People + Strategy Podcast Perspectives: Spring 2025

Psychological Safety Isn’t an Excuse to Avoid Tough Talks

“Psychological safety has become one of those terms that, to some degree, has become weaponized. Some employees are saying, ‘I don’t want your feedback because your feedback makes me feel not psychologically safe.’

“Well, psychological safety doesn’t mean that hard conversations are off-
limits. It should mean, ‘We’re going to have difficult but respectful conversations so we can drive toward ultimate performance.’ You need to create a culture that will allow leaders, frontline workers, and peers to have those hard conversations about what’s going well, what’s not going well, and how do we adapt.”  —David Reimer, CEO of the Exco Group

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Personalize the Employee Experience to Boost Retention

“Treat your employees much like you treat your customers by knowing their demographics and their preferences. You market to a potential cohort of customers to sell your product, and we should be thinking about that the same way as with our employees.

“[Personalization] is becoming even more critical now because we’ve got so many different generations working together. You need to have different
ways by which to address their needs, whether it’s the benefits you provide, the way you communicate to them, or how you create opportunities for them to grow and develop.” —Amy Cappellanti-Wolf, Chief People Officer at DayForce

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Pause and Ask: Unlock Leadership Through Listening

“I am a better communicator because I recognize that not everyone needs the same thing. For some people, it’s about presence, meaning being there in person. For others, it’s about output and productivity. Throughout my career, I’ve recognized that the best leaders were the ones who paused to ask.

“As a leader, that’s one thing I’m proud of, that I’ve paused to ask my team about the ways that I can support them. What are some of things you need to be whole? What are some things you wish could change? Pause to ask individuals how they’re doing. Truly listen and make it the norm.” —Prudence Pitter, Global Head of HR for an Amazon Web Services Division 

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Open Transitions: Rethink the Two Weeks’ Notice

“We know that people aren’t going to work at our companies for a lifetime, yet the assumption is that they will. And then when they leave, it’s like this whole kind of awkward thing.

“We decided to test something new, which led to this concept of an open-
transition program that said it’s OK when you want to leave, we’re going to have a discussion. … It doesn’t work all the time, but I think it’s a huge improvement in psychological safety. It gets issues out into the open. … If people know they will not be walked to the door [if they talk about resigning], it makes them more willing to start conversations.” —Robert Glazer, Author and Founder of Acceleration Partners

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If High Performers Push Back, It’s a Sign to Listen Up

“A lot of times when we say a high performer doesn’t fit the culture, that person is actually demonstrating some of the things that the culture really does ask for. For example, someone that questions or challenges or really pushes and wants more.

“Some might be put off by that, but the reality is that these people are trying to be authentic and share that there’s a better way to do something. We have to be careful that we don’t just reject people because they push the organization. High achievers don’t tolerate mediocrity. We’ve got to figure out through many conversations what’s really showing up and how do we help the organization respond.” —Mike Fromm, Chief Human Resources Officer at Shaw Industries 

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Instill Lifelong Skills in Your Young Workers

“We have many 16- and 17-year-olds and this is their first job. Being able to teach them different job skills and life skills that they use on the job and outside the job is really important.

“For many young people, their communication skills are being taught on Snapchat and TikTok. We spend time teaching them how to listen, how to create eye contact, how to verbally communicate with our guests, in addition to teamwork. … We believe in a blended learning approach using a combination of e-learning and videos.” —Jill Waite, Chief People Officer at Portillo's