Employee’s engagement and performance are critical to the overall success of an organization. You will accelerate growth in the business if employees feel that they are valued for the work they do and the ideas they have. People centric management allows you to build processes and programs that bring “interconnection” between the organization and its people. Kim Davis, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer of NFP, with her expertise in HR leadership and people centric management is bringing value to the organization and engages the employee to excel and manage their own career growth and success.
Below are highlights from the interview conducted between Kim and Insights Success:
Tell us about your first entrepreneurial venture: How did you come up with the idea and how did you start your business?
In 2000, I joined the private equity firm Icahn Enterprises. I managed portfolio-wide HR and benefit programs by negotiating economies of scale to improve benefit program pricing while maintaining individual contracts and high levels of service for each portfolio company owned. Private equity firms were starting to hold their portfolio companies longer, and working to increase their value before selling. It made sense that if we were having success managing portfolio programs and reducing the double digit health care increases for a single private equity firm, then we could apply the strategy on a grander scale. With encouragement from several business contacts and the support of my family, I started HR Metrics, which later became Alteritythrough a joint venture with another benefits consulting firm which was also having success in the private equity space Alterity became a gold standard for consulting in private equity HR and benefits. It is still a highly regarded private equity consulting firm as part of the NFP family.
Give a brief overview of your background and your role in NFP Corp.
As Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, I continue my career’s work of supporting strategic empowerment programs. I lead a variety of integrated initiatives to ensure NFP attracts, engages, and retains an innovative workforce dedicated to empowering and celebrating diverse perspectives for the betterment of the entire organization. Prior to transitioning to this new role in January 2019, I spent six years as NFP’s Chief Human Resources Officer, creating a unified, peoplecentric culture throughout NFP. One of my major initiatives in this work was crafting a program known as PeopleFirst, which underpins NFP’s efforts to make people the priority. I was also appointed to the NFP board of directors, allowing me to contribute to the success of NFP at multiple levels. I joined NFP through the acquisition of the company I cofounded, bringing entrepreneurial benefits consulting and high-level HR design expertise from the private equity space. Prior to NFP, I spent over 20 years building and leading HR teams within large companies such as GE, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, MCI, Equity Residential, and Icahn Enterprises.
What is the biggest challenge for you as a woman in business?
For me, its feeling comfortable with my accomplishments. Call it imposter syndrome or any other name, but as a woman who is a successful entrepreneur and C-suite level executive, there are times when I still struggle with feeling worthy of the success I have achieved. I know that confidence and acceptance of myself are key and work externally to always bring those to the conversation, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t times when seeds of doubt creep in. I do have to take a step back sometimes and remind myself that I deserve to be where I am given my hard work and accomplishments. It’s also critically important to remember that my voice as a successful female executive and entrepreneur is a vital part of the business conversation today and for the future businesswomen who come after me.
Read more : Creating a People-centric Work Culture
Any organization that aims to improve their employees’ performance and retain the best talent, work culture seems to play a significant role.
Poor work culture can snowball a series of triggers such as toxic office politics, work stress, and employee frustration which in turn, is bound to affect the company’s bottom line and revenue.
On the other hand, a healthy workplace improves the efficiency of people, allowing employees to live up to the organization’s vision and contribute to office environment with positivity.
Successful people look like an exclusive bunch, they are often reluctant to let you in on their secrets.
The truth is that there is no surefire recipe for success.
Here is a list of things that successful people do differently –
They Work Smarter, Not Harder: Working long hours is actually not effective because it puts a strain on your body and causes you to burn out.
Rest and recovery are essential to success, lower your workload each day to increase your long-term output.
Perhaps from trade magazines, books, conferences and other things.
When your company sees the customer experience as an absolute core to what you do, you have a customer-centric culture Being customer-centric isn't the same as being customer-focused.
These companies may have good intentions and care about their customers
