Cruising Altitude - How to Foster Belonging in a Hybrid Workspace with Alice Fournier, CIO of ISS Americas

How to Foster Belonging in a Hybrid Workspace with Alice Fournier, CIO of ISS Americas

05/04/23 • 47 min

This episode features an interview with Alice Fournier, CIO of ISS Americas, a workplace experience and facility management company that improves business performance and enjoyment. In her role as CIO, Alice drives technology-led transformation. She’s an experienced leader, and she’s dedicated to empowering her teams to grow and thrive. And on this episode, Alice is sharing how to foster belonging, equity, and opportunity in the workplace.

Quotes

*”Great leadership in a hybrid world has those elements of understanding, ‘When do I need to nudge my team? When do I need them here?’ And there's tools that help you, right? Some software has tools that help you understand how people are connected or not. But there's also the human component. As a leader, you need to be really attuned to when people hit that point where you need to get them together. And that's part of solid hybrid leadership.”

*”In a company where you can be you, you can be yourself, you can feel that you belong... I mean, these things are profoundly important in the employee experience. We've all had times in our careers where we didn't feel that way, and that really impacts the way we perform, the way we engage with each other and the way we serve customers. And so that place of belonging is an important component for us.”

*”What does that look like in an office? To be able to engage, to have the real experience, to be with people and get to know them on a human level. We need that. We absolutely need that. No technology will ever compensate or be the same thing as this one-on-one human experience. There's just nothing like it.”

Time Stamps

*[2:45] The Flight Plan: Get to know ISS Americas

*[11:30] First Class: Best EX practices at ISS Americas

*[35:02] Turbulence: EX lessons learned

*[44:35] What advice does Alice have for other tech leaders?

Links

Connect with Alice on LinkedIn

Learn more about ISS Americas

Thanks to our friends

This episode is brought to you by Firstup, the company that is redefining the digital employee experience to put people first and lift companies up by connecting every worker, everywhere with the information that helps them do their best work. Firstup has helped over 40% of the Fortune 100 companies like Amazon, AB InBev, Ford and Pfizer stay agile and keep transforming. Learn more at firstup.io

Quotes

Time Stamps

*[2:45] The Flight Plan: Get to know ISS Americas

*[11:30] First Class: Best EX practices at ISS Americas

*[35:02] Turbulence: EX lessons learned

*[44:35] What advice does Alice have for other tech leaders?

Links

Connect with Alice on LinkedIn

Learn more about ISS Americas

Thanks to our friends

Previous Episode

How to Market Your EX to Top Talent with Francesca Luthi, EVP and Chief Administrative Officer at Assurant

This episode features an interview with Francesca Luthi, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at Assurant, a global business services company that supports, protects, and connects major consumer purchases. It’s a Fortune 500 company that spans 21 countries, and partners with leading brands to create an enhanced customer experience. At Assurant, Francesca oversees business functions to help execute the company’s overall strategy. This includes global human resources, brand and marketing, communications, corporate social responsibility, and more. She focuses on building up the company’s global brand and reputation among customers, employees and shareholders. And in this episode, she’ll share how to effectively manage employee feedback, deliver a consumer-grade digital employee experience, and market your EX to top talent.

Quotes

*”Our employees make a decision to come to work at Assurant. It's a lot about what they do and the role that they're in, but also the connection to the company and vision, mission and values. So it requires us to not just assume a cookie cutter approach. But to be willing to change and adapt to our growing and diverse workforce.”

*”I think about our employees as our single most important customer. Because they are the key to delivering for our customers each and every day. I think about the basic marketing principles around attracting a customer and sharing that value proposition. And really explaining what does the company do, what does it stand for?”

*”Very similar to the principles that apply to customer experience, you want human-centered design. And in this case, it's employee-centered. It starts with the employee and what do they need to achieve? And really thinking about that journey. How can we eliminate friction and continue to make it a generally positive, ideally delightful experience along the way?”

*”Empathetic leadership is critical. Transparency and humility in terms of what we're all feeling, what we know, what we don't know. I think that's one of the golden rules in terms of leadership. Because the reality is for as much as we may be in leadership positions, it doesn't mean that we are somehow all-knowing. We are taking feedback and input and trying to make the best decisions we can.”

Time Stamps

*[5:04] The Flight Plan: Get to know Assurant

*[6:45] First Class: Best EX practices at Assurant

*[30:11] Turbulence: EX lessons learned

*[34:50] How does Francesca lead in stressful situations?

Links

Connect with Francesca on Linkedin

Learn more about Assurant

Thanks to our friends

Next Episode

Transforming Your Business through High Performance Culture and Diversity with Marlon Sullivan, EVP and CHRO of Johnson Controls

This episode features an interview with Marlon Sullivan, EVP and CHRO of Johnson Controls International. Johnson Controls is a world leader in smart buildings and creating safe, healthy, and sustainable spaces. Here, Marlon works in every part of human resources. He focuses on talent acquisition, retention, and leadership development while defining a high performance culture that includes diversity and inclusion.

In this episode, Marlon defines a high performance culture, and what HR elements businesses should focus on. He also emphasizes the importance of diversity and inclusion for true positive transformation.

Quotes

“What is critically important for how we define a high performance culture is leveraging that of diversity, equity, and inclusion. That includes all of those elements with a focus on three core components, talent, people, and culture.”

“Having not formally been in human resources before, it was exciting, a little bit challenging in the beginning. Because I was bringing more of a business perspective. But what I also found is that was part of what helped to differentiate the offering. That I could bring to the role that I was playing, but also how HR could play a differentiated role.”

“Transformation is not only a change in culture. It requires a change in the skill sets, the competencies, and the pace of business. And as we continue to drive this differentiated offering in the marketplace, it's allowing us to be a leader in the industry, and hopefully not only transform ourselves, but also transform the industry itself.”

“Now clearly we're not big tech, but we've been through a big technology transformation and that will continue. It's allowing us to welcome a different type of talent and team to the organization. And in particular, it allows us to make a difference. A part of what we talk about in terms of our employee value proposition is that of purpose. And so to be able to join a company where you can make a difference, not only for customers, but also for our communities, for the, for the climate, for the planet. And it inspires a lot of folks, and it's part of why I am here at Johnson Controls.”

“Here at Johnson Controls, it's not an exaggeration to say that we're saving the planet. And when you consider that 40% of the world's emissions come from buildings, then obviously smart building technologies are a differentiator. And it's been a big win for us because job seekers want to work for a company that provides meaningful work beyond just traditional competitive compensation and benefits.So when we talk about the power of purpose here at Johnson Controls it, it means a lot. And we go out of our way to make sure that we're able to measure it.”

“In order to be a highly effective HR leader that helps to really leverage human capital to drive outcomes, you have to understand the business, right? You have to understand the mission, the strategy, the operating model, the go to market channels, the value proposition. But you also have to understand the market within which we're competing.”

“There's nothing better than the taste of success. And being able to see that success and however it's measured, whether it's customer satisfaction or positive impact on the planet with CO2 carbon reduction, whether it's financial metrics, operational metrics, or just thinking about the excitement of our people and the fact that they love to work here. I mean, all of them are successes and we go out of our way to celebrate that.”

Time Stamps

*[00:16] Marlon’s current role

*[01:15] The war for talent

*[02:59] Johnson Controls’ transformation

*[06:21] Empowering meaningful work

*[08:32] Understanding HR and business

*[10:28] How to build an employee value proposition

*[17:57] Defining goals and success

*[21:32] Overcoming roadblocks

*[24:23] Combining HR and AI

*[26:43] What matters most to employees?

Links