Kim: Welcome, everybody, to another episode of the Life at Travelers podcast. I’m here with my friend Wes Alexander today and we are diving into Workforce Solutions. And for folks who aren’t familiar with that, we’re going to dig deep. Are you ready, Wes?

Wes: I’m so ready.

Kim: Okay, cool. So first, can you tell our listeners, you know, who you are? What’s your title? How’d you get to Travelers?

Wes: Yeah, I’m the Vice President of Workforce Solutions is my current title, but I came to Travelers about ten years ago now, initially working in employee relations (E.R.).

Kim: Oh, okay.

Wes: Right, so my background is in employee relations. And even before then, I was in employment law. But, yeah, my first job here was E.R. Now, it’s workforce solutions.

Kim: How did you go from law school, you know, being a lawyer, and now into working at Travelers and being in workforce solutions?

Wes: It’s really been a constant journey for me to try to find a job that I felt like was more conducive to my personality. So, the truth is, I got into being a lawyer because I really didn’t have a plan. I didn’t really know what it would take to be a lawyer every day. And I learned about 90 days into my law practice, once I graduated from law school, that I was in trouble.

Kim: Okay.

Wes: I never really, truly loved being a corporate lawyer. That’s what I was, kind of, a big firm law firm lawyer before becoming an in-house lawyer, which was better for me.

Kim: Yeah.

Wes: But it’s been a journey for me to really try to find something that I think really suits who I am as a person. And this most current position, I think, really does that for me.

Kim: Yup.

Wes: The, the long and short of it is, you know, when you’re a employment lawyer, which is what I was, your fiduciary duty, everything that I do, I’m responsible for making sure I protect the company.

Kim: Yes.

Wes: Right? So, it’s always a company-first mentality. When I moved into employer relations, the moniker is, you try to do what’s right for employees and what’s right for the company. So, it’s more of a balance. What I love about this job is that it truly is an “employee first,” right? So, I’ve gone all the way from company first, employee second to really, employee first. Not necessarily company second, I mean, this is a company function, but my goal is to, when you call me as an employee, to work with you in terms of your issues and really to put your interests first in terms of trying to figure out what’s best for you.

Kim: Yes.

Wes: And if that doesn’t align with what’s best for the company, we can, kind of, find ways to get there. But just my mentality, and my focus, being able to shift in terms of being, like, an employee-first resource, that’s been my, that’s been my journey and I think that’s actually why it works for me.

Kim: So, this role you have now is authentic to Wes.

Wes: It is. It truly is. I mean, I’m, I think I’m one of the, I think I’m one of the blessed people that, you know, it’s not necessarily, from my standpoint, in terms of how much money you make. It’s do I get a chance to wake up and do something that I, on some level, enjoy doing? This job has done that for me.

Kim: Yeah. And it’s being blessed, but it’s, it’s also working for it, right? You’ve come a long way, right? And you’ve been searching for this.

Wes: Absolutely. You know, a lot of internal work and just a lot of luck, to be honest, right? Being in the right place at the right time. And I think that, you know, the good thing for me is that my background in employment law, in employee relations, it really does suit and support the work that I do now, like, just being able to issue spot and just, you know, dealing with manager issues, employee issues. That’s something I’ve been doing for the last 20, almost 25 years. But being able to do it from this lens, in this capacity, that’s the part that I think suits me the most.

Kim: Yeah, definitely. So, so, before, because I have a million more questions, but before we get into that…

Wes: Sure.

Kim: …let’s talk about workforce solutions from a high level. Because, you know, we were talking before this episode, not many folks might know what that is. You know, what is that? We know the words, “employee experience,” sure.

Wes: Sure. Yeah.

Kim: But what is workforce solutions and, you know, what is your team doing on any given day?

Wes: Yeah. It really is a function that’s niche to Travelers. So, let me start with that.

Kim: Okay.

Wes: And the truth is the idea of the function, I wish I could say it was mine, but it wasn’t, it’s really Alan’s (CEO), right? I think what he was trying to ensure was that, you know, that there were places within Travelers where people can go to just make sure that they could speak authentically, truthfully and it was safe.

Kim: Yup.

Wes: The thing that I say all the time is, you know, we, my group, we don’t have a, we don’t have a monopoly on safe spaces, right? I guess, the hope is that many employees, they’re going to find their people, right? Whether it be some other employee or their manager or even their HR generalist, right? Somebody that they can talk to and speak freely and openly.

Kim: Yup.

Wes: Hey, this thing is bothering me, or this is causing me to struggle on my job or whatever the case is. Right? But I think the beauty in this is that Alan was able to, and my boss, now, Diane (CHRO), Alan and Diane Kurtzman is really, this is their brainchild. I think their thought was understanding that, while there will be people who are able to find their people and find safe spaces, we have 30,000 employees.

Kim: Right.

Wes: So, there are always going to be people who are, kind of, on the outside and they don’t know where to turn. They don’t know where to go. That is the, that is the genesis. That is the crux of our practice, right? Being able to just be this open space where you can call and the sheer fact that you call is confidential and anonymous and your issues, you know, again, with some, with some guardrails, are going to just be held with my group first, and then we can decide, kind of, where you go so that you can feel good and safe about what it is that you share. So, that’s the, the high level. I mean, we break it down into certain components. We can get into it as much as you want.

Kim: Yeah.

Wes: But at the end of the day, you know, when people ask me what I do, what I try to tell folks is that our North Star, this Workforce Solutions North Star, it’s providing safe spaces for employees, places for employees to go when they don’t know where to turn.

Kim: Yep, yep. And I’ve seen you do that, you know, personally even through, you know, we have meetings with, you know, members of HR where we talk about certain topics or a listening session with a Diversity Network, right? So, it might not be the employees coming to you, but more so, hey, we’re going to host this for you, you know, bringing it to them.

Wes: Yep.

Kim: So are there, you know, can you talk about those experiences and maybe others that I might not have mentioned?

Wes: Yeah, I kind of break them down into a few different categories. Right? So, the first category really is designed to be this open space. Literally any employee at any level can reach out to myself or the Workforce Solutions team.

Kim: Small but mighty.

Wes: Small but mighty. But you can reach out to us, get on our calendar, and in those conversations, we can consult, we can coach or we can just listen. So, that’s, kind of, one big bucket.

Kim: Yep.

Wes: The second big bucket is this idea of what we call sensing sessions, which is some leader, some topline leader will say, hey, you know, I have questions about how people are experiencing, you know, my organization.

Kim: Yeah.

Wes:  It doesn’t have to be, by the way, like, a trouble situation. Sometimes it’s, you know, we’re coming in because there’s noise, but other times it’s just we’ve made changes or we’re restructuring or we’re, you know, establishing a new business process and I want to see how my people are really, you know, feeling about this. Can you, Workforce Solutions, come in, put people in rooms or maybe even have one-on-one conversations and really get underneath, like, how is your job really? How do you feel about this change, really? Because the truth is we’re just people, right? And while I think most of our leaders, when they really do ask, they’ll say, you know, we’re changing this thing. Kim, let me know how this feels to you.

Kim: Yes.

Wes: And you may be the employee who’s, like, totally comfortable raising your hand in 3GS (Auditorium) and saying, you know what, senior leader? I don’t like this. Right? And by the way, bless those people. Right? Those are important people. And, and I believe we do try to encourage that. And I think many employees will feel comfortable doing that, but we’re people, right? So, some employees will hear that question and look around and, you know, their boss is in the room, or maybe their boss’s boss is the one that’s on stage.

Kim: And it doesn’t feel like the place.

Wes: They sit on their hands.

Kim: Yeah.

Wes: Right? And then they go outside and they find somebody they trust and say, why are we doing this?

Kim: Yeah.

Wes: Right? Like that’s most people, right? And, and, and what we want to do is, for those folks who aren’t sure where can I go for, for truly explaining how I feel about this business change? The sensing session is designed to provide that space for you, put it in the aggregate, keep you safe, and then roll it back to your leader and say, hey, here are the three or four things that your people really think about this change.

Kim: Yes.

Wes: So, that’s another big bucket. The last, kind of, big bucket that I’ll mention is what you were talking about. This idea of hosting conversations, safe spaces for employees to talk about things that we generally don’t talk about at work.

Kim: Right.

Wes: I think it’s really important for me to say out loud, like, you know, this isn’t just a free for all, and these are always voluntary and are always structured. We have a set of ground rules.

Kim: Oh, yeah.

Wes: Like, we’re really adamant on adhering to in terms of making sure that people, instead of just getting on some call and espousing wild opinions or just giving their, you know, theories on the world, instead, what we really, what’s important for us to gather is, what’s your experience? What have you seen, what have you gone through…

Kim: Those “I” statements.

Wes: “I” statements, leading with an “I” statement and ensuring that, you know, when you speak your truth, there’s nothing to argue about. Your truth is your truth.

Kim: That’s right.

Wes: So, we can’t get into a back-and-forth conversation about what happened to Kim, because what happened to you is what happened to you.

Kim: Right.

Wes: Instead, we use that to draw connections. Maybe I can build something, I can take something that you’ve experienced and put it into my life.

Kim: Yes.

Wes: Right? That sort of thing. And we get closer and more connected because we learn more about one another as people and I am a firm believer that the better we know each other as people, the better we’re going to ultimately produce business outcomes, which is what this is all about.

Kim: That’s right. Well, it builds community. It shows you that people share your experiences…

Wes: That’s right.

Kim: …that you might not know about.

Wes: Right, or not. Right? It’s like, oh my gosh, I didn’t even know.

Kim: Well, that’s stimulating self-reflection.

Wes: Right.

Kim: Yeah.

Wes: Why haven’t I experienced that or how would I handle that or what can I take from this?

Kim: Absolutely.

Wes: That’s, that’s a lot of the work, too. So, those are, kind of, like, the main, main buckets of providing safe spaces.

Kim: Right. It’s important work. And Wes, what do you think it is about you said this is, you know, niche to Travelers.

Wes: Yeah.

Kim: What makes Travelers different in this space?

Wes: I think it’s our commitment to our culture.

Kim: Yeah.

Wes: If you have heard Alan talk through what’s important to him, what’s important to us and not just him, what is historically, traditionally been important to Travelers in terms of putting the place first and being invested in everybody else’s success and really, truly being collaborative and really thinking what’s best for the place long term. Those are the components, right?

Kim: Yep.

Wes: And when you take the work that we do, it hits on all those things.

Kim: That’s right.

Wes: Right? Whether it’s, you know, hey, here’s an opportunity to put the place first because we are going to allow for employees through focus groups to really express their experiences and, and tell their leaders how they feel in a candid way, right? And here’s a leader putting the place first, for example, and saying, you know what, this may not feel good to get this feedback, right? Like, I don’t know exactly what these employees are going to say when I allow Wes and his team to come in and lift up the hood, but I am going to put my self-interest below the interest of the place in that I really want to know what is best for the place.

Kim: Yes.

Wes: Like, that’s what I think makes Travelers want to have a group like this. I think this is what connects to our culture and the fact that our culture is really important, and I think that’s why Alan has allowed for this and wanted this…

Kim: Yeah.

Wes: …because I think, and again, I don’t want to speak for the man, but I think if he were here, what he would tell you is that our culture is one of our competitive advantages.

Kim: Yeah.

Wes: Right? We sell insurance.

Kim: Yeah.

Wes: Just like the other places that sell state and federally mandated, like, insurance. Right? This is a product that has government regulations so you can only do but so much. So, what’s going to make us different?

Kim: What’s inside the walls?

Wes: I think it’s our culture.

Kim: Yeah. And, and your daily role is, you’re embedded in the culture just based on the work you do.

Wes: Yeah.

Kim: How do you personally experience the culture outside of your day-to-day? What are what else are you involved in?

Wes: Yeah, I think for me, how I personally experience the culture is a couple of ways. One, I’m involved in the Diversity Networks. I enjoy the work that we do just in terms of showing up for those cultural events, learning those experiences, getting to learn the experiences of others. I’m here for all of that. You know, I also like to, just on behalf of the organization, you know, I participate in a couple of different, kind of, outside, one’s, a nonprofit. It’s the Urban League of Greater Hartford, and I participate on behalf of Travelers and I love to be able to do that because it’s a community organization designed to improve the local community in which we sit.

Kim: Yes.

Wes: I sit on the Governor’s Workforce Council, again on behalf of Travelers, to try and push initiatives that, from a statewide perspective, are trying to get people at work and figuring out how Travelers can be a part of that.

Kim: Right.

Wes: Right? So, you know, I do that, I think, because as I’ve now continued to be here, I think it’s important for me to also show our connection to our community, because we’re such a big employer here.

Kim: Yeah.

Wes: And people hear that I work at Travelers or hear that, you know, I have a connection to Travelers, and they want to hear more about what it is that we do and how we’re investing in Hartford. So, yeah, I try to do that because I think, again, I think it’s important for us to be connected.

Kim: Yup. Definitely. So, at the beginning of the conversation, we were talking about how you moved from a role that didn’t feel as authentic to you…

Wes: Yeah.

Kim: …and into this role now. Would you change anything about your journey?

Wes: No, not one thing, because each experience builds on, and then allowed me, to get to this point. So, no. It was tough, and there were some moments where, I’m going to tell you, I really disliked getting up in the morning and going to work, right? Like, just knowing you’re in the wrong job?

Kim: Yeah.

Wes: For me there was nothing worse, right? It had an impact on how I showed up in other places, too, at home with my kids, with my wife. So, no, it was, it was, it was necessary, I think, to be able to that now be, like, comfortable and credible and having those experiences in employer relations and as an employment lawyer, I think it really does lend and assist me as I do this job. So, it was needed. It was just my journey, you know, and it just kind of worked out this way for me, but also I was intentional about it, too, like, I was honest with myself about, hey, you know, I’m doing this and I’m trying to feed my family, but I don’t love this so I got to keep trying to move towards something that feels better for me.

Kim: That’s right. And I ask all my guests this.

Wes: Yeah.

Kim: If you were talking to somebody who’s interested in working at Travelers, what would you tell them?

Wes: I would tell them that Travelers, I think success at Travelers is really, a two-part formula.

Kim: Okay.

Wes: I’ve said this all the time. Number one, whatever it is that you are asked to do from a perform standpoint, whatever that thing is that makes you a subject matter expert, right, and all the things that we do here, you got to be great at that. Right? Because we are a perform culture. You have to get your job done. It is table stakes for you to come in here and be nice at what you do. I think that’s number one.

Kim: Okay.

Wes: I think the second piece of the Travelers formula is that you have to be committed and willing, if you are looking to get more, to put yourself out there and build relationships because I think our culture matters. I think we’re a relationship culture, and I think it does impact how people speak about you when you’re not in rooms, in terms of how you show up. Right? Are you willing to bring answers to the table, are you, you know, making connections with people, maybe outside of just the normal people that you work with? Or even just the people that you work with. Are you invested in learning who they are? I think that this is, and I don’t mean this as like a negative or a pejorative, but this is not my first rodeo, right? I’ve been in a lot of different corporate spaces. Travelers is the most relational place I’ve ever worked. And I don’t, you know, I don’t say that’s good or bad. I just say it is. Right? So, to me, I want to give as many people, like, what I think is, the answer to the test as possible. Like, the formula. Be super good at what you do, plus make relationships, equals success here. I just, I’ve seen it now too many times…

Kim: Yeah.

Wes: …right, to not believe that that is the formula. So, that’s what I would say to anybody. Like that, to me, is, that’s how, that’s how you move through this place.

Kim: Yep.

Wes: Kill your job, meet, invest and, and, take the time to build relationships with people.

Kim: Yep. Yep. Now, Wes, I feel like you brought an energy to this episode. It’s just a feeling I have. You might have heard that before.

Wes: Yeah, yeah, I can’t help it.

Kim: I feel like people will hear this, and they might want to connect with you to learn more about Travelers.

Wes: Yeah.

Kim: So, if folks, because we’re going to post this out on social media, if we tag you…

Wes: Please.

Kim: Awesome. Well, thank you not only for being here Wes, but also, just for the work you do because it is so important, you know? And I know you feel blessed and a little bit lucky and that sort of thing, but, you know, you, you bring so much to the company and it’s very much appreciated.

Wes: No, I appreciate it. I say this all the time. This only happens because our leaders allow it to happen. I mean, when you think about exactly everything I just said, this only happens if I have the support of the most senior leaders in this organization for the work that we do. If they think it’s important, if they’re going to, like, push their people to utilize this, right? So, you know, I’m just I am thankful, but I’m only, you know, right, I realize that I’m only as good as the invitation. Right? So, you know, as much as I can really impress upon you all that this is, this is our leaders’ doing and them just allowing us to have this space to do it, knowing that this is niche, knowing that this is something that doesn’t happen in other places, again, I think it speaks to how special our culture is.

Kim: Awesome. Well, thank you, Wes, and thank you to our listeners. Thanks for joining us once again and we’ll be back very soon with another episode for you. Until then, take care.