Cohesion

This episode features an interview with Will Leahy, VP of People Development and Business Partners at Greenhouse; and Layla Kajer, Director of People Experience at Greenhouse. Will leads people development, focusing on optimizing performance, career growth, and driving culture. Layla spearheads people experience where she creates productive, connected, and empowering work environments for employees. In this episode, Amanda sits down with Will and Layla as they dive into psychological safety, vulnerability, and leading by example. ------------------- “The power of vulnerability is limitless and it takes bravery and it takes courage. [...] That vulnerability from a leader actually creates a space where someone else is going to model that behavior. That is the cornerstone, in my opinion, of psychological safety is vulnerability. And that can launch into all kinds of other good things and relationship building and team norms and all that good stuff. But it just starts with being human, in my opinion.” – Will Leahy ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(02:09): Will and Layla’s backgrounds *(07:40): Will and Layla explain the mission of Greenhouse *(09:38): Segment: Story Time *(10:11): The importance of psychological safety in the workplace *(22:57): The impact of layoffs on psychological safety *(25:28): Segment: Getting Tactical *(29:32): How Greenhouse is ensuring behaviors are mirrored by leaders and employees *(40:25): How Greenhouse is tackling DE&I *(47:30): Segment: Asking For a Friend ------------------- Links: Connect with Will on LinkedIn Connect with Layla on LinkedIn Greenhouse’s Inclusive Communications Guidelines Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Laila Tarraf, author of Strong Like Water. After losing her parents and husband, Laila learned that compassion was essential in her personal and professional life. Prior to writing her book, Laila served as the Chief People Officer for Allbirds and Peet’s Coffee, and was the Vice President of HR for Walmart.com. In this episode, Amanda sits down with Laila to discuss leading with love, harmony between company values and felt experience, and psychological safety. ------------------- “It matters more that what your stated values are mirror the felt experience, than what those stated values are. There's a cognitive culture, which is what you say your values are and the stated words. And then there's the emotional culture. It's like, ‘Okay, but how does it feel? How are people talking to me? How are we relating to each other?’ And the greater the dissonance between those two things, that's where you run into issues because then, employees are like, ‘Well, we say it's this, but what I'm seeing is this.’ And that's where trust breaks down. And so it actually hurts you to have these beautifully well-articulated values and the accouterments that come with whatever you think employees are looking for; free lunches or workout rooms, but you're not able to talk to your manager. You're not clear on what your role is. Conflict is swept under the rug, So, it becomes passive aggressive. It's all of those things. It's your felt experience really, that is the true culture and the other things become like window washing and that actually ends up hurting you because then you lose the trust.” – Laila Tarraf ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:52): Laila’s background *(05:58): Segment: Story Time *(06:14): Laila discusses her book Strong Like Water *(17:17): Laila’s advice for leading with courage and love *(27:49): Segment: Ripped From The Headlines *(28:29): Skills leaders need to have to guide employees through challenging times *(31:24): Segment: Asking For a Friend *(31:49): What future changes in leadership Laila expects ------------------- Links: Visit Laila’s Website Follow Laila on Instagram Connect with Laila on LinkedIn Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Hannah Bolte, Director of Marketing and Communications at Lozier Corporation. Starting as a print and television reporter, Hannah uses her journalism expertise to craft internal, external, and crisis communications strategies and content. In this episode, Amanda and Hannah discuss Lozier’s mobile-first employee experience platform, reaching deskless workers, and intentional communications. ------------------- "The bulk of our employees work in a manufacturing facility. They don't have email access and their jobs are in the plant, it's not sitting at a desk. We approached the intranet in finding an intranet that would work for us with a sense of, ‘We can't reach those employees right now,’ aside from all those things that you said, like a flier in the break room, providing information to supervisors to say at startup meetings. But, how do you engage them beyond their day-to-day? How do you make them feel like they're part of something bigger? How do you make them realize their impact on the company, on the community? So, mobile-first was a non-negotiable thing for us. We had to make sure that it was accessible by all of our employees at any point in time." – Hannah Bolte ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:47): Hannah’s background *(08:09): Segment: Story Time *(09:13): Why Lozier created a mobile-first employee experience platform *(11:58): Segment: Getting Tactical *(12:27): Hannah explains the ins and outs of LozierLink *(29:30): Segment: Ripped From The Headlines *(32:49): Segment: Asking For a Friend ------------------- Links: Connect with Hannah on LinkedIn Connect with Lozier Corporation on LinkedIn Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Chase Warrington, Head of Remote at Doist, a leading remote-first company. Having worked remotely since 2009, Chase has managed teams across all timezones and is passionate about the future of work. He has been named a LinkedIn Top Voice for Remote Work, a Global Top 50 Remote Enabler by Remote.com, and is a frequent contributor to the world’s top remote-work outlets such as Forbes, BBC, and AP. In this episode, Amanda and Chase dive into remote work; discussing challenges, experience, and what companies get wrong. ------------------- “What I would love to see those same leaders do though, is to stop saying you can't build team culture in a remote environment, or you can't collaborate, or we can't do good brainstorming sessions, or have good relationships with our employees, or mentor our team because that is not true. And you're seeing it being done at scale now. Companies with tens of thousands of employees going remote. We're a team of 100 and in 35 different countries, and at one time, we were seen to be one of the big ones that were doing fully remote work. And so, it is being done. And I do think those companies will continue to see an exodus of talent if they don't invest in at least trying to make it work on some level.” – Chase Warrington ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(02:13): Chase’s background *(06:20): Segment: Story Time *(09:43): Chase explains the nuances of remote work *(17:53): Segment: Getting Tactical *(18:17): Problems that Chase is solving in remote work *(22:18): Things companies get wrong about remote work *(27:46): Breaking remote experience into subsets *(30:02): Segment: Ripped From The Headlines *(30:22): Chase’s thoughts on back to office mandates *(33:05): Segment: Asking For a Friend ------------------- Links: Connect with Chase on LinkedIn Do You Need a Head of Remote? White Paper Follow Chase on Twitter The Async Newsletter by Twist Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Pinaki Kathiari, CEO and owner of Local Wisdom, a digital communications agency. Pinaki’s experience spans two decades serving global Fortune companies, startups, and multi-industry agencies. He’s also the co-founder of Resource Hero, Vice President of Professional Development for the IABC Tristate Area Chapter, and a Business Mentor for WOMEN Unlimited, Inc. In this episode, Amanda sits down with Pinaki to discuss his communications team maturity model, the ROI of employee recognition, and the value of a digital communications presence. ------------------- “If people don't know how they're actually, or really making a difference, then they kind of lose sight of why they're here. So we all do that. It feels like being in a conversation with two other people who are speaking another language. Kind of like, ‘why am I here and how am I even contributing?’ [...] I think leaders want to quantify investment into recognition systems and programs. And that I get, because that takes some funds and investment and planning. But I also think that recognition doesn't have to take a large investment. Like I said, simply adding a topic to your leader's speaking points; it's the littlest thing you could do that doesn't cost really anything. Because at the end of the day, we work better as friends and friends show appreciation to each other.” – Pinaki Kathiari ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(02:12): Pinaki’s career journey *(10:02): Segment: Story Time *(10:58): How Pinaki quantifies the ROI of employee recognition *(17:16): How leaders can institute employee recognition *(22:41): Segment: Getting Tactical *(23:07): Pinaki explains his communications team maturity model *(29:37): Must-haves for a good internal comms team *(34:15): Metrics internal communicators can use to show ROI *(38:40): Changes to the communications team maturity model ------------------- Links: Connect with Pinaki on LinkedIn Follow Pinaki on Instagram Follow Pinaki on Twitter Local Wisdom Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features a roundtable discussion with Carolyn Clark, VP of Employee Experience Strategy and Transformation at Simpplr; Julie Miller, Senior Internal Communications Specialist at Simpplr; and Paralee Johnson, Senior Manager of Community and Content at Simpplr. In this episode, Carolyn, Julie, and Paralee discuss how they wish Internal Comms to be perceived, learning from their mistakes, and trends they’re looking forward to in 2023. ------------------- “We could do everything possible in our tool belt of tools for comms and something can still fail in the eyes of stakeholders. It's really important not to tie our value to the success of a particular program, that we don't necessarily own, to the success of the things that we do, per se. Because, sometimes you can do all of the things in your comm playbook, you can throw everything at the world at it, and maybe it's actually not what the audience needed or wanted. And then the organization or the stakeholders have to go back and reassess, ‘What are we actually doing? Was this to check a box? Was this some larger business goal that maybe really wasn't what they needed or wanted?’” – Paralee Johnson ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(02:37): The panelists discuss their backgrounds and roles at Simpplr *(08:11): How Internal Comms is viewed and how they wish that would change *(10:54): How to show the value of data *(14:31): How to create a unified understanding of success *(16:41): How to onboard stakeholders *(20:44): The panelists discuss past mistakes and how they learned from them *(32:57): How the panelists found their voices to speak up *(39:13): What Internal Comms can learn from other departments *(50:03): Rapid fire Internal Comms questions ------------------- Links: Connect with Carolyn on LinkedIn Visit Carolyn’s website Connect with Julie on LinkedIn Follow Julie on Instagram Follow Julie on Behance Connect with Paralee on LinkedIn Simpplr Blog Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Olga Skouteli, Head of Culture and Engagement at Lilium, a high-growth scale-up revolutionizing aviation. Olga specializes in developing and delivering engagement, internal communications, and Diversity and Inclusion strategies. Olga previously served as an employee experience consultant for global organizations like Rolls-Royce, Visa, and Nestlé where she transformed their culture and employee experience to drive business results. In this episode, Amanda and Olga discuss breaking down silos, nuances of language, and their hopes for internal communications in 2023. ------------------- “I would like to see communicators be part of the conversation and the decisions, not only the conversation after the decisions have been made. Because, this is the power of communication and creating culture and building engagement and inspiring people, and there is so much potential in there. So, I think the trend I would like to leave back, is this trend of coming to communications just to communicate. It's about understanding that communications is much more than that, and the language and the words is just one aspect of it. Engagement is much more than communications, but communications can drive engagement.” – Olga Skouteli ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:49): Olga’s background *(04:58): Segment: Story Time *(06:54): The nuances of meaning behind language *(16:11): Segment: Getting Tactical *(16:49): Indications of working in silos *(23:11): The do’s and don’ts of breaking down silos *(25:37): Segment: Asking for a Friend *(25:57): A trend Olga is looking forward to leaving behind in 2022 *(28:02): How Olga gets better at her job ------------------- Links: Connect with Olga on LinkedIn Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Tyler Muse, CEO and Founder of Lingo Live, a one-on-one leadership coaching program. Prior to starting Lingo Live, Tyler worked as an analyst for GE Energy Financial Services, where he focused on underwriting and portfolio management of energy investments. He also founded an internationally-focused mentorship program for multilingual youth in New York City. In this episode, Amanda sits down with Tyler to discuss work trends like “quiet quitting”, how to motivate leaders to invest in coaching, and the inspiration he draws from Maya Angelou. ------------------- “Maya Angelou famously said, ‘People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’ And I think that's really important when we talk about communication. Communication isn’t what you said. It is to some extent, but it's only important what you said in terms of how that made the person feel. What was the feeling that you elicited out of that person and was that actually in your or their best interest? [...] That doesn't mean you say only nice things, you have to deliver critical feedback. But if you do it in a way where you make someone feel blamed or all these other things, you're not going to get anywhere and they're not going to get anywhere either. I think it's important when we enter a coaching conversation, this is what coaches do for people; is they help them not only understand what is it that you need to say to this other person or to yourself sometimes, but also how's that going to land and are we sure that that's actually what you're trying to convey or is there a different way to communicate this?” – Tyler Muse ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:44): Tyler’s background *(04:53): Tyler explains Lingo Live *(09:18): Segment: Story Time *(09:36): What inspired Tyler to build a coaching business *(16:04): Tyler’s advice for coaching leaders to be better communicators *(23:59): Segment: Getting Tactical *(24:28): How Tyler works with HR to get investment for executive coaching *(31:34): Segment: Ripped From The Headlines *(31:45): Tyler’s thoughts on work trends like “quiet quitting” *(38:30): Segment: Asking For a Friend ------------------- Links: Lingo Live Email Tyler Connect with Tyler on LinkedIn Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Laura Borland, TA and Clinical Communications Director at Waters. Unlike most communications professionals, Laura has a PhD in Analytical Chemistry and began her career as a science consultant and government project manager. She found her passion in supporting scientists and communicating their stories to drive business outcomes. In this episode, Amanda and Laura discuss manager-led communications, strategies for reaching people globally, and helping leaders become better communicators. ------------------- “Executives need to identify that the managers are your best representatives of the employee base. They're the ones that are eyes and ears; they're all around, they see it. They're at that sort of level, and they really should be, hopefully, empowered and respected and heard. And that when we communicate to them, find ways to better empower and not just assume that they're going to cascade verbatim the message from on high. There's a lot of contextualization, translation to get that message from what the executive sees at a high-level strategic business, and even strategic cultural level, down into the organization to really pump the blood through and get those tactics, those strategies, all those things from the business and culturally through the organization.” – Laura Borland ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:43): Laura’s background *(06:48): Segment: Getting Tactical *(07:14): One strategy that gets overlooked when trying to reach people globally *(08:51): Laura opens her manager-led communication playbook *(23:16): Segment: Seat at The Table *(26:56): How Laura coaches leaders to be better communicators *(30:51): Segment: Asking for a Friend ------------------- Links: Connect with Laura on LinkedIn Waters Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Tina Hawkins, Senior Director of Internal Communications at the NBA. Tina partners with business leaders to enhance employee performance through change management with a focus on workplace experience. In this episode, Amanda and Tina discuss aligning values externally and internally, keeping communication casual, and how to hold space for employees and leaders to have critical conversations. ------------------- “Don't over emphasize the writing. Things like the wordsmithing, the grammar, et cetera. That's table stakes. It's the strategic thinking that's the most important. What are we trying to achieve with this message or with this initiative or with what we're doing? What's the best way to reach people? How can we do something that'll have the most impact and influence? [...] And then personally, I try to concentrate on the business and connect with business leaders and understand our goals and where we're trying to go and what you want employees to do, what behavior changes we need from employees.” – Tina Hawkins ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:37): Tina’s background *(03:08): Tina’s role as Senior Director of Internal Communications at the NBA *(05:35): Segment: Getting Tactical *(07:34): How Tina aligned the NBA while revamping the mission statement *(11:21): Segment: Ripped From the Headlines *(12:59): How the NBA helps leaders and employees have critical conversations *(22:47): Things to avoid when holding tough conversations *(28:01): Segment: Asking For a Friend *(31:29): Tina’s advice for keeping communication casual ------------------- Links: Connect with Tina on LinkedIn NBA Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Victoria Dew, CEO of Dewpoint Communications. Victoria is a leader of employee experience and future of work, with more than 15 years of global internal communications expertise. In this episode, Amanda sits down with Victoria to discuss how the pandemic affected DE&I, what we can learn from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and why to stop waiting for a seat at the table. ------------------- “When we talk about what does the ideal employee experience look like, it's a way that accounts for all the factors that help a human being to thrive in the workplace. And we can think of some of those are feeling valued, feeling safe, feeling seen, respected. And having the opportunity to grow, having the opportunity to contribute, having belief, actually, in the purpose of what we're doing, in our leaders, in our organizations. [...] Communications can come and help us weave all of this together and connect the dots. Because connecting the dots is one of the things that communications professionals can and should be doing often better than other parts of the business. It's kind of one of our superpowers.” – Victoria Dew ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:41): Victoria’s background *(06:19): Victoria’s role at Dewpoint Communications *(07:35): Segment: Getting Tactical *(08:16): The ideal employee experience according to Victoria *(12:44): How Dewpoint Communications improves employee experience *(14:49): Mistakes companies make that hurt the employee experience *(22:04): Segment: Ripped From the Headlines *(22:50): How DE&I has been impacted by remote work *(35:57): Segment: Asking for a Friend *(36:15): Challenges IC will face in the future ------------------- Links: Connect with Victoria on LinkedIn Dewpoint Communications Download Dewpoint Communications Insights Report (Maslow’s graphic on page 9) Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Natalie Ridsdale, Director of Internal Communications at Levi Strauss & Co. Natalie has spent the last 21 years refining her communication skills, starting out as a copy editor at newspapers and now managing employee experience at Levi’s. In this episode, Amanda and Natalie discuss how internal and external communications can work better together, collecting employee feedback, and how Levi’s is making space for employees to have tough conversations. ------------------- “My number one piece of advice when I talk to people is, don't ask a question if you're not going to act on the answer. People need to know that you're going to take this feedback and do something with it. So, if you're asking something that gives people a sense that you might take steps to address it and you never planned on it, I think you're harming some of that trust in the relationship between you and the people that you're surveying. So make sure that you're asking about things you're actually going to take action on.” – Natalie Ridsdale ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:47): Natalie’s background *(06:12): Segment: Story Time *(06:34): How internal and external comms can work better together *(07:49): Segment: Getting Tactical *(18:05): Dos and don’ts of employee surveys and feedback *(21:35): How Levi’s holds tough conversations internally *(24:27): Segment: Seat at the Table *(26:57): How Natalie recommends change to leaders *(28:27): Segment: Asking for a Friend *(28:44): Natalie’s advice to a first time IC leader ------------------- Links: Connect with Natalie on LinkedIn Levi Strauss & Co. Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Beth Collier, founder of Beth Collier Consulting. She has spent 20 years helping people and companies become better, more connected leaders through communication. In this episode, Amanda sits down with Beth to discuss what pop culture can teach us about communications, the impact of creativity, and how to turn leaders into effective communicators. ------------------- “You've got to be courageous if you want to be creative, because it is hard to put ideas in front of people that by definition, they're going to be new and different. Because even people who say, and I've known leaders like this, who are like, ‘I want new ideas and think outside the box and nothing's off the table. Blah, blah, blah.’ They say that stuff and then when you give them something that is new and different, they're like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. We can't do that here. That's not going to work or we tried that once.’ It's kind of like a newborn baby. You've got to be so gentle and protective of that new idea. And so, when it comes to sharing those ideas, it takes a lot of courage.” – Beth Collier ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:39): Beth’s background *(04:05): Segment: Story Time *(04:18): When Beth realized she wanted to advocate for employees *(13:11): Segment: Getting Tactical *(13:27): How Beth brings pop culture into communications *(20:12): Why it's important that communications is creative *(28:18): Why Beth disagrees that 7% of communication is verbal *(34:06): Segment: Seat at the Table *(34:17): How Beth helps make leaders effective communicators *(37:09): Segment: Asking for a Friend ------------------- Links: Connect with Beth on LinkedIn Beth Collier Consulting Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Kristin Hancock, Vice President of Community and Engagement at ICology. Kristin’s passion for communications fueled her career at organizations like Ronald McDonald House and Children’s Wish Foundation. Kristin has over a decade of experience connecting humans through meaningful messages. She also has a flair for astrology and offers birth chart readings for people and pets! In this episode, Amanda and Kristin discuss how ICology improves culture, how to make connections instead of network, and Kristin reads Amanda’s birth chart. ------------------- “We carry with us experiences from our life, from our personal lives and our professional lives. Knowing those pieces of yourself before you start a role is, I think, the most important part of it so you can be self-aware when you have tendencies to respond in certain ways, for example. I think the other piece is connecting with your industry. Someone has been in your shoes before and someone will be in your shoes in the future. So, getting to know the folks who are in your industry, getting to know the people in your organization and also outside your organization, I think is the other big part of being in this industry.” – Kristin Hancock ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:50): Kristin’s background *(04:50): Kristin’s role at ICology *(06:05): Segment: Story Time *(07:09): Kristin reads Amanda’s birth chart *(11:04): How astrology impacts Kristin’s view of internal communications *(12:57): Segment: Getting Tactical *(14:46): How ICology builds community *(20:39): Segment: Seat at the Table *(21:42): The importance of making connections *(28:27): Segment: Asking for a Friend *(30:06): Challenges IC professionals are facing ------------------- Links: Connect with Kristin on LinkedIn ICology Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Michelle Press, Director of Corporate Communications at Envoy Solutions. Michelle has over 25 years of experience leading merger and acquisition communications, community relations, and change management. Previously, Michelle’s leadership roles include KemperLesnik, UL Solutions, and Golin. In this episode, Amanda and Michelle open their playbooks on mergers and acquisitions. They discuss the dos and don'ts of a communications plan, the channels and tech that help navigate this shift, and what Michelle has learned throughout her career. ------------------- “If you think about it from an acquisition standpoint, the thing that every business wants to know when requiring a company it's, ‘Do no harm and we want everyone to be able to do their job the way they've been doing it as much as possible,’ as change is happening. So if it's the importance of making sure that people feel like they can still do their job, overwhelming them with email is not going to help them because that's usually when people say is, ‘There's so much here, communication here, I can't get to my own work or I can't get to my own job.’ So how do we help facilitate that in a better way?” – Michelle Press ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:42): Michelle’s background *(03:41): Segment: Story Time *(04:03): What Michelle learned during her first acquisition *(06:53): Segment: Seat at the Table *(11:50): How IC can be successful without a seat at the table *(13:49): Segment: Getting Tactical *(14:15): Dos and don'ts of a merger and acquisition communications plans *(20:36): How Michelle uses channels and technology to help employees navigate a merger *(34:00): Segment: Asking for a Friend ------------------- Links: Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn Envoy Solutions Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Suman Gopalan, Chief HR Officer at Freshworks. Suman has spent her entire professional career in HR, holding positions at publicly traded companies like The Nielsen Company, Dell Technologies, and Whirlpool. At Freshworks, Suman pilots the global people strategy to develop and engage their employees. In this episode, Amanda and Suman examine diversity in the workplace. They discuss Suman’s passion for women in the workforce, key elements of workplace culture, and why it's better to hire people that add to that culture versus fitting in. ------------------- “There is no one size that fits all. Human experiences at the workplace is all about different moments that matter as an employee throughout your journey. How do you create experiences that can delight your employees? Just like how we talk about customer delight. We have different personas. Whether it's an early career employee, it's an experienced employee, senior executive, women and we try and create experiences for each one of these that are different and that are important to them. And to me, that's what it's all about. It's human experiences at the workplace that create delight.” – Suman Gopalan ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:50): Suman’s career journey *(03:50): Segment: Story Time *(04:01): Suman’s passion for women in the workforce *(08:41): Suman’s definition of employee experience *(12:06): Segment: Getting Tactical *(12:31): The key elements of a good workplace culture *(15:45): Hiring to fit the culture vs adding to the culture *(19:33): Segment: Ripped from the Headlines *(23:38): How the pandemic affected women in the workforce *(26:25): Freshworks’ pledge for equality *(33:47): Asking for a Friend ------------------- Links: Connect with Suman on LinkedIn Freshworks Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Stephanie Briggs, Director of Employee Experience at ivanti. She has over ten years of experience in digital and social media marketing, where she puts storytelling at the forefront. Stephanie’s passion for storytelling doesn’t stop there. She is also a published horror author of the “Sophia Rey” series, in which the main character goes undercover in a cult. In this episode, Amanda and Stephanie discuss who owns employee experience in an org and how storytelling makes for powerful communications. ------------------- “Employee experience, overall, either you’ll have a subset of employees who are highly engaged and it really comes down to the level of passion that they have to not just do their day-to-day and collect a paycheck. But it’s really about having that passion, coming each day, and really feeling that impact that you’re making as an employee. And that’s a tough one because as employee engagement professionals, it’s really in our areas to help with getting employees to that point of ensuring that they understand and they’re feeling the impact that they make overall. And that’s not an easy thing to do.” – Stephanie Briggs ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:45): Stephanie’s background *(03:37): Stephanie’s role at ivanti *(04:58): Segment: Storytime *(05:37): Why Stephanie loves to tell stories *(08:11): Stephanie breaks down her Sophia Rey book series *(13:59: Segment: Getting Tactical *(17:10): How Stephanie supports leaders *(18:20): How Stephanie worked across her organization on an intranet revamp *(24:31): How ivanti maintains a global employee experience *(30:40): What’s the ideal org for employee experience? *(33:36): Segment: Asking for a Friend *(38:48): Biggest challenges employee experience professionals will face in the future ------------------- Links: Connect with Stephanie on LinkedIn ivanti Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Mary Poppen, Chief Strategy and Customer Officer at involve.ai. With over 2 decades of experience in customer success, executive leadership, and business consulting, Mary is dedicated to advancing the next generation of CX leaders. In this episode, Amanda sits down with Mary to discuss how a great customer experience can lead to happy employees and how to measure employee and customer satisfaction. ------------------- “Early in my career, I realized that our most happy customers had a really strong relationship with an employee or employees in our organization. Whether it was sales services, exec relationships, it didn’t really matter they just had a strong bond. And the least happy customers were those that really saw us as a vendor. Those of you listening that do know me, know I hate the v-word. If you can be called a partner, a strategic advisor, that’s much better. But, I realized that those customers who were unhappy were the ones that saw us as a vendor. Just a transactional, reactionary solution. So, that’s what struck me as a differentiator where relationships and therefore, engaged and happy employees, really do make a difference in building a connection and providing value to customers. So, when you have happy engaged employees and happy engaged customers, there’s this crazy contagious enthusiasm that exists. And then the company benefits because what results is growth, expansion of customers, and referenceability. Talent out there wants to work for your company. So it’s just a lot of goodness that I call the ‘All In Zone’.” – Mary Poppen ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:44): Mary’s background *(04:22): Segment: Story Time *(06:41): The link between employee experience and customer satisfaction *(09:32): Segment: Getting Tactical *(11:19): ROI when connecting employee and customer experience *(19:13): Best practices for tracking employee and customer satisfaction *(21:46): What involve.ai is doing to keep employees and customers happy *(24:22): Segment: Asking for a Friend *(27:48): Biggest challenges of connecting the customer and employee experience ------------------- Links: Connect with Mary on LinkedIn involve.ai Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Debbie Gunning, Vice President of People at Human Interest. Debbie has spent the last 24 years building powerful business teams through talent acquisition, employee relations, and workplace culture. In this episode, Amanda and Debbie dive into employee onboarding. They discuss the relationship between onboarding and employee retention, the importance of culture during this time, and how Debbie’s team transitioned to a virtual onboarding experience. ------------------- “If you are a first-time HR leader entering into this, my takeaways from the last three years of having this huge scope that I’ve been covering, and part of it was very new to me, is just get ready for the ride of your life and don’t take things personally. There’s always going to be a critic. Critics are loud. And don’t worry about it because people are always going to have different feelings and let them have them, and get super comfortable being uncomfortable. Because, being an HR professional in today’s climate, every day there is going to be something that comes up that you’re like, ‘Hmm, didn’t see this coming. Don’t really know how to handle this. It’s uncomfortable, but I'm going to figure it out.’ So just get comfortable living with the discomfort and you’ll just continue to grow and thrive.” – Debbie Gunning ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:44): Debbie’s background *(04:14): Segment: Story Time *(04:37): How Human Interest is tackling the pandemic world *(06:12): Segment: Getting Tactical *(07:24): How a good onboarding experience leads to employee retention *(12:34): How Human Interest switched to virtual onboarding *(22:47): Don’ts of employee onboarding *(25:52): How Debbie is bringing culture into onboarding *(29:31): Segment: Asking for a Friend ------------------- Links: Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn Human Interest Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Danielle Tabor, Chief People Officer at Emburse. Danielle has over 15 years of human resources experience in the biomedical, architecture, and financial industries. She also holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a minor in Education from Clark University. In this episode, Amanda sits down with Danielle to discuss work-from-home burnout, HR’s ability to adapt, and the importance of an equitable employee experience. ------------------- “I really think the future of work is all about employee experience. Everything shifted with the pandemic. And as leaders, what we need to understand is what employees truly need and how we can realistically meet those needs. So, we need to consider the whole employee here. There are basic needs that must be met. At absolute minimum: stability. People don’t need to have anxiety about whether or not their job is stable. They need a healthy income, they need healthy benefits. But we also need to start thinking about family, community, social and environmental impact. It just expands. Previously, it used to be Human Resources that was focused on policy, procedure, compliance. Those things are obviously still incredibly important and they need to be focused on as well, but it goes so far beyond that. Where we really need to win over the hearts of our people if we want an engaged workforce. That’s going to be incredibly important as we go forward. And it's challenging, it’s not obvious all the time. And so, we need to be open-minded and we need to be able to adapt.” – Danielle Tabor ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:42): Danielle’s background *(02:48): Danielle’s role as Chief People Officer at Emburse *(03:23): Segment: Story Time *(03:39: How Emburse shifted during the pandemic *(09:26): Danielle’s partnership with the internal comms team *(10:43): Segment: Getting Tactical *(12:46): Ensuring an equitable employee experience *(17:46): How Emburse is combating employee burnout *(20:47): How Danielle’s degree in Education influences her job *(22:24): Segment: Asking For a Friend *(26:15): How Danielle is getting better at her job through feedback ------------------- Links: Connect with Danielle on LinkedIn Emburse Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Parag Kulkarni, Chief Technology Officer at Simpplr. Parag has nearly 25 years of experience as a technology industry leader. Previously, Parag was the Senior Vice President of SaaS Engineering at Nutanix where he developed modern SaaS applications covering the customer and partner lifecycle. Parag is now heading Simpplr’s engineering and technology teams to create more value for its customers. In this episode, Amanda and Parag discuss Simpplr’s new employee communication software Live EX, intranets and employee engagement, and the personalization of communications. ------------------- “When we talk about engagement and connection, the big component of that is communication. How do you communicate? Who do you communicate to? Can you properly explain the why? Can you communicate at the right time? The product [Live EX] really focuses on that communication aspect as the first step of employee engagement or employee experience. Once that communication has happened, the next piece is to actually have a way of listening back to the feedback. Which is where surveys, the analytics that I talked about came into play. So, you really understand, ‘If I’m falling short in terms of engagement in certain areas, why is that? What can I do?’ And then the third component, which is where we are moving towards, is using that to inspire. Which is where things like recognition comes into play. If you see certain cultural values being exhibited that will drive more engagement, more connection. Then those are the ones that you really want to communicate to the larger group. Those are the ones that you want to recognize. So between connection, listening to the feedback for the connection that was provided, and then ultimately inspiring using recognition is how the platform can really help. And we are seeing a great uptake in that. We are seeing companies who are looking at employee experience and saying, ‘I really want to invest in my current employees.’ Hiring a new employee is so much more difficult and so much more money than focusing on the existing employees and keeping them happy.” – Parag Kulkarni ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:44): Parag’s background *(05:02): Segment: Story Time *(05:16): Simpplr’s Live EX function and what makes it different *(08:00): How Live EX helps drive employee engagement *(13:55): How Simpplr personalizes data to communicate with employees *(19:24): How people use Simpplr to get to know each other *(23:14): Segment: Ripped From the Headlines *(23:27): How organizations can use Live EX to minimize employee turnover *(25:36): Segment: Asking For a Friend *(28:10): Parag’s advice for those hesitant to change the employee experience ------------------- Links: Connect with Parag on LinkedIn Simpplr Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Annette Reavis, Chief People Officer at Envoy. Annette is an HR and business leader with over 20 years of experience. After spending 10 years at Facebook as the Vice President of HR, Annette retired. But not for long. She soon became the Chief People Officer of Root Inc. and now, Annette holds the same position at Envoy. In this episode, Annette and Amanda dive into work-life blend versus work-life balance, the modern employee experience, and how Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion functions can improve. ------------------- “I know it’s controversial to say, but I truly believe that if you are 100% remote, it is going to be harder and that you have to work harder. The company can only do so much. You have to work harder to make sure that you are making the right connections because people in the office will be able to do it over coffee, over lunch, and all those experiences that you won’t have. [...] We are really focused here at Envoy on the hybrid experience, so that you get a little bit of both. We do have talent that is 100% remote, for example. We’re going to bring them into the office and do an all hands once or twice a year, so that at least they can have that exchange, understanding. They can have that experience working in the office with people and sitting across from them at the desk. But, it’s something that we’re going to have to continue to work harder at for that talent that’s remote because I do believe it’s just a little bit harder.” – Annette Reavis ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:55): Annette’s background *(06:45): Segment: Storytime *(06:55): How Annette handled the pandemic at a new company *(10:46): The value of “unstructured skill-building” *(12:27): Annette’s journey as a Black woman in leadership *(15:00): How DE&I functions can improve *(17:18): How Annette handled COVID and social justice issues as a leader *(19:08): Segment: Getting Tactical *(21:09): Why Annette loves coaching leaders *(23:19): The modern employee experience *(28:40): Work/life balance vs. work/life blend *(34:27): Segment: Asking For a Friend ------------------- Links: Connect with Annette on LinkedIn Envoy Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Sophie Hamersley, Manager of Internal Communications at HubSpot. With over a decade of experience under her belt, Sophie has held positions at fully integrated agencies such as RF|Binder and Image Unlimited Communications. Sophie joined HubSpot in 2018 as the Communications Manager of the Culture Team where she helped attract talent through storytelling. In this episode, Sophie and Amanda dive into all things related to company culture. They discuss why HubSpot treats culture like a product, who the best brand ambassadors are, and why communications should be delightful. ------------------- “I think at the very foundation of it, you want your employees to feel really proud about where they work. You want employees to feel excited to come to work every day, to feel energized by the hard problems that they’re solving and know exactly how they’re making an impact on the business, on our mission, on the millions of customers that we’re helping to grow better. And so, you want to build a company that people feel really proud to work at, that’s the biggest goal. As part of that, when you are feeling proud to work somewhere, you end up talking a lot about that to other people. [...] Your employees are absolutely your biggest brand ambassadors and the more that they feel proud and excited to work somewhere, the more they’re going to talk about that to other people. And so, at the very core foundation, you want to build a culture that enables people to do that.” – Sophie Hamersley ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:57): Sophie’s current role at HubSpot *(03:36): Segment: Storytime *(06:41): Why HubSpot treats culture like a product *(10:19): How Sophie is building an internal comms function around transparency *(19:53): Why employees are the biggest brand ambassadors *(21:49): Segment: Seat at the Table *(22:01): Advice for internal comms folks struggling to get buy-in on employer brand *(26:40): Delightful communications *(28:30): Segment: Asking for a Friend *(30:36): Challenges internal comms will face in the future ------------------- Links: Connect with Sophie on LinkedIn HubSpot ‘Internal Communications Has a Communication Problem’ by Sophie Hamersley Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Jill Stracko, Director of Global Executive and Internal Communications at Uber. Jill’s impressive career spans from Washington D.C. all the way to Silicon Valley. Jill led President Barack Obama’s writing team in the White House and once served as Senior Legislative Correspondent to then-Senator Joe Biden. On this episode, Jill sits down with Amanda to discuss her 3 principles of Internal Communications: informing and inspiring, connecting the dots, and exclusivity. They also discuss keeping PR and internal comms aligned and their love of the Oxford Comma. ------------------- “In terms of how I just personally think about internal communications, there’s a couple of principles. The first is informing and inspiring. Making sure that employees understand what’s going on because it’s easier to do your job if you understand how decisions are being made. And then inspiring. You really want people to always be reminded of why they came to work at this company and why it's amazing. So, always trying to find those stories that remind people of that and show the innovation that’s happening around the company, the cool stuff that’s happening. The second is connecting the dots. I feel like it’s really important as internal communicators and then also helping leaders, making sure that you remind people how their day-to-day work fits into the company strategy and the priorities for the year and the company mission and values. So, that’s our responsibility. It’s leaders’ responsibility. It’s our responsibility to help leaders remind employees of that. And then the final thing is exclusivity. Our work should not just be a regurgitation of something that’s put out externally on a blog post or in a news story. Internal Communications is different and should be different from external communications. And I like to think of it as, you should get this information because you work at this company. And you’re getting the inside scoop, the behind the curtain view, the story behind the story.” – Jill Stracko ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:52): Jill’s background *(04:12): Jill’s 3 Principles of Internal Communications *(06:00): Segment: Story Time *(06:26): How Jill’s team rebranded Uber’s mission statement *(09:52): Amanda and Jill bond over the Oxford Comma *(11:29): Segment: Getting Tactical *(15:34): How to align internal comms with PR *(19:15): How Jill is keeping employees aligned during remote work *(32:01): Segment: Asking for a Friend *(38:57): Biggest challenge IC leaders will face in 5 years ------------------- Links: Connect with Jill on LinkedIn Uber Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Ben Matthews, Senior Director of Internal Communications at NVIDIA. Ben has spent his entire career in communications. He is a recognized industry leader and speaker who has previously worked for Google, eBay, and Crown Castle. In this episode, Ben and Amanda discuss building an internal comms program from scratch, how to prove value to leaders, and why internal communicators are the imagineers of business. ------------------- “10 years ago, everyone that was saying they were internal communications, suddenly changed to be head of employee engagement. And now, I think you’re seeing that change again from people changing from internal comms and employee engagement, to employee experience. And that’s great because that shows progress. But, it’s only progress if we’re doing more than changing our names. If we’re genuinely out there looking to influence. And the truth is, no one can own employee experience. It’s too broad a subject for any one team to own. Where I do think we play is we can act as that connective tissue and glue to bring different people together.” – Ben Matthews ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:43): Ben’s background *(03:32): Ben’s current role at NVIDIA *(04:15): Segment: Story Time *(04:46): How Ben built an internal communications program from the ground up *(09:11): Segment: Seat at the Table *(10:40): How internal communicators can show value to leaders *(16:22): How internal communicators are the imagineers of business *(18:59): Segment: Ripped from the Headlines *(22:09): How Ben shifted his strategy in 2020 *(33:28): Segment: Asking for a Friend ------------------- Links: Connect with Ben on LinkedIn NVIDIA Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Andréa Topper, Director of Internal Communications at Guardant Health. Andréa’s path to internal comms has been anything but conventional. Starting out as a journalistic reporter and editor for publications like The Associated Press and Central Penn Business Journal, Andréa realized her passion for communicating with an audience. That passion took her to fitness company CrossFit, where she was in charge of content marketing. On this episode, Andréa sits down with Amanda to discuss how she built an internal communications function from scratch, the dos and don'ts of altering workplace culture, and the components of a change management communication. ------------------- “We know what needs to get done as internal communicators. We know what the problem areas are, but you have to prioritize and then figure out what is my plan for this? What’s my comms plan for unveiling this to the whole company? My change management plan. Who do I need to get on board? And how long is this going to take to really do based on the tolerance of the audience? And look for your early adopters. If you have fans right away, use them. They can be your champions so that when change starts to happen and people go to them because they are the company influencers, even though they might not be in senior leadership positions, people go to them because they respect them.” – Andréa Topper ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:51): Andréa’s background *(07:26): Andéa’s current role at Guardant Health *(10:04): How Andréa built Guardant’s Internal Communications program *(14:17): Segment: Story Time *(14:44): How CrossFit shaped Andréa’s Internal Communications career *(19:02): The dos and don’ts of changing culture *(25:39): Segment: Getting Tactical *(26:19): Relationship between change management and internal comms *(32:13): Components of a good change communication *(37:59): Segment: Seat at the Table *(38:40): Advice for professionals who are struggling with change initiatives *(41:59): Segment: Asking for a Friend ------------------- Links: Andréa’s LinkedIn Guardant Health Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with LaToya Lyn, Chief People Officer at Help Scout. Fascinated by the connection between employee and employer, LaToya has wanted to be an HR practitioner since she was 16. Her impressive career spans multiple executive and leadership roles in HR and Talent Strategy at publicly traded billion-dollar companies like LivePerson, Compass, and Oscar Health. On this episode, LaToya sits down with Amanda to discuss how HR leaders influence the human experience in the workplace. She also shares how Tina Turner influenced her career and why CEOs are responsible for Diversity and Inclusion. ------------------- “Out of all the organizations I’ve worked for in the past, it [Help Scout] really focused on what the people experience means to them. It is held at the same bar as the quality of the product and what we do for our external clients. And it really, really makes the job of Chief People Officer so meaningful. What I do there is very forward-thinking; how to grow and scale the team, how to create policies and practices that make sense for people to feel growth, and also treat employees like adults. We're very transparent in every way, we share everything, we hold space for people when they have questions or concerns. So it's quite a very unique organization.” – LaToya Lyn ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(1:51): How LaToya got into HR *(3:27): LaToya’s current role at Help Scout *(3:40): Why LaToya chose Help Scout *(4:25): Segment: Story Time *(4:48): How LaToya’s education prepared her for working across industries *(7:55): How can HR leaders help employees during these tough times? *(11:51): How Tina Turner inspired LaToya’s relationship with work *(15:27): Segment: Getting Tactical *(15:39): The only way DE&I will work *(24:13): Segment: Ripped From the Headlines *(27:44): Segment: Asking for a Friend ------------------- Links Connect with LaToya on LinkedIn Help Scout Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Jason Anthoine, Managing Founder (or Head Honcho as Jason puts it) at Audacity. With more than 32 years of experience, Jason’s career includes leading global communications at GE, Newell Brands, and Verint. On this episode, Jason shares his three step process for building a successful Internal Comms plan that’s proven with ROI. He also gets into why he started his own comms consulting company and how he handles Imposter Syndrome. ------------------- “It’s so important to have your comms strategy built off your business strategy because as good as an internal comms strategy is, it’s telling you and your team what you’re going to do. It’s also your get out of jail free card for what you are now not going to do. Which is, ‘I’m not going to write your emails for you. I’m going to help you be better at writing them yourself and then you’re going to be responsible for those.’ Otherwise, your whole team is going to be bogged down with those types of requests and that’s when you become an arts and crafts department, which is not a strategic business function.” — Jason Anthoine ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(1:41): How Jason got interested in comms *(4:19): What Audacity does for people *(5:17): Segment: Storytime *(5:27): Story behind the name Audacity *(7:01): How less is more in comms *(9:55): How ‘Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee’ inspired a comms plan *(15:11): Segment: Getting Tactical *(15:27): Jason’s 3 step process for building a comms plan *(22:38): What not to do when building a comms plan *(30:06): Segment: Ripped from the Headlines *(33:37): Segment: Asking for a Friend *(33:52): Imposter Syndrome: what is it and how to handle it ------------------- Links Connect with Jason on LinkedIn Follow Jason on Twitter Audacity Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Carolyn Clark, Head of Internal Communications and Employer Brand at Opendoor. Previously, Carolyn was the senior director of internal communications at GoDaddy and held senior internal comms roles at Pandora and Yahoo!. On today’s episode, Carolyn shares what it was like working on SNL & Late Night with Conan O’Brien, why she started her own comms consulting company, and valuable case studies from her career and teachings in crisis comms. ------------------- “In order to speak the language of engineering leaders, or even your CEO and your C-suite, you’ve got to understand what makes them tick and put it in front of them. And I think that means developing different strategies. Even if your ultimate strategy is the same or your goal on how you approach it and you get buy-in is going to differ. So I would also ask them, ‘what matters to you?’ That’s one of the things and advantages if you’re new somewhere is saying ‘what matters to you?’” — Carolyn Clark ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(2:14) - How Carolyn got into internal communications *(4:16) - Highlight reel of where Carolyn’s worked *(7:36) - Carolyn’s current role at Opendoor *(9:29) - Segment: Story Time *(14:02) - Carolyn’s most proud moments at Yahoo! *(15:59) - Segment: Getting Tactical *(21:32) - The role of internal comms with M&A *(29:40) - Starting After Ever Communications *(32:28) - How to get leaders engaged in internal communications *(37:14) - Segment: Ripped From the Headlines *(40:57) - Segment: Asking for a Friend ------------------- Links Connect with Carolyn on LinkedIn Check out Carolyn’s website Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Leslie Quinton, VP of Communications at Ubisoft, a gaming company with over 20,000 employees and 40 office locations worldwide. With over 20 years of communications experience across multiple industries at companies big and small, Leslie is a walking comms playbook. On this episode, Leslie shares her must-do’s for doing global communications right, what the secret ingredient is for improving company culture, and her advice for comms leaders struggling to get company buy-in. --------------- “So one of the things that I think that companies did at the beginning and now have really gotten out of a lot more. Trying to rely upon their old ways of doing things and figure out just how to adjust the old way, as opposed to thinking in a completely new way. And I think that’s the virtue of the pandemic. If there is a silver lining to it, is that it forced us to get out of some old paradigms and really shift our thinking. So the companies that didn’t do well in internal communications tried to take their existing model and tweak it. Whereas the companies who did well said. Do this totally differently. We’re going to introduce a whole new platform or we’re going to change who delivers the messages or other things, but that’s, it’s kind of seizing that opportunity in what was really, you know, obviously a global crisis.” — Leslie Quinton --------------- Episode Timestamps: *(1:38) - How Leslie got interested in communications *(3:33) - Leslie’s current role *(4:55) - Segment: Story Time *(7:53) - Mistakes companies make that can be turned around easily *(9:16) - Leslie’s favorite foundation/board she’s a part of *(11:24) - Segment: Getting Tactical *(15:36) - Must-do’s for doing global comms *(20:01) - Improving company culture through comms *(22:54) - Differences in comms at both large and small companies *(25:07) - Segment: Seat at the Table *(28:13) - Advice for comms leaders struggling with getting company buy-in *(29:45) - Segment: Asking for a Friend *(37:30) - The next big shift in comms --------------- Links Connect with Leslie on LinkedIn Follow Leslie on Twitter Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with Guido Ditto, Senior Manager of internal communications and employer brand at Coursera. Guido works with Coursera executives and teams to inform, engage, and connect colleagues around the world. Since joining the company in 2019, he has optimized information sharing with a new intranet, helped employees stay aligned to the company’s lofty mission during hypergrowth, supported the company's transition to remote work, and led comms during Coursera’s IPO. Previously, Guido led creative strategy at New York University. On today’s episode, Guido shares his takeaways and advice from scaling Coursera’s comms team from pre to post IPO, how interns and early professionals should think about their comms careers, and how to build meaningful professional relationships with executives. ----------------- “The way you build trust with anybody, with a colleague that’s next to you or a leader that relies on you or an executive who is looking to you for an answer is by being your true self. And showing them that you are open to sharing your complete self. And so that sort of gives them a reason to trust you.” — Ditto Guido ----------------- Episode Timestamps: *(2:35) - Guido’s current role at Coursera *(3:55) - Segment: Storytime *(6:50) - Building confidence in comms/HR *(9:10) - A career/project Guido’s worked on that changed his perspective *(12:40) - How Guido marketed himself with no traditional IC background *(15:25) - Segment: Getting Tactical *(19:50) - Guido’s process for collecting/analyzing IC data *(28:45) - Building relationships with executives *(32:15) - Segment: Ripped from the Headlines *(35:10) - Experiencing/leading Coursera’s IPO *(39:15) - Segment: Asking for a Friend ----------------- Links Connect with Guido on LinkedIn Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn http://www.simpplr.com/podcast

This episode features an interview with two distinguished executives from Gainsight, the leader in Customer Success software. Robin Merritt is the SVP and Chief of Staff & Community, and previously served as Global Head of Internal Communications at Box. Karl Mosgofian is the Chief Information Officer. He comes to Gainsight after previously serving as CIO of Harmonic, the publicly-traded leader in virtualized cable access and live video streaming. On this episode, Robin and Karl dive into best practices for how IT and Comms can work together. They also share why the roles of CIO and Chief of Staff will converge even more in the future, and what they wish they knew earlier in their careers. ---------------- Episode Timestamps: *(2:12) - How Robin got interested in comms *(3:59) - How Karl got interested in IT *(5:23) - Robin’s current role at Gainsight *(6:39) - Karl’s current role at Gainsight *(7:50) - Segment: Storytime *(16:20) - Segment: Getting Tactical *(22:28) - The evolution of IT & Comms and what the future looks like *(30:38) - Segment: Asking For a Friend ---------------- Links Connect with Robin on LinkedIn Follow Robin on Twitter Connect with Karl on LinkedIn Follow Karl on Twitter Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

“I would say that one of the most important things these days is to understand that as knowledge workers, we have the ability to learn anything we need to know. You should never let lack of knowing something be a barrier. Even if you’re slower than everyone else...take the time you need. You have the ability to learn this. It’s a bit of a journey. New technology will come along. There’ll be new things to learn. There’ll be new norms. And you know what? It’s not a race. You will be able to figure this out. You will find ways to learn. You will find ways to have mastery. And so you’re entering at an amazing, amazing time where you can show up with all of your knowledge, all of your skills and be valued and rewarded for it.” — Wendy Pfeiffer ------- Episode Timestamps: *(2:05) - How Wendy got interested in IT and her first job in IT *(3:20) - Wendy’s current role as CIO of Nutanix *(6:48) - Mentors of Wendy that helped her along the way *(9:45) - Getting Tactical *(15:35) - What Wendy has automated successfully during the pandemic at Nutanix *(21:01) - The importance of doing A/B testing at your company *(25:49) - Technology’s role in creating company culture *(32:26) - Asking for a friend *(39:32) - The next big shift in IT over the next 5-10 years Links Connect with Wendy on LinkedIn Follow Wendy on Twitter Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

“When you think about internal communications, It's so much about change management. It's about bringing people along on the journey that the CEO or the executive team have created in multiple meetings. They already know it, but now they have to turn around and communicate it. And so they have to make that their own. They have to believe it. And we as humans can really smell when somebody doesn't believe what they're saying. And so you have to just own it and practice it and know it inside and out and bring your own stories and examples to it. It can't just be talking points off of a sheet because the rest of us know when it really isn't yours.” — Laura Klieves -------------- Episode Timestamps: *(1:50) - How Laura got interested in communications *(3:05) - Laura’s first job in communications *(5:08) - Laura’s current role as Senior Director, L&D and Communications at Malwarebytes *(7:42) - Segment: Storytime *(14:00) - Segment: Getting Tactical *(17:20) - Overcoming learning curves when joining a company *(20:30) - Must-do tactics for ICs in order to be effective and engaging in a digital workforce *(25:00) - The critical components of storytelling *(29:40) - Ensuring virtual employees have an amazing experience *(33:25) - Segment: Seat at the Table *(37:50) - Segment: Asking for a Friend Links Connect with Laura on LinkedIn Follow Laura on Twitter Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

“What we forget is all of these physical and digital experiences are what you call the culture. Culture is not something that you separately write down and then everybody's like, ‘oh, this is culture.’ It is this amalgamation of all of these beautiful experiences that you have." — Rajamma Krishnamurthy -------------- Episode Timestamps: *(1:50) - How Rajamma got into human resources *(3:20) - Rajamma’s current role as senior director of HR technology at Microsoft *(4:55) - Focusing on the individual user experience at such a large scale *(7:55) - Storytime *(13:50) - Getting Tactical *(20:40) - How Rajamma stays ahead of the trends of HR technology *(22:50) - One tech change Rajamma would implement immediately if she could *(24:35) - What’s not getting enough attention in employee experience *(26:22) - Ripped From the Headlines *(29:00) - Asking for a Friend *(32:02) - Advice Rajamma gives for women who want to break into tech *(35:15) - The next big shift Rajamma sees coming out of the hybrid working experience Links Rajamma’s LinkedIn Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

“Being young and not knowing how things are supposed to go created in me this real comfort with ambiguity and the acknowledgement that there's a ton of opportunity in ambiguity. So if you can embrace that and lean into it and accept that there's no right way to do anything. Everybody's just trying to chart their own path together. And as long as you're aligned on the goals and you're organized and you're going to stay focused on the objectives that the company is trying to achieve, you can learn a lot and get a lot of responsibility really early in your career.” — Katie Miserany ----------- Episode Timestamps: *(2:00) - How Katie got interested in internal communications *(4:15) - Story Time Segment *(5:08) - The SurveyMonkey to Momentive rebrand *(7:55) - Working with Sheryl Sandberg & the Dave Goldberg Family Foundation *(14:15) - Getting Tactical Segment *(17:15) - Preparing employees for a successful rebrand *(21:41) - How the rebrand name came to be Momentive *(28:25) - Top 3 rebrand must-do’s for internal comms professionals *(38:20) - Asking for a Friend Segment *(41:10) - Overcoming barriers as a woman *(44:00) - The biggest challenge internal communications professionals will face in the future Links Katie’s LinkedIn Katie’s Twitter Sheryl Sandberg’s books www.momentive.ai Amanda’s LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast

You want to create an exceptional employee experience. You want the right technology stack, the right processes in place, and you want your people to have the right information at their fingertips when they need it most. Why not learn from the best of the best? On the Cohesion podcast, you’ll hear from internal comms, IT, and HR leaders who are innovating and leading the industry forward. These visionaries are changing how things are done at some of the most innovative companies in the world. Listen in as these leaders open their playbooks and tell us how they are increasing employee engagement, collaboration, and productivity on the new frontier of work. We’ll bring you quick-hitting tips and tactics on how to improve your employee experience, level up your career, and stand out from the crowd. So tap the follow button and get ready to hear from the brightest minds in the world of internal comms. Welcome to Cohesion Powered by the team at Simpplr