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The basics:

• The panel featured leaders from NRS Inc., Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Inc. and Growth Potential Consulting.
• Topics included new models of working, returning to the office, talent retention, DEI, mental and physical wellness programs, adoption of AI adoption and more.

As part of NJBIZ’s latest virtual discussion, leaders from New Jersey companies spoke about the latest trends shaping the modern workplace.

Moderated by NJBIZ Editor Jeff Kanige, the Feb. 27 panel featured: Marta Mazzola, chief people officer at NRS Inc., a Lyndhurst-based supply chain and logistics corporation; Swarna Rallabandi, head of human resources for global pharmaceutical company Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Inc.‘s North American headquarters in Princeton; Jennifer Smith, CEO/president, Growth Potential Consulting, a Princeton-headquartered leadership pipeline and succession consulting service.

During the hour-and-a-half roundtable discussion, panelists dove into topics such as new models of working, navigating how to call employees back to the office, ways to attract and hold onto talent, the value of mental & physical wellness programs, the adoption of artificial intelligence and where the diversity, equity & inclusion movement is heading.

While the pandemic accelerated the number of employees shifting to remote work or a hybrid environment, many companies are now calling workers back to the office. The transition hasn’t been seamless. Existing employees aren’t thrilled with the mandate, especially those who have many tasks that can be completed remotely and don’t want to deal with the time, energy and expense of commuting. Return-to-office orders have also made it tough to recruit and retain high-caliber talent who don’t want to be onsite five days a week, panelists said.

As a result, companies are left considering what kind of strategy best fits the needs of management, as well as rank-and-file. “So now, the question is what can leaders do to ensure that they maintain the retention of their employees while they’re making these changes?” Smith asked.

“I am seeing more and more employees or staff go back into the office. And many of the organizations that are really focused on retention are looking at each of the positions to determine does this person, based on the position, need to be in the office five days a week? For example, one of my clients implemented a hybrid work schedule where everyone needs to be in on Wednesdays, so that’s the day when they have their team meeting and water cooler talks … They can have the collaboration and the community, but also the flexibility for their employees so that they don’t lose them, quite frankly,” she said.

“What we’re seeing right now is that it has to be an either/or … I’d like it to be a conversation about what the person needs, what the organization needs and what’s going to be best for both versus an either or,” Smith added. “If we think about the organizations that have been in the news, whether it’s Google or Bank of America, because of the approach they’ve used to ask their employees to come back, some of which unfortunately threatening their employees that if they don’t come back, they will not have a job.

“Imagine how an employee feels when they’re told that if you don’t come back you’re going to lose your job versus having a conversation through it. And that’s why I think the transition is so important for leaders to be armed with language and messages that they can use to coach their employees through that transition is going to be key for organizations to retain their top talent,” Smith continued.

She went on to emphasize the importance of arming leaders “with the knowledge and the tools to coach employees” through such a transition.

Rallabandi said the pivot to remote work “made us sit up and realize that this is something that can be done” and “gave the world an option.” However, the model doesn’t apply to every industry, and it is not a “one size fits all,” she said.

“We need to evaluate whether it makes sense for us or not. Sure, there are so many things that are available today, regular work, FTCs, gig workers, offshoring and a compressed work week. But I think we have to evaluate what is available — you just can’t take it and then put it in your system,” she said.

“I do see a pre-, post- and now era, which I’ll call ‘the settlement era.’ We are trying to settle as to what happened,” said Rallabandi, who went on to add, “Given the nature of work [at Dr. Reddy’s], we are onsite, we are hybrid, we are remote and we are also offshoring … But five days in a commercial setup to come back to work, we are not going to implement that.”

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Mazzola said, “I think it depends on the industry, the business, the customers served and the job you do. Given that, I’m going to say that about 90% to 95% of our employee population are essential and have to be onsite every day, five days a week. Our CEO is very passionate about that because our culture is founded on a familial, collegial collaborative work environment.”

“The conversations we have at the water cooler, at the coffee machine or in the hallway are frankly sometimes more important than what we write in emails. And developing those relationships in person and developing those working relationships and even personal relationships onsite is much more powerful than doing it over Zoom or over Teams. That said, we do have, I’m going to say maybe 3% of our population whose jobs give them the ability to work remotely. We allow them to do so because we require or we need that talent. So, we will flex. But again, our mantra is if our customers are onsite, then we are onsite. If our customers need us to deliver goods to their customers or to them directly, then we will do that and we all need to be here together too onsite,” Mazzola said.

To make the return easier, Smith said one of the most helpful steps a company can take is setting up a schedule.

“I know that sounds like overkill, but the leader was very good in saying, ‘OK, let me work with the employees to understand what’s the schedule for returning and what’s the day that all of us will be in the office?’ They communicated that out to everyone, communicated that out to their clients and their customers. So, there’d be no question about what was going on. And that’s really what I believe organizations need to do is to provide leaders with the tools to make decisions like that and then the skills to coach their employees to come back. Because I don’t believe that the stick approach, which is ‘you’ll get fired,’ is going to work well long-term for the organizations that use it,” Smith said.

Rallabandi added, “I would actually emphasize communication. And one thing which is very, very important is the culture of the organization. If the CEO and the senior leadership are willing to put the hard work on the table, roll up their sleeves and meet the employees where they are, it’s going to be a very different approach.

“If it’s a top-down mandate, it’s going to be rolled out very differently … it’s about having ongoing conversations,” she said.

Benefits

When it comes to making the transition easier, companies are increasingly seeking to implement benefits that are effective and creative, panelists said.

Rallabandi said, “I think everybody will ask the question, ‘Why should we be in the office if I can get the job done from home. The commute is not easy and why do I need to do it?’ I feel the incentive is to give them a meaning of why they should be in the office — you have all your social events and learning events planned around the days when employees are there.”

“One thing we have realized is that employees are not averse to it – adults just don’t like to be told what to do. You give them the options and then they choose to come to work,” she said.  “We have also doubled down on flexibility in choosing the days you would like to come to work and have the flexibility to work with your manager on when you would be in the office and when you would go out.”

Smith encouraged companies to consider adding incentives, like fitness centers, subsidies for child care or elder parent care, student loan repayment assistance and other financial well-being programs. “Certainly, starting the conversation and figuring out how they can actually factor that into their budgets would be an important thing to think about,” she said.

Mazzola said, “I have a very strong belief that companies should do what they can based on their industry, based on their size and based on their revenue to help employees or incentivize employees to return to work, assuming that that’s the CEO’s goal or the company’s goal. That said, NRS has a very robust employee assistance program and we advertise it on a regular basis for both, for all mental, financial, legal help in however they need.”

I have a very strong belief that companies should do what they can based on their industry, based on their size and based on their revenue to help employees or incentivize employees to return to work, assuming that that’s the CEO’s goal or the company’s goal.
– Marta Mazzola, NRS Inc.

Dr. Reddy’s offers similar for its employees, as well as has several employee-run groups, including a walking club, sports club and women’s club, according to Rallabandi.

“Given the organization has gone the full length to extend that support and care, we have received a huge amount of reciprocity back from our employees. And we continuously ask them, ‘What’s not working? What’s working, what else can we do for you?’” Rallabandi said.

DEI

Panelists also said they believe DEI won’t disappear from organizations – despite some of the pushback the movement has faced in recent years.

Smith said, “I think the challenge has been that diversity, equity and inclusion has always been perceived as an initiative instead of as just part of the culture.”

Recognizing progress:

The AACCNJ and the NJCC recently recognized six companies for their strides in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion. Click here to find out who was honored.

She continued: “When you have a diverse group of individuals, they’re going to be more innovative and creative. When you have a diverse group of employees working for you, they’re going to help you come up with products and services that appeal to a more diverse customer base. They’ll also help you ensure that you’re not doing anything that might negatively impact your reputation based on how you roll something out. So, I certainly believe that it’s required within organizations. I just think it’s the implementation that needs to be shifted so that organizations integrated it to just being a way of doing business and then it doesn’t feel like it’s the separate initiative that has to have a strong policy and mandated training around it. We need to integrate it better.”

Mazzola said, “I’d like to say we should include belonging as part of our overall DEI initiative because we oftentimes inadvertently, and certainly not intentionally, may exclude certain populations. And so it is, I believe, human resources’ strategic role to ensure that we have equity among thought leadership and among employees who do the day-to-day tasks.”

“I also believe that we should celebrate our differences … and it doesn’t have to be color, ethnicity or gender, but it could be just literally different types of thinking where your left brain, right brain, cerebral, visceral, etc.,” Mazzola said. “Once you have a whole brain environment, most research has shown most companies will progress faster. They will also be more profitable and more successful with more diverse leadership thought and actual culture. And, NRS has that culture.”

Rallabandi said, “It’s unfortunate that they have to face some political backlash, but I think the philosophy we have, and I truly, truly believe is corporations are a representation of larger society. So, if we are coming up with products and services to a diverse group of consumers and customers, how can we not have them in our workforce to design it for them?”

Recruitment & retention

Smith emphasized the importance of creating and maintaining “an environment where employees want to be a part of it and potential employees want to join.”

“All of the decisions that organizations are making today, it’s like they’re rebranding themselves. And today the talent is really looking at who that organization is. They’re doing internet searches way more than they did before. They’re talking to people to really have a better understanding of what they’re stepping into. And so, organizations hopefully have started to think about the different programs and their positioning,” she said.

“It sounds like Dr. Reddy’s is very strong in that they’re doing really well and it sounds like NRS, they have their system in place and they’re communicating that on an ongoing basis. But my hope is that other organizations are doing the same because I do believe that even though if you read some of the articles out there today, they’re saying that the pendulum is switching more back toward the employer, and that’s why companies can actually require their employees to come back,” Smith said.

“Whereas during COVID, it was swinging more toward the employee. And so even though that’s the case, my hope is that employers are really trying to look at how do we position ourselves to retain our talent. And that’s programs, but it’s also how are we making sure that our leaders are armed with the language that they need … How do we make sure that those leaders have the knowledge, the skills and they’re armed with whatever they need to create the culture where people want to come or people want to stay?” she said.

Mazzola noted that while NRS retains a good portion of its worker population – with the average tenure in New Jersey across various job groups hovering around 15 years and average worker age about 50 years old – it must come up with other benefits to attract younger generations, like millennials and Generation Z.

One of the steps it has taken includes the creation and expansion of an internship program, she said.  “Every year, we go to Rutgers, Stevens Institute of Technology and several schools in New Jersey and we recruit those interns who would like an opportunity for a special project during the summer. A year later, once they’ve graduated, we’ve hired about 20% of the interns that came through this summer, which is good,” she said.

College requirements

As more companies move to consider accepting experience in lieu of a college degree for some positions, panelists weighed in on the crumbling of the so-called “paper ceiling” and whether they believe skills requirements will eventually overtake degree requirements.

Smith said, “A number of the organizations that we’re working with have actually been doing just that, looking at all of their position descriptions and challenging the hiring manager on ‘Does this actually need a bachelor’s, a master’s or what level of education is actually needed and what level of training or experience are we willing to offer this employee if need be to supplement any gaps?’”

“I’m very happy about that because, if you think about it, there are certain positions that don’t need a degree – whether they’re technical in nature or they’re ones that are more skill-based,” said Smith.

At NRS, Mazzola said the company regards life experience and work experience as “equally important” and it “can often be as valuable as a college degree.”

However, she noted, “There are positions [where] we cannot hire without a college degree, like a senior analyst, systems engineer or senior accountant. Those are positions that generally require some sort of education at a college.”

Rallabandi agreed, saying Dr. Reddy’s has certain jobs that don’t require a college degree but that it will always be required for attorneys or positions in research & development.

“But I would also say we have continuously looked, relooked and have reclassified some positions from having a degree being required to being preferred,” she said. “And today, any organization that is progressive and that is mature should have had done this exercise.”

Compressed work weeks

After 60 companies in the U.K. moved their employees to a four-day workweek with no reduction in pay, they reported happier workers, lower turnover and greater efficiency. Following the six-month pilot in 2022, 54 of those organizations still have the policy in place and half have declared it permanent.

Smith noted that she already knows of a few companies that, even before the pandemic, offered employees the option of having a compressed workweek.

She said, “My hope is that organizations do look at it and say, ‘Is this an offering that we could provide to our employees along with the flexible work schedule along with the hybrid work?’ And so now you’ve got a portfolio kind of options that you can have a discussion with your employees around what’s going to be best for you.”

Mazzola said, “It does depend on the customer and it depends on the work – it’s really all about the work. We have alternative work schedules where we have … people work three days a week and people who work four days a week, but they’re still responsible for the 40 hours.”

She went on to point out that shorter doesn’t necessarily mean sweeter, as such arrangements can create “additional stress to complete the work” depending on the position.

“I just offer that from a stress level and a mental health perspective that companies take care when they design these kinds of workweeks,” Mazzola said. “At the end of the day, we’re not Europe and we won’t be.”

Wellness incentives

Panelists also said they believe initiatives tied to promoting employee health and wellness are a valuable tool not only for retention but also the bottom line.

Smith said, “All leaders and data need to look at the data around the percentage of time that employees are out of office due to illness … Because if you are seeing that you’re having a high percentage of your employees who are actually calling out or they’re sick – or if you’re running any type of employee feedback survey mechanism that’s telling you people are burnt out – then the question to focus on is what to do to ensure you can sustain employees so that they can produce results so that you can have the revenues that you desire in an organization. It all does tie to one another.”

“If your employee is stressed, they’re not going to perform at optimal levels,” she said. “And if they’re not performing at optimal levels, they’re going to have a hard time achieving the goals that you might have for your organization.”

Mazzola said, “It’s almost like a tool of trade. How can you exist without taking care of your employees? What’s very important is that what you design [meets] the needs of employees, otherwise you spend money and then don’t get the ROI. And that’s where the disconnect is. So, it’s important to have a customized, sensible approach to where the dollars are being spent.”

Technological advances

Companies are starting to explore how to use generative artificial intelligence to improve productivity and expect to soon incorporate it into day-to-day tasks.

Smith said, “My hope is that organizations see artificial intelligence as a way to compliment or supplement their employees tasks so that the employees can now work on more high value added activities. But when we think about, where is artificial intelligence in organizations today, it’s automating anything that’s a repetitive task, whether that’s data entry, scheduling, logistics, fraud detection.”

She urged companies to develop a strategy to guide the technology’s use and make sure the entire workforce is well trained on that policy.

“That will ensure people will feel armed and won’t feel fearful. People fear anything that they don’t know what it’s going to do, how it’s going to be used or what impact it will have on their role. But, if organizations have that information, they can communicate it and train the employees, so they will have a reduced level of fear around it,” Smith explained.

Rallabandi said Dr. Reddy’s is using the technology in several areas, particularly in customer service, pricing and supply chain management. Human resources has also implemented AI to help gain feedback from employees on policies, benefits and training, she said.

“We are actually training our employees at the most reputed institutions to learn what AI is, and I myself am undergoing a lot of learning so that we can decide where else can we use it,” she said. “It’s just like any other thing. When we introduce something new, there is cautious optimism or pessimism, and you work through it and then you make it a success.”

Mazzola said NRS is “investing significant amount of money in AI and machine learning,” but that the company views the technology “from a tool perspective rather than a ‘replacing a job perspective.’

“I think it is crucial for the organization to provide an underpinning of and a foundation of learning and development and constant skill skills training. Because when machine learning does come through and automates or standardizes or simplifies payroll, many business processes like pricing, billing, etc., etc., then there’s an opportunity to repurpose that person’s skillset into higher level work,” she said.