LaTanya serves as the Chief People and Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Edgewell Personal Care, where she leads the Human Resources and Legal functions. In this capacity, she is responsible for overseeing the company’s litigation and disputes, intellectual property, contracting, compliance program, and providing legal counsel relating to all regulatory, sales and marketing. As the head of the global HR function, she leads a strategic agenda that supports the company’s global employees by driving growth, building and developing capabilities, leading through change, nurturing culture, and delivering innovative people solutions. LaTanya has a proven track record as a dynamic team leader and brings more than 20 years of experience and considerable depth in global consumer goods to Edgewell. Most recently, she served as General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Compliance Officer of BIC® Corp. In that role, she led a team with global responsibility for legal strategy and execution, in addition to global transactions including complex litigation management, human resources/employee relations, crisis management, commercial transactions, compliance and corporate governance. Prior to this, she held positions of increasing responsibility within the legal function at BIC®, both in the United States and internationally. Before joining BIC® in 2015, LaTanya held several legal positions at Diageo PLC, a global leader in beverage alcohol, including General Counsel, Guinness Ghana Breweries, and Director and Senior Counsel of Diageo North America. She began her career in private practice as an associate at Paul Hastings LLP, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and Shipman & Goodwin LLP, specializing in corporate law and business finance and restructuring. LaTanya earned her Bachelor of Arts in political science and Doctor of Laws from Trinity College, where she serves on the Board of Trustees, and earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she currently serves as an adjunct professor.
We are delighted that LaTanya will be speaking in New York as part of our US summit. We caught up with her to see how she’s feeling in the runup to the event.
Hi LaTanya, we are thrilled that you will be speaking at the Wellbeing at Work US Summit in March. Our first and most important question is, how are you doing today??
Thank you for the question. That is actually how I start my meetings – asking how everyone is feeling! I am feeling well today, thank you!
As a leader based in the region, what are the main challenges you are facing when it comes to employee wellbeing and mental health?
One of the main challenges is the stigma surrounding mental health in the workplace, which can prevent a teammate from seeking help when they need it the most, making it even more critical to emphasize wellbeing. Additionally, remote and hybrid work arrangements add complexity as some individuals may feel they can hide behind a screen whereas in person interactions might help identify issues earlier.
What strategies have you seen developing over the past 6 months, both internally and externally, that are moving the dial on wellbeing in the workplace?
We believe it’s important to take a holistic approach to wellbeing and consistently improve the teammate experience while enhancing our company culture. Tactically, we have a combination of global and local initiatives in support of our four wellbeing pillars – mental, physical, financial, and emotional. We have created a wellbeing Center of Excellence which has empowered our wellbeing champions to create and lead learning opportunities around the pillars and provide resources to teammates locally based the site needs.
In the past year, the wellbeing champions have hosted wellbeing fairs, flu shot clinics, blood drives, local lunch and learns and global speaker sessions creating space for teammates to either take care of their health or have the option to learn about topics important to them.
Let’s not forget that small connections in our everyday lives also have an impact on our wellbeing – and no act of caring is too small. Simple things like our physical work environment can make a big difference. One example is bringing in nature. Where it makes sense, having real plants in our office spaces instead of fake plants can help to add a bit of happiness to teammates’ days. In our Teplice manufacturing office, they installed large landscape murals on the shop walls to enhance the environment during their workdays. Even the smallest actions can significantly impact our wellbeing, and if we maintain that mindset, we can continue making progress in the right direction.
Why is employee wellbeing so important to you personally?
Wellbeing is a deeply personal mission for me because I have witnessed firsthand the transformative effects it can have on individuals and organizations. I personally had a neurological condition that had profound effects on various aspects of my life when I was at the peak of my professional journey, including my mental, social, emotional, and physical well-being. As such, it became a mission of mine to understand these impacts on other employees and help provide better support, resources and community. My role in HR further solidified my belief in the power of wellbeing initiatives, as I know firsthand how they enhance employee satisfaction, productivity, and overall company culture.
What impact is AI having in your organization and how are you managing that?
At this point, GenAI is not having a significant impact on our organization. However, there is a lot of interest from teammates and we recognize the potential opportunities and risks of GenAI, so we are testing and learning our way forward. Specifically:
- To encourage education and experimentation, we have developed and issued a corporate policy on safe and appropriate GenAI usage. In addition, we have provided Microsoft CoPilot licenses and education to all leaders and many managers
- Our HR team is partnering with IT to develop training and education. Additionally, several of my HR teammates are piloting EPC’s ChatGPT instance in partnership with IT which allows the safe use of internal data within the ChatGPT environment. This partnership directly led to the development of a difficult conversations chatbot which was recently launched to all our People Leaders globally to help them prepare for and practice challenging conversations with their teams
- Within HR, I am encouraging my team to test and learn. We share individual GenAI use cases at our quarterly global town halls and are piloting a Talent Acquisition AI and Automation tool
Other than AI, are there any challenges that you are seeing for the first time and how are you addressing them?
Like other companies who are headquartered or do business in the U.S., we are adjusting to the changing political environment. We take pride in being an agile business and due to our global model, we are set up well to succeed in uncertain or unpredictable environments. We are being careful not to be too reactive, and instead working to understand the nuances of each policy decision and how they may or may not affect our business or teammates.
What areas do you think employers should be focused on over the next 12 months?
The next 12 months look to be as uncertain and unpredictable as ever. This political, economic, and business uncertainty has a real impact on the wellbeing of our teammates. So, at Edgewell, we will continue to focus on our core People First value and look for ways to continue to enhance teammate wellbeing. For example, we just launched “DailyPay” to increase our U.S. teammates’ financial wellbeing by providing access to earned pay more quickly. In addition, we understand the significant impact that people managers have on their direct reports, so we are increasing our investment in and focus on our “Best People Leaders” initiative, which strives to improve the leadership and people skills of all of our people managers.
We are confident that taking a holistic approach to wellbeing is critical and encouraging teammates to think creatively about ways they can prioritize their wellbeing is the best way to enable them to thrive both inside and outside of work. First, fostering a supportive work environment where teammates feel comfortable discussing their needs is essential. Regularly checking in with teammates helps ensure that they know their wellbeing is a priority to us. Once teammates feel as though they are in a supportive environment they are more likely to ask for the support they need.
Do you feel that investment in employee wellbeing in the region is increasing or decreasing and is that a direct reflection on HR leaders’ increasing ability to demonstrate effective returns of their strategies to leadership?
Investment in wellbeing is increasing and prioritizing wellbeing has been increasing due to a number of factors. After the pandemic everyone saw firsthand the problems that arose when different areas of our wellbeing were out of alignment. There is a growing realization that a healthy supported workforce is more productive and engaged. Increasing investments in mental health programs and focus on work life balance will continue to be a priority with leaders ability to demonstrate the importance of these programs.
How has your organization been leading the way?
Edgewell has always placed a special emphasis on its Purpose and Values. We pride ourselves on being a People First organization and part of that is offering things like our Teammate Resource Groups, launching our Wellbeing program and BeWell champions in different regions which fosters a culture of wellbeing and caring by supporting teammates’ physical, social, financial and emotional fitness. We’ve also worked to provide opportunities to recognize fellow teammates for their accomplishments with our InspireJOY recognition program, promoting learning and development opportunities and more. With all of these dynamic tools, resources and opportunities, it is my aim to push boundaries and act as a true leader in the space. This year we were again ranked as the #1 packaged goods company on Forbes America’s Best Midsize Employers list, and included as one of America’s Dream Employers as well. This year we were again ranked as the #1 packaged goods company on Forbes America’s Best Midsize Employers list, and included as one of America’s Dream Employers as well. While our work is never done, I believe this external recognition is confirmation that we are making strides in the right direction, and for that I am proud of what we’ve accomplished and even more excited for our future ahead.
LaTanya will be speaking in New York at the Wellbeing at Work Summit US which takes place in New York, Austin Texas and virtually. Further details on the Summit can be found here.
