When Leaders Listen

In an ever-changing world, the employer-employee relationship is more crucial than ever before. After nearly a year and a half of remote work and video meetings, properly managing employee burnout has become one of the most important factors in corporate success. In this episode, we speak with Mai Ton, Chief People Officer of Kickstarter, about what happens when a company takes the time to listen and respond to its employees’ needs.

Ton has spent the last 20 years leading all aspects of human resources in several businesses. She was the first Vice President of HR at six companies, where she helped build the people function from scratch. Ton has won 14 awards for her companies and was named to the list of the Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology, Top 50 Tech Leaders in 2019, and Top 20 Tech Trailblazers from Insights Magazine. She is a board member of LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics), a nonprofit organization that helps Asian and Pacific Islanders achieve equality through education, leadership, and empowerment. She is also an advisor to some of the newest HR technology software companies.

In this episode, Ton shares her thoughts on the exhaustion of working remotely through COVID-19, the evolving culture of startups, and what happens when the way of work stagnates. She also talks about the rapidly changing future of work, why the pandemic caused Kickstarter to flourish, and her new book, Come Into My Office: Stories From an HR Leader in Silicon Valley.

Some Questions Asked:

• What made you return to an employer after working as an individual consultant?
• How did you get exhausted employees excited about work again?
• What made you want to write a book about working in tech?

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• What it’s like to join a new company in the middle of a pandemic.
• How Ton conducted a one-on-one “listening tour” of employees in order to create a human connection.
• What’s changing and what’s staying the same in Silicon Valley.

Links:

• Come Into My Office: Stories From an HR Leader in Silicon Valley by Mai Ton
• Mai Ton - LinkedIn