In the face of adversity, it鈥檚 employees 鈥� the heartbeat of organizations 鈥� that ultimately see businesses through. That鈥檚 why we are reinventing human resources to prioritize the employee experience at SAP.

During the , industry leaders from around the world gathered to share their thoughts on what it means to reinvent HR and build an agile workforce ready to tackle any challenge. While all speakers shared valuable insights, I鈥檝e highlighted my top five takeaways below.

1. Flexible HR Tools Are Critical for Long-Term Success

As organizations and employees evolve, HR can no longer rely on a one-size-fits-all approach. Amy Wilson, senior vice president of Products and Design for 51风流SuccessFactors solutions, an in-depth look at how innovational, customizable, and user-friendly human experience management (HXM) tools, like , enable sustained organizational agility so that employees can focus on what鈥檚 important and deliver better business results.

2. Make Employee Learning a Staple of Your Culture

prepares your workforce to grow as needs inevitably shift. Tamera Maresh-Carver, managing director of Development, Innovation, and Organization Strategies at FedEx, how she utilized tools like to combine talent, partnerships, and technologies.

3. Establish Consistent and Transparent Communication

Shannon Sisler, senior vice president and chief people officer for Crocs, her efforts to align Crocs鈥� culture with its growth strategy. Communicating with transparency, setting clear expectations, and offering flexibility can help to keep up with customers and employees鈥� quickly changing needs 鈥� especially throughout the pandemic.

Prioritizing transparency is also key for HR in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, including recruiting and onboarding experiences, as shared during .

4. It鈥檚 Time to Invest in the Power of the Cloud

Ideal for today鈥檚 hybrid workplace, cloud-based HR solutions enable employees to access HR tools anytime and anywhere. Imran Sajid, senior director of Solution Marketing for SAP, yesterday鈥檚 solutions are no longer cutting it for today鈥檚 workforce. The is here, and it鈥檚 time to provide our workforce with the resources needed to thrive.

5. Decide What Type of Company You Want to Be and Lead with That

Josh Greenbaum, principal analyst for Enterprise Applications Consulting, has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of technology transformation. to those unsure of which avenue to pursue? Invest in technology transformation that aligns with your company鈥檚 values. Modern tools for HR and other business areas can help emulate your vision of what type of company you want to be. For example, found success in providing a more engaging people experience through implementing a more user-friendly, unified HR process.

Thanks again to all our customers and colleagues who kindly shared their HR wisdom during this year鈥檚 SAPPHIRE NOW conference. And in case you missed the live event, you can find .

April Crichlow is global vice president and head of Marketing for 51风流SuccessFactors.

At SAP, we firmly believe that each of these issues related to reducing our carbon footprint, reducing waste around the world, and encouraging and bringing equality of all types and forms into the forefront are incredibly important. It鈥檚 essential that we as a society and a business community confront these issues. Emissions, waste, and inequality are all interconnected and need to be solved together, rather than addressed individually.

For the conversation, Vivek Bapat, senior vice president of Purpose and Sustainability Marketing at SAP, and I were joined by experts Garry Cooper, CEO and co-founder of Rheaply, and Maggie McDow, Strategic Partnerships manager at Health In Harmony. During the session, we explored how companies are daring to make this bold vision a reality by building technology and innovating new strategies. While all speakers shared valuable insights, I鈥檝e highlighted my top takeaways here.

Data-Backed Conversations Set the Stage for Success

From building diverse and inclusive workplaces to reducing emissions and creating more sustainable solutions, data is an essential component. As we think about workforces today and what goes into everything — from hiring to pay equity to developing and retaining talent with an eye toward diversity and inclusion — data helps us clearly see where we鈥檙e starting and where we need to go.

Everyone has unconscious biases that can prevent them from seeing the full extent of problems in the workforce. But when we turn to data, we鈥檙e able to create a more equitable outlook, offer transparency across organizations, and set benchmarks for future success.

Create Opportunities for Employees to Get Involved

Garry Cooper of Rheaply shared that 30% of millennials are looking for companies that are mission- and purpose-based. Therefore, finding ways to motivate them to do their jobs well and to help companies make progress in sustainability and equality initiatives is a win for everyone. Rheaply is helping companies and their employees understand how much waste they are diverting from landfills; how much embodied carbon they are avoiding through reuse and extension of the product life cycle; and how much value they are providing their business by avoiding double purchases or waste. Rheaply then gamifies that data.

Change Is Required to Make a Difference

Across environmental, social, and governance issues, companies need to be willing to change their approach. Even though recycling has been the cornerstone of environmental efforts in the past, we can鈥檛 recycle our way to net-zero waste. But reuse can make a huge difference. Unconscious bias can come into play throughout the employee journey, but by re-examining job descriptions for exclusionary language or creating opportunities for employees to reskill and grow within the organization, inclusion becomes a much more attainable goal.

April Crichlow is global vice president and head of Marketing for 51风流SuccessFactors.

Eight-year-old Adele snaps her fingers at imaginary kids and pets while pretending to carry on an urgent conversation for work, taking frantic notes on a sticky pad.

More than 26,000 comments on the post, many from fellow working parents, note that the impression is a spot-on representation of the hectic . Like many working parents, Chulis juggles her everyday work responsibilities while her kids — Adelle, Luke, 10, and Declan, 6 — are all attending school through hybrid learning. It鈥檚 no simple task.

After a year of video conferences and e-mail at home, it鈥檚 no surprise that kids are integrating this everyday reality into their playtime just like they might play pretend school. But while videos and moments like these are lighthearted and special, thinking about what else children are absorbing from their parents this year is less so.

A found that seven in 10 parents say family responsibilities are a significant source of stress in their life; 47% of mothers who still have children at home for remote learning reported worsened mental health; and parents were more likely than those without children to have received treatment from a mental health professional since the pandemic began.

Chulis鈥檚 tale told with love and humor shines a light on every parent鈥檚 struggle with the juggle. 鈥淭his has been a year like no other, with every person across the globe affected in some way. Thankfully, I have felt very well supported by 51风流鈥� the benefit policies, my team, and my management. My children have popped into the background of my Zoom calls many times 鈥� and everyone just smiles and says hello,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e felt such kindness and warmth from my colleagues and customers 鈥� and I鈥檝e loved getting a chance to peek into their lives and say hello to their children, significant others, roommates, or pets as well!鈥�

The pandemic has made the difficult task of balancing work and home more difficult than ever. We want to help. That鈥檚 why 51风流and The Female Founder Collective鈥痟ave joined forces. Back to Best for Parents provides special offers, resources, and content to make life easier for parents trying to juggle it all in the tough times of COVID-19.

To learn how you can improve your own experience as a working parent or how to help working parents you know or employ, visit .

April Crichlow is global vice president and head of Marketing for 51风流SuccessFactors.

Of course, that鈥檚 easier said than done, especially in the era of COVID-19. Some people work remotely while others are onsite. So providing a consistent experience 鈥� never mind a good one 鈥� is especially challenging. But organizations must provide an exceptional experience to everyone 鈥� whoever they are, whatever they do, and wherever they do it. Give your people more and better, and you鈥檒l get more and better from them. Recent data confirms this, even amid unprecedented disruption.

According to the , companies that prioritized the employee experience not only performed better once COVID-19 hit, but many of them actually grew. In other words, a better employee experience yields measurable results; most notably, increased productivity and engagement.

Similarly, a found that organizations with a strong employee experience saw a four percent growth in revenue, while those with a poor experience had a one percent decline in revenue. The same is true for profit margins: a three percent growth in one-year gross profit for companies with a strong experience, and a 10% drop for those with a weak employee experience. That鈥檚 likely why Forrester鈥檚 2021 study found that 78% of human resources (HR) leaders think employee experience will be one of the most important factors contributing to achieving business objectives within two years.

In today鈥檚 complex work environment, here are seven ways organizations can provide a winning experience that drives better outcomes.

Listen and respond in real time.
The more , the more valued they feel. Creating a constant feedback loop between employees and HR not only transforms the employee experience, but it also drives resiliency and better business outcomes over time.

Foster new ways of learning.
The more you invest in to perform better in their roles (or prepare them for new ones), the more people feel ready to take on new challenges. It also costs significantly less to train than to hire. used interactive solutions to save $1.6 million in training costs in the first six months alone 鈥� and quickly improved talent mobility so people feel they have careers, not just jobs.

Focus on people鈥檚 well-being.
Employee well-being is just good business. The showed that companies that focus on well-being enjoy stronger feelings of organizational trust and belonging, and realize significantly higher revenues per employee. And you cannot promote well-being without a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts. A strong sense of belonging is tied to increases of up to 34% in engagement, 31% in retention likelihood, and 13% in performance.

Use HR cloud and modern workforce tools that make life easier.
Delivering HR excellence with consistent, consumer-grade experiences to using global processes supported by shared services freed up HR business partners and centers of excellence from administrative and transactional activities, creating 80 to 85% more capacity.

Build new processes around people.
Most organizations think first about how technology can save on costs or boost productivity, then wedge people in alongside the solutions. Instead, companies should think about what people want and what they need to be successful, then find appropriate solutions. This includes helping people get down to business faster. From to candidates, the experience should be personal, dynamic, and hiccup-free.

Manage the managers鈥� experience.
Most people only interact with HR on their first and final days at the company. In between that time, a person mostly interacts with a manager, the gatekeeper of the employee experience. That is why it鈥檚 critical that managers are trained, supported, and have access to the right resources to provide the best coaching and development of their people.

Elevate well-being and safety.
People should know that their companies have their backs in any crisis. That means using cloud tools to help ensure emergency contacts are in place and knowing who holds business-critical roles. In the event of a crisis, the organization also needs on what employees are thinking and expecting so HR can take quick action.

These are all good places to start. But providing a winning experience needs to be an always-on, executable strategy that is central to the efficacy of the HR function and, in turn, the business. Here鈥檚 a North Star principle that鈥檚 easy to follow and insert into every idea or initiative: The better people are treated, the better they perform.

Winning means making progress, and it takes work. There鈥檚 always room to improve. According to the , the number of HR decision makers who say employee experience is the most important aspect of their HR strategy has nearly tripled over the last two years. Yet only 24% of HR teams have an executive sponsor for their experience efforts and 71% say it鈥檚 a challenge to gather real-time information. But a good experience is a business imperative: 77% of HR leaders said that employee experience initiatives have increased revenue, and 61% said these efforts have improved profitability.

Still, no one solution fits every organization, and every company has to chart a path that best suits its people. But the best part is that we now live and work in an age where innovations can be shared and improved upon 鈥� as they should be, so that both people and companies alike experience wins as often as possible.

Visit to learn more about human experience management solutions from SAP.

April Crichlow is global vice president and head of Marketing for 51风流SuccessFactors.

Before COVID-19, that might have meant interacting with colleagues at the office differently or supporting corporate initiatives . But since COVID-19, work and home have been happening in the same place. To challenge gender inequality at work also means addressing it in the home.

As part of the launch event for , I had the honor of participating in a panel discussion last month devoted to just this issue. It turned out to be one of the most candid panel discussions of my career. Out of the nearly 300 attendees (90% of whom were working parents), we heard again and again that they are exhausted, overwhelmed, lonely, and grieving for the loss of their pre-pandemic lives.

We鈥檝e seen it in the recent article 鈥溾�� in The New York Times: working parents — mothers in particular — are in crisis. My fellow panelists and I, all mothers ourselves, found ourselves trading war stories of the past 11 months.

Our discussion was in the spirit of the times when work and life are all mashed together. Nobody checked any part of themselves at the door. Listening to the questions from the attendees and the answers from the panel felt more like a late-night discussion among friends. But the friends in this case also happened to be on my shortlist of trailblazing women in business. At the event were fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff; Katya Libin, founder of ; Joan Nguyen, founder of ; and Blessing Adesiyan, founder of .

The program provides special offers, resources, and content to make life easier for parents trying to juggle it all in the tough times of COVID-19. We鈥檝e launched in cooperation with the because we realize that working parents are facing unprecedented pressures and companies need to do more to help.

To kick off this incredible partnership, our panel talked about all things parenting, working from home, and juggling it all. I found myself taking notes just so I could incorporate these solutions into my own life. Here are some of my favorite gems from the conversation.

Plan for Fun

One of the complaints of working moms is that they never get a moment to rest their minds from the work of planning and coordination, even at the end of a long workday. So suggesting a bit more planning might seem counterintuitive. But setting aside time each night for a specific activity, like arts and crafts, letter writing, or game night, and letting the whole family know in advance does two things. It gives the kids — and grown-ups — something to look forward to.

Adeysian shared, 鈥淎s my 11-year-old said, it was like an Advent calendar that extended into January.鈥� One other effect of planning for fun? It gives the kids a sense of structure and predictability, which can counteract any anxiety they might be feeling in these unpredictable times. We might be spending all our time together, but that doesn鈥檛 always mean it鈥檚 quality time.

Give Some of Your Time to Others

How can making even less time for yourself have a positive impact? Because it can boost what Libin called “ROE” or return on energy. We spend 15 minutes chasing down a toddler so they can put on their shoes or take their medicine, and we might feel drained. We spend time giving career advice to another working parent who might need it, and we can feel restored.

As Libin said, 鈥淚n these times where many of us can feel isolated or absorbed in our own struggles, we can take the time, whether it鈥檚 five minutes or 30, to share our expertise and give back. What we鈥檝e seen from the community at HeyMama is that it leaves people feeling renewed and connected.鈥�

Go Easy on Yourself

This was the note the whole panel ended on and it seemed like the point everybody had been trying to get to. When we say , we have to acknowledge that best means something different for every parent. But there is one thing it doesn鈥檛 mean for any parent, and that鈥檚 perfect. It was a relief to hear, even from such an accomplished panel, that there are days when they don鈥檛 feel like they鈥檙e getting anything right. Especially for moms, it鈥檚 common to feel like you鈥檙e not getting work right because you鈥檙e thinking about your kids and you鈥檙e not getting parenting right because you鈥檙e thinking about work.

As an alternative to worrying, the whole panel offered up this advice: Focus on what you can do and stop wasting time and energy thinking of everything you should do. Allow yourself to be imperfect. 鈥淕ive yourself some grace,鈥� is the way Adesiyan phrased it. After she spoke, you could feel everybody on the video chat exhale.

If we鈥檙e going to enlist the help of companies in the struggles of working parents, the first thing we鈥檝e got to encourage is a new mindset, one in which we extend some grace to one another because we see the bigger picture. We鈥檝e got to stop thinking of employees as assets and think of the whole employee and their whole experience of work and life together.

The demographics of the attendees were a window into just how widespread the struggles of working parents are. Of the event attendees, most had about two children. They came from 30 different industries and 75 different cities in at least three countries, and 86% of them said their responsibilities had increased because of COVID-19. The struggle of working parents during a pandemic is real, but so is the opportunity for everybody — from working parents to their employers — to take action.

The pieces of advice here are just the tip of the iceberg. For parents, they are small steps toward feeling safer and more engaged. For leaders who share this advice with the teams, it鈥檚 a step toward smarter, more resilient business environments.

To learn more about how you can improve your own experience as a working parent or how to help working parents you know or employ, visit the website.

April Crichlow is global vice president and head of Marketing for 51风流SuccessFactors.

As organizations depend on their people to be more agile, they should do more to support their employees鈥� emotional and mental health, especially when many feel so burdened by uncertainty. The employee experience is more important than ever. Caring holistically for people is not just the right聽 thing to do, it’s what employers must do.

Here鈥檚 a compelling business case for companies to put employee well-being and experience first: A strong sense of connection and belonging at work is tied to increases of up to 34 percent in engagement, 31 percent in retention likelihood, and 13 percent in performance, according to the . Created together with Thrive Global, 51风流SuccessFactors, Qualtrics, and Fortune, the Thrive XM Index is a comprehensive study of more than 20,000 U.S. employees at more than 900 companies. Companies have more tools than ever to support employee well-being and now, for the first time, they can connect the dots to business results.

The Best of Next: A Guide

When was the last time you felt like your best self at work? We want to help companies create more of those moments. Recognizing the impact of companies doing more to support employee well-being, Thrive Global and 51风流are working to help companies, no matter their size or industry, do just that. To help HR leaders and managers address two of the most important issues for all remote, on-site, and hybrid workforces, we created two guides: “” and “.”

We want to help organizations keep employees safe and productive to ensure business continuity now and beyond. With practical tips, expert interviews, and how-to videos, these resources can help people and businesses lower stress and anxiety and build mental resilience during this unprecedented time.

Why Listening to Your Employees Makes You a Better Leader

In , Christine Andrukonis, the founder of Notion Consulting and an expert in helping leaders change behavior, explains that leaders need to gain insight into more aspects of their employees鈥� lives to understand them and help them be their best at work.

鈥淚 like to say that 50 percent of the work is about the work itself and 50 percent of the work is about what’s happening behind-the-scenes for the people involved in the work,鈥� Andrukonis says. 鈥淎nd leaders have to have that mindset. Until they can appreciate that half of this success relies on human beings and what’s going on with them, it’s going to be really hard to optimize everything at one hundred percent.鈥�

Why Trust and Empathy Are Key Ingredients of Leadership

Empathy 鈥� being able to identify with what other people are feeling or experiencing 鈥� may seem like an elementary concept, but it鈥檚 a key driver of job performance, according to . However, only 40 percent of business leaders display strong empathy skills.

We understand that being able to put yourself in another’s shoes is critical for social development, but what about in the professional world? Fortunately, empathy is a skill that can be developed, according to one that shares practical examples.

The first step is working on our relationships, and the bulk of that is done through communication, according to Terrence Seamon, an executive career transition consultant at The Ayers Group. 鈥淎 leader has to be very real,鈥� Seamon says. This requires leaders to share their own questions, concerns, and challenges with team members and demonstrate authenticity and vulnerability.

How Well Do You Know Your Employees’ Growth, Ambitions, and Motivations?

Does your boss understand your passions? Is your company asking what really drives people at work? Even experienced professionals need to do some soul searching to find answers, and employers can do their part to help. According to , for leaders to shift from focusing on the job to focusing on people, they need to start by concentrating on employees鈥� capabilities and then design work processes and systems around them 鈥� not the other way around.

This is one of the key findings of a recent 51风流SuccessFactors white paper, 鈥�.鈥� Leaders need to understand that people are dynamic, with capabilities and motivations that change over time.

How to Shape a Workplace Culture That Works for Everyone

There is so much potential for organizations that want to invest in a culture that champions people of different ethnicities, cultures, abilities, backgrounds, and genders. But companies that embrace diversity and inclusion can find that it鈥檚 hard to get real results, despite genuine intentions. Minal Bopaiah, founder of , a strategy and design firm focused on designing a more inclusive and equitable world, to move the needle on creating an inclusive culture.

Bopaiah shares how several white business leaders wanted to do something meaningful by offering to mentor Black people in their professional fields. Bopaiah told them they had it backward. 鈥淵ou want to diversify your field?鈥� she asked them. 鈥淭hen I want you to go find the people in your field who are Black, or indigenous, or people of color who are already thought leaders in this space, so they can be your 尘别苍迟辞谤.鈥�

Fully recognizing that the best diversity and inclusion interventions are voluntary, Bopaiah suggests creating an environment that allows tough, meaningful conversations. We have so much to learn from one another, and leaders can offer support so we can do so inclusively.

A New Way of Working

The COVID-19 global health crisis has created unprecedented disruption and long-term implications for companies and people. By listening to people and leading with agility and resilience, companies can look to the future with optimism. Putting people at the center through human experience management (HXM) is the beginning of this healing process. This has been a difficult past year for everyone, so instead of getting back to business as usual I invite leaders to approach this year as changed individuals and choose empathy and humility to create a more positive and healthy work experience for all. Will you join me?

April Crichlow is global vice president and head of Marketing for 51风流SuccessFactors.

In the midst of COVID-19, working parents encounter unprecedented pressure, impacting their personal and professional lives. With globally who have faced either full or partial school closures, working parents, particularly women, find themselves feeling overwhelmed as they struggle to develop in their career while taking care of their families and managing their households. In September, left the U.S. workforce, four times more than men. , reinforcing the gravity of the situation and the devastating loss to businesses and the economy at large.

Public awareness of this situation may be reaching a tipping point. This month, Girls Who Code CEO Reshma Saujani and 50 other women of note to President Biden, asking him to make financial relief for working mothers part of his administration鈥檚 first 100 days.

Calls to action for the public sector are good, but there is a huge opportunity for the private sector to step up too.

The Opportunity for Employers

Gone are the days where employees abide by the unwritten rule of checking their personal situations at the door. For the first time in our collective history, we now have work, school, and home life all under one roof. The employee experience鈥痑nd caring for the whole person鈥痠s鈥痬ore important than ever. It鈥檚 not just the right thing to do, it is what employers must do — especially for their working parents.

By taking the time to listen and understand employees, leaders can foster smarter, more responsive, and more resilient business environments that make employees feel safe, engaged, and productive. According to Thrive Global, wish their employer would do more to help them adapt and manage during the pandemic. Parents especially need supportive resources to manage family, wellness, time, and career during this challenging period. This will result in greater engagement, productivity, and overall well-being.

The Back to Best for Parents Program

In recognition of the increasing needs of working parents, 51风流SuccessFactors, , and have joined forces to deliver an exciting, first-of-its-kind program to help parents get back to best. The Back to Best for Parents program brings together special offers, resources, and content to support parents by helping them integrate work and life during this challenging time in our history. While the program is open to all, 51风流also wants to help customers close the gap between the real challenges working parents experience and the support they need their employers to provide.

The Back to Best for Parents program delivers tools and knowledge that parents can use. Plus, businesses can extend these resources and a variety of offers to equip and assist the working parents among their employees in addressing challenges across home, career, children鈥檚 learning and enrichment, time management, and health and well-being. Over the next month, the program will release feature videos with helpful tips for children and parents, podcasts discussing challenges and solutions for parents and professionals, and specific resources to support the well-being of the whole family.

As a mother of two young children myself, and after countless conversations with 51风流employees, customers, and the community, I know that this is a step in the right direction. As leaders, we have a responsibility to do what we can to support the exponential challenges of parenting and care giving in this period of time. The companies that commit to this will be able to have stronger, happier, and more resilient workforces that will pay dividends in the years to come after the pandemic.

from The Female Founder Collective companies, and if you are an 51风流customer interested in the free three-month subscription to TIME for Kids, reach out to SAP.HXM.Offer@sap.com for an offer link that you can share with your employees.

Together, we can empower one another to get back to best and bring our happiest and most productive selves to our jobs and to our families.

April Crichlow is global vice president and head of Marketing for 51风流SuccessFactors.