It's a very special episode of The People Purpose Podcast, as Chas and Julie were live from the Spotlight Stage at UKG Aspire 2023. They share their experience and takeaways from a week at the conference in Vegas. They also get perspective from the live audience in attendance.
It's a very special episode of The People Purpose Podcast, as Chas and Julie were live from the Spotlight Stage at UKG Aspire 2023. They share their experience and takeaways from a week at the conference in Vegas. They also get perspective from the live audience in attendance.
You gonna stand? Just for a minute down? Yeah. Now.
Chas Fields:This is how we're gonna do it today. Oh, man, this is exciting to be here. Welcome to the people purpose podcast at Aspire, the show that explores all the ins and outs, challenges and opportunities, HR people, managers, and all people face at work every single day. And I am joined with my lovely prop carrying workplace bestie colleague, Julie Devlin. Hi, everybody. How's everybody doing? Bye. Wow, this is so amazing. It's so incredible to be here with all of you. And for those who are listening also, around the world Chas. I believe we're in all six continents, somehow, which is pretty cool. Yeah, we charted in Finland.
Julie Develin:even know, I don't know. But hey, has everybody had a good week so far? Yeah, yeah, it's been it's been really amazing. It's just been it's been incredible and and Chas and I wanted to get with all of you and have some conversation and really make this interactive to That's right, we have to get a shout out to our LinkedIn live audience. So for those that didn't get to attend here in person, or maybe it's somebody who may not be a customer and is like, what is this Aspire thing about? Guess what? They're live? Let's all wave at them. I don't know where the cameras are. We can't see. But Hi, sorry, you missed it. But this is awesome. We wish you were here. I'm gonna get myself in trouble if I keep talking. So yeah, Jules. So we had a conversation before we came out here for those of you who listen to the podcast regularly, which I can't imagine none of you. Oh, anyway, know everybody does, right. For those of you who listen regularly, Chas and I, we usually record the podcast virtually Chas is in Dallas area, I'm in the Maryland area, or wherever both of us happens to be laying our heads, which I say, wherever I lay, my head is home. And I tend to do a lot of talking. I don't know, we're both obviously speakers. And, you know, the talking that I do, sometimes gets long winded. So Chad's like, he has these internal kind of kind of tells that he's like, okay, Julie, shut up now. Right. But I would never do. And he does it in the most loving ways possible. So I said, Chas, I was like, how are we going to do this? How are you going to tell me to shut up? I just going to click to the next slide.
Unknown:On the screen.
Julie Develin:Amazing. Yeah. This is some really cool stuff planned for everybody. Yeah. So how's everybody's week? Good week? Yeah. It's just where we we participate. Good week. So Julie, let's, let's talk about how we set the stage. What do you think? Yeah, I mean, as we start, well, so how is your week right? So what we want to do is we want to discuss our experiences and a few takeaways from the week and really, you know, break down some different experiences that we've had, we also want to know what your experience or experiences have been, like, all of you have, who are in the room have access to the seven app. That's right. So we're gonna ask that you write in the CNN app, tell us how your week was in the in the question area we want to know. This is this is a time. This is like your time, our time all of our time. Chas and I are up here with our cell phones. Hopefully I don't get a call chat as well. That's why I do not disturb exists. I know. I know. So as we start every episode, if you listen, you know this. Tell me something good. Jules. Well, how do I say something good when so many good things have happened this week. I'll tell you what my something good is again. Yeah, Chaz mentioned, this is how we start every episode, we like to start with that positivity. And my something good is the fact that I've had so many incredibly amazing conversations with customers and prospective customers. This week, it's been insanely uplifting, inspiring, and really energizing for the year ahead. I can't wait for the year ahead. I I'm gonna get ahead of myself, if I don't shut up. I would say something good is all of you for being here. Taking time out of your busy schedule, taking time away from your families and your friends. It just goes to show that we are a collective and united community to try and do what's best for our workplace. It's people like you that inspire us so we thank you so much for being here and doing all the work so a part of our episodes we always do tell us something good but we always want to deliver a business stat of the day.
Chas Fields:Yeah, there's more than one out there don't quote me on this. But some of the statistics from this week, there were over 200 sessions, many of which you could earn, Sherm or HRCI or APA credit, over 4500 people in person. Pretty cool, right? And then of course, we had over 1000 virtual attendees, in addition to the LinkedIn live people, so high virtual attendees, we wish you were here with us. And then 95 Plus partners, how many of y'all went to the expo hall? Pretty early to get any swag?
Julie Develin:Did anybody get any swag?
Chas Fields:How many of you had to buy a second suitcase to take your swag home with you? I don't know. I was actually at CVS yesterday getting a prescription filled, and they have a lit a section of suitcases that you could go and buy. And I'm like, who's gonna go down to the middle of the strip and buy a suitcase. And then I saw someone who had broken a wheel on their suitcase, and it was a there's a market for that. Hey,
Julie Develin:you know, I want to ask the room. And I know those who aren't here can't see this. But I want to ask how many of you are first time attendees here at Aspire? Wow, welcome. And wow, I hope it wasn't too overwhelming for you. I wanted to read something because again, we wanted this to be interactive. And I'm not going to say names because I didn't say that I would I anyway, it says as a first time attendee had been blown away with the meaningful connections I've been able to make here to Spire. I've so many amazing takeaways to bring home to my team feeling energized and ready to go to make a difference. Wow. Does anybody else feel that way? Yeah. Okay. That's, that's awesome. That's awesome. You know, our shout out to our social team, Jenny, and our zoo and team. They are amazing. And you know, I was watching on I was looking at our UKG stories on Instagram. And they were asking folks the best part of their week. And so many people, literally everybody's like, the networking, the networking, the networking, the networking, and I was trying to think to myself, Okay, what can I say to even top that, I don't know that there's anything else that can top that. The sessions are fantastic. But they're networking and being able to talk to each other, and learn from each other, and commiserate with each other and, and joke around and just have these shared experiences. I think, you know, that's something that none of us should ever take for granted. And, you know, thank you all to all of you who have been here to have these conversations. That's, that's right. So as we get into the content, what we want to do is we want you to think about the meaning of aspire, as you can see the definition here, it's a verb, right? This is what we aspire to be. And what's cool about this is the definition to rise up to soar. And what we want to do is we want to ask your definition of Aspire. What does it mean? What were the takeaways that you had this week that Aspire or have created inspiration for you to go back to the workplace? What does Aspire mean to you throw it in the jewels? Yeah, aspire, you know, this the all week, we've been hearing UKG, aspire, UKG aspire, I really wanted to hone in on that word. And not in a not in an unrealistic kind of way, because of course, we can all think, yes, we're trying to aspire to new heights. And that's what we're all trying to do in HR, because everything's always rainbows and butterflies, right? Oh, is that a joke. But you know, too long to aim to seek ambitiously to be eagerly desirous. And I think if you've listened to all the messages that were shared this week, that eagerly desire is to just be better, whether it's being better with UKG software, whether it's being better just as a person, whether it's making your workplace a great place to work, which is our charge moving forward at UK, G. We are so glad that all of you have been along this ride with us. So let's see what is what does it mean to aspire? Let's see, is there anybody who wrote what it means to aspire while you're looking at that I'm going to keep going. So as you all know, or may not know, it used to be what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, they actually rebranded and they said what happens in Vegas only happens in Vegas. So what we want to do is for our LinkedIn live audience, we want to just highlight some of the key things that some of you may or may not have participated in from our keynote and featured speakers to some of the sessions. And more importantly, some of the key takeaways that Julie and I learned and experienced, and we're going to do it through our lens. Julie, let's be real. Our chief people, Officer Pat waters got to sit with the amazing Brene Brown, what's your thoughts there? Oh, I'm not even sure where to start. Chas goes when you get to this slide. You have to be brief. And I'm like, Listen, I don't know if I can be brief about Brene Brown. You know, I'm gonna have full transparency. One of the great things about conferences like UKG Aspire or any kind of conference is that you're oftentimes at times exposed to folks who maybe you haven't been exposed to before. So Brene Brown, obviously is big name and I've heard of Brene Brown but she wasn't somebody who I followed or listened to the podcast. And wow, she absolutely blew me away with her messages. I have pages of notes. And just being able to see her and hear her inspiring words really, really inspired me to think differently about things. And when she's hawks, she just has this intention. She has an intention of what she says, for those of you who are in the audience there are who listened to one of her two podcasts. Brene pauses she takes an intentional pause between what she says what she's asked, and what she says. I could learn to do that, Chas. We're very close. All right. So we are we are we are best friends. So what I you know, I want to I want to read some of my notes Chas Tez. Just
Chas Fields:you know, what she was she mentioned, she said a couple of things that I wanted to touch on and Cher and of course, her books, her podcast, please check them out. But she said to build systems that are braver than you? Wow, there were so many tidbits and so many nuggets that were in that session that I was just like, yeah, yeah, that's it. She's got it. She's really speaking my language. So you know, I think you know, she said trust is choosing to be vulnerable. That's amazing. As well, you all have heard so many messages about trust at work this week and, and beyond. And you've learned, you know, just how important trust is in the workplace and in life. On the opposite side, I'm a massive Brene Brown fan. In fact, I've listened to several of her books. I'm an auditory learner, so I don't read. That's not for me, not my thing. But one of the things that I found so special with Brene is how intentional not only is she that she is with her language. But it reminds me that when we're communicating with our colleagues and the people that sit across from us, or our family, or our peers or whoever, is that we need to communicate in their language. And it's not a dialect, it's a passion, it's helping them understand and learning what they need to hear in those certain scenarios and those difficult circumstances, or even in the times when it is so great. How can I make sure that the message that I'm portraying is heard by the person sitting across from me, and that's so important for us to be constantly reminded that people change, we evolve the way that we communicate. And most importantly, can I recognize in that moment, this is what this individual needs to hear, and how they hear it. It was so special. And I know Pat was giddy. We recorded an executive series podcast earlier this week, and she was so excited to just sit down and fangirl over Brene.
Julie Develin:Her work was Yeah, I do want to also shout out equally as special is Pat waters. What an incredible leader what an incredible person. And when we talk about vulnerable vulnerability at work, she is the epitome of that she makes no apologies for you know, you know, being nor diverse being having pink hair, that kind of thing. So just spending time with her and getting to know her was fantastic as well. So, okay, Chaz, I have to stop talking about Brene. Brown. I didn't say no.
Chas Fields:All right. So the spotlight stage, if many of you how many of y'all went to spotlight stage sessions? Yeah, in this room, which is where you're at right now, that's actually a really dumb question, because this is just about late stage. So all of you have attended the spotlight stage session. One of my favorite things, these were some of the major sessions that you can see here, facing adversity with optimism and resilience with JR Martinez. He was incredible. We'll talk about some of the talking points with him. Notah Begay the third, Sahit Theegala, and Wil Zalatoris, our brand ambassadors, some of our PGA professional golfers who have an incredible story to share. They're absolutely hilarious. We'll talk about that. And then the last one, AI work, it's here it's working, whether you know it or not, by our vice president and people later in human Insights Team, Dr. Jarik Conrad, with Dan Shawbel ,researcher in Montra Ellis. And if you miss those sessions, just so you know, for the audience here in our virtual audience, you can go back and listen to them if you miss it. So really important to do that. But I want to highlight JR. What a special individual. He's an Army veteran in the line of duty and he spent his time he spent his time now. He's had some things happen to him that were very unfortunate. And what he does now is spends his time teaching and conversing with troops to find resilience, as we know, the people who come back from war and have seen things that are very difficult for us to process. We're talking about a veteran who understands it and who gets it. Not only does he do that and spend his time doing that he went dancing with the stars in season 13 like no big deal. They haven't asked me to do that yet. Because but what was really cool as I listened to this man talk and share his story, as he talked about focusing on what you can control, and remind yourself, you always have a choice to be optimistic. And I will tell you as I work with a lot of organizations and HR and payroll and operations, it's a really good reminder. I thought, Man, I should probably get that tattooed on my forearm to have that reminder. But it's really cool to hear someone who has been through such a difficult situation dedicate his time, say, hey, just remember, you have a choice to be optimistic, Jules, yeah, he's a burn survivor. And I think just thinking of it like that is an optimistic way to think about it. You know, he, he has been through adversity, and he's come out on the other side learning lessons, but also really taking that success mindset. And we'll talk a little bit later about my session on optimism in in HR, but I think that all of us have a choice to go into a situation with that optimistic mindset. I know we have to Yeah, I know, we got to get I'm sorry. The other one was the PGA Tour golfers right? really special. I've got some great stories that I am not going to share here. But one of the cool things about professional golfers and we see him on television, I have a massive respect for the grind of a professional athlete. But this session was a little bit different. We learned about Sahith, who loves playing chess, right? It's the human behind the professional athlete. You know, Notah a fantastic broadcaster, obviously an amazing golfer. He's, he's a great ambassador of UKG. And then there's Wil Zalatoris, right? So I've had the privilege of being on the golf course with well, and by the way,
Unknown:I don't want to talk about it.
Julie Develin:What's cool about it is you see all of the sponsorships that the golfers have, and Wil actually takes an active approach and is very selective. And who he chooses to be partners with, does it represent me as an individual are these companies that I believe in can see in the future, and that is the side that we don't always see with our professional athletes. As as customers have UKG. And as employees of UKG feel proud when you see that UKG logo on the golfers uniforms and under uniform shirts, and understand, you know that they are intentional, intentional about partnering with our organization, because we're all like minded and wanting to just again, be better and you know, make the world a better place. How's your golf game? Jewel, I'm really good. No, my golf game, I took up golfing, that was my pandemic activity, my pandemic thing and you know, a few $1,000 and a new set of clubs later, I'm still terrible. But hey, it's a lot of fun. For all the golfers in the room, you fully understand that right? When you started, we just you know, it's just golf because all of the other nevermind, I'm not gonna say that. But these are lovely golfers, and they're amazing human beings, so make sure to check them out. And then the last session that we want to highlight today is AI at work. Hey, we've heard a lot about AI, haven't we? Yeah, you know, when I when I'm in my sessions, one of the questions I asked HR folks, I say, what's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear AI in HR, and I did a word cloud, if any of you were in my session, and they said, a lot of people said hopefulness. And then there were some people that had a little bit of fear. A lot of people said, you know, I'm a little worried it's going to take some of my job away. And and I'm here to tell you that, you know, when I asked the question, how many of you are using AI? The answer to that question is, all of you, all of you are using AI in life, because if we do things like simply use a map app, where we use any kind of app, or if we buy something from Amazon, you know, those things that we see on there that are recommended to us that I'm sure none of us buy, right? That is AI in action. And there's so much possibility. And I think it's important for us to recognize that AI has a direct correlation with employee satisfaction. And we did a study right through the workforce Institute. So for those of you that don't know, get your smartphones out, because we're getting ready to say goodbye to LinkedIn live. Because guess what, there's going to be something cool, come and get phones out. The workforce Institute is our research arm. Okay. And what's cool about that is we provide you tangible tips and takeaways from the research that we do around the globe. So for you as practitioners and people, leaders, that you can actually have information that other practitioners are talking about, and then we provide better practices behind Yeah, workforce. institute.org I want to make sure everybody knows that that website is there for you. And the research that we do is for you on all organization sizes, all industries, etc. Hey, we're gonna end here real quick for the LinkedIn folks and we want to thank all of you for tuning in. We hope to see you here next year. That's right. But we are so excited for Goo Goo Dolls tonight. Are we not excited? Yes. Okay, and I need to have props Chas. I made this slide so
Unknown:He's so proud of
Julie Develin:the icons and what songs they represent. Okay. The first one,
Unknown:one? Yeah. Yeah. And what about the last one? Name? Come on. Hey.
Chas Fields:I was trying to be really, you know, interesting. And I don't know, I tried to Julie, we're going to ask the audience we do this at the end of every episode for those of you that listen, you know this. What did you find your purpose in today? Put it in the app, and we'll respond. Week. Oh, yes, I crossed today. Good point this week. Three real good jewels. I read real good. What did you find your purpose in this week? Throw it in the app. And well comment. But hey, Jules, what did you find your purpose in this week? I found my purpose in, oh, gosh, I'm going to do the Brene Brown thing. It'd be intentional here. Give me a second. You want me to talk? No, I don't I want to I just want to think about this. And I want to make sure I know I really don't want you to talk. Okay, you've done enough of it.
Julie Develin:Oh, my gosh, we're close. We are you know, this week, really. And I say this was so much intention. And I can't be more sincere, that it's really made me hopeful. It's made me really hopeful for the future, you know, UKG, providing this experience for, for all of you. For us as employees, the getting to spend time with our executive leadership and hearing their visions and seeing where it's coming down the pike in terms of our products, recognizing ukgc, doubling down on our customer support, I can tell you that that is something that is absolutely being hammered home. And we want to be the absolute best customer support organization that we can be. And I know that there's so many people that are working hard behind the scenes to make us that. But so I think really what my purpose is is just in hopefulness and to recognize that no one is perfect. All of us are in this in this weird time where everything is on the table in terms of the world of work, and we don't really know where things are going to land. But what we do know is that we have possibility, and we have opportunity. And I think it's up to us to again, take that optimistic mindset instead of asking ourselves first, what could go wrong? asking ourselves first? What could go right? Yeah, that's awesome. I would say that I found my purpose in all of you. I mean, it's really special for us to be able to come up here. And we work for a phenomenal company that has amazing technology that does all the things for us as employees. But I can genuinely say, as I've had many conversations with many of you, Danielle, other people that I just genuinely genuinely enjoy hearing your stories, hearing your challenges. And what we're going to do is we're going to take this information back, and we're going to use this information that you provide us and say, Hey, we're really struggling with this. We're really challenged with this. And we're going to obviously continue to do podcast episodes to help take give you tangible things to take away. But that's going to go into the content that's going to go into the resources and materials that we want to provide you to say, hey, you know what, Chas, Julie, you know, human insights team, you talked to 1000s of companies and hundreds of 1000s of people a year, can you help share better practices? So from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for being willing and vulnerable to talk. We have a couple of minutes I want to read a few things that you shared with us about your purpose you found your purpose in engaging with people my purpose was growing found out where strengths of knowledge are where you need to dig deeper. That's fantastic. Let's see. Purpose leave the workplace better than I found it and support my employees. This week, super excited this week made me feel like UKG does listen to us as customers and I promise you we absolutely do. We absolutely do. This week I found my purpose in continuously learning, growing, connecting and aspiring to be a better employee, teammate, boss and person I'm gonna cry. found my purpose and connections getting the learning from UKG and the opportunity to check in with customers was guiding so we can help each other reach our goals. Help each other reach your goals, make a new friend, make, you know, share a new idea. Learn what other people are doing to innovate. It's so inspiring to read all these things, seeing what areas I need to improve daily, we get lost and where someone else can improve. And I feel like we've really seen some areas this week in which I can improve and grow. That's amazing. So all of this introspection, you know this this conference, yes, it's to learn about our products, but I hope you've all learned a little something about yourselves as well. And tonight we're going to learn how to dance to the Goo Goo Dolls. Amen. Um, let's see. Cindy Solomon okay Cindy Solomon Yeah, it was great. Oh my gosh, who said they found my hair person my optimism.
Unknown:I my session. Oh my gosh. That's awesome. All right. So we have about you know, Julie, we've got things to do in HR. I do too. All right.
Chas Fields:All right. So, with that normally we would wrap up the show here and say thank you for listening. Cheers that's coming. Make sure you do the session. If you enjoyed this, I strongly challenge you to go listen to podcasts. It's a little bit different. We give you tactical and tangible things to take away. If you listen find somebody who listens and they can tell you do the survey. We've got industry meetings y'all have seen these slides about 300 times. I am told that you need to mark your calendars you can go in and pre register if you just are interested in coming it is not signing you up, mark your calendars but you can go in and the website by the way is literally just launched for 2024 Aspire. So pre register to show the interested in you can get the materials that come with back