Employee Mental Health and Financial Wellness: How Managers Can Be Empowered
BY Carrie Snider June 17, 2025Burnout, debt, disconnection: today’s workforce is carrying more than just job responsibilities. And when these pressures surface, it’s managers who are expected to respond first—and best.At From Day One’s NYC half-day benefits conference, a panel of experts tackled a pressing question: How can companies better equip their managers to support employees holistically? From emotional intelligence to creative financial wellness tools, the conversation revealed why empowering managers may be the smartest investment a company can make.Mental Health First AidEquipping managers with the tools to support employee mental health and financial wellness may be one of the most powerful moves a company can make, says panelist Sean Masterman, VP of global employer sales at Calm.“Managers are the frontline of employee experience,” Masterman said. “Training them in mental health first aid helps create a ripple effect across the organization. It starts to normalize conversations around mental health and builds psychological safety.”One effective starting point for those conversations? Sleep.“Sleep is the number one reason people come to Calm,” Masterman said. “It’s a non-threatening entry point into broader discussions around mental health, and it helps reduce the stigma.”Masterman also emphasized the connection between financial wellness and mental health, noting that financial stress is a top contributor to poor sleep and overall well-being. “We’re not just talking about financial literacy,” he said. “We’re talking about helping people understand their relationship with money—how it affects them emotionally and mentally.”Engagement with mental health resources can vary across generations, and Calm is developing content to reflect that. “Gen Z is deeply impacted by financial insecurity,” Masterman said. “That’s why we’re creating content that speaks to people at different life stages and helps them feel seen.”Stretching Budgets to Support EmployeesEmployers today are eager to support their workforce’s financial wellness, but many face significant budget constraints and market volatility. “Companies are desperately trying to solve this problem,” said panelist Aaron Shapiro, founder of Carver Edison, a financial wellness company. “They see the data. They know how important financial wellness is, but there’s a lack of tools. Budgets are fixed, and especially over the past couple months, there’s more pressure than ever to become more efficient, increase earnings for shareholders, [and] more volatility in the market.”This tension creates a tricky balancing act for businesses. Many financial wellness programs offer value to employees, but at a cost that directly impacts the company’s budget. The panel discussion was moderated by Tania Rahman, social media director at Fast Company“For every dollar of value that’s typically delivered to employees through some financial wellness programs, it’s typically $1 of expense for the company,” Shapiro said. “So you launch a program, things are going well, but then the market shifts, budgets get tightened, and you have to figure out a way to make money go further.”Despite these challenges, innovative solutions can break this zero-sum cycle. “If we can help companies break out of that cycle, it unlocks a whole new level of possibilities and really gives companies an incredibly unfair advantage, not just from a retention perspective, but also in being able to play offense when the world is playing defense,” he said.One example is Carver Edison’s product, Cashless Participation, which helps employees boost their income without increasing company costs. “Over 87% of employees that use Cashless Participation say that it’s a more valuable financial benefit than some of the others being offered at their company,” Shapiro said. “It not only helps free up disposable income for those employees but gives them a whole new level of flexibility when it comes to managing all of the other financial priorities they have in their lives.”By tailoring financial wellness programs to fit both employee needs and company realities, organizations can better support their teams—even when budgets are tight.Emotional Intelligence in ManagementA key challenge for many organizations today is ensuring managers possess a high level of emotional intelligence (EQ) to effectively support their teams. Panelist Allison Roberts, senior director of HR at Interpublic Group, emphasized that true engagement goes beyond just overseeing work. “They need to have a high level of EQ managers, and what it looks like is truly engaging with your employees and showing them that you do care about them, not just about their work, but about them as a person,” she said.Roberts noted that emotional intelligence is often overlooked when promoting employees into management roles. This gap can lead to managers who lack the necessary skills to provide meaningful support, especially in today’s increasingly complex workplace.To address this, IPG has invested in education and training. Their learning and development team has been doing a lot over the last few years on EQ training for managers to help with understanding different dynamics. Specifically, a wide variety of generations in the workplace together, she added. This kind of training not only equips managers to better relate to diverse teams but also fosters an environment where employees feel truly supported.Roberts also highlighted the importance of leaders modeling emotional intelligence themselves. “For leaders, it’s about modeling desired behavior, and we get them engaged, then the employees will see and they’ll engage more. And a little bit of self-disclosure as well helps with opening those doors for employees to feel a little bit more comfortable engaging.”Holistic Approach to Employee Well-BeingEspecially in sectors like healthcare, supporting employees requires more than just traditional benefits. Panelist Lindsey Garito, AVP of total rewards at Montefiore Health System, talked about the importance of addressing well-being from a holistic perspective. “Financial health and financial well-being isn’t just about finances. It affects our physical health, our mental health,” she said. This interconnectedness means organizations must consider all aspects of an employee’s life when designing support systems.Garito also shared a powerful reminder: “The workplace is not a car wash. It’s not a place where you enter the doors and you’re suddenly cleansed of everything that’s going on in your life.” This insight underscores the reality that employees bring their whole selves to work, carrying personal challenges alongside their professional responsibilities. For healthcare workers, this can be especially demanding given the nature of their roles.To address these needs, Montefiore’s team focuses on proactive communication and accessible resources. They educate employees and managers and HR partners about available tools, Garito said, “making sure that they’re fully equipped to understand all of what we offer.” This approach helps ensure that support is consistent and reaches all levels of the organization.During Financial Literacy Month, Montefiore took extra steps to engage employees with a variety of workshops and on-site fairs, providing “face to face time with employees” that helps break down barriers to accessing benefits. “We get a lot of direct feedback from the employees about what they need and what they’re looking for, and then that helps inform our strategy,” Garito said.Supporting employee mental health and financial wellness is no longer optional—it is a strategic imperative for organizations committed to thriving in today’s dynamic world. By investing in manager training, fostering emotional intelligence, and implementing creative financial wellness solutions, companies can build a culture of psychological safety and holistic well-being. As these approaches take hold, managers become powerful catalysts for change, enabling employees to bring their whole selves to work and navigate life’s challenges with greater confidence. Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.(Photos by Hason Castell for From Day One)
How to Foster a Corporate Culture of Continuous Learning and Development
BY Ade Akin June 16, 2025When Roz Tsai set out to build a culture of learning at Thrivent, she didn’t start with systems or strategy—she started with people. As head of talent, Tsai led a bold company-wide learning initiative aimed at developing every employee, from the front lines to the C-suite, and embedding a culture of growth at every level.During an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s Minneapolis conference, Tsai outlined how Thrivent built a framework for purpose-driven leadership training and embedded continuous learning into its culture. She was joined by three other leadership and human resources experts to discuss how their organizations make learning an ongoing, meaningful, and fun process.Reskilling Starts With Values“We actually started by redefining our values,” said Natalie Canadeo, the VP of HR at Epicor Software. At Epicor, that meant digging into employee surveys and conducting interviews to identify what being part of Team Epicor meant to employees. Their findings became the foundation for the company’s learning strategy, an aligned system that helped identify skill gaps and delivered targeted upskilling. Tsai underscores that Thrivent’s approach is highly intentional, with tailored programs for each leadership tier. Thrivent offers a “Leading with Purpose” program for aspiring leaders and a “Leading High Performance” program for established managers. Mid-level directors participate in next-generation enterprise leadership courses. “We want every leader to understand their role in aligning corporate strategy to their team’s day-to-day,” Tsai said.Peter Grim, the VP of training, development, and design at Sedgwick, says even the best-designed programs need infrastructure to succeed. “It’s not just about dropping a virtual course in someone’s inbox,” he said. Sedgwick has embraced a rigorous pre-teaching and follow-up process, prioritizing relevance, context, and reinforcement.Identifying Talent With a Growth MindsetDetermining which programs are best suited for each employee is as vital as developing learning programs. “We use nine-box talent reviews,” Canadeo said, referring to the classic tool many talent managers use to map employee performance and potential. However, she stresses that conversations remain the more reliable marker to gauge those metrics. “One manager might see someone differently than their peers do. That feedback is crucial,” she said.Corey Criswell, the chief leadership officer, Americas at Adeption, points to experience-based development. She focused on identifying critical learning experiences that could prepare employees for new roles during his time at Target before joining Adeption.Dee DePass, business reporter at the Star Tribune, moderated the discussion “It’s not always about content; it’s about the kind of exposure and experiences people get,” Criswell said.Tsai highlights the risk of bias in talent reviews. “There’s no blood test for high potential,” she said. Without a structured assessment process, organizations can fall into the trap of overvaluing traits like charisma or familiarity. Instead, Thrivent looks for specific signals: learning agility, hunger for growth, and a willingness to challenge the status quo.How to Make Learning StickAll four panelists agreed that making continuous learning programs an integral part of an organization’s culture is often more challenging than launching them. The solution is to create learning ecosystems with relevant courses and measure behavioral change. Companies should strive to incorporate real business challenges into their training experiences. “That way, the learning ladders back to something real,” Criswell said. She also suggests that organizations encourage learners to participate in peer coaching groups and conduct small, real-world experiments to apply their new skills, thereby creating opportunities for reflection, accountability, and immediate feedback. “The goal is to make learning active and personally meaningful,” said Criswell.Grim echoed the importance of post-training support. “Follow-up coaching is critical,” he said. Sedgwick utilizes coaching sessions and mentoring after courses to enhance retention and provide opportunities for the practical application of skills learned. He also raised a common issue: subject-matter experts aren’t always effective teachers.Tsai broke it down simply: “Practice builds fluency. Adults learn when it’s relevant, repeated, and emotional.” She describes using storytelling and leader vulnerability to create emotional anchors. “You can’t tell people to ‘build psychological safety’ and expect change. They need repetition and practice.”Making Learning Engaging and FunLearning new things becomes more challenging when it’s formulaic, so it’s crucial for programs to be engaging and enjoyable. Canadeo shared how Epicor uses role-playing to engage new managers. “We bring in senior leaders to play the part of difficult employees,” she said. “It makes it real, and a little fun.” Epicor also incentivizes compliance training with contests and swag. At Sedgwick, Grim’s team creates humorous video content starring top performers from previous training sessions. “It builds a sense of community and pride,” he said. Employees who earn training badges receive custom virtual backgrounds for video meetings. “It turns a learning achievement into a visible win.”Criswell and Tsai both agreed on the benefits of experiential learning. Their organizations use simulations and games to drive home key lessons. However, Tsai warns talent managers not to prioritize fun over learning. “Make sure the fun has a purpose,” she said. “You don’t want your training to be remembered only as the day we talked about dream vacations.”Each panelist offered a closing tip for making learning programs feel more human. Criswell emphasized the importance of genuinely checking in with people, while Canadeo urged leaders to listen more than they speak. Grim highlighted the value of vulnerability, encouraging leaders to admit when they don’t have all the answers. Tsai offered a simpler reminder: bring more warmth—and even a few hugs—into the workplace. That spirit of connection echoed throughout the session, reinforcing the idea that learning is as much about human connection as it is about content.Ade Akin covers workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(Photos by Travis Johansen for From Day One)
Driving Clarity and Focus Through Your Employee Value Proposition
BY Jessica Swenson June 13, 2025“What we’ve heard from our employee base is that they’re tired, that this uncertainty wears on them, that they look for answers and stability from us in times of change,” said Becca Hagen, head of human resources for Securian Financial. “For me, that’s an entry point into a different type of conversation. I see this as a great opportunity [to] step in and provide that calm in the storm; to answer those questions and give people something to hold onto.”Today’s political, economic, and social uncertainty can put undue stress on employees, causing engagement issues and creating the need for a greater sense of stability in the workplace.Tools like engagement surveys help employers understand needs, offer clarity, and create a more stable, high-performing workplace.Securian Financial’s global metrics reinforce this engagement trend—the company recently reached an all-time low engagement rate of 21% across its 5,500 employees, Hagen shared during a fireside chat at From Day One’s Minneapolis conference. During the session moderated by Megan Thompson, special correspondent at PBS News Hour, Hagen discussed how they are addressing this. Securian leaders, including Hagen, set out to craft a new employee value proposition (EVP). A clear EVP can refresh a company’s internal brand and revitalize employee sentiment while providing shared language to help hold the company to its commitments. By collaborating with hundreds of employees through surveys, workshops, and other feedback loops, Hagen and team discovered “what brought people to Securian and what keeps them at Securian.” Megan Thompson, special correspondent at PBS News Hour, left, spoke with Becca Hagen, head of HR at Securian Financial Blending these internal insights with external research, they used an iterative process to create an authentic tagline that represents and informs their broader value proposition framework: Careers with Enduring Impact.To embrace the company’s legacy and purpose while holding space for new elements preparing it for its next chapter, she says, Securian created three pillars to support this new banner statement: Make a Difference, Grow and Thrive, and Succeed Together.The first pillar acknowledges the impact their work has on people’s lives and their commitment to their local communities. The company’s track record of volunteering and giving back to the community is a part of their organizational DNA and is very meaningful to employees, says Hagen.Pillar two addresses the personal and professional growth integrated into any career trajectory. It is important to recognize not only what the company offers in the realm of upskilling and professional experience, but to also support employee well-being outside of the workplace. Pillar three celebrates being a vital part of a high-performing team whose members support each other to do their best work.To ensure the integration and long-term employee engagement with this new EVP framework, Securian is investing in the development of people leaders and facilitating their personal adoption of the initiative. Through an authentic connection with the EVP and clarity around expectations, leaders will be positioned to champion the employee rollout and more effectively embed it into daily life at Securian, says Hagen, which is certain to elevate the employee experience and boost performance. “This can’t just be words on a page. This is how we aspire to show up each and every day.” she said.Hagen shared that it is by design that different people are resonating with different parts of the program. “We’re not going to be all things to all people, but we do believe that there’s something in it for everyone, and that it will restore that excitement, that belief, that hope in the future.”Another way the company is offering employees a sense of stability and clarity is with an enterprise-wide artificial intelligence (AI) readiness and digital literacy training initiative. The goal is for 100% of associates to have a baseline AI proficiency, preparing them not only for Securian’s current AI-integrated workstreams, but for future expansion. “The team has responded incredibly well because I think they feel like now they’re part of the journey. The fear of AI has melted away a little bit because it’s been replaced with curiosity and a feeling of investment,” she said. Knowing that discomfort with uncertainty is driven by a lack of control or answers, Hagen and team hope that this new framework will empower employees by providing a decision-making framework and reducing ambiguity about Securian’s values. “By giving clarity and the opportunity to sign on for what we believe is a really compelling proposition, we’re giving people something that creates certainty.”Jessica Swenson is a freelance writer based in the Midwest. Learn more about her at jmswensonllc.com.(Photos by Travis Johansen for From Day One)
The New Era of Hiring: How to Make it Personal, Equitable, and Fast
BY Carrie Snider June 12, 2025From transforming passive talent pools into engaged communities, to using AI as a smart assistant, this new wave of recruitment puts people first while turbocharging efficiency. Today’s hiring leaders are reimagining recruitment as a strategic, personalized, and inclusive journey. At From Day One’s NYC half-day TA conference, panelists shared how they’re harnessing technology, data, and genuine human connection to rewrite the rules of hiring. Here’s what industry insiders are saying about creating hiring experiences that truly work for candidates and employers.From Talent Pools to Talent CommunitiesWhen it comes to sourcing strategies, Jessica Malachowski, VP of direct sourcing and strategic talent acquisition resources at Atrium, sees a clear difference between traditional talent pools and emerging talent communities. And for her, it’s not just semantics—it’s strategy.“If you think about the words itself, a talent pool versus a talent community—a community is where you belong,” Malachowski said. “There’s a level of engagement that happens because you feel like you belong.”That sense of belonging is what drives the effectiveness of talent communities. Rather than collecting resumes for future openings, talent communities are about building meaningful relationships with candidates over time. It’s an active process, one that involves branding, communication, and providing ongoing value. “Maybe they get a newsletter. Maybe there’s some marketing engagement that you’re giving to them,” she said. “It’s truly about building that relationship and ensuring that you’ve got quality people that are part of that community, that are truly on the ready.”This evolution in approach requires TA leaders to think more strategically—and to have a seat at the table. “If we can align our goals with the business goals, they’ll reserve us a spot at the table,” she said. Preparedness is key. When recruiters invest in two-way relationships with talent, they’re more likely to have qualified, interested candidates ready when roles open. It’s a shift that’s making sourcing more personalized, inclusive, and ultimately, more effective.Embracing Data-Driven Hiring to Support Candidates and Recruiters AlikeKim Stevens, director of talent acquisition at Employ, knows firsthand how challenging today’s hiring landscape is—for both recruiters and candidates. “There’s a ton of people that are in the job market, and in comparison to the jobs, the candidate pool is exponentially higher,” she said. “Recruiters need something to help automate communications to candidates.”This imbalance has sparked a greater reliance on data and AI to bring efficiency and empathy into the hiring process. Stevens herself was a job seeker for nearly a year before joining Employ, and that experience informs how she approaches her work. “It was defeating. You’re kind of viewed as just a piece of paper,” she said. “It’s not a recruiter’s fault, it’s just the landscape right now.”Kelly Bourdet, the founder of Apparata Media, far left, moderated the discussion At Employ, which owns platforms like Lever, Jobvite, and JazzHR, Stevens is helping shape how technology can drive more intentional, inclusive hiring. With the recent acquisition of Pillar AI, Employ is adding tools that not only transcribe interviews but also help deliver feedback and better match candidates to roles. But data is only powerful when it’s used well. Stevens emphasized the importance of reviewing candidate source data to track diversity metrics and refine outreach strategies. Ultimately, the role of AI and data not just as a way to fill roles faster, but as a means to support people, says Stevens. “Our audience is overwhelmed,” she said. “We just need to be there to support, coach, and guide.”Skill-Matching Technology New York Life is harnessing AI-powered skill-matching tools to enhance the recruiting process for both candidates and hiring teams. With more than 100,000 applicants for just 1,400 positions last year, Glenn Padewski, head of experienced hiring and executive search, understands the scale of the challenge—and the opportunity. “It’s easier to get into Harvard than it might be to get a job at New York Life based on those numbers,” he joked.To address this imbalance, Padewski’s team implemented skill-matching technology designed to elevate the experience across the board. “On the candidate side, they drag and drop their resume into the system, which then aligns them with other jobs in the organization that may be a fit,” he said.. “So not only are they seeing that one job they were initially attracted to, now they’re seeing other potential matches.” This broadens opportunities for candidates while creating a more personalized application journey.The tool also empowers recruiters by prioritizing candidates based on how closely their skills and attributes align with open roles. “This allows our recruiters to spend time with the candidates who are most closely aligned to that job description,” Padewski said. “They're stopping right at our applicant tracking system and seeing who's qualified.”Hiring managers also benefit, with streamlined tools to review and disposition candidates directly. “They can thumbs-up or thumbs-down right within the tool, triggering the recruiter to move them through the process or send a rejection email, providing immediate feedback.”The result? Faster interview scheduling, smarter hiring decisions, and a better experience for everyone involved. “We’re seeing now, from the time we’re interested in interviewing a candidate to the time they interview, it’s less than four days,” he said. Balancing Data With Storytelling Cassandre Joseph, global head of talent acquisition for R&D at Novartis, emphasizes the evolving role of technology in recruiting, especially the growing influence of AI, and the critical need to blend data with human storytelling. “There’s no more burying your head in the sand as it relates to AI,” she said. “At some point, everyone in talent acquisition needs to get started somewhere.” Joseph acknowledges that while the pace varies by organization, the first step is essential.Yet, she cautions against blind adoption of technology. “I get tons of emails about new AI tools promising to solve all our problems. But we know our companies and how they operate, and not every technology is the right technology for you.” Her advice is clear: organizations must be laser-focused on what works and cut loose what doesn’t—quickly. “If you don’t, you waste time and energy integrating a tool that actually doesn’t fit your company.”Joseph emphasized the indispensable role of the human element alongside AI. “It’s no longer enough to just look at resumes or ask basic questions. You have to understand what hiring managers truly want and align that with candidate evaluation.” She highlights that human connection and cultural fit, assessing values and behaviors, remain central: “Those questions about values and behaviors are going to be very important as we bring in technology.”Data alone doesn’t tell the full story. “If I tell you we fill roles in 40 days, and someone else says 60 days, so what? Is it quality versus quantity? Filling quickly doesn’t always mean better hires. That’s where storytelling comes in.” Talent acquisition professionals must bridge the gap by combining data insights with narrative to truly understand and communicate hiring success.AI as a Strategic ToolSteve Lavner, SVP of talent acquisition at Edelman, says AI is not a replacement, but a powerful assistant in the recruitment process. “AI is our assistant. I’m actually able to talk to AI and have the conversation about a particular search or candidate and get meaningful information back,” he said. This conversational interaction with AI tools opens new doors for recruiters to gather insights and speed up their workflows without losing the human touch.Lavner emphasizes the importance of transparency in managing candidate relationships alongside AI. “As long as we tell candidates this is part of a pipeline, and they understand that we want to get to know them, maybe not now, but maybe in five years, it creates trust and keeps the communication open.” This approach not only respects candidates but also builds ongoing connections in competitive fields, like financial communications, where knowing the right people matters.Despite the exciting possibilities, Lavner cautioned against ignoring the risks and biases AI can introduce. “We have to be aware that there could be bias in AI. The human part is crucial here. We must ensure diverse slates and keep pushing for diverse hires.” He separates diversity and inclusion from politics, focusing instead on tangible outcomes: “Sameness is not good. We want a diverse group. That’s what we do, and that’s what we have to keep doing.”Lavner called for vigilance: “The law of unintended consequences comes to mind. We have to stay diligent and keep this human, because unexpected issues will come up.” In his view, AI is a strategic tool that, when combined with skilled human recruiters, can transform talent acquisition, helping to identify the right candidates while maintaining the essential human connection at the heart of recruitment.As the talent acquisition landscape continues to transform, success hinges on blending innovative technology with authentic human engagement. By fostering inclusive talent communities, embracing data with purpose, and using AI as a strategic assistant rather than a replacement, organizations can create recruitment processes that are not only efficient but truly candidate-centric.Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.(Photos by Hason Castell for From Day One)
How Women Can Build “Experience Capital” to Overcome Obstacles to Career Success
BY Katie Chambers June 11, 2025Despite years of inclusion initiatives, the statistics for women in the workforce today are bleak. “At the entry level in the United States and around the world, for every 100 men who are promoted, there are 89 white women, but only 64 Latina women and 54 Black women,” said Kweilin Ellingrud, senior partner, director of McKinsey Global Institute, and head of diversity and inclusion at McKinsey & Company.Ellingrud, also the co-author of The Broken Rung: When the Career Ladder Breaks for Women—and How They Can Succeed in Spite of It, spoke during a fireside chat at From Day One’s Minneapolis conference. Since about 70% of employees across the talent pipeline are entry level, and 48% of them are women, this “broken rung” along the career ladder leads to a major disparity in representation among leadership roles. Her new book, based on extensive research, identifies the broken rung as more pervasive than the glass ceiling in holding back women from career success. Ellingrud reveals the problem’s underlying cause and where the solution lies: women need to build their “experience capital” to level the playing field and maximize their earning potential—and employers need to do more to address these inequalities in the workplace.How Experience Capital Can Help Women Thrive Ellingrud points out that women’s high achievements in early life often don’t translate to later career success, due in part to that broken rung. “Women today in the U.S. and most developed countries, receive about 59% of college degrees, are 70% of valedictorians, have higher average GPAs, [the] majority of master's degrees, and majority of PhDs. Women academically have been outperforming men for 40 years,” she said. But that 59% drops down to 48% in entry-level corporate roles, and even lower as they move up the ladder: women hold just 39% of first manager roles and 29% of C-suite roles, she says. “Women are much more likely to be heads of HR, CFO, CIO, chief legal counsel, [and other] important, critical support function roles. But they’re much less likely to run the biggest P&L or the biggest business unit,” she said. Why does that matter? When CEOs are promoted from within, they usually come from those numbers-forward positions. Currently, only 10% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. Kweilin Ellingrud, co-author of The Broken Rung signed complimentary copies of the book for session attendeesEllingrud says that the solution to this disparity is “experience capital: the wisdom you build on the job.” She cites a study of corporate roles that shows half of your lifetime earnings come from your education and what you bring to your first job, and the other half comes from experience capital, or what you learn on the job. “If women can build more and equal experience capital to men, we will catch up in terms of our career progression,” she said. This can also help close the gender pay gap. About 80% of the gap can be traced to two main factors: roughly one-third stems from women spending fewer years in the workforce, often due to childrearing responsibilities, while the remaining two-thirds is linked to the types of jobs and work arrangements women tend to choose. “Women, when they jump jobs, are much more likely to decrease in income quintile [and] men are much more likely to increase in income quintile. That could be because we’re choosing less competitive jobs,” she said. “But we also may be trading off things for flexibility, for deeper alignment with our values.” These are all good, valid choices, she says, but women need to find ways to continue building experience capital to subsidize their desire for flexible, meaningful work. Building Experience CapitalThe number one thing you can do for your experience capital in your early career is not choosing a role or a boss, but picking the right company. “It’s correlated with 50% higher lifetime earnings,” she said. The right first company will invest in your learning and development, provide cross-functional rotations to stretch your skills, and have a clear strategy for your growth. Another smart early career decision is “making bold moves,” or choosing roles or projects that use stretch skills far beyond your comfort zone. And women should make choices that put them in the “power alley” or “the cash register of your industry,” like a profit and loss role. “If you do start there, your lifetime income is likely to be 20% higher,” Ellingrud said. Even if you don’t stay in the power alley forever, that perspective will help you across other roles. Finally, “go where the jobs are,” said Ellingrud. Fields like AI, healthcare, and transportation are growing, while female-dominated areas like customer service and office administration are shrinking. Networking is a crucial skill, she says. “Women and people of color tend to be over-mentored and under-sponsored,” she said, getting lots of advice but few tangible opportunities. “70% of jobs are not even posted, so if you want to make a bold move, it's probably somebody who knows you who’s going to bet on your potential to rise to the occasion.” Women should also focus on building technological skills that go beyond automation but dig deep into how tech can interact with and transform a team. “It’s not Gen AI that’s going to take your job, it’s someone who knows how to use Gen AI,” Ellingrud said. Soft skills like negotiation, empathy, relationship-building, and inspiring a team are also highly valuable to making you an extraordinary manager. And women can succeed by developing their own entrepreneurship. This doesn’t necessarily mean creating your own business, but instead could look like starting a new imitative, creating a department, or launching a new product within a larger organization. The last factor for creating experience capital is preparing for the inevitable. What is the big inevitability for women in the workplace? Bias. When faced with two resumes that are identical in every way except for the name at the top, Jane Doe vs. John Doe, even women “will ascribe greater leadership and higher future potential to John Doe, because we’ve been so socialized in our notions of what leadership looks like,” Ellingrud said. This bias extends beyond the image of traditional leadership and into what is known as “the motherhood penalty.” When Jane Doe’s resume lists her active participation in a parent-teacher association, she is 87% less likely to get called in for an interview because we assume she will not prioritize her work. Remarkably, knowing that a man has children can work in his favor, as he becomes viewed as more trustworthy and stable, even more so the more children he has. That’s “the fatherhood bonus.” This means women need to be thoughtful in their approach to maternity leave so that they don’t lose momentum and keep building experience capital.They also must take their health into account. “Women, on average, live longer than men. We also live 25% more years in poor health” Ellingrud said, as they are more likely to be misdiagnosed or not taken seriously when they have a concern. Women have lower retirement savings, so they live less comfortably later on, and are less likely to be involved in financial decisions, even when they know just as much as their male partners. All of this comes down to smart planning for the future. Ellingrud and her co-authors compiled more than a decade of research and interviewed 50 women before deciding to write the book. She hopes that the information can empower women to make better career decisions. “Every time I would share [the research], I felt like it was new news to so many people,” she said. “And if you don’t know the facts, how can we make the best decisions and tradeoffs for ourselves?”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 Travis Johansen for From Day One)
The Push for Flexible, Personalized Benefits: How Employers Are Adapting
BY Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza June 04, 2025Once seen as back-office support, HR and benefits teams are now central to both business success and the employee experience.“Employees come to us as if we’re an educated consumer, understanding the health issues that they’re facing, that their colleagues are facing, requesting certain products and services,” said Stevi Evans, senior director of benefits at Weight Watchers. That’s a good thing, as far as she’s concerned. Not only does it indicate trust in the HR department, it also means that she can hear from employees, first hand, about what they need. “It’s definitely a new dynamic that has helped employees stay more engaged.”Evans and her colleagues in corporate benefits gathered for a panel on flexible benefits during From Day One’s NYC half-day benefits conference. The group traded ideas on personalizing benefits and communications, and staying flexible as needs change. Know Your PeoplePanelists agreed: A solid benefit program begins with knowing your employees.That’s been true at fitness club brand Equinox. It was Covid that forced the company to be flexible. With gyms and fitness centers closed, a large slice of employees (both part- and full-time) were unable to work, but the company wasn’t about to revoke benefits,” said Alana Kotlyar, Equinox’s senior director of global benefits. “So we’ve also provided the flexibility to reflect on what’s happening in our world when we’re setting hourly thresholds” that qualify workers for benefits. A fitness instructor can’t work 30 hours per week–that much exercise is humanly impossible–which is what qualifies an employee as “full-time” under the Affordable Care Act.Rather than follow the 30-hour rule, Equinox now sets thresholds by role. “It varies by job. We do two ACA measurement periods, which is atypical for an employer, because we understand the seasonality.” And the company now offers a basic health package, which includes mental health care, to all employees at subsidy. It’s “nothing glamorous–but it can get a lot of things done,” she said.Megan Burns, lead benefits solutions consultant at wellbeing benefits platform Benepass, says that the flexibility of lifestyle spending accounts (LSAs) can increase long-term engagement. LSAs are dollars that employees can use for any number of things determined by the employer. Think gym memberships or courses or childcare or even groceries. “It crosses so many different broad wellbeing areas,” she said. Plus, employers can opt to issue dollars on a monthly, semi-annually, or annual basis.Journalist Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza, second from right, moderated the discussion In fact, “sometimes we don’t realize how valuable a broad solution can be,” said Evans of Weight Watchers, who recently expanded the list of items eligible for the company’s wellness reimbursement to include groceries for part-time employees. “Sometimes the basic necessities are what goes a long way for people, compared to buying the newest sneakers or the newest pair of Lululemon leggings,” she said. “We used data [about our employees] to make that decision, and it worked well for us.”According to Benepass’s 2025 benchmarking report, financial health represents an emerging category in terms of employer spend,” and “It’s because of the feedback they’re getting from employees,” said Burns. Marketing Flexible BenefitsOf course, communications and long-term engagement is a concern for any benefits team. “A lot of people come to us looking for the newest channel,” said Guy Westermeyer, owner and founder of marketing agency Westcomm. “The bad news is, there’s not a newest channel. It’s still all the same channels.” What really matters is personalization and segmentation. For instance, one of Westcomm’s clients is a hospital system in Louisiana. It employs 40,000 people, but once applied a single communications strategy. “They were telling employees about benefits they weren’t eligible for.”Another client had been translating its benefits information from English into Spanish without considering the nuance of language. Puzzlingly, the Spanish-speaking demographic of its workforce wasn’t enrolling in medical plans, but it wasn’t a problem of desire, it was a problem of translation. “They were electing life insurance because they thought that covered their life–and thought that covered their medical,” Westermeyer said.By knowing your workforce–mistakes like these can be avoided.“We try to hit them where they are and the way that they ask to be communicated,” said Emma Stern, head of global benefits at Bausch + Lomb, which employs both office workers and frontline workers. They put benefits information on paper, pin it to bulletin boards, and link to it via QR codes. And where employees “have stand-up meetings in the morning with site leaders, so we get [benefits] on that agenda,” Stern said. And more recently, the company lined ticker-tape on TV screens with benefits info. Everywhere, in a myriad forms, employees can get their hands on good information.Kotlyar noted that employers interested in personalizing benefits don’t need to go shopping for new vendors to make it happen. “The simplest place to start with personalization is in your own current ecosystem,” she said. Vendors change and evolve over the years, they add new programs and services, they find new ways to solve problems. Or, you can work with them to come up with new solutions. “You can push your current vendors, from a negotiation perspective, to do a little bit more, stretch them a little bit.”Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is an independent journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about business and the world of work. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Inc., and Business Insider, among others. She is the recipient of a Virginia Press Association award for business and financial journalism.(Photos by Hason Castell for From Day One)
The Din of Stress: How Benefits Leaders Can Help Workers Cope With Instability
BY Ade Akin June 02, 2025When Rachel Marling moved to New York to study photography at Pratt Institute, a career in human resources was far from her mind. However, like many others working entry-level jobs, she discovered that career detours can lead to unexpected destinations.“I joke with my colleagues that it’s the natural segue into HR,” Marling said during a fireside chat at From Day One’s NYC half-day benefits conference. The unorthodox start gave her a deep understanding of the intersecting paths of life and work.Marling joined New York Presbyterian Hospital in 2018 after spending over 13 years at a management consulting firm. Less than two years later, she dealt with the disruptions that came after Covid-19. The world has been in flux ever since, forcing businesses and workers to adapt as best they can. “And we’ve come past that hump, but I’m not sure that all of the anxiety and the agita is gone,” she said. Marling, now the VP of total rewards at New York Presbyterian Hospital, shared insights and experiences about how leaders can help navigate instability and the unknown. One way she does so is by focusing on employee well-being. From a business perspective, it’s in the employers’ interests to keep their workers motivated. This is a challenging burden to bear at a time when businesses and people face hardships like soaring prices, high rents, and instability from ever-changing government policies.Rachel Marling, VP of total rewards at New York Presbyterian Hospital, spoke with Steve Koepp, editor in chief of From Day OneHealthcare providers like New York Presbyterian need their staff to be mentally present so patients receive the highest quality of care. “Nurses are a big part of our workforce, and nursing does still skew female in particular age brackets. So, thinking about the demographics of our employee body, we have invested a lot in what I will call family-friendly benefits,” Marling said. The benefits include daycare subsidies, college coaching for older kids, and elder care services. Such programs help lighten the load of caregivers, allowing staff to focus on patient care while at work. The programs pay off by reducing adverse outcomes like absenteeism, presenteeism, and employee turnover.While it’s tempting to view additional employee benefits as unnecessary overhead that organizations can avoid, Marling has a different take. “We can’t spend money we don’t have, but investing in your workforce is the same as investing in equipment that you need,” she said. “You can’t run a business without people, and those people need to be healthy, they need to be plugged in, they need to be engaged.”Marling suggests negotiating with service providers to manage costs. “We all in our organizations are looking at market volatility and costs and saying, ‘What does this mean for us?’ Your vendors are doing that too,” she said. “So don’t be afraid when you’re going to contract, or even if your contract isn’t up. If there’s something that you want or you need, ask for it. The worst they can say is no.”Some service providers guarantee specific outcomes or returns on investment, she says. “You can, of course, hold them to those terms. So that’s something that you should absolutely ask about if you’re going down that avenue.” Vendors also offer flexibility in their pricing models. Some accept annual retainers and charge clients for every employee who uses their services, while others charge a flat fee regardless of the number of employees who use their services. Employers should invest in models that work for them and their workers.Marling also addressed how AI is changing how we interact with data. “Because of HIPAA reasons, we’re not in our claims data,” she elaborated. This is where AI comes in, keeping patients anonymous while executing pattern recognition to predict and hopefully improve patient outcomes.Healthcare organizations can use the results to shape wellness programs for individuals who may benefit from such interventions statistically. To ensure HIPAA compliance, healthcare providers also use AI-powered tools to execute patient outreach functions.Ultimately, wellness and productivity tools are most effective when used with intention. Marling urges leaders to be purposeful in how they support their teams, offering encouragement while also recognizing the challenges employees face both at work and at home.“It really makes a difference in how people show up, right? Are they coming to work feeling supported, feeling that you get it, or is work becoming another source of stress for them? You can’t fix their financial problems, but you can make them feel heard and appreciated,” she said. Ade Akin covers workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(Photos by Hason Castell for From Day One)
Building a Culture of Learning That Promotes Reskilling
BY Carrie Snider May 30, 2025The need for continuous skill development is essential for survival and growth in today’s world. Reskilling employees to meet evolving demands is no longer a one-off training initiative but a core part of cultivating a thriving corporate culture of learning. At From Day One’s Dallas conference, industry experts gathered to explore how organizations can embed reskilling into their core. Embedding reskilling into a corporate culture starts by reframing how organizations view talent—through the lens of skills. Kymberly Kuebler, VP of talent at Aimbridge Hospitality, shared how her company is shifting toward a skills-based workforce, beginning with redefining leadership.“One of the key competencies [for leaders] is ‘develop talent,’” Kuebler said. “That’s an expectation we set for all of our leaders.” But setting expectations isn’t enough. Aimbridge provides managers with practical tools to translate expectations into action. “We have an apprentice program to learn how to be a general manager of a hotel,” she said. “Part of the expectation is that their leader has a guide about how to check in with them, so we’re giving the managers the questions to ask so they can facilitate that learning along the way.”Kuebler stressed the importance of application over theory, citing the enduring 70-20-10 learning model where 70% of development happens on the job. Without embedding application, learning won’t stick.Technology also plays a pivotal role, she says. Aimbridge used AI to analyze and rewrite job descriptions based on top skills, accelerating what would have taken months into weeks. Their approach turns skills-based strategy from buzzword to business imperative. “What hasn’t changed is that 70-20-10 model, and 70% is application. If you’re not building that into how people are learning, then they’re not really learning.”Cross-Functional Alignment is KeyCreating a culture of continuous learning and mobility demands alignment across functions. Melanie Stave, SVP, career development & mobility practice leader, at LHH, emphasized that HR, talent acquisition, recruiting, learning and development, and organizational development must be synchronized. “They all need to know what everybody’s doing, so that the talent management process is defined from the top, and they have a plan,” Stave said.Clear communication, especially with managers, is vital. Managers are often the “lost population” in talent strategies, lacking visibility into their teams’ skills or clarity on mobility opportunities. Stave urged organizations to provide managers with better support to drive development effectively.Christine Perez, editor at D CEO Magazine, moderated the discussion Transparent communication helps alleviate employee fears around technology-driven change. Rather than a cold, impersonal process, mobility should feel like a “white glove service” that keeps the human element front and center.With alignment, organizations foster a culture where employees feel safe to express their career aspirations openly. It creates a culture where people don’t fear looking for a new job, instead they love it, but also love growth, she says. Retention Tied to Internal MobilityRetention isn’t about perks; it’s about purpose. Arthur Lucien, VP of learning and development for the Expert Engineer Program at JPMorgan Chase, highlighted internal mobility as a key retention driver often overlooked in today’s talent wars.“There’s this fantasy that if you’re good at what you do, someone will find you and give you what you’re looking for,” Lucien said. “That doesn’t always happen.”JPMorgan Chase targets mid-level performers who want to grow but are often neglected. “Your mid performer, the person who’s good but wants to be great, they get left behind all the time,” he said. Losing these employees means losing potential top talent.Lucien warned of the “deployment cliff,” employees earn new skills but managers are unprepared to help them apply those skills. Partnering with managers to provide tools, time, and transparency is crucial to avoid losing talent after development.Tracking Individual Development Plans (IDPs) is also key. “If we don’t know what people are working on, we’re on the clock until they leave,” he said. Leverage AI as a Tool for EfficiencyMike Sample, head of global strategic L&D at JLL, described how curiosity led him into AI and transformed his role. “I didn’t know what AI was,” he admitted. “I tend to be a late adopter. So I decided that I would learn a little bit about AI. I learned what a large language model was, and that helped me out a lot.”Sample sees AI not as a threat but a tool to create “white space,” freeing up time from mundane tasks to focus on creative, meaningful work.“Look at what you do, and then see what AI can help you do,” he said. “Some of the fear just comes from the unknown. But what if I could show you a way to save time doing something you don’t even like doing?”All that said, efficiency isn’t only automation; it’s engagement. Sample stressed listening to employees and encouraging a learning culture based on inquiry. “Never tell what you can ask,” he said. “When people feel engaged, they learn more.”AI doesn’t replace human skills like problem solving, critical thinking, and collaboration, he added. His advice for organizations? Start small, be consistent, and lead by example: “Learn the thing you know least about. Say out loud that you’re a little bit afraid of it. Go for it—and then teach someone else.”Learning as a Strategic ImperativeFor Molly McKinstry, VP of sales, North America, at Udemy, education is essential. “Learning is not a box check exercise,” she said. “It is a strategic, incredibly fundamental part of high performing, durable organizations that directly connects to business outcomes.”This starts with trust. Employees want to know their company invests in their future, not just their productivity. “If we are investing in their own skill development, I can't think of a more omnipresent way to show that trust,” McKinstry said.Learning must be personal, ongoing, and data-driven. It should be tailored to where employees are on their skill journeys and happen continuously—not just quarterly. Analytics should measure ROI through retention, mobility, innovation, and engagement.Digital access is vital. “People want to be able to learn when they want to learn, how they want to learn, where they want to learn,” she said. This empowers employees and addresses leadership’s gap in managing emerging technologies.“55% of employees do not believe their leaders are ready to bring Gen AI in a really intentional and strategic way,” McKinstry noted. Leaders must learn alongside their teams, foster vulnerability, and make learning fun.Reskilling requires a strategic, organization-wide mindset that incorporates skills-based development, aligned leadership, empowered managers, and smart use of technology. Companies that embed reskilling into their culture will retain talent, foster growth, and maintain competitive advantage in today’s evolving marketplace.Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.(Photos by Steve Bither for From Day One)
How Companies Are Using Internal Mobility and ‘Good Friction’ in a Tough Labor Market
BY Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza May 29, 2025The year 2025 has marked a change in the way companies have recently thought about workforce growth. Companies are laying off workers, shrinking management layers, and slowing down hiring to hedge their bets against an unpredictable economy. As employer caution changes the job market, it’s also changing workforce development.At From Day One’s NYC TA conference, leaders talked about how companies are handling a ballooning number of applications, making the best use of internal talent, and introducing “positive friction.”“Mobility is becoming more and more part of the recruitment conversation versus part of the retention conversation,” said Linda Marioni, head of US recruitment solutions at HR consulting firm LHH, who sat on an executive panel about how to improve the talent pipeline from end to end.“While it’s still a very important retention tool, companies are coming to us saying, ‘If we’re going through a transformation, how can you help us assess our internal talent and mobilize our internal talent so that we don’t lose that talent to the market,” she said.There are other ways to save on labor costs, of course. Previously companies used contract labor to patch holes in the workforce, hiring freelancers and part-timers for interim roles and non-core work, but that’s changing, says Marioni. Leaning on contract employees is financially more efficient for companies, and helps the firm stay more agile, able to dip into the market and pluck out niche skills when needed.Journalist and From Day One contributing editor, Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza, middle, moderated the discussionSerena Hutton, talent acquisition manager at Publicis Media says internal mobility is core to her company’s operations. Internal candidates go through the same process external candidates do, though current talent is given priority. The policy is still relevant when recruiting, though. Recruiters pitch Publicis to candidates as a place for employees who want to grow and move. “It’s about the growth that they can achieve while at the company.” And Hutton said it works–very well.When companies do hire from the outside, the number of applications is a consistent problem. Tom Brunskill, VP and general manager at Forge, which facilitates job simulations, says it’s especially a problem for those seeking early career applicants. “We’re seeing companies that typically receive two, three, or four hundred thousand applications increase by 50% over the last 12 months because of what AI has enabled early talent to do in terms of the sheer number of applications that they can send out.” The applications look remarkably tailored to the job, but the candidate behind them is often unserious. Finding applicants that are truly interested in the company is the old needle-in-a-haystack problem.Brunskill described the importance of what he calls “positive friction.” One-click applications make it all too easy for job seekers, whether serious or not, to apply to open roles. And thanks to AI, job seekers can easily and rapidly produce lots of applications that appear to be high quality. The result is piles of irrelevant resumes. Positive friction can slow down bad actors or lazy applicants. Job simulations are one way to do this.The number of applications is growing, but the number of recruiters to read those applications is not, Marioni noted. Hiring teams are being asked to do more with less.Tech is sometimes able to fill in the gaps where recruiters need help. Steve Koepp, From Day One’s co-founder and editor in chief, noted during the discussion that employers are electing for devices like asynchronous interviewing platforms and scheduling tools to manage application volume. Even though they’re simple to use, they can slow down hiring in ways it’s needed most, generating the positive friction that gives recruiters time to find the gems. “There are plenty of choices,” Koepp said. “That’s the cutting edge.”Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is an independent journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about business and the world of work. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Inc., and Business Insider, among others. She is the recipient of a Virginia Press Association award for business and financial journalism.(Photos by Hason Castell for From Day One)
How Talent Acquisition Leaders Can Navigate the Peaks and Valleys of Hiring Cycles
BY Jessica Swenson May 22, 2025By 2030, four in ten workers will have moved on from the jobs they hold today, according to a recent World Economic Forum report, underscoring just how rapidly the world of work is transforming.Paul Phillips, global head of business HR, talent acquisition, and onboarding for Avanade, believes that one of the biggest talent acquisition (TA) issues in his industry is attempting to hire for immediate performance rather than potential. To maximize longevity and value, it’s important to prioritize learning agility, adaptability, and courage to take calculated risks. These nuanced soft skills can be more challenging and time-consuming to teach than technical skills, so prioritizing them in the hiring process is key to building a resilient workforce, he says. In a business environment marked by economic and political uncertainty, growth for many companies has plateaued following significant post-Covid peaks. Avanade alone has seen a 50% global drop in hiring, with the U.S. market slowing more significantly than others. Phillips’ TA team has halved within the last 18–24 months, he said during a fireside chat moderated by Business Insider senior correspondent Emily Stewart at From Day One’s NYC half-day TA conference.“It’s the hardest part of being a leader,” said Phillips. “It’s really easy to be a leader when everything’s growing. The hardest part [of being a leader] is when you have to make some of those tougher decisions around the size and shape of the team.” He has since adopted more strategic hiring practices to better navigate these changes in demand. He keeps a core recruitment team in place to handle forecasted annual growth, and hiring needs beyond that are supported through scalable recruiting partnerships grounded in an on-demand recruiting model.Emily Stewart of Business Insider interviewed Paul Phillips of Avanade To effectively use TA team resources during those lower-demand periods, he redirects the team’s focus to increase billable hours by supporting client-facing teams through CV reviews, scheduling, and workforce planning. It is imperative to stay ahead of the curve and be positioned for future growth, says Phillips.While many organizations are being more prudent about their direct investments in technology and internal transformation, this leads them to partner with third-party companies like Avanade. To prepare for those peaks, his team embraces what he calls opportunistic conversations, which connect prospective candidates with recruiters and business leaders to discuss speculative roles. This proactively gauges mutual interest and capability, and creates an internal candidate pipeline to fuel future business growth.Phillips has established a team of talent pool managers to facilitate a regular communication cadence and cultivate relationships with external candidates. This helps eliminate candidate frustration and accelerates conversion once demand increases. “I always say ‘Clarity is kindness.’ I think it’s really important that you, up front, are very clear and set expectations about what this is and what it isn’t.” he said. Supporting relationships with around 2,000 candidates, this team helps create those ground rules and keeps both parties informed about progress until hiring ramps back up. Once it does, Phillips estimates that 30% of this pool will be interested in working with Avanade, greatly reducing the company’s time-to-hire.Fluctuations in economic and political conditions impact the candidate side of the labor market as well. While compensation pressure has eased for employers, he says, it can be harder to attract the talent they need or want because of reduced attrition and mobility.Additional coaching for TA teams may be needed to offset candidate uncertainty and job security concerns, and companies should look at any differentiators they can offer. For example, Phillips shared that since Avanade is a joint venture between Microsoft and Accenture, the company can offer technologists early access to emerging Microsoft technologies as well as exposure to interesting, complex projects at Fortune 500 organizations.Adaptability is always top of mind when managing a large global TA portfolio, says Phillips. Avanade offers multiple routes into the organization, as well as flexible, culturally sensitive hiring models. Its internal Avanade Academy invests in non-traditional talent to reskill them for the technology workforce, and then adjusts their exact entry path based on the customs and norms of their specific country or region.The company also embraces the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for its annual recruiting portfolio of nearly 300,000 candidates. Prospects can opt in or out of an AI-assisted experience, and Phillips says that nearly 80% of them opt in. Recruiters use AI to rate candidates on a letter-based system; humans still review the files and make the decisions, but AI insights help them prioritize candidates who may be better suited for specific roles. This platform has accelerated the recruiting process and freed up valuable time for the TA team, ensuring timely communication and an award-winning candidate experience.Jessica Swenson is a freelance writer based in the Midwest. Learn more about her at https://www.jmswensonllc.com.(Photo by Hason Castell for From Day One)
The New Essentials of Worker Productivity That’s Sustainable and Attainable
BY Katie Chambers May 20, 2025“How do you stay productive?” It’s a burning question in our hectic modern culture, and one that moderator Alexa Reed, digital editor at Dallas Business Journal, posed to speakers during a panel discussion at From Day One’s Dallas conference. The varied answers were both practical and philosophical, everything from staying hydrated and responding to emails within three hours, to taking extreme ownership and finding purpose in your work every day. If you’re noticing disengagement within your workplace, it’s best to turn to the source before launching any new initiatives. “Have you addressed the factors in your organization that caused disengagement in the first place? Because if you’re not careful, you could drop your people back into the exact same environment,” said Jonathan Thorp, chief learning officer at Quantum Connections.“Make sure you take stock: Are the objectives of the work at hand clearly defined? Are the resources clearly articulated? And most importantly, is the culture aligned with what you're trying to do and what you’re [seeing] in your workspace?” he said. Once you better understand the cause you can then create a strategy to re-engage. And don’t view disengagement as a bad thing, he says, instead, use it as a signal to know when it’s time to act. Regular leadership communication with employees can help them better understand the meaning and impact of their work, says Anitha Ramesh, head of HR at Tech Mahindra. But don’t just talk. Listen to your employees to understand what best motivates them, then invest in their answers. “It may be developing in a new area [or] giving them a stretch opportunity. For some, it may be compensation,” said Lisa Jennings, global head of HR, news and media at Bloomberg. Leaders and managers should carve out one-on-one time for authentic employee listening in addition to surveys, says Je’Mone Smith, VP, HR and diversity at Agiliti HealthCare. “[Make it] about the employee: What’s working, what’s challenging, and how can I help you?” Smith said. “And if [leaders] stick to that consistently, studies show that’s probably the number one driver of engagement in terms of the tools that are afforded to a manager conducting those one on ones.” EAPs (Employee Assistance Programs) not only provide benefits but can also offer insight into where employees need the most support, helping you better direct resources to where they are needed most. “Engaging with your EAP vendor or your insurance vendor a little more than what you do currently [helps with] understanding the underlying issues. Ask ‘What are the top trends you are seeing from our workforce?’” Ramesh said. “Then roll out specific programs.” The Impact of Employee Well-being on ProductivityEmployees’ mental well-being is top-of-mind, especially in the post-pandemic era, and can have a marked impact on productivity and engagement: happier workers are better workers. Bloomberg has developed an interesting strategy that makes well-being itself a way to engage with the workplace through its Mental Health Advocate program.“We give all our employees the [optional] opportunity to be trained and certified in mental health awareness. We bring in an outside provider [that offers] a half -day rigorous training and an exam,” Jennings said. Then they can be the “eyes and ears” in the office to notice when someone might be exhibiting signs of needing professional mental health support.Alexa Reed, digital editor at Dallas Business Journal, moderated the discussion among leadersIt’s also crucial to help employees feel connected to their work, no matter how scattered they might be due to hybrid or remote circumstances. Ramesh says employees feel more connected when they know that their company cares about them. Tech Mahindra accomplishes this through a program that incorporates all different types of personal well-being, including mental, physical, emotional, financial, spiritual, occupational, and social. And location councils help to recreate larger programs from the corporate level in a more localized way for a distributed workforce. Happy, engaged, and productive employees are a boon to talent acquisition and attention. “If you have engaged employees, they’re proud of what they do, they’re proud of where they work. So they’re the best recruiters for the company,” Smith said. “About 20% of our jobs that we [at Agiliti HealthCare] fill are based on referrals, and typically, retention is improved when people are referred. Turnover is reduced when people are referred to the company by someone that they know,” he said. The Role of Technology in Productivity Technological advances such as AI have the power to greatly increase employee productivity when used effectively. Panelists suggest careful check-ins with employees throughout the product implementation process to understand exactly how new technologies are working—or not.“We want to make sure that when we communicate what the new technology, the tool, [or] the training is, we have a two-way dialogue to ask the users, ‘What’s your expected outcome and what you need in terms of resources, training and time to actually pull off a successful launch?’” Thorp said. “It’s not just about utility. It’s about the entire UX range. It’s about the holistic experience.” Cultivating the Next Generation of Leaders Employers should be looking to the future not only in terms of technological advancements but also workforce development, priming the next generation of leaders for success. Smith strongly recommends hiring from within whenever possible, not only to save on the cost during the hiring process but also because those employees already have “buy in” with the company culture. Smith identifies two key qualities of great potential leaders: those who can communicate effectively with colleagues at all levels (“from peers to direct reports to the C suite”), and those who can listen and be fully present despite all the usual modern distractions. To encourage internal growth and mobility, Bloomberg offers its Embed Program, which allows employees to try out different teams or departments. “It’s a way for us to drive retention, drive people to feel like we’re investing in them,” Jennings said. “We’re giving them an opportunity to explore something internally, and it also leads to internal mobility opportunities. It’s been a great motivator and a great way for people to explore different internal roles, instead of us losing people to the market.” The program is open to employees starting in their fourth year, the time when the company has noticed people often get ready to move on. Similarly, Agiliti Healthcare offers Talent Tuesdays, which let hiring managers present internal career opportunities to current employees to spark their interest in moving within the organization. Leaders are so important, not only for the company’s longevity but for encouraging culture and inspiring workers within. Supervisors, Thorp says, should make their team members feel seen, heard, welcomed, and appreciated as the unique individuals they are. “It’s making sure people feel valued, and that you see them as a human being that has issues, that they need flexibility one day, or they need support in another way. It’s about making people feel that you care about them,” Jennings said. “That you’re not just here to churn out work, but that you're viewed as a person, and that you're being invested in by the 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 and several printed essay collections, among others, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Steve Bither for From Day One)
Culture That’s Real: Translating Company Values into Everyday Reality
BY Carrie Snider May 19, 2025What makes a company culture stick? It's simple enough to create a set of values, hang them on a wall, or tout them on a careers page. But how do you turn those ideals into lived experiences—something employees feel in their day-to-day interactions, not just during onboarding?That was the focus of a panel at From Day One’s Dallas conference, where experts explored how to turn company values into everyday practices. The discussion, titled “Culture That’s Real: Translating Company Values Into Everyday Reality,” was moderated by Will Maddox, senior editor at D CEO Magazine.When Jim D’Amico became VP of talent acquisition at Caliber Collision, the largest collision repair operator in the country with over 30,000 employees, he knew culture couldn’t be an afterthought. But he soon learned culture doesn’t change just because leadership says it should.“I thought I could set it and forget it,” D’Amico said. “I empowered my team to make decisions, even make mistakes, but didn’t account for the historic culture of the company. Changing culture takes effort. It’s not a quick turn, it’s a lot of work to right the ship.”Real alignment begins with what D’Amico calls a company’s “true north”—a clear mission and vision that resonates at every level. “Is it something the CEO just said on a whim, or is it something we can all align with and feel?” he asked. “Once everyone believes in that mission, it’s simply saying, ‘Great, follow me.’”Culture, he says, must be lived and felt. “People don’t want to be told. They want to be sold. And they want to see it in action.” When employees buy into company values, it shows in every customer interaction. When they don’t, leaders must act with intention.Embed Values into Daily SystemsCulture must be part of day-to-day systems, says Prisca Anuolam, VP of HR at Entegris. Early in her career, she saw how mergers often focused on structure, systems, and reporting lines, while sidelining culture. “We quickly learned you can’t just look at typical HR metrics,” she said. “We had to flip it—to put culture at the forefront.”That shift began with cultural assessments to understand how both acquiring and acquired companies worked. The goal wasn’t to enforce uniformity, but to help teams recognize differences and collaborate more effectively.When interviewing for her current role, Anuolam used culture as her litmus test. She researched Entegris’ values and paid close attention during interviews. “I gave myself 60 days to see how people are leading,” she said. “It’s coming from the top and the bottom.”Panelists shared insights on the topic "Culture That’s Real: Translating Company Values into Everyday Reality"Now, she works to bake culture into systems like talent management and organizational design. “If it’s not part of the employee experience, it might as well be a poster on the wall,” she said.She encourages managers to apply values in practical ways. When a new leader asked if he could use the company’s leadership profile in Excel to assess his team, she said yes—and co-created a tool he could use, which later became a potential best practice. “People should be empowered to translate values into their day-to-day.”Empathy Is Key to ChangeRebecca Degner, AVP of HR at Genpact, says that culture change is about learning, not fixing failure. “I don’t think we’ve had failure,” she said. “There’s always just learning lessons.”At a company focused on outsourcing and acquisitions, integrating diverse cultures is a constant challenge. Each team, generation, and leader brings different expectations and requires a unique approach. That complexity grew with Genpact’s recent CEO transition. After more than a decade under the previous leader, the new CEO needed to reintroduce vision and goals.“Culture is a lifelong change,” Degner said. “As we evolve, as humans and as technology changes, we have to keep changing.” For HR, the first step is aligning internal communication with that evolving vision.Not everyone will be on board with every change, she says. “We just have to make sure they’re on board overall.”Communication is critical, especially in a digital-first, hybrid world. “We have to communicate multiple times, multiple ways,” she said. With more than 150,000 employees globally, Genpact uses everything from bulletin boards to town halls with donuts and coffee to reach workers without email access. Empower Leaders as Culture CommunicatorsOne of Cyntosha Ervin-Drewry’s biggest lessons came from a failed acquisition. At a previous company with 52,000 employees, she was involved in acquiring a 100-person startup. While the larger company saw it as an exciting opportunity, the startup didn’t share that perspective.“We thought, how exciting for them to join our big company. They saw it very differently,” she said. The result was years of turnover and disengagement. “The lesson: think about culture during due diligence.”Now VP of HR at Flowserve, Ervin-Drewry works to shape culture proactively. As the company evolves into a higher-performance environment, it’s trying not to lose what makes it special—like kindness and helpfulness.But that niceness can sometimes hinder growth, especially around feedback. She’s helping employees reframe feedback as a form of care. “That constructive feedback is nice too—you’re helping people get better. You’re making our team stronger.”To drive culture, her team equips leaders with tools and messaging. “We do posters, emails, town halls,” she said. “But what’s most impactful is focusing energy on leaders cascading the message.”Leaders can translate corporate goals into context that makes sense, whether for a CFO or a shop-floor technician. “They become an army of communicators,” she said, “and the value is they can shape the message for their teams.”Authenticity and Inclusivity MatterAuthenticity is essential and should not be forced, says Hari Date, senior solutions consultant at Workhuman and professor of HR and business management. Recognition that is immediate and specific to what someone did has far more impact than generic praise.Inclusivity is also key. Recognition should include peer-to-peer moments—not just manager-to-employee. “Make sure everyone has a voice,” Date said. “Let peers recognize peers: ‘I saw you. You amazed me. You did great work.’” This reduces bias and builds belonging.Feeling seen and valued resonates across generations. Date teaches both traditional and returning students and sees the same priorities: “Will I be respected? Will I be valued? Will I be heard? Leaders who foster environments where people can bring their whole selves to work are better equipped to attract and retain talent.Ultimately, authenticity and inclusivity are cultural commitments. “Get it off the walls, get it out of the handbooks, bring it front and center in their lives,” Date said. That means making space for every voice and modeling the values your organization stands for.Ultimately, culture can’t be built in a day or by HR alone. It takes time, empathy, and leaders who live the values they promote. As the panelists made clear, culture transformation happens in small moments—in check-ins, coaching conversations, and how people feel when they walk through the door.Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.(Photos by Steve Bither for From Day One)
Balancing Cost Efficiency and Positive Outcomes in Employee Benefits
BY Katie Chambers May 14, 2025As the employee benefits landscape continues changing, it’s important for employers to identify what benefits their workers find most meaningful today. During the pandemic there was a big push for mental health support—and that’s still important given all the cultural and political uncertainty impacting workers in a variety of ways.But now, the physical, financial, and personalized offerings are returning to the forefront. At From Day One’s Boston benefits conference, leaders discussed the benefits that make the biggest impact for their employees. Here are the key takeaways.A Focus on Physical Health“With the advent of GLP-1s and medically assisted weight loss, one of the hottest topics we’re seeing in the industry is around weight management,” said Cody Fair, chief commercial officer at Noom. With GLP-1s, he says, “Think about the member experience first,” in terms of minimizing hurdles and prior authorizations. Consider alternative funding methods to access medications at a reduced cost to the patient through rebates, and add behavior change support in addition to the medication options for long-term success. “We’re [also] seeing a lot of talk around women’s health, specifically around menopause,” Fair said. Generally, he says, people are not just interested in living longer–they want to live healthy longer. Therefore, employers are best served by taking a holistic approach.“As an organization, we focus on the overall happiness of our employees. That’s something that we practice very intentionally as part of our cultural framework. And because of that, we have programs which not only focus on physical health [and] mental wellness, but holistic well-being, which includes even things like financial literacy [and] how we plan for retirement,” said Shahina Islam, VP, HR at Zensar. To increase DEI initiatives for an increasingly diverse workforce, employers can also consider adding benefits for fertility and resources for parents and those involved in elder care, she says.Serving a Large Workforce While Staying on BudgetModerator Rebecca Knight, independent journalist and contributor at Harvard Business Review, notes the challenges of providing adequate benefits to a large, diverse workforce with varying needs while also “staying on budget.” Part of the answer, says Amy Claffey Widell, global benefits director at Akamai Technologies, is identifying point solutions that can cover several areas at once, such as musculoskeletal, fertility, cardiovascular, and cancer, and then being able to prove the cost effectiveness.Leaders shared insight on the subject of "In Employee Benefits, Balancing Cost Efficiency With Good Employee Outcomes"“I’m creating that business case to our senior leaders: if we implement a mental health benefit, we’re going to see a decrease in claims from our medical spend,” Widell said. “[For example], we implemented a point solution three years ago, and we’ve seen a 10% decrease in the claims in our medical plan.”To determine ROI, claims analysis paired with employee feedback is key. Employee surveys can help you understand which benefits employees are using, which they aren’t, what they want and, importantly, what they may not realize is already being offered. HR leaders should remember that the vendors themselves are constantly changing, so it’s important to stay flexible. “Every couple years, revisit the market, see who’s out there, [and] see if you can consolidate vendors,” Widell said. “I don’t necessarily want to have 500 vendors,” as that causes confusion for workers and a headache for HR managers. ROI can’t be pegged to one particular benefit, since wellness itself is holistic. “Look at the cumulative effect of everything you do. Are you managing cost and trend from everything you do, and are you reaching the maximum efficiency on those things you do?” said Scott Kirschner, senior director, global benefits at Greystar.Implementing Digital Solutions“Employees are increasingly looking for a more seamless experience,” Knight said. That’s where technological advances can help, especially when it comes to healthcare and wellness benefits. “With digital care, I’m noticing that we’re really able to take an ordeal that could take three hours and turn it into a 30-minute access thing,” said Dr. Bijal Toprani, senior clinical solutions lead and doctor of physical therapy, Hinge Health. Healthcare apps allow for easy provider follow-up and opportunities for patients to access care outside of traditional in-person office hours, she says.“How are we going to get people to use [a benefit] if they don’t know about it?” Kirschner posited. Digital solutions also offer centralized access to benefits for a workforce that is becoming increasingly dispersed as hybrid and remote setups become the norm. Additionally, Kirschner says, employers should take advantage of the fact that everyone is always on their phones. Place QR codes around the office for employees to scan for benefits, offer webinars to train employees on the benefits portal, send regular text updates with an option to opt-out, and embrace internal email marketing. To meet employees where they are, you might need to get even more creative with your communications. For example, Toprani was able to successfully reach her truck-driving workforce by leaving cards about benefits on their windshields, since they might not regularly check their email. Focusing on Positive Employee OutcomesThe best employee benefits programs take into account the entirety of the population they are meant to serve. For example, even if most of your employees are men, Toprani shares, sending them information about women’s healthcare is important since they may be married or have daughters.For workforces spread across multiple countries, it may be necessary for HR to seek out local vendors for certain benefits. Menopause care in particular, Widell notes, is more accessible in the U.S. but does not yet have prominent global solutions available in other countries. Ultimately, benefits programs are meant to do just that: provide benefits. “Everything that we are doing we need to ensure that we have a very happy and engaged workforce,” Islam said. “Our annual survey has a big section on how employees are feeling valued, and benefits are a big component of 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 and several printed essay collections, among others, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Rick Friedman for From Day One)
Employee Mental Health and Wellness: How Managers Can Be Empowered
BY Jennifer Yoshikoshi May 14, 2025More than 90% of American workers say it’s important to them that the organization they work for values emotional and psychological well-being, according to a 2023 survey by the American Psychological Association. Continuing the growing conversation around mental health and wellness, more companies are putting programs in place to support the holistic well-being of employees. During a From Day One panel discussion at From Day One’s Boston benefits conference, executives joined in on a conversation moderated by Boston Globe reporter Katie Johnston about how managers can be empowered to respond to employee needs. For Robert DiFabio, senior director of global benefits and mobility at Waters Corporation, being able to address the mental health concerns of his employees feels mutually beneficial. To be able to provide opportunities that help people which at the same time help the company is a “win-win,” he said.“The happier or healthier employee is someone who also would be more attentive, less absent, more productive at work, more motivated, just simply, even more grateful for their employer for giving them tools and resources,” DiFabio said.Managers who are engaging with their employees to support their well-being are driven by the passion to help others and deliver support with resources that are customized and personal. Although some leaders feel satisfied by being able to help their employees, others might struggle with some aspects of being prepared to engage in conversations about wellness and checking in with their staff. While managers may know when to engage in check-ins, they might not be comfortable with the support that needs to follow these conversations.Panelists spoke about holistic employee health and well-being“My concern is that managers are maybe ill equipped to deal with what then comes from those conversations. So I think it's important that we be prepared as companies to provide them the appropriate training if we're going to expect them to engage in those conversations,” said Anne Marie La Bue, vice president of compensation and benefits counsel at Assurant.CEO and Co-founder of LearnLux Rebecca Liebman added that discussions about mental health are also considered taboo for many communities and cultures. She emphasized that it’s important to start “breaking down barriers to let people at least start a conversation around these traditionally more taboo topics in the workplace.”The Main Drivers for Stress, Anxiety and DepressionMore than 80% of Americans are living with debt and 46% of people making six figure incomes are still living paycheck to paycheck, says Liebman. Financial hardships are an aspect of life that company executives recognize needs more attention within the corporate world. When it comes to supporting employees that are impacted by financial struggles, Holly Duvernay, director of benefits at Crane NXT, says it’s important for managers to leave the bias at the door and create a space that offers open conversations with the employee. Without any judgement, asking employees what they need and how they would like support can build strong relationships with workers. “The difference between a toxic work environment and loving your job is a razor thin margin,” said Ryan Kellogg, vice president of partnerships and sales effectiveness at Talkspace. He adds that communication is key in the workplace. Training for Managers Annual manager training is often seen as a hassle to many, but Duvernay says this requirement is a great investment. “You’re equipping your managers again with those resources that they need to understand, but you're also sending a message from the top down that it’s a business imperative, and it’s very important to the business success that everybody is able to develop their own well being,” she said. Waters Corporation makes discussions about important topics a part of meeting agendas, allowing the team to set aside 20 minutes to talk about things such as mental health and emotional well-being. “It’s a way to be helping them, giving them tips, educating them without making it feel like it’s this strong, stern requirement,” DiFabio said.The company also has an online resource that is available only to managers which include tips, suggestions, guides and employee assistance programs. It also partners with a EAP vendor which is open for managers to call for one-on-one private coaching sessions with a trained professional that can provide advice on any situation that a manager might find difficulties with.Talkspace, an online and mobile therapy company, makes sure that its organization’s leaders see that mental health is part of the workplace culture. Kellogg said the company has “mental health minutes,” which are one to two minute Youtube clips that give managers the mindset about mental health going into the day.Kellogg says that Talkspace also has mental health first aid training sessions where the company has a highly intensive one day block of instruction for either frontline managers, middle managers or senior leaders. “Following that training, those individuals are now force multipliers in your own workforce, and it's a resume builder, it’s something that they accomplish. They get a certificate and by doing that, you’re creating a culture that’s generating energy around mental health,” Kellogg said.In order to build a culture where mental health is prioritized, managers might be expected to be accountable for boosting wellness. Duvernay adds that the accountability piece is in the managers ability to have regular check-ins, collecting feedback and being able to act on what they are hearing from employees. As a form of accountability managers have to engage, be proactive and anticipate needs, she says. “If you create that environment as a manager, to have that open door policy and to anticipate challenges and how you’ll react to them, I think you create that environment where employees are accountable for their own well being, which I think is really the end goal,” Duvernay said. Measuring Wellness TrendsTechnological advances have allowed people to gain insights on trends and anticipated outcomes. Data driven tools can especially be useful for measuring mental health and wellness trends within a workplace. Talkspace analyzes data on who is leveraging mental health services as well as clinical assessments. These assessments can give a deeper look into whether the company is rating high on anxiety, depression, work-life balance and allows the company to understand where its employees stand and evaluate how the workplace is impacting them, says Kellogg.While data can be helpful, Liebman acknowledges that usually this type of information is not known to companies until they bring in a third party vendor. It’s insightful for human resource teams to understand what’s going on in their workforce at different levels to identify stressors within the company, she says. “Having those insights allows you to add better programs that are specific to what your company needs and what will improve their overall well-being,” said Liebman.Jennifer Yoshikoshi is a local news and education reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area.(Photos by Rick Friedman for From Day One)
Agents of Their Own Growth: Encouraging Employees to Advocate for Their Career Development
BY Jessica Swenson May 13, 2025Non-linear career moves that may be deemed risky, like a lateral transfer with no increase in pay or title, can also offer unexpected benefits. Sumeeta Maxwell, chief people officer for Experian’s Global Functions and Centers division, took control of her growth early in her career by making a lateral move that diversified her experience and broadened skill sets that later proved invaluable. “Very quickly, I was able to demonstrate success and [show] that I can grow and have potential,” Maxwell said during a fireside chat at From Day One’s Dallas conference. She encourages team members and peers to value a breadth of experience over a traditional strictly upward progression, favoring opportunities to illustrate their capacity for change and learning. This is just one example of how employees can take charge of their career development at Experian. The company offers a variety of resources to attract, engage, and retain talent, but Maxwell says that one thing you cannot replace is the employee owning their development process. “Only the individual can actually seize the opportunity and then deliver on it,” she said. “You have to take charge of your development—constantly evaluate your strengths and find ways to leverage them through your development plan.”Given the current status of the US job market, is an emphasis on career self-advocacy a good idea right now? Regardless of the market, you can never go wrong by continuously finding ways to learn, gather expertise, and expand your skills, says Maxwell. One way to do this is to embrace stretch assignments or other opportunities for growth that are offered. In the midst of a transformation, Maxwell says, one Experian organization decided to further embed the tenets of its high-performance culture through an internal initiative focused on enhancing business goal performance. Senior technology leaders participated in a curriculum that combined learning activities with structured progress checkpoints to sharpen their skills in leadership, goal-setting, and communication. This program not only drove short-term impact to the business but prepared participants for high-level interactions through improved presentation skills.As a global organization serving around 150,000 clients and millions of consumers, Experian’s commitment to a flexible work culture is also crucial to the success of its 23,000 employees. Hybrid schedules have delivered high engagement and productivity, Maxwell says, allowing the company to “foster flexibility without sacrificing the value of in-person engagement.” Sumeeta Maxwell of Experian was interviewed by Steve Koepp, editor in chief and co-founder of From Day One However, with multiple generations, working styles, and sets of expectations in the workplace, Maxwell and team understand that there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It is important for companies to consider the nuances of a diverse workforce, but employees can also advocate for what they need to advance their career. While universally appreciated, she says, flexibility can mean different things to different people, ranging from flexible work schedules to self-expression and inclusion. “Inclusion and belonging is a foundational value for us,” says Maxwell. It’s a critical element of the company’s culture as it strives to reflect its global customer base and encourage employees to bring their whole selves to work. Inclusion and belonging at Experian is supported by employee resource groups (ERGs) which are open to all employees regardless of identity. Maxwell says that Experian’s ERGs provide not only a sense of belonging and community-building, but they are a resource that helps employees develop leadership capabilities, communication skills, and career mobility. Oftentimes, she said, “people will find out about internal opportunities through their friends in the ERGs.”Another resource available to Experian employees is artificial intelligence. The company’s philosophy on AI is that if you don’t adopt it, you’ll be left behind. So they prepare their employees to use AI appropriately, says Maxwell. “We’ve put a lot of effort into ensuring our people are equipped and trained to know how, when, and why to use it,” she said. Their system includes an internal AI coach named Nadia, which Maxwell herself even uses to prepare for meetings or specific conversations. Nadia is trained on the company’s strategy and leadership principles, so leaders can interact with it as if they were an executive coach. To really put employees in control of their career and internal mobility, Experian will soon launch a talent marketplace tool, Maxwell says. The platform is educated with internal career frameworks and role criteria. Employees will be able to create personal profiles and be proactively matched to open internal roles based on that criteria, helping them find ways to grow within the company. “The idea is, we really want our people to be able to find their journey and find their development inside [Experian], and not have to leave to find it,” said Maxwell.When it comes to advocating for your own career development, Maxwell says, consistent effort, strategic action, and hard work are essential regardless of your work environment. “Good communication skills and the ability to present never go out of style.”Jessica Swenson is a freelance writer based in the Midwest. Learn more about her at https://www.jmswensonllc.com.(Photos by Steve Bither for From Day One)
Building a People and Culture Team in a High-Profile Business
BY Ade Akin May 12, 2025Tarsha LaCour didn’t expect transitioning to the Dallas Mavericks in 2018 after a 19-year HR career at telecom giant AT&T to be as much of a stark contrast as it turned out to be. “It was culture shock,” she said during From Day One’s Dallas conference. Performance management processes were largely manual, employee records were kept in file cabinets, and staff frequently put in long hours that weren’t always sustainable. “I walked up to what I thought was our system of records, and someone pointed and said, ‘Those file cabinets over there,’” LaCour described during her conversation with Stephen Koepp, From Day One’s Editor in Chief and Co-Founder. For LaCour, now the Mavericks’ Chief People Officer, this became an opportunity to build an HR function as dynamic as the basketball team on the court. LaCour, along with former Mavericks CEO Cynt Marshall, sat down with every employee to conduct one-on-one assessments, mapping out available skill sets and cultural needs. “We did a compensation analysis to make sure everyone was at or above market,” she said. “And we built out ERGs, learning functions, business partners, everything.”LaCour prioritized staffing and technology to professionalize the HR department. Her first goal was to convince leadership to invest in recruiting, which was no small feat. Once that mission was accomplished, her second goal was layering performance-management, recruiting, and workforce modules onto the existing ADP system. LaCour followed that up by creating a dedicated diversity, equity, and inclusion team, followed by learning-and-development specialists.Championing Wellness and RecognitionLaCour went on to launch the Mavs Vitality Program (MVP) after recognizing the additional burdens game days put on staff, sometimes requiring them to work past midnight. MVP is a holistic wellness initiative that covers multiple areas, from physical and mental health to financial well-being, she says. “We bring in counselors on retainer and offer financial-planning workshops so our young staff can build real wealth,” she said. Alongside the wellness programs, the Mavericks created an annual award banquet based on respect, authenticity, fairness, teamwork, and safety (CRAFTS), where peers nominate and vote for standout colleagues. “We give out over 100 awards by team, then crown one True Maverick,” LaCour said.Leading Through DisruptionFew events have tested LaCour’s change-management chops like the recent trade of superstar Luka Dončić that left fans and employees stunned. “Everyone loved Luka,” she said. LaCour’s counsel to distraught team members was to acknowledge the loss, trust leadership decisions, and stay focused on the business at hand. She coined the acronym ACT (acknowledge, communicate, and trust) to guide decision-making during challenging times. “We empower our leaders with data to make fast, informed choices, rather than wait for C-suite direction,” LaCour said. Tarsha LaCour, chief people officer at the Dallas Mavericks, was interviewed during the fireside chat To stay ahead of changes and disruptions, learning and development has also become a priority. The Dallas Mavericks have embraced an ethos that embraces continuous learning under the guidance of new CEO Rick Welch. LaCour’s team curates OpenSesame courses on their learning management system (LMS), creating mandatory paths for new hires, people managers, and high-potential employees. Mentoring and coaching round out the offerings, ensuring team members gain core leadership skills that are transferable across industries. A Winning CultureUnlike some organizations that waver on their DEI commitments depending on political climates, the Mavericks’ dedication is ingrained in their DNA, LaCour says. “Sports and music unite people from all walks of life,” she added. “So, inclusion is second nature, woven into our policies, hiring practices, and vendor relationships.”The Maverick’s HR transformation underscores LaCour’s belief that winning on the court starts with empowering those behind the scenes. “Our end goal is simple,” LaCour said. “Make this a great place to work, uplift our community, and—yes—win championships.”Ade Akin covers workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(Photos by Steve Bither for From Day One)
From Data Collection to Strategic Transformation, How People Analytics is Evolving
BY Lisa Jaffe May 07, 2025“People analytics has always been about combining a passion for change with a deep understanding of data,” said Miles Overholt, founder and CEO of Strategia Analytics. The HR profession has matured significantly, moving from fighting for a “seat at the table” to being core strategic partners, he says. “People analytics is key to earning and using that seat effectively.”Once seen as a peripheral function, people analytics has become a strategic cornerstone for navigating complex organizational challenges, from workforce transitions to AI adoption. At From Day One’s Seattle conference, a panel of executives reflected on this transformation and on how data is shaping HR in real-time.“During the Great Resignation, we didn’t just rely on instinct. We used data to guide leadership decisions,” said Becky Thielen, general manager of people analytics, at Microsoft.As companies navigate uncertain economic conditions, she says, there’s increasing pressure to deliver holistic, high-quality insights with speed and precision.Paige McGlauflin, reporter at HR Brew, moderated the discussion about "How People Analytics Can Give HR Leaders Insight Into Employee Experience and the Future of Work"For Shanthi Nataraj, director of economic research at Amazon, it’s not just about tracking data–-it’s about understanding the employee journey. “We look at all the inputs an employee receives, from their manager and peers to external pressures like the job market,” she said. “These shape behaviors and ultimately impact business outcomes. We don’t view data points in isolation.”Amazon’s internal feedback tool, Connections, allows for real-time sentiment tracking. But collecting data isn’t enough. “The key is closing the loop,” Nataraj said. “When employees see their feedback drives change, it builds trust and supports engagement.”Data is increasingly democratized. “We’re empowering HR to tell their own stories,” said Shannon Peterson, head of people analytics at Verizon. When she joined two years ago, the challenge wasn’t a lack of data, it was too much of it and with no unified view. “Our goal was to centralize, certify, and connect insights across the employee lifecycle, from recruitment to exit.”Verizon has also embraced AI. “We’re training systems to identify sentiment trends, draft communications, and provide tailored insights to leaders,” she said. These efforts are channeled through what she calls a “digital front door” for insights—streamlining access and decision-making.AI Is Great, When Used With CareAt Microsoft, AI tools like Copilot are transforming how managers engage with data. “Instead of mass communications, we’re shifting to targeted nudges,” Thielen said. “We’re enabling users to ask questions and get contextual answers instantly.”Still, AI adoption must be intentional, says Laura Luther, VP, health solutions account executive at Aon. Many mid-sized organizations don’t have in-house analytics teams or advanced infrastructure, she says. “Inventory how your vendor partners use AI. Focus on consolidating and aligning data practices to reduce risk,” she said. “Prioritize high-value, low-risk applications like customer service, and tread carefully with high-risk areas like healthcare data.”Verizon has responded to those concerns with a centralized AI certification process. “Every AI initiative is reviewed for legal and security risks,” said Peterson. “Transparency is critical. Two years ago, what we do with AI now would have seemed invasive -- but today it’s essential, and we’re doing it responsibly.”With massive amounts of data, prioritization and storytelling become essential. “Even with great analysts, storytelling is a separate skill,” Thielen said. “You need to communicate insights that resonate with the CHRO or a frontline leader. Otherwise, it doesn’t drive action.”Overholt agreed, underscoring the importance of context. “Data without context, both micro and strategic, isn’t useful,” he said. His work studying CEO successions revealed that when transitions are handled well, they preserve the organizational ‘core,’ or its culture and values. “Failures happen when that core doesn’t get passed on.”Dig DeepToo often, HR teams lean on simple metrics like participation rates or satisfaction scores. That’s not enough, says Nataraj. “Those are starting points. We need to ask: Did the program reduce attrition? Improve knowledge transfer?” Her team often applies economic models to assess impact, especially when controlled trials aren’t possible.Measurement should start early, says Thielen. “Don’t bring analytics in after the fact. Involve us during program design. It’s much harder to measure outcomes retroactively.”As organizations face continued volatility, real-time listening is becoming more vital. Microsoft, Verizon, and Amazon are all investing in always-on feedback systems, shifting away from static quarterly surveys. “A single snapshot isn’t enough,” said Peterson. “We’re building systems that evolve with the employee experience.”Whether it’s guiding CEO transitions, refining total rewards strategies, or addressing workforce segmentation, people analytics is no longer just about numbers. It’s about interpreting data in ways that inspire trust, empower action, and ultimately drive business outcomes.“At its best, people analytics helps organizations not only see themselves clearly, but navigate where they need to go next,” said Overholt.Lisa Jaffe is a freelance writer who lives in Seattle with her son and a very needy rescue dog named Ellie Bee. She enjoys reading, long walks on the beach, and trying to get better at ceramics.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Making Talent Acquisition and Development More Efficient, Inclusive, and Personalized
BY Jennifer Yoshikoshi May 07, 2025In 2025, it will take an average of six months for an unemployed person to find a job, according to the Wall Street Journal. While many people seek employment, companies are now seeing an overwhelming amount of job applications and with such an influx of submissions recruiters are finding it difficult to keep up.As artificial intelligence has become a key tool in the world, companies must learn to evolve with technology and learn how to utilize it as a way to mobilize their work and increase efficiency. Using AI for talent acquisition and improving candidate experiences was the top discussion during an executive panel discussion moderated by KING 5 News anchor Jake Whittenberg at From Day One’s Seattle conference.Recruiting and Acknowledging Job CandidatesLHH is a company that specializes in supporting individuals and organizations with recruitment, career transitions, leadership development and more. It receives over 300 million applications a year from around the globe, says Erin Bogdanovich, vice president of innovation of LHH.A common dissatisfying factor in the job application process is being ghosted, only having access to a chat bot, not being acknowledged and never hearing back from a recruiter. With so many applications being submitted daily, AI has been serving as an effective way to give each candidate the acknowledgement and personal support that they need to find the right jobs for them, Bogdanovich says.Amazon also utilizes AI to help recruiters identify if one applicant’s skills can be applied to other open positions that the person may not have applied to. While technology can be helpful, Anthony Palumbo, head of talent acquisition for Amazon ads and IMDB, says it’s still important to maintain human interactions. “I think that the key is applying technology using high judgment, preserving candidate experience, but not eliminating the human aspect of what we do,” said Palumbo.Improving the candidate experience is the same as providing positive customer service. For many companies like Uber and Amazon, job candidates are going to be current customers. Jack Leitch, head of talent acquisition programs and enablement at Uber, said this is a “double edged sword.” In these situations, a negative job application process could impact how the candidate feels about the company and its services. “You have to kind of consider your impact on the business with what you do with your candidates,” he said.At LHH, Bogdanovich said the company has a candidate portal for any jobs they apply to. It shows them real time updates to their application and provides transparency to candidates.Finding the Balance With AIUsing AI can help speed up certain processes while also ensuring that customers and recipients of the service are still receiving quality care. Although the human aspect is still important, some processes can be better done by technology.Panelists spoke about "Making Talent Acquisition and Development More Efficient, Inclusive, and Personalized"Roz Francuz-Harris, vice president of talent acquisition at Zillow, says the best method is to provide options for people on when they want to see automated tasks and when they would prefer to speak to a real representative. For example, when you enter the Zillow career site and upload your resume, an AI assistant can recommend jobs that match your skills and later in the process an option to speak to a recruiter can be given as a choice. “It’s that duality. It’s giving me optionality, not one or the other. I think what makes AI so special is when it goes hand in hand with the human experience,” said Francuz-Harris.This human experience paired with AI can be useful to process tasks for technical jobs. These elements can slow down recruiters and lead to tasks getting held up because the manpower is not enough, said Carl Sanders-Edwards, CEO and founder of Adeption.By using AI for efficiency, it frees up more time for recruiters to think more strategically about how they can better engage with job candidates and recruit the right people with the best skills the company needs, says Leitch.Now that AI is able to complete more repetitive tasks which were formerly done by recruiters, those same employees now have to go through a transition phase to relearn how to focus on the more human parts of the job. In order to do this, they have to learn how to leverage AI technology and learn how to maintain human connection, says Sanders-Edwards.He also added that the most important skill in candidates is the “skill to acquire skills.” The ability to adapt and evolve to new challenges and learn from them is one of the most important qualities, he says.Francuz-Harris emphasized this when she said, “AI will not replace recruiters. Recruiters who don’t learn to use AI will be replaced.” With the rise of new technology, employees need to learn to evolve to changes.The message to not be afraid of technology was adopted by panelists during this conversation, echoing Francuz-Harris’s sentiments. “Don’t be afraid. You’re going to mess it up. We’re all going to mess it up and do the wrong thing. Do it fast, and then pivot if you need to,” said Leitch.Jennifer Yoshikoshi is a local news and education reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Creating Connection in a Complex Work World
BY Lisa Jaffe May 05, 2025The pandemic changed how work happens, and the alterations continue apace. “Five years in, the challenges haven’t stopped, they’ve just changed,” said Joe Reimer, VP of HR for F5 Networks. Hybrid work has become a norm, but it requires fresh thinking to maintain connection across locations and workstyles.In today’s evolving workplace, connection is more vital than ever, but it’s also harder to maintain. Work and workforce have both changed, agreed Jennifer Olivas, HR director at Airgas. “That shift requires new strategies to stay connected,” she said during an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s Seattle conference. Reimer, Olivas, and three other executive panelists had a distinct definition of connection. They mentioned relationships, meaningful experiences in community, communication, building empathy, and integrating physical, emotional and social well-being.One shift has been the emphasis on mental health and well-being. “Stigma is still a barrier,” said Nicole Wolf, VP of B2B partnerships at Rula. “Especially in small companies, where it can feel more personal.” Leadership must model openness and ensure mental health resources are visible and accessible, she says. “Normalize small interventions,” said Tristan Orford, VP of total rewards at Sentinel One. Regularly reminding employees about existing resources can help prevent bigger issues from developing, he says. Mental health isn’t some silo to be treated as unique, says Jennifer Jones, a dietitian and director, clinical solutions architect for Noom. “It impacts everything, from stress to healing to weight loss.” At Noom, they’ve woven mental health support into all their wellness programs, says Jones. Olivas noted that Airgas trained its HR team in mental health first aid. “It helps managers recognize red flags and respond effectively,” she said. “That builds credibility.”Companies can foster good mental health by providing support to employees during “moments that matter,” said Reimer. Whether those are positive personal events or crises. “That’s when benefits feel meaningful.”Orford noted that many solutions don’t require new investment. “Often, the answer is already in the system. We just need to communicate it better,” he said.Wolf agreed, noting that their women’s ERG helped promote a postpartum mental health benefit. “A member connected with a therapist who spoke her language and understood her experience,” she said. “That created a real impact.” Still, she cautioned that ERGs need structure. Building Connection From the Top DownConnection doesn’t happen by accident. Leaders must be intentional. “Share stories, not advice,” said Orford. He said that when leaders speak honestly about what’s worked for them, it makes resources feel more relatable.Olivas emphasized regular, structured check-ins. “Intentional, uninterrupted one-on-ones build trust,” she said. “Some of our leaders even set goals around having them consistently.”Reimer said one simple question can open the door to deeper connection: “How are you doing?” He said good leadership today means seeing employees as whole people, not just roles. F5 operates with a hybrid model: 60% of the workforce has in-office requirements, and 40% are fully remote. Two years ago, they asked employees who live within 30 miles of an office to come in 30 days per quarter on their own schedule. “There was resistance at first,” he said. “But people adapted.”Journalist Diana Opong moderated the discussion about "The Connection Solution: Bringing Workers Together for Well-Being and Innovation"They strive to make office time worthwhile, emphasizing collaborations and building relationships, but Reimer also says that they work to ensure virtual connection also happens with those who are not in office. “We’re still learning how to run inclusive meetings and foster that shorthand communication online.”Online connection has value, too, says Jones. Noom offers anonymous online “circles” around topics like weight loss or chronic conditions. “They’re not tied to work or home life,” she said. “But they give people a safe space to share and support each other.”You May Already Have What You NeedCompanies often overlook the tools they already have. “Take stock,” said Wolf. “What’s in your benefits plan? Who on staff could volunteer? What support are you already paying for but not using?”Orford says his team found new value by combing through contracts. “When we switched 401(k) vendors, we found benefits we weren’t using that were free,” he said. They were marketed and employees are using them. Technology can also support well-being and connection. “AI can offload mundane tasks and improve efficiency,” said Jones. She described how Noom uses AI for food logging and body scanning, and how vendors can help employees understand health risks. “When used responsibly, this tech can be incredibly impactful,” she added.Connection isn’t just a perk. It’s essential to engagement, innovation, and retention. “People are craving connection in new ways,” said Wolf. That shift opens new doors for benefits design and employee engagement. In a world where work is increasingly fragmented, the companies that thrive will be those that treat connection not as an afterthought, but as a foundation.Lisa Jaffe is a freelance writer who lives in Seattle with her son and a very needy rescue dog named Ellie Bee. She enjoys reading, long walks on the beach, and trying to get better at ceramics.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Shaping Benefits to Be Competitive Everywhere in the World
BY Carrie Snider April 30, 2025Benefits used to be pretty cut and dry, but the modern workforce has realized something about themselves. They want a holistic approach that touches every part of their well-being.“You really have to give employees a plethora and a full program of benefits,” said Diane Young, head of global benefits at Teradata. Young spoke during a fireside chat at From Day One’s Boston half-day benefits conference, interviewed by Callum Borchers, Wall Street Journal columnist on careers and work lives.These offerings should include physical, emotional, and social needs. Not only that, but each person is unique in what they need in each of those areas. “You could have somebody that you’re hiring who’s 21 years old or who’s 63 years old. What’s important to one person is going to be very different for somebody else,” she said. Benefits like well-being days, flexible time off, and birthday holidays are also ways to make employees feel valued and excited about joining a company, says Young. “It’s really meeting everybody where they are in their career and their stage of life.”Where You Work MattersOne thing the pandemic did was propel virtual and hybrid work into overdrive. The result? Much of the workforce now prefers virtual work. As such, flexible work arrangements are no longer just “nice to have”—they’re becoming a major competitive advantage.Diane Young, head of global benefits at Teradata, was interviewed“The best bang for the buck right now is definitely virtual work,” Young said. “If you’re giving the company and the employees the opportunity to work virtually, you can really hire the best talent. You’re not stuck to one location.” Especially for a company looking to compete worldwide, it’s a huge benefit.While many companies are pushing employees to return to the office, those that continue to offer virtual options stand out to potential employees. “For those companies that say you can work virtually flexibly, anywhere you want, it’s going to be a huge differentiator.” Still, there can be benefits from in-person, so she suggested that companies make sure they work around that to include the benefit of mentorship.“When you’re young in your career, it’s sometimes nice to have somebody sitting right next to you,” Young said. “You really have to have an open door if you’re working virtually.”Minimum Global Standards With operations in more than three dozen countries, Teradata uses global minimum standards to ensure consistency and fairness across markets.“A global minimum standard is basically saying, what do we stand for as a company, and what’s the minimum that we want to give to all employees?” Young said. “It is a guiding light. It helps us design benefits. It helps me say yes to benefits—and it also helps me say no.”One example is life insurance, which can vary wildly across the globe. Young said they used to offer life insurance benefits based on the country. But it can be complicated and inconsistent with that approach. “Let’s have a level playing field,” she said.Young highlighted the importance of balancing local regulations and competitive expectations while holding to company values: “I keep saying we’re one company—a whole employee in one company.”Culture Is Crucial for BenefitsEven the best-designed benefits package can fail without a strong, supportive culture behind it. Teradata has an unlimited paid time off policy, but it takes nurturing for that to work. “We have a culture of trust at our company, and because of that, we trust our employees. We trust them to take their time and not abuse it,” Young said. One key to it working? Leadership plays a key role. “If you see everybody working 60 hours a week and nobody’s taking a vacation, it’s not going to work.” Culture also matters when it comes to personal, meaningful benefits like pet bereavement leave. Even with unlimited PTO, recognizing a pet’s death explicitly in policy sends a message of empathy and care—qualities increasingly important to workers. They also offer the day off for an employee’s birthday.As Young emphasized, “It’s about designing benefits for the whole employee—and creating a place where people want to stay and grow.”Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.(Photos by Rick Friedman for From Day One)