Pulse Secure provides easy, comprehensive software-driven Secure Access solutions that provide visibility and seamless, protected connectivity between users, devices, things, and services. Our suites uniquely integrate cloud, mobile, application, and network access to enable hybrid IT in a Zero Trust world.
Today, more than 80% of the Fortune 500 and over 20,000 enterprises (and 18M end-points) and service providers across every vertical entrust Pulse Secure to empower their mobile workforce to securely access applications and information in the data center and cloud while ensuring business compliance.
Joyeta Samanta, Director of Talent Success at Pulse Secure, lives and breathes talent success.
She is passionate about solving complex problems, enabling change, developing talent and growing organizations through employee engagement, employer branding, talent acquisition, bridging data analytics with cultural trends and innovating on policies and programs at scale.
Connect with Joyeta on LinkedIn and follow Pulse Secure on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
Transcript
Intro: [00:00:01] Broadcasting live from Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for Learning Insights, featuring learning professionals improving performance to drive business results.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:15] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of Learning Insights. And it’s important to recognize our sponsor at TrainingPros. We could not be sharing these stories without their support. Today, only Learning Insights. We have Joy Samanta with Pulse Secure. Welcome, Joy.
Joy Samanta: [00:00:31] Hi, Lee. How are you doing?
Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] I am doing well. Before we get too far into things, tell us about Pulse Secure. How are you serving folks?
Joy Samanta: [00:00:40] So, Pulse Secure is a network security company. We started out six years ago. We provide easy, comprehensive, software-driven secure access solutions for B2B companies, helping them to really increase their employee productivity.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:58] And then, how did you get involved with the company?
Joy Samanta: [00:01:01] That’s a great question. My journey started on day one with Pulse, actually. Pulse divested from Juniper Networks, and I interviewed there. I joined Pulse. It was an exciting place to be. We were building out a company from just a product. And my journey started six years ago.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:18] And then, you’re the Director of Talent Success. What does that job entail?
Joy Samanta: [00:01:23] Basically, that job is a complicated title for simply saying that I ran the HR department. And so, we do a lot of fun things, partnering with the different leaders across various different functions, driving, learning and development, internal communications, and so much more. Just talent acquisition and total awards for our employees at Pulse.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:48] Now, how important is the culture to your organization?
Joy Samanta: [00:01:55] Honestly, it is our number one priority. And it starts with our CEO, who is very, very big on culture, values and drives most decisions and outcomes through those. So, I think it’s absolutely critical.
Lee Kantor: [00:02:11] Now, as being involved in the HR and you hear leadership tell you how important it is, how do you kind of take that messaging and that intent, and spread it throughout the organization? What are some things you can do and maybe some advice you can share for others that are in a similar position where leadership’s saying, “Hey, we want to invest in our culture. We want to have a culture we’re proud of that does the right things”? So, how do you take that information, and then kind of deploy it out to the folks in the front lines?
Joy Samanta: [00:02:43] That’s a great question. I think, and having worked with several different organizations and several different leaders, what I realized is having a clear sense of vision and communicating it repeatedly to employees, what it means, how do you embed those cultures in everything you do, how you collaborate, how you communicate, how you drive performance, but really tying every aspect of the business success to those culture and values is critical.
Joy Samanta: [00:03:12] For example, at Pulse, our values are about delighting customers, and having implicit trust, and winning together as a team. And so, for everything we do, whether it’s internal customers, external customers, we really want to be very solution-minded, focused on driving delight for our customers. We work in an environment where there is such a mutual accountability and we do have implicit trust with our co-workers and the people we work with. And the last of it is winning together as a team. We’re really focused on collaborating and all different aspects. For example, our leaders host Ask-Me-Anythings every ordinate week where every question is fair game, and they answer based on the questions that get uploaded. And so, just having that environment where the leaders are driving and are open to questions, listening to the employees is super critical.
Lee Kantor: [00:04:07] Now, how do you kind of measure success of something like that?
Joy Samanta: [00:04:13] We see how people become way more inclusive and iterative in their thinking and planning. And you can actually, I think, measure it in how aligned people are at the end of it because they’re all driving towards the same mission based on the same values. And so, I mean, that’s how we measure productivity and performance. And every time we do quarterly assessments from an HR standpoint, when managers are driving these conversations with employees, it’s really measured across those core values. But I think we have really high engagement scores because of it. That’s one way to measure it. We have very low attrition rates. And so, those are, again, things on how we measure the values and how people align themselves to it.
Lee Kantor: [00:05:05] Now, when you’re onboarding a new employee, how has that changed because of the pandemic and the reliance now maybe on more work-from-home environment?
Joy Samanta: [00:05:17] So, our products, our biggest product, VPN, helps employees around the world work remotely. And so, we have onboarded more than 200 people just during this pandemic. And fortunately, been one of those companies who have paid out bonuses at 150% and really not had to have any layoffs. And so, when we onboard people, people know that they are really partnering with an organization or coming to an organization that’s helping everybody work remotely. And so, day one, every single process that we do is virtually through Microsoft Teams, or Zoom, and so on. We have a buddy system. We have HR teams, IT teams, shipping laptops, but everybody comes together. But they also know that this is what we do as a business. And so, it’s very in line with every single action we do to drive remote access.
Lee Kantor: [00:06:10] Now, what’s some advice for the folks who aren’t as good at it as you to maybe kind of help them through this in a way that gives them some level of comfort and is effective as well? Because for some folks, this is a new thing. They hadn’t had to rely on work from home, and it’s forcing them to do this now, and maybe they don’t feel as comfortable or as confident. What are some of the kind of low-hanging fruit in order to make this a smooth process?
Joy Samanta: [00:06:43] So, regardless of whether you’ve been a remote employee or not, people struggle with it because it’s ongoing, and it’s been so for a very long time, and everybody is remote. One of the small things I think people can do is stop apologizing for every time there is a distraction of their kids playing in the background their pets climbing up. I mean, everybody understands that. Try as much to be on video. I think it’s exhausting, and people do have fatigue on facing a camera for eight hours a day, but wherever possible, build that connection, at least, for all the one-on-ones that you have to really get to know the person beyond video.
Joy Samanta: [00:07:24] And I would say, you don’t have to be ready. like, all dressed up or such. People understand what situation everybody is experiencing. And so, be real, be genuine, and it’s okay to struggle through it. Most people are. These times, uncertain as they are, everybody’s doing the best they can, and really trying to be open and genuine about it is probably what I would recommend.
Lee Kantor: [00:07:55] And it sounds like, also, to give people some grace because it is challenging for everybody, and it shouldn’t be something that we’re all paranoid of every noise, or sound, or your like you said, your kid dropping something or the dog barking. I mean, we’re all kind of in this together.
Joy Samanta: [00:08:14] Yes, exactly.
Lee Kantor: [00:08:16] Now, any advice for the young person who maybe just graduated college and is trying to get a job? And it seems like everything is now remote, and they’re doing the best they can to be kind of noticed and found. What are some activities that catch your eye with young talent?
Joy Samanta: [00:08:34] I think one of the things I’ve seen quite a few, we have a very strong internship program. And so, a lot of the students coming in looking for jobs, they’re very enthusiastic. They have bright ideas. And I think that’s super critical to share. Networking through very many virtual events. We host several different webinars and conferences that they can engage in. And I would recommend that young people use LinkedIn or other platforms that they have to share what their journey is, what their dream jobs are. People are out there to help, but they should definitely reach out to as many people in their networks as possible to help. And being patient and positive is the most critical thing. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a young person, or an older person, or people going through M&A, or change and losing jobs, I think being just patient through it and positive is super critical.
Lee Kantor: [00:09:28] And then, what is the pain that your clients are having where Pulse Secure is the solution?
Joy Samanta: [00:09:36] Honestly, we started this Pulse Cares thing in May, where we were giving out software licenses for people to try it out. And now, that they have tried it, and they love it, they won many, many, many devices to support their employees and so on around the world. And so, what they’re struggling with, I think, is scalability. And we, from our products, are definitely helping with both supportability and scalability of our products right now to help with our customers.
Lee Kantor: [00:10:05] And that helps you stand out?
Joy Samanta: [00:10:08] Yes, definitely. And our customer success teams are brilliant, and they’re 24×7 located all over the world. And I think that’s super helpful to the customers at this point and very reliable. So, we have had a lot of customers switch over from other competitors to Pulse because of the reliability, and the predictability, and stability of our products.
Lee Kantor: [00:10:29] Now, as this year is kind of coming to a close, what are some of the things you’re looking forward to? And also, what are some of the things you’re forecasting because it seems like this would be a tricky kind of environment to be forecasting into next year?
Joy Samanta: [00:10:46] Definitely tricky, a lot of uncertain elements. I would say, what we’re most looking forward to, so we’re coming up on the holiday season, and Pulse as a community does a lot for our local and global community. So, one thing we’re really looking forward to is our Giving Day, as well as appreciation event. Our appreciation event is internally for Pulsers, and our Giving Day is externally for our community. So, super enthusiastic because, every year, our employees and leaders go above and beyond and surprise us with how much they can do. So, sharing those stories is something we’re definitely looking forward to.
Joy Samanta: [00:11:24] In terms of planning for 2021, we do the best we can in terms of having a lot of variables and assumptions in the books, keeping a little bit of buffer. And we do realize that the growth that we have during this pandemic is not sustainable longer term, but planning around ways to diversify across our various products and still continue on the extraordinary growth path.
Lee Kantor: [00:11:55] So, now, for you, what’s the most rewarding part of your job?
Joy Samanta: [00:12:02] And this should be easy. The most rewarding part of my job is driving change in people’s behaviors, somehow helping people think in a different way, and making a small or a big impact in whichever community we’re serving. And I think that’s been the most amazing part. Even helping interns get full-time jobs or giving interns their full internships successfully. They’re all rewarding parts of my job.
Lee Kantor: [00:12:31] Now, can you share a story where maybe you took somebody under your wing, maybe mentored them and helped them get to the next level or maybe somebody on your team has done that?
Joy Samanta: [00:12:41] Yeah, definitely. I think it was two years ago, one of the interns we had was part of the operations team. And I, myself, was part of an operations team maybe six or seven years ago, and then transitioned HR. And having told my story and mentored them through it to understand the business comprehensively and not just from one particular department and division, they ended up moving to marketing and driving marketing operations. And that story and that change that they could see something comprehensively across the business and drive meaningful impact where they can truly see what they’re doing and the results immediately after, driving them towards that I think was fascinating and something I’m super proud of to be able to help with that.
Lee Kantor: [00:13:33] Yeah, it’s amazing the impact people can make on other people. And sometimes, you don’t take a moment to really appreciate that.
Joy Samanta: [00:13:41] Yeah, exactly. And people may not have thought about it if they didn’t have that conversation, if they didn’t watch other people do it and learn from it. So, I think it’s really important that we continue the conversations where people’s eyes are open to something completely different.
Lee Kantor: [00:13:58] And then, like you said earlier, it’s kind of the leadership really drives the culture. And then, the culture, if you have a strong culture, really kind of creates more leaders. So, it’s this kind of win-win-win all the way around.
Joy Samanta: [00:14:13] Absolutely. I think more and more leaders across the world are realizing that culture, the role of HR is super, super critical. It’s not an afterthought. It’s not just a support function. Yes. But it’s slowly changing for the better.
Lee Kantor: [00:14:28] And it’s one of those things that if you’re not intentional and mindful about it, there’s going to be a culture anyway. So, you might as well put some energy into shaping it in the direction you’d like it to be.
Joy Samanta: [00:14:39] Exactly, absolutely.
Lee Kantor: [00:14:41] So, now, if somebody wanted to learn more about Pulse Secure, what is the best way to find you or somebody on your team?
Joy Samanta: [00:14:50] I think just going to our website, pulsesecure.net, or if they’re interested in learning more about it, they can email careers@pulsesecure.net, and we’d be happy to help.
Lee Kantor: [00:15:01] Now, what do you need more of right now? Are you looking for more talent?
Joy Samanta: [00:15:06] So, Lee, honestly, we are coming up close on a possible acquisition by Avanti. So, we, right now, are continuing to do business as usual, help our customers, not hiding as we were a month ago. We had almost a hundred open recs, but we are just preparing as we can for the acquisition, as well as helping our customers at this time.
Lee Kantor: [00:15:33] Well, congratulations on all your success.
Joy Samanta: [00:15:36] Thank you so much, Lee.
Lee Kantor: [00:15:37] And thank you for sharing your story today.
Joy Samanta: [00:15:40] Absolutely.
Lee Kantor: [00:15:40] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We will see you all next time on Learning Insights. Remember, this work could not be done without the support of our sponsor, TrainingPros. Please support them, so we can continue to share these important stories.
[00:16:02] Although we go down, down, down.
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