Growing Teams & Maintaining Culture in a Post-Covid Workplace
A Q+A with Ci Ci Holloway, Chief People & Diversity Officer
Q: How do you maintain culture after 18+ months of working from home?
At Intersection, we believe in over-communicating. With most employees “working from anywhere” during this fully-flexible work environment, we try to maintain a visible and engaged leadership team. We listen to the needs of our employees via surveys, focus groups, small gatherings and 1:1 discussions — all excellent platforms to hear what employees are thinking and how best we can support them.
We also provide opportunities for employees to interact, contribute, and stay connected. The Leadership team hosts monthly Town Halls and Business Reviews to provide updates on the business, team highlights, strategic initiatives, and employee “Ask Me Anything” Q&A sessions — all to help implement initiatives to impact engagement. Other employee engagement examples include employee rewards and recognition, a company-wide Intersection Gives Back Day, virtual games and activities, lunch and learns, new hire days, and various wellness activities.
Q: What are your thoughts on the new ‘normal’?
The hybrid environment is here to stay! When we fully return to our offices, we will spend two to three days in the office for “collaboration days” each week, which we believe is valuable for team building, efficiency of work, and will hopefully create opportunities for more concentrated in-person cultural events. We expect that our employees should be passionate about what they do and want to excel. We also aspire to have a culture that’s inclusive and enjoyable for folks to gather in person. We want people to come into the office because we think it will make them more successful and our culture stronger. But what we care most about is that our employees do great work and share our values.
Q: How does Intersection promote a healthy work/life balance?
We introduced a “Wellness 360” program that promotes wellness of the mind, body, and wallet. Wellness activities include an annual health fair, free Calm app subscription, discounts on gym memberships and activities, and financial education and planning.
Q: What’s the key to finding new talent in this highly competitive (and still virtual) environment?
A silver lining of the pandemic is that it has forced the rapid and widespread adoption of remote interviewing practices that otherwise would likely have taken more time, costs, and other resources. By leveraging virtual interview platforms, we saw a leveling of the playing field to provide access to more diverse candidates since we were not restricted to geographic limitations. In fact, we were well positioned to implement remote hiring and onboarding practices quickly and can sustain those processes in a post-pandemic environment.
Q: Any advice for recent college grads?
Be prepared, do your research on the company and interviewers, and don’t take the interview for granted. Expand your technology skills as we are interviewing most often on various platforms. Setting up in front of a blank wall or a few tasteful decorations shows that you are organized and pay attention to detail. Be on time or early, and specific in highlighting the reason you’re the right person for the role. Remember that an interview is a two-way street: while the company is interviewing you for the role, you’re also assessing whether you feel the role is right for you.
