Katy Shields:<\/strong> Our whole lives have been turned upside down so I\u2019ve grown to embrace flexibility. We need to provide more choice for employees around how they engage and how they can be more productive. I believe in a higher ownership culture and so does DoorDash, so I think if you start assuming that people know what\u2019s best for them and you trust them to do the job, you\u2019ll have better outcomes. We trust people to work in the way that\u2019s going to be best for them. I think the future is absolutely flexible when it comes to work and I do think that in-person collaboration matters \u2013 we\u2019re going to curate moments that matter in person to drive that connectivity to our mission, our vision and our people.<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> As you think about employees, how have their expectations changed over time?<\/p>\n KS: I think employees look for more from their employers than they did perhaps five, 10 or 15 years ago, and I think that\u2019s really healthy. This younger generation, especially, wants cultural alignment between their values and the company\u2019s values. Companies have to be really selective about what the company stands for and it needs to be really authentic.<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> How do you think \u201cplace\u201d supports the value of face-to-face collaboration at DoorDash?<\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> I think it\u2019s unique to every person on a day-to-day basis. But when you think about those curated moments that matter, it\u2019s about putting people into a place that makes them feel comfortable, valued and evokes an emotion. That idea informed a lot of our thoughts when it came to designing DoorDash\u2019s offices. How do we enhance creativity? How do we provide space for community? How do we provide those \u201crun-ins\u201d in the hallway that can be really meaningful? One thing we learned is we need to listen to employees. We send out a quarterly survey that asks about our people\u2019s direct experience as an employee. What we hear from people is that physical space matters, but primarily for those \u201caha moments\u201d that matter \u2013 those curated experiences.<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> How has your office changed to meet that?<\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> We\u2019ve been redesigning our spaces to listen to our employees. Seventy-five percent say they want to come in for those big meetings, or social events. So that meant we needed fewer dedicated desks. We needed a better mix of small and big conference rooms. We needed casual places for people to get together. We\u2019re also rooted in the communities where we\u2019re located. For instance, in San Francisco, we have dedicated floors that represent moments that matter to San Francisco. The design and flow of the office evokes this feeling of jazz which is aligned with the character of the city.<\/p>\n We wanted people to feel comfortable and alive, so you have to ask yourself: how do you design for that?<\/p>Katy Shields DoorDash <\/span><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n TB: <\/strong>As an HR leader, what are the issues that are top of mind for you right now?<\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Burnout is a very real issue across the industry \u2013 especially for those of us in hyper growth organizations. People are tired of the pandemic and are feeling some pressure financially because of inflation and the economy. My advice to leaders during this time of uncertainty is to lead from the front, and stay rooted in building for your customer \u2013 which is your team and the broader employee base. When things feel hectic or out of control, make sure you are in front of your organization, centering your team on the vast number of things we do have control over. How we serve our customers, how we build our business, how we treat each other, the culture that we build. There are the known unknowns, and there\u2019s what we know to be true. Identify those things, then be a chief repeating officer \u2013 hitting the street, connecting with people and making yourself available to them.<\/p>\n TB: <\/strong>You say leaders should talk to their teams repetitively. What does that mean?<\/p>\n KS:<\/strong>It\u2019s about staying close to your team as a servant leader. We\u2019re here to make sure our teams have what they need to be successful. One way I can do that is help build for their unique needs. Not what I think is best, but through listening to our team and designing solutions that will meet their needs. Another area I make top of mind is setting a fast pace of execution and celebrating progress \u2013\u2013 doubling down on the daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly wins. Positive reinforcement drives momentum. Even small wins have huge compounding effects over time. TB: <\/strong>How has the role of HR changed in the past few years?<\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> HR leaders are driving more of how the company operates \u2013 not just HR programs and policies. We\u2019re conduits between the organization and our people. HR is one of the only teams that touches the employee life cycle when it matters most \u2013 when you\u2019re thinking about joining a company, your first impression, onboarding, promotions, rewards, good and bad experiences \u2013 there\u2019s HR. We get to shape that employee experience and be conduits across the company to relay those insights and to foster our culture in the right way. I believe a big part of that is understanding that place matters. My advice is: be intentional with why you\u2019re building a physical space. When asking people to come into the office, that bar should be very high \u2013 it\u2019s not enough to just check a box. It should be for those curated moments that matter.<\/p>\n DoorDash\u2019s People Organization leader talks about how intentional design can foster community, connection, collaboration and shape a better employee experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":748370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"topic":[47679],"class_list":["post-748365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","industry-workplace","topic-culture-talent"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"DoorDash\"](\"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/c_limit,dpr_auto,q_70,h_1024,w_1024\/v1658768748\/22-0181955.jpg\")
![\"DoorDash](\"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/c_limit,dpr_auto,q_70,h_1024,w_1024\/v1658768274\/22-0181953.jpg\")
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n![\"Katy](\"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/c_fill,dpr_auto,q_70,h_185,w_185\/v1658769163\/22-0181954.jpg\")
Katy Shields leads the People Organization at DoorDash, where she reports to the CEO and sits on the company’s executive Management Team. Katy oversees DoorDash’s culture and belonging, HR, recruiting, people analytics, talent management and total rewards, global expansion, and People Operations functions. Before joining DoorDash, she spent six years at VSCO, serving as the Chief People Officer and on the company’s executive leadership team. Previously, Katy worked at Google, building teams and launching moonshots at Google X, like Waymo, Loon, Google Glass, and also at Qualcomm, across several HR functions. Katy earned her B.S. in Business Administration from San Diego State University and lives in San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"