Latonya Howell - Essential HR Practices in the Modern Workplace

"Nobody's coming on a white horse," says LaTonya Howell, HR executive and founder of Coach Her Life Consulting, in this eye-opening conversation about the realities women face in today's workplace. Drawing from her 16+ years of human resources experience and personal journey from foster care to executive leadership, LaTonya offers practical wisdom that cuts through corporate jargon to address real challenges.

The workplace is evolving rapidly, with artificial intelligence transforming everything from hiring practices to skill development. While AI creates exciting opportunities, LaTonya cautions about potential biases: "Generative AI is only as good as the information you feed into it." This technological revolution is driving a shift from degree-based to skills-based hiring, opening doors for workers to develop capabilities that traditional education might not provide.

When it comes to the persistent gender pay gap, LaTonya's insights are particularly valuable. "Women do not typically negotiate their pay, whereas men will come in and negotiate everything," she observes, noting she's even seen men negotiate severance packages while signing offer letters. Her practical advice? Maintain a detailed list of accomplishments with measurable metrics to support your case for raises and promotions. Beyond just salary, she encourages women to negotiate for professional development opportunities as part of their total compensation package.

Perhaps most compelling is LaTonya's perspective on psychological safety in the workplace. The outdated notion that employees should "leave personal life at home" has given way to understanding that people bring their whole selves to work. Creating environments where employees feel safe discussing real challenges requires leaders who remain personable and connected with their teams.

For those navigating career transitions in today's uncertain economy, her message balances realism with hope: be strategic in job applications while remaining flexible enough to consider temporary positions. Most importantly, remember your value doesn't diminish during periods of unemployment.

LaTonya closes with a powerful call to action for women: get involved, whatever that looks like. Though progress may seem slow, every contribution matters. "You are the change you're waiting for," she reminds us – a perfect encapsulation of the leadership mindset this podcast champions.

Whether you're leading a team, building your career, or simply seeking to understand workplace dynamics better, this conversation offers practical wisdom for navigating today's complex professional landscape.

https://www.amazon.com/Trauma-Was-Necessary-My-Story/dp/B0BN6V7LZ8
https://www.utahbusiness.com/awards-and-rankings/2024/09/18/latonya-howell-2024-living-color

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@utwomenleaders

Transcript

Welcome to Elevate

Speaker 1 0:05

Welcome to the Elevate podcast. Well, linda Gates has said when women are in leadership, the whole world benefits. Today's conversation showcases the truth of that statement. Hello and welcome to another episode of Elevate, a Women's Leadership Institute podcast. Today, our guest is LaTanya Howell. She is an HR executive and founder of Coach Her Life Consulting. We are excited to have you here today.

Speaker 2 0:33

Thank you, I'm excited to be here.

Speaker 1 0:35

Yes, so LaTanya and I were on a panel. We met because we're on a panel at Mind the Gap Fest. Yes, and panels go by so quick that afterwards I'm like you have so much more to share. Will you please come on the podcast and share with us? So I first of all just want to turn some time to you, to introduce yourself and also to tell us something personal about you so we can get to know you better.

Speaker 2 0:59

All right. So yes, LaTanya Howe worked in HR for over 16 years now. I started my own business about a year and a half ago, Coach Her Life Consulting. I do life coaching for women, but also leadership and executive development coaching for women as well. And something personal about me I am an associate pastor at my church, the Point Church in Kearns, Utah, so that's fun and different.

Speaker 1 1:23

I love that. How long have you been doing that?

Speaker 2 1:26

I'm just barely getting started, so I started in January and learning under the guidance and leadership of our head pastor, pastor Corey J Hodges. So, yeah, it's been fun.

Speaker 1 1:36

Very cool. This is a total aside, but what is the role of a pastor Like? What do you do? Are you preaching sermons? Are you teaching, engaging small groups? What does that look like for you?

Speaker 2 1:51

So I do a little of all of that. I'm getting ready to do my first official sermon, but outside of that I have taught youth groups in the church and I'm currently doing a women's group as well. So constant theme women always supporting women, elevating women. However, I can do that.

HR Trends and AI Integration

Speaker 1 2:09

That's really cool. Thanks for sharing that. So I want to kick us off with. There are lots of changes. For people like. This is a year of transition for many, many things and, having been in the HR field for 16 years, I'm interested from your perspective, what are the trends that you're seeing over the past couple of years? What is coming up to the top that businesses are kind of having to adjust with? What does that look like from your lens?

Speaker 2 2:38

Yeah, so AI, no surprise, there is infiltrating everything, and that HR is no exception to that. So we're seeing, because of the skills that are needed in jobs now, the shift from degree based skill hiring, I should say, to more skills based hiring. A lot of depending on the company you work with, obviously, and how you're choosing to use artificial intelligence.

Speaker 2 3:02

Yeah those skills may not be readily available in the marketplace those educations, the degrees, the certifications, and so there is this opportunity for people to learn a new skill, develop a new skill and then bring that into the workplace.

Speaker 1 3:18

Because I remember one thing you said on the panel was about upskilling, and what an opportunity that is. Yes, the panel was about upskilling, and what an opportunity that is. How might HR use AI in the hiring process? I'm sure, but what are some ways that that might be used?

Speaker 2 3:35

So even just writing out and developing a personal development plan for an employee, right? So hey, this is the employee, these are the things they seem to be good at. How can we use them in our company? What's in a position that may be better suited for them? Right, because maybe I have a need in my organization for a certain skill set that's not readily available, but I have an employee who has demonstrated that they have the ability to learn and to grow and to adapt into something, and so there's a lot of opportunity there for HR to utilize artificial intelligence outside of the basic, like write me a job description or those kind of things.

Speaker 1 4:17

So that's really interesting. And two, one thing I've noticed is so many people are applying for jobs and some companies use AI to scan through those and I don't know. I feel a little mixed about that. I'm kind of a face to face person. I still read real books. I want to embrace AI, but what do you think Is that going to impact hiring practices or finding the right talent, or just help the process?

Speaker 2 4:48

It definitely is impacting hiring practices for many organizations. I'm a big proponent of AI, I believe in it, I love what it can do, but I have concerns, as do most people. I have concerns about AI being biased in the hiring process. Right, because generative AI, it's only as good as the information you feed into it. So where is that information coming from? Are we disqualifying candidates because they use certain terms or vernacular that may not be proper English, right, but they come from a different country or English is not their first language? And so I think there's a lot of concerns and opportunities for, if you're using AI to make sure that you're taking those things into consideration, whatever tool you're using does have a way to kind of identify and weed out some of those biases. And where's the information coming from?

Speaker 1 5:43

That is a great question. I was just discussing with someone of where is the information coming from, Because that is what you get when you put in your prompts or when you're using it.

Speaker 1 5:54

So I think with all things AI, it's just really important to be thoughtful right, because it's a tool you could just feed things through and forget about it, but that's not going to help anyone, so I always appreciate that thoughtful approach. Besides AI, what's one more trend that you've seen in the HR field, how it's maybe changed since post-COVID, you know, through differing politics, policies, all those kind of things Well right now, under the current administration there, if you work in HR, you'd literally have whiplash because it's one minute.

Speaker 2 6:29

This is what the law is, this is how you proceed. The next minute it's something different. So I mean, that can be exciting if you're the right type of person, right. But um, there's there's a lot of changes, and so it's. I would recommend any HR professionals make sure you're connected with some sort of group that's giving you updates and keeping you informed as to the many changes, so you don't cross into any employment law issues within your organization.

Money Stories and Gender Pay Gap

Speaker 1 6:55

Yeah, that's a great feedback. Okay, so I want to dig a little bit into the topic that we were on the panel on, which is of generational wealth. Yes, bit into the topic that we were on the panel on, which is of generational wealth? Yes, specifically, we talked both personally, right about our own money stories and what that looked like, and then professionally, I kind of want to parse it into the gender pay gap and talk about that and hiring trends and promotions and things like that. So will you share part of what you shared there about your mindset towards?

Speaker 1 7:26

money growing up.

Speaker 2 7:29

Yeah, so I think because of how I grew up I was raised in foster care, so I moved around a lot and I always had this kind of scarcity mentality when it came to money, when it came to anything like that, and so growing up it was very hush, hush Don't talk about money, don't discuss it, but also hold on to everything you have and don't you know, kind of be learn to be stingy a little bit with what you have. But when we don't talk about money, we don't know how to learn about it, we're not educated about it, we don't have the resources that we need. And there's this I may need help financially or understanding finances, but because this is an area that culturally I've been taught to not speak about, I don't know where to go to get those resources and to learn what I need to learn.

Speaker 1 8:16

Because you don't know what you don't know, you don't know what you don't know right. Yes, that's really interesting. I think that is a story of many people Like I remember we didn't talk a lot about money and it was almost like we don't talk about money, right, that kind of feeling, but now, as a head of a household as running all the money, I wish that I would have had the opportunity at a younger age to make all those mistakes right.

Speaker 1 8:45

To practice really young. Yes, so I guess I would just, especially for women, who I've noticed sometimes have a challenge talking about money, especially equating it with their skills right In that exchange in a job just really start thinking about, like, how do you think about money? What is your money story? What makes you uncomfortable? Right Is a $10 handbag. Does that make you uncomfortable, or is it $1,000 handbag? What's your relationship to money? So yeah, that's a good starting point, yes, and then let's parlay that into, like the gender wage gap and women negotiating and hiring or promotion or some things you've seen, maybe some good things and maybe some things that you're like it's probably not the best practice.

Speaker 2 9:32

Yes, in my experience, women do not typically negotiate their pay, whereas men will come in and they negotiate everything. I've had a man negotiate his severance Wow.

Speaker 1 9:43

Yes, Like, okay, buddy youance.

Speaker 2 9:44

Wow, yes, like, okay, buddy, you're signing an offer letter Like how long are you talking about?

Speaker 2 9:50

your exit from the company and what that looks like you for you from a financial perspective. And so, um, yeah, I think for women, it's hard for us to talk about the things that we've done, the things that we've accomplished in our, in our history, in our careers, right. So I encourage women to have a list of all of their accomplishments that they've done, not just in your current job, if you're seeking a promotion, but what have you done in other jobs, and keep the list readily available so that, when it comes time for you to ask for a promotion or a raise, you have something to back that up with and you're not having to think at the last minute.

Speaker 2 10:25

Okay, what? What have I done? What have I done?

Speaker 1 10:27

You're like I know I've done something. What are they?

Speaker 2 10:29

I know I'm awesome, but wait, how am I awesome? What did I do so?

Speaker 1 10:33

that's, and I think too, keeping a list. Then you can kind of put some metrics on it. Yes, I think it's also really important, right, how many people did you work with on that project? Were you the lead? Did it bring in revenue, like all those things?

Speaker 2 10:47

Did you save money? How much did you save Right? Those are the things people want to know when you're going into to ask for an increase or negotiate a salary. Unfortunately, I'm a woman. I need more money, doesn't?

Speaker 1 11:02

typically work in those situations. Probably will backfire and I'm crying while I ask for that. Ok, so what about In the hiring process? I know pay transparency right on the job description.

Speaker 1 11:21

It's really helpful when they have a range. So you're like, yes, that can work, no, that can't work. I just, rachel Codman, just posted that 42% of women are the primary breadwinners. Yes, so you really have a. Uh, you need to stay within a certain budget, right? Um, but Utah hasn't quite embraced that yet. I crossed everything. What are your thoughts on that? Pros, cons, um, um. Why wouldn't a company embrace that?

Speaker 2 11:43

oh man, this question, I love it.

Speaker 1 11:46

It's definitely a fully loaded question um we're not throwing anyone under the bus, we're just understanding perspectives no.

Speaker 2 11:54

So I think a lot of it comes down to the company size. Do they have the resources, meaning, do they have someone in-house who has the time and the bandwidth to conduct a pay? Audit right A lot of. If you're a smaller company, that just may not be a possibility for you. You're trying to tread. Keep your head above water, may not?

Speaker 2 12:12

be something that you have the resources to focus into. Also, you know fear If I do this pay audit and it uncovers things. Do I want to know, Do I really want to see, what that looks like?

Speaker 1 12:25

That's fair, that's fair.

Speaker 2 12:27

Or if I do the pay audit and it uncovers things, am I in a financial position as a company where I can make adjustments as needed? Because once you let the cat out of the bag, the cat is out of the bag right.

Speaker 1 12:40

I was just thinking that, like once you start telling people there is a pay inequity, like everybody's going to be like well, what's my pay?

Speaker 2 12:53

How do I, yeah, yeah. And if you're not, if you're a smaller company again and you don't have those resources to make adjustments as needed, that may keep you from, you know, conducting a pay audit and, in terms of hiring and posting salaries, the same thing. If I know that internally I've got some pay compression issues, or, you know, everyone is not at market, I'm fearful to post a salary range, because what if I'm trying to bring people in that market but my current employees see that not? And again, I'm not in a position as a business owner to make those adjustments as needed. So not all of it is. I'm choosing not to as a business owner, to to to be transparent about pay. There are, you know, several valid reasons why companies are not able to do that all the time.

Speaker 1 13:36

Yeah, that is a really interesting point, because it doesn't seem like there's any incremental steps to it. It's like you've got to do the audit and then decide where you're going to start making that.

Speaker 2 13:49

Yes.

Speaker 1 13:50

I read a job description the other day from Ancestry and in their job description it said we've taken the parity pledge, pay parity pledge and because of that, here is our transparency and I was like was like wow, that is really really cool. Um, but I get that. Not everybody can do that. Yeah, but I would encourage people listening to, to tell the people that you work with, like, talk about money. I think it's okay. It is to share what you make. It is to share what you want to make, right.

Speaker 2 14:25

Unless you work for a public government entity, something like that, you can't as much Like they can govern and restrict you from being able to do that. But if you don't, then it's okay.

Speaker 1 14:38

Yeah, because I think many people are nervous to say what they make. Yeah, it is a sticky topic, for sure it is. What about when people go into negotiate their payday? How many tips on that, tracking their accomplishments. But sometimes it's hard to say this skill is worth this amount. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 15:00

Can't put a monetary value to everything that you've done. Yeah, I would say, go in educated and understanding what does this position pay, nationally and locally. And that involves some research. So it's not just a quick hey Google, how much should I get paid, right, but researching it and figuring out where you should fall within that range and then you kind of have some numbers to work with. But also you have to take into consideration the fact that the company does have a budget.

Speaker 1 15:32

Yeah.

Speaker 2 15:33

Right, and so it doesn't hurt to say hey, can you share with me what is the budget for this position, so that you have that information? What is the budget for this position, so that you have that information? I have seen recently, though, on job postings, where companies will say this is our pay range, we don't do any sort of negotiation outside of this range.

Speaker 1 15:52

Oh, interesting, you're like I love that there's a range, but OK, yeah, yeah.

Navigating Career Transitions

Speaker 2 15:58

I don't know, take it or leave it. I don't know that that's the best approach, but hey, but it is an approach, it's an approach.

Speaker 1 16:05

Yeah, that's right. Working through all this messy middle, I appreciate anyone who's trying yes, yeah, interesting so many things with that. Just getting people to talk about money, talk about their skills, being willing to up level. One thing that we talk a lot about is there are different levers, so maybe the company can't give you the pay that you want that's right but you can ask for extended leave or vacation time up front or different things like that which then? Gives the company some flexibility, because it's not just always about pay.

Speaker 2 16:43

Yeah, professional development. I'm big on especially women negotiating that into their total compensation. So, from an HR perspective, when we talk about total compensation, it's my base pay, but it's your benefits, it's, you know. Do you have unlimited paid time off? Do you have? It's, it's everything, not always monetary compensation, but the total compensation.

Speaker 2 17:07

So when we look at that, you know, do you have an organization that you want to be a part of? Can the company help you to pay for those annual dues to that organization as part of your compensation package? Right? Do you have a course you want to take? Or you know some sort of seminar conference you want to attend? Can you negotiate that into your offer as well? Like, hey, I'm going to attend this conference every year and as part of my offer, the company will pay for me to attend this. What does that look like? So, getting creative in the ways that you're negotiating. If they're not able to maybe their budget is really strict and they're not able to negotiate that way what else is going to benefit you, make you feel valued in that position, but also benefit the company as well.

Speaker 1 17:53

Yeah, and know yourself like, don't make the company guess what makes you feel valued. And I also love your spin on professional development, because most of the time you get into a job and it probably isn't what the job description said, right, or there are other things. So being able to have some professional development, um, I think is so smart, so smart for um upskilling, which is what we need, right, and all those kind of things. Okay, anything else you want to say about pay, gender, anything before we move on?

Speaker 2 18:27

No, I think that's probably good. I mean okay, yes, there is something.

Speaker 1 18:31

I love it.

Speaker 2 18:33

There are some really great organizations to get involved with, regarding gender pay gap in specific. So I am a spoke leader for Boulder Way Forward, under the leadership of Dr Susan Madsen, highly highly recommend. Whatever your position is, if you are in HR, if you are an employee, if you're just a woman there are so many ways for us to get involved and help move the needle in these topics so that we're not just talking about them but we're actually putting, you know, our feet to the work and doing what it takes to progress and move that needle, however slow it may go.

Speaker 1 19:10

Patience.

Speaker 2 19:12

Yes.

Speaker 1 19:12

I'm so glad you brought that up. Would you mind sharing about the event you had? Yes, I heard such raving reviews about it. Misty's been on the podcast. Yes, she is an amazing advocate. Roger, with Bondcom, has been on the podcast, so would you just share a little bit about that?

Speaker 2 19:32

Yeah, so we did, for Equal Pay Day, a gender pay gap event and we were very strategic and Misty is the mastermind behind all of this. And we were very strategic and Misty is the mastermind behind all of this, but we were very strategic about making sure that men were leading the conversation. So, you know, we put out a flyer. It had this photo of all these different men and people. Some women were like, well, why aren't there women talking about this topic? But again, the intention behind that was we need men to be involved to help us move this right.

Speaker 2 20:04

So we had men who were in positions that they influence the pay in their organizations CEOs and, you know, other executives and they shared their experiences about how they have handled or tackled gender pay gap within their organizations. And it was so powerful and impactful to hear that there were a lot of women who just kind of walked away from that event feeling uplifted and feeling like, you know, okay, it's not the end of the world, like things, there's light. There's light at the end of the tunnel and we needed that in this current timeframe. Yeah, powerful.

Speaker 1 20:39

That is the word that kept coming up at the end of the tunnel, and we needed that in this current time frame. Yeah, powerful, that is the word that kept coming up. So I'm and shout out to those male allies who were there and were willing to speak out. I think I even heard that one of them was like I kind of got some backlash for being on this panel. Yes, but yeah, I really appreciate that, because it's one thing to speak to the people who get it right.

Speaker 2 21:05

It's another thing to have people in the room who are working on getting it and are willing to share that message. Yeah, we had, as a result of male panelists and male speakers, we had 12 men who were, who joined as part of the audience, and typically these events are going to be women only. So that was small but a mighty win right, yeah, Congratulations on that.

Speaker 1 21:23

That was awesome. Okay, so I also want to talk about transition and how to handle transitions. There have been. There's financial instability right In the market right now. The tech industry has experienced a lot of layoffs last year as well as other industries. What are some of your tips or what grounds you through transitions like that for people?

Speaker 2 21:54

Yeah, I would say be open-minded, and what I mean by that is yes, if you find yourself in a situation where you're back on the job market, we all want that permanent position. That's what we're going for. However, are there temporary positions? Are there contract work? Are there other ways that you can get involved and get paid and still be financially secure as you wait for your next opportunity?

Speaker 1 22:19

So be flexible, be flexible.

Speaker 2 22:22

I'm not saying be desperate, right, just don't go and settle for the first job. Also, it's very unhealthy, but common to just apply for any job that comes up when you've been laid off, when you've experienced that. Be strategic in what you apply for. I get it, especially if you are the breadwinner in your home. Now you're in a place of panic.

Speaker 1 22:44

You've got to figure out what next to do.

Speaker 2 22:46

There's that panic, but still be strategic because you're still valuable, you still have worth, you still have contributions that you're going to bring to the next organization. Don't forget that, in the middle of the hustle and bustle, be flexible.

Speaker 1 23:08

Look for other ways and opportunities to earn income, but be strategic in what you're applying for worker right and who happened to fall into HR, which is so funny because a lot of HR people are like that people, people who just happened to fall into HR. So I'd love you to share a little bit about that. And then also I'd love to talk about, like, wellness in organizations. Right, I think organizations are struggling with what part is theirs handles far as wellness? What do they offer? What are people wanting? More and more? So that kind of topic.

Speaker 2 23:46

Yes, so yeah, I never intended to work in human resources and, in fact, most HR professionals you speak with have similar stories. Some people wake up and choose HR. Most of us do not. My degrees are in social work, human services specifically. I was determined, being a foster care child, that I was going to be a social worker. Um, and life had other plans for me, so I ended up falling literally into an HR job and determining that HR was something that I liked, and it still incorporates a lot of that social work aspect.

Speaker 2 24:23

You know, when you work in HR, you're dealing a lot with people, and people are not just numbers. They come to work with different issues. They come to work needing support. They come to work dealing with real life circumstances and situations. So that social work background and the degrees have definitely helped me in that aspect. So, yes, there is a need within organizations for leaders to understand that very thing that your employees are showing up with real life issues and real life situations, and they deserve a place where they can bring that For the longest time. When I first started in HR over 16 years ago, it was very much leave your personal life at home and when you come to work. I literally had someone explain it to me Like it's like the stage if you're a theater performer, right, and what's behind the curtain is behind the curtain, but when you come to work, the curtains open and you walk in and you leave everything behind the curtain.

Speaker 1 25:34

I cannot believe. I can see that like.

Speaker 2 25:36

I know people like that, yes, you know. I think of the different experiences I've had working in HR, where I've sat with employees as they've lost loved ones. I've hey, no matter what I'm going through, I can show up to work or I can choose not to. Are you flexible leaders in organizations in providing the leave that your people need as they deal with real life situations? Are we providing environments where they're okay to talk about what they're really facing, or or are we just getting the sugar coat Everything's fine, I'm okay. Meanwhile, their performance is suffering and you're scratching your head trying to figure out why. That requires an environment of psychological safety and as a leader, you have to have that so your employees are comfortable coming to you, telling you what's really going on and knowing that they'll feel supported and safe to do that.

Speaker 1 26:44

So many good golden nuggets in there. Psychological safety doesn't often come to top of mind when we talk about capitalism, consumerism, bottom line, but there is a definite correlation, absolutely, between people's creativity, how they perform, um, and also just checking in with people to say, hey, I noticed that your performance, what's going on, and give them an opportunity to explain it, because maybe they'll say I'm fine, yeah, um, but maybe they might also need support and whereas we spend so much time at work, that's really important.

Speaker 2 27:23

It's crucial. Yeah, it's absolutely necessary. And unfortunately in a lot of organizations we see someone's performance falling back and that manager's coming to HR and saying, oh, we got to write him up, we got to put him on a pit, and hopefully your HR person is saying pause, have you talked to them? When was your last one-on-one with them? Is there something else going on? Especially if they were a top performer and suddenly they're struggling? It's a little more than I just gave up on my job, right.

Speaker 1 27:53

Yeah.

Speaker 2 27:54

And on the reverse side of that, I've worked for leaders who can't for the life of them understand why employees don't talk to them about the truth. They'll have a meeting right and they'll say okay, if you guys have any questions, let me know. And no one says anything in the meeting.

Speaker 2 28:10

And then, behind the scenes, the employees are going to HR or to their leaders and asking the questions, and the senior leaders are going. Well, why haven't they come to talk to me? Well, I don't know what was your reaction the last time an employee did that. How did you respond to that? Did you create an environment of psychological safety?

Speaker 1 28:29

How do leaders respond to that? Like, I think some people really get psychological safety really well like it's pretty innate in them, but I don't know that that's a leadership trait that is always taught. It's not. And once you get into like the C-suite, I don't know that you're taking classes on like love and leadership, like Dr Horton teaches you know, so where is that gap Like? How do we manage up in those situations?

Speaker 2 29:05

manage up in those situations, because sometimes there can be retaliation or yes, yeah.

Speaker 2 29:10

I don't know, and that is the challenge of being an HR professional, because that is the role, right? Yes, hr is here to support the company, no doubt about that. But HR is also here to make sure that employees feel supported, and there's a very fine line with that. But HR is also here to make sure that employees feel supported, and there's a very fine line with that. And so that means sometimes I have to have tough conversations with C-suite or I have to have tough conversations with employees. It goes both ways. But that is kind of the role that when you are an HR professional you're signing up for, you can't lean too heavy one way or the other, but you do sometimes have to have those tough conversations of Mr CEO. Maybe we could have changed our approach, maybe we could have tried this instead. And that's hard. It takes a lot of guts, yeah, it takes a lot of guts to get feedback like that.

Speaker 1 29:54

What are some examples you've seen of leaders in the C-suite or otherwise who've done a really good job making it safe for people to come and bring their whole selves to work?

Speaker 2 30:05

Yes, I have been fortunate to work for several CEOs who've created environments like that, and the example they set is they were personable. They weren't just up in their office or away from people, but they were interacting with their employees.

Speaker 2 30:21

they could tell you you know, jane in accounting has three grandchildren oh yeah, you know they could tell you oh, bob over here really loves video games and call of duty is his favorite right. They were, they were people, they were personable with their employees, and I do understand the business side of that and that it is hard. Ceos have so many things that they are responsible for, like you're literally trying to keep the entire company going. But if you want to create an environment that is psychologically safe, that is, you know, healthy for your employees, you do have to remain a little bit human and put a little personality and personability into it. So I love that for your employees, you do have to remain a little bit human and put a little personality and personality into it.

Speaker 1 31:03

So I love that. I remember reading about Steve Wynn, who you know, when hotels down in Las Vegas, he would always walk the grounds. He would talk to the maids who clean the room. He'd go down in the kitchen and talk to the grounds. He would talk to the maids who cleaned the room. He'd go down in the kitchen and talk to the shelf, the chefs like he knew the entire operation from top to bottom and that was just like a really cool.

Speaker 1 31:29

I read that like 20 years ago but it stuck with me because people know if you care, people know if you know their name right. That came out in like an Elevate Her Challenge company. They really got into it and applied the principles from the top down and what it came out as is. I was talking to some people who were employed in the company and they said you know, at the Christmas party I noticed a change in our leadership because they remembered my wife's name and it was so small, yeah, but it to me that said volumes, because now the people are the investment right and they're being treated as such.

Speaker 2 32:12

Yeah.

Leadership Insights and Final Thoughts

Speaker 1 32:12

Yeah, yeah, that's a really good leadership principle for all of us to remember about psychological safety. Really good leadership principle for all of us to remember about psychological safety. Okay, before we wrap up, anything else that you'd like to share either from an wow, you've got a lot of perspectives pastor, social work, hr, mom, like woman in Utah navigating this. What, what, what words of wisdom would you like to leave with our audiences?

Speaker 2 32:39

What words of wisdom would you like to leave with our audiences. Women get involved, whatever that looks like. There are so many different areas to work on in this beautiful state of Utah as it pertains to women, but there's opportunities, but we need everybody. And you may feel like, hey, me doing this little small thing is not really contributing to the big thing, or the work's not happening fast enough, and that's OK. But every little thing that we do we're chiseling away at bigger problems and we're making this state even better for the women who live here and the future women who are to come.

Speaker 1 33:15

So yeah, absolutely. We just saw someone who's now going to be employed at Silicon Slopes brought in her daughter and several other young girls. And that was so fun to see, because really it is just drops at a time. Sometimes it's a big wave, but we all need each other to like lift us up when it gets hard, because it does get hard sometimes.

Speaker 2 33:38

It does, it gets tiring, and I think it's common for us to just want someone to come along and just fix it all.

Speaker 1 33:45

But hey, you're here, Wait what. They're not coming. They're not.

Speaker 2 33:48

No one's coming in on a white horse.

Speaker 1 33:50

What is that saying? You are the change you're waiting for. You are the change.

Speaker 2 33:55

So you know, if we're all just chiseling away at our little piece of the block, we're going to make progress, we're going to get somewhere.

Speaker 1 34:02

I love that and will you share with women if they want to consult with you or do an audit of their company? Would you share a little bit about that and we'll make sure to put that in our show notes.

Speaker 2 34:14

Yes, so I do HR consulting on the site as well, and so if you're looking for any type of consultation there, maybe you're a small company, you don't have actual HR yet, but you're needing to just make sure you're compliant with everything. I'm happy to help and you can find me on LinkedIn Latonya Howe.

Speaker 1 34:35

Very cool. Thank you so much for coming and spending time with us today.

Speaker 2 34:38

Thank you for having me, patti, this has been great.