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This week, we welcome Kristen Garvey, vice president of corporate communication at Waters Corporation, a specialty measurement company focused on improving human health and well-being through the application of high-value analytical technologies and scientific expertise.

In our conversation, Kristen expresses gratitude she feels for her team and notes that she has never received more emails of thanks for the transparency Waters achieved than she did over the past year and a half — so we are incredibly fortunate to have her perspective as we all strive for transparency and trust through this next phase of the pandemic.

We hear from Kristen about the common global return-to-workplace framework the company uses for decision-making, both to ensure decisions are made with consistency and to empower local teams to make decisions quickly. Created by a scientific advisory council, the framework looks at three things: local and global infection rates, site-specific vaccination rates and local government guidelines.

“We’ve been able to help employees understand the framework for how we as a company are going to make decisions,” Kristen says. “Even though it might look very different at our site in the UK or here in the US, people have a common understanding of how decisions are made and that helps give them confidence and trust in the overall process.”

She shares the Waters Corporation’s approach to measuring their communications strategies, using both leading and lagging indicators, and following through on the results to be sure employees have trust, clarity and confidence. The approach enables the communications team to adjust strategy and ensure they are communicating the right information at the right time.

Tune in to hear more of Kristen’s excellent, concrete advice, from holding popup communications meetings with managers to structuring the return to work so that management experiences the transition first.

About Sharon McIntosh

Sharon is president of And Then Communications. With more than two decades of communications experience, she has a passion for creating and executing new ideas to drive employee engagement at companies both large and small. Most recently Sharon served as PepsiCo’s vice president of Global Internal Communications, overseeing the company’s efforts to connect with its more than 274,000 employees worldwide.

About Sharon Phillips

Sharon Phillips is principal of Sharon Phillips Communications, which focuses on employee engagement and corporate communications strategy and support. Prior to relaunching her consultancy in 2014, she served as director of Global Internal Communications at PepsiCo.