Have you ever felt that leading wellbeing efforts were like rolling a boulder uphill? It can definitely feel that way if you’re going at it alone. But how can you leverage certain skills to not only expand wellbeing but your role along with it? Today’s guest, Cassie Buckroyd, walks us through the skills she’s leveraged to elevate wellbeing within HR and throughout the larger organization.
Cassie Buckroyd is a Senior Manager of Total Rewards Experience at Columbia Sportswear. She’s a highly strategic and enthusiastic leader with 15+ years of experience leading the design and delivery of innovative workplace programs. Described as collaborative, compassionate, strategic, and resilient, recognized for thought leadership and the ability to influence corporations to prioritize their people. She’s passionate about transforming the way individuals experience work and creating conditions where both employees and businesses thrive.
In today’s conversation we talk about the shift from her role leading wellbeing efforts to in the broader role of Total Rewards Experience. Cassie explains what her role entails and where wellbeing falls within her scope. She refreshes us on the model of wellbeing that exists today and also the future direction. Cassie walks us through what skills helped her both get the model adopted and a new skill she has developed. She leaves us with advice if your organization is not as into collaborating as Columbia is.
Episode Highlights:
- There’s an interest in adopting the current wellbeing model more broadly as an employee value proposition. Columbia is currently exploring the details of what that would entail.
- You can get more done and broaden your impact by bringing people with you. It takes longer but it’s more effective.
- There is a letting go when you’re not the wellness person anymore and let the new people own it.
- Cassie’s influence and impact is broader now that she doesn’t own wellbeing.
- It’s all about figuring out who you need to talk to and getting curious about what they’re working on. You become a thought partner.
- Relationships and partnerships (leading with curiosity), finding out what’s important to leaders, and using relevant data to tell the story are key skills Cassie used to expand wellbeing at Columbia.
- Getting traction takes time and you just have to plant seeds and keep at it.
Links Mentioned:
Cassie’s LinkedIn
Full Bio:
Cassie’s career spans more than 20 years in the health and wellness industries. For the past 16 years, she has worked with employers across varying industries, ranging from small businesses to Fortune 100 employers on wellbeing strategy, implementation and evaluation.
Cassie has been at Columbia Sportswear Company for 8 years. She started as the company’s first Wellness Program Manager and grew a program from inception to what is currently a global initiative and cornerstone of total rewards and talent programs. Cassie is now a Sr. Manager in Total Rewards and leads the “Experience” team, focused on delivering impactful Total Rewards programs across CSC’s diverse workforce using CSC’s Total Rewards Philosophy and 5 Pillars of Wellbeing to drive program design and delivery.
Cassie is a native Oregonian, residing in Portland, OR. She received her Master of Public Health degree from Portland State University and Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Oregon State University. She serves on the Board of Directors for two local nonprofits — as Board Chair for the Westside Transportation Alliance, and as the Personnel Committee Chair for Adelante Mujeres.
In her free time, she can mostly be found in the outdoors, hiking and backpacking around the Pacific Northwest and beyond.