00:04

Welcome to this week’s episode of the HRDQ-U In Review podcast, where we bring you the latest insights and practical tools for enhancing soft skills training within your organization. This podcast is brought to you by HRDQU.com. I’m your host, Sarah, Learning Events Manager at HRDQ-U. And today I have Patricia Bradley joining me to discuss the webinar she presented with us:

00:31

Cultural Transformation: Creating an Inclusive Workplace That Enhances Performance. Thanks so much for joining me today, Patricia. Thank you, Sarah. Thanks so much for having me. We had a really engaging event just a couple of weeks ago. And could you just share for any of the folks that didn’t get to tune into the webinar yet, a little bit about yourself, who you are, where you came from, your background. Just get everybody up to speed with who you are. Sure, sure. I’d be happy to do that, Sarah. uh Well.

01:00

I’ve been married for an awfully long time. many years? Yeah. Now, Sarah, I cannot reveal that on the podcast, but I will say that I have two adult sons and one granddaughter. Oh, that’s wonderful. yes, yes. Only grandchild, but I love spending time with her. Oh, that’s And I’m originally not far from where you are. I’m from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania originally.

01:31

ended up staying in San Antonio, Texas after retiring from the army. So I’m here, love being here. Still an Eagles fan. It’s a shame for that loss yesterday. Yeah, it’s a shame, but we’re keeping hope alive. Yes, we are. And so as far as what I do, I guess I could say I do my passion.

01:58

Yeah, I do human resources consulting and employee engagement and learning and development. And I just love what I do. It just gives me, you know, just some joy, you know, to help employees and to help corporations understand the values that the employees bring in and how they can contribute to helping them meet their organizational goals.

02:26

So that’s who I am and what I do is probably much more to me, but. It’s fulfilling. sounds like it’s really fulfilling, which is really all you can ask for in a job, right? If you can find a career or something that gives you so much passion. Yes, yes. And just looking for new trends and new insights and ways to share new ways to help organizations and especially the people.

02:54

what makes the organization. I know that’s a cliche, but uh it’s true. It’s a truth. I think uh investing time and energy and resources into them will help the employees, the organizations, and even our communities at large.

03:11

Yeah. And this is the question that I always ask all of my guests that join me. And there is a common theme, an overwhelming common theme to the, to with their answer to this, but I like to hear the perspectives that they have and what changes do you see happening in the L and D space right now? Wow. You know, I think the L and D space has a lot going on right now. Yeah. And it’s, all happening simultaneously.

03:39

And ah I think the community itself is trying to figure out the priorities and where to begin and what to tackle first. But I think we’ll continue to see that community evolve more over time, especially with all these new technologies emerging all at once, especially AI.

04:08

AI seems to be impacting everything, how we work, how we communicate, how we learn. So I think as we try to embrace that and understand it better, uh the community, L &D community will continue uh to evolve. But, you know, so much is impacting uh that community, with the hybrid workplaces, the great resignation.

04:37

The quiet quitting, the great negotiation. So right now employees really are leading the charge, you know? With the preferences, they’re really at the forefront of how they want to learn, what they want to learn and when they want to learn it. So I think uh we’ll see the communities, uh HR, L &D, managers, all collaborating.

05:07

just trying to put some standards and practices in place on this new employment workforce, know, or landscape, should I say. But I think primarily for the L &D and the HR communities, they’re looking for ways to have their voices heard. You know, they have so many ideas and so many…

05:34

initiatives that they want to put in place. But I think that alignment between L &D, HR, CEOs is needed in order to move forward in a positive way. So we used to separate so much. OK, HR is over here. L &D is over here. Here’s the strategic plan for the organization. And never the three shall meet. Yeah. think now those changes are happening because the strategic alignment

06:04

is necessary for all to understand ah the role they play and how they help the organization meet these strategic goals. And then it becomes a win-win-win for everybody, especially employees ah who are the backbone, again, of the organization. So I think that’s the trend we’ll see in L &D and HR about.

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you know, finally standing up, having a voice saying this is what needs to happen in our organization and in our LND and HR communities to move forward in a positive way. will tell you, HR has been pushing that, as you know, with SHRM and HRCI, they’ve been encouraging human resource leaders to have a seat at the table.

07:00

and to align all these HR goals and initiatives and objectives with strategic goals. And in my opinion, we’ve been a little hesitant to do that. You know, I don’t know why, but I think now we’re more confident. Post pandemic uh landscape, everybody really sees the necessity in doing that. Yeah. And so what exciting things are you currently up to? What’s in your pipeline? Well, I tell you, uh

07:29

One thing that’s really exciting for me, I uh was just approved to be a SHRM Diversity, Equity and Inclusion recertification provider. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. In the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion. So and belonging. Yeah. So what I hope to do is develop some webinars, ah like a curriculum.

07:57

And just trying to put that all together so I could make the best use of this opportunity and then help uh bring awareness to the HR and other communities on the positive value DEI brings to the organization, communities, and just our relationships in general. So also starting a newsletter.

08:21

Oh, and the name, tell you, the name I came up with, think is so awesome. But unfortunately, Sarah, I can’t share it. Yeah, because I think it’s so awesome that somebody will take it. Yeah. So I have to put it up there. We’ll be eagerly awaiting the launch of that to be able to see the name. Yeah, I’m just really excited about it because I’m also a writer. love to write, not published yet, but that’s on the forefront.

08:52

And what’s the newsletter focus? Yeah, the focus of the newsletter is on cultural transformation. And it’s really about uh how we ah as people have so many multi-dimensions that make up our uh identities and characteristics and just helping uh people become more aware of that.

09:18

And then I think if we do that, we could probably become more aware of our biases and come up with some strategies to mitigate them so that we understand what’s really happening in our brain, because it’s such a cognitive aspect of it. just given some positive strategies, maybe some case studies, I think that would make it more interesting as we go through this great

09:48

enlightening, awareness, awakening, I don’t know what to call it, but change has to happen in a positive way. And if I could be the conduit, you know, uh to make that happen, uh that’s my goal. Well, that seems really exciting. so we recently did this webinar on cultural transformation. And can you share with the key takeaways for registrants at this event?

10:15

Yes, we did that webinar and I just had a wonderful time ah with that engagement. And I think the key takeaways for the registrants were uh one about CEOs recently understanding and realizing the role that managers play in employee engagement. You know, they are uh the first line of communication for employees and

10:44

They are really the ones that impact what happens in the organization, how engaged the employee is, the turnover rates, you know, the retention rates. So they’re starting to realize that these managers need more training. They need more training so that they could help engage the organization and the employees. So they’re looking more at leadership training, executive coaching, and strategic planning, which are all key components.

11:15

of organizational improvement. I think another takeaway was in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion in that uh I explained to the registrants that the work starts with us. It starts with the self. We as individuals have that responsibility to uh become more aware and maybe uh understand our biases.

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and become more engaged with people who are different from us, you know, and not just the race, ethnicity, genders, even the perspectives. But I think if we open our hearts and our minds uh to explore those different perspectives and characteristics of people, ah the world, not just the workplace, would be a better place.

12:08

Absolutely. And can you touch on employee engagement a little bit more and just share exactly what that is? Yes, yes. So employee engagement uh to me has to do with when employees trust their leaders in the organization and they feel this emotional connection to the organization and the people and the leaders and where they will give more of theirself.

12:35

they’ll contribute more of their effort to help the organization be successful. And I think we talk about employee engagement. We may do the surveys to get a baseline on how engaged our employees are, but then we don’t do anything after that. Even if the results show that there’s some things we need to put into practice and place. uh

13:03

I think we don’t do that and we are missing the mark uh in that area because employee engagement really is about how employees feel as part of the organization. Do they feel as if they belong? Do they feel as if they bring value? Do they feel as if their voice matters? And I think they want to give their best efforts to help in the organization succeed. But we have to learn how to do that better. Yeah.

13:32

Yeah. And you touched on this a little bit, but who should be responsible for this employee engagement? Well, you know, some feel that the employees themselves should be responsible for it. I think everybody uh should be responsible, but it starts at the top because the managers, the leaders, they just have to be intentional about it.

13:59

And, know, we have this vision, values, mission, statements on the wall, but we don’t model and demonstrate those behaviors. So I think if we, again, start with the managers and training them on uh how to make an employee feel welcome, how to have an employee feel that they bring value. And then the employee themselves, you know, they’re new to the organization, they come in excited.

14:28

And then I think we lose a lot in uh the onboarding process. So I think it goes back to all leaders, know, part of the organizational strategy, but especially the managers. The managers should, to me, should be uh the first people that are responsible for making employees feel engaged. uh Cause I’ve been in those situations. I don’t know if you have Sarah, where uh

14:59

I’ve gone to an organization and I didn’t feel like I belonged because I didn’t feel welcomed. Even though I was interviewed, boy, the interview was awesome. And then when I got to the workplace, it was such a different place. This is not what it seemed like. It’s not what it seemed like. But luckily for me, I’ve had a lot of experience with that in the Army. you know, I knew how to make that work.

15:28

And then I was able to help other employees who didn’t feel that they belong. you can tell, we must have blind spots that are just growing bigger every day because you can really tell when an employee is not engaged and when they’re quiet, quitting. We just have to open our eyes and be aware and open our hearts because we hire these employees for a reason. So why come in and make them feel like outsiders?

15:57

Very true. When we bring them in and then we treat them like they’re outsiders. It drops off after that. It drops off. Yeah, I’m like winking at it. This person, the resume is great. The experience is great. The interview was off the charts and now we leave them to their own devices to kind of find their way around the organization. So I think we can do much better in the area of engagement.

16:25

Yeah. And so you talk about this word belonging, you say D-E-N-I and now this, this edition of the Bee, can you define belonging and how that relates to this? I can tell you that belonging is a feeling. Yeah. You know, and it goes along with inclusion and, know, and diversity and engagement. So I think that what we

16:52

should do, which is a great question that you started this way, because we have to understand what belonging is before we can foster it in the workplace. So I think belonging is the desire of the separated, to be part of the in-crowd or part of the greater community.

17:19

You know, so we, like I said, when we bring employees in and then we don’t include them or we don’t embrace them or we don’t help them understand the culture, uh good or bad. But, you know, this whole process of how it shows up in the organization is based on how people feel as part of that organization. So I think.

17:47

All of us believe in the power of belonging, you know, and as you asked in a previous question, should it be fostered by the employees or should it be fostered by the organization? But I think uh regardless of who is responsible for it, all of us have a responsibility. But if the employees don’t experience this sense of belonging, you know, they’ll feel insecure and they won’t be creative. They won’t be innovative.

18:17

and they don’t have a, you know, feel this freedom to be their authentic selves. Yeah. So this workplace, our workplace, as you know, is in transition uh as well. And uh the sense of belonging or making our employees feel like they belong is becoming more more important. And I think it’s going to be um a critical component of workplace success uh in the near future. And belonging, like it’s, it’s so

18:47

Like obvious, right? That every, like we want to feel belonged to when you, you join a company and you want to feel like you’re a part of the team and that you’re comfortable and welcome. Why do you think it’s so overlooked by senior leaders? You know, I think Sarah that senior leaders don’t really understand it or maybe they expect others to do it. It’s not their responsibility that they have a subordinates.

19:17

Yeah. Or leaders under them, that that’s their responsibility. So they don’t take the time to even understand what’s happening or why productivity is down or why our retention rates are low and our turnover rates are so high. But I think if HR would present the data in a way that would touch the hearts.

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of these senior leaders because they understand data. They understand hard numbers. But if you connect the data to what is happening in the organization, think that uh CEOs would be more apt and senior leaders would be more apt to get involved and to be more approachable to the employees. Because you know how it is. I don’t know if you’ve been in an organization where you see the CEO.

20:15

or you see his picture on the website, or you see him walk through the hallway and there’s really no connection. Yeah. You know, so I think we have to start with the numbers. Yeah. You know, to show the data and the metrics, come up with good metrics as to ah why we’re even collecting the data, you know, or why data is necessary. But I think the CEOs would better understand.

20:43

hard numbers and then connected to what’s happening in the organization and how it’s all people-centric. Painting the whole picture for them to see. behind it. Yeah, because I think about um even when I was in the Army, ah this sense of belonging, went to, just to give you a quick story, when I went to Korea. Now, you everybody who goes to Korea is afraid.

21:13

you know, even though you’ve been in the army, but this is an overseas location and you don’t really know what to expect. You’re in a foreign country. And so I went and I left, had to leave my husband and two small children behind for this assignment. So I go over there and I’m in a small medical organization and everybody is depressed.

21:38

There were like 10 people, like, what in the world is wrong? It’s a one-year assignment and I’m not going to be able to do this if the entire staff is depressed, but they were depressed because the leader was depressed. So I think it goes back to the manager and the behavior he models and the motivation he has to inspire the employees into action. So after he went out the door,

22:07

I went to work, you know, bringing everybody in saying, okay, this is the mission, the values, the vision of the organization, of the headquarters, and this is how we fit in. And this is your role. This is your role. And this is how we all align together to make these goals happen. And I’ll tell you what.

22:28

For a minute there, Sarah, I thought I created monsters because they were so motivated. They were so motivated and just did their jobs well and connected with each other. And they were all over the organization doing presentations and doing strategy and doing medical plans. And that’s what they were designed to do. But because the leader didn’t do it and he didn’t motivate them to do it.

22:56

Nobody did anything. Yeah, to lead by example. Yes, exactly. Lead by example. We’re the Army. That’s what we’re supposed to do. Be all you can be. So even the senior leader, he just kind of discounted the medical organization. He said, well, that leader over there is not engaged, so we’re not going to do anything ah with the medical community.

23:25

So I started going to his daily meetings and as soon as I got there, he said, why are you here? Hey, I’m a chief. I’m a division chief. I’m supposed to be here and this is my mission and this is what I do and this is how I bring value to your organization. And he says, well, welcome because your predecessor didn’t do that.

23:53

So I think that’s all about belonging. And sometimes we, as leaders, have to take the extra step. Yeah. know, lose ourselves for the benefit of others. Wow. Maybe humble ourselves and not get upset, not get angry, but maybe do some self-awareness and say, how can I positively impact change in this organization?

24:20

And that’s really what I had to do. And it seemed to work. And I am still friends with many of those staff members, you know, back then. And that was in the mid 90s. That’s amazing. You know, but uh we were just a well oiled machine. And yeah, I just like to do that in all organizations, you know, just kind of look around, see what’s going on, ask some questions and see where I can make positive change.

24:49

Well, I think that’s a wonderful story to just show the all encompassing of the value and the meaning behind this podcast today before we sign off. And before I let you go today, Patricia, can you share where listeners can go connect with you, learn more about what you do, your business, and just hear from you some more? Thank you, Sarah. Yes, uh listeners could go to my website, CarringtonConsortium.com.

25:17

I’m also under LinkedIn as Patricia Bradley, and I have an Instagram account under Carrington Consortium ah and Patricia Bradley. And there I try to post uh information about the culture, even some mental health initiatives, but that’s where I am. And look for the newsletter soon. You’ll see the name.

25:46

of the newsletter when you see my name, but I think it’s going to be awesome. And I’m looking forward to just sharing and making people more aware and impacting transformation, which this podcast is all about uh in a positive way. That’s wonderful. I’m excited myself to see what the name of the newsletter is.

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Make sure that you check out all of Patricia’s, her website, her LinkedIn, and connect with her on Instagram there. And thank you so much, Patricia, for your time today. Thank you so much, Sarah. It’s been a pleasure. We hope you enjoy listening to the HRDQ-U In Review podcast, available on all major streaming platforms. If you did enjoy today’s episode, make sure to give us a follow and leave us a review. Thank you all for tuning into this week’s episode of the HRDQ-U In Review podcast, brought to you by HRDQU.com.