Epoch recently hosted a vibrant happy hour in Atlanta, drawing professionals from across the employee experience, workplace strategy, and DEI space. With a goal of fostering meaningful connections, sharing insights, and understanding the latest trends in employee experience, the event offered a welcoming environment for dialogue and discovery.

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Creating spaces for community and learning

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Epoch Co-founder and CEO, Jade Choy, kicked off the event by explaining the significance of hosting events in various cities like Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and New York. “Activating these communities that own the employee experience, workplace experience is super crucial right now,” she shared. The event was designed to bring professionals together to share learnings, network, and build connections that can drive collaboration across the industry.

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Thought leaders share their perspectives

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Two seasoned leaders, Adebola (Ade) Morton, Senior Director of Global Inclusion & Belonging at Samsara, and Ryne Raymond, Director of Workspace at FanDuel, led the conversation, providing invaluable insights into employee experience and workplace strategies. With nearly 30 years of combined experience at companies like Apple, Amazon, Salesforce, and FanDuel, Ade and Ryne brought a practical, grounded lens to what it takes to build meaningful experiences for employees today.

Ade emphasized the importance of fostering inclusion and belonging within a global workforce. “When we think about inclusion and belonging, it’s not just about the U.S. It’s global,” she noted. She shared her approach of traveling to various locations around the world to understand what belonging means in different cultural contexts.

Ryne shared his perspective on designing effective hybrid workspaces. “If you come into an office and it’s a less appealing and productive than the work environment than at your house, then it will remain an uphill battle to keep employees coming back in?” he asked, emphasizing the need for workspaces to be intentionally designed to support productivity and collaboration.

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Navigating leadership buy-in and gathering feedback

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Both speakers discussed the challenges of securing leadership buy-in for employee experience initiatives. Ade advised, “When you think about leadership buy-in, always start with what’s important to them. Tie your proposal to the company’s goals and back it up with data.” Ryne echoed this sentiment, noting that framing initiatives around organizational principles and aligning them with leadership goals is key.

Gathering feedback from employees was another hot topic. Ryne shared FanDuel’s creative approach of sending automated surveys to a random selection of employees who entered the office each week. “It's about understanding if the office is serving the needs of our employees that are coming into the office” he explained. Ade highlighted the importance of responding to feedback, noting that creating an environment where employees feel heard is critical.

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Prioritizing inclusion and belonging across different contexts

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From accommodating global time zones to creating spaces that respect cultural and religious practices, Ade and Ryne shared their strategies for fostering inclusivity. Ade discussed how Samsara uses a calendar tool to ensure meetings are scheduled with time zone considerations and how they organize events in locations where remote employees can gather.

Ryne spoke about balancing productivity and social interaction in hybrid work models, sharing how FanDuel empowers local teams to host their own events while aligning broader initiatives with business goals. “We empower our local teams to use a shared budget however they want. It’s about creating experiences that matter to them.”

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The road ahead

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Looking forward, both Ade and Ryne are excited about the future of employee experience. Ade is focused on continuing her global research to deepen her understanding of what inclusion and belonging mean to employees across different regions. Ryne, meanwhile, is looking forward to delivering new office spaces and expanding FanDuel’s presence in New York and beyond.

As the event wrapped up, attendees left with fresh insights and new connections, inspired to bring innovative ideas back to their organizations. And don’t miss Epoch Connect, our flagship event in San Francisco this May 14-15. It’s our biggest yet, and built for those shaping the future of employee experience.

Stay tuned for future roundtables, virtual sessions, and our upcoming Epoch Connect conference, where we’ll further push the boundaries of employee engagement and workplace culture!

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Looking to level up your employee engagement strategy? Epoch makes it easy to plan, promote, and analyze the impact of your internal events. Ready to create meaningful experiences? Let’s talk.