Stephanie Jeffrey knows it isn't uncommon for Capital One associates to have children pop in while video chatting online. Jeffrey's 10-year-old child has been known to do so from time to time. It's a familiar situation for many Collin County residents who are working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We are extremely flexible with hours that folks work," Jeffrey told Local Profile as part of the Local Leaders series on Facebook Live. "It's kind of fun getting to see everybody in our home environment in some ways because somebody you know, a kid might climb on a lap. And that has certainly happened with myself.
"And so I think a big part of it is just again having that conversation, and having really good check ins to one of the formal ways that we are supporting that at Capital One."
Capital One began moving to work from home in March shortly after the pandemic hit. It wasn't a difficult move, Jeffrey said, because their tech infrastructure was built for it. She considers Capital One more of a tech company that is involved in banking. Today, more than 40,000 associates are working from home.
"We are way ahead of the game," she said. "But that doesn't mean working from home has been easy."
Jeffrey said that at Capital One, they want to make sure all of their associates feel like they belong, that they feel safe, seen, and heard. They want them "to thrive as their best, most authentic selves. She shared three examples of how they've been supporting their associates at Capital One:
- First is, this is a big change, and we have really taken care to provide our associates mental and physical well being, resources because this is something unprecedented, and if we can make it just even a little bit easier for associates to get the help that they need, we really focused on that.
- Second, we've introduced some simple new routines to help people manage their day. Little things, you know, when you're spending most of your day on video conferences, officially blocking off lunch time. Scheduling shorter meetings instead of an hour long meeting, let's make it 15 minutes so that you can have that time for transition time and or break. And then also, setting the expectation that not all meetings need to be on video. And these days, it's kind of refreshing how it is sometimes just to pick up the phone and call somebody instead of having to schedule something in advance.
- And then the third thing I'd like to share is just last week Sanjiv Yajnik, president of Capital One Financial Services, which is headquartered here in Plano, sent a note to every single one of our associates in our division, reminding them that we all have vacation days, and they're there for a reason and that blocking time for self care or even a staycation are great ways to recharge. So we've really, really tried to take care of our associates through this time.
To hear more advice from Jeffrey, be sure to check out the video below.
Local Leaders by Local Profile is an ongoing video series featuring incredible local leaders sharing their best leadership insights. Going beyond business, Local Leaders aims to inspire and motivate you to become the best version of yourself. It broadcasts LIVE via the Local Profile Facebook page (click here.)
