On August 10, Epoch had the pleasure of bringing together a fantastic group of experts in the employee engagement and culture space in Denver, CO! 💙

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The main topics of discussion included fair and equitable hybrid events, changing culture in fast-growing organizations, DEI programming, and building out in-person events for RTO.

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If you’re interested in all of the key learnings and takeaways from our breakout session, read on!

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In-person events for RTO 👫

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The past several years have changed the way we work, and socialize. Getting employees comfortable returning to the office won’t happen overnight. You can start small by hosting casual, drop-in events at the workplace, such as volunteer opportunities or happy hours. Make it known that these events exist, and have them widely advertised across the company. You can make staff feel like they want to participate by reducing the barriers to entry, like paying for parking. Know that turnout will be low at the beginning, but as long as the events are consistent, you can slowly build them out. You can also create location-based Slack groups so remote folks can plan meetups on their own. The company can provide a stipend for meetups, and this will put it in the hands of employees.

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Changing culture in fast-growing organizations 📈

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The culture of an organization will change as new employees join the organization, especially if there is a lot of growth in a short period. Many organizations experienced this through the pandemic, with an influx of new remote employees. They will have different views of working, and leadership must keep up and show up for all staff, through pulse checks, surveys, and open discussions. 

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DEI programming 👥

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It’s top of mind to ensure learning and education are available for all employees. Employee experience teams can work with recruitment teams to do more diversity education alongside hiring more diversely. Companies can’t just say they care, they have to help enable their employees through education and support. Leadership needs to facilitate conversations on “hard topics” and bring that conversation to the workplace.

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Fair and equitable hybrid events ⚖️

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For hybrid organizations, it’s top of mind for employee experience teams to ensure all employees are having a fair and equitable experience when it comes to events. For example, each event can have a virtual and in-person option, but employees can only participate in one option. It’s also important to provide as much notice in advance as possible.

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Global offices 🌎

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It can be challenging to plan events across different time zones, and can get expensive to do multiple iterations of the same event. Recordings may work, depending on the type of event. It’s also important to ensure the experiences are different across demographics and that as an employee experience team, we are conscious of their interests. Events should be different across geographies, but budgets should be similar.

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If you’re interested in participating in future events like these, join our Slack community!

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