WEBVTT - Carlyle's Week Off for Wellbeing

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. If you happen

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<v Speaker 1>to work at the private equity from Carlisle Group, you

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<v Speaker 1>are getting an extra week off next week. That's on

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<v Speaker 1>top of a seven well being stipended. So for more

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<v Speaker 1>on that and how the company is thinking about the

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<v Speaker 1>wellness of its employees, let's find out from Bruce Lawson.

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<v Speaker 1>He is chief human resources officer over at Carlisle Group.

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<v Speaker 1>He's on the phone with us on this Tuesday. Hey, Bruce,

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<v Speaker 1>nice to have you here. How are you hi, Carol great,

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you for having me. Well, it's great to have

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<v Speaker 1>you here. First of all, I want to get into

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<v Speaker 1>what you guys are doing your world. Tell us how

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<v Speaker 1>things have progressed over the past year and a half

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<v Speaker 1>as you've dealt with the pandemic, you know, getting through it,

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<v Speaker 1>starting to reopening. Kind of where where are you right

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<v Speaker 1>now in terms of your individual firm? So we're um,

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<v Speaker 1>we're doing a great job of managing through things. Our

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<v Speaker 1>firm has been having record level performances. Are people are

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<v Speaker 1>working incredibly hard and they're completely engaged. Um. But like

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<v Speaker 1>everybody who's been going through this has been a journey.

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<v Speaker 1>We've had UM challenges and things that have come up

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<v Speaker 1>that we've tried to deal with, and some of those

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<v Speaker 1>are around our new well being strategy that we have

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<v Speaker 1>implemented a number of months ago. UM. But we're we're

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<v Speaker 1>hanging in there. We'll talk to us about this well

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<v Speaker 1>being strategy because it's really been very interesting, at least

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<v Speaker 1>for me as a journalist and for many others to

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<v Speaker 1>see how companies have opened up in terms of thinking

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<v Speaker 1>about their employees different like how how is that relationship

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<v Speaker 1>between Carlisle the employee or change with Carlyle and its employees. Sure, so, look,

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<v Speaker 1>I think a lot of this started UM a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit before the pandemic, where um, you know, with new

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<v Speaker 1>leadership at Carlisle and our new CEO, Cuson Lee, trying

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<v Speaker 1>to focus on how do we enhance UM an already

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<v Speaker 1>very strong culture in the firm UM and really make

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<v Speaker 1>our human capital strategies in line with all of our

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<v Speaker 1>other strategies to deliver the right kind of commercial results.

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<v Speaker 1>And so we were beginning to talk about a number

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<v Speaker 1>of things, and then, of course, in March of last year,

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<v Speaker 1>the world began to change, and we all went out

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<v Speaker 1>on on a lockdown for what everybody thought would be

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<v Speaker 1>two weeks in life could get back to normal UM,

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<v Speaker 1>but of course that didn't happen UM, and so we

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<v Speaker 1>began navigating our way through that and one of the

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<v Speaker 1>key pillars of our human capital strategy that we wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to put in place. But what this all happened was

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<v Speaker 1>sort of a very clear and transparent communication from leadership

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<v Speaker 1>about what was going on in the world, and the

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<v Speaker 1>pandemic kind of gave us no choice but to really

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<v Speaker 1>accelerate that, and so we spent a lot of time

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<v Speaker 1>just very openly and candidly and honestly communicating with our

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<v Speaker 1>people about what was going on, even at times when

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<v Speaker 1>we didn't really know what was going on, so that

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<v Speaker 1>the new management was watching things and being concerned about things.

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<v Speaker 1>And as the pandemic progressed, UM, well all individually got

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<v Speaker 1>a sense for the increased stress levels that we're going

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<v Speaker 1>on UM because of your inability to separate from work

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<v Speaker 1>and just no stop button, and it felt like people

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<v Speaker 1>were living at work more than they were working from home.

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<v Speaker 1>And so we started to focus on a bunch of

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<v Speaker 1>things around UM focusing on the well being of our people,

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<v Speaker 1>because we have a strong belief that if our people

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<v Speaker 1>are feeling better about themselves both physically, mentally emotionally, they'll

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<v Speaker 1>be able to perform better individuals and their teams will

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<v Speaker 1>function better, and ultimately that will deliver better commercial results

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<v Speaker 1>for the firm. And so we started to put together

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<v Speaker 1>kind of a brief well being approach, which has evolved

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<v Speaker 1>into a much more formal strategy UM where we're trying

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<v Speaker 1>to cover essentially the five pillars of well being as

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<v Speaker 1>as we see them, which are physical, emotional, social, environmental,

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<v Speaker 1>and financial. And our initial thrust has really been on

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<v Speaker 1>the physical and emotional well being of our people. And

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<v Speaker 1>so we started kind of small by having um, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>very early on in the pandemic zoom yoga classes and

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<v Speaker 1>meditation classes and some some things to just give people

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<v Speaker 1>a break, and started to do some other things, and

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<v Speaker 1>then we thought, we've got to get more serious about this,

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<v Speaker 1>because this is this is going to be part of

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<v Speaker 1>our world going forward and it's just smart business on

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<v Speaker 1>our part. And so we established well Being Advisory Committee

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<v Speaker 1>across the firm that consists of employees from all different

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<v Speaker 1>levels across all of our businesses and all geographies to

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<v Speaker 1>help advise us on the kinds of things that we

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<v Speaker 1>think would be most impactful for our people, and one

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<v Speaker 1>of those was, you know, this inability to separate and

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<v Speaker 1>have any kind of disconnection from work. And so we started.

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<v Speaker 1>We started last year by giving people a day off

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<v Speaker 1>before the fourth of July and before Labor Day, before

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<v Speaker 1>other holidays, just to extend the break a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>where everybody was off at the same time, because it

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<v Speaker 1>seemed to us like that was the only time you

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<v Speaker 1>could really as connected if everybody was was off, and

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<v Speaker 1>we got such positive feedback from that that that evolved

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<v Speaker 1>UM into us discussing as a leadership team earlier this year,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, we should just close the place down for

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<v Speaker 1>a week globally and give everybody a week off where

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<v Speaker 1>they can really disconnect. And we discussed amongst our leaders

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<v Speaker 1>globally about the right time to do that and when

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<v Speaker 1>made the most sense, and we ended up UM with

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<v Speaker 1>next week in August being the right week to do that.

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<v Speaker 1>I want to get back to Bruce Lawson, chief human

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<v Speaker 1>resources officer over at Carlisle Group, still with us on

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<v Speaker 1>the phone. Next week their workers are getting an extra

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<v Speaker 1>week off next week. They've also provided a seven well

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<v Speaker 1>being stipend for UH Carlisle workers and Bruce, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>one of the things I was thinking about is and

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<v Speaker 1>I think I do wonder how much of this stays

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<v Speaker 1>with us in terms of permanent, you know, planning for

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<v Speaker 1>our workers at companies. UM, And I do wonder if

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<v Speaker 1>there's a you know, commercial aspect to why you're doing it,

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<v Speaker 1>that it that it works, that it makes workers feel better,

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<v Speaker 1>that it ultimately makes them feel more productive. What kind

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<v Speaker 1>of researcher science did you guys maybe tap into before

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<v Speaker 1>setting your sights on some of these programs. Sure, UM, Look,

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<v Speaker 1>we've we've looked at a bunch of different studies that

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<v Speaker 1>indicate that if people are physically and emotionally healthier, UM

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<v Speaker 1>and well that are off, they are engaged more in

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<v Speaker 1>their life generally, that's not not just in work, but

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<v Speaker 1>in their personal lives. And if your people are more

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<v Speaker 1>energized and have the ability of focus, are feeling better

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<v Speaker 1>about themselves, they're going to perform better. And when you've

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<v Speaker 1>got a collection of better performing individuals, you're going to

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<v Speaker 1>have better performing teams. UM. One of the measures that

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<v Speaker 1>we look at to see how people are feeling about

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<v Speaker 1>some of our efforts. Is in our recent employee engagement

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<v Speaker 1>survey that closed in March of this year, and our

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<v Speaker 1>people said that they were proud to work at Carlisle

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<v Speaker 1>and would recommend it to a friend, And that to

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<v Speaker 1>me says a lot about how they feel about their job.

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<v Speaker 1>And when they're feeling great about their job, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>this is a competitive, intense business. They're going to be

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<v Speaker 1>moments where they've really got to push themselves and they're

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<v Speaker 1>going to be more willing to do that if they're

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<v Speaker 1>feeling good about how the company is thinking about them

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<v Speaker 1>as a person, not just a cog in a will

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<v Speaker 1>that's that's trying to crank out commerce. But what's changed

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<v Speaker 1>in terms of the conversations that you think are are

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<v Speaker 1>are happening between senior management, because I think it's safe

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<v Speaker 1>to say that they're probably been studies out there for

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<v Speaker 1>years about people saying that if people have time off

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<v Speaker 1>and breaks and really you know, get away from their work,

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<v Speaker 1>that they ultimately come back and they are more productive.

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<v Speaker 1>That it isn't just about more hours worked, right, it's

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<v Speaker 1>better hours work or smarter hours work. So what's happened

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<v Speaker 1>in terms of the conversations that we're having among senior

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<v Speaker 1>management that people are saying, we'll wait a minute, the

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<v Speaker 1>pandemic really opened our eyes to something, and we gotta

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<v Speaker 1>do we gotta do things differently. Well, look, I think

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<v Speaker 1>historically human top departments and HR functions have been trying

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<v Speaker 1>to have those conversations, but a lot of times people

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<v Speaker 1>didn't take it all that seriously. I think one of

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<v Speaker 1>the things the pandemic has done is made senior leaders

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<v Speaker 1>of organizations realize, because they're experiencing the same things in

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<v Speaker 1>a very similar way that their employees are, that this

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<v Speaker 1>is real, and this will make us better and our

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<v Speaker 1>people were performed better, will have lower turnover, and people

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<v Speaker 1>will be generally happier if we focus on these things.

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<v Speaker 1>And so part of it, I think has really just

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<v Speaker 1>been how the pandemic as stone everybody into the same boat,

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<v Speaker 1>and senior leaders, at least at Carlisle have chosen respond

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<v Speaker 1>to that by engaging in the conversation. Very practically, a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of these things we're doing aren't my ideas. Some

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<v Speaker 1>of them have come from our CFO, some have come

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<v Speaker 1>from the CEO. It's literally a contribution from a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of senior folks. Well, I love that you took me

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<v Speaker 1>there because I was thinking and I've had a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of discussions about like, after the financial crisis, the CFO

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<v Speaker 1>was no longer just on the earnings call and you know,

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<v Speaker 1>making sure all the statements went out. They became so

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<v Speaker 1>crucial in helping companies get through that crisis. And I

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<v Speaker 1>do feel like human resources officers, chief human resources officers

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<v Speaker 1>like yourself now have a much more senior spot within

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<v Speaker 1>the c suite. Is that fair to say? Well, it's

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<v Speaker 1>certainly fair to say at Carlisle, and I think it's

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<v Speaker 1>true across industry generally. Um, you know, I'm part of

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<v Speaker 1>a small group of people who I think are are

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<v Speaker 1>in the executive suite advising on a whole host of issues.

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<v Speaker 1>And our CEO and our CFO and our CEO, etcetera

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<v Speaker 1>take people issues so seriously they want me at the table,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm there for all the meaningful discussions. When we

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<v Speaker 1>came up with the stipend, the seven fifty dollar stipend,

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<v Speaker 1>it was our CFO who actually gave us some of

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<v Speaker 1>the best input, which was, let's just make this simple.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's not make people submit receipts and have something approved,

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<v Speaker 1>let's just give it to them and let them decide

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<v Speaker 1>the best way to spend that seven fifty dollars for

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<v Speaker 1>their own personal well being. And that kind of input

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<v Speaker 1>historically would have been you know, miles and miles of

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<v Speaker 1>conversations and meetings to get that kind of approval. Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>just got about thirty seconds. What do you hope that

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<v Speaker 1>employees do next? Tweak or spend their money on the stipend?

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<v Speaker 1>What do you hope they do? And just quickly if

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<v Speaker 1>you could. It's really just whatever's gonna make them feel better.

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<v Speaker 1>It's been fund at Carlisle leading up to this. Literally

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<v Speaker 1>at the end of every meeting, somebody says, hey, Carol,

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<v Speaker 1>what are you going to do next week? And you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the conversations about what people are doing in the way

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<v Speaker 1>they're spending are vast as people's individual well being is.

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<v Speaker 1>And I just hope people get a get a good

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<v Speaker 1>rest and a good break from it all. Well, great

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<v Speaker 1>to check in with you and hear what you guys

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<v Speaker 1>are doing. Uh. I find it that the human resource

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<v Speaker 1>space has really evolved a lot across the world over

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<v Speaker 1>the last year and a half. Bruce Laarson, thank you,

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you, Chief human resources officer at Carlisle Group joining

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<v Speaker 1>us on the phone here