Episode notes:

• Follow Karen on LinkedIn

• Learn more about Microsoft’s employee giving programs

• Check out disaster response at Microsoft

• See how Microsoft is celebrating 50 years

• Read Seattle Magazine’s feature on Microsoft 

• Learn more about Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI

• Read more about the Cats at Microsoft group 

Transcript:

This transcript was automatically generated.

Company culture isn't this amorphous thing.

I know sometimes we talk about it as if it is, but good company culture is rooted in real specific habits.

The companies leading the way are the ones who put in the work day after day, year after year, to build and maintain the culture that they want.

When you sit down with corporate leaders from companies that are really intentional about their culture, you'll find that, unfortunately, there just isn't an easy button. It takes a consistent commitment and a real willingness to evolve. Because company culture isn't something you can nail once and then forget about. It takes upkeep and a real commitment to listening to employees.

Microsoft is a great example of a corporation at the forefront of this space, and they're one of those companies that everyone looks to as a North Star.

Karen Bergen is the senior director of employee engagement and disaster response at Microsoft. She's helped create a model for employee engagement that puts giving and volunteering at the core of their purpose and strategy.

And companies of all sizes can learn a lot from the way Microsoft has built their programs and their reputation.

Welcome to Impact Audio. I am Sam Caplan, vice president of social impact at Submittable. And with me today is Karen Bergen from Microsoft Corporation, more specifically from Microsoft Philanthropies. And that's the social impact arm of Microsoft that's dedicated to advancing digital inclusion, nonprofit capacity building, and tech for social good.

Karen leads employee engagement at Microsoft where she's responsible for programs like employee volunteering and giving and matching. And, by the way, those programs are the biggest in the world. In twenty twenty three, donations from Microsoft employees together with the Microsoft match raised two hundred and fifty million dollars supporting nearly thirty five thousand organizations, and employees logged over one million volunteer hours to support nonprofits and causes that they care about. That's pretty incredible, and I cannot wait to get this conversation started.

So, Karen, welcome to Impact Audio.

Hi, Sam. Thank you so much for having me. I am thrilled to be here.

I am super excited that we're having this conversation. I'm so intrigued, and enamored with everything that's happening at Microsoft Philanthropies, and I can't wait to just dive into it. So why don't we start? Like, tell us a little bit about you and your role at Microsoft Philanthropies.

Thank you. Well, as you said, I'm I'm the senior director of of employee engagement and disaster response.

And that means that I oversee our employee volunteering and giving programs, which, you know, again, you said this, are some of the largest in the world.

And my team and I, like, we're dedicated to empowering employees to make positive impact through various initiatives, including disaster response and community engagement.

Karen, give us an overview of Microsoft's employee engagement program. So sketch a blueprint for us that others can follow along with. So if I were a Microsoft employee, what would I be able to do, Karen, in terms of volunteering and giving and matching?

One of my favorite quotes is from Walt Disney, and and that is if you can dream, you can do it. And and we take that approach. So when it comes to employee engagement, we really try to offer a world class experience to givers who truly want to make the world a better place for others. But we don't just leave it at dreaming. We put action behind it. And so our employee engagement programs are designed with flexibility and empowerment in mind so that our employees can engage in ways that align with their passions.

So from employee giving to volunteerism, from disaster response to local community projects, it's all part of a broader mission to not only give, but also to inspire and probably even more importantly to empower.

To get to some of the tactics and answer your question in more detail, employees can participate in the Microsoft Give match program Coordinations are matched on a one to one basis up to fifteen thousand US dollars per calendar year.

Additionally, volunteer time is matched at twenty five dollars per hour. And then, you know, as as you mentioned earlier on, we see, of our two hundred and twenty eight thousand employees, we see participation rates of over fifty percent.

And then, you know, you mentioned the the one million hours. When you when you equate that to years, that's like a hundred and hundred and seventeen years, which is, I think, is much more impressive way of of of saying it.

And then in April last year, we reached the extraordinary milestone of three billion dollars raised over the history of the program, which, included the Microsoft match.

Yeah. Those numbers are pretty astounding. I mean, they're huge. And the one number that you mentioned, Karen, that really jumped out at me is that fifty percent engagement.

Like, in in my experience, you know, I think the industry average for for corporations across the board tends to be somewhere around, like, twenty ish percent engagement in these programs. And we tend to see, like, higher engagement, but with smaller corporations. And so being, like, one of the largest corporations in the world, to be at fifty percent engagement just is incredible. Like, can you shed some light?

Like, you talked about inspiring employees. Like, why do you think it is that Microsoft employees, are so willing to to give their their time and and their and their, their donations to nonprofit organizations to reach that fifty percent level?

It it's a question I get asked so, so often.

And to this day, I don't have, you know, a very succinct answer to it. I I think it's I think it's for many, many reasons. I think it's fair to say that our employees care. I think it's fair to say that they show up.

And and whether that's through checkbook philanthropy, which is part of our employee giving program, or through volunteering their hours, which again, of course, has, you know, twenty five dollars per hour for the nonprofit associated with it. Board service is something that many of our employees are passionate about. And then we just launched a skills based volunteer program a number of months ago, specifically to help nonprofits learn more about how to harness the power of AI. And then we also have this robust disaster response program where we help to empower first responders, government agencies, nonprofits, and customers, and all of that to say that it's it's it's a very wide portfolio.

And we have created it so that if employees want to make a difference, there are a multitude of manners in in which they can do so. And so, you know, we are lucky and that we work for a corporation that'll provide a one to one match.

And that's really kind of, like, what this is all about. I mean, this is, you know, employee engagement at the end of the day from a corporate perspective. It's, like, great for us to, like, achieve some sort of social impact in the world and make a real difference in our communities, and that's a given. But, like, part of this is also about, like, actually creating real, authentic, genuine employee engagement where employees, you know, are more more prone to stay with the corporation because they feel inspired by these types of programs. And it really sounds like Microsoft has kind of figured out culturally, you know, how to make employee engagement and giving and matching and board service and and volunteerism, like, a real part of the culture so that it actually, really, like, authentically engages employees.

I I I have to say I would agree with that. And and also, you know, we are we are constantly trying to be where employees are, or we're trying to think about where might they go, what trends are we seeing, what's happening in the industry, is there a greater interest in this type of activity or that type of activity, is there something for everybody, Can people do it remotely? That that definitely is something that happened unsurprisingly.

As a result of COVID, we had to pivot in in person volunteering to a different form of volunteering. One of the great things about virtual or remote is that it's automatically more inclusive. And so we have kept a very strong component of virtual slash remote in in all of our programming now. And so we've had tremendous feedback on that, and and we will continue it.

So you've talked about the the types of programs that you've had. I'd love to hear a little bit about the sort of impact that these programs are making. Like, do you have any data that you can share from, you know, maybe maybe last year?

Well, before I look back, let me, if you don't mind, look forward because April this is a big year for us. In April, Microsoft turns fifty.

And and so it's it's it's always tempting for me to reflect on, you know, the legacy.

This is a company that revolutionized personal computing, advanced productivity tools like Microsoft Office, and redefines gaming through Xbox.

When we focus on on on what's ahead, you know, if you think artificial intelligence that enhances productivity and creativity while emphasizing responsibility, fairness, and transparency, undertaking a an affordable housing crisis, for example, here in Seattle. And then really trying to redefine how how to help those in need. And it's it's an opportunity for us now to look to the future, to look ahead to the next quarter of a century. What's our seventy five seventy fifth birthday going to look like in the year twenty fifty? I mean, we were recently honored, thrilled to say by Seattle Magazine, on its most influential list for an outsized influence that we've had across the globe. And it's the first time an organization has appeared on that.

During the past five decades, Microsoft and employees, you know, as I mentioned, have contributed more than three billion dollars across the globe. And, again, to get to your question, in twenty twenty four, we saw our programs continuing to have a significant impact. We saw an increase in employee participation and donations, you know, further solidifying our commitment to social good. And and I think that the collective efforts of our employees have supported numerous organizations and causes, making a real tangible difference in communities all around the world. In fact, we expanded our program, our employee giving program three years ago so that all eligible employees can avail of the same benefits that US employees do. And last year in twenty twenty four, we can we saw we continue to see an increase in international participation, which is fantastic.

Yeah. I for sure wanna, like, touch back on this sort of, this topic of, like, culture at Microsoft. So tell me how the employee engagement programs, really are so important to Microsoft in terms of that culture.

You know, I I heard somebody say recently that Microsoft isn't just a company. It's two hundred and twenty eight thousand people who work for Microsoft around the world. And as, you know, I am thrilled to say that more than fifty percent of whom participate in in our program, those people are a reflection of the giving program and and a culture that we work to develop and encourage year after year. And and along the way, something extraordinary is happening. It's reflected in the generosity, I think, of an employee population that's so connected, you know, with with our hometown and so many other communities.

It took twenty years for the company's giving campaign to generate ten million dollars cumulatively, including the company match. That happened in nineteen ninety five. Seventeen years later, we became the second company in history after UPS to reach the one billion threshold of giving, including the company match. That was in twenty thirteen.

And only seven years later, we became the first company to reach two billion. And only four years after that last year, we reached three billion.

That is pretty impressive scale. Like, do you think that you know, what are you anticipating? Do you think you can continue that sort of growth with the giving programs?

I will say that nobody can predict the future. I would say that if giving continues at the rate that we are seeing, yeah, I I think that our employees together with the, you know, the very generous corporate match will continue to drive impact and and across some of the toughest, you know, challenges we're we're facing around the world. So I I do predict that giving will continue to be extremely strong.

Yeah. And I'm glad you mentioned challenges. I'm really intrigued by the kind of challenges, that you face as you're experiencing this sort of scale and growth. Like, can you tell me about any of them? Yeah.

And and and very transparently, when you're expanding a program like an employee giving program and and which, you know, includes volunteerism, to do that, to scale that around the world was was quite a project. And, you know, it required, for example, an extensive legal review often at the country by country level because you can't volunteer in some countries and and you can in others. And and we ask ourselves the same questions, I'm sure, that that you do in your company and many of your listeners do, and that's what's the perfect blend of global and local? Is it better to have top down engagement or employee led or somewhere in between? And so we've had to ensure that our initiatives were inclusive and relevant to employees in lots of different regions. And so those are some of the opportunities, I I like to call them, that we continue to look at.

So I know that Microsoft is really closely aligned with OpenAI, which has been a leader in AI development for a long time now. With the company actively incorporating artificial intelligence across all of its products, like, in the form of Copilot, has your organization begun to think about how AI is going to influence the work that Microsoft Philanthropies does?

Absolutely. It's hard to believe that today we have more than a billion customers around the world. It really is hard to believe. And it's hard to believe that we'll spend more than seventy five billion dollars this fiscal year alone building an AI data center infrastructure in the United States and around the world. And as we look to the future and when we, you know, we think about artificial intelligence, we know that in the quarter century ahead, AI will change the economy. So, therefore, as part of that, it's critical to equip people with the skills and the capabilities that they're going to need in order to be successful. And that's why we're focused on AI education, not only at the k to twelve level, but for community colleges and for four year institutions and in partnerships with organized labor and apprenticeship programs.

We know we can do more. We will do more. And and I think whether it's connecting employees with nonprofit organizations or optimizing our matching programs, AI is helping us scale giving efforts in ways we couldn't have imagined even just five years ago.

And, like, tell me about you, Karen. What have you learned personally over the course of all of these changes?

I have learned a lot, Sam. I I have learned the importance of adaptability and continuous learning. And, you know, in in my opinion, the landscape of the work that we do, you know, corporate social impact, is constantly evolving, and it's crucial to stay informed and open to new ideas.

I've also learned the value of collaboration and the power of collective action in driving meaningful change.

And has your background impacted or informed any of those lessons?

Yeah. You know, I I would say that my background in PR and internal comms has been instrumental in shaping my approach to employee engagement.

It's taught me the importance of clear communication, storytelling, and building strong relationships. And those I will honestly say those skills have been invaluable in in helping to drive the way we do some of what we do.

I love it.

I've heard you describe Microsoft's internal workplace culture as as one of learning. Explain to me what you mean by this, like, in the context of employee engagement programs.

It means that we are always trying to analyze what's happening in our employee base. Where are we seeing like, is volunteerism suddenly up? If so, why is it up? Is it up in a country? Okay. What are they doing in that country that's driving an increase, in in their engagement there? And the culture is like, it's just absolutely fascinating to be part of it, I have to say.

The listening I think listening, you know, is I I think is critical to to learning and always striving to be better. Never settling for the status quo is is is key to it as well.

And so we do. I I listen. I spend a lot of time with employees. I spend a lot of time talking with them, listening to them.

I work with leaders across the company. So it's about being curious, asking questions, seeking out new perspectives. And also, you know, it means being willing to take risks and learn from failures knowing that every experience brings valuable lessons. And that's that's the beauty of a learning organization because as they say, if you're not evolving, you're stagnating.

Yeah. And is there a program you were part of running that you would maybe do a little bit differently based on some of the lessons that you've learned over time?

Yes. There have been lots of learnings. They keep coming.

And one of the biggest is is about the power of communications both from a content and a cadence point of view. I have learned that an email is not communication.

I have learned to be scientific about what we say, when we say it, how we say it, and where we say it. I've learned that one must pay attention to internal websites or teams' doorways and to have the right amount of content, but not too many of them because it makes it really confusing to and and hard to access information.

And that's probably my biggest learning to make things as simple, straightforward, and accessible as possible. So focusing on content diffusion is something that I spent a lot of time thinking thinking about every day.

That makes sense. And, also, in one of our previous discussions, you talked about the difference between, like, a top down sort of that shall give to nonprofits approach versus something that's more bottoms up or grassroots. I'm wondering if you can just expand on that a little bit for the audience.

For sure. Some companies provide matching for cause that they care about, though that's less than norm, and others have totally open programs. Most corporations do both. We do both. So we believe in an employee led approach where employees have the autonomy to choose the causes that they care about, if they're eligible for our program. And then, that just fosters, I think, a sense of ownership and personal connection.

And we support that with a top down or strategically curated approach, such as in disaster response giving, where we choose nonprofits who are having the greatest impact on issues or specific situations. And just to give you an example of that, for COVID nineteen, we took that approach and we raised almost forty three million dollars with the Microsoft match for nonprofits around the world. And then if I take the employee basis, there's the Microsoft CAT calendar to give you an idea of employee led giving. And that's where a group of employees who love cats and wanted to provide funding for a local humane society, they got together and they created a Microsoft cat calendar.

Well, the cat calendar is so popular that every month now has a different day for a different cat, and there are many Microsoft cat calendars. And that brings in over a hundred thousand dollars a year to the humane societies. And so or feline rescue societies. And that would be a great example of where you have passionate employees who care about a cause.

In this instance, it's cats. We also have a dog calendar. Because a lot of dog loving people at Microsoft too. So it's it's just great to see the creativity and and the fun happening all for good.

I heard of, a group of employees recently who did a soul cycle. They're like, spin for good. I'm like, that's got a nice ring to it.

Karen, one thing I wanted to ask is that we've talked about this this figure, two hundred and twenty eight thousand employees, and it's just incredible. And so, you know, over the course of the conversation here, you've talked about, like, the importance of listening. And I'm just super curious, like, what kinds of systems do you need to have in place, and how do you listen to so many employees?

Yeah. It's it's it's a really important point. And I think it's fair to say that listening to such a large number of employees requires robust systems and processes.

We use a combination of surveys, feedback platforms, direct communications channels, and others to gather input from, employees.

And we also have dedicated teams that analyzes feedback informs our programs and initiatives. I mean, Power BI is an amazing tool that I check-in with, like, many times a day in terms of how how how are things going.

And and so it's I think it's key. I I I really think it's key. I don't I don't think you run a program on an island. I I think you have to be, in my opinion, as inclusive as you can be, to at least know the the various different views of, you know, a a very diverse employee base.

Yeah. And and I love how you've mentioned several times now how, you know, Microsoft actually incorporates technology where it can to, like, improve these programs and to analyze and understand. I think that makes perfect sense. So just as a as a quick follow-up to that, I know that, like, not all companies have two hundred and twenty eight thousand employees out there. Like, what do you think about in terms of small how small and midsized businesses can also learn from your approach?

I I think that smaller and midsized businesses can learn the importance of creating a culture of listening and and continuous improvement. And even with fewer resources, I I again, in my opinion, I think it's critical. I think it's crucial to prioritize employee feedback so that you can make data driven decisions.

Building strong relationships with employees or employee communities, is important. And, you know, I'm a I'm still to this day a big fan of focus groups and attending them so I can hear the conversation. And they're cheap and quick to do with good prep and some pizza.

You know?

You can learn a lot in an hour. And so I still will do focus groups with new hires and and go, okay. What do you think? What should we do differently?

We're doing this. What do you think? What if you were me? What would you do?

The secret is definitely the pizza. Like, you bring pizza to an meeting. I am totally there.

You're guaranteed participation.

I'd love I'd love to hear if you have an example in mind of a time when employee feedback maybe helped shape a program or, you know, what that feedback loop looked like.

Yeah. When when I first, began leading this this program, this team, one of my observations is that our volunteer numbers were lower than I thought that they would be. And so we asked our employees, do you volunteer? If so, why and when? And if you and then we asked employees who didn't volunteer, what's holding you back? And the feedback and this was in a focus group. The feedback was it's too time consuming.

So and I'm going going I'm going back a number. I'm going back eight years here. It's too time consuming. Even if I leave my office and get into my car and go downtown and I park my car, blah blah blah blah blah. Like, that's three and a half, four hours out of my day. I don't have that kind of time. So we decided that we would bring nonprofits to our employees.

And so we created an on campus micro volunteering program. So in one hour, Microsoft employees can leave their office and come to an event that we have organized in just one hour, and they can do good in in an hour. So micro volunteering will be a direct example of where we really heard what was stopping people from from volunteering their time.

I love it. It sounds like such a elegant and simple solution, to a challenge that so many, corporations have. And, in one of our planning conversations, Karen, you and I had talked about how for the first time ever, there are five generations in the workplace. That's kind of mind blowing. I would love to hear from, like, what challenges, what opportunities does this does this present having five generations in the workplace at once?

Yeah. I I mean, I think it provides, you know, both challenges and opportunities.

The diversity of perspective and experiences can lead to innovative solutions and a richer work environment. But I also think it it requires us to be mindful of different communication styles and preferences and needs and to provide opportunities for intergenerational collaboration. And I think we can harness the strengths of each generation. I mean, I think it's amazing that we've got five generations of people in in the in the workplace for the first time.

I think it's incredible also. Like, how do you define and measure the workforce or workplace engagement across so many generations? Is that a challenge?

You know, yeah. I mean, I I wouldn't say that I do it through my team in terms of, oh, this generation or that generation or or that generation. I mean, we we are able to analyze a lot. I mean, we we can analyze to the to a building level in in terms of participation.

And we look we also look at qualitative data too in terms of employee stories and and testimonials to understand the impact of different programs across, you know, different generations. I I mentioned, you know, working with our new hires, earlier on. They're not always younger, but quite often, they are. And, again, asking them, okay, you have a perception of employee giving. I mean, we we presented to them on day one of their their their time joining the company through our new employee orientation, and we share, you know, our give program and how they can engage. And and we get tremendous engagement as a result of very tactically showing up on the very first day that they join our company.

Again, I think that's a great example of, like, establishing this culture of of employee engagement and volunteering and giving, across the organization. It's really cool. Do you have any thoughts on, like, how we, and when I say we, I mean, like, the whole CSR sector, can do a better job of helping employees understand that impact that their giving is making? So we talk a lot about, like, total dollars that are donated, but how do we help employees really understand the real world impact that their dollars are making?

This is not an easy one to answer. I think everybody struggles, you know, figuring out how best to do that. And I won't tell you that I think we've got it completely sorted. We don't.

We're still learning and and trying to do better. I think it's important to go beyond the numbers and share the stories behind the impact. And and I think we can do that by highlighting specific projects, sharing testimonials from beneficiaries, providing regular updates on on the progress and the outcomes of funded initiatives. And and I think if we can connect employees more to the real world impact of their contributions, we can foster a deeper sense of purpose and motivation.

I think you can do it. I had this thought in preparing for this.

I think you can do that upfront or you can do it afterwards or you could do it in the beginning. Let me give you an example. We ran a fundraiser a number of years ago that was for a local nonprofit here in Seattle called Plymouth Housing.

And they were building a new building and each unit needed, you know, each one needed a refrigerator. So we had a fund a refrigerator campaign. We put up the cost of a refrigerator, and we said if you buy one, Microsoft doubles that. Therefore, you're buying two refrigerators.

That was one of the fastest selling, air quotes, fundraisers we've ever done. So the specificity of what the impact would be upfront definitely drove traction. And then a story that I heard recently that I thought was very, very, very clever is one of my colleagues donated blood, and he got an email from it's one of our local blood banks here telling him the date and the time that his donation of blood was used. I thought that was genius.

So that's an example of impact reporting. Now it's two different examples of impact reporting.

It's certainly something that I would love to do more and do better.

Couple more questions for you here before before I, run out of time with you, Karen. So, I'd love to hear what Microsoft Philanthropies is doing to bridge the digital divide, especially in those underserved communities.

Yeah. Microsoft philanthropy is committing to bridging the digital divide through many different, initiatives. And and you mentioned actually a number of those upfront, Sam, in your in your introduction to me. You know, we focus on, as I said, AI skills access and, you know, skills training, access to technology, resources to underserved communities.

We have a wealth of different, you know, tools and resources that can help empower individuals. And and the goal, of course, is to to create more equitable opportunities and and to drive positive change. So we have a whole a whole team of people based here in Redmond and around the world who wake up, and and every day, that's their job is is to think about those those goals.

And for my last question for you, Karen, like, Microsoft makes such a huge impact for so many nonprofits and communities and employees. Like, do you lay in bed at night just nervous about getting it right?

You know, if if I said that I never worried about getting it right, I I don't think I should be doing the job that I'm doing. You know? The next person who's sitting in this seat, what will they do that's better than what I'm doing? Am I missing something? So there's a level of responsibility and and pressure, I suppose, you you could to get it right, but it's incredibly motivating.

And, you know, to go back what I said, and I'm like, we are constantly learning. And the great thing about working at Martin, you are encouraged to constantly learn. And so we're trying to adapt programmes to make sure that they're effective and impactful.

And when I see the participation levels and the support and the dedication of our employees and partners, that just gives that gives me great confidence to continue, you know, striving for excellence. And I think that's where the magic happens, whether it's through storytelling or data, excuse me, data driven impact reports. We're committed to showing our employees just how powerful their their contributions are. And, you know, I think bridging the digital divide, especially in underserved communities, is something we take very, very seriously.

We're committed to bringing access to technology and to AI to the people who need it the most. And after all, every community should have access to the tools they need to thrive. And that's it's part of our mission to help make that happen.

Karen Bergen, this has been one of the most delightful and enlightening and engaging conversations I think I've had on Impact Audio. So thank you so much for all of the incredible insights.

I'm taking so much away, that that you said, and applying it to my own company and my own work and my own thought leadership. And I know that the audience is gonna feel like this has just really, really been super helpful, and it will resonate with them as well. So thank you a ton for coming on with me, and, can't wait to have our next conversation.

Thank you, Sam. It's been my pleasure to be here. Thank you.

One of the things I really appreciate about how Microsoft operates is that they run these big successful programs, and they're always willing to share their knowledge. They're not just interested in propelling themselves forward, they want to bring the whole social impact sector along with them. They want all of us to benefit from the lessons they've learned. So in more than one way, they're setting a great example for the rest of us.

Thanks for tuning in to Impact Audio, produced by your friends at Submittable. Until next time.