People exercise inside hearts and circles at Dolores Park in San Francisco in September. Chief information officers have urged their teams to take care of themselves as they work apart.
Photo: Jeff Chiu/Associated Press
Several IT executives discussed ways that they are encouraging their teams to pursue the right work-life balance during the pandemic.
Iron Mountain’s Kimberly Anstett and her husband, Craig, hiking in the Middlesex Fells Reservation in Winchester, Mass.
Photo: Kim Anstett
“We’re not only encouraging and emphasizing that our employees schedule personal time, we expect that all of our employees will focus more on their personal lives and look at self-care as a critical element of who they are and how they show up every day.” —Kimberly Anstett, global chief technology officer at Iron Mountain Inc.
“We are encouraging our corporate associates to set boundaries for the beginning and ending of their workday, and are stressing the importance of honoring those boundaries. As we are coming to the end of the year, we are asking employees to take their holidays to unwind and refresh—even if it’s a staycation.” —Seth Cohen, global chief information officer at PepsiCo Inc.
“I challenge my teams—from the most junior to the most senior staff—to disconnect, even using some of the most simple, key directives: ‘Take your vacation! Don’t check email at night!’” —Erik Bailey, CIO at software company Anaqua
“I feel strongly that you need to start the day by turning on the machine and working through your daily routine, but whenever possible at the end of the day we need to find a way to wrap up the work routine. Personally, I find that I best make that shift when I can end the day with a run, walk, some quick meditation or other activity that helps me make that separation more formally.” —Dennis Howard, CIO atCharles Schwab & Co. Inc.
“We implemented a ‘no meetings between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.’ policy so people could take a break midday and use that time to manage their unique personal commitments, or just take a break. This flexibility does not mean that we are not very serious about our work. In fact, if you are late to a meeting, you have to sing a song of your choice.” —Karen Higgins-Carter, CIO at Webster Financial Corp. and Webster Bank
“Synchrony increased benefits for working families, offering paid parental leave for 12 weeks and, with the onset of the pandemic, extending backup care benefits to 60 days for emergency care for children and seniors (and more if needed on an individual basis). We also implemented Flexible Fridays. Each Friday since the beginning of the pandemic, we have declared that we won’t host any internal meetings, but will offer our employees time to manage what life may be throwing at them.” — Carol Juel , CIO at Synchrony Financial
‘I go outside and get fresh air, I meditate,’ says Eli Lilly’s Aarti Shah
Photo: Eli Lilly and Co.
“I take calls while walking on my treadmill, I go outside and get fresh air, I meditate and talk about these behaviors with my organization so they know that it’s OK for them to take care of themselves as well. Many teams have discouraged Friday afternoon meetings, other groups have social get-togethers where their families and pets join in!” —Aarti Shah, chief information and digital officer of Eli Lilly and Co.
“During one of our team meetups, I asked Arianna Huffington from Thrive Global to come to speak with us about ways to avoid burnout and the micro-steps we can take to focus on our wellness. We’ve provided associates the Thrive app and are having regular sessions on how to promote personal wellness. It has become an important and familiar topic for the organization as we all navigate these times.” —Suresh Kumar, global chief technology officer and chief development officer of Walmart Inc.
Write to Sara Castellanos at [email protected]
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