Everything I learned about Human Resources early in my career was about rules, compliance and protecting the business at all costs. Turns out if you focus only on those, the cost will be the humans! Your talent, team and human capital that is.

Striking a balance between the business and people is the target for most HR teams. Protecting the business is essential and smart. Putting “best practices” first will always be, well, sufficient. However, to really get to see progress and success your organization MUST focus on the people experience.

We believe the people experience starts the moment a candidate enters the recruiting process and continues through the entirety of their time with IITWINC.

Our People Experience team is about making work more enjoyable, more meaningful, and more supportive. This aligns with our company tagline “Happy, Productive, and Supported”. Yes, we also manage the operations and compliance side of HR. But we lead every endeavor with how it will affect the people experience. Can team members be their authentic selves at work? Can we reduce the stress related to work? Can we make work a place where they belong?

Making Work More Enjoyable. Today, it’s not enough to just advertise a job and watch the applications roll in. Candidates want to know that they will come to work in an inclusive, positive, and fun culture.

We created a committee of team members of all tenures to pay attention to culture. They plan events, trivia, and ways for people to connect like pop-up happy hours. But they’re not just party planners. They are thought leaders and have real impact to our culture. They use their voice to impact where they work. Members of the committee look at employee satisfaction survey data and dive into those focus areas that need attention.

We send weekly “High Five Friday” emails where we celebrate successes, new team members and anniversaries.

We gave our team members a way to give anonymous feedback. We respond to every piece of feedback openly in High Five Friday emails within the same week to let our team know we’re listening and value transparency.

The evolution from traditional HR to People Experience has only been possible with the effort and creativity of many. Being able to watch a team member enjoy their work and continue to choose IITWINC is incredibly fulfilling. This fuels our continued efforts to make IITWINC a great place to work.