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Epoch recently hosted a fireside chat that explored the evolving dynamics of employee engagement, innovation, and inclusivity in today's work environment. Moderated by Keith, Epoch’s Co-founder, the conversation featured Darren Nerland, Sr. Global Leadership & Talent Development Manager at Amazon, and Christina McPherson, Vice President, Head of Global Communications and Employee Engagement at Covetrus. The session delved into how these leaders are fostering a culture of innovation, managing remote teams, and driving employee engagement.
Darren Nerland has been with Amazon, a global company with approximately 1.52 million employees, for several years, focusing on leadership and talent development. He leads initiatives to prepare Amazon’s workforce for the future, ensuring employees have opportunities for growth and development in the face of automation and technological advancements.
Christina McPherson is the Vice President of Global Communications and Employee Engagement at Covetrus, a company serving the animal health industry with 5,500 employees worldwide. As a communications and engagement leader, Christina is responsible for building a unified culture as the company transforms the business following a series of acquisitions. Christina is focused on engaging employees through authentic, transparent, and inspiring programs.
Christina opened the discussion by sharing her experience at Covetrus, a company that has gone through multiple acquisitions over the past few years. Managing the cultural integration of several independent companies as they transform the business creates significant opportunities in her space. Christina emphasized how important it was to harmonize these cultures without losing the individual strengths each one brought to the table through active listening and consistency. Following acquisitions and a significant transformation of the business model, coming together under one umbrella, as a cohesive business was critical to building the culture. Aligning operational practices while ensuring that employees felt inspired, recognized, and engaged during the transition was vital.
At the core of her communications and engagement strategy was consistency in messaging and maintaining engagement, especially in a highly remote environment. With a significant percentage of office workers working remotely, Christina discussed the opportunities it represents to truly foster personal connections when in-person interactions are limited. She noted that while many employees initially stress about returning to the office, they also enjoy connection and collaboration, so creating innovative opportunities becomes particularly important. Creating authentic and relevant experiences remotely remains one of the biggest opportunities for her team, especially as they navigate the transformation and the future of work.
Darren emphasized that listening to employees is a crucial aspect of fostering engagement and innovation. Both Darren and Christina agreed that regular feedback is essential for understanding the evolving needs of employees. At Amazon, Darren explained that they rely on a variety of tools, including pulse surveys, and "connection scores," to gather insights into employee sentiment. Each day, employees get one different question to answer, and the trends are tracked over time. These tools allow Amazon’s leadership to assess engagement levels, and make data-driven decisions that directly impact the employee experience. By listening to employees, leaders can identify areas where immediate intervention is needed and develop strategies that are aligned with workforce expectations.
Christina echoed these sentiments, adding that her team also prioritizes listening to its employees through a series of surveys and feedback mechanisms. After every event, they collect feedback and conduct pulse surveys to gauge employee engagement. Christina explained that these surveys help the company understand the "tone and tenor" of its workforce, allowing leadership to focus on the most pressing issues. By using this feedback to shape decisions, Covetrus works to ensure that its programs are responsive to employees’ evolving needs, with the goal of creating a more supportive and engaged workforce.
Data plays an increasingly important role in shaping engagement strategies, particularly for large organizations like Amazon and Covetrus. Darren described how Amazon’s employee engagement strategy is heavily data-driven, with connection scores acting as a key metric for tracking employee satisfaction. These scores allow leaders to pinpoint issues that may be affecting engagement and take targeted action. Amazon has also launched significant upskilling programs, such as its $1.2 billion initiative to reskill 300,000 employees. Darren explained that programs like these are vital in an era of rapid technological change, where employees must continuously develop new skills to stay relevant.
Christina shared how Covetrus also relies on data to guide its engagement efforts. By analyzing survey data and tracking trends, the company can determine which initiatives are working and where adjustments are needed. Christina pointed out that data not only helps inform decisions but also demonstrates the ROI of employee engagement programs, which is crucial for gaining leadership buy-in. Both speakers agreed that the key to driving engagement is using data to understand the needs of employees and create programs that meet those needs in meaningful ways.
As the conversation shifted to flexibility in the workplace, both speakers highlighted how crucial it is to offer personalized experiences that cater to individual employee needs. Christina noted that while some employees thrive in remote environments, others prefer the structure and socialization of in-office work and programming is dependent on life needs. There is a growing demand across the workforce for flexibility and personalization based on what best fits an employee’s life. To keep a workforce engaged it is imperative to understand employee preferences and look at flexible and personalized programming through a portfolio of engagement and communications tools.
Darren discussed how Amazon is adapting to this demand for personalization, especially in light of AI advancements. He emphasized the importance of upskilling employees to not only meet current job demands but also to prepare for future roles as automation continues to reshape the workforce. By leveraging AI tools and machine learning programs, Amazon is offering employees the chance to build their career paths, enabling them to stay relevant in a rapidly changing environment. This focus on flexibility and personalization ensures that employees feel supported in their growth and can see a clear future within the organization.
Both speakers closed the discussion by underscoring the importance of putting people at the center of any organizational strategy. Darren explained that at Amazon, leaders are increasingly focusing on developing emotional intelligence alongside business acumen. This shift is critical as leaders must now navigate not only the operational demands of their roles but also the emotional and social dynamics of managing a modern workforce. He emphasized that a people-first approach allows leaders to better understand the needs of their employees, creating a culture of trust and inclusion.
Christina echoed this sentiment, sharing how Covetrus works to foster transparency and trust throughout its organization. By focusing on consistent communication and authentic engagement, Covetrus is navigating the opportunities that come with a significant transformation and the need to create strong connections with its employees. Both speakers agreed that creating a culture of inclusivity, innovation, and engagement requires leaders to be adaptable, empathetic, and willing to listen to the unique needs of their workforce. In doing so, organizations can build resilient cultures that support both employee satisfaction and long-term business success.
Use Epoch to plan your employee events and programs, then track analytics on how the events went! Epoch is an employee engagement platform used by people teams at Salesforce, Reddit, and more. Epoch supports any internal event that needs email, Slack announcements and reminders, calendaring, and reporting. On top of impactful engagement and feedback analytics, Epoch provides a simple way to communicate and promote events to your workforce, helping events reach employees where they prefer to receive messages.
Increase productivity and connection among employees through company culture with Epoch. Curious to learn more? Book a demo today!
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