The Great Resignation & The Future Of Work: Katy O’Malley of Harte Hanks On How Employers and Employees Are Reworking Work Together

An Interview with Karen Mangia

MEANINGFUL TRANSPARENCY. The transparency pendulum has swung in both directions and is heading back to a more balanced middle. Keeping information close until everything is fully understood leads to an air of secrecy. Likewise, sharing every small detail and burying employees in information adds confusion and unnecessary stress.

When it comes to designing the future of work, one size fits none. Discovering success isn’t about a hybrid model or offering remote work options. Individuals and organizations are looking for more freedom. The freedom to choose the work model that makes the most sense. The freedom to choose their own values. And the freedom to pursue what matters most. We reached out to successful leaders and thought leaders across all industries to glean their insights and predictions about how to create a future that works.

As a part of our interview series called “How Employers and Employees are Reworking Work Together,” we had the pleasure to interview Katy O’Malley.

Katy is Sr. Director Human Resources at Harte Hanks where she oversees HR for the Customer Care and Demand Generation businesses in the US and Philippines, leveraging extensive experience in BPO, financial services, and federal government. She focuses on enhancing employee experience to drive customer satisfaction, essential for future-proofing businesses in a dynamic market. With a background in organizational development and strategic initiatives, Katy emphasizes transparency, innovation, and engagement to navigate the evolving future of work. Her role includes optimizing global HR strategies, fostering continuous improvement, and aligning talent development with business growth goals. Collaborating closely with senior leadership, Katy implements transformative HR practices to anticipate industry shifts and empower teams, ensuring a supportive and adaptive work environment.

Thank you for making time to visit with us about the topic of our time. Our readers would like to get to know you a bit better. Can you please tell us about one or two life experiences that most shaped who you are today.

One of the most defining experiences in shaping who I am today was my journey to join and ultimately leave the FBI. I’ve always been a planner, driven by clear goals and objectives. My education and early career were focused on becoming an FBI agent. While working for the agency and preparing to join a class at Quantico, I realized it wasn’t the right fit for me. This experience taught me to embrace ambiguity as I transitioned to a new path and emphasized the value of transferable skills. It reshaped my perspective on success, highlighting that it’s not just about achieving goals but also aligning passions and values with one’s professional journey.

Another experience that has shaped me significantly is my time at Harte Hanks, where I’ve deeply connected with employees facing personal challenges such as homelessness, abusive situations, and natural disasters. At Harte Hanks, we prioritize caring for employees as individuals, not just professionals. I’ve been honored to support these individuals by leveraging our leadership and external networks to provide crucial assistance, like securing temporary housing and collecting support for those in need. These experiences have taught me the power of empathy, resilience, and the importance of compassionate leadership in making a meaningful impact in people’s lives.

Let’s zoom out. What do you predict will be the same about work, the workforce and the workplace 10–15 years from now? What do you predict will be different?

The importance of the manager employee relationship isn’t going to change. We need to continue to flex and build competencies for managers to become effective leaders.

Technology will surely be different given the rapid pace of change. It’s putting pressure on companies to change training methods. Today, employees need to understand the WHY as much as the WHAT. If they understand the underlying motives and reasoning, they can make informed decisions, supported by the latest technology.

What advice would you offer to employers who want to future-proof their organizations?

My advice for companies is to laser focus on your core business. There is pressure for large companies to try and do everything internally, and it’s an impossible task. With things changing so quickly, no company can be an expert in everything. That’s why it’s important to partner with experts — so that you can focus on the meaningful work that will drive business results.

What do you predict will be the biggest gaps between what employers are willing to offer and what employees expect as we move forward? And what strategies would you offer about how to reconcile those gaps?

Bridging the gap between what employers can offer and what employees expect requires a multifaceted approach that includes clear career paths, embracing a multigenerational workforce, and fostering an inclusive and flexible work environment. Here are two examples:

Career Path and Mobility:

• Expectation Gap: Younger employees want clear and accelerated career paths with opportunities for advancement. Employers may struggle to offer rapid promotions or lateral moves due to organizational hierarchies and limited positions.
• Strategies:
• Transparent Career Mapping: Implement transparent career paths with defined milestones and required skills for progression. Provide tools and regular feedback sessions to help employees understand and achieve these milestones.
• Skill Development Programs: Offer continuous learning opportunities, including certifications, workshops, stretch assignments, and access to educational resources. Encourage cross-functional projects to broaden skill sets.

Workforce Composition:

• Expectation Gap: The aging workforce is staying employed longer, limiting opportunities for younger employees to move into senior roles. This can create tension as older and younger employees have different work style preferences and career expectations.
• Strategies:
• Advisory and Consultative Roles for Older Employees: Develop roles that leverage the experience of older employees, such as mentors, advisors, or consultants. This allows companies to protect their institutional knowledge and more experienced employees to contribute meaningfully without occupying positions that block upward mobility for younger employees.
• Dual Career Ladders: Create parallel career tracks for technical and managerial roles, allowing for senior positions in expertise without needing to move into traditional management roles, thus broadening advancement opportunities.

We simultaneously joined a global experiment together last year called “Working From Home.” How will this experience influence the future of work?

The global shift to “Working From Home” profoundly influenced the future of work. Today, many employers are eager to return to traditional office setups, seeking the familiarity and control they provide. However, employees have demonstrated that remote work is effective and are resisting this pushback, advocating for the flexibility they have come to value. This experience has redefined “work” itself, moving away from being measured by time spent at a desk to being judged by the quality and results of the work produced.

At Harte Hanks we have embraced this new way of working. Using meaningful KPIs to monitor performance, in addition to presenteeism, we can drive solid performance wherever our employees sit. In addition, we recognize the value in providing flexible remote work options, as well as the importance of onsite presence at strategic moments in the employee life cycle. Our talent communities connect and support employees who are in similar geographic regions, while fostering engagement and a strong culture. Within these communities, hubs provide flexible onsite premises, ensuring new hires integrate seamlessly, supervisors optimize performance and coaching, and community managers offer engagement events.

We’ve all read the headlines about how the pandemic reshaped the workforce. What societal changes do you foresee as necessary to support a future of work that works for everyone?

Companies need to acknowledge that success isn’t one thing. It can be personal depending on what you value. Abraham Lincoln said “Whatever you are, be a good one.”

At Harte Hanks we strive to hire for the long term by assessing soft skill competencies and temperament along with hard skills. Knowing the value of transferable skills and finding personal success, we encourage non-traditional career paths, including lateral movements, rotational assignments, and seasonal promotions. We also celebrate when employees find the next step in their career outside of Harte Hanks and welcome when they return to us with new perspectives. In fact, a third of our Customer Care and Demand Generation employees at all levels have left and returned to Harte Hanks at some point in their careers.

What is your greatest source of optimism about the future of work?

My greatest source of optimism about the future of work is the unprecedented ability of employees to self-manage their careers. Today’s workforce has more control over their professional journeys than ever before, with flexibility to pursue continuous learning. Forward-looking companies encourage employees to identify challenges and pain points within their role (or the organizations) and give them latitude to create positions or solutions to address these issues. This proactive approach to problem-solving and career development promises a future where work is more dynamic, fulfilling, and responsive.

Our collective mental health and wellbeing are now considered collateral as we consider the future of work. What innovative strategies do you see employers offering to help improve and optimize their employee’s mental health and wellbeing?

Because we spend the majority of our lives at work, it’s impossible to overstate the critical importance of work relationships. At Harte Hanks we look at six different areas of the employee experience: physical, cognitive, emotional, spiritual, social, financial and ensure that we evaluate our benefits and programs against all these components. This requires an unprecedented amount of two-way feedback. That’s why we continuously hold focus groups at every level to gather information so that we can improve our policies, in addition to more traditional surveys.

It seems like there’s a new headline every day. ‘The Great Resignation’. ‘The Great Reconfiguration’. And now the ‘Great Reevaluation’. What are the most important messages leaders need to hear from these headlines? How do company cultures need to evolve?

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I think that nobody is getting it 100% right. There is a general sense of dissatisfaction at all levels within organizations. One way to address this is through radical transparency. For example, if you are hiring for a Wall Street role that offers tremendous compensation but little to no work/life balance, it’s better to share that information transparently so that expectations are clear. Someone will likely want the job, and they’ll understand what is required.

Let’s get more specific. What are your “Top 5 Trends To Track In the Future of Work?”

1. FRONTLINE INNOVATION. With technology changing so rapidly, the old process of think tanks and special departments coming up with new ideas is over. Putting technology in the hands of the workers, collecting feedback, and driving change is the future.

Example. Harte Hanks was evaluating emerging voice technology in the Customer Care space. Very early in the process, we ran a proof of concept with a small group of customer care agents to understand how they would see the technology fitting into their work. They loved it, sharing insights into how it would benefit them and offering to demo it for other agents.

2. HIRING FOR POTENTIAL VS. EXPERIENCE. It’s safe to say most people in the workforce have minimal experience with new and emerging technology or processes. So, assessing candidates based on years of experience isn’t effective. Identifying candidates who fit the culture and possess transferable skills is more important.

Example. I’ll use myself as an example. I haven’t “grown up” in the HR function. My background consists of project/program management, strategic transformations, organizational development, change management, and HR. The leaders I support were looking for an HR partner who could align people strategy with their business objectives. They saw past the traditional “10–12 years progressive HR experience” requirement.

3. INTENTIONAL MICROCULTURES. Microcultures exist in organizations, and the trend of embracing them is growing. Establishing a core culture and supporting the nuances that naturally develop across departments and teams allows workers to be more successful. The problems with microcultures only arise when we avoid acknowledging them.

Example. No two accounts at Harte Hanks are alike because we work hard to embrace the culture of the client they support. We can take a top performing customer care agent from one account and see them struggle on another account because the cultures don’t match. Using an AI-driven talent intelligence tool, we’re able identify culture traits at the account or team level and within an individual to help us place the right person on the right account in the right role.

4. MEANINGFUL TRANSPARENCY. The transparency pendulum has swung in both directions and is heading back to a more balanced middle. Keeping information close until everything is fully understood leads to an air of secrecy. Likewise, sharing every small detail and burying employees in information adds confusion and unnecessary stress.

Example. A portion of our business recently underwent a fairly significant reorganization. The communication plan we developed ensured employees understood changes were coming and addressed why. They were already prepared when the details of those changes were cascaded over subsequent weeks. The message was shared first with those who were directly impacted (i.e., moving to a new manager). Talking points helped those individuals explain the changes to their teams, focusing on what it means to each employee, and how it was or was not going to effect their day-to-day.

5. OUTCOME-BASED PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT. It’s no surprise the remote work environment turned performance management on its head. Gone are the days of judging work by who showed up and is sitting at their desk; mouse jigglers have made the color of your bubble meaningless, and other tools can fool keystroke counters. Plus, none of those things meant people were actually working. Defining clear expected outcomes and holding people accountable may be more challenging, but it’s also more effective.

Example. For our roles that don’t have metric-based scorecards defining their work, we have created a roles and responsibilities document. It’s an agreement between the employee and their manager that clearly outlines where their time should be spent, how they demonstrate success in those areas, and key activities that will drive success. When something is off, it’s easy to have specific discussions about the gaps and identify solutions.

I keep quotes on my desk and on scraps of paper to stay inspired. What’s your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? And how has this quote shaped your perspective?

Mother Teresa “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” It’s easy to get caught up in the size of impact. But doing the right thing doesn’t always make a big splash — it’s still the right thing to do and matters to that one person.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He, she, or they might just see this if we tag them.

Mary Barra. Based on what I have seen, she values the connection between people strategy and business strategy. I appreciate her insight and focus on even the smallest details that can drive culture and performance.

Our readers often like to continue the conversation with our featured interviewees. How can they best connect with you and stay current on what you’re discovering?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-crighton/

Thank you for sharing your insights and predictions. We appreciate the gift of your time and wish you continued success and good health.

About The Interviewer: Karen Mangia is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the world, sharing her thought leadership with over 10,000 organizations during the course of her career. As Vice President of Customer and Market Insights at Salesforce, she helps individuals and organizations define, design and deliver the future. Discover her proven strategies to access your own success in her fourth book Success from Anywhere and by connecting with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.