Workday CEO: 'Companies need to have a soul'

Aneel Bhusri, the CEO of Workday, runs an employee-first company. He believes taking care of employees translates into better business results. And Workday - which supplies customers with HR and other business software – seems to bear this out. In 15 years it’s grown into a $40B+ business. And it tops Fortune’s “Future 50” list which identifies companies with the strongest long-term growth potential.

In this episode of Leadership Next, Bhusri and Alan Murray talk about the challenges of building company culture while everyone is working from home. Despite the talk of remote work becoming mainstream, Bhusri believes it’s key to get people back into physical offices, at least part time.

Ellen McGirt picks up this line of conversation with Fortune's Geoff Colvin who has dug into research showing that meeting face to face is key for building trust and enabling innovation.

Also in the episode Bhusri talks honestly about company diversity. He admits Workday must do a better job expanding its hiring practices to bring more black employees into the company. And, he says, once they’re there, Workday must ensure black employees have equal opportunity to reach leadership positions.

And of course, the conversation circles back to an important theme of Leadership Next: Bhusri's focus on caring for all stakeholders. As he simply says, "Companies need to have a soul."