S02 EP03. From Reactive To Proactive: Building A Listening Culture for 55,000+ Employees

What happens when a labor and employment lawyer decides she doesn’t just want to fix workplace problems... she wants to prevent them?

In this episode of Elevate, host Joy Fajardo sits down with Ashley Wenger, Senior Vice President of Employee Experience, Education and Workforce Relations at Sanford Health, the largest rural health system in the United States, with more than 55,000 employees across multiple states.

Ashley shares how her career evolved from responding to workplace crises to proactively building cultures where people feel heard, supported, and connected to purpose.

She opens up about how Sanford rebuilt its employee listening strategy after a decade without formal surveying, creating psychological safety through high reliability practices, and why internal communication must function as an ecosystem, not a single channel.

Ashley also shares powerful advice for women in leadership: you don’t have to copy anyone else’s style. You get to build your own.

This conversation is thoughtful, practical, and deeply human, especially for anyone navigating employee experience, internal communications, or leadership in complex environments like healthcare.

If you care about retention, belonging, meaningful work, and preparing your workforce for what’s next (including AI), this episode is for you.

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Music: Ramaramaray by Aiyo | Get Up on That Horse by spring gang
Via Epidemic Sound

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