Navigating a Distributed Workforce with Jeffrey Robinson

Better People Podcast

In this episode, HR executive from One Inc, Jeffrey Robinson, discusses the challenges and opportunities of managing a distributed workforce. They emphasize the importance of clear communication, performance management, and empathy in remote settings, as well as building trust and celebrating successes. They also share tips for recruiting the right people and developing a passionate team in HR.

Jeffrey Robinson is currently the Chief Human Resources Officer at One Inc, where he develops and executes HR strategies aligned with the organization's goals. With extensive experience in talent management, performance management, and organizational development, he provides strategic leadership in articulating HR needs and plans to stakeholders. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Better People:

• Robinson's diverse career in different industries has helped him understand the importance of the people and talent that drive every business from an HR perspective.
• Robinson's passion for recruiting stems from his early career experience in recruiting tellers in New York and Chicago and extended to exploring different ways to retain talents through training, onboarding, compensation, and benefits.
• One Inc has a distributed workforce with about 400 employees in the US and Mexico, 200 employees in India, and 60% of employees working remotely.
• Performance management is an opportunity for improving engagement and feedback.
• Empathy and vulnerability are key components of successful remote leadership.
• Empowering employees to understand their roles and purpose is crucial to keep them engaged

Resources:

• OneInc
• MidAtlantic Employers’ Association (MEA)

Connect with Jeffrey Robinson:

• LinkedIn

Connect with our host Margaret Uhrich:

• LinkedIn

Quotables:

• 16:49 - I think the challenge is in building cohesiveness, stickiness from an organizational perspective, and not just on the broader level, right? We have a mission, we have values, we have an organizational strategy that people can go to one inc.com and, and, and see who we are, what we do.
• 18:03 - When we were all in the same building, we could all get around the water cooler, right? Get a cup of coffee and I could say, Hey Margaret, how are you doing? What's going on in finance? Right? What's going on in marketing? What's going on in sales? Right? And, and that's not the way it's done anymore. Now you have to be more mindful of opportunities to bring employees together to share information, have a level of transparency that's a two-way street between employees and, and managers and their direct reports and the organization to our employees as well.
• 19:55 - And communication obviously runs through so many things. It's the communication of just updating your employees, so they know what's going on. It's the social communication that, so people just feel connected, and they get to know each other. It's the transferring down of really important information. It's the sharing successes.
• 25:19 - So you're getting all this feedback from your employees, and you have to care enough about them to look at what you're getting and to say, is there a message here that I have to be picking up on? Is there an opportunity to train them because they might be missing something? Is there an opportunity for me to say, Hey, you don't seem like you're having a great day today, is something going on? Or is there an opportunity to praise them and recognize them for something that they've done?
• 31:59 - Jeffrey: You're just looking for how do you contribute, how can I contribute to this organization? How do I, how do I fit? And so it's you and your manager creating that level of connection and that level of focus. Clear priorities, clear goals. What are we trying to do here? Why does it matter? All of those things absolutely, positively have to happen in order for someone to feel good about their, their work and want to jump on these Zoom calls and, and, and want to be engaged in these, in these meetings and want to contribute to those meetings.. Margaret: Yeah, understanding what your role is, what your purpose is, great to understand what the company's purpose is, but you as an employee to be fully engaged. You're right.