• by Larissa Faw , April 10, 2018

Several industry heavy hitters — Bill Koenigsberg, president/CEO/founder, Horizon Media, Renetta McCann, Chief Inclusion Experience Officer, Publicis Groupe, Nancy Tortorella, U.S. Chief Client Officer, Wavemaker, Kathleen Brookbanks, COO, Hearts & Science joined Nada Stirratt, VP, global marketing solutions, North America, Facebook at the 4As Accelerate Conference in Miami, Florida, to discuss how leaders navigate a happy and positive workforce in today's landscape.

All panelists acknowledge the right values and purpose are set at the top. Companies must create the right environment with the right ecosystem.

Horizon's Koenigsberg believes one of the biggest changes in the workplace is that the "outside world has influenced the inside world." social media, #MeToo and gun control and impact the work environment, he says. As a result, Horizon wanted to create a safe point of view, where everyone has a voice and feels comfortable.

"You cannot take that for granted," says Koenigsberg. The agency has panels addressing how to encourage civil discourse, as well as spark moderated discussions to create dialogue. Our programs are designed so employees don't have to hide how they feel, he says.

McCann adds the definition of high performance has changed over the years;  today's teams must have sense of purpose. It isn't just working to earn a paycheck, but they want their roles and involvement to contribute to a bigger picture.

However, Brookbanks admits it is challenging to execute against that principle, since Millennial and Gen Z workers have different expectations of the company than previous generations. They do expect to be part a family, but there is another, larger piece. They feel their voice needs to be heard, she says.

"Younger talent will call us out," says Brookbanks.

The panelists outlined their respective initiatives aimed at keeping talent happy and addressing the work-life balance.

Facebook's Fuel program encourages workers to write their personal vision as if it already happened, says Stirratt. This missive is read out loud to "almost the entire company" and posted online so writers are held accountable. The platform also offers an eight-hour program around crucial conversations to give and take constructive feedback.

Horizon's third-bucket program states that 85% of their time is spent on job and the accompanying compensation, but the third 15% bucket is spent entirely on personal inspiration.

Wavemaker is giving people power to manage their schedules and their roles. Publicis Groupe distributes the Personal User Manual that features explains how it operates,  what is important to them and how peers can react.

The Groupe's most popular workshop, Leo Leaps, gives them 90 days to pursue a passion of their own, whether it's jewelry making or hand lettering. Publicis seeks to give workers a "whole suite of tools to learn who they are," says McCann.

While employers are working hard to retain talent, Koenigsberg recommends workers "jump in deep end of the pool," he says. "If you don't feel uncomfortable around the next corner, you aren't going to motivated to get ahead and you are going to be complacent."

Before her boss Mark Zuckerberg testifies before Congress Tuesday afternoon, Stirratt kicked off her panel discussion with a statement acknowledging that the social-media platform believes there is nothing more important than to regain trust, so users can feel secure about using the platform. "We know we have made mistakes and we have learned from them."