This year forced companies all over the world into a remote work pilot study. Sharing their insights from the front lines, Aptology spoke with leaders in HR like CHROs and marketers in HR tech about how HR is evolving in 2020. They covered: How do we understand and measure the employee experience? What pre employment screening data do we need to get visibility for better talent acquisition and DEI efforts? What tools and behavioral assessments do we need for internal sources of recruitment? How does our understanding of people and communication need to change? Prepare to take notes as this guide gives tactical advice for HR professionals in talent management, learning and development, succession planning, and talent acquisition.
2. Overview
Many companies experienced these changes not within months - but in
a matter of days, and they had to adapt their processes, technologies,
assessment and communication methods overnight.
This also forced the realization that companies had tools, processes and
ways of looking “outside” (prospects, vendors) but may not have been
equipped to look “inside”. HR leaders are thinking about: How do people
work? How do we understand and measure the employee experience?
What moves the needle? What data do we need to get visibility? How
does our communication need to change? Here are some of the themes
Sejal Patel Daswani, CHRO of Sunrun, and Katharine Mobley, CMO of First
Advantage, explored in this session. Here are their key insights:
There is No
Business Without
People
“While many companies were prepared
for changing human resource trends at the
beginning of 2020, many were forced into
a remote work pilot”
Sejal Patel Daswani, CHRO, Sunrun
DEI: From ERGs
to the Board
Room
2020 - Voice of
the Customer,
HR Edition
In Practice:
Do’s and
Don’ts
Wrapping it up -
People-Centric
Business Playbook:
Building a Culture of
Data
Agenda
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3. Meet the Experts
Sharing their thoughts from the front lines on how human resources are evolving in 2020 is Katharine
Mobley, Chief Marketing Officer of First Advantage, and Sejal Patel Daswani, CHRO of Sunrun.
Katharine Mobley, Chief Marketing Officer, First Advantage
“My theme has been empathy. We need to
have an empathetic ear to our customers, our
employees, our vendors. For us, it’s been how
you listen, and what moves do you make long
term to ensure the supply chain of your business
are solid and on the right foundation.”
Sejal Patel Daswani, CHRO, Sunrun
“When I reflect on HR in 2020, it’s been a
phenomenal growth experience for us as
people leaders...many years out I’m going to
look back and ask myself how did I show up for
our employees.”
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4. 1. There is No Business Without People
“Companies now have a lens that we haven’t had
in a long time that, at the end of the day, your
people is what makes the company money. Having
a lens on them and putting HR in the center of that,
ensuring that these dialogues are happening, that
the tools are there, are imperative.”
Katharine Mobley, Chief Marketing Officer, First Advantage
If 2008 was the year of the CFO, 2020 is the year of the
CHRO. As early as 10 years ago and as recently as
three years ago, people said HR and public relations
were dead. Fast forward to 2020, HR tech and
communications are front and center.
In the spotlight are CHROs tasked with answering “how
do we make consistent decisions that are in the best
interest of the company and the employee in a more
productive, profitable way?” As the workforce focus
shifts to people-first organizations, how CHROs leverage
and support human talent capital will determine the
companies that successfully align capital to business
objectives. Therefore, the employee experience is the
company legacy.
Leaders should take stock of what they understand from
a people perspective and find ways to measure how they
align to business objectives. Do you understand what
makes someone successful in each role?
KEY INSIGHT
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5. 2. DEI: From ERGs to the Board Room
“As a nation, we’ve gone through a lot, the political
climate, the events - which has led to really mindful
thinking on the diversity, inclusion and belonging front.
We’re all on a journey, and it’s important to ask how are
we thinking through that journey. How are we building
companies and workforces that are truly diverse and
inclusive where people can bring their whole self to
work and have a sense of belonging.”
Sejal Patel Daswani, CHRO, Sunrun
While DEI initiatives rested in the hands of Employee Resource
Groups (ERGs) for the last decade, DEI is now a board level
priority. As HR increasingly joins the C-level, boards are re-
examining the roles diversity, equity, and inclusion play in the
future of their talent supply chain but also its impact on the
company’s long-term success. As a result, the human capital
investment and DEI initiatives require people-centric due
diligence.
This means leaders need to understand at scale what is the
experience of different talent pools in a labor force with
increasing rates of chronic illness, rising tension among race-
relations, remote work, and more. What data do we need to
get visibility? How does our communication need to change?
How does it change our recruitment and retention practices?
At a people-first business, the DEI journey needs to be analyzed,
tracked, predicted, and de-risked with the same rigor of any
other powerful asset to avoid valuable talent turnover.
Leaders should evaluate how employee experience and DEI initiatives map to the core
functions of the business. Where are the points of “leakiness” in the talent bucket - how
are we losing out on diverse talent in hiring? How are diverse talent pools coached and
developed? What specific feedback are different talent pools given and how does it
directly relate to objective success for a role?KEY INSIGHT
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6. Further Reading:
Expanding the Company’s Talent
Pool and Increase Diversity.
Many companies experience a “leaky bucket” -
losing many candidates in the screening process,
and then again in retention. That’s because
traditional screening methods – selecting candidates
only based on the college of origin, other companies
they’ve worked for, or specific keywords – reduce
the available talent pool and invite bias into
the process. By looking at candidates based on
successful behaviors for the role, companies can
now evaluate a much broader talent pool and beat
the odds that 80% of D&I efforts fail.
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Eliminate biased practices from traditional screening
methods - such as sourcing from specific schools,
companies worked for, or specific keywords. To start,
here are 5 metrics to track for data-driven recruiting.
Name the behaviors it takes to be successful in a role
at your company by defining Success Profiles based
on performance metrics, not managers’ bias. More on
how to avoid prioritizing intuition over data here.
Get visibility into your people, what are their strengths,
their gaps, to what extent, and leverage the data for
more productive learning and development
Forecast better career pathing, succession planning
and organizational development by leveraging
“Success Profiles”, and looking at “hiring inside” -
looking across the organization for talent.
For more information:
See the 4 Steps to Talent
Optimization Guide
80%of D&I efforts fall
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7. 3. 2020 - Voice of the Customer, HR Edition
“So that was the first thing we put in place - that
mechanism to be able to communicate proactively
to our employee base and answer how do we
field the feedback. After every all-hands we had
a survey go out to really understand how every
employee is feeling, much like you would a
customer in a marketing context… and then in
classic marketing, we’re taking that feedback to
design programming, create solutions.”
Sejal Patel Daswani, CHRO, Sunrun
There is a realization that while companies have been
“people-centric”, it’s been only “half” of the people required
to make a business thrive: the focus had been on customers
over employees… This was reflect in budget and resource
allocation, with millions spent to understand customers, their
behaviors, their problems, what their day-to-day is, and
programs built to have “the voice of the customer” present at
the core of all initiatives.
This crisis has made companies realize that resources need to
be dedicated to “the other half” - internal people. This has
made evident the central role that HR plays, and has exposed
the lack of funding in critical areas. The one immediate
realization is that companies do not yet have visibility “inside”;
and that to survive and thrive, they have to be as people-
centric (employees, “inside”) as they are customer centric
(“outside”). HR is now leading the way in building a more agile
way of understanding employees, diverse segments of the
population, and providing that feedback loop to more quickly
understand what contributes to success.
Do we understand our different talent populations?
Are we able to easily leverage internal talent pools?
KEY INSIGHT
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8. In Practice
Operationalize 2-Way Internal Communication - HR is at the center of
a dynamic relationship between people and business objectives. A
successful outcome entails a balanced conversation of talking and
listening. Setting up internal communication structures that allow a
2-way feedback loop between leadership and employees (eg. post all-
hands surveys), gives you insight into the employee experience, adds a
datapoint for CHROs, bolsters a collaborative culture and crowdsources
creative solutions.
Be flexible - People’s day-to-day has changed drastically from caregiving
to mental health. What worked a month ago may need adjustment
now and it is the leadership’s responsibility to try and assist in designing
alternative solutions when needed.
Be clear on expectations - Whether it’s project goal posts, online hours
and ergonomics, or information security and workspace location, there
are a number of things your employees haven’t had to think about
before. It’s important to be clear on how to keep themselves and business
information safe, as well as what the resources are they have available like
budget for at-home office supplies or IT security best practices.
Ignore the people side of the business. Especially now during
a very human crisis, the company’s survival depends on its
workforce. This means understanding your people, but can also
manifests itself in sending employees a book, a handwritten card,
or more personal touches.
Assume based on history - remote and hybrid environments
have different requirements. Employees who historically have
been unfazed by company upsets may be struggling now, so
it’s important to understand each team member and adapt
communication and feedback.
DO’S DONT’S
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9. Wrapping it up
People-Centric Business
Playbook: Building a
Culture of Data
Schedule a 15 min overview to see how leaders are revolutionizing their people-centric business playbooks and building a culture of data to:
Performance is about people. What if you could get the right person in the right role? What if you could do it
objectively and at scale? Meet the Aptology platform: understand which behaviors drive performance and get
visibility into your people. Hire better, increase retention, provide better career pathing, improve front line manager
coaching and increase diversity.
Learn more at www.aptology.com
Expand the company’s talent
pool and increase diversity by
evaluating at candidates based
on successful behaviors for the
role, instead of institutionalized
bias.
Increase engagement and
productivity. People in the right fit
at work are more engaged and
more productive.
Get visibility into career pathing,
succession planning and organizational
development. With Aptology, leaders
get internal insights into the behavioral
attributes of their teams in multiple
roles, facilitating career pathing and
succession planning.
Make the best out of training,
coaching and L&D. With Aptology,
leaders can tailor their learning
programs and target coaching
based on behavior, which increases
the ROI of training and coaching
programs.
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