#WISHRM24 Speaker Spotlight: Tricia Shields & Claire Frankiewicz

As a part of the WISHRM State Conference SMILE Team, I have the opportunity to engage with speakers and exhibitors, gaining insights into what to anticipate at the upcoming conference. I had a chance to connect with Tricia Shields and Claire Frankiewicz who will be presenting Fuel the Fire: Transforming Employee Engagement in the Digital Age.

Q & A with Tricia and Claire:

1. Who should attend your session?

Tricia:

All HR professionals that care about employee engagement. It’s really it's for all levels. And I think that's the cool thing about Claire and I both presenting is, you know, I'm bringing kind of the executive oversight lens to employee engagement and Claire's going to really dive into what the tangible initiatives that we're doing at Naviant.

We're going to share a ton of content during this session. We've been wildly successful with engagement at Naviant and we've kind of got the measurements to prove it. And so I think people are going to get a lot out of that, especially people that are looking for maybe new ideas to fuel their employee engagement initiatives.

Claire:

I think maybe mentioning that digital aspect, I feel like we talk a lot about the different technologies that we're using and what's out there. We’ve only scratched the surface of what's out there in our presentation, but just kind of starting to get people down that road of thinking about all the different innovative ideas and technologies out there to, again, feel that fire for sure.

2. What is something attendees might not know about you?

Claire:

I have a marketing degree, which I feel like we leverage that a lot in our video content and our branding aspects.

Tricia:

This presentation is going to be bringing a historic marketing concept to HR, employer branding, which we've been able to hugely do over the last two years. Specifically, because we brought in somebody, and not even intentionally, with a marketing focus. So, it feels like we've kind of fallen into this, but it's it's been a wild success.

It's almost something that, you know, we feel obligated to share with other HR professionals, like how you can be really successful with those efforts.

Emily:

And it's always, always interesting because I also have a graphic design background and I lead on engagement with my employer. So it's always interesting to hear how many people have kind of that marketing or graphic design background to do the visual piece of engagement. So that's always, always a fun overlap.

3. What are the easiest ways for organizations to begin to foster positive company culture through digital engagement?

Claire:

I feel like taking a look at what you're doing already and looking at:

• What's working

• What's not working

• What can we elevate with technology?

  
  

A lot of the things that we're doing are things that we've done historically, but we've just kind of revamped them kind of in this digital age using forms, video content, and kind of that corporate branding piece.

Again, I feel like that's kind of what I would say would be the first step for anyone looking at doing that.

4. What are your key points to keep in mind to ensure inclusivity when developing engagement programs?

Tricia:

I would say the communication piece and we'll talk about that a bit as well. So kind of that two-way communication, finding opportunities to communicate out to employees what offerings are available relative to employee engagement and then also, you know, getting that feedback from employees on things that we're landing on or not.

Claire:

Yeah, I feel like the communication is a big piece. Offering the messages in different formats too, whether it's text, video, audio, or a recording for example. Also, making sure that all aspects of your challenges are able to be done by everyone.

A lot of companies do a typical steps program, which is something that we've kind of shifted away from due to having ADA employees, people that just aren't as physically active as some other people might not be as inclined to do stuff like that. But we really want to meet our employees where they're at in their journeys, whether it's mindfulness, physical, nutritional, any kind of area of Wellness, if that makes sense.

5. What are some of your favorite resources or media on this topic?

Tricia:

I mean, for me, I don't know, I'm so old school and which is sad, but that's why I brought the experts. I guess for me, it's definitely LinkedIn is where I'm gaining a lot of my insights about specifically about what other HR professionals are engaged in some of the HR publications as well that I track to kind of keep on top of that.

But I would say LinkedIn is a huge, we have communication then I guess our round tables as well. We're involved with partnering with a lot of peer organizations, specifically in HR, and that's where we're gaining a lot of our insights for what you guys there let you go first.

Claire:

Those two are probably my main sources. I'm starting to get more like my TikTok feed is like more like engagements, you know, organically just like that stuff because I think of what I talk about, what my phone hears and all that stuff.

So I feel like it is interesting to see stuff kind of come through those routes. Additionally, my round tables are huge for me. Being able to bounce ideas off of people and hear what other people are doing is really valuable.

So yeah, yeah, I'm a huge fan.

6. Anything else that WI HR Professionals and People Leaders should know?

Tricia:

I think this is going to be really fun, innovative session because we're kind of the professionals on the ground doing the work that they do. So I think that's one of the things that I'm looking forward to in the conference about, you know, sharing this and we plan to do it in a really fun way.

Meet Tricia:

Tricia Shields, Chief Human Resources Officer at Naviant, brings 20+ years of human resources expertise. Throughout her career, she has witnessed HR professionals across industries confront similar challenges: endless needs and a shortage of time, all while their roles continue to evolve rapidly. The answer: Adaptability and an innovative embrace of technology. Since leading her own HR department’s digital transformation, Tricia has been on a mission to inspire other HR professionals to use technology in new and different ways.

Meet Claire:

Claire Frankiewicz is an enthusiastic HR Coordinator with a passion for crafting an exceptional employee experience & fostering corporate branding. A recent graduate of Edgewood College in May 2023, she embarked on an exciting journey to Naviant to kickstart her professional career.