Building an industry-leading and first-of-its kind product sparked important discussions around equity and diversity for a team of product managers, designers, engineers, and data scientists.
An extra vacation day. A higher paycheck. Free snacks in the breakroom. There are lots of ways organizations can show appreciation to their employees. And while all are kind and thoughtful gestures, these things can’t always give employees the thing they crave the most — purpose.
All humans seek purpose. It’s how we make a difference in the world. And it’s the thing that gives meaning to our work.
According to “The Power of Purpose in the Workplace” report, employees who say their work is more than “just a job” are two to six times more likely to stay with their company long-term. And when the purpose at work aligns with their personal purpose — which is to also include growing, learning, and taking care of their loved ones and community — they will be more engaged and motivated.
This purpose is something that is growing stronger across UKG offices in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Weston, Florida, as a team of product managers, designers, engineers, and data scientists started a mission. They not only were tasked with building something new, but they were building a first-of-its-kind solution that takes the guesswork out of creating a great workplace by turning typical HR metrics into opportunities and insights to build inclusive, equitable cultures. The tool, Great Place To Work (GPTW) Hub, was more than just an innovation; it was a beacon of purpose for the team.
“I wanted to be here because we’re innovative,” says Juan, Manager, UI and UX Design at UKG. “The big impact is to help leaders understand how the company is doing, not just in numbers but more about the people.”
Building the GPTW Hub took a team of dedicated U Krewers that leveraged diverse and innovative thinking to create this industry-first product that is a gamechanger for any organization looking to create a great place to work.
This is the first time ever that DEIB and employee sentiment data will be a core part of an HCM experience, which will set UKG customers on a path to deliver truly change-the-world-of-work insights to their leaders. UKG and Great Place To Work collectively harness employee feelings and workplace data from hundreds of millions of people around the world. Marrying the data naturally in UKG Pro, and leveraging AI to surface what matters most to individual employees, we will give people leaders actionable insights and nudges to build a culture of belonging.
Juan says working on this solution opened his eyes to important topics like equity and diversity.
“Sometimes we have an assumption, and that assumption is not correct,” he says. “Sometimes we don’t see the diversity you have in the company, so you need to start to take some actions. The same for equity. Sometimes we think we are being equitable in the different roles, in the different departments, in the different genders, and maybe that is not correct.”
Great Place To Work Hub combines decades of culture and people data, and leverages UKG generative AI models to surface areas of improvement and actionable steps leaders can take to create a workplace where all people can thrive.
Juan believes the hub has the potential to create a positive ripple effect.
“I think if more organizations use this tool, they will create a better environment for everyone," he says. “With this kind of tool, we are starting to change the mindset of leaders to help them make better decisions.”
One such leader eager to do just that is Jessica Jones, Vice President of HR and Legal Compliance at Alliance Technical Group.
“UKG Great Place To Work Hub will help us identify our strengths, address our weak points, and form a plan of action for us to get better,” she says. “I’m looking forward to future town hall meetings where we can say to our employees, ‘Your voice is important, we heard you, and this is what we’ve done and plan to do.’”
During the solution’s development, Juan says there were many discussions among the team about diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging.
“In those discussions, I started to change my mind set to be more open,” he says.
A substantial portion of the product team working on the hub is based in Montevideo, Uruguay, “a small city, so we don’t have much diversity,” Juan says. “So, in that case, we started talking about it, and that was a big change for us to be more open,” adding that the team also talked about wanting more women to have careers in technology, after they worked with some customer data during product testing.
“We are starting to see the data here, which prompted us to have different conversations.”
Manager, UI and UX Design at UKG
UKG Software Engineer Darwin echoes Juan’s sentiment about being proud to work on something that has the potential to change the world of work as we know it and create a more equitable future.
“It’s something different, something new,” he says.
But even more so than building innovative software, Darwin appreciates and values the camaraderie the team built working together, especially with this being his first job after secondary school.
“It’s so nice because we learn from others,” he says. “Everyone has diverse ways of doing things, but they all have the time to explain something. I am always learning something new.”
And the world of work will be inspired because of the team’s growth mindset.
“I know we will change the world by putting purpose and belonging at the center of work. As we continue to spread this mission to organizations around the globe with the technology to make it happen, I truly believe we’ll leave a better workplace and world for my grandchildren and yours.”
CEO, Great Place To Work