Talk Talent To Me Post-Pandemic Work Planning with Zenefits CMO Kevin Marasco
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The pandemic has thrown a barrage of challenges at those of us in talent teams and as it nears its end, there are still so many variables at play. Today we are joined by Kevin Marasco, the chief marketing officer of Zenefits, a company known for streamlining onboarding, benefits, payroll, and PTO. Kevin is also the author of People Operations: Automate HR, Design a Great Employee Experience, and Unleash Your Workforce. Today Kevin sheds light on some of the many challenges that talent teams have faced as a result of the pandemic. While people are now trying to get “back to work” or find some sort of a normal or familiar operating rhythm, we have to accept that things will never go back to how they were and find ways to integrate new workflows, new operating rhythms, and new policies. We also discuss how these challenges are further impacted by the talent crisis and the Great Resignation, as well as the potential impacts of the gig economy. Kevin explains how at this present time, companies are re-evaluating their strategy when it comes to work in general with regard to who does the work, who can do the work, where they work, and when they work. Tune in to find out what the 80-20 rule is and how HR people can utilize technology to automate the essentials and optimize their roles to be the most impactful toward their companies.
Key Points From This Episode:
- Some background into what Zenefits does.
- Kevin sheds some light on some of the challenges that people teams and people leaders have faced during the pandemic.
- The challenges of going “back to work” in light of all of the temporary and permanent changes of the pandemic.
- How these challenges are further impacted by the talent crisis and the Great Resignation.
- The potential impacts of the gig economy on HR and talent positions.
- How every company has to re-evaluate its strategy when it comes to work in general.
- The technology Kevin uses to do his research to understand the pain points of those in HR.
- How through his research Kevin has come to see a whole new side of this career.
- How HR people can optimize their roles and be the most impactful toward their companies?
- The 80-20 rule and the importance of automating less important tasks with technology.
- How this information is broken down in Kevin’s new book People Operations.
Tweetables:
“I think every company has to re-evaluate their strategy when it comes to work in general, right? That’s who does the work, who can do the work — because I think that’s shifted and is continuing to evolve — where they work, and when they work?” — Kevin Marasco [0:07:42]
“For people leaders [the gig economy] offers them new opportunities. They can engage in work for companies in ways that they haven’t before, but moreover, I think you can re-evaluate how we’re building companies.” — Kevin Marasco [0:09:33]
“I think about the 80-20 rule and it is about focusing on the 20 percent that’s going to drive 80 percent of value. That is where you get this forced multiplier effect and that starts with ‘Okay, take this stuff that has to be done and automate it.’” — Kevin Marasco [0:16:17]
“It’s kind of like automating the essentials then frees us up to focus more time on systemic programs that will have a bigger impact for the organization.” — Kevin Marasco [0:17:22]
“Let the robots have part of your job, embrace them. Picture them as like a personalized assistant that’s going to help you and free you up to do work that you are going to be more passionate about, that’s going to add more value to the business.” — Kevin Marasco [0:18:20]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: