As businesses navigate an era of continuous disruption, workforce resilience has emerged as a critical success—and sometimes survival—factor. From the pandemic-induced “Great Resignation” to the rise of hybrid work and generative AI, organizations are grappling with unprecedented changes in the way people work. Boards are now tasked with not only overseeing strategy and financial performance but also ensuring that companies are adapting to new workforce realities. Employees’ expectations around pay, flexibility, culture and career growth have shifted dramatically, requiring boards to recalibrate their approach to talent governance.
In a panel discussion at our recent Boardroom Summit, industry leaders explored how boards can better govern workforce strategy, ensure alignment with evolving employee needs, and prepare for the future of work. The panel, moderated by Kris Pederson, Leader of EY America’s Center for Board Matters, featured insights from Roselyn Feinsod, a principal in EY’s People Advisory Services; Debra Kelly-Ennis, a board member with Altria Group and TFI International; and Kelvin Westbrook, who serves on the boards of T-Mobile and Archer Daniel Midlands, among other major corporations. Together, they explored how boards can better understand the employee experience as well as strengthen talent governance. Below are highlights of the conversation.
On getting insight into the employee experience:
Kelvin Westbrook: For me, the most valuable learning is in actually interacting with the people on site visits in an unstructured way. Going to management conferences where you can move around and interact with employees. You’ll hear a lot more than you might hear if the site visit is overly structured with senior members of management and attendance or than what you’ll get from a survey. I don’t know how many of our employees really trust the surveys. Do they understand that this information is confidential, that somehow in the age of AI it can’t be sourced back to them? So I verify it by doing a little bit of walking around.
Debra Kelly-Ennis: When the CHRO is in the room, you can ask, “What data tells us that we are hiring the best, keeping the best, motivating the best? What data tells us that this is a company that our employees would recommend to their friends and family?” And then in terms of the qualitative data, the question is how do you get those unscripted moments that really give you insight into the employee experience?
I participated on a women’s panel with employees and other board members where, before and afterwards, there was social time that provided an opportunity for employees to ask us questions and have those casual conversations that build relationships. So it’s that getting the data that allows you to know the good, the bad and the ugly, and then finding those unscripted moments that together can build that picture of what does the employee experience look like.
Roselyn Feinsod: it’s also the boardroom behavior. How open is the board when they hear negativity? Do they create an environment that allows for the CHRO and the CEO to be fully transparent and honest? And so I would check yourselves, are we open to hearing bad news? To hearing the good, the bad and the ugly? And then what’s the plan, uh, around fixing it?
On training employees in new technologies…
Feinsod: What we’re seeing in the market is a gap between what companies are trying to do and what employees want. A No. 1 employer priority is investing in upskilling and developing programs around that. But guess what? Employees want transferable skills. They’re saying, “I want you to invest in my student debt and my tuition reimbursement, not in your homegrown programs. I want things that are portable that I can take with me… “ And that balancing act is really hard.
Kelly-Ennis: I’m seeing a dramatic difference in how CEO and c-suite planning is being done, recognizing this need for upskilling. On one of my boards, we took a look at what should the future, not just the CEO, but the entire C-Suite look like? And we said, “We’ve got some work to do to get ready for the future.” So we did assessments and brought in coaches for the entire c-suite; that coaching is underway, and boy are we seeing an impact already in terms of culture, leadership behaviors.
Westbrook: Training development and re-skilling go hand-in-hand with retention. Your retention success will la largely depend on how well you’re doing in the training development and re-skilling areas. I would say the, the total compensation, not everybody’s coin operated today. I was, when I came outta college, I just wanted a job that paid me x and I was good to go. The new generation, you know, they expect that you’re gonna pay them, but they expect that their lifestyle issues are gonna also not have to be sacrificed in order to work for you.
On addressing divergent employee needs…
Feinsod: We’ve got a multi-generational workforce, five generations in the workforce. We need to understand that it’s not one size fits all from that perspective. If the board that you’re on is an energy company or a manufacturing organization versus a financial services company or a technology company, those answers are gonna be miles apart from each other. And similarly, from a geography perspective, you’re all managing global organizations. So take the time to understand some of those differences because the secret of the sauce is going to be embedded in that segmentation. The issues around attrition, productivity, what types of changes are needed for reward structures how much flexibility is needed and the technology adoption are going to vary. So pay attention to the sector and the geography and those variations.
Westbrook: You’ve got to be intentional. If you’re really concerned, you just have to lean in and ask. If you want to go see a particular site, just go. I had employees invite me to a site and I agreed to the date and the time and I sent an email to the CEO and the CHRO and said, I’ve been invited. I plan to go. I’ll let you know how it goes. It’s as simple as that. Now, when doing so, you’re coming with no agenda other than just to interact and build trust. And ask very good questions ’cause at the end of the day, if you’re not informed about this particular issue, you have to ask yourself, am I doing the best job I can do for this company?
