Maria Reis is a vital part of LG Electronics North America’s Human Resources team. She holds the Head of Compensation and Benefits position, making her responsible for creating an employee-centered working environment. She has successfully created a work culture that focuses on the happiness and prosperity of every employee, making it a desirable place to work. We met with Reis to discuss her past, present, and future goals with LG.
The Early Years in HR
Reis completed her education in accounting and sociology. After spending a few years in financial services she changed industries and joined Toys “R“ Us. However, she soon realized that her heart was somewhere else in the organization, and that she much preferred human capital to financial capital. This revelation pushed Reis to shift career paths to HR.
Reis feels privileged to have had the opportunity to spend a good portion of her career working for an iconic brand such as Toys “R” Us. She worked with devoted people in a collaborative culture that took on big tasks, drove change, and embraced diversity. Reis recalls that there were days when the volume of requests was so overwhelming that only the laughter amidst the chaos helped it all get done. Because the company filed for bankruptcy in 2018, Reis found herself open to entertaining new opportunities. Reis describes her job switch to LG Electronics:
“A third-party recruiter called twice before I agreed to meet with him. I was still with Toys ‘R’ Us and was planning to stick it out with them until the end. I’m so glad I agreed to entertain a discussion about the LG role. My interviews with the LG team felt very organic. They were upfront about their strengths and opportunities as an organization. I appreciated that. I like to fix things and they needed a little fixing! I knew this was a brand that I could spend the next two decades with. That’s how I landed at LG Electronics.”
After working with a globally recognized brand – Toys “R” Us – Reis wanted her next role to also be with another iconic global organization and marketplace leader. Therefore, she accepted the job without hesitation after getting a glimpse into the culture and atmosphere LG Electronics had to offer. Bye-Bye Barbie Dolls. Hello Washing Machines.
The Trust-Building Culture
Reis’s first goal was to prioritize trust in the work environment. She believes that companies have a high chance of success when employees and employers are connected through a bond of trust. Reis knew that trust-building was a slow process, but that it would be vital for LG Electronics to thrive.
“No employee walks into LG Electronics on their first day with a pocket full of trust. Trust is earned in our company. Once you build that trust with our team, CEO, and CFO, then autonomy and endless support are plentiful,” states Reis.
Reis believes in the power of positive energy and driving innovation in the working environment, and that is why she is flourishing at LG Electronics. As LG Electronics is a technology company, it is consistently building new products and finding new ways to enhance older technologies. Due to this rapidly changing nature of the industry, Reis understands the importance of supporting a rapidly changing workforce with forwarding-thinking HR programs and providing employees with developmental opportunities to showcase their strengths. LG Electronics, U.S. A., drove the way for the global introduction of Flexible Work Arrangements. Pre-Pandemic, this was an environment where the approach was traditionally ‘if I can’t see you, I don’t know you are working’. Now leaders approach it as ‘I don’t need to see you to know you are working.'”
“At LG Electronics, you need to show up with the startup mentality because we are constantly in startup mode, creating or enhancing products. So, we promote a culture that motivates employees to think out of the box,” says Reis.
After the trust is established, Reis and her team invest capital in the people and their ideas to raise employee morale. Reis loves that everyone knows each other by their name.
“In the past, I was used to referring to employees by their employee ID number. Despite LG Electronics’ size, every employee is more than an ID number. Everyone knows each other’s name and that is how we greet and check up on each other.”
Reis further says that the best part of this culture is that even the CEO and CFO know the people who are working under them. They also greet people in the hallways by their names, making them realize that they are seen and appreciated. Reis’s words on this perspective:
“Observing this type of work culture was a first for me because I have never seen any organization know so much about their people.”
LG Electronics provides different opportunities for employees to have one-to-one interactions. According to Reis, they realize that collaboration among employees can bring positive results to the organization. This is evidenced by their expansive Learning & Development curriculum which utilizes both virtual and in-person opportunities. Employees are encouraged to use work time for development. Through their Leadership Acceleration Program (LeAP), the company invests even more development in employees who have high potential.
In addition, Reis and her team encourage managers to take their team out to lunch to celebrate their successes. The company foots the bill for these celebration lunches and parties. They also foot the bill for employee lunch in their New Jersey Headquarters cafeteria every day. Managers are also encouraged to recognize employees using their rewards and recognition platform, STARR.
The Three Pillars Of Total Rewards
Reis informs us that the HR department aligns itself to the company’s corporate social responsibility pillars. Those three pillars are:
- Healthy people
- Healthy communities
- Healthy planet
Reis shares details about these pillars:
“Our employee total rewards strategy covers one pillar, and that is, healthy people. We believe that taking care of employees’ wellness helps them succeed at work. The second pillar, healthy community aligns to our approach towards people. The many successes we achieve in our Company are not possible without our employees. This is why building a winning culture through an environment of open communication and transparency is at the foundation of our HR practices. We believe that when we combine world-class innovative products with a committed workforce who feel that they belong, are adding value, and that company programs support them to be at their best, that is what leads to overall success. Lastly, we know our employees want to work for a company that cares about our environment. We look for new volunteer work opportunities for the wellness of the planet.”
Reis shares that the company cares about employees’ long-term well-being which is why they offer a comprehensive benefits package to employees and their eligible dependents. This includes a competitive pay package, Paid Parental Leave, Wellness Wednesdays, medical, dental & vision benefits, and retirement plans for every employee. She says the company does not charge an out-of-pocket premium for health benefits. The idea of Wellness Wednesdays comes from Reis raising mental health awareness among employees.
“On Wellness Wednesdays, we communicate to employees on topics they have told us is on their minds (plus a few others we want to be on our employees’ minds!). Examples include mental health, what is covered in our health plans, how to juggle kids and work, staying fit, and what is a qualifying life event. The communication vehicles vary but could take the form of a program enhancement, webinar, infographic, or sometimes just a QR code that we then post in various locations. This approach tends to work better for our workforces that are not always sitting at a computer, like at our Tennessee factory. For example, we re-branded our Summer Hours Program because, in most locations, we will be adding a half-day in October in recognition of World Mental Health Day because we want our employees to be their best selves,” Reis says.
Welcoming Diversity To Increase Employee Wellness
Reis and her team are introducing various new programs as their primary focus is to promote employee wellness. “When we talk about employee wellness, we must think about the person as a whole. This means we need to consider their mental health, physical health, and financial health.”
Reis and her team are launching the retirement readiness pillar to combine these factors. They have leveraged their vendor partners who will organize virtual webinars for employees to learn what retirement plan is best for them. They have now introduced Financial Fridays as part of their retirement readiness strategy: Ready-Learn-Grow, You do You, and education on a variety of financial topics is provided to employees such as paying down student loan debt, understanding market volatility in a retirement plan, and understanding IRS retirement limits,
She states, “At LG, we aspire to empower people and celebrate differences because we believe diversity will create the unexpected. We embrace uniqueness to drive innovation and better represent our employees, customers, and the global communities we serve. Because of our commitment to diversity we want to ensure our retirement plan options have something for every employee. Therefore, we have recently introduced a self-directed brokerage account which offers employees more options for them to invest in their future.”
As LG Electronics has a diverse workforce that belongs to different cultures and religions, Reis and her team want to introduce investment plans that are inclusive to everyone. When Reis learned that some employees were not participating in the 401(k) plan she began talking with people from different cultures and religions to find out why. Then she realized that some people couldn’t invest in a 401(k) plan as their religion prohibits interest consumption.
With that insight, Reis is now working hard to find an option from an inclusive standpoint as she wants more employees to participate in the company’s retirement programs. “We offer a 4% company match. I hope with the work being done on the self-directed brokerage account option that more employees are able to take advantage of this.”
The Fixing Strategy
Reis has spent four years as a part of the LG Electronics family. Since her joining, she has followed the fixing strategy. Reis provides insight on this strategy. “From the moment I joined LG Electronics, my priority was to figure out what was broken, fix it and avoid it from breaking again.”
The first thing Reis noticed was a lack of trust, which was the unintended consequence of a lack of communication. Therefore, she worked hard on building trust between employees and management. For four years, Reis has been following this strategy and improving the organization’s work culture.
Reis has been working incessantly to improve LG Electronics’ work environment. Her primary focus is to ensure ‘Life Good. For Everyone’. As a global leader, LG Electronics strives for greatness in the products they make and the people they employ. Reis presses that successful people in this work environment are open-minded, resilient and trust managers to manage. She believes in the power of positive energy and the importance of working as a team and views these two guiding principles at the foundation of how solid relationships are built and how productivity occurs. As a result, LG Electronics continues to attract and retain top talent and is set to innovate in the years to come continually.