WEBVTT - Structuring Work to Support All Colleagues

0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:04.240
<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg

0:00:04.280 --> 0:00:08.479
<v Speaker 1>Quick Takes Tim Stinovic from Bloomberg Radio. A little over

0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:11.720
<v Speaker 1>a month ago, I checked in with this incredible roundtable

0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:15.360
<v Speaker 1>of senior executives from a broad swath of industries to

0:00:15.360 --> 0:00:18.040
<v Speaker 1>talk about how work continues to ship because of the pandemic.

0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:20.800
<v Speaker 1>And among them was Jennifer Weber. She's senior vice president,

0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:24.479
<v Speaker 1>chief human Resources officer at Archer Daniels Midland, as you know,

0:00:24.600 --> 0:00:27.040
<v Speaker 1>a d M and integral part of the global food chain,

0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:30.280
<v Speaker 1>so they were crucial during the pandemic, one of the

0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:33.720
<v Speaker 1>world's largest processors of agricultural commodities, founded over a hundred

0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:36.400
<v Speaker 1>years ago, and like many companies, taking a hard look

0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:39.440
<v Speaker 1>at how we work through the pandemic and making shifts

0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:42.040
<v Speaker 1>to reflect that. So let's bring in Jennifer, who joins

0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:45.040
<v Speaker 1>us on the phone from Chicago. Jennifer, it is so

0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:47.000
<v Speaker 1>great to have you back with us. How are you?

0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:49.880
<v Speaker 1>I am doing well. Carol, it's nice to be back.

0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:52.400
<v Speaker 1>How are you doing doing well? Doing well? Your your

0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:56.520
<v Speaker 1>contributions and your story during that panel really resonated with me.

0:00:56.680 --> 0:00:58.800
<v Speaker 1>You know, you actually had started at the company during

0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:02.800
<v Speaker 1>the pandemic. Correct, I did. I started in September of

0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:06.319
<v Speaker 1>right right in the thick of it and in the

0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:09.880
<v Speaker 1>heat of the pandemic. So talk to us about you know,

0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:12.199
<v Speaker 1>you came in and all of a sudden, you guys

0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:15.720
<v Speaker 1>were dealing with so much and you know, issues that

0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:19.560
<v Speaker 1>I think as employers we didn't necessarily think a lot

0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:23.720
<v Speaker 1>about potentially UM in terms of our employee base, but

0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:25.520
<v Speaker 1>all of a sudden we had to, and we were

0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:28.800
<v Speaker 1>talking about them at the open, whether it was mental

0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:33.680
<v Speaker 1>wellness or juggling families and juggling work hybrid work. Tell

0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:36.680
<v Speaker 1>us about the lessons that you guys have learned at

0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:38.600
<v Speaker 1>a d M and things that are staying with you

0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:42.319
<v Speaker 1>when it comes to how we work, sure, absolutely well.

0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:45.080
<v Speaker 1>I think I think that UM a couple of things.

0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:47.960
<v Speaker 1>One thing is just from a from a background or

0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:51.080
<v Speaker 1>a context standpoint. At a d M, we have roughly

0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:55.480
<v Speaker 1>forty employees and half of them and they're we're very global,

0:01:55.560 --> 0:02:00.800
<v Speaker 1>So are are in the United States UM, and half

0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:03.840
<v Speaker 1>of our workforce works in our manufacturing facilities, and so

0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:07.320
<v Speaker 1>given the nature of the role that we play in

0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:11.480
<v Speaker 1>the global food supply chain, we had a high percentage

0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:15.240
<v Speaker 1>of our colleagues around the globe that UM needed to

0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:17.760
<v Speaker 1>be in day in and day out, and so and

0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:20.000
<v Speaker 1>then the balance of our employees are even either in

0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:23.640
<v Speaker 1>office settings or lab settings. We have innovation centers around

0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:27.480
<v Speaker 1>the world. Uh So, so throughout the pandemic, our our

0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:31.360
<v Speaker 1>our colleagues kept that vital role we play in the

0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:35.680
<v Speaker 1>global food supply chain, moving along at quite a bit

0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:37.959
<v Speaker 1>of string, right because as you might imagine, we had

0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:40.280
<v Speaker 1>a number of people who had to go out and quarantine.

0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:44.560
<v Speaker 1>We monitored and tracked those things very very closely, and

0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:47.079
<v Speaker 1>and I think we learned a lot about ourselves. So

0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:49.680
<v Speaker 1>so to your first question, what are some of the

0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:53.440
<v Speaker 1>things that we've learned through this um SO, one thing

0:02:53.560 --> 0:02:56.519
<v Speaker 1>is we I think we gained a lot of confidence

0:02:56.560 --> 0:03:00.880
<v Speaker 1>as an organization on our ability to deliver on our commitments,

0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:04.840
<v Speaker 1>deliver on our commitments to customers, to our producers, to

0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:10.520
<v Speaker 1>our shareholders UM and really make uh adjustments. We had

0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:13.000
<v Speaker 1>to make significant adjustments to the way we conducted our

0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:18.480
<v Speaker 1>work um uh, particularly across our office settings. UH and

0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:19.760
<v Speaker 1>we had to do it in a way that we

0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:22.840
<v Speaker 1>didn't miss a beat in terms of delivering. I think

0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:24.560
<v Speaker 1>the other thing that we learned is there was a

0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:30.320
<v Speaker 1>very healthy UM individual by individual, person by person, family

0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:34.600
<v Speaker 1>by family reassessment of values. Right. And I would say

0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:39.760
<v Speaker 1>a discussion about these things more openly. UM. I think

0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:43.120
<v Speaker 1>for some people there were deep personal impacts that were

0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:46.080
<v Speaker 1>felt as a result of covid UM and it placed

0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:51.480
<v Speaker 1>great strain on their mental health and well being. Um. Uh.

0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:54.040
<v Speaker 1>And then you know, we had we had some colleagues

0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:57.480
<v Speaker 1>who said, boy, has this been refreshing to reconnect with

0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:02.240
<v Speaker 1>with family, hunker down with family, shelter in place and

0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:05.920
<v Speaker 1>um and and do so together through a through an

0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:09.840
<v Speaker 1>incredible period of uncertainty, and so you know, and then

0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:11.600
<v Speaker 1>I and then I would say, we we, as an

0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:15.240
<v Speaker 1>employer step back from this and said, boy, you look

0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:19.720
<v Speaker 1>at this time, it's been extremely isolating. UM. We've had

0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:23.400
<v Speaker 1>we've had parents of young children who have had to

0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:28.640
<v Speaker 1>balance the demands of UM work commitments along with you know,

0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:32.280
<v Speaker 1>young children in the home who sometimes their school has

0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:36.120
<v Speaker 1>been interrupted. So you know, so we we we stepped

0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:38.159
<v Speaker 1>back from all this and said, Okay, as we think

0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:42.279
<v Speaker 1>about UM, the ecosystem of support we provide to our colleagues,

0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:47.880
<v Speaker 1>how is this changing our thinking? Right? And and um

0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:50.680
<v Speaker 1>and it's I think it's changed us in indelible and

0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:53.840
<v Speaker 1>profound ways, and and and and in many permanent ways.

0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:56.920
<v Speaker 1>That's been a healthy reset for many, many, many companies.

0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:58.960
<v Speaker 1>I want to get back to our guest, Jennifer Webber,

0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:01.839
<v Speaker 1>still with us, senior as president and chief human Resources

0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:04.520
<v Speaker 1>Officer at Archer Daniels Midland still bid us on the

0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:07.880
<v Speaker 1>phone in Chicago. Hey, Jennifer, we're talking about work shifting

0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:11.200
<v Speaker 1>and the impact the pandemic has had on how we

0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:13.680
<v Speaker 1>work and maybe what stays with us. One of the

0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:15.599
<v Speaker 1>things that came up during the panel that we did

0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:18.440
<v Speaker 1>was blue collar versus white color. You have a lot

0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:21.240
<v Speaker 1>of workers who are in manufacturing facilities who couldn't do

0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:24.920
<v Speaker 1>their job at home. How do we need to think

0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:29.560
<v Speaker 1>about how we change policies work policies because I see

0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:32.400
<v Speaker 1>companies struggling with well, unless we can do it for all,

0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:34.800
<v Speaker 1>we can't do it for some. Because you're gonna have

0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:36.560
<v Speaker 1>people saying, well, why does this person get to work

0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:40.240
<v Speaker 1>home when I'm not able to? How do you manage that? Yeah,

0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:42.640
<v Speaker 1>you know that's a it's a really tough one, Carol.

0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:45.520
<v Speaker 1>I'll tell you what. We We have discussions about this

0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:47.760
<v Speaker 1>quite a bit and it's and it's important that we

0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:51.920
<v Speaker 1>do so right because we uh, well, one thing, one

0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:55.279
<v Speaker 1>thing I will say is we we call our employees

0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:58.040
<v Speaker 1>colleagues for a reason, and that means that we are

0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:00.800
<v Speaker 1>all colleagues. Whether you're in a manufacturer facility, you're an

0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:04.120
<v Speaker 1>office setting, you're in an innovation lab, you're a you know,

0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:07.760
<v Speaker 1>you're a you're a PhD and food science, or you

0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:11.920
<v Speaker 1>are critical UM in one of our milling operations. We

0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:14.560
<v Speaker 1>are all called colleagues with each other and and in

0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:17.200
<v Speaker 1>this together. I think, what I think, what we what

0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:21.560
<v Speaker 1>we stepped back and had to do is recognize that UM,

0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:25.240
<v Speaker 1>this that covid um was creating a high degree of

0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:30.719
<v Speaker 1>uncertainty for all of us UM, and the needs varied

0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:33.920
<v Speaker 1>and how we meet the needs of our different colleagues

0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:37.880
<v Speaker 1>varies depending upon where you sit in the organization, and so,

0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:40.520
<v Speaker 1>you know, so we there were there were many times

0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:42.839
<v Speaker 1>when we would pause and say, okay, given what we know, now,

0:06:43.120 --> 0:06:47.600
<v Speaker 1>what do we need to adapt to more directly support

0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:51.520
<v Speaker 1>our manufacturing colleagues, more directly support some of our office colleagues.

0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:54.320
<v Speaker 1>And so just to just to give you some some

0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.719
<v Speaker 1>examples of that, you know, we you know Throughout the

0:06:57.720 --> 0:07:00.680
<v Speaker 1>course of this our focus has been on keeping our

0:07:00.720 --> 0:07:05.279
<v Speaker 1>colleagues safe and healthy, and that's both physically and mentally.

0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:08.760
<v Speaker 1>And so one of the one of the challenges in

0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:13.320
<v Speaker 1>our manufacturing environments is UM is communications and the ability.

0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:15.920
<v Speaker 1>You know, it's not somebody sitting behind a computer where

0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:18.680
<v Speaker 1>we can reach them with a lot of educational resources

0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:21.920
<v Speaker 1>and hey, here are you know e a P services

0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:25.080
<v Speaker 1>that you're eligible for. It's just that's not that's not

0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:27.680
<v Speaker 1>their day to day life. And so we needed to

0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:29.920
<v Speaker 1>come up with other ways to make sure that we

0:07:29.920 --> 0:07:34.200
<v Speaker 1>were arming our our leadership teams within our operations, that

0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:37.440
<v Speaker 1>we were reaching our our early colleagues to make sure

0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:39.960
<v Speaker 1>that they had the information that they needed to know

0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:44.600
<v Speaker 1>how to access various resources to help them manage through

0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:46.920
<v Speaker 1>this very very uncertain time. So that would be one

0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:50.600
<v Speaker 1>example UM as it relates to UM. Other things that

0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:53.720
<v Speaker 1>can be done, I would say with continued advances in

0:07:54.200 --> 0:08:00.160
<v Speaker 1>UM manufacturing technologies UM, but also UM just different ways

0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:04.320
<v Speaker 1>of thinking about the scheduling of work UM. Uh. So

0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:08.680
<v Speaker 1>that uh that we're that that in our in our

0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:14.800
<v Speaker 1>goal of of you know, delivering, you know, delivering on

0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:19.239
<v Speaker 1>the commitments to our customers that we that we manage

0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:21.360
<v Speaker 1>work in a way, we schedule work in a way,

0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:23.960
<v Speaker 1>and we structure in a way that allows people to

0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:26.720
<v Speaker 1>you know, to manage your work in life. And so

0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:28.720
<v Speaker 1>you know, we have had to take a step back

0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:31.680
<v Speaker 1>in some of our manufacturing facilities and say, you know, okay,

0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:34.240
<v Speaker 1>how what do we do now and how do we

0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:37.720
<v Speaker 1>help support these plant managers and maybe thinking about new

0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:40.400
<v Speaker 1>and different ways of of scheduling and the way work

0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:42.480
<v Speaker 1>can get done. So I think there's going to continue

0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:45.000
<v Speaker 1>to be more and more pressure on on doing that,

0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:48.960
<v Speaker 1>UM to follow through on a commitment that we have

0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:52.120
<v Speaker 1>again and that's keeping everybody healthy and safe. UM. So

0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:55.839
<v Speaker 1>it's in mental it sounds tricky, I gotta say. And

0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:58.400
<v Speaker 1>I was thinking about your job. I think this came

0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:00.760
<v Speaker 1>up to that. I had mentioned that we saw it

0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:04.640
<v Speaker 1>after the crisis where the CFO position really changed because

0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:07.080
<v Speaker 1>they had to figure out how to keep companies financially

0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:10.200
<v Speaker 1>alive in you know markets that had just you know,

0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:14.120
<v Speaker 1>seized up. And during the pandemic. You know, HR wasn't

0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:17.200
<v Speaker 1>just about wait, I gotta change my filing or you know,

0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:21.640
<v Speaker 1>became crucial to getting companies through it. How has that

0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:28.760
<v Speaker 1>job changed forever. Oh gosh. Uh well, UM, I would

0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:33.960
<v Speaker 1>say that Uh. One of the ways is uh in

0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:38.199
<v Speaker 1>you know, the the investment in the development of our

0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:42.040
<v Speaker 1>people leaders. Uh. That's always been That's always been a

0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:46.880
<v Speaker 1>really important focus. But I think this pandemic has placed

0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:50.199
<v Speaker 1>additional strain and pressure on the role of the people

0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:55.360
<v Speaker 1>leader to UM to understand, to know how to be

0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:59.280
<v Speaker 1>empathetic and to meet colleagues where they are, given what

0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:01.480
<v Speaker 1>they are going through, given the way in which they

0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:05.080
<v Speaker 1>are internalizing this. And so I think that UM, the

0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:09.120
<v Speaker 1>role of HR in advising and coaching leaders and making

0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:14.280
<v Speaker 1>sure that there are approaches to development in place that UM.

0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:18.000
<v Speaker 1>That that that makes sure that leaders understand how important

0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:20.960
<v Speaker 1>that is. UM. That's taken on I think a new

0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:25.520
<v Speaker 1>significance and meaning. I would say, you know, the the

0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:29.560
<v Speaker 1>from an HR standpoint, even the strategy around how do

0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:33.640
<v Speaker 1>we make sure that this UM. I would say convergence

0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:37.160
<v Speaker 1>of both physical and mental health is something that we

0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:41.640
<v Speaker 1>pay UM far closer attention to. You know, in the past,

0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:44.000
<v Speaker 1>UM it may have been enough to say, are we

0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:48.880
<v Speaker 1>offering the right benefits? Are people? You know, are people

0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:53.160
<v Speaker 1>taking care of themselves? Um? Uh? Do they are benefits?

0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:58.200
<v Speaker 1>Competitive now with with kind of emotional mental health and

0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:01.160
<v Speaker 1>well being and the role that we know that plays

0:11:01.240 --> 0:11:03.480
<v Speaker 1>in the in the way in which people are feeling

0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:07.640
<v Speaker 1>about their work in life. It's critically important. And what

0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:12.000
<v Speaker 1>what makes it tricky? And and the paradigm of success

0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:16.400
<v Speaker 1>that many organizations are our premised tonight where it's you know,

0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:21.640
<v Speaker 1>steff upper lip, carry on, you know, um uh that

0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:24.839
<v Speaker 1>that becomes and and and and doing so you will

0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:28.440
<v Speaker 1>get more responsibility, you'll get quoted. We have this paradigm

0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:33.079
<v Speaker 1>of success that many organizations are founded on, and that's

0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:36.080
<v Speaker 1>whereaking down a bit, right, because we need definitely to

0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:42.880
<v Speaker 1>be willing to have these tough conversations. Hey, Jennifer, I

0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:45.680
<v Speaker 1>have to jump in just very quickly twenty seconds. There's

0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:47.760
<v Speaker 1>a headline that just said the FDA set to approve

0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:51.400
<v Speaker 1>a third dose for you know, compromised tomorrow. That's coming

0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:55.320
<v Speaker 1>from NBC. Very quickly twenty Are you concerned a little bit?

0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:58.360
<v Speaker 1>Are you concerned a little bit about another wave? Just

0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:03.280
<v Speaker 1>quickly yes, us we are, okay, you were quickly, Um,

0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:05.240
<v Speaker 1>please come back. I would love to check in with

0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:07.800
<v Speaker 1>you again, especially since I know there's a lot going

0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:10.320
<v Speaker 1>on certainly in your area. Jennifer Weber, thank you so much,

0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:14.079
<v Speaker 1>Senior VP, chief Human Resources Officer at Archer Daniels Midland,

0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:16.960
<v Speaker 1>a giant of course, in the food supply chain. On

0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:18.120
<v Speaker 1>the phone from Chicago,