Did you miss it? The recent Bright Horizons On the Horizon summit brought thoughts and trends from HR leaders; a who’s who of notable speakers including Kate Clifford, Chief Human Resources Officer, The Americas, Accenture, Jenny Guldseth, CHRO, Allianz and Lilly Wyttenbach, Managing Director, Head of Global Wellness, JPMorganChase, and our own CHRO Melkeya McDuffie. We also featured a keynote from the celebrated authors of You Should Smile More, How to Dismantle Gender Bias in the Workplace. Here’s some of what you missed.
Right now, HR is in what Bright Horizons CEO Stephen Kramer likes to call the catbird seat, the advantaged perch from where one can make important, impactful moves. “You,” he told participants at our recent On the Horizon Summit, “are in one of the most important seats in an organization.”
Why?
Employees have changed. Over four years, they’ve redefined what it means to balance work and life, prioritizing the “life” part of the equation. Many hires are confounding what we know about talent markets -- leaving jobs for better benefits even as softening unemployment diminishes their job security. People practices have become a make-or-break component of organizational strategies, giving HR a key seat at the table.
That's part of what brought HR leaders from around the country to our recent On the Horizon summit. The two-day event included strategies for supporting employees at every life stage, a deep dive into why metrics matter, the latest on tackling the child care crisis, discussions on the race to reskill, and more.
Didn't attend? Here's some of what you missed.
Workplace wellbeing: Employee mental health is a top priority for employers – not least because it’s a priority for up-and-coming Millennials and Gen Z. Many are not only in their baby-raising years; they’re increasingly bearing the brunt of the sandwich years, with new research from Realtor showing these young employees replacing older generations as the most likely to be caring for infants and elderly parents at the same time. It’s a new twist to an old problem that’s sandbagging wellbeing for pivotal generations, and that promises to be costly for their employers. Our most popular session reported on Gallup data showing billions lost in productivity related to stress; heads nodded at new Principal Financial data showing one-in-five sandwiched employees have left jobs because of associated strain. The flipside is a Conference Board study showing the value of well-being, and that employees with high levels of it are more effective. That makes caregiving help an opportunity – both to answer the real challenges to well-being and job performance, and so to elevate employer brands who offer it. Doug Naumann, Vice President, Americas Head of Wellness, Goldman Sachs and Lesley Delaney, Benefits Director, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts shared some of the strategies their companies are deploying to enhance wellbeing.
Race to reskill: A disconnect in the current talent market centers around employee shortages – specifically that even amid rising unemployment, millions of jobs are going unfilled. That’s because hiring today isn’t just about people, but about skills. And with proficiencies evolving rapidly, the right skills are nether static, nor easy to find. That’s a problem for both employees who fear irrelevance because of outdated competencies, and the boss who needs those skills for bottom lines. But there is an answer. We have data showing that more than half of employees are game to upskill, but they have no idea where to start. That’s a missed opportunity since McKinsey says most (85%) of executives will face a skills gap. Further cementing the value of education is an Indeed study showing some employees with access to upskilling would apply for internal roles instead of leaving the company – meaning education has the power to at once address skills gaps and shrink turnover. But to work, programs will have to be nimble enough to address the cost, time, and confidence barriers that traditionally hang people up.
Generations who play well together: The good news is that most employers recognize multigenerational work strategies are important for business success. The bad news is that according to our presenter Dr. Megan Gerhart, author of Gentelligence, The Revolutionary Approach to Leading an Intergenerational Workforce, only 10% of companies are prepared to address this trend. That’s a big miss since there are currently five generations already working side-by-side, and we’re all aware of the conflicts (“OK Boomer” “Millennials ruin everything”) that arrive from stereotypes and generational preconceptions of what work means. “Gen X, Boomers, even older Millennials, they live to work,” a Rutgers professor told Fortune recently. “Gen Z works to live.” That’s a big chasm. What Dr. Gerhardt called “gentelligent” strategies can cut through those conflicts and support success-fueling things like team cohesion and knowledge transfer. But they’ll require what she calls “smarter intergenerational conversations” to conquer. You’ll also need benefits platforms that speak to employees up and down the generational divide without leaving anyone out. Amber Drake, Work & Life Benefits Program Manager, Adobe, wrapped up the session with a perspective of Gen Z and multi-generational workforce at Adobe.
Finger on the pulse of culture
The throughline of the event was HR’s unique position to make change. Twenty years ago, said Stephen to nodding heads, HR was a completely different sport.
Today, he told the assembled group, “You are in one of the most important seats of any seat in an organization. You all are building the cultures in your organizations that are ultimately going to be the secret sauce to what makes you successful. You are architecting the workforce of the future,” he said.
“That is a great set of responsibilities. But boy that opportunity is enormous.”
Plans for the next summit are already in the works, offering attendees a glimpse into the skills that set high-res CHROS apart from their peers and how to bring this new skillset back to their organization. Don’t miss it.
