Episode 50 – Establishing Culture and Leading with Empathy

Welcome to the TRSA podcast. Providing interviews and insights from the linen, uniform, and facility services industry. Most Americans might not realize it, but they benefit at least once per week from the cleanliness and safety of laundered, reusable linens, uniforms, towels, mats, and other products provided by various businesses and organizations. TRSA represents the companies that supply, launder, and maintain linens and uniforms. And in this podcast, we will bring the thought leaders of the industry to you.

 

Thanks to everybody out there for tuning in to another episode of the Linen Uniform and Facility Services podcast, interviews and insights by TRSA. I’m your host, Jason Risley. TRSA has a full slate of in person events taking place nationwide throughout the month of May. So while we always appreciate you listening to our podcast, we also hope to see you face to face at one of our events in the near future. In May alone, TRSA is hosting a state legislative conference in Albany, New York, a pair of regional town halls in Chicago and Long Beach, California, plus several summits focused on important issues such as fleet vehicles, human resources, and safety.

 

You can find more information about these events online at www. Trsa.org/events. Speaking of human resources, on today’s podcast, we are joined by Nicole Bellina, a field services director at the Society For Human Resource Management in Alexandria, Virginia. Nicole has more than 15 years of human resources experience, specializing in talent management and leadership. She has worked extensively in the retail, hospitality, and manufacturing industries.

 

Before joining SHRM, she was a talent strategy leader for a DC area manufacturer where she developed and executed a talent acquisition strategy, establishing the company’s reputation as a top workplace and employer of choice. Thank you so much and good afternoon everyone. I’m talking about a really important topic, leading with empathy. I’m Nicole Belinda. I’m a field services director with SHRM.

 

We will talk a little bit about, the landscape of today’s workplace culture, fostering a culture of transparent communication, and also address how COVID nineteen has impacted workplace culture. So, we’ll address workplace empathy, just an overall investment in employees, how that’s impacted benefits and wellness programs, as well as workplace flexibility in general. So as HR professionals, you know that the culture really is the heartbeat of the organization and it’s the social operating system that shapes your culture, your values. It defines how your employees work and determines how successfully the organization will run. Of course, because workplace culture is dependent on the people establishing it, culture is active and it’s ever evolving.

 

So while the fluidity of culture leads to difficulty sustaining strong workplaces, that fluidity also presents a number of opportunities for continual improvement and growth. By building a strong workplace culture, organizations can mitigate risk and keep their employees satisfied and engaged at work. We know that great workplace cultures are associated with things like low employee turnover and high engagement, making these workplaces much more innovative, productive, and profitable. Think about some results or behaviors that are associated with great workplace cultures and perhaps some successes that you’ve seen in your organization or maybe some, some opportunities within your organization to grow your workplace culture. To start, we know that effective work workplace communication is essential to organizational success.

 

Bad workplace cultures, on the other hand, can leave employees dissatisfied and unproductive and unfortunately eager to move on. And, in fact, the high employee turnover and low engagement that stems from a bad workplace culture can cost US employers 1,000,000,000 of dollars every year. Failing to build a strong workplace culture is not only detrimental to employees, it’s also bad for business. So it’s important for workplace decision makers from HR professionals to people managers to senior level executives to to be deliberate and persistent on creating a culture that produces innovation and growth. The alternative, of course, is highly costly in more ways than one.

 

Employees may leave a job for a number of reasons, and workplace culture is, you know, at the top of of the list from a lack of personal autonomy to that feeling of not being appreciated by their leaders. Any organization’s workforce is susceptible to fluctuating morale. People managers in partnership with HR professionals can nurture employee morale on a daily basis so that high levels of engagement are maintained and low levels of of engagement can be reversed. When morale dips low enough, it can lead to high turnover and instability in your workplaces. In today’s competitive labor market, one one of the leading causes for high turnover is the emergence of toxic workplaces.

 

Employees can often leave bad workplace cultures in search of healthier environments where they can feel much more fulfilled when they’re coming to work every day. Competition for labor only amplifies the need, for organizations to build strong place strong workplace cultures so they can fight off that competition and retain their employees. From the employees’ perspective, approximately 75 percent of Americans, really see the responsibility of building a strong workplace culture and avoiding the costs associated with turnover as falling on the shoulders of c suite executives and people managers. Employees expect managers to set the tone, in the workplace, especially when it comes to establishing values and communication channels necessary to explain best practices and organizational goals. However, 30% of workers claim that their manager really doesn’t know how to lead a team and in turn that same percentage, 30 percent of employees lack trust in their manager to treat them fairly and additional employees say that their manager doesn’t really encourage a culture of open and transparent communication.

 

In those cases, employees are unsure how to respond to certain situations at work, making it less likely for company and personal goals to be achieved. From employees’ uncertainty to the lack of trust in the manager’s ability, a toxic workplace culture often forces those employees to leave or at least consider leaving, you know, explore other options, and eventually pursue one of them. The workplace, the workforce traces those signs of toxic behavior back to managers and, can represent a broader culture in the workplace. A lot of employees, just about 60% of employees, claim that their people managers are the reason they leave their respective organizations. And those leadership deficiencies are often the precursor to employee turnover.

 

So it’s really never been more important for people managers alongside HR professionals to root out toxicity in the workplace and establish a culture that breeds an employee satisfaction and an engagement. That way, organizations can achieve their can achieve their goals, and employees can become more engaged, more productive, and more fulfilled. A key element of, effective manager, employee communication is the building of trust, And the communication really should be transparent and straightforward about the challenges of business, about the organization’s financials, and other matters that may seem sensitive. Candor can foster trust and understanding among employees and avoid unpleasant surprises. It can also help, you know, gain employee buy in during those challenging times.

 

That effective communication really is a two way street. Right? Employee communication can flow freely upward. Employees feel comfortable, speaking to not only their direct supervisors but maybe, you know, a level or 2 above just as, you know, leader communication should also flow freely downward to, to all levels of the organization. And the employee part of the communication flow shouldn’t be underrated or ignored.

 

Our studies have shown that employees really want the ability to share their ideas and concerns with all levels of leadership, being able to establish feedback mechanisms within your organization such as surveys, town halls, and really encouraging and valuing your employees to speak up and share their feedback can bring tremendous rewards and and more engagement to your organization. Ensuring that you have a variety of different communication channels really can be critical and, you know, I think it takes all different types of communication, especially, you know, in this past year where, many of our organizations have remote employ more remote remote employees. You also have employees who, most likely remained in your physical workspace to take a look at and really take advantage of new technologies and old technologies. These may be things like company intranet. You know, it’s a space that all employees, no matter where they are, can access information.

 

Regular CEO updates to share any sort of changes such as return to office guidance or, you know, financial updates, any business related wins, monthly all employ all employee meetings, you know, hands, all hands meetings, training opportunities, award ceremonies, you know, opportunities to celebrate success. Maybe there’s, retreats, and then, of course, survey participation are just different ways that, organizations can communicate using different channels and and really be creative with that. We use what we call our Sherman. That’s our our intranet, and it’s a great way for us to, commit to providing employees with, regular communication. Not only does it report information out but it allows employees to engage with one another.

 

We also enhance that employee dialogue through collaboration tools like Slack or Trello. We’re, you know, we’re sort of minimizing lot of the email back and forth, but it still allows us to communicate communicate and stay engaged. Over the last year, in general, we’ve seen a bigger investment in employees and really an overall commitment to understanding what employees need to be able to focus on their jobs when they come to work and also to be able to ease some of the stresses that they’ve been feeling outside of work. The pandemic really accelerated the development of new digital, ecommerce, wellness, diversity and inclus inclusion efforts in the workplace, and that investment, those investments are likely to stay. I’m sure many of you know a number of employees who have lost family members to COVID 19 or may have been infected with it themselves.

 

They may have had to take on the burden of homeschooling their children while also balancing work or, you know, changing their work hours to accommodate family demands. As a result of these challenges, workplace empathy grew significantly, and the year has really completely underscored the importance of maintaining humility, and humanity within an organization. There’s really been an honest concern and compassion for coworkers and peers in addition to just seeing this amazing solidarity around each other’s health and well-being. People will continue to have, deeper conversations about how they can navigate work and home and building more flexibility into the workplace. And so as people leaders, as HR professionals, you know, it’s really our role to make sure that the workplace is evolving to accommodate the employees’ ever evolving needs and the shifts to continue to work on and grow in these areas.

 

And even in the absence of a pandemic, flexible work arrangements, support from supervisors, a culture of respect and trust. These are things that can improve recruitment and retention efforts and augment organizational diversity efforts and encourage ethical behavior and help the organization’s efforts to be socially responsible. Employers can experience cost savings, improved attendance and productivity and see an increase in employee engagement. The pandemic also caused a profound shakeup in how businesses operate, respond to their workforces and the skills they need, and their approach to recruitment and hiring. And while organizations continue to evolve in response to, you know, what we call our new normal and reimagine the future, recruiting and hiring continues to remain a constant top of mind concern for all companies of all sizes and all industries.

 

And so it’s imperative that our approach to recruiting and hiring evolves as well. Now for a brief message from TRSA. This Mother’s Day, give mom the gift she really wants, the gift of sitting down for a fine dining experience with delicious food surrounded by loved ones. There’s nothing quite like the ambiance of the white table linen experience on Mother’s Day. Call and make your reservations today.

 

Now back to the episode. The pandemic has really driven an unexpected, and radical changes, but, you know, organizations that leverage this as an opportunity to tap into different talent markets, will be better prepared for what’s to come. A lot of companies have really looked inward in this case and focused on recruiting their internal talents. You know, we are seeing from, many of our members that, you know, they’re doing some upskilling. There’s a lot of oftentimes, there’s this sort of knee jerk reaction when organizations have to cut costs.

 

They immediately look at cutting, talent, and that may be positions in general. It could be shifts, but times like these are an opportunity to really invest in your existing talent where it’s needed. In cases where departments or divisions were negatively impacted, organizations are considering transferable skills, identifying where employees may have another opportunity within the organization to thrive. Just as the case with onboarding organizations that largely failed to do any comprehensive succession planning before COVID-nineteen are finding they’re really at a disadvantage, especially when they’re seeing early retirements and higher churn at senior levels and in the C suite. And the pandemic has really convinced many senior leaders to rethink their careers and many are opting to you know expedite retirement plans and that has led to a spike in executive recruitments while also putting the pressure on organizations to, you know, to really put planning in place for the for the replacement of these key leaders or run the risk of some vulnerable gaps in leadership, leadership teams and a significant loss of knowledge from the departing employees.

 

But even beyond executives, we’re also seeing that employees who are at or close to retirement age are choosing to retire. And so there’s this sort of exodus of tenured talent that’s causing a lot of organizational knowledge to leave with them. You know, many employers have have leveraged, you know, these tenured workers to stay through targeted training, you know, as I mentioned focusing on that upskilling, you know, we’re getting creative with, where they can put their their existing talent, You know, professional development development at all levels of employees is a really attractive benefit. You know, there are many employees who will take that opportunity to upgrade their skills and continue to use the opportunity for lifelong learning. Additionally, some of those employees who, you know, have retirement plans on the horizon are attracted to the opportunity to be able to pass along their knowledge and mentor emerging employees, you know, do some coaching or job shadowing is another opportunity to continue to retain and engage some of those employees.

 

In the last year, we’ve seen a tremendous amount of companies really accelerate the digitization of their businesses and really speed up the use of automation and artificial intelligence. Many organizations say they plan to increase hiring for positions involving digital learning and agile work. And, you know, one area that’s expected to grow enormously is companies use the virtual and augmented reality as fewer employees work at the same location. Companies are already using this technology for things such as training, telemedicine, and even team building events. So what does that mean for you for you and your workers?

 

You know, the increased use of technology, whatever that may look like in your organization, may eliminate jobs. You know, that means that companies need to figure out how to reskill or upscale their employees to prepare them for new tasks and responsibilities. Over the last year, we saw, you know, that employees really want better treatment for themselves and, for their communities from their employers. We saw thousands of workers at companies like McDonald’s, Target, Amazon, as well at numerous as well as at numerous hospitals, stage strikes this year to protest unsafe work conditions amid the pandemic. Such actions followed 2 years of employee demonstrations over a variety of issues, signaling that employees were expecting more from their employers.

 

And so, you know, we saw, for example, Amazon employees walking out over the company’s climate policies, Wayfair workers leaving the facilities over the sale of furniture to immigrant detention centers in the US. And so, you know, overall, work stoppages numbered 25 last year, which is triple the amount of in 2017 according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. We know today that American workplaces are more diverse than ever and, it’s an incredibly, rapidly changing workforce, prompting organizations to focus not just on diversity but also on inclusion and conceptually conceptualizing what that means and and putting it into practice. McKinsey and Company said that companies last year spent $8,000,000,000 on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, but it really wasn’t well you know, money well spent. And so, you know, companies are still working through this and but need to be a little more thoughtful in how they, invest that money.

 

We know that, you know, white men are still occupying 66% of c suite positions and 59% of senior vice president posts while white women hold the 2nd largest share of such positions though they lag significantly behind their male counterparts. These statistics are entering the public consciousness over the last year is really putting more pressure than ever on companies to diversify all level all levels of their organizations. And some companies are now opting to initiate conversations that encourage their employees to talk openly about racism, sexism, bias, and prejudice, in the workplace. Organizations are having to refocus on employee wellness and benefit needs. Last year was incredibly challenging to continue to keep workers motivated, resilient, productive after a year of havoc.

 

You know, that’s really impacted the lives of of every employee. You know, we know that COVID nineteen fatigue is real for every level of the organization and employees have voice that they want more assistance. Younger employees reported were more likely to report being affected by COVID nineteen, but we know that that all workers have been impacted in some way. And so US employers are expanding their efforts to enhance employees’ well-being as they map out a benefit strategy for operating in a post pandemic world. These initiatives come as less than 3 out of 10 employers say that they feel their well-being and caregiving programs have been effective in supporting employees during the pandemic, according to a survey by Willis Towers.

 

Women are more likely to take on caregiver roles, but more men and women in general took on caregiver roles for children and senior care or others over the last year and many of them struggled to juggle work and their caregiver responsibilities. Additionally, they really struggled to, understand how they could allocate time for their own self care. Workplace flexibility also, you know, has has come into play. Of course, there’s a number of different types of workplace flexibility. Many people think of telecommuting, but it goes far beyond that.

 

Thinking about how you can accommodate all levels and all types of employees. Will you offer telework? If that doesn’t work, could you consider compressed work weeks? Can you communicate openly and frequently with your employees? You know, again, going back to listening and and to their concerns, and being creative about how you can accommodate them is really, really important.

 

You know, by setting standards for work life balance, you know, for example, instructing managers and supervisors not to send, you know, non urgent emails at all hours or not to expect immediate responses and that the questions can wait. You know, prioritizing projects are most important so, you know, your employees know where to focus. And again maybe introducing or reintroducing job sharing or part time positions where some of these options simply don’t exist. You know, we know that the way that the workplace really has changed. Now is just as great of a time as ever to really think about how we can use the workplace as a force for good.

 

If you’d like more information about TRSA’s upcoming HR Health and Safety Summit scheduled for May 17th at the Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown, visit www.trsa.org/hrdashhs. If you have any comments on today’s show or suggestions for future episodes, please send an email to podcast attrsa.org. Please subscribe, rate, and review our show on Apple Itunes, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher. For the latest news and information from the linen, uniform, and facility services industry, subscribe to our newsletter, Textile Services Weekly, and monthly publication, Textile Services Magazine. Additionally, don’t forget to follow TRSA on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.