Lynnette Heath
CHRO
nVent
Episode 346
The Future of Work: Why Employee Value is Your Ultimate Competitive Edge
Current chapter: Covering monthly expenses is the number one concern for employees in 2024
Built By PeopleJanuary 15, 2025 · 21:37
Thesis
“Truly valuing employees, demonstrated through intentional people processes, continuous development opportunities, and data-driven insights, is crucial for organizational success and fosters a deeply engaged workforce, even in a rapidly changing environment.”
Show notes
The Built by People podcast, sponsored by Previ, features an in-depth conversation with Lynnette Heath with nVent, a seasoned HR executive, who shares her career journey from an administrative assistant to a Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). She emphasizes the importance of embracing movement, learning from different industries, and being willing to take risks. Lynnette also discusses the significance of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) in promoting inclusion, diversity, and a sense of belonging within organizations. She outlines the various ERGs at her company, how they are initiated by passionate employees, and their role in fostering business success and personal development. Lynnette provides practical advice on establishing and sustaining ERGs and highlights the importance of being data-driven and aligning HR initiatives with business goals. The episode concludes with insights into how HR professionals can make a profound impact on individuals and organizations. 00:19 Sponsor Message: Financial Well-being with Previ 00:44 Lynnette's Career Journey and Lessons Learned 04:00 The Importance of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) 07:56 Diverse ERGs at Invent and Their Impact 12:00 Establishing and Sustaining ERGs 13:47 Data-Driven Support for ERGs 16:22 How We Treat Our People Matters 20:12 Parting Advice for HR Professionals 21:24 Conclusion and Farewell
What you'll take away
- 1Be open to career moves and risks; diverse experiences broaden perspective and foster learning.
- 2ERGs are valuable for employee experience, global networking, leadership development, and driving business impact through employee passion.
- 3Establish clear guidelines and business goals for ERGs to prevent them from becoming merely social groups.
- 4Utilize data (engagement, retention, performance) to demonstrate HR initiatives' impact and gain executive support.
- 5Implement foundational people processes like timely reviews, goal setting, and development plans to consistently show employees they are valued.
What most organizations get wrong
- •ERGs must have a clear business impact and goals beyond social activities, to ensure they add value to the organization.
- •Instead of leadership dictating ERGs, they should emerge organically from employee passion, supported by leadership with a structured playbook.
- •Conducting engagement surveys every 18 months, rather than annually, allows for more thoughtful action planning and follow-up based on feedback.
In Lynnette's words
“movement, movement, movement. And what I encourage people to do is be open to moves, be open to taking risks. That's really how you learn.”
This quote highlights the importance of embracing career changes and risks as fundamental drivers of personal and professional growth.
“it was important that this be something that a group of employees feel strongly about and raise their hand and say, we want to start this group.”
This emphasizes that successful ERGs are employee-driven initiatives stemming from genuine passion, rather than top-down mandates.
“it can't be leadership sitting in a room saying, we support ERGs coming together, but it's got to be something that employees feel strongly about because they're going to have to sustain it.”
Lynnette stresses that the long-term viability of ERGs depends on authentic employee passion and commitment, not just leadership endorsement.
“we are in the function of HR, but we are business people. So we need to think and talk to the business in terms of business need.”
This quote underscores the critical need for HR professionals to articulate their initiatives in business-centric language to gain executive buy-in and organizational support.
“It is so important for our people to know you matter enough that I'm going to have a really good conversation with you about your goals. I'm going to make sure we're thinking through your goals in a good way.”
This articulates the foundational principle that consistent and thoughtful performance and development conversations are key to making employees feel valued.
“our people engaged and excited every day to make sure we can deliver for our customers. So that matters. And they feel it.”
This highlights the direct link between employee engagement and business outcomes, emphasizing that a valued workforce leads to better customer delivery.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Employee financial stress due to monthly expenses (addressed by Previ, saving employees over $1,200 annually).
- •Inconsistent or absent performance reviews and goal setting for employees, leading to a lack of clear direction and development.
- •Challenges in understanding and navigating diverse global cultures within a multinational organization.
- •New and early-career employees needing guidance to navigate the complexities of the business world.
- •Organizations struggling to attract and retain top talent in a competitive market, facing evolving employee expectations (e.g., remote work preferences).
- •Deficiencies in internal communication and recognition programs that negatively impact employee morale and engagement.
In this episode
Covering monthly expenses is the number one concern for employees in 2024
Built by People
David Schumacher shares some career lessons he's learned over decades
Top HR Executives: Career Journey
NVent creates employee resource groups to help improve employee experience
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
You talked on the role that ERGs can play in facilitating organizational inclusion
Invent.com's Diversity and Inclusion ERGs
NVent uses data to help support initiatives like ERGs
Have Data Driven HR Initiatives Supported?
One thing that we found to be very successful is having an executive sponsor
Having an ERG is important
How we treat our people matters at Invent
Six Rules for Treating Our People
Lynette Verna says HR professionals face challenging times in today's world
Verna's last message for HR professionals
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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