Author: Samantha Holland

“I discovered that the people in my GenderSmart circle are just like me, in one way or another. We’re all trying to make the world fair and equitable, just in different ways.” Bibi Gertrude Annoh Quarshie, Director of Operations, African Women’s Development Fund

Financial systems engage with and benefit men and women differently– particularly women of color. That’s why the GenderSmart community works to bring gender balance into finance, in terms of who makes investment decisions, and who gets investment.

Hoping to spark real and lasting global change, GenderSmart works to educate and network senior investment professionals, fostering innovation and collaboration in service of a more equitable world.

What began as a community of 300 investors four years ago has grown to 2,500 women and men across 50 countries, representing the climate crisis, education, health, and human rights. GenderSmart’s next chapter is an upcoming merger with 2x Collaborative: in January 2023, the two organizations will become 2X Global.

Fresh off their 2022 annual Summit, we caught up with co-founder Suzanne Biegel and Head of Programs Stella McKenna to learn how Circles has played a significant role in their community.

Can you share more about GenderSmart’s mission and values?

Suzanne: Our mission is convening people and connecting them together, to build relationships, increase their capacity for investing work, advance their practices and standards, and expand their imaginations.

GenderSmart is collaborative and values-driven. We try to be intentional with who’s in the room–they really need to have a mindset that is committed to this issue, thinking about not only their own organization and progress, but also advancing as a field.

Our team works very hard to create a safe space to connect as humans. We want people to feel like they have a place to commiserate, celebrate one another, and learn from each other–and also identify what’s not working. We work hard to think about where people are coming from and what the next step in their journey could be–to meet people where they are and push them a little bit further.

When so much of the world went virtual–is that when Circles came into the picture?

Suzanne: After Covid happened, we quickly learned how to flip to a virtual organization. I had experienced Circles as a participant as an Aspen Fellow, and brought it to the GenderSmart team because it’s an exciting approach and technology–I thought it could be a really important part of what we do.

For 2022, we planned three months of virtual programming consisting of formal sessions and expert hours, and we added the Circles component so people could connect in a different way and allow for more peer-to-peer sharing.

Stella: I was struck by how Suzanne described the impact of her Circles experience. We had all been online for 18 months at that point, and while people were getting creative on Zoom, Suzanne went through Circles and felt like it offered a next-level connection experience. In a world where people had lots of different virtual communities pulling them in, circles felt like an opportunity to really engage our community in a different way, and deepen those peer-to-peer connections.

Our hypothesis was that if we planned a content-heavy program and ran Circles alongside it so people connected with their peers, those elements would enrich one another, and people would increase their committment.

“It was a humbling experience because we shared challenges, difficulties and struggles, and everyone was honest about who they are and how they do their business.” Cecile Sevrain, Co-founder and Impact & Sustainability Warrior at TIIME – advisor, trainer and public speaker, France

How has Circles helped your community connect and grow?

Stella: We sorted members into groups based on their level of experience, and it really allowed for peer-to-peer connection. In the future, we’d like to try sorting the groups in different ways–thematically, geographically etc.

Suzanne: People just love the platform–how it makes them feel, the way more voices get heard. There’s just something about it that’s really special. 

Stella: I think something that potentially connects a group of people virtually and also in person is amazing. We trained facilitators to run the circles, and I contacted them before our in-person Summit to let them know which members of their circles would be in attendance, so they could also connect in person. 

When I spoke with GenderSmart members who went through Circles, the number one theme that stood out to me was that they felt like they weren’t alone. They really felt the connection was on a human level.

Stella: Yes. One of the standout moments of my year happened in a circle I facilitated. Someone who was a pretty active part of the GenderSmart community, and who I perceive as a well-connected person in the field, said “I’m very much still the gender nerd in the corner. In my organization, people either want something from me–because they’ve been told that they need to think about gender in their process–or they dismiss me as unimportant.”

Participating in circles was a chance for her to be around a table where she didn’t have to justify commitment to gender–everyone was already committed. It was a really good reminder to me that she still really needs that, even as someone who does this every day and is committed and making things happen.

“Sometimes at GenderSmart, we are peers but also competitors. In circles, those barriers come down” Luis Marquez, Director of Advisory Services / Gender Lens Investing, Maputo, Mozambique

I know you said your Summit was a huge success, and I’m so glad–the work you’re doing is so important, to me personally and the entire Circles team. What’s your vision for the future of your community?

Suzanne: First, we’re very much about building the capacity of the sector by connecting people with their peers. Second, we want to advance the standards and practices within the field. Third, to influence the broader market–and to get people seeing that this is just smart investing. We want to influence the financial system overall.

One important component are these communities of practice that are coming together. They will be fundamentally virtual, so using technology as a part of the solution is important. People really love to convene in person, but it’s not practical–we had people from 44 countries at the Summit.

Despite what’s going on in the economy and gender setbacks, at GenderSmart we’re very clear on what our role is in the world.

At Circles, we’re honored to connect and grow communities like GenderSmart. Learn more about the incredible work they’re doing in the world here.

There’s been a lot of buzz about resilience as an essential quality during setbacks. When the topic came up in a slack channel recently, one colleague shared that they recently stopped using the word altogether: in their experience, expecting resilience invalidates pain and lived experience by suggesting that people simply persevere.

Indeed, the internet defines resilience as “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness,” a lofty ideal loaded with assumptions and probably blind to privilege. Likewise, a recent Forbes article suggests “know that you can adopt specific mind shifts to help create your best career year yet—and make the rest of your life pretty great, too,” placing the onus squarely on the individual.

Sure, there’s always that one annoying person sailing through life completely nonplussed, but often if you dig deeper, resilience (or lack thereof) flows from a combination of someone’s temperament, upbringing, life experience, cultural background, intersectionality, trauma, marginalization, and a whole host of other factors that attribute to a human’s capacity for “toughness”. If workplace resilience connotes bootstrapping–using every resource you have available–and not everyone has the same resources available, is it equitable to expect the same level of resilience out of everyone?

What if instead of tossing out the word resilience altogether, we brainstormed how to make workplace resilience a community effort, attainable for everyone?

A Tale of Resilience: Pretend We’re All Houseplants

Two new leaves just emerged from the top of my fiddle-leaf-fig, which is only significant if you understand the plant’s journey over the past few years.

I don’t remember when or how I brought said plant into my home, but after a cursory search on “how to care for a Ficus Lyrata“ I potted it, parked it near a front window, and watered it once a week per instructions. Which didn’t work for my plant. Which puzzled me.

Adding to my confusion were my other plants that thrive no matter what: over watered, under watered, near a window, in a dark room: it doesn’t matter, some plants just grow.

After months of struggle, I decided to move the fiddle-fig to the opposite side of our house, next to my desk which faces a bay window. I started researching what else the plant might need to thrive.

Years later, the thriving plant has remarkably grown several feet. 

A combination of the following allowed my plant to experience resilience, and these elements just might work for humans at work, too:

• Space. The plant was crowded into a small pot and rootbound, so I repotted it into a much larger one, giving its roots room to grow. Is there mutual space for employees in your workplace to learn, share, listen and grow?
• Communication. Yeah, I talked to my plant. I also listened to it by noticing its failure to thrive, and responded by trying something new. One of our customers, Glassdoor, holds space for communication by hosting circles where employees can process together during crises. How is your workplace fostering communication between employees? For example: does everyone have the opportunity to gather together and process during a significant world event?
• Community. I put another plant next to the fiddle fig so their leaves could touch. According to Psychology Today, one way to practice resilience is to build social connections. Does your workplace offer regular touchpoints for small groups of employees?
• Individuality. Even though the internet instructions recommended treating this plant species a certain way, that didn’t work for my plant. Not every plant in the same species needs the same thing, and the same goes for people; in fact, companies can ensure inclusive teams by celebrating individual differences. Are employees in your workplace valued as complex individuals with a unique story?
• Wellness. My plant responded well to customized fertilizer. Does every individual in an organization have their whole-person healthcare needs met?
• Protection. Bugs tried taking up residence in my plant’s soil, until I purchased miniature sticky traps and planted them in the pot. For some, remote work may be the safeguard they need. “People of Color and underrepresented communities have benefitted from remote work arrangements. One of the reasons is that many have not had to cope with the prevalence of microaggressions, which are subtle forms of discrimination, in the workplace” What safeguards are in place for employees experiencing harassment, marginalization, or micro-aggressions?
• Native Environment. I learned house plants thrive when they experience their native environment. Since mine should be in a tropical rainforest, I began misting it with water and occasionally grabbing the tip of one of its leaves and swaying it back-and-forth, as if a breeze were blowing through. At Circles, we’ve been gathering in cross-cultural and functional circles, to learn each others’ stories and deepen our connections. Is there space in your organization to periodically learn, share and understand each other’s backgrounds?

There’s no getting around it: with both plants and people, in times of dramatic change, resilience makes all the difference.

Do you want a workplace filled with resilient employees? Be prepared to roll up your sleeves and get it in the dirt. Instead of hiring for, prescribing, or weaponizing resilience, try nurturing the soil of your organization’s garden, so that everyone planted there can flourish.

Rather than making resilience an unmitigated, autonomous expectation, let’s work together to create spaces promoting community resilience for everyone.

Amidst slashed budgets and tightened purse strings, Learning & Development and onboarding professionals search for ways to continue supporting and developing their teams. Now more than ever, modern workplace teams–local, hybrid and distributed–need innovative ways to connect and grow so they can effectively collaborate. 

That’s why over the past six years, we’ve built a company focused on bringing inclusive spaces to organizations. Distinct from tactical work, circles often surface the most critical team challenges–things that might otherwise be left unsaid. 

Great leaders know that effective teaming involves more than getting work done. It’s about connection and belonging first. To foster deep ties, they carve out time to create psychological safety, layer in accountability, and fuel shared purpose.

Psychological Safety

Safe spaces in the corporate world are crucial and hard to come by. When psychological safety is present, it provides a level of trust inviting vulnerable interactions without fear of punishment or rejection.

When there’s a breach in psychological safety, LeaderFactor research shows it takes a significant toll on employees:

80% lost time worrying about an incident that occurred.

63% lost time avoiding the offender.

78% said their commitment to the organization declined.

That’s why safety is a key Circl.es value–and a reported outcome from our participants. When colleagues feel safe with one another, trust grows, and they collaborate more effectively as a result.

“The deep, intimate discussion in circles hits home. I never feel like anyone is trying to fix me; it’s a safe space.” Todd Rivard, DuPont

Accountability

Circles are designed to function as creative, agile, small groups, not the kind where subordinates follow orders. Every time a participant opens up with a transparent share, it sets the conversational tone–especially if that person has a leadership role in the organization. Vulnerable team interactions remind participants of their common humanity. Standing on that foundation of trust, teams then experience the freedom to grow together, holding each other accountable for that growth. 

“It’s a safe space where people are peers and there’s accountability. I don’t think that type of candor happens naturally in other spaces. Peers should feel empowered to hold their peers accountable to the growth they say they want to see in themselves.” Jasmine Cumberland, JumpCrew

Fuel Shared Purpose

Employees long to feel that their work impacts the organization in a meaningful way.  The day-to-day weeds of a team’s tactical work can leave little room to feel a sense of belonging to something larger, or to have the kind of perspective that can provide a feeling of impact.

When teams get “tuned”, teammates meet on common ground, rooting their conversation in what binds them, while uncovering what’s coming between them.  Great leaders know how to shine the light on commonalities and a shared vision for their collaboration.

Providing spaces like circles will likely help develop and retain employees: McKinsey’s July 2022 report on the great attrition suggests “organizations can make jobs “sticky” by investing in more meaning, more belonging, and stronger team and other relational ties.”

Outcomes

Safety, accountability and shared purpose in circles builds better and better teamwork over time. It’s the X-factor you just can’t get through project management software, another Slack thread or a trip to the ropes course (as valuable as those tools may be).

Because we know this type of high-quality collaboration is in demand, you’re invited to a free demo of tuning your teams today.

My name means “listener” in Hebrew, and I like to think I’m good at it; in fact, I once confidently named a podcast I hosted Listener.

But occasionally my own husband hints that I’m not listening well, and I think I know what he means. Curious might describe me better than Listener –I’m interested enough to pay attention to someone for a while, especially if we just met. Then I get bored when my curiosity is satiated, which is likely what my husband experiences–did I mention we’ve been married 20 years?

My husband isn’t boring–in fact, our ability to converse at length is one of the reasons we married; more likely I’m an out-of-practice listener with the attention span of an Instagram reel.

The most effective listening doesn’t involve curiosity about someone, consuming the most interesting things about them and moving on. That’s self-centered. True listening takes a concentration of will, and a posture oriented entirely towards another person–a selfless act.

A History of Self-Centered Listening

It’s no wonder we often engage in self-centered listening. Consider these popular quotes:

“An appreciative listener is always stimulating” –Agatha Christie (Thanks for listening, I’m stimulated)

“Most of the successful people I know are the ones who do more listening than talking”– Bernard Baruch (I’m listening so I can become more successful)

“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” –Ernest Hemingway (I’m listening to learn)

These quotes are examples of comprehensive, critical and appreciative listening. Listening as a way to entertain or better oneself isn’t wrong per se, but it isn’t focused on the person speaking, either. By contrast, empathetic listening means listening entirely for the speaker’s sake, and active listening falls under empathetic listening. 

A Refresher on Empathetic Listening
Frances Kraft of The Aspen Institute’s Weave The People describes a Circl.es virtual small group she regularly attends as a place where people “Listen to understand, not to respond,” a classic Stephen Covey idea. The Circl.es experience honed their active listening skills: after initially gathering four times with a set of pre-made agendas, her group has continued meeting in Circl.es for over a year now, building up enough trust to really see each other and mirror back to one another who they are. Frances admits she doesn’t always feel like attending–they often meet in the evening after work, when energies wane. But she’s always glad she did, because it’s a forced slow-down, a chance to tend to one another. “Circle is so simple, but it can change your life. We are attracting people who want to be relational, not transactional.” When others feel listened to, they lean into being vulnerable and trusting others. From there, learning and growing become more possible.

So what does it take to develop into an others-centered, empathetic, active listener? To listen to someone for their sake–not mine? Let’s review a few key elements:

1. Focus on the speaker instead of your own thoughts. Incredibly hard to do. I typically want to mentally run down the rabbit trail that opened up in my brain based on something interesting you said. It takes practice to constantly recenter one’s mind onto the speaker.

2. Make eye contact and lean in. This is the first thing I try to do now when someone speaks to me: I stop unloading the dishwasher and look the teenager in the eye (or rather look at their phone, because they’re showing me another meme).

3. Avoid distractions and multitasking. Speaking of teens, I’m amazed that mine rarely misplace their phones. I’m also dismayed, because I know the reason they don’t lose their phones is the same reason I never misplace mine–because I’m always gazing at it. Truly listening means putting down my newspaper phone.

4. Set aside your points of view. In a culture of problem-solving achievers, this may be the most common barrier of all. Just because you think about it, read about it, are an expert in it or have your own story about it doesn’t mean you should share it. Read that sentence again.

Listening to Change Your Relationships, Workplace, World

In the end, by truly employing others-centered listening, you will reap benefits, in your relationships, workplace teams and society at large. It’s a practice in mutuality to become good listeners: everyone wins.

And I expect we could all use a good listener right now, several years into a pandemic in an increasingly polarized society. In the workplace–virtually or otherwise–listening proves paramount: one recent organizational psychology & behavior study confirms that “Listening is associated with, and a likely cause of desired organizational outcomes in numerous areas, including job performance, leadership, quality of relationships (e.g., trust), job knowledge, job attitudes, and well-being.” Online spaces that promote empathetic listening are the HR opportunity of the moment.

For many, work now includes a hybrid of a couple begrudging days in the office before retreating back to our home office wearing yesterday’s athleisure. That forced home office grind might explain how I forgot how to listen to my husband–we’ve worked from home together for two years straight and counting, which is a privilege, and also familiarity breeds contempt. With all the blurred lines between home/office, colleague/family member, it’s no wonder a listening tune-up is in order.

So next time someone stops by your cubicle (in my case, the child currently hovering behind my desk), practice empathetic listening by looking them in the eye. Focus on what they say and not your own thoughts. Resist the urge to check Twitter or Slack. Trust that small actions add up to large-scale transformation.

It just might change the world.

Remote Sales Manager: Jasmine Cumberland

“Circles helps me build bonds and network with my colleagues, while showing my leadership capabilities. When JumpCrew needed a sales manager, I didn’t even apply–they came and offered me the job.”

In March 2021, Jasmine Cumberland started at JumpCrew as a fully-remote Sales Representative. To expand her relationships, she signed up for one of the organization’s “New Hire 101 Circles”–a facilitated group of 6-8 colleagues gathering regularly to connect and grow. The focus of the circles is to rally new hires on three leadership principles: vulnerability, remote leadership and preventing burnout. “It’s hard for a remote worker to create bonds beyond the few I’m directly working with–before circles, I felt like I didn’t know anyone else in the company. Now I can reach out to someone if I’m having an issue.”

Gone is the classic office culture many enjoyed pre-pandemic: the new world of hybrid work tends to isolate and disconnect employees. Jasmine misses the office camaraderie: “Previous in-person jobs felt like a work family. The first time I went into the JumpCrew office to visit, people from my circle ran up and hugged me just as emphatically as an in-office team would–which is such a testament to the relationships that are built in the Circles space.”

Jasmine became a team lead in June 2021. By November, she’d been tapped for a management position.

She attributes her fast-tracked promotions to Circles, which not only connected her with colleagues, but also served as a catalyst for her career path in the company. 

JumpCrew Founder: David Pachter

David Pachter never liked the idea of people working from home. The leader of JumpCrew–an outsourced marketing and sales firm out of Nashville–Pachter wanted employees in the office, “feeding off each others’ energy and held accountable for key performance indicators.” 

But in March 2020, the pandemic hit, forever altering the world and the way people work. JumpCrew initially lost clients and cash flow, but by the end of 2020, morale was high and they were hiring again. In his book Remote Leadership, Pachter attributes that resiliency in part to peer learning in circles. “By the time the world changed, we had already built a culture that prepared our leaders to spearhead that change in a way that was mindful, connected, vulnerable, and transparent.”

“Circles has been a vital part not only of the success of JumpCrew, but also of most of the leaders of the company”

Today, Circles aren’t mandatory for JumpCrew employees, but a compelling intro video from Pachter so highly endorses them that the majority of employees join. As Pachter shares in the promo video: “If you’re on time and participate in all your circles, the data suggests you’ll be much more likely to achieve more at JumpCrew than your peers who don’t. You’ll be more prepared to lead, and have gained the trust of peers who may be in a position to actually recognize you, to help you level up.”

Director of Learning & Development: Jarvis Henderson

“I’m a firm believer that true growth happens in the context of relationships. Circles help employees engage in a safe space, creating a sense of belonging.”

When Jarvis Hederson joined JumpCrew in 2022, the company already relied heavily on Circles for onboarding and career path systems. As Director of Learning & Development, he’s leading his team in relaunching and expanding circles. “We’re exploring ways to expand Circles and connect employees in new ways–through themes and affinity groups.”

Jarvis and Jasmine meet regularly to collaborate on enhancing JumpCrew’s thriving company culture. As Jasmine shared: “We already have a culture crew, which is essentially a committee that sets events like icebreakers, happy hours and talent shows–I’m excited to expand circles into Employee Resource Groups.”

At a time when organizational leaders are scrambling to retain talent and keep employees engaged, Jarvis is counting on Circles for both. “I personally feel like Circles is going to help with attrition numbers. People are going to feel comfortable and a part of the culture. It’s the feel-good side of what’s needed to create moments.”

Chief People Officer: Dan George

JumpCrew’s biggest people challenge matches those of the greater market: shrinking their 90-day turnover. When Dan George joined JumpCrew as Chief People Officer earlier this year, he immediately saw the value in the company’s seamlessly integrated Circles experiences. “Statistically, those participating in circles have a significantly longer tenure than those that don’t.” He sees a twofold purpose behind circles: continuing to build JumpCrew’s leadership bench while keeping employees connected.

“Having worked in human capital for years, it was easy for me to see the specialized nuance Circl.es provides, enabling our teammates to connect, learn, reflect, and grow into high-performing people we need.”

Onsite Sales Manager: Amber Gold

“Circles opened my eyes to the fact that my colleagues are people first, and then professionals. I’ve worked in enterprise companies and in large school systems; until Circles, I hadn’t encountered space in a professional environment to share vulnerably.”

Transplanting cities to start a new job can be a lonely experience. That’s why when Amber Gold reported to the Nashville JumpCrew office, she said yes to every social invite–including joining a new hire circle. She wanted to meet as many new people as possible.Through circles, Amber discovered colleagues at various organizational levels experiencing many of the same challenges she was going through, normalizing her acclimation. ““It’s just nice to find a common group of people to share with, not to give advice. I always left my circle knowing I wasn’t the only one facing certain challenges.”

“When I think about the six people who were in my original circle at JumpCrew, four out of six of us are still here. And we met during the wild ride of the pandemic.” Amber Gold

She says circles gave her visibility into other departments, a space to share experiences and challenges, and access to peer mentors–something she didn’t even know to ask for. “The person who is now president was in a circle with me 3.5 years ago, so we’ve grown in our careers together. We were initially sorted into a circle together simply based on our calendar availability.” 

Today, Amber facilitates circles for new hires. “I want them to feel welcome and accepted like I did. People cry sometimes. They say they leave their circle feeling so much better and they look forward to work again. It’s like group therapy.” Circles allows employees to immediately express themselves, grow, and connect with people they wouldn’t normally connect with. “I get to watch the lightbulbs going on as they are able to not only look at the challenge from the seat they’re sitting in, but to think about the challenge the person above them is facing. How would you handle it if you were already in that next seat up?”

“I contribute a lot of my professional growth to Circles–I’m so thankful to have grown from a sales rep into a director, and from a participant into a facilitator.”

Connect & Grow Employees Across an Organization

Circles transforms every level of an organization. From Chief People Officers to brand new Sales Representatives–fully remote or at the home office–everyone experiences the value of connecting and growing employees in Circles.

How might Circles help you level up your organizational culture? Contact us for a free demo today!

“Circles fill a different need depending on the employee. What do you need and what space does circles fill within that need?”

 Jasmine Cumberland

Just when it seemed the great resignation was in the rearview mirror, quiet quitting swooped in to dominate corporate headlines. Hybrid workspaces are here to stay and bring their own set of challenges, like employee loneliness and lack of connection. All this to say, talent retention and employee engagement remain top-of-mind for HR leaders, maybe more now than ever.

Many of us want to work remotely–but does the resulting distance prohibit thriving? Accordingly, leaders scramble for systems and structures to mitigate turnover and maintain employee connectivity.

Our own community of practice continues to innovate strategies to help employees connect and grow. Fresh from the field, here are six paths to actively fostering employee engagement:

1. Connect Employees Before They’re Hired

One consulting company drives engagement even before hiring, grouping recruits into collaborative circles. Prospects join a customized experience of discussion-based workshops, involving open-ended problem solving guided by facilitators. Adding recruiting circles to their collaborative company culture helps employees develop relationships early–and on a global scale.

2. Create Community Once They’re on Board

Every month, Weave: The Social Fabric Project at the Aspen Institute offers new and existing members an opportunity to sign up for a circle during onboarding. Weavers in circles report a sense of belonging in the community, and they’re more likely to reach out to others and engage in virtual discussions. Some circles continue meeting even after working through the initial onboarding agendas. Community Manager Frances Kraft shares: “When you have a good facilitator who sets the tone and the participants settle upon agreements together, people slow down and listen – not to respond, but to understand.”

3. Fuel Employee Resource Group Breakouts

At the height of the pandemic, Glassdoor head of DEI Stephanie Felix promoted engagement through ERG breakout circles. “In a company that is majority culture, we wanted to create space for safe conversations regarding identity, culture, and belonging. Our aim was to provide intentional space for meaningful conversations around intersectionality.” At a time when employee connections had dwindled down to their immediate teams, organizing them into cross-department breakouts gave everyone the chance to interact with colleagues they wouldn’t normally interact with everyday. 

4. Coaching in Cohorts

Jean-Pierre Taschereau connects Red Cross employees through coaching teams across Canada. He explains: “People shift gears when they come into team coaching. We’re creating space for a different kind of conversation.” His coaching conversations have less to do with any specific team or topic–it’s about how people talk to each other. The conversations are not on-the-fly and rapid like other work conversations–people have time to think and share. “It’s like working a different part of your core. You work a different muscle group, and then when you go back to your regular job, you can do it better because your other muscles are stronger.”

5. Foster Professional Development through Peer Groups

Marketing company JumpCrew builds their leadership bench by offering employees career path circles. Employees gain cross-departmental connections, and many attribute their internal network & multiple promotions back to their circles. Of the 300 and counting Jumpcrew employees, half are local to Nashville while the other half work remotely. Circles keeps distributed teams connected while helping identify and develop leaders.

“I personally feel like the circles are going to help with attrition numbers. People are going to feel comfortable and a part of the culture.”

–Jarvis Henderson, Dir. of L&D, JumpCrew 

6. Drink Your Own Champagne

This last one is for HR leaders themselves–how can you connect and grow while caring for everyone else? Our partners at Executive Growth Alliance suggest peer circles.

The EGA community bridges the gap between individual executives facing common challenges. Membership provides connection into a worldwide network of leaders collaborating regularly in circles; executives from Merck, Adobe, IBM Nordic and more participate in EGA’s peer network. Shokofeh Khan–Director of Learning and Development at ACE Hardware–describes the peer circles as “an amazing experience. My learning was night-and-day greater than if I had just taken a set of seminars.”

Hosting Affinity Circles of our own

It’s thrilling to see all the ways our partners connect and grow their employees in circles. Inspired by peer connections provided by partners like EGA, we recently developed our own women in leadership circles–which garnered such positive feedback that we spun off other circles specific to DEI leaders, Learning & Development leaders and more. We now host multiple groups a week, connecting executives together in mutual support to navigate a rapidly evolving corporate landscape together.

Are you looking for a place to engage with HR peers? We have a circle for you! Please complete this form if you’re interested to join our one-off, free of charge Circles Community sessions.

Our Journey

At Circles, our customers confirm: we augment company culture by designing inclusive spaces for people to connect and grow. Customers frequently describe our platform and programs as inclusive. Yet when we forged a recent partnership with Glassdoor, they asked to see our company DE&I statement–and we realized we had merely conceptualized one. We sat down to write it and recognized our approach was through a white U.S. lens, one that did not represent our globally complex team. Cognitive dissonance ensued.

Were we fostering inclusive communities for our customers without adequately serving each other?

This launched a culture journey for our entire company. Together, we began investigating our internal landscape, making space to intentionally lay the foundation for an inclusive company culture.

Culture Builders

Inspired by conversations with Glassdoor and DuPont, who are pioneers in the work of inclusion and belonging, we designed Culture Builders, a four-session program. Arriving at cultural competence wasn’t the goal; we simply made a commitment to connect and grow together, with the program as a starting point. 

Program objectives included building awareness and appreciation for DEI, discovering opportunities for personal growth, sharing learning and stories, and simply connecting as humans. Facilitated groups were sorted cross-culturally and functionally, and the four Culture Builders sessions covered:

1. Inclusivity: What it means to each of us.
2. Background: Discussing our cultures of origin.
3. Privilege: Revealing power, privilege and marginalization. 
4. Reflection: Sharing how the sessions enriched our connections.

Team Experience

To engage the Culture Builders sessions, team members set aside 75 minutes every other week over an eight-week span. Facilitated sessions consisted of prompts promoting storytelling and active listening, with the Circles platform features guiding the way (spotlight with timer, hand raises, random order generator and more).

Across the board, participants enjoyed connecting with one another and sharing stories…

Inclusivity 

One early discovery was that although we all value inclusion, the acronym “DEI” isn’t typically used outside of the U.S. We also learned that ideas like diversity and inclusion mean something different depending on not just our country of origin, but the intersectionality of our individual gender, class, sexuality, ethnicity, personality and more.  True diversity means welcoming all the complex ways that the word is defined. 

Background

Initial conversations also revealed that in today’s U.S. cultural moment, our violent history and longstanding systemic inequities have resurfaced DEI conversations specific to ethnicity. The Culture Builders curriculum addressed, however,  that colonization is not unique to the United States. Racism is part of our shared, global human history.

“There are a lot of things taking place in the U.S. right now that seemed like a felt need for many in our circle to discuss.”

The U.S. focus on inclusion as it pertains to ethnicity rubs against the fact that our company can feel U.S. centric to Circles employees living outside the States–which describes the majority of our team. Our operations and development teams are dispersed throughout Argentina, Spain, Australia and New Zealand, where current inclusion efforts focus more on accessibility and socio-economic inequities.

“It was surprising to see how our current reality and culture of origin impacts the way we perceive DE&I”

Privilege

Depth of conversation increased with each session, culminating for some with the third session covering privilege, power & marginalization. As the topics increased in intensity, likewise participants engaged with increasing trust and vulnerability.

“We finally hit on some great, deep conversation–and we’ve only just scratched the surface”

Reflection

“We didn’t end up with any specific actions to take at Circles”

Sometimes in a business setting, it feels unwise to leave a gathering without agreed upon action steps. But when it comes to inclusive spaces to connect & grow, the conversation itself is often the bulk of the action needed–at least initially, as a starting point.

That’s not to say no Circles participants were compelled to take action–it just wasn’t prescribed by the Culture Builders program. The desire was for action steps to emerge organically. As one team member shared:

“To me personally, the Culture Builder journey did more than just start the conversation. I feel like I learned important things that are already impacting my actions–It’s not enough to notice. I need to take action on all the little things.”

Discovering We’re not Alone

As an organization, we know that we join with other global organizations who are pressing in to serve their communities well from a global DEI perspective.  We are all learning from each other, innovating & expanding our inclusive mindset. In our new world of hybrid and globally remote work, it’s bound to be an increasingly present opportunity to grow in global DEI together.

Outcomes

Culture Builders created space for open dialogue and discovery, and ultimately accomplished the initial objective: serving as a culture-setting starting point that left us wanting more.

“It’s difficult to find a baseline for a global team. It’s slow enough to advance everyday tasks, let alone engage potentially difficult topics.”

Initially, some wondered if culture circles were necessary–after all, we’re a growing, early-stage company with work to accomplish. Furthermore, for many of us, Circles is the most inclusive culture we’ve encountered.  But as we grow in size and diversity, we want to ensure that inclusion permeates everything we do, internally and externally. Our culture is not truly inclusive unless every voice is heard–and how will it remain so if we don’t keep short accounts and periodically reassess? 

So, what does DEI look like for a globally distributed startup? Starting the conversation, making sure every voice is heard, and once we’ve listened to understand, maintaining spaces that invites diverse perspectives and emerging action, ongoing.

For an individual or organization an inclusive mindset is a pursuit, not a fixed outcome. We commit to the journey, together.  

It used to be difficult to find a gathering of women in senior leadership, but not anymore.

The dramatic rise of organizations like Chief illustrates the opportunity to establish affinity spaces for women in the workplace.

Over the past few months, we’ve hosted sessions for women in leadership to discuss the hot topic ‘Inclusivity in the workplace.’ The women in our circles represent CPO, LD, HR, DEI professionals and more, with a common desire to lead well during turbulent times. Together, we’re sharing stories about creating intentional, safe communities at work, spaces our employees won’t want to leave.

At the end of each session, participants report that the highlight is simply coming together with other women leading in this moment in time. It reminds us that we are not alone.  We connect and grow as we share common struggles and triumphs. Here’s what women are saying:

“It’s great to discuss the topic of inclusion in a small, intimate session, and build connection and relationship with others;  loved the platform, the centering of voices and the connection”

“I always love hearing from like-minded women in similar roles”

“There’s space to come as we are, and the meaningful connections are so energizing”

Beyond this, as we reflect on participant contributions –  we’ve discovered some themes to share with you:  

1. Women Care Uniquely About Inclusion

No matter our title and department, we’re discovering that as women, we all care about inclusion. As a gender we’re still forging our way, some days just pushing through imposter syndrome. To varying degrees, we’ve experienced what it’s like to navigate male-majority corporate spaces, striving to find a voice and be valued for the unique perspective we inherently contribute.

We’re still fighting to be seen for who we are–without gender filters–while pursuing women’s advancement initiatives, like equal pay for the same work. These circles have carved out space for honest dialogue about the challenges of working (and, for some of us, caregiving) while seeking to provide the most impactful professional development, sponsorship, and support to help women move into higher levels of leadership and onto corporate boards.

Together, we’re figuring out how to be included while being inclusive.

2. Strategizing how to Influence Executives

One common bond we share is the struggle to gain executive buy-in on our quest for inclusion. On the journey to equitable workplaces, how do you revamp organizational cultures deeply embedded with generational norms?

We’re advocating for the intersectional inclusion of women across all levels of decision making, ultimately preparing more women for the C-suite. Meanwhile, if culture flows from the top down, how can we create more space for all to contribute to this important conversation – across gender lines – at the top of our organizations? 

Together, we’re strategizing how to alleviate fear of change, and foster an inclusive mindset across senior leadership.

3. Intersectionality Intensifies our Attention to Inclusion

Intersectionality sometimes intensifies one’s experience of exclusion; the more marginalization you’ve experienced, the more easily you empathize with others and seek their inclusion. For some of us, our passion for inclusion reflects the intersectionality of our gender with our ethnicity, religion, cultural background and much more.

We’re celebrating the fact that many organizations began prioritizing hiring a Head of DEI or Culture, likely because of the pandemic and increased polarization We know and in some cases are the women in these roles–accordingly, we see or experience isolation while navigating systems that generally don’t support new ways of ‘doing the work.’

Furthermore, inclusion initiatives are some of the first cut when pandemics or recessions create economic uncertainty–just the time we need inclusion the most. Even when prioritized, inclusion initiatives can come across like another box to check, instead of as deeply personal, emotionally taxing work.

Together, we’re pondering how we can keep inclusion from being reduced to a metric.

4. We’re Listening to our Teams

Across our organizations, we’re receiving feedback revealing that some of our people feel marginalized–like they’re simply a number without a voice–which we understand firsthand. Many of them feel overwhelmed and isolated in our remote working world, just like we do (and practically speaking, fostering conversations across silos remains critical).

Because as women we tend to care for everyone else, we’re left wondering: How do we support ourselves and our people?

5. The Way Forward

As women leading and championing inclusivity initiatives, we aren’t just boxes to check. We’re part of the solution to culture change that the world needs. 

The goal of equitable workplace inclusion is a lifelong journey, and with the advent of these circles we’ve made strides in one significant facet: community on the journey. We’re sharing sparks of hope with one another as we see them in our organizations–here are some of the best inclusive practices we’re discovering together:

• Engaging Men in the Conversation: Not surprisingly, in order to be truly inclusive, men need to be welcomed into these conversations.  Male allies who champion inclusive practices and make space for underrepresented voices help shift the traditional structures and impact lasting change in our organizations.
• Employee Resource Groups (ERG’s): voluntary, employee-led groups whose aim is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with the organizations they serve.
• Story Exchanges–the practice of retelling someone else’s story in first person.
• Connection Circles/World Event Gatherings–space to process the challenges facing the world to better understand, empathize, and facilitate proximity.

As we continue meeting together, we’re realizing just how much we need community to pursue the work of inclusion, ensuring hope for the future and less loneliness for us and our teams. We must find new ways to truly operate differently, to look beyond structures of the past and innovate human-centric, inclusive new strategies.

No longer are we satisfied to just talk about inclusion, diversity and equity – we want systems that transform organizational culture.  

Circles’ Response

At Circles, our experience listening, learning and participating in WIL circles reinvigorates us to continue creating spaces where people can connect and grow. Whether it’s fostering inclusivity by supporting DEI programs, creating community through onboarding and leadership development programs or connecting peer CEOs across communities, we’re committed to being a part of the inclusion solution. 
Do you have a strategy to create inclusive community across your organization? What opportunity is there for your programs to be enriched and scaled with Circl.es, a tool designed for human connection? Experience circles for yourself: [click here] to join an upcoming Women in Leadership Gathering, or connect with someone from our team to discover the possibilities.

Karla Talley works in Learning & Development and DEI at Glassdoor, a company using Circles as their ‘work from anywhere’ strategy to foster connection and community in a scalable way. Her team has integrated Circles into multiple programs, including an ERG summit, in-depth Allyship training program and Connection Circles on world issues.

Safe by Design

Karla felt the platform was a safe space the moment she joined her first circle. “I do not use the term “safe space” loosely–as a woman of color, I feel safe spaces are hard to come by. There is an immediate welcoming and safety that I feel comes with Circles, and that seems to be consistently stated by any of our colleagues joining a circle for the first time.”

What she experienced is by design: founders built the Circl.es platform with belonging and inclusion in mind, including built-in features like timers preserving equal talk time, hand raises to limit interruptions and a random-order generator to signal who speaks when. Karla noticed: “The features keep people from cutting in and talking over each other. The result is extra space for everyone to process and engage in a way that is most helpful for them. Also, who doesn’t love the hugs?” She’s referring to another popular feature–participants can virtually circle around a team member for a ‘hug’, or press ‘c’ on their keyboard to celebrate with a shower of onscreen confetti.

Circles for Remote Work Community

Glassdoor first tried launching ERG breakout groups back in 2020 when work went remote; the gatherings worked for a while before fizzling out. A year later, head of DEI Stephanie Felix integrated Circ.es into the gatherings while rebranding and rebooting the experience. “In a company that is majority culture, we wanted to create space for safe conversations regarding identity, culture, and belonging. Our aim was to provide intentional space for meaningful conversations around intersectionality.”

“In a company that is majority culture, we wanted to create space for safe conversations regarding identity, culture, and belonging. Our aim was to provide intentional space for meaningful conversations around intersectionality.”

At a time when employee connections had dwindled down to their immediate teams, organizing them into cross-department breakouts gave everyone the chance to interact with colleagues they wouldn’t normally talk to everyday. Attendance was high, and the circles integration proved to be just what the experience needed to succeed. 

Allyship Program

After the success of the ERG breakout circles, Glassdoor used circles with an Evolution curriculum to develop Journey Lead, an experience to train up allies. Karla noticed social learning happening in the circles, as people grew in active listening and moved from defensive to curious. “People are not only learning about identity and privilege; they’re learning through interacting with one another in circles how to sit back and give someone else space to talk.” 

Karla emphasized that circles were an especially protected space for allyship training–she’s heard multiple people use the word ‘safe’ without hesitation to describe the experience. “It’s been a space for people to ‘go there,’ and know that they are being supported and heard by everyone.”

Space During Crisis

The platform also provided a place for processing crisis when war broke out in Europe. With a global team dispersed throughout the U.S., London, Dublin and more, several Glassdoor employees formerly lived in Russia, or had personal ties to Russia and/or Ukraine. Using circles, leaders facilitated optional Connection Circles process conversations; facilitators had an agenda, but focused on providing space for people to share feelings and hear actionable relief opportunities from around the world.

Augmenting Cultural Values

Transparency and good people are two core Glassdoor core values, and Karla felt Circl.es elevated and activated both. “If Circl.es was going to impact something, it was going to elevate the goodness of our people–and it already is.” The people who have experienced Circl.es through the ERG breakouts, Ukraine processing groups or Allyship program are showing up for each other in new ways, and their vulnerable communication is proof of their trust in the platform.

In fact, Circl.es continues expanding throughout the organization. The people experience team used it during their first offsite of the year for a team building time. Karla noticed that “people feel really safe jumping on, whether it’s a fully facilitated and scripted convo or if we are meeting in circles to plan our next quarter.”

Unexpected Outcomes

The positive twin outcomes of connection and growth are undeniable at Glassdoor, with 97% of respondents indicating positive feedback about their experience. Some participants shared that circles helps them engage in conversations they can’t even have with family and friends. Karla marveled: “I have learned so much about my co-workers, and I’ve been working at GD for almost a year!” She attributes the connection and growth in part to the unique circles design, saying: “The majority of our team was crying with happy and sad tears.  I don’t think that people would have done that on another platform.” 

“The majority of our team was crying with happy and sad tears.  I don’t think that people would have done that on another platform.” 

Frances Kraft has used circle process since becoming certified in 2013. As a teacher outside Chicago, she used circles for community building in the classroom, then in after-school programs and at the local library. “So much of what is difficult in education is the formation of strong relationships between teachers and families, or teachers and students. It’s important to get to know each other so we can see each other fully, but it’s hard to find time or make it a priority.” It makes a difference for students, however, when relationships are strong. In one summer reading program Frances created at the library, 74% of students grew a full grade level in reading in just one month. Teachers began each session in circle, and Frances credits the trusting relationships built as a significant reason for student progress.

When she joined Weave’s online community–which meets in Circl.es–Frances was blown away by how the technology replicated the circle process she’d seen work powerfully in education. “It felt very much aligned with what I had learned in circle process: you’re taking the group on a journey in your time together, so that you leave feeling a deeper connection with each individual. I feel the same connection when I’m using the technology with a group that I do in person.”

In fact, she says the circle group was the piece that drew her to Weave, an organization working to bring people together across the country, virtually and in person. “We work to connect and support people who are weaving in their local community so they can build trusting relationships and meet others doing similar work.”

Every month, Weave offers new and existing members an opportunity to sign up for a circle during onboarding. “Once weavers join a circle, meet a group of six or seven people, and go through four agendas, they are more likely to feel a sense of belonging in the community.” Frances says Weavers who join circles are more likely to become connected in other ways in the online community, to engage in discussions, and to reach out to others. “The main value of circles is for people to form deeper relationships. The technology allows for that in a sustainable, scalable way.”

The circle Frances joined when onboarding with Weave continued meeting even after working through the four initial agendas. She attributes that to how fast people build trust in a facilitated circle process. “Circle is so simple, but it can change your life. When you have a good facilitator who sets the tone and the participants settle upon agreements together, people slow down and listen – not to respond, but to understand. We are attracting people who want to be relational, not transactional. So it’s a beautiful fit to have a platform and technology that is bringing people together to truly communicate.”