Cohesion: Recent Episodes
Simpplr
Cohesion is a thought leadership venture in the internal comms, HR, and IT space, providing structured, high-value, quick-hitting strategies and tactics for internal comms professionals. Each episode features an interview with a top practitioner in the space and highlights specific insights to be implemented to improve your company’s employee experience
This episode features an interview with Shaun Randol, Founder of Mister Editorial, a mixternal communications newsletter. Shaun has spent a large portion of his career piloting communications for international companies such as Bloomberg and BlackRock.
In this episode, Shawn and Shaun discuss the myth of planning in storytelling, the importance of adapting to new technologies, and maintaining a strategic perspective on the evolution of communications work.
“I think those of us who have 10 to 15 years left in their career, can't ignore [AI]. They should embrace it, learn to use it. Dial in to one or two tools or use cases and become deeply expert at it immediately. Change comms, multimedia, photography, graphics, storytelling, whatever it is. Pick one or two because there's many of them out there and just get known for it as soon as possible, because that expertise will be needed.” – Shaun Randol
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:26): Getting to know Shaun
*(09:12): Where Shaun stands today on AI replacing people
*(14:19): How technology changes the way we communicate
*(18:45): Shaun’s opinion on slowing down generative AI
*(29:36): Shaun’s advice for comms professionals using AI
*(35:44): Other ways comms professionals can embrace AI
Links:
Connect with Shaun on LinkedIn
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Cohesion Podcast
This episode features an interview with Stephen M.R. Covey, author of The Speed of Trust and Co-founder of FranklinCovey’s Global Trust Practice. He is a sought-after international speaker, who has taught trust and leadership to business, government, military, education, healthcare, and NGO entities. As the former President and CEO of the Covey Leadership Center, Stephen increased shareholder value by 67 times and grew the company to become the largest leadership development firm in the world.
In this episode, Shawn sits down with Stephen to discuss the foundational concepts of trust and leadership, practical strategies for enabling authenticity, and the importance of having a growth mindset.
Hear more from Stephen when he participates in the World Business Forum this October!
“The style of leadership that maybe has taken us to where we are today in a different world, is not going to be where we need to go tomorrow in a new world of remote work and hybrid work and intentionally flexible work with younger generations. Gen Z have a completely different expectation of how they want to be engaged and led. With work becoming far more collaborative and interdependent and with technology changing, disrupting everything with AI, with all these things happening, we need a new way to lead in a new world of work. Maybe command and control got us to where we are today, but trust and inspire is what's going to take us to where we need to go tomorrow.” – Stephen M.R. Covey
Episode Timestamps:
*(03:32): Getting to know Stephen
*(13:14): The reciprocity of trust
*(26:37): Building stewardship agreements
*(31:22): Trust and inspire vs. command and control
*(41:49): Authenticity and vulnerability in leadership
*(54:06): The need for a growth mindset
Links:
Learn more about FranklinCovey’s Global Trust Practice
Connect with Stephen on LinkedIn
Follow Stephen on X
Follow Stephen on Instagram
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Cohesion Podcast
This episode features an interview with Rachel Happe, Founder and Digital Workplace, Organization, and Community Strategist at Engaged Organizations. She started Engaged Organizations to focus on helping organizations adapt to new technologies and accelerate knowledge supply chains while improving trust, transparency, and agility. She is a sought after speaker and expert on the impact of technology on engagement, relationships, and culture and has keynoted at several digital workplace conferences.
In this episode, Shawn and Rachel discuss treating employees as assets rather than machines, rewarding human contributions, and valuing emotional and social aspects in the workplace.
“We still have this mechanistic system and the human system, and we're still treating humans like machines. I wrote a post a while back, because I was getting really annoyed reading about how AI could help employees. It was all like, ‘It can do these 10 tasks for you.’ And I'm like, ‘If that's all we are, we should go home.’ It's the mindset of what we think employees or people's value is. The example I use in presentations is diamonds. Why are diamonds valuable? They're rocks. De Beers made them mean something. You know who can't make something mean something to somebody else? AI. The value of people is activating other people. And value is meaning.” – Rachel Happe
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:20): Getting to know Rachel
*(10:27): Rachel’s career background
*(15:42): Employees are not machines
*(21:50): How to calculate the value of community
*(32:21): The role of AI in community
*(42:39): The current and future state of valuing humans
Links:
Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn
Learn more about Engaged Organizations
Email Rachel
Read Ed Zitron’s They’re Looting The Internet
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Cohesion Podcast
This episode features an interview with Sandy Gould, Chief People Officer at Pinwheel. Sandy has nearly three decades of experience in human resources and talent acquisition. He has worked for companies like Disney and Yahoo where he led recruitment and diversity efforts. Sandy’s mission in life is to help people unleash their super powers and lead with authenticity.
In this episode, Shawn sits down with Sandy to discuss strategies for building company culture, insights into building trust and fostering psychological safety, and injecting humanity into HR.
“There is one mission for HR, and I can state it in three words. Amplify everything human. That's our job. If it's helping the CEO understand and have empathy with their employees, if it's helping the employees decode the CEO and executives, yes, we should do that. Helping to amplify and enhance your relationship skills, your communication skills, your connection, your problem solving, anything. How you think, training, learning, resources, strategy, you name it, we should be amplifying every part of it that's human. But, we are not there to be a substitute. There is no substitute for direct relationships and direct communication and direct feedback.” – Sandy Gould
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:32): Getting to know Sandy
*(09:02): Building company culture
*(14:41): Sandy’s take on superpowers
*(26:55): Creating trust and authenticity
*(34:10): The challenges of authenticity
*(47:23): How to scale authenticity in an organization
Links:
Connect with Sandy on LinkedIn
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Cohesion Podcast
This episode features an interview with Kosheno Moore, Vice President and Digital Community Leader for Regional Center Satellite at Fidelity Investments. Prior to joining Fidelity, she served as the Manager of CX Communications at Workday, Head of Communities at Aurea Software, Principal of Employee Communications at Jive Software, and spent 7 years at Agilent Technologies in various roles.
In this episode, Shawn and Kosheno discuss strategies for creating meaningful digital connections, the future of D&I within corporate culture, and how to foster a sense of belonging among employees.
“In order to create a sense of community in a digital environment, you have to not just think about the technology itself, like anyone can deploy any technology. It's almost moot point what technology you use, but it's about the strategy piece of it. It's about the bringing people together piece of it. Which means like, what's going to motivate people to come together? Can we organize people around certain themes? In order to do that, you need to be able to create communication messaging, and you need to do that in so many different forms of media, and you need to tap into different audience source. Community management, I think, really forces you to be omnichannel. And yes, communication is a big component of it, but it really challenges us to think cross-disciplinary, like you want to be strategic, you also want to be tactical, you also want to be multimedia savvy, and a great communicator, too. I think that's the beauty of it. I think when it's done well, community management strategy and technology, a robust technology platform, I think those could be win-win.” – Kosheno Moore
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:26): Getting to know Kosheno
*(07:37): Kosheno’s career journey
*(19:39): The challenges of building digital communities
*(31:35): The impact of community size
*(41:58): Kosheno’s thoughts on D&I strategies
*(46:22): The future of human connections at work
Links:
Connect with Kosheno on LinkedIn
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Cohesion Podcast
This episode features an interview with Elizabeth Baskin, CEO of Tribe, Inc., an internal communications boutique working with global brands. Before launching Tribe, she was the CEO of consumer branding agency MATCH, and held management and creative positions at several other ad agencies.
In this episode, Shawn sits down with Elizabeth to discuss the effectiveness of editorial boards and content training for global communications, strategies for maintaining employee engagement and motivation, and the need for honest communications during times of change and uncertainty.
“The very most important best practice for internal comms is to recognize that employees do not have to read, watch, listen to anything you do. They don't have to. There's this expectation that they will read it because they're an employee and you're talking for corporate. No. You're competing with Instagram and Hulu and whatever else. You can't write a 700 word wall of text and email it and think everybody's going to find that call to action somewhere in the 17th paragraph. You have to realize that you are not talking to employees in a vacuum. You're talking to them in this world of distractions and media onslaught.” – Elizabeth Baskin
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:39): Rapid fire questions
*(06:42): Elizabeth dives into Tribe, Inc.
*(16:04): The challenges of communicating with a deskless workforce
*(27:44): How comms can affect culture
*(32:07): The importance of honest communications
*(41:44): Future internal communications trends
Links:
Connect with Elizabeth on LinkedIn
Learn more about Tribe, Inc.
Visit Elizabeth’s blog
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Cohesion Podcast
This episode features an interview with Steven T. Hunt Ph.D., Work Techno-Psychologist & Author of Talent Tectonics. Steve is an industry expert who has had a pivotal role in developing systems that have improved productivity and engagement of millions of employees around the globe. He is a well-known speaker, author, and thought leader on strategic human resources.
In this episode, Shawn and Steve discuss how the nature of work is evolving, the cause of burnout, and how we should be using AI to make work better.
“You cannot provide excellent customer service, you cannot be creative, collaborative, all the things companies want people to do if you feel exploited, burned out, or exhausted. Yet, the pace of change people are facing is making them feel exhausted and burned out. This is why I wrote this book, Talent Tectonics. It talks about how do we need to manage work differently? Where we need to provide people an experience where they view change as, ‘Yeah, this growth opportunity.’ As opposed to just burned out and exhausted.” – Steven T. Hunt Ph.D.
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:16): Rapid fire questions
(08:31): Talent Tectonics* and how the nature of work is changing
*(20:03): Steve’s take on burnout
*(28:32): How external factors play into burnout
*(42:40): How we should be using technology to make work better
Links:
Connect with Steve on LinkedIn
Read Talent Tectonics
Visit Steve’s website
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Cohesion Podcast
This episode features an interview with Aniisu K. Verghese, Founder of Intraskope, a boutique internal communications and personal branding consultancy serving global markets. Aniisu is an award-winning internal communications expert with over two decades of experience in change and transformation initiatives. He started India's first blog on internal communications in 2006 and is now the author of three books.
In this episode, Shawn and Aniisu discuss inclusive internal communications, strategies for building organizational trust, and how AI is streamlining employee experience.
“I think the traditional model of doing these surveys six months, one year, doesn't really work. You need to get into more real-time sentiment analysis and managers need to be empowered because the data is available if you're doing it through such platforms where you can access the information in real-time. Then, you make the managers accountable saying, ‘Your team's sentiment is negative and what are you doing about it? When did you have your last conversation and what are some of the issues that are coming up?’ Then, match it with what they're saying to see whether that's the right way to go. I think going forward, it has to be only that, because you can't really wait for a six month window to start changing things.” – Aniisu K. Verghese
Episode Timestamps:
*(03:00): Rapid fire questions
*(08:14): Aniisu discusses Intraskope
*(17:46): Inclusive internal communications and employee experience
*(23:33): How to build trust in an organization
*(34:18): What AI looks like in employee experience
*(45:55): What the future of internal communications looks like
Links:
Connect with Aniisu on LinkedIn
Follow Aniisu on Twitter
Aniisu’s Linktree
Aniisu’s blog
Instraskope Consulting
Global Commtrepreneurs Network
International Communication Professionals
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Cohesion Podcast
This episode features an interview with Mike Robbins, motivational speaker and author. As an expert in teamwork, leadership, and emotional intelligence, Mike delivers keynotes and seminars that empower people, leaders, and teams to engage in their work, collaborate, and perform at their best. He teaches important techniques that allow individuals and organizations to be more appreciative, authentic, and effective.
In this episode, Shawn and Mike discuss the limits of authenticity, how AI is affecting teams, and the difference between recognition and appreciation.
“We seek and fear change at the same time. That's part of what makes change exciting and challenging. I feel both excited and scared about AI, personally. Is it going to eliminate certain jobs and certain things and certain people? It most likely will, just like any kind of new technology and automation. Think of what the internet did. It got rid of a lot of industries and jobs. At the same time, it created way more than it got rid of. At the end of the day, we still have to believe in ourselves and the importance of humanity and human connection. That's never going away and I think it's just going to be that much more of a premium.” – Mike Robbins
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:24): Rapid fire questions
*(07:27): Mike reflects on his 2015 TED talk and how it’s relevant today
*(21:41): How organizations create psychological safety
*(28:38): The difference between recognition and appreciation
*(38:12): How AI will affect teams in the workplace
Links:
Connect with Mike on LinkedIn
Visit Mike’s website
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Cohesion Podcast
This episode features an interview with Monique Zytnik. Monique is an award-winning, global internal communication leader who presents on best-practice communication at world conferences and guest lectures at universities. Her campaigns have been recognized by Gartner and the Digital Communication Awards.
In this episode, Shawn sits down with Monique to discuss the misconception of authenticity, the challenge of creating culture, and why AI will never replace human creativity and connection.
“I don't have a car anymore, but when I did, that little blind spot that you have when you're trying to go around the corner and you've always got to make sure you check it. It's the same in an organization. There's always these little spots that you can't really see very well what's going on. You need to take care that your employees in that area are also reflecting your values and that there isn't little fiefdoms happening with particular leaders who don't wish to communicate, and putting employees off or people are leaving because of unsavorable working conditions.” – Monique Zytnik
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:07): Rapid fire questions
*(06:37): Monique dives into her book
*(10:51): AI’s influence on communication
*(35:09): The role of leaders during difficult times
*(46:34): How AI, leadership, and active listening come together
Links:
Connect with Monique on LinkedIn
Read Internal Communication in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Cohesion Podcast
This episode features an interview with Christina Kucek, Executive Director of Intelligent Automation at CAI. She has over 15 years of consulting experience in delivering cutting-edge implementations in Conversational AI, natural language processing, and robotics process automation. At CAI, Christina guides clients through their automation journeys while delivering innovative solutions.
In this episode, Shawn and Christina discuss the impact of AI on employee experience: from onboarding to accelerating workflows to building in ethics.
“Employee retention a lot of times can be impacted by their first week or two of employment. They get their machine, their access to all the systems that they need. They get their email, it's already set up. They show up on day one and they're ready to go. That impression that you make as a company on their new employee will help us retain our best talent. That reduces our cost overall for trying to recruit people and train people. That retention piece is really valuable.” – Christina Kucek
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:44): Rapid fire questions
*(07:13): Christina breaks down CAI and her role
*(15:57): How AI impacts employee experience
*(28:22): How AI will affect the amount of work for employees
*(36:43): The future of augmented intelligence
*(45:23): What’s next for Christina and CAI
Links:
Connect with Christina on LinkedIn
Learn more about CAI
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Cohesion Podcast
This episode features an interview with Hamza Khan, Future of Work and Leadership Expert. He is the best-selling author of Leadership Reinvented and The Burnout Gamble and is a two-time TEDx Speaker. Hamza challenges organizations to rehumanize their workplaces to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth. His clients include Microsoft, Deloitte, and TikTok.
In this episode, Shawn sits down with Hamza to discuss why work is not working, how to make employees owners, and the no day work week.
“If you invest in employee engagement and well-being, then it turns all the other priorities into guaranteed outcomes. That's where the work needs to be done. We actually need to do this work, at the individual level with every single leader in the world. We have to just overhaul our education system to produce more human-centric, values-driven, change-friendly, self-disrupting leaders. But, we also have to make connecting with other human beings an organizational imperative. That should be the only priority that leaders pursue at every level. The welfare, the well-being, the engagement, and actually, just summarize all that into the thriving of their employees.” – Hamza Khan
Episode Timestamps:
*(05:09): Rapid fire questions
*(11:48): Hamza discusses his 2016 TEDx Talk and if it holds up today
*(21:43): The history and influence of The Haymarket Affair on work today
*(26:57): Giving employees more say over their work
*(38:48): Will AI increase the amount of work for employees
*(45:14): What Hamza is hopeful about
Links:
Connect with Hamza on LinkedIn
Visit Hamza’s website
Read Hamza’s books
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Cohesion Podcast
This episode features an interview with Jordan Katz, Chief Insights Officer at Simpplr. Jordan advises organizations on the influential use of data and analytics to develop strategies that predict outcomes and increase performance. Prior to Simpplr, he was one of the Heads of Employee Experience Strategy at Qualtrics and has consulted hundreds of SaaS companies and global organizations.
In this episode, Shawn and Jordan dive into Simpplr’s Future of Employee Experience Report. They discuss the importance of personalized and efficient communication platforms, analyzing diverse data sources to create a seamless employee experience, and taking a human-centered approach to AI.
“87% of professionals are passionate about their current jobs, but 64% of them frequently feel stressed or frustrated at work. We have a primed and ready to go race car with rocket fuel in the tank. We load up a bunch of sandbags in the trunk that represent crappy tools and inefficient processes. There’s no reason for that. The more we study employee experience, the more we learn how critical it is to think holistically about the work people do, the task distribution they have, and how we can operationalize great efficiency. Using systems and AI to free up people to do the strategic work that will catapult our organizations into the next level from a performance perspective.” – Jordan Katz
Episode Timestamps:
*(03:11): Jordan defines employee experience
*(05:00): Rapid fire questions
*(14:36): What the report says about frontline workers
*(22:54): Creating a personalized employee experience
*(34:11): What prevents companies from implementing an HR stack
*(41:05): How AI impacts employee experience
*(51:49): Jordan’s golden rule for work
Links:
Connect with Jordan on LinkedIn
Read Simpplr’s Future of Employee Experience Report
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Cohesion Podcast
This episode features an interview with Jordan Katz, Chief Insights Officer at Simpplr. Jordan advises organizations on the influential use of data and analytics to develop strategies that predict outcomes and increase performance. Prior to Simpplr, he was one of the Heads of Employee Experience Strategy at Qualtrics and has consulted hundreds of SaaS companies and global organizations.
In this episode, Shawn and Jordan dig into Simpplr’s 2024 State of Internal Communications Report. They discuss the most surprising results, creating highly effective teams, and using AI to tailor messages.
“We're creating not a time machine, like go back in time machine, but a save you time, reduce friction. Where everything is served up at your fingertips in a way that not only helps you get your job done, helps you be more productive, reduces cycle time on search and access to information. And by the way, can help you eliminate some of the administrative tasks or recognize your peers or any of the things that you want to do on a day-to-day basis that are not the high value stuff that drives crazy impact at your job. But instead, helps lift you up so you can do the best work that you can possibly do in the most efficient manner possible.” – Jordan Katz
Episode Timestamps:
*(03:45): Rapid fire questions
*(10:43): Surprising results from the State of IC Report
*(18:59): How AI can improve IC messaging
*(30:12): Jordan’s advice for implementing an intranet
*(35:17): What makes highly effective IC teams
*(46:56): What’s next for IC in 2025
Links:
Connect with Jordan on LinkedIn
Read Simpplr’s State of Internal Communications Report
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Cohesion Podcast
This episode features an interview with Josh Bersin, Founder and CEO of The Josh Bersin Company. Josh is an analyst, author, educator, and thought leader focusing on the global talent market and the challenges and trends impacting business workforces. He studies the world of work, HR and leadership practices, and is often cited as one of the leading HR and workplace industry analysts in the world.
In this episode, Shawn and Josh discuss the post-industrial workforce, building dynamic organizations, and creating superpowered HR through AI.
“AI is not magic. It's not going to do everything perfectly out of the box. Just like every other technology we've ever implemented, we're going to have to take care of it. We're going to have to make sure it has good data, we're going to have to train it, we're going to have to optimize it. I think the big thing is this is a high-powered, highly capable technology that needs your help. You need to tune it. You need to have IT involved. You need to look at data management, data security.” – Josh Bersin
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:26): Josh answers rapid fire questions
*(05:31): Josh explains The Josh Bersin Company
*(08:56): Josh explains the Post-Industrial workforce
*(15:24): The importance of employee activation
*(23:43): Creating dynamic organizations
*(32:27): The role of AI in revolutionizing HR
*(38:23): Pitfalls of AI
Links:
Connect with Josh on LinkedIn
Learn more about The Josh Bersin Company
Learn more about The Josh Bersin Academy
Learn more about Irresistible Conference
Read Josh’s book
Learn more about Dynamic Organizations
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Cohesion Podcast
The Cohesion podcast is back with more exciting episodes! Shawn Pfunder, Communications and Employee Engagement Director extraordinaire is taking over the role of host.
Previously this season, we had some amazing guests including CEOs, Founders, and Chief People Officers. They shared valuable tips on creating a world-class employee experience, transforming culture, rebuilding trust after layoffs, and empowering every employee to be a leader.
In the second half of the season, we're bringing new voices into the mix! We'll be talking to consultants, motivational speakers, and future of work experts. We'll dive deep into the intersection of AI and HR, discuss how to organize people effectively for sustainable growth, and explore the relationship between technology, employee experience, and communications.
Stay tuned for more episodes of Cohesion! Check out previous episodes wherever you get your podcasts.
Links:
Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn
Cohesion Podcast
In this short episode, Amanda Berry has a special message for the Cohesion Podcast audience. After two years and speaking with over 50 employee experience experts, Amanda is moving on from the host position. For now, Cohesion is taking a short break to prep for Season 3 of the show.
Thank you for listening to and watching the Cohesion Podcast! Take care and we’ll see you soon!
Links:
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with William Tincup, President and Editor-at-Large of RecruitingDaily.com. William is a writer, speaker, consultant, and investor at the intersection of HR and technology. He has spent the last 20 years studying all aspects of HR and talent acquisition, including practitioners and the tech that serves them.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with William to discuss the excessive amount of tech in HR, user satisfaction versus adoption, and why the ROI of tech is flawed.
“What I learned when I was studying user adoption years ago, is the game isn’t adoption. We think it is, it's a false signal though. The game is user satisfaction. How do we get users to actually fall into love with software? So on the way, we have to get people to use it, check. We’ve got to communicate, we've got to do all the things we've talked about. We’ve got to get them to use it. Once they use it and they consume it, and they're utilizing it, they're going to have questions. But, there's this moment in which they come over and they love the software. And it doesn't have to be perfect software. People think when I talk like that, they're like, ‘Oh, well there's no software that's perfect.’ I’m like, ‘It isn't about being perfect.’ It's about them understanding how to use the software in such a way that they know that this software helps them be successful and they can't imagine life or their job without it. And it's user satisfaction. You're beyond adoption at that point. You've crossed over into real, true user satisfaction, user love.” – William Tincup
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:07): William explains why there’s too much tech in HR
*(13:22): How to drive tech adoption through training
*(20:02): How long it takes to successfully roll out new tech
*(30:45): William explains RecruitingDaily.com and his role there
*(44:11): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(44:49): William explains why ROI of tech is flawed
*(55:59): Amanda and William dive into mergers and acquisitions
*(01:10:03): Segment: Asking For a Friend
*(01:10:21): What the future of HR tech will look like
Links:
Connect with William on LinkedIn
Listen to The RecruitingDaily Podcast
Listen to The Use Case Podcast
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Shawnee Irmen-De Anda, Chief People Officer at Thriveworks. Shawnee has two decades of experience serving as a human resources strategic business partner for growing and well-established healthcare organizations. At Thriveworks, Shawnee leads a first-class people strategy, focusing on expanding team potential and empowering sustainable growth.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with Shawnee to discuss creating brand awareness while recruiting, incorporating tech into the employee experience, and fighting burnout during times of crisis.
“I think in healthcare, technology should always enhance but not replace that human-to-human connection. It's really easy to leverage technology to save money at times, but that human-to-human connection is critically important. It's the same principle that we adhere to when we're looking at providing therapeutic care. Technology should also make the day-to-day functions of our teams easier, not harder or longer. At times if technology isn't working, we know the frustrations and added gray hair that that can have also. Having an intranet or centralized resource repositories, things like that for employees, is really important. Healthcare is one where you're either extremely advanced, and I think more hospital systems, things like that tend to have more up-to-date technology, or you're extremely outdated with the technology that you have. We're really lucky to have a tech and product team here that their sole purpose and what they really and truly want to do every day is make sure that our clinicians can do what they're here to do. And that's see clients, not have to battle technology challenges.” – Shawnee Irmen-De Anda
Episode Timestamps:
*(04:27): Shawnee’s role at Thriveworks
*(09:22): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(09:39): How Shawnee creates brand awareness while recruiting
*(11:28): The relationship between employee experience and retention
*(17:50): How to incorporate tech into the employee experience
*(20:25): Segment: Ripped From The Headlines
*(24:10): How Thriveworks uses tech to fight employee burnout
*(27:34): Segment: Asking For a Friend
Links:
Learn more about Thriveworks
Connect with Shawnee on LinkedIn
Email Shawnee
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Betsy Leatherman, Global President of Consulting Services at Leadership Circle. Betsy has 10 years of experience transforming executives and middle managers into exceptional leaders. In her current role, Betsy helps clients become more effective leaders so they can make decisions that engage and motivate members of their organizations and customers they serve.
In this episode, Amanda and Betsy discuss leadership development, common mistakes leaders make during layoffs, and the two leadership orientations.
“The rubber meets the road at the middle manager. Because, even if you've got a great leadership team that's highly developed, if they do not translate that through the way in which a middle manager shows up to a frontline employee, it doesn't matter. If you've got a great set of senior leaders, let's say, and then a set of middle managers that haven't been developed, it can actually be really, really challenging for the frontline employee. Because, they see one thing and they experience something so different, and immediately they'll lose trust. My perspective is if you start at a customer and then you move backwards in terms of importance, frontline employees are very important to be extraordinarily well-resourced. Their managers also have to be even better resourced, personally, to help them handle their complexities. When that occurs, all of a sudden it's at scale. You, as a leader, a senior leader in the organization, you're at scale because you're helping them to be better and you're getting their perspective and vantage point that you might otherwise not be offered.” – Betsy Leatherman
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:59): Betsy dives into leadership development
*(08:35): Segment: Story Time
*(10:23): Why Betsy created a career in leadership development
*(17:17): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(25:16): Betsy explains the two leadership orientations
*(34:24): Segment: Ripped From The Headlines
*(34:54): Common mistakes leaders make during layoffs
*(40:46): Segment: Asking For a Friend
Links:
Learn more about Leadership Circle
Email Betsy
Connect with Betsy on LinkedIn
Follow Betsy on X (formerly Twitter)
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Brian Brockman, VP of Communications, US & Canada at Nissan Motor Corporation. At Nissan, Brian is responsible for telling the brand’s transformation story, protecting company reputation, and promoting strong product messages to both internal and external audiences. Previously, he served as the Director of Communications where he led efforts around new vehicle launches, product lifecycle, and regional operations.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with Brian to discuss transforming work culture, crafting an equitable employee experience, and how internal and external communications can flow together.
“Once you get people moving with you, they will work, they will get things done side by side. When you see things that work, keep leaning into it, keep using that, keep trying to use that to motivate people. The other thing is it's very easy to get caught up in the challenges that are there, the little setbacks. Things that happen that don't go as well as you plan. Recognize that. Celebrate failures for what they are. And when you do acknowledge it, learn from it, and then move forward, and then celebrate your wins. Celebrate what you learn and use that to rally people. Use that for recognition. While you're doing this transformation, don't lose track of having a culture of recognition and understanding that it's people that are going to drive the success. It's people who are going to drive the transformation.” – Brian Brockman
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:12): Brian explains Nissan Next
*(10:19): Segment: Story Time
*(12:21): How Brian makes internal and external communications work together
*(16:06): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(16:26): How to successfully transform culture
*(25:25): Segment: Asking For a Friend
*(28:20): How to get skeptics to buy-in on culture transformation
Links:
Connect with Brian on LinkedIn
Check out Nissan's Media Site
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Preston Lewis, Founder and CEO of Intactic, a modern communications company focused on creating human-centric experiences for people at work. Over the last 20 years, Preston has partnered with respected companies to develop and implement communication and behavior change campaigns. He is a sought after employee engagement, internal communications, and enterprise transformation expert and can often be found speaking about the future of work.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with Preston to discuss the modern employee experience, investing in technology and upskilling teams, and how to create a human-centric work experience.
“We think of [employee experience technology] as a three-legged stool. And of those legs, there's one typically owned by IT, there's another typically owned by People or the HR function. And then a third, we can frame it as Communication, sometimes we frame it as Change. What we do know to be true is that if any of those legs are a little bit shorter than any of the others, that seat isn't flat. And that seat is where employees sit. We as employees are customers, if you will, for using that technology. When we think about employee experience, that's a nice visual we like to have. Not only in terms of one leg being shorter, but if one doesn't exist, then we can't do the right work the right way. What we've seen is organizations that subscribe to a modern employee experience philosophy, it just makes sense. There is a role for different functions to have and we're constantly tuning into which of those legs is as effective as it needs to be to balance out that experience for people.” – Preston Lewis
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:33): Preston explains the modern employee experience
*(11:35): Segment: Story Time
*(12:19): How Intactic is creating a human-centric experience at work
*(19:54): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(24:57): Key partnerships of employee experience technology
*(31:15): Segment: Ripped From The Headlines
*(36:18): AI use cases in employee experience
*(42:21): Segment: Asking For a Friend
*(42:36): What internal comms technology will look like in the future
Links:
Connect with Preston on LinkedIn
Learn more about Intactic
Listen to TechVerified podcast
Listen to New State of Work podcast
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Julia Christenson, U.S. Employee Experience Chair at Edelman. Julia has over 15 years of experience helping clients design employee engagement programs to drive stability and connection. She has developed employee sentiment dashboards, manager trainings, go-to-market message plans, and culture roadmaps. Prior to joining Edelman, Julia led the People Advisory Services at EY and organizational change management at IBM.
In this episode, Amanda and Julia discuss the sticky factor of employee experience, the power of employee recognition, and how to establish trust in difficult times.
“I think one of the other things is when there's just a lack of communications until all decisions are final. Bring us to the seat at the table, even if you don't know the decision yet. Even if you don't know if we're going to switch our benefits or IT platforms, or if we don't know how the branding's going to change, bring us in and have it be a part of the discussion. I do think where it's challenging is where there is just a vacuum until all decisions are final. Without communications, that's where rumors start, misinformation, distrust is because we don't understand what's being decided or even what the process looks like.” – Julia Christenson
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:21): How Julia defines employee experience
*(09:30): Segment: Story Time
*(14:19): Julia dives into the Edelman Trust Barometer
*(20:08): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(20:55): Why employee recognition is important
*(28:20): How leaders can establish transparency during difficult times
*(35:44): How to rebuild trust after a layoff
*(44:49): Segment: Asking For a Friend
Links:
Connect with Julia on LinkedIn
Check out the 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Rajamma Krishnamurthy, Senior Director and Leader of Enterprise AI Strategy at Microsoft. Rajamma has over two decades of experience empowering human resources through technology at Fortune 100 companies. She has led large scale digital transformations and has managed teams across the globe.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with Rajamma to discuss enabling HR through AI, tackling biases, and improving the employee lifecycle with AI.
“Think of AI as your caddie that's going to walk in with all of your golf clubs. They will even tell you which iron to take out and hit the golf ball with. But, you are the one that needs to decide which iron and where, how fast and how big you hit, and you need to make that hole in one. AI is going to be of tremendous help in all the burdensome aspects of your work. But, you have to take whatever AI gives, you have to judge it and you have to make a good judgment call based on that. And you have to then implement it in your area. I feel like there will always be humans in the middle of everything that we do.” – Rajamma Krishnamurthy
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:09): Rajamma explains her new role at Microsoft
*(04:04): Segment: Story Time
*(06:43): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(07:03): How AI enables the HR space
*(13:09): Segment: Ripped From The Headlines
*(13:35): Rajamma’s stance on AI taking away jobs
*(17:07): How to deal with biases in AI
*(24:39): Segment: Asking For a Friend
*(27:03): How employees feel about AI in HR
Links:
Data & Society
AI Now Institute
Partnership on AI
Data & Trust Alliance
Download the Algorithmic Bias Safeguards for Workforce
Connect with Rajamma on LinkedIn
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Ann Melinger, CEO and Owner of Brilliant Ink, an agency dedicated to designing meaningful employee experiences. Ann has spent the last two decades counseling organizations on improving business results and employee engagement.
In this episode, Amanda and Ann discuss refreshing company values, engaging with hands-on employees, and how language factors into inclusivity.
“Typically, we see companies refresh their values every five to 10 years. But, what we really encourage is that companies should revisit their values, intentionally, at least once a year. Sit back, take a look at them, ask yourselves, ‘Does this value represent where we are today? Does this value highlight what makes us different? Is it something that we do better than most other companies out there? Is it something that we expect people to demonstrate the moment that they walk in the door?’ And if the answer to any of those questions is, ‘No’, then it's probably time to think about a refresh.” – Ann Melinger
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:33): Why keeping company values fresh is important
*(14:12): Segment: Story Time
*(20:10): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(24:55): Why hands-on employees are at higher risk for burnout
*(31:15): How language factors into inclusivity
*(38:40): Segment: Asking For a Friend
Links:
Visit Brilliant Ink
Connect with Ann on LinkedIn
Follow Brilliant Ink on LinkedIn
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Nell Derick Debevoise, Founder of 3D Performance. She has spent her career helping purpose-driven leaders expand their impact, grow their businesses, and build powerful legacies. Nell is also a Partner at PurposeFused, author of Going First, and a Senior Contributor for Forbes.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with Nell to discuss purposeful leadership, implementing a growth mindset, and the Me, We, and World dimensions of employee experience.
“There has to be a willingness and investment in self-awareness and reflection as a starting block. But without the leader and a leadership team and eventually all of your managers, all of your people managers, having the support and the expectation to do that self-reflection and self-awareness, to really get clear and honest about what they care about and what they're good at, it's just not going to stick. Without doing that individual change from the top and all the way down and through, there is no organizational change.” – Nell Derick Debevoise
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:41): Nell explains the Me, We, and World dimensions of employee experience
*(13:44): How leaders can speak up without alienating employees
*(21:59): Segment: Story Time
*(22:16): Nell explains PurposeFused, Purposeful Growth Institute, and Inspiring Cowgirl (now known as 3D Performance)
(31:08): Nell gives a preview of her book Going First*
*(37:55): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(39:36): Nell explains what a growth mindset is
*(44:41): Segment: Ripped From The Headlines
*(45:20): Responsibilities of leaders when handling layoffs
*(54:36): Segment: Asking For a Friend
*(54:51): Mistakes HR makes in personal and career development
Links:
Visit Nell’s Website
Connect with Nell on LinkedIn
Learn more about Going First
How Your Organization Can Navigate Layoffs With Humanity
Investing in middle managers pays off—literally
Topgrading Interview Guide: How to Evaluate Talent
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Marla J. Albertie, Owner and Founder of Truth Speaks Group, a multimedia coaching company that helps women create strategies for work-life integration. She is also the Founder and President of I/O for Teens, a program that teaches adolescents transferable life and career skills. Marla is a certified life, career, and executive coach and has authored several books on work-life harmony.
In this episode, Amanda and Marla discuss why cultural fit is a myth, how to brag about yourself, and what we’re getting wrong about DE&I.
“The reason I call myself the work-life harmonizer is because there's no such thing as balance. You're never going to be perfect. You’ve got to learn to harmonize. I say you have to integrate work and life because guess what? It is your life. Work is a part of your life. It is not separate. It is a part of what you do. You're a human being. Let's start there. Then we can talk about being a spouse, parent, mother, all those roles come later. You’ve got to first realize you're a human being.” – Marla J. Albertie
Episode Timestamps:
(02:14): Marla dives into her book The Ultimate Brag Book About Yourself*
*(12:38): Segment: Story Time
*(19:21): Marla explains Truth Speaks Group and I/O for Teens
*(29:42): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(34:06): Why DE&I progress has slowed down and how to solve it
*(48:20): Segment: Ripped From The Headlines
*(48:37): Marla’s opinion on returning to work for the sake of culture
*(54:47): Segment: Asking For a Friend
Links:
Connect with Marla on LinkedIn
Visit Truth Speaks Group
Follow Truth Speaks Group on Instagram
Visit I/O for Teens
Follow I/O for Teens on Instagram
Subscribe to I/O for Teens on YouTube
Read Marla’s books
Email Marla
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Tan Le, Founder and CEO of EMOTIV. Tan is an innovator, entrepreneur, speaker, and award-winning industry leader. Founded in 2011, EMOTIV is a bioinformatics company that uses electroencephalography (EEG) to better understand the human brain and accelerate brain research globally. EMOTIV’s braintech is cited by more than 19,000 research papers, representing breakthroughs in research for a range of diseases, brain impairments, and educational modalities.
In this episode, Amanda and Tan discuss using science to improve employee experience, personalizing wellbeing, and the cost of task switching.
“The nice thing about technology like this is that you don't have that single moment bias that's skewed towards the moment in which you were surveyed. You actually get to see the ebb and flow of a person's emotion, their cognitive state throughout an entirety of a week or whenever you are actually using the technology. This takes away that bias that intrinsically happens with surveys and you really start to understand different types of work, different types of environments, different types of tasks, and its effect on your brain.” – Tan Le
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:44): Tan explains EMOTIV
*(11:52): Segment: Story Time
*(15:11): Tan’s background
*(17:51): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(18:18): What data and science can tell us that employee surveys can’t
*(31:06): The cost of task switching
*(34:42): Segment: Asking For a Friend
*(37:48): Tan’s advice for implementing EEGs
Links:
Connect with Tan on LinkedIn
Learn more about EMOTIV
Alzheimer’s and Dementia Study
BCI4Kids Program
Watch @brainpaintbyjohn paint while wearing EMOTIV’s EPOC headset
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Carolyn Clark and Shaun Randol. Carolyn is the VP of Employee Experience Strategy and Transformation at Simpplr, where she elevates the employee experience by driving innovation and revitalizing how employee communication is delivered. Prior to Simpplr, she led internal and HR communication at companies like Yahoo, Pandora, and GoDaddy. Shaun is the Editor-in-Chief of Digital Publications at Lam Research and the Founder of Mister Editorial, a mixternal communications newsletter. Previously, he spent 13 years leading communications at Bloomberg, BlackRock, and Splunk.
In this episode, Amanda, Carolyn, and Shaun take on the vast world of AI. They discuss how they use tools like ChatGPT in their everyday lives, the role AI plays in internal communications, and security and ethics concerns in this new landscape.
“I don't think AI will replace you, but somebody using AI will. I also think that the number of jobs in our industry, there will be fewer because one person can do more using these technologies. Or maybe it's the same amount of jobs and people's time is spent more on thoughtful strategic work. Rather than rote, repetitive, junior-level material.” – Shaun Randol
Episode Timestamps:
*(06:47): The role AI will play in internal communications
*(19:09): Segment: Story Time
*(26:40): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(27:13): How AI has already improved internal comms and HR
*(39:49): The dangers and fears of AI
*(01:02:23): Segment: Asking For a Friend
*(01:02:41): AI security and ethics resources
Links:
Connect with Carolyn on LinkedIn
Visit Carolyn’s website
Visit Simpplr’s blog
Connect with Shaun on LinkedIn
Visit Mister Editorial
Follow Sam Altman, Founder of OpenAI
Read IBM’s AI Ethics Guide
Visit Anthropic for more on AI ethics
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Lexi Clarke, Chief Human Resources Officer at Payscale, a compensation management platform. Lexi leads the company’s internal HR strategies for over 600 employees around the world. With over 14 years of experience at companies like Convoy, Redfin, and Boeing, she is an expert in people-first HR leadership, workforce growth strategy, and compensation best practices.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with Lexi to discuss pay transparency, measuring your worth as an employee, and discussing salary in the interview process.
“I think overall, we're starting to see that pay transparency and just transparency in general has been shown to have a positive impact on job satisfaction, on engagement, on overall productivity. And I think that's tied to an inherent trust. When you’re a little bit more transparent, there's more trust built with your employees and within the organization. It’s so powerful. I just think it is such a powerful concept.” – Lexi Clarke
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:18): The trend of talking openly about salaries
*(07:47): How Payscale is helping the shift towards pay transparency
*(15:08): Segment: Story Time
*(15:37): How to talk about salary in an interview
*(20:51): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(27:20): How to measure your worth as an employee
*(33:23): Segment: Ripped From The Headlines
*(35:49): What Lexi thinks of “quiet quitting”
*(40:17): Segment: Asking For a Friend
Links:
Connect with Lexi on LinkedIn
Visit Payscale
Follow Payscale on Twitter
Connect with Payscale on LinkedIn
Payscale Retention Report
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Ephraim “Phrai” Freed, Customer Growth Manager of Reality Labs at Meta. Phrai helps growing companies create impactful experiences through community, productivity, and performance while enriching the lives of employees. His digital strategist and communications expertise has been shaped at companies like Magic Leap and Riot Games.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with Phrai to discuss AI’s impact on internal communications, the value of cross-functional relationships, and why an equitable employee experience is critical.
“You should be spending time in your stores, in the back room, watching people work, observing what they do, how they do it, seeing the problems they face, seeing how they get the information they get. You should understand in great detail how those people work. Step one is for communicators, IT people, executives to actually be there in the field, in the situations and context of these hands-on workers and observing them so that they can build empathy, build insights, and destroy any assumptions that they have about what those people's lives are actually like.” – Ephraim Freed
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:13): Why Ephraim thinks the employee experience is broken
*(05:25): Ephraim’s career journey
*(06:50): Segment: Story Time
*(13:07): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(18:03): Creating an equitable employee experience for hands-on and on-screen workers
*(32:02): Segment: Seat at the Table
*(32:36): How cross-functional relationships improve employee experience
*(37:09): Segment: Asking For a Friend
*(37:23): The rollercoaster of AI
Links:
Connect with Ephraim on LinkedIn
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Pratiksha Patel, Chief People Officer at Branch. Pratiksha has more than two decades of experience driving employee engagement in hybrid, office-based, and remote cultures. Prior to Branch, she served as the Senior Vice President of People at CB Insights and as a Talent Expert at McKinsey & Company.
In this episode, Amanda and Pratiksha discuss meeting workers’ expectations, inclusivity, and upskilling employees.
“To create conditions where a highly diverse company and team works well together, can bring all of their ideas, bring the varied perspective that we so desperately want everyone to bring, takes a special environment. Takes an intentionality around saying, ‘We want to create an environment where you bring your perspectives and you bring your differences in, you don't just suppress them and leave them at home.’ Some of the ways we do that is we provide a guide and a micro training on the notion of day-to-day conversations and how to enable Branchers and help them know that we want them to have inclusive conversations with their colleagues about differences. As well as giving them tools on how to share stories on more sensitive topics like social or political challenges in our environment that are around us.” – Pratiksha Patel
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:53): Pratiksha’s background
*(03:44): Segment: Story Time
*(06:20): How Branch is intentional about employee experience
*(09:24): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(18:04): How inclusivity helps with career development
*(21:41): How Branch ensures employees have a good work-life blend
*(26:00): Segment: Asking For a Friend
Links:
Connect with Pratiksha on LinkedIn
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Barbara Massa, board member of Simpplr. Barbara has over 25 years of experience as a business operations leader driving workforce strategy and organizational effectiveness. Previously, she served Mandiant as the Executive Vice President and Chief of Business Operations, where she implemented the company’s first global HR system. Before joining Mandiant, Barbara led Talent & Diversity at McAfee, Inc. and was recognized for establishing a global talent management organization.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with Barbara to discuss leading through turbulent times, advising companies to be more human, and thoughtfully aligning internal partnerships.
“When you do get into having to make these difficult decisions, whether it be a reduction in a layoff or something else, that's a hard place to be. But the only way you can establish a reservoir of trust is with that authentic communication, humane engagement. Go into conversations with empathy, go into conversations seeking to learn and understand. That's where the goodness can happen even in times of duress and turbulence.” – Barbara Massa
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:02): Barbara’s background
*(13:32): Segment: Story Time
*(21:00): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(22:01): How Barbara meets desires in turbulent times
*(25:40): How leaders should incorporate transparency into strategies
*(31:39): Segment: Seat at the Table
*(36:56): Segment: Asking For a Friend
*(41:20): Barbara discusses recipe versus balance
Links:
Connect with Barbara on LinkedIn
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Katherine King, Director of Employee Communications at Etsy. She has been with the global ecommerce company since 2018, serving the internal communications function through Etsy’s massive growth. Previously, Katherine was a dialogue strategist where she developed brands’ customer-facing tone of voice for clients like American Express, Gerber, and Southwest Airlines.
In this episode, Amanda and Katherine discuss the spectrum of tone and voice, key business relationships that improve employee communications, and helping leaders develop empathetic messages.
“A reliable tone breeds familiarity, and familiarity is the precursor to trust. The more that we can breed familiarity with leadership and their authentic voice, the greater trust the team will have and the better the business will be. And I know that that seems like a big jump, but there is actual data backing up how trust impacts your business' bottom line, and its employees’ trust in their employer. And that's everything from NPS to retention and engagement – these are all things that do affect your bottom line.” – Katherine King
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:17): Katherine’s background
*(06:31): Segment: Story Time
*(11:29): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(12:02): Key relationships that help employee comms
*(21:18): Segment: Ripped From The Headlines
*(21:46): How Katherine helps leaders build empathy and compassion
*(25:23): Why tone of voice matters
*(28:01): Katherine explains the spectrum of tone and voice
*(38:17): Segment: Asking For a Friend
Links:
Connect with Katherine on LinkedIn
Edelman Trust Barometer
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Will Leahy, VP of People Development and Business Partners at Greenhouse; and Layla Kajer, Director of People Experience at Greenhouse. Will leads people development, focusing on optimizing performance, career growth, and driving culture. Layla spearheads people experience where she creates productive, connected, and empowering work environments for employees.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with Will and Layla as they dive into psychological safety, vulnerability, and leading by example.
“The power of vulnerability is limitless and it takes bravery and it takes courage. [...] That vulnerability from a leader actually creates a space where someone else is going to model that behavior. That is the cornerstone, in my opinion, of psychological safety is vulnerability. And that can launch into all kinds of other good things and relationship building and team norms and all that good stuff. But it just starts with being human, in my opinion.” – Will Leahy
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:09): Will and Layla’s backgrounds
*(07:40): Will and Layla explain the mission of Greenhouse
*(09:38): Segment: Story Time
*(10:11): The importance of psychological safety in the workplace
*(22:57): The impact of layoffs on psychological safety
*(25:28): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(29:32): How Greenhouse is ensuring behaviors are mirrored by leaders and employees
*(40:25): How Greenhouse is tackling DE&I
*(47:30): Segment: Asking For a Friend
Links:
Connect with Will on LinkedIn
Connect with Layla on LinkedIn
Greenhouse’s Inclusive Communications Guidelines
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Laila Tarraf, author of Strong Like Water. After losing her parents and husband, Laila learned that compassion was essential in her personal and professional life. Prior to writing her book, Laila served as the Chief People Officer for Allbirds and Peet’s Coffee, and was the Vice President of HR for Walmart.com.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with Laila to discuss leading with love, harmony between company values and felt experience, and psychological safety.
“It matters more that what your stated values are mirror the felt experience, than what those stated values are. There's a cognitive culture, which is what you say your values are and the stated words. And then there's the emotional culture. It's like, ‘Okay, but how does it feel? How are people talking to me? How are we relating to each other?’ And the greater the dissonance between those two things, that's where you run into issues because then, employees are like, ‘Well, we say it's this, but what I'm seeing is this.’ And that's where trust breaks down. And so it actually hurts you to have these beautifully well-articulated values and the accouterments that come with whatever you think employees are looking for; free lunches or workout rooms, but you're not able to talk to your manager. You're not clear on what your role is. Conflict is swept under the rug, So, it becomes passive aggressive. It's all of those things. It's your felt experience really, that is the true culture and the other things become like window washing and that actually ends up hurting you because then you lose the trust.” – Laila Tarraf
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:52): Laila’s background
*(05:58): Segment: Story Time
(06:14): Laila discusses her book Strong Like Water*
*(17:17): Laila’s advice for leading with courage and love
*(27:49): Segment: Ripped From The Headlines
*(28:29): Skills leaders need to have to guide employees through challenging times
*(31:24): Segment: Asking For a Friend
*(31:49): What future changes in leadership Laila expects
Links:
Visit Laila’s Website
Follow Laila on Instagram
Connect with Laila on LinkedIn
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Hannah Bolte, Director of Marketing and Communications at Lozier Corporation. Starting as a print and television reporter, Hannah uses her journalism expertise to craft internal, external, and crisis communications strategies and content.
In this episode, Amanda and Hannah discuss Lozier’s mobile-first employee experience platform, reaching deskless workers, and intentional communications.
"The bulk of our employees work in a manufacturing facility. They don't have email access and their jobs are in the plant, it's not sitting at a desk. We approached the intranet in finding an intranet that would work for us with a sense of, ‘We can't reach those employees right now,’ aside from all those things that you said, like a flier in the break room, providing information to supervisors to say at startup meetings. But, how do you engage them beyond their day-to-day? How do you make them feel like they're part of something bigger? How do you make them realize their impact on the company, on the community? So, mobile-first was a non-negotiable thing for us. We had to make sure that it was accessible by all of our employees at any point in time." – Hannah Bolte
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:47): Hannah’s background
*(08:09): Segment: Story Time
*(09:13): Why Lozier created a mobile-first employee experience platform
*(11:58): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(12:27): Hannah explains the ins and outs of LozierLink
*(29:30): Segment: Ripped From The Headlines
*(32:49): Segment: Asking For a Friend
Links:
Connect with Hannah on LinkedIn
Connect with Lozier Corporation on LinkedIn
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features highlights of past guests as they open up their playbooks and give advice on employee feedback, building culture through technology, getting a seat at the table, and measuring ROI.
In this episode, you’ll hear from the following internal communications leaders:
- Parag Kulkarni, CTO at Simpplr
- Natalie Ridsdale, Director of Internal Communications at Levi Strauss & Co
- Michelle Press, Director of Corporate Communications at Envoy Solutions
- Rajamma Krishnamurthy, Senior Director of HR Technology at Microsoft
- Wendy Pfeiffer, CIO at Nutanix
- Chase Warrington, Head of Remote at Doist
- Kristin Hancock, VP of Community & Engagement at ICology
- Beth Collier, Founder of Beth Collier Consulting
- Victoria Dew, CEO of Dewpoint Communications
- Tina Hawkins, Senior Director of Internal Communications at NBA
- Paralee Johnson, Senior Manager of Community & Content at Simpplr
- Debbie Gunning, VP of People at Human Interest
- Ben Matthews, Senior Director of Internal Communications at NVIDIA
- Mary Poppen, Chief Strategy & Customer Officer at involve.ai
- Jason Anthoine, Managing Founder at Audacity
- Pinaki Kathiari, CEO & Owner of Local Wisdom
“I like actually asking people, ‘What did you think? How could we have done better?’ I want that feedback because your playbook can be your playbook, but it needs to be somewhat flexible to understand what is hitting and what is missing in terms of the communications. I think getting that feedback is important as a communicator.” – Michelle Press
“You're going to see a continued move towards more distribution, more flexibility in the workspace, more control over how you control your workday. Not just where you work, but when you work. As you embrace more asynchronous communication and a focus on outputs and documentation and things like this, sort of the core principles of remote work, you find that it's very easy to make the next leap, which is to something called the non-linear workday. Where you're basically able to choose when you work, not just where you work. And as long as you're delivering, then you're accepted as having done your work well.” – Chase Warrington
“For a long time, we've talked about having a seat at the table. And sometimes I think, especially for communications, it's just like, be the table. You be the table. And then you have people come to your table. Stop waiting to get a seat at other people's table. You form the strategic imperative and have people come work in that way with you.” – Victoria Dew
“The best piece of advice that I can give somebody just starting out in their career is remembering grace for yourself. I think it's really, really important. To what we spoke about earlier, about beating ourselves up and that pressure to get it right every time. If you can learn to give yourself grace and move on and learn from that, you will find yourself a whole lot happier in this field and able to contribute the awesomeness that you bring and the skillsets and the important value that's needed.” – Paralee Johnson
“I think what's important about ROI is that comms does need to take accountability for making business changes. And in order to take accountability for it, we just need to know what that is. [...] I think the key metrics will always net out to, ‘Did we produce the outcome that we wanted? What are we going after? Are we trying to reduce turnover? Are we trying to increase productivity? Are we trying to reduce injury in the workplace? Are we trying to increase employee satisfaction?’ Things like that, we want to really hook ourselves onto. And we really need to understand if we do do this, how do we know that we're making a difference? It's important to be able to know that. And it's important to be able to decide how many of these things we're going to tackle within a given period of time. So, the outcome should always be measurable.” – Pinaki Kathiari
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:16): Parag, Natalie, and Michelle discuss using surveys to collect employee feedback
(02:30): Rajamma, Wendy, and Chase discuss building culture through technology
(05:20): Kristin, Beth, Victoria, and Tina discuss getting a seat at the table
*(08:08): Paralee and Debbie share internal communications career advice
*(09:19): Ben, Mary, Jason, and Pinkai discuss measuring ROI
Links:
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Chase Warrington, Head of Remote at Doist, a leading remote-first company. Having worked remotely since 2009, Chase has managed teams across all timezones and is passionate about the future of work. He has been named a LinkedIn Top Voice for Remote Work, a Global Top 50 Remote Enabler by Remote.com, and is a frequent contributor to the world’s top remote-work outlets such as Forbes, BBC, and AP.
In this episode, Amanda and Chase dive into remote work; discussing challenges, experience, and what companies get wrong.
“What I would love to see those same leaders do though, is to stop saying you can't build team culture in a remote environment, or you can't collaborate, or we can't do good brainstorming sessions, or have good relationships with our employees, or mentor our team because that is not true. And you're seeing it being done at scale now. Companies with tens of thousands of employees going remote. We're a team of 100 and in 35 different countries, and at one time, we were seen to be one of the big ones that were doing fully remote work. And so, it is being done. And I do think those companies will continue to see an exodus of talent if they don't invest in at least trying to make it work on some level.” – Chase Warrington
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:13): Chase’s background
*(06:20): Segment: Story Time
*(09:43): Chase explains the nuances of remote work
*(17:53): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(18:17): Problems that Chase is solving in remote work
*(22:18): Things companies get wrong about remote work
*(27:46): Breaking remote experience into subsets
*(30:02): Segment: Ripped From The Headlines
*(30:22): Chase’s thoughts on back to office mandates
*(33:05): Segment: Asking For a Friend
Links:
Connect with Chase on LinkedIn
Do You Need a Head of Remote? White Paper
Follow Chase on Twitter
The Async Newsletter by Twist
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Pinaki Kathiari, CEO and owner of Local Wisdom, a digital communications agency. Pinaki’s experience spans two decades serving global Fortune companies, startups, and multi-industry agencies. He’s also the co-founder of Resource Hero, Vice President of Professional Development for the IABC Tristate Area Chapter, and a Business Mentor for WOMEN Unlimited, Inc.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with Pinaki to discuss his communications team maturity model, the ROI of employee recognition, and the value of a digital communications presence.
“If people don't know how they're actually, or really making a difference, then they kind of lose sight of why they're here. So we all do that. It feels like being in a conversation with two other people who are speaking another language. Kind of like, ‘why am I here and how am I even contributing?’ [...] I think leaders want to quantify investment into recognition systems and programs. And that I get, because that takes some funds and investment and planning. But I also think that recognition doesn't have to take a large investment. Like I said, simply adding a topic to your leader's speaking points; it's the littlest thing you could do that doesn't cost really anything. Because at the end of the day, we work better as friends and friends show appreciation to each other.” – Pinaki Kathiari
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:12): Pinaki’s career journey
*(10:02): Segment: Story Time
*(10:58): How Pinaki quantifies the ROI of employee recognition
*(17:16): How leaders can institute employee recognition
*(22:41): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(23:07): Pinaki explains his communications team maturity model
*(29:37): Must-haves for a good internal comms team
*(34:15): Metrics internal communicators can use to show ROI
*(38:40): Changes to the communications team maturity model
Links:
Connect with Pinaki on LinkedIn
Follow Pinaki on Instagram
Follow Pinaki on Twitter
Local Wisdom
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features a roundtable discussion with Carolyn Clark, VP of Employee Experience Strategy and Transformation at Simpplr; Julie Miller, Senior Internal Communications Specialist at Simpplr; and Paralee Johnson, Senior Manager of Community and Content at Simpplr.
In this episode, Carolyn, Julie, and Paralee discuss how they wish Internal Comms to be perceived, learning from their mistakes, and trends they’re looking forward to in 2023.
“We could do everything possible in our tool belt of tools for comms and something can still fail in the eyes of stakeholders. It's really important not to tie our value to the success of a particular program, that we don't necessarily own, to the success of the things that we do, per se. Because, sometimes you can do all of the things in your comm playbook, you can throw everything at the world at it, and maybe it's actually not what the audience needed or wanted. And then the organization or the stakeholders have to go back and reassess, ‘What are we actually doing? Was this to check a box? Was this some larger business goal that maybe really wasn't what they needed or wanted?’” – Paralee Johnson
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:37): The panelists discuss their backgrounds and roles at Simpplr
*(08:11): How Internal Comms is viewed and how they wish that would change
*(10:54): How to show the value of data
*(14:31): How to create a unified understanding of success
*(16:41): How to onboard stakeholders
*(20:44): The panelists discuss past mistakes and how they learned from them
*(32:57): How the panelists found their voices to speak up
*(39:13): What Internal Comms can learn from other departments
*(50:03): Rapid fire Internal Comms questions
Links:
Connect with Carolyn on LinkedIn
Visit Carolyn’s website
Connect with Julie on LinkedIn
Follow Julie on Instagram
Follow Julie on Behance
Connect with Paralee on LinkedIn
Simpplr Blog
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Olga Skouteli, Head of Culture and Engagement at Lilium, a high-growth scale-up revolutionizing aviation. Olga specializes in developing and delivering engagement, internal communications, and Diversity and Inclusion strategies. Olga previously served as an employee experience consultant for global organizations like Rolls-Royce, Visa, and Nestlé where she transformed their culture and employee experience to drive business results.
In this episode, Amanda and Olga discuss breaking down silos, nuances of language, and their hopes for internal communications in 2023.
“I would like to see communicators be part of the conversation and the decisions, not only the conversation after the decisions have been made. Because, this is the power of communication and creating culture and building engagement and inspiring people, and there is so much potential in there. So, I think the trend I would like to leave back, is this trend of coming to communications just to communicate. It's about understanding that communications is much more than that, and the language and the words is just one aspect of it. Engagement is much more than communications, but communications can drive engagement.” – Olga Skouteli
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:49): Olga’s background
*(04:58): Segment: Story Time
*(06:54): The nuances of meaning behind language
*(16:11): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(16:49): Indications of working in silos
*(23:11): The do’s and don’ts of breaking down silos
*(25:37): Segment: Asking for a Friend
*(25:57): A trend Olga is looking forward to leaving behind in 2022
*(28:02): How Olga gets better at her job
Links:
Connect with Olga on LinkedIn
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Tyler Muse, CEO and Founder of Lingo Live, a one-on-one leadership coaching program. Prior to starting Lingo Live, Tyler worked as an analyst for GE Energy Financial Services, where he focused on underwriting and portfolio management of energy investments. He also founded an internationally-focused mentorship program for multilingual youth in New York City.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with Tyler to discuss work trends like “quiet quitting”, how to motivate leaders to invest in coaching, and the inspiration he draws from Maya Angelou.
“Maya Angelou famously said, ‘People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’ And I think that's really important when we talk about communication. Communication isn’t what you said. It is to some extent, but it's only important what you said in terms of how that made the person feel. What was the feeling that you elicited out of that person and was that actually in your or their best interest? [...] That doesn't mean you say only nice things, you have to deliver critical feedback. But if you do it in a way where you make someone feel blamed or all these other things, you're not going to get anywhere and they're not going to get anywhere either. I think it's important when we enter a coaching conversation, this is what coaches do for people; is they help them not only understand what is it that you need to say to this other person or to yourself sometimes, but also how's that going to land and are we sure that that's actually what you're trying to convey or is there a different way to communicate this?” – Tyler Muse
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:44): Tyler’s background
*(04:53): Tyler explains Lingo Live
*(09:18): Segment: Story Time
*(09:36): What inspired Tyler to build a coaching business
*(16:04): Tyler’s advice for coaching leaders to be better communicators
*(23:59): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(24:28): How Tyler works with HR to get investment for executive coaching
*(31:34): Segment: Ripped From The Headlines
*(31:45): Tyler’s thoughts on work trends like “quiet quitting”
*(38:30): Segment: Asking For a Friend
Links:
Lingo Live
Email Tyler
Connect with Tyler on LinkedIn
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Laura Borland, TA and Clinical Communications Director at Waters. Unlike most communications professionals, Laura has a PhD in Analytical Chemistry and began her career as a science consultant and government project manager. She found her passion in supporting scientists and communicating their stories to drive business outcomes.
In this episode, Amanda and Laura discuss manager-led communications, strategies for reaching people globally, and helping leaders become better communicators.
“Executives need to identify that the managers are your best representatives of the employee base. They're the ones that are eyes and ears; they're all around, they see it. They're at that sort of level, and they really should be, hopefully, empowered and respected and heard. And that when we communicate to them, find ways to better empower and not just assume that they're going to cascade verbatim the message from on high. There's a lot of contextualization, translation to get that message from what the executive sees at a high-level strategic business, and even strategic cultural level, down into the organization to really pump the blood through and get those tactics, those strategies, all those things from the business and culturally through the organization.” – Laura Borland
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:43): Laura’s background
*(06:48): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(07:14): One strategy that gets overlooked when trying to reach people globally
*(08:51): Laura opens her manager-led communication playbook
*(23:16): Segment: Seat at The Table
*(26:56): How Laura coaches leaders to be better communicators
*(30:51): Segment: Asking for a Friend
Links:
Connect with Laura on LinkedIn
Waters
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Tina Hawkins, Senior Director of Internal Communications at the NBA. Tina partners with business leaders to enhance employee performance through change management with a focus on workplace experience.
In this episode, Amanda and Tina discuss aligning values externally and internally, keeping communication casual, and how to hold space for employees and leaders to have critical conversations.
“Don't over emphasize the writing. Things like the wordsmithing, the grammar, et cetera. That's table stakes. It's the strategic thinking that's the most important. What are we trying to achieve with this message or with this initiative or with what we're doing? What's the best way to reach people? How can we do something that'll have the most impact and influence? [...] And then personally, I try to concentrate on the business and connect with business leaders and understand our goals and where we're trying to go and what you want employees to do, what behavior changes we need from employees.” – Tina Hawkins
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:37): Tina’s background
*(03:08): Tina’s role as Senior Director of Internal Communications at the NBA
*(05:35): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(07:34): How Tina aligned the NBA while revamping the mission statement
*(11:21): Segment: Ripped From the Headlines
*(12:59): How the NBA helps leaders and employees have critical conversations
*(22:47): Things to avoid when holding tough conversations
*(28:01): Segment: Asking For a Friend
*(31:29): Tina’s advice for keeping communication casual
Links:
Connect with Tina on LinkedIn
NBA
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Victoria Dew, CEO of Dewpoint Communications. Victoria is a leader of employee experience and future of work, with more than 15 years of global internal communications expertise.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with Victoria to discuss how the pandemic affected DE&I, what we can learn from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and why to stop waiting for a seat at the table.
“When we talk about what does the ideal employee experience look like, it's a way that accounts for all the factors that help a human being to thrive in the workplace. And we can think of some of those are feeling valued, feeling safe, feeling seen, respected. And having the opportunity to grow, having the opportunity to contribute, having belief, actually, in the purpose of what we're doing, in our leaders, in our organizations. [...] Communications can come and help us weave all of this together and connect the dots. Because connecting the dots is one of the things that communications professionals can and should be doing often better than other parts of the business. It's kind of one of our superpowers.” – Victoria Dew
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:41): Victoria’s background
*(06:19): Victoria’s role at Dewpoint Communications
*(07:35): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(08:16): The ideal employee experience according to Victoria
*(12:44): How Dewpoint Communications improves employee experience
*(14:49): Mistakes companies make that hurt the employee experience
*(22:04): Segment: Ripped From the Headlines
*(22:50): How DE&I has been impacted by remote work
*(35:57): Segment: Asking for a Friend
*(36:15): Challenges IC will face in the future
Links:
Connect with Victoria on LinkedIn
Dewpoint Communications
Download Dewpoint Communications Insights Report (Maslow’s graphic on page 9)
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Natalie Ridsdale, Director of Internal Communications at Levi Strauss & Co. Natalie has spent the last 21 years refining her communication skills, starting out as a copy editor at newspapers and now managing employee experience at Levi’s.
In this episode, Amanda and Natalie discuss how internal and external communications can work better together, collecting employee feedback, and how Levi’s is making space for employees to have tough conversations.
“My number one piece of advice when I talk to people is, don't ask a question if you're not going to act on the answer. People need to know that you're going to take this feedback and do something with it. So, if you're asking something that gives people a sense that you might take steps to address it and you never planned on it, I think you're harming some of that trust in the relationship between you and the people that you're surveying. So make sure that you're asking about things you're actually going to take action on.” – Natalie Ridsdale
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:47): Natalie’s background
*(06:12): Segment: Story Time
*(06:34): How internal and external comms can work better together
*(07:49): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(18:05): Dos and don’ts of employee surveys and feedback
*(21:35): How Levi’s holds tough conversations internally
*(24:27): Segment: Seat at the Table
*(26:57): How Natalie recommends change to leaders
*(28:27): Segment: Asking for a Friend
*(28:44): Natalie’s advice to a first time IC leader
Links:
Connect with Natalie on LinkedIn
Levi Strauss & Co.
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Beth Collier, founder of Beth Collier Consulting.
She has spent 20 years helping people and companies become better, more connected leaders through communication.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with Beth to discuss what pop culture can teach us about communications, the impact of creativity, and how to turn leaders into effective communicators.
“You've got to be courageous if you want to be creative, because it is hard to put ideas in front of people that by definition, they're going to be new and different. Because even people who say, and I've known leaders like this, who are like, ‘I want new ideas and think outside the box and nothing's off the table. Blah, blah, blah.’ They say that stuff and then when you give them something that is new and different, they're like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. We can't do that here. That's not going to work or we tried that once.’ It's kind of like a newborn baby. You've got to be so gentle and protective of that new idea. And so, when it comes to sharing those ideas, it takes a lot of courage.” – Beth Collier
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:39): Beth’s background
*(04:05): Segment: Story Time
*(04:18): When Beth realized she wanted to advocate for employees
*(13:11): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(13:27): How Beth brings pop culture into communications
*(20:12): Why it's important that communications is creative
*(28:18): Why Beth disagrees that 7% of communication is verbal
*(34:06): Segment: Seat at the Table
*(34:17): How Beth helps make leaders effective communicators
*(37:09): Segment: Asking for a Friend
Links:
Connect with Beth on LinkedIn
Beth Collier Consulting
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Kristin Hancock, Vice President of Community and Engagement at ICology. Kristin’s passion for communications fueled her career at organizations like Ronald McDonald House and Children’s Wish Foundation. Kristin has over a decade of experience connecting humans through meaningful messages. She also has a flair for astrology and offers birth chart readings for people and pets!
In this episode, Amanda and Kristin discuss how ICology improves culture, how to make connections instead of network, and Kristin reads Amanda’s birth chart.
“We carry with us experiences from our life, from our personal lives and our professional lives. Knowing those pieces of yourself before you start a role is, I think, the most important part of it so you can be self-aware when you have tendencies to respond in certain ways, for example. I think the other piece is connecting with your industry. Someone has been in your shoes before and someone will be in your shoes in the future. So, getting to know the folks who are in your industry, getting to know the people in your organization and also outside your organization, I think is the other big part of being in this industry.” – Kristin Hancock
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:50): Kristin’s background
*(04:50): Kristin’s role at ICology
*(06:05): Segment: Story Time
*(07:09): Kristin reads Amanda’s birth chart
*(11:04): How astrology impacts Kristin’s view of internal communications
*(12:57): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(14:46): How ICology builds community
*(20:39): Segment: Seat at the Table
*(21:42): The importance of making connections
*(28:27): Segment: Asking for a Friend
*(30:06): Challenges IC professionals are facing
Links:
Connect with Kristin on LinkedIn
ICology
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Michelle Press, Director of Corporate Communications at Envoy Solutions. Michelle has over 25 years of experience leading merger and acquisition communications, community relations, and change management. Previously, Michelle’s leadership roles include KemperLesnik, UL Solutions, and Golin.
In this episode, Amanda and Michelle open their playbooks on mergers and acquisitions. They discuss the dos and don'ts of a communications plan, the channels and tech that help navigate this shift, and what Michelle has learned throughout her career.
“If you think about it from an acquisition standpoint, the thing that every business wants to know when requiring a company it's, ‘Do no harm and we want everyone to be able to do their job the way they've been doing it as much as possible,’ as change is happening. So if it's the importance of making sure that people feel like they can still do their job, overwhelming them with email is not going to help them because that's usually when people say is, ‘There's so much here, communication here, I can't get to my own work or I can't get to my own job.’ So how do we help facilitate that in a better way?” – Michelle Press
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:42): Michelle’s background
*(03:41): Segment: Story Time
*(04:03): What Michelle learned during her first acquisition
*(06:53): Segment: Seat at the Table
*(11:50): How IC can be successful without a seat at the table
*(13:49): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(14:15): Dos and don'ts of a merger and acquisition communications plans
*(20:36): How Michelle uses channels and technology to help employees navigate a merger
*(34:00): Segment: Asking for a Friend
Links:
Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn
Envoy Solutions
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Suman Gopalan, Chief HR Officer at Freshworks. Suman has spent her entire professional career in HR, holding positions at publicly traded companies like The Nielsen Company, Dell Technologies, and Whirlpool. At Freshworks, Suman pilots the global people strategy to develop and engage their employees.
In this episode, Amanda and Suman examine diversity in the workplace. They discuss Suman’s passion for women in the workforce, key elements of workplace culture, and why it's better to hire people that add to that culture versus fitting in.
“There is no one size that fits all. Human experiences at the workplace is all about different moments that matter as an employee throughout your journey. How do you create experiences that can delight your employees? Just like how we talk about customer delight. We have different personas. Whether it's an early career employee, it's an experienced employee, senior executive, women and we try and create experiences for each one of these that are different and that are important to them. And to me, that's what it's all about. It's human experiences at the workplace that create delight.” – Suman Gopalan
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:50): Suman’s career journey
*(03:50): Segment: Story Time
*(04:01): Suman’s passion for women in the workforce
*(08:41): Suman’s definition of employee experience
*(12:06): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(12:31): The key elements of a good workplace culture
*(15:45): Hiring to fit the culture vs adding to the culture
*(19:33): Segment: Ripped from the Headlines
*(23:38): How the pandemic affected women in the workforce
*(26:25): Freshworks’ pledge for equality
*(33:47): Asking for a Friend
Links:
Connect with Suman on LinkedIn
Freshworks
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Stephanie Briggs, Director of Employee Experience at ivanti. She has over ten years of experience in digital and social media marketing, where she puts storytelling at the forefront. Stephanie’s passion for storytelling doesn’t stop there. She is also a published horror author of the “Sophia Rey” series, in which the main character goes undercover in a cult.
In this episode, Amanda and Stephanie discuss who owns employee experience in an org and how storytelling makes for powerful communications.
“Employee experience, overall, either you’ll have a subset of employees who are highly engaged and it really comes down to the level of passion that they have to not just do their day-to-day and collect a paycheck. But it’s really about having that passion, coming each day, and really feeling that impact that you’re making as an employee. And that’s a tough one because as employee engagement professionals, it’s really in our areas to help with getting employees to that point of ensuring that they understand and they’re feeling the impact that they make overall. And that’s not an easy thing to do.” – Stephanie Briggs
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:45): Stephanie’s background
*(03:37): Stephanie’s role at ivanti
*(04:58): Segment: Storytime
*(05:37): Why Stephanie loves to tell stories
*(08:11): Stephanie breaks down her Sophia Rey book series
*(13:59: Segment: Getting Tactical
*(17:10): How Stephanie supports leaders
*(18:20): How Stephanie worked across her organization on an intranet revamp
*(24:31): How ivanti maintains a global employee experience
*(30:40): What’s the ideal org for employee experience?
*(33:36): Segment: Asking for a Friend
*(38:48): Biggest challenges employee experience professionals will face in the future
Links:
Connect with Stephanie on LinkedIn
ivanti
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Mary Poppen, Chief Strategy and Customer Officer at involve.ai. With over 2 decades of experience in customer success, executive leadership, and business consulting, Mary is dedicated to advancing the next generation of CX leaders.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with Mary to discuss how a great customer experience can lead to happy employees and how to measure employee and customer satisfaction.
“Early in my career, I realized that our most happy customers had a really strong relationship with an employee or employees in our organization. Whether it was sales services, exec relationships, it didn’t really matter they just had a strong bond. And the least happy customers were those that really saw us as a vendor. Those of you listening that do know me, know I hate the v-word. If you can be called a partner, a strategic advisor, that’s much better. But, I realized that those customers who were unhappy were the ones that saw us as a vendor. Just a transactional, reactionary solution. So, that’s what struck me as a differentiator where relationships and therefore, engaged and happy employees, really do make a difference in building a connection and providing value to customers. So, when you have happy engaged employees and happy engaged customers, there’s this crazy contagious enthusiasm that exists. And then the company benefits because what results is growth, expansion of customers, and referenceability. Talent out there wants to work for your company. So it’s just a lot of goodness that I call the ‘All In Zone’.” – Mary Poppen
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:44): Mary’s background
*(04:22): Segment: Story Time
*(06:41): The link between employee experience and customer satisfaction
*(09:32): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(11:19): ROI when connecting employee and customer experience
*(19:13): Best practices for tracking employee and customer satisfaction
*(21:46): What involve.ai is doing to keep employees and customers happy
*(24:22): Segment: Asking for a Friend
*(27:48): Biggest challenges of connecting the customer and employee experience
Links:
Connect with Mary on LinkedIn
involve.ai
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Debbie Gunning, Vice President of People at Human Interest. Debbie has spent the last 24 years building powerful business teams through talent acquisition, employee relations, and workplace culture.
In this episode, Amanda and Debbie dive into employee onboarding. They discuss the relationship between onboarding and employee retention, the importance of culture during this time, and how Debbie’s team transitioned to a virtual onboarding experience.
“If you are a first-time HR leader entering into this, my takeaways from the last three years of having this huge scope that I’ve been covering, and part of it was very new to me, is just get ready for the ride of your life and don’t take things personally. There’s always going to be a critic. Critics are loud. And don’t worry about it because people are always going to have different feelings and let them have them, and get super comfortable being uncomfortable. Because, being an HR professional in today’s climate, every day there is going to be something that comes up that you’re like, ‘Hmm, didn’t see this coming. Don’t really know how to handle this. It’s uncomfortable, but I'm going to figure it out.’ So just get comfortable living with the discomfort and you’ll just continue to grow and thrive.” – Debbie Gunning
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:44): Debbie’s background
*(04:14): Segment: Story Time
*(04:37): How Human Interest is tackling the pandemic world
*(06:12): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(07:24): How a good onboarding experience leads to employee retention
*(12:34): How Human Interest switched to virtual onboarding
*(22:47): Don’ts of employee onboarding
*(25:52): How Debbie is bringing culture into onboarding
*(29:31): Segment: Asking for a Friend
Links:
Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn
Human Interest
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Danielle Tabor, Chief People Officer at Emburse. Danielle has over 15 years of human resources experience in the biomedical, architecture, and financial industries. She also holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a minor in Education from Clark University.
In this episode, Amanda sits down with Danielle to discuss work-from-home burnout, HR’s ability to adapt, and the importance of an equitable employee experience.
“I really think the future of work is all about employee experience. Everything shifted with the pandemic. And as leaders, what we need to understand is what employees truly need and how we can realistically meet those needs. So, we need to consider the whole employee here. There are basic needs that must be met. At absolute minimum: stability. People don’t need to have anxiety about whether or not their job is stable. They need a healthy income, they need healthy benefits. But we also need to start thinking about family, community, social and environmental impact. It just expands. Previously, it used to be Human Resources that was focused on policy, procedure, compliance. Those things are obviously still incredibly important and they need to be focused on as well, but it goes so far beyond that. Where we really need to win over the hearts of our people if we want an engaged workforce. That’s going to be incredibly important as we go forward. And it's challenging, it’s not obvious all the time. And so, we need to be open-minded and we need to be able to adapt.” – Danielle Tabor
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:42): Danielle’s background
*(02:48): Danielle’s role as Chief People Officer at Emburse
*(03:23): Segment: Story Time
*(03:39: How Emburse shifted during the pandemic
*(09:26): Danielle’s partnership with the internal comms team
*(10:43): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(12:46): Ensuring an equitable employee experience
*(17:46): How Emburse is combating employee burnout
*(20:47): How Danielle’s degree in Education influences her job
*(22:24): Segment: Asking For a Friend
*(26:15): How Danielle is getting better at her job through feedback
Links:
Connect with Danielle on LinkedIn
Emburse
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Parag Kulkarni, Chief Technology Officer at Simpplr. Parag has nearly 25 years of experience as a technology industry leader. Previously, Parag was the Senior Vice President of SaaS Engineering at Nutanix where he developed modern SaaS applications covering the customer and partner lifecycle.
Parag is now heading Simpplr’s engineering and technology teams to create more value for its customers.
In this episode, Amanda and Parag discuss Simpplr’s new employee communication software Live EX, intranets and employee engagement, and the personalization of communications.
“When we talk about engagement and connection, the big component of that is communication. How do you communicate? Who do you communicate to? Can you properly explain the why? Can you communicate at the right time? The product [Live EX] really focuses on that communication aspect as the first step of employee engagement or employee experience. Once that communication has happened, the next piece is to actually have a way of listening back to the feedback. Which is where surveys, the analytics that I talked about came into play. So, you really understand, ‘If I’m falling short in terms of engagement in certain areas, why is that? What can I do?’ And then the third component, which is where we are moving towards, is using that to inspire. Which is where things like recognition comes into play. If you see certain cultural values being exhibited that will drive more engagement, more connection. Then those are the ones that you really want to communicate to the larger group. Those are the ones that you want to recognize. So between connection, listening to the feedback for the connection that was provided, and then ultimately inspiring using recognition is how the platform can really help. And we are seeing a great uptake in that. We are seeing companies who are looking at employee experience and saying, ‘I really want to invest in my current employees.’ Hiring a new employee is so much more difficult and so much more money than focusing on the existing employees and keeping them happy.” – Parag Kulkarni
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:44): Parag’s background
*(05:02): Segment: Story Time
*(05:16): Simpplr’s Live EX function and what makes it different
*(08:00): How Live EX helps drive employee engagement
*(13:55): How Simpplr personalizes data to communicate with employees
*(19:24): How people use Simpplr to get to know each other
*(23:14): Segment: Ripped From the Headlines
*(23:27): How organizations can use Live EX to minimize employee turnover
*(25:36): Segment: Asking For a Friend
*(28:10): Parag’s advice for those hesitant to change the employee experience
Links:
Connect with Parag on LinkedIn
Simpplr
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Annette Reavis, Chief People Officer at Envoy. Annette is an HR and business leader with over 20 years of experience. After spending 10 years at Facebook as the Vice President of HR, Annette retired. But not for long. She soon became the Chief People Officer of Root Inc. and now, Annette holds the same position at Envoy.
In this episode, Annette and Amanda dive into work-life blend versus work-life balance, the modern employee experience, and how Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion functions can improve.
“I know it’s controversial to say, but I truly believe that if you are 100% remote, it is going to be harder and that you have to work harder. The company can only do so much. You have to work harder to make sure that you are making the right connections because people in the office will be able to do it over coffee, over lunch, and all those experiences that you won’t have. [...] We are really focused here at Envoy on the hybrid experience, so that you get a little bit of both. We do have talent that is 100% remote, for example. We’re going to bring them into the office and do an all hands once or twice a year, so that at least they can have that exchange, understanding. They can have that experience working in the office with people and sitting across from them at the desk. But, it’s something that we’re going to have to continue to work harder at for that talent that’s remote because I do believe it’s just a little bit harder.” – Annette Reavis
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:55): Annette’s background
*(06:45): Segment: Storytime
*(06:55): How Annette handled the pandemic at a new company
*(10:46): The value of “unstructured skill-building”
*(12:27): Annette’s journey as a Black woman in leadership
*(15:00): How DE&I functions can improve
*(17:18): How Annette handled COVID and social justice issues as a leader
*(19:08): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(21:09): Why Annette loves coaching leaders
*(23:19): The modern employee experience
*(28:40): Work/life balance vs. work/life blend
*(34:27): Segment: Asking For a Friend
Links:
Connect with Annette on LinkedIn
Envoy
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Sophie Hamersley, Manager of Internal Communications at HubSpot. With over a decade of experience under her belt, Sophie has held positions at fully integrated agencies such as RF|Binder and Image Unlimited Communications. Sophie joined HubSpot in 2018 as the Communications Manager of the Culture Team where she helped attract talent through storytelling.
In this episode, Sophie and Amanda dive into all things related to company culture. They discuss why HubSpot treats culture like a product, who the best brand ambassadors are, and why communications should be delightful.
“I think at the very foundation of it, you want your employees to feel really proud about where they work. You want employees to feel excited to come to work every day, to feel energized by the hard problems that they’re solving and know exactly how they’re making an impact on the business, on our mission, on the millions of customers that we’re helping to grow better. And so, you want to build a company that people feel really proud to work at, that’s the biggest goal. As part of that, when you are feeling proud to work somewhere, you end up talking a lot about that to other people. [...] Your employees are absolutely your biggest brand ambassadors and the more that they feel proud and excited to work somewhere, the more they’re going to talk about that to other people. And so, at the very core foundation, you want to build a culture that enables people to do that.” – Sophie Hamersley
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:57): Sophie’s current role at HubSpot
*(03:36): Segment: Storytime
*(06:41): Why HubSpot treats culture like a product
*(10:19): How Sophie is building an internal comms function around transparency
*(19:53): Why employees are the biggest brand ambassadors
*(21:49): Segment: Seat at the Table
*(22:01): Advice for internal comms folks struggling to get buy-in on employer brand
*(26:40): Delightful communications
*(28:30): Segment: Asking for a Friend
*(30:36): Challenges internal comms will face in the future
Links:
Connect with Sophie on LinkedIn
HubSpot
‘Internal Communications Has a Communication Problem’ by Sophie Hamersley
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Jill Stracko, Director of Global Executive and Internal Communications at Uber. Jill’s impressive career spans from Washington D.C. all the way to Silicon Valley. Jill led President Barack Obama’s writing team in the White House and once served as Senior Legislative Correspondent to then-Senator Joe Biden.
On this episode, Jill sits down with Amanda to discuss her 3 principles of Internal Communications: informing and inspiring, connecting the dots, and exclusivity. They also discuss keeping PR and internal comms aligned and their love of the Oxford Comma.
“In terms of how I just personally think about internal communications, there’s a couple of principles. The first is informing and inspiring. Making sure that employees understand what’s going on because it’s easier to do your job if you understand how decisions are being made. And then inspiring. You really want people to always be reminded of why they came to work at this company and why it's amazing. So, always trying to find those stories that remind people of that and show the innovation that’s happening around the company, the cool stuff that’s happening. The second is connecting the dots. I feel like it’s really important as internal communicators and then also helping leaders, making sure that you remind people how their day-to-day work fits into the company strategy and the priorities for the year and the company mission and values. So, that’s our responsibility. It’s leaders’ responsibility. It’s our responsibility to help leaders remind employees of that. And then the final thing is exclusivity. Our work should not just be a regurgitation of something that’s put out externally on a blog post or in a news story. Internal Communications is different and should be different from external communications. And I like to think of it as, you should get this information because you work at this company. And you’re getting the inside scoop, the behind the curtain view, the story behind the story.” – Jill Stracko
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:52): Jill’s background
*(04:12): Jill’s 3 Principles of Internal Communications
*(06:00): Segment: Story Time
*(06:26): How Jill’s team rebranded Uber’s mission statement
*(09:52): Amanda and Jill bond over the Oxford Comma
*(11:29): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(15:34): How to align internal comms with PR
*(19:15): How Jill is keeping employees aligned during remote work
*(32:01): Segment: Asking for a Friend
*(38:57): Biggest challenge IC leaders will face in 5 years
Links:
Connect with Jill on LinkedIn
Uber
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Ben Matthews, Senior Director of Internal Communications at NVIDIA. Ben has spent his entire career in communications. He is a recognized industry leader and speaker who has previously worked for Google, eBay, and Crown Castle.
In this episode, Ben and Amanda discuss building an internal comms program from scratch, how to prove value to leaders, and why internal communicators are the imagineers of business.
“10 years ago, everyone that was saying they were internal communications, suddenly changed to be head of employee engagement. And now, I think you’re seeing that change again from people changing from internal comms and employee engagement, to employee experience. And that’s great because that shows progress. But, it’s only progress if we’re doing more than changing our names. If we’re genuinely out there looking to influence. And the truth is, no one can own employee experience. It’s too broad a subject for any one team to own. Where I do think we play is we can act as that connective tissue and glue to bring different people together.” – Ben Matthews
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:43): Ben’s background
*(03:32): Ben’s current role at NVIDIA
*(04:15): Segment: Story Time
*(04:46): How Ben built an internal communications program from the ground up
*(09:11): Segment: Seat at the Table
*(10:40): How internal communicators can show value to leaders
*(16:22): How internal communicators are the imagineers of business
*(18:59): Segment: Ripped from the Headlines
*(22:09): How Ben shifted his strategy in 2020
*(33:28): Segment: Asking for a Friend
Links:
Connect with Ben on LinkedIn
NVIDIA
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Andréa Topper, Director of Internal Communications at Guardant Health. Andréa’s path to internal comms has been anything but conventional. Starting out as a journalistic reporter and editor for publications like The Associated Press and Central Penn Business Journal, Andréa realized her passion for communicating with an audience. That passion took her to fitness company CrossFit, where she was in charge of content marketing.
On this episode, Andréa sits down with Amanda to discuss how she built an internal communications function from scratch, the dos and don'ts of altering workplace culture, and the components of a change management communication.
“We know what needs to get done as internal communicators. We know what the problem areas are, but you have to prioritize and then figure out what is my plan for this? What’s my comms plan for unveiling this to the whole company? My change management plan. Who do I need to get on board? And how long is this going to take to really do based on the tolerance of the audience? And look for your early adopters. If you have fans right away, use them. They can be your champions so that when change starts to happen and people go to them because they are the company influencers, even though they might not be in senior leadership positions, people go to them because they respect them.” – Andréa Topper
Episode Timestamps:
*(01:51): Andréa’s background
*(07:26): Andéa’s current role at Guardant Health
*(10:04): How Andréa built Guardant’s Internal Communications program
*(14:17): Segment: Story Time
*(14:44): How CrossFit shaped Andréa’s Internal Communications career
*(19:02): The dos and don’ts of changing culture
*(25:39): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(26:19): Relationship between change management and internal comms
*(32:13): Components of a good change communication
*(37:59): Segment: Seat at the Table
*(38:40): Advice for professionals who are struggling with change initiatives
*(41:59): Segment: Asking for a Friend
Links:
Andréa’s LinkedIn
Guardant Health
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with LaToya Lyn, Chief People Officer at Help Scout. Fascinated by the connection between employee and employer, LaToya has wanted to be an HR practitioner since she was 16. Her impressive career spans multiple executive and leadership roles in HR and Talent Strategy at publicly traded billion-dollar companies like LivePerson, Compass, and Oscar Health.
On this episode, LaToya sits down with Amanda to discuss how HR leaders influence the human experience in the workplace. She also shares how Tina Turner influenced her career and why CEOs are responsible for Diversity and Inclusion.
“Out of all the organizations I’ve worked for in the past, it [Help Scout] really focused on what the people experience means to them. It is held at the same bar as the quality of the product and what we do for our external clients. And it really, really makes the job of Chief People Officer so meaningful. What I do there is very forward-thinking; how to grow and scale the team, how to create policies and practices that make sense for people to feel growth, and also treat employees like adults. We're very transparent in every way, we share everything, we hold space for people when they have questions or concerns. So it's quite a very unique organization.” – LaToya Lyn
Episode Timestamps:
*(1:51): How LaToya got into HR
*(3:27): LaToya’s current role at Help Scout
*(3:40): Why LaToya chose Help Scout
*(4:25): Segment: Story Time
*(4:48): How LaToya’s education prepared her for working across industries
*(7:55): How can HR leaders help employees during these tough times?
*(11:51): How Tina Turner inspired LaToya’s relationship with work
*(15:27): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(15:39): The only way DE&I will work
*(24:13): Segment: Ripped From the Headlines
*(27:44): Segment: Asking for a Friend
Links
Connect with LaToya on LinkedIn
Help Scout
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Jason Anthoine, Managing Founder (or Head Honcho as Jason puts it) at Audacity. With more than 32 years of experience, Jason’s career includes leading global communications at GE, Newell Brands, and Verint.
On this episode, Jason shares his three step process for building a successful Internal Comms plan that’s proven with ROI. He also gets into why he started his own comms consulting company and how he handles Imposter Syndrome.
“It’s so important to have your comms strategy built off your business strategy because as good as an internal comms strategy is, it’s telling you and your team what you’re going to do. It’s also your get out of jail free card for what you are now not going to do. Which is, ‘I’m not going to write your emails for you. I’m going to help you be better at writing them yourself and then you’re going to be responsible for those.’ Otherwise, your whole team is going to be bogged down with those types of requests and that’s when you become an arts and crafts department, which is not a strategic business function.” — Jason Anthoine
Episode Timestamps:
*(1:41): How Jason got interested in comms
*(4:19): What Audacity does for people
*(5:17): Segment: Storytime
*(5:27): Story behind the name Audacity
*(7:01): How less is more in comms
*(9:55): How ‘Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee’ inspired a comms plan
*(15:11): Segment: Getting Tactical
*(15:27): Jason’s 3 step process for building a comms plan
*(22:38): What not to do when building a comms plan
*(30:06): Segment: Ripped from the Headlines
*(33:37): Segment: Asking for a Friend
*(33:52): Imposter Syndrome: what is it and how to handle it
Links
Connect with Jason on LinkedIn
Follow Jason on Twitter
Audacity
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Carolyn Clark, Head of Internal Communications and Employer Brand at Opendoor. Previously, Carolyn was the senior director of internal communications at GoDaddy and held senior internal comms roles at Pandora and Yahoo!.
On today’s episode, Carolyn shares what it was like working on SNL & Late Night with Conan O’Brien, why she started her own comms consulting company, and valuable case studies from her career and teachings in crisis comms.
“In order to speak the language of engineering leaders, or even your CEO and your C-suite, you’ve got to understand what makes them tick and put it in front of them. And I think that means developing different strategies. Even if your ultimate strategy is the same or your goal on how you approach it and you get buy-in is going to differ. So I would also ask them, ‘what matters to you?’ That’s one of the things and advantages if you’re new somewhere is saying ‘what matters to you?’” — Carolyn Clark
Episode Timestamps:
*(2:14) - How Carolyn got into internal communications
*(4:16) - Highlight reel of where Carolyn’s worked
*(7:36) - Carolyn’s current role at Opendoor
*(9:29) - Segment: Story Time
*(14:02) - Carolyn’s most proud moments at Yahoo!
*(15:59) - Segment: Getting Tactical
*(21:32) - The role of internal comms with M&A
*(29:40) - Starting After Ever Communications
*(32:28) - How to get leaders engaged in internal communications
*(37:14) - Segment: Ripped From the Headlines
*(40:57) - Segment: Asking for a Friend
Links
Connect with Carolyn on LinkedIn
Check out Carolyn’s website
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Leslie Quinton, VP of Communications at Ubisoft, a gaming company with over 20,000 employees and 40 office locations worldwide. With over 20 years of communications experience across multiple industries at companies big and small, Leslie is a walking comms playbook.
On this episode, Leslie shares her must-do’s for doing global communications right, what the secret ingredient is for improving company culture, and her advice for comms leaders struggling to get company buy-in.
“So one of the things that I think that companies did at the beginning and now have really gotten out of a lot more. Trying to rely upon their old ways of doing things and figure out just how to adjust the old way, as opposed to thinking in a completely new way. And I think that’s the virtue of the pandemic. If there is a silver lining to it, is that it forced us to get out of some old paradigms and really shift our thinking. So the companies that didn’t do well in internal communications tried to take their existing model and tweak it. Whereas the companies who did well said. Do this totally differently. We’re going to introduce a whole new platform or we’re going to change who delivers the messages or other things, but that’s, it’s kind of seizing that opportunity in what was really, you know, obviously a global crisis.” — Leslie Quinton
Episode Timestamps:
*(1:38) - How Leslie got interested in communications
*(3:33) - Leslie’s current role
*(4:55) - Segment: Story Time
*(7:53) - Mistakes companies make that can be turned around easily
*(9:16) - Leslie’s favorite foundation/board she’s a part of
*(11:24) - Segment: Getting Tactical
*(15:36) - Must-do’s for doing global comms
*(20:01) - Improving company culture through comms
*(22:54) - Differences in comms at both large and small companies
*(25:07) - Segment: Seat at the Table
*(28:13) - Advice for comms leaders struggling with getting company buy-in
*(29:45) - Segment: Asking for a Friend
*(37:30) - The next big shift in comms
Links
Connect with Leslie on LinkedIn
Follow Leslie on Twitter
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with Guido Ditto, Senior Manager of internal communications and employer brand at Coursera. Guido works with Coursera executives and teams to inform, engage, and connect colleagues around the world. Since joining the company in 2019, he has optimized information sharing with a new intranet, helped employees stay aligned to the company’s lofty mission during hypergrowth, supported the company's transition to remote work, and led comms during Coursera’s IPO. Previously, Guido led creative strategy at New York University.
On today’s episode, Guido shares his takeaways and advice from scaling Coursera’s comms team from pre to post IPO, how interns and early professionals should think about their comms careers, and how to build meaningful professional relationships with executives.
“The way you build trust with anybody, with a colleague that’s next to you or a leader that relies on you or an executive who is looking to you for an answer is by being your true self. And showing them that you are open to sharing your complete self. And so that sort of gives them a reason to trust you.” — Ditto Guido
Episode Timestamps:
*(2:35) - Guido’s current role at Coursera
*(3:55) - Segment: Storytime
*(6:50) - Building confidence in comms/HR
*(9:10) - A career/project Guido’s worked on that changed his perspective
*(12:40) - How Guido marketed himself with no traditional IC background
*(15:25) - Segment: Getting Tactical
*(19:50) - Guido’s process for collecting/analyzing IC data
*(28:45) - Building relationships with executives
*(32:15) - Segment: Ripped from the Headlines
*(35:10) - Experiencing/leading Coursera’s IPO
*(39:15) - Segment: Asking for a Friend
Links
Connect with Guido on LinkedIn
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
http://www.simpplr.com/podcast
This episode features an interview with two distinguished executives from Gainsight, the leader in Customer Success software. Robin Merritt is the SVP and Chief of Staff & Community, and previously served as Global Head of Internal Communications at Box. Karl Mosgofian is the Chief Information Officer. He comes to Gainsight after previously serving as CIO of Harmonic, the publicly-traded leader in virtualized cable access and live video streaming.
On this episode, Robin and Karl dive into best practices for how IT and Comms can work together. They also share why the roles of CIO and Chief of Staff will converge even more in the future, and what they wish they knew earlier in their careers.
Episode Timestamps:
*(2:12) - How Robin got interested in comms
*(3:59) - How Karl got interested in IT
*(5:23) - Robin’s current role at Gainsight
*(6:39) - Karl’s current role at Gainsight
*(7:50) - Segment: Storytime
*(16:20) - Segment: Getting Tactical
*(22:28) - The evolution of IT & Comms and what the future looks like
*(30:38) - Segment: Asking For a Friend
Links
Connect with Robin on LinkedIn
Follow Robin on Twitter
Connect with Karl on LinkedIn
Follow Karl on Twitter
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
“I would say that one of the most important things these days is to understand that as knowledge workers, we have the ability to learn anything we need to know. You should never let lack of knowing something be a barrier. Even if you’re slower than everyone else...take the time you need. You have the ability to learn this. It’s a bit of a journey. New technology will come along. There’ll be new things to learn. There’ll be new norms. And you know what? It’s not a race. You will be able to figure this out. You will find ways to learn. You will find ways to have mastery. And so you’re entering at an amazing, amazing time where you can show up with all of your knowledge, all of your skills and be valued and rewarded for it.” — Wendy Pfeiffer
Episode Timestamps:
*(2:05) - How Wendy got interested in IT and her first job in IT
*(3:20) - Wendy’s current role as CIO of Nutanix
*(6:48) - Mentors of Wendy that helped her along the way
*(9:45) - Getting Tactical
*(15:35) - What Wendy has automated successfully during the pandemic at Nutanix
*(21:01) - The importance of doing A/B testing at your company
*(25:49) - Technology’s role in creating company culture
*(32:26) - Asking for a friend
*(39:32) - The next big shift in IT over the next 5-10 years
Links
Connect with Wendy on LinkedIn
Follow Wendy on Twitter
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
“When you think about internal communications, It's so much about change management. It's about bringing people along on the journey that the CEO or the executive team have created in multiple meetings. They already know it, but now they have to turn around and communicate it. And so they have to make that their own. They have to believe it. And we as humans can really smell when somebody doesn't believe what they're saying. And so you have to just own it and practice it and know it inside and out and bring your own stories and examples to it. It can't just be talking points off of a sheet because the rest of us know when it really isn't yours.” — Laura Klieves
Episode Timestamps:
*(1:50) - How Laura got interested in communications
*(3:05) - Laura’s first job in communications
*(5:08) - Laura’s current role as Senior Director, L&D and Communications at Malwarebytes
*(7:42) - Segment: Storytime
*(14:00) - Segment: Getting Tactical
*(17:20) - Overcoming learning curves when joining a company
*(20:30) - Must-do tactics for ICs in order to be effective and engaging in a digital workforce
*(25:00) - The critical components of storytelling
*(29:40) - Ensuring virtual employees have an amazing experience
*(33:25) - Segment: Seat at the Table
*(37:50) - Segment: Asking for a Friend
Links
Connect with Laura on LinkedIn
Follow Laura on Twitter
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
“What we forget is all of these physical and digital experiences are what you call the culture. Culture is not something that you separately write down and then everybody's like, ‘oh, this is culture.’ It is this amalgamation of all of these beautiful experiences that you have." — Rajamma Krishnamurthy
Episode Timestamps:
*(1:50) - How Rajamma got into human resources
*(3:20) - Rajamma’s current role as senior director of HR technology at Microsoft
*(4:55) - Focusing on the individual user experience at such a large scale
*(7:55) - Storytime
*(13:50) - Getting Tactical
*(20:40) - How Rajamma stays ahead of the trends of HR technology
*(22:50) - One tech change Rajamma would implement immediately if she could
*(24:35) - What’s not getting enough attention in employee experience
*(26:22) - Ripped From the Headlines
*(29:00) - Asking for a Friend
*(32:02) - Advice Rajamma gives for women who want to break into tech
*(35:15) - The next big shift Rajamma sees coming out of the hybrid working experience
Links
Rajamma’s LinkedIn
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
“Being young and not knowing how things are supposed to go created in me this real comfort with ambiguity and the acknowledgement that there's a ton of opportunity in ambiguity. So if you can embrace that and lean into it and accept that there's no right way to do anything. Everybody's just trying to chart their own path together. And as long as you're aligned on the goals and you're organized and you're going to stay focused on the objectives that the company is trying to achieve, you can learn a lot and get a lot of responsibility really early in your career.” — Katie Miserany
Episode Timestamps:
*(2:00) - How Katie got interested in internal communications
*(4:15) - Story Time Segment
*(5:08) - The SurveyMonkey to Momentive rebrand
*(7:55) - Working with Sheryl Sandberg & the Dave Goldberg Family Foundation
*(14:15) - Getting Tactical Segment
*(17:15) - Preparing employees for a successful rebrand
*(21:41) - How the rebrand name came to be Momentive
*(28:25) - Top 3 rebrand must-do’s for internal comms professionals
*(38:20) - Asking for a Friend Segment
*(41:10) - Overcoming barriers as a woman
*(44:00) - The biggest challenge internal communications professionals will face in the future
Links
Katie’s LinkedIn
Katie’s Twitter
Sheryl Sandberg’s books
www.momentive.ai
Amanda’s LinkedIn
www.simpplr.com/podcast
You want to create an exceptional employee experience. You want the right technology stack, the right processes in place, and you want your people to have the right information at their fingertips when they need it most.
Why not learn from the best of the best?
On the Cohesion podcast, you’ll hear from internal comms, IT, and HR leaders who are innovating and leading the industry forward. These visionaries are changing how things are done at some of the most innovative companies in the world. Listen in as these leaders open their playbooks and tell us how they are increasing employee engagement, collaboration, and productivity on the new frontier of work.
We’ll bring you quick-hitting tips and tactics on how to improve your employee experience, level up your career, and stand out from the crowd.
So tap the follow button and get ready to hear from the brightest minds in the world of internal comms.
Welcome to Cohesion
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