Podcasts · The Inspire Podcast

S3 E14 What Your Employees Need From You Today: And How To Deliver For Them with Sarah Beech

7 Oct 2021 · 35 min

In this episode of the Inspire Podcast Bart speaks with Sarah Beech, Area Executive President, Central Canada at Gallagher. In the first half of the interview, Sarah shares her story of developing a strong leadership compass through two decades in the insurance industry. From a big company to a smaller one and back to a big one (Gallagher) Sarah explains that her leadership philosophy -- leading authentically, hearing and empowering voices at all levels, and a continued commitment to listening -- has helped her thrive through a varied set of organizations. Sarah then explains what Gallagher is learning about what employees want today. She explains that employees don't just want pay, or benefits, or a job, but rather a full experience that engages and energizes them. She shares insights from Gallagher's advice to leaders on what they can do to reach, retain and inspire employees in this new world.

00:51 Welcome 01:17 Who she is and position 01:54 About Gallagher 02:48 Changes in caring for workforces 03:09 Annual trends survey 03:31 The cost of looking after employees 04:02 How she got into this career 05:42 Leadership role? 06:48 Everyone can be a leader 07:42 Who inspired you to be a leader? 09:01 First management role 09:37 Managing an org spread across the country 11:14 Challenges with new leadership role 11:24 How important your words are 11:43 Always get your writing reviewed 13:16 Speaking on behalf of the organization 14:00 Going from Hewet to new company 14:15 Handling a merger 15:26 Dealing with a change in leadership culture 16:05 Problems with command and control model 17:29 Building trust 18:53 Going global 20:18 Speak with confidence but listen really hard 20:40 Listening 21:22 Paint the picture of the future 21:49 Pandemic challenges 24:01 Change it up 24:32 Ask your people – is this working? 25:14 Don’t underestimate how people feel 26:38 How often should leader be talking to employees 26:46 Engagement surveys 27:02 Shorter pulse survey every couple of months 27:35 Bite sized communication 27:48 Give feedback quickly 28:36 Advice about communication 29:19 Use stories when possible 30:09 Use social media tools much better 31:05 Look at the employee’s whole experience 31:55 Thank yous 33:14 OUTTRO

The episode on the publisher’s site ↗ (opens in a new tab)