Episode 34 - How to Build a Better Workplace Together - Employees & HR

In today's episode, we get real about what it means to create a workplace where people feel safe, valued, and able to grow. Our guest. An experienced HR leader opens up about her journey from marketing to HR and share why empathy and data are the heart of building thriving teams. She dives into practical ways to foster trust, balance work-life challenges, and keep teams connected.

Even when remote you'll hear about the power of real feedback and why strength can transform team dynamics. If you ready to build a workplace that truly support people, this episode is for you. Welcome to the Women's Career Mastery Podcast, the show that's dedicated to empowering women to redefine success and break through barriers. I'm your host, Christine, and my co-host, Laura, along with our amazing guests and experts. We are here to shatter the myths that has been hindering women's careers.

Women's career fulfillment for far too long. So, if you're ready to master your career and take your life to the next level, join us in our journey together. Hey listeners. If you're enjoying the show, we'd love for you to subscribe and leave us a review rating and comments, your support and feedback means a lot to us and helps us bring even more relevant topics and insights to the show. Thanks for your support. Now let's get into it.

Welcome back to another episode of the Women's Career Mastery Podcast. Today, we're thrilled to have Melissa Agosto joining us. Melissa is an accomplished HR professional and manager with a wealth of experience across both private and public Fortune 500 companies.

She's worked in a variety of industries, including retail, e-commerce, communications, and technology. And she has a deep background in all aspects of HR. From employee relations and engagement to performance management, learning and development, and organizational development, she firmly believes that for HR to truly be a strategic partner to businesses and to enhance employee experiences, that HR teams must lead with empathy while using a data driven approach.

We're excited to learn about her insights on creating better workplace experiences, especially for women. So, let's jump in. Melissa, we're super excited to have you join us on the podcast. Perhaps you can get us started by sharing why you wanted to join us.

Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me here.

I would love to share, a bit about my experience from the perspective of a woman in the corporate workplace, but also from the lens of HR. I think it's a lens that oftentimes maybe doesn't get included in the conversation. So personally, I'm really passionate about building work cultures that are innovative and support employees.

So super excited to share a little bit of insight into how I've been able to do that. In my career. And Melissa, can you tell us a little bit of a story about your journey? Like, how did you come to this career and what drive you in your work? Sure. So, it was completely by accident.

I had the intention of being in marketing and public relations and having a very exciting career that maybe wasn't at an office sitting down at a desk eight hours a day and ended up in quite the opposite. environment, but I was hired for a marketing and sales position that was actually in recruitment and an IT recruitment.

So that was kind of my first introduction into HR and recruitment. So, in that just got an exposure to the different aspects of HR. And I think what's, what's kept me in the field is the opportunity to have a really incremental role in helping folks build a career, support them in their personal journeys.

There are so many touch points that you're able to really help an individual and teams when you're in HR, which really fulfills me personally. So that's what's kept me in the field and excited to continue to help support others.

So, let's dive in, tell me what it means to have a safe place where employees can thrive. Can you tell us a little bit more about that? Cause I know that that's not the case everywhere today.

Yeah, definitely. I think it definitely starts with understanding the values of where you work and what your company stands for.

I think one of the big things that we learned. From a post-COVID world is that the priorities of individuals have really shifted where historically work and life were two very separate things. And now employees want their employers to have a say in how they're going to show up for their employees, what they care about, , what they're going to do.

And so, it's really important to understand kind of where your organization stands in terms of creating a safe space, and prioritizing the individual, not just the organization.

It sounds easy, but I know it's not. So maybe can you tell us about a challenging situation and how someone might, you know, turn that around?

Yeah. So, it definitely starts with again, understanding the values of the organization and also having individuals and leaders in your organization that understand that.

And I think for an employee, it's sometimes. scarier hard to kind of know if that truly is a safe space within your organization. But it starts with really building connections within your teams, taking the time to get to know whether it's your manager, whether it's your HR team and kind of what they value within their roles. And understanding that ultimately the role of HR is to retain employees to support employees. And even if that doesn't necessarily always come off in the forefront, depending on the culture of your organization, the importance of connection and really building those relationships and attempting to kind of Get to know the folks that you're working with on a day-to-day basis is the first step in an understanding.

Is this a safe space? And who are the allies that I have within my company to be able to connect with when I need them?

We know that you are working for an organization where everyone is remote and global. What is the effort right now or what do you think it's working that you can share for other organizations to build connection and build trust? Because totally remote is difficult. There's a good and bad, and sometimes a lot of managers don't feel like having remote because they don't know their teams, what they work on. So, I just want to how, at least in your experience, what are the action items that you have been doing?

Yeah, well, I think it first starts with understanding your population, who your employees are and what matters to them. And I think the way that we've done that in my organization is asking our employees for their feedback regularly. So, we will send engagement surveys three times a year to understand how are you What support do you need from a management standpoint, from a development standpoint?

Because in the remote space, that shift, and that change is more constant. That has been in the past. So, I think the first step is really understanding who our employees are and what matters to them. And then I think it's approaching to your point. The connection and remote space are completely different than it is in person.

You know, you're not running into somebody down the hall and asking them about their weekend in the same way when you're behind a screen. So, I think it's creating very intentional authentic ways for employees to connect in the remote space. A couple of things that we do at our organization. Our HR team will have a lunch with HR.

So, we'll get together with our employees once a month. We'll pick 10 employees, and we'll just ask them, you know, what ideas do you think we could be bringing to the table? How are you feeling? Is there anything that you need more or less of, or you want to see us do differently? I think it's creating that space for employees to share.

And also understanding that that looks different for employees. So, there might be the person who will raise their hand and say, these are all the things that are on my mind that I think you guys would be doing differently. And there's a person that's going to be more reserved. So, taking that into account and knowing whether it's someone feeling more comfortable submitting, anonymous feedback, providing them the space to do that. But I think it starts with gathering all the information, and then identifying that people are all very different. So, we're going to have to take a couple of different approaches here to ensure that people feel that their perspective, the way that they want to be communicated with is, is taken into account as well.

That's really important. And there's something to say about, you know, we've all done the employee engagement surveys and multitude of pulse surveys that may be coming out on the status of how things are going in a company, but like the difference and that I think where the trust gets built is when the HR team actually takes action.

Like you could take all this input in, but you have to show that you're actually taking the action to address some of the recommendations or issues that came up and be transparent about it. And I think that helps to build trust. So, employees know, yeah, we're HR. And sometimes we look like the bad guys, but we're also trying to, do what's right for the employees as well.

Yeah, a hundred percent. And I think that's the missing link. A lot of the times employers will say, tell us everything that you want us to do. We've gathered all the information that it's a bit of radio silence after that. And I think it's, it's creating really clear expectations in the beginning before you've asked people for their feedback of, you know, this is what we're going to do with that.

This is the timing around what we're When we're going to deliver and communicate, what our expectations are. Um, ensuring that that is an expectation set very early on, we'll ensure that nobody can drop the ball. The crickets cannot come into play after the feedback's been sent because we've committed as an organization that we're going to do this.

And I think that that helps employees and feel that I can be honest and transparent in that. The employer or HR is taking what I say into account and seriously. You brought up a very important point because I think that's where the trust built. When they see, what being said is aligned with the actions.

And I want to bring a couple of things that you are saying for the listeners. First of all, that engagement survey, right? One thing that your organization, does was having HR, once a month meeting with the employees, and you also mentioned that everyone is different.

Some like to speak up, some like write down things in the survey, so they don't know who sending it. So, I think the ideas of bringing different ways of engagement and communication is necessary in this. And also, that face-to-face, even though virtually, it built that connection that hey, there's another person, there's people behind this, it's not just a survey.

So, because survey is great, but then it's done. But when there are, communication that personal touch where people can see the response, you can see the other person in the other side that bring more connection. And also, you bring something that very important is how to set up an expectation in the beginning and commitment from the HR side or the employer side to say, hey, this is what we're going to do with this.

And we're going to ask you this, and we're going to spend this much time to, to learn, study the data. And we're going to do, this is the action and be transparent about it. And I think that's what I heard from you.

Yeah, definitely. And I would add to that too. You know, it's not an HR only effort. I think, we can only do so much without the data from our employees. So, I know sometimes it's scary to know, what's goanna be done with this. Is it a safe space again to share this information?

So, it's the team's responsibility from nature standpoint to ensure that there is that safe space and that employees feel that they can trust, who they're sharing that with. But I think it also allows. Us to have a really powerful tool in, in the data to say, this is where we need to hold, whether it's managers, departments, enact change, in an accountable way, but without that information, you know, we're kind of floating aimlessly to know kind of what really actually needs to change in an organization.

Melissa, is there any issue in terms of like trying to do all of this? With the set with the business side. So, you know, you're an HR professional, you're there for the employees, but you also have a job to do for the business. Do you find that there's needs to be trust there too? Like does HR need to have full trust and support for what they're doing from the business leaders?

Yeah, 100%. I think if you don't, you can only get so far and it's, it won't be very far unless you have that buy in, which in my role, that was a clear indicator that without the data to say, this is not only the feedback that HR is providing based on our observations, but what your teams are telling us.

So, I think, again, that ties back to just the power of having that information, I think has been a really helpful resource in getting that buy in from leaders. But having that connection. With leaders and departments and them having the understanding of how important it is. And of course, oftentimes the priority is what's going to drive in revenue, what's going to impact the business. And oftentimes we kind of fall second to that, and the message that we like to drive home is ultimately you need the seats and the individuals to ultimately drive a lot of these initiatives. So, if they're not feeling supported or happy, then the goals won't get met.

So, I think a lot of organizations are kind of being faced with having to shift their perspective on that. Because employees do. Again, want to understand, do I matter as a person to you and not just kind of what I'm going to produce to help you achieve your goals? Yeah, that's a big change.

Not that business leaders didn't care before, but that's a big shift since pandemic, honestly, at least that's what I've been seeing. Yeah, a hundred percent. It's a total shift of, of mindset. And again, kind of bridging the gap of the person on the professional. I think both are very much kind of interconnected now with the way a lot of workspaces or, or employers are having to operate and think to keep their voice.

Is there any other thing that you can share regarding the wellness and well-being for what you are doing at this moment? Yeah, absolutely. So, work life balance has been a really big priority for a lot of organizations. So, a few different things that we, we try to do is we offer therapy for employees, through better health.

We also offer, whether it's personal training, nutrition, support, financial support. Again, understanding that the priorities for people really shift and change and are different. Gym reimbursement as well coaching opportunities. We recently did a session for caretakers this week. So, understanding that not only being in the remote environment is different in terms of connecting with your teams and engagement, but also, as a layer of difficulty when you have family members, children, spouse, pet, whatever it may be kind of in the home that you also have to navigate while being present at work.

So, we hosted a really great conversation for caretakers within the organization to come and share with their experience’s challenges have been and having a licensed professional come in and just help identify what are potential resources that they can have. So again, creating that safe space to say. It feels very isolating potentially when your kind of behind the screen, eight hours a day, five days a week, but there are other folks within the organization that have a similar experience.

It was really a 30-minute session, but I think in just a short amount of time, kind of breaking the wall down to say, we're all people at the end of the day and all have our own. Challenges that we're going through. I think that is a big way to create trust, whether it's not specifically in that setup or that specific topic.

But allowing folks a space to share openly about themselves is really key to building that connection and trust. And I think what's important in that is knowing that. We're not alone. Sometimes at work, when we have personal challenges, it's hard to share it but those kind of, moments or gathering or training or workshops that not just related with work but related to you.

Life would help people at work feels like a, Hey, I'm not alone here. Yeah. Whatever the situation, right? I don't know if you've heard of the term, the sandwich generation are people who are taking care of children and their elder parents. It's a real thing. Like this real generation of people, millions of people dealing with this.

So, the fact that you're running sessions on caretaking, probably really helpful to a lot of employees because they're in this situation where they're never thought they would be. So that's really a nice thing to offer. It's also, I think the HR team being realistic, like staying on top of what is happening in the world, like climate change, for example, right?

Like, how do you address if all your employees are remote and some of them just happened to be in the wake of a hurricane that just happened how do you support people through that? How does everybody in the company mobilize to support people? Like it could be so profound, like what can be done there, but even just thinking about beyond the walls of the company, like employees are dealing with a lot.

It's not just the work and the challenging work. Yeah, definitely. And obviously every organization has, different things that can prioritize different resources that they'll have available. Especially for an HR team, just getting in front of your employees, making that time, for us, it's a priority to meet with every single manager once a month, every employee checking in on them.

We did have that recent situation where we did have a few folks, whether it was in South Carolina and Florida that were impacted. By the hurricanes and understanding that's a new challenge for us and understanding, how connected do we want to be ensuring that they have the space to obviously deal with what's in front of them.

But again, it's that constant it's always changing. So, we have to continue to always ask and ensure that we're Present and forward facing so that people know if you need something that we actually are here, and our goal is to help you. And that comes from the trust you're building with them. So, they know if there are in a situation that you'll be there for them.

Right. Right. And again, that may not always come from your entire team. Sometimes that will come from your manager but starting with knowing what your company stands for and that that matters to them is, is the first step. And if that isn't always there, is it your manager? Is it? You know, an ally that you have at work that you can lean on.

We're talking about also the culture and in the organization. So, like, how did your company come on with this culture? Was it, the CEO's mission or how did you all develop this, approach? Because it sounds wonderful. Yeah. I mean, it's definitely had its, its iterations and it's, you know, peaks in and challenges, especially, post-COVID, we went through the great resignation as a lot of organizations did.

And it was when we decided to not kind of drive our initiatives based on what we identified, which I think a lot of the time was just based on what we were hearing from our employees. But it was really from. What people were telling us and sharing that information and that feedback with our leaders.

But it was started, when I started at the organization, about four years ago, was driven by our CEO to say, this matters to me showing up for their employees. And being very authentic about it. I think employees can always feel , when it's authentic and genuine and when someone really truly cares.

And when they have people that are connected and aligned with what the company stands for. They can then get behind that. But I think when an organization, one isn't clear on, on what they stand for and have executives or leadership that, that aren't necessarily aligned on that, that, that feeling and that disconnect really trickles down.

So, that's really kind of the start of what allows us to kind of build and prioritize some of these initiatives.

So, if some of the things you're describing are not available in your company today, and you're an employee and you're wishing they did have a meeting to talk about caregiving, what could an employee do?

Yeah. So, I would definitely say. Identify whether or not there are any resource groups in the organization.

We always get a lot of ideas from our employees. So, I think it's absolutely worth bringing it up to your HR team, presenting the value of what this would look like in the organization. And the impact of that, I think oftentimes HR is sometimes very swamped with a lot of different areas and things.

So, they would love the support of employees who are excited and engaged in trying to help them drive some of these initiatives. So, I think that's where we always want to get the buy in. So, if there's ever ideas or suggestions that employees have for us, I think it always helps to understand and get that feedback directly from employees.

Yeah. Business resource groups or BRGs, they could be called different things and organizations, but they're usually organized around different groups of individuals. So there's typically one for women specifically, And I know like in companies I've worked for, if you have a topic that you want to learn more about, or you're struggling with, like, you can bring in a guest speaker and organize it yourself as the employee, or you can ask the HR team, but that platform of that, So, if you Resource group is really powerful.

If you could take advantage of it, if you have it in your organization and just organize a, a get together and let HR know about it and see where it goes from there. Yeah, a hundred percent. I think oftentimes the idea hasn't even been brought up. So, I would definitely encourage people, even if they don't see something actively in their organization, that the conversation never hurts to, to have and to propose.

So, the first time I met you, Melissa, I saw you on zoom and you have the background screen, which has your Clifton Strengths items, and also the company logo in it. And you said that, your company has been using that and I think it's useful because remote and people don't know each other much.

How useful is that? Yeah, I would say it's, it's very useful in one understanding yourself and where your strengths are. So, the, the objective of the Clifton Strengths assessment tool is to look at what you naturally do best. So, where you shine and where you contribute the most, whether it's in your personal day to day or also in your work life.

So, the tool has been incredibly helpful at creating common kind of language and understanding for folks to know where individuals thrive. So, so for me, my top , 4 out of those 5 are on within relationship building with number 1 being empathy. So, no surprise that I ended up somehow in HR, but I think it is a very nice connection point for employees to understand, or know, if there is any, communication gap issue and understanding the team that you're working with.

Having that information helps you understand, more tactically how this individual best communicates how to best approach them and the way that their mind works. Which again, going back to being in the remote space, you don't always get to see that, walled down individual and how they best operate.

The professional person that's showing up in front of the Zoom call ready to talk about business.  So having this information to get to know someone, work with them, whether it's in a meeting or in a project just helps you kind of build those gaps that you may not have been able to so readily have access to, or that will take maybe months to kind of understand and build with someone.

Yeah. So, this is a practice everybody does in the company. They have their zoom background with their Clifton Strengths listed. We have actually rolled out the assessment to all employees.

We've done sessions with different departments and then employees have the option whether or not they want to kind of add that as a background, but it's a great way at a first introduction, and this is how they show up.

So, for me, it's connectedness, empathy, relator, so it just creates a great initial connection point for people to understand each other. Just the fact that you're sharing this, and that people are sharing their strengths. Is revolutionary. People did not do this in the past, right?

You got your results. You, you peeked at it. You may be talked with your manager about it, maybe a professional development coach, but you didn't share it. Nobody ever shared their strengths. It's like, oh my gosh, now we can talk about our strengths. Like we can brag about them, but we can talk about them and bring that to the table in terms of what we do for our work.

Like, that's awesome. Right. And it's the best part about you. So, if you're going to share anything about yourself, you would want it to be your strengths and where you shine the most. So, I think it's been a very cool way for employees to connect, but also just understand each other a little bit better in a way that maybe they wouldn't have interacted before.

Yeah. I like the ideas of, at work, we look for skills, experience, but we never really pay attention much with their strength as human, right. You know, empathy or analytical, so by having another layer or nuances on each person. I think that's a great way of connecting.

I guess that could be both tool judgment and strength, right? Like, uh, appreciating other people's strengths, and also adjusting and shaping the connections and also if you most bring up the skills in the screen, you see it yourself too.

So, it's the mind of your strength. Yeah, definitely. I think it's been a really powerful resource when an employee has challenges or they feel like they maybe have hit a wall to reflect on that and understand, I may be really empathetic, but this is a superpower for me in my role.

And, you know, sometimes it's, it's tough to be an empath and be in a corporate environment, but it also is a really great resource. And having this space to say it may not always be perfect, but ultimately this is where that's really kind of drives and encourages and helps me be successful in my role, but having the language around that, that's kind of consistent across a bigger group of employees or an organization, helps managers. It also just helps people to understand it and digest it a bit more. It helps them do their job better. It helps them be better humans. I mean, for years, maybe decades, we focused only on our weaknesses and trying to build our weaknesses.

And while that's okay, I mean, you know, you want to work on your blind spots, but to, to really know what your strengths are and what's going to get you through the challenges. Oh my gosh, that's , really powerful. So, thank you for sharing that. And kudos to your organization for doing that.

Absolutely. And I encourage individuals, whether it's Clifton Strengths or another assessment tool, sharing that, whether it's with your manager to better help them better understand you, your communication style, whatever it is. It doesn't necessarily have to be one that's paid for. I think there's a ton of really powerful assessments.

Clifton Strengths is also one that you can purchase individually and pay for, but I think, if you're looking to kind of bridge that gap with your leader, with your team, that sometimes sharing that that information with them helps them better understand you and creates the connection point to have those conversations around what could be done differently, better.

So, Melissa, I think we're just scratching the surface on all of the ideas and strategies that you have and have worked on and maybe thinking about going forward, but tell us, how can people connect with you to get more information or just watch what you're doing and learn from you?

Sure. So they can find me on, on LinkedIn. My name is Melissa Agosto. I'm accessible there and welcome to, answer any questions or connect with anyone who would be interested in connecting. And is there anything else you wanted to share with our listeners today before we move to our lightning round of questions?

Sure. I would say, don't be afraid to bring up ideas and ask the questions. I think we're all looking to do our best, whether it's from the seat of an HR team from an executive team or from your manager. So, I encourage folks out there who have great ideas or see opportunity to create some connection within their organization or engagement to find the safe space within their teams to share that.

Ultimately it is a win win for organizations and the employees to do that. So, it may seem scary, but oftentimes, it's something that's really, sought after from an HR standpoint to understand, what our employees need and want and how we can do our jobs better.

And I like how you open up the space for people to do that.

So, if you're not aware and you're listening, what your company has or what HR has, just start being curious and asking so you can find where that safe space might be.

Absolutely.

So, our lightning round questions, they're four questions, short one-to-three-word answers, if possible, but there's always something interesting that is said, so we will ask more.

First question, where do you go for inspiration? Anywhere new.

What is one habit you adopted that has greatly improved your career? I would say creating a curiosity list. Oh, let's see. There's a new one. That's great.

What is one thing that keeps you moving forward each day? Multiple checklists.

And what is the most valuable piece of advice you ever received? I would say that your attitude determines the outcome. Awesome. Awesome.

It's so great to get to know you more through these questions and you inspire us. Thank you so much. Yeah. Thank you so much for giving me the space to share some, some new insight with you guys.

Thank you, Melissa.

Thank you for joining us on this episode of Women's Career Mastery. To ensure you don't miss any future episodes, please subscribe to our podcast on your preferred podcast platform. If you found this episode enjoyable, please leave us a review or give us a thumbs up. Your support helps us reach a wider audience who could benefit from our content.

Also, if you want to learn more about us and our guests, please make sure to check out the show notes for this episode. Thank you again for listening, and we look forward to connecting with you on the next episode of Women's Career Mastery.