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Next Practices Weekly
Next Practices Weekly episodes
- Building a Culture of Empathy with Oscar Munoz
Turnaround time is the heartbeat of the airline industry. There’s little margin for error, and success is measured by fractions of a second. Nevertheless, turning around an aircraft to ensure a safe disembark and flight readiness is an entirely different challenge from turning around an airline. Oscar Munoz, the former CEO of United Airlines, led UA through one of the modern business’s most remarkable corporate turnarounds, inspiring employees, customers, and investors.
In this Next Practices Weekly session, Oscar Munoz shares insights from his book “Turnaround Time: Uniting an Airline and Its Employees in the Friendly Skies” around leadership lessons for creating a culture of empathy, standing up for employees, and advancing an inclusive economy. Sign up for the 2024 i4cp Next Practices Now Conference to hear more HR insights and details of his journey.
1 hr - Fortifying the Employee Experience with Prime Therapeutics CHRO Erin Feigal
The Next Practices Weekly call series has become a well-attended and wide-ranging discussion for HR leaders each Thursday at 11am ET / 8am PT. On this week's call, i4cp senior research analyst Tom Stone and i4cp managing director, communities and partnerships Carrie Bevis, facilitated a conversation with special guest Erin Feigal, Chief Human Resource Officer at Prime Therapeutics.
Valuable Resources shared on the call:
- Upcoming i4cp virtual events
- i4cp's Next Practices Now Conference
- Information on i4cp Membership
- i4cp’s 2024 Priorities & Prediction Report (Members Only Download)
- i4cp's 2024 Priorities & Prediction (Non Members)
1 hr - Chief Talent Officer Roz Tsai on Thrivent’s Leadership Competency Model
Competent, capable, and agile leaders are a necessity for any organization hoping to maximize productivity and growth. To ensure this, high-performance organizations implement frameworks that identify the essential skills, behaviors, and attributes needed. In this Next Practices Weekly session, you’ll hear from Roz Tsai, Ph.D., Chief Talent Officer at Thrivent, a company that has supported and amplified its clients' generosity efforts for over 100 years.
We’ll discuss:
- The recent launch of Thrivent’s Leadership Competency Model.
- And how to leverage Thrivent’s Leadership Competency Model at your organization.
To ensure open discussion, this event is exclusively for HR practitioners. Vendors and consultants are not permitted to attend.
1 hr 1 min - Mastering Leadership Development with Levi Strauss’ Chief Talent Officer
The Next Practices Weekly call series has become a well-attended and wide-ranging discussion for HR leaders each Thursday at 11am ET / 8am PT. On this week's call, Carrie Bevis, i4cp's Managing Director, Communities and Partnerships; Eric Davis, i4cp's Creative Director and Senior Editor; and Kevin Osborne, i4cp Senior Director, Member Development, facilitated a conversation with special guest Karthik Varatharaj, Vice President and Chief Talent Officer at Levi Strauss. Here are some highlights from the call:
- Levi Strauss includes several well-known brands, from the iconic Levi's to Dockers, Denizen from Levi's, and Beyond Yoga.
- The core values of Levi Strauss Co. include empathy, originality, integrity, and courage. Karthik said that these pillars guide very decision Levi's makes and every action they take. And they fuel their commitment to drive profits through principles.
- Davis shared some of i4cp's research from earlier this year that found that very healthy cultures have leaders who:
- Varatharaj described that at Levi's they have a Moral Leadership Framework in place, which includes four key pillars:
- Levi's has a relatively new leadership development program called NXT-GEN. They've had around 140 leaders go through the program so far, and expect another 140-150 to do so in the next couple of years. NXT-GEN is an accelerator for emerging leaders who are navigating the increasingly interdependent and morally activated world. The program:
- Levi Strauss Co. has four high-performance culture levers:
- Levi Strauss Co. has a multi-level Talent Accelerator program:
- Varatharaj also described their Manager Capability Model. Beyond education and training, they are standing up a comprehensive measurement, accountability and evaluation model for people managers. This includes development, assessment, and performance management components. See the slides above for more details.
- Varatharaj noted that earlier this Levi Strauss Co. did institute a RTO policy at three days per week, but with significant flexibility that managers can leverage at their discretion with their teams. He noted that managers know best how work gets done, and how collaboration best happens, on their teams.
1 hr 1 min - Reevaluating Your DE&I Strategy with Pitney Bowes’ Sheryl Battles
The Next Practices Weekly call series has become a well-attended and wide-ranging discussion for HR leaders each Thursday at 11 am ET / 8 am PT. On this week's call, Nina Holtsberry, i4cp's Director of Member Engagement, and Jacqui Robertson, Chief Diversity Officer at Cleveland Clinic, facilitated a conversation with special guest Sheryl Battles, VP of Global Diversity, Inclusion, and Engagement at Pitney Bowes. Here are some highlights from the call:
- Pitney Bowes is a global shipping and mailing company that provides technology, logistics, and financial services to help clients reduce the complexities of sending parcels and mail. They have around 11,000 employees and did around $3.5 billion in revenue last year. They service 90% of the Fortune 500, have a global e-commerce business, and are the largest workshare partner of the USPS.
- Robertson reviewed a timeline of critical events in DE&I going back to the 1960s (see recording). Battles agreed that the arc of the timeline has been a shift from compliance, to a focus on talent, to a focus on business strategy.
- Battles noted that in order for a DEI strategy to be resilient, it needs to be aligned with the culture, values, and business strategy of the organization--that is where sustainability comes from. Without this, it can fade away because it will be seen as an add-on, instead of as critical, embedded, and integral to the organization.
- It is vital to understand the "why" of your DEI strategy, not merely the who and the what. You can make short-term impacts without this understanding, but long-term, sustainable impact requires understanding the why.
- Battles shared the story of the very long legacy of DEI strategy at Pitney Bowes which actually goes back over 80 years, to World War II, when their CEO at the time broadened the aperture of who could be hired as talent to include women, the disabled, and Black Americans. He specifically required a review to make sure that there were no practices or processes (e.g., systemic racism or sexism) that would get in the way of doing this.
- Battles noted that at Pitney Bowes, they consider DEI across all areas of the employee lifecycle, so that the entire employee experience is considered and no gaps can arise.
- Battles said that the listening strategy at Pitney Bowes involves both an in-depth annual engagement survey, as well as pulse surveys every three weeks with different and more targeted questions. Managers have a dashboard where they can see results (as long as they have at least five employees who participated).
Links to resources shared on the call:
- Upcoming i4cp virtual events
- i4cp's Next Practices Now conference
- Information on i4cp Membership
- i4cp’s Report (members only): Is HR Already Behind in the AI Revolution?
- i4cp’s Brief (available to all): Is HR Already Behind in the AI Revolution?
55 min - How to Hold Leaders Accountable for the Employee Experience with Judy Albers, Director of Research Enablement, i4cp
The Next Practices Weekly call series has become a well-attended and wide-ranging discussion for HR leaders each Thursday at 11am ET / 8am PT. On this week's call, i4cp Senior Research Analyst Tom Stone facilitated a conversation with Judy Albers, i4cp's Director of Research Enablement. She shared insights from a tool she created for i4cp members earlier this year, Holding Leaders Accountable for the Employee Experience. Here are some highlights from the call:
- First, it is helpful to understand i4cp's point of view on employee experience, and especially how to measure it in your organization. For this, see the article The Essential Metrics of High-Performance Employee Engagement, by Lorrie Lykins. Further, i4cp member organizations can learn more about employee experience from the many resources at the Employee Experience Research Series.
- Regarding how to hold leaders accountable for the employee experience, Albers first shared some i4cp research data to set the context and establish why this matters:
- Albers also noted this powerful finding from Microsoft's WorkLab: "On average, each additional point of engagement reported by employees correlated with a +$46,511 difference in market cap per employee. Put simply, companies with highly engaged workforces had better financial outcomes. Leaders need to treat employee engagement with the same strategic importance as business and financial outcomes."
- The toolkit Albers created walks through a five-step process for building a business case for holding leaders accountable for the employee experience.
- The toolkit then walks through a five-step implementation process:
- Participant Poll Question: Does your company hold leaders accountable for any aspect of the employee experience?
- Participant Poll Question: If yes, what are employee experience metrics tied to?
- Participant Poll Question: What methods are you using to collect culture data? The most common answers were annual or semi-annual engagement survey, a dedicated culture survey, and frequent pulse surveys. Additional responses included:
- Participant Poll Question: How are you helping leaders improve their employee experience scores? The most common answers were formal coaching and formal training. Additional responses included:
Links to resources shared on the call:
- Currently open i4cp survey (November, 2023): Employer-Supported Upskilling Programs
- Upcoming i4cp virtual events
- i4cp's Next Practices Now conference
- Information on i4cp Membership
- i4cp’s Report (members only): Is HR Already Behind in the AI Revolution?
- i4cp’s Brief (available to all): Is HR Already Behind in the AI Revolution?
- i4cp Research Brief: Culture Fitness: Healthy Habits of High-Performance Organizations
- Additional i4cp Culture resources at www.culturerenovation.com
- i4cp member-only Toolkit: How to Hold Leaders Accountable for Employee Experience
- SHRM Article: Building a Data-Driven Culture Health Index (Mastercard example)
53 min - “Wrong Fit, Right Fit” with Author & Former CLO Andre Martin
The Next Practices Weekly call series has become a well-attended and wide-ranging discussion for HR leaders each Thursday at 11am ET / 8am PT. On this week's call, Bethany Vogel, i4cp Community Program Manager, and Tom Stone, i4cp Senior Research Analyst, facilitated a conversation with special guest Andre Martin, PhD, author of Wrong Fit, Right Fit: Why How We Work Matters More Than Ever, and former learning and talent management executive at Accenture, Google, Target, Nike, and Mars. Here are some highlights from the call:
- One of Martin's overall goals is to make work feel less like work. His recent book, Wrong Fit, Right Fit: Why How We Work Matters More Than Ever, arose from this perspective as well as Martin's curiosity about what makes great workplaces truly great.
- The research for the book involved interviewing over 100 individuals about their experiences of right and wrong fit with a company. Martin emphasized the importance of understanding individual work preferences and the negative impact of wrong fit on wellbeing and work-life balance. He also shared his concern about the issue of disengagement in companies, which is estimated to cause a staggering loss of 7.9 trillion dollars in productivity.
- Martin shared six trends that he sees as crucial to getting us to our current state of work:
- Martin noted that the concept of 'right fit' in a workplace is a challenging one, and he emphasized the importance of understanding the difference between who an employee is vs. how they work and how companies function. He noted that many successful CEOs have experienced moments of wrong fit and that addressing this issue can significantly reduce stress.
- Martin emphasized the need for individuals to reflect deeply on their personal needs and aspirations before taking a job. He also highlighted the importance of understanding one's true values, beyond the generic ones that everyone claims to value, as they can influence major life decisions. Here are the kinds of key questions you need to ask:
- Martin noted the many challenges companies face in training employees on how the work really gets done, the need for a unified project management system, and a clear understanding of the company's principles, practices, and platforms.
- Martin also noted the misconception that creative individuals thrive in chaos. He shared an anecdote about a colleague who initially resisted strict guidelines at her company but later realized that they enabled her to focus on her work. He emphasized that standardized principles, practices, and platforms can be liberating for creative individuals, allowing them to excel within a structured environment.
Links to resources shared on the call:
- Amazon link to Andre Martin's book: Wrong Fit, Right Fit: Why How We Work Matters More Than Ever
- Andre Martin's website, WrongFitRightFit.com
- Upcoming i4cp virtual events
- i4cp's Next Practices Now conference
- Information on i4cp Membership
- i4cp’s Report (members only): Is HR Already Behind in the AI Revolution?
- i4cp’s Brief (available to all): Is HR Already Behind in the AI Revolution?
- i4cp’s Report (members only): The Productivity Predicament
- i4cp’s Brief (available to all): The Productivity Predicament
59 min - How to Help Employees Succeed Quickly in New Roles with Rob Cross
The Next Practices Weekly call series has become a well-attended and wide-ranging discussion for HR leaders each Thursday at 11am ET / 8am PT. On this week's call, Carrie Bevis, i4cp Managing Director of Communities and Partnerships, and Tom Stone, i4cp Senior Research Analyst, facilitated a conversation with special guest Rob Cross, Professor at Babson College and SVP of Research at i4cp. Here are some highlights from the call:
- Cross shared from his research that for much of modern work, 3-5% of people account for 20-35% of the value added collaborations. And yet companies are typically not aware of half of these key employees.
- Cross noted that organizations too often don't take a precise enough approach to employee transitions, both onboarding but also internal moves. And then there is real ROI to take an approach that focuses on networks, trust, etc. Cross' research shows this ROI comes from three sources:
- Cross walked through his research that comparing two archetypical employees, "A Tale of Two Transitions." One follows a the advice from classic coaching, while the other follows what he calls "fast mover" insights. See the slides and/or session recording for the detailed differences.
- Differences in results for these two approaches really start to appear after the 9-month mark, where the first individual has to work 2-4 times harder to scale their accomplishments, while the second individual more often finds ideas and opportunities flowing to them, and they more likely start to have a sense of belonging, satisfaction, and motivation.
- The "fast mover" applied three overarching principles and 12 critical practices over the first 9-12 months. When to optimally leverage each practice varies depending on the transition type, such as new hire, new leader, promoted leader, and lateral role shift.
Links to resources shared on the call:
- Upcoming i4cp virtual events
- i4cp's Next Practices Now conference
- Information on i4cp Membership
- i4cp’s Report (members only): Is HR Already Behind in the AI Revolution?
- i4cp’s Brief (available to all): Is HR Already Behind in the AI Revolution?
- i4cp’s Report (members only): The Productivity Predicament
- i4cp’s Brief (available to all): The Productivity Predicament
- Tool: Calculate the Benefits of Accelerating Role Transitions
- Amazon links to Rob Cross' latest two books:
This event is approved for certification credits.
1 hr - Defining Teneo’s Culture Road Map with Chief People Officer, Brian Baker
The Next Practices Weekly call series has become a well-attended and wide-ranging discussion for HR leaders each Thursday at 11am ET / 8am PT. On this week's call, i4cp Chief Research Officer Kevin Martin, and Senior Research Analyst Tom Stone, facilitated a conversation with special guest Brian Baker, Chief People Officer at Teneo. Here are some highlights from the call:
- Teneo is a global CEO advisory firm that draws upon an expansive network of senior advisors to provide services across five business segments to help their clients solve complex business challenges. They have 43 offices and around 1,600 employees.
- Their HR/people strategy is focused on the three pillars of career, capabilities, and culture, all while making sure they nail the fundamentals.
- Baker said that what makes a great member of his people team is a strong combination of skills, experience, and behaviors--but that these days adaptability is also critical.
- Baker described one of their key L&D initiatives, their SMD Accelerator program, which aims to accelerate the enablement of newly promoted senior leaders to deliver on their responsibilities. The program, which involved around 20 individuals, was designed to build a strong leadership foundation for the future, integrating often separate discussions about wellbeing, mental health, and inclusion.
- The program was highly successful, with 95% of participants feeling they had been accelerated into their roles, and 97% rating the program as very effective. Additionally, the program contributed to their culture by investing in senior people and fostering a more holistic view of leadership. The success of the program was also measured through an NPS score of 9 out of 10 and a positive impact on the business development pipeline. Baker highlighted the program's potential for onboarding senior talent and its innovative approach to integrating newly acquired companies.
- Baker introduced the metaphor of leaders as lifeguards, emphasizing the need for leaders to create a welcoming and safe environment while also being capable of handling difficult situations. For instance, given the complexities of leadership in a hybrid environment, leaders need to spot potential risks and take appropriate actions, such as seeing a lack of engagement as a warning flag.
- Regarding generative AI, Baker said that their goal is to create a unified understanding of AI within the organization for better client work and the development of a common language. Their AI 101 initiative was designed to be inclusive and to build capability at scale. He emphasized that the aim was not just to train the people team but to involve senior business partners for greater credibility.
- Another recent focus is on data literacy on the people team, going well beyond collecting more data to also being able to put it to work effectively and leading with insights. Baker also noted the role that data is playing in their journey in shifting away from an emphasis on activities to outcomes.
- In terms of organizational culture, Teneo positions where they want to go as "Our Shared North Star." This has the following six elements:
Links to resources shared on the call:
- Upcoming i4cp virtual events
- October 24th i4cp AI Revolution webinar (register here)
- i4cp’s Report (members only): Is HR Already Behind in the AI Revolution?
- i4cp’s Brief (available to all): Is HR Already Behind in the AI Revolution?
- i4cp's Next Practices Now conference
- Information on i4cp Membership
- Amazon links to three books mentioned on the call:
This event is approved for certification credits.
1 hr 3 min - How Autodesk’s Hybrid Work Policy is Transforming the People Experience
The Next Practices Weekly call series has become a well-attended and wide-ranging discussion for HR leaders each Thursday at 11am ET / 8am PT. On this week's call, i4cp CEO and Co-Founder Kevin Oakes, and Senior Research Analyst Tom Stone, facilitated a conversation with special guest Mike Asbery, Vice President of People Experience at Autodesk. Here are some highlights from the call:
- Autodesk is a software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Francisco. They have 14,000+ employees and 96 offices worldwide with around $5 billion in annual revenue. They are a global leader in software for architecture, engineering, and manufacturing.
- HR at Autodesk is divided into centers of expertise, experience delivery, and people business partners. People experience at Autodesk encompasses five areas: People Insights, EX Design, People Services, People Consulting, and Thrive (employee relations).
- Autodesk has a strong culture, with an ethos of sustainability, innovation, and diversity. This culture has been recognized in Fast Company's Best Workplaces for Innovators (2022), Glassdoor's Best Places to Work (2023), and the Corporate Knights' Index of Most Sustainable Company (2023).
- The work model at Autodesk is "hybrid by design, not by default." Asbery detailed their Flex Forward program which is Autodesk's new flexible work policy, first launched in May 2021. There are many components of their approach, starting with an intentional redesign of many of their office workspaces. This has included new collaborative and conference area spaces with strong technology elements, varying seating arrangements, and good catering options. In particular, Asbery discussed the newly implemented Autodesk Conference experience, a service that enables teams to have on-site offsites in hub locations with a similar experience to hotel conference centers. The service has been successful in locations like San Francisco, Portland, Denver, Barcelona, Munich, Singapore, and Dublin.
- Asbery emphasized the importance of employees coming into the office when they feel it's productive, or when requested by their manager, to facilitate valuable in-person connections. He outlined their avoidance of a fixed hybrid work approach and focused on the importance of individual flexibility.
- Three digital experiences, which enable greater productivity, connection, and belonging, that Asbery described were:
- Asbery then described several other key features of their Flex Forward approach, including:
- What has been the impact of the program so far? Asbery noted that their flexible or remote roles get much more diverse talent, and a higher volume of applicants overall. They are seeing 1.6x more applicants for hybrid/remote roles vs. baseline; 1.8x more female candidates; and 1.5x more under-represented people of color candidates. They have also witnessed a lower attrition rate for their remote workers as well.
- Participant poll during the session: What is your organization’s current work model policy?
Links to resources shared on the call:
- Upcoming i4cp virtual events
- October 24th i4cp AI Revolution webinar (register here)
- i4cp's Next Practices Now conference
- Information on i4cp Membership
- HRE’S HR Technology Conference & Exposition (October 2023)
- More information on Autodesk's FlexForward program
- i4cp’s Productivity Predicament Brief (for everyone)
- i4cp’s Productivity Predicament Report (members only)
54 min
About Next Practices Weekly
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What are the people strategies that will power your organization for the years ahead? i4cp is a member-based HR research company devoted to connecting HR leaders and providing them with innovative…
solutions and research encompassing best practices and next practices in the industry. Next Practices Weekly, hosted by Tom Stone, is an extension of the company's mission, featuring Human Resources executives from many of the world's largest brands. Join us for thought-provoking discussions and insight into industry trends and solutions.