Latest / Beyond the Paycheck / Lisseth Zouhbi, CHRO at Child Care Resource Center
Transcript
- Kelsey Willock (00:42) Welcome Lisseth Zouhbi CHRO at Child Care Resource Center. We are so beyond excited to have you here today. And to kick us off, I'd love for you to introduce yourself to our audience, share a bit more about your career and background, where you're calling in from, and your current role today. Lisseth Zouhbi (00:59) Thank you, Kelsey, and thank you for the invitation. ⁓ I'm currently based in Los Angeles area. I'm the current Chief Human Resources Officer for Child Care Resource Center. I've been in ⁓ human resources field for about 25 years now. My career predominantly was in luxury hospitality where I spent over two decades. And I'm a co-author of a couple of books and just excited to be here today. Kelsey Willock (01:29) I'm going to already ask you another follow-up question. Can you share a bit more about the books that you've written? Lisseth Zouhbi (01:31) Sure. Yes, ⁓ it's been an honor to participate in these great anthologies. ⁓ The first one is Latinas Rising Up in Human Resources, Executive Edition. So it's a combination of different stories of ⁓ various Latinas across the US in the HR field. And so we get to share a little bit about our background, ⁓ how we got into human resources and get to. share a piece of advice, ⁓ key things that we've learned along our career. ⁓ And the second book is from United Latinas, ⁓ volume three. And ⁓ this one is more general of different stories of different Latinas. Kelsey Willock (02:05) sounds fun. Lisseth Zouhbi (02:18) share a little bit about also our background, any key leadership lesson, ⁓ and I've got some other projects ⁓ that I'm working on as well. So I didn't realize how much I enjoyed writing until I got involved with the first project. Kelsey Willock (02:36) Where can our listeners find your books? Lisseth Zouhbi (02:38) on Amazon. Thank you. Kelsey Willock (02:40) Beautiful. Yes, of course. I want to give a plug, particularly given the majority of our audience, our other CHROs, heads of total rewards, benefits, et cetera. So I think that the books that you mentioned could provide a ton of value to them. So before we dig a bit deeper into your career role now and even the current landscape, I want to get to know you a bit better. So if you'll indulge me, I'd love for you to share with us your earliest memory of money. Lisseth Zouhbi (03:09) Yeah, I think this was when I was a child and on Sundays we would get our allowance and... you know, it was exciting because we're like, you know, you start to feel a sense of independence of, you know, ⁓ earning some money and kind of saving or deciding what you want to do with it. ⁓ So that's kind of my earliest memory of, you know, just sort of that connection and understanding about money and the value of it and sort of the authority to make your decisions. Kelsey Willock (03:43) What was your first job? Do you remember what you did with your first paycheck? Lisseth Zouhbi (03:48) So my very first job I was in high school. As soon as I was able to get my work permit, ⁓ I was a receptionist for a ⁓ veterinary clinic. And that was my very first job. I was in high school. I remember when I got my first paycheck, my mom said, you should just frame that check. And so I did not cash it right away. ⁓ you know, it kind of nostalgic just trying to make the connection and understanding like, wow, I, this is my actual first paycheck and thinking back of, you know, ⁓ what I had to, ⁓ you know, my experience and working and what that meant. and then later I cashed it, you know, ⁓ I don't even remember for what, but it, I didn't cash it right away. Kelsey Willock (04:48) think a lot of folks forget, you know, especially with a check, it doesn't operate similar to cash, but it also does sound like you didn't immediately spend it. So there was something going on that made you want to hold on to it. So it sounds like that's a valuable lesson that you learned. Lisseth Zouhbi (05:06) Yes, you know, and actually thinking back, it was also the experience of opening my own checking account, right? And so I think it was a combination of getting your first check, but also having your first experience going to the bank and opening something that is yours. So I think it was a combination of those two things that, you know, stay with me. And as I look back, it's like, wow, if, you know, Kelsey Willock (05:26) Right. Lisseth Zouhbi (05:37) the trajectory of the work that you have to put in to get to where you're at now. Kelsey Willock (05:44) Right. And one of my favorite questions is, you tell me about a recent embarrassing purchase? Lisseth Zouhbi (05:52) I wouldn't necessarily say it's embarrassing, ⁓ I had to look for a ugly Christmas sweater for my daughter for her recital. And those things have become really popular. And not cheap. And so I'm thinking, okay, she's only going to wear it once because she's not into the ugly Christmas sweater thing. And I'm just like, okay, do I spend the money? Kelsey Willock (06:00) you Lisseth Zouhbi (06:21) Or she's like, maybe I can create my own. And I'm thinking, this season is so busy. I'm thinking, when are you going to have time to actually do that? So I bought the ugly Christmas sweater. And ⁓ this is where I think it's more not an embarrassing purchase, but more thinking of the convenience, right? The convenience of spending the money for something that you're going to need, but not really. sort of long-term sustainable purchase or the convenience of trying to find the things that make your own sweater, not sure if you have the time for it. So think it's more of that concept, not so much embarrassing, but spending the money for convenience, I guess, is a way to look at it. Kelsey Willock (07:12) because I think so many of us forget that our time is so valuable. So if something saves us more time in the end, even if we could have made it at home or could have gotten a bit more crafty, there's a lot of value in that. So thank you for sharing that. So how do you think your money story has influenced how you think about pay and benefits for your employees? Lisseth Zouhbi (07:37) You know, I think it's important to recognize where we are in life, right? And thinking about what is important for you. I remember, you know, because I entered the workforce very young, for me at that time, what was important is I was going to college. So paying for my education, ⁓ tuition, that was important. Then ⁓ as I became a parent, ⁓ insurance for my family. And I know people that are close to retirement age, retirement is important for them. So I think about our employee population, what are the demographics, ⁓ where are they in life, and think about a total reward system that we can offer benefits to support depending on where you are in your life. ⁓ So I look at it from that lens. Kelsey Willock (08:39) It's so important, particularly to have that kind of level of empathy because, you know, especially as senior leaders at companies, it can be so easy to look at folks in terms of numbers, but we know that they are so much more than that. So thank you for sharing that. I think it's a really important piece of context. In terms of the current landscape today, I'm super curious your perspective on where do you think compensation and benefits break down most often today, whether you think it has to do with pay equity, transparency, understanding benefits, or even something else. Lisseth Zouhbi (09:17) I think it's understanding your total benefits, right? And understanding your total compensation. What does that mean? So it's not just your base pay, but understanding what are the other benefits that you're getting that the company is paying for? For example, your retirement plan. you know, what is the employer match or for the insurance? How much is the employer paying for the insurance? So for me, I think a big piece is that employees understand their total compensation and not just the base rate, because if you move employers, maybe it's just for your base pay. But when you look at it, what is your take home paycheck or how much of your benefits are covered or your return on investment. So I think part of it is that education of understanding your total compensation package. Kelsey Willock (10:15) And have you seen any examples or tools and resources that you have implemented to help folks better understand those total rewards? Lisseth Zouhbi (10:24) As a matter of fact, we're currently working towards a total reward strategy, building total reward statement as a starting point. And then we're working towards having some training on that. So we're in the middle of that strategy. Kelsey Willock (10:43) Are you using any external resources or are you building this entirely in-house? Lisseth Zouhbi (10:48) It's a combination we are using. We have workday so we're trying to leverage the programs within workday for the total reward statement, working with some consultants on our compensation piece and then working with our brokers obviously from the benefit piece and trying to put all those elements together. Kelsey Willock (11:10) sounds like lot of stakeholders are involved in that process and I imagine you're the one kind of operating as the glue bringing it all together. Lisseth Zouhbi (11:19) Yes, and you know for me it's important that ⁓ the employees understand it from their point of view, their perspective in terms of again the total compensation package, but then also providing the tools and resources for managers to be able to explain that to their team. ⁓ Because it's important too that the leaders are equipped in understanding What does compensation mean? What does a salary create mean? How do you explain retirement plan or benefits? Not that they should be subject matter experts in that, but I think basic fundamental tools and knowledge so that they can also share that with their employees and troubleshoot some questions. Kelsey Willock (12:02) Right. I'm going to double click on that because I think that this is a huge topic that we see come up so oftentimes, particularly in conversations like these. Have you seen resources help support those senior leaders and managers better communicate understanding to rewards to their employees? Lisseth Zouhbi (12:20) ⁓ Specific tools, not yet because we are, because it's a project that we're currently working on. You know, we're sort of trying to do that analysis ⁓ and put together some different tools and formats so that then we can present it back to the leaders. we're doing our own internal Kelsey Willock (12:33) Mm-hmm. Lisseth Zouhbi (12:49) research on this project right now. But, you know, separate from your HR, as platforms, you know, some of them may have apps, or even with the brokers. So for me, it's a combination of utilizing the different tools that we have available to put a comprehensive package and tools with training for our employees and our leaders. Kelsey Willock (13:18) That's great. So now I kind of want to shift into talking about more so benefits. I'd love to hear if there has been a new tool, a benefit or a change that you've enacted that has moved from attracting talent to really transforming the lives of individuals. It sounds like you're already doing so, particularly with that total reward statement. Has there been anything else that you've introduced? Lisseth Zouhbi (13:46) ⁓ you know, we've been looking at our compensation to be competitive. We're in the nonprofit space, but we're also a very large organization nonprofit. ⁓ so part of the project that we're working on is also looking at the compensation to be competitive in the market. so that's been very important as the organization has grown over the last three or four years almost doubled in size. ⁓ And so that has been top of mind. ⁓ And also, you know, trying to not only be competitive in the market, but looking also what's happening, you know, with inflation to make sure that we are still supporting our employees as much as we can. Kelsey Willock (14:37) And was there a measurable impact as you, you know, sought to raise the wages of employees? I know it sounds like maybe an obvious question, but what I'm really trying to get at is what's the impact you are looking for, whether it's higher levels of engagement, higher levels of retention, better equity. Lisseth Zouhbi (14:56) So it's a combination of things. We're looking at our turnover. We have a really low turnover, which is great, below industry average. Pay equity is always top of mind. So every time we do promotions or bring new people in, or as we look at our pay scale, internal equity is top of mind. And we do do that analysis. And also we've attracted talent outside of the nonprofit industry because we've been competitive in our total compensation. Kelsey Willock (15:29) That's great. What compensation and benefits trends do you think will shape the employee experience most in the next year? Lisseth Zouhbi (15:39) ⁓ I think it's a combination of also wellness initiatives and ⁓ not just your health wellness, but also the financial wellness. ⁓ So I'm hearing that a little bit more. And I think part of this also is tied to the education piece and the resources. So we have great partnerships with our ⁓ broker and ⁓ we're able to do monthly webinars. And it's a combination of wellness in terms of the health, but also financial ⁓ wellness and additional resources to help people understand more about financial wellness and how to leverage like their retirement plan or investments. And so I think it's not just the health piece, but also the financial wellness and giving those tools and resources to the employees because it means different things to everybody. And I think if you look at the lens of a truly multi-generational workforce and trying to look at benefits, ⁓ not just from one lens. but looking at it what's important across the different generations and as much as possible trying to provide options so that it's important the employees can value what they have and they can choose, you know, if they enroll in this plan or they're on that plan to best meet their needs of where they are in their life. Kelsey Willock (17:22) I love that you mentioned financial well-being because I so often see it as a missing piece of holistic well-being routine. It's not just physical and it's not just mental. It's also that financial component that can lead to so many things like stress and anxiety. It's not just what we do with our money. It's how we feel about it. So I love that you brought that up. Lisseth Zouhbi (17:30) and this is how the side heat filter comes out of the engine compartment. and we'll catch you guys later. Exactly. Kelsey Willock (17:43) I'd be super curious, are there themes you're noticing in terms of the difference between the younger generations and older generations, particularly as it pertains to financial well-being? Lisseth Zouhbi (17:59) I think they're starting to be more conscious and understanding ⁓ sort of the investment piece. ⁓ I still think there's an opportunity for more education to help better prepare them ⁓ for their future and planning for their future. ⁓ But I do think ⁓ there is more interest in understanding that. ⁓ Kelsey Willock (18:29) This is one of my favorite also questions. What's a 30 day experiment you believe our listeners could try to boost their financial well-being? Lisseth Zouhbi (18:38) tracking your expenses, right? And then reflecting back and assessing, is this an expense that brings value to me or to my family? ⁓ And then deciding, you know, if any, what changes do you want to make in thinking about what's important for your future? Kelsey Willock (19:02) I love that example. It's how do you have that mindfulness around how do you save, spend, and invest your paycheck? We also often forget, or we give ourselves a hard time for doing certain actions with money, but it's a lot harder to just sit down and think through it and put pen to paper. So it's a really tangible example I think our listeners can take away. You had mentioned pay equity is really important to the company. What kind of data or tools are you using to help measure and improve pay equity? Lisseth Zouhbi (19:37) Obviously, we do internal analysis based on our internal data. We also look at external compensation data to make sure we're comparing ⁓ based on what we see in the market. So it's a combination of using our internal data and external resources and then doing the analysis from there. Kelsey Willock (20:02) ⁓ That's, would say, noticing it's quite common that we're not just leaning on external resources. It's a combination of what kind of data we have internally mixed with what kind of market research we can pull into play. ⁓ It's been fabulous speaking with you. And I think that a lot of folks are going to probably want to reach out to you, particularly to learn more about the books that you've written. What's the best way that our listeners can connect with you post this conversation? Lisseth Zouhbi (20:27) Thank you. Yes, I'm happy to connect on LinkedIn and feel free to reach out. But I appreciate the time, Kelsey, and it was great connecting with you as well. Kelsey Willock (20:41) It was wonderful connecting with you. Some of the key takeaways that I had from our conversation were, you know, your powerful statement around how do we help better. understand total compensation. And it doesn't need to be complex. It can be things like building a total reward statement for your employees so they can better understand the value they're receiving from their employers. And I also love that you had mentioned your book, Latina's Rising Up in HR, particularly. So for anyone that hasn't read the book, it is available anywhere, particularly on Amazon. So please go check it out. And thank you so, much for the conversation today. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. Lisseth Zouhbi (21:21) Thank you, you too.