Blame it on the baby

I wrote and deleted more than 4 drafts of the newsletter today. 

There was one version about how blown away I am by the resiliency of working parents. This was, by all measures, a bleak year for working parents. As a nation, we let you drown - we acknowledged you were doing the impossible and offered no help. Yet you still managed to find silver linings and gratitude. It’s nothing short of extraordinary. 

There was a second version that used a lot of Cool Runnings analogies (Sanka, you dead man?) to talk about what a train wreck this year has been and how glad we are to finally be crossing the finish line (side note: I haven’t seen that movie in at least 10 years, so I don’t even know where that came from). 

A third about how empathetic leadership will define innovation and success for the next decade. What we saw these last 9 months was a test of corporate values that most companies failed miserably. I heard many explanations why, but the reality remains the same: if you want to build a company that values its people, you will prioritize that goal. Anything else is just lip service. On the contrary, those companies that led with empathy left everyone else behind and will continue to lead in the years ahead. 

My fourth version was about the striking divide in HR and People teams. There are teams that look to help you be a better person and those that want you to be a better employee - the difference is everything. The former approached employee support from a holistic perspective, not looking at segments of their population in isolation, and put their people above all else. They moved away from hyper-specific, stand-alone ‘perks’ and benefits towards more robust solutions. The result is a more united, productive, and successful team. And a stronger business. This is what thought-leadership in the benefit space will look like going forward. 

None of those felt quite right though. Instead, I wanted to talk about something really simple that happened this year. In a year marked by widespread, long-term isolation, we managed to bring people together. 

Kunik is built on a foundation of connection. Everything we do, including sharing this newsletter, is based on bringing people together. There are a lot of buzzwords in corporate benefits, but at the end of the day, the community connection we build is central to how we support employees and leadership teams, and is the basis of Kunik. One thing we learned this year is how isolated we had all become at work, despite working right next to each other. In the last 9 months, we have had coworkers cry on Zoom calls, managers tell us they can now relate to their teammates and it’s making them a better leader, colleagues share their personal challenges - we’ve even had people who sat in cubicles next to each realize they’re both parents for the first time, despite having shared a work space for years. These are just some of the stories we’ve seen among dozens of others. 

While I’m thrilled that our group coaching is working, I wonder, how did we get this isolated to begin with? Why did it take a Pandemic and moths of forced remote work for most people to start seeing the importance of community and connection in the work world?

One of the most common arguments for returning to a physical office is that we cannot collaborate, share, and work as effectively in isolation. Judging by the calls I’ve been on, we were apparently already incredibly isolated, just physically next to each other. 

I’ve had the pleasure of working with companies who have strong, connected corporate cultures this year. I can also safely say these are the exceptions. As we reflect on the past year and the year ahead, I am thinking even more about connection and community. How can we continue to build connection - whether physically apart or not? How will companies that exemplify the values most important to today’s workforce - empathy, community, inclusion, and diversity - continue to innovate in this space? 

From the team at Kunik, we want to say Happy Holidays, thank you for being part of our community, and we look forward to learning and growing with you in the year ahead.