Technically People

Teresa Hopke, CEO of Talking Talent Inc., doesn’t sugarcoat the fact that companies need to get serious about their employees’ wellness and mental health. 

“Quite honestly,” Teresa says, “a lot of CEOs have their head in the sand when it comes to this issue. We need to start there and acknowledge and own the fact that organizations are playing a role in creating some of these stress-induced mental health issues.”

In her work with clients, she has seen people whose workplace stress has led them to develop alopecia and panic attacks. Teresa doesn’t countenance the hypocrisy of companies that place unreasonable demands on employees and then wonder why they burn out or leave. Corporations need to prioritize this now, she says, destigmatizing mental health, focusing on prevention and changing the way work gets done. 

In this episode, Teresa also shares a personal story of tragedy that led her to pursue her own wellness. At the time of the event, she was in a role she didn’t love. The crisis led her to conclude: Life is too short to be anything but happy. She joined Talking Talent shortly after. 

Teresa’s story runs parallel to the way the global crisis of 2020/2021 has led millions of people to similarly take stock of their own happiness at work, leading many to leave. For companies seeking to retain their workforce by keeping people well, this episode offers both inspiration and tactics to apply today.    

Episode Highlights:

• The need for individualized approaches vs programmatic fixes 

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

• Reach Teresa on LinkedIn or at Talking Talent 

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Interviewing isn’t The Hunger Games. The goal of interviewing is to hire, says this week’s guest Nate Smith. And yes, he agrees it’s somewhat ridiculous to point this out, but he believes he has to. The Founder and CEO of Lever says too many hiring managers, especially in tech, interview as though they were proctoring an exam. Too often, people look hard for evidence of how a candidate *won’t* fit, verus how they will. 

Empathy is the better way. At best, an interview is uncomfortable, says Nate, whose company does all it can to make the process feel more natural. Candidates can use keyboards, editors and languages with which they're familiar. They can search Google. 

That replicates how a candidate would go about their tasks at work. Nate asks, rhetorically: Don’t you want to know how a candidate will perform in your actual work setting?  

“Look for every example, every bit of evidence, that this person would be amazing on the team,” says Nate. “And when you find that amazing person, it's really important that, during the interview process, they've been falling in love with your company.” 

By the time you extend the offer, then, they’ve already decided: Yes. 

At Lever, empathy isn’t just a must for hiring. It pervades every part of the company’s culture. Listen in to find out empathy fosters trust, deepens relationships and attracts and retains exceptional talent.  

Episode Highlights:

• Empathy is about centering what you say and do around what matters to the individual

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

• Reach Nate on LinkedIn or at Lever 

Find every episode of Technically People on Apple, Spotify and more. Find us on our website and join the conversation on LinkedIn.

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In today’s episode of Technically People, Dimitris Psaltoulis, VP of People at Blueground, dives into the company’s work-from-anywhere initiative known as Blueground Nomads. 

When most of us think “remote,” it’s likely to conjure up images of kitchen tables turned workstations. But Blueground, a real estate company that offers customers flexible leases on fully furnished apartments across the world, gives remote new meaning. 

Employees can work from anywhere around the globe, for as long or as little as they like. The company even incentives it: Employees get discounted Blueground apartments across the world. 

The program is not only a way to deliver the flexibility employees demand. It aligns with the company’s employer brand, one of whose values is “exploration.”

“As a company, we believe that humans are hardwired to explore,” says Dimitris. “Many of our employees are avid travelers and explorers themselves. This is something we share in common with our customers. We fundamentally believe that the experience of different locations and cultures help significantly to broaden one's perspective.”  

Dimitris concedes the tax and legal ramifications of a program like Blueground Nomads can be intimidating, like the need to set up a separate entity in each new location. But Dimitris says it’s not as onerous as it seems. He offers a few solutions you may not have considered. 

Episode Highlights:

• Remote fosters productivity, not the reverse

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

• Reach Dimitris on LinkedIn or by email 

Find every episode of Technically People on Apple, Spotify and more. Find us on our website and join the conversation on LinkedIn. 

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Technically People in your favorite podcast player.

“What if this is our one shot?” says Dominique Hollins in this episode of Technically People. And if it is, she asks, who are we going to be? Barrier makers or breakers? 

The Founder and Connector in Chief of WĒ360, a consultancy focused on justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, makes clear the urgency of this moment. Amid the tumult of social unrest, socio-political divisiveness, changing demographics and a global crisis, companies are being forced to answer: What side of history will we be on? 

In fact, in her work with clients, she uses history as an anchor. Dominique walks leaders through an overview of corporate diversity initiatives from 1964 to the present. 

In this conversation, she gives the same overview to our listeners — an approach to center people in shared understanding. And she also looks toward the opportunities that lie ahead. 

“The present is a function of the past,” she says. “So whoever we are today is because of what we did yesterday, which means whatever we build for tomorrow is based on this moment in time — what we do right now.”  

The episode also provides listeners with resources for deeper understanding and Dominique’s recommended actions for leaders who seek to create a just and equitable future of work.

“Generations to come are watching us,” she says, “and they’re depending on our collective fortitude.” 

Episode Highlights:

• The history of diversity in the workplace from 1964 to the present

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

• WĒ360  

Find every episode of Technically People on Apple, Spotify and more. Find us on our website and join the conversation on LinkedIn.

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Technically People in your favorite podcast player.

Lorraine Vargas Townsend is a people enablement veteran who’s good at “breaking HR” in order to fix it. In this episode, she shares her passion for creating safe and equitable workplaces for LGBTQ+ employees and, by extension, all employees. 

According to Lorraine, too many companies focus their DEI efforts on recruitment, but that’s missing the mark. Instead, she says: “Start with how you fire people.”  

“Audits are the sexiest work in my book,” she says, possibly representing the first-ever leader to say as much. But she has good reason. Through her career, separation audits are often the point at which employees’ experiences of bias and inequity emerge, giving her the data she needs to make change. 

That said, the onus is on leaders to begin the hard work before a separation of any kind. Lorraine urges leaders to regularly pulse check LGBTQ+ employees about their experience of equity, or lack thereof, in the workplace. 

“I get that it can be uncomfortable, especially if you don't want employees to feel like you're singling them out,” she says. “But at the same time, you want to know what their experience is. My biggest advice here is: Just be brave.” 

To start productive and safe conversations about inclusion for LGBTQ+ and all employees, Lorraine offers these and other prompts: 

1. What supports or hinders your growth and prosperity at this company? 

“What I'm giving you are not ‘magical queer questions,’” she says. “These are just questions about building a culture of belonging. Whatever you uncover will make your workplace safer and more inclusive for every single employee.”

Episode Highlights:

• 2020 was the most deadly year for transgender and gender non-conforming people since 2013, when the HRC Foundation began tracking known deaths 

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

• Technically People Episode: Hannah Rose Olson 

Find every episode of Technically People on Apple, Spotify and more. Find us on our website and join the conversation on LinkedIn.

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Technically People in your favorite podcast player.

“The softest of skills — empathy, emotional intelligence, DEI, growth mindset — those are actually the hardest skills to build,” says Elisa Vincent, VP of Global Talent Enablement at Skillsoft, which supports customers’ learning through L&D content and technology. She adds: “They're also power skills.”  

Since the onset of Covid, people have certainly turned to Skillsoft to learn digital skills — but the company has also seen significant increases in demand for soft skill learning. “Become a Great Listener,” for instance, was Skillsoft’s number 1 completed course in 2021.   

In this far-ranging conversation, Elisa draws from her expertise across HR to discuss the evolving role of the L&D practice, the implications of the pending mass exodus of women from the workplace (and what to do about it) and how L&D can help people redefine career success.

Elisa also offers support to people enablement leaders: “We are called to be a new frontline in our organizations,” she says. “Look at everything that we talked about today [on this podcast]. We talked about skills, mindsets, health and wellness, the mass exodus of women in the workplace. These are stressful and high-gain topics.” 

Leaders in the people space, she says, need to support one another in the same way we support healthcare professionals on the true front lines of the pandemic.  

Episode Highlights:

• The evolution of the L&D practitioner from “trainer” to “Chief Transformation Officer” 

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

• GCS’s Enterprise Learning 2021 Annual Report 

Find every episode of Technically People on Apple, Spotify and more. Find us on our website and join the conversation on LinkedIn.

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Technically People in your favorite podcast player.

At Canada-based Jobber, the coaching and development team historically supported employees’ professional development. But as Chief People Officer Sara Cooper explains: Career development is one of many ways employees can grow.  

That became eminently clear as Jobber employees were forced to contend with Covid’s challenges. They had less appetite for career development and a greater need for wellness support, so the coaching team pivoted to meet that need. 

One of the company’s most unique approaches is its certified mental health support team, which Jobber doubled since the pandemic. Trained not to offer therapy but to connect people to resources, the volunteer employee team was built on the premise that peers are more likely to open up to another peer than a manager or executive. 

Other programs and policies include job-protected leaves and an option for employees to shift to part time if needed, returning when ready. An “every other week” schedule supports parents who split child custody with a former partner. 

“We wanted to ensure that people knew that their health, wellness and families came first,” says Cooper. “And we didn't want people worried that taking time to focus on themselves and their families was going to put their roles at risk.”

Episode Highlights:

Check out this resource we mentioned during the podcast:

Find every episode of Technically People on Apple, Spotify and more. Find us on our website and join the conversation on LinkedIn.

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Technically People in your favorite podcast player.

To gauge Joey Price’s impact in the field of HR, do a quick Google search. His name graces scores of HR lists, including SHRM’s “30 under 30” HR Professionals and HR Executive Magazine’s “Top Influencers in HR Tech.”

The CEO of HR consulting firm Jumpstart:HR, who also hosts the Business, Life, and Coffee podcast, joins Technically People to answer trending HR questions and offer advice on leading with transparency, managing and compensating talent across state lines, finding new ways to tell your employer brand story and more. 

Episode Highlights:

Check out this resource we mentioned during the podcast:

Find every episode of Technically People on Apple, Spotify and more. Find us on our website and join the conversation on LinkedIn. 

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Technically People in your favorite podcast player.

Janine Yancey is Founder and CEO at Emtrain, which provides companies with culture analytics and trainings on bias, discrimination and harassment. Emtrain’s unique model gives companies a way for employees to call out moments in which they feel peers’ behaviors have been disrespectful on a spectrum from red to green, red being toxic and green being respectful and conscious. 

The approach is designed to enable psychologically safe conversations, reduce conflict and effect change.    

“It's hard work,” she says, “but it's not rocket science to build a workplace that is healthy, where people feel like they're valued, where they’re respected, where they belong.”  

Yancey is also an employment law attorney, whose expert testimony has helped shape workplace equity legislation in the state of California.

Episode Highlights:

Check out this resource we mentioned during the podcast:

Find every episode of Technically People on Apple, Spotify and more. Find us on our website and jo in the conversation on LinkedIn. 

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Technically People in your favorite podcast player.

Senior women are more likely than senior men to feel burned out and under pressure to work more, according to a 2020 McKinsey report. They’re 1.5 times more likely than senior men to think about downshifting or leaving work, and almost three in four cite burnout as the reason. 

Dr. Charlynn Ruan is CEO and Founder of Thrive Psychology Group. One of her areas of expertise as a clinical psychologist is working with women in senior leadership roles. She helps clients process the pressures unique to them, including “the second shift,” where many women shoulder most or all of the burden of unpaid domestic labor after work hours.   

Even as she acknowledges that modern work is built on broken systems, Dr. Ruan aims to help women find ways to move the needle forward for themselves and those who follow. 

“There are the things we can't fix and the things we can,” she says. “Let's focus on the ones we can. We'll be surprised how much progress we can make.”

Highlights from this episode:

View the resources mentioned during the podcast:

Find every episode of Technically People on Apple, Spotify and more. Find us on our website and join the conversation on LinkedIn. 

Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Technically People in your favorite podcast player.