Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to Saroca Speaks. Coaching minds and elevating careers. We're so happy to have you here. We hope that you enjoy this episode and that it supports you to put your potential in motion.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to this episode of Saroca Speaks. I am your host today and we are unfortunately without Claire in this episode. But we have a very special guest joining us today, and I'm going to let her introduce herself and her role at the awesome organization she works at. But before I let her take the floor, I want to introduce her as someone that I've come to know as an incredible force of a human being. An absolutely gorgeous step. Stunning, intelligent, capable, human. Centered, refined, classy, badass. Brianna Odom, thank you so much for joining us today. I'm so excited to have you here as not only a stakeholder at, you know, one of our very biggest clients, our most appreciated and longest standing client here at Saroca, but also, you know, as the friend that you've become over the last two years that I'm so grateful for. So thanks so much for being here. Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at Rubrik and maybe some context to who Rubrik is and what rubrikrik does.
[00:01:29] Speaker B: Yeah, of course. So, Brianna Odom. Most call me Bri. Honored to be here, Emily. I work at Rubrik, which is a cybersecurity company out of Palo Alto, California, but we're now global in over 33 different countries and essentially we work to secure the world's data with some really amazing minds and talent. I am on our talent development and inclusion team there. So I lead diversity, equity and inclusion and got introduced to Saroca via some of the amazing programs we were able to develop for our diverse talent and for our top talent.
[00:01:59] Speaker A: Wonderful. So that's what we're going to get into today. Today's episode is all about the impact of what it means to invest in our teams, why we do such things, what the impact is of it when we do it. Well, maybe we'll get into a little of, you know, where it hasn't worked or doesn't work. And maybe some context for our listeners is that we've had some tremendous success in our partnership together over the last two years running what we call the THRIVE Leadership Development program, so which is a custom program that Saroca has developed for Rubrik's top talent. So, Bri, tell us a little bit about, you know, what challenges were you facing before working with us that you were looking to solution for yeah, so.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: I think Thrive came about because our diverse talent had a lot of the same challenges at any other corporate corporation would have. They were stressed, they were burnt out, often one of few on their teams, if not the only on their teams, you know, were seeking opportunities for growth, wanted to be promoted, but didn't necessarily have the connections internally in order to make that happen. Or there were perceived skill gaps pertaining to the leadership skills that we needed them to have to fulfill some of the leadership positions that we had coming up.
And then also just overall, just a desire for community. A lot of our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have included bringing people together. And so a program that would bring our top performing diverse leaders together was something that we thought would meet a need that all of them were expressing. They were doing it through conferences, which as we know are like one and done type one, two day experiences. And so rather than spend, you know, 100k on sending, you know, five or 10 people to a conference, we thought what could we do that would be more long lasting, more scalable and that could also fit all these needs and bring these folks together? So that is how Thrive was born.
[00:03:51] Speaker A: Beautiful. So tell us a little bit about what was unique in the creation of Thrive and you know, if you're willing to share, perhaps what was unique about working with Saroca through the process that we provide in terms of our, our customized programs. For some additional context to our listeners, I want to point out that when, you know, BRI had initiated doing this program, Rubrik was preparing for ipo. So we were have been with you guys since a very exciting time in your journey and were able to, you know, witness that process that y'all undertook adjacent to to it and really proud of, you know, whatever, even, you know, minor support we may have played in that, in that role. But tell us, you know, it was a very unique time. You had some really unique goals and initiatives. So tell us a little bit about, you know, your experience and what was it like working with us in terms of co creating a program than maybe you've experienced in the past.
[00:04:43] Speaker B: Yeah, so I came from an organization that really valued development, that really valued learning, and that would make the biggest hoopla over it. It was 10,000 person organization that I was at before I got to Rubrik. And so Rubrik being much smaller. I think we were at like 3,000 maybe around the time we started doing this.
Well, that's being much smaller, having a lot fewer resources and also having to navigate like the landscape of remote work and you know, post Covid Days and people not being in an office loc and you know, how do you engage, how do you retain, how do you figure out like how to make sure that your top talent knows you're invested in them. We didn't take the development of this program lightly. We met with multiple vendors, there were conversations for months and in all of those conversations I think what stood out the most was really the emphasis on the human and on the person that would be going through the program and on really, um, not. Not that we wouldn't get anything out of it as a business, not that we wouldn't get any roi, but really what you could give the individual in their participation, the real wifm for them to go through something like this. So I think that major emphasis coupled with just the willingness to customize everything down to the name, the branding, the communications, the content that we were going to teach, the messaging that we were giving to people like all the way from launch to the time it finished and then just that really unique coach element was great. Not to mention obviously pricing, obviously know your worth. But the pricing for the program made it so that for us as a smaller at the time still considered startup pre IPO company who was trying to cut down on cost savings but still show our talent that we were invested in them. This allowed us to bring this program to more people than any other vendor we met with. And it was more in depth and it was more personalized than any of the other vendors. They weren't going to let us customize, they weren't gonna let me hop on and share a message like none of that was gonna happen with any of those programs. So I feel like the ability to really co brand it as something that is not only the external party Saroca, but also something very rubric centered that encompassed a lot of rubric messaging and really made it personal for us and then also for them was really important for us. And I think that that's why the satisfaction of the program was so over the top and off the charts. And it was because it really felt like it was something that was completely developed here for them to experience.
[00:07:18] Speaker A: Beautiful. I mean I couldn't have a greater intention, commitment or wish for the people that we work with and the programs that we deploy. And I want to speak to a little bit of the differentiator which you mentioned, which I believe is around like this human centered piece. And when I think about what's at the core or some of the fundamentals of what we do, in essence you could, you know, you could deem IT transformational leadership. You know, we're a management consulting firm with a heavy emphasis on what I would call transformational leadership. And transformational leadership is about being able to support the objectives of the business and cultivate the objectives of the business through the growth of the individual. So this is exactly what we're doing, we're providing. And I like to think of it sometimes like I'm a covert operative because I get to like go into these organizations. But we get to do this work that truly changes people's lives. It changes the way they work, it changes the way they relate to their colleagues, it changes their perspective on things. But it contribute, it contributes significantly to who they are as human beings as well. And that's fundamental change. And that's what's possible when we show up as transformational leaders. I love that. You know, we're now in our fourth program. We're two years in to deploying this on, you know, on about a, you know, a two year, two times a year basis on average. So, you know, you've started to be able to see some of the long term impact of what deploying a program like this in the organization is. Tell us a little bit about what that experience has been like and what it's created for river kids.
[00:08:41] Speaker B: Yeah, so I think first to understand the long term impact, you have to understand the actual structure of the program. So for us, Thrive was comprised of a series of different coaching sessions that would happen in a group format where we would focus on a topic, I. E. Giving feedback or the growth mindset or navigating change. All of these topics were broken up for us into leading yourself as a person who's going through the program, leading your team or leading the projects or whatever goals or deliverables you had, and then also leading the business. And so those group sessions allowed them to really get the community that they needed and them going through it in a structure where they were always seeing the same people, allowed them to build relationships with people around the organization. Because again, our first iteration of Thrive was created for diverse talent who oftentimes across the organization was one of few on their teams. It's now evolved to be all encompassing of any top talent, but still bringing people from across the organization together with people that they ordinarily would not have an opportunity to interact with. And then we had the one on one coaching to cater to their own individual development goals or personal goals that they might have had outside of Rubrik. Again, we wanted it to feel like it was really something for them, not something for us. And then we were able to also create an internal session with some of our executive leaders where they kind of speak to company insights and really give them inside information about what's next, what's on the horizon, how they can use the skills that they are gaining in the program to actually move themselves forward and then talk about customizable. We had also included a sponsorship component where Saroca supported other like skip level leaders who are interested in partnering to help with creating more visibility, creating opportunities to shadow, to really give exposure to the Thrive participants who are putting in all this work into themselves. And then it's like, okay, once this program ends, what do we do with it? That's where the sponsors kind of carry it across the finish line and make sure that their names are being said in rooms that they are not in. And so that element we actually added in brainstorming together and I think that that was probably one of the more impactful elements that led to a lot of the impacts that we see. Of course, obviously they got that. So some Thrive participants are still meeting, having those one on ones with each other, like making sure that they're staying connected to one another as a result of being introduced to all these amazing people that shared so many commonalities with them that were unearthed in these sessions. They obviously, you know, the burnout and the stress like that was addressed in multiple sessions. And so they were given some real hands on tools that they could use to kind of navigate our never ending and very fast paced environment. And then they were also given like the confidence to go forward in their leadership abilities. They were selected for this program for a reason. They were told those reasons and it was like, and if you don't believe those reasons, it's time for you to start believing those reasons in these sessions and in the one on one the coaching, which really I think helped with a lot of their leadership competence and just individual ability to advocate for themselves inside and outside. Some of the people were talking about their personal lives, what they're doing in their relationships, as well as how they're advocating with their managers and their executive leadership for promotions and things like that. We've seen people get promoted from this program because they're using some of the advocacy skills that they have learned. The engagement is up for those folks that have participated in this program. And people are still pinging me like, hey, do you have the link for that drive? I need that one. Saroca Deck. So to see people still referring to the content, it means it's useful. It means they're using it. It means like the toolkit that they took away from it was helpful for them even two years later. And then we still have all these other cohorts of people that are continuing to go through it. So I would definitely say biggest impacts probably like the increased resilience, just their ability to really navigate our environment that's never ending and always going to be fast paced and the goals will never get easier for us. We crossed the IPL finish line and then we amped it up even more. And then I would also say just having that community because typically when you feel connected to people, like you're not just as quickly going to up and leave a company. So having that community feeling supported by their manager, feeling supported by their sponsor, having other people that they can relate to, I think help them a lot.
[00:12:41] Speaker A: I love that. The power of community and relationships and you know, feeling like we belong and we're part of something, we are a part of something, contributing to something greater than ourselves and doing that inside of relationships that are fulfilling for us. So rubrics are really data driven organization obviously. And at Saroca too, we like to measure the progress of our programs and we do that through a self assessment tool. And as you know, but you know, everyone's always asking about, you know, the ROI of a program or, you know, the impact of it. And I think there's so much to be said around like the experience, the demeanor, the morale, the energy, the vibe, the culture, all of these things that are immeasurable. But when it comes to like any tangible outcomes that you've seen and like specific ROI of Thrive inside of Rubrik, any other measurable improvements that you've noticed? You know, do you have any, any data that you'd be willing to enlighten us with in that capacity Public?
[00:13:37] Speaker B: I can't always give numbers, but I would definitely say so for context. Our first cohort of five was six months. So that's the cohort that has the most data. Because it was the longest ago, we've since put through three additional cohorts and so we'll do more analysis on how the groups that went through last year did. But when we look at some of the data for how folks were feeling about Thrive, the NPS score was off the charts. It was like 96 for one of our cohorts, 80 for another, 76 for another. So they were incredibly satisfied. The coaching NPS is always 90 and above, which is amazing to see, which tells us that they want that individual one on one customized experience. That's just for them, obviously. We've also seen better retention rates in those folks. Promotion rates are higher in those folks as well. When we look at the very first cohort, which, again, is the one that we have performance data for with at the time, seven people getting promoted, there's probably much more now, and it was just a cohort of 24 people. So again, small numbers, um, but big impact. We saw better likelihood that they would receive positive remarks or positive movement upward in terms of their performance reviews. When we went, we did our last annual review cycle. We're currently in the middle of another one. So we won't have that data for the other three cohorts until next year. Um, and then just anecdotally, folks were saying things about the program, just about how it helped them advocate, how it helped them secure that promotion, how it helped them ask for that raise, how it helped them ask for equity. So when we think about how do we empower people, we empower them at work through money, by allowing them to do the things that they want to do outside of work, for their families, for themselves, whatever. And so to hear that they are making these strides and making these measurable monetary gains as well as a result of the program was really cool to hear. I would also say that we noticed in our Thrive participants as well that they were more likely to just be engaged and satisfied on, like, revs, which we call our engagement survey for our employees here. So they're more satisfied, more engaged. I think that has a lot to do with just knowing that the company sees them and is investing in them. It's a very tangible effort the company made in their interests. Things like that were really helpful. But, yeah, higher performance reviews, more likely to get promoted, lower attrition of those groups, which were all some of the outcomes we had wanted to see.
[00:16:09] Speaker A: I love that. Beautiful. You know, you mentioned the aspect of the sponsor program, a sponsorship aspect of the program, and, you know, that being an aspect or an example of really how our programs are customizable and we, you know, will really support you and, you know, other clients and organizations to really look and see, you know, what the objective is and then how do we provide it genuinely and sustainably. So that's also one of the things I've noticed in. In our. In your participants, you know, in our programs about that the sense of community that's fostered and, you know, the opportunity to meet people that maybe you wouldn't have otherwise. And I think inevitably that support collaboration and team cohesion. And I'm Just wondering if you could share any, any shifts that you've seen or any examples that you've noticed in terms of that, you know, community collaboration, relationships throughout the program or since we, we've started in the program.
[00:17:01] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it brought a lot of different groups of people together across rubrik Iteration, like I said, was for diverse talent. So it brought those folks together in community on the basis of performance and leadership. Our second cohort was done for one particular organization. One of our executive staff members really just loved the impact that the program had on some of his participants from the first round and was like, I want to do it for my org only. The connections that the program made for people who rely on each other, who depend on each other, who don't know each other, helped a lot. I think it helped a ton with them understanding and starting more of their conversations and interactions from a place of assuming good intent. That was actually our most successful thrive cohort with all of them completing the program, all of them staying connected. The sponsors that they gained, they still talk to. So seeing that was. Was really amazing to see bringing together an organization that very much relies on each other, but maybe didn't have necessarily the collaboration, all those very different steps if they weren't working directly with that person. So it allowed them to really take out some time and space. And then the last one that we did actually tripled in size. So rather than 24, we had 72 people going through it. So that's just a lot people being connected to people around the globe and around the organization that they probably wouldn't have been introduced to before with that sponsorship component, allowing them to meet leaders outside of their organization that they probably would never have interacted with, but could easily be in the room advocating on their behalf because that leader probably talks to their manager, their boss, their executive staff, whatever. Like, you never know. It's a very small world. And so we're all interconnected in some way. So having those sponsors in the last cohort that we did outside of their org, advocating for them on a different level, created an added layer, I would say, of security for the 72 people that got an opportunity to go through it. That was also more group sponsorship component. So because we had so many people and fewer leaders, they were going through it all together. And a lot of them were meeting with their sponsors in groups of two or three. And so that allowed them to really hear that they're sharing and dealing with and have the same, like, insecurities, worries, challenges, and to hear from executive leaders or VPs or senior directors that they've had those problems and have had those problems as well, I think makes the human experience a lot more real for people. So, yeah, I think it just brought everyone together. I think that it allowed people to kind of remove some of that psychological size that happens like as you start to get larger. As a company, we've been relatively flat for a very long time. So the more people we add, I think the more psychological size comes into play, kind of gets in the way of people with those imposters that show up in our minds. So I think it helps with kind of alleviating that for. For the folks who had the privilege of participating.
[00:19:51] Speaker A: I love that. And it's really. You're speaking to the impact of what happens over time with this work, full stop, and the ripple effect that it can have from even one person. And when we can deploy this inside of an organization, we see how it has the opportunity to transform culture and cultures, have the opportunity to transform the experience that we have at work.
All right, I'm going to ask you an off the cuff question, and that is what's the impact been on you personally? Like, you've been now like deep in this program, co creating it together, seeing tremendous success. You've participated in the program three times in every iteration.
Will you tell us a little bit about what has been the per. What's the personal impact been on you, like as Bri, both personally and professionally, whatever you're willing to share?
[00:20:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think this is the kind of work that I love to do and we didn't have it before. So to be able to do this, it just brings a lot more joy, satisfaction to my day to day. I love being able to create opportunities for people to step outside of the grind, for them to step into the realization that like, they are very much actualizing and realizing the dream or the expectation that they had for themselves and like have a moment for that is really cool. And it doesn't matter whether it's men, women, international, US space, like, people all are just like, I have not had an opportunity to think about things like this in so long. And so to be able to give people back those moments and be a part of it's really cool. And then obviously, I got a friend. Hey, Emily.
I got a friend out of it, which has been really amazing too.
[00:21:31] Speaker A: I love it. I cherish that. And I find that sometimes the most successful relationship in this line of work inevitably do that because it's all about connecting with people genuinely and exercising our Emotional intelligence and supporting each other and being the most optimal versions of ourselves and our unique, fullest expressions of who we are in the world and the fact that we've got to be, we. We get to do that together and create and facilitate the opportunity for others to have that same experience. What an honor and what a privilege as it is an honor and a privilege to be with you here today. Actually our very first, first guest on Saroca Speaks. So thank you so much for being here. Is there anything else that you want to add or share before we wrap?
[00:22:15] Speaker B: No. I mean, I would just say that I think obviously Saroca has grown in so many ways in a very, very, very short period of time and that any organization who chooses to be a part of the journey is very lucky to be able to bring you to their team. Obviously we've made major impacts here. It's one of our most successful and now signature programs fully baked into our roadmap, our retention plan, our engagement plans. Anytime there's a problem, the first thing our HR BPs say is like, well, maybe we could consider Thrive for this group. Like, you know, and I think they very much see it as an opportunity to heal, rejuvenate and like reinvigorate people on our leadership journey and on just this amazing, really fast paced journey that they, this incredibly fast paced company is on. And so if any other organizations are in that position and you know, are, are considering, like, what do we do? How do we show talent that we care about them? How do we show talent that we appreciate them? How do we invest in our talent and scale them for what's ahead? Like, I think Thrive has been a really amazing program. You won't have to call yours Thrive, but like that's what we called ours. Again, fully customizable. And I just think that to be able to offer such a phenomenal program and have gotten it right the first time is truly amazing. So, really grateful for the partnership because, you know, obviously anytime you do a pilot, you never know how it's going to go or how it's going to be received. For it to have been so successful out of the gates and just continuing to improve has been truly phenomenal to see. Yeah, I'm just very grateful in any corporation, company, maybe not even a corporation, it could be anybody who's considering bringing something like this to invest in a group that they have, I could see the benefit for, for many formats.
[00:24:01] Speaker A: I love it. Thank you so much, Bri, for just your authentic share, your testimonial, your support, your partnership. We're so grateful for you. I've told you this before, and I'll tell you here again. You have truly changed my life, and I am so grateful and better for you in it, a million times over. And thank you for taking time out of your precious Friday afternoon to join us here today on Soros the Speaks. And we'll have you back again sometime in the future.
[00:24:30] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:24:30] Speaker A: Love it.
[00:24:31] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:24:32] Speaker A: Thank you. Thanks for listening, everyone, and we'll see you next time.
