Episode 77: The Great Resignation or The Great Re-engagement? How to Make Sure ALL of Your Employees Feel SEEN, HEARD, and VALUED with Cassandra Rose
Happy Wednesday, Improve it! Fam!
How can you reconnect with the people in your organization? How can you not only make their lives more meaningful, but match that meaning to their work?
In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Human Resource expert, Cassandra Rose, who will guide you through these questions and provide tangible, actionable answers. She’s going to talk about how to turn this great resignation into the great re-engagement and what success looks like when you’re there.
We hope your notebook is ready and your coffee is hot – this show is packed with all the re-engagement goodies!
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Connect with Cassandra Rose:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mscassandrarose
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mscassandrarose
Twitter - https://twitter.com/MsCassandraRose
Website - www.meritarc.com
Connect with Erin Diehl:
Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you online!
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Episode 77 Transcription
Erin (00:00):
Improve it! Fam, today you are in for such a treat. I am speaking with the incomparable, Cassandra Rose, who is on a mission to elevate HR professionals to do their best work. Now, let me give you some insight on how Cassandra Rose is improving it. So as a global HR equity leader, Cassandra helps organizations fully leverage their diversity, equity and inclusion strategy to attract and captivate top talent. She partners with you to activate your organization's unique opportunities to align culture processes and systems to maximize your firm's investment in your people. Now having held roles at multi-billion dollar global brands and unicorn startups. I love that term, unicorn startups. She's developed proven strategies which positively impacted the physical, mental, and financial well being of employees. Now using real-world examples and leading industry practices, she consults coaches and facilitates workshops that empower HR and people leaders to more effectively connect the value of their talent with the mission of their organization.
Erin (01:13):
So she speaks frequently in the topics of benefits equity, and centering the VIP employee journey for transformative employee engagement. We are thrilled to have her on the show today. We're going to talk about what you mentioned in her bio about the value of the talent and connecting them with the mission of their organization. She is so, so wonderful to chat with. I cannot wait for you to hear it. We're going to talk about several things from three action items that you can use to turn this great resignation into the great re-engagement. You're going to hear about her obsession with macaroni and cheese, which is that's a fun one, how she has really evaluated what's important in her life during the pandemic, how this pandemic accelerated the way we looked at work and what the future of work is going to look like, including the fact that remote work is here to stay.
Erin (02:16):
So we talk about what success looks like in terms of reengaging your workforce. There's so much good here, bring a pencil, bring some paper. This is such a show - I'm so excited for you to hear it. We've got so many different ways for improve it to help you re-engage your team from online virtual workshops if you're still not back in the office to in-person COVID safe workshops then we also have our laugh breaks, which are great ways to engage your team and break up any boring zoom call. So those include short form entertainment and improv for your team in 20 minutes, 30 minutes or 45 minutes, our online workshops are an hour and a half. And then our in-person workshops are two hours. So we've been getting back into the in person slowly but surely, very, very, very carefully. So know that we take that into consideration too.
Erin (03:21):
Wanted to tell you that, but more importantly, I want to get back to improving it with Cassandra Rose. Here is today's episode. Are you a leader or change maker inside of your business organization or corporation? Are you looking for new, innovative ways to drive morale through the roof? Are you looking for fun and exciting icebreakers, team-building exercises and activities that will foster team growth, friendships, loyalty, and completely transform your organization from the inside out? Have you been searching for a fun and unique way to create change instead of this same old dry, boring leadership books and icebreakers that aren't actually working? Hi, I'm Erin Diehl, business improv edutainer, failfluencer and professional zoombie who is ready to help you improve it. My mission in life is to help you develop teams and leaders through play improv and experiential learning. In this podcast, we will deep dive into professional development, team building, effective communication, networking, presentation, skills, leadership training, how to think more quickly on your feet and everything in between. We have helped everyone from fortune 500 companies to small mom and pop shops transformed their business, their leadership, and their people through play. So grab your chicken hat. We are about to have some fun, welcome to improve it! The podcast.
Erin (05:05):
Oh my gosh. All right. I am so excited to have you here, Cassandra. Welcome to the improve it! Podcast.
Cassandra (05:13):
Thank you so much, Erin, for having me! I'm excited too.
Erin (05:18):
Okay. So we were just chatting before we hit record. You have a four year old, I have a two year old. We're in toddler land. Okay. But besides this fun fact, what is a fun fact that the improve it! Fam could learn about you? That's not on your bio or your LinkedIn profile?
Cassandra (05:38):
That I am a macaroni and cheese connoisseur. I love trying it at every restaurant. I know diets of the day really are, you know, carb in light, but give me a good baked macaroni and cheese and I am in heaven.
Erin (05:55):
Oh my God. Do you do like a truffle macaroni and cheese? I'm just asking for a friend. Okay. I felt like this was a connection. That is amazing. Okay. Well fun fact. How often would you say you eat it? Just out of curiosity?
Cassandra (06:11):
I'm a little embarrassed to say maybe once a week because that's one of my son's favorite meals. So we make it at home pretty often, but you know, I like the adult Mac and cheese. Give me a little bacon, a little gruyere, you know, just make it more interesting.
Erin (06:27):
I know isn't it fun that it's come back like artesian, like there's artesian all feels like it's like, you know, like a like a fun thing you get on a very nice fancy menu with like truffle Mac and cheese with, you know, Gouda or something. That's, I'm loving this. All right, now that I'm hungry and it's lunchtime. Tell me this. So you are a Forbes' human resources council member, which is so cool. How did this come to be? And tell us a little bit more about that.
Cassandra (06:56):
Sure. So it was fun to be able to be accepted into the council. And I actually found out about it by looking up just leaders in the HR space. One of the things that I always try to do is find out who out there is really making a change and follow what they're saying, because I think it's, it's good when we look at other people as someone to learn from versus like a competitor. And I saw someone had that designation. So I did a little bit more research. I submitted my application and after not too likely of a process, I was able to be accepted in. So I'm able to network with other council members and just share some of the thoughts and learnings that I've been able to acquire over my 15 plus years in HR.
Erin (07:40):
That is awesome. I love that. That is exactly the kind of slew things that I would do. Like you hear about it. You're like, how does this work? And then you just go on and find it apply and it's meant to be. So I was actually thinking about how I found you because I found you on LinkedIn. And I think it was because you were a guest on, so you want to work in HR with Ricklyn woods.
Cassandra (08:08):
Love Ricklyn.
Erin (08:09):
Oh my God. We love her too. We just had her on the show. So she is fantastic. And I saw your episode and I said, okay, got to talk to Cassandra. So let me ask you this. What is your favorite podcast to binge? And it could be professional. It could be personal. What would you say is your favorite podcast?
Cassandra (08:31):
Yeah, if I will actually take it from two angles, my favorite professional, one of course Erin yours is going to now be in my top 10.
Erin (08:44):
Okay yes.
Cassandra (08:46):
But it's going to be the Harvard business review manager tip of the day. Why I liked it. It's no more than three minutes. And in someone, either in industry or an academic who just gives you a tidbit for you to take back to your team. And a lot of times we worry that, do we have enough time? Do I have enough time to get better, to give better? But I think if you can find something that can give back to you in less than 360 seconds, you should definitely tune in. So shout out to them and I promise I'm not an affiliate. And then from personal, I would say, is anything like Serial, like anything where you can really get into someone's story and it doesn't have to necessarily be gruesome, but just really learning the human condition and being able to understand how there's so many different angles to a story.
Erin (09:35):
That is so cool. I love Serial. And I did not know that they have these quick little tidbits. So in Harvard business review, we're going to link to that in the show notes. It's always fun to ask that question because you never know what you're going to find out and it could be your next best pod. So that's cool. Okay. So you've been on a lot of podcasts, speaking of podcasts. So we are so thrilled to have you on the improve it! Podcast and you are currently a partner at merit arc. Hope I said that correctly. Can you tell us yes. Okay. Can you tell us a little bit about your role, how this came to be and just, and what your purpose is and, and, and guiding light is there?
Cassandra (10:18):
Sure. So I actually joined merit org as employee number five earlier this year, which is one of the most risky things I've ever done. I would count myself as a risk adverse person, but working with different organizations from unicorn startups to 30,000, a hundred thousand person organizations, I felt like there was a gap somewhere in the way that we practice HR. And, you know, HR has really, really come to the forefront, especially during this pandemic, as more than this, just operational tactical, we make sure people get paid. We make sure people have benefits. We hire and fire. We're a strategic partner within the way organizations just work. And so I had a friend, a colleague tapped me on the shoulder and say, Hey, I have something that we're starting and I'd love for you to come on in. So in addition to helping with software product development, I'm also building out our diversity equity, inclusion, advisory practice, as well as our employee benefits practice.
Erin (11:23):
I love it. And I know that benefits equity is something that is passionate to you, that you are super, super well-versed in. And I can't wait to talk a little bit more about that, but I think that the role sort of came to you and in a place where, Hey, it may have seemed risky, but it's almost as if no risk, no champagne, right? This Merit arc needs you. The world needs this conversation, which is why having you as a guest today is crucial because you and I were chatting before the show. There are a lot of leaders who are struggling right now with the great resignation. And it's true. I mean, if you look around people really reevaluated their lives in the past year and a half, they evaluated what they wanted from a workplace. So I would like to change this dialogue from the great resignation versus the great re-engagement. I like to kind of flip it to the great re-engagement because that's what you do. That's what I do is we bring companies together. We empower them to take care of their people and engage them in a way that inspires and motivates them to grow and to learn and to be present and be their full selves at work. So before we dive in, can you give a little bit more definition or what this term, the great resignation means to you and how it's affecting organizations?
Cassandra (13:00):
Sure. Erin, and I mean, you did a great job of introing that concept of just people are at a point where they re-evaluating what's important than their life. They're able to move to places that once were remote in thinking that I could do, you know, work in New York or California and Oklahoma they've reassessed what's important. How do I want to prioritize the next 40 years of my life? And I think this was going to happen no matter what I think with gen X and millennials coming into the workforce and saying, we want to focus on what's important. What's our purpose at this company? I can be typing data entry. I can be the leader, but what does this company do? And how do I fit into the vision of how it's going to impact the world? Those questions were already on the rise. Then now, as we look at gen Z and even our children who are gen alpha, they're going to want more of that.
Cassandra (13:55):
I can't imagine we'll ever get back into a place where you just go in, you put your head down, you work. And then at the end of 40 years, you retire, that's never going to take place ever again. And so I think the pandemic only accelerated this look and ability to meet those needs, what companies have done. And I don't know if you saw this recently, but some of the three out of the four big public accounting firms employed between 30 to a hundred thousand people have said remote work is here to stay. We are going to have positions that are purely remote, and I could not have imagined them coming out and saying that so strongly, just two years ago. So I think when we think about the rate resignation, people almost feel like, what can I do? This is too late. You know, I'm going to lose someone. And I love how you said more proactively re-engagement instead of trying to stymie people leaving, how can you connect with the people already within your organization? How can you make their lives and, and make their lives not just more meaningful, but match that meaning to their work. That's what we need to do next.
Erin (15:05):
That is it! And can you believe we are raising generation alpha? Okay. That is terrifying.
Erin (15:12):
Okay. So improve it! Family listening, Cassandra has a four year old. I have a two year old as you know. And so it's so true. I even see it with the gen Z employees that we have here at improve it. It is you don't take a job because it's a job. You take it because of the difference that you want to make in the world with that job. And I love the work that you're doing with merit arc. I love the conversations that we're having, and I love that this is something that is here to stay. And I do believe very strongly in what you said, that the pandemic accelerated this, it accelerated the way that we look at the world and that remote work is here to stay. And you're absolutely correct. The big three saying remote work is going to be a position that we're, I mean, you're absolutely correct.
Erin (16:05):
These are companies that have been doing things the same way for a very long time. So this disruption, although I wish none of it towards our health and our mental health, I do think has some silver linings in the way the future of work works and looks. So, let me ask you this. If you were to give the improve it! Audience three action items to turn the great resignation into the great re-engagement or to look at it as the great re-engagement, what would those three action items be? And I just know Cassandra has not had any of this planned. This is a question sprung on you right now. This is improv at its finest. So what would you say would be the three action items?
Cassandra (16:57):
So good question. And you can see me tap dancing a little, but actually use what I have used in my leadership and honestly, coaching myself. I think we first have to look inward. We are constantly looking for these external things that will make our people happier, right? And so we like add in extra benefits, which has this place because I'm in, into benefits, equity. So it has this place. And then we look at, you know, what this leader is doing or what this organization is doing. And then all we're seeing is the shadow of those things. We don't necessarily understand the mechanics behind how those things work. So when they don't work as effectively in our organizations, we can sometimes just, you know, want to throw those things away and say that they're just fluff. So I would say anyone listening to this just really take the time to not think this as like this three things I can do.
Cassandra (17:52):
And then automatically everything will be better, but how can I incorporate this in my life? And then how can I authentically walk that into my organization? How I show up and do that for my people that is the ask I would have. So the three things that I do for myself as one, I pay attention to the things that bring me joy very early in my life. I wanted to be a lawyer Erin so much so that I would tell everybody and tell the whole world I'm going to be a lawyer. I went to college and I was just like, you know, instead of doing this in four years, I'm going to do it in three because I just want to get to law school. And to me, college was an obstacle, not a journey to get there. So I took 18 to 21 credits a semester. I studied for my LSS at the age of 18, graduated early, and I didn't get into any of schools and I felt completely devastated. And I think that's how sometimes we approach life. We have this one idea and we think if I just pursue it with everything that I have, it's it has to happen for me. And for some people it happens like I use Michael Phelps, right? He knew he was going to be a swimmer. He did it, awesome. But there's a reason Michael Phelps is rare. Very rarely do we make plans at each?
Erin (19:16):
We, we activated Siri on this one. This is how exciting this is, keep going.
Cassandra (19:22):
Gesticulating. but very rarely do we do we come up with a dream at eight that's completely realized with no friction as an adult. So go back to the things that bring you joy. And what I mean by that is in wanting to be a lawyer. What I really wanted to do was be an advocate for people. I wanted to help people. And so when I had to pivot into becoming a missionary that was helping someone. When I pivoted into HR, that was helping people, whether I was a recruiter, helping someone get a job or working in immigration, helping someone confirm their visa, or now in benefits, helping people to understand and navigate healthcare, I'm doing the thing that I wanted to do at eight, which is advocate and help people. So what brings you joy, find those things. What do you just want to do? What do you get lost in doing in your work? And then find a way to do that more. That's how you make money and live out your purpose. So that would be number one.
Erin (20:22):
Okay. Keep going with two and three, but there's so much I want to unwrap here. Keep going. We need three. We need three!
Cassandra (20:30):
Two would be proactively share your accomplishments. So my parents, I love them dearly. They are truly my best village ever. And one of the things they taught me was to put your head down, do good work, and you'll be acknowledged. And for the first part of my career did that. I was just like, if I just work really hard, work extra hours, don't complain. You know, I'm going to get promoted. I'm going to get all this stuff. And in my circumstance that wasn't always the case. And I realized that there's a ton of people who are always talking about all the things they do, that I felt like isn't that what you literally get paid to do, but they were the ones getting promoted. So this is not me saying be egotistical or, you know, just make sure you're out shining anyone, but make sure that people know what you're doing.
Cassandra (21:17):
Sometimes they don't value what you're doing. Cause they don't understand the depth of what you do. The effort you put into it, be proud of those accomplishments. If you accomplished something at work, if you save $10,000 or you were better able to serve a customer, letting your manager know, those are the things that show up. If you've read a book finished a course that makes you better at anything brand of 5k, tell your friends and your family, you never know how shining your light may help others. So don't look at it as something as self-serving know that what you're doing can be a template for how someone can do it themselves too.
Erin (21:57):
Keep going. This is so good. We've got number one. Number two, we've got number one, pay attention to what brings you joy. Number two, share your accomplishments. What is the third thing?
Cassandra (22:09):
Third thing would be pamper yourself. A lot of times we think if I just work really, really, really, really hard at the end, I'll pamper myself, I'll reward myself. You know, if I just work really, really hard for 50 weeks, I'll take a two week vacation. If I work really, really hard on this project, you know, I'll make sure that I go out for dinner once it's over. And that's how we end up burning out. You will never tell your car, oh, you need gas. If you just go 500 more miles, then I'll get you gas. Literally have a light that tells us, listen, you don't get gas in here in the next 10 miles. I'm just going to quit. And we do that to our bodies. We do that mentally. We do that physically. We wait until we're completely depleted and almost at a negative.
Cassandra (23:01):
And then when we're doing something for ourselves, we're just getting back to neutral. We're just getting back to zero. We're not even really replenishing. So make sure you pamper yourself continuously and that can be taking a bubble bath or a nap or going for your annual physical and scheduling some time to talk to a therapist. These are all factors and making sure that you're conditioning yourself, you're investing in yourself to be at your best because that's the only time that you can give you can't give from a place of deficit. You can only give from a place of surplus.
Erin (23:39):
It. Oh my God, I love it. And I actually do you follow Liz and Molly, do you know, they're they got these little cartoons and they had a cartoon that had the gas meter. And it was like, when we should take a break. Cause like when you're on halfway full and it's like, when we actually take a break, it's like when it was the gas meter was below empty and it's so true. I love everything you said. And I do think, so this applies not only to the individual. So take these three action items, pay attention to the things that bring you joy, share your accomplishments, pamper yourself, apply them to you, but then outwardly apply them to the people that you lead. Right? So asking in your reviews, your quarterly reviews, your annual reviews to a team member who you serve. Also, they serve you, but you serve them.
Erin (24:36):
What brings you joy? Where do you see yourself? If you've read the book radical candor, they talk a lot about this, fulfilling that purpose within the organization. If there's ways that you can help that individual fulfill their purpose, that's bringing them joy or sharing their accomplishments, you being their advocate and sharing their accomplishments. If somebody is shy, sharing those accomplishments for them, and then encouraging time off and time away from their screens and really recharging those batteries. Because I don't know what you think that's not true. But I actually think that the world is working more now that we're working remotely, what are your thoughts on that?
Cassandra (25:19):
Oh, absolutely. We thought, okay, now that I have all this time back from commuting or having to drop off the kids, now I can actually invest that in myself. And what we thought was, well, now I can take an 8:00 AM meeting and end my day early, but then we took that 5:00 PM meeting. And another day later, and now before we know it all that time that we quote unquote, got back, got reinvested into work and it's easy to do that. Cause it's almost as though, what else would I do while we were in lockdown in quarantine? You really couldn't just go outside or do anything else. So it just felt like, let me be productive. And that's what we need to get to the core of what does productivity look like? Because we confuse busy-ness and productivity and we put our identities, we hit our identities to productivity. So we just think if we're busy, I must be productive. Thus I must have value. And I would disconnect all of those things
Erin (26:18):
Oh my God, preach right here. And they're like, yes, I cannot. I remember those days I used to work in corporate prior to building improve it. And it was like, I would just sit there because I had to be there from eight 30 to five 30. And I was just burnt out by like 4 45. I had sent, I was in business development. I had sent all my emails. I was just done and I could do more definitely, but I just had to like sit there because my time to leave was five 30. It was a punch in punch out that was so unproductive. And it actually made my gas tank completely depleted because I just, if I would have had that time to go out and actually pursue something that made me happy and joyful, I probably would have showed up differently the next day, instead of super tired and just, you know, rinse and repeating.
Erin (27:12):
So I'm so I'm so with you on that, can we just get rid of this defining productivity as being busy? It's just the amount of time you put into the day doesn't equal the output that very productive individuals can do at a shorter period of time. So, oh my God, thank you for that. Now let me ask you this. So 2020 and 2021 have just been different years in business. It's been two of the most different years I've ever had as an entrepreneur business owner leader. And I'm sure for you too, and, and the role that you're leading at Merit arc, you're finding that it's just, it's completely different and you're also serving other people at other organizations. And I'd love to hear your answer to this question. So how would you define success of an organization in 2021 when it comes to maintaining their human capital and then making sure that everyone within that organization feels seen, heard and valued? What would you say if you do all these things you are successful looks like
Cassandra (28:22):
Great question. And the word that comes to me is belonging. In addition to going through a global pandemic, we've really seen social unrest globally. We have racism, we have gender disparities. We have, you know, just even governments and other countries in our own country, right? How fragile democracy can be from Clippy and being able to reevaluate what is the social contract between two people? What do we owe to each other? And when I think about what success looks like a lot of times we go down to the numbers because that's the something easy to measure. Yes. It's easy to say, okay, this company is profitable. But some of the companies that a lot of us respect, they haven't turned a profit in years. They just keep going with investors and infusions of cash and they're providing them services. Right? But if we think about nonprofits, their intent is not to become profitable, but to serve society.
Cassandra (29:30):
So what we have to get back to, or maybe create for the first time, truly our environments of a belonging, how can people feel seen at your organization? How do they feel valued at your organization? How do you take what they say, take their voice and actually operationalize how you run your organization? Because then the by-product of that is a productive workforce is an engaged workforce is a workforce that's producing at a high level, which if profit is your, your main purpose, you'll be profitable. Is serving community and societies. Your main purpose. You'll be able to do those things. So we need to stop chasing dollars simply and really chase how we create belonging. Because when people feel safe in their workplace, when people feel safe with their managers, with their leaders, they're going to show up better than anything you could ever invest in.
Erin (30:31):
I love that. Stop chasing dollars and chase how they create belonging. It's a little something at improv we call yes and. And I love that so much. Oh my God. Yeah. I think exactly what you said rings so true. And if we were to think about ourselves, take ourselves out of this equation, put ourselves in the seat of a team member or an employee at a different organization. What made us want to stay at the organization? What made us feel valued? And I will tell you a thousand percent, it is that feeling of belonging. I stayed in a job for six years and I did not love the job, but because my leader made me feel valued, seen, heard, believed in me. I stayed for her. I really did. And that is something that if we can relay that and, and use that guiding light as a force, man, think about how engaging that could be, how re-engaging that could be, how this great resignation wouldn't have to be the great resignation, how it could actually be the great re-engagement. And I love that answer because it's so true. And I know we all take ourselves out of it and really think about a time where we felt seen, heard, and valued it's because we felt like we belonged. So I love that answer. And I want to ask you, because I find your career so fascinating and you are a success story in yourself. Do you have any habits or rituals that you do daily that have propelled you forward in your career?
Cassandra (32:17):
Well, first thank you for the compliment.
Erin (32:19):
You are welcome.
Cassandra (32:21):
I really appreciate that. And I think everyone's story is still unfolding. You know, it's, I, I try and I honestly try not to read my press clippings and that might be an old term, but essentially not get too caught up in the things that I have been successful in because I approach my life with an attitude of almost everything that is good in my life has once been a dream. And I think that's true for everyone, right? You, when you were a teenager, like what happens, you know, one day when I meet the love of my life and I get married, what happens when I have kids? What happens when I have this career or that career? And if you're in those things, guess what your dreams came true. But it's very easy to look to the next stream, always be in pursuit. And so what I would say is one of my number one things that I do every morning when I wake up is just take a moment, really breathe it all in and say what I appreciate, appreciate.
Cassandra (33:17):
I appreciate that I'm healthy. When we think about COVID-19 people were dying because they couldn't breathe. You have air in your lungs, clean air, soundness of mind. I'm thankful that I can, you know, be able to contribute to my industry, my profession, to this podcast, with all the experiences that I've had. I appreciate those things. So I would, I would really offer to anyone, all the dreams that have been realized in your life, take a moment, five minutes if you have, or 10 and really tune into what's in your list. When I start my day out that way it changes my outlook for everything.
Erin (34:01):
I need, like a choir. But like I need like an amen. Oh my God. Yes. What I appreciate appreciates that. That's a tweet right there. Tweetable what I appreciate, appreciate that. That is, I've never, I don't think I've ever heard that. I love that. So very, very much. And you reminded me of another quote. Okay. Just throwing out quotes that I heard recently, which is enjoy the journey. You'll never be satisfied with the destination, which, oh my God. When I heard that too, I was like, yes, that is exactly true. Because Charleston, which you and I were chatting before the show I live here. Now you still live in Chicago for 15 years. This was a dream I've always wanted to live here near my family, near the ocean. I have a miracle baby. I'm going to tell you what is happening right now. We've gotten here.
Erin (34:54):
This is the dream. And now I'm like, you know what? We need, we need a pool, you know? And I'm like, how can we get a pool? So, you know, and it's like, I have literally dreamed of this for years. It's been on my vision board. It's been something I've tried to make into motion. And you know, it's so true. I love this. What I appreciate appreciates mentality. You've gotten so far with it. So congrats to you. And thank you for sharing that with the improve it! Fam. And I want to ask you, speaking of improvement, from what you know of improv, how would you say you've witnessed leaders improvise over the past year? Which, I mean, there's a lot of ways, but if you could sum it up, how would you say you've witnessed the leaders improvise over the past year?
Cassandra (35:44):
So one thing that the pandemic, the social unrest, everything that's going on in the world has done is become an equalizer. No one saw COVID-19 coming, right? So no one could have planned for it. No one was like, I have the perfect disaster recovery plan, and this is how we're going to go about it. How many times have we delayed return to office? How many times have we said, oh, in two more weeks dot dot dot. And so everyone had to come back and go, what are we truly doing? How do we communicate with people? How do we connect with our people? And I will be honest with you. I've seen organizations that we thought were, you know, giants in their industry crumble because they didn't really have a plan. Everything was kind of ad hoc. So I think we need to take the silver lining of you can plan.
Cassandra (36:38):
And you should, that's that's wise to do, but be agile, be willing to improv whether it's communicating what your plan is. And being honest and saying, we don't have one literally going beak by beak or relying on, you know, the government and the government is not always a hundred percent sure what they're doing, but we're dealing with something we've never dealt before in an environment we've never dealt with it before. And I think that vulnerability is what accelerated our ability to go. Let's do remote work. Let's rethink what we're doing as a society because not, not the smartest person on earth knew what to do next. And I don't think we should get away from that. I hope that this decade doesn't end with us almost repeating some of our mistakes and just pulling out winners and non winners and thinking that's what life's about. Life is about making sure that each day is a little better than the last that we're doing things to be a better friend, a better neighbor a better colleague and a better leader.
Erin (37:43):
I love that it really wasn't equalizer. That makes so much sense. I love that. So let me ask you this. We say that improve it and improve it. That, that it can mean so many things. So what is your it, or the thing that you feel that you are put on this earth to do, which I think I know, but I would love to hear your answer.
Cassandra (38:09):
Erin, you do not make it easier towards the end.
Erin (38:17):
We started light. It goes light, and then we get deeper and deeper. What is your life's purpose? That's what you just, you know, very soft, soft ball question.
Cassandra (38:28):
I appreciate that when he leaves under the sea, it would go back to what I said was when, when I was eight to serve, it really has been that I grew up very religious. I still, you know, am a believer in God. And what I share with people is that we're all here to impact someone else. Maybe it's one other person, maybe it's your family unit. Maybe it's the whole world, right? There's people who create vaccines. Like the scientists and doctors and frontline workers who've made our lives better, but we're all in some level of servitude. And so for me, it's been to serve and the ability to be able to take all that I am and all that I've been gifted to know and put those things together and do it in HR is a joy. And if you told me at eight, Hey, you get to have this fabulous career in human resources. I would have been like, I don't even know what that is. So also leave yourself open enough to be flexible, to know that your gift may not show up in the way that you think it is. But if you pay attention to the things that bring you joy, if you're able to share your accomplishments and if you're able to sustain yourself so that you're thriving, not surviving, your purpose will find you.
Erin (39:51):
Okay. I'm writing that down. Okay. All right. Sorry. Taking notes. Can't can't type and talk at the same time. That is it. That is it. I knew you were going to say surface. I knew that I had deep, deep feeling because this was a deep, deep question, but we are so glad that you do the work that you do. We are so glad that your gifts brought you to where you are. So if someone from the improve it! Fam wanted to find you, Cassandra, how could they find you?
Cassandra (40:22):
Yeah. So I go by Ms. Cassandra rose. So that's M as in Mary, S as in Sam Casandra, C a S S a N D R a rose, R O S E across all social. So you can find me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram on Instagram I've put out a lot of content around benefits tips, cause I know employee benefits can be daunting and so can the healthcare industry. So I try to make it fast and fun tips to help you with that. And on LinkedIn, I put a lot of my diversity equity inclusion work. Just some of my thoughts. I share thoughts that I really think people should follow thought leaders. So find me there. I'm happy to connect.
Erin (41:01):
I love it. And I can say also sleuth through your Instagram reels, loving what you're doing. Keep going. I call myself the real deal. R E E L. Okay. But no, I, I just, you know, it's, I'm trying, I'm a feel fluence or things are happening. You're actually doing it. Okay. Well, Cassandra, we are so thrilled to have had you on the show today. And I will say this, you have really helped us realize that we can re-engage our people, you have spoken to this improve it! Family. And I do feel like if we can make employees feel seen, heard, and valued, then we really can turn this great resignation into the great re-engagement. So thank you for your insight and wisdom. We appreciate you.
Cassandra (41:50):
Thank you so much for the invitation. I feel honored to have been able to share just a little bit of my story with you in the community.
Erin (41:58):
Ah, well, we are honored. It is a privilege and an honor, we are signing off. Thanks Cassandra.
Cassandra (42:04):
Thanks Erin.
Erin (42:13):
Improve it family. I mean, hello. What a woman, what a world we're living in, but what a show packed full of good tangible takeaways. Here's what I want you to take away from today's show. Now, if you're looking to reengage, not only yourself, but your team take her three action items, apply them to yourself and then immediately apply them to your team. It's like, you're on an airplane and you put on your oxygen mask first, so you can help other people. That's what we have to do is engage ourselves and then engage others. So number one, pay attention to the things that bring your team joy, ask them in their interviews, in their quarterly interviews. Yeah. Ask them in an interview before you hire them. What brings you joy? And then while you're evaluating their performance, talk about the things that they are really excited about.
Erin (43:08):
What do you want to do more of? What is your long-term goal? And even if it's not staying at your organization, how can you bring the thing that they want to do longterm into your organization, to re-engage them? Number two, share your accomplishments. So tell your friends the things that you've done, and then also celebrate the accomplishments of your team members. We have a slack channel. I've said this before called hashtag winning. So when anything good happens with a client, with a testimonial or a nice email, we are encouraged at improve it to type it into the slack channel so we can all celebrate those wins, but be a person who's not afraid to share their accomplishments and encourage your team to do the same. And then take care of yourself as number three, pamper yourself, encourage yourself to take that time off. You don't get the PTO back when your dead, okay.
Erin (44:10):
That's a morbid thought. Okay. But I know so many people who are like, oh, I'm just going to hang on until the end of the year. And then they've got a bunch of days left and then they just either lose them. Cause they don't roll over, take the PTO. That's what it's there for and encourage your team to take time off because you're going to get a better output from them when they return back in. So take three, three action items. And remember that we can turn this great resignation into the great re-engagement by investing in our people, investing in their time, their wellbeing, what brings them joy? What brings them joy outside of work, their mentality. All of those things are going to help you in the long run, have an engaged and productive and excited workforce. So my beautiful, beautiful improve it. Family.
Erin (45:11):
Keep failing, keep trying and keep improving because the world needs that special. It that only you can break. See you next time. Hey friends, thanks for tuning in to improve it. I am so happy you along for the ride. If you enjoyed this show, head on over to iTunes to leave us a five star review and subscribe to the show. So you never miss an episode. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Now, if you're really feeling today's show and you've improved it even just a little bit, please take a screenshot and tag me at keepinitrealdiehl on Instagram and share it in your stories. I'll see you next week, but I want to leave you with this thought, what did you improve today and how will that help your future successful self? Think about it. I am rooting for you and the world needs that special. It that only you can bring see you next time.