Integrating Technology in HR Strategies

Michelle Jansen, Vice President of Employee Experience at Gates

Short bio

Michelle is an HR Executive with over 25 years of experience working in multiple industries and areas of HR. She has extensive hands-on build, scale, and transformation expertise focused on solving enterprise and organizational challenges that impact productivity, culture, and bottom-line results.

Role of Technology in Shaping and Improving Employee Experience

Digital maturity is a key driver of networked organizations and critical to business success. Enabling the adaptation of technology solutions facilitates the ability to access information at the right time and right place, positively impacting employee experience, operational efficiency, and overall outcomes to deliver value to our people and customers. Technology and automation will continue to drive innovation and improve HR efficiency and reliability, enabling organizations to compete more effectively for global talent, streamline processes, improve service levels, and support business strategy execution.

Experiences from a Mentoring Project

In early 2023, we pulled together a cross-functional team to enhance the Gates Global Mentoring Program, which provides pre-program training and on-demand tools and resources to mentors and mentees, enabling our participants to create valuable and productive relationships. Along with educational materials and training, Gates Global Mentoring is a 10-month mentor/mentee partnership designed to help participants cultivate a mutually beneficial relationship to accelerate their careers. Pairs are created by observing what skills a mentee wants to improve and connecting them with a mentor with expertise in those areas. Not only does the program help build new peer relationships, but it strengthens our corporate mentoring culture.

"Digital maturity is a key driver of networked organizations and critical to business success."

Challenges That Current Services Are Unable to Solve

We are on a multi-year technology modernization journey. There are a variety of transactional and manual practices that still exist and need further optimization across the enterprise. While this impacts engagement, we continue to drive awareness across the workforce and share information on the various improvements underway, including the future state strategy.

Evolution in the Concept of Employee Experience

Employee experience has evolved into the entire lifecycle from talent attraction, onboarding, development, engagement, retention, and offboarding. A trend I find most exciting is the emergence of employee experience platforms that offer personalized experiences relevant to the employee, similar to social media feeds. This personalization helps facilitate employee effectiveness and promotes a positive work culture where team members thrive and strong business results are achieved.

Advice, Suggestions, and Considerations For Professionals in a Similar Role

In collaboration with key business stakeholders, develop an employee experience strategy that focuses on all levels of the workforce. Key elements of the strategy should include promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, providing meaningful work, recognizing contributions, offering growth and development opportunities, and creating an engaging environment where employees feel valued and invested in every day.