“We have also introduced webinars focused on mental health and have had more than 3,500 employees attend. We have put a huge focus on helping our managers that are on the frontlines to adjust their leadership and communication style with remote working.â€
A global nomad who has worked in several HR roles in China and Brazil, Mai Lan Nguyen, SVP of human resources, North America, Schneider Electric, feels strongly about looking for opportunities to learn from people in different roles and backgrounds. In this HR Talk, she shares what HR leaders should be doing right now to communicate about racial inequality, employee well-being and mental health, and the future of work.
As an HR leader who believes in ‘people are a company’s most important asset’, Nguygen discusses how to make remote employees feel connected and engaged in the workplace. She talks about the power new technologies hold to conduct transparent discussions, accelerate policy formulations, and identify employee sentiment.
Key takeaways on reinventing employee well-being in the workplace: Â Â
- Keep employees engaged while working in such strained, stressful times with regular communication from leadership, virtualized activities to stay engaged with co-workers, and other learning experiences.
- Emphasize on providing a great deal of kindness, empathy, and compassion towards one another during these challenging times so that employees feel supported.
- Deploy people pulse surveys that cover important topics such as engagement, ways of working, health, and safety.
Here’s the edited transcript from our exclusive interview with Mai Lan Nguyen of Schneider Electric:
1. With remote work and burnout, employees are struggling with stress and isolation. What are some of the ways Schneider Electric is addressing employee mental health in the workplace?
We have been focused on how to keep employees engaged while working in such strained, stressful times. Every employee has a different response to this way of a hybrid model of virtual vs. physical office work, and we have the responsibility to try to keep things as consistent as possible with their experiences in the past. This includes regular communication from leadership, virtualized activities to stay engaged with co-workers, and other learning experiences. We have also introduced webinars focused on mental health and have had more than 3,500 employees attend. We have put a huge focus on helping our managers that are on the frontlines to adjust their leadership and communication style with remote working.
I can relate to our employees because I have a three-year old son, and as much as I am grateful for the opportunity to see him every day because of stay-at-home orders, I also had to adjust and manage my time between work responsibilities and his needs. After several weeks, I realized I needed to make a change. This meant deciding to plan my time with work more purposely, to exercise and to eat better. This shift has been hugely positive.
2. During the pandemic, companies have been forced to take drastic measures like pivoting their business strategies, laying off, and furloughing employees. What guidance can you provide on how you are making sure employees – office workers and remote workers – feel connected and engaged?
The biggest challenge is ensuring that our employees and their families are all healthy and safe while providing the support they need to manage this crisis. This requires finding appropriate venues to listen to our employees’ concerns, implementing the best possible solutions that will work for the largest part of the employee population, and remaining flexible to adapt quickly and efficiently to both individual situations and new concerns that are raised.
I am personally impressed by our HR team and honored to work with so many great professionals. COVID-19 has created quite the challenge, but I like to view challenges as opportunities. We have had to act quickly to manage things like finding business solutions to help managers effectively lead their teams or implementing alternative work solutions such as a part-time work program in less than three weeks. We’ve taken steps forward in thinking through the services and tools we need within the company and have encouraged employees to take advantage of collaboration platforms like Microsoft Teams and Yammer to connect with each other, customers and partners, which have helped them be successful.
Our emphasis has been on providing a great deal of kindness, empathy, and compassion towards one another during these challenging times so that employees feel supported. I believe this is what makes our company stronger each day.
Learn More: Remote Work, Constant Communication, Employee Well-Being: Key Trends in the Pulse of HR Survey
3. What should HR leaders be doing right now to communicate with their workforces about racial inequality in the workplace?
Recent events showcasing visible racial injustices have been a strong catalyst to rally change. At Schneider Electric, we strive to ensure our workplaces are inclusive environments where everyone feels valued, heard, and respected. We all have a voice, our actions, big and small, are a choice. Together, we can be a part of making positive change. Our core values stand in strong support of racial equality as part of our company culture, within our communities, and for people everywhere. We stand in solidarity with our employees and communities who are demanding change to systems that discriminate against black lives.
As a HR leader, I have personally spent time to educate myself, learn, reflect, and listen. It is so important to hear what is on the minds of the people who work in your organization, to listen to their experience, and hear their suggestions for action. As a company, Schneider Electric is addressing both short- and longer-term actions to ensure an inclusive environment for everyone. Â
4. How does talent analytics tools enable employers to identify employee sentiment and monitor culture in the current climate? Which new technologies do you rely on to connect and conduct transparent discussions around racial injustice in the workplace?
At Schneider Electric, for several years we have been leveraging various analytics tools to measure employee sentiment and engagement. We have a yearly employee survey and we also focus on surveying our people on moments that matter in their career lifecycle. We partner with Qualtrics to deploy people pulse surveys that cover important topics such as engagement, ways of working, health, and safety, etc. We recently launched a global pulse survey related to COVID-19 to hear from our employees and monitor the pulse of our workforce. Additional methods are used to hear from our employees beyond our pulse survey. These include active discussions on Yammer, Web Ex digital events, and town halls, etc.
Learn More: 2020 Highlights a Range of Well-Being Challenges for Employees
5. In your opinion, how do you think HR/people policies can change in the new normal? What role does HR technology and management play to accelerate policy formulation over ethical and legal data use by organization and third parties?
COVID-19 has transformed the ways HR leaders think about the employee experience. Digitization was already a key part of our HR strategy. Now, I think we will see that accelerate. We will have to play a leading role in defining new ways of working, in shaping the workplace of the future, in brainstorming effective talent strategy and retention efforts, and enhancing flexibility at work policies. As we adopt more digital tools to manage our employees, we have been working in very close collaboration with our digital organization and chief data officer to ensure full compliance with local, regional, and global regulations.
6. What new challenges have emerged for C-suite to consider for the future of work? Will it help to have a chief well-being officer/chief mental health officer or other C-suite role to advocate for the pandemic-changed needs of employees? In what measurable ways, have HR leaders adjusted their approach during and post-crisis?
The pandemic has accelerated the pace of change for work and driven companies across all industries into the modern digitization era overnight. Companies have adapted to a new model of work and are having to think through how to approach things like e-learning and how to maintain a strong team culture. Likewise, employees have been challenged with becoming flexible and more productive from remote working environments, working from home with children and so on.
Leaders have had to take active steps forward in thinking through the services and tools they need to have in place within the company to provide remote teams with the equipment and training they need to be successful. Trust, transparency, and frequent communication have become essential for maintaining a connected workforce and to make employees feel safe, secure, and supported wherever they work so they can perform in their roles. At Schneider Electric, we will continue to listen to the voices of our employees to customize their experience and the culture at work.
Learn More: Telehealth May Become the Next Big Employee Benefit: Humana Invests $100M in Telehealth Startup Heal
7. What safety measures and cultural initiatives does Schneider Electric plan to have in place for employees?
Amid today’s recovery, companies are starting to think about the return to the office and what it looks like, from meeting rooms, to client visits, to internal events and team culture. At Schneider Electric, we continue to assess the best approach on how to transition our employees back into the office in a manner that is focused on their health and safety.
This month, we began bringing a select group of employees back to the office only if their role was critical to business continuity. For example, if they need to access a lab or warehouse to perform their work or if their individual situation makes it difficult to work remotely. Our office and factory protocols include enhanced cleaning procedures, temperature screenings, providing ‘welcome kits’ with face masks, hand sanitizer, and cleaning wipes to employees upon their return, strategically managing high traffic areas by marking off one-way routes and more. We have also closed high touch areas such as water fountains, wellness centers, and break rooms, as well as locked conference rooms.
We continue to support employees’ decisions to work remotely and quickly pivoted to offer a stronger part-time working program which allows employees to work on a reduced schedule while maintaining benefits.
8. What trends do you see in the employee experience space in 2020 and post COVID-19 that employers should know about?
There’s no doubt the office will operate differently, but trust, frequent communication and employee safety will increasingly become essential values for maintaining culture, a connected team and to make employees feel secure and supported whether they return to the office or continue working remotely. Safeguarding employees and enabling efficiency will take center stage, and companies’ abilities to serve customers will be linked to these pillars. Working from home is working well and even as we start to return to our office environments, safety and space will remain top of mind. We have seen an increased level of collaboration and trust among teams which we expect will continue.
About Mai Lan NguyenOpens a new window
Mai Lan Nguyen is senior vice president of human resources, North America operations for Schneider Electric. In this role, she leads the HR organization strategy, planning and execution to drive business success and growth through best in class people programs, processes, and policies. She is a member of the ‘North America Executive Leadership Team’.
About Schneider Electric Opens a new window
Schneider Electric believes access to energy and digital is a basic human right. It empowers all to make the most of their energy and resources, ensuring Life Is On everywhere, for everyone, at every moment. The company provides energy and automation digital solutions for efficiency and sustainability and are committed to unleash the infinite possibilities of an open, global, innovative community that is passionate about inclusive and empowered values.
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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