Employee Engagement While Working Remotely With Sheila Greaney

A born-and-bred Galway woman, Sheila Greaney has had a lengthy career working in the engineering space. Her role as Site Engagement Lead for Cisco Systems Galway is all about the 'people experience'. She makes sure that all employees are happy, content, productive and most of all, maintain a healthy work/life balance. At Cisco, giving back to society is seen as equally important and is celebrated as much as their contributions in work itself. Sheila has worked hard on many aspects of the Cisco Culture and helped enormously to get Cisco Ireland to where it is now. Cisco ranked Number 1 in the Great Place to Work for 2016, in the top 3 after that, and is now back in the number one position in 2020. 

Cisco globally is well known for its 'giving back' culture. Sheila takes pride in running the CSR team at the Galway office. The site has raised over €25K a year on average for the last 12 years for local charities from a working population of fewer than 200 people. One of her most recent projects was setting up an on-site gym for the site, turning what was once an unused data-centre into a daily used space for anyone and everyone on-site to exercise and improve their overall fitness and wellbeing. It has given everyone a huge added benefit of being able to work out at their convenience. Ensuring people are happy and enjoy coming to work is something Sheila takes very seriously.

Cisco technology has proven extremely useful during the pandemic.

Even if she is used to having video calls almost daily with other offices in Europe, Sheila still finds attending video calls from her home to be slightly different. It has been challenging for everyone working remotely, and we all have coping mechanisms for the situation. Cisco, as a company, has been dedicated to making things easier for its employees and people in need.

Sheila briefly told us about the telepresence units they donated to ICU units in Irish hospitals. As visitors were not allowed in the ICU, patients are now able to connect with their families using WebEx. Having people from the front line like nurses and teachers thank the employees at Cisco for their work and their products has been one of the most empowering feelings, Sheila tells us.

What makes Cisco such a special place to work?

Sheila believes it is a matter of trust; trust in the employees and the management. Cisco has invested globally in the "Great Place to Work" brand. This brand has become a platform for openness, for honesty and for acting on results. 

It is also a matter of outstanding leadership, Sheila says. Since the beginning of the pandemic, employees have had a monthly check-in with their CEO and Executive Leadership Team. It is just that, the management checking in on the team to provide them with COVID information, see how they are coping and provide medical support if needed. Now more than ever and especially at the early stages of the pandemic when every employee was feeling unsettled, this is the time when exceptional management is needed. People need those leadership figures to reassure them that they're going to be okay. 

How to achieve employee engagement while working from home

Sheila tells us a bit about her struggle of dealing with a completely new situation and the initial reluctance she felt. But in the end, it is all about adaptability. The first online event she hosted helped her realise that everyone is feeling vulnerable and is craving human connection during this time. 

The results were astonishing. A one off quiz night turned into a 10-week quiz marathon and over those ten weeks they managed to raise €16,000 for charity. Her next project was a virtual barbecue that also did great. People connected, shared pictures and songs on WebEx while spending quality time with colleagues and families at home. "It's just about being creative, and a bit silly. A bit daft," Sheila says.

Nevertheless, her biggest project yet was the July virtual walk. Forty-five employees joined the goal of walking the distance from Galway to San Jose, where Cisco is headquartered. Did they make it? They almost got halfway back, Sheila says. The success of the project was the interactions people got from completing the activity together, from sharing photos, from encouraging each other while also engaging in friendly banter. 

"Reminding people I'm out walking today in the rain, motivating each other, I think that's how we have to use technology.[...] At the end of that month, we raised six and a half thousand euro for charity, as well as walking every day, getting out there, feeling good, having a bit of fun." 

Where does this give-back culture come from?

Cisco is a well-known promoter of the concept of time to give. There are five days a year that are given to all employees, outside of vacation days, that they can choose to use in their community. "And that doesn't necessarily mean working in a group. That's your own, personal, give back time. Like when I used my own time to give two years ago, I worked a day in the nursing home where my father was a resident." Sheila tells us. 

During the pandemic, all the employees had ten days to give back." And I think especially in COVID if you're feeling you're helping someone, it just enables you to cope with the anxieties that COVID is bringing." Sheila has spent her ten days shopping for her elderly neighbours and getting to know them in the process.

Ireland has ranked the second-highest user of the time to give for Cisco Europe, which is a phenomenal achievement. "Chuck Robbins, our CEO, he's very clear that business is business but giving back goes hand in hand. And if you don't have one, you don't have the other."

You can watch a video of our conversation through this link.

Want to get more information about Sheila Greaney and her employee engagement projects? Follow her on LinkedIn.