Margie Lee-Johnson, VP of people, Checkr, the San Francisco-based background-check tech company, discusses what it means to be an HR leader during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. She shares top tips for companies who need to continue to hire and innovate their recruitment processes with the help of HR technologyOpens a new window . Lee-Johnson discusses how the role of HR has changed in the last few monthsOpens a new window , and lessons to learn from this pandemic.
In this edition of HR Talk, Lee-Johnson shares how Checkr is making sure employees are seen and heard while working remotely. She also focuses on top tools that help to support a remote workforce, the evolving attitude of leadership towards HR technology, and ways to humanize virtual recruitment and onboardingOpens a new window .
Key takeaways from our interview on recruitment process during COVID-19:
- Top tips on how to hire in a humane manner during COVID-19
- Best practices for businesses to follow on better supporting and engaging employees during a crisis
- Key trends to follow in recruitment and hiring in 2020Opens a new window and post pandemic
Heres the edited transcript from our exclusive interview with Margie Lee-Johnson:
Margie, tell us a little about your career path, your role at Checkr, and how your team strives to create excellence even in a crisis.
I have been in HR for over 20 years. I have a non-traditional background and have worked my way up, which has given me a well-rounded perspective on the work. I have spent most of my career working for tech companies that have placed a high value on experiential learning, which has proved incredibly valuable in building and shaping my career.
I currently lead all the HR functions at Checkr, including people operations and talent acquisition. Our team works hard to be high touch. Given that the company is young and still building out our infrastructure, it is difficult to stay connected with our employees. During this crisis, we have had to brutally prioritize our initiatives to stay connected with our employees.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to grip recruitment processes, what are your top tips for HR leaders who need to continue to hire?
Hiring is more important than ever currently. We are seeing record unemployment numbers as small businesses close their doors and other companies tighten the purse strings. Despite the current climate, diversity still matters. You still need diverse interview panels, and you still need to interview diverse talent. Keep in mind, virtual interviews are difficult, unpredictable, and do not often help candidates understand the value of your culture. Recruiters and hiring managers should pay close attention to how they position company culture. Openly discuss with your candidates that the interview may be awkward with a dog barking in the background, or a kid interrupting and asking for yogurt. Being candid around the challenges we face in todays new normal is humanizing and will help them appreciate your companys flexibility.
Learn More: What Employee Care Looks Like Amid a Global PandemicOpens a new window
Can you explain what it means to be an HR leader during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and how has the role of HR changed in the last few weeks/months?
A new HR leader is emerging because of this crisis. We were already seeing this become a trend as HR leaders gained a larger voice in the organization, but now due to this unprecedented crisis and the rise of remote work, HR leaders are now key leaders at their companies. They are stepping up and implementing policies, keeping teams motivated, and playing an important role in all business decisions. I expect this trend to continue, and soon we will see HR leaders take on more of an advisory role.
What challenges should business and HR leaders foresee during this uncertain time? Which best practices should HR leaders implement to overcome these challenges?
One of our core values is transparency. Transparency for a people organization often creates tension as we decide when and how transparent we should be. During this crisis, we have decided to double-down on transparency. We are keeping our employees up to date on every decision, strategic pivot, the status of the business, and even what questions we are grappling with. With so much noise in our everyday lives as we try to adapt to the ever-changing news cycle, we thought it was critical to be very open as a company. While we may not be able to give our employees definitive answers or decisions, we want them to know what is top of mind and what we are most concerned about.
Learn More: Remote Learning During COVID-19: How HR Can Manage Remote Employees’ L&DOpens a new window
How is Checkr leading and making sure employees are seen and heard while working remotely?
We have worked quickly to empower managers across the company to give their direct reports the resources and support they need during this crisis. In addition to weekly remote happy hours, we have added weekly trivia, virtual meditation sessions, and virtual activities for kids so parents can get a much-needed break.
We have also increased the frequency of our all hands meetings. Our executive team now hosts company-wide meetings twice a week, which acts as a forum for employees to surface concerns, ask questions, and get real-time updates on the state of our business and company culture.
We are currently in the process of kicking off a COVID-19 pulse survey. We want to understand and measure how employees are adapting, and what we as a business need to do to better support and engage them. We are also hosting roundtable discussions specifically with parents. We know they have unique challenges, and we want to ensure we stay focused on providing the right levels of support.
Which are the top 3 technologies you have adopted to adjust to the new normal?
Like most companies, we are relying on Zoom and Google Hangouts, which have quickly become the standard of communication at Checkr. We have also become Slack power users and are encouraging employees to share their day-to-day experiences with us, including meals they have cooked, walks they have gone on, and how theyve set up their work from home spaces. Meanwhile, the HR team is spending more time in CultureAmp to garner feedback and get a pulse on how our employees are feeling.
Learn More: 15 Tips to Hire Talent Post the Coronavirus (COVID-19) PandemicOpens a new window
What kind of HR tech stack best supports HRs goal to create a seamless global workforce no matter when and where they work? What are the measurable results businesses should focus on with the help of tech, especially during the pandemic?
We are hearing concerns about meeting fatigue. Our Corp Engineering team is now delivering productivity reports on employee meetings and trends. It has proven to be a great diagnostic tool as we consider our employees new normal and as we think about helping them balance life and working from home.
Learn More: 4 Tips to Onboard Workers Remotely Amid Coronavirus (COVID-19)Opens a new window
How have you seen HR leaderships attitude towards HR tech change in the crisis? Can you elaborate with an example?
I think many HR leaders are thinking about better tools to measure productivity. Also, so much connection is formed by proximity, water cooler chats, and connecting during lunch. Without these informal connections, we must focus on leveraging tools to drive engagement. We quickly realized as a People Team, we are hearing less from our employees about the simple stuff that gives us a sense for how employees feel about the company, their teams, and their all-around wellbeing. We are experimenting to decide on how to stay high touch. We have not cracked the code, but we will continue to adapt and build on our successes.
Learn More: How HR Can Help Remote Employees Manage Their Mental Health During COVID-19Opens a new window
Which key trends are you tracking in recruitment in 2020 and beyond?
Things are difficult right now, but recovery is something we all must look forward to. As the economy reopens, businesses will start to hire again. However, hiring may look very different. It is likely that the employees who went to offices every day will realize how much flexibility they have when they work from home. They may start to look exclusively at remote work. On the other side of the coin, companies wary of work from home may find that it is working quite well and start opening more remote positions to save on costs. We will likely see hiring expand from large urban areas to other parts of the country as people and companies make moves.
Thank you, Margie, for sharing your thoughts on how Checkr humanizes the recruitment process during COVID-19. We hope to talk to you again, soon.
About Margie Lee-JohnsonOpens a new window
Margie leads the people team at Checkr, overseeing all HR functions including people operations and talent acquisition. Most recently, she was Senior Director of Global People Operations at Twitch where she built talent programs and helped facilitate global expansion. Margie also served as the Director of Global People Operations at Ooyala, and Manager of Global Employment and Compliance at Netflix, helping to lead unprecedented changes to the company’s parental leave policy, and Senior Manager of HR Center of Excellence at Sony PlayStation, where she drove strategic initiatives around compliance and technology.
About CheckrOpens a new window :
Checkrs mission is to build a fairer future by improving understanding of the past. The platform makes it easy for thousands of customers to hire millions of people every year at the speed of the gig economy. Using Checkrs advanced background check technology, companies of all sizes can better understand the dynamics of the changing workforce, bring transparency and fairness to their hiring, and ultimately build a better future for workers.
About HR Talk
HR Talk is an interview series that features top people and talent leaders from HR tech and Fortune 500 companies who are redefining the future of work. Join us as we talk to these HR tech and people analytics experts to get in-depth insights, and some pro-tips on how HR tech can best work for you and your people.
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