For many employers, COVID-19 has served as a colossal reminder: personal wellness goes hand-in-hand with professional development.
As entire workforces relocated from office buildings to their homes, some tech companies altered their professional development plans to focus on the physical and mental wellbeing of their employees. This shift doesn’t mean they’re turning a blind eye toward leadership or growth opportunities for employees. They’re simply prioritizing mental and physical wellness as employees adjust to working from home and navigate the stressors associated with a pandemic.
Doing so starts with acknowledging the pressure many people are under and meeting them where they are. At digital consultancy Rightpoint, for example, managers have increased the frequency of structured check-ins with direct reports this summer.
Meanwhile, at insights and data platform Nielsen, managers have been sharing personal well-being resources via a “mental health hub” in hopes to help team members manage stress.
“We have continued to be realistic about the new normal we’re all adjusting to while maintaining compassion and empathy for our employees,” Senior HR Business Partner Amy Hildebrand said.
As states put stay-at-home orders in place in response to COVID-19 earlier this year, leadership at Nielsen decided to focus on the mental and physical health of their employees above all else. Senior HR Business Partner Amy Hildebrand said professional development programs like their mentorship match initiative play a role in such efforts and are available to all employees globally.
How has professional development at your company changed in light of COVID-19?
Nielsen has responded to COVID-19 using a people-centric approach. We have continued to be realistic about the new normal we’re all adjusting to while maintaining compassion and empathy for our employees. As humans, we’ve naturally had less psychological capacity (and less time –– looking at you, parents) to focus on career development.
As a result of COVID-19, Nielsen quickly pivoted from personal development plans to personal wellness plans. Instead of emphasizing skill or knowledge development, Nielsen refocused its approach by sharing personal well-being resources via a “mental health hub.”
Every couple of days, employees will find e-learnings and resources in their inbox related to our employee assistance program, methods for dealing with stress and anxiety and best practices for maintaining impactful human connection while working remotely.
Nielsen has responded to COVID-19 using a people-centric approach.’’
What interesting tools or technologies is your team using to support professional development, particularly while employees are working from home?
We use Google Hangouts, and a lot of Google Sheets, to foster virtual collaboration and connection across our tech hubs in Chicago, Madrid and Chennai, India. The global nature of our business requires us to leverage easily accessible and effective virtual tools. We’re fortunate to have a suite of professional development tools and resources available to us from home.
Currently, Nielsen is using a virtual learning platform called Degreed, which helps you create customized learning paths specific to the job you currently have or the job you want. It’s employee-driven and manager-supported. We chose Degreed because we needed a learning platform that could scale globally while enabling individualized skill development and fostering employee connection.
What steps have you taken to ensure employees feel empowered to take advantage of these tools?
Your career journey is yours to create. Nielsen uses a comprehensive playbook and interactive internal website to break down the components of professional development and make it feel more manageable.
If an employee doesn’t know where to start or needs an accountability partner, we offer a “myMentor” program to help them get matched to an internal mentor or to set up a more noncommittal one-on-one career chat. Nielsen’s annual performance management cycle also reinforces the importance of personal development through career goal-setting and quarterly development check-ins with management.
Rightpoint employees can log into the “baking,” “news and info” or “idea crowdsourcing” Microsoft Teams channels to stay informed or simply check in with themselves and their colleagues. Bridget Gotz, SVP of people potential, said various teams also use Miro’s virtual whiteboarding tool for rapid prototyping and research sessions.
How has professional development at your company changed in light of COVID-19?
Professional development is an area of ongoing and persistent focus. Now more than ever, our people need an empathetic approach to development and wellness. In addition to career mapping, goal setting and a focus on learning and development, we have increased the frequency of structured check-ins. We are adding a new summer wellness check to hear how each individual is personally excelling or struggling with this new reality.
We also accelerated the launch of our professional development platform via our parent company, Genpact. This learning resource, called Genome, lets anyone invest the time they might previously have spent commuting, for example, on self-guided professional development topics.
Now more than ever, our people need an empathetic approach to development and wellness.’’
What interesting tools or technologies is your team using to support professional development, particularly while employees are working from home?
As a global experience company, our people are our greatest strength. We leverage tools and technology to empower employees to communicate, collaborate, innovate and move quickly.
We’re big fans of Microsoft Teams and have used it for some time. In addition to video calls and live chats, we also created a community site on Teams where everyone can access a variety of channels to help them stay connected, informed or inspired. We’ve also been hosting a weekly town hall on Zoom with our CEO.
What steps have you taken to ensure employees feel empowered to take advantage of these tools?
One of Rightpoint’s founding values is “intrepreneurship.” We encourage our team to create, innovate and try new things. Employees are empowered to leverage a variety of tools that are offered to them transparently and through consistent communication.
Company town halls, weekly CEO checkpoints and local team virtual meetings are all communication vehicles. We also accelerated Genome’s internal rollout with multiple training sessions and office hours to support individual development and growth.
