Ashley Murdock says to “Prioritize wellness over work”
Talent Strategist Manager at Accenture Interactive
The role of Human Resources has taken a new meaning during Covid times. Managing the human capital and the culture of an organization, while making it attractive to both the outside and the inside are demanding jobs.
We had the opportunity to meet with Ashley Murdock, a talent Strategist at Accenture Interactive to chat about her fascinating job.
What does a talent strategist do?
As a Talent Strategist, I make sure that we develop a strategy around how to bring our culture to life. We’ve recently identified a North Star that we’re aiming to hit through key values and beliefs and want to instill for our people at Accenture interactive.
We are trying to understand what programs we can put in place, what resources we can make available, what processes and systems need to change, and how communication can change. Looking at all those aspects to understand what needs to be done in order to bring our culture to life.
Right now we’re doing a pilot program with Peloton, which is wellness all the way. They have a digital app that we’re offering for all of our Interactive North America folks, giving them access to it for free. They can use it 24/7 being able to do anything from five-minute-meditations to longer running classes, depending on what they need.
What has taken you to this role?
I switched over to HR from the consulting side because I wanted to make an impact and a change. I wanted to make sure that every time we’re creating new experiences for our Interactive people, they will feel like they belong and that they’re happy to work here.
I also wanted them to be aware of the fact that we have Talkspace, where you can actually text your therapist. It’s amazing to me that something like that is available. Letting them know that those resources exist and that they can reach out to someone who supports them if they have an issue at work or need emotional support.
Why are you interested in health?
Well, I am a certified health coach and a meditation teacher. And being a woman of color, coming from a background where there are all these different diseases that I have to be wary of — whether it’s kidney disease or high blood pressure — impacting my community’s health, it’s important to me to stop that generational curse. If I don’t take care of myself, I could possibly suffer from any of these when I’m older.
What makes Accenture an attractive place?
In my opinion, values are coming across more than ‘Will I have a good salary?’ People want to feel like they’re a part of something bigger and connected to it.
We want to offer that kind of culture with a sense of community, connectedness, and belonging. We want our people to feel seen, heard, and safe. Those are the kinds of things that people are starting to care about more than a high salary, at least from what I’m seeing. People feel good when they can be themselves and most importantly, when ‘shit hits the fan’ and life gets crazy, the company will still be there for them.
What’s a healthy professional?
I look at it from a holistic perspective. It’s not just about moving your body and eating the right food, mental and emotional wellness are key. It’s what I consider being healthy and well.
Even everything happening outside of work can have a major impact on your mental state and how you’re doing at your job. If you’re someone who works 40 to 50 hours a week and simultaneously you’re dealing with family members who got diagnosed with COVID, a death in the family, or financial issues, all that can and will impact your mental state. And to me, the key conversation that probably has been taking place across a lot of corporations is the blending of home and work. And sometimes people can’t separate that mentally which is completely understandable. As an employer, all you can do in those times is create a safe environment where they feel comfortable. Either giving them the alternative to share those things with someone and personally reaching out to make sure they have the right resources to take care of their mental health.
What concerns you about health at work?
The biggest worry I have is that some people still struggle with prioritizing their well-being over work. People are afraid. I have a friend who got COVID and didn’t even mention it to her manager so she just kept on working. It’s things like that and points to the fact that people don’t know when to take a break, breathe and focus on getting well.
How can you help people with the priority issue?
I’m trying to think about some ways that I can create community experiences around the Peloton app. One of the things that I’m working on is what we call wellness breaks. Every Wednesday I’m recruiting one of our Accenture leaders to host a wellness break for about 20 to 25 minutes. They log onto the Peloton app, choose a 5 to 15-minute meditation and whoever has time to join, joins and if they can’t make it, that’s fine. I’m trying to make space for people to feel safe taking that time to focus on their wellness. So it’s not only something that’s in your calendar every Wednesday but rather great leadership showing that if a leader steps up and takes that time, others feel encouraged to do the same. I’m hoping this starts to pick up traction so that folks start to get involved a bit more and sign up for it.
Wellness starts with leadership
There are leaders who allow their people to work weekends because that’s the culture they were brought up in, and their teams also reflect this. Then you might have another leader who’s more laid back. As people are developing new leadership skills through participating in training, we can shift focus even more towards creating a sense of culture and safety. We start infusing new ways of working that will eventually benefit our whole culture.
What is the ideal scenario we are trying to reach?
That people can find joy in the work they’re doing, or being a part of a great team that supports them, joining a meditation class that they heard about, or having a lunch meeting with a mentor who’s going to help them out. I think it could be different for everyone but to find the joy that comes from Interactive is something that I hope can happen and be an environment that we create actively.
I think another one is how wellness becomes second nature. It becomes instilled in you, it’s in your subconscious whenever you first get on a call. You don’t go straight to asking someone ‘Did you do this report’, it’s asking ‘How you’re doing?’. Or you decide that you need to take a mental health day and your out-of-office message reads ‘I’m taking care of myself today. Those are little things that I think are important and that really are about creating an environment where people wake up and find joy in Interactive. They’re a part of making wellness second nature.
And making sure that you have a manager who respects that you need to take off some time and doesn’t demand things from you that are unrealistic
Having leaders on board will help me push this health initiative forward. I need local support in order to have conversations during team meetings and one-on-one conversations. Without that support, this won’t happen as fast as it should.
