This episode features an interview with Michael Trout, VP and CHRO at State Farm, leaders in mutual insurance and the largest property, casualty, and auto insurance provider in the U.S., with over 60,000 employees. Michael has been with State Farm for more than 30 years, having served in different leadership positions including VP of Operations in Human Resources. And on this episode, Michael is discussing how to improve employee value proposition, why you should accept a lateral position change, and using AI to customize the digital employee experience.
This episode features an interview with Michael Trout, VP and CHRO at State Farm, leaders in mutual insurance and the largest property, casualty, and auto insurance provider in the U.S., with over 60,000 employees. Michael has been with State Farm for more than 30 years, having served in different leadership positions including VP of Operations in Human Resources. And on this episode, Michael is discussing how to improve employee value proposition, why you should accept a lateral position change, and using AI to customize the digital employee experience.
Quotes
*”My director wanted somebody who understood the business but could also communicate with the employees, create followership, connect with employees and build relationships. That's the skill that's probably helped me throughout my whole career is you have to be able to speak business. If you can't speak business, you lose credibility in the boardroom.”
*”I wouldn't give up the lateral moves for anything, because they gave me the foundation across multiple areas, but gave me the flexibility, the agility, and the foundation so that when I did move up, I didn't have to learn as much because I had that foundation across multiple channels.”
*”It's always about promotion, promotion, promotion. My argument is, ‘Learn as much as you can so that when you're promoted, you have a leg up and you have an advantage over the people who don't have all of those experiences across the organization.’”
*”Once someone feels like they belong in the organization, that's when the magic starts happening. They then understand the mission and the purpose. The job becomes a lot more fun because they feel like they fit there. They have great relationships.They have a mission that they can get behind. That's when they start their career and can build out a career in the organization.”
Time Stamps
*[8:01] The Flight Plan: Get to know State Farm
*[10:49] First Class: Best EX practices at State Farm
*[30:17] Turbulence: EX lessons learned
*[33:33] Smooth Landing: Michael’s advice for other EX leaders
Links
Connect with Michael on LinkedIn
Thanks to our friends
This episode is brought to you by Firstup, the company that is redefining the digital employee experience to put people first and lift companies up by connecting every worker, everywhere with the information that helps them do their best work. Firstup has helped over 40% of the Fortune 100 companies like Amazon, AB InBev, Ford and Pfizer stay agile and keep transforming. Learn more at firstup.io