How People Analytics Can Give HR Leaders a Window Into Employee Experience
BY Katie Chambers December 22, 2025Most HR leaders agree that employee engagement is central to a healthy workplace. But is it necessary to constantly measure it? “The reason we’re asking about engagement isn’t because it looks good on a scorecard,” said Michelle Seidel, Human Capital Client Leader, Aon, in a panel conversation at From Day One’s recent Los Angeles conference. “It’s because engagement is linked to productivity. It’s linked to customer service. It’s linked to employee attrition, attraction, and retention.” While people analytics is sometimes viewed as esoteric or intrusive, the evolving field offers HR professionals new tools to understand worker sentiment, values, and skills. It can be used to spot trends in worker retention, predict candidate success, understand employee engagement, optimize benefits, or discover patterns in employee health and well-being. But what are the guardrails that need to be set up to safeguard trust, privacy, and corporate values? The panel explored how, when used thoughtfully, people analytics can help forecast larger future-of-work trends and employee expectations.The Benefit of Real-Time AnalyticsThe old employee-survey model is no longer effective, says Andrew Dufresne, head of HR Operations and Employee Experience, North America, UST, a global transformation company specializing in AI-powered tech and engineering. By the time HR can finish analyzing a traditional annual survey, the data is already many months old. “We’ve moved towards more pulse surveys and real-time engagement,” he said, citing an internal company platform that can track feedback on all aspects of the employee experience, such as hiring, retiring, or getting a promotion. “We’re collecting that feedback as those processes are happening.” His organization also partners with outside companies like Great Place to Work and Top Employers Institute for further benchmarking. Surveys don’t have to be complex. “I know of organizations who are using really simple emoji surveys, where you just click the happy face or the sad face [and] you have immediate feedback. You can respond to it in hours or days, versus the 90 days that’s typical from a traditional survey,” Seidel said. She says sentiment scraping, such as using AI to grab data from review sites like Glassdoor, can also help identify gaps and strengths. It’s important to be specific with your intentions as you craft survey questions. “A huge component is ensuring that these surveys are designed strategically, so that we’re getting the information that we really want, which is how engaged is somebody versus how satisfied [they] are,” said Brian Padilla, SVP, HR business partner, for Lionsgate. “[Our surveys are] designed to assess engagement, and then to also point to the reasons why someone might not be engaged. Maybe they don’t have a clear understanding of how their role fits into the bigger picture, or they don’t feel supported by their manager.” Intention—and clear communication—can also help keep HR from overstepping in their data collection and becoming too invasive. “How do you get somebody to want to give you information? We’re asking for things like self-identification surveys and things where we’re required to report on it, but people don’t necessarily trust that that information is going to be used in a way that’s ethical,” Padilla said. He suggests “having those conversations with people [and] showing them how the process works, what the end product looks like, and what actually goes out into the world.”The executive-panel speakers on people analytics at From Day One’s December conference in Los AngelesRachyll Tenny, chief talent officer for people strategy and organizational impact for Capstone Partners, and investment-banking firm, summed it up: “Trust, transparency, and context.” With considerate framing, organizations can build a culture of trust. Padilla shared that a recent Lionsgate self-identification survey with sensitive questions regarding sexual orientation and parental status had a 90% response rate because it was communicated with intention and care. Building a Pathway Forward “Data [can] be used to be both prescriptive and predictive,” said moderator Stacy Perman, Staff Writer, the Los Angeles Times, both identifying gaps and providing proposed solutions. Added Seidel: “When we look at the survey results in the data, it tells us what’s going on, why it might be happening, what we can do to fix it. Sometimes it even tells us how to prioritize those issues and when we need to fix it by.” Traditional data-collection modes are too fragmented; AI can pull everything together and generate a nuanced plan.AI can be deployed to dive deeper into the data on hand, which is especially important as the working world generally transitions from a role-based to a skill-based model. “[AI] can look at skill gaps before they become performance gaps, because that’s really when it hits you hardest,” said Rebecca Warren, talent-centered transformation leader for Eightfold, an AI-powered talent-intelligence platform. Analyzing skills in this way can also help with talent acquisition and retention. Warren noted that she started at the company in talent acquisition, then moved to customer success, then marketing and talent transformation—all because she was invited to apply based on her skillset. “Tying hiring, development, and skill gaps to what the business is trying to achieve makes all the difference, instead of trying to plug gaps in a in a leaky bucket,” she said. And of course, AI comes with its own ethical concerns, leading again to that need for transparency, communication, and compliance. “What we talk about inside of Eightfold is, ‘We are responsible and explainable AI,’ so everything that we do is tracked, and we can go back and say, ‘This is what happened.’ So if there is something that wasn’t handled correctly, we can go back and look at it more quickly than if we had a manual process or if we weren’t tracking all of those things,” Warren said. The organization also utilizes an ethics council. Going forward, organizations can rely on AI-powered people analytics to solve some of their toughest conundrums. Seidel said, “If I could use data and analytics to achieve one key thing, it would be to answer the question more effectively and with more precision: ‘Where is the best place for our organization to invest the next dollar in our workforce for the greatest return on investment?’” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Humility in AI: Partnering With Technology That Assists, Not Overrides
BY Grace Turney December 19, 2025Paul Pavlou, PhD, the dean of the Miami Herbert Business School, doesn’t sugarcoat the future of work. While many leaders tiptoe around AI, Pavlou offers a direct assessment: AI will indeed replace many jobs, but that transformation represents only half the equation. The other half–how AI can elevate human potential in ways we’ve barely begun to imagine–demands the same attention.During a fireside chat at From Day One’s Miami conference, Pavlou shared insights from his extensive research on AI, decision-making, and organizational transformation. The conversation, moderated by Steve Koepp, From Day One co-founder and editor-in-chief, explored how business leaders and educators are grappling with a technology that Pavlou describes as being “an order of magnitude” even more significant than previous breakthroughs like electricity or the internet.Redefining What Technology Can DoUnlike tools that simply automate tasks, Pavlou says that AI represents something fundamentally different: a technology designed to overcome human limitations rather than merely extend or mimic human capabilities. “It thinks like us, or more like us, and better than us,” he said. This important distinction changes the conversation from what AI can do for us to what it tells us about our own abilities.The implications become stark when examining certain professions. Take radiology, for example, Pavlou points out that machines can analyze scans faster and more accurately than physicians. With that in mind, what is his advice for prospective students? Don’t become a radiologist if your job security depends on regulations requiring a human to perform tasks a machine handles better.Yet he emphasizes this isn’t necessarily bad news for society. Better, faster diagnostic capabilities mean earlier disease detection and improved patient outcomes, even if it means fewer radiologists.The Autonomy ParadoxPavlou’s research on consumer decision-making revealed an intriguing paradox: people usually prefer to make their own choices, even when they know an algorithm would (theoretically) recommend something better. In studies examining how shoppers choose clothing, the researchers found that shoppers (particularly women) would rather make the final decision instead of accepting AI’s recommendation.Paul A. Pavlou, dean & professor at the Miami Herbert Business School, University of Miami, shared his research on AI during the session This desire for autonomy extends beyond retail. Whether you’re a physician, an HR manager, or an executive, professionals want to understand why AI recommends specific actions rather than blindly accepting its output. “I want to have the last word,” Pavlou said to describe how people want to remain empowered to make their own decisions.This insight packs profound implications for how organizations use AI systems. The technology works best not as a replacement for human judgment, but as a tool that enhances it, with humans maintaining ultimate control—and accountability.Preparing Students for an Accelerated TimelineAt Miami Herbert Business School, Pavlou faces a concrete challenge: employers increasingly want candidates with two to four years of experience, yet the school’s primary mission involves preparing entry-level graduates. His solution leverages AI itself. By using technology to personalize education and provide real-world project experience, students can graduate with the equivalent of several years of workplace experience compressed into their undergraduate years, he says. The school has launched AI majors and minors while transforming existing programs to incorporate AI across disciplines, from HR to finance to accounting. “It’s not just about teaching students to use AI,” Pavlou said, “but using AI ourselves” to personalize the entire educational experience. The goal: graduates who are “job ready on day one” with capabilities that would have taken years to develop in previous generations.Beyond Individual Jobs to Lifelong LearningAccording to Pavlou, there has to be a shift in how organizations think about workforce development. AI’s rapid advancement means upskilling and reskilling can no longer be confined to early career stages. Companies increasingly approach Miami Herbert for guidance on what their employees, whether they have 20, 2,000, or 200,000 workers, need to know about AI.This demand has shifted executive education, elevating it from a secondary offering to a strategic priority. Organizations need different training at different levels: foundational skills for entry-level employees, experimental mindsets for middle managers, and strategic frameworks for C-suite executives who must create organizational cultures open to AI adoption while establishing appropriate guardrails.The Compassionate MachinePerhaps the most provocative element of Pavlou’s research involves what he calls “compassionate AI.” The premise challenges common assumptions: if human beings often lack empathy and compassion in decision-making, can AI actually serve as a corrective force rather than an amplification of our flaws?“The baseline is human beings,” Pavlou said. “They’re not very compassionate.” He offers the example of self-driving vehicles: while humans kill tens of thousands of people in car accidents every year, a single death caused by a driverless car causes widespread outcry and regulatory backlash. This double standard, he suggests, reflects our reluctance to acknowledge our own limited capabilities.Pavlou expressed skepticism about companies that announce mass layoffs blamed on AI adoption. The real opportunity is not eliminating positions, but creating better jobs and generating more value. Organizations should focus on how AI allows for better decision-making, reduces errors, and improves outcomes rather than simply trying to cut costs through workforce reduction.He advocates for comprehensive training as the foundation of responsible AI adoption, implemented at individual, team, and organizational levels. This training should address both effective use of the technology and ethical considerations. Only after organizations understand what the technology can do should they establish guardrails and policies, rather than creating restrictions for capabilities they don’t yet fully grasp.The conversation concluded with a reminder that reflects Pavlou’s central point: AI doesn’t exist in a vacuum. “We created them to serve us and augment what we actually do,” he said. The question isn’t whether humans or machines are superior, but how we can work together to overcome limitations and elevate capabilities that neither could achieve alone. For business leaders navigating this transformation, that perspective offers a more productive framework than the binary thinking that has dominated much of the AI debate.Grace Turney is a St. Louis-based writer, artist, and former librarian. See more of her work at graceturney17.wixsite.com/mysite.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Culture That’s Real: Bringing Company Values to Life
BY Jessica Swenson December 18, 2025“Everyone wants to have a good culture, but they don’t really understand how much time and energy and effort it takes,” said Bert Hensley, chairman and CEO of Morgan Samuels Company. He believes that employees should be empowered to co-create and shape the culture in which they work.During a panel at From Day One’s Miami conference, moderated by Miami Herald business reporter Michael Butler, Hensley and other executive leaders discussed how organizations can cultivate cultures that embody the company’s values while both challenging and supporting employees.Companies need to determine “what kind of organization they want to be, and what kind of people need to be a part of it,” said Jonathan Méndez, head of executive search and HR business partner at Kellanova. Ensuring that talent aligns with the company’s purpose is key to preventing cultural tension.This knowledge is also crucial for any executive search and other new talent decisions. Identifying key business objectives, knowing the requisite skills and experience, and being aware of cultural considerations are vital to finding candidates that share the company’s values, says Hensley. He recommends in-depth, in-person meetings with teams seeking new talent to better understand how they interface and operate before assessing or recommending candidates.Referencing a shared ownership model emerging at his company, William (B.J.) Warren, the head of HR effectiveness at Bayer, says they are seeking to remove hierarchical roadblocks and empower the people closest to the customer to take on decision-making. This allows the relevant groups to determine “what is it that best meets the needs of [our] customers, versus the challenge of ‘who do I need to report to or get approval from in order to really take those decisions?’”Belonging & Safety Employees need to feel safe and seen in order to have a sense of belonging in the workplace. Abbe Partee, DHL Supply Chain’s head of culture and inclusion, oversaw the development and launch of the company’s Belonging at Work program. This program allows for deeper conversation and connection through training focused on inclusion and psychological safety, and it has delivered a lift in employee engagement and Great Place to Work scores.“We want you to feel that you’re connected, you contribute, you’re valued, and that’s where you get this sense of belonging. But it’s not just up to the leaders to create the culture of belonging. It’s up to everybody,” she said. By holding all employees accountable not only to performance, but to behavior, DHL maintains clear focus on its values of respect and results. “If you get results without respect, you are not part of this culture.”Panelists spoke about "Culture That’s Real: Translating Company Values Into Everyday Reality" during the sessionAt the same time, advises Méndez, while a culture steeped in niceness can attract and retain talent, too much focus on being nice can inhibit healthy conflict and innovation. To offset the influence of Midwest nice culture at Kellanova, he says, the company has focused on amplifying its core values while introducing a new one: courage. They “[bring in] talent that has those values and has that courageous mentality, but in the day-to-day work we try to encourage that type of behavior to really push the organization forward.”Centering diversity initiatives on the customer base and business results is another way to realize a company’s values around belonging and safety. Hensley’s executive searches have a 40% diversity rate (exceeding the industry average of 12%) because they search more broadly for the correct fit for a role rather than hiring for diversity quotas. “Diversity works best when integrated into business operations, not treated as an add-on,” said Warren.Partee and Méndez agreed that the employee population and upper-level leadership—including the C-suite—need to reflect the customer base that an organization serves. “There’s more innovation, there’s more creativity, there’s better problem solving. When you have diversity at all levels of the organization, it just makes sense for your business,” said Partee.Restoring HRBP CredibilityAcknowledging that HR is sometimes viewed primarily as a policy enforcer, several panelists agreed that HR teams need to act as business partners first to rebuild credibility and confidence in the function. In his first three weeks with Kellanova, Méndez met with all 200 of his team members. “It was an incredible learning opportunity to understand the business and the people, and if you understand your people first you’re able to start breaking down that barrier.” Knowing the pain points and performance impacts of the business gives HR leaders credibility and allows them to provide better input.To ensure that culture flows through all levels in an organization, executives need to put themselves in situations where they are “shoulder-to-shoulder with their employees,” Méndez said, and encourage their leadership teams to do the same. “That visibility creates trust. If you don’t have that visibility, and if you’re in that ivory tower, in your office with the door locked, you’re not going to ever have that relationship.”Partee has added board-level sponsors to employee resource groups at DHL, putting those senior leaders in a position to “spend much more time with people of different identity groups, listening to them, hearing about what their challenges could be, and getting a different perspective.” Warren suggests expanding the use of 360-degree reviews and peer feedback to help close performance and communication gaps. He also cautions that prioritizing systems that check boxes rather than prioritizing people can complicate processes and erode trust. Historically Bayer has led its HR transformations with technology changes that enable processes, he says, but with their new self-organized team approach they are now “much more focused on the people first. The process and technology can follow.”Jessica Swenson is a freelance writer and editor based in the Midwest. Learn more about her at jmswensonllc.com.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Accelerating L&D With AI: How to Lead, Adapt, and Keep the Human Touch
BY Katie Chambers December 17, 2025Nearly 60% of HR leaders say AI adoption is one of their biggest challenges, yet the prospect of radically improving worker learning and development is a huge new opportunity. How can AI make L&D more individualized, efficient to produce, and integrated with the flow of work? Can it upskill workers more quickly than traditional methods and accelerate leadership development? Leaders shared their ideas on the subject during a panel discussion titled, “Accelerating L&D With AI: How to Lead, Adapt, and Keep the Human Touch,” at From Day One’s Miami conference. “The best companies in the world that are going to develop through this phase are the ones that train their people to use AI most effectively, not be scared of it, and embrace it,” said Dave Coldwell, global AI executive at Cisco. But that’s easier said than done. “With AI, like any new technology, there is some apprehension, and we all know that it’s a tool. It’s not human,” said moderator Paul Bomberger, independent journalist and former Miami Herald business editor. Leaders must maintain human connections with their teams while rolling out emerging technologies, and emphasize that these tools will never replace human workers—just augment them. “It doesn’t have innovation. It is good at giving you resources and instructions, but there’s the human aspect that we need too,” said Elyse Sitomer, learning & organizational development partner at Memorial Healthcare System.It can be hard to get “old school” industry leaders to get on board with the AI revolution. Alexandra Bautista, SVP of employee experience at Harvard Services Group, said the key is “helping them understand that it’s a tool to leverage your performance.” She has brought in speakers to share how AI can make the workday easier and reinforce that it’s a positive rather than something to be feared. Panelists suggest rolling out simple tools like Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT to get your general workforce more comfortable with artificial intelligence. These tools can simplify administrative tasks by summarizing email chains, creating agendas, or taking notes at meetings. From there, more complex AI educational software packages are no longer one-size-fits-all, but highly individualized, says Chris Narmi, chief strategist, AI and workflow at HP. These tools “recognize the strengths and weaknesses of an individual, track them through their learning process and customize their learning program.” And the training is often built in. “AI is unique in that it’s the first technology that can really teach you how to use it.”Innovative Uses for AI in the Workplace Gone are days of lengthy employee handbooks or boring onboarding videos. “What generative AI has allowed us to do at Cisco is personalize the training. [We have] the right training for the right people at the right time, and that’s led to developments in leadership, developments in creativity, and exponentially improv[ed] our salespeople’s engagement with the customers and partners that they’re dealing with on a day-to-day basis,” Coldwell said. “The thing that’s uniquely human is intuition, empathy, and purpose, which we don’t have just by using AI alone.” His organization has developed its own AI model, called Circuit, used by its 20,000 salespeople. “Instead of replacing people, it’s actually helping to skill up our new employees, but also for our existing employees, it’s helping empower them to be better.” Maria-Pia Barbona, VP of HR at Swatch Group, shares that in her previous role at LVMH, her team worked with tools like Yoodli, an AI speaking coach that let salespeople roleplay customer interactions. “You prompt your AI, you go into a FaceTime call with your AI, and there’s a person that you see there and you go in a roleplay,” she said. The platform lets associates practice difficult conversations and refine their techniques to make a sale. Managers were able to log in to see results, which helped them discover trends as to which areas required further training. Panelists spoke about "Accelerating L&D With AI: How to Lead, Adapt, and Keep the Human Touch" Narmi cautions that AI can provide solutions to customer issues, “but it lacks the empathy to understand the applicability of those answers, and you’ll learn that you need to apply your own judgment. The human piece is applying that [artificial] intelligence appropriately under a set of circumstances.” He advises engaging in active dialogue with AI to hone its answers, guiding it with your own human emotion and intuition. “I find it a collaborative process: it learns from me and gets better.”AI works best when it’s breaking down large swaths of information, providing summaries, and giving detailed explanations. Then you need to synthesize all of it in the complex, innovative, and nuanced ways that AI can’t. “I like AI for its immediacy. It gets the hard work out of the way,” Sitomer said. Narmi shares that he has developed a fleet of AI agents through Copilot to help him optimize his performance. “I have an executive assistant. I have an editor. I have a white paper writer.” At Harvard Services Group, Bautista and her team create GPTs that offer a customized learning path for new hires during the first 30, 60, and 90 days of their employment, creating a “learning culture” at the organization that did not previously exist. “We’re taking it to the next level, starting next year, and customizing based on performance conversations with the managers. Where are those skills gaps that this person may have? Do we want to get them to the next level? If so, what are the competencies that they need to have?” she said. Employee retention is the goal. “I think there’s no other way to tell our employees that we care than to tell them we see you. We want to develop you. We want you to grow.”Narmi advises that leaders remember that AI is just a tool; an organization’s biggest asset is still its human workforce. “Recognize that your talent, and the fundamental talent of the people that work for you, is imagination. You need to foster imagination and help people to understand that AI cannot perform that role,” he said. “Let it do the research but let people use their imagination with the AI to expand [their] ideas.” Or, as Coldwell put it, “AI is for speed. People are for direction.” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Giving Your Team the Space to Be Creative With AI, While Using Guardrails Too
BY Ade Akin December 12, 2025A common frustration voiced by Spanish-speaking grandmothers and mothers across the country sparked a revolution at GE Appliances. Their question was simple: “Why can’t a washing machine understand us?” Answering that question led to the company reimagining its corporate culture, talent pool, and approach toward innovation. The story of GE Appliance’s Spanish-language washing machines began with an employee resource group and culminated in defining the organization’s new corporate philosophy. “We created it in a way that those cultural nuances would be recognizable when you spoke to it,” Rocki Rockingham, the chief HR officer at GE Appliances, said during a fireside chat at From Day One’s Miami conference.For Rockingham, Spanish-speaking washing machines are more than a new product feature. It symbolizes a radical shift in how the organization approaches artificial intelligence and how it empowers the employees closest to customer issues to build solutions, valuing intellectual curiosity as much as technical expertise. From “Can’t” to “Can”: Redefining How Work Gets DoneCorporate functions, like human resources, were historically seen as guardrail enforcers, flagging processes that couldn’t be done with new technology, especially regarding data privacy. GE Appliances has a different approach. “We really took a different philosophy and said, ‘We’re not going to lead with can’t. We’re going to lead with can,’” Rockingham said. “We’re going to lead with ‘yes,’ then we’re going to work backwards,” she told moderator Tim Padgett, Americas Editor at WLRN-NPR News. Rocki Rockingham, CHRO of GE Appliances, spoke during the fireside chat This “work backwards” approach means giving teams access to new technologies and allowing them to experiment, ideate, and create without constraints. The goal is to push teams to be creative from the onset. “Don’t start the project thinking, ‘I can’t do this,’” she said. “Start the projects thinking ‘I can do whatever I want to do.’”Managing a Multigenerational Workforce Through Common GroundA significant challenge GE Appliances has faced as its new open philosophy is deployed is managing a workforce that spans five generations, from Baby Boomers to Gen Z. “They communicate differently, they think differently, they assimilate differently,” Rockingham said.GE Appliance’s strategy hasn’t been to force a single style on all these unique personalities, but to find common ground. “We look at what are the things they have in common, and try to create a crossroads and a balance there, and create a communication opportunity for them to then create together,” Rockingham said.This is vital when bringing teams with varying attitudes toward work together, from Baby Boomers' preference for traditional office spaces, to younger generations’ desire for flexible schedules and opportunities to work remotely. Generational gaps also exist regarding trust levels in technology, particularly newer ones. Rockingham observes that while younger employees aren’t more trusting of AI than their older counterparts, they’re “more willing to take chances. To try new things, to do things differently.” Gen Z employees, for example, grew up with advanced supercomputers in their pockets, which inherently influences their perspective on technology. GE Appliances encourages the use of technology like AI by giving everyone “permission to learn differently and to learn more.” Business solutions can then be created from the lessons discovered. The “Zero Distance” Philosophy and Micro EnterprisesGE Appliances uses a “zero distance” philosophy to formalize its culture of innovating by empowering employees. “We narrow the gap between where the work is done and the output, so between the customer and who creates,” Rockingham said. This encourages co-creation and gives employees a direct relationship with the outcomes of their work.The zero distance philosophy is structurally supported by breaking up the organization into micro-enterprises, which are small teams dedicated to a single product line, like washing machines. “We’ve pushed into that micro-enterprise to say, ‘Okay, you’ve got this AI technology. Now you, being subject matter experts in dishwashers, go and create an idea and tell us what AI can do within your business,’” Rockingham said. An AI Lab and an Emphasis on Intellectual CuriosityTo further support its zero distance initiative, GE Appliances created an internal artificial intelligence lab, staffed with experts who work solely on AI projects. Employees can consult with these experts for guidance, and partners from higher education institutions, like the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky, bring in professors for seminars and advanced students to hire and rotate through the lab, helping to address the challenges that come with the real-world application of AI. “What you want to do is you want to hire people who are curious,” Rockingham said. “You want to hire people who have an aptitude to think differently about how they work.” Doing so requires moving beyond traditional credentials and historically undervalued “soft skills.” “We’re having to dig deeper and look beyond just the credentials that are on the paper and say, ‘Well, how curious are you?’” she added.Humanizing Change, Not Just Managing It“The biggest thing I’ve learned is we have to stop managing change and start humanizing it,” Rockingham reflected when describing her experience helping to implement GE Appliances’ zero distance philosophy. This means creating an environment where people have the freedom to be creative and co-create, embracing the “zero distance” ideal.The change has helped Rockingham and her team to move beyond spreadsheets and rethink how they measure return on investment, focusing more on the talent profiles needed for recruitment and retention. The products that have been created under this new philosophy are the ultimate proof of concept. GE Appliances now uses co-creation centers, where the general public works alongside engineers and marketers to brainstorm and build. One such collaboration led to the creation of a small-batch mushroom grower that sold out within two months via crowd-sourcing, demonstrating a strong connection between public inspiration and commercial output. GE Appliances’ journey suggests that competitive advantages don’t always come from the best algorithms in the age of AI; they can also spring from a culture that asks grandmothers what they need from a washing machine, and addresses it head-on. Ade Akin covers artificial intelligence, workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Career Growth as a Key Ingredient for Employee Retention and Engagement
BY Carrie Snider December 08, 2025For decades, career advancement followed a predictable path: work hard, earn the next title, secure the next raise. But that’s no longer what most experience anymore. Ralph Nader, SVP and head of talent at IPG Mediabrands, put it plainly: “There are certain organizations or certain functions where it’s really easy to outline a very traditional career ladder. That said, that’s not reality for most.”Nader spoke on an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s Midtown Manhattan conference. Leaders explored one of the most critical drivers of employee engagement and retention: career growth. Nader encourages employees and leaders alike to rethink growth through a broader, more flexible lens. Inspired by the now-common “career jungle gym” idea, he emphasizes that sideways, diagonal, or even backward moves can be just as valuable as upward ones. “Stop thinking about the next promotion, stop thinking about the next paycheck,” he said. “Really think about what skills you have now, what skills are needed for the dream job that you want.” The same goes for companies; they should expand to focus on skill-building for employees.For employees feeling stuck simply because a promotion isn’t available today, Nader offers both reassurance and practicality. Progress doesn’t always come in the form of a new job description—but it can come through strategically building abilities that position you for the next opportunity. Closing the Skills Gap for a Post-Pandemic GenerationFor Tina Gilbert, VP of employer offering at Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT), the emerging workforce is shaped by experiences unlike any generation before it. As both a talent leader and a parent of college-age daughters, she has seen firsthand how Covid disrupted key developmental years. MLT’s mission, Gilbert says, is to help employers understand this shift while preparing young professionals to succeed. Many students missed out on traditional developmental experiences, from in-person communication to navigating professional environments. “We’re trying to help young people understand some of the skills that might have been not as well developed,” Gilbert said. At the same time, she emphasizes that the new generation brings powerful strengths of its own, including “a level of understanding, of empathy and just general curiosity.”The challenge and opportunity lie in reconciling what businesses expect with what young talent is prepared to deliver. This requires intentional design. Gilbert described the need for a clear and accessible “playbook” that explains expectations, models relationship-building, and outlines how to engage successfully in professional settings. “What are you writing down for them to read?” she asked. “What are those relationship-building skills that you are working on, and how are you delivering that?”Coaching and community are essential. Young employees won’t simply absorb these skills passively; they need support structures. Organizations must ensure “the coaching and then their peer connections” are in place to reinforce learning.Career Growth Through LearningFor Sachin Jain, managing director and global head of talent strategy at Citi, the foundation of a successful career can be summed up in a single word: learning. Throughout his professional journey, this principle has shaped every move he’s made. “Whenever I have an opportunity, I ask myself what will I be learning,” he said, “I would probably select a role which I’ve never done or which has the maximum amount of change from what I had done before.”The session was moderated by Jennifer Reingold, journalist and president of Jennifer Reingold AdvisorsLearning is about intentionally seeking out unfamiliar environments, new responsibilities, and diverse perspectives. The greater the difference between one role and the next, the greater the growth. “That’s what provides you a different perspective,” he said. “That’s what provides you a different set of learning.” This mindset, he says, allows employees to deliver better results, gain deeper satisfaction, and accelerate their long-term career trajectory. In practice, this means redefining how organizations and individuals think about advancement. Jain notes that employees who grew up in a world of gaming, levels, and visible progress want a transparent view of where they stand. “They want to know what level they’ve achieved, and therefore, what is the gap to their next move–whether that be lateral or vertical.” Learning, then, becomes both the path and the product. Building Skills, Not Just Job TitlesIn today’s rapidly evolving workplace, career growth is no longer defined solely by promotions or job titles. Melissa Fridman, SVP and people business partner at Visa, North America, emphasizes that developing a robust set of skills is critical for long-term success. “It’s becoming a lot more about what skills you have, versus what’s the particular job you had,” she said.Fridman encourages employees to embrace opportunities that stretch their abilities, even if they seem less glamorous than their current role. Reflecting on her own career, she shared, “I thought somebody asked me this like years ago, and my answer has remained the same: say yes. I said yes to things I actually did not want to do. They weren’t as interesting. They weren’t as glamorous. But I guarantee you, when you look back, you will have taken something from that.” The modern workforce also demands agility and adaptability, particularly as AI and other technologies redefine roles and responsibilities. Visa has even developed internal AI tools, like its Career Coach agent, to help employees identify skill gaps and create personalized development plans. “It literally spits out, here’s what you should focus on in the next month, next three months, next six months, and what you should aspire for in a year,” Fridman said. The tools are designed not to replace human effort but to enhance it, freeing employees to focus on learning, creativity, and strategic problem-solving.By prioritizing skill development over title advancement, employees can better navigate an unpredictable world while positioning themselves for meaningful and sustained success. “You could just keep sitting and waiting,” Fridman said, “but you’re going to be better off than when you started just sitting and growing in the same linear fashion.”Asking Smart Questions to GrowGrowth in the workplace requires understanding the context behind decisions and using that insight to improve. Melanie Naranjo, chief people officer at Ethena, recalls a pivotal moment that reshaped her approach. Following a meeting, her CEO pulled her aside and “challenged me to reframe her argument around business impact, not just HR metrics,” said Naranjo. This experience taught her the importance of tailoring communication to her audience, ensuring that proposals resonate with decision-makers. Naranjo emphasizes that learning also comes from asking the right questions. “Can you help me understand what would have needed to be true for you to say yes? What would you have wanted to see differently?” By probing thoughtfully, employees can gain clarity on expectations and identify actionable steps to improve performance. This approach transforms feedback from a one-way critique into a learning opportunity that guides career growth.By initiating these conversations early, employees demonstrate engagement and collaboration while also aligning their personal goals with organizational objectives. Cultivating curiosity and seeking guidance empowers professionals to make better decisions and develop new skills. Ultimately, career growth is the foundation for engagement, retention, and long-term success. Across industries, the message is the same: organizations that prioritize meaningful development, transparency, and adaptability create environments where employees thrive. By focusing on learning, skill-building, and strategic exploration, both individuals and companies can turn the uncertainty of today’s workforce into opportunity for tomorrow.Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
The Practical Power of AI in HR
BY Jessica Swenson December 03, 2025While human elements of leadership, storytelling, and empathy will always be essential in HR, the rapid evolution of AI technology has placed companies under continual pressure to integrate it into their daily operations—and fast. Many organizations focus their AI efforts on improving efficiency, which is undoubtedly a valuable approach. Janine Yancey, founder and CEO of Emtrain, uses AI at her organization to reduce the content generation time for its annual workplace culture report from 30 hours to six hours. Jason Ashlock, Kuehne + Nagel’s global head of organizational development, avoids using AI for conceptual work but has seen it utilized for task-based activities, such as slide design and dashboard updates.But Piyush Sarode, global head of HR for worldwide markets and pharmaceuticals at Bayer, believes that companies should focus on a broader strategic purpose and business objective than just efficiency. Bayer utilized AI to enhance training for its pharmaceutical sales representatives over the past 18 months, reducing training time by 80% and accelerating sales representatives’ access to potential clients. “Instead of a few days or a few weeks, [credentialing] can happen in as short a time as one hour,” he said during a panel discussion moderated by technology writer and editor Sage Lazzaro at From Day One’s Midtown Manhattan conference. “Think of the implication of this—it has freed up thousands of internal hours and [created] agility and speed for the business to deliver those outcomes,” said Sarode. Panelists spoke about "How HR Leaders Can Leverage AI to Make Their Work More Effective and Fulfilling"Yancey hopes to see HR leaders take the initiative to recommend where their organization could utilize AI and where humans should continue to lead. “I’d love to see HR leaders be the first to the table with those plans,” she said.Panelists had differing ideas on the best route to select and integrate AI technology successfully. Ashlock and team have “found the most success when the business, IT, HR, and P&L owners have cooperated around a clear definition of an identifiable use case that solves a known problem.” Then they upskill the associated team on the AI solution.Josh Newman, WPP’s global head of people strategy and experience, says that HR tends to focus more on training rather than business outcomes; he recommends starting with known deliverables and work architecture. “If you’re trying to start by identifying use cases for specific roles, you’re probably [not understanding] what the deliverables are and how they are made,” he said. “If you map out the work architecture, you can then pinpoint certain use cases to unlock capacity and give people more time to spend on higher-value work,” said Newman. Framing AI maturity in three stages—experimentation, productivity, and net-new innovation—fassforward CEO Gavin McMahon cautioned against spending too much time focused on productivity and not enough on innovation. To promote innovation, he suggests that curiosity and adaptability are key traits to cultivate in employees. “If AI automates some work, and makes us better at [other] pieces of work, it’s going to be really difficult for us to think about that net-new way of doing things,” McMahon said.According to Sarode, vision-setting and system-level thinking are crucial steps that allow teams to architect and catalyze innovative AI solutions. “It requires that, at some point in time, you really look at the system and ask, ‘What’s a bold vision on how we can be a better version of ourselves?’”Urging leaders to reflect on how they want their work or organization to be before rushing to implementation, Ashlock emphasized the importance of balancing vision with execution. “We don’t get many chances in a lifetime to be part of an epic, defining technological shift,” he said. Despite being at such an inflection point right now, many organizations are operating at top speed under enormous pressure without considering what they are creating for the future.On the topic of AI risk, governance, and guardrails, Yancey drew parallels to the early bring your own device model, which led to cybersecurity issues on corporate systems, and stated that this needs to be a major area of focus over the next couple of years. The average person doesn’t “think like an owner,” she said, “so they don’t think twice when they’re putting customer information, product information, and sales information” into AI systems that the enterprise may not even have approved.Panelists agreed that AI has a place in talent acquisition—primarily to streamline transactional, task-based actions—but, as Sarode said, human oversight remains vital to the recruiting and hiring process. “Thinking about AI as a replacement for a person is dead wrong,” said McMahon. “Thinking about it as something that can do some tasks intelligently for you is dead right.”Ashlock offered a closing piece of advice to HR professionals: “Ask [yourselves] three questions about any potential AI intervention, application, or implementation: does it build capability? Does it build clarity? And does it build care?”McMahon recommends using your anxiety as motivation to learn “as much as you can, as quick as you can.” You don’t need to be an expert, he says; the key is to start learning and experimenting now.Jessica Swenson is a freelance writer and proofreader based in the Midwest. Learn more about her at jmswensonllc.com.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
How Patagonia Became a Global Leader in Doing Well by Doing Good
BY Katie Chambers December 01, 2025Despite his great corporate success, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard doesn’t have a computer, cell phone, or email address. “[He] is a self-proclaimed dirt bag. He’s a mountaineer. He is most comfortable roaming in the wilds of Patagonia. He does not like to be governed,” said moderator Emma Goldberg, reporter at the New York Times. “So where did his ambition come from?” Goldberg asked David Gelles, reporter at the New York Times, and author of Dirtbag Billionaire: How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia, Made a Fortune, and Gave It All Away. Gelles and Goldberg spoke during a fireside chat at From Day One’s Midtown Manhattan conference.Turning Rock Climbing into Business Don’t let the title of the book fool you: “In the rock-climbing community from which he came, ‘dirtbag’ is actually the highest compliment. It refers to someone who’s so un-enamored with materialism that he’s literally content to sleep in the dirt if it means he’s that much closer to his next adventure, to his next climb,” Gelles said. What offends Chouinard is the other half of the book’s title: billionaire. “Ambition is a word that I think he has a very fraught relationship with. It’s important to know that he never set out to build a big company. It sort of happened by accident, and he had to make peace with it along the way,” Gelles said. His ambitions were to be away from people. “He did everything in his power to be in nature, to be rock climbing and fishing, and those are the places where he drew his product inspiration.”Gelles notes that Chouinard’s business is built upon paradoxes: a desire to protect the planet while leaving a significant carbon footprint due to the production of its products; an instinct to protect employees while never letting them hold equity; a hope to reduce mindless consumption while becoming a brilliant force for viral marketing. As his company grew into a multi 100-million-dollar business, Chouinard felt a responsibility to take care of his thousands of employees, says Gelles. “Patagonia only had one round of real mass layoffs in its career, and it was such a traumatizing experience to Chouinard and his family that they never wanted it to ever happen again” he said. “As a result, the company kept getting bigger by virtue of just the momentum.” Patagonia’s Corporate Values One of Patagonia’s keys to success is in its corporate values, which came naturally to Chouinard. “From a very early moment in his life and business career, Chouinard and his team understood what they cared about, and those things were very simple,” Gelles said. “They wanted to run a responsible business. They wanted to use their profits to preserve the natural environment, and that meant large-scale land conservation. They wanted to fund grassroots environmental activists. And they wanted to run a sort of company that they would want to work at.” This consistency is what helped instill Patagonia at top-of-mind among its competitors. “The reason Patagonia, although it’s a relatively small company, has such an outsized brand impact, such a big place in our collective imaginations, is because they kept doing the work. They kept coming back to those same values, and the values never changed.” David Gelles, author of Dirtbag Billionaire, was interviewed by Emma Goldberg, reporter at the New York TimesEven in times of political strife, Patagonia doubles down. “In 2017, Patagonia led a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its efforts to reduce the size of national monuments. At that moment, it went black on all its websites and put up a new image that said, ‘the President stole your land.’” Chouinard even appeared on CNN to decry the administration. Its resistance continues to this day, as current CEO Ryan Gellert calls out other corporations for bending the knee. “Patagonia has never been afraid to be political, and at this moment, continues to speak out when almost every other brand has gone silent,” Gelles said. They have the power to do this because the company is privately held and insulated from the pressure of a board of public shareholders. Of course, nothing is perfect. “The company scaled, and they toggled back and forth between the success of the business, the desire for quality products, and the desire to manage the growth. [There] were the moments where that balance went astray,” Goldberg said. Gelles says that while the title of Chouinard’s own book is “Let My People Go Surfing,” and the Ventura campus has showers and flexible hours for that very purpose, “Patagonia employees work really, really hard, and it is at times a very demanding and cutthroat place to work.”Chouinard experienced a crisis of conscience after being named to the Forbes list in 2017, and renounced his ownership of the company in 2022. “But in doing so, he made a very deliberate choice not to share the wealth with his employees. These are some people who had worked there for 50 years at that point. And when you think about his priorities, I would argue that the well-being of his employees is a part of a matrix, but it is not the primary goal for that company or this manager.” The Future of PatagoniaGoldberg posits whether the recent election of incumbent NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, can be seen as commentary on the next generation’s distrust of big business. “No,” Gelles said. “I know plenty of old people who are still optimistic and are still working hard to figure out how business can be a force for good. I also know tons of young amoral finance bros. So, no, I don’t think there's a generational divide. I think there’s a spiritual divide.” He notes that in an interview with the Financial Times, Mamdani counted Chouinard among the top of the list of business leaders who had earned his respect. Gelles hesitates to name which executives might become the next Yvon Chouinard. “Chouinard lived a singular life, and Patagonia is a singular company,” he said. “What I can say is that I see a lot of people wanting to be like Yvon Chouinard and Patagonia and realizing how hard it is. What Chouinard told me over and over again is that the moment you have external shareholders, the moment you take VC money or private equity money, or you go public, you are going to have a really hard time making good on your values, which is why, despite having the opportunity over and over and over to take outside capital, he always resisted it.” Now Chouinard, aged 87, is looking to the future. “He understands that Patagonia has served as a symbol for what the business community can do, and the potential that I think is inherent in capitalism as being a possible force for good. And at the end of the day, because he had such high standards, he is also at a very deep level dissatisfied, which is why he’s still pushing Patagonia to do the work.”He made waves when he announced his succession plan in 2022: the organization will remain for-profit, but its dividends will be donated to protect the planet. Per the company’s website: “Earth is now our only shareholder.” Gelles hopes other business owners will take note of Chouinard’s selflessness. “There are plenty of other philanthropic business leaders, and I think we’ll see more of them in the years ahead.” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
How Corporate Leaders Are Personalizing Well-Being for a Multigenerational Workforce
BY Ade Akin December 01, 2025A patient walks into a doctor’s office complaining of a persistent stomach ache. A traditional healthcare package might lead to specialists, scans, and tests, but what if the real issue isn’t physical at all? “If they’re able to talk about it, and they’re able to really understand what’s going on with them from a mental standpoint, behaviorally, it may just be they’re dealing with stress and anxiety,” said Joan Kronick, the VP of sales at One Medical. This story highlights a critical disconnect in today’s workplace, where the systems designed to support employees—from healthcare to benefits packages—are often incongruent with the lived experiences of a workforce that now spans five generations. Kronick spoke with other executives on the matter during a panel discussion at From Day One’s Midtown Manhattan conference. It Starts With CareJillian Morgan, the director of community and wellness at IPG Media Brands, saw her transition into a corporate role as a licensed clinical social worker as a natural evolution since both roles revolve around care. “We think about the human experience and the value that is inherent in every single being,” Morgan said. “Caring for your employees is essential. They are the backbone of your company. It’s not optional to take care of your employees, because you need them to thrive.”Panelists spoke about "Inclusive Well-Being Strategies for a Multigenerational Workforce" This philosophy set the tone for the panel discussion moderated by Tania Rahman, the social media director at Fast Company. The conversation, titled “Inclusive Well-Being Strategies for a Multigenerational Workforce,” brought together leaders from HR, benefits, and wellness departments to tackle a central question: how can companies design wellness strategies that meet everyone’s needs in an era that spans five generations of workers, from Gen Z to Baby Boomers. Morgan says the answer starts with a simple practice. “Listen first, design second,” she said. “Don’t assume the needs. Find out what the needs are.”Start by Listening, Then Listen Some MoreThe panelists all agreed that the foundation of any successful employee well-being strategy is a robust, multi-layered approach to employee listening. “People want to be seen, they want to be valued, and they want to be heard,” Morgan said. “So what are the spaces we create to actually listen?”Marina Vassilev, the VP and head of total rewards for North America at Schneider Electric, employs a variety of channels. “We use multiple channels of listening, pulse surveys, total reward surveys that we run every couple of years [in addition to] focus groups,” she said. “We have close partnerships with our employee resource networks, because they give us a great opportunity to understand any unmet needs of a specific group.”Alain Bernard, VP of corporate HR at Quest Diagnostics, emphasized the importance of equipping leaders to listen during team huddles and leveraging mobile technology for feedback. Jon Lowe, chief people officer at DailyPay, offered a more direct method. “Spend time with your frontline employees,” he urged, recalling his time at Amazon. “I typically would pack boxes during the holiday season.”Identifying Commonalities in a Diverse WorkforceWhile it’s essential to understand generational differences in the workplace, all employees share the same fundamental needs. “We’re not all that different anyway,” Bernard said. “When you really talk to people at the heart of the matter, you look at the financial crisis that people are dealing with. You look at the mental health challenges coming out of Covid.”Three areas consistently rose to the top during the conversation: mental health, flexibility, and financial wellness. Vassilev agreed, these needs manifest differently across generations, so a one-size-fits-all approach often fails. “From a benefits perspective, it sometimes manifests itself differently for financial well-being,” she said. “The offer that we have for individuals who are just joining the workforce is very different. We’re looking at student loans and credit card debt and saving for a mortgage, and then the individuals who are close to exiting the workforce need a lot of retirement consulting and advice.”Evolving Beyond an Outdated Benefits ModelThe conversation focused on moving beyond traditional benefits packages. Lowe challenged the audience to think more creatively about ways to deploy finite resources. “Dollars are fungible, right? And so the way that we seek to go and deploy those doesn’t have to fall into the traditional mold of what benefits are supposed to look like,” he said.Lowe questioned whether conventional offerings like vision care were as valuable to some employees as a streaming service subscription or a childcare subsidy would be. “If you understand the journey that your people are on, then you can start to go and figure out on that barometer of what creates the highest degree of utility for the scarce amount of resources that we have.”Benefits packages that allow holistic care and encourage preventive care, allowing employees to take ownership of their health journeys are essential, says Kronick. Determining if benefits programs are effective requires a mix of real-time feedback and data mining. Benard pointed to utilization rates, vendor management, and feedback. Vassilev described having success with large, anonymous virtual focus groups that even included manufacturing employees. The Role of AI in Mental HealthRahman cited a 2025 study that showed 49% of AI users who report mental health challenges use major large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude for therapeutic support. Around 63% of these people report that using LLMs improved their mental health, while 36% found AI programs more effective than human therapists. “It allows people to remove the stigma of having to ask for help,” Morgan said. However, she cautioned that AI lacks the nuance of a trained professional and should be used to navigate people to the right human help, not replace it. AI is used at One Medical as a tool to help providers listen more intently and transcribe conversations, not for diagnosis, says Kronick. Ultimately, to improve workplace well-being, Kronick emphasized grounding decisions in real evidence: “Look at your clinical data, really understanding where your employees are spending their time.” Vassilev agreed, highlighting the importance of employee listening. “Think about it holistically,” she said. Ade Akin covers artificial intelligence, workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
The Biggest Challenges (and Chances) for HR Leaders in 2026 and Beyond
BY Grace Turney November 25, 2025Ruth Ferguson, EVP and head of HR for consumer, small & business banking at Wells Fargo uses ChatGPT multiple times a day in her personal life, for everything from planning vacations to finding recipes, and other everyday tasks. This experimentation with AI outside the office, she says, is exactly what employees need to do to overcome their fears about AI. “It’s sort of like conquering all your fears,” Ferguson said during a fireside chat at From Day One’s Midtown Manhattan conference. “The more you use the prompts, the more you use your creative mindset on how to ask questions or challenge it. It’s so empowering to see the capacity that it frees up.” The conversation, moderated by Cadie Thompson, executive editor at Business Insider, explored how Wells Fargo is navigating AI adoption, generational workforce changes, and employee engagement during a time of rapid change. Embracing AI as an Enabler, Not a Threat The fear of AI is natural and rooted in historical precedent, says Ferguson. “A hundred years ago, we were a farming and manufacturing economy, and here we are, 100 years later, and those jobs have changed,” she said. But the key, she says, is developing skills and mindsets that AI cannot replicate. While AI excels at repetitive tasks and data amalgamation, humans bring critical reasoning, empathy, and nuanced decision-making to complex problems. “Some problems have multiple answers,” Ferguson said. “How you balance and prioritize on the spectrum of what’s important— that’s where the human mind comes in.” Leaders play a crucial role in helping employees understand that AI is a tool to assist them, not their replacement. When used properly, AI creates room for employees to use their higher-level thinking. Her advice for getting friendly with AI? Just start using it. At Wells Fargo, leaders encourage employees to practice with AI tools both at work and in their personal lives, embracing a “fail fast” mentality that builds comfort through experimentation. The Entry-Level Talent Advantage Despite efficiency pressures leading many companies to cap headcount and reduce middle management, Ferguson sees entry-level hiring as critical to Wells Fargo’s future. She serves on the board of Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, and recently witnessed students envisioning how AI could propel society forward in healthcare and beyond. “This generation graduating college and university, they’ve never known life without a cell phone or the internet,” Ferguson said. “We can learn from this generation.” Their native fluency with technology and optimistic view of AI’s potential position them to lead companies in creative problem-solving, which ultimately serves customers more effectively. However, this generation also presents distinct challenges. Ferguson identified focus and prioritization as the biggest hurdles. “We have raised a generation who are brilliant multitaskers,” she observed, describing young workers juggling multiple apps, learning TikTok dances, and scanning news simultaneously. “How do we focus? Because in corporate America, and in particular in banking, I need to be focused on my customer and client.” Redefining Workplace Loyalty The conversation turned to whether workplace loyalty still exists in an era of performance metrics and job-hopping. Ferguson’s answer: loyalty exists, but it is different. “Loyalty, spending 25, 30, 35 years at a company, doesn’t happen as much anymore,” she said. Instead, Wells Fargo defines loyalty through “mutual accountability and mutual success,” ensuring employees believe their individual success is tied to company outcomes, and vice versa. Ferguson of Wells Fargo was interviewed by Cadie Thompson, executive editor at Business Insider“If we approach loyalty from a purely timeframe perspective, the risk we run is people who are quiet quitters,” Ferguson said, describing employees who simply clock in and out without contributing meaningfully. In other words: workplace loyalty is not about time spent at a company, it’s about personal investment in it.This philosophy has helped Wells Fargo rebuild its culture. Ferguson, who joined in 2021, described how CEO Charlie Scharf’s unwavering commitment to building a culture of risk management and customer focus has unified the workforce. When the Federal Reserve’s asset cap was lifted earlier in the year, employees felt genuine pride in their collective accomplishment. Supporting Managers in a Changing WorkplaceFerguson’s biggest current challenge? Empowering burnt-out managers navigating unprecedented uncertainty. “Being a manager now doesn’t simply mean just getting the job done, but it does mean motivating a workforce,” she said. “Some of them are really tired, and they themselves are struggling.” Her remedy includes consistent appreciation, clear skill development pathways, and executive visibility. “If we don’t spend the time empowering our managers and training our managers, we will fall behind,” she said. Sometimes, she says, addressing the challenge is as simple as saying thank you and being present with teams, putting phones down, making eye contact, and truly listening to what’s on people’s minds. And that is exactly the type of human connection that AI cannot replace. Grace Turney is a St. Louis-based writer, artist, and former librarian. See more of her work at graceturney17.wixsite.com/mysite.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
How to Introduce and Leverage AI at Work Without Stirring Up Resistance
BY Ade Akin November 24, 2025The rise of generative AI at work brings excitement, uncertainty, and a touch of paranoia, from fears of job security, to leadership’s ethical concerns, and worries of its power. David Wishon, SVP of talent management at Lionbridge, says the key to successfully rolling out AI at work is surprisingly simple. “We started with carbonara recipes, and what dogs should you have in a New York apartment,” Wishon said during a panel on AI adoption at From Day One’s Boston conference. “We started with fun, and then that created this momentum.”This playful approach was central to Lionbridge’s strategy for demystifying AI. The company addressed employee fears about AI by giving each employee a goal to accomplish with generative AI for the year, says Wishon. Lionbridge trained 4,500 of its 6,500 employees in a few months by starting with low-stakes, personal use cases for AI, before transitioning to work-related tasks. “It was really just trying to get that sense of fun, that sense of permission,” he said. Demystification and the Soft LaunchWhile Lionbridge opted to introduce AI with structured, company-wide training, other organizations embraced a subtler approach. “Ours was almost more like a soft launch,” Michelle Randall-Berry, the global head of talent at Teradyne, said. “We didn’t go through a lot of discussion and approvals. We just did it.”Teradyne’s talent acquisition teams and learning department quietly integrated AI with gentle “nudges,” such as personalized course recommendations for employees and automated messages to potential hires. “It was kind of more of a quiet, ‘wow, believe it or not, we’re using AI, everyone,’” Randall-Berry said about Teradyne’s subtle approach to AI integration.Streamlining Workflows and Enhancing PerformanceAnkit Saxena, the global head of people insights and HR technology at PPG, says AI’s most significant impact in most organizations is increased efficiency. PPG, an international manufacturing company, created its own version of ChatGPT called “Chat PPG” for internal use, providing employees with unbiased, vetted information. Panelists spoke with Janelle Nanos, assistant business editor for news innovation, the Boston Globe about "How HR Leaders Can Leverage AI to Make Their Work More Effective and Fulfilling"PPG accelerated its hiring cycle by delegating processes like interview scheduling and candidate screening to artificial intelligence. “Instead of X number of days, it is reduced to X minus 10,” Saxena said.The benefits of embracing artificial intelligence extend to performance management, a traditionally time-consuming process for managers. “Performance reviews can take several hours,” Marissa Gladstone, the director of sales at Workleap, said. AI tools can aggregate an employee’s work, projects, goals, and feedback, into a holistic summary in minutes. This changes the manager’s role from data collector to coach, allowing them to focus on “true relationship building.”The Human Guardrails: Bias, Fraud, and BurnoutAI integration into organizational processes also brings some inherent risks, particularly around biased algorithms and candidate fraud. All five panelists unanimously agreed that artificial intelligence is most efficient when it assists the hiring process, but doesn’t make final decisions. “We determined that we weren't going to use AI for assessment and decisioning of candidate quality,” Wishon stated, pointing to ongoing legal cases such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) vs. iTutor Group in 2022. iTutor agreed to pay a $365,000 settlement after its AI system was found automatically rejecting applications from women over 55 and men over 60. Saxena outlined a three-part governance framework used to prevent AI from inheriting bias at PPG: verifying data sources, scrutinizing vendor algorithms, and continuously evaluating outcomes for discriminatory patterns.AI is creating a new frontier of fraud that hiring managers must look out for. Wishon described “impostors or dreamers” who use large language models to fabricate resumes and answer interview questions in real time. Wishon also points out the rise of “collusion,” where data centers use artificial intelligence to imitate individual candidates. In response, Lionbridge now uses identity and email verification checks to filter for “viable, authentic, accurate candidates.”Wishon says the most unexpected challenge he’s faced working with artificial intelligence is what he terms “AI burnout.” He says the initial efficiency gains AI brings have a lifespan and cannot accelerate human-centric elements like socialization, change management, or navigating company culture. AI as Your Sparring Partner, Not Your ReplacementDespite the challenges of integrating artificial intelligence into company processes, AI works best as a collaborative tool rather than a replacement for human intelligence, creativity, and intuition, the panelists agreed. AI’s role is to empower, not replace, the human workforce. Gladstone, who admits to her own moments of fear, now sees AI as an essential partner. “AI is not going to replace you. People who use AI will,” Gladstone said. “AI is your first draft. AI is your sparring partner. It is something that helps you develop some of those ideas. It takes away that analysis paralysis.”“Just dip your toe in,” said Randall-Berry, who recently coached a nervous team member on using Copilot to refine a memo. That same team member couldn’t get enough of AI once she got past her initial hesitation. “She was absolutely floored,” Randall-Berry said. “And then she kept asking it, ‘Can you do this? Can you add this?”Ironically, the ultimate destination of AI integration is a profoundly more human workforce, where employees focus on tasks that require a human touch, while AI handles repetitive, manual tasks. Less administration, more human connection. Fewer processes, more creativity. Ade Akin covers workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
The CHRO’s Emerging Role in Leading Digital Transformation
BY Carrie Snider November 19, 2025HR used to be about managing people. But now, it’s about shaping the future of organizations. At From Day One’s Boston conference, Lauren Rusckowski Duprey, the chief HR officer at the global pharmaceutical maker Takeda, discussed her experience that shows how CHROs are becoming central to digital transformation and organizational change. Duprey’s own career shows how dramatically the CHRO role has evolved. She began in management consulting, focused on commercial problems, sales, marketing, new product launches. But she soon realized that even those business challenges actually were people problems. “They were leadership problems, they were organization problems, they were culture problems,” she told session moderator Amy Bernstein, editor-in-chief of Harvard Business Review.That insight changed her entire career path. Duprey joined Takeda about six years ago as head of HR for the U.S., eventually becoming CHRO. “If you asked me, 15 even 20 years ago, if I thought I would have a career in HR, I probably would have asked you, what is HR?” she said. “But I think that’s the neat thing about careers and all of our journeys—they take you in unexpected places.”Leading Through Crisis, and Learning From ItWhen Duprey started at Takeda, the company was navigating a major integration following its acquisition of Shire. Not long after, Covid hit. She volunteered to lead the company’s U.S. crisis committee, not realizing how all-consuming it would become.“It was a great sort of leadership lesson in staying humble, listening to others, to experts, not panicking, keeping composure, but taking things very seriously,” she said. “And communicating and building trust with employees and everyone else around us.”Lauren Rusckowski Duprey, the CHRO of Takeda, spoke with Amy Bernstein, editor-in-chief of Harvard Business ReviewFor Duprey, the heart of the CHRO role is problem-solving. Whether navigating a crisis, a transformation, or emerging technologies, she sees her role as helping the organization decide whether it was a challenge or an opportunity. “In most cases, it’s a bit of both,” she said. Right now, the problem to solve is AI. “It’s this amazing opportunity, and it’s really neat to see what it can do,” she said. “But it's a challenge too, and it’s a people challenge.” The Role of Tech in Leadership Bernstein asked Duprey what new skills she’s relying on today that she didn’t need seven years ago. Her answer came quickly: technology.“I don’t consider myself to be like a great technologist,” she said. “I hang on to my version of the iPhone for way longer than is relevant.” But in today’s landscape, you’ve got to know the tech, she says. That doesn’t mean as an HR leader you need to become an engineer. “You don’t have to know the ins and outs of it.” However, you should know how to relate to it. “You must be able to shape it, help to frame it, and help to move others along through it.”One example is Takeda’s AI-powered talent marketplace. A few years ago, her team proposed it. She wasn’t entirely sure what that meant at the time, so the team explained it, pushed for it, and she chose to trust them, even if she didn’t fully understand it at first. “And I’m so glad we did.”For Duprey, leading digital transformation is less about technical mastery and more about staying curious, surrounding herself with experts, and being willing to experiment. “If you don't have ChatGPT on your phone for personal use, you should do that, and then play with it.”A New Role: Chief Transformation OfficerRecently, Duprey gained an additional title: Chief Transformation Officer. This role signals a major shift in how organizations see HR.At Takeda, the new title coincides with a leadership transition and an opportunity to rethink the company’s future. “It’s multifaceted,” she said. “There is a very large technology component to it. There’s an enormous cultural component to it.”The new role has also strengthened her position inside the C-suite. “This, just even in the couple of months, has positioned me much more squarely as part of the team,” she said. Some executive colleagues now explicitly tell her, “I’m talking to you right now, not as CHRO, but as this other role.”Looking Ahead: HR as a Strategic Partner Not all C-suite colleagues respond to change in the same way. Some are enthusiastic; others are looking at their watch. Duprey approaches this with patience and persistence. Transformation, she says, requires seeing the long game whether one year, five years, or ten.“You will have people that doubt it,” she said. “You’ll have people that raise questions that you don’t know the answer to. And that’s okay. Just keep getting that feedback and keep moving through.”Ultimately, Duprey believes the CHRO is no longer a supporting role, instead it’s central to the organization’s future. As technology accelerates and workforces evolve, HR is uniquely positioned to lead with perspective, empathy, and strategic clarity.“Technology is forcing it,” she said. “Every company is going to have to rethink and look at how they’re operating, how roles are really structured.” And HR, she says, should be helping them do exactly that. In the years ahead, the CHRO will be one of the most influential voices shaping how companies adapt, compete, and grow.Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Balancing Cost, Impact, and Personalization in Employee Benefits
BY Jessica Swenson November 19, 2025In the face of steadily rising healthcare costs, innovation in benefits programming is key to meeting the evolving needs of today’s workforce. At From Day One’s Boston conference, employee benefits leaders discussed the innovative approaches some companies are taking to provide relevant benefits to their employee populations while attempting to neutralize cost.By evolving its employee feedback program from an annual survey to a multi-layered employee listening strategy, Marina Vassilev, VP and head of total rewards and performance at Schneider Electric, has created an ongoing conversation that has boosted employee trust in its benefits strategy. “Now we are using different channels and different tools to get employee feedback, and account for that as we build our strategy. We are also partnering with an organization that looks at how our employees value our benefits,” she said. Schneider’s shift from broad industry benchmarking to a more personalized approach informed by employee pulse surveys, focus groups, and quarterly office hours allows Vassilev to stay closely connected to employees and their needs.Highlighting the challenge of offering robust benefit plans without causing confusion, Laura Welz, VP of U.S. total rewards at Sun Life says that it is essential to make benefits less intimidating through simplified communication.She recently facilitated the company’s first employee panel focused on benefit spending and allocation, which she believes helped demystify the process for others. “Having other employees hear directly from their peers was a great way to simplify and make things feel a little more manageable, so folks understood that it’s not as complicated as it may seem.”Proactive Mental Health Support“It’s easy, in a world where constant transformation and new global events are taking up the news, to forget that we’re in a mental health crisis,” said Nick Taylor, co-founder and CEO of Unmind. Taylor is a strong advocate for rethinking mental health as a strategic performance priority rather than something to be treated only in a state of crisis. “Within any population in this room, for 75% of the workforce, we should be focusing on promoting well-being.” He added that Harvard and Oxford Universities have recently published studies showing the correlation between employee well-being and organizational productivity.The session, titled, " In Employee Benefits, Balancing Cost Efficiency with Good Employee Outcomes" was moderated by Paris Alston, co-host, Morning Edition at WGBHAt Schneider and Sun Life, employees can utilize sabbatical programs that reinforce permission to fully disconnect from work and prioritize themselves and their families. Both companies find that these programs help them attract talent and boost retention while deriving other organizational benefits from improved employee well-being.“Employees are saying that they choose Schneider as an employer, and they stay with us as employees, because they’re looking forward to their [sabbatical]. So it’s clearly a retention and attraction lever for us,” said Vassilev. “It’s helping the business financially, and it’s allowing employees to focus on mental health and personal priorities.”“I think we all feel the sense of responsibility that things are going to fall apart if we’re not at work,” said Welz. “And it’s a bit freeing for employees to know that they can actually step away.” The program directly helps with talent recruitment and retention, she added, and helps maintain mental wellness. “There’s not a time that our employees don’t rave about the program.”Another tool helping employees get time back is AI. John Grossman, a physical therapist and clinical specialist at Sword Health, is grateful for the increased data and time that he receives from the company’s use of AI. Sword Health offers AI-powered home-based physical therapy solutions to its members. “It’s not taking me out of it; it’s giving me more information to be able to help these people, and makes it way more convenient for them.”Taylor calls AI “the new member of the multi-disciplinary team.” With clinical rigor, transparency, and in alignment with the World Health Organization’s guidelines for the ethical integration of AI, it could help bridge provider supply-demand gaps in preventive mental healthcare.Personalized Benefit Options While Maintaining a BudgetOne way that Schneider Electric employees gain some direct control over their benefit offerings is through the company’s Benefits Bucks program—a flexible credit that employees can allocate toward benefits that best suit their needs, like savings planning accounts, sabbatical programs, and additional PTO. “Everyone has different preferences and different needs,” said Vassilev. “When we give them that opportunity to make the selections that work best for them, we're being most useful for them and we're being mindful of our resources.” At Sword Health, Grossman understands that no two people are the same, and no two conditions are the same either. The company utilizes AI on its digital platform to ensure that everyone has offerings specific to their needs, he says. From women’s pelvic health to injury avoidance, and pain prevention, AI helps them personalize needs and “give them the exact tools, resources, support that they need to go through recovery.”To ensure a positive return on investment and mitigate growing costs, Vassilev takes a multi-layered approach to vendor management. “We look closely at the ROI they can bring to us, whether they’re a good fit for our ecosystem, and how we can integrate with them,” she said. By conducting regular RFP reviews and auditing existing contracts, Sun Life ensures it is getting the best value and modern offerings from its vendors. “It's really important that we are looking at the market, that we are making sure that we're getting not only the best services, technology platforms, but that we’re also getting the best prices,” said Welz.Jessica Swenson is a freelance writer and proofreader based in the Midwest. Learn more about her at jmswensonllc.com.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Epic Disruptions? They’ve Happened Before. Here’s What We Can Learn From Them
BY Ade Akin November 18, 2025What can a 19th-century nurse teach us about AI? Everything, says innovation expert Scott Anthony. Florence Nightingale is remembered as a compassionate caregiver, but Anthony, a clinical professor at Dartmouth University, recast her as a master of systemic disruption at From Day One’s Boston conference during a fireside chat with Adi Ignatius, editor at large, at Harvard Business Review.“She drove deep systemic change in healthcare,” Anthony said. “She did it through data. She did it through visualization. She shows us what it takes to drive system change.” Anthony, the author of Epic Disruptions: 11 Innovations That Shaped Our Modern World, says that the principles behind history’s most significant innovations are the tools needed to build a more human-centric future as AI disrupts life as we know it. Florence Nightingale and the Art of System ChangeHistory offers “fiercely urgent teachings” for modern executives, providing a map to follow when the path forward is obscured, says Anthony.Anthony signed copies of his book, Epic Disruptions: 11 Innovations That Shaped Our Modern World, for session attendees “We’re in a world right now that can be characterized as being shrouded in dense fog,” he said. “You have technologies advancing exponentially. Lines between industries, blurring expectations of your customers, your colleagues, your children, shifting very rapidly, and shock after shock coming after you.” The natural human tendency is to slow down in these conditions, yet the modern imperative is to move faster than ever. He cites Florence Nightingale to illustrate how to drive meaningful change, noting she was a powerful systems innovator, not just the “lady with the lamp.”Nightingale’s work highlights that leaders can’t just do one thing to change systems; change always requires a multifaceted approach. “HR executives need to drive system change in your organizations,” Anthony said. “Florence Nightingale shows the components for how to do it.”Disruption as a Path to OptimismThe conversation naturally turned to the most significant source of disruption in the modern era: artificial intelligence. “AI is one of these ones where you’ll say there was a before [and] there was an after,” he said, placing artificial intelligence in the same category as the compass, gunpowder, and the printing press.Anthony acknowledges the messy middle that such transformations often entail, drawing a parallel to the 1920s, when automobiles flooded cities designed for pedestrians, horses, and carriages. Such disruption required new technology (traffic lights), new norms (sidewalks), and new regulations. “We will need these things for AI as well,” he said, warning that a hands-off approach during periods of immense transformation is a “horrible thing.”Leaders must also contend with the deep fears many people have regarding artificial intelligence. Anthony teaches a class on generative AI at Dartmouth, and even in a risk-free, pass-fail environment, “at least half of the class is terrified because there’s something about AI that we feel like hits our humanity, and if we adopt it too much, we lose something, ”he said. Acknowledging and addressing this fear is an executive responsibility.The Innovator’s Mindset“Disruption rewards patience and perseverance,” Anthony said. “There are no overnight successes. It just doesn't happen.” Like in the case of American chef and author Julia Child, who finally published her first cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, after spending a decade working on it, going through multiple publishers, and a near-death experience. The key for leaders is to be “patient for growth and profits,” but “impatient for proof points.”Anthony highlights the ability to embrace paradox as the single most important trait of leaders who successfully navigate disruption. He illustrated this mindset through a former Procter & Gamble executive who drove disruptive growth for products like Swiffer® and Febreze®, creating entirely new categories in household products.“Ghosts,” as Anthony calls it, or the invisible forces of past traumas, present patterns, and future fears, hold organizations back. Ghosts can manifest as a fixation on past IT failures, inertial routines that stifle experimentation, or the existential fear that adopting AI will change an organization’s identity. To combat these ghosts, Anthony points to a ritual used at Airbnb called “elephants, dead fish, and vomit.” “Elephants, what are the big things that nobody's talking about? Dead fish, what are the things that are in the corner of the room that are stinking up the room? Vomit, what's the stuff that you just need to say?” This practice, he says, helps bring unspoken friction to the surface so it can be addressed.Anthony ended the conversation with a final piece of advice, an anecdote from 1548, when King Edward VI issued a proclamation “against those that doeth innovate.” While such unproductive regulations are less likely to be issued today, Anthony says the fears that drove them are still prevalent. “My ask for you is to find ways to replace that fear with fun. When we’re playing, when we’re experimenting, when we’re trying new things, everything changes.”Ade Akin covers workplace wellness, AI, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Gen Z on the Rise: Engaging and Retaining Talent for Long-Term Success
BY Katie Chambers November 17, 2025When you think of a Gen Z employee, what do you envision? For some, said moderator Katie Johnston, reporter at the Boston Globe, there are positive stories: “They are good at technology, and they love to learn, and they emphasize work-life balance, which is good for everybody in the workplace.” But there are some negative stories too: job applicants who won’t return calls, candidates who ghost interview appointments, a disregard for return-to-work policies, or even new hires who don’t come to their first day of work. How can leaders support this generation, cultivate their skills, understand and embrace their differences, and set them up for success? Leaders, including moderator Johnston of the Boston Globe, spoke during a panel discussion at From Day One’s Boston conference to address the topic. Guiding the Youngest GenerationPanelists share that Gen Z workers are some of the most empathetic and innovative they have encountered. Parker Pell, co-founder of Abode, says that it was a Gen Z intern at Spotify who created the platform’s viral sensation “Spotify Wrapped.” Cheri Hurtubise, head of university & diversity recruiting, Americas & talent acquisition manager at Siemens Healthineers says she enjoys mentoring this generation of workers. “Opportunities for coaching abound, but it's a really great population to work with,” she said. Some of those opportunities include, for example, teaching basic phone etiquette that came more naturally to older generations, says Diana Frascella, VP of talent acquisition at DraftKings. Many of Gen Z’s challenges, Johnston says, stem from the pandemic, which caused many of them to miss out on formative in-person social and professional growth opportunities at school or work. This can be mitigated through better onboarding training among managers. Panelists shared their insights on supporting Gen Z in the workforce Leaders should not assume new hires will know how to dress for the office or communicate appropriately over Slack, email, or Zoom, says Frascella. “This is also a generation, more so than others, that really craves feedback,” Frascella said. “That’s a nice way for managers to be able to reinforce the positive behaviors that we need to see at work, or also sharing, ‘This is not acceptable,’ or, ‘Here's how you could have done it better.’ We can’t hold people accountable for things we are not telling them.”Gen Z craves stability, says Hurtubise, but due to a disrupted pandemic upbringing and the 9% unemployment rate among 18 to 23-year-olds, they are reluctant to trust established structures.They crave face-to-face interaction, even though they don’t always know how to navigate it. Hurtubise suggests mentoring and educating young employees on the context behind their work, to give them a sense of purpose and avoid boredom while doing entry level work. “Focus on skills and competencies. What is it that you’re learning? What are the things you’re contributing to? They are a purpose-driven generation. If you show them a path that has purpose, they will engage with your company a lot longer.” Pell’s organization found in a survey of employees, only 3% of young new hires shared that they felt like they had been “overcommunicated with” by leaders. “They want more and more communication,” he said. “I think having multiple mediums with which you share this information is of utmost importance.”A New Definition of Achievement Gen Z’s desire for long-term career growth can be paired with rewards and recognition programs, says Erika Marder, head of global R&D HR at Takeda. The organization has a talent marketplace that offers not only new internal role opportunities but also stretch projects. “Maybe they want to sample something and get some new experiences and get some achievement from that without making maybe a full commitment, or they want to look for a new opportunity. That’s one way that we promote learning,” she said. And since Gen Z is so purpose-driven, Takeda allows employees to put their rewards points toward charitable giving in addition to traditional swag prizes. Siemens Healthineers also offers “micro-credentials” for entry-level employees, says Hurtubise. For example, interns get a certificate upon completion of their graduation, which she notes is especially valued by international workers. And because Gen Z is more hesitant when networking than previous generations, the company also offers more structured connection opportunities through employee resource groups (ERGs). In terms of compensation, Edward Zaval, chief customer officer at DailyPay, says Gen Z’s expenses don’t align with traditional pay cycles. “There’s a fundamental disconnect between the way Gen Z lives their lives and how they’re paid. They have this on-demand world, yet their payroll is stuck on this archaic two-week cycle,” Zaval said. “The other thing is that they are more likely not to want to delay experiences. When my kids decide today, on Tuesday, that they want to go to a concert this weekend, they’re going to go,” he said.The gig economy is an extension of this. “Employers, take note: Your Gen Z employees have a side hustle,” Zaval said. “They are getting paid daily. [Then] they’re taking that expectation and they’re carrying it over into the general workforce.” Through independent surveys, Zaval has found that one third of Gen Z employees would consider leaving their current position in favor of flexibility or getting paid more frequently. Financial instability is impacting most generations in the workforce, but Gen Z is feeling it most acutely. “We want to take them on a journey that begins with, for example, on-demand pay or earned wage access, where we give them no-fee options to help them avoid late payment, penalties, [and] interest,” said Zaval. From there, provide education on cash flow management, savings, credit cards, retirement saving, and even health insurance, since many are still on their parents’ plans until age 26. This should be paired, Hurtubise says, with transparency on compensation and promotion opportunity timelines, so that young employees can realistically envision and plan for their future. The Culture of the Future“This generation, even more so than others, really cares about what their company stands for,” Frascella said. Gen Z employees show up to work as their full selves, and expect their company to be transparent in its identity in return. She suggests amplifying executive thought leadership, making statements on current events, and being transparent about corporate social responsibility as ways to better engage with younger workers. This can also mean giving workers a say in how they give back. “We allow our employees to vote for the charities that we’re going to support worldwide, and we have huge participation,” Marder said. “[And] we allow volunteer time off [and] have a very robust matching program.” Your interactions with, plans for, and opportunities to collaborate with Gen Z should all consider this generation’s unique perspective, technological prowess, and disrupted upbringing. “They have long-term visions and goals too,” Pell said. “Their whole life has been unstable. I think it’s a misnomer to think that they’re just thinking about short-term wins and short-term benefits and short-term successes. They’re really looking at what stability could look like at your organization.”Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
The Power of Personalization in Workplace Well-Being
BY Carrie Snider November 13, 2025Workplace well-being starts with a simple but powerful idea, according to Larry Baider, VP of talent management, leadership & learning at AmeriHealth Caritas: it’s helping people flourish. “When we come to work, we’re not leaving parts of ourselves at home,” he said. “If people are going to flourish, we need to create infrastructures and mechanisms to help them do that, and it’s really our responsibility if we want to help them be successful,” he said during an executive panel discussion about personalizing well-being at From Day One’s Philadelphia conference. That philosophy has guided AmeriHealth Caritas in developing a holistic approach to employee well-being. Through partnership, the company worked to expand mental health support and launched Parallel, a new program offering assistance for caregivers, recognizing that employees often juggle caring for children, parents, and themselves. Baider also highlighted the importance of human connection, noting the company’s formal mentoring program and thriving associate resource groups, including those for veterans and emerging leaders. Flourishing also means growth and alignment, he says. AmeriHealth Caritas has reimagined its talent development to be skills-based, encouraging employees to learn, apply, and reflect on new skills. Leaders have modernized performance management by reducing ratings and focusing instead on connecting people better to the organization’s priorities through cascading goals.Personalization plays a crucial role in all of this, says Baider. Through AI-driven engagement surveys and adaptive learning tools, the company gains insight into individual and group needs. “It’s really about taking an ongoing, evolutionary approach to what you offer employees,” he said. Comprehensive, Personalized CareAs a physical therapist, John Grossman, clinical specialist at Sword Health, understands how truly unique individuals are. “No two people are the same,” he said. “They both could have back pain. We treat them completely differently.” That belief drives Sword Health’s mission to create technology-enabled, customized care that meets individuals where they are.Sword Health focuses on musculoskeletal (MSK) health, one of the top drivers of healthcare costs in the U.S., accounting for more than $400 billion annually. Their goal, Grossman says, is to help employers contain costs while improving employee well-being. The company’s virtual care model has proven highly effective, showing a 3.2:1 ROI, a 70% decrease in surgery intent, and a 64% reduction in depression. “It’s important that you partner with strategic partners that are able to show you that and justify that,” he said.Ximena Conde, reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, moderated the discussion Technology plays a critical role in delivering this personalized experience. Sword’s AI clinician, Phoenix, offers pre- and post-session, bi-directional communication with the members when they’re at home, while real-time biofeedback ensures that users perform exercises correctly. Physical therapists then use this data to “adjust, tailor, and modify a program for a member as they go through it,” Grossman added.Sword’s platform also accounts for each individual’s unique needs. “Someone who is a desk worker, someone who is in a warehouse—they’re going to need two different programs,” Grossman noted. “We’ve created programs that take into account the member’s goals, work demands, hobbies, and condition.” This helps to ensure that every participant receives the right support to reach their goals.Supporting Modern Family and Financial NeedsToday’s employees are looking for more than just a paycheck and a 401(k), panelists agreed. As Kendra Griffith, employee health & benefits client executive at Marsh McLennan Agency, says, “It’s no longer that kind of traditional paycheck and a 401(k)—that’s not the holistic financial need of the employee.” With more dual-income households than ever before, employers are being called to support the full spectrum of their workers’ financial and family responsibilities.Griffith highlighted paid leave as one of the most meaningful ways companies can make a difference. “I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention paid leave: paid leave for maternity, paternity, caregiving situations, adoption,” she said. “When employees feel financially supported to grow their families, they’re going to be more motivated to return to work and feel engaged through their employer.”Childcare has also become a critical focus area. Griffith described the cost of childcare in the U.S. as at a crisis, noting that employees are often forced to choose between their careers and family needs. Forward-thinking organizations are addressing this by offering childcare subsidies, on-site daycare, emergency care options, or even lifestyle accounts to help cover dependent care and other family-related expenses.These benefits do much to strengthen retention and engagement. As Griffith put it, “There are all these ways to impact the financial well-being of families that work for your organizations and contribute to your organizations.” Personalized Financial SupportSimilarly, at New York Life, personalization is built into the company’s financial well-being strategy. “This is an area where personalization matters deeply,” said Catherine DaGrossa, corporate VP of HR. Recognizing that employees’ financial needs vary across life stages, the company takes a multi-layered approach to provide meaningful, flexible options.One of the standout programs is New York Life’s student loan repayment benefit. Employees can earn $170 a month, up to $10,200 with no waiting period, DaGrossa says. This initiative directly helps relieve financial stress for employees managing educational debt while encouraging long-term financial stability. To complement this, New York Life offers one-on-one financial counseling to help them clarify their financial goals and develop confidence. Together, these benefits have made a measurable impact, with more than $14 million has been distributed through the student loan program alone.Beyond immediate support, New York Life invests in long-term educational and financial growth. Programs like tuition reimbursement, academic advising, and expanded group benefit solutions—covering critical care, accident, and hospital indemnity insurance—allow employees to make choices that fit their personal and family circumstances.The key, DaGrossa says, is intentional design. “One of the human truths is that employees want choice. Start with listening and then build it with inclusivity in mind.” By aligning financial benefits with individual goals, New York Life empowers employees to feel more secure, supported, and in control of their futures.Flexibility and Employee ConnectionCreating a culture of well-being starts with meeting employees where they are—literally and figuratively. At NFI Industries, flexibility and connection are central to that mission. “We’re a 24/7 organization,” said Melissa Winkelman, SVP of HR at the company. “So flexibility looks different for us. It’s about giving employees more control over their time, even in a nonstop environment.”To achieve that, NFI has adopted mobile technology that allows employees to request time off, trade shifts, and manage their schedules from their phones. “For our frontline workers, that’s been huge,” Winkelman said. “They can make adjustments on the go, which helps reduce stress and improve work-life balance.” The ability to manage schedules digitally also minimizes administrative bottlenecks and improves communication between managers and employees.Connection is another cornerstone of NFI’s well-being strategy. Through employee resource groups (ERGs) and peer networks, the company fosters inclusion, builds trust, and strengthens engagement. “We rely on our ERGs not just for cultural connection, but also for communicating wellness initiatives,” Winkelman said. “They help us reach people who might not check email every day but still need access to the same information.”These efforts are paired with listening tools like engagement surveys and stay interviews to ensure the company remains responsive. “We want to understand what our people value and what’s missing,” Winkelman said. By integrating flexibility, communication, and feedback, NFI creates a workplace where employees feel seen, supported, and connected, no matter their role or location.The panelists agreed that there is power in personalization. Companies are realizing that personalization isn’t a trend, rather it’s very much needed for workplace well-being. Whether through customized health programs, flexible scheduling, or targeted financial support, companies that listen to their employees and design benefits that reflect their unique needs see stronger engagement, higher retention, and greater overall satisfaction. Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Balancing Technology and Humanity in Recruiting Today’s Workforce
BY Jennifer Yoshikoshi November 13, 2025Allied Universal Security Services hired a candidate for a recruiting role that had a “fantastic” resume but limited recruiting experience. She played sports in high school and college, worked as a lifeguard, and had skills in sales. Although she didn’t check off all the boxes, her values and mindset made her the top candidate. Kelly Hunter, vice president of global talent acquisition at Allied Universal Security Services emphasized that while many companies use skills-based hiring methods, the truest sense of a candidate’s capabilities can be seen through a personality lens. During an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s Philadelphia conference, leaders dove into how they are able to make employee recruitment and hiring a more efficient and inclusive process.Human Connections and ValuesWhen she was hired 15 years ago, Hunter says she didn’t check every box that recruiters were looking for but her personal values are what made her the company’s best pick. Her story highlights that hiring is about more than a checklist, it’s about identifying the qualities that align with a company’s culture and long-term vision.She also considered that there is power in developing connections with not only candidates, but also within the hiring team. “Very commonly, we’ll get an email back from a hiring manager saying, ‘not a fit.’ That's not enough for me. I need more,” she said. “It’s being able to pick up the phone and hold those leaders accountable to know why [the candidate] was not the right fit. Help me understand the strengths and the challenges that that interview faced and give us more feedback.”Steve Koepp, From Day One co-founder and editor in chief, moderated the panel discussion about "Making Talent Acquisition More Efficient, Inclusive, and Personalized"In the hiring process, it’s also important to identify whether a candidate aligns with the company’s values and leadership during the interview, said Shaunique Adams, vice president, human resource business partner at M&T Bank.“Someone can technically have the skills, or the experience and then how often does it happen, where they show up there’s an (employee relations) issue, or there’s other things that come up from more of a personality fit that was kind of masked to a degree,” said Adams.The talent acquisition team at M&T Bank is also connecting with its existing employees and supporting them through their career within the company. Adams shared that the team hosts open town halls across the organisation and offers opportunities for employees to have their resumes reviewed. “One of the things I first noticed when I started was people were decades in the organization, moving around, and often with that, your resume may be a bit stale or you may not even have a resume because you’ve been there so long,” she said. As Generation Z candidates enter the workforce, the age range of talent continues to widen. María Julieta Casanova, global head of strategic HR business partners & talent acquisition at Corteva Agriscience, noticed that younger workers have an urge to be challenged and to utilize problem solving skills. Hunter added that Gen Z are seeking engagement, in-person interactions, and a sense of connection after spending years at home during the pandemic. They are eager to immerse themselves in environments with leaders that can help them build on their skills. Where to Use AI, and Where to Avoid ItWith technological advancements, talent acquisition leaders are finding ways to improve their work by implementing artificial intelligence platforms. M&T Bank and Corteva Agriscience are using Microsoft Copilot and Eightfold, an AI candidate screener. “The guidance that I received from my partners is that they find Eightfold to be even more effective than LinkedIn, Indeed, and all of those sourcing tools,” said Adams. The platform is able to screen candidates and elevate top talent for recruiters and sourcing teams to review. It allows companies to “unlock capacity for everybody in the talent acquisition team to spend more time in human interactions,” said Casanova.Eightfold has also allowed recruiters to maintain a database of past candidates under a reserve of skills that they are looking for in other job opportunities, Casanova says. “This technology is not just a tool, but also it unlocks more time for recruiters to do other things that are more strategic.”AI can help benefit recruiters in many ways, but there are also looming perceptions of the technology as deceiving. Hunter mentioned that companies are seeing bots applying for people and candidates using AI to answer interview questions over video calls. As these concerns rise, she highlights the continuous need for the human element.“During the pandemic, there were so many offers that happened virtually and they never met anyone,” said Hunter. “Now we’re really making it an emphasis to meet people in person, even if all the interviews went great, like, has anybody met them in person yet?”Casanova added that AI also involves a stronger awareness of privacy and compliance policies, which differ across the world. As more companies introduce AI platforms and new technology, change is necessary, she says. Jennifer Yoshikoshi is a local news and education reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Embedding Company Values Into the Daily Work Experience
BY Ade Akin November 12, 2025“My life mantra is lift as I climb,” Geneva Brown said during an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s Philadelphia conference. Brown, the chief sustainability and inclusion officer at the Cigna Group, says that culture begins with small, deliberate steps, such as setting aside a calendar block for employee calls, leaving a reminder note to follow up, or maintaining an unwavering commitment to creating safe spaces. Brown and a panel of other leaders shared thoughts on the topic “Culture That’s Real: Translating Company Values Into Everyday Reality,” to discuss the everyday mechanics of company culture, including how organizations listen to employees, turn feedback into action, and adopt new technologies without losing sight of the human skills that matter. “You may not have solutions to every issue, but that ability to pause and listen is critically important,” Brown said. Her team reserves an hour each day for outreach and keeps a running checklist to ensure team members feel heard. Martel Neville, VP of HR at Comcast, echoed that sentiment. “Let's just remember the golden rule, which is, treat others as you want to be treated,” he added. Neville outlined a mix of quarterly and annual surveys used at Comcast, as well as mandatory team huddles to review feedback and track escalations. These team huddles are how leaders figure out how to “listen, learn, and act,” he said.Turning Feedback Into ActionThe panelists went on to share systems that address employee concerns once their feedback has been received, including tools that route issues, assign them, and display status updates. Tracking escalations and their solutions creates transparent, accountable follow-through, says Neville. It’s important to push beyond surveys toward systems that close gaps. Neville described tracking escalations “so people could actually, literally click it to watch it go, to progress inside the organization.” That transparency converts sentiment into visible, accountable change.Angie Parsons, the director of product marketing at Beekeeper, emphasized the connection between communication gaps and cultural gaps: “If you have leadership mandating certain things, but the frontline workers aren't getting the same communication streams, then you're already creating a lot of disconnect.” Her solution is an employee experience hub that centralizes messages and makes organizations more inclusive for shift and frontline workers. Recognition As CultureThe way people are seen, heard, and recognized also informs workplace culture. To Omar Pradhan, recognition is “the opportunity to have a thoughtful, deliberate pause.”Ariella Cohen, deputy managing editor, news, at the Philadelphia Inquirer, moderated the sessionPradhan, an employee engagement and HR technology strategist at Workhuman, shared how their platform utilizes impact-focused language, making recognition a record of behavior and a source of data for informed talent decisions. “Recognition can also be a revealer of the skills that people are demonstrating over time and readiness for promotion,” he said. That combination, utilizing recognition to validate employees personally and as a system of record analytics, enables companies to celebrate individuals while revealing patterns that managers can act upon. Embrace AI, But Keep Things HumanIn exploring new ways to strengthen communication and accountability, Brown described how she’s using AI to draft prompts for difficult conversations and to design exercises that encourage proactive ownership of follow-through and results.Additionally, organizations can use AI to “synthesize all the information” gathered from surveys to highlight trends managers should address, said Parsons. As AI transforms the workplace, Neville noted that companies are beginning to prioritize human skills over technical ones—empathy, clarity, and leadership behaviors. “Clarity is kindness,” he said, citing researcher Brené Brown, whose work explores courage, vulnerability, and empathy.AI’s role is to scale insights and free up time; people still must do the human work of translating those insights into productive outcomes, panelists agreed. Building Community and BelongingVolunteer days and community engagement remain powerful ways to strengthen workplace culture. Neville described “Team Up” volunteer opportunities, which give employees a sense of purpose and belonging while also fostering stronger connections across teams.Parsons offered an example of how community engagement can extend beyond the workplace. During Hurricane Helene, customers used Beekeeper’s platform to self-organize cleanup crews and raise funds. “Bringing that community element to work,” she said, “was really, really important,” highlighting how purpose and collaboration strengthen both company culture and broader communities.To end the session, panelists offered one question every HR leader should ask. Brown’s was simple and probing: “Did I create space for someone?” Pradhan asked, “How do we bring the culture off the walls?” Parsons focused on managers, “How am I leveraging my middle managers to the best of their ability?” Neville boiled it down to outcomes: “How am I helping the folks that are in my arena to thrive?”Ade Akin covers workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Guiding Employees Through the Formidable Journey of AI Transformation
BY Katie Chambers November 06, 2025We’ve all had the thought: will AI replace us? With all the tempting talk of artificial intelligence’s speed, efficiency, and optimization comes the concern that it will also take away the livelihoods of human workers. But is that trepidation well-founded? The arrival of AI has inspired a mix of excitement and fear among workers, which calls for HR professionals to lead them in an unflinching and transparent way. During a fireside chat at From Day One’s Philadelphia conference, Sean Woodroffe, EVP and chief people, culture & communications officer for Lincoln Financial, shared how he has taken a spirited and confident approach to the transformation. The Role of AI in the Workplace“When you think about AI and HR, for some people, that may not seem a natural synergy, because a lot of people tend to think of it from the perspective of technology. But AI is really about transforming the workforce,” Woodroffe said. He thinks of AI in three ways:It’s changing the way we work.It can augment current workflows to make us more efficient.With its ability to extract efficiencies, it could thereby shrink the workforce.It’s that third point that scares people the most. “People are naturally worried about the impact that AI will have on the workforce in terms of job losses,” Woodroffe said. “Worry less about how AI might impact your job. The person that is adopting, leaning into, and embracing AI will always be better off than the person that's not doing it.”Pathways Toward Effective AI AdoptionRather than thinking of AI as a “job eliminator,” suggests moderator Earl Hopkins, arts & culture reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer, leaders should focus on workforce skill building to help them embrace the tools it offers. “The opportunities for roles to be far more efficient than they were previously is infinite with possibilities,” Woodroffe said. Lincoln Financial has rolled out Microsoft Copilot for all of its employees and followed up with training through an organization called AI Mindset.HR professionals themselves can benefit from AI tools as well. “When you think about the roles that we do from an HR perspective, much of which is providing advice and counsel, much of which is consultative in nature, the ability to effectively use AI to make our roles easy and augment what we do is what we should be thinking about,” Woodroffe said. HR professionals should get familiar and competent with using AI “because we’re the ones that are being relied upon to help coach the organization in terms of adoption.” Earl Hopkins, arts & culture reporter at the Philadelphia Inquirer interviewed Sean Woodroffe of Lincoln Financial Within his own HR work, Woodroffe says he uses AI to help him write job descriptions, prepare for talent acquisition interviews, and research compensation among competitors. He will take a candidate’s resume and job description and ask the large language model (LLM) to prepare him for a 50-minute interview. “If when you look at the job description and you look at the person’s resume, what are some gaps that might appear and what questions should I ask to discern whether those are actually gaps or not?” Education will become increasingly essential as technology continues to rapidly evolve. “I don’t think we have the full capacity now to appreciate what AI would look like even six months from now or a year from now. So, what’s important is that we open our aperture around the possibilities, and as the tools get enhanced, we spend a lot of time learning and embracing it. If you think about it, two or three years ago, we couldn’t fathom where we are today,” Woodroffe said. Installing the Guardrails“A big element within the HR industry is maintaining the human voice and ensuring certain information isn’t spilled out and made public that shouldn’t,” Hopkins said. So, how should HR leaders approach AI implementation in a way that guarantees safety and confidentiality? “It has to be used in an environment that is secure,” Woodroffe said.Another issue is AI “hallucinations,” or the information that LLMs provide that is sometimes completely inaccurate and essentially “imagined” by the program. Woodroffe advises all to be on the lookout for these, and to be detail-oriented and mindful when crafting prompts. “There [are] a lot of things that are unknown, so we have to be careful and thoughtful and make sure that we’re really using it in the right way.”One sticking point is remembering that AI is meant to augment, not replace. “If I wanted to become a molecular biologist tomorrow, there’s no amount of AI that's going to help me do that,” Woodroffe said. “But if I wanted to learn about a new aspect of talent management, AI will help me, because I [already] have a basic, fundamental appreciation for talent management as a practice. So, the point is: expertise still very much matters.” Woodroffe cautions “to be careful not to use AI as Google. We have to almost un-train our minds as to how we typically search for information. When you’re using Google, you might be asking for something specific, but when you’re using AI, you’re looking for reasoning. So, I think of it as sort of a first-year college analyst that I can ask things and [who can] get things done.” Going forward, Woodroffe will aim to hire candidates who are at the very least open to implementing AI in their work. “The burden is really on our shoulders to ensure that the adoption is done in a thoughtful, methodical way,” he said. “So, if you don't have at least curiosity, that’s a problem.” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Inclusive Well-Being Strategies for a Multigenerational Workforce
BY Carrie Snider November 05, 2025A multigenerational workforce requires leaders to understand its diverse needs, life stages, and work environments of employees. At From Day One’s San Francisco conference, leaders shared practical approaches that combine flexibility, technology, and human-centered design to make benefits truly inclusive for everyone.Inclusive benefits are all about recognizing the diverse needs of its workforce, according to Neela Campbell, VP, head of people at Hims & Hers. “Our biggest challenge right now is looking at our demographic,” she said. “We’re fully remote, with people all over different geographies and different ages and life stages, and we’re constantly designing and redesigning the benefits package and offerings that really can meet people where they’re at.”That flexibility is essential in a remote-first environment. Campbell says the company quickly learned the importance of being intentional about how it operates. “Zoom fatigue—we’ve all been affected by it,” she said. “What we learned quickly was about really working to be intentional about the way that we are operating as a remote-first company.” To help employees thrive, Hims & Hers limits unnecessary meetings, promotes asynchronous work, and emphasizes respect for focus time and personal boundaries. “It might sound simple,” she added, “but when you put it in action, it can be very impactful and valuable.”Despite being fully remote, the company still values in-person connection. “We have an incredible employee experience team that works really hard to make sure we’re able to meet and have impactful conversations,” Campbell said. Those face-to-face moments help strengthen relationships and foster collaboration, so when employees return home, they maintain that personal connection.Consider Cognitive Load for All EmployeesSupporting employee well-being in the age of AI starts with recognizing just how much mental strain today’s digital world demands—for employees of any age. “We are sitting at the intersection of one of the greatest technology transformations of all time,” said Kelly McMahon, VP of organizational effectiveness at Equinix. “When you think about what it takes to actually manage AI workloads and the demand on compute power and space and energy—we serve our customers in enterprise and hyperscaler—and that made me feel a little stressed out.”Michal Lev-Ram, contributing editor at Fortune and contributor for CNBC, moderated the discussion Learning new technology can be challenging at times. More than that, though, it’s the constant cognitive switching that comes with it, that affects everyone, she says.McMahon calculated that she sent and received nearly 20,000 Teams messages so far this year. “When we talk about burnout and cognitive load, that’s what we’re talking about,” she said. “You stop thinking about one thing and you start thinking about another.” The endless pings, meetings, and context changes add up—and for many employees, especially working parents, the load can become unsustainable.After hitting a wall herself, McMahon said she had to “take a hard look at my calendar and how and where I was spending my time.” Her lesson for other leaders: boundaries are essential. “Start with preservation of the time. Start with your priorities.”McMahon encourages companies to simplify processes and empower employees to manage their focus. “Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication,” she said. “If your calendar is 10 hours back-to-back, you’re probably not going to effectively manage your cognitive load.”Bridging Generations in the WorkplaceAt Keysight Technologies, employees span an incredible age range—from their 20s to their 90s. Older employees have key skills that are hard to find and are looking at the end of their career. Younger employees are just starting. Many have different needs, but most have the same core needs.“It’s about making sure everybody is heard,” said Heather Ostrowski, global senior director of benefits. “We have to design benefits that meet people where they are in life, whether they’re just starting out, raising families, or planning for retirement.”Convincing leadership to invest in a broad spectrum of well-being programs hasn’t always been easy. “You have to show the value,” Ostrowski said. “Executives want to see data that proves these benefits impact productivity, retention, and health outcomes—and we’ve been able to do that.”One standout success has been Keysight’s partnership with Sword Health, a virtual physical therapy platform. “We’ve had amazing feedback about the Sword program,” Ostrowski said. “It’s helped reduce musculoskeletal claims—our second-highest cost area—and saved 29 employees from surgery.” The result? Lower healthcare costs and a 14% increase in productivity.Ostrowski also emphasized the importance of listening and evolving as generational needs shift. “What a 25-year-old values isn’t the same as what a 55-year-old values,” she said. Inclusivity is something a company does intentionally, she added. “It has to start small,” Ostrowski said. “You start by creating acceptance, by making it okay to say, ‘I need a mental health day.’ That’s how trust—and real well-being—takes root.”Simplifying Through ConsolidationAs organizations strive to meet the diverse needs of their employees, many are realizing that managing multiple benefit vendors can create unnecessary complexity. “When we think about benefits, oftentimes we’re actually a replacement of other vendors,” said Megan Burns, lead benefits solutions consultant at Benepass. “What we do from a customizable spending accounts platform is consolidate a budget to one card.”That one card gives employees freedom and flexibility, something the company values because it matters to people. “We work with employers to put parameters around how employees can choose to use those benefit dollars,” Burns said. “Sometimes it’s physical fitness, sometimes it’s emotional health, and oftentimes it’s things like food delivery or groceries.” By consolidating benefits into a single, intuitive platform, Benepass streamlines administration while it increases engagement, as employees are more likely to use benefits that fit their personal lifestyles.While consolidation is more convenient for workers, it also saves money, says Burns. “We work with employers to increase their budget by future cost avoidance,” she said, referring to the financial efficiencies that come from merging multiple wellness, fitness, and reimbursement programs into one system.Blending AI With Human CareAI has joined the workforce, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Ellie Smith, senior clinical specialist at Sword Health, emphasized that technology can enhance, not replace, the personal touch of professional care. “The AI clinician is not making any decisions,” she said. “They’re just there to make the experience more fun, gather feedback, and help the PT provide better care.”Sword Health’s digital physical therapy program illustrates how AI can complement human expertise. Patients receive real-time feedback on their movements through a tablet-based system, while PTs monitor and adjust treatment plans based on data collected. “Having those pre- and post-session conversations has been really helpful because it gives me even more information to provide better care,” said Smith. This integration allows employees to manage musculoskeletal health on their own schedules, easing the cognitive load of traditional in-person appointments while maintaining high-quality guidance.The combination of AI and human care also supports long-term health outcomes. Smith noted that programs like Sword’s Move initiative help patients build strength alongside other interventions, such as GLP-1 therapy. “By pairing it with a strength-based program, we help individuals stay strong, prevent injury, and build long-term healthy habits,” she said.Across industries, these hybrid approaches demonstrate a broader principle: technology should simplify and augment human effort rather than overwhelm it. The panelists agreed: inclusive well-being isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Leaders must focus on a continuous process of listening, adapting, and integrating tools that simplify and enhance employees’ experiences. From consolidating benefits to blending AI with human care, the common thread is flexibility and personalization. By thoughtfully addressing diverse needs, organizations can create a culture where employees feel supported, empowered, and able to thrive—no matter their age, role, or stage of life.Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.(Photos by David Coe for From Day One)