Exclusive Interview with Alex Kinnebrew, CMO and Head of Growth Strategy, Waggl

An Inclusive Team-Based Action Planning Helps To Create A Sense Of Shared Ownership

Alex Kinnebrew is a senior business leader with over 12 years of experience in strategy, innovation and systems design. Currently, she serves as Head of Growth Strategy and Design for Waggl. Previously, Alex designed and launched a global innovation lab network at Citi, bringing a strong lateral innovation focus to the bank’s diverse businesses. Prior to Citi, she directed corporate innovation strategy and capability building initiatives in healthcare, consumer goods, and education at Monitor Doblin (now Deloitte). Alex began her career at Gensler Architecture and pioneered a (now thriving) design strategy group charged with aligning business objectives and workplace design. Her career has focused on finding new ways to apply design thinking to solve business problems. Visit www.waggl.com Connect Alex Kinnebrew Follow @waggl_it

“I think we are entering into a new work/life reality in which employees require greater flexibility in terms of when and how they complete their work, along with a revised set of expectations about how that work should be presented,” says Alex Kinnebrew, Head of Growth Strategy at Waggl

In an interview with HR.com, Alex shares valuable insights on how to support your team in these trying times to help them achieve work-life balance and ensure to keep the team spirits up virtually, and much more. Excerpts from the interview: 

Q: With the blurring lines of work and life, do you think employees are able to achieve work-life balance?

Alex Kinnebrew: At the beginning of the pandemic, many employees were trying to do the same amount of work in the same way they had once done it in the office, but found that it wasn’t possible. For example, many of us found ourselves falling behind on work due to the volume of Zoom calls that we suddenly needed to attend on a daily basis – it’s difficult to multitask when you need to be visibly engaged on Zoom all day. But now, I think we are entering into a new work/life reality in which employees require greater flexibility in terms of when and how they complete their work, along with a revised set of expectations about how that work should be presented. As work becomes more collaborative and real-time, there is less necessity for things to be 100% complete or highly polished before sharing them with colleagues. And there is a continuous re-prioritization of each task we take on, as we ask ourselves why we are doing it, and how it will serve our collective goals. It may not be a perfect balance, exactly, but it is headed toward a more harmonious co-existence.
 

Q: What are some of the challenges your employees are facing while working from home?

Alex Kinnebrew: As we all know by now, parents face a unique set of challenges when trying to work in a shared space with their families. It’s not enough to simply redirect young children – you need to be actively engaged with them on some level, and it can be difficult to do that while simultaneously concentrating on work. But even for employees without children, working from home can be difficult. It often takes on a “Groundhog Day” effect in which each day feels exactly like every other. Sometimes, it’s hard to make meaning or measure progress without social gatherings, trips and other events to punctuate the work-week.   

Q: What has your organization done to make sure that employees are staying focused, committed, and happy? 

Alex Kinnebrew: As a technology provider for one of the industry’s leading Employee Voice platforms, Waggl is committed to practicing continuous listening, and being responsive to what we hear from our employees. Our experiences are continually changing as we go through this global pandemic, the protests against social injustice, and other history-shaping events, and it’s critical that we keep the lines of communication open with our employees. Waggl uses crowd-sourced voting to ask employees for their ideas and feedback, and then utilizes those responses to actively shape future decisions and outcomes. This kind of inclusive team-based action planning helps to create a sense of shared ownership. 

Q: Any new benefits offered to employees to achieve work-life balance?

Alex Kinnebrew: In addition to encouraging our executives to empower their teams to take time off for their personal well-being, we designated the day before Memorial Day as an extra paid holiday for well-being and we designated Juneteenth as a paid holiday, encouraging our employees to use the day for reflection, education and advancing racial and social justice issues important to them. We also started an innovative giving program, where, Waggl offered a matching gift for any employee who wanted to donate to a non-profit cause. On an ongoing basis, we are consciously developing innovative and flexible ways for employees to structure their schedules, and offering more time off for wellness. It is very important that employees take their vacation time and unplug from work completely, even if they don’t leave their homes. 

Q. Any work from home tips you would like to share?

Alex Kinnebrew: It’s important to find some dedicated space in your home environment that you can call your “office,” even if it’s just some space at a table. I also think it’s crucial to try to inject some fun into the day. For example, our family has a tradition we call the “Hot Lap” -- we have a bell near the door, and when someone rings it, we all run out the door (dog and all) for a quick jog down the street in between meetings. It always makes us laugh. 
 

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