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Adrian J. Hopkins made the move to HR because he saw a problem that needed to be solved. Working for the New York Times’s T Brand Studio, Hopkins saw a “massive need for more professional development support” for his team, so he pitched an employee mentorship program to HR. Six years later, he’s now leading internal culture and communications at Grey, an NYC ad agency. To him, internal comms serves workplace connectivity, enabling employees to see how their work relates to the company’s mission and to understand company leadership’s priorities and vision.
How would you describe your specific job to someone who doesn’t work in HR?
The role of internal culture and communications is all about content and experiences that help employees, one, have consistent reinforcement of the company’s strategic vision and operational goals and, two, feel connected to each other across functions.
How do you see internal communications as a tool to drive workplace culture and further a company’s HR business goals?
Cultures thrive when there is trust—and consistent, clear communication builds trust. So, as our HR team identifies their goals for a new calendar year, I plan to keep a close partnership with them to brainstorm and execute communication tactics that resonate best for a team of creative employees. As a matter of fact, one thing I’m excited to do in this new role is learn from colleagues on our account teams about how they bring new ideas, year after year, to our long-standing clients, and see if we can borrow any of those methods internally to take fresh approaches to annual processes like performance management and employee engagement surveys.
What’s the best change you’ve made at a place you’ve worked?
As part of the talent development team at the New York Times, I led the launch and growth of the company’s first global employee mentorship program. Over three years, I grew the program from a single pilot in one department to a total of 455 employees in 19 countries, with participants having higher promotion rates and lower turnover rates than [the] general employee population. Additionally, people of color in the program were promoted at [a more than] 14% higher rate than those in the general population.
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What’s the biggest misconception people might have about your job?
That the work of internal comms is easy, but the reality is that even publishing something as seemingly simple as a company newsletter requires strategy, an understanding of team dynamics, and the ability to run a small-scale editorial operation.
What’s the most fulfilling aspect of your job?
The highest ambition of internal culture and communications is to increase employee engagement and retention, so I’ve been most fulfilled when colleagues tell me that they’re more excited about the company because they got an opportunity to connect deeply with someone on a different team via a program or event that my team designed, or when they share that a senior leader is more approachable than they thought because of intimate conversation that my team hosted.
What trend in HR are you most optimistic about? Why?
The increase in compensation, or at least executive support, for employee resource group leaders. I can personally attest that becoming an ERG leader at the Times allowed me to pivot my career, and despite the fact that I wasn’t paid, having regular access to executives that allowed me to shape key initiatives like the company’s first diversity report was priceless.
What trend in HR are you least optimistic about? Why?
Recession fears shrinking or eliminating commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion. In recent months, I’ve seen coverage [about] DE&I-focused teams being particularly impacted by tech layoffs and related initiatives being stalled or shuttered across industries. While I understand the instinct to look for “costs” to cut, I also think that viewing efforts to cultivate a healthy workforce as just another line item makes it easy to retreat to old biases. What feels like “safe” decisions now might ultimately work against companies when the next generation of talent sizes up who’s serious about DE&I as they seek career opportunities.
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