Just like the clients we serve, WSA prioritizes our own employee listening strategy.
We Listened
As our world has continued to evolve since the pandemic hit in early 2020, zoom meetings, scheduled calls, and full calendars have become the new normal. We worked quickly as an organization to adapt to this new normal and create new points of connection with our customers and partners.
You see, our culture at WSA thrives on ten cultural values that make us who we are, and we live those values day in and day out. One of our cultural elements is “When our clients win, we win.” Another is “We fight for what works when it matters.” And since our clients were going through a large transition — we rose to the challenge with them. We committed to do whatever it takes to ensure our clients were confident about maintaining and accelerating their workforces through change and evolution.
However, through this adaptability, we realized that calendar fatigue is a real thing. We began hearing from our employees that they were feeling some strain in their work-life balance. So, we tried a few different approaches to manage calendars more effectively to bring back a sense of balance because we do not want our colleague’s calendars to be so full of scheduled meetings that they are spending their time in the evenings playing “catch up.” We want them to be with their friends and families, enjoying beautiful weather, and savoring the quieter moments.
We Collected the Data
When we looked at the results of our latest employee engagement survey, the feedback told us they were still feeling unbalanced, so we decided to create space for them by scheduling Refuel Days. WSA Refuel Days are days we, as a company, are committing to scheduling no meetings. These are days to focus on our work without interruption, to enjoy a long lunch break with a colleague, or have a few minutes to chat by the water cooler. It’s a break from the rigor of bouncing from emails to calls to tasks and back and forth again. As a company, we’re not just giving each other permission to create this balance, we are committing and dedicating time to building a balance in our culture.
Leadership Took Action
When the concept was first proposed to our senior leadership, the response was an instant, unanimous, and enthusiastic approval. In fact, it wasn’t only instantly approved, but the original dates that were being targeted were bumped up to two weeks earlier because our leaders were so eager to provide this reprieve to our organization. You see at WSA, we don’t just talk the talk, we truly believe we should be walking the walk. And it starts with listening to the employees. As we refuel as an organization, you can count on the fact that we’re as excited as ever to be serving organizations with the same commitment as we have to our own.
Karrie Rosa, Implementation Service Leader, WSA
