Without much help from the government, parents – especially moms — have historically been left to their own devices to navigate between raising their kids and holding down jobs. But in recent years, more and more employers have stepped up to support working parents with childcare benefits, and for many, it’s become the difference between collecting a paycheck or not. Reshma and Tim talk with innovative leaders at Best Buy and Synchrony about what it means to truly care about your workers and the payoffs when you do.
For decades, women in the workforce has been the biggest driver of GDP growth in America. We’ve wanted them in our offices, our factories, and our stores but we’ve turned a blind eye to their other full-time job: mom. The government wasn’t investing in care so each family had to fend for itself. But in recent years, as the fragile care system crumbled and then finally collapsed, the tide turned. Employers across industries started to ask their female employees what they truly needed to be better at their jobs and the answer was clear: childcare and flexibility. And when those employers acted on this insight, amazing things happened: Increased productivity, loyalty, reduced turnover. It turned out the right thing to do was also the right thing to do for the bottom line. In this two-part conversation with leaders from Synchrony and Best Buy, Reshma and Tim explore how the private sector can lead in solving this very public problem.
Reshma Saujani:
Welcome back everyone to Why Care. This is Reshma Saujani, and I’m here with my friend Tim Allen. Today is like a really, really, really exciting episode, I think for both of us because we’re talking about something we are super passionate about, which is what the private sector can do right now, to support parents.
We’re going to be joined by one of my favorite people in the world. Carol Jewell, who’s the Executive Vice President and Chief Technology and Operating Officer at Synchrony, as well as Melanie Moriarty, senior director of HR Rewards at Best Buy. So Tim, catch me up. What’s happening in the parenting world today?
Tim Allen:
Reshma, always good to see you, I love these catch-up sessions. It’s the power of twins in my family right now. It is two against one. I have never felt it more succinctly than I have in the last couple days. It is very funny for me to watch the kids band together and be like anti-Dad, if that makes sense. You know what I’m saying?
Reshma Saujani:
Yes, I do.
Tim Allen:
Right, oh, yeah, and like, they’re becoming so smart in their own way. One of them feeds off the other, and now it’s like, seven year olds just think they know everything. They just think they know everything. So no matter what I say at this moment in time, it’s like, ‘oh, no, that’s not the way.’ I can be talking about quantum physics, and they’re like, ‘No, no, that’s not how this works.’ And I’m like, really? You and I talked about it. So you don’t want to like crush their little curiosity. But at the same time, I’m also like, ‘No, this is not a democracy. This is not a democracy. This is a pure dictatorship and this is not how this is going to go.’
Reshma Saujani:
Yeah, it’s always like that, especially after holidays, or weeks off, I feel like get off of me. It’s like picking them off, and oh, my God, I was like, I love these mom memes obviously, I’m going to read it to you, it’s so funny. This woman is awesome. Her name is Awesome Little Sleepers, and it’s like a tweet. It’s like, ‘Been feeling a little moody and rundown lately, Googled my symptoms to see what I might have. It’s kids, I have kids.’ And it was so friggin funny. I was like, oh my God, that’s like how literally everybody’s feeling right now.
Tim Allen:
It is, and these moments are like, I’m so thankful for the education system, and teachers, I am so thankful. I was like, this is three weeks, and I love being around my kids. But to your point, it’s like, ‘Go, for five minutes, I need to use the restroom. Leave me alone, get out!’ That kind of moment.
Reshma Saujani:
Well, I have a two-year-old so I don’t even get to do that, like literally, he finds me, wherever, especially when I’m in the bathroom because that is his favorite part to say, “Mommy, mommy peeing?” I’m like, “Yes, Mommy peeing, closed the door.”
Tim Allen:
That’s my sanctuary. I just want to take a shower. Leave me alone, and like, I need five minutes of my day where it’s like, and I love being around them all the time. But I’m like, personal spaces. What age do you develop personal space is what I want to know? Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, they’re going to become teenagers and they won’t want to be around you?’ And I’m like, is it wrong that sometimes I wish they were?
Reshma Saujani:
I know. I know. But they need a lot, and I think it’s like the physicalness and the attention and the love and all of it and we’re really busy people, so it’s really hard, and I think we feel it more. We feel guilty about it more. My parents never give it crap if we didn’t have any attention from them, they were just busy doing their thing and working hard, and now I think mere with all the guilt that you have is what makes it hard.
Especially I think around the holidays, or breaks where you’re really burnt out, you’re exhausted, your kids need your attention. You feel guilty that you want to have a break from them, and it’s like the whole thing. I thought it was especially interesting this season, how people were just really a lot more honest about how they felt that they felt that way. Whether it was like, I’m at home with my mother and I want to lock myself in my room and I’m 50 years old or it’s like I just need to laugh. If people were just a lot more honest, which I found, I don’t know if it’s soothing
Tim Allen:
I’ve noticed it too. The thing I’m thinking about right now is I’m hearing a lot more of the power of no, not even from myself, but other people just saying, ‘No, that’s not going to work for me.’ My mom was like, ‘Let’s meet up halfway through,’ I’m like within a four-hour driving distance, and then I called her and she was like, ‘No, you know I love you. I love the kids but no.’ And I was like, wow, one, okay, great that release. I really don’t want to get in the car and driving. I love you but I don’t want to hang out with you today. But there’s just now this in this society, I feel like there is just more of a power of no kind of moment happening where people are being authentic. They’re showing up with an authentic thing versus doing things out of obligation more and more which still exists.
Reshma Saujani:
No, you’re right. I think that’s a post-pandemic thing where I think people really got a sense of what it’s like when you actually pay attention to yourself and how you feel, and that you care, that it feels nice sometimes to like hide and cocoon and not constantly say yes to everything. So hopefully, that’s 2023 New Year’s resolution is like a lot more of know, a lot more of self-care. My family’s motto is we’re going to be cheap and authentic this year.
Tim Allen:
I love that. I love that. I love that. What does that look like for you? What does that mean, if you don’t mind me asking?
Reshma Saujani:
Listen, I have a lot of guilt; I say yes to a lot of things that I don’t have time to do because I feel guilty, not saying no. So I think saying no, to me is really, really, really like a big thing, and I think it’s especially hard for me. We’re going to bring Carolyn soon. It’s really hard to travel with little kids, and I feel like I’m constantly being pushed back into travel. So that means I’m constantly re-editing my schedule, and so then that means I’m constantly not enjoying the experiences that people would then enjoy, because I’m just frenetic about my schedule, and so I don’t want to do that this year.
Look, I also think a lot of people, it’s like, the markets have been really brutal, and we’re kind of at that phase as a family where we’re trying to work on a new home and, so it was a little bit of a wakeup call, like, okay, we got to put some things off, and we got to kind of make different types of financial choices. I think a lot of families are doing that kind of this year with all the uncertainty that’s happening in the market. I’m really grateful actually right now because I had really cheap parents. My parents did not ever go to the grocery store without coupons. If you were charged $1 for something that you didn’t pay for, oh, it was straight back to or something was cheaper at Jewel than Dominick’s it was –
I think so part of that growing up with that amount of frugalness made me really resent money, and so I wanted to be detached with money, which meant that I wasn’t going to bring a coupon, I wasn’t going to buy something on sale, I wasn’t going to return something I got overcharged for. But I’m now in this moment, really kind of like going back to some of my parents’ parenting tactics and like, you know what I’m going to adapt that, I’m going to actually be frugal and cheap this year, I’m going to look for the deal. I’m going to get things on sale and fight for my dollar back and make different types of choices.
Tim Allen:
I know exactly what you mean. It’s funny, you and I growing up worlds apart, grew up very similar. Like, I go to CVS, and I am all about those CVS dollars, get those extra savings. My friends make fun of me. They’re like, “It’s $1.” And I’m, like, “You don’t understand, that’s $1!” We got the means to do it; we could stretch it and make it work. But it’s like, why wouldn’t you? It’s okay. It’s a way of also self-care. It’s a way of preserving what you’ve worked so hard to earn, and I think that that’s an okay mentality to have, it’s okay for you to be like, save it and live within means.
Reshma Saujani:
Totally! And you know what’s so funny, Tim, I don’t know, if you’ve experienced this, I thought that my parents living their life that way, was more stressful, and what I didn’t realize is they actually got joy out of saving money. And so I didn’t actually try to do get the dollar back or use the coupon or sign up for the deal rewards thing, because I was like, well, that’s stressful. I don’t want to think about money all the time. And now that I’m kind of like, being more like them, I’m like, ‘Oh, this is fun to save money.’ It actually feels good to spend less, have less, need less, and be less attached to things. And so I get it now a little I think the older I’m getting, I’m understanding it a little bit more, and it’s definitely what I want to teach my children.
Tim Allen:
That’s it. See, I’ve seen both sides. I’ve lived both sides of it. I know exactly what you mean. It can be stressful, but it also could turn into a game. Does that make sense? It’s that fine line of not letting it control you but you controlling it? Does that make sense? Like you don’t become obsessive about how much money like every moment is like, ‘Oh, I didn’t get the 30 cents off of the dawn.’ Instead, it’s like it’s a game you want to play the game. But at the same time, you don’t let it control you but it’s about the kids. I was going to say to you, my kids. I feel it they don’t have the same value for $1 that I have, and it’s not because they’re not like me, I do think it’s a generational thing. Like my kids come home from these birthday parties with these little gift bags, they went roller-skating like over the holiday, and so they went to this gift bag is like got all of the trinkets and the stuff and like the more clutter in my household. What they have become, they’re – I’m not kidding seven-year-old hoarders. I will open up drawers…
Reshma Saujani:
Same with mine.
Tim Allen:
Yes, but they’re just inundated with stuff. It’s like not even quality stuff. It’s not even stuff I’ve spent money on it. It’s just stuff, and so then things have lost a little bit of value to them.
Reshma Saujani:
Yeah, and they don’t take care of them. It’s so true. And I’m like I got one present during Christmas, and it was like, I will always want a Cabbage Patch Doll, and I knew exactly where that doll was her hair was calm. She was pristine, like you said, I took care of her. And this Christmas I was just looking at these toys. I’m like, ‘I’m doing it all wrong.’ You get too much stuff. Sean, literally after Christmas, his birthday is like five weeks later, he was making his list for his birthday list. I’m like, ‘You better get out of my face,’ because I did not teach you that, that is not what I want to be teaching you. We have to be really thoughtful about how are you kind of teaching your kids the value of money to not be hoarders, to not be too attached to things because you never then get to actually appreciate anything that you have because you’re on to the next thing that you want.
Tim Allen:
That’s exactly it. While you were talking, it’s exactly what I think it’s the what’s next? My kids were like, open toy. What’s next? Open toy, what’s next? I’m like, where’s the thing you just are obsessed with? Where’s the thing that you that is like you own it, and you mean it? As I do these therapy sessions, I share a little a little something, something about my kids, which I will tell one on myself. So my kids have iPads, which during the holidays have been a lifesaver, because like we did restrictions…
Reshma Saujani:
Mine does too, yeah.
Tim Allen:
All the restrictions, all the downtime things like that. The kids install the game; they’re obsessed with this game the Pokémon game. Okay, so the kids are obsessed with Pokémon game, and we’re very limited in who they can interact with, et cetera. So all you parents out there who think that it could be I promise you, I’m doing the right thing in the restrictions. The restriction I didn’t put on buying the coins in game.
Reshma Saujani:
Oh, no, you are one of those?
Tim Allen:
$140 over two days.
Reshma Saujani:
Oh, my God.
Tim Allen:
$140 over two days, and like, the thing that bothers me the most about it is they have no– They know what’s money. They know what they were doing. So like they lost those, those iPads are the property of their father from here forward for a moment, they’ve lost the iPad. But more, it’s this digital transaction; this thing has no real-world concept for them in value. They’re just like, oh, can you press a button, two buttons later, and I get coins and these coins can turn into something I can do on the game. What scares me more about that is like, how are we going to educate this next generation of what is the value of something when it’s not physical.
Reshma Saujani:
It’s such a great point. They don’t know what 69.99. It’s just 69.99 I’m like, you have no idea again, for a game you have no idea what that means? How much you have to work to make that kind of money? $69, like what people do, and you’re right, how do you teach them that? Well, I’m just going to go back to like, some of their tactics, and I’m just realizing that
Tim Allen:
Yeah, this will be the first fully immersed generation, I believe that we’ll have digital currency as the norm versus the exception, meaning that they are going to be so indoctrinated into buying on demand, streaming on demand, do everything digital, which is, technology is great, but it also just lowers the resilience and the restriction muscles that people have, and so it’s like how as a parent, do you infuse that in them when it’s so two buttons away?
Reshma Saujani:
We can like do a whole episode. It’s so interesting you’re saying that because when you got your allowance and your dad gave you $5 you knew what that $5 bill going to Dominic’s jewel, whatever the 711 what you could buy with that, and then when you bought it, it was gone. They don’t understand it. When everything’s digital currency, you don’t have that appreciation or understanding and so you can just constantly consume, and go in debt, which is what’s happening, and not understand the concept of money.
Tim Allen:
Yeah, totally agree.
Reshma Saujani:
Okay, let’s invite our friend, Carol, yay! It’s so great to have you here, Carol. As you know, we’re so excited about this at the Marshall Plan. We’ve been surveying moms about what they need, and the need for childcare has been so overwhelming. Carol, you and I have talked about this, and so we look around the fact that Congress has really kind of failed to invest in national care infrastructure, we really are now turning to the private sector and saying, okay, well, we’re pushing the government to do the right thing. What can the private sector do to help moms right now?
We launched the National Business Coalition for childcare, thanks to your support, Carol, and we’ve been organizing private sectors, leaders who have been out there and really expanding benefits. And it’s so amazing to have you here, Carol, as really you have championed this with me from the beginning and none of that- the national business calls for childcare would never have happened, if it wasn’t for your support and Synchrony support. So it’s so great to be here. But before we get into it, I want to tell us a little bit about your background, how you came to be a believer, what are your experiences, you had little kids too, tell us about how you’ve experienced child care as a working mom?
Carol Juel:
Sure, and thank you for inviting me Reshma, and Tim, it’s just great to be here, and I love listening to the banter because I echo all of your comments around kids and digital currency. I’m struggling with that as well. But as it relates to being a working mom and a champion for women and childcare, you know Reshma it goes way back early days, helping to support and advancing women in tech as a woman in tech, that was really the foundation of supporting girls and women.
At Synchrony, the majority of our workforce is women, and a large portion is on release. So we have a unique set of challenges. But for me, personally, Synchrony is the consumer finance IPO back in 2013, we began this process, and I was coming back from maternity leave with similar to you Tim, a set of twins. So I had three kids under three and was really beginning this really, really huge part of my career, which was going to be absolutely amazing to help lead the technology foundation for, a Fortune 250 company to separate them from a very large company. And it was one of the things that I was so excited about, but I had no idea how I was going to do it, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I know Reshma you, and I know the story, but it was heart-wrenching.
Because I was trying to be a mother, I was trying to be a wife; I was trying to be a leader on something that was so critical for my company, and even for my industry, and it was almost impossible, and I suffered in silence for months and months. I would keep making lists, I would try to do everything, quite honestly, this was back when we’re all commuting to the office, I was falling asleep driving home, I was crying myself to sleep, and you know what was interesting; I wasn’t telling anybody about it. I never shared how hard it was. Because, when you roll back the time, eight, nine years ago, women just tried in even the generation before, you just tried to figure it out on your own, and there was really not a lot of obvious support.
So I finally sat down with my husband and I said, “Hey, I have this tremendous opportunity. But I can’t do this alone.” And what was really interesting, and I know this sounds so simple, he had no idea. He’s a wonderful father, a great husband, but he had no idea and I just wasn’t willing to talk about, so I then vowed to myself that I was going to be much more vocal about how hard it was to be a working mom. I think everyone thinks it’s this badge of honor that you carry, and that you just get through it, and you survive, and then once you get your kids to middle school, and in high school, life is good. But it was too hard to be silent about it. So that was really the start of advocating more and more aggressively for women in the workforce.
I take it upon myself, any woman I know that’s pregnant before she leaves maternity leave, I have that heart-to-heart that says, you just got to come back and survive the first three months, you just got to do it, and you’ll get through it. You just have to figure it out, and you will make it. You just need to just reach out to other women and really get that support going. For me, the trade-offs were and I joke about this, when I had that Heart to Heart conversation with my husband, I don’t grocery shop anymore. I had the ability to outsource some things. And it’s funny now, many years later, I’m actually not allowed to grocery shop in my family because I buy the wrong things. I spend too much money. I don’t know the coupons. So it’s like I’m not allowed to do grocery shopping. And then fast forward to just sort of what happened during the pandemic, and Reshma this is where you and I spent time I just still remember the conversation with you about the state of women, and it is just embedded in my mind. You were in your son’s bedroom, sitting on his bunk bed talking about what are we going to do to support women? Women are just breaking down and falling apart. And you were just like; we were both in our sweatpants, and we were both talking about just the plight of women, and it was just so rapid. We were just overwhelmed by how quickly the business environment was changing and how quickly the pandemic was just ravaging the healthcare system, the childcare system, and everything was coming on down and we’re like, what can we do? There was just that and in crisis, I think is where relationships are forged, where we sort of both said, we got to go out and do something.
At Synchrony, one of the things we that we did obviously, every company during the spring of 2020, was just stabilizing their business. Everybody was figuring out how to get people to work remotely, we were figuring out how to support folks. But then we really said, well, no one knew how long this was going to last. If you think about the spring and early summer of 2020, no one really could appreciate that this thing would still drag on for as long as the pandemic has. What we did at Synchrony is, we started really just pulsing and listening to our employees like what was on their minds? And one of the things that we knew we were worried about was, what was the summer going to look like for parents? What was the summer of 2020, with no health, with no childcare, no camps, no jobs for kids, and I remember my boss Margaret Keane, who’s an amazing woman who has since retired as our CEO, and is now the chair of our board.
We were having coffee virtually a Friday morning before Memorial Day weekend of 2020, and she said to me, her kids are out of school and older, she said, “So Carol, you must be so glad that virtual school is going to be over soon.” I was like, “I know, what am I going to do with them in summer, I have to work, there’s no camp, there’s nothing like what am I going to do with my children?” And there in that morning in a half an hour, we talked about things that we could do? What can the company do to support our women? What can we do to help people be able to manage their lives? And at that moment, we said, how do we host a virtual summer camp? How do we create a solution to help working families to help their kids? And in that moment, we said we can do this, and with her support, we then used Agile Principles, which are about testing and learning to build a virtual summer camp. And what was so exciting about this, for me personally was, it was this virtuous cycle because you had college kids that had nothing to do.
So they were the kids that were creating and being our virtual camp counselors. You have little kids that needed to be engaged via zoom learning everything from yoga, to calligraphy, to taekwondo from employees, children, and then you had our employees who we have a strong sense of giving back within our company who were struggling because there was no place to volunteer because the world was shut down. They were the mentors to these college-aged children who were doing the work of Camp counseling. So you created this virtuous cycle, you had your employees who are engaging with college-aged kids, and high school-aged kids who were helping, and then you have the little kids who are going through the process. So through the course of that summer, we helped 3700 kids go summer camp virtually.
Reshma Saujani:
That’s incredible.
Carol Juel:
That was just through the power of we got to do something, and it’s amazing when you can get people inspired and engaged. And I think that really, really catapulted for us at Synchrony, the need for us to continue to support working families and specifically working moms.
Reshma Saujani:
I love this story so much because I think some companies and stuff but no, I mean, they’re like this is just really a shining example of when you have a couple of things here, two women in leadership positions. One who’s experiencing in the moment right now, this pain, another one who understands that, and has the power of; both of you have the power and the resources to do something about it. One I think that’s critical having women in leadership positions that have the empathy and the experience and the situational experience to say we got to do something about this. And I think secondly, a company that is creating that sense of family and people coming together to support one another, rather than like there’s nothing wrong there, let’s give everybody a $20 check and saying, okay, great, here’s a little bit of help go figure it out. What was it about; do Synchrony always have those values? What was it you think, allowed for this moment to really happen?
Carol Juel:
It’s a great question. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this. One of the things, when you get to become a company, when you go through the process that we went through the leadership team, was bonded, because it was a really arduous process. So 2013, 2014, 2015, and so I think we had been grounded in such a sense of purpose. One of the things you also get to do when you get to become a company like we did through an IPO is you get to actually define your values from where you see the world, and where you see the world going. And so when we developed our values and everything about the company, one of the things that we said is we are a caring company, and I know oftentimes people say those are just things you write on the wall.
But we really were living that as part of our culture, everything from how we engage with our employees, to how we promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and all of those things became part of the core of our company. And I think when the pandemic came, every company was tested. And I think because we had those foundational elements, we were able to really rely on that as the core and then at the time, leverage many of the things that were happening in our business, we had for many years been adopting agile principles for how you actually get work done. We took those same principles as a leadership team, and applied them to how we were going to adapt and respond during the pandemic.
So when I think about the secret sauce around how we were able to test and learn and be willing to try, we just use muscles that were really important to us, and in that moment, we had to the whole idea of an agile principle is you listen to your customers, you adapt, respond, you test, you learn that cycle is very iterative. And we lead that cultural transformation while applying those business practices to our employee base in a way that we had never before. It really resonated with our employees, because we were not only one thing is you got to listen to your employees.
But we all know, you then have to act on that, and we created very fast feedback loops around okay, we heard this, this is what we’re going to do. We heard this; this is what we’re going to do. So when you think about it, the idea that we heard from our employees, that 85% of our employees wanted flexibility and choice going forward, it was clear that we knew that was a huge part of what mattered to our employees and specifically the women in our workforce. The flexibility that we had had to continue and how do we build that into our culture, and how do we ensure that it becomes part of how we run the company, we were really clear on our commitments around flexibility, because when you talk to any working woman, the first thing that comes out of their mouth after childcare is flexibility, and so how do you balance the need for both of those?
We also expanded, we listened to our childcare support; we took down the barriers to basically allow each employee to have 60 days of additional backup care for reimbursement. And historically, before the pandemic that was, hey, we have contracts with agencies, and you can do this or can do that, we said we listen to our employees, we took that barrier down, you can use those days and think about or in the middle of a pandemic. Your bubble is small, you don’t trust people with your children, because you can’t, we took down those barriers and said, you can use people that you know and trust for these 60 days of backup care, and we’ve kept that in place. And just through 2022, this is just a 2022 number, we have 8300 of backup, daycare that was provided by people using folks that they know and trust. Again, another flexibility and choice because in place, and we want to be able to use folks that we know, we need to make sure that this is going to be able to be done, and administered really, really easily.
And then the other piece that I think is part of our culture; and we were leaning into this before the pandemic, but then really did during COVID was really helping and expanding our well-being benefits. We all know the pandemic was just so challenging on so many levels in terms of how it impacted the well-being and the mental and emotional well-being of our employees. So things that we did, we launched sabbatical programs and allowing people to take time off. We also launched well-being coaches. And again, we did a great job MVP that we got feedback from our employees, it says your well-being coaches are not diverse enough; we want to be able to engage and partner with a coach that represents me, and that looks like me and I can relate to. So we went back to the drawing board, and we then went out and forced different types of well-being coaches to that so that it would be aligned with what our employees were saying. And then we also put a lot of resources in place to support financial wellness, because I think during the pandemic, everyone was really worried and concerned. So there was just a lot of the culture of caring around how do you support your employees? And I do think when you measure this, one of the things we look at is we look at our low attrition rates, but the other thing that’s really interesting to us through 2022 are our rates of new applicant pool across all of our jobs was up 30%.
Reshma Saujani:
It’s a really great point.
Carol Juel:
But when you say childcare and taking care of your employees is a business need; and as a business outcome, when you get the outcome of a 30% increase in your applicant pool that just speaks for itself. I don’t understand why everybody’s not doing this.
Tim Allen:
It’s the lower cost to your point. It’s the lower cost in terms of what happens in retention. Recruiting is one of the largest things that people or other corporations have to deal with. One of the thematic pieces we see is from all the top-tier organizations that offer this during the pandemic and beyond is they provided that flexibility of being able to deploy their backup care days to people they know. Not having the corporation define what caregiving looks like for you care giving is such a personal matter for a family, and giving that flexibility to allow caregiving to work within your individual structure.
It’s one thing that a caregiver would say, which is look, you can get an A plus B equals C formula that’s not going to fit your family’s needs. It’s the specific time you need care. It’s the specific meanings you have; it’s the specific things that have to be inside of your environment. Aging parents also, by the way, right? Some families have them, some people don’t, they need help with adult backup care for that, not only child care, it’s family dynamics are so personal, that for companies that were really successful in this benefit, they were able to say, look, we’re going to get ourselves out of the middle of it. Flexibility is on you what? We’re going to provide you the means, everything, all of the backup care days, all of the deployment. That’s incredible. I want to take it one other place. Oh, sorry go ahead Reshma, you were saying something.
Reshma Saujani:
No, go ahead Tim.
Tim Allen:
I want to take us over that you piqued my interest and many things piqued my interest but this one was interesting. As the husband partner aspect of this conversation, I’m interested; we are most times unwillingly ignorant about things. So you were privately dealing with three kids, you were personally just driving to work every day, making yourself — it sounds like from what you’ve expressed, like, it was a definite person like you were dealing with it internally like you’ve internalized it, you would carry the weight, you carried the shoulder. And as a partner and husband, I can tell you more times than not, I am the ignorant one in the room. So I don’t know what’s happening. When my brother has come to my home many times, and they’ve been like, “Did you know this and this is happening to me?”And I’m like, “I have no clue.” And they’re like, “How can you? How can you not know you’re around me all the time?” It’s one of those things, right? Why do you think employees do that? Like, what do you think it is? Do you think it is a stigma of just take on the low, take the burden? I’m just interested because I think companies can take it to a certain place. And then I go, how do we enforce the conversation from the employees’ side to go and raise their hand and go, I’m dealing with this like this is happening over here? And that’s the part that I’ve never been able to figure out?
Carol Juel:
Well, I think that pandemic did change that because when I was going through that it was eight years ago, or nine years ago. So I think we have to have the confidence to talk about asking for help. I think oftentimes, women struggle of asking for help is not a sign of weakness, I think we have to turn the tables to say, there’s only so much anyone human can do, and women tend to take a lot on at home and at work and that burden isn’t always equal. And I think you have to be able to have the conversation with your partner around what is changing, to go in from one to three children was a big change, and you throw a few other things like an IPO and a lot of career opportunity into that and not really you’re in the day to day battle. When your children are young, you’re rushing, you still notice with tears, you’re firefighting every day, some days you have to take a step back.
One of the things that I’ve learned in my career in talking with folks is you have to give them the opening to tell you. So there are three magic words that I’ve learned in the last several years. When someone says something, and you think you think there’s a there there, you have to give them an opportunity. You just the three magic words are Tell Me More. Because if you say to someone, how is your day, how many people will say fine. But if you say to someone, what did you do today? That is a different question, and you’ll start to hear something in there, and then you just in you say, ‘Well, tell me more,’ and eventually that opening up. I think during the pandemic, I think so many good things, there was so many things about the fact that we got to know each other on a personal level, seeing people in their home, seeing their pets, seeing their children, experiencing something traumatic together, brought us together and bound us that I think there is a much more of an openness to have these conversations, and I just hope we don’t go back.
Reshma Saujani:
Yeah, well, I think we are and I think that’s why it’s really important to tell the story. So I love you both inspire me ask this question to like Carol. So you’re like our resident expert on like all things. So when does the company feel like that’s my obligation to provide that support and provide that help? So like, fascinating to me, mental health. When I was in the workplace, the thought that I could go into my employer and say, “I’m really struggling with my mental health. Can you help me?” Forget about it! But we quickly culturally moved, thank you millennials into that being the expectation, and probably one of the things that HR support is really think about is what are the best mental health benefits that I can offer because it’s, again, something that is seen.
Same thing with IVF; I never would have thought 15 years ago that my employer was basically the one that was responsible for helping me figure out how to pay for having a baby with my fertility issues. But now that’s like, the norm. What’s shocking to me is that one would think that the employer should help me with childcare because I can’t work unless I have childcare; it’s very directly correlated to me being able to literally show up in the office and be productive and to your bottom line. Whereas I would argue, the mental health and the IVF stuff is a little bit more disconnected, one could argue from the ‘business case’ of why I should pay for that, right. So what’s up with that? Why did those two things kind of easily and very quickly, get put into a benefits package, but we’re still struggling on childcare? What are your thoughts? Sorry, I know that’s a huge one, I don’t even know what the answer to that is?
Carol Juel:
When you look at mental health and mental wellness, I think it was prevalent across, so many parts of our organization, and not specifically just millennials. I think we worried about people that were working at home by themselves that were single, they didn’t have a lot of contact, and we also looked at what was happening in our country. You think about between George Floyd and everything that was happening with race in this country, and how our employees were experiencing that, and how we needed to lean into that. So we leaned in and talked about many things in our Ask Us Anything calls in the types of dialogues we were having with our employees, not only were they about mental health, they were about racial tension in the country, there were about expectations, there were about many things that just became in the forefront. And I do think that they were brought to light to your point, many of them are based on the demographic shifts within the workplace.
I think also when you look at the makeup of leadership teams about what they’re willing to have the conversation on, though, obviously, Margaret as a female CEO, there was a lot happening, we did a CEO transition in mid-2021, to Brian Doubles, who is the father, his kids are the same age as mine. So you have a younger CEO, living with children at home, and children being in remote schooling. So he’s feeling that as well. So I think some of why different companies responded differently, and why Child Care has stayed in the forefront in some places and not in others, I think some of it is just the willingness of the company to continue to keep it in the forefront. For those that haven’t, I think it’s to your point, some of them are just as letting go back to the status quo that people saw that before when the world was normal, as we head back to what normal is, it will go back to that, which I believe is just that long answer.
Reshma Saujani:
And I think stigma like I would find it hard at my age right now given the way I was raised to go to my employer and ask for my wellness and mental health benefits. I would because I think that there’s a stigma, whereas I think young people, they just don’t feel that way. And so we’re asking for that. And I still think that we think it understandably so there’s a stigma to saying, well, I think you should support me with childcare, because we’re worried because of the motherhood penalty, and that we are actually going to be penalized for that. So that’s the other I think, really important opportunity, I think is how are we teaching employees that it’s okay to ask for the things that you need?
Carol Juel:
Well, I think the other piece around this, and I know we talked a lot about this Reshma; we expanded our paternity benefits early in the pandemic as well. So not only do we have great maternity benefits, but we expanded our paternity benefits, and so we’ve seen a very, very strong uptick in paternity benefits as well, because we know when fathers are involved early on in child care, it changes the dynamic in the home, and it also brings that employee back to work with a very different perspective. So our CHRO had his third child during the pandemic and took a paternity leave. It was just important as a leader for him to do that, but important the perspective that he brings back to the leadership team as well.
I think you need these role models because again, benefits that people don’t take, it doesn’t matter but if you use them and celebrate them, and then those both men and women that are becoming parents use that as a conversation starter so that you can continue to talk about the challenges of childcare. I think the other piece is flexibility isn’t just for women. During the pandemic through some of the listening sessions, we did our employees were getting burned out. So we activated, flexible Fridays. So we gave people opportunities to have time on Friday afternoons to focus on things to help them re-recharge and rejuvenate and not have meetings and really get the time that they need, because we were also stretched being on digital media for so long, and it was really taking a toll on our employees well being.
Tim Allen:
The conversation of the last 20 years has really progressed, hearing you talk about what is paternity specifically. I from the paternity perspective, I can tell you 20 years ago, my career, it wasn’t discussed, it was still the vulnerability. It’s the vulnerability stigma, right? The dads go back to work within 24 hours, 48 hours, or whatever it is. And sure, there were some trailblazers, there’s people leading the way, but it was the exception, not the rule. Now, similarly, even within care, I see a large step function, we work on active, I will say nudging to take paternity because the studies show fathers create a larger bond, gender roles become more dispersed within the household.
There’s so many benefits for the paternity not to mention for the employee themselves, it’s their mental health becomes so much stronger when they have the bond with their child. So we do active nudging; I am one of those CEOs who sits there and goes, “Aren’t you? Why are you on this call? Nope, you need to bye, bye, you’re on paternity leave, I don’t want to, we will handle without you.” But that also is kind of still the exception, not the rule in a lot of organizations, but you do see it climbing, so I’m interested, I do think that the next 10 years are going to be so transformative in the world of maternity and paternity.
The thing we’ve all said in this call or this session that I want to hit on is as long as society continues to lean into it, I think and summarize it this way the economy could take this out, I think quickly if care benefits were done for the necessity of the pandemic, and then companies revert back to what they think is the norm. I think it’s going to an impact to employees and impact to employers. I think it really impacts society as a whole. Let me ask you this from an employee perspective, how do you think employees continue to advocate successfully for these benefits without having that hanging, looming pandemic as a rationale in organizations? What do you think the right way to do that is?
Carol Juel:
It’s a great question. I think at Synchrony, we’ve made the commitment to continue these. So yes, they were born out of the pandemic, but they’re part of our benefits going forward. So I think we have to make sure that they become part of what we offer to our employees, and I think the key is, we track who is using them, we make sure that they are to your point when you’re on leave, that you are not joining calls, that you’re not part of the conversation that you’re using the benefits as they’re designed. And then making that part of the celebration, like when I tell you the conversation I had with DJ Casto, who’s our CHRO, and when he went on maternity leave, I said, “You realize you have to be declarative about this, you have to make sure people know while you’re gone, and when you come back, you need to be on LinkedIn, you need to be on our Synchrony site, you need to be all over the place talking about it, because you’re going to normalize it.”
And I think as millennials grow into more leadership positions with these expectations that are being set now, it will become more than norm. I think we just have to fight the trend, and I think that’s where the National Coalition for childcare and Marshall plans for mom, and where we’re connecting, organizations like Synchrony with other large companies that are really taking the lead here, because number one, employees will continue to expect this into the future. The business case is clear. As I said, our applicant pool is up 30%, that’s flexibility. That’s our commitment to childcare. That’s our commitment to mental wellness. These are the intangibles that many companies need to put out into the market in order for us to not only retain but attract the talent that we need. I just think if you’re not doing this, you’re going to have challenges creating the pipeline of talent that you need. I think there’s no way of avoiding and it’s just the reality of what has changed in every employee’s mind and expectations.
Reshma Saujani:
And it’s not just moms are looking for its dads, its millennials. Hey I was with Lizzo at the People’s Choice Award, and she’s talking about paid leave and affordable childcare and the kids are like, yeah, like, they want these things. I often think that they’re also planning ahead so they are looking at okay if I want to be in financial services, ‘Who is the company that’s out there talking about paid leave for child care? Oh, Synchrony, Synchrony is out there with Marshall, I’m going there, and I’m not going to X other company.’ So I think that these things and companies would get it. It pays back. One of the things is, I know we’re getting into our time. The conventional wisdom oftentimes I get this and I’m sure, Tim, you too. Why are you working with the private sector? Shouldn’t it really be the government that’s paying for it and the conventional wisdom is that the private sector is only going to provide these benefits to its most privileged workers, and the ones who need it the most are going to be left out. What do you say to that because you have a lot of hourly workers?
Carol Juel:
I think the government plays a role, but it’s a public-private partnership, and I think business can lead here, and I’m proud of the businesses that are. We have 75% to 80% of our workforce is hourly, these are benefits that we offer for our entire workforce, and you have to, you cannot create different categories of workers, you can’t just say, ‘This is for my salaried workforce, and this is for my hourly,’ that’s not going to work. The private sector can’t do it alone. But you have to offer these across all of your employees, and I will tell you that that is where we see the uptick, we think about the maternity benefits when we think about all the work we’re doing on taking down the barriers for care and all the mental health.
The majority of that is happening in our early workforce, which is really, really important. And we’re doing more in that area, as well, as we continue to lean into how do we actually add even more flexibility around how you create split shifts? How do you create dynamic scheduling? How do you actually support the flexibility needs of an hourly workforce? Those are things we know we’re going to have to solve for, so it’s one thing to say, hey, we’re doing these things. But what are the next things to continue to attract and retain that workforce that we need? Again, it’s a business imperative, if you have the talent, to help lean and do the jobs at your company, you have to do everything you can to support the needs of that workforce? I think there’s no other answer. It’s the reality we’re working in, and it really boggles my mind that there are business leaders out there that don’t see the problem the way that we do. I just don’t understand how that is possible as a company, as a country, as a society. I just don’t understand it.
Reshma Saujani:
Well, I also think Tim and I are seeing this, as I’m seeing this, I’m sure, Tim, you’re seeing this as this is becoming, I almost feel like this issue is like how climate was 10,12 years ago, we were like, it was fringe thing, and now it’s like the center of the conversation, we’re seeing that the three of us because we’re in it, that this is the conversation and that we are going to have to solve this problem because it is fundamental to women being able to succeed in the workplace, families being able to kind of thrive and survive, and so people are not there yet. We’re ahead. We’re always a little ahead.
And so part of it is getting people to move it along, and I think that’s where this conversation is so powerful and important because I do you think a major roadblock is it’s too expensive. I can’t afford it, what’s the point of it? And so I think everything you’re saying in terms of the increased amount of applicants you’ve gotten, the lower rates of attrition, and maybe the impact that it’s made, women and employees across the board, the fact that it makes businesses in fact, we should have to say that, but we should. I think part of is you make the economic case, and then you have to make the cultural case.
The other part is, and oh, Carol, you and I talked about this, most powerful women, it’s oftentimes, if you were to do it, not at your company, because I think you have the right culture and the values that people feel like they can speak and ask for things freely without being penalized for their identity, whether it’s race, whether it’s parenting, whether it’s gender, whether it’s sexual orientation, at some places, when you ask women, your moms, what is the number one benefit you need? They talk about professional development and not childcare, not because they don’t need childcare, but they’re worried that if they say that they do that, they will not get that promotion, not get that salary increase, and so that is the cultural shift that we have to make too.
Tim Allen:
The first time in society, we are to your point Reshma my questioning the norm, like really like really questioning the norm, not necessarily just, sure, there’s been a lot of legislation over last 50 years that has attempted to try to fix the system or change the system. But it’s been half-hearted efforts. Let’s just be honest about it. This is the first time I think, in society, people are starting to go, this doesn’t work. This isn’t sustainable. This doesn’t work. You’re right, I don’t think we’ve hit the drumbeat. I don’t think we’re at the apex of the conversation by any means. I do think though, what’s interesting is society has positioned itself, especially USSR. Let’s just talk about domestic society for a moment into a very untenable situation with over 20% of your household income is being spent on child care on the average family. That’s not tenable, and then for you to have multiple children, it amplifies and grows, right? So you are then working a job if it’s a two household income, in order to just pay for childcare for one of those, and so it becomes the situation where people go, I can’t afford it individually, my employer is subsidizing some of it or not subsidizing it at all, the government’s doing nothing. It’s just an untenable situation for families now, but exponentially more in the future.
Carol listening to you and talking about the incredible things your company’s doing, it is going to have to be that public-private sector mix, I believe, with the individual contributions as well, the individual families as well. And I think that we’re really in the, what I call the play dough stage like we are playing with the clay, figuring it out, trying to see what the right benefits are working. And I do think it’s going to be a composite of that over time. I still think the road is long, and I think we need more companies such as yours, stepping up and saying, look, we’re going to try a few things. We’re going to iterate, keep playing with this, and this landscape is going to shift and it’s going to change. But we want the best talent; we want the best people we want to retain, and we want you to know we are here because you should have a family if you choose to have a family.
On my soapbox as usual, but similarly to you, I end up in I don’t understand how companies sit out there, and say, that’s someone else’s problem. Or that’s not our issue, like, good luck mother, good luck father, have fun, but come to work and show up and perform your best. It’s mind-blowing to me, and I’m thankful for these conversations, I’m thankful for you, companies such as yours that are actually out there leading this because this is what’s going to be required to change, this is going to be what lays the bricks.
Reshma Saujani:
Absolutely, and I’m so thankful to you, Carol, because I do think that and I felt this way. I tell this funny fear of Friday story how like a friend of mine was like sitting in a bar somewhere, and someone was like, I can’t believe Russia was working on that issue next as if it was the soft kind like– But I do think that in our world, oftentimes, you should be working on mentorship or sponsorship, but to work on childcare, and paid leave is seen as like, oh, and so I do think that this is courageous of you, Carol to basically as someone in your position of your power, and your resources to say this is the issue, and Girls Who Code, that I’m right are dying. If this is the issue, that’s my legacy as a senior woman in finance and in tech that I’m going to try to change and you are ahead of the curve, and your legacy is going to be a reminder of that, and because this is the thing that’s going to get us to a quality period.
Tim Allen:
Yeah.
Carol Juel:
Thank you.
Tim Allen:
Yeah. 100%
Reshma Saujani:
This was amazing.
Carol Juel:
This was fun.
Reshma Saujani:
I really appreciate your time, Carol, and your leadership, and your wisdom, and your generosity,
Tim Allen:
The insights, the insights alone, Carol, I’m going to take away like, I had no idea you were such a large proportion of hourly employee.
Reshma Saujani:
I didn’t know that either, that’s amazing.
Tim Allen:
But the impact that have; I was raised, my mother was a single mother raised hourly, she was working hourly, and just the impact that makes to have a benefit such as this, she spent the majority of her hourly pay on childcare and other facets for her family, and that just means a lot. It’s really impressive. Thank you so much.
Carol Juel:
Thank you.
Reshma Saujani:
Thank you for your leadership.
Tim Allen:
Awesome!
Reshma Saujani:
What a great conversation, and we’re going to continue it with our next guest, Melanie Moriarty, senior director of HR Rewards for Best Buy. Melanie, welcome.
Melanie Moriarty:
Thanks for having me.
Tim Allen:
Hi, Melanie, thanks for joining us.
Melanie Moriarty:
Hey!
Tim Allen:
I’m going jump right in. So Melanie Best Buy offers a comprehensive your childcare package in terms of taking care of all of your employees at all levels of the organization, and family care and child care. I’m a little curious how, why like, a lot of companies are exploring this looking at this, but you all were real leaders in the space you were forging the space when this wasn’t something that was really offered instead of corporate America. Tell us also a little bit about what drove the decision. What got you there in terms of Best Buy taking a vested interest in this?
Melanie Moriarty:
Sure.Yeah, we’ve been on this journey for quite some time. I guess it all stems from just our leadership philosophy about employees being our most important asset. So we’re committed to taking care of them, and we know that they’re able to balance work and home, they can be more productive and happy at work and home. So our journey with our backup care in particular, and some of our caregiving support program started in about 2016,17. We did an employee preference survey on our benefit programs, and our employees basically told us they needed help, they needed help in the caregiving space, and that’s when we launched our Caregiver Program. Right around the same time, we also were hearing from our field leaders, the need for this program, we actually had a situation of a leader in one of our retail stores, who brought her baby in to work and employees took turns in the break room taking care of her little one while she works, and that story made its way all the way up corporate. So with that story and the results of our survey was, clear that we needed a program such as our backup program,
Reshma Saujani:
It’s so amazing; you were ahead of the curve before anybody else was really even doing stuff on the caregiving crisis. And then the pandemic hits, and the past few years, we’re in the middle of a tripledemic, RSV, COVID, the flu, half day at daycare centers or social whatever, the crisis is still very, very present. So you were doing it before, so did you shift anything over the past two years? What are the past few years’ teaches? Did you provide more benefits, different benefits? What did you learn?
Melanie Moriarty:
Yeah, we did. Certainly, I think during the pandemic, I think that Best Buy was ahead of everyone in regards to the programs that we offered, I think, first and foremost, at the onset, our goal was to keep everybody working and getting paid. And so we had a support, pay support programs, all the way through just this past fall for COVID. And then with the care shortage, and then also parents now becoming teachers, our employees were wearing multiple hats. They had to be more flexible with their hours, schools were closed, kids were at home with them, and they just weren’t equipped at being teachers and working. So we did launch a tutor reimbursement program for our employees, to help those parents, with their children, while they’re trying to help them learn, and distance learning was a new thing for kids and as well as parents. And then also, with a carrier shortage, a lot of centers were closed. But there was this network, a lot of people couldn’t have fun, or college students for home, and so we really trapped into that, and so utilizing care.com, personal network program was huge for us. We opened that up for our employees so that they could tap into that network.
Tim Allen:
It’s incredible. And I feel like these programs, I don’t even; I just know these programs, from conversations I have with business leaders, such as yourselves and other industries. It really does add to the employee dynamic of retention, and really makes them more ingratiated in kind of the bilateral relationship between companies and employees. And I’m sure you experienced some of that, I’d love to hear like, are you seeing it on the metrics from productivity and satisfaction of employees? I would love to hear a little bit about the numbers or things you’re seeing.
Melanie Moriarty:
Yeah, certainly. So with that employee preference survey that I mentioned back in 2017, and we just redid it this past year, and the investment we made in our employees was so telling because 85% of our employees told us that they thought we were above market for our well-being benefits. So that was just fantastic to see. As far as backup care in general, it’s totally measurable. We know that for each day of backup care, it’s a day of productivity that could have been lost. And so for our retail locations in our stores, our customers continue getting served, where if you had your regular care fall through and you might not be able to make it to work, that customer might not get the kind of support by that employee being there so, certainly measurable.
Tim Allen:
One of the things Reshma and I talk about often is just how services and care, care to combat PanCare, like you look at the daycare industry, you look at schools. It really opens up opportunities for different demographics, just different segments of individuals who normally would be shut out, so to speak in a lot of these opportunities. We’ve had guests in previous podcasts, just talking about how gender equality starts to get more and more in sync, we offer benefits like this. Do you see that in your front line? What would be interesting to see like, I come from a single mom, for example, it was working a lot of time at night and would, I want to age myself night for the sake of the conversation, but would close together a lot of neighborhoods because there were no resources, there was no such thing as online back in those days, and he missed out on a lot of opportunities for herself in terms of shifts she could pick up as a nurse and hours worked? Are you seeing that as you’ve talked to employees in your different stores and retail? Are you seeing the demographics really get impacted by the offerings that you guys have led the way on?
Melanie Moriarty:
Certainly, I think, maybe you’ve heard that we’re super proud of the fact that we ranked number 15 on the Forbes 2022 list of world’s top female-friendly companies, which recognizes companies that support women at and outside of the workplace. So we’re super proud of that, and certainly, we wouldn’t make that list if it wasn’t for programs like this. The backup care is just one of many programs that we have to support working parents, and we really tap into our different employee resource groups, we have a parenting employee resource group. So yeah, I think just having that inclusive environment, and making in particular, working women feel like they’re supported is critical to our success.
Reshma Saujani:
Yeah, we did a survey with McKinsey, The Marshall Plans for Moms did, which found that 88% of women with young children are looking for a job that has predictable hours flexible work, and support with childcare, and those things are the ones that are helping them decide where to go. Are you finding that and again, when you make the top 15 list how do you know whether it is your benefits on flexibility, predictability, and childcare that is really creating that kind of satisfaction? The reason why I’m asking is, I know, we’re later going to ask you about how we get more companies to do what you’re doing and be a first mover like you are, but a lot of that is like, Bill Gates would say you cannot change what you cannot measure, but being clear, and showing that these benefits are actually leading to lower attrition or higher quality workforce.
Melanie Moriarty:
Yeah, I think it’s our employees telling us, as I mentioned, the results of our survey, but also we have certain measurements that we have inside like women in leadership roles. So trying to raise the bar and having more female leaders within our stores, as well as corporate. And so, we have certain demographic metrics that we measure, but also, like I said, employees just telling us
Tim Allen:
Yeah, I would think that its representation matters, right? When you have more female leaders, they can represent those individuals inside of your stores, and I would think this is representative of everywhere, right? So the obvious statement of they represent the struggles, the plight, the responsibilities that an individual. Someone doesn’t speak for everyone. Reshma taught me really interestingly enough we had this, I don’t know, how many podcasts ago it was, there’s been so many great guests that come together, but we have this conversation about how for a long time, actually, I think it was you who said this Reshma that women take on or have for a long time taking on the responsibility of being like, I’m going to forge the path and companies and I’m going to be the leader, and it’s not like your existence is enough. And so I think that when there’s a voice to your existence is enough. And here’s what moms have to deal with, and here’s what your parents are having to go through. It really does add that layer of conversation to the decisions being made in organizations that actually make a difference. So it sounds like Best Buy is doing that.
Reshma Saujani:
Yeah, it’s so great, and I guess the women at Best Buy to are telling you what they need, which I think is also part of what’s so important and so critical that you’ve created a culture where people feel comfortable saying I need this and that oftentimes doesn’t exist in a lot of companies where people feel scared or they think they’re going to get penalized if they ask for the support that they need.
Melanie Moriarty:
Yeah, I think that goes across the board. Again, I think it starts at the top, our leaders have really set that stage that every single employee matters, and that every single employee has a voice.
Tim Allen:
Awesome, that’s awesome. I should make a quick disclaimer. You know what it sounds like these questions have been teed up, and we coerce, they’re like your practice at a time. We haven’t just so everyone knows, these are all organic questions. We’re asking Best Buy and Melanie’s being gracious and answering them. But Best Buy happens to be that good in terms of what they’re doing. It’s like you’ve asked the question, it’s like, yeah, we have women who are representing we have women who are actually giving us the feedback; we are top 15 the Forbes list. It’s interesting. We’re having this conversation. It just in my head, I’m like, wow, I don’t know if the listeners are going through this. I’m thinking man; they really set up Melanie, like a nail out of the park. Now, honestly, no Best Buy is just that good. It’s really great that more organizations are stepping into this.
Reshma Saujani:
We have to lift people up for doing good things because other people will follow, and that’s what Girls Who Code we did, it was really celebrating people who were making a change in technology and other people think, oh, I can do that, too. Which leads me to my next question; so I was DMing last night with a teacher in Georgia, she was Teacher of the Year and she was saying, “I want to figure out how to get childcare, subsidized childcare benefits for the teachers here.” And as you may know, teachers like basically put their paid leave benefits together with their sick days, there are no childcare benefits, even during the pandemic for our essential workers, and it’s a crisis.
And I was thinking about your story of the woman in 2017, who brings her baby, because she probably didn’t have childcare, and everybody pitches in, and how that then creates this effect a corporate being like, ‘Okay, wait, that’s not right.’ I’m assuming this. ‘Nobody should have to do this.’ What can we do to make it? So this happens I’m sure there are teachers who may have brought their babies to work, I’m sure that there are other women who work at restaurants and retail. I know I have sometimes not gotten the empathy. So how does that happen? How does that happen honestly because it doesn’t normally happen, right? Where you see a wrong and you make it a right in our capitalist society. So explain?
Melanie Moriarty:
Yeah, it’s certainly an issue. Again, Best Buy has a culture, we have a culture where we put the employee at the center of everything we do, and our leaders genuinely care. I think though, trying to find, I think the advice I’d give is try to find a way for your voice to be heard, whether it’s talking to your HR business partner. We have a lot of different ERGs employee resource groups that represent different groups. I mentioned our parenting group. There’s a women’s group, we are always, in our benefits and rewards team partnering with those different groups, and they’re sharing with us and we’re sharing with them. So, form a network, come together as a group to advocate for what you need.
Reshma Saujani:
I think culture works with me too. I think it’s also really empowering Tim that like people can feel how do I make a difference when you can. Here’s an example, where women, parents, people said, this is something we want to see changed, and so I think that this is the ripple effect that we want to see happen across the country and workplaces.
Tim Allen:
Totally, there’s so many companies don’t have allergies. So many companies don’t have these resources, and Melanie we hit upon the really striking me is it really is about a group of individuals getting together and advocating. Like it really is a grassroots movement in some regards, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be the extreme of a protest, right? It could literally be a group of people who are in a common plate together that can walk up and say, hey, we’re facing this, how can we work together and figure something out? And I really do think that the power and the voice of the people matter in that regard when it comes to organizations, and I think employees, team members, whatever you refer to them inside of your organization can forget that sometimes. I think it’s easy to default to well, I’m just this team member or I’m just doing this and it’s honestly they think bad about themselves but they just forget that they have so much inside of their voice to be able to advocate
Melanie Moriarty:
Yeah, you bring up that and I’m thinking about grassroots efforts where Best Buy does a lot of that and we actually about a year ago started an ambassador, a wellbeing Ambassador network. So in every single location, we have a well-being ambassador, and that’s another voice for like employees in the stores, and we work really closely with that group as well. So we’re all about hearing the feedback and, and partnering with the voices of our blue shirts, as we call them.
Reshma Saujani:
What do you say to people who say, well, that must be really expensive? Because that’s often the thing, I feel like we talk to businesses, like, again, in the middle of this inflation recession in the economy, like the things that they’re cutting, are childcare paid leave but what do you say to them? What have you learned?
Melanie Moriarty:
Well, for us, again, it goes back to that productivity, and if an employee can’t be at work, because of that last-minute, disruption and care, and they have to miss a shift, and that shift can’t be fulfilled, that’s productivity and sales lost in our stores.
Reshma Saujani:
So it makes economic sense.
Tim Allen:
Yeah. It’s great, you really do have Melanie, the correlation of you miss x, it doesn’t produce y. A lot of companies, it’s a little bit more malleable in terms of that. They’re like, well, my white-collar employees, if they miss the day of the accounting function, I’m making up a scenario here, of course, but they go, how do I return and, I think that the companies have to get back to the brass tacks of that, of like, going, when people miss work, they’re not producing the results you need to produce, and I think that’s really where it gets back into that.
Melanie Moriarty:
It goes beyond just those productivity measures, as well, though. If you think about just employee engagement and loyalty to your company, and employees who feel like their company cares for them are more likely to stay, they’re more likely to be engaged and committed to the organization,
Tim Allen:
Decrease your recruitment costs, and the retention costs, and all of the factors that definitely could become laborious.
Reshma Saujani:
Yeah, it’s so true. I think about my, I don’t know about you, Tim, your family, or your mom, but for my parents, they worked at the same job for like, 30 years. And part of it was because both of their companies had really strong family values. I always heard that they knew my name. They knew I went to high school. I remember, these family barbecues, and they rent out these big parks, and they were so much fun and, but everything was centered around the family, and I think it was a big reason why my parents were immigrants didn’t know the language refugees stayed at those companies forever didn’t look for other opportunities, because they felt that they were taken care of. I think that’s what people want right now.
Tim Allen:
Yeah. Yeah.
Melanie Moriarty:
25 years at Best Buy
Reshma Saujani:
Wow. Yes.
Tim Allen:
Wow. This must hit home with you in terms of you’ve created environment. It’s also interesting, like it interesting is one word I could I will also say it’s actually really admirable that you’re now at the helm, so to speak, that you have a guiding hand in helping all of them, after 25 years, you are an influential force and all of that, like that, must come full circle, you must feel really great about that. Yeah, that’s really cool. I have a question. Sorry, I’m going to take it in different direction, which is, you have such a vast network of blue shirts out there, right? You touch every demographic, every socio-economic like you have everything inside of your employee base I imagine. What’s next, when it comes to families and childcare? Two more questions, because I’m also a tech nerd. So I want to know what’s next in technology. But I guess you have all the inside scoop. But I also really want to know, what’s next for families? What’s next? What do you see on the horizon for benefits and employees and corporations in that relationship of creative?
Melanie Moriarty:
I can tell you something we’re focusing on right now, and that’s disabilities, whether it’s caring for somebody with a disability or, a lot of our employees are neurodivergent themselves and how do you support that?
Reshma Saujani:
That’s great.
Tim Allen:
Reshma, I’ve talked about it I have a neurodivergent son, in terms of just some of the things he just deals with some cognitive-developmental, like in terms of reading and writing and the fundamentals. Best Buy care have a long-term relationship, which has been great and some of the thing we’re really focused on as well as it is something, where I turn to our, are internal resources and I go help me like I don’t even know where to go like to be very there honest. I’m the CEO of care.com like I have no idea who to call, who to talk to, what resources for tutoring, what resources should I get in terms of developmental? What’s the measurable benchmarks I should be monitoring in terms of like is he getting is he at second-grade level, and that’s just really overwhelming sometimes, it’s compounding on a lot of ways. And luckily, I’ve been able to go and turn to our resources and they’re like, okay, you should be looking for this, this, and this, but a lot of people don’t have that. So that’s great. That’s really great. It’s awesome.
Reshma Saujani:
This has been a great conversation. Thank you so much, Melanie, for everything you’re doing.
Tim Allen:
It’s definitely credible. I really appreciate taking the time.
Melanie Moriarty:
Yeah, you’re welcome. Thank you.
Tim Allen:
Awesome. Thank you, Melanie. Thank you to Best Buy for making one for leading the way and taking the time. Really appreciate that.
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