences they have seen in the data since the actions were taken. By making senior leaders responsible for their data, they have become more curious about what’s going on and more willing to take action based on the insights gained.

00:09 – Introduction

00:54 – Why do you focus on ‘inclusion and diversity’ rather than DE&I?

03:40 – What are other practical ways to ensure inclusion is the outcome?

07:22 – What is an “inclusion culture and wellbeing dashboard,” and how has it helped ONS to improve inclusion?

09:58 – How does this data-driven or data-informed approach help to keep you consistently accountable?

13:29 – Why is important to be relentless about improving inclusion, and why would focusing solely on diversity not be enough?

14:58 – What are some areas you’re looking to improve on in 2023 and beyond?

________________

Philippa Bonay is the People & Business Services Director for the ONS. Here, she is responsible for human resources, estates, facilities management, H&S, business services, and the customer contact center. She is also the HR Director for the Government Analysis Function and the Government Statistical Service, and a member of the Civil Service HR Function Board. Philippa has extensive experience across the whole HR remit, infrastructure, commercial and business services in both the private and public sectors.

To listen to more episodes of the HRD Live Podcast view our full archive on HRD Connect. Alternatively, listen and subscribe on Apple or Spotify!

The post Inclusion and diversity, not DE&I? appeared first on HRD.

The diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEI&B) landscape has evolved significantly in the past five years, accelerated by culturally significant moments such as the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. Vitally, DEI&B is now seen as a strategic business driver rather than simply ‘the right thing to do.’ This shift is embodied by a richer view of inclusion and belonging that supports organizations in the markets they serve, alongside the people they employ.

Heather E. McGowan, future of work strategist and author of The Empathy Advantage, is the latest guest on the HRD Live Podcast. In this episode, we examine the rapidly changing work environment. McGowan offers advice on how organizations can keep up to speed by taking a more textured approach to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

The way employees and organizations view DEI&B is changing. Beyond being seen as a strategic business driver, diversity is expanding beyond ever-important groups including culture, race, and diversity. Neurodiversity and social mobility are now added lenses that HR leaders must consider. People leaders, argues McGowan, must be leading the charge:

“How do we integrate capabilities like neurodiversity into a team? It’s not something we can solve by hiring someone with a certain profile. It’s, how do you hire them? What kind of jobs should they be doing? What’s their superpower?”

“It’s a matter of helping all of us play to our strengths. And recognize that the strengths don’t come in any one uniform package. They never did.”

The terminology around diversity has evolved with the shift in employee expectations. Historically, diversity meant hiring underrepresented groups. Equity and inclusion followed to help these groups become successful and to create an environment where everyone feels included. DE&I leaders now incorporate belonging. McGowan describes this as “A feeling of psychological safety. It’s a feeling of trust.”

This creates an environment where employees do not self-censor and instead bring their full selves to work. Crucially, they feel safe and encouraged to use their voice whether that is in agreement or dissent.

To create belonging in the workplace, McGowan emphasizes the need for third-party support input: “It’s got to be done by a third party. It encourages people to tell you what they really think.”

Without the safety net of anonymity, employees become far more comfortable to point out the areas where their employers are falling short. A lack of understanding about attitudes across all demographics means organizations lose sight of what matters to their employees and customers.

Moreover, DEI&B helps to establish a culture of learning. “If you want your folks to be vulnerable enough to learn and adapt, you have to provide that psychological safety,” explains McGowan.

McGowan also shares some quick wins for addressing social mobility. “Do we really need to put the degree out there as a barrier? Because that is a barrier as a social mobility binary. Can we reach out and look at somebody who hasn’t had this experience but could train and develop to succeed in this area?”

But whilst leading organizations are increasingly ditching degree-based hiring, McGowan argues this alone is not enough.

“This has been a big problem in DEI&B. Whether it’s race, culture-based or socio-economic, we hire people because they fit a DE&I profile but may be thinner on the experience than another candidate.

“But if we don’t put the support in place for them to be successful, we’ll see that it didn’t work. We hired a diverse candidate, and they failed to perform well. We didn’t put the structure in place. So, you have to help folks be successful whatever their profile is.”

Staring into the headlights of a labor shortage in nearly every sector, McGowan emphasizes the need to partner with your workforce. “You want the inside of your company to look like the market you serve. And that is increasingly diverse across sexual orientation, race, culture, and gender. And if you look at Gen Z, they are the most educated generation we’ve ever had here in the US.”

“They’re also the most diverse, and they’re the most insistent in their opinions. They’re not checking their opinions at the door. They want to work for a company that believes what they believe.”

00:08 – Introduction

01:00 – How has the concept of DEI&B evolved over the years and why is it now seen as a strategic business driver?

01:38 – In what ways do you think this influenced the changing role of the leader?

03:21 – Could you define the term “belonging” in the context of DEI&B, why it matters, and how it can be measured?

06:16 – Can you provide some examples of how organizations are incorporating sexual orientation, gender identity, age diversity, and neurodiversity into their DEI&B strategies?

08:30 – How do social class and mobility factor into DEI&B, and what steps can organizations take to address these issues?

11:27 – Why is it important to include those other aspects of diversity for a more textured view of DEI&B in 2023 and beyond?

________________

Heather E. McGowan is one of the leading voices on the Future of Work. Her two most recent books on the Future of Work are The Adaptation Advantage: Let Go and Learn Fast to Thrive in the Future of Work (Wiley, 2020) and The Empathy Advantage: Leading the Empowered Workforce (Wiley, 2023). Heather gives people the courage and insight that illuminates their path forward.

The post Future-focused DEI&B: Belonging in the future of work appeared first on HRD.

Organizations can no longer ignore anti-racism imperatives. Firstly, and most importantly, all people in the workplace deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Although this is far from a ground-breaking concept, business leaders and employees from historically ignored or minoritized backgrounds still require support as they navigate their roles.

Moreover, there is a business case for establishing an intentional anti-racism agenda. Tackling racism and establishing equity has the power to lower attrition rates and drive innovation. With shifting expectations, particularly among Gen Z and millennial demographics, a failure to do so compromises an organization’s ability to attract talent.

Kim Crowder is the latest guest on the HRD Live Podcast. In this episode, we dive deeper into the need to establish equity, how HR and business leaders can develop cultural fluency, and why anti-racism is a vital part of your people strategy.

Crowder is a firm believer in equity as the future of work. She offers the example of Gen Z, who expect equity at every stage of the employee lifecycle, including the job application process.

“We know that their expectations are higher than past generations. Particularly around equity in the workplace… …we are seeing that Gen Z’s are not applying to jobs that do not have salary requirements.”

In short, the employment market is shifting. Crowder emphasizes that for organizations to stay relevant and attract the right talent, they must become intentional about equity through means such as intentional anti-racism. “People feel extremely empowered to be vocal about their workplaces,” she observes. Whether it be a union forming at an Amazon Warehouse on Staten Island, or a wave of strikes across the UK, people are documenting their retaliation to issues in the workplace more emphatically than ever before.

“As leadership and organizations are thinking about their workplace culture – not just culture at that surface level, but really looking at their processes and systems – people are pushing back. People understand what real equity looks like.”

To establish workplace equity and develop a comprehensive anti-racism policy, HR leaders must develop cultural fluency both themselves and among their peers. “It’s the ability to see, understand, and value someone else’s cultural experiences and cultural perspectives,” explains Crowder. “We automatically ask folks to come into the workplace and change to fit the workplace.”

To shift this approach, HR leaders must work on their cultural humility. In practice, this means accepting you don’t know everything and that the way you – or your organization – do things is not the only right way to do it. “If we can find humility, it guides us into cultural competency,” argues Crowder.

An important step is coupling internal reflection with an external assessment. An objective and third-party view give a more detailed and accurate picture of where your organization is failing with its anti-racism strategy. This should guide further steps at the organization, leadership, divisional, and organizational level.

It will likely involve learning and development, both to highlight historical context about racial inequality, alongside practical applications of cultural fluency in the workplace. It may also shed light on policies that are systemically disadvantaging employees based on race. “Maybe your promotions practices, or the ways people get assigned projects,” offers Crowder. Customized coaching and training alongside policy change not only humanize the workforce but influence outcomes through process-level transformation.

00:10 – Introduction

00:58 – Why is it so important for organizations to be absolutely intentional about anti-Racism?

02:15 – How should business leaders continue to embrace equity as the future of work?

05:57 – Why is it important to describe workplaces that fail as ‘abusive’ rather than ‘toxic’?

08:21 – What is cultural competency and why is it an important part of anti-Racism?

11:05 – What training and development shoulder leaders take to ensure they improve cultural fluency?

14:42 – How can organizations make structural changes to ensure this development (and anti-Racism) is an ongoing exercise?

15:19 – What are the most common pitfalls that lead to anti-Racism initiatives failing, and how can they be combatted?

17:29 – What does the future hold for organizations that fail to develop cultural competency?

________________

Kim Crowder is the Founder & CEO of Kim Crowder Consulting. She is one of the United States’ leading Anti-Racism, Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Speakers, Coaches, Trainers, and Consultants. Kim and her team work across industries serving U.S. and international markets.

The post Kim Crowder: Developing cultural fluency to establish workplace equity appeared first on HRD.

Although inclusion and diversity are now ongoing initiatives at nearly all major organizations, to varying degrees of success, many leading organizations have established clear five or ten-year benchmarks through a long-term DE&I strategy. Virgin Media O2, for example, has four core ambitions at the heart of its five-year ‘All In’ strategy that it aims to achieve by 2027:

• Equal representation of women and men in the company’s wider leadership team
• To have driven forward progress for gender parity, including all gender identities and expressions across the organization
• 15% of Virgin Media O2’s wider leadership team will be from minoritized ethnic groups
• 25% of Virgin Media O2’s wider organization will be from minoritized ethnic groups

Long-term DE&I strategies acknowledge that inclusive change is sustained. Organizations are unlikely to achieve meaningful progression overnight. But it is equally important to reflect on milestones and progress on a more frequent basis. So, how is Virgin Media O2 doing one year in?

We begin the HRD Live Podcast mini-series on DE&I in conversation with Nisha Marwaha, Director of People Relations, and DE&I, at Virgin Media O2, to find out.

At the heart of ‘All In’, Virgin Media O2 is aiming to create a more equitable, and inclusive company. The markers stated above are bold but achievable ambitions. They represent the diverse communities it serves as a mass media company. Moreover, they create an environment that attracts and retains top talent.

But how is it achieving these goals in practice? Marwaha quickly points out Virgin Media O2’s focus on family-led policies that improve gender parity and inclusivity for minoritized groups.

“We’re now giving our employees 26 weeks paid maternity or adoption leave, and 14 weeks paid paternity leave. I’m also proud that we’re one of the first UK businesses to offer paid carers’ leave and paid neonatal leave. We’re offering people up to five days paid leave to support with any caring responsibilities, and up to 12 weeks neonatal leave.”

“We’re also giving them up to 10 days’ leave if people have tragically experienced pregnancy loss. So, it’s a package of support that we’re hoping demonstrates to our employees that we just really want to be there when it matters most to them.”

Marwaha is also eager to emphasize the importance of taking an inclusive view of what family means and moving away from traditional family norms. “Traditional definitions of the family can exclude a lot of family scenarios,” she explains. “We took a lot of guidance from our employee resource groups as well.” Virgin Media O2 employees can now decide if someone feels like family to them and apply the policy to their situation.

To ensure it is working closely towards its DE&I strategy goals, but also to maintain an up-to-date and agile view of employee experience, Virgin Media O2 is measuring its progress in a variety of ways. Empirically, the uptake of the advanced leave policies detailed above is an essential indicator of how its actions resonate with employees. Moreover, measuring ENPS scores create a richer picture of whether employees would advocate for the organizations. “If they feel like that, they’re working for an employer that’s creating the right culture where they can be themselves,” explains Marwaha. Virgin Media O2’s Diversity and Inclusion team also conducts regular check-ins with ERGs that will quickly point out what isn’t working.

Lastly, as with any DE&I strategy, Virgin Media O2 cannot claim meaningful progress without external validation. “It’s the progress that can be measured by what third parties are saying, or the external market,” notes Marwaha. Indeed, Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index named Virgin Media as a top 100 employer.

Much of Virgin Media O2’s journey to ‘All In’ by 2027 lies ahead. Whilst progress has been positive, Marwaha acknowledges some areas where there Virgin Media O2 has work to do.

“We are now supporting departments on an individual basis, or divisional basis to look at what their goals are going to be. To understand what specific barriers might be in their areas to attracting and retaining talent.”

“We’ve just launched a range of workshops, which we’re calling Ally Up. It’s hitting some of the key points that we have distilled from feedback by our employees, especially about inclusion.”

There is a heavy focus on empowering employees to educate themselves and boosting the profile and visibility of employee resource groups. Moreover, it is seeking external partnerships that can help it drive change forward. Partners such as 2020 Change will help create structured programs that ensure a strong pipeline of minoritized talent. Marwaha concludes with a reflection on the journey ahead.

“Challenges will be different in different parts of the business. And it’s not always a one size fits all approach.

“It’s just about supporting on a local level, as well from the top-down, to make sure that we’re doing as much as we can.”

00:09 – Introduction

01:00 – Can you outline Virgin Media O2’s ‘All in Strategy’ and the ambitions you hope to achieve by 2027?

01:56 – What policies have you implemented to begin improving inclusion?

03:23 – Could you share how you’re taking a ‘family-focused’ approach to DE&I policies?

04:26 – Do you have any examples of how the policies are impacting your people?

06:11 – How are you using Tidal Equality’s ‘Equity Sequence’ to guide the policy-making process?

7:31 – What metrics or markers are you using to track the progress you are making to improve inclusion and equity?

08:57 – What have been the biggest learnings on the ‘All In’ journey so far?

10:31 – What more will you be doing in 2023 and beyond to hit achieve your ambitions by 2027?

12:14 – Why is it important to balance policies at the organizational and team levels?

The post ‘All In’ by 2027? Virgin Media O2’s five-year DE&I strategy one year on appeared first on HRD.

To an HR and People Director or Vice President, Moneyball may not just be an Oscar-nominated movie or a heartwarming David and Goliath story. Although it is a surface-level look into the origins of sports analytics, it offers a host of lessons and insights on creating a data-driven organizational culture.

The final episode in the HRD live mini-series on people analytics features Teymy Bahmani, former VP of People Analytics at Thomson Reuters, and long-time sports fan. Having addressed common barriers to adoption, hybrid working, and actionable insights, we now consider what HR leaders can learn beyond the HR discipline from the world of sports. What benefits can one-to-one coaching bring? How can HR learn from the random incidents that influence sports matches? Why are meetings the equivalent of a set piece?

Join Teymy Bahmani as we unpack his unique analogy and discover how HR leaders can emulate high-achieving sports teams and drive organizational performance through analytics.

“It’s really important to steal as many great ideas as you can from other disciplines,” begins Bahmani. In his case, the world of sports is a source of inspiration. Thanks to the maturity of its analytics discipline, it is ripe with lessons and comparisons.

Bahmani begins by calling out a straightforward comparison: Substitutions. In the world of sports, teams track their player’s level of energy and exhaustion, and at the right time, pull them from the pitch for a break. With burnout reaching an all-time high, organizations are not measuring, or not acting, when their employees reach high levels of exhaustion and stress.

“And we don’t separate the score or result from the performance”, he adds. With sports teams increasingly measured against their performance, rather than the result itself, HR Leaders may wish to take a more holistic approach to measure performance based on input, rather than just output.

Expanding on this comparison, Bahmani offers the comparison of a Danish sports team.

“There’s a team that said, we’re not going to look at the table, or the traditional structure based on how many points you have. Instead, we’re going to hold the manager accountable for things they can control. Are you playing your youth players? Did you have a great performance, but the scores didn’t work out?”

“From an HR standpoint, we think about strategic workforce planning on 18 months cycles, and even up to five-year time cycles. Why don’t we recognize that random things will happen?”

Just as a random penalty or event in a sports match may influence the outcome, by redefining how employees are held accountable and allowing for randomness, Bahmani argues you can unshackle your workforce from events they have no control over. This freedom gives employees the space to focus on their performance, as opposed to random events, improving results in turn.

Taking his analogy to further depths, Bahmani advises HR Leaders to position their meetings as set plays. Fluid and fast-paced sports games mirror the increasingly fast pace of business and organizational change. Set pieces offer a moment to pause, assess, and even implement a well-practiced play.

“Meetings are set plays. They are points in time where you have complete control. You know who’s going to be there, at a fixed point in time, and you can prepare. You can be ready for those meetings.”

“There are very few companies that have a meeting culture, or put effort behind it and say ‘this is a place where we can get 5-10% better.”

Although meetings are low-hanging fruit, they are another example of where sports teams study data to determine the best course of action for the event to follow. Bahmani argues these marginal gains will stack up across each touchpoint of employee experience to drive improved business results.

00:10 – Introduction

01:00 – What inspired the comparison between sports analytics and HR or people analytics?

02:54 – Let’s talk through a few of the links you’ve drawn. Firstly, they both have a history of relying on gut and tradition. Can you talk us through that comparison and what HR can learn from the world of sports?

05:06 – Sports teams are, from the top down, constantly taking data-informed decisions. How can HR leaders create a similar culture within their organization?

08:06 – Why should HR leaders be aware of the role of randomness and not rely on analytics for perfection?

10:53 – Each team has a ‘style of play’. What does a ‘style of play’ look like in practice for HR?

12:53 – Many sports teams will have a 1-1 ratio between players to coaches. Is this something for HR and People teams to aspire to?

14:43 – Why is it important for HR leaders draw comparisons from sports or other areas of popular culture?

The post Moneyball: What HR leaders can learn from sports analytics appeared first on HRD.

72% of workers would prefer long-term flexibility over extra money. And yet, with organizations including Amazon and Disney implementing some type of return-to-office mandate, the hybrid working conversation continues to frustrate employees and employers alike. But as we seek a future that draws on the respective advantages of in-office and remote working, are organizations taking a data-informed approach to hybrid workforce collaboration?

Bradford Williams, Head of HR Technology & People Analytics at Northwestern Mutual, advocates for the use of people analytics and data insights when developing hybrid strategy at an organizational level, as well as supporting employees at the individual level to feel productive and engaged. In the latest HRD Live Podcast episode, he shares the as-yet unsolved issues with hybrid working, and what metrics matter when creating hybrid organization networks that produce successful business outcomes.

Although the conversation around hybrid working feels well-worn, much remains unsolved. Williams argues we are still learning how to practically implement the idea that different types of work are suited to in-office or remote working. Within a single day of work, activity varies between focus time and collaboration time. Finding a productive balance between the two is a work in progress for many organizations.

So, where do people analytics fit into the picture? According to Williams, the best place to start is to measure who is coming on-site, and who isn’t. Although obvious and basic, it begins to create a picture of which individuals elect to come into the office. “Understand who’s coming into the office looking at badging data,” Williams explains. Augment this view with data from collaboration tools such as Slack, Zoom, or Teams. These basic metrics begin to create a spider web of the different individual preferences and organization networks that will help to define and govern your hybrid working policy.

Having modeled where each individual sits on the scale from in-office to fully remote, further employee listening can help turn individual preferences into healthy hybrid working practices. “Tap into their sentiment through employee listening to learn why or why not certain individuals are coming in. Develop strategies around those to bring more people on campus,” explains Williams.

He also emphasizes the need for caution around encouraging people back into the office. “You can’t incentivize people back into the office by throwing free lunches, raffles, concerts, or happy hours. To incentivize bringing people back into the office, you need to understand what’s meaningful to those individuals and why certain individuals come in.”

Through initial badging data, and subsequent employee listening and survey data, people analytics can co-create strategies to encourage individuals back into the office if this is the company’s strategic direction. But this data may also indicate another course of action will better meet the needs of an organization’s workforce.

Beyond basic requirements for in-office or remote working, people analytics and people data can help HR to equip leaders to manage their teams successfully. This includes collaboration between organizational networks. “We’re looking at how networks are distributed within our organization and understand how collaboration works. Both within teams or departments and outside of those teams and departments,” Williams explains.

Teams should prioritize understanding the moments that matter to employees during collaboration, both on-site and remotely. Sharing these insights with people leaders and managers equips them to make the best decisions for their teams. It empowers them to structure day-to-day work to be more productive, efficient, and effective.

We know the future of work is uncertain and will continually evolve. Whilst there can be an element of prediction, Williams argues that there will inherently be new and unexpected challenges that disrupt the workforce. “Embed yourself with your HR business partner, or whomever your deliver arm of HR is, and your people leaders. Co-create and co-solution those challenges together,” he emphasizes.

Preparing for the future of this work requires people analytics teams to equip decision-makers with the data and insights they need to make decisions that benefit their people. But this alone is not enough. “Teach, coach, and upskill individuals on how to interpret the data,” Williams adds. “How do you use it? What decisions can you make?”

00:11 – Introduction

00:59 – What are the core challenges with hybrid working that remain unsolved in many organizations?

02:23 – What are some of the most important metrics you feel people analytics can help with?

04:35 – How can people analytics be used to develop optimized hybrid working models?

06:23 – What data is important when analyzing organization networks and understanding how teams collaborate?

08:50 – How can people analytics help align your work with business challenges to demonstrate value and impact?

11:25 – How will people analytics equip leaders with the tools to navigate a volatile future landscape?

The post Perfecting hybrid productivity with people analytics appeared first on HRD.

Think about the most recent data insight that gave you a clearer picture of your people, your organization, or how your HR policies are performing. Do you know if the insight is a ‘lagging’ or a ‘leading’ indicator? Or, in other words, do you know if it is indicating the outcome of an event, or foreshadowing a potential outcome to follow? Knowing the difference, and working with both types of indicators, is vital to moving your data insights from informative to actionable.

Mark Stelzner, Founder at IA, presents the lagging and leading indicator concept on the latest HRD Live podcast episode. This approach ensures insights are actionable by driving rigorous and conscious attention. This helps HR teams to improve any business outcome that data may be supporting, from turnover to employee mental health.

Step-by-step deconstruction of data insights is the only way to truly understand what your data is telling you, and what actions you need to take. The first of these steps is determining whether each insight is lagging or leading. Stelzner offers two small analogies to explain each.

“A leading indicator is often a less precise preview or contributory element of something to come. Think of it as the proverbial canary in the coal mine, signaling potential actions or outcomes that may or may not correlate to a downstream KPI. It’s going to give us a preview, potentially, of what those outcomes might be.”

“A lagging indicator is the ability to look in our rear view mirror. Looking back, we often have the benefit of much more correlation or causation associated with it. But unfortunately, it’s after the fact.”

Once you have determined whether your insight is a lagging or leading indicator, you understand what is missing from your picture. Stelzner offers a real-world example of a large global manufacturer with around 60,000 employees in almost 90 different countries. This manufacturer has a lagging indicator of high regrettable turnover in the first year of around 40% to 50%.

“It’s very concerning with the cost of recruiting the cost of onboarding, induction training, and productivity for their employees. But the premise in which they attack this project is that they have an onboarding problem.”

“The hypothesis is that the leading indicator is issues associated with one’s induction into the organization.”

With each data insight, consider the leading indicator that your lagging indicator may be referencing. From there, Stelzner argues you can begin to peel back the layers even further.

“Maybe it’s something to do with the job descriptions and the promises that we’re making to our talents. So, what are the activities that one goes through from top to bottom, from the first moment that one becomes aware of the position all the way through the application process, the recruiting, the qualification, the background checks, the drug screening, the pre-boarding, the onboarding, the induction, and the training.”

Quickly, from the lagging indicator of high regrettable turnover, we now have a leading indicator that can separate into a huge map of potential action areas.

The next step on the path to actionable data insights is measurement. Far too many people functions are measuring for measurement’s sake, particularly within diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. To move from curious or fascinating insights into action, we need to care about what we are measuring, and whether we can trust what we are measuring is accurate.

Stelzner argues we must deconstruct the mechanics of measurement to understand what is impacting the timeliness, accuracy, and veracity of data – whether it is a meaningless metric, or an actionable metric.

“I’m not a fan of measurement for measurement’s sake. We have more data in HR than we ever have in the history of this function. So, it’s not an issue of access. It’s an issue of viability and actionable outcomes.”

“It starts with hyper transparency. As we move into the C-Suite, or the leadership functions of these organizations, where data is primarily a decision driver, one of the problems is our confidence level. What confidence level do we have in the data? Or where do we have opportunities for improvement?”

He also highlights the need for timeliness in an ever-changing business landscape.

“We must bring situational awareness to how the data has been gathered and how aged the data is. Again, is it a lagging indicator that represents what happened 90 days ago? Or is it what happened 90 minutes ago? How close to real-time can we take action? The timeliness of these interventions and executive insights will determine how much we can empower real-time change in our managers.”

00:17 – Introduction

00:59 – You’ve talked about people or data analytics as either a ‘lagging’ or ‘leading’ indicator. What do you mean by those terms?

01:53 – What steps can HR leaders take to spot when an indicator is lagging and leading?

06:09 – How can HR leaders move from informative insights to actionable insights?

10:46 – What steps can HR leaders take to act, and empower managers to act, on the right insights?

15:13 – Can you share any other major pitfalls when it comes to leveraging data-driven insights?

19:21 – How can people analytics and data-driven insights help solve challenges in the long term?

The post Mark Stelzner: Deconstructing HR data to drive real-time change appeared first on HRD.

In a previous episode of the HRD Live Podcast, Richard Rosenow described people analytics as employee listening at scale. Our latest guest, Stephanie Murphy, Talent Analytics Director at Dell, shares this viewpoint and argues we can apply people analytics to each stage of the employee lifecycle by beginning with employee listening.

This approach breaks down siloes between recruitment, onboarding, development, retention, and exit. Pulling insights from each stage through careful listening builds a narrative richer than the sum of its parts. Murphy shares her insights on collating clean employee listening data, how HR can scale these insights to impact the full employee lifecycle, and Dell’s progress to date.

Applying people analytics practices to the full employee lifecycle can be a daunting prospect. But at its heart, it’s simply another form of employee listening. Murphy argues this is the best place to start.

“It also helps with staying grounded in the people aspect of people analytics. To start with employee engagement or satisfaction. To start with what people are feeling and what they believe.”

With this grounding in your people and their experience, it becomes easier to add in what Murphy calls ‘hard data,’ such as numbers from HR systems. As with any change management model, starting with quick wins can help secure greater buy-in. Employee listening through surveys and other feedback methods is a ‘softer’ approach that can quickly bring stakeholders onside. Murphy goes on to discuss how this ‘hard data’ can tie in with employee listening insights.

“If you look at recruitment data or candidate data, what was their experience? If you look at DE&I data, what are the different pockets? We had low diversity in one part of the organization. Merging that in with the employee listening to see what they said in the survey, we looked at the people that had left the company in the past year and what were they saying to us through surveys. The surveys of sentiment are at the heart of it and feed into all the different pieces of the employee lifecycle. That’s how you start seeing a full story start to form.”

Clean, consistent, and healthy data is the lifeblood of any healthy people analytics program. But, especially for global organizations that operate in different markets, countries, and contexts, and under different legalities and regulations, the story becomes complex.

“We get all this data, we collect it in different ways, across different systems and different platforms. It’s just about trying to be as consistent as possible. Even things that simple like wording and naming. The key is to have consistent nomenclature, and make sure people are calculating things the same way.”

“One of the things we noticed was that we were looking at generation brackets differently. We were cutting off millennials at a certain year and someone else in the organization was cutting it off at a different year. When we tried to merge the data or compare the two, we were looking at different generation brackets.”

To establish consistency, Murphy recommends a ‘data dictionary.’ All those who are working across data within the organization can rely on this to ensure consistent definitions. Beyond this, consistently scrub data and look for consistencies. This can help leaders trust data to inform actions across the employee lifecycle.

Data insights and predictive analytics can give a clearer picture of future challenges. But some events and trends cannot be predicted. However, a healthy people analytics program informed by employee listening can help give organizations the agility to adjust to fresh challenges.

“Build systems that allow you to easily adjust and prepare. There are always going to be things that pop up. If you design your system where you’re ready for curveballs, it’s much easier to adjust to the monkey wrenches that are going to come your way.”

By starting with employee listening and scaling people analytics across the full employee lifecycle, HR teams will have a broader picture and understanding of their people. This better prepares leaders to adapt with the next ChatGPT, ‘quiet quitting,’ or future emerging trend.

00:18 – Introduction

01:05 – How can people analytics be used at each stage of the classic employee journey?

02:23 – For organizations in the early stage of their people analytics journey, this may feel a little daunting. How should such organizations begin to scale their people analytics strategy and are there any parts of the lifecycle to focus on first?

03:47 – How does applying people analytics to the whole employee lifecycle give a picture that is greater than the sum of its parts?

04:50 – What practices have you learned from employee listening that you’ve scaled to the employee life cycle?

07:27 – What are some of the most important data sources for employee listening?

09:01 – What best practices are there for ensuring the data collected is clean and healthy?

10:45 – What relationships do HR or People Analytics Leaders need to build to scale people analytics to this level?

13:20 – Can you talk us through your people analytics journey and the biggest lessons you have learned?

16:47 – Why is this approach to people analytics a long-term strategy that can help HR teams prepare for the future?

The post How Dell scaled people analytics across the full employee lifecycle appeared first on HRD.

Barriers to implementing data-driven or data-informed workflows are consistent across business divisions. Just as many marketing directors struggle with leveraging customer data, HR and people analytics teams must also overcome concerns around ethics, financial buy-in, and skepticism. But at its core, it is another vital component of employee listening. Without overcoming these barriers, people analytics functions are doomed to fall at the first hurdle.

Richard Rosenow, VP of People Analytics Strategy at One Model, has scaled people analytics at Nike, Uber, and Facebook, and is no stranger to these challenges. In the latest episode of the HRD Live mini-series on people analytics, he unpacks the confusion around privacy and ethics, establishes clear advice for generating buy-in, and offers a controversial take on how it will shape the future of HR.

“Data,” argues Rosenow, “is a way to listen at scale.” This simple explanation tying data to employee listening highlights the need for data to tell a story. For example, might attrition data be pointing out a ‘toxic’ manager? Or perhaps the onboarding process has gaps, causing employees to leave right away. But this approach to data still requires humanity.

“Data listening is a way to tap into some of the things that HR is best at. We are thoughtful, we are caring, and we are empathetic about humans and people in the workplace. And that’s still something you can carry with you into the data.”

Indeed, the conversation around the use of employee data does raise questions about ethics and privacy. Expectations change by context, team, country, and region. Without an ethical grounding, HR teams will struggle to implement people analytics at scale. Rosenow emphasizes the need for a clear value exchange.

“The only way we move forward as a business is if people understand: ‘If I’m contributing my data, through workforce systems, chat systems or collaboration tools – if my data is coming into the company – am I going to see value from it as an employee, or is the workforce going to improve?”

The workforce needs to hear clear communication from people analytics teams about how sharing their data will help them enjoy their job, be productive, and ensure they are happy and looked after. This will reassure employees about the safety of their data and feel more comfortable with how it is handled.

Any major HR initiative will require buy-in from finance, and people analytics is no different. For a transformation such as this that may require technical support, buy-in from operations and IT teams may also be necessary. Rosenow argues the best approach to overcome this barrier is to demonstrate the value of analytics to each team.

“The finance leader and the IT leader are also people leaders. They also have teams that they need to understand, businesses they need to run, and people they care about.”

“Bring the CFO and the CIO into the conversation and say, this is why people analytics is good for the business. This is where this is good for us as an organization. And this is why this is good for you as a leader and as a person.”

This approach helps each stakeholder to understand their workforce in deeper ways. Without investment, and without the right technology, people analytics teams will simply struggle to get off the ground.

The proudest champions of people analytics believe it is the unequivocal future of HR, and a data-driven mentality can reshape HR from the inside. Rosenow disagrees and presents an alternative viewpoint.

“I think that HR in the long term will look more like HR was twenty or thirty years ago. When we start to automate and understand data, these processes will move into the background. The strategic elements of HR will be left. How do we work with, how do we understand, and how do we support humans? It’s not about data. It isn’t about technology. It’s about how we are pulling together these large groups of people to drive a common purpose.”

This is where people analytics can help move HR to the next level and can enable a focus on the qualitative components of the HR function.

00:09 – Introduction

01:01 – Why is it important that we reduce the barriers to people analytics?

01:50 – Why are HR leaders still afraid of people analytics?

03:54 – How can we make it more accessible and encourage HR leaders to think of data insights as another form of employee listening?

05:52 – Where does confusion around privacy and ethics arise, and how can HR leaders reassure their employees?

08:34 – How can HR work with finance or IT to help navigate concerns around the cost or need for analytics?

10:25 – How will overcoming these barriers help HR leaders to scale people analytics at their organizations?

11:57 – How do you feel it will shape the long-term future of HR?

The post Ethics, buy-in and skepticism: Overcoming barriers to people analytics appeared first on HRD.

Amid a talent shortage and frequent layoffs, which organizations are winning? The answer, it seems, is careful workforce planning. Apple, at the time of publication, is the most notable technology company not to announce layoffs. Unlike many other technology giants including Twitter and Facebook, it did not accelerate hiring during and following the pandemic. Prudent workforce planning has allowed it a degree of calm amidst the chaos. But where does people analytics come into the conversation?

Brandy Parker, Senior Director of People Analytics, Coca-Cola, is the latest guest on the HRD Live Podcast, and the first in a mini-series on people analytics. Parker is a strong advocate for the use of people analytics as a strategic partner for workforce planning. She shares best practices for spotting talent availability and collaborating with core business stakeholders such as finance and talent development and considers how people analytics can offer long-term stability to organizations alongside short-term adaptability.

People analytics can support workforce planning in numerous ways. Parker calls particular attention to talent availability, and the insights people analytics can bring to this business challenge.

“If you have a great repository of information in your organization about worker skills, even if it’s self-identified, and you don’t have a lot of proficiency information, people analytics gives you a starting place to say, where do we think we have gaps? Where would we want to grow our talent? Where do we want to invest our dollars to help with training individuals?”

Moreover, workforce planning often brings together teams and leaders from different functions, from finance to talent development. Crucially, people analytics should be a means to grounds different stakeholders in the same definitions. Parker offers the example of headcount.

“If you talk to someone in finance, they may think of headcount as ‘FTE’ (full-time equivalent). If you’re talking to someone in compensation and benefits or talent development, they’re thinking of physical people. It’s surprising that can trip up conversations so much. You end up focusing too much on numbers not matching, or people having different understandings. If we had ground ourselves in the definitions of the data pieces themselves, as well as the metrics we’re calculating, that could clear up a lot of confusion.”

A further best practice Parker references is the objective lens people analytics brings to each conversation. Each party rightly brings its subject matter expertise to the table during workforce planning. People analytics holds the role of objectivity through data, insights, and inferences that make internal viewpoints and external trends relevant to the conversation.

Whether workforce planning sits under talent development groups, finance, or another business division, people analytics should serve as its strategic partner. Workforce planning relies heavily on its ability to leverage multiple data sources, whether that be employee perceptions around organizational change or skills data. People analytics is a vital source of data for these topics.

“People analytics teams can inform the strategy of building versus buying talent. For example, if we need certain skills data, we may want to look at external job market trends to inform hiring decisions, or whether or not we want to bring in contractors.”

Moreover, people analytics teams frequently contain leaders with experience in change management or design job analysis. Such individuals bring in a huge amount of subject matter expertise that can augment the data or statistics they bring to the table. In short, these individuals are a vital resource for workforce planning teams.

Beyond the short-term adaptability it can offer to help solve immediate challenges such as talent gaps, people analytics can also ensure long-term stability. Parker emphasizes the need to integrate data insights from people analytics into day-to-day business practices, to help long-term growth strategy.

“Every time we talk about data, it gets compartmentalized as a separate thing that has to be cared for, managed, or addressed. Really, the more we can fold it into day-to-day business practices, the better off we’ll be.”

Parker argues that spinning up people analytics into a huge project that will disrupt organizational structures can create change fatigue and frustration. Instead, organizations should leverage people analytics teams to make data a more natural and consistent part of any conversation. This requires partnering with other functions such as finance. Understand their workflows and build the habit of data use to drive long-term business stability and growth.

00:17 – Introduction

01:09 – Why is people analytics such a vital component of workforce planning?

02:55 – Are there strategies or techniques to help organizations spot talent availability?

04:39 – What best practices are there for people analytics functions when collaborating with different such as stakeholders like finance or talent development?

08:00 – What resources or investment does a people analytics function need to best support workforce planning?

11:40 – How does a data-led approach to workforce planning offer business leaders’ short-term adaptability?

13:05 – And how does a data-led approach help organizations plan for long-term growth?

The post Coca Cola: Using people analytics to supercharge workforce planning appeared first on HRD.

Dave is an occupational psychologist with nearly 30 years HR and consulting experience working across the world with global clients on their assessment/performance, employee engagement and organizational development-based challenges.

Dave has a real passion regarding the transformation of HR functions and the need for a more commercially focused response to client demands and the role that analytics and new ways of thinking can help to change the perceptions of HR.

0.45 – Why is being data-driven becoming more important than ever to HR?

2.29 – What does it mean for HR to be more commercially focused?

5.31 – How can HR demonstrate commerciality?

8.05 – How important is technology to this data-driven approach?

11.40 – What role do HR metrics and KPIs play?

14.27 –  What is the feasibility of HR practitioners undertaking complex analyses themselves?

Additional resources: HR Business Partners: A Practical Guide to Becoming Data Driven

The post Dave Millner on optimizing HR success with data-driven strategies appeared first on HRD.

John is a respected organizational psychologist, an award-winning International (Sunday and New York Times) bestselling author, and a sought-after public speaker, as well as an executive coach and the founder of APS Intelligence Ltd. He is a non-executive director of a FTSE 250 company, was a ten-year director of the UK’s largest healthcare organization, and a board advisor for several footsie 100 organizations in the financial, legal, and professional services, technology, publishing, engineering, and retail sectors.

In their conversation, Danny and John discuss, at its core, how to build trust in organizations. What is workplace transparency? How do we break down silos and open lines of communication? Are diversity and transparency connected?

John also offers his three key takeaways for HR leaders today.

1.18 – What is workplace transparency?

 9.19 – Trust and communication often go hand in hand. How can organizations open lines of communication and break down silos?

13.17 – To what degree is respect (both top-down and bottom-up) key to transparency? 

23.14 – Diversity within organizations and effective transparency–connected?

35.37 –  If you had 3 takeaways for HR leaders out there today, what would they be?

The post Transparent trust: Navigating organizational dynamics with John Amaechi OBE appeared first on HRD.

Theresa’s career has spanned over 20 years in the technology industry having held posts in finance, account and relationship management, customer success and DEI among others.

Most recently Theresa has spent the last five years developing, launching and maturing the diversity and inclusion strategy and execution at BAE Systems Digital Intelligence as well as contributing toward a cohesive company-wide strategy across all of BAE. 

In 2020 this remit extended to also drive awareness and enhancements to mental health, wellbeing and engagement in BAE Systems Digital Intelligence, further strengthening a ‘whole’ employee view when delivering upon the diversity and inclusion strategy.

To tell us more about BAE’s initiatives, their challenges, and their successes, here is our recent conversation with Theresa. 

1.20 –In your role, what are the main challenges you attempt to address and have those changed over time?

5.00 – What initiatives or projects are you especially proud of at BAE?

10.30 – Could you speak a bit about the leadership glass ceiling? Many companies are reporting their gender equality numbers are improving everywhere but at the leadership level.

14.17- We’ve all heard a lot about the gender pay gap. What does BAE do to address this issue?

19.11 – If you could offer 2 or 3 takeaways for other women in the tech industry, in HR or otherwise, what would they be?

The post Breaking the glass ceiling: Diversity and inclusion at BAE Systems Digital Intelligence appeared first on HRD.

Since then the network has grown to more than 9,000 alumni – with sign-ups from Delhi to Melbourne to Chicago – who stay in touch with one another and keep abreast of all the latest M&S updates via the network. M&S keep its community engaged with regular ‘blasts from the past’ content and host exclusive alumni events, with guest speakers so far including CEO of Ocado Retail (and M&S alumnus) Mel Smith.

Excitingly, they have recently integrated the network within thier growing Sparks loyalty programme to reward alumni with exclusive offers & discounts to use on their shopping, and have also utilised the network as a recruitment pipeline – inviting former colleagues back into the business as ‘boomerang hires’.

Last year, in response to the incredible reaction to launching the network, M&S appointed a dedicated Community Manager whose role it is to manage the network and think creatively & strategically about how we can further grow & engage our community.

The HRD Live Podcast sat down with M&S’s Director of Communication Victoria McKenzie-Gould to discuss the challenges in starting the programme, the successes it has reached in the first year, and where the network will go in the future.

1.07 –Why M&S launched the network and why it was important to do so

5.39 – The success of the first year: what’s worked

8.17 – Hurdles and challenges for the network

9.57 – Looking forward, what are the plans for the network?

11.00 – Advice for HR leaders looking to create similar networks for their organisations

The post Marks & Spencer are unlocking the potential of alumni appeared first on HRD.

With a workforce of over 2,000 employees based across the UK, from key workers to office workers, Murphy Group has consciously sought out a wide array of jobseekers to build a strong organisation.

Most importantly, according to Dawn Moore, group director of people at Murphy Group, has been a focus on offering all employees tailored and meaningful career progression, whether they’re older professionals, graduates, ex-offenders or just out of sixth form college.

For Moore, building a credible and effective internal talent pipeline should be a key HR strategic priority, whereas a primary focus on external talent can lead to the neglect of employees already in the organisation.

In this episode of the HRD Live Podcast, Moore discusses how Murphy Group has focused on developing its internal talent pipeline and how it has responded to the changing demands of today’s professionals. Listen to the podcast to discover insights including:

0.45 – Why young professionals have historically been a primary talent pool for organisations

1.18 – Murphy Group’s open-minded approach to the capabilities of jobseekers

1.41 – The importance of different age groups working alongside each other

2.19 – Creating opportunities at the company for 16 to 24-year-olds

4.05 – How other sectors could benefit by taking a progressive approach to talent acquisition and development

4.31 – Why a strong internal talent pipeline is essential to today’s organisations

6.10 – How practices could evolve as market conditions change

The post Why an internal talent pipeline can help offset the ‘great resignation’ appeared first on HRD.

The ‘great resignation’ continues in several parts of the world and could have a lasting impact on how organisations function. Digitisation, in the practices of A.I., analytics and automation, increasingly influences personal and professional lives. Climate politics, as highlighted by recent governmental and environmental events, looks set to drive a mass transition to green energy.

The implications for organisations are massive, affecting everything from sourcing and retaining top talent to harnessing the benefits of innovation.

With this in mind, Chuck Heaton, HRD Thought Leader, has collaborated with a range of HR professionals to delve into the subject, raising and exploring each of the most salient issues.

Joining Heaton is Chuck Kemper, CHRO of the American Bureau of Shipping, who has over 25 years of experience leading HR teams in multinational companies.

Accompanying Heaton and Kemper is Sanjay Harrichand, CHRO of Stratum Reservoir, who has over 20 years of experience leading HR teams in the mining and energy sectors. Last but not least is Jason Anderson, VP of HR at U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc., who has spent the last decade leading HR teams in multinational companies.

In this episode of the HRD Live Podcast, the panel addresses key themes of 2022 and the values that leaders must follow to achieve success. Listen to the podcast to discover insights including:

0.45 – Why organisations are adopting a more agile approach to strategy

1.56 – How HR could become more aligned with the C-suite to drive the organisation ahead

2.42 – The challenges and new considerations posed by the ‘great resignation’

3.31 – Why retired professionals could become as important as younger generations in the workforce

5.58 – Focusing HR strategy on key principles to ensure effectiveness

The post Addressing 2022’s key trends to achieve organisational success appeared first on HRD.

With the challenges caused by the ‘great resignation’ in several parts of the world, leaders must now plan how to secure organisational health to ensure that teams are effective and key objectives are met.

Adding fresh insight to the conversation is the Josh Bersin Company, which last week released its new report with the aim to ‘examine the benefits of taking a holistic, enterprise-wide approach to wellbeing.’

To discover more on this pressing topic, industry virtuoso and HRD Thought Leader Josh Bersin shares his thoughts on the newest episode of the HRD Live Podcast.

Please note that as this was a remote recording, the audio quality may fluctuate slightly from time to time. Listen to the podcast to discover senior-level insights on:

0.52 – Why do organisations of different sizes and sectors have the same health priorities?

1.23 – The four layers that contribute to organisational health: employee safety, employee wellbeing, healthy work and healthy organisation

3.02 – Creating a system of talent mobility to help motivate employees

4.26 – How an overwhelming focus on financial success risks pushing employees beyond their limits

5.36 – Recent corporate scandals that display a lack of concern for organisational health

6.20 – Why employees should be empowered to help reinvent organisations in challenging conditions

7.13 – An analysis of which part of the HR hierarchy should be responsible for organisational health initiatives

8.35 – The benefits of organisational health for employees, including key outcomes

The post Josh Bersin’s new research on prioritising organisational health appeared first on HRD.

With this in mind, Chuck Heaton, HRD Thought Leader, has collaborated with a range of HR professionals to delve into the subject, raising and exploring each of the most salient issues.

Joining Heaton is Chuck Kemper, CHRO of the American Bureau of Shipping, who has over 25 years of experience leading HR teams in multinational companies.

Accompanying Heaton and Kemper is Sanjay Harrichand, CHRO of Stratum Reservoir, who has over 20 years of experience leading HR teams in the mining and energy sectors. Last but not least is Jason Anderson, VP of HR at U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc., who has spent the last decade leading HR teams in multinational companies.

In this episode of the HRD Live Podcast, the panel addresses what organisations need to do to attract, retain and support top talent in difficult conditions. Listen to the podcast to discover:

0.45 – How the pandemic has caused and accelerated widescale change

1.27 – The nature of today’s key employee engagement drivers

2.38 – Why there is a new focus on D&I, flexible work and wellbeing

3.21 – How to successfully navigate the risks and opportunities of remote work

4.05 – The challenges posed by the ‘great resignation’ in the U.S.

6.50 – The need to be able to capture employee feedback in real time

7.49 – How organisations can proactively use feedback to attract jobseekers

10.45 – The changes with professionals’ priorities and how leaders have been forced to respond

12.09 – Whether there is a generational shift with professionals’ priorities

The post Creating a successful post-pandemic employee experience appeared first on HRD.

Baker Hughes, one of the world’s leading energy technology companies, is advocating the practice of self-service, where employees can interact with HR in an efficient and effective manner, built on informative people analytics and predictive planning.

That said, how is Baker Hughes balancing technology and the human touch? To what extent is agility important in helping the company reach its objectives? Plus, how is the company making its talent acquisition efforts fruitful?

To find out more, in the latest episode of the HRD Live Podcast, we spoke to Beatriz Rodriguez, vice president of HR, human capital and technology at Baker Hughes.

Please note that as this is a remote recording, the audio quality may fluctuate slightly from time to time.

0.42 – Why HR is moving towards a self-service model at Baker Hughes

1.29 – How analytics enables leaders to take a more predictive approach to planning

2.52 – The ongoing need to promote diversity and inclusion within workplace culture

4.07 – Why agility is being prioritised as a core value in HR strategy

6.25 – The importance of creating an HR ecosystem that isn’t solely dependent on team members

7.08 – How to enable accessibility for all levels of the workforce

8.02 – The issues that can occur when HR doesn’t embrace innovation

9.29 – How Baker Hughes successfully executed reform amid the pandemic

10.20 – The ways that Baker Hughes is breaking down barriers to source top talent

11.38 – Why a blend of technology and human insight is aiding talent strategy

The post Baker Hughes on making HR strategy more than a sum of its parts appeared first on HRD.

This marks a commitment by one of the country’s leading facilities management companies to pay all directly employed staff members, not tied to client contracts, the real living wage.

It comes as welcome news in a time marked by financial stress for professionals of all stripes: debts accumulated during the pandemic, a move to furlough or reduced hours, and uncertain job prospects. That said, while remuneration remains a key motivator, many professionals now express a desire for greater flexibility and equitable workplace settings.

As such, how is EMCOR UK working to create an HR strategy that treats wellbeing on a holistic basis? In what ways does it help other companies create better workplaces? Plus, how is the company endeavouring to implement the most effective ways of working?

To find out more, in the latest episode of the HRD Live Podcast, we spoke to Dylan Wickenden, EMCOR UK’s executive director of HR.

Please note that as this is remote recording, the audio quality may fluctuate slightly from time to time.

0.57 – Bringing social values to the heart of EMCOR UK’s operations

1.10 – Aiming to create a ‘better world at work’

1.53 – Focusing on employee financial wellbeing

5.16 – Working to become a destination employer for top talent

6.00 – Defining the key priorities of HR strategy

6.50 – Keeping employees informed about the company’s activities

7.11 – Collaborating with other firms to help improve workplaces

7.45 – Making a positive contribution to local communities

8.15 – Taking a ‘blended approach’ to strategy to achieve success

9.20 – Shifting towards more effective ways of working

The post EMCOR UK on financial wellbeing and committing to the real Living Wage appeared first on HRD.

Undoubtedly it’s a lofty ambition, and will require immense effort by the organisation’s teams to achieve it – so what role is HR playing to support the company’s functions?

Enter Beth Whittaker, chief human resources officer at Veolia UK and Ireland; a member of the firm since late 2015, Beth rose to the most senior HR role in September 2019.

As CHRO, Beth has undertaken a range of initiatives, including: redesigning the HR function to better work alongside other initiatives, launching a four-year HR strategy in accordance with its Group Impact 2023 strategy, and becoming the firm’s deputy lead as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.

In the latest episode of the HRD Live Podcast, Beth reflects on a number of topics, including how her firm’s resilient HR strategy is set to play out over the next few years, how the company opened lines of communication and support to team members, and the principles that underpin its plans.

Please note that as this is remote recording, the audio quality may fluctuate slightly from time to time.

1.01 – Veolia UK’s corporate mission and why it matters

1.30 – New health and safety concerns for key workers

2.05 – Creating resources to offer clarity to teams under pressure

3.20 – Pivoting to producing new products that team members needed

4.25 – Addressing the needs of co-located staff transitioning to remote working

6.10 – Why collaboration came to the fore in the workplace

6.52 – Emphasising clarity and consistency when setting out long-term plans

8.30 – Defining purpose within HR strategy

10.35 – Attracting, developing and retaining team members from a variety of backgrounds

The post Veolia UK on maintaining HR strategic effectiveness appeared first on HRD.

It’s a hard won reputation. In the mid-2010s, the firm embarked on a major new venture: to ‘make banking joyful’, led by Piyush Gupta, CEO of the firm. The mission was to make the organisation more customer-centric, embracing innovation to remove friction where it emerged, such as digitising processes to create a better user experience.

A close witness to the changes is thought leader Robin Speculand. With a background leading top firms like Citigroup, Speculand became a firm contact with Gupta, aiding the firm in its digital transformation, which he has detailed in his new book.

In the latest edition of the HRD Live Podcast, Speculand outlines the key changes that DBS Bank made, the equal focus on people and technology to create a positive outcome, and what leaders can learn from the undertaking.

Please note that as this is remote recording, the audio quality may fluctuate slightly from time to time.

1.10 – Why DBS stressed the need for teams to make the most of L&D

4.50 – In what ways did DBS redesign its workplace to live up to its values

7.15 – How DBS was able to overcome recent disruption and prepare itself for future uncertainty

10.03 – Incorporating learnings as a strategic priority

10.18 – Why every later of the workforce needs to be able to successfully wield technology

11.10 – Encouraging a culture of inclusivity where every team member can thrive

The post How HR helped DBS Bank become ‘the world’s best bank’ appeared first on HRD.

One organisation is XPO Logistics, one of the world’s largest transportation and logistics services, with a workforce nearly 100,000 staff members strong. Following on from its support of pride events in the U.S., XPO announced it would be a key sponsor in this year’s Birmingham pride festival.

In an atmosphere where brands are expected to follow through on their actions, it’s important to understand how XPO is not only speaking out for change publicly, but pursuing it within the organisation.

As such, how is the firm breaking down barriers to entry and progression? In what ways are they measuring progress and success? Plus, how are they meeting the changing needs and expectations of today’s professionals?

Answering these questions, and more, is Mark Simmons, HR & QHSE director of UK & Ireland at XPO Logistics. Discover Mark’s perspective on how XPO is working to create authentic D&I, to the benefit of its teams, customers, and objectives.

Please note that as this is remote recording, the audio quality may fluctuate slightly from time to time.

1.01 – Aligning D&I strategy with company values

2.09 – Creating a workplace culture where people can be themselves

3.30 – Building an attractive brand to aid the talent acquisition process

4.27 – Working to create a broad talent pool, overcoming unconscious bias

5.10 – Ensuring that employment and development opportunities are open to people from a range of backgrounds

6.27 – Devising a people-led strategy that is encouraged by all layers of the workforce

7.09 – Measuring D&I progress through metrics and why it matters

8.25 – Encouraging an internal talent pipeline to develop tomorrow’s leaders

9.51 – Developing flexible working to ensure that employees’ needs and expectations have changed

The post Promoting authentic D&I today with XPO Logistics appeared first on HRD.

For instance, academic institutions have endeavoured to give students a top-quality education on a remote basis, the health sector has been forced to cope with an overwhelming demand, and private businesses have had to tear up their forecasts and strategise for a disrupted market.

Relied upon by many to deliver a consistent, high-quality service is Mencap, one of the UK’s leading organisations for supporting people with learning disabilities. Joining the HRD Live podcast in our newest episode is Sara Sheard, Mencap’s deputy people director.

Over the course of the conversation, Sheard details the functions of the organisation as it entered the pandemic, how it had to pivot in the face of rapidly changing conditions, and the ways it overcame the many new challenges it faced, all while supporting clients and staff members across the country.

Please note that as this was a live recording, the audio quality may fluctuate slightly from time to time. Listen to the podcast to discover fresh insights on:

0.50 – Ensuring full compliance in talent selection and onboarding

1.30 – Encouraging organisational innovation to adapt to new challenges

2.40 – How technology has enabled Mencap to communicate with frontline staff

4.20 – How agile values have been built into organisational processes

6.10 – Acknowledging the needs of staff and clients in delivering solutions

7.20 – Ensuring financial stability for employees facing COVID on a daily basis

8.30 – Executing strategy with a sense of responsibility for all stakeholders

The post Mencap on delivering business value under pressure appeared first on HRD.

Repeatedly voted one of the UK’s most influential HR leaders, and an appointed Companion of the Chartered Management Institute, Stephen is a prolific speaker on trends including transformation, culture and leadership. In this podcast, Stephen details the interconnected factors that leaders must address in their plans; enhancing employee wellbeing to drive productivity, offering clarity to teams on changing ways of working, and taking a phased, considered approach to executing strategy.

With organisational return to work plans either in motion or soon to start, it’s vital learn to new insights regarding this large and complex logistical exercise, which will have a serious influence on organisational and professional performance in the time to come.

Please note that as this was a live recording, the audio quality may fluctuate slightly from time to time. Listen to the podcast to discover senior-level insights:

1.11 – The importance of organisational and professional wellbeing

2.40 – Why wellbeing has been adversely affected in recent times

3.21 – The new demands of future ways of working

5.10 – Building a workplace culture with purpose and how it differs from the past

7.00 – What are FOMO and FOTO?

8.20 – How to create pull factors for professionals in the return to work

9.45 – Scheduling work in a safe and efficient manner

11.00 – Prioritising employee needs in hybrid working

The post Hitachi Europe on optimising organisational performance after disruption appeared first on HRD.

That said, the construction company faces many of the same challenges that other businesses do; for instance, how to best incorporate new generations into the workforce? What are the best ways to communicate with different layers of the workforce? Plus, to what extent can an organisation prioritise values in immensely challenging conditions?

Discussing how J. Murphy & Sons has succeeded in recent times, and is executing an effective future of work strategy, is the company’s group people director, Dawn Moore. Having previously spoken at HRD events, and covered the importance of technology, transparency, and trust, Dawn explains the priorities of future of work strategy; reaching out to employees through a host of channels, ensuring effective leadership development, and a social responsibility in the projects they take on.

With organisations either implementing or preparing the return to work policy, and addressing risks and opportunities ahead, it’s vital to learn from an organisation that has embodied much sought after values, like flexibility and resilience.

Listen to the podcast to discover key insights on:

4.40 – The importance of values in determining strategy

5.28 – Why leadership development is a priority for organisations and professionals alike

7.50 – Devising an approach to communications that speaks to all employees

8.40 – Responding to larger trends, such as skills shortages and apprenticeship programmes

10.50 – The extent to which values evolve in changing conditions

13.10 – How J. Murphy & Sons expresses a social responsibility in its work

The post J. Murphy & Sons Limited on the principles of future of work strategy appeared first on HRD.

With this in mind, Chuck Heaton, HRD Thought Leader, has collaborated with a range of HR professionals to delve into the subject, raising and exploring each of the most salient topics.

The People Practices Podcast – and its editorial series – tackles pressing issues like executive leadership assessments, healthy workplace assessments, D&I, leadership pipelines, and ways of working.

Joining Heaton is Chuck Kemper, a senior HR consultant and global HR executive, with over 25 years of experience leading HR teams in multi-national companies.

Completing the panel is Sanjay Harrichand, senior human resources consultant and an international HR executive from South Africa, with over 20 years of experience leading HR teams in the mining and energy sectors. Absent from this episode is Jason Anderson, VP of HR at U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc., who has spent the last 10 years leading HR teams in multi-national companies.

This episode summarises the panel’s key argument made over a series of discussions and articles, that boards of directors should focus on HR as a priority in the year ahead. From improving leadership development to implementing successful remote working, our panel brings insightful perspectives to some of the most pressing organisational issues.

2.01 – Does managing up risk creating blind spots for boards of directors?

4.20 – Why boards need to look beyond a solely financial perspective

6.30 – How senior leaders can jeopardise their organisations

8.00 – The need to cultivate frontline leaders

9.05 – How new priorities have emerged over the last year

11.25 – Why boards need to get to the reality of the organisation

The post The People Practices Podcast on human resources as a board priority appeared first on HRD.

However, it’s important to recognise the differences between organisations; for instance, a technology startup in the west doesn’t face the same opportunities and challenges as a legacy brand in the east. As such, beyond the wider trends, it has become vital for leaders to better define key organisational priorities while strategising, or else risk falling behind the competition.

Jason Fowler, Fujitsu Global’s VP, HR Director UK & Head of HR Northern & Western Europe, joins the HRD Live podcast to outline the importance of acknowledging and resolving organisational priorities. Fowler includes factors such as devising a credible future of work strategy, building on the benefits of flexible working, factoring in unforeseeable influences, and aligning organisational priorities with employees’ priorities.

Please note that as the podcast was recorded remotely, the audio quality may fluctuate slightly from time to time.

Listen to the podcast to hear exclusive insights on:

1.10 – Addressing the near-term future of work in organisations

2:08 – “A dissonance between what leaders say they want… and what they do”

4:40 – How traditional ways of working have blocked underrepresented groups from advancing in organisations

6:51 – The risk of rebuilding barriers that have potentially excluded professionals in the past

8.58 – “What is the purpose of our office?”

9.33 – HR’s impact on the digital experience

10.20 – The need to offer an equitable, frictionless employee experience

12.00 – Why the absence of social interaction has shaped professional expectations

13.05 – Whether organisations have re-evaluated their priorities in the way that teams have

The post Fujitsu Global’s Jason Fowler on defining organisational priorities appeared first on HRD.

That said, the events of 2020 have significantly challenged this. With social activity suspended, tensions high, and co-located working all but a faded memory, maintaining a thriving employee experience is unsurprisingly a tall order.

Limeade Institute has addressed this very dilemma through its new research, uncovering the powerful role of ‘individual mindsets’. The research proposes that mindsets, such as gratitude and optimism, play a role in influencing almost every aspect of employee performance and wellbeing.

According to Limeade, the timely arrival of this research will provide key implications for us all as we seek to refuel psychological resources and energy in our lives. But that being said, some of the key concepts at play here certainly bear discussion and elaboration.

With this in mind, we were pleased to welcome Reetu Sandhu, Sr. Manager, and Dr. Laura Hamill, chief people officer & chief science officer as honorary guests for this edition of the HRD Live Podcast. While running us through some of the intricacies of the research, Sandhu and Hamill also provided some more general dialogue on the topic of employee experience, its far-reaching influence in the workplace, and the employer’s role in dealing with it.

1:10 – Hamill and Sandhu give an overview of Limeade Institute‘s new research on the role of individual mindsets

7:08 – The role of the organisation in dealing with employee wellbeing

12:43 – How people can work on their mindsets, and how they can ascertain what needs to be worked on in the first place

21:50 – Laura and Reetu’s top tips for implementing this philosophy in the workplace

The post Employee experience through mindset, with Limeade Institute appeared first on HRD.

In his role as the head of learning and development for contract management at the UK Cabinet Office, Daniel Okin is responsible for a massive L&D strategy and implementation programme, which entails upskilling tens of thousands of contract managers and making savings worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

Joining us for the latest HRD Live Podcast, Daniel outlines his work at the UK Cabinet Office and what he’s found to be some of the key L&D issues and outcomes. For instance, the rise of digitisation in L&D, which has implications for interpersonal relationships, experiential teaching, and key metrics.

Daniel states that recent unstable conditions have forced organisations to take a more ‘sensible’ approach to employees’ work-life balance, and that professionals could be keen to return to offices after a long period of remote working.

Additionally, Daniel highlights how professionals from different backgrounds may differently adapt to changing working conditions, from people with caring responsibilities to new starters in an organisation.

Check out the podcast to hear exclusive insights on:

1.02 – Driving an ambitious agenda in the UK Cabinet Office

2:28 – How the nature of L&D strategy has changed due to the recent pandemic

3.33 – Digitisation as a key undertaking today

4.40 – “How do you maintain engagement in a virtual setting?”

6.27 – Embedding experiential elements teaching practices

8.42 – Assessing capabilities in the most accurate manner

10.50 – Building customer loyalty in L&D strategy

12.58 – Organisations reconsidering the work-life balance

13.40 – Professionals influencing future ways of working

18.30 – Attending to different professional needs in L&D strategy

The post The UK Cabinet Office’s Daniel Okin on effective L&D strategy appeared first on HRD.

With this in mind, Chuck Heaton, HRD Thought Leader and HR consultant, has collaborated with a range of HR professionals to delve into the subject, raising and exploring each of the most salient topics.

In the time ahead, the People Practices Podcast and its editorial series will cover pressing issues like executive leadership assessments, healthy workplace assessments, D&I, leadership pipelines, and ways of working.

Joining Heaton for the podcast are three veritable HR veterans, whose perspectives will add vital perspectives on knotty issues.

Chuck Kemper and Jason Anderson are Senior Human Resources Consultants and global HR Executives, who between them boast more than 35 years of experience leading HR teams in multinational companies.

Completing the panel is Sanjay Harrichand, Sr. Human Resources Consultant and an international HR Executive from South Africa with over 20 years of experience leading HR teams in the mining and energy sectors.

In this new episode, the panel addresses ways of working, which in recent times has been defined as businesses adopting widescale remote working. According to the panel, over the time ahead, ways of working will be affected by harnessing the potential of underused talent, growing digital change, and adapting strategy to changing conditions.

0.50 – The new war for talent among organisations

4.20 – Organisations rethinking their base of operations

5.15 – Coronavirus driving growing automation

6.37 – Tapping into underused talent

8.27 – Enabling the spontaneity that occurs in co-located worksites

10.40 – Creating a consistent employee experience

13.30 – Developing succession planning during disruptive conditions

The post The People Practices Podcast on ways of working today appeared first on HRD.

General Mills, the manufacturer of some of the best-known supermarket brands, was caught in the middle of this struggle, as supply chains, teams, and internal processes came under an unprecedented level of pressure.

However, in this podcast, Aaron Lamers, Human Resources Director of Northern Europe, outlines how his company was able to capitalise on pre-pandemic planning, institute new initiatives – including a flexible working scheme – and ultimately strengthen organisational resilience.

Lamers details how his firm, with a modest European presence within a multinational organisation, was able to act in an “agile, nimble” manner, but supported through learnings and experiences of other parts of the business.

As a firm with a diverse workforce, from white-collar staff to logistics operatives, the firm’s strategy had to empower professionals going through a range of different challenges, to meet the vital goal of getting food onto shelves and maintaining credible corporate values when other brands fell short.

Check out the podcast to hear exclusive insights on:

0.58 – Instituting effective strategy in the pre-pandemic era

2:26 – The shape of tomorrow’s worksites and meeting employees’ needs

6:30 – Potential pitfalls in adopting a fully remote workplace

7:37 – Maintaining company values during challenging circumstances

8:42 – Overcoming new obstacles through applying strategy successfully

9.20 – Incorporating agility into operational processes

10.15 – The benefits of flexible working

11.50 – Operating as a nimble organisation in a multinational firm

13.30 – Building a stronger organisation following a crisis

The post Building organisational resilience with Aaron Lamers, General Mills appeared first on HRD.

Currently, it is the HR/people operations function that has seemed best suited to navigate organizations through this difficult time. However, over the course of months, many have discovered the benefits of working-from-home and a porous working schedule, which is the ability to mix both work and non-work activities through the day e.g. having mid-workday personal appointments or working flexible hours. In fact, many firms have wondered: do we really need the office?

Remote work culture is now becoming mainstream. According to PWC, pre-Coronavirus, 67 percent of employees worked less than one day a week remotely; now 72 percent have registered an interest and intent of working more than three days away from the office, even after the pandemic is over.

In this new podcast, HRD Connect meets with GameAnalytics’ Yinka Opaneye to delve into the details of building a true remote work culture. Where once it was a short term fix, now it’s becoming a long-term reality for professionals based around the world, driving questions around employee engagement, the pace of development, and what further changes may come about.

1.15 – Pivoting to a remote work culture quickly

3.30 – How remote work policies have changed due to employee needs

8.40 – Adapting to remote work for companies in different sectors

10.04 – The importance of mental health in building today’s strategies

12:10 – Communications strategy in a global context

15:50 – Effectively integrating young staff members into a workplace remotely

18.20 – Ensuring compliance in remote working conditions

19:00 – The key challenges for the year ahead

20.05 – Building a remote work culture in places where it hasn’t been popular before

The post Devising a remote work culture with Yinka Opaneye, GameAnalytics appeared first on HRD.