Oct. 13, 2020

This paid piece is sponsored by the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

The key to leading yet another new generation in the workplace? Sanford Health’s chief human resource officer says it starts with listening.

“Like many organizations, we’re at the beginning of the curve understanding this generation and the things that excite them and connect them to the organization and that they find value in,” said Darren Walker, who joined Sanford Health in 2016.

“They have a lot to bring. They are very astute in what they have learned and what they understand.”

Walker will be part of a panel discussion, Talent Tips for Gen Z, as part of the WIN in Workforce Summit from noon to 5 p.m. Oct. 27 at the Sioux Falls Convention Center, organized by the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

Joined by Sandra Wallace, assistant vice president of talent acquisition at First Premier Bank, and Becky Word, chief of staff at Lloyd Cos., the discussion will center around retention strategies to keep the youngest employees motivated and productive.

“I attended last year and was pleasantly surprised at the participation and groups that were there,” Walker said. “It was a great event with a lot of engagement from participants as well as presenters.”

Walker’s own career journey to Sioux Falls began in his native Utah, where his father was a human resources executive and where “I said I’d never get into the business,” he said. “And here I am.”

But after graduating from the University of Utah with a degree in business, a friend encouraged him to join a recruiting agency. When he began working with health care recruiting, “I just fell in love with it, and the rest is history,” he said.

Walker set an ambitious goal: become a chief human resources officer by the time he was 45. A series of moves led him to it – through roles in Seattle and Montana before coming to Sanford and reaching his aspirational role at 46.

“As I look back on it, having experienced both very urban health care organizations and very rural ones, and the physician side and the acute care side, it created a vast opportunity for different experiences,” he said.

At Sanford, he leads a 500-person team that also includes those involved in delivering ongoing education throughout the system’s workforce.

“We work in a very large-scale system that is very diversified,” Walker said. “I’ve been given the opportunity to do a lot of things within the world of HR that make us more progressive in our HR delivery system and been able to expand my knowledge and experience and have the freedom to innovate.”

Those are similar elements to what early research shows Gen Z is seeking. At Sanford, interns and new hires are surveyed “and we’re really trying to listen to what we’re hearing and make those adjustments and changes to be more attractive,” Walker said.

“We’re less focused on the age of folks, but we try to do a very good job of getting the voice of our people and listening to what they’re telling us. We’re creating a culture in which you can speak, and when you do speak, we hear you, and we adjust based on what we hear.”

One emerging theme is that this generation wants opportunity, he said.

“They want opportunity to come in and contribute right away and opportunity to give input and opportunity to make a difference,” he explained.

“This is an age of people who feel they have a voice and have had one for many years because of social media, and they want to be heard and understood and be recognized for the influence they have, so we have to create work environments that allow that and accept that and appreciate that kind of approach.”

This culture of belonging, accepting and inviting input “rises and falls with leadership,” he added.

“The universal connector of all generations is great leadership because great leadership principles apply at all times. It doesn’t matter your age or demographics —  they are universal. I like to focus on that, because if we as organizations can develop leaders in ways that engender these principles and abilities, we will be sustainable across generations.”