Finding a Company With the Culture You Want

Psychological safety and resiliency may seem like buzz words that are thrown around a lot these days in the workplace. Yet, employers and even everyday employees are realizing that these are not just fads. Instead, they are crucial pieces of a healthy and productive workplace.

Finding an organization to work for that values those items can still be difficult, however. AbbVie 's Chief Human Resources Officer Tim Richmond joined LinkedIn News Editor Andrew Seaman on the most recent episode of #GetHired with Andrew Seaman to talk about company culture and how an organization’s people team can help make sure its employees are set up for success.

You can hear their conversation on the latest episode of Get Hired with Andrew Seaman on Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to listen.

TRANSCRIPT: Finding a Company With the Culture You Want

Andrew: From LinkedIn News. This is Get Hired, a podcast for the ups and downs of our professional lives. I'm Andrew Seaman, LinkedIn's managing editor for jobs and career development. Each week on Get Hired, we talk about leveling up. Sometimes we talk about finding work. Other times we talk about excelling where you are right now.. And through it all, we focus on how to stay true to yourself in the process. The last few years have taken a toll on so many of us, both adjusting to our new world of COVID consciousness and also to remote, then hybrid, workplaces. Throughout this time, our human resources and people teams have been hard at work trying to help make our workplaces spaces for us to feel psychologically safe and also like we can grow our individual and team resiliency. Tim Richmond, chief human resources officer at bio-pharmaceutical company AbbVie, joined me recently on my Get Hired live show to share how his team has tried to think about helping AbbVie's employees build resiliency and create a space for psychological safety. We started off by talking about what human resources actually is and what it can do for employees. Here's Tim.

Tim: We are in the business of helping the company perform, but also, we're important stewards of culture. We exist, candidly, to be that kind of intersection between the people and the business. It's not a group to be afraid of. I would encourage people to get to know the people who are their human resources assets that are there really ultimately to support them.

Andrew: So can you tell us what resiliency is and why it's so important, especially at work?

Tim: I think ultimately, we want people to be at their best, not just at work but also outside of their work. And so when I think of resiliency, Andrew, I think of it in the context of things like around wellness and if you think about the whole self. So physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing, emotional behavior wellbeing, even financial wellbeing. So I think that matters, to have a level of self-awareness, a level of self-care, a level of, I don't know, just being able to be in tune with yourself and to reflect upon how you're doing so that we're really able to kind of steer through and power through.

Andrew: Yeah. How can a person start to build a resiliency or start paying attention to the idea of, "Okay, I need to really take care of myself"?

Tim: Yeah. I think it starts, Andrew, with this idea being somewhat self-aware. You're always in service to others, but whether you're at work, at home, you're volunteering in your communities, whatever it is that you might do on a day-to-day basis, if you're not at your best self, how can you be of service in a good, positive way to others? At times, you might think it's selfish. It's actually not. I think it's important. And it's important to take that time for reflection. It's important to take that time for self-care. I need to be at my best to be able to be there for others, to have time for others, to have capability for others. And if I'm not at my best, then I'm just not able to do that as well as I feel like I might need to. So I do think it's a level of intentionality that's required sometimes.

Andrew: Yeah. And I think it could be different for everyone. I think one person, they may want to run in the morning to sort of decompress, there might be another person who meditates, there might be another person who journals and it doesn't have to be the same for each person.

Tim: A hundred percent true. And I think that's, again, knowing yourself a little bit, where do you fill your bucket? What allows you to be fueled for yourself and to be fueled for others? And for me, giving back is a great way to do it and knowing what works best for you… I think that's really critical.

Andrew: Work is not a sort of opaque place where the rest of the world doesn't exist outside. Things seep in, world events do. And a lot of times people carry that with them throughout the day, whether they're at work or at home. And there's the idea of really taking care of yourself and having psychological safety. What is psychological safety when it comes to employees and how do you sort of protect it and encourage it?

Tim: Well, I think it's a great topic to discuss because I think it's one of those differentiating factors between a good employer and maybe a great employer. And for me, I'll use just a couple quick examples. Right when the pandemic began, our CEO came out and said to everyone, "We're not going to reduce anyone's pay because of the pandemic. No one's going to lose their job because of the pandemic." And that sense of saying that and giving people that sense of kind of some psychological safety, even some personal safety around this idea of work and life that I'm not have to worry about my job really resonated with people. As a company, we started with articulating internally our own sense of culture and what we expect of each other. We call them “the ways we work.” Really powerful, important that sets a bar. But then what we realized, Andrew, was that, to your point, there's all kinds of things going on externally and how do we help people understand what it is that we stand for and believe in? And so we came up with what we call our AbbVie principles and they are an articulation of what we stand for and believe in. And so just some quick examples: serving our community, operating with integrity, embracing diversity and inclusion. And in that, we articulated this idea of, "We treat everyone equally with dignity and respect." And I think those are important articulations. So that while it may not be your first aspiration for it, it does give a level of psychological safety. I know what my company stands for and believes in. I get to see what we do internally, how we do it, the importance of it in our culture. That's something to watch out for. Our company's clear about what it is they stand for and believe in. I think that's a differentiating factor.

Andrew: Yeah. And hopefully, people do have companies that support them and encourage the idea of mental wellness and also taking care of yourselves. But we know that's not always the case. So if you are an employee out there who maybe you work at a company that really doesn't prioritize that and maybe the leaders have that mentality of "stop whining, do your work" sort of deal, what would you suggest to them? Is it about sort of advocating for yourself? Is it about, hey, finding a company that maybe is a better cultural fit for you? What is your suggestion for those people?

Tim: I think certainly considering a company that's a better cultural fit is an option and something that people are thinking a lot more about. And we've seen that with some of the turnover you hear about in certain companies. I'd always start with: raise your hand, talk to your people leader, let them know what you think is unaddressed item. Something that can be done better or could be done differently. Again, aligned to mission, aligned to culture. But if you find yourself having a conversation and either no one's listening or no one's doing anything, I think there are times and people are using their market power more than they ever have, to look for places that are better aligned to their personal values, better aligned to the mission for what it is they want to do. I do encourage people as they think about doing that, Andrew, think about the type of company. Think about the mission. Am I attracted to the mission of what this company does? And what do I think I know about their culture and their people and their people leadership. I know for me, it really matters who I work for. It really matters the kind of culture that I operate in. Is it positive? Is it engaging? Is it collaborative? Is there a team orientation? And do we all win together?

Andrew: We're going to take a short break. When we get back, Tim digs into setting boundaries and how to find ease when you're feeling overwhelmed at work.?

Andrew: We're back with AbbVie's chief human resources officer Tim Richmond. Now, we've been talking about creating an open and welcoming workplace culture, but there are many people out there whose response is, “listen, this is work, nobody is supposed to be your friend and you shouldn't expect more from your workplace.” So, I asked Tim what his message to those people would be.

Tim: Well, I think it's always important to honor and respect people who just want to have a job, right? That it's just simply that this is a job. And I know why I do it. I know why I want to do it, but I go back to this idea of a sense of purpose and go back to the tying into resilience. Like that's really important for people. And I think this idea that no matter what your job is, you can make a difference that impacts others is really a powerful motivator. There are some people who don't maybe prioritize the importance of culture and the levels of engagement. But my guess is, they'll say that, but they're going to value it. They just maybe are finding themselves in a fortuitous situation where the culture they work in is a pretty good culture. The quality of the people leadership is strong and they're just benefiting from it. They're deprioritizing it because they don't have that need because they have it. I don't know of a lot of people that care about their work, care about their career, want to have a sense of security and confidence around what it is that they do and why for the longer term, who are going to stay in an environment where the quality of the people leadership is indifferent to wellbeing or is indifferent to just this idea of resilience.

Andrew: Yeah. If someone's out there today and they say, listen, I do struggle a little bit with work and feeling that things can be overwhelming at times, what's one thing that they could do today to maybe put them on a better path or at least to sort of ease the burden?

Tim: I think right now there's just so much going on. And I know, for me, sometimes I want to simplify to the three or four most important things and I can do that, candidly, in a work context. I can also do it personally. Instead of saying, “I've got all these things,” let's focus on the key differentiating factors. They're going to help me perform at my best in my role, in whatever period of time it is, the next six months, 12 months, whatever it might be. But also even personally, like what are my top two or three objectives? Whether it's personal wellness, a relationship with someone else, whatever it may be. I like to simplify, Andrew, in times of complexity so that I don't get distracted. I might have to spend time and energy on other things at different points throughout the day or the week, but the point is, I know what the big things are. And I've got them in front of me. I can focus on them. I can think about what good looks like. I can think about what it would feel like to accomplish that objective. I think simplification and clarity of the top things that are the most is really important.

Andrew: What's your advice for creating boundaries around work to avoid burning out?

Tim: It's tougher I think when you're living where you work. I think segmenting the day, being really clear about when your off time is. What we hear from people and what I've now read even some of the academic studies is people are not turning off while they're working remotely. They're always on. And I think this idea of always on is going to be hurtful over time to wellness, it's going to challenge resiliency. So really intentional about when you're on and off in the work context. The other thing I would say is, I know for me, when I need a boost, I pick up the phone, I'm talking with somebody or I'm going to try and go meet with them face-to-face, or I'm going to plan my next engagement where I'm with the team together. So I think a level of intentionality there really helps.

Andrew: I think that's a great idea. I know for me, after a while, I had to get the desk out of my living room because I just couldn't have that reminder there as I was trying to enjoy like TV or something like that.

Tim: We're going to all forget. But you know, you go back to those early days of the pandemic. I had like the card table up in the bedroom. I mean like, "What am I doing?" But you know, you have to make the best of it at the time. And we're not past the pandemic, but we're past the learning from it and adapting to it. Thinking about longer term, what's the best healthy environment for you to have work. What's the best healthy environment for your other activities outside of work? Go back to intentionality, Andrew, go back to self-care, self-awareness. This is a time... I think give yourself permission, make it a priority. What's on your list for you? Professionally, but also personally, and give yourself some focus there. Like I said, simplify the top things that they're the most but make sure you make you a priority.

Andrew: How can we help facilitate difficult conversations in our workplace so employees feel they have a safe space to open up? And I think this is sort of the crux of almost what we're talking about is, how do you create a space where people can actually voice their concerns so you could help them?

Tim: Yeah. I think there's always that important element of like creating the right environment. Go back to culture. I think it also goes back to the strength and quality of the people leadership. So I think it's intentionality. Companies that just say, “oh, sure, you can speak up here anytime you want, feel free to challenge us,” but the words are there but not the actions. We want to reinforce it as best we can. I think as a people leader, what I would say is, spend more time listening. So think about the time and energy that you give to others for you to hear them. “What's on your mind, how are you doing, how are we doing? Are there things that we can be doing better, are there things that we could be doing differently?” And I think if we're good listeners and we give people space and we respect them, just the basic elements of respect and dignity for each individual, I think that's really important. And I think the best people leaders do that. If you're one of those, then great, you're probably already doing it. But if you're not maybe doing enough, maybe it's a good question for all the people leaders. When's the last time you gave your team an opportunity to share about how we're doing, about how you're doing as a people leader, about how we can do more, better, differently?

Andrew: Yeah. And I think a lot of times if a people leader, they'll say, “I don't always know how to help them when they voice their concerns.” Sometimes listening is enough. You can't necessarily solve all the problems in the world for your direct reports or your colleagues, but sometimes you could just say, "Listen, I could listen." And sometimes that's just enough.

Tim: I love that point. I think sometimes the mistake that people leaders make is that you always have to have the answer to everything and let's just make it okay to say, “we're just sharing. We're just letting ourselves be heard.” And you don't have to solve everything, but create the right environment for dialogue, for feedback. I just think that's a great point you just made. I wanted to reinforce it.

Andrew: Thanks. I want to thank you so much for sharing your expertise, Tim.

Tim: It's my pleasure, Andrew. Thank you for the opportunity.

Andrew: That was Tim Richmond, chief human resources officer at AbbVie. Remember, it's up to you to put our advice into practice. Still, you always have a community backing you up and cheering you on. Connect with me and the Get Hired community on LinkedIn to continue the conversation. You can also join my weekly Get Hired live show every Friday on the LinkedIn News page. And if you like this episode, leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts. It helps people like you find the show. And, of course, we'll continue this conversation next week, right here, wherever you like to listen. Get Hired is a production of LinkedIn News. The show is produced by Michele O'Brien with help from Gianna Prudente, Derek Carl, Elias Avalos, and Taisha Henry. Joe DiGiorgi mixed our show. Florencia Iriondo is head of original audio and video. Dave Pond is head of news production. Dan Roth is the editor-in-chief of LinkedIn. And I'm Andrew Seaman. Until next time, stay well, and best of luck.