The Great Resignation, Retention, and the Talent Lifecycle with Mahe Bayireddi

12/09/21 • 36 min

A special thanks to our sponsor, Phenom, for making this episode possible. Building an inclusive workplace that truly puts employees first doesn’t happen overnight. To help employers get started, the team at Phenom created The Definitive Guide to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for HR. In it, HR leaders and practitioners will learn how to build and implement creative — and authentic — DE&I strategies that connect with employees. Check it out at phenom.com/blog/diversity-and-inclusion-guide. Mahe Bayireddi is CEO and co-founder of Phenom, a global leader in the HR technology space with a mission to help a billion people find the right job. Their AI-based SaaS platform, TXM, connects all stakeholders in the hiring cycle for a personalized talent acquisition experience. Also an official member of Forbes Technology Council and serial entrepreneur, Mahe is passionate about using software to fundamentally transform the talent journey. He is this week’s guest on Love in Action, sponsored by Phenom.In the age of the Great Resignation, COVID-19, and the rapid transition to a virtual workplace, leaders need to step up and demonstrate care in a business context more than ever before, Marcel Schwantes comments. He asks Mahe to talk about his background. “My story consists of three things: my family, Phenom, and my spiritual evolution. Those are my priorities,” Mahe shares. [1:58]“The core principle of meditation is being quiet so you can control your thoughts... That quiet place [allows] you to reflect on who you want to be. [By doing that], I can lead [Phenom] better,” Mahe remarks. That quiet place can also enable you to drown out noise you don’t need and orient yourself to one direction, Marcel adds. [5:47]Mahe discusses Phenom’s mission. For Phenom, ‘right’ isn’t about just getting a job; it’s about connecting with the purpose of the company, actualizing your full potential, and becoming the best person you can be. It’s a journey, not a destination, Mahe says. He talks about the culture at Phenom and his definition of leadership. “Leadership, to me, is ruthless compassion. You should be ruthless in delivering results, but compassionate for those you work with.” [14:24]According to Mahe, everything happens for a reason. “Nothing happens to screw you up,” he claims. The toughest parts of your life are opportunities to learn and grow, and being positive enables you to tap into that. “When we interview people, we ask them to start with a story, and we look at how they construct it. We don’t mind if they’re skeptical; as long as they’re not cynical.” [17:18]The Great Resignation is less about remote work, and more about people reflecting on their fulfillment at their places of employment, Mahe says. Every generation has a different set of expectations, and things like CSR and ESG are timely concerns in today’s age. The Great Resignation is a result of those concerns coming to the forefront. [25:58]Leadership involves compassion and ruthlessness. The ruthlessness is for the greater purpose, and the compassion is for the individuals who contribute to that purpose. Being a good leader is like being a parent, Mahe asserts. “A lot of leaders prefer to be good uncles rather than parents. It’s easy to be a good uncle, but it’s much harder to be an average parent.” [30:58]ResourcesMahe Bayireddi on LinkedIn | TwitterPhenomPeople.com

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Previous Episode

Working Better Together with Jen Fisher

Jen Fisher is Marcel Schwantes’ guest this week on the Love In Action podcast. Jen is Chief Well-being Officer at Deloitte, where she evolved the health and wellness program into a first-of-its-kind holistic and inclusive well-being strategy. Jen empowers Deloitte's people to prioritize their well-being so they can be at their best in both their professional and personal lives. In her role, she drives the strategy and innovation around work, life, health, and wellness. Jen is the co-author of the bestselling book, Work Better Together: How to Cultivate Strong Relationships to Maximize Well-Being and Boost Bottom Lines. Jen shares her experience as a working employee going through chemotherapy and the valuable lesson she learned in those difficult times. “Why do we give ourselves permission to set boundaries when we're sick, but not when we're well?” [4:07]“We’ve adopted all this technology, but we haven’t adapted to it very well,” Jen claims. “In my own words, the technology is using us, not the other way around. ... It’s more about how we, as human beings, choose to use it in our lives that has a negative impact. Our society has become this ‘always on 24/7, constantly connected’ society.” [10:21]Skills like empathy, compassion, authenticity, and emotional intelligence are not “soft”; they’re essential. According to Jen, they play a key role in the future of work because they cannot be replicated by machines or AI. Instead of fearing that technology is going to put us out of work, we should be celebrating that we can focus on humanizing the workplace. [17:27]Marcel asks Jen what organizations can do to maximize their employees’ well-being, to decrease burnout, and increase engagement and productivity. “The area you want to get to is trusted teams, which value human connection, relationships, and individual well-being,” she responds. “You achieve that through creating a culture of psychological safety, where people feel like they can show up as their authentic selves and ask for what they need.” [23:45]Essential skills are the skill set of the future. They can and need to be learned, taught, and brought into organizations by leaders who are tuned into them. These organizations are the ones that will truly thrive, Jen comments. [31:32]“The mascot we assigned for trusted teams is a dolphin, so [my co-author and I] want everyone to be a dolphin,” Jen encourages. “Communication and relationships are really important to dolphins; they do things in packs but they're also really great individual performers; they hunt, and they take care of their kids, but they're also very playful in their spirit... Be a dolphin not just at the workplace, but also in your personal life.” [34:56]ResourcesJen Fisher on LinkedInWork Better Together: How to Cultivate Strong Relationships to Maximize Well-Being and Boost Bottom Lines.

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Next Episode

Workplace Psychology with Jennifer Musselman

Jennifer Musselman is a globally recognized executive coach and a licensed marriage and family therapist for high-performing executives and entrepreneurs. She has been featured on Psychology Today, Forbes, and Huffington Post. She specializes in emotional intelligence, navigating conflict among leaders and couples, anxiety, burnout, and stress and depression management. With 20 years of experience as an executive at Fortune 500 companies, Jennifer intimately understands the pressures her clients face in having to do a balancing act with their professional goals and their personal life. She is this week’s guest on this special episode of Love In Action, which is both an interview and a live consultation.Jennifer recalls her negative experiences within a toxic workplace. “There was a change in leadership at the top that completely altered how people started connecting and relating with each other,” she says. “What I didn’t understand was the workplace trauma... even my personal therapist didn’t know how to handle it because therapists aren’t trained for that.” She describes the harmful effects that followed in her personal life, and how it motivated her to study organizational psychology. [5:07]Marcel asks Jennifer for tips on how to manage our emotions during a state of languishing. Self-care through self-reflection can help you recenter yourself, she replies, and doing so with a trained professional is even better. “Sometimes we need someone to get us out of our bodies and heads.” [10:18]Leadership is about modeling the behavior that you espouse across the board, Jennifer defines. A good leader actively practices the values of their family, their company, and their country. [16:17]Jennifer shares a recording of a live consultation with one of her clients, a CEO of a technology company. She helps her client explore the ups and downs of the recent happenings in his life, and how he has been mitigating them. They discuss:When conflicts in your personal life clash with your professional life. “I need to be focused for the team, and I can’t let personal things seep into how I present myself in the business, but unfortunately it has,” her client shares. “It’s been a challenge in the last few weeks.” [19:05]How to pull yourself out of a low-energy slump. “Everyone needs their own process of self-reflection,” Jennifer advises. “Find moments of personal reflection, which includes your thoughts... and then pay attention to how you behave. Having a chart of that gives you a better understanding of yourself and how you handle these moments.” [26:42]Mastering self-efficacy. “[Self-efficacy] is embracing that [you] don’t have to have all the answers; [you’re] in process. The answers will come, and you’ve created the network of people to lean on,” Jennifer remarks. [33:37]Jennifer rejoins Marcel to talk about key takeaways from her session with her client.According to Jennifer, there’s a fear of being perceived as weak when you’re in a position of power, particularly in men. People see when you’re struggling and can create their own narratives about what might be happening, so it would be beneficial to be a little transparent with them. Expressing vulnerability creates a bond with your coworkers, and gives people the opportunity to support you. [42:48]“Our minds, hearts, and bodies are connected,” Jennifer says. “When we start to feel emotional, there’s a physiological reaction... The first thing you have to do is get a hold of that sensation in your body... deep breathing connects you to your heart.” [45:00]Leaders need to allow employees to have a voice, Marcel comments. It’s not just handing down decisions from the mountain top; employees should be able to voice their concerns, input, and even ideas. That’s the caring part of leadership, he adds. [49:23]ResourcesJennifer Musselman on LinkedIn | TwitterJenniferMusselman.

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