Cruising Altitude

This episode features an interview with Paulo Pisano, Chief People Officer at Booking Holdings, the world’s leader in online travel that includes several brands including Booking.com, Priceline, and RentalCars.com. At Booking Holdings, he heads the people agenda for their 20,000 employees. In this episode, Paulo discusses how to present a strong value proposition to hook great talent, how he tunes in to each of their markets, and how to provide a consistent employee experience globally.

Quotes

*”By staying close to the realities and the dynamics of each of the markets we do business in, we ensure we are relevant. We are effective in engaging our people and ensuring that whatever we do or however we do our work, it's going to be aligned with the general expectations people might have in a given market.”

*”I remember one meeting in particular at that stage [in the pandemic] where we had a pretty busy agenda ahead of us. And I had an instinct to just wipe out the agenda and to have a meeting, to talk about how are we doing, just to do a long check in with the team and to go around the room and hear from each other what's going on for us. How are we experiencing this moment, this situation, where we are taking care of everybody else sometimes at the detriment of taking care of ourselves? And it was a very powerful session…A lot of very important insights on a personal level, certainly, but [on] a professional level as well can come from being able to listen to yourself more effectively, to what's going on for you.” 

*”That was a really powerful moment, when it's no longer just the company that is so to speak hierarchically taking care of employees, but when people start taking care of each other. When you start developing a sense of engagement that is not top down. It’s not structured or corporate, but an engagement that really shows the care that I was talking about, whether people really care for each other are trying to help each other… a lot of it was around enabling employees to help each other, to support each other, to support themselves…facilitating communication and connection in all directions around the organization.”

*”The effectiveness of your role in a leadership role in the HR space is much more around your ability to ask great questions, to put the mirror back to the person, to be a good coach, to build new perspectives than to just have the answer.” 

Time Stamps

*[3:41] The Flight Plan: Get to know Booking Holdings

*[12:02] First Class: Best EX practices at Booking Holdings

*[19:28] Turbulence: EX lessons learned

*[27:27] Advice for other EX leaders

Links

Connect with Paulo on LinkedIn

Check out Booking Holdings

Thanks to our friends

This episode is brought to you by Firstup, the company that is redefining the digital employee experience to put people first and lift companies up by connecting every worker, everywhere with the information that helps them do their best work. Firstup has helped over 40% of the Fortune 100 companies like Amazon, AB InBev, Ford and Pfizer stay agile and keep transforming. Learn more at firstup.io

This episode features an interview with Melissa Marshall, Vice President of People and Organization at Banfield Pet Hospital, the largest veterinary practice in the U.S. Mel is responsible for leading the people strategy at Banfield, where she serves 20,000 associates including veterinarians and their staff. In this episode, Mel discusses how to use layers of technology to support communication among employees, how to increase diversity in a predominantly white profession, and the many ways Banfield is making the veterinary profession more accessible.

Quotes

*”It's so important to have that human connection. One of the things that we know is that word of mouth is how connection happens [and] how community is really fostered. And so whether it's through our diversity resource groups, whether it's through our mental health and wellbeing offerings, we've really balanced low tech, medium tech, high tech to be able to create community and draw community around some of these major topics.”

*”At the end of the day, what we do is for our people. It's not for the business. It's to make a better world for our people.”

*”We have a mission to truly understand people for who they are, their whole selves, everything about them. Truly understand their capabilities, truly understand what's possible, versus that proverbial ‘judging a book by its cover’. I count it my mission personally to ensure that [in] any organization that I work with, people will come first. We will listen. We will listen at scale, and we will act on what our people say.” 

*”Relationships, relationships, relationships…the ability to partner well and successfully is going to come from having great relationships with your team, to partner well and collaborate. As they say, teamwork makes the dream work. And so the more that you can start your career with relationships at the foundation, I think will be critical.”

*”The people strategy is the business strategy.”

Time Stamps

*[4:23] The Flight Plan: Get to know Banfield Pet Hospital

*[7:38] First Class: Best EX practices at Banfield Pet Hospital

*[25:21] Turbulence: EX lessons learned

*[37:55] Advice for other EX leaders

Links

Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn

Check out Banfield Pet Hospital

Thanks to our friends

This episode is brought to you by Firstup, the company that is redefining the digital employee experience to put people first and lift companies up by connecting every worker, everywhere with the information that helps them do their best work. Firstup has helped over 40% of the Fortune 100 companies like Amazon, AB InBev, Ford and Pfizer stay agile and keep transforming. Learn more at firstup.io

This episode features an interview with Alan Winters, Chief People Officer and Chief Diversity Officer at Teleperformance Group, the worldwide leader in outsourced omnichannel customer experience management. Alan is responsible for HR, learning and development, and talent acquisition at Teleperformance Group, which has over 420,000 employees across 88 countries around the world. Alan was born to lead a truly global and diverse company, having lived and traveled around the world with his family growing up. In this episode, Alan talks about trying out new technologies like the Metaverse, what it takes to be a certified Great Place to Work, and how hiring a diverse workforce benefits your bottom line.

Quotes

*”In our world today, you have to have a broad view. And you have to have diversity with an open mind to understand where people are coming from. Or if you put it in today's vernacular, the ‘emotional intelligence’ to understand how people interact with you, how they hear what you say, understand or take or do, et cetera. So I think my background has enabled me to have that broad thought process to think that way naturally. And it's helped me in my career.”

*”Our people know we're interested in what they're thinking and feeling. And more importantly, we take action on what they say.”

*”If you have a vast, diverse workforce with different perspectives and mindsets, that allows all of those creative ideas to bubble up and to people to feel comfortable to say, ‘Hey, let's do this, or this, or this.’ And that drives right down to, we firmly believe that if our people are satisfied and happy at work, they'll provide good service to our clients and therefore our clients will be happy. And that is a direct reflection on the bottom line.”

*”We have this gamification, or we're testing all sorts of new training methodologies to get people through training faster and make it more exciting. Because from a work-from-home environment, you just don't want to be in your home office in front of the computer for eight or nine hours a day. We have to make it really engaging. So we're using those types of technologies to really revolutionize how we deliver that work to our people.”

*”[When handling employee feedback], the key is you listen, you react, and you communicate with what you find openly. If you do that, people will have confidence in an escalation process. They'll have confidence that you value their opinion and people will be more apt to express their opinion because they know it'll be listened to.”

*”It's important for people to know that you're human. And because we're human, we all make mistakes. I think in order for anyone to be a good leader, the people you work with need to understand that you make mistakes and it's perfectly fine to make a mistake… And why that's important from a business perspective is the faster you understand there's a mistake made the easier it is to fix it. If it festers and continues on and on, it may end up being a much bigger problem a few weeks or months down the road. So you wanna create that environment from a leadership perspective so you know what's going on and you can go fix the problem, and you do that together.”

Time Stamps

*[5:47] The Flight Plan: Get to know Teleperformance Group

*[10:18] First Class: Best EX practices at Teleperformance Group

*[25:16] Turbulence: EX lessons learned

*[35:10] Advice for other EX leaders

Links

Connect with Alan on LinkedIn

Check out Teleperformance Group

Thanks to our friends

This episode is brought to you by Firstup, the company that is redefining the digital employee experience to put people first and lift companies up by connecting every worker, everywhere with the information that helps them do their best work. Firstup has helped over 40% of the Fortune 100 companies like Amazon, AB InBev, Ford and Pfizer stay agile and keep transforming. Learn more at firstup.io

This episode features an interview with Greg Sexton, Chief Operating Officer at Century 21 Real Estate LLC. Greg has been with Anywhere Real Estate, Century 21’s parent company, for over a decade and has received numerous awards for his leadership. As COO, Greg leads both domestic and international operations including tech tools and apps, learning, and he oversees the field servicing staff. In this episode, Greg talks about the best-in-class tech tools Century 21 offers to employees, how to maintain the integrity of your brand, and having a game plan ready so your team knows exactly what to do in any challenging situation.

Quotes

*”You're always going to have an experience potentially where it's not great with an employee. And other employees watch to see how you react to a bad situation - let's call it a bad apple that might be in your organization. And I think that's just as important as how you treat those employees that are doing great. How do you also react to those employees that aren't doing the right thing?” 

*”There is one thing that we all have to have and maintain at all times, and that's integrity. Because the moment you lose integrity with an employee, with an outside customer, you'll never get it back.”

*”Mistakes are going to happen. And when they happen, how do we learn from that mistake? We take the mistake and dissect it and figure out what's the lesson that we learned here, so we make sure it doesn't happen again.”

*”The pandemic showed us we're all normal people and normal things happen in a household. And so it's amazing now that we can come on a call and there'll be 10 of us on a call, and you'll hear somebody's dog barking in the background and that's okay. In fact, that's a great thing, because we're all human and human things happen. And I actually think that it creates a lighter load from an environment perspective, that it's okay to be real, to be you.”

*”Your employees are looking for you to step up and lead. And I think you do that by being very decisive. When times are tough for your employees, they want to see you stepping up and taking control and being decisive in the decisions that you make, because they want to see that everything's under control. And if you act as a leader like things are spiraling or things are crazy, guess what? They're not going to have confidence that everything's under control.”

Time Stamps

*[4:01] The Flight Plan: Get to know Century 21 Real Estate

*[10:12] First Class: Best EX practices at Century 21 Real Estate

*[21:21] Turbulence: EX lessons learned

*[38:13] Advice for other EX leaders

Links

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn

Check out Century 21 Real Estate

Thanks to our friends

This episode is brought to you by Firstup, the company that is redefining the digital employee experience to put people first and lift companies up by connecting every worker, everywhere with the information that helps them do their best work. Firstup has helped over 40% of the Fortune 100 companies like Amazon, AB InBev, Ford and Pfizer stay agile and keep transforming. Learn more at firstup.io

This episode features an interview with Theresa Alesso, President of Sony Electronics’ Imaging Products and Solutions Americas Division. She has been with Sony for over 30 years in various roles. In her current position as President, she’s responsible for sales and marketing operations for the company’s professional products and imaging solutions. In this episode, Theresa talks about supporting women in business, mentoring employees in their career journey, and leading them to professional fulfillment.

Quotes

*”Although our employees are all unique, we try to address all of them in a way that bridges those gaps and brings their uniqueness to the table. We focus on our employees, we focus on our business, and we focus on our culture. Because the uniqueness is what makes everyone special and then how we can elevate and ignite that, we do within this global behaviors framework.”

*”Your leadership can help provide mentor capabilities for you, can help give you an honest assessment of where your opportunities are and where your development areas need to be. Because no one's perfect. We all need to develop. But we own our own journey. So I think that's most critical.” 

*”If you own your journey–your life journey and your work journey–they're kind of integrated, you have to figure out what's going to make you happy and where you see yourself 10 years from now. As hard as that is to do, and then take the opportunities that are in front of you that help round you out, even if it's not your end-state and even if it's not a promotion. That's sometimes hard for people to hear, but it's so critically important, because some of the laterals that I personally took are what enabled me to sit in the chair that I'm in now. Maybe I didn't realize it at the time. So it's super important that people are open to moving laterally, gaining as much in their toolkit as they can so that when that next position to get that promotion comes, you can say, ‘But look, I've done each area of this business. I deserve the shot at this.’ Lateral is critical.”

*”Anyone, man or woman, can accomplish anything. But there are certain hurdles, women in business have to plow through or jump over. And I love to be able to tell the story, inspire other women, that they need to speak up for themselves. You may never a hundred percent be qualified for any job, but you've got to believe in yourself and put your name out there. Otherwise you'll watch everybody pass you by if you don't take some risk.”

Time Stamps

*[3:44] The Flight Plan: Get to know Sony Electronics

*[10:20] First Class: Best EX practices at Sony Electronics

*[31:27] Turbulence: EX lessons learned

*[38:34] Advice for other EX leaders

Links

Connect with Theresa on Linkedin

Check out Sony Electronics’ IPSA Division

Thanks to our friends

This episode is brought to you by Firstup, the company that is redefining the digital employee experience to put people first and lift companies up by connecting every worker, everywhere with the information that helps them do their best work. Firstup has helped over 40% of the Fortune 100 companies like Amazon, AB InBev, Ford and Pfizer stay agile and keep transforming. Learn more at firstup.io

A brand new season of Cruising Altitude is coming. Firstup is excited to bring you insights from employee experience experts at companies with over 30,000 employees. We’ll hear from leaders at companies like Sony and Century 21 discuss their best practices, lessons learned, and advice for other EX professionals. Join us as we look deep into what makes an excellent digital employee experience. Welcome to Cruising Altitude.

This episode features highlights from our first season.  We hear from 7-time CIO Mark Settle, Brady Pyle, Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer at NASA, Tony Saldanha, former VP of Global Business Services at Procter & Gamble, and more. Together, they bring you the most relevant insights to help you attract and retain world-class talent, implement effective tech tools, and improve leadership skills.

Quotes

*“There is this trap we fall into of assuming we know what employees want and what they need. And we don't. We can make some generalizations, but we need to ask. We need to be asking the questions to understand truly what employees need inside an organization. And we need to understand that will evolve and change.” - Joey Wilkerson, Employee Experience Lead and Acquisition Integration Manager at Cisco

*“I began to challenge some of those notions around leadership. And I have seen, I have observed and experienced that you can be yourself and be an effective leader.” - Brady Pyle, Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer at NASA

*“How do we get engagement of 38,000 people so they feel connected? And engagement that doesn't stop. Engagement that is ongoing and engagement that makes them an active participant in our brand, in our vision, in our story in our strategy, and connected? That, for me, this is about being human. Yes, tools and technology. And we'll talk about tools and technology. And I know very likely to ask me about that as well. They play a role. But this is about connection, communication, empathy. Truly, it's about understanding each other.” - Marija Zivanovic-Smith, EVP of Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs at NCR Corporation

Time Stamps

*[1:27] 7-time CIO Mark Settle

*[1:51] Joey Wilkerson, Employee Experience Lead and Acquisition Integration Manager at Cisco

*[2:27] Nicole Alvino, CEO and Founder of Firstup

*[3:32] Jâlie Cohen, Group SVP of HR Americas at The Adecco Group

*[4:21] Aaron Gerlitz, Program Manager of Information Security at Lowe’s

*[4:53] Erica Cary, VP of Product and Services at Hilton

*[5:36] Weston Morris, Director of Global Strategy for Digital Workplace Services at Unisys

*[6:09] Brady Pyle, Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer at NASA

*[6:35] Marija Zivanovic-Smith, EVP of Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs at NCR Corporation

*[7:24] Alexander Senn, Head of People and Organization at Siemens Smart Infrastructure

*[8:04] Lisa Cummings Penn, Executive Director of Employee Engagement in the Office of the CIO at Estée Lauder Companies

*[9:01] Angie Grossman, Senior Employee Experience Specialist at WarnerMedia

*[9:21] Tony Saldanha, former VP of Global Business Services at Procter & Gamble

*[10:10] Quique Huerta, Global Employee Experience Officer at Liberty Mutual Insurance

Links

Connect with:

7-time CIO Mark Settle

Joey Wilkerson, Employee Experience Lead and Acquisition Integration Manager at Cisco

Nicole Alvino, CEO and Founder of Firstup

Jâlie Cohen, Group SVP of HR Americas at The Adecco Group

Aaron Gerlitz, Program Manager of Information Security at Lowe’s

Erica Cary, VP of Product and Services at Hilton

Weston Morris, Director of Global Strategy for Digital Workplace Services at Unisys

Brady Pyle, Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer at NASA

Marija Zivanovic-Smith, EVP of Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs at NCR Corporation

Alexander Senn, Head of People and Organization at Siemens Smart Infrastructure

Lisa Cummings Penn, Executive Director of Employee Engagement in the Office of the CIO at Estée Lauder Companies

Angie Grossman, Senior Employee Experience Specialist at WarnerMedia

Tony Saldanha, former VP of Global Business Services at Procter & Gamble

Quique Huerta, Global Employee Experience Officer at Liberty Mutual Insurance

Thanks to our friends

This episode is brought to you by Firstup, the company that is redefining the digital employee experience to put people first and lift companies up by connecting every worker, everywhere with the information that helps them do their best work. Firstup has helped over 40% of the Fortune 100 companies like Amazon, AB InBev, Ford and Pfizer stay agile and keep transforming. Learn more at firstup.io

This episode features an interview with Joseph LaMarca, Vice President of Communications at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. Lockheed Martin is a massive company with over 114,000 employees.  And Joe leads a world-class communications team that’s responsible for employee executive communications, media relations, marketing, philanthropy and more. In this episode, Joe talks about how to build a supportive culture at work, communicate across silos, and be your employees’ wingman.

Quotes

*”There's a saying in the aerospace or aviation world, it's called ‘check six.’ And check six means that when you're flying and you're in the lead, you know that your wingman has your back. Nobody's going to come up from behind and knock you out of the sky. We do the same thing here. We have each other's back.”

*”Do people feel valued when they come to work? Do they feel like what they do matters? That's really important to us. We focus a lot at Lockheed Martin on culture and creating an experience for employees where they can bring their whole self to work.”

*”Best practice: engage. I know something about everybody on my team. I have over 200 people and I get to know them. I'm engaged with them on a regular basis.”

*”Embracing new tools and technologies is important for any good leader or strong leader. Whether it's Box, Slack or Airtable, these are tools I have to learn because my team uses them and it helps us do our job better.”

*”Empathy is really about understanding that everybody has unique experiences, unique beliefs, unique opportunities and challenges. And so trying to understand what those are for each individual and what makes them tick is highly important. I think about what do they need? How do I understand what those challenges are and how do I embrace them?”

*”One of the things I always end a conversation with is, ‘What feedback do you have for me? What can I do better or different that will make this experience better for you?’”

*”When I hang up my spurs at some point, I think if I can look back and say, ‘I know that I had an impact on people and I helped them grow and develop and succeed in life,’ then to me, that's the greatest experience I could ever have.”

Time Stamps

*[3:50] The Flight Plan: Get to know Lockheed Martin Aeronautics

*[9:08] First Class: Best EX practices at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics

*[23:44] Turbulence: EX lessons learned

*[30:28] How to lead in times of difficulty or change

Links

Connect with Joe on LinkedIn

Follow Joe on Twitter

Check out Lockheed Martin

Thanks to our friends

This episode is brought to you by Firstup, the company that is redefining the digital employee experience to put people first and lift companies up by connecting every worker, everywhere with the information that helps them do their best work. Firstup has helped over 40% of the Fortune 100 companies like Amazon, AB InBev, Ford and Pfizer stay agile and keep transforming. Learn more at firstup.io

This episode features an interview with Alexander Senn, Head of People and Organization at Siemens Smart Infrastructure. He leads the 70,000 employees that are part of the Smart Infrastructure family. In this episode, Alex talks about the benefits of replacing performance reviews with growth talks, how to handle being challenged by an employee, and the importance of a trusting culture at work.

Quotes

*”What happens with people when you really trust them and you empower them… you need to give them guidance about what do we want to achieve as a team, as a company, they need to have a clear view on the strategy, but then let them go. And then magic happens because when you give someone the trust, And then the feeling of, ‘You can do that, I believe in you,’ It's just amazing what happens.”

*”I strongly believe everyone can be a star in something. We just need to find out what area someone can bring in his or her skills in the best way.”

*”We implemented growth talks. It's all about really taking the time to reflect on what someone needs. Where are the areas of development and what can I do as a leader to support my employees? Everyday can be growth talks. After every meal, after every meeting, can be a moment of growth talks. And then we talk with our people about what happened. What can we learn out of it? And what kind of support someone needs. We started that journey one and a half years ago. We're in the middle of it, but I can already see a difference. It's a different culture of how people feel, also how they behave within the team, the interactions with leaders, and it's much more positive, future-oriented. And really, the spirit of growing, learning, achieving something together. I strongly believe it's because we got rid of performance management ratings and established growth talks.”

*“The best ideas are out of a discussion of a diverse group. This is the change that happened, and wonderful to see. Yes, it may be difficult for me sometimes, because it's not always my idea. And to be really honest with you, I love when my idea is perceived as the best and we were going that direction. I love that. Everyone loves that. But you need to learn as a leader, it's not always the best idea. The best ideas always come out of a team discussion.”

*“Sometimes we don’t have enough opportunities for young talented people. Because when someone is at the top of the game, top of their career, they don't want to move. Because it's great up there and they have a big responsibility. But I think we need to learn to step back and make room for talent. For example, myself. I love my job. I've had the job for three years. I could imagine doing that job for the next 15 years, but that would not be good for the company or for the organization. So that's why I promise you I’ll step back in four to five years. Because it's good to have someone taking over, bringing in some new ideas and creating a different dynamic. So we need to establish a culture of movement within the company.”

*“To be challenged as a leader is not always easy. Because maybe you're proud of something because you developed something with your team and it's successful. And then you have someone joining the team from outside who is challenging your process. The natural reaction right away is to defend. And this is not good. First, you need to listen, to understand what is being challenged, the reason why, and really listen, listen, listen, listen, listen. And then step out of your role of being in charge of that process. We need to look at it as a consultant. Maybe she or he is right. And then try to be open for change. But then track, is it improving? Do we achieve better results? And I think this is the key.”

*“No one will leave a company because of a tool or because of a process. They will leave the company because of the culture.”

*“To care means also to be very tough sometimes. In a situation when someone is not fulfilling the requirements or they don’t do the job, then we need to tell them. Or when we think, ‘We tried, it's not the right job.’ And we try to invest in training, et cetera, and someone's really not fulfilling the requirements. Then we need to act. And this is also caring. So also to end the contract with someone, or to say, ‘I think we should go different ways.’ This is also caring.”

*“I love the people. I have a strong bond with them and with my employer, Siemens. But I also see risk here. We should have, all of us, a healthy distance to the company, because it's not all about the job and the company. I think family, yourself, you're much more important. Your health, what you love, what you like, who you are. You're not the company, you're not the role. The role is the role, and maybe you will leave the role one day.”

Time Stamps

*[2:52] The Flight Plan: Get to know Siemens Smart Infrastructure

*[4:59] First Class: Best EX practices at Siemens Smart Infrastructure

*[26:13] Turbulence: EX lessons learned

*[36:45] Advice for other EX leaders

Links

Connect with Alexander on LinkedIn

Check out Siemens Smart Infrastructure

Thanks to our friends

This episode is brought to you by Firstup, the company that is redefining the digital employee experience to put people first and lift companies up by connecting every worker, everywhere with the information that helps them do their best work. Firstup has helped over 40% of the Fortune 100 companies like Amazon, AB InBev, Ford and Pfizer stay agile and keep transforming. Learn more at firstup.io

This episode features an interview with Jâlie Cohen. She is the Group SVP of HR Americas at The Adecco Group. She leads EX for the 9,000 employees across the U.S., Canada and Latin America. In this episode, Jâlie talks about launching a new recruiting system, running a successful onboarding experience, and how the employee experience starts way before hire, with brand perception.

Quotes

*”Everyone owns the employee experience. Oftentimes I'll read periodicals that really focus on what we, as HR, can do. And I think that we miss the opportunity to say how employees are also equally responsible for ensuring that they have a great employee experience as well by leveraging the tools that they are provided, by having a self-developing focus on, ‘how can I go out and self-serve myself,’ versus waiting for people to come to me to offer an experience.”

*”By the time a person has decided to apply for your role, they're applying to the brand. How you brand yourself in the market is critical. Employees are not only being extremely selective, but they are deciding whether you’re aligned from a value perspective.”

*”When someone joins an organization, don’t forget the importance of human connectedness. It can be a small item, something as simple as a branded coffee mug and a note from you to let them know that you're expecting them… Make sure you’re taking the time to personalize the onboarding experience. That first impression is key.”

Time Stamps

*[4:28] The Flight Plan: Get to know The Adecco Group

*[8:19] First Class: Best EX practices at The Adecco Group

*[29:34] Turbulence: EX lessons learned

*[36:33] Advice for other EX leaders

Links

Connect with Jâlie on LinkedIn

Check out Chief

Check out OneTen

Thanks to our friends

This episode is brought to you by Firstup, the company that is redefining the digital employee experience to put people first and lift companies up by connecting every worker, everywhere with the information that helps them do their best work. Firstup has helped over 40% of the Fortune 100 companies like Amazon, AB InBev, Ford and Pfizer stay agile and keep transforming. Learn more at firstup.io