Enhancing employee experience — an essential (but gradual) process?
According to a new report by Willis Towers Watson, 94% of employers around the world say enhancing employee experience will be a priority over the next three years. Amidst the struggles and impacts of COVID-19, this important goal will not be an easy one to meet. However, a key, proven way to boost EX is through learning opportunities and a sense of human connection. Time and again, BeNext learners praise our mix of synchronous and asynchronous learning, blending skills-building with the social aspect many of us miss so much about the pre-pandemic world. Read on to find out how BeNext can help you to improve your employee experience all around.
Quickfire Interview with Kristin Strunk, Director, Talent and Employee Experience, Harley Davidson
Every fortnight we feature a top, highly-engaged BeNext learner for a quickfire interview on their experience of their program. Here, we speak to Kristin Strunk, Director, Talent and Employee Experience at Harley Davidson and Co-Host of the Uplifting Women Podcast. Kristin took part in the BeNext Diversity & Inclusion: Overcoming Unconscious Bias program, which is running again in August 2021.
What is the biggest challenge facing leaders today?
The biggest challenge for leaders today is the amount of change and ambiguity right now. Plans cannot be made for 12 months at a time. Helping their teams to understand the changing marketplace, understanding their teams and the individual needs of their team members, and planning rather than reacting to everything that is coming at them. Continuing to learn and be curious can be exhausting, and it can be difficult to role model all of the “best practices” to create a high performing team.
2. What is one book, article or podcast on leadership or the world of work you’ve enjoyed recently?
Podcasts — 21st Century Worklife and The New Way We Work
3. How has your experience of the BeNext certification program empowered you? What have you enjoyed most?
The BeNext Experience has allowed me to learn from global thought leaders. The platform and design of the programs allow me to learn when it is convenient for me (but I do try to make the in person sessions even when they are at 2am because they are so valuable). The programs have forced me to re-evaluate how I think about work and have helped me make changes within my team. I really enjoy participating in the on-line community and the reflection we do as part of the program. I feel like when I complete a program, I have something tangible to take back to my organization and implement.
4. What is one innovation that you believe will transform the way we work?
The ability to build a global, asynchronous community. The way that we work and communicate will continue to evolve, and I think that the tools that allow us to gather and share ideas will help us learn and grow in ways that we have not even begun to understand.
5. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
“Focus on progress and not perfection.” Never has it felt more true than right now. The pandemic changed my focus, and the new way of working hasn’t really been invented yet in a scalable way for most organizations. I am now giving myself more space and time to learn and accept things won’t always work the way I had planned, but I will always learn something from the way that things did work out.
Thank you so much for speaking with us. Follow Kristin on LinkedIn here.
What we’re listening to…BeNext Radio Show
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Episode 7 on D&I touches on topics such as psychological safety, driving innovation through different viewpoints, compassion, empathy and the importance of coaching, mentoring and representation when it comes to building a more inclusive and diverse organisation. The voices included are:
- Dr. Ritu Anand, Chief Leadership & Diversity Officer at Tata Consultancy Services
- Maria Teixidor, CEO of VUCA Solutions
- Duncan Hewett, senior vice president and general manager for VMware’s business in Asia Pacific & Japan
- Dr. Sondra Thiederman, Ph.D., President of Cross-Cultural Communications and author of four books, including ‘Three Keys to Defeating Unconscious Bias: Watch, Think, Act.’
This panel discussion was part of the LIVE Masterclass Session for the BeNext ‘D&I: Overcoming: Unconscious Bias’ program, which will be returning in August. Many of the themes discussed in this episode will also be explored in our upcoming July program, ‘Gender Balance: Promoting Women,’ which you can find out more about here.
What we’re doing…
Over the coming weeks, People Matters BeNext is offering a whole suite of Cohort-based certification programs designed to set your skilling strategy on a new trajectory:
- Agile & Design Thinking for HR Teams — Enroll here
- Gender Balance: Promoting Women — Enroll here
- Designing Employee Experience in a Hybrid World — Enroll here
- HR Business Partner: Driving Talent Impact in Hybrid — Enroll here
Webcast with Dave Snowden, Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, Cognitive Edge
Ahead of the Design Thinking & Agile for HR Teams program, our CEO & Editor-in-Chief, Ester Martinez, spoke with Dave Snowden, Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, Cognitive Edge from the course:
What we’re reading…
In this article we hear from the BeNext Program’s Lighthouse Keeper Speakers across industries and sectors to see recommendations for accelerating women’s career growth within their organization.
A write-up of our panel discussion as part of the D&I: Overcoming Unconscious Bias program running in August 2021. Read full story here
Register your interest here for People Matters TechHR 2021 The Great Emergence 4th — 6th August 2021. A perfect opportunity for you to network with 2500+ delegates and discuss how HR continues its quest to become more digital, data-centric, and business-driven than ever before, with execution being at the core with speakers including Josh Bersin, Dr Amitabh Rajan and Sanjeev Sahgal.
