Cutting Through the Noise With Storytelling That Drives Impact
BY Katie Chambers May 06, 2026How much for your Instagram feed, or worse, your email inbox, is filled with AI slop right now? “As our feeds fill up with more mediocre content, and as we’re faced with this information overload, we really need to ensure that our marketing teams are creating messaging that is cutting through,” said Claire Reilly, journalist and moderator of a panel discussion at From Day One’s Silicon Valley marketing conference.In the age of information overload, compelling storytelling can set a brand apart from the barrage of mediocre content. How can marketing teams craft content that truly engages when audience attention is scattered and fickle? Panelists explored this question and more. Unnikrishnan (Unni) KP, SVP, marketing, Americas at Palo Alto Networks, jokes that B2B marketing can easily slump from “business to business” to “business to boring,” depending on the storytelling. “At the end of the day, you’re reaching out to an audience who’s a human being, they are a consumer.” KP says explaining the “nuts and bolts” of a product is important too, but you first “need to connect with the audience and try to see how it attaches to what that person stands for.”Nizzi Karai Renaud, chief brand officer at Zazzle, faces a different challenge: reaching both designers who take their art seriously but also want to make money, and consumers, all who come to the website for a wide range of products and solutions with wildly different tones tied to their personal self-expression. “That’s the core tension in the storytelling,” she said. “The overlap happens at identity,” whether a consumer is buying a product for themselves or someone else. “The product for us is the artifact, but the story underneath is that recognition and belonging is what unites all of this together, that humanity piece.”Panelists shared insights on the topic, "Creative, Results-Oriented Storytelling That Connects"To accomplish this in brand storytelling, Zazzle relies on both user-generated content (UGC) as well as in-house created marketing, all tied back to the humans behind the interactions. “We used to say, ‘Zazzle has millions of designs.’ But what converts much better is saying, ‘Your sister is impossible to shop for—until she isn’t.’ Our technique is to channel the customer’s inner monologue.”Meanwhile, AI is revolutionizing how storytelling reaches customers, as online searching shifts from prioritizing SEO to AEO or GEO instead. “How are you changing your strategy as we go from one of straight clicks to citations and building yourself as an authority in search?” Reilly said. Vidhya Srinivasan, chief marketing officer at Prophix, and her team have been staying ahead of the curve. “Earned media has become very, very important,” she said, citing UGC as one pathway in. “The brand authority is going to go back to the very basics: What are the backlinks? Who are the brands? How are you surfacing?” With AEO and GEO, the priority is now search phrases rather than search words. And KP notes that the bigger challenge will be ensuring that your results land as those “most validated” by AI. Bala Desikamani, VP of marketing at Temenos, offers the three “superpowers” of AI as it impacts marketing: processing massive volumes of data, creating personalized content at scale, and refining analytics to improve forecasting.AI can take that data and help “to triangulate your target and focus on anything that you do,” Desikamani said. “It also gives very useful insight into which type of audience is in [your] market, looking for solutions that you can leverage, and then gives you attributes that help you build stories that resonate to that market set.” AI can provide extremely detailed attributes for the ideal client profile and help dig down to different geographic regions or specific products within a company. It can also help with A/B testing in social media and copywriting. With AI becoming increasingly powerful, it is also inspiring the same fear in workers in all departments from marketing to HR to legal: Will my job be replaced? “AI [is] spewing out 100 creative ideas to everybody and anybody can democratize [them],” Desikamani said. “If anybody can come up with a bunch of creative, how do you create that differentiation? And that is why the human element still comes in,” he said. “Collectively in this room we have so much more intuition than all of AI across the world can ever possess. That intuition is your superpower as human beings. Leverage that intuition, but leverage AI for what it can do, which is to do the grunt work, but eventually you make the decisions.”AI is allowing brands to produce masses of content quickly and cheaply, but that doesn’t mean it’s all high quality, Reilly says, and cynical consumers are getting wary. KP says that working with AI should be similar to the learning process of children—meaning it takes time, practice, and challenge, not just accepting the first answer to your first prompt to an LLM.Srinivasan sees the value of using LLM’s or other creative platforms to create copy, social media posts, and even full webinars. But humans are still needed to “retain the authenticity of the brand. My team uses Claude every day, and every PowerPoint looks the same. There are things that become templatized and boring.”Using AI to increase productivity is fine, Renaud says, “but that final touch, that creativity, it can’t do it yet, and I’m not sure it will get there.” She notes that science has proven consumers make decisions based on their salience or their “gut,” and their gut is often put off by AI, or even human-created content that they wrongly suspect is AI. “That gut check has to exist with humans.”AI still cannot replicate the true authenticity of humans. “Do whatever scientific process you follow to ensure authenticity of your stories and messages,” Desikamani said. “The lines are blurred now between sales and marketing. The biggest barometer of your actual engagement in terms of the quality of your funnel is your conversations and the feedback that comes from sales. Keep it authentic and measure it through the influence that marketing exerts on the actual funnel.”Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Reshaping the Workforce: How AI and HR Technology Change How Things Get Done
BY Katie Chambers April 28, 2026“What’s fundamentally changing in how work gets done in your organization because of AI?” asked moderator Subadhra Sriram, founder and host of Workforce Observer. The answer? Well, almost everything. Leaders explored this topic during an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s Silicon Valley conference, moderated by Sriram. One of the most marked differences AI has made in the workplace already comes down to scale. “Every individual’s impact has changed a lot. So what one person could do before, it just means something very different with all the tools that we have now,” said Maggie Zhu, people partner at Anthropic. The tools allow employees to compound their work so that the pace of output is ever-increasing.Samanntha DuBridge, SVP, chief talent officer a t HPE, says AI isn’t necessarily replacing work, but instead allowing workers to focus their attention in new ways. “It’s an exciting time to take some of the more mundane tasks kind of out of the way, and think about data and what you want to spend your time on a little bit differently,” she said. The big changes come with mixed emotions, says Dutta Satadip, chief business operations officer at Pebl, “It’s this interesting balance of excitement and fear,” he said. LLM’s, large language models, are changing workflows for so many people in the office, not just with writing but with coding. “Whatever is in your head is going into AI, into code, and you’re seeing the application,” said Allan Brown, VP of total rewards at Snowflake. “Excel is going to be a thing of the past for presenting something to a senior leader.”Panelists spoke about "Reshaping the Workforce: How AI and HR Technology Change How Things Get Done"This is a good way to frame AI adoption for people who might be afraid of it, says Seema Daryanani, people and culture partner, Gemini App, Google DeepMind. “It will cut down these manual tasks so that you can spend more time innovating and creating,” she said. Fortunately, employees are generally not yet in danger of being replaced. “The efficiencies are being shared by both employees and the company,” Brown said. “The company gets more productivity, but the people are having work-life balance. You start reducing the amount of work you can do, and you’re suddenly going to find yourself a little bit of time.” Communications strategies promoting AI adoption can be built around this notion, encouraging employees to think about their mental health and how they would best like to use their time, both at work and at home. The Future of HR For HR professionals in particular, AI is helping them save time, especially when it comes to attaining, sorting, and delivering reports on data. “We do our annual voice of the workforce survey, and it used to [be] you’d get the summary data pretty quickly, but all the sentiment would take a really long time. [With AI], it’s the same day,” DuBridge said. “You can get things [instantly] that would take a team of people to review, analyze, [and] categorize a couple months.”Daryanani finds that AI handles the “how” of the presentation, the layout and structure, so we can focus on the “so what”: the deep-dive analysis and the story the data is telling us. For a practical example of how AI technology can ease the HR process, Brown shares how his organization used AI agents to answer questions about a new payroll system. “We’ve got 35 locations all over the world. The [number] of questions that were probably going to come in was insane. Somebody came up with the idea: let’s take all these payroll documents and policies, and the health benefit documents, put them all into Notebook LM, and they created a little AI agent that employees could just ask their questions,” he said. “And it answered all the questions. It eliminated that work. Those questions didn’t even come in.”Contrary to popular belief, AI is actually managing to make the hiring process more personalized, DuBridge says, as tools and systems take over a lot of the boring, menial back-and-forth of reviewing resumes and scheduling interviews. “It’s more about building that relationship with the applicant, trying to find out more about them, sharing more about the company, and finding that right fit in the right team,” she said. “It’s more about that person in that role, and it’s less about, ‘Are you available at three o'clock on Friday?’”With AI causing rapid changes across all aspects of the workforce, HR needs to keep adaptability, upskilling, and growth in mind when hiring. “What you thought you were hiring for six months ago could be different from what you’re hiring for now,” Zhu said. “Thinking about what their role might be today and how it might evolve is changing how we’re thinking about hiring in general. [It] needs to be an active conversation.” That means employers may start to value foundational abilities above all else, Satadip says. These include “core problem solving, general cognitive ability, curiosity, he said “because those will persist regardless.” Willingness to experiment is also key. No matter the changes to come, people can, and should, always be prioritized. “I think it’s really important to remember that your organization is composed of people and to be human first,” Zhu said “It comes down to values—you have to keep those values at the forefront.”Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Personalization Is the New Standard for Employee Well-Being
BY Katie Chambers April 23, 2026“We have people that are just starting out in their careers, parents, and people who are ready to retire. Some are salaried desk workers. Some are people out in the field and working hourly. There are people from across the world and many different nationalities,” said moderator Katie Johnston, reporter at the Boston Globe. All of these people come together at work.Thanks to data analytics technology, organizations have the opportunity to hone in on their specific needs to provide personalized benefits that leave them feeling engaged, supported, and seen. This was the topic of conversation during an executive panel discussion, moderated by Johnston at From Day One’s Boston benefits conference. Benefits That Reflect Cultural TrendsOrganizations are finding that more employees value meaningful work than ever before, especially post-pandemic. Aravind Menon, senior director of HR at Procter & Gamble, shares that his organization created a framework called the Employee Value Equation (EVE). “The primary focus of EVE is that employees at the core want to make an impact. They want to do meaningful work. They want to feel valued and rewarded,” he said. The organization uses surveys and data analytics to get feedback on what is working for employees, and what isn’t. With more than 100,000 employees, having a way to gather opinions en masse is crucial. Guided by feedback data, Procter & Gamble began offering a health plan with more transparent pricing and flex benefits, such as optional classes or services tailored to employees’ needs. Much of employee feedback, in one way or another, comes down to money. Offerings that support financial well-being have become integral to a well-rounded benefits package. “It is one of the only topics that touches every single person. Almost every single decision that you make on a daily basis,” said Rebecca Liebman, CEO and co-founder of LearnLux. Financial well-being now goes beyond traditional retirement planning, Liebman says, and also includes preparation for emergencies, childcare, elder care, and general financial resilience as the cost of living skyrockets. A well-rounded package should offer personalization for every life stage and be paired with an internal communications plan that educates employees on how best to maximize the offerings. Panelists spoke about "The Power of Personalization in Workplace Well-Being," at From Day One's Boston benefits conferenceSuch messaging can be particularly challenging for large organizations like Securitas, which has employees of all ages spread across the globe in a variety of roles. “I might have one guard sitting behind a desk at an office building, another one standing at a bank. I might have a group of them at a stadium. In most cases, they’re generally not co-located,” said Amy Noelle, senior director, benefits, North America at Securitas. But they must nonetheless receive clear, personalized information. Madhavi Vemireddy, CEO of Cleo, shares that in the U.S. alone, nearly 60 million people identify as caregivers and frequently hesitate to disclose this to their workplaces for fear of repercussions, such as being passed over for a promotion. “Family caregivers in the workforce, who are often women, deal with so many combinations of stressors: it could be pregnancy, parenting, menopause, elder care, [or] all of the above,” Johnston said. “How can employers identify who’s dealing with these issues and, before they get to the breaking point, what can they offer them?” Cleo works to help caregivers overcome the stigma and access the support they desperately need. “We’re supporting families across pregnancy, parenting journeys as well as adult caregiving, and we’re doing that holistically,” Vemireddy said. Early intervention can help workers stay healthy—and that depends on transparency and psychological safety to combat the stigma. “We need to start talking about it more, just like how we’ve been talking about mental health in the workplace, about menopause in the workplace, we need to start talking about caregiving in the workplace,” Vemireddy said. Sharpening Communications StrategiesDifferent workers may be receptive to different types of communication styles. But always, “there has to be an openness to the information before we decide on the delivery method,” said Kelle Colyer-Brown, head of office of accessibility programs at PSEG. Training internal stakeholders, in addition to engaging with outside vendors, is key. “We know that employees will go to the people that they talk to most often first, so ensuring that our managers have that information [is important],” she said.In terms of delivery, “our salaried office-based employees are most likely going to go to things like our blogs, newsletters, and email blasts. That is extremely unlikely for our field employees,” Colyer-Brown said. Field employees might be more reachable through all-hands meetings, daily stand-ups, fairs, or even apps. In difficult times, wellness offerings can help maintain engagement and retention. “This year, a lot of companies can’t give more money,” Liebman said. “So, they’re bringing in financial coaching as a benefit to help people understand what they can do with their paycheck. If we can’t give you more money, let’s empower you to make a plan for your life. And really, financial planning is just executing on the life that you want to live.” Looking ahead, Colyer-Brown recommends relying on survey data to understand what employees are seeking, then consistently reviewing and meeting with current and prospective vendors to ensure those trends are addressed. If your current vendors don’t offer adequate support, consider “what’s my buy, borrow, build, mix to fill in some of those gaps? Am I going to build internal services? Am I going to do outreach to government entities? Am I reaching out to nonprofits?” she said. “If I need to spend money, at least I can go to my leadership and say, ‘I looked at our internal resources first before I asked you for a check. I’ve done my due diligence.’”Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Rewiring Hiring for a Company That Never Stops Casting
BY Katie Chambers March 24, 2026It has been an exciting time for NBCUniversal: February saw the Winter Olympics in Italy, the Super Bowl, basketball, and several blockbuster film promos released, all in a matter of weeks. “It was a moment of a lot of pride for employees at NBC,” said Suzan Vulaj, SVP of global talent acquisition at NBCUniversal. Employees at the 30 Rock headquarters in NYC enjoyed big-screen watch parties in lounge chairs, Italian delicacies, gifting suites, and more, she said during a fireside chat at From Day One’s NYC TA conference. Vulaj spoke about how the company is modernizing their hiring processes. “Our business was changing. It was getting more complex. We were consolidating and just hiring and recruiting wasn’t keeping pace with what was going on in the business,” she said. “There was just no way we could grow and excel as an agile TA workforce, if we were still using a 10-year-old ATS system.” The organization didn’t want to throw AI on top of its old system; instead, it chose to build a new one from the ground up.“You are unveiling a whole new blueprint for intelligent, connected hiring in the company,” said moderator Stephen Koepp, editor in chief at From Day One. The advent of AI as a major driving force behind that blueprint has meant that Vulaj and her team must help recruiters become comfortable with implementing emerging technology. Some employees are already building out their own AI agents, while some of the 30-year TA veterans are still getting used to it. It comes down to education, she says. “How do we approach that from every angle to make everyone feel comfortable in using the tool that suits them? It’s got to bring value to their job.”Speeding Up TA With AIVulaj envisions AI impacting every level of the recruiting process. At the very least, it can help in crafting the many emails written every day to candidates and hiring managers. Also, “our recruiters are using it to create Boolean searches to find people. We have some recruiters and leaders on my team who are using it for market insight and then putting that together in a PowerPoint and presenting it to our hiring managers. We have people who are using it to consolidate feedback and pitch candidates in a very concise manner.” All of these are time-savers. “The productivity is sped up a lot, which, we tell our recruiters, gives you a lot of time to focus on the value add.”Suzan Vulaj, the SVP of global talent acquisition at NBCUniversal, spoke about "Rewiring Hiring for a Company That Never Stops Casting"Leaders are surveying the TA team about how they spend their time, what they enjoy most, and what tasks are the most time-consuming to better understand where AI can add the most value. “[Although] our recruiters don’t want to do those tedious things like scrolling through 1000 resumes or drafting up emails or sourcing, they feel very comfortable with it. And so, we’ve got to change people’s way of working and thinking and get them comfortable with letting go of the things that have made them successful as a recruiter. There’s a lot of psychology behind adopting AI,” she said. One major challenge of AI has been an increase in spam. Her team partnered with the cybersecurity department to install a bot blocker on the recruiting website; once it was installed, the number of resumes the organization received was slashed in half, demonstrating the pervasiveness of spam. “It’s OK,” Vulaj said. “We don’t need more people applying. We need real, quality people applying.”Even though initial interviews may be by video, all final interviews are done onsite in part to ensure the candidate is real. “We will never hire someone unless we meet them in person.” The organization is also implementing more thorough background checks, and recruiters are checking all links on LinkedIn profiles and verifying email addresses to ensure candidates are real. Creating a Great Candidate Experience Organizations also need to be mindful of the impact of AI on the candidate’s experience. “Right now, it’s famous for so many headlines: People are frustrated. They’re getting ghosted, sending in a zillion resumes, etc. How can you improve that interaction?” Koepp asked. Vulaj says her surveys indicate candidates want radical transparency. “They want to know, are you using AI when I apply for a job? What are you looking for? Where am I in the process? What’s taking so long?” she said. She thinks more frequent communication with candidates will help them feel more comfortable, noting that, in an ideal scenario, even a rejected candidate will still be excited about and interested in working for the company in the future. “You want to leave every interaction with the candidate in a positive way. Being able to use AI just helps you get there faster.” NBCUniversal, well-known for its page program for recent graduates, has a TA team dedicated exclusively to early career hiring. “We receive over 50,000 applications just for our summer [internship] program,” Vulaj said. AI can help narrow down selections and make the process less overwhelming. Having a single central ATS system has helped get leaders across the organization invested in the hiring process, Vulaj says, not just HR. “They’re putting [in] feedback. They’re looking at candidates.” If she could do anything differently in implementing the new system, she says she would have hired a few more ops team members to help manage recruiting and hiring while the system was being built and tested, since talent acquisition never stopped during the transition. “And I think we underestimated change management a little bit,” she said.Her advice to others hoping to implement a new system? “Don’t rush. I see so many people rushing to buy some new and expensive AI tool. I would rather you be very thorough and ensure that it’s got a lot of value long-term and [is] not a Band-aid for one piece of your vertical.” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
How a Culture of Learning Equips the Workforce for What’s Next
BY Katie Chambers March 16, 2026When the pandemic hit, the hospitality industry lost many workers. At Soho House, the impact was dramatic, with roughly 80% of the workforce disappearing either temporarily or permanently. Rebuilding meant more than simply re-hiring. It offered an opportunity to rethink how people learn on the job. During an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s February virtual conference, Lauren Goodman, regional head of people and development at Soho House, shared how the company redesigned its learning and development approach from the ground up, creating role-specific onboarding guides and self-paced training that allow employees to build skills while working rather than racing through rigid certification timelines. The results were striking. Turnover dropped about 25% year over year from 2022 to 2023, and the company now averages around 32% turnover, below the hospitality industry standard, says Goodman. The shift showed how personalized, flexible learning programs can play a direct role in retention.What Employees Want to Learn TodayBecause the modern workplace is changing rapidly, employees are looking for programs to help them keep up. “One of the big things that is top of mind for so many organizations now is agility and learning and how to be more adaptable and resilient,” said Priscila Bala, vice chair at LifeLabs Learning. “The half-life of many of the skills that we have is about 18 months. Cycles are compressing so much.” So, faster and shorter are better. “We don’t have people asking for those large, generic programs anymore. They want short, practical learning tied to the job, real-time feedback from their boss,” said Marcus Cazier, head of L&D, Americas, bioMérieux. This is also due to shrinking patience and attention spans, Goodman says. Plus, they are looking to the future: “They’re also looking for us not just to train them on their job, but that growth mindset as well.”Of course, AI is one of the factors driving rapid change, so employees are hoping to stay abreast of the latest technology. “At Autodesk, it’s primarily around upskilling and AI, also the impact that AI is having on both teams, individuals, and the organization, in addition to specific workflows and how workflows are changing as a result of AI integration and building an AI native mindset,” said Michel Riyad Nabti, senior director of learning & development at Autodesk. Panelists spoke about "How a Culture of Learning Equips the Workforce for What’s Next" during the virtual session (photo by From Day One)Employees are also preferring less structured programs, opting for self-directed opportunities instead. “We’ve also noticed that when we do optional micro trainings, we get a more positive response and a larger response than when we have a formalized, mandatory two-hour training,” Goodman said. “To me, it’s helpful to know we might still do the full two hours, but we’re going to do it in a ‘micro’ setting, so that way it’s more appealing to our team, and hopefully they retain it better, too.” But Bala emphasizes that L&D shouldn’t feel too optional or separate from other business initiatives—otherwise, it will fall by the wayside in favor of what feels like more pressing work priorities. “The folks that are really successful are the ones that actually make it as part of an execution strategy, instead of treating learning as if it’s a separate thing that happens outside of business,” she said. “When people learn individually, you don’t get their colleagues to recognize what’s happening. They don’t have a shared language, it becomes so much harder to reinforce what are really the norms that are going to help us be more efficient and effective.”Building an Effective L&D Program AI can be an important partner in providing up-to-date, personalized learning plans to employees. “We’re making a transformation from L&D being a content provider, Content Manager, to being a strategic partner across the enterprise, and part of that transformation is building a learning ecosystem,” Nabti said. Autodesk has “internally designed learning programs in addition to external vendor provider programs that can provide that kind of personalization and an impact to each individual when meeting them, where their needs are.” Launching a one-size-fits-all program can be tricky among corporations with a variety of roles, from front-of-house hourly workers to designers, executives, and beyond. “How do you ensure that L&D is consistent among all those employees?” asked session moderator Corinne Lestch, journalist and founder, the Off-Site Writing Workshop. Cazier shares that his organization, which does business all over the world, offers peer-to-peer review and training sessions where participants can practice customer conversations with each other and give real-time feedback, which becomes especially important when educating each other on cultural and linguistic nuances. “It’s allowing us to immediately embed what they’re learning into conversations. And then we are also connecting these behaviors to their bonuses and to their merit. We have begun holding leaders accountable for how they accomplish things and to ensure that they’re doing it in the way that the organization wants things done,” Cazier said. “We have aggressive growth goals, but we also have a high ethical standard, and we have a very deep, humanistic approach that we’re proud of, and we don’t want to lose as we try to evolve the organization.” Soho House, which employs everyone from dishwashers to graphic designers, feels this acutely. “Making sure that everyone feels really valued throughout that training process is critical,” Goodman said. “Getting buy-in from several key stakeholders [is also crucial], because it’s not just one aspect of the business, but it’s really what makes the whole business successful.” Corporate brand, values, and identities should be embedded in all L&D programs, including how those values “trickle down” across the team. Then, you can demonstrate how different skills contribute to and uphold those values during day-to-day work. Skills assessments should ideally be paired with L&D programs to establish a baseline of current skills and assess whether training has been effective. “What are the skills and competencies that we are mapping so that the learning can be intentional? People want their capability-building to be purposeful,” Bala said. Panelists agree that providing L&D opportunities is also important to building a culture of psychological safety and freedom, allowing workers to feel comfortable experimenting, growing, and forging their own path. “That’s so crucial in this inflection point that we’re currently in,” Nabti said. “Having a culture of experimentation and agility that’s aligned to the company’s culture is crucial for our success, and also detaching us from this expectation that every initiative has to be successful. That culture of experimentation frees us up to explore areas where we may have really big performance goals.” Asking employees what they want to learn is key to building a healthy, sustainable, and attractive L&D program. Soho House includes a question about learning goals in its performance reviews at all levels. “What is it that they want to learn so that we can help support their learning objectives as a human and as an individual? Having that as a requirement has helped to create that culture of learning and development,” Goodman said. “None of us knows it all. Let’s ask you, on a formalized basis, what [do] you want to learn at the end of the year? Did we commit to that as the employer? Did we help support you there? If not, how do we do better next year?”Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photo by kasto80/iStock)
Rethinking Recognition and Rewards: New Strategies for Across-the-Board Encouragement
BY Katie Chambers March 11, 2026“We all know the data on the benefits of recognition: when you feel recognized, you feel great, your engagement goes up,” said Naomi Dishington, director of consulting at Workhuman. But did you know: “The giver also experiences that same lift in engagement, that same bump in productivity, that same likelihood to become a brand ambassador.” By ingraining recognition into organizational culture, leaders can help all employees feel a boost in morale, says Dishington, who spoke on an executive panel at From Day One’s Washington, D.C. conference. Panelists spoke about “Rethinking Recognition and Rewards: New Strategies for Across-the-Board Encouragement.”Why Recognition Matters“The stakes are really high, because if you get it right or wrong, recognition is deeply personal,” said Sheila Muhl, SVP of HR talent & total rewards at Viatris, noting that it touches on both employee and corporate values. “It’s incredibly important to have a far-reaching strategy around recognition, so that you can touch people in multiple different ways, so that people are feeling a sense of accomplishment and achievement and a deep connection to your purpose.” At her organization, achievements are tied not only to standard business objectives but also to cultural values such as fostering well-being and inclusion. “In big organizations, you have so many people making outstanding contributions all the time,” moderator Taylor Telford said. “How can employers ensure folks’ contributions aren’t going under the radar?” Muhl advises making recognition not just about end results, but about the entire employee journey, so that it is always top of mind. “Maybe someone learned something. Maybe something got messed up and we had to pivot—those are also important moments,” she said. Kimberly Young, SVP of total rewards at Amentum, agrees that employees “want to be recognized in real time,” even with a simple “thank you.”Panelists shared strategies on the topic of "Rethinking Recognition and Rewards" in D.C.“Recognition is one of the most strategic, powerful tools a leader has, because it’s how you signal what you value,” said Wendy Jolly, VP of total rewards and team member experience at Inova. Every recognition reinforces what you are looking for. She sees recognition as “a counter to feedback,” a quick positive repetitive reinforcement, leaving “rounding out the picture” for a deeper performance discussion. A good recognition and rewards program is “well-designed, well-communicated, and well-funded,” Dishington said, “as well as specific, timely, and meaningful. That doesn’t mean giant amounts, it means little bits dispersed throughout the year with that pop of spontaneity.” Panelists recommend surveying and employee listening to get a sense of what types of rewards and recognitions mean the most to your constituents as you build out your strategy. “Recognition is where the human shows up at work,” Jolly said. “They have to actually feel seen.” Creative methods of rewards include community-building activities like group volunteer opportunities, as well as “redemption store experiences” that can allow for uniquely personal prize selections. In terms of engagement, Muhl notes that recognition is a way to continue courting employees both immediately after and long after they are hired. “Woo your people as if you’re onboarding them continuously to keep that excitement and energy alive. Your strong employer brand and your strong employer proposition need to continue throughout recognition. It has to be nourished over time.” Making an Impact The most meaningful recognition programs, says Dishington, encourage involvement from the entire organization, not just leaders. “When you can empower everyone to use their voice to call out what’s going well in a colleague late at night, on the tarmac or in the hospital on the floor after a 14-hour shift, in the moment on [their] mobile [phone] in two minutes, you’ve done something to energize your culture that managers alone just can’t carry, even with the best intentions,” she said. Dishington notes that AI tools can help identify business benchmarks, flag language from employee skills profiles, and identify opportunities for real-time positive reinforcement. But it’s imperative to not take AI too far, and ensure the human voice is still there. “The challenge with AI is that it can be so impersonal for a lot of people,” said moderator Telford.The implementation of AI across other areas of the workplace means leaders will begin valuing employees’ human innovation and risk-taking as they adopt the technology. “I’m more likely to lean into that risk and that innovative state of mind, if I feel safe psychologically,” Young said. And that’s where recognition comes back in. “You can really do a lot with psychological safety in your environments, when you have a culture built on recognition and appreciation of each other.” AI is not the only way technology is impacting rewards. “Another great thing about technology or platform is the opportunity to put a bigger spotlight on a great moment,” Jolly said, not only to give the celebrated employee added positive attention, but also to educate others about corporate values. “You take it just a step further and say why that was a good moment for our company or our culture that we’re trying to create.” Recognition should come from the top-down. “Helping leaders incorporate a recognition focus as part of their day-to-day leadership is really important,” Muhl said. This includes not just executives but also front-line team leaders and managers. HR can help provide language, strategies, and reminders to help them incorporate it into their management style. Securing buy-in from organizational leaders means aligning your rewards program with their values. “It has to be authentic to your culture and to your leaders. What are the words they use, what are the things they naturally say in a town hall or in leadership messages?” Jolly said. “If you weave those in your recognition program, it will really land in a very genuine way in your workforce.” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
The Changing Landscape of Employee Wellness: Navigating Health Plans, New Demands, and Rising Costs
BY Katie Chambers February 24, 2026How do you practice self-care? For panelists at From Day One’s Houston conference, the answers were diverse: Reading. Running marathons. Meditation. Socializing. Stopping mindless scrolling. Weightlifting. Listening to audiobooks. Baking. This eclectic list demonstrates that the true definition of “wellness” is something highly varied and acutely personal. In times of shrinking budgets, employee wellness programs are often the first to be cut. But even with limited resources, they can still be prioritized. Panelists explored how their companies are addressing these challenges in a discussion on “The Changing Landscape of Employee Wellness: Navigating Health Plans, New Demands, and Rising Costs.”At Halliburton, that has meant “we treat it more about the employee experience, the sense of community, and finding ways to build on that community at the office or at the work site,” said Mia Smallman, director of global benefits at Halliburton. Her team deploys wellness resources to visit work sites for a “grassroots feel” that isn’t “one-size-fits-all” and encourages organic connections among employees.The focus should be on what truly matters to an organization’s unique workforce. Mindy Fitzgerald, head of operational excellence and HR director at Air Products, says that it’s less about “programs and visions” and more about practical offerings like “a resource, a tool, a class, or a person to meet them where they’re at.”Supporting Mental HealthFor Houston Methodist, employees struggling with the day to day demands of helping out patients during Covid needed their own emotional support, so it began offering free mental health care to employees through a pool of its own neuropsychologists—most of whom were unable to see patients in person during the pandemic and were looking for ways to give back.The need was still so great that post-pandemic, the organization created its Emotional Health & Wellbeing Office. “We provide free psychiatric and psychological care for employees and beneficiaries on our health plan.” We also provide music therapy, art therapy, and customized programs—we look at the person in a holistic way,” said Laura Matthews, VP, HR, physician organization & academic institute, Houston Methodist. “The first year we started, we saw about 3,500 appointments. In 2025, we ended up at around 14,000 and still have a good wait list. So, the need is there.”Panelists spoke about "The Changing Landscape of Employee Wellness"While the ROI on mental health programs might be difficult to track, Matthews says, that is almost beside the point: “It starts from the top, having a CEO that really is passionate about doing what’s right for our employees and our patients, and then taking care of each other.” Similarly, Fitzgerald’s organization has deployed EAPs that touch on a variety of topics best suited to the needs of employees, with an emphasis on quality or quantity, and allows the employee to define “family member” to include not just those who are traditionally insured. “It really comes from a deep place of humanness and care,” she said. Combatting Rising Healthcare Costs“One of the biggest issues in healthcare right now is cost, as well as resistance among some workers to get the care they need in a timely manner,” said moderator Chelsea Edwards, journalist and talk show host for Fox Television Stations. To help combat this, Curative offers a new model of employee health insurance with $0 out-of-pocket costs—meaning no co-pays or deductibles. “Imagine if your employees could access all of their health care benefits without worrying about a co-pay or deductible. They can go get their prescribed medications, their recommended surgeries, [and more]” said Becca Cosani, VP, health plan medical and pharmacy operations at Curative. Curative’s model is that the price is the premium. “We believe that having a frictionless experience in accessing care and understanding your care benefits and how to use them is the crux of offering stability and health to our members and to our employer partners, so that every member can access our in-network care prescriptions for zero extra dollars,” said Cosani. The organization offers introductory one-on-one meetings with employees to better understand their health needs, explain benefits, and demonstrate how to use the insurance. Even if zero-cost wellness plans are not feasible, organizations can and should still encourage employees to get regular health screenings “to find out what’s ailing them before it becomes expensive and traumatic,” said Smallman. She also recommends regularly vetting third-party vendors to ensure employees receive the most comprehensive, lowest-cost care possible. Cosani also recommends educating employees about different pathways to accessing care, such as getting an MRI at a lower-cost imaging clinic rather than the hospital, so they can learn how to choose more affordable options. Innovative Wellness OfferingsProviding access to GLP-1’s is another way for employers to stay relevant in their wellness offerings. Employers, of course, want plans that allow as many employees to access GLP-1’s as possible, at a reasonable cost. But GLP-1’s are just part of the weight-loss solution, says Manuela Abreu, head of nutrition and community at Nutrium. “When they take the medication, it sends a signal to their appetite. And once they stop taking that medication, those habits go back because there wasn’t an adjustment [to] their habits. This is where the nutrition program is very helpful,” she said. She works with nutritionists who help employees achieve their goals, and employers manage their costs, by teaching healthier habits to support long-term success. In addition to a focus on nutrition and weight management, financial well-being is an increasingly in-demand offering. Matthews cites a recent Bank Rate study showing that 56% of Americans say they would not be able to come up with $1,000 immediately in an emergency. Matthews’ team at Houston Methodist partnered with its brokerage firm, Fidelity, to match up to $250 for each employee who opened an emergency savings account during a specified period. “Through this program, we saw almost double the [number] of employees who opened an account, and are still contributing to that right now.” As an added financial benefit, her organization also offers an immediate cash benefit of $10,000 to the family of an employee who passes away, recognizing that related costs, such as funerals and travel, can add up quickly before any life insurance payments arrive. “You hope you don’t have to use it, but when you do, it’s been extremely beneficial,” said Matthews. Halliburton brings its personalized approach to wellness to its financial offerings as well. “Our Fidelity representative has become part of our family. He’s the same person in all of our locations,” Smallman said. The organization opts for a program that is more “educational” and not at all sales-driven, so that employees do not feel pressured and receive guidance with no strings attached. “It creates a lot of goodwill and camaraderie.” For global corporations, a diverse approach is essential to reach employees across cultures and geographies. Even for more local companies, Fitzgerald says opting for flexible programs is important, especially as employees become more scattered in changing work environments. And don’t just assume what they need—ask. “You don’t know what’s a fit if you aren’t listening.” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Creative, Results-Oriented Storytelling That Connects
BY Katie Chambers February 19, 2026“The best or nothing”—that was Mercedes-Benz’s tagline for years. But marketers were noticing a concerning trend. “What that actually did was it made people feel like, ‘I’m not ready to graduate to the brand yet. Maybe I’m not ready. I’m not the best in my career yet. So maybe I shouldn’t reward myself with that Mercedes-Benz,” Monique Harrison, head of brand marketing, Mercedes-Benz, shared during an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s Atlanta marketing conference. Instead, the company has made a concerted effort to become more relatable to different segments of the population through targeted advertising and brand ambassadors for audiences interested in $40,000 vehicles, million-dollar sports cars, and everything in between. “It’s about finding opportunities to be that human connection in varying places with a diversity of perspectives,” Harrison said. In the age of information overload, compelling storytelling can set a brand apart from the barrage of mediocre content. How can marketing teams craft content that truly engages when audience attention is scattered and fickle? What strategies ensure that brand storytelling is consistent across channels yet tailored to each platform and audience? Panelists shared their insights in this session moderated by Kelly Yamanouchi, business team lead at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.The Evolution of Brand Storytelling Past iterations of brand storytelling, says Sarah Stansberry, SVP of marketing at Fiserv, were extremely direct, emphasizing the quick definition of what the product or service offers. There is now a greater focus on creating compelling, results-driven narratives. “How do we take the complex, make it simple, and make that simple [message] compelling?” she said. Understanding your audience is central to effective brand storytelling. “Storytelling is actually story living,” said Anise Mastin, VP & general manager of global marketing at SAP. “Research substantiates that when we can step into the shoes of our targets, our storytelling gets better. Be the type of marketer that can understand their top three needs, the daily things that they need to do, and the obstacles or pains that stop them from doing that.” Panelists shared their insights on "Creative, Results-Oriented Storytelling That Connects" in AtlantaBut it’s not always easy to reach your audience. “As we look at how to tell a story, grab the attention, and cut through the clutter, it’s so much harder now because of the lack of attention and the fragmentation that we’re dealing with,” Harrison said. Fragmentation is a relatively new and increasingly pressing challenge, as audiences are spread across multiple screens and services. “Ten to 15 years ago, I sat on a panel that [tackled], ‘Is it about driving brand love, or is it about driving performance?’” said Dani Cushion, chief marketing officer at Teads. This is where the number of channels across the customer journey is an advantage rather than a challenge. “The data actually allows us to help engage with the consumer in a way that adds value, and the storytelling then becomes more about how you actually engage folks throughout the whole customer journey, instead of a binary choice.” A Major Marketing Shift: Access to AIThe introduction of AI is also disrupting how marketers traditionally approached brand storytelling. “It’s so much harder today, because you’re not only storytelling for the consumer, you’re storytelling for AI, and what AI will actually bring to market on your behalf,” Harrison said. Social media, which is also ever-evolving, is an important part of the marketing process, but should be used intentionally, with careful research, A/B testing, and an understanding of which platforms your intended audience prefers. “Don’t think of it as a megaphone. Think of it as a targeting tool,” Stanberry said. AI can be deployed on the marketing side, not just by audiences, but exercise caution. Like social media, it is also just a tool, not a replacement for human intuition. AI can expedite support research and speed up responses to customer inquiries, says Mastin. “But it’s not coming for your judgment. It needs a human to be able to take the action,” she said. “It cannot build brand loyalty, customer loyalty.” She warns that AI is the tool, not the solution; even when it provides important insights, it’s up to the human staff to create action plans based on those insights and continue to measure KPIs and business impact. “You can build something actionable, measurable, and repeatable.” In terms of content creation, AI can be useful and often faster than human production, but its capacities are limited, so save it for quick, lower-stakes projects. “AI plays a role when we want to tell the story [a certain] way, where it can be a little bit faster and not perfect,” Stansberry said. Cushion’s team deploys AI “not to replace creatives, but to inform,” using it to pre-test narratives through predictive analytics to understand how consumers engage with specific ads. “It does allow us to make sure that we are packing a whole lot of powerful intelligence into every single impression so that we’re not wasting money up front, and then optimizing later,” she said. AI also helps her team identify the best channels for specific ads. Carving Out Your Niche Differentiating your brand is all about connection, says Mastin. This spans from building a relationship with the customer through driving awareness as they learn about the product, to maintaining their favor even as they compare you with others. “Recognize what your competitors are doing but know your product so well and why it’s differentiated, that value proposition, and how you can say it, by stepping into your target’s shoes so that they’re going to say, ‘I want more,’” Mastin said. Engagement and attention are among the highest-value metrics marketers need to prioritize today, says Stansberry. And customers are craving authenticity. Stansberry’s organization humanizes its marketing by highlighting corporate community engagement and client success stories. This is why Harrison’s team at Mercedes-Benz has begun using celebrity brand ambassadors who are not only influential but also relatable, rather than those who might read as authoritative. “Put yourself in the shoes of the customer. How are you going to feel when you hear? How are you going to feel when you see? Those things play a major role in how we choose those that represent the brand,” Harrison said. Marketing and communications professionals, Cushion says, are naturally empathetic and often mission-driven. And they must be nimble. When leaders task them with changing direction, Stansberry said, “Being clear is kind. The more transparent you can be and say why it matters, [how] what you’re doing is going to impact the end result,” the more effective you will be. Mastin’s top advice for marketers in a climate of constant change: “Don’t be tied or married to content. Be tied or married to success. Be always willing to change and be agile.”Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
How AI Is Reshaping Talent Acquisition and the Candidate Experience
BY Katie Chambers February 18, 2026While much fuss has been made about the negatives of AI, its greatest benefits, like research, speed, and data processing, are aligned with the needs of an HR department overwhelmed with information during the talent acquisition process. “The AI sweet spot is gathering, synthesizing, and summarizing information, stopping short of decision-making, but certainly helping recruiters, hiring managers, and talent acquisition professionals get to know the inputs on their candidates a bit better,” said Craig Ellis, Ph.D., head I/O psychologist, HighMatch. This information includes skills alignment, level of experience, cultural match, and even the candidate’s desire for the role. Ellis spoke on an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s Atlanta conference about making talent acquisition more efficient and inclusive. “Where I’ve seen AI really show efficiency gains, particularly in the talent acquisition space, is around areas where we can infer at a large scale. So, think screening candidates, resume reviews, scheduling interviews, even communication with candidates. AI is helpful in making that a very efficient process,” said Emily Clark, VP at BlackRock. It can even help boost diversity in hiring by automatically removing or hiding identifying characteristics like names, addresses, or graduation years, eliminating the natural temptation to make assumptions. AI can not only sort applications but help with more proactive headhunting for executive-level positions. “AI helps us to radically identify the right candidates faster, because it allows us to have access to information that used to take 10 minutes to get. We can get it in a few seconds,” said Bert Hensley, chairman and CEO of Morgan Samuels Company. “If we’re looking for a candidate that's going to be a CFO of a certain size business in a certain market segment, we can find those companies and know how to sort them by the size of the business and how much they’ve grown, versus taking so much time to find each one of those [criteria].” He cautions that HR still needs to do its due diligence in vetting, but can use AI to at least generate lists and identify appropriate candidates for further human review.Salvador Ortega, global VP of HR at Newell Brands, says HR professionals need not fear being replaced by AI; instead, AI can augment their work. “It's more about how we elevate our value as human beings,” he said, citing research that has shown that AI has already taken over approximately 50% of most talent acquisition tasks. “So, the main question for us is, what are we going to do with this 50% of our time that is free now? And that's where the magic is going to come.” Panelists spoke about "Making Talent Acquisition More Efficient, Inclusive, and Personalized"That magic, in part, comes down to human intuition. “AI doesn't have the ability to use instinct as humans do, connecting the right person with the right job,” said moderator Leon Stafford, senior business journalist. “Do you have concerns that AI could overlook great talent because a candidate doesn’t quite fit the bill in areas that you could obviously see in a one-on-one interview?” Panelists agreed that one of HR’s key roles is helping organizational leaders articulate not just the kind of candidate they want, but also the type of candidate they need. This is a type of complex, intuitive thinking and level of communication, often relying on more than just printed words, that AI cannot accomplish on its own.“[AI is] not able to look at nuances. It’s not able to have the empathy that we’re looking for or the context [for] what the situation might be,” Clark said. For example, AI cannot identify potential in a person’s resume. “That’s where human interaction is required in the hiring process. And as with implementing any other technology, staff must be trained on how to make the most of AI. That means pushing hiring managers to clearly articulate the exact kind of candidates they need and teaching them how to write highly specific, accurate, and informed prompts. In terms of hiring for C-Suite roles, Ellis says, “AI makes a really good co-pilot. It makes a really bad pilot.” In other words, while it can support the C-suite hiring process, it cannot properly evaluate senior-level candidates. “People are complex, and C-suite jobs are complex, and the intersection of those two things is exponentially complex. That human side of C-level evaluation is incredibly valuable: that judgment and that nuance and that ability to ask follow-up questions and probing questions.” AI Best PracticesWhen employing AI in your hiring practice, transparency and boundaries are essential. Clark suggests letting candidates know up front whether AI is being used to parse resumes and match them to job descriptions, which, in turn, gives them permission to use it as well. But boundaries need to be set for when the technology needs to be put away. “I recommend that you tell the candidate, ‘It’s totally reasonable and understandable if you want to use AI to look at questions that we might ask during the interview [and] prep for responses. We do not allow you to use AI in the interview itself,” she said. The signs of a candidate using AI during an interview are usually clear, such as reading off the screen, looking to the side, or having an AI agent on the Zoom call. It tends to be recent college graduates who rely on it the most, Clark says, because they’re so used to it. HR managers should prepare interview questions that deliberately undermine a candidate’s ability to use AI, forcing them to respond in real time if they are not already doing so. “You, as an organization, have to design your interviews to test what AI cannot do. You’re going to want to design your interview questions to look at real-time judgment, critical thinking, communications, and rationale through ambiguity. AI cannot do any of that with ease.” Ellis notes that follow-up questions that deliberately encourage rephrasing and reflection can also force a candidate to go “off-script,” since AI often cannot remember its previous responses.In seeking out future HR leaders themselves, companies should focus on hiring for critical thinking, human intuition, and data analytics skills—competencies that align with an increasingly AI-dependent industry. “You can do more today in really helping your CEO and your organization be proactive instead of being reactive,” Hensley said. Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Using Technology to Fill the Gaps in Your Marketing Funnel
BY Katie Chambers February 05, 2026“I’ve always looked at data and patterns to solve customer and business problems and marketing problems,” said Shana Sood, chief marketing and communications officer at Prudential. She has always leveraged her background as a data analyst in her current role, which focuses on customer marketing and technology, she said during a fireside chat at From Day One’s January virtual conference. When reaching the customer requires a multi-layered approach, analytics can help fill the gaps, she says.Sood envisions Prudential’s technology as serving two layers of customers: B-to-B-to-C, from the tech team to the financial advisors to the clients. She analyzes both existing technology stacks and new models to determine the best approach to “collect the breadcrumbs all the way from the start,” identifying client needs and simplifying financial jargon so end users can better understand it. “For me, how technology bridges this gap is: first, tell us how the customer is speaking about these products, how the customer is thinking about these products, [and] how they shop. What are their journeys?” she said. “And then, how do I then prop up my advisor with the right tools and the right education to be able to [provide] the right product based on whatever the customer needs at that point.”The key, she says, is “data-driven personalization,” which integrates with the content management system, Adobe website interaction insights, and the Salesforce marketing cloud. Prudential’s platform includes a feedback loop that shows the customer journey: what they searched for on the website and where it led them. It then uses that info to identify the best emails to send the customer based on their current needs. It also helps determine the next best action, such as a phone call from an advisor to help the customer with their financial decisions. “All of this is made possible with data pipelines between multiple systems,” Sood said. Because financial decisions impact many areas of a person’s life, they can be highly emotional moments. Sood sees retirement planning and life insurance selection as major emotional hurdles. “These things very quickly and very vehemently trigger avoidance from the customer, because as humans, we don’t want to see ourselves old. We want to avoid the topic of not being here,” she said. No matter how simple or complex the product, the customer must be emotionally ready for the conversation. And of course, an already fraught discussion can easily become bogged down by financial compliance language and daunting legalese.It’s Sood’s job to bridge the gap between emotional need and financial product being sold: “When you have a kid, you’re going on Google and you’re searching for, ‘How do I finance their education?’ You’re not searching for, ‘How do I open a 529?’” When the average consumer doesn’t know what “529” means, including that phrase in all your financial messaging may not help. But bidding on keywords like “confused about kid’s education” will. “You’re almost translating,” said moderator Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, business reporter at the Seattle Times. Incorporating Emerging Technologies Sood sees AI as the latest step in a much longer evolution of data-driven marketing. For decades, teams have used statistics and manual analysis to predict customer behavior. AI “has removed a lot of those manual gymnastics.” Rather than replacing human judgment, AI is accelerating it, especially through generative and agentic use cases that help scale content and decision-making.At Prudential, that means empowering advisors with AI tools that synthesize complex product information into clear, conversation-ready guidance. Instead of navigating a “labyrinth of pages and microsites,” advisors can prompt an AI agent to surface the most relevant products for a client’s needs, streamlining preparation while leaving the final judgment firmly in human hands. Sood says AI reduces friction and manual labor, but “it is [ultimately] the judgment of the advisor on what packet to use and what to say.” AI’s greatest gift to the industry has been streamlining a process that has long existed. Shana Sood, chief marketing and communications officer at Prudential Financial, was interviewed during the fireside chat (photo by From Day One)Sood cautions that AI should be used sparingly in the financial services industry because it involves taking risks with people’s money. Identifying fraudulent behavior is a serious concern possibly best left to human critical thinking. She also warns that website personalization techniques have to be carefully employed so that they are compliant with FINRA and SEC regulations, subtleties that sometimes AI does not understand. That is my biggest challenge [with AI],” Sood said. “I have to be very mindful, and I have to adopt the regulatory framework in using and scaling a new tool.” The implementation of AI tools, she says, should involve a thorough exploration of customers’ needs, many rounds of testing and case studies, consultations with legal and regulatory experts, and an intentional measurement plan that notes both financial successes and harms. Sood sees herself as a “realist” when it comes to technology. I’ve worked in the data grind so much that I am always aware of the 100 ways we can fail in adopting a new technology,” she said. “You can adopt a new shiny tool, but then if your processes and people are not structured to use it, then it’s going to fail.” And she emphasizes that less is more: KPI’s need to be consolidated at a business level. “If a company has multiple product teams or multiple business divisions, and each of them is incentivized to sort of make their email program deliver more click-throughs and more engagement, they will keep bombarding their customers with their next best message without realizing that ultimately it’s the same customer that is being reached out [to] by all three of them.” Sood says strong vendor partnerships help organizations strike the right balance between healthy skepticism and falling behind, especially as competitors adopt new technologies. She emphasized the importance of digging beyond headline success stories to understand how and why a tool delivered results, and whether those conditions actually apply in a financial services environment. Once relevance and adaptability are established through due diligence, the goal is to move quickly into testing, embracing early adoption without skipping the hard questions.A Legacy Company Looks to the Future As Prudential enters its 151st year, the corporate culture continues to innovate and grow. “At Prudential, there is a very intentional strategy to carve out innovation centers. Not blunt-force tools to disrupt everything. There is a very careful balance,” she said. “We carve out a very intentional sort of audience, a test case [for a specific] environment, we will try a new tool, and we will see how it does.” Progress is not just about chasing new technologies but also refining the ones already in place. To better reach their audiences, Sood says companies should start by maximizing the value of their existing technology and data, “milking the cash cow” of the current tech stack. Most organizations already hold rich customer, behavioral, and churn data, but it lives in siloed systems that prevent teams from spotting patterns or delivering timely, personalized experiences. Simply connecting those systems isn’t enough. Without cross-channel orchestration, aligned content, and clear next-best-action strategies, even unified data won’t translate into meaningful customer engagement.Looking ahead, Prudential anticipates a major wealth transfer from Baby Boomers to Millennials. Don’t assume that the wealth transfer will keep your paradigm the same. “Don’t assume you can use the same language [and] tactics to be able to resonate with who the wealth is being transferred to. If it is more women, if it is more young customers, then you have to change how you’re staggering on the digitization spectrum,” she said. The organization is currently researching future customer needs, motivations, behaviors, and communication styles to refine how it presents itself to them. “Anything that can simplify and unify—that is what is most needed in the financial services landscape.” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photo by ArtemisDiana/iStock)
How People Analytics Can Give HR Leaders a Window Into Employee Experience
BY Katie Chambers December 22, 2025Most HR leaders agree that employee engagement is central to a healthy workplace. But is it necessary to constantly measure it? “The reason we’re asking about engagement isn’t because it looks good on a scorecard,” said Michelle Seidel, Human Capital Client Leader, Aon, in a panel conversation at From Day One’s recent Los Angeles conference. “It’s because engagement is linked to productivity. It’s linked to customer service. It’s linked to employee attrition, attraction, and retention.” While people analytics is sometimes viewed as esoteric or intrusive, the evolving field offers HR professionals new tools to understand worker sentiment, values, and skills. It can be used to spot trends in worker retention, predict candidate success, understand employee engagement, optimize benefits, or discover patterns in employee health and well-being. But what are the guardrails that need to be set up to safeguard trust, privacy, and corporate values? The panel explored how, when used thoughtfully, people analytics can help forecast larger future-of-work trends and employee expectations.The Benefit of Real-Time AnalyticsThe old employee-survey model is no longer effective, says Andrew Dufresne, head of HR Operations and Employee Experience, North America, UST, a global transformation company specializing in AI-powered tech and engineering. By the time HR can finish analyzing a traditional annual survey, the data is already many months old. “We’ve moved towards more pulse surveys and real-time engagement,” he said, citing an internal company platform that can track feedback on all aspects of the employee experience, such as hiring, retiring, or getting a promotion. “We’re collecting that feedback as those processes are happening.” His organization also partners with outside companies like Great Place to Work and Top Employers Institute for further benchmarking. Surveys don’t have to be complex. “I know of organizations who are using really simple emoji surveys, where you just click the happy face or the sad face [and] you have immediate feedback. You can respond to it in hours or days, versus the 90 days that’s typical from a traditional survey,” Seidel said. She says sentiment scraping, such as using AI to grab data from review sites like Glassdoor, can also help identify gaps and strengths. It’s important to be specific with your intentions as you craft survey questions. “A huge component is ensuring that these surveys are designed strategically, so that we’re getting the information that we really want, which is how engaged is somebody versus how satisfied [they] are,” said Brian Padilla, SVP, HR business partner, for Lionsgate. “[Our surveys are] designed to assess engagement, and then to also point to the reasons why someone might not be engaged. Maybe they don’t have a clear understanding of how their role fits into the bigger picture, or they don’t feel supported by their manager.” Intention—and clear communication—can also help keep HR from overstepping in their data collection and becoming too invasive. “How do you get somebody to want to give you information? We’re asking for things like self-identification surveys and things where we’re required to report on it, but people don’t necessarily trust that that information is going to be used in a way that’s ethical,” Padilla said. He suggests “having those conversations with people [and] showing them how the process works, what the end product looks like, and what actually goes out into the world.”The executive-panel speakers on people analytics at From Day One’s December conference in Los AngelesRachyll Tenny, chief talent officer for people strategy and organizational impact for Capstone Partners, and investment-banking firm, summed it up: “Trust, transparency, and context.” With considerate framing, organizations can build a culture of trust. Padilla shared that a recent Lionsgate self-identification survey with sensitive questions regarding sexual orientation and parental status had a 90% response rate because it was communicated with intention and care. Building a Pathway Forward “Data [can] be used to be both prescriptive and predictive,” said moderator Stacy Perman, Staff Writer, the Los Angeles Times, both identifying gaps and providing proposed solutions. Added Seidel: “When we look at the survey results in the data, it tells us what’s going on, why it might be happening, what we can do to fix it. Sometimes it even tells us how to prioritize those issues and when we need to fix it by.” Traditional data-collection modes are too fragmented; AI can pull everything together and generate a nuanced plan.AI can be deployed to dive deeper into the data on hand, which is especially important as the working world generally transitions from a role-based to a skill-based model. “[AI] can look at skill gaps before they become performance gaps, because that’s really when it hits you hardest,” said Rebecca Warren, talent-centered transformation leader for Eightfold, an AI-powered talent-intelligence platform. Analyzing skills in this way can also help with talent acquisition and retention. Warren noted that she started at the company in talent acquisition, then moved to customer success, then marketing and talent transformation—all because she was invited to apply based on her skillset. “Tying hiring, development, and skill gaps to what the business is trying to achieve makes all the difference, instead of trying to plug gaps in a in a leaky bucket,” she said. And of course, AI comes with its own ethical concerns, leading again to that need for transparency, communication, and compliance. “What we talk about inside of Eightfold is, ‘We are responsible and explainable AI,’ so everything that we do is tracked, and we can go back and say, ‘This is what happened.’ So if there is something that wasn’t handled correctly, we can go back and look at it more quickly than if we had a manual process or if we weren’t tracking all of those things,” Warren said. The organization also utilizes an ethics council. Going forward, organizations can rely on AI-powered people analytics to solve some of their toughest conundrums. Seidel said, “If I could use data and analytics to achieve one key thing, it would be to answer the question more effectively and with more precision: ‘Where is the best place for our organization to invest the next dollar in our workforce for the greatest return on investment?’” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Accelerating L&D With AI: How to Lead, Adapt, and Keep the Human Touch
BY Katie Chambers December 17, 2025Nearly 60% of HR leaders say AI adoption is one of their biggest challenges, yet the prospect of radically improving worker learning and development is a huge new opportunity. How can AI make L&D more individualized, efficient to produce, and integrated with the flow of work? Can it upskill workers more quickly than traditional methods and accelerate leadership development? Leaders shared their ideas on the subject during a panel discussion titled, “Accelerating L&D With AI: How to Lead, Adapt, and Keep the Human Touch,” at From Day One’s Miami conference. “The best companies in the world that are going to develop through this phase are the ones that train their people to use AI most effectively, not be scared of it, and embrace it,” said Dave Coldwell, global AI executive at Cisco. But that’s easier said than done. “With AI, like any new technology, there is some apprehension, and we all know that it’s a tool. It’s not human,” said moderator Paul Bomberger, independent journalist and former Miami Herald business editor. Leaders must maintain human connections with their teams while rolling out emerging technologies, and emphasize that these tools will never replace human workers—just augment them. “It doesn’t have innovation. It is good at giving you resources and instructions, but there’s the human aspect that we need too,” said Elyse Sitomer, learning & organizational development partner at Memorial Healthcare System.It can be hard to get “old school” industry leaders to get on board with the AI revolution. Alexandra Bautista, SVP of employee experience at Harvard Services Group, said the key is “helping them understand that it’s a tool to leverage your performance.” She has brought in speakers to share how AI can make the workday easier and reinforce that it’s a positive rather than something to be feared. Panelists suggest rolling out simple tools like Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT to get your general workforce more comfortable with artificial intelligence. These tools can simplify administrative tasks by summarizing email chains, creating agendas, or taking notes at meetings. From there, more complex AI educational software packages are no longer one-size-fits-all, but highly individualized, says Chris Narmi, chief strategist, AI and workflow at HP. These tools “recognize the strengths and weaknesses of an individual, track them through their learning process and customize their learning program.” And the training is often built in. “AI is unique in that it’s the first technology that can really teach you how to use it.”Innovative Uses for AI in the Workplace Gone are days of lengthy employee handbooks or boring onboarding videos. “What generative AI has allowed us to do at Cisco is personalize the training. [We have] the right training for the right people at the right time, and that’s led to developments in leadership, developments in creativity, and exponentially improv[ed] our salespeople’s engagement with the customers and partners that they’re dealing with on a day-to-day basis,” Coldwell said. “The thing that’s uniquely human is intuition, empathy, and purpose, which we don’t have just by using AI alone.” His organization has developed its own AI model, called Circuit, used by its 20,000 salespeople. “Instead of replacing people, it’s actually helping to skill up our new employees, but also for our existing employees, it’s helping empower them to be better.” Maria-Pia Barbona, VP of HR at Swatch Group, shares that in her previous role at LVMH, her team worked with tools like Yoodli, an AI speaking coach that let salespeople roleplay customer interactions. “You prompt your AI, you go into a FaceTime call with your AI, and there’s a person that you see there and you go in a roleplay,” she said. The platform lets associates practice difficult conversations and refine their techniques to make a sale. Managers were able to log in to see results, which helped them discover trends as to which areas required further training. Panelists spoke about "Accelerating L&D With AI: How to Lead, Adapt, and Keep the Human Touch" Narmi cautions that AI can provide solutions to customer issues, “but it lacks the empathy to understand the applicability of those answers, and you’ll learn that you need to apply your own judgment. The human piece is applying that [artificial] intelligence appropriately under a set of circumstances.” He advises engaging in active dialogue with AI to hone its answers, guiding it with your own human emotion and intuition. “I find it a collaborative process: it learns from me and gets better.”AI works best when it’s breaking down large swaths of information, providing summaries, and giving detailed explanations. Then you need to synthesize all of it in the complex, innovative, and nuanced ways that AI can’t. “I like AI for its immediacy. It gets the hard work out of the way,” Sitomer said. Narmi shares that he has developed a fleet of AI agents through Copilot to help him optimize his performance. “I have an executive assistant. I have an editor. I have a white paper writer.” At Harvard Services Group, Bautista and her team create GPTs that offer a customized learning path for new hires during the first 30, 60, and 90 days of their employment, creating a “learning culture” at the organization that did not previously exist. “We’re taking it to the next level, starting next year, and customizing based on performance conversations with the managers. Where are those skills gaps that this person may have? Do we want to get them to the next level? If so, what are the competencies that they need to have?” she said. Employee retention is the goal. “I think there’s no other way to tell our employees that we care than to tell them we see you. We want to develop you. We want you to grow.”Narmi advises that leaders remember that AI is just a tool; an organization’s biggest asset is still its human workforce. “Recognize that your talent, and the fundamental talent of the people that work for you, is imagination. You need to foster imagination and help people to understand that AI cannot perform that role,” he said. “Let it do the research but let people use their imagination with the AI to expand [their] ideas.” Or, as Coldwell put it, “AI is for speed. People are for direction.” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
How Technology Can Enhance the Full HR Spectrum, from Recruiting to Retirement
BY Katie Chambers December 02, 2025Love it or fear it, AI is here to stay. In implementing AI and other new tech, leaders need to bring along the entire organization and drive a mindset shift, which includes an appreciation of how agentic AI will boost efficiency and productivity. Organizations must also consider the importance of anticipating risks and concerns about bias while utilizing these tools. During a fireside chat at From Day One’s November virtual conference, Kim Shockley, the VP of HR technology & automation at HP, shared how her organization is making the most of emerging technologies. The Evolution of HR TechnologyDuring her 12 years working in HR technology, Shockley has witnessed rapid changes. Most companies had HR solutions “on prem” (meaning on a server on the premises) but now work mostly with cloud-based technologies. “HCM [human capital management] software vendors [have] become the standard, and companies [are] moving to really focus on an implementation of that across all capabilities” she said. “This huge explosion in the HR tech marketplace [is] focused on innovation and delivering best of breed technologies and really encouraging us to think outside of the box of what can I do beyond the standard of HR deliverables.”Many workplace software companies like Workday and Success Factors are acquiring and merging with others to provide all-in-one solutions, she says. “What’s happening now has the potential to leapfrog us and shift us significantly in a different direction, and that we in five years may look completely different than what we look today in our technology environments.” Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, business reporter at the Seattle Times, moderated the session with Kim Shockley of HP (photo by From Day One)The myriad of options can be overwhelming, so Shockley advises focusing on impact. Many HR tasks are “foundational [and] transactional, it’s the things that we have to do to help to run the business,” she said, referring to tasks like payroll and PTO. “And then there are other things in a business that HR delivers that have potential to deliver competitive advantage or strategic differentiation. A lot of these are in the talent space. They may be related to your employee value proposition,” she said. This is where technology beyond the core HCM can be beneficial in terms of talent support and development. Implementing Technologies That Promote Growth “Who do we want to be? We want to be an organization where talent is attracted to come to us, and then we are developing them, providing them the tools and opportunities to learn and grow so that they have choices in the future,” Shockley said. HP has implemented a talent intelligence platform that helped it become a skills-first organization and allowed employees to find new roles within the organization based on their skill-set, boosting talent retention. The tech also provides career pathing to help employees see how they can grow within HP. “I may see that I can switch functions where I may not have ever considered that before, because I have the skills to go there,” she said. Mentoring matches and stretch projects have all been optimized with AI technology. The software doesn’t just boost retention. “That same platform serves us on the recruiting side too, and helps us to find the right talent externally. It’s a skills platform. It allows us to find candidates based on AI algorithms and an AI model that does map candidate matching that has been a game changer for us in terms of us finding the right people, finding folks with the right skills, and moving them through the process,” Shockley said. While AI can certainly help HR leaders, they must be sure to use it responsibly, making sure systems “are designed and deployed in a fair, safe, and aligned manner with human values,” Shockley said. “HP as an enterprise has AI governance principles around trust, safety, security, and accountability. We have, on top of that, commitments for our people organization that take that a step further because of our responsibilities.” One of these is “human in the loop,” ensuring that a human is always involved and that AI is not solely making decisions related to humans. HR partners with employment attorneys and compliance departments to understand and define best use, high risk, and forbidden use cases. Encouraging the Mindset ShiftAgentic AI offers opportunities to transform and automate business processes. “I can create an end-to-end workflow that drives more productivity into our processes, for both HR and for our employees and it also can impact the employee experience,” Shockley said. This rapid evolution is both exciting and challenging. “I have to be in the mode of executing, because I can’t wait for everything to be perfect. I need to be moving forward and learning and taking advantage… I have a bigger risk in not acting than in acting today,” she said. The information overload can be significant. Leaders need to encourage teams to be ready for AI, which Shockley calls a “mindset shift.” “With your average person, there’s still a lot of unknowns around AI—a lot of questions, maybe some anxieties and fears,” said moderator Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, business reporter at the Seattle Times. Shockley says encouraging experimentation is the best way to get employees comfortable with emerging technologies. “You have to actually put the tools in the hands of your people. It doesn’t have to be complex,” she said. Starting small with simple tools like Microsoft Copilot can help workers understand the value of AI. From there, you can expand into more complex company-wide technologies, like HP’s career mapping tool that lets employees dream and aspire to an exciting future. AI implementation is most effective when approached with purpose and clear intent, Shockley says. “It’s easy to say, ‘That’s cool. I want that.’ But if you start going at it that way, you often don’t get the outcome that you were after because you didn’t really define the outcome. And so, we always come back to, ‘What are we trying to accomplish?’ And let’s start there and then let’s figure out what’s the right technology to deliver on that.” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photo by Summit Art Creations/Shutterstock)
How Patagonia Became a Global Leader in Doing Well by Doing Good
BY Katie Chambers December 01, 2025Despite his great corporate success, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard doesn’t have a computer, cell phone, or email address. “[He] is a self-proclaimed dirt bag. He’s a mountaineer. He is most comfortable roaming in the wilds of Patagonia. He does not like to be governed,” said moderator Emma Goldberg, reporter at the New York Times. “So where did his ambition come from?” Goldberg asked David Gelles, reporter at the New York Times, and author of Dirtbag Billionaire: How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia, Made a Fortune, and Gave It All Away. Gelles and Goldberg spoke during a fireside chat at From Day One’s Midtown Manhattan conference.Turning Rock Climbing into Business Don’t let the title of the book fool you: “In the rock-climbing community from which he came, ‘dirtbag’ is actually the highest compliment. It refers to someone who’s so un-enamored with materialism that he’s literally content to sleep in the dirt if it means he’s that much closer to his next adventure, to his next climb,” Gelles said. What offends Chouinard is the other half of the book’s title: billionaire. “Ambition is a word that I think he has a very fraught relationship with. It’s important to know that he never set out to build a big company. It sort of happened by accident, and he had to make peace with it along the way,” Gelles said. His ambitions were to be away from people. “He did everything in his power to be in nature, to be rock climbing and fishing, and those are the places where he drew his product inspiration.”Gelles notes that Chouinard’s business is built upon paradoxes: a desire to protect the planet while leaving a significant carbon footprint due to the production of its products; an instinct to protect employees while never letting them hold equity; a hope to reduce mindless consumption while becoming a brilliant force for viral marketing. As his company grew into a multi 100-million-dollar business, Chouinard felt a responsibility to take care of his thousands of employees, says Gelles. “Patagonia only had one round of real mass layoffs in its career, and it was such a traumatizing experience to Chouinard and his family that they never wanted it to ever happen again” he said. “As a result, the company kept getting bigger by virtue of just the momentum.” Patagonia’s Corporate Values One of Patagonia’s keys to success is in its corporate values, which came naturally to Chouinard. “From a very early moment in his life and business career, Chouinard and his team understood what they cared about, and those things were very simple,” Gelles said. “They wanted to run a responsible business. They wanted to use their profits to preserve the natural environment, and that meant large-scale land conservation. They wanted to fund grassroots environmental activists. And they wanted to run a sort of company that they would want to work at.” This consistency is what helped instill Patagonia at top-of-mind among its competitors. “The reason Patagonia, although it’s a relatively small company, has such an outsized brand impact, such a big place in our collective imaginations, is because they kept doing the work. They kept coming back to those same values, and the values never changed.” David Gelles, author of Dirtbag Billionaire, was interviewed by Emma Goldberg, reporter at the New York TimesEven in times of political strife, Patagonia doubles down. “In 2017, Patagonia led a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its efforts to reduce the size of national monuments. At that moment, it went black on all its websites and put up a new image that said, ‘the President stole your land.’” Chouinard even appeared on CNN to decry the administration. Its resistance continues to this day, as current CEO Ryan Gellert calls out other corporations for bending the knee. “Patagonia has never been afraid to be political, and at this moment, continues to speak out when almost every other brand has gone silent,” Gelles said. They have the power to do this because the company is privately held and insulated from the pressure of a board of public shareholders. Of course, nothing is perfect. “The company scaled, and they toggled back and forth between the success of the business, the desire for quality products, and the desire to manage the growth. [There] were the moments where that balance went astray,” Goldberg said. Gelles says that while the title of Chouinard’s own book is “Let My People Go Surfing,” and the Ventura campus has showers and flexible hours for that very purpose, “Patagonia employees work really, really hard, and it is at times a very demanding and cutthroat place to work.”Chouinard experienced a crisis of conscience after being named to the Forbes list in 2017, and renounced his ownership of the company in 2022. “But in doing so, he made a very deliberate choice not to share the wealth with his employees. These are some people who had worked there for 50 years at that point. And when you think about his priorities, I would argue that the well-being of his employees is a part of a matrix, but it is not the primary goal for that company or this manager.” The Future of PatagoniaGoldberg posits whether the recent election of incumbent NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, can be seen as commentary on the next generation’s distrust of big business. “No,” Gelles said. “I know plenty of old people who are still optimistic and are still working hard to figure out how business can be a force for good. I also know tons of young amoral finance bros. So, no, I don’t think there's a generational divide. I think there’s a spiritual divide.” He notes that in an interview with the Financial Times, Mamdani counted Chouinard among the top of the list of business leaders who had earned his respect. Gelles hesitates to name which executives might become the next Yvon Chouinard. “Chouinard lived a singular life, and Patagonia is a singular company,” he said. “What I can say is that I see a lot of people wanting to be like Yvon Chouinard and Patagonia and realizing how hard it is. What Chouinard told me over and over again is that the moment you have external shareholders, the moment you take VC money or private equity money, or you go public, you are going to have a really hard time making good on your values, which is why, despite having the opportunity over and over and over to take outside capital, he always resisted it.” Now Chouinard, aged 87, is looking to the future. “He understands that Patagonia has served as a symbol for what the business community can do, and the potential that I think is inherent in capitalism as being a possible force for good. And at the end of the day, because he had such high standards, he is also at a very deep level dissatisfied, which is why he’s still pushing Patagonia to do the work.”He made waves when he announced his succession plan in 2022: the organization will remain for-profit, but its dividends will be donated to protect the planet. Per the company’s website: “Earth is now our only shareholder.” Gelles hopes other business owners will take note of Chouinard’s selflessness. “There are plenty of other philanthropic business leaders, and I think we’ll see more of them in the years ahead.” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Beyond ‘Thank You’: How Recognizing Small Wins Transforms Culture and Engagement
BY Katie Chambers November 18, 2025“Has anyone ever been visited by the Sunday scaries?” asked Brie Harvey, head of market research for Achievers Workforce Institute. Yes, indeed, responded many in her audience. Many workers feel burned out, overworked, and underappreciated. Fortunately, employers have an opportunity to transform their culture through impactful employee-rewards strategy, Harvey said during a thought leadership spotlight at From Day One’s Boston conference. Despite employers spending nearly $200 billion annually on rewards and recognition, less than half of employees feel valued at work. Harvey shared insights from the Achievers’ 2025 State of Recognition Report, exploring the evolving landscape of employee rewards, and uncovered the most common reasons why many well-intended investments in traditional rewards programs fall flat and fail to drive cultural and behavioral outcomes.Harvey’s team conducts primary research around workforce trends and how organizations can build people centric high performing cultures. Employees in today’s market tend to move jobs often, Harvey says, joking that her own impending 10-year work anniversary is “the modern equivalent of 30.” Keeping employees engaged and valued is key to keeping them. “When employees feel appreciated for their unique contributions, it’s transformative, not just for the business, but for the overall quality of people’s lives,” Harvey said. Achievers Workforce Institute’s study found that employees who feel valued are nine times more likely to feel a sense of belonging, six times more likely to envision a long-term future with their company, and three times more likely to be engaged.Recognizing employees is the simplest way to improve employee engagement. While four out of 10 HR leaders claim that recognition has impacted strategic outcomes, Harvey says, 77% of employees still don’t feel meaningfully appreciated, even those who work at an organization with formal recognition programs. Harvey and her team have developed a checklist of qualities of the most impactful recognition programs: High recognition quality + quantityMeasure business impact strategicallyProvide personalized rewards at scaleStrong executive buy-in and participation Continuous education and promotionLeader and manager empowerment Designate program championsWidespread access“When things fall flat, which sometimes they do, we can pretty much always trace it back to missed opportunities from this list,” Harvey said.High Recognition Quality and QuantityHarvey emphasizes the importance in leaders understanding the difference between praise and recognition. “Praise is a vague pat on the back that doesn’t leave people with an understanding of what they did that was good and literally no one wants more praise…not even Gen Z! Recognition, on the other hand, should contain detailed information about exactly what a person did and why that behavior matters to the bigger picture,” Harvey said. “When employees say they want more feedback, most of the time, they mean they want more clarity about whether the work they’re doing is correct and matters on some level.”Brie Harvey, head of market research for Achievers Workforce Institute, Achievers, led the thought leadership spotlight on effective recognition Having a sense of progress fuels motivation and feelings of pride, joy, and confidence. “Recognition shouldn’t be reserved for big milestones and outcomes. It should be about noticing meaningful effort and celebrating the small wins that lead to big outcomes,” she said. “Specificity is key.” In terms of quantity, “nothing in life works without consistent effort over time,” Harvey said, recognition included. Achievers found that recognition must be received at least monthly to be impactful. To reach optimal frequency, Harvey suggests encouraging peer-to-peer recognition, promoting meaningful non-monetary recognition, and fostering a rewards agnostic culture. “Leaders and managers can’t do it alone. Organizations have to enlist the help of frontline employees to call out the good work they see being done around them.” And the numbers don’t lie: Employees who receive monthly peer recognition are twice as likely to feel a sense of belonging, and engagement increases by 43% when employees receive just one non-monetary recognition per month, says Harvey. While pay raises are important, 75% of employees say they would pick feeling valued over a bump in compensation.Meaningful Rewards Lead to Positive Business and Personal Impact Achievers’ own rewards program is a prime example of meaningful rewards, says Harvey. In addition to frequent recognition, the company provides points for new hire referrals, completing wellness challenges, and participating in training and development, then allows employees to spend their points, often worth thousands of dollars when accrued, in a digital catalogue featuring a myriad of products.Employees are empowered to choose whatever reward is uniquely meaningful to them. For example, Harvey once used her points to cover the cost of her hair and makeup, dress alterations, jewelry, additional attire, and photographer at her wedding. She shares that another worker used the program to adopt a French Bulldog. In other words, a reward should feel like a reward to you. Achievers’ research shows that employees with expansive rewards options are 70% more likely to recommend their employer as a great place to work, 75% more likely to feel productive, and 120% more likely to feel a strong sense of belonging at their organization. The rewards are the “delivery mechanism,” Harvey says, for a culture of appreciation. Along the way, it’s important to keep tabs and measure the impact of your rewards program to gauge its effectiveness and adjust as needed. “How you measure success should evolve along with your business needs and priorities,” Harvey said. Once a rewards program is ingrained in your culture, she says, you can start to home in on how it’s impacting business outcomes.Harvey highlights two tips for measuring the impact of recognition: isolating variables to move beyond simple correlations and focusing on metrics that matter to stakeholders beyond HR.These factors are crucial to attaining stakeholder support and future budget for rewards. “Mislabeling the tool of recognition as a nice-to-have vitamin instead of a performance-enhancing steroid is enormously costly to not just the bottom line, but overall employee well-being,” Harvey said. To demonstrate the potential highly personal impact of rewards on employee well-being, Harvey shares that she also used her own company rewards points to fund her final vacation and time spent with her late husband, who passed away from glioblastoma. “Shortly after my husband’s first surgery, he insisted on trying to find me the perfect bike upgrade so we could pack in as many adventures as we could for as long as we could. I used my points to get a bike, and we were able to log hundreds of miles all over California before our time together had to come to an end,” Harvey said. “Every time I see this bike, I think about not just my husband’s resilience, but how grateful I am to work at a place where I feel so valued and meaningfully rewarded.” Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, Achievers, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight. Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Gen Z on the Rise: Engaging and Retaining Talent for Long-Term Success
BY Katie Chambers November 17, 2025When you think of a Gen Z employee, what do you envision? For some, said moderator Katie Johnston, reporter at the Boston Globe, there are positive stories: “They are good at technology, and they love to learn, and they emphasize work-life balance, which is good for everybody in the workplace.” But there are some negative stories too: job applicants who won’t return calls, candidates who ghost interview appointments, a disregard for return-to-work policies, or even new hires who don’t come to their first day of work. How can leaders support this generation, cultivate their skills, understand and embrace their differences, and set them up for success? Leaders, including moderator Johnston of the Boston Globe, spoke during a panel discussion at From Day One’s Boston conference to address the topic. Guiding the Youngest GenerationPanelists share that Gen Z workers are some of the most empathetic and innovative they have encountered. Parker Pell, co-founder of Abode, says that it was a Gen Z intern at Spotify who created the platform’s viral sensation “Spotify Wrapped.” Cheri Hurtubise, head of university & diversity recruiting, Americas & talent acquisition manager at Siemens Healthineers says she enjoys mentoring this generation of workers. “Opportunities for coaching abound, but it's a really great population to work with,” she said. Some of those opportunities include, for example, teaching basic phone etiquette that came more naturally to older generations, says Diana Frascella, VP of talent acquisition at DraftKings. Many of Gen Z’s challenges, Johnston says, stem from the pandemic, which caused many of them to miss out on formative in-person social and professional growth opportunities at school or work. This can be mitigated through better onboarding training among managers. Panelists shared their insights on supporting Gen Z in the workforce Leaders should not assume new hires will know how to dress for the office or communicate appropriately over Slack, email, or Zoom, says Frascella. “This is also a generation, more so than others, that really craves feedback,” Frascella said. “That’s a nice way for managers to be able to reinforce the positive behaviors that we need to see at work, or also sharing, ‘This is not acceptable,’ or, ‘Here's how you could have done it better.’ We can’t hold people accountable for things we are not telling them.”Gen Z craves stability, says Hurtubise, but due to a disrupted pandemic upbringing and the 9% unemployment rate among 18 to 23-year-olds, they are reluctant to trust established structures.They crave face-to-face interaction, even though they don’t always know how to navigate it. Hurtubise suggests mentoring and educating young employees on the context behind their work, to give them a sense of purpose and avoid boredom while doing entry level work. “Focus on skills and competencies. What is it that you’re learning? What are the things you’re contributing to? They are a purpose-driven generation. If you show them a path that has purpose, they will engage with your company a lot longer.” Pell’s organization found in a survey of employees, only 3% of young new hires shared that they felt like they had been “overcommunicated with” by leaders. “They want more and more communication,” he said. “I think having multiple mediums with which you share this information is of utmost importance.”A New Definition of Achievement Gen Z’s desire for long-term career growth can be paired with rewards and recognition programs, says Erika Marder, head of global R&D HR at Takeda. The organization has a talent marketplace that offers not only new internal role opportunities but also stretch projects. “Maybe they want to sample something and get some new experiences and get some achievement from that without making maybe a full commitment, or they want to look for a new opportunity. That’s one way that we promote learning,” she said. And since Gen Z is so purpose-driven, Takeda allows employees to put their rewards points toward charitable giving in addition to traditional swag prizes. Siemens Healthineers also offers “micro-credentials” for entry-level employees, says Hurtubise. For example, interns get a certificate upon completion of their graduation, which she notes is especially valued by international workers. And because Gen Z is more hesitant when networking than previous generations, the company also offers more structured connection opportunities through employee resource groups (ERGs). In terms of compensation, Edward Zaval, chief customer officer at DailyPay, says Gen Z’s expenses don’t align with traditional pay cycles. “There’s a fundamental disconnect between the way Gen Z lives their lives and how they’re paid. They have this on-demand world, yet their payroll is stuck on this archaic two-week cycle,” Zaval said. “The other thing is that they are more likely not to want to delay experiences. When my kids decide today, on Tuesday, that they want to go to a concert this weekend, they’re going to go,” he said.The gig economy is an extension of this. “Employers, take note: Your Gen Z employees have a side hustle,” Zaval said. “They are getting paid daily. [Then] they’re taking that expectation and they’re carrying it over into the general workforce.” Through independent surveys, Zaval has found that one third of Gen Z employees would consider leaving their current position in favor of flexibility or getting paid more frequently. Financial instability is impacting most generations in the workforce, but Gen Z is feeling it most acutely. “We want to take them on a journey that begins with, for example, on-demand pay or earned wage access, where we give them no-fee options to help them avoid late payment, penalties, [and] interest,” said Zaval. From there, provide education on cash flow management, savings, credit cards, retirement saving, and even health insurance, since many are still on their parents’ plans until age 26. This should be paired, Hurtubise says, with transparency on compensation and promotion opportunity timelines, so that young employees can realistically envision and plan for their future. The Culture of the Future“This generation, even more so than others, really cares about what their company stands for,” Frascella said. Gen Z employees show up to work as their full selves, and expect their company to be transparent in its identity in return. She suggests amplifying executive thought leadership, making statements on current events, and being transparent about corporate social responsibility as ways to better engage with younger workers. This can also mean giving workers a say in how they give back. “We allow our employees to vote for the charities that we’re going to support worldwide, and we have huge participation,” Marder said. “[And] we allow volunteer time off [and] have a very robust matching program.” Your interactions with, plans for, and opportunities to collaborate with Gen Z should all consider this generation’s unique perspective, technological prowess, and disrupted upbringing. “They have long-term visions and goals too,” Pell said. “Their whole life has been unstable. I think it’s a misnomer to think that they’re just thinking about short-term wins and short-term benefits and short-term successes. They’re really looking at what stability could look like at your organization.”Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Building a Borderless Workforce With Creativity, Culture, and AI
BY Katie Chambers November 11, 2025Marketing and advertising firm Ogilvy is careful never to refer to itself as a “legacy” organization, despite its storied history. “It feels a little stodgy,” Maria O'Keeffe, global chief people officer, Ogilvy, said during a fireside chat at From Day One’s October virtual conference. “We are a founder culture. There was one individual [David Ogilvy] who created Ogilvy. We believe in being a legendary brand.” The organization’s legendary status is rooted in its work's ability to transcend geography and culture. And it does this not only through its products, but within its corporate culture as well. During the session moderated by Nicole Smith, editorial audience director at Harvard Business Review, O’Keeffe shared how the firm builds a borderless workforce by integrating talent across regions while honoring local identities. Borderless Creativity Ogilvy’s workforce is spread across 120 offices in 90 countries, with major clients including the Coca-Cola Company, IBM, Nestle, Unilever, and PWC, to name just a few. “We have breadth and depth pretty much in every corner of the world that you can possibly imagine,” O’Keeffe said.The organization’s “borderless creativity”" approach shapes its business. “It defines both how we work and what our end product should look like,” she said. The client’s ad campaign is always the priority, then internal talent is matched to it regardless of their location. And the end product is just as “borderless” as the talent that creates it. “We want to ensure that our campaigns are multifaceted and not single output, so they can be interpreted culturally very differently from market to market,” O’Keeffe said. Nicole Smith of Harvard Business Review interviewed Maria O'Keeffe of Ogilvy during the fireside chat (photo by From Day One)One of Ogilvy’s most iconic examples of this approach, O’Keeffe says, is its work for longtime global client Dove. Ogilvy’s “borderless creativity” has kept Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign alive and relevant for decades across diverse markets. For example, Ogilvy is helping Dove get the Crown Act passed in the United States, to help combat racial discrimination against Black women in the workplace due to cultural hair styles. Meanwhile in London, Ogilvy and Dove launched the “Turn Your Back” campaign, encouraging young women not to use filters on social media to alter their true appearance, but instead to turn their back to the camera. While the elements of both campaigns are country-specific, the themes and goals are universal. “Those are examples of [how] we try to find the issue in the local market and then create a campaign that can be borderless and applicable across the board,” O’Keeffe said. Building Culture Across BordersDespite its global spread, Ogilvy maintains a cohesive culture among all its employees from the moment they join the team. “Every single new employee goes through a global onboarding that is consistent in every market. We have it translated into multiple languages to make it something that people truly understand,” O’Keeffe said. “Our values are global, and we don’t deviate from those values. Those are disseminated, they’re on walls, they’re on documents, they’re in communications.” But the organization also recognizes that naturally, there will be cultural differences from office to office and country to country, and that diversity should be embraced. “There’s certain tenets of the agency, like borderless creativity, that drill down into every single employee's experience,” she said. “But from there, we recognize that every region and every market has different cultures, and so we rely upon the leaders and team members in those markets to create a culture that is complementary to the global one, but very personal to the local one.” This is accomplished by having the company’s inclusion and impact teams create employee resources groups that respect the needs of each market. “Our expectation is that we meet people where they are through local leadership and regional leadership.” Technology is the key to building this culture quickly and effectively, O’Keeffe says. Ogilvy broadcasts local, regional, and global town halls to encourage ongoing and open communications that feel “conversational.” Employee surveys can help drive data, but rather than a cold email detailing the results, O’Keeffe and her team will create a video sharing the stats to make it more personal. Quick and efficient communications have also been integral in tackling recent political turmoil that can affect employees. The changes to H1B visas, which now cost $100K as opposed to the previous cost of just a few thousand dollars, “impact the decisions that you make around your workforce globally [including] talent acquisition and workforce planning,” said Smith. For HR, O’Keeffe says, knowledge is power. Stay on top of the latest news, find out how other organizations are navigating the changes, and rely on partnerships with governments and agencies to help you understand best practices. Tackling Changing TechnologiesAdvancements in AI are changing the way employees do business at Ogilvy. But it’s also inspiring some trepidation in workers who fear being replaced by machines. O’Keeffe and her team have stayed on top of the messaging and encouraged early adoption. “We pride ourselves on the human brain, and the creative product that comes out of that,” she said. Employees are encouraged to use Ogilvy’s proprietary AI tool WPP Open each day. “It gives us AI as a creative partner. It helps us mock-up ideas quickly,” she said. AI can also provide feedback on cultural nuance, letting employees know whether an idea that works in one region could have a negative connotation in another. And workers in administrative roles use AI to create outlines and summarize meetings, saving them time and boosting efficiency. Organizations must embrace AI to stay relevant, O’Keeffe says. “I don’t know a company that will survive without doing that.” AI adoption hasn’t been formally written into the organization’s strategy and KPI’s yet, she says, because “we wanted it to be a voluntary, comfortable, safe space for people.” For now, Ogilvy is monitoring AI usage on employee laptops to better understand how it’s used, whether it’s effective, and if additional training is needed. O’Keeffe says Ogilvy embraces a notion of “divine discontent.” “We never want to be too comfortable. This is an industry that is made up of diverse perspectives and diverse ideas, and so ‘divine discontent’ for us means hearing different perspectives in uncomfortable ways. We debate and we disagree and we poke holes in the work deliberately, because it’s important that the work that we do is culturally relevant,” she said. All of this comes down to a willingness to learn and grow, which has been a core tenet of O’Keeffe’s own career. She encourages anyone working in HR who wants to move into a global position to adopt an inquisitive attitude. Earlier in her career, she actively sought out opportunities that allowed her to travel and meet workers from around the world, far outside her home base of Chicago, and has now been in global leadership positions for nearly 10 years. “You have to be curious. You have to be open to new experiences, new ways of doing things, new points of view,” she said. “Listen. Ask a lot of questions. Be uncomfortable. Raise your hand for the things that you’ve never done before with people you’ve never done it with.”Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photo by Noko LTD/iStock)
Guiding Employees Through the Formidable Journey of AI Transformation
BY Katie Chambers November 06, 2025We’ve all had the thought: will AI replace us? With all the tempting talk of artificial intelligence’s speed, efficiency, and optimization comes the concern that it will also take away the livelihoods of human workers. But is that trepidation well-founded? The arrival of AI has inspired a mix of excitement and fear among workers, which calls for HR professionals to lead them in an unflinching and transparent way. During a fireside chat at From Day One’s Philadelphia conference, Sean Woodroffe, EVP and chief people, culture & communications officer for Lincoln Financial, shared how he has taken a spirited and confident approach to the transformation. The Role of AI in the Workplace“When you think about AI and HR, for some people, that may not seem a natural synergy, because a lot of people tend to think of it from the perspective of technology. But AI is really about transforming the workforce,” Woodroffe said. He thinks of AI in three ways:It’s changing the way we work.It can augment current workflows to make us more efficient.With its ability to extract efficiencies, it could thereby shrink the workforce.It’s that third point that scares people the most. “People are naturally worried about the impact that AI will have on the workforce in terms of job losses,” Woodroffe said. “Worry less about how AI might impact your job. The person that is adopting, leaning into, and embracing AI will always be better off than the person that's not doing it.”Pathways Toward Effective AI AdoptionRather than thinking of AI as a “job eliminator,” suggests moderator Earl Hopkins, arts & culture reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer, leaders should focus on workforce skill building to help them embrace the tools it offers. “The opportunities for roles to be far more efficient than they were previously is infinite with possibilities,” Woodroffe said. Lincoln Financial has rolled out Microsoft Copilot for all of its employees and followed up with training through an organization called AI Mindset.HR professionals themselves can benefit from AI tools as well. “When you think about the roles that we do from an HR perspective, much of which is providing advice and counsel, much of which is consultative in nature, the ability to effectively use AI to make our roles easy and augment what we do is what we should be thinking about,” Woodroffe said. HR professionals should get familiar and competent with using AI “because we’re the ones that are being relied upon to help coach the organization in terms of adoption.” Earl Hopkins, arts & culture reporter at the Philadelphia Inquirer interviewed Sean Woodroffe of Lincoln Financial Within his own HR work, Woodroffe says he uses AI to help him write job descriptions, prepare for talent acquisition interviews, and research compensation among competitors. He will take a candidate’s resume and job description and ask the large language model (LLM) to prepare him for a 50-minute interview. “If when you look at the job description and you look at the person’s resume, what are some gaps that might appear and what questions should I ask to discern whether those are actually gaps or not?” Education will become increasingly essential as technology continues to rapidly evolve. “I don’t think we have the full capacity now to appreciate what AI would look like even six months from now or a year from now. So, what’s important is that we open our aperture around the possibilities, and as the tools get enhanced, we spend a lot of time learning and embracing it. If you think about it, two or three years ago, we couldn’t fathom where we are today,” Woodroffe said. Installing the Guardrails“A big element within the HR industry is maintaining the human voice and ensuring certain information isn’t spilled out and made public that shouldn’t,” Hopkins said. So, how should HR leaders approach AI implementation in a way that guarantees safety and confidentiality? “It has to be used in an environment that is secure,” Woodroffe said.Another issue is AI “hallucinations,” or the information that LLMs provide that is sometimes completely inaccurate and essentially “imagined” by the program. Woodroffe advises all to be on the lookout for these, and to be detail-oriented and mindful when crafting prompts. “There [are] a lot of things that are unknown, so we have to be careful and thoughtful and make sure that we’re really using it in the right way.”One sticking point is remembering that AI is meant to augment, not replace. “If I wanted to become a molecular biologist tomorrow, there’s no amount of AI that's going to help me do that,” Woodroffe said. “But if I wanted to learn about a new aspect of talent management, AI will help me, because I [already] have a basic, fundamental appreciation for talent management as a practice. So, the point is: expertise still very much matters.” Woodroffe cautions “to be careful not to use AI as Google. We have to almost un-train our minds as to how we typically search for information. When you’re using Google, you might be asking for something specific, but when you’re using AI, you’re looking for reasoning. So, I think of it as sort of a first-year college analyst that I can ask things and [who can] get things done.” Going forward, Woodroffe will aim to hire candidates who are at the very least open to implementing AI in their work. “The burden is really on our shoulders to ensure that the adoption is done in a thoughtful, methodical way,” he said. “So, if you don't have at least curiosity, that’s a problem.” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
How an Iconic Brand Creates Employee Resilience for the Future
BY Katie Chambers October 17, 2025Artificial intelligence. Covid. Civil unrest. Political strife. Cultural reckoning. Environmental disaster. All of these upsets can be associated with just the last five years alone. With so much anxiety and uncertainty, how can organizational leaders help their employees cope? Since stressful disruptions seem to come along every day, Levi Strauss & Co. is taking a proactive approach to building employee resilience. That means preparing its workers for business transformations like AI, but also focusing on the many aspects of wellness: physical, mental, and financial.During a fireside chat at From Day One’s San Francisco conference, Bernard Bedon, EVP and CHRO of the beloved 172-year-old brand discussed how the company stays true to its values of belonging and cultural intelligence, while also maintaining its sense of purpose and commitment to social impact.How to Build a Resilient CultureLevi Strauss & Co. uses its Seen & Heard program to help employees develop cultural competence, says Bedon. This simulcast hybrid conference broadcasts live events from its Singapore, Brussels, and San Francisco headquarters. “For us, it’s a way to tie our entire population together around critical areas that we think are going to help the culture as well as the performance of the organization,” Bedon said. Having these international programs encourages employees to be curious about other cultures and how that knowledge can help them anticipate different dynamics and drive solutions. These honest conversations are important to building resilience in fraught times. “These disruptions that we’re seeing, whether they’re technological, political, you name it, have really broad impact,” said moderator Michal Lev-Ram, contributing editor for Fortune and contributor at CNBC. Bedon says HR can no longer be reactive: “Let’s not just catch people when they fall, which has been the traditional way that HR shows up.” Instead, HR needs to take an active approach to understanding how disruptors are impacting people’s lives, and build a culture to help them work through them before something occurs.Bernard Bedon, EVP and CHRO of Levi Strauss & Company, spoke with journalist Michal Lev-RamThis became particularly pertinent during Covid, when the disruptions just kept coming, from the pandemic itself closing the organization’s physical stores, to the murder of George Floyd, political unrest, California wildfires, and a general lack of faith in institutions. “I said, ‘We can’t respond and catch each of those things. So how do we then help people to catch and respond and participate in how they build up their ability?’” Bedon said. HR’s goal should be to help employees thrive, he says, building resilience through “financial well-being, physical well-being, and mental well-being…with the types of programs and culture that make sense.” That could mean normalizing seeking mental health support by actively advertising those benefits before they’re needed, or encouraging the use of long-term financial savings tools. Benefits should be approached with intention, he says, targeting the right types of options for various employee “personas,” such as early career, the sandwich generation, or those nearing retirement age. Building Upon BelongingBelonging is a key component of Levi’s core values, both with its customers and its staff. “We’ve applied it to how we look at our consumers, and some of our products are the direct result of getting that consumer input,” Bedon said. “The same thing happens with the programs that we have internally from a health and welfare perspective, education, manager training, and leadership. That is the way we get the best outcome and let everyone know their voice matters, and it’s going to drive us all forward.” Organizations should not see DEI as a detriment. “It is not to divide people. Who would say, ‘I don’t want to be included’? We think everyone does, so we try to find a way to get that information to make it better for everybody,” Bedon said. “I remember this conversation 30 years ago, this ‘diversity vs. meritocracy’ split. It was a false dichotomy, but if you buy into it, then you go down the wrong path. And so, for us, it’s: how do you follow the evolution of what’s necessary to do the right work, to get as many people involved as possible?”It can be tricky to create a sense of belonging when the nature of work has changed. “I think part [of it] is going to be listening. Picking up on the signals: What are people divided about? What are people looking for? What’s missing?” Bedon said. HR will also need to stay abreast of how work itself and the subsequent necessary skill sets change, especially those tied to emerging technologies. “Skill-building is a way to build resilience as well. Suppose people feel left behind by advances, left behind by technology, left behind by information. In that case, the resistance comes, and the bitterness comes, and the fear comes,” Bedon said. When it comes to AI, Bedon finds many employees “want help getting started” and have a fear of failure. Both can be mitigated through structured development plans and mentorship opportunities that leave them feeling empowered rather than threatened. A sense of ownership, Bedon says, gives workers the confidence to try new things. “One of the big takeaways: help employees participate in the solution.” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by David Coe for From Day One)
Inclusive Career Growth: Using Data and Innovation to Empower Today’s Workforce
BY Katie Chambers October 16, 2025Career growth isn’t what it used to be. The classic climb up the ladder has given way to a more dynamic journey, one that might zigzag through different roles, take a lateral turn, or even involve a strategic step back before leaping forward. Today’s employees aren’t just chasing titles. They’re seeking meaningful, personalized development that gives them room to grow with confidence, even when the future feels uncertain. During an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s Austin conference, leaders shared insights around inclusive and innovative career growth. The Importance of Versatility and Advocacy Much of modern career growth can be driven by the individual, with employer support, of course. To encourage employees to develop their versatility and curiosity, Google offers what it calls “20% projects,” allowing workers to spend 20% of their time on something outside of the scope of their role. Joe Davis, head of innovation, development platforms and learning ecosystem for Google.org, Google, benefited from this opportunity. “I went from an operations role in a policy department to suddenly becoming a marketing manager, overseeing three people and a whole global product. Now I’m in a corporate philanthropy arm,” he said. “The lesson here is leaning in, being curious, and figuring it out. Now after 11 years, I’ve got such a wide set of skills.” Carly Brunner, head of learning and development at Cloudflare, encourages employees to get invested in the company’s growth and development, becoming advocates for the organization and for each other while building their own skills and engagement in the process. “We say this a lot to our new hires: ‘If you see something, say something,’ like [in] the New York City subway. We find those that are the most successful at Cloudflare are those that [when they] see something wrong–and it doesn’t matter if it’s within their role or not–they’re going to step in and help,” Brunner said. Employees are also encouraged to advocate for themselves by asking for feedback, which is made available at any time through the organization’s HRIS, not just during review periods. If they don’t know what to ask, that’s just fine, as the company provides a template of questions if an employee can’t think of their own. This way, feedback becomes part of the company’s “employee driven, manager facilitated tools and resources to drive your own growth” Brunner said. Having an individualistic mindset within a team environment, says Ayesha Sattaur, SVP, HR at RWE, is not a bad thing. “[The company is] not anyone’s family. If anything, it’s more like a sports team. Everyone has a role on that team,” she said. “It’s important for people go in with the mindset that, ‘This is what I want to do, and if it’s not working out for me at this company, then it might work out for me at another company.’” A Pathway for Advancement“Every team needs a good team culture,” said moderator Cory Mose, sports reporter and anchor at KVUE. Having a clear roadmap for advancement within the organization can keep employees engaged, motivated, and focused on personal development. “Transparency is the key,” Sattaur said, noting organizations should have clear tracks with stated skills and competencies. Additionally, providing flexibility for employees to advance into different departments internally can boost retention.Organizations that make this information readily available will see greater trust in leadership and better morale among workers, says Patrick McNiel, principal business consultant at Affirmity. That’s because transparency engenders psychological safety. Panelists spoke about "Inclusive Career Growth: Using Data and Innovation to Empower Today’s Workforce"“There has to be that culture where employees feel safe to ask questions, to engage in difficult conversations, [and] to be allowed to make mistakes,” said James Billings, Ph.D., vice provost, academic affairs at National University. Leaders are the ones who should model that behavior, owning up to their mistakes and demonstrating accountability. And employees should be encouraged to recognize one another’s accomplishments. While self-advocacy is crucial, sometimes employees might not be aware of their own latent talents; that’s when managers need to step in. “Your managers have to understand what skills are needed in the organization. That has to be broadcast to the managers [with] programs in place to help them understand,” McNiel said. Managers should be trained how to recognize skill potential in employees and push them to thrive. “It needs to be embedded in the culture for them to be able to do that effectively. A lot of it has to do with skilling up the leadership on how to approach employees and engage with them so that they'll talk to you, so that you can probe and figure out where their edges are, where their gaps are,” he said. Relying on the job description is not enough, Sattaur says. Talking to your employees can help you learn about their skills, plans, and dreams for the future, and how that might align with the organization’s goals. Job advancement can be based in part on this qualitative input from managers, Brunner says, but should also be driven by data derived from quantitative skills assessments and analysis of aggregated feedback. For those employees who might be struggling with next steps, mentorship can offer further engagement and growth, Billings says, encouraging employees to think not only about vertical but lateral moves to find the next right fit. “It can’t just be your next role; it has to be your next skill,” Brunner said. “That is so often where employees get stuck: if it feels like, ‘You’re talking to me about promotion, that’s the next step, but I don’t have control over that as an employee.’”Skill-Building in the AI AgeIn terms of what skills and roles employees should prepare for, with the advent of AI, they should be focused on “human-centric tasks,” Sattaur said. “A lot of automated, repetitive tasks, like reporting, can be done now by AI.” And that’s not a bad thing. Accessible AI tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Gemini can level the playing field for employees, helping them learn faster and accomplish tasks more quickly. Sattaur encourages companies to engage in continuous upskilling as the technology changes rapidly. “For HR, it’s about making sure that you use it for inclusive growth, making sure that all of your employees have access to the same types of learning,” she said. While professional development programs using tools like LinkedIn Learning or Google certificates should be created with an eye toward organizational goals, leaders should not ignore employee desires, Billings says. Employees will feel more engaged with an organization that cares about their personal development. “Having a balance is important,” he said. Workshops alone are not the answer, Brunner said. They should be paired with feedback, cross-functional connection, mentorship, and stretch projects. Let learning and psychological safety for growth become part of the fabric of your organization, Billings says. “We as leaders need to make it part of the ongoing culture and organization so [employees] have the opportunity to engage those conversations.”Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)