Bringing humanity back to the workplace

The world of work will never be the same as it was before the pandemic. The ‘Great Resignation’ has shifted the power dynamic between employers and workers, and employees expect more from their organizations than ever before.

As employers grapple with this ‘new normal’, they need to throw the rulebook out of the window and rethink their old viewpoints.

The Don Draper (from Mad Men) way of working is no longer correct, VaynerMedia’s chief heart officer (and UNLEASH columnist) Claude Silver shared during her keynote at UNLEASH World 2022.

Instead, Silver noted that leaders need to lean into empathy and vulnerability. They must focus on creating a strong sense of belonging and psychological safety at work, employees want to feel valued and learn from one another.

How to lead with empathy

Silver shared details of when Gary Vaynerchuk (CEO of VaynerMedia) decided to make her chief heart officer (aka CHRO) at VaynerMedia.

Vaynerchuk told her: “We want to build the singe greater human organization in the history of time” – Silver’s response was “sign me up. I want to do that”.

However, Silver was very clear with him: “I’m not HR. I’ve never been HR. I’ve never had a good feeling about HR”. Vaynerchuk just replied “You’re gonna hire a phenomenal team around you”, which is what Silver did – she built a team of so-called culture champions.

Immediately, Silver changed the department’s name to People and Experience – she said this was just a “common sense” decision. “We’re taking care of people and the experience they have [from] the moment they’re interested in us [and] throughout their entire lifecycle until the last day and beyond”.

Silver’s personal mission as chief heart officer is to “bring the heart and humanity into our workplaces” by “creating spaces of belonging for people to thrive”.

“Simply put, I put the hearts of others at the heart of what I do” and “making sure I am leaving people better than I found them”, stated Silver during her keynote.

Ultimately the job of HR leaders is to empower people and lead with empathy; it is all about removing friction at work, and creating psychological safety. It’s all about emotional intelligence or “EQ before IQ”; “we’re all dreamers” and we have lives outside of work.

It’s also crucial to get “people to trust one another” – the automatic approach should be trust from day one; not having to prove yourself and earn trust. “Humanity is our superpower” and it is crucial to “leave our judgement at the door”.

HR leaders must be neutral (“I always say to my team we are Switzerland”), we ask questions, we listen and we act as coaches. “People need people who listen and then do something” – and that is the role of HR according to Silver.

Silver concluded that it is only possible for her to lead with empathy if she looks after herself – “if my well is empty, I have nothing to offer. I try not to have my well empty”.

HR leaders spend a lot of time talking about employee wellbeing, but they need to remember to look after themselves too and practice what they preach.