Trust unlocks performance.
Empathy from managers powers a sense of fulfillment at work for employees.
A healthy culture in service of business metrics translates to high engagement.
These are just some of the themes we heard at Gartner's HR conference in San Francisco last week, where CHROs shared their business challenges and critical priorities today.
Discover the top five themes we identified from the insight-packed sessions.
Relying on trust in a slow-motion earthquake
Psychological safety is a key determinant of high-performing team
After a global pandemic, return-to-office, economic downturns, and now the AI revolution, employees are feeling like they can't get their bearings. Many workers today are highly stressed and on the verge of burnout.
In fact, Gallup recently reported that only 23% of employees are highly engaged. Summit keynote speaker Vijay Pendakur, Ph.D. describes today's working environment as a "slow-motion earthquake," with one aftershock after another.
"My friends that are people leaders would not be high-fiving their CEOs if less than one in four of their employees said they were highly engaged at work," Vijay said. He continued, "The good news is that if you look at the behavioral science research and the IO psychology evidence, it's possible to do the best work of our lives and run high performance teams, even in endless disruption. We just need a better playbook."
Vijay highlighted the impact of psychological safety in the workplace. Citing Google’s Project Aristotle, which found that psychological safety is a key determinant of high-performing teams, Vijay said that psychological safety isn't just "feel good vibes." Trust unlocks team performance.
People need connection in times of volatility. And on teams, high quality connections can turn into a form of resilience for employees.
Empathy at work guided by boundaries
Managers who practice empathy build a sense of fulfillment for employees
Gary Beckstrand, VP, O.C. Tanner Institute, presented research on how organizations can create workplaces that enable employees to feel fulfilled and do their best work.
Empathy, the often underestimated soft skill considered "squishy" by some, can have a transformative impact on employee fulfillment and engagement. When organizations empower their leaders to act with empathy, it improves the odds that employees feel a sense of fulfillment at work by an astounding 894%.
Gary introduced a concept called "practical empathy," or understanding individual employee needs, listening to concerns, and taking meaningful actions while respecting boundaries. Empathy fatigue, or the state of pure exhaustion caused by providing boundless emotional support to others, is a real challenge among managers.
"Without boundaries, leaders burn out," Gary said.
A 60-day reorg done in 30 days
Change initiatives done to the workforce versus with the workforce
Kim Mayes, CDIO & VP, Business HR Strategic Talent, Intel, shared the story about a reorg at Intel—the largest one the company has gone through. Kim helped facilitate moving 21,000 people from the design engineering group into Intel's product groups.
"We actually went to this body of employees and we shared what we were going to do," Kim said. "We didn't have a plan on how to do it, because we needed to make sure that we had the right people, the right managers, and the right leaders in the room in order to make those decisions. They're closest to the work."
The approach of engaging employees and leaders in the planning and decision-making process was key to the success of the reorg. Instead of imposing changes, the leadership team involved the workforce in discussions and asked for their input.
The core team involved decided the reorg would take 60 days, and they completed the move in 30 days.
Kim said the success can be attributed to the approach the Intel team took to the reorg, wanting to make a change with the workforce versus to the workforce.
"I believe [it was successful because] of the planning that we did up front and the fact that we got them involved, and we were very clear and transparent about why we were or weren't going with employees' recommendations," Kim said.
A thriving culture at Levi Strauss & Co., a 171-year-old brand
Building a healthy culture in service of business metrics
Tracy Layney, SVP, CHRO, Levi Strauss & Co., said she joined Levi Strauss because of its culture.
"At Levi Strauss & Co., we talk about outfitting the world's originals in pursuit of progress."
Tracy said she thinks of culture as a competitive advantage, which led the organization to consider which parts if its culture to double-down on and which ones to leave behind. As the company shifts from a wholesale-based model to more of a direct-to-consumer model, the organization is embarking on a cultural transformation, placing a greater emphasis on performance. Leading the transformation is Levi Strauss & Co.'s new CEO, Michelle Gass, who brings decades of retail experience at Starbucks and Kohl's.
"It's important to have measurement against all aspects of your people strategy," Tracy said, adding, "If I have a healthy culture in service of business metrics, that translates to engagement," Tracy said.
Preparing for an AI-enabled future in HR
Strategic Implementation of AI in HR Tech
The summit was buzzing with talk about AI in nearly every session.
Gartner research shows 76% of HR leaders believe that if their organization does not adopt and implement AI solutions in the next 1-2 years, they will be lagging in organizational success.
Trevor Keavney, Director, HR Advisory, Gartner shared his perspective integrating AI-enabled HR tech, stressing the importance of having a clear vision, setting realistic expectations, and meticulously planning implementation.
Trevor recommended watching the Gen AI space, working with IT and legal teams to determine the effort and value—not only for the business, but for employees, too.
"Decide for yourselves [whether you should adopt AI technology] so that you're not throwing darts at a wall, hoping that you get the dartboard, because that's what I see happening far too often," Trevor said. He recommended getting crisp on the outcomes the business is trying to achieve with an AI implementation, articulating the point of the initiative to make sure the effort is strategic and led by goals.
TLDR: Embrace empathy, trust, and transparency to build a stronger culture. New initiatives driven by HR—whether they're cultural, technological, or otherwise—must be measured and strategic.
To summarize, the top 5 themes we heard were:
- Trust is powerful. Use the language of trust to connect with your employees.
- Empathetic leaders support a sense of fulfillment among employees, which leads to better engagement.
- Bringing employees into change initiatives and soliciting their perspectives helps everyone feel heard and can make organizational shifts—big or small—more successful.
- Healthy cultures built in service of business metrics translate to a more engaged workforce.
- HR tech is ready to embrace AI. Take on the new technology with awareness of risks and a crisp strategy.
Read more about building a sense of psychological safety at work.