Nov. 25, 2020

COVID-19: Cascading Change in Life and Work

Show Notes
Transcript

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be the great shake-up force in companies across the world. Pivoting as a company operating in these times and supporting employees in a virtual environment has elicited many necessary changes in human capital practices. In this episode, we listen in as a young start-up company shares its lessons learned and approach to pivoting operations to support the needs of a vastly changed workforce and pave the way for a vibrant future.

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What's working on purpose anyway? Each
week we ponder the answer to this question.

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People ache for meaning and purpose at
work, to contribute their talents passionately

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and know their lives really matter.
They crave being part of an organization that

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inspires them and helps them grow into
realizing their highest potential. Business can be

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such a force for good in the
world, elevating humanity. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration to help
usher in this world we all want

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Working on Purpose now. Here is
your host, doctor Elise Cortes. Welcome

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back to Working in Purpose program.
Thanks for unat again this week. I'm

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your host, doctor Elise Cortest on
your Live from Dallas, which is home

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based for me. By way of
introduction, I'm a management consultant specializing in

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meaning and purpose, organizational logo therapist, inspirational speaker, social scientist and author.

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And guess what My book is out
today November seventeenth, Purpose Ignited is

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here. It's actually now sitting around
in people's homes and offices. Thank you

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so much for your support and your
interest. You can learn more about me

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at Eliscortes dot com or gustodeshnow dot
com. If you've been tuning in for

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a while. You know this program
as a thought leadership series that enlightens and

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inspires listeners and viewers with insights from
distinguished business leaders, authors and subject matter

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experts. By listening in, you're
part of the movement to create inspirational leaders

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and in enlivening workplaces where we can
drive and do business that betters the world.

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Glad you're here now Onto this week's
program with us today is Karen Weeks.

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She is the senior vice president of
People at Order Group and was named

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one of the twenty twenty Notable Women
in Talent by Crane's New York Business.

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She's a certified career coach, speaker
advisor to startup companies, Girls in Tech

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NYC board member, and the published
author Upsetting the Stage, a guide to

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preparing for any feedback conversation. She
also hosts the podcast Getting Off the Hamster

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Wheel, which sounds fantastic. We'll
be talking about how she and the team

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at Order Group are making their new
way forward in the pandemic. If you

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joined you today from New York City, Karen, welcome to Working on Purpose.

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Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

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Isn't this fun? This is amazing? And congratulations of your book.

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Thank you, it's so exciting.
We're having more fun than I supposed So

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don't tell anybody, okay, right, So it's so great. So,

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as we were saying, isn't it
nice to be on the other side of

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the mic, right, it is. I love sharing stories, so it'll

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be fun to kind of share mine
this time. Well, that's where I

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want to start, right, since
our listeners don't know you, and I've

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had a conversation or two, so
I know a couple of things about you,

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but our listeners don't know much about
you. So I thought it would

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be important if you just started to
say a little bit about your background.

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You're an HR professional today twenty years
in, but you told me something fascinating.

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You started in theater arts. That's
so amazing. So paint the picture

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of your background for us a little
if you would. Absolutely so, I

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thought I was going to be a
stage manager. I actually worked professionally for

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a couple of years as a stage
manager, and while I loved the work,

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when it had to be my livelihood, it was very stressful, at

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least for me. It's like being
an actor, you don't know where your

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next job is going to be.
If you're going to have another job,

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are you going to get paid?
So I thought that's too much stress for

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me. I tried moving out to
LA and worked for a talent agency for

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a while. I thought maybe the
business side of the arts maybe would be

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the right balance, and just LA
wasn't right for me. It could have

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been because I was just so young, both literally and in my career,

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but I realized that that wasn't the
right place either. So all of a

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sudden, I was sitting there about
three four years into my career, going

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I don't know what I want to
be anymore. What do I do?

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And so I kind of took a
step back and thought about I really enjoy

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creating a shared experience for people,
and I like helping people with their careers,

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which is what I was doing for
the actors getting jobs. And someone

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said I think that's hr and I
said, okay, So I tried it

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out, and almost twenty years later, here I am, Wow, that's

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amazing. It's really amazing. Right. I sort of fell into human capital

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similarly, and once I got there, I went I went, oh,

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this is where I'm supposed to be
people or my products. Perfect, Okay,

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So I since you know that I'm
a meeting and work researcher. I

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think you know that anyway. Yes, I'm meeting and work and identity researcher,

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among other things. You know,
I have to ask you why you

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love HR. I think the thing
that for me is, and this has

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really been interesting to watch this evolve
ever since I first got into HR,

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when it was much more transactional still
and focused on payroll and benefits and those

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sort of things, is that companies
now realize the success of their people is

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directly tied into the success of their
business. And I'm no longer a cost

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center. I'm actually helping you hit
your business goals by hiring and retaining the

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right people creating the right environment for
them. And that's why I got into

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HR. I wanted to help people
with their careers and help them be in

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a space that they felt safe and
excited and they could be themselves, and

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so to be a part of creating
that culture. But now businesses realize how

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important that is as well, and
I think that's just fueled my fire even

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more. One thing that you and
I have in common is we recognize that

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work can be such a great part
of life. Right, It's not something

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that you should drag yourself into.
In fact, the reason why I started

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hosting Working on a Purpose five and
aute years ago is I wanted to tell

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stories about people who showcase stories about
people who are passionate about their work,

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because I found out in my research
that most people didn't recognize that you could

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be passionate about what you do.
Well, you work so much, and

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especially right now, when work is
so integrated into life, if you're not

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enjoying what you're doing, it's actually
impacting the other pieces of your life.

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So it's not just about enjoying nine
to five. It makes you a healthier

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person and a happier person in general. Absolutely, you actually live longer too

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when you're having a better time at
work. So it turns out you're not

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one of those people that actually ends
up having a heart attack on Monday morning

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oftentimes, which is a terrible stat
Right, Yes, you and I are

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working to alter that tide. All
right, Well, let's talk about Order

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Groove. I had never heard of
your company before. I tell for our

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listeners, what do you do,
who do you serve? How do you

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get started. What's the purpose of
a company. Yeah, so ten years

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ago, our CEO, who's also
our founder, actually is a big tennis

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player, and his strings would always
break and you wouldn't have the next set

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of strings, and it would impact
his game. And he said, there's

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got to be a way where I
get the strings exactly when I need them

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based on the amount I play.
And that prompted order Groove. And so

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we are a SaaS technology platform that
helps retailers and brands create recurring revenue products.

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So whether that subscriptions to like dog
food or diapers, whether that is

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a reorder program, so you're able
to be notified when we think you're going

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to need your next order, whether
that is like a monthly box to can't

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to handle all your wellness. It
can look like a lot of different things.

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But we work with the Vitamin shop
on his company, Walmart, Canada,

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pet Smart, lots of different companies
in order to help, especially in

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today's times, help you get what
you need when you need it. I

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love that. That's great. I
don't think I could have quite generated that

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from when I got on your website. That's fantastic, Okay, And now

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one of the things that you said
when we first spoke on the on the

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phone, and I love that that
we met on I think it was LinkedIn.

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I appreciate one of us found the
other one. But you said that

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an order group puts people first and
empowers them, and of course you had

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me at that statement. That's so
so important, So tell me how I

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think it is really through. We
believe we hire smart, professional adults,

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and so we are going to treat
you that way. Now if you show

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differently that we'll deal with that separately. But we're going to assume the best

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of you because that's why we hired
you. So we offer flexibility. We

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allow you to manage the time the
way you need to. We try to

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think through flexible programs that support whatever
way you like to work and however you're

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living your life. And actually that
really helped us going into twenty twenty was

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that we already had that muscle of
flexibility and trust that we were not going

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to micromanage people. And we believe
that you are going to be your best

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self, and with that intent,
most people are. It's amazing when you

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ask people to be their best,
they usually present their best. Oh my

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goodness, So look at the questions
coming here really quickly to describe this,

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So we want to distinguish. So
we've got a question here is this is

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an HR or a shopping company?
So Karen is a human resource professional and

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Karen distinguished. How you would describe
the company? Yes, so we partner

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with e commerce companies to work with
retailers. Okay, so we're they're not

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an HR company. That's important that
you recognize that, listener. Thanks for

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weighing in with us. And then
look at this question. How would want

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to apply for a position with this
company? See? Look with this?

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Oh my gosh, fun already,
I'm amazed. So we have a career

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site. It's order groove dot COM's
backslash careers, and we're hiring engineering and

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marketing specifically right now. But we
also have some open pipeline for sales roles

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and we're going to need client services
roles probably in the new year. Awesome,

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How fun is this? Right?
Thanks listeners for engaging with us.

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Thank you. Yeah, all right, So one of since this what I

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wanted to focus on the show is
I really wanted to showcase what companies,

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innovative companies are doing to address the
COVID situation which seems to be ongoing for

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for who knows how long. So
help us understand the challenges or opportunities that

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the pandemic is. Percentage Order Group
as an operation, it's not from a

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nature vanage point first, but as
an operation, it's so interesting because we

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are so thankful that because a lot
of stores shut down, even though some

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of our clients stores were open.
A home depot is one of our clients

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and they're clearly in essential business.
But even with that, our clients had

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to rethink how they were running their
business, and so they turned to us

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to be a partner there, either
because they were having inventory issues because the

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warehouses were shut down, or they
were trying to get more inventory online or

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do different deals. How do I
buy online, pick up and store.

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There were so many different things that
they had to think through, so we

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immediately had to re partner with them
on how to build the best programs for

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them based on this whole new world
that that they were going through. Okay,

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so that's one one major thing.
What else help us kind of understand

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what I want to do here for
our listeners and our viewers is help them

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really understand and you know, just
the breadth and depth of what you as

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your company has kind of dealt with. So that's a major one. How

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to serve your clients. What else, Yeah, I think internally we were

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very much New York centric from a
team perspective. FaceTime was important to us,

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and so we not just literally had
to go work from home, but

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how do we keep that collaboration in
those relationships strong as we were making some

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really big business decisions. Even though
we've been around for ten years, it's

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probably been the last five or six
years that we really kind of hit the

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ground running, and we're so very
startup b So we are trying things for

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the first time, partnering with brand
new partners, trying to train new partners

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to work with us for the first
time, and we had plans to do

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a lot more of that in person, or at least for our team to

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be in person, and all of
it, all of a sudden, was

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remote, and so we had to
think about new platforms to use, new

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tools to use, how to best
share learnings and languages, learnings and communication

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through different channels with our external partners
as we were trying to do it internal

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as well. Yeah, one of
the things that I think I've heard as

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a refrain from so many people is
just the sheer amount of learning that people

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have had to do this year,
right, learn how to learn new technology

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and learn new ways of expressing yourself, learn new ways to communicate, and

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learn new ways to try to be
relevant and funny even when you know,

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when you don't get the personal presence. And so I really want to acknowledge

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just you know what this has taken, right, So what we're all up

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against in order to be able to
handle and address and you know, shock

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and jove if you will. And
so I really appreciate that you guys have

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been able to continue to iterate and
innovate yourselves. And you're a company,

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did you say seventy five people?
Yes? Okay? And so another question

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is coming in with all that you
have an IT department. I would assume

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so because you're so technology based.
Yes, we have software engineers. We

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actually don't have sort of IT support
like if my computer breaks, I have

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to just go to Apple. But
we have a very large product and engineering

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team that's building our own product and
a couple of things roll back quick on

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you, Karen, I should have
clarified this because of our conversation. You

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may not be in New York City
right now? Are you in New York

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City? I am actually right now. We just spend a month in Virginia,

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but I am back with you.
Thank you. I want to talk

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more about that in the next segment, and let me let's understand it from

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your vantage point as an individual human
being separate from order group. How has

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the pandemic been for you? What
are some things that you've learned or you've

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had to deal with. Yeah,
it's really interesting because I am a helper

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and a healer by nature, so
I want to make sure everybody else is

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okay. What can I do to
help you, friends, family, coworkers,

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anyone in society, anyone I want
to try to help. And I

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realized that my adrenaline kicked in and
I was trying to help everybody else.

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And after a few months, I
totally collapsed because I never took care of

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myself. And so that was actually
one of my biggest learnings was the thing

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that was always sort of my best
attribute ended up causing some self harm,

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and so I had to take care
of myself and make sure I was I'm

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only as I'm only as good for
others if I'm good to myself. So

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that was one of my biggest learnings. Otherwise, I actually really leaned in

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my husband and I are very fortunate. We've got a decent sized place in

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New York, even though it's New
York US, and the two cats and

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the dog just kind of hung out
and watched a lot of Netflix. Actually

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went back and watched some old eighties
TV shows just for fun and a little

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escapism, and we would just try
to find moments to step outside with our

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masks and be as safe as possible
in our neighborhood, just to get some

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fresh air and appreciate what we did
have. Let me grab a key point

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that you just made there for our
listeners and our viewers, and that that's

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the point about self care, that
we really can't take care of other people

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unless we take care of ourselves.
And so so much of what I'm doing

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in the world is help people,
help people who get present to their passion,

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their inspiration and their purpose and their
meaning, because I want them to

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live on the same level as sleeping, eating, drinking water, et cetera.

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It should be that basic, in
fundamental, because that's all a form

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of self care and just to your
point, you can't take care of other

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people if you're not taking good care
of yourself. So that is a fantastic

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way to take us into our first
break. I'm doctor Releise Cortez, your

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host. We've been in the air
with Karen Weeks. She's the senior vice

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president of People at Order Group.
She's the author of Setting the Stage,

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a guide to Preparing for any feedback
conversation, and the host of the podcast

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Getting Off the Hamster Wheel. We've
been talking a bit about how she got

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into HR, what she loves about
it, and what Order Group is up

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to. After the break, we're
going to get into how they've been able

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to respond to their employees to support
them and keep them growing and thriving.

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Stay with us, we'll be right
back. Doctor release Cortez is a management

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consultant specializing in meaning and purpose and
inspirational speaker and author. She helps companies

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visioneer for greater purpose among stakeholders and
develop purpose inspired leadership and meaning infused cultures

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that elevate fulfillment and commitment within the
workforce. To learn more or to invite

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Elise to speak to your organization,
please visit her at elisecortes dot com.

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Let's talk about how to get your
employees working on purpose. This is Working

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on Purpose with doctor Elise Cortes.
To reach our program today or open a

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conversation with Alise, send an email
to Aleise Alise at elisecortes dot com.

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Now back to working on Purpose.
Thanks for staying with us, and welcome

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back to working on Purpose. As
as I said at the beginning of the

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show, I wanted to tell you
where to find my book, Purposinggnited is

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now on Amazon. I actually wrote
the book to turn readers onto their passion,

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inspiration and purpose and transform them into
inspirational leaders. It really was a

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true labor of love. I loved
every moment of it, and frankly,

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it wouldn't year without the pandemic.
I can tell you that right now.

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So that's one of my pluses from
the pandemic. If you're just joining the

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program, my guest is Karen Weeks. She's the senior vice president of people

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at Order Group, joining us today
from New York City. I'm your host,

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doctor Releas Cortes. So I want
to get into how some of the

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things that you and I talked about
already on the phone about Kim of your

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response what you've done to take care
of your people. But before we do

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that, let's kind of unfold the
events for people so they recognize what happened.

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So you told me that you said
that New York City began talking about

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the pandemic in late February, and
by March ninth, people were working from

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home. That's amazing. So help
us back, take us back in time

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and tell us what was like at
that time, your experience, what it

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was like to be at order group
and your people. It was so interesting.

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I don't know if I was naive
or just had never experienced something like

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this before. Obviously none of us
have, but I could. Looking back,

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I can't get over how fast everything
changed. I was actually at a

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conference in Florida the end February texting
with our leadership team around Okay, so

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first we should make sure there's no
international travel, you know, literally the

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next day, no US travel,
probably later this afternoon. If anyone is

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traveling, they have to quarantine.
I mean, it was just happening so

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fast. And then by the first
week of March, we were realizing it

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was not if, but when are
we going to send everybody home? And

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it was very distracting people were riding
the subway. It was so unclear what

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was going on. The news was
just a waterfall of now this is canceled,

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Now this is canceled, and everybody's
anxiety was just skyrocketing through the roof.

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So we came together as a leadership
team and talked about it. I

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am so thankful that I did not
actually have to call that meeting. Our

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CEO did and he said, I'm
worried about the team. Let's come together

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and talk. And so we very
quickly decided that we just need to send

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everybody home. So on Friday,
we said, grab what you need.

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We're going home. Maybe for the
rest of the month, maybe into April,

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we'll see, but take what you
need. And obviously we are still

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remote today, so we definitely underestimated
everything. But yeah, I mean,

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it was just rapid fire. But
we didn't want people to be distracted by

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what was going on. We didn't
want anyone to get sick. We were

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so thankful but that no one had
gotten sick yet. You know, we

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work in a huge building in New
York City. We just didn't want to

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take any of those risks. We
are a company that's fortunate enough. Everybody

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has laptops, they can technically work
from home. Let's just do it.

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I know, for me being in
Dallas a little bit later way because it

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was the middle of March when it
hit us, and same thing I was.

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My daughter's spring break was starting to
unravel. She was going to go

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skiing in Colorado. They closed that
down. She says, I'm going to

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come back home, MoMA, can
we maybe go down to Austin? Like,

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yeah, sure, let's do that. I'm driving down to Austin and

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I hear they're shutting down with dells
and they're shutting down Austin, and same

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thing, like you, what is
happening? I mean, I had no

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idea. Right the shock that we've
gone through on this and what we've gone

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through as a world is incredible.
So I want to presence all that for

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what we're going to talk about as
we talk about how you've taken care of

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people. But I also want to
get to what you also said on the

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phone, which I thought was really
interesting. As you said that two weeks

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after you know, I guess when
you guys found out about this New York

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City was shut down and people complied
you said, masks were worn and all

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kinds of things. So help us
into that world. It's very hard to

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imagine New York shut down or you
know, cloistered and people changing their behavior

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that quickly. Yeah, it's really
interesting. There's something about New York City

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that, even though we are so
big, we are a strong community and

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we come together and take care of
each other when we need to. I

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wasn't here for nine to eleven,
but I heard a lot of stories about

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that. I saw it after Hurricane
Sandy because we were here for that,

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and it's just what New York City
does. So people may have not liked

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it. Obviously, huge economic economic
impact, which was scary and sad for

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so many businesses. Is everybody around
here is a small business. But we

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knew that New Yorkers were dying at
a pace that was not okay. Not

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that any pace is okay, but
really not okay. And so we had

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to shut it down, and so
we followed the orders. You saw stores

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shut down, you saw people stay
home. So I live on one near

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a street in Brooklyn which is a
very busy street, lots of restaurants,

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lots of shopping Saturday night, you
know, booming with people. I was

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walking the dog at eight thirty on
a Saturday. I went maybe three blocks

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in around and I saw one person. Wow, And that was the moment

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where I said, this is serious, Like we are not messing around here,

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and thank goodness, people are taking
it seriously. And as soon as

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masks were decided that that was the
thing to do, everybody wears masks,

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even on the streets, not of
course in stores, but even just walking

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on the street because we're also clustered
here. Yeah. So it's just it's

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so hard to imagine. I have
been working from home for so many for

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so long that that part didn't didn't
undo it. But I can't even imagine

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what it's like if you're used to
going into an office building and you used

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to be walking around to go get
dinner and all those sorts of things.

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I just can't imagine how up ending
all of that has been. Yeah,

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and there's a real grief about it. And realize how much you may complain

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about your commute, but that's actually
really precious time that you have by yourself.

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Maybe it's to decompress from the day
or prepare for the day. It's

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the only time you get by yourself. Depending on your family and home situation.

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So there was a real grief for
losing all those things, and people

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who had weddings or special trips planned, none of that was happening, and

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so I think that was one thing
that also people weren't expecting. Again after

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that initial adrenaline rush, there was
a real sadness for what was happening,

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not just literally but also what we
were losing. But I think I've heard

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it best, especially as we go
into the holiday season. I would rather

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not see my family now, or
not go into the office or whatever today

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so that I can and others can
in the future. And I think that

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was the attitude that people finally got, or less they work through their grief.

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Well said, very well said,
Well, I'm very intrigued with the

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the the cascading effects of this pandemic, as how it's how it's going to

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affect society, how it's affecting you
know, how how do we rent office

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buildings? How how you know how
much? What's the price of gas?

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Where are people living? I have
I'm very I very much imagine that the

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makeup of cities and suburbs and small
towns is going to change a lot as

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people start to move. And in
fact, you told me that of your

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seventy five employees, ten have perbably
moved away from New York City and another

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five to seven have temporarily moved elsewhere. That is so fantastic, I think,

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well, so talk to me,
talk to us about that. What

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how is this communicated? Did they
say, hey, I'm going to go

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to Montana or did they did you
did did they need to tell you?

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Or how did this work? Yeah? So it started with people just naturally

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doing what they needed to do.
We talked about flexibility earlier. We were

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saying, do what you need to
do with your families, be safe,

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whatever works best for you. So
some people just kind of scattered to either

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be closer to their family because they
were single or on their own, or

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they needed to be closer to elderly
parents or whatever the thing was that was

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driving it, and we just sort
of it just kind of happened. But

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then as it went on and on, you know, and mid April became

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well we're not going back till June, And as we got closer to June,

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clearly that was not changing, and
so we actually changed our language to

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say we will always have an office
for people to go to when it's safe.

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However, this is working in the
worst of times. Us being more

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distributed across this country and working remote
is working. We're still hitting our goals,

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people are successful in their roles.
So we're actually going to keep this

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as an offer. If you want
to move outside of New York or outside

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one of our hubs, if permanently, that's totally fine. Just talk to

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us so we can make sure we're
set up as an entity in that state

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and those you know, legalies and
tax purposes. If you want to If

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you end up staying in New York
but you only want to go into the

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office a couple of days, that's
totally fine. So we gave people the

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choice and we said we're going to
move to a flexible work from anywhere policy.

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Just work with us to make sure
we have you set up the way

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you need to. And we've started
hiring outside of New York City for the

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first time, which is very exciting
for us, and we found amazing talent

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because of it. So it all
stemmed from we trust our people to make

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the right decisions about their lives and
still be a great order Groop team member.

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It actually doesn't it totally against everything
we thought. It actually doesn't matter

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where they're doing that work from.
That's amazing. A couple of things I

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want to folp on that. First, that you do trust them. It's

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amazing what happens when you trust people. They want to keep that trust and

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it's precious to them, so they
lean into it, right. I think

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that's amazing. So then the next
thing that's interesting is that you instituted that

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you could work from anywhere. That's
fascinating. Now what I didn't know.

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00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:48.519
You're teaching us something that you need
something new. So you're saying that in

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order to support or be an alignment
legally that if you have to sort of

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have an arrangement with whatever state that
they're in. Yeah, we actually have

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to register as a business in that
state. So if someone does move to

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Montana and where we are not recognized
as a company there, we need to

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because we actually both for employment law
and employment tax purposes, but also potentially

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for sales tax. So there's myself
and the finance head of finance work together

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to kind of make that work within
the Tri state area. You don't have

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to worry about it. But the
minute you get from a non commutable distance

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to one of our offices. We
have to set up a nexus in that

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state. Okay, that's really important
and good to know. Thank you for

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that. Then the next thing I
want to drill down on it and talk

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about is you know you said this
notion of that you trusted the employees to

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make the choices and decisions that were
best for their lives. And what I

400
00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:41.480
know about knowing to be true about
that is now, what you're doing is

401
00:25:41.480 --> 00:25:45.839
you're allowing, You're careating a space
for people to architect their lives in an

402
00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:51.200
optimal way. Well, what employee
is not going to be thrilled to death

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to be at that company and want
to give their best for that you've allowed

404
00:25:53.640 --> 00:25:57.039
them instead of So what I'm so
intrigued with right now, Karen, is

405
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that I'm very much on the path
to be able to help employees stop doing

406
00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:06.640
this thing where they create all these
systems and require people to go into all

407
00:26:06.759 --> 00:26:11.039
manner of you know, trying to
wrap themselves around that in order to lose

408
00:26:11.160 --> 00:26:15.279
all of their individuality so so they
can you know, drum to the heartbeat

409
00:26:15.319 --> 00:26:18.000
of the company and all the policies
and all the procedures, and it's just

410
00:26:18.039 --> 00:26:22.079
it takes their soul away from that. So I really really applaud that you

411
00:26:22.119 --> 00:26:26.240
took the notion that you were going
to be truly you are people centric.

412
00:26:26.279 --> 00:26:30.079
Well, it's really interesting that you
mentioned, you know, sort of all

413
00:26:30.119 --> 00:26:33.039
the pieces of their lives and being
able to bring that to the table because

414
00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:38.599
then on top of COVID obviously all
the racial injustice that happened over the summer,

415
00:26:38.920 --> 00:26:44.119
and we were having really tough conversations
around how do we make sure people

416
00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:48.359
feel welcome and can be their whole
selves and you know, whether that is

417
00:26:48.599 --> 00:26:52.440
you know, their background, their
ethnicity and what that means to them,

418
00:26:52.839 --> 00:26:56.519
whether that is the chaos that's happening
around them because they've got kids or whatever,

419
00:26:56.240 --> 00:27:00.839
whatever their true identity is, we
want them to be comfortable. And

420
00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:04.799
it continued to build on the same
theme of you know, one of our

421
00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:07.960
values is what you see is what
you get, and it's all about authenticity,

422
00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:12.119
and we realized it was all building
on that same value of whatever your

423
00:27:12.200 --> 00:27:15.559
life needs to be, whether it's
this moment because we're going through this really

424
00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:19.599
odd time, or because of what's
important to you in your life, we

425
00:27:19.640 --> 00:27:23.359
want to be able to support that
because if you're able to live your true

426
00:27:23.400 --> 00:27:26.720
life, then you're actually able to
be a better employee of order groove.

427
00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:32.480
And that's where that marriage I was
talking about earlier of individual success and business

428
00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:36.319
success actually go together. I think
that's splendid. I love it. That's

429
00:27:36.759 --> 00:27:37.440
one of the big reasons I want
to have in the show, Karen,

430
00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:41.400
because I think you're showcasing some really
best practices there, and I think that's

431
00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:45.680
fantastic. So again, why do
I do the show. It's about stewarding

432
00:27:45.720 --> 00:27:48.920
the conversation towards creating a workplace where
people can actually thrive and we can do

433
00:27:48.920 --> 00:27:52.480
business in a way that betters in
the world. So I think you really

434
00:27:52.519 --> 00:27:56.599
are showing some great practices there.
You're welcome. Quick question again from a

435
00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:59.920
listener. Do you have a Do
you have to file a business in each

436
00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:03.240
territory? It's a great question.
I don't want to give an official answer

437
00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:07.359
because I'm not one hundred percent sure. I think it depends on the state.

438
00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:10.680
So if there is, you know, income tax and some of those

439
00:28:10.680 --> 00:28:12.720
things, you do have to register. There was one state that we were

440
00:28:12.759 --> 00:28:18.559
investigating that we didn't think we had
to because of whatever laws were down there.

441
00:28:18.599 --> 00:28:22.720
So definitely work with you know,
someone who knows a lot more than

442
00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:26.160
I do. But it's a good
question. You just should ask yourself the

443
00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:29.559
question and then find the expert who
can give you the answer. Awesome.

444
00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:33.759
Thanks thanks listener for weighing with us
on the conversation. Okay, so I

445
00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:36.599
wanted to talk a little bit more
about what you've done to support your employees.

446
00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:41.240
I know that you know you've had
practices that supported them through the pandemic,

447
00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:45.279
flex schedules, et cetera. But
what else have you done to support

448
00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:48.559
your employees and reach out to care
for them. Yeah, so we've done

449
00:28:48.599 --> 00:28:51.960
it a couple of different ways.
We've tried to think about the individuals.

450
00:28:52.200 --> 00:28:56.400
So we've also this summer did some
extra company days off, so a random

451
00:28:56.440 --> 00:29:02.759
Friday and additional time at to give
some extended time because one thing we were

452
00:29:02.759 --> 00:29:04.759
hearing a lot, which I'm sure
other people have heard, is that it's

453
00:29:04.839 --> 00:29:11.079
very hard to disconnect when you are
living and working in the same place and

454
00:29:11.119 --> 00:29:14.440
your your escapes aren't probably there.
You know, I can't go to the

455
00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:15.640
movies, I can't go to a
concert after a long day, so I

456
00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:19.720
just kind of keep working. And
so we wanted to force people basically to

457
00:29:19.720 --> 00:29:23.000
take some time off, so we
did things like that. We also really

458
00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:26.880
focused on some community building. So
what used to be, you know,

459
00:29:26.920 --> 00:29:30.519
sitting at a kitchen table and chatting
while we ate lunch, or you know,

460
00:29:32.160 --> 00:29:36.480
bowling after work or whatever. We
wanted to still build those the community.

461
00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:38.640
So we've done a lot of small
group things. We personally have found

462
00:29:38.839 --> 00:29:44.599
big company wide zoom things are not
successful for us. I don't know if

463
00:29:44.599 --> 00:29:47.240
we're too big. I don't know
if it's our personalities, but we do

464
00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:49.640
much better in smaller groups. So
we do. One of our product managers

465
00:29:49.680 --> 00:29:52.839
loves to cook, so he does
a cooking class, you know, every

466
00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:56.759
couple of months. We have.
It's he's got a whole setup, he's

467
00:29:56.759 --> 00:29:59.880
got second camera. It's amazing.
You can really tell he gets in.

468
00:30:00.119 --> 00:30:03.519
Can you smell and taste the food? Oh my god, he's going to

469
00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:07.519
figure out how to do that.
If anyone does, he will. You

470
00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:11.000
know. We've done book clubs and
workout classes and movie nights and things that

471
00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:14.119
small trivia nights, things that smaller
groups can do than We found that's a

472
00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:17.720
good way to build community. But
then we also had to think about new

473
00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:22.880
platforms to use. So you know, our engineers whiteboarded all day and when

474
00:30:22.920 --> 00:30:26.079
they didn't have those whiteboards either a
we actually literally got a task grab it

475
00:30:26.160 --> 00:30:30.279
to bring some whiteboards to some of
our engineering managers homes so they have them.

476
00:30:30.599 --> 00:30:34.440
But we also found some online tools
as well. Google has something,

477
00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:40.359
for example, that they were able
to start using to as best as possible

478
00:30:40.440 --> 00:30:45.599
recreate how they like to work together
and how they collaborate together. Well done,

479
00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:47.920
very well done, you know,
and it just really you know,

480
00:30:47.920 --> 00:30:51.839
this takes an investment, it takes
support, it takes reach, it takes

481
00:30:51.880 --> 00:30:56.240
all of this, so really really
applaud what you've done. So again it's

482
00:30:56.440 --> 00:30:59.680
an example, Karen, So thank
you, thank you. It's it.

483
00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:02.839
Like I said, I am so
thank well. I know plenty of people

484
00:31:02.920 --> 00:31:07.759
who work at organizations that were not
taking this approach and their teams were suffering,

485
00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:11.359
Their teams were leaving, hr people
were leaving. You know, if

486
00:31:11.400 --> 00:31:12.480
you're not going to listen to me, why am I here? And I

487
00:31:12.519 --> 00:31:17.519
am so thankful that that was not
the case. At Order Groove, Greg

488
00:31:17.559 --> 00:31:19.519
and Aaron, who are our CEO
and COO. You know they were right

489
00:31:19.559 --> 00:31:22.319
next to me, if not ahead
of me. A couple of times saying

490
00:31:22.359 --> 00:31:26.079
like we need to figure this out. So I'm very lucky for that reason.

491
00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:30.519
It's awesome. It's awesome. Let's
celebrate. It's celebratory. I love

492
00:31:30.519 --> 00:31:33.279
it. Time for our last break. I'm Elice Cortez, your host.

493
00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:34.720
We are in the air with Karen
Weeks. She is the senior vice president

494
00:31:34.759 --> 00:31:37.839
of People at Order Group and was
named one of the twenty twenty Notable Women

495
00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:41.599
in Talent by Crane's New York Business. She's a certified career coach, speaker,

496
00:31:41.680 --> 00:31:45.599
advisor, and serup Companies Girls in
New York Tech Board member. Stay

497
00:31:45.640 --> 00:31:49.400
with us, We'll be right back. We've been talking about really the response

498
00:31:49.480 --> 00:31:52.200
to COVID. Here after the rick, we're going to get into hearing about

499
00:31:52.200 --> 00:31:56.480
some of the unexpected gifts from the
pandemic. Stay with us. Doctor Release

500
00:31:56.559 --> 00:32:02.319
Cortes is a management consultant, especially
and meaning and purpose and inspirational speaker and

501
00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:08.559
author. She helps companies visioneer for
greater purpose among stakeholders and develop purpose inspired

502
00:32:08.680 --> 00:32:15.240
leadership and meaning infused cultures that elevate
fulfillment, performance, and commitment within the

503
00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:20.799
workforce. To learn more or to
invite Elise to speak to your organization,

504
00:32:21.160 --> 00:32:24.400
please visit her at Eleasecortes dot com. Let's talk about how to get your

505
00:32:24.440 --> 00:32:37.240
employees working on purpose. This is
working on Purpose with doctor Elise Cortes.

506
00:32:37.720 --> 00:32:42.000
To reach our program today or open
a conversation with Alise, send an email

507
00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:49.720
to a lease Alise at Elisecortes dot
com. Now back to working on purpose.

508
00:32:55.039 --> 00:32:58.359
Thanks for sting with us, and
welcome back to working on purpose.

509
00:32:58.480 --> 00:33:00.960
Another announcement that I have for you
lots going on over here. We've launched

510
00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:05.599
Gusto Now, which is a growth
and transformation e learning platform featuring leadership and

511
00:33:05.680 --> 00:33:07.759
professional development courses. We do it
in English, Spanish and Portuguese. My

512
00:33:07.799 --> 00:33:12.200
favorite. My favorite language is if
you're just joining us, my guest is

513
00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:15.160
Karen Weeks. She is a senior
vice president of people at Order Group,

514
00:33:15.400 --> 00:33:17.359
joining us today from New York City. I'm your host, doctor Lee's Cortes.

515
00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:21.599
So let's talk gifts. Karen.
One of the things that was fun

516
00:33:21.640 --> 00:33:24.039
when we were talking about what we
wanted to what we wanted to discuss today

517
00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:29.279
is you said, hey, I
found a couple of gifts. So one

518
00:33:29.319 --> 00:33:30.599
of the things that you said,
which I thought was so beautiful in one

519
00:33:30.599 --> 00:33:34.480
of our exchanges. Is you said, companies that are doing this right meaning

520
00:33:34.480 --> 00:33:37.160
getting the response that are that are
are going to get recognized for that through

521
00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:42.079
retention of their team. So tell
us about some of that feedback you were

522
00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:45.279
mentioning from f in our exchange,
you're getting from from employees. Yeah,

523
00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:52.119
it's so amazing because this goes back
to you know, when you trust people,

524
00:33:52.160 --> 00:33:57.599
they trust you back, and trust
bank investments are very very important because

525
00:33:57.599 --> 00:34:00.559
depletion is much bigger than re earning
it back. And so, you know,

526
00:34:00.920 --> 00:34:06.079
we've heard a lot of things.
We've done some trials around some stress

527
00:34:06.119 --> 00:34:13.199
management classes. We tried different coaching
for folks if they wanted that. So

528
00:34:13.280 --> 00:34:17.559
we basically we've been taking the reactive
approach and just trying different things, learned

529
00:34:17.559 --> 00:34:21.079
from it, and then we'll figure
out what's right for twenty twenty one from

530
00:34:21.079 --> 00:34:25.920
a more strategic standpoint. And I
have been so overwhelmed by team members reaching

531
00:34:25.960 --> 00:34:29.719
out to me and saying, you
know, I can't believe a company cares

532
00:34:29.719 --> 00:34:31.480
as much about me, Thank you
so much for doing this, Thank you

533
00:34:31.480 --> 00:34:36.719
for doing this for my family.
How are you doing during this And the

534
00:34:36.760 --> 00:34:38.800
fact that someone even thought to ask
me, which is not the case in

535
00:34:38.840 --> 00:34:43.320
a lot of companies shows that they
felt taken care of enough that they were

536
00:34:43.360 --> 00:34:45.719
willing to think about someone else.
So, you know, the POS surveys

537
00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:49.280
and all that are helpful, and
I like seeing the feedback there, But

538
00:34:49.599 --> 00:34:53.039
honestly, those one on one conversations
mean the world to me because it means

539
00:34:53.119 --> 00:34:57.039
that what we're doing is adding value
to someone's life, and that's the whole

540
00:34:57.079 --> 00:35:00.039
reason why we should be doing it. Yeah, got when you were talking

541
00:35:00.039 --> 00:35:04.760
that there's this sense of we're in
this together, and we got fitness who

542
00:35:05.039 --> 00:35:07.679
we're taking care of each other,
and we're going to get through the other

543
00:35:07.719 --> 00:35:09.880
side of this together. And what
I also know about that from a meaning

544
00:35:09.960 --> 00:35:15.440
vantage point is that what that gets
to is there's a limbic resonance that's happening

545
00:35:15.440 --> 00:35:19.559
among your team where everybody's kind of
driving at the same energy level and that

546
00:35:19.559 --> 00:35:22.920
connection is actually shared and it's palpable. It's so interesting how it works.

547
00:35:22.920 --> 00:35:27.960
And so when you get to when
people feel like you care about them.

548
00:35:28.039 --> 00:35:30.480
In fact, I had Bob Chatman
on my radio show. He is the

549
00:35:30.519 --> 00:35:36.440
CEO of Barry Waymailer, and his
whole thing is about caring for your employees.

550
00:35:36.639 --> 00:35:40.159
Just like you're talking about extremely successful
with businessman and business owners, so

551
00:35:40.639 --> 00:35:45.079
beautiful. And then the other thing. You've alluded to this before, but

552
00:35:45.119 --> 00:35:46.920
I want to make sure we showcase
it as a topic here. But you

553
00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:51.039
said one of the things that the
pandemic has ushered in is this notion of

554
00:35:51.079 --> 00:35:54.119
bringing your whole self to work.
Say more what that means and why that's

555
00:35:54.159 --> 00:35:59.960
important. Yeah, So it actually
started because a couple of people were embarrassed

556
00:36:00.360 --> 00:36:04.960
by their homework setups. You know, you've watched CNN or whatever and they've

557
00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:07.320
got the bookcases behind them, and
you know, I've cheated. I set

558
00:36:07.400 --> 00:36:10.840
up a little bit today before our
conversation, and we wanted to let people

559
00:36:10.880 --> 00:36:15.280
know like that's not normal, that's
not expected. You just be you.

560
00:36:15.480 --> 00:36:19.920
And so we actually did a photo
contest of the most creative way you set

561
00:36:19.960 --> 00:36:22.719
up your home office. And so
people were showing, you know, desk

562
00:36:22.840 --> 00:36:25.800
chairs on top of dining room table, so they had a standing desk.

563
00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:30.519
Someone else was using their kids like
easel as a little thing for their laptop.

564
00:36:31.000 --> 00:36:35.920
The purpose was like, it's okay
that this is messy. Just just

565
00:36:36.079 --> 00:36:37.079
survive, and you know that's what
we're trying to get out of this.

566
00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:40.320
So that's kind of how it started. And then, you know, through

567
00:36:40.880 --> 00:36:44.719
Black Lives Matter and some of the
things that happened over the summer to this

568
00:36:44.960 --> 00:36:46.760
ongoing sense of oh my gosh,
now I'm trying to figure out if my

569
00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:49.920
kids are going back to school or
not. I don't know what to do

570
00:36:49.960 --> 00:36:53.400
about that. So it just continued. That's the cycle of you are a

571
00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:57.320
whole person. You've always been a
whole person, by the way, but

572
00:36:57.400 --> 00:37:00.559
twenty twenty has really brought that to
light. And so whether that is you're

573
00:37:00.599 --> 00:37:05.440
feeling sad today, you're feeling stressed
today, Today is just a bad day.

574
00:37:05.599 --> 00:37:08.000
That's okay. I'm actually doing pretty
good today, and let's celebrate that.

575
00:37:08.119 --> 00:37:13.239
Like what's making you feel more positive
today, Let's celebrate that. I've

576
00:37:13.280 --> 00:37:15.719
got, you know, a little
one over here and a dog over here.

577
00:37:15.960 --> 00:37:17.800
That's okay. If they bark,
do not apologize. We had our

578
00:37:17.840 --> 00:37:22.599
all Hands meeting, which is our
big town hall this week, and our

579
00:37:22.639 --> 00:37:27.159
COO Aaron was presenting and her son
was having a total meltdown, and she

580
00:37:27.280 --> 00:37:30.280
led him into the room and he
just sat there and yeah, he said

581
00:37:30.320 --> 00:37:32.599
some funny things and like that's fine. It is what it is right now,

582
00:37:32.719 --> 00:37:36.679
and you know, don't apologize for
that. That's your life, that

583
00:37:36.840 --> 00:37:39.480
is who you are as a person. And like I said, I always

584
00:37:39.519 --> 00:37:45.000
try to encourage that, whether it
was mental health or inclusion or just the

585
00:37:45.079 --> 00:37:49.000
quirky selves that we all are.
But twenty twenty has said has put that

586
00:37:49.079 --> 00:37:52.079
on full display as we've been doing
all of this from our home. Now.

587
00:37:52.199 --> 00:37:54.920
You're reminded me when I first had
my daughter in two thousand and three.

588
00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:58.639
I remember having because I did some
work from home back then too,

589
00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:02.280
and I remember being horrified if she, like study any sort of sounders,

590
00:38:02.559 --> 00:38:06.760
if she cried, I mean,
the world was over with right, you're

591
00:38:06.840 --> 00:38:10.079
right now we see dogs coming through
and cats. The funniest thing see cats

592
00:38:10.079 --> 00:38:14.280
and that the back ends of cats
and showing up in the video and you're

593
00:38:14.320 --> 00:38:20.320
like, okay, that's yeah.
You know it happens on CNN during the

594
00:38:20.360 --> 00:38:23.000
election. Some guys teenager like walked
into the live feed. You know it

595
00:38:23.079 --> 00:38:25.800
is what it is? Yeah,
yeah, I think it's it's definitely a

596
00:38:25.800 --> 00:38:30.159
whole new world, right, Yeah, it goes it sortly speaks to your

597
00:38:30.159 --> 00:38:34.239
authenticity value. Okay, Well,
along those lines, one of the other

598
00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:37.440
things that I thought was definitely worth
talking about. That. You told me

599
00:38:37.440 --> 00:38:40.920
in our first conversation is that your
CEO is stewarding honest racial conversations and all

600
00:38:40.920 --> 00:38:45.960
of this. So how is this
happening and what's the difficants do you see

601
00:38:45.199 --> 00:38:52.000
taking place from that? Yeah?
So he really struggled with the CEO email

602
00:38:52.039 --> 00:38:54.199
that he was supposed to send,
you know, in mid June, and

603
00:38:54.239 --> 00:38:57.599
he and I had a conversation.
He said, I don't want it to

604
00:38:57.599 --> 00:39:00.280
sound like a template. I don't
want it to sound like everybody else else,

605
00:39:00.519 --> 00:39:02.039
but I know I need to say
something. And I told him,

606
00:39:02.119 --> 00:39:06.360
I said, so tell them that, like say, I don't know what

607
00:39:06.400 --> 00:39:09.320
to say right now. I don't
have the answers. I want you to

608
00:39:09.360 --> 00:39:13.199
know I'm struggling with this and this
crushes my soul. I don't have the

609
00:39:13.239 --> 00:39:15.000
answer, but I'm here, is
your ally, and that's fine. Like

610
00:39:15.039 --> 00:39:19.239
that can be your email, that's
okay, And I think that opened the

611
00:39:19.280 --> 00:39:23.039
conversation. We actually started a diversity
Council after that, where volunteers from across

612
00:39:23.039 --> 00:39:27.880
the organization have joined together to try
to figure out how to have more of

613
00:39:27.920 --> 00:39:30.800
those conversations. We did a training
with managers about how to have some of

614
00:39:30.800 --> 00:39:36.199
those uncomfortable conversations because we're not going
to have the answer. Order Groove is

615
00:39:36.239 --> 00:39:40.599
probably not going to solve racial injustice
and systemic racism in this country, but

616
00:39:40.679 --> 00:39:45.559
we can do our part to make
sure that our team members know that they

617
00:39:45.599 --> 00:39:51.559
are supportive. They are welcome no
matter your background, no matter anything like

618
00:39:51.760 --> 00:39:54.000
you are welcome here. And so
just by saying those words out loud,

619
00:39:54.039 --> 00:39:58.639
I think opened up the dialogue for
others to have some of those conversations.

620
00:39:58.639 --> 00:40:01.719
And I've had some of the most
honest conversations with our team members that I

621
00:40:01.719 --> 00:40:06.079
think I've had the four and a
half years that I've been there. So

622
00:40:06.239 --> 00:40:09.880
that's fantastic. And so in addition
to even opening up a conversation around race,

623
00:40:10.119 --> 00:40:13.440
that's just it's so important to talk
about it anyway. And I want

624
00:40:13.440 --> 00:40:15.440
to say two things about that.
One, I appreciate and applod that your

625
00:40:15.480 --> 00:40:20.280
CEO knew that he needed to do
something about that and sought your help to

626
00:40:20.320 --> 00:40:22.960
do that. And two, I
want to recognize that you know, that's

627
00:40:22.960 --> 00:40:27.400
a growth, that's a step of
growth for for for people, right to

628
00:40:27.400 --> 00:40:30.719
step in around something you don't know
anything about, your uncomfortable but you know

629
00:40:30.760 --> 00:40:32.159
you need to address And by the
way, you're the guy that's in the

630
00:40:32.199 --> 00:40:37.639
leader seat, so I do a
lot of work with executives and helping them.

631
00:40:37.079 --> 00:40:39.760
You know, when you're a leader
in a pandemic like this, it

632
00:40:39.880 --> 00:40:44.199
is really difficult. I mean you're
like looking around like it's on me,

633
00:40:44.480 --> 00:40:47.480
right. So I really appreciate and
apploud all of our leaders that have had

634
00:40:47.519 --> 00:40:51.519
to not know what to do in
this thing and not know who to be

635
00:40:51.559 --> 00:40:52.599
in this thing. And you know, they're like, I just let me

636
00:40:52.639 --> 00:40:54.480
just call uncle. I'm telling you
I don't know what to do here.

637
00:40:54.599 --> 00:40:58.639
Yes, And so I ended up
working with a lot of them to support

638
00:40:58.639 --> 00:41:00.639
them, and I know you do
too. So really want to applaud your

639
00:41:00.679 --> 00:41:05.960
CEO for his courage, his willingness
to be vulnerable and not know and just

640
00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:08.719
step in it. Yeah. And
I think vulnerability is one of the so

641
00:41:08.760 --> 00:41:12.880
funny we talk about that as one
of the key attributes of leadership, and

642
00:41:13.199 --> 00:41:16.320
it's I think twenty twenty is an
example of this. Is when you show

643
00:41:16.440 --> 00:41:21.679
up to be those things like you
show up to be vulnerable, you show

644
00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:24.519
up to be authentic. This is
the moment where actually being it now means

645
00:41:24.559 --> 00:41:29.320
more than any other time, because
it's in the hardest times that people tend

646
00:41:29.360 --> 00:41:31.599
to retreat or go into their safe
zone. If you're willing to be vulnerable

647
00:41:31.760 --> 00:41:37.199
and have those conversations, now that's
the sign of true leadership, because it's

648
00:41:37.199 --> 00:41:39.280
hard to do that now it is. Yeah, speaking of that, I

649
00:41:39.280 --> 00:41:43.239
want to grab a question that you
and I talked about that is really important.

650
00:41:43.599 --> 00:41:45.519
I really appreciated that you said that. In all of this, you've

651
00:41:45.559 --> 00:41:51.119
embarked on some specific training to help
managers have difficult conversations with employees. So

652
00:41:51.760 --> 00:41:54.199
what kind of training is this and
what kinds of issues is the training designed

653
00:41:54.199 --> 00:41:59.840
to address? Yeah, it was
initially designed to talk more about some of

654
00:41:59.840 --> 00:42:05.840
the uncomfortable personal conversations, so mental
health burnout, which is now part of

655
00:42:05.880 --> 00:42:08.880
mental health obviously. But you know, I feel, you know, I

656
00:42:08.880 --> 00:42:12.800
think some people feel like I'm only
allowed to talk about race if I'm feeling

657
00:42:12.800 --> 00:42:15.719
discriminated against, while actually maybe there
was a microaggression that I felt that I

658
00:42:15.920 --> 00:42:20.599
never talked to anybody about. And
you're not going to have those conversations if

659
00:42:20.599 --> 00:42:22.920
you don't create space for them.
And so that was the training for the

660
00:42:22.920 --> 00:42:27.199
managers. Is how in your one
on ones, do you first of all

661
00:42:27.239 --> 00:42:31.239
just overall creating psychological safety, you
know, trust and those things just in

662
00:42:31.280 --> 00:42:34.920
general on your team? And then
in your one on ones, how do

663
00:42:34.960 --> 00:42:37.800
you ask some questions about not just
how are you doing, because it's easy

664
00:42:37.800 --> 00:42:39.840
to say fine or hanging in there
or whatever, but how is your day?

665
00:42:39.960 --> 00:42:43.719
How is this day compared to yesterday? How is this compared to last

666
00:42:43.719 --> 00:42:45.960
week? What's a win? What's
a roadblock? If you ask some pointed

667
00:42:46.039 --> 00:42:50.960
questions, you actually get much more
insight into how someone's doing. And then

668
00:42:51.000 --> 00:42:55.079
showing that vulnerability and authenticity of how
you're doing opens that opens the safety net

669
00:42:55.119 --> 00:42:58.840
of oh, I can really talk
about this because they're willing to talk about

670
00:42:58.840 --> 00:43:02.400
it. Stepped into some things around
you know, how do you find the

671
00:43:02.440 --> 00:43:07.840
balance between I understand what my team
is going through and I really empathize that

672
00:43:07.920 --> 00:43:10.519
something's really stressful versus I'm a manager
and I need to be a leader of

673
00:43:10.519 --> 00:43:15.559
this organization and sort of where my
order groove hat without feeling like I'm just

674
00:43:15.639 --> 00:43:20.320
towing the company line. And how
to find that balance to someone may share,

675
00:43:20.440 --> 00:43:22.360
you know, I don't know if
this is the right place for me,

676
00:43:22.440 --> 00:43:24.280
and how to have that conversation because
that's okay, Like people are going

677
00:43:24.320 --> 00:43:28.119
to stay at companies for thirty years, that's totally okay. But that's an

678
00:43:28.119 --> 00:43:31.639
awkward conversation. So that's where it
sort of went through during the training was

679
00:43:31.679 --> 00:43:36.880
managers were bringing up some of these
questions as well. I want to acknowledge

680
00:43:36.880 --> 00:43:38.519
that. That's fantastic. And so
again, you know you're wondering, why

681
00:43:38.519 --> 00:43:42.159
do I bring this man up?
But I really do revere Bob Chapman and

682
00:43:42.599 --> 00:43:45.719
his whole idea of truly human leadership. And he one of the things that

683
00:43:45.760 --> 00:43:47.880
he says and on the conversations that
I've had with him, is he can

684
00:43:47.920 --> 00:43:51.559
go out there and he speaks to
organizations all over the world about this.

685
00:43:51.960 --> 00:43:53.719
He says, I talk about how
important it is to care for employees.

686
00:43:53.760 --> 00:43:57.679
But the piece is the problem is
people don't know how to do that.

687
00:43:58.079 --> 00:44:00.519
Yes, you're teaching them how to
do that. That is so fantastic.

688
00:44:00.559 --> 00:44:07.039
Bochown, did you hear this business
progress Progress? Okay, we're almost out

689
00:44:07.079 --> 00:44:08.840
of time, but I want to
grab more two more questions for you here.

690
00:44:09.280 --> 00:44:13.000
You already talked a little bit about
some of these smaller events that you're

691
00:44:13.039 --> 00:44:15.199
doing, but you said you were
trying to figure out how to do virtual

692
00:44:15.239 --> 00:44:20.039
company events where people fell engaged and
you like the small events, and you

693
00:44:20.320 --> 00:44:22.599
already told us about the cooking.
But the reason I want you to talk

694
00:44:22.599 --> 00:44:25.280
about this is because in my consulting
with my clients, I hear some of

695
00:44:25.320 --> 00:44:30.039
the biggest burnout as people don't they're
not feeling connected, they're not feeling like

696
00:44:30.079 --> 00:44:32.760
they're they're together. So see a
little bit more about some of the things

697
00:44:32.800 --> 00:44:37.039
that you've been doing beyond the cooking
class. Yeah. And I think the

698
00:44:37.079 --> 00:44:42.119
other thing too is people are also
on zoom meeting it as a concept,

699
00:44:42.119 --> 00:44:45.519
not literally the company fatigue and if
I have to get one more video call,

700
00:44:45.559 --> 00:44:49.039
I'm going to puke. And so
we've also tried to do some offline

701
00:44:49.079 --> 00:44:52.119
things. Apparently food is a thing
for us, because we also did a

702
00:44:52.159 --> 00:44:55.079
recipe book where people got to share
recipes from their families, which was also

703
00:44:55.239 --> 00:45:00.320
sort of part of the inclusion piece. So we've been trying to do small

704
00:45:00.400 --> 00:45:04.400
things where people can get a chance
to get to know each other more on

705
00:45:04.440 --> 00:45:07.400
their time. So if they miss
this one, that's okay, because there's

706
00:45:07.400 --> 00:45:10.400
another one tomorrow morning, or there's
another one at lunch or there's one completely

707
00:45:10.400 --> 00:45:15.239
offline and you don't have to worry
about getting on another zoom call. Another

708
00:45:15.280 --> 00:45:20.119
one that we've been using there's an
app called Donut and it randomly pairs people

709
00:45:20.199 --> 00:45:23.159
in Slack to have a donut and
coffee. And so now obviously that's all

710
00:45:23.239 --> 00:45:29.039
virtual, but especially for new hires, we've been really encouraging them to sort

711
00:45:29.079 --> 00:45:31.679
of join that channel because that's the
way you meet those random people that you

712
00:45:31.719 --> 00:45:36.559
would have bumped into in the elevator, and so we've been trying to leverage

713
00:45:36.559 --> 00:45:39.719
a couple of things like that.
We also started to use something that does

714
00:45:39.719 --> 00:45:45.360
a random question every week and another
Slack channel, so we're big Slack users

715
00:45:45.199 --> 00:45:50.320
that it's a random This week it
was what's your favorite side dish for Thanksgiving?

716
00:45:50.880 --> 00:45:54.320
And the question all of a sudden, prompts twenty five messages about very

717
00:45:54.360 --> 00:46:00.280
strong opinions about Thanksgiving meals. And
so that's another example of I don't have

718
00:46:00.239 --> 00:46:01.199
to be on a zoom call.
I don't have to do it at two

719
00:46:01.199 --> 00:46:05.519
o'clock. I can see that at
ten o'clock at night if I want to

720
00:46:05.519 --> 00:46:08.800
and respond about why I feel admit
that mashed potatoes are so important. So

721
00:46:08.960 --> 00:46:14.280
I think it's really leveraging technology,
but also going back to your roots of

722
00:46:14.320 --> 00:46:16.320
some people just want to get together
and chat about something they have in common

723
00:46:16.400 --> 00:46:22.199
and that's enough. My biggest concern
is definitely with the new hires that don't

724
00:46:22.199 --> 00:46:24.760
have those relationships prior and how to
make sure they feel part of the community.

725
00:46:25.559 --> 00:46:29.480
Well done, It's just beautiful,
Karen. So we've done it.

726
00:46:29.480 --> 00:46:30.440
We've managed to get all the way
to the end of the show. So

727
00:46:30.519 --> 00:46:34.400
I like to give my guests the
last word. So you know, this

728
00:46:34.480 --> 00:46:37.360
program, Karen, is one that's
listened to across the globe. What we're

729
00:46:37.440 --> 00:46:42.280
up to is trying to help our
listeners learn how to find or develop workplaces

730
00:46:42.280 --> 00:46:45.000
that are meaningful and steward inspirational leadership
and do better in the world. In

731
00:46:45.079 --> 00:46:49.639
terms of business, what would you
like to leave listeners with? So I

732
00:46:49.639 --> 00:46:52.320
think my biggest thing is it's not
about getting it right or wrong, it's

733
00:46:52.320 --> 00:46:57.039
about getting it right for your company. So we've talked a lot about authenticity.

734
00:46:57.440 --> 00:47:00.079
What does your company stand for?
What's the promise that you've laid out

735
00:47:00.119 --> 00:47:04.400
for your team, and how are
you actually going to live that through your

736
00:47:04.519 --> 00:47:07.719
values, through your culture, through
your employee promise whatever you want to call

737
00:47:07.760 --> 00:47:12.159
it, but do what's right for
your organization and then actually live it.

738
00:47:12.400 --> 00:47:16.039
And that will not only give your
company more purpose and stand out amongst the

739
00:47:16.039 --> 00:47:21.960
competition, but it will also make
your team actually feel everything that you've promised

740
00:47:21.960 --> 00:47:25.199
to give them when they first joined
the team. That's beautiful, What a

741
00:47:25.199 --> 00:47:29.679
great way to finish. It's just
the whole conversation. We've had a fantastic

742
00:47:29.719 --> 00:47:32.360
exchange, Kre and you've really helped
us understand what Order Group has had to

743
00:47:32.400 --> 00:47:37.000
deal with confront how they've responded,
how you really have created a place where

744
00:47:37.159 --> 00:47:42.599
you trust your employees and you're doing
your best to help them help steward their

745
00:47:42.639 --> 00:47:45.639
overall full life, not just what
they're doing at Order Group, but how

746
00:47:45.639 --> 00:47:49.880
do they actually create a life that
works for them. And I've really applaud

747
00:47:49.960 --> 00:47:51.880
that and celebrate that. That's why
I wanted to have you on the show.

748
00:47:52.119 --> 00:47:53.599
Thank you for sharing, Thank you
so much, and thank you so

749
00:47:53.679 --> 00:47:57.679
much for lating me share our stories. I hope they helped others. Absolutely,

750
00:47:57.760 --> 00:48:00.719
I'm sure they will. If you
want to learn more about Karen Weeks,

751
00:48:00.719 --> 00:48:04.000
her book, or her podcast,
start by visiting her own personal website.

752
00:48:04.039 --> 00:48:07.440
It's Karendweeks dot com. Let me
spell that for you. It's ka

753
00:48:07.920 --> 00:48:14.760
r e n D like David Week's
w e e k s karendweks dot com.

754
00:48:15.199 --> 00:48:16.440
Last week, if you missed the
show live you go is catch it

755
00:48:16.440 --> 00:48:21.360
be recorded podcast We Run the Earth
Ron Barger and Andy Ebe who are launching

756
00:48:21.400 --> 00:48:25.079
a servant investment fund anchored in conscious
capitalism called Servant Investors. I heard from

757
00:48:25.079 --> 00:48:29.199
one listener who told me he was
moved to tears of inspiration when they read

758
00:48:29.239 --> 00:48:32.039
their company Creto on air. Truly
magnificent what the human spirit can do.

759
00:48:32.159 --> 00:48:37.039
Working from Purpose next week will be
on the air with doctor Hollywood's author of

760
00:48:37.079 --> 00:48:39.360
The Golden Thread, Where to find
purpose in the stages of your life.

761
00:48:39.480 --> 00:48:43.039
You're up for a treat, see
you there. Remember that workers at least

762
00:48:43.039 --> 00:48:51.199
of their real life, So let's
work on Purpose. We hope you've enjoyed

763
00:48:51.199 --> 00:48:54.639
this week's program. Be sure to
tune in to Working on Purpose featuring your

764
00:48:54.639 --> 00:49:00.000
host, Doctor Elise Cortes, each
week on the Voice America Empowerment Chain.

765
00:49:00.920 --> 00:49:07.559
Together we'll create a world where business
operates conscientiously. Leadership inspires impassioned performance and

766
00:49:07.679 --> 00:49:13.840
employees are fulfilled in work that provides
the meaning and purpose. They crave see

767
00:49:13.880 --> 00:49:15.199
you there. Let's work on purpose.

COVID-19: Cascading Change in Life and Work

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