Appreciation@work: Impact Accelerator #1 - From nice-to-have to non-negotiable performance system

I'm excited for our first Impact Accelerator section for today's program. Uh, these are really tactical parts of our session where we get to really go deep into frameworks from the field. These are practitioners doing this at a very high level. We have three 20-minute sessions in a row here where they're gonna kind of talk through how they're doing things at their organization, things they've tried in the past, frameworks they've used. You know, the impacts and kind of case study behind it. And first up, as you can see, we have Margie Fox, CHRO at this organization that I'm gonna allow her to pronounce. (laughs) (laughs) And we should have practiced that a little bit more on the front end. We should have, yeah. But, uh, I'll let you introduce your, your organization, what you do further. But really excited about this session because she's gonna be talking a little bit more about, like, how do we actually do this as a system and not just a program? And also in a way that aligns and reinforces the culture that we're trying to bring to life. And if you remember what Chris talked about, he was like, "What gets recognized gets repeated." So if we can start to build a system that can reinforce the right behaviors and culture, we can start to repeat that. And it kind of amplifies and grows and it reinforces itself on the back end. So that being said, I'm gonna stop sharing here. Uh, Margie, thank you so much for being here with us. Let me bring you up to the stage. It's great to see you. And, uh, yeah, I'll basically hand it over to you. All right. Excellent. Thank you. Can you hear me okay? I can. Excellent. Perfect. And, uh, you should be able to see my screen as well. Hi, everybody. It's great to be here. Zach, thank you so much for in- the invitation. Christopher, outstanding presentation. Um, that was really, really good. I, I feel seen. (laughs) I will say I feel seen. I saw a lot of people, um, in the chats as well saying the same thing. So thank you. Um, and Zach, great tee up. Um, what my plan today is to review with you is, uh, kind of covering how do you do this, right? How do you do it? What are, what are some experiences, uh, I've had as well? Um, so let's walk through the business case for it. I know you're going to have some executives that you may need to convince, uh, that this is the right thing to do. So walking through the business case, uh, determining your why, your what, and your how. Um, also some other program design considerations. I'll walk through a case study of some things that we have underway here at Schloboz Motaven, uh, which is the way that that's pronounced. Um, and then also, uh, a practical checklist for implementation. So, um, with that, I'll go ahead and just crank through it. Um, if you have any questions, I'll try to monitor the chat, um, as well. And I have some things in here too where I'm, I'm hoping to get your feedback also. Um, so let's get started to talk about, um, you a little bit. Let's start with you. When was the last time, if you could just drop it in the chat, um, that you felt truly appreciated? Okay. All right, I'm seeing some answers here. There's some, some good, right? Um, you know, others today, this week, this month, this quarter, other, maybe you haven't lately. (laughs) Um, and that happens, right? That happens. Um, the data does show that, um, and this is based on some, some data from Gallup that, um, we don't do the best job at leveraging this really powerful tool that we have. And I think Christopher did a, a wonderful job of explaining just how powerful and meaningful it can be. Um, and really only one in three workers based on Gallup's information, um, in the US strongly agree that they've received recognition or praise doing good work in the past seven days. And that's not the best, right? We could, we could do better with that. Um, the thing is, and what we'll talk about as we go through this is employees who, who don't feel adequately recognized are twice as likely to say they'll quit in the next year. Um, and just 31% of US employees are engaged and 17% are actively disengaged. So those are the, the quiet quitters that we've heard so much about. Um, so let's get into the business case and, and why this is the, the right thing to do and it's not just a feel-good activity, right? It's, it's something that, um, we should be doing as, as a business. Um, so looking at some additional data. Um, the data does really clearly support that the impact of appreciation and recognition on engagement, um, and the tangible value of engagement to business success. So, uh, recognition, appreciation, those are things that really fuel the engagement engine. And, um, you can see some, some stats here, right? Um, 78% less abs- absenteeism. Think about that. Think about what kind of, um, impact that would have, uh, if you have 78% of less of your staff out. 14% higher productivity, 51% lower turnover, 21%, um, lower turnover in high turnover organizations, and it, and it goes on. So, a lot of really meaningful bottom line data, um, and bottom line impact that you can get from having a truly engaged workforce through recognition, through appreciation. And we can really do a, a lot, right? Um, there's a lot that, that businesses can do. Uh, the best in class companies are 41% more likely than others, um, 65 versus 46, to empower their employees to recognize each other for great work. Um, and employees who receive authentic recognition are five times as likely to strongly agree that they see a path to growth at their organization. So that gives you some, some indications of, um, you know, what you can use in your own organizations if that's something that you might struggle with for, uh, buy-in on the part of your executive leadership team. It really does have a, a bottom line impact to the organization.So let's talk a little bit about determining, uh, your what, why, and how. And this is to get to the next point, the structure that I have used before, um, when I put together recognition, uh, and, uh, appreciation programs. Um, so getting clear on your why is really critical upfront. What are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to improve retention? Um, do you wanna reinforce company values, which is the example that I'll be sharing with you, uh, later from Shalabh Madvan. Um, do you wanna increase the visibility of business initiatives? There's a lot of things that you might do, so you need to get really clear on your why. Um, so if you, if you're thinking about doing something or you do do things, um, at work, why don't you drop, uh, if you could, into the chat what your why is. Okay. So you need to, need to make sure that you're clear on that. And then you also wanna choose the right tools. Um, and I know we, we tend to use the word appreciation and recognition a little bit to, to mean the same thing, uh, like it's a synonym. Um, but there really is a bit of a difference, and I think that difference is important, important when we dig down into our what. Um, so appreciation looks at the person, it looks at what are we doing to value the person? It's ongoing, it's relational, um, it motivates belonging, feeling like you're part of a team. Um, so some examples, the thank you note, right? Christopher mentioned that, and, and Zach, I think you reinforced that. It's, it's really meaningful when you get a handwritten thank you note. Just something as simple as a check-in. Um, you know, listening to somebody asking, to go back to Christopher's presentation, you know, what, what are you doing in that, you know, 0 to space? Um, and, and what else is taking your time? Help me understand and, um, really showing interest in, in understanding an individual. So that's the appreciation part of it. Recognition is, um, looking more, uh, I think traditionally, uh, what are we doing to reinforce what the organization wants to accomplish? So, um, it values performance. It's event-based and measurable. Um, so there might be some ROI that you have behind it, sales metrics, those sorts of things that drives achievement. Um, so some examples of that would be awards, um, spotlights, bonuses, those sorts of things. So two kind of different things. They can be used together, um, but I'd encourage you to kind of think as you structure what your approach is going to be, um, why are you doing this? And then what is going to be, um, the best approach based on what your why is? Because they really do, um, drive each other and they're, and they're really highly linked. Both are vital. Um, but one fuels belonging and the other one fuels achievement. So once you have your what you're trying to drive and your why, right? Um, then you look to your how. So how can we do this? Is it through formal awards? There's some great systems and, and, um, programs out there to do that. Bonuses, peer nominated programs. Um, is it more informal? So spontaneous shout-outs, thank you emails, which is great to receive. Um, monetary bonuses, gift cards, uh, or non-monetary, so growth opportunities, flexible schedules, those sorts of things. So, you know, looking at based on your what and your why, what that, that how is and, and the best fit for what you're really trying to accomplish. So let's look at some examples. Um, one example, this is, uh, improving retention and morale through appreciation. So we have our, our why is improving re- retention and morale. Our what is fostering a culture where individual employees feel seen and valued through appreciation. Things that you can do, recognize effort and resilience, not just achievements, right? So that also kind of gets to that, um, you know, what all are you dealing with in your day, not just the, the outcome. Um, and again, writing a handwritten thank you note and appreciation when a project is completed. So those are, that's kind of just demonstrating how the why, what, and how can be used to, uh, address the, the why of improving recognition, retention and morale through appreciation. Um, another example, reinforcing performance and results with recognition. Um, the why here is, uh, or the what would be, um, identify and celebrate achievements aligned to goals. So this is where it really gets more to the, like we, we traditionally think about the business deliverables, the business objectives, um, aligned to goals, KPIs, company initiatives, through recognition. And those could be the, um, the more visible types of things, like creating formal recognition programs tied to OKRs or strategic priorities, um, spotlighting type per- top performers on all hands, um, newsletters, et cetera. Um, and then also giving a values in action or client impact awards as well. So just some examples of how you would use that why, what, and how, um, and how I've used it as well in other organizations. So some other programs considerations to think of, and I actually noticed, uh, some comments around these in the chat earlier when Christopher was speaking. Um, you'll wanna think about cultural implications. Um, is there, um, based on kind of the geography which gets to the logistical piece, um, are there preferences to public, uh, versus private recognition? Um, culturally, some cultures just aren't, um, really comfortable with public recognition. So in those cases you might wanna consider what does that look like to maybe make it a little bit more private, um, or vice versa. Do you wanna make it general? Do you wanna make it personalized, right? Do you wanna just give out generic gift cards or do you wanna have something where people can pick and choose, um, what it is that they get? Logistical, um, you know, what's your geographical footprint that you're trying to cover? Um, do you have one office or hundreds of offices all around the world, right? There's gonna be a difference just administratively in how you might manage that program and how it's coordinated. Um, legal, making sure of course that it's fair, um, that it's consistently applied, that it's accessible for everybody. Um, and then also metrics, um, designing with the end in mind and how are you going to measure the impact of your program. Um, and finally the time horizon. Is this going to be a one-time effort?... sales goal you need to meet this year, um, there's cost cutting, et cetera, that you need to, you need to, uh, focus on. Is that a one-time thing? And i- if it's ongoing, how am I gonna keep it fresh? So, kind of looking at the, the keeping it fresh, um, you do wanna build your program with some flex, uh, to change your business priorities and, and have a clear end date. And sometimes failing to do, failing to do that could lead to some apathy, cynicism, um, you know, really detracts from your program overall, and, uh, actually creates a situation that you were, you were hoping to, to try to resolve, right? Maybe just reinforces, um, some morale issues. So you, you want to be, uh, cognizant of that, um, and I, I know if you can toss up some hands here or show in the chat, uh, who has seen corporate initiatives come out strong and die a painful death, um, or quietly fade away, right? Um, because there's, you know, there's, there's not a real good strategy around, um, making sure that it is sustainable or that you're clear going in from upfront that this is something that is, you know, a one-year, a 16, 18, 24 month, um, program, right? So getting clarity around that is, is, is really important. So let's take a look, um, a little bit about some of the things we've done so far here at Schlapitz Modoven. Um, Schlapitz Modoven, hard to pronounce, um, I know, right, Zach? But, um, it is a, uh, CPA firm, um, we are based in Michigan, and it's not your typical CPA firm. Um, these are some images of our founders, so Ron Schlapitz, uh, Don Modoven. Um, they are all about modern service and a very human-focused approach. Um, and these pictures come from a photo session that our partner team had, um, with a, a hip hop album, um, magazine photographer to take their, their photo. So, um, not your typical CPA firm. Um, and what... one of the things that we did recently, uh, was create our values. We have not fully rolled these out internally yet, so you're getting a little bit of a sneak peek, um, around what our values are. Um, so we have, um, excellence is one of our values, always evolving, respect, resilience, integrity, entrepreneurial spirit, and client obsessed, which I love. Um, so a little bit of examples about how we're embedding those in our culture. First, from an outward-facing perspective, um, this is our website. The values come to life with our leaders being featured, um, and primary elements, really, you know, big, bold, um, visuals on our website, and the values also help to create the core of our talent framework. Um, and this is our, our talent framework. So we're also embedding our values, or we'll be embedding our values, um, with the talent framework that we use, specifically focusing here on the reward area. Um, values is front and center, um, and it's the basis for everything that we do, and then really with a focus on the recognition piece. So this is kind of the strategy framework, um, that we're using to build out how we're going to be reinforcing our values, uh, in the organization. So, to use the model we talked about earlier, the why, what, and how, um, our why is embedding and promoting our company values. Our what is making, uh, values visible and measurable through behavior-based rewards, both with appreciation and recognition, so weaving both of those together. Um, and the how, we're gonna, uh, have some, uh, tag recognition messages and nominations with specific values, um, including recognition examples and performance reviews, and then also have, uh, future monthly living our values stories that we'll be promoting as well. Um, and this gives a visual. Uh, one of the things that we'll do is, uh, we're going to, going to do is having, um, really nice wall art, um, around all of our values so we can use that as a reminder visually when you walk past. Um, and then also, um, use it when, uh, we do social media posts and, um, that sort of thing to recognize people who are recognized, and, uh, for, uh, demonstrating those particular values. So to wrap up here, um, super quick, high-level checklist. Um, you wanna get clear on your why, determine your what, is it appreciation, is it recognition, or both, and your how. Um, there's gonna be a systems-based test that you can make, um, the data collection comparison easier, those sorts of things. Audit your current practices. What are we doing in this space? What's working? What's not? Um, consider engaging for pulse surveys to provide data. So, again, you wanna try to do what you can to demonstrate the impact that your program's having, so it's always important to collect that data on the front end. Um, making sure top leadership buys in with strong database business case, and, uh, considering other programs/design considerations like we talked about from a cultural logistics standpoint. Maybe there's a budget, right? A lot of it has no cost, but there could be a budget affiliated, so you'll wanna make sure you're clear on that. And then just general rollout. How are you gonna communicate it? What training is going to be needed? Onboard program promotions to keep it fresh. Um, and then embedding it into your talent life cycle. And I think super important to remember is celebrate progress. It doesn't have to be perfect. It can evolve. Um, so celebrate the progress that you're making along the way as well. So before I wrap up, um, something that I would encourage you to do, a takeaway from the program, um, or this part of the program, is think of somebody on your team who has made your life better or easier, has made your work lighter in the past, um, and th- think about how you will express to them, uh, how, how much you appreciate them. Um, or maybe give them a little bit of a recognition, um, gift card, et cetera.Um, so, uh, just ask that you, you know, take away, um, and, and think about how you're going to recognize that, that coworker who really makes a, a difference for you. And, um, I, I think it makes not only the person feel good, but also the, the person who is, um, on the giving end as well. So, encourage you to do that as a takeaway from today's program. And that is everything I have. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you so much, Margie. Incredible. I would love to see in the chat for some of you all, what were your biggest takeaways from that session? Like, what is one thing you would love to kinda implement or take from it? I think one of the things, Margie, that stuck out to me was the, the keep it fresh piece. I think s- often, we kind of, especially as HR departments or leaders, we'll, we'll do the design, we'll create it, and then we launch it and implement the first iteration of it. Maybe it's that quarterly kinda core value award thing. But then we kinda leave it from there, and it doesn't become this like, fresh, energizing experience that continues to grow and compound on itself. So, I would love, yeah, in the chat, what's one of your biggest takeaways? And Margie, I wanna ask you a follow-up question for this too. Mm-hmm. So, speaking of make it fresh, uh, I would love to hear, especially as groups are finalizing strategic plans for the year, they're probably doing some off-sites here soon or like, all hands in December or November, and that might be a good time where you can take like, "Okay, these are some things that we're really looking to accomplish into 2026." Mm-hmm. "Now we are gonna try to enter the year and create a strategic plan to accomplish that." I often don't always see people like, bring in the rewards and recognition as like, okay, as a piece of executing the strategic plan. So I'm just curious, like, any guidance or thoughts or coaching you could provide the community around how they could keep kind of their reward and recognition strategy fresh by leveraging the new strategic plans that they might be rolling or working on- Yeah. ... with the executive teams right now? Yeah. Yeah, that's, that's a great question, and that is absolutely something that tends to fall short because you get caught up in all of those other things, right, and you don't think about it. So I think just being really intentional. Um, having measurements. You know, when you sit down quarterly with the executive team, that's one of the measurements that you report out on is, you know, how are we doing? How are we measuring it? Um, and if we need to change things up, being flexible and changing things up. So I think, um, two things. One is being really clear upfront as you start to create your plan, how you're going to measure the success and, and the, the level of engagement in it. Um, and number two, hold yourself accountable to that, y- as, as a leadership team and make sure that, um, you're, you're following through and, and doing it. And if it seems like it's not successful, um, then don't be afraid to pivot, right? Don't be afraid to say, "Hey, we need to freshen this up and do something different to make it really more impactful or more meaningful." Um, but I think the key thing is just being super intentional about it at the beginning. Yeah. And I think sometimes the biggest barrier to getting these things moving is the executive team or other leaders don't understand why it's so important. So if you're- Exactly. ... already having conversations about what they really care about, which is goals and strategies and objectives for next year, like that's at the top of their minds, then that's your why. Like take that and now you can connect it to the what and the how piece that you demonstrated, and now it's like people see it. They're like, "Oh wow, okay, this is why we need to include it-" Exactly. "... because it's reinforcing what we're actually all aligned on as a company." Exactly. 100%. Well Margie, thank you so much. I appreciate you kicking off our first Impact Accelerator for today. That was incredible. Everyone, make sure to connect with Margie via LinkedIn. I shared her information right there. Give it up for, yeah, show some love and appreciation there. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right everyone, super uh, except for this session. How about that? Like what a tactical exercise, a great example from the field. I mean, I would've screenshotted those, those kind of case study examples and start to bring those as examples to maybe some strategic planning conversation and going, "Hey, here's our, let's, let's fill this in. Here's a template example. Let's fill this in for ourselves. Let's define our why. Let's make sure it's strategic. Let's connect it to how we're gonna do this." And then now leaders are kinda bought in. They're co-creating it with you. Now it's this kind of enterprise-wide experience. So, that would be my recommendations from Margie's section, but so much to take away. Next up, super excited for this one as well. I don't know if we have any NASCAR fans in the room, but this is gonna be an awesome session. We have Tyree who helps lead employee engagement at NASCAR, and he's gonna share a little bit about full throttle recognition, like driving employee engagement at 200 miles per hour. I love the branding of it, (laughs) the focus. Tyree, my man, thank you so much for being here with us. Uh, it's great to see you again. But uh, I'm gonna pass it over to you. The floor is all yours. Absolutely. Just wanna make sure you can hear my audio well. Yep. All right, thank you so much. Um, well good afternoon or morning, depending on where you all are, um, spread out everywhere. It is so exciting to, um, just have an opportunity to share with you all for the next few minutes or so and...Um, as, as he said, yes, I am with NASCAR, uh, manager of employee engagement, and it's really been quite a journey. I've been here about three and a half years now. Um, so we have a great opportunity to, um, lead employee recognition for all of our employees across the country. Um, and it, it can definitely be a little intimidating at times, but, uh, we've been focusing a lot on a strategy that truly drives connection, performance and also belonging. Um, so just a couple of key things that we're gonna walk through today. Um, understanding that recognition is a problem in a lot of organizations that we have today, um, including ours, which is something that we had to solve for. Um, and then we also take a look on, uh, what we did here at NASCAR over these last couple of years to build a culture of recognition that actually works for our employees. Um, and then finally, we can kind of tackle some things that each of you can do right now in your respective places, whether you are a leader or you're someone who is a part of an organization that really could use a boost when it comes to recognation- recognition or a strategy, um, wherever you work. So I do, I do wanna encourage everyone, I've been seeing the chat blowing up today, so I, I really love the engagement, the interaction. I wanna keep that same vibe going. Um, so feel free to share your thoughts, questions, any one-liners that stand out as we go through it. Um, and really quick, I actually wanna jump right into it. I want everyone, if you can, to drop one word in the chat that describes recognition at your company currently. Um, that's definitely something I just wanna understand. Uh, when I got to NASCAR, um, I, I think the first thing that jumped out was, it was inconsistent. That was, that was the biggest thing, and I'm seeing that pop up quite a bit. Nonexistent, um, value, occasional, um, evolving. Um, someone said, "What is that?" Um, so that is, that shows what recognition... One, the impact that it has right off the rip, because the fact that you all can recognize what it is or what it is not shows that it's something that employees do desire. Um, so when we look at what is going on everywhere, recognition is something that takes place all across the board, and we understand that. But it doesn't always land with everyone, which is obvious just by looking at the chat. Um, so we can do all these different things. We can automate it, we can gamify it, we can measure it, but then you still have employees that say, "Look, I don't feel seen. I don't feel heard. I don't feel like I belong at the organization that I'm at." And that's something that we really took a look at when I first got to NASCAR. Um, when I joined here in 2022, recognition was happening, but it was not happening consistently across the board. Some teams were celebrating, some teams were just kind of sitting there. Some were celebrating, you know, these big wins and all of these things, but then others did not have quite that rhythm of recognition because it wasn't something that was global or holistic, as we love to say. Um, leaders believed in the idea of recognition. They believed that it was important, that it was necessary, but you still have employees that aren't feeling recognition. And that is something that really bothered me, if I can be honest. Um, just kind of context, NASCAR in 2020, we merged together. Um, brought two of our entities together. So you had some employees that were used to operating this way, some employees that were used to operating this way. Now we all come together under this one big umbrella and we realize, okay, what does morale look like? It was extremely fragile. It was sensitive. Uh, we had some high-performing employees who were just tired, um, not much to work with, not really an idea of connection, where to go, what's gonna happen. So it was, it was really just bland. It wasn't that it was broken, but it was bland and it needed a bit of a refresh. So now we, we realize that, hey, if we're going to reward effort, we have to make sure that we're also reinforcing identity. Um, instead of just saying thank you, we also wanna make sure that we say to our employees, "Hey, we see you. We see what you did. Uh, we, we see the impact that you're making." So to understand what recognition is, it really is to have a connection with your people, to really understand not just what it is, but what is needed. Um, so another quick thing in the chat is, I want each person to type something that you think makes recognition fall flat in the workplace. What is something that can negatively impact recognition? Um, that could be things from lack of sincerity or just not having specifics on what it is, w- whatever that, whatever that may be. And I'm seeing lack of involvement, overdone, leadership is not on board. That is key, um, and that's something that we're gonna talk about for just a few minutes. Um, overly administrative processes, leaders incur- occurs infrequently. All of those things are key, key, key, key points. So we decided to hear our employees, for one, and we decided to use their feedback to our advantage. So we decided to build a recognition platform like any other business system, but use structure, make sure that there is strategy, and make sure that there is alignment. I know that a lot of organizations may have a, you know, recognition platform or, um, employee engagement, but then it's just something that's standard and it really doesn't resonate with employees. So we created what's known as the We Engage, um, Framework. Um, so anytime you hear We Engage at NASCAR, that always stands for employee engagement, and it's built on four pillars. We have recognition and belonging, people enablement, employee voice, and connection and communication. Those are the four pillars that we strive, um, to tackle, identify, and spotlight whenever we're talking about employee engagement. So under that framework, we launched what is known as the High 5, uh-... uh, program, and that is a peer-to-peer recognition program and a tool that made giving recognition very simple, authentic, fast. It's easy, it's visible, and it also ties back to our core values. We have six core values, and every single high five that you give ties back to that. Um, and just to repeat again, recognition and belonging, people enablement, employee voice, connection and communication. Those are our four pillars. Um, something that w- we have to keep in mind here at NASCAR is that we are a sport but we're also a business organization, and we are spread out across the country. We have over 20 different locations, including racetracks, corporate offices, headquarters from as high as New York down to Miami, all the way to the West Coast, um, now with influence now in San Diego, Phoenix, Michigan, Kansas, all of these different places. So you have to take into consideration, what does recognition look like for all of these different groups? Every single location has its own type of culture, so what does that look like? So quick question I wanna ask here is, how many of you in your organizations have some kind of peer-to-peer recognition tool or practice currently? So kind of give a thumbs up if you do, and then a exclamation point if that's something you would love to see. Um, we realized here at NASCAR we had to implement that because there was so much to celebrate, no really easy way to do it. So we kind of took a look at the results from all of our feedback that we got from our employees, um, during a previous employee engagement survey, and we understood that we needed to make recognition a rhythm. So we implemented all of these different processes from peer-to-peer recognition to employee events, um, to employee communication, giving employees a chance to speak up, speak out, give their feedback on what's going on. And then what we saw from there is that recognition became a catalyst for engagement. So we saw our participation go up, um, about 80% year over year. We saw our overall engagement score from our surveys, uh, participation climb to 96%. We had 96% of our entire organization participate in feedback that helped to drive recognition within the company. And then we also had leadership buy-in for recognition, which also grew 10%, so that turned HR, if you will, from an initiative into a business priority because leaders now understand that this is something that must happen. So I know someone pointed out or asked the question, what type of peer-to-peer recognition platform will you use? We built our own in-house, so we built it completely from scratch, um, using an integration with SharePoint 360, uh, or Microsoft 360, Microsoft Teams, the whole nine yards. And that way, we were able to make it completely customizable, considering the fact that we have employees that, some are sitting in front of their computers, some have to rely on their cell phones because they're out at the racetracks, and you have some that may not be as tech-savvy. So once we implemented that, we created training so that employees and managers also understand how this is expected to be done, uh, what are the, what's the purpose behind it, what's the impact that you can make? So that's not just something that flows out of here, but it also flows out from our executive leadership, so they not only get the stats behind, "Hey, how many people on my team have received recognition?" or "How many managers have given recognition?" They also use this so that we can hold them accountable. So behind all of these numbers, there are still stories, there are still shout-outs, but we saw collaboration that never existed, we saw conversations that never existed, and recognition transform from being something that was just a checkbox to something people talked about. It became a part of the fabric of NASCAR, if you will. So now we shift to, what is that playbook? What, what is the playbook that we use to make recognition resonate with our employees? Because you think, we have corporate offices, like I said, but we also have tracks. We have some that are in rural locations, talking middle of Michigan up to Watkins Glen, New York. Um, but then you have Kansas City, you have Phoenix, you have Miami, you have Talladega, Alabama, which is, I mean... So depending on where you are, you have to make sure that it ties back to not just one culture, but numerous cultures. So let's talk about what you can do. Three simple but powerful shifts that we made at NASCAR that you can literally start doing immediately. First thing is moving from random to rhythmic, was one of the first things that we had to do. I think someone pointed it out in the chat, um, and also in the previous session as well, that with recognition, you can't rely just on memory, but it has to be a rhythm. And if you create a rhythm for employees to follow and they understand the purpose of it and the impact, then that is something that changes the entire trajectory. So we went from just having a peer-to-peer recognition platform. We wanted to make sure that leaders are incorporating this in their meetings, that it goes out through newsletters. When we have our onboarding, our new hire orientations, they understand from the beginning how important recognition is, and the methods that we have to not only be recognized but to give recognition, and add it to existing spaces so that way, we don't have to continuously redeploy and redeploy and redeploy. So instead of waiting for our quarterly awards and our, um, yearly awards that we do for our milestones, we make sure that this is something that is consistent yet reliable. Second thing that we did is create a shift from top down, which allows it to be peer-driven. We want to empower not just our coordinators and our managers and our, you know, our entry-level employees.Everyone, regardless of title, can recognize anyone. We broke that kind of barrier of feeling that some employees can only recognize a certain group of employees, um, that it's, you know, it's weird for me to recognize a senior vice president, or for a senior vice president to recognize a coordinator. Anyone should be able to recognize anyone. So peers could recognize executives, interns who come in for three months, they have the ability to recognize or be recognized. So when recognition flows sideways instead of just downward, it becomes inclusive. Um, it becomes democratic, it becomes more authentic. And that takes the pressure off of leaders to be the only drivers of culture. So, if I can give you one big piece of advice, make sure that your leaders are informed, trained, and made aware of the impact. Because if we only have one group, which, whether it's me or my team or who, whomever that's leading, it becomes very difficult for me to try to work on recognition and culture at Kansas, but then something else is going on in New York, but then something else is going on in Miami. And then you have all of our remote and hybrid employees who don't have office spaces. They work from home. They're on planes every other weekend. We have 38 weeks in our race season, so you have some officials who travel every single weekend, 38 out of the 52 weeks a year. How do we drive recognition? So now we have to make sure that every leader, if you have a direct report, you are responsible for leading by example. So something in 2026 that we'll see is standardization and making sure that every single leader, every single people leader, every manager has the exact same message and understanding of what recognition is and what you are supposed to be doing with your teams. Third and final thing is moving from generic to value space. So here at NASCAR, like I said, we have our core values and we tie all of our recognition back to our core values. So whenever you recognize someone or I get recognized, someone can recognize me for being authentic or for being driven or for being stewarding or for being inclusive. And then you can allow all of those things to drive not just recognition, but drive the culture, drive the mission of your organization. Now when I walk around and I ask someone, "Hey, name one of our six core values," they can't. Because when you give high fives, it ties back. Now they understand what they're doing and how it ties back to the bigger picture, the business strategy. So, I want to make this interactive really quick. I want each of you to drop in the chat from these three shifts, rhythmic to peer-driven or value space, which one of those would make the biggest difference in your workplace right now? Having a rhythm, having something that is peer-driven, or something that is value space? And I'm seeing kind of a spread as we speak. Rhythm, rhythm seems to be popping up a lot, um, because that's really where the magic happens. So I'm gonna leave you all with this challenge. Over the next seven days, or really as we close out this year, create one recognition moment that someone will still remember 30 days from now. Something that really sticks. So, we talk about making it real, making it relevant, and making it repeatable. Those are the three R's that I always stick to whenever I'm talking to employees, when I'm talking to leaders about business strategy. It needs to be real, it needs to be relevant, it needs to be repeatable. Real as it needs... we need to be specific about the impact that we're making. Not just some glance off the wall type thing, but it needs to be impactful. To make it relevant, we can't just have recognition and it has nothing to do with employees, it doesn't even hit home for them at all, it isn't tied to core values, it isn't tied to our sport, it isn't tied to the work that they do, and also make it repeatable. I can always pick up my phone and I can go on here really quick and I can give a high five to any one of our employees for whatever they're doing and it pops up on their emails, it pops up via text message, and their managers get notified that they have gotten employee recognition so that their managers are also aware so that they can celebrate them if they so choose. So, in short, NASCAR really leaned in to help make this entire approach possible. I don't give myself full credit for any of this, um, because it took leadership, it took management to help rebuild connection after a major shift. And we also have to remember that recognition is not about just applause and kudos, but it's about awareness. It's about making sure that people know how much they matter to an organization. And that is the biggest thing that we are changing and still shifting, um, over the next couple of years at NASCAR. Um, so that is all that I have. Um, thank you all so much for listening and I hope some of these things resonated with you. Um, but feel free to ask any questions if you may have them. All right, everyone, give it up for Tyreece. Uh, real, relevant and repeatable. I think that is such an easy just even starting framework to go with, and I really appreciate that challenge statement that you shared with everyone. Like, can we appreciate someone in the next 30 days in a way that becomes memorable for them, uh, throughout the end of the year here? I think that's a huge call to action, especially as we end the year. People have been working really hard this entire year. There's a lot of things that people have been navigating on a societal and personal level as well as in their roles. This is a crucial time to end the year- Yeah. ... strong with some strong appreciation. Yeah, and I'll, I'll add to that really quick. It's... As we close out the year, we're getting ready for our employee service awards.Um, so we recognize employees who've been at NASCAR in five-year increments. Um, so we have employees that range from five years all the way to 35 years of service that we're recognizing. 166 employees are getting service awards all across the entire organization this year. But we also recognize that it isn't just those 166 employees that have made the difference for this year, so we also have what's known as a day of thanks, um, that we do in the fourth quarter of every year. And that is an opportunity to highlight and celebrate every single employee, not just for what they've done, um, for the sport and what you see on TV, but all of the backend things that you may not think about. The, those who do accounting and finance and marketing, um, those who do data analytics. All of the things that you may not see behind the scenes, we have a designated day to say thank you to everyone, and mean it is the key. Um, and tie it back to what has happened this year, the challenges we've faced this year, um, and just understanding that we're human and we go through human struggles and challenges. And a big part of recognizing employees is to recognize that they're humans and they have feelings that they're sensitive to. So, um, that is where we are at NASCAR and we're still, we're still pressing ahead. So we have three months off and we hit the ground running again in January. All right. Well, enjoy it, my man. That was incredible. Everyone give it up for Tyrese again. Uh, follow him or connect with him on LinkedIn. I'll reshare it in the chat here in a second. And I really encourage you to take that challenge that Tyrese shared, like, seriously and, and go implement this. End the year strong. End the year with some momentum and gratitude that can really start to continue to carry your people kind of through the, the frustration and the, kind of the, the, the issues that are happening as a side effect. Like, let's carry them through that through appreciation within the workplace. Like, let's make the workplace this sacred place where people feel a sense of meaning and belonging and joy and appreciation from the peers that they're working with for the majority of their days, right? So, uh, Tyrese, thank you again. All right, everyone. We are coming up on our last Impact Accelerator for this section of the program. Super excited for this one as well. Uh, I'm, I'm excited because, one, I've had the pleasure to have a few kind of offline conversations teeing up this program and Jermaine King, Chief Human Resources Officer for the United States Air Force. And, uh, we were kind of talking about just... I was like, "How... What does this look like in a place like the United States Air Force, right?" Like, we don't often get exposure to these different industries and we're often just seeing, like, how certain software companies and other groups are doing things that, you know, are more traditional or, or just easier to maybe execute. It's like, okay, when we're looking at groups like NASCAR or the United States Air Force, like, what does recognition look like there? Uh, so I'm really excited for this session. And he even emailed me yesterday and was like, "Hey, I'm actually gonna talk a little bit about AI as well," and we're gonna touch on that. So Jermaine, thank you so much for spending some time with us. I know things are, are busy for you as e- ever. Uh, but welcome to the community and welcome to the stage with me. And, uh, appreciate you being here and I'll, I'll hand it over to you. Hey, no problem, brother. Uh, just wanna do a sound check. Can you hear me good? Sound great. All right. So, uh, first off, thanks, everyone, for taking the time out of your busy schedules to, to come out and hear some great presentations from everyone. Uh, specifically, uh, loved Margie and Tyrese. Your, your presentation was phenomenal. Um, what I will tell you is I will probably just expound on what Tyrese is doing in his space and talk about the Department of the Air Force and then also my experience as a consultant over, uh, the past 10 years in the space of recognition. And I think Tyrese, uh, hit the nail on the head when he talked about awareness, uh, and recognition and knowing who your people are and, and knowing, um, what they need. And I will tell you, uh, you have some transactional leaders and you have some people that just wanna know, um, that they're valued at their organization. And, and I'll tell you, recognition, uh, is something that needs to be built into the HR strategy. Uh, and when I came on, that was a focus, uh, for me. And then also in my consulting experience, it was a focus as well. Um, so got a question for you guys and you can put it in the chat. Uh, when it came to recognition, uh, what did it... what seemed to matter? Was it the titles of the people? Was it the position in the organization? What did it seem like when it came to recognition, uh, what mattered the most when it came to everything? Oh, it was specific messages. "Thank you for your service." Those little things. Some people said that titles matter, it seemed like. How high you were up in the organization. So I had a question for you guys. What if recognition had nothing to do with only what your managers thought of you? What if everything you... else you did, uh, created an awareness about you? And that's what I really wanted to talk to you guys. I wanna just expound on what Tyrese had a conversation with you guys for the last 15 minutes about, and talk about the use of AI into the recognition program and what I've launched. Uh, not only, uh, within the Air Force, but also trying to launch, uh, within other organizations, whether it be hospital corporations or, uh, small businesses. So I'm gonna share some slides with you and walk you through, uh, something that I've done.And C. Portion of the screen. Share. Slides. Uh. Presentation. View. All right. So when I first- when I first started, um, looking ... And I'm sorry about that. Hold on one second. So when I first began advising organizations on AI-driven recognition, the focus was purely on, uh, cultural; appreciation, engagement and morale. But the real transformation came when we linked recognition data directly to reward mechanisms; awards, merit increases and bonuses. Uh, in one aerospace company and in the air force, we built an AI layer that translated, uh, quali- qualitative recognition data such as, uh, collaboration kudos, innovation mementos, and mentorship metrics, into a quarterly recognition scorecard. These scorecards were then weighed along performance KPIs, uh, to inform bonus allocations. Within six months, leaders reported a stronger sense of fairness, uh, in rewards and employees finally saw how recognition con- uh, connected to tangible outcomes. So many companies believe that they have effective reward systems, until, uh, I noticed that, uh, there was hidden bias. And we all know how that is, uh, in traditional recognition. At manufacturing, uh, company that, uh, that I consulted with, 74% of awards went to the same 12% of employees. I'll say that again. 74% of the awards went to the same 12% of employees, mostly in those visible roles. By integrating AI recognition signals, uh, like peer endorsements, customer praise, some of the things that Tyrese talked about, and even process improvement feedbacks, we uncovered dozens of high impact employees who had never received formal acknowledgement at all. And once we tied these AI insights into their annual mini- merit reviews, leaders rebalanced the system. That year, merit pay distribution became data verified rather than visibility driven. In practice, uh, building a continuous recognition e- ecosystem meant creating an earnable recognition currency. At global logistics firm that I consulted with, every verified recognition event, whether it was the form- uh, whether from Lina.AI prompts or peer feedback generated recognition points tied to specific organizational values. At the end, uh, those points automatically populated the employees' award eligibility and merit review files. This approach replaced subjective, uh, nominations with verifiable data trails. And for the first time, employees could see a transparent path from recognition to reward. So the platform that I have been using has been Lina.AI. I don't know if some of you guys have been familiar with that. Um, but it became a bridge between recognition and compensation systems. Uh, w- what me and my team did is we tried to categorize recognition by competency; innovation, leadership, customer service and teamwork. And we fed those metrics directly into the HRIS used for bonus modeling. For example, uh, for, uh, one area when an employee consistently received AI validated recognition for process innovation, Lina.AI flagged them as eligible for the quarterly Innovation Excellence award. This automation didn't just make recognition robotic, it made it equitable, traceable and it validated it. For organizations with strong public engagement, we extended recognition metrics beyond internal systems. At a, uh, at one area, uh, employees who advanced the company's brand online such as, um, TikTok or on, um, other websites such as LinkedIn, they earned brand advocacy bonus. Uh, the AI tools, uh, assessed the engagement quality, not just likes or reports. Um, it determined authenticity in alignment with the company's value. That initiative produced measurable brand growth and led to a new digital impact award, now part of the organization's com- uh, compensation framework. So it also can be used, I will say, in healthcare. I- I did it in consulting with them and wanted incentivize, or the client wanted to incentivize the community involvement without turning service into competition. So what we did is we built a weighted recognition model wor- uh, that verified volunteer hours and leadership in community projects, uh, and that contributed to their an- annual merit evaluations. Lina.AI tracked participation and feedback from partner organizations, employees who were consistently represented, uh, the company value, also earned purpose bonus credits. Uh, those credits became a deciding factor for tiebreakers during promotion and reward cycles, uh, reinforcing the message that purpose and performance are equally valuable.So, uh, we also designed an algorithm that blended productivity data with recognition trends, things like cross-team collaboration, leadership behaviors, and initiative taking. Those composite scores informed both merit, uh, tiering and award nominations. Uh, this not only reduced manager bias, but also improved talent red- uh, retention amongst the under-recognized h- high performers by 24%. So, peer feedback became one of the most valuable recognition currencies, uh, once we tied it to incentives. Uh, we connected Qualtrics, uh, sentiment data to a collaborative excellence bonus. Employees who consistently received positive, uh, peer feedback and teamwork endorsements earned recognition credits that automatically triggered mid-year appreciation stipends. Uh, the AI side, uh, served as a neutral validator. It quantified interpersonal impact without replacing human judgment. So I know everyone is wondering, how did we do that? Well, we did it through a unified recognition dashboard. Uh, it pulled together everything from recognition, performance, and pay. Uh, we created a dashboard that showed leaders how recognition frequency correlated with engagement and proti- productivity. Managers can literally see how recognition trends predicted award eligibility. That visibility helped them justify merit increases and dispute, uh, spot bonuses based on evidence and not just instinct. It made re- uh, reward decisions dependable and transparent. And again, I wanna highlight it: validated, uh, which strengthened not only the trust between the managers but also, uh, with the employees as well. So another thing that comes up with AI is privacy and ethics, I know. Um, but this is all gonna be based on the leadership and what their expectations was. Uh, whenever recognition data affects compensation, ethical governance is critical. Across all implementations, we delivered, uh, review checkpoints that ensured AI suggestions couldn't trigger, uh, pay changes automatically. And I wanna, uh, reemphasize that piece. Um, AI could not trigger any pay compensations automatically. Uh, human validation panels reviewed the data for fairness, privacy, uh, privacy compliance, and diversity and equity. This dual-layer approach, AI and the human judgment, gave organizations both scalability and integrity on how rewards were distributed. What we learned, uh, across, uh, the organization is that recognition became transforma- transformative only when it's tied to outcomes employees care about. Uh, what I will tell you that, uh, that really struck me the most about Tyrese's presentation was when he said he could pick up the phone and he could give kudos to anyone. Why cannot... why can't AI capture that and be able to tie that to how he is as a leader? So by integrating AI into awards merit bonuses, uh, we turned appreciation from a nice-to-have into a measurable driver of retention and performance. So really what this is all about is just giving you a different perspective on how AI can be used. Um, I will tell you, um, first and foremost, um, AI in... I know there's a negative stigma on it, um, but what I will tell you is, it can be used as a driver for change. It can be used, um, to support what a lot of our employees do every single day. They're always on LinkedIn. They're always giving shout-outs to, uh, employees. They're always giving shout-outs to, um, to colleagues. They're always out there doing community service, and they're always putting those things and everything on social media. Why can't AI, uh, capture those things and help reward employees that are helping each other out and helping the organization out? And why can't we just build dashboards that can capture all of that information in real time? What does that mean? It doesn't necessarily take away what the manager, uh, personally views their employees as far as their performance. But again, I believe there are certain things that's out there that we do every single day that we don't even think about, um, taking pictures, uh, for, uh, Salvation Army's, uh, giving away, uh, gifts, Christmas, Thanksgiving, giving turkeys away to the home- to the homeless, to those that needs things. If we capture those things on pictures, how come there can't be an algorithm out there that's capturing what we do as employees for, for our companies and that cannot be... and why can't that be tied to, um, your merit increases, your bonuses? So again, I just wanted to, uh... and, and I love that Tyrese went before me to add this on there, 'cause it's a different way, um, and integrate what you do every single day as a caring individual and highlighting the brilliance of your organization. And, and again, those are facts. Again, those are facts that are being put inside your records. And AI can capture those things and be able to not only recognize you for what you do but also go towards your bonuses. So with that, uh, really wanted to turn it back over to Zach and, and answer any questions that you guys may have. Well, first, give it up for Dr. Gerain- Germaine for doing that. I mean, talking about, like, truly recognition 2.0. Like, this is kind of the next frontier, and I love how you positioned this as, and the way that you're utilizing it, as almost more of, like, a sidekick to- Right. ... the champions of recognition. We're not trying to replace the human element here. We're just trying to make it easier for, for us to kind of gather all the things that are happening. I mean, there's so much data, there's so much information, there's so much going on. It's hard to kind of quickly pull that and recognize it all the time on the spot. People are always busy, and they're kind of, you know, uh, they got their, their kind of filters on of whatever they're working on. So, can we build, like, a sidekick that can access all this data that's already there and leverage it to just make it easier to give some recognition appreciation? So, um, I love that, that kind of piece where the human element is still a crucial part. We're just providing an enablement tool to bring it to life. I think, um, to your point, Zach, uh, when we built these dashboards, uh, I think what it really did is it helped the managers, because it gave them a full site picture of who their employees were. Um, not only, uh, going towards their pay, but also knowing that they're out there, uh, shouting out the brands. Also, it's letting them know, hey, when this individual, um, just went out this, this weekend and, and did community service and helped their neighborhood out, that's a big part of leadership. And it allowed their managers to be able to see it, and that goes towards accounting, um, towards their bonuses and their, and their, uh, annual increase. So, I think it gives them a full site picture of who their employees are. That's awesome. And, uh, and any tips or kind of foundational things? Some of the ... Like, I see some of the people in the, in the crew, like Leslie, Ophelia. Like, this is, uh, maybe for some of us, we see this as, like, a wish list thing. Mm-hmm. But actually, when I've seen other people stand up some of these AI agents and, and resources, it's actually not as far fetching as, as you think, right? So, I'm curious, Doctor, uh, when you're, when you're initiating these things, are there some foundational things our HR leaders and people leaders are like, "Okay, let's get these things set up or ready so that then we can actually have this start to come to life?" Like, what are some of the foundational things we need to create to bring this to life? So, great question. I will tell you guys that sometimes what you find out, uh, when you're looking at the totality of your, uh, your annual performance system is that they're siloed. Your feedback has nothing to do with your performance system. Your, uh, your 30/60/90, your onboarding, your new hire programs, they're all siloed. All of that should be integrated. All of that should be into one system. And I'll give you an example. Your hiring, your onboarding system should be that, um, those few questions that it's gonna ask, it should be, uh, go into the dashboard. That should be integrated into your engagements between your managers and your employees, and asking those. We call those, uh, initial asses- uh, initial, uh, feedbacks. And those should be standardized questions, but that data should be going into the system. And what we've seen is mandatory initial feedbacks and midterms go ... Before a supervisor can even do an annual performance on the individual, they have to have done the initial and the midterm before it unlocks. With all of that, AI, like you said, it's a sidekick. That data should be coming in. It's the individual, um, are they doing community service? How involved are they? Are they promoting the brand on LinkedIn? All of that data should be collected and be able to be on a dashboard for that manager to do that assessment score for each employee, and then be able to sit down and say, "Hey, I see what you do. I see that you're out in the community. I see what you're doing on LinkedIn. I see what you're doing on Face- Facebook." All of that should be calculated in, into your annual report. And all of it's facts. It's not hearsay. So, I think it takes a little bit of the bias out of the system, and a lot of employees like that. So, my advice, look at your, your total, uh, annual performance system, and, and see how you can incorporate it, incorporate AI into improving the process. What I love about that, too, is so often recognition and even promotions and things that happen within the organization, um, sometimes it's so biased by whoever just gets the most face time with the leader, or whoever's- Right. ... just gre- like, good enough with kind of being visible. But when you're a remote workplace, or even in-person, you're gonna have those kind of other groups and employees that are kind of siloed out, or maybe they're just not getting as much face time. So, this can actually access all the additional data and activity that's just already there, and bring to life kind of that awareness for you as a leader. And then, as you shared, it's kind of, like, already creating, like, recognition tidbits that you just can click and improve, right? Or, or distribute. Correct. So, that's amazing. It's ... And I'll ... And I will tell you guys, it's, it's, it's very simple. It's not, it's not hard. Utilize the programs that's out there, like Lena.AI. Build the dashboard. And again, it's collecting that information, like what you said, Zach. For me, it takes them the unbiased out. I think that's what a lot of employees want. They see a lot of the people that are getting the merit bonuses or the bigger raises are the same people in, in consulting, like I said.... uh, went in there and evaluated the same 12%. Mm-hmm. We're getting the same bonuses every single year. So how do you take that- that out? And I think AI can help you in that space. And I think, uh, all employees, they want what's fair. If they know they're doing the right things or they're not doing the right things, prove it. And I think that's where AI can come into that space, but it can also support, "Hey, you're going out there and you're pushing our brand." "Hey, you're going out there and you're on Facebook and you're taking pictures with colleagues." That should matter. It should. And it shouldn't be a competition, it should go towards, their overall assessment of who the individual is as a person. Are they a leader? Or, or they're not. And again, that's something you can't fully take the human piece out, you just can't, but AI should be there to help. Yeah. And I love, uh, Michelle, um, Michelle, hopefully I'm pronouncing your name well, like she came and shared, "Hey we just used it perfor- for- performance reviews and preparation for that." Now you can layer in this aspect around recognition and appreciation and I think we always hear this, like, objection from leaders about, like, "I just don't have time for this." Uh, I don't- (laughs) ... have so many things, uh, like a lot of managers, they're individual contributors as well and it's just like, "Ah, I don't have time for this." And even all of you as HR leaders, you're often thinking like, "Well, this is a wish list. I don't even have the time to build this out." It's like give yourself the gift of time and build out a resource like Dr. Germain just shared to- to really just free up, kind of, the heavy lifting of it and then you can just work more on the strategic work beyond that. So, uh, this was awesome. Dr. Germain, where can people connect and I'll share your LinkedIn in the chat there. Uh, I definitely really encourage everyone listening, one, connect with him, obviously sharing some amazing thought leadership and work here. I think it's amazing that you're doing this both at a practitioner level in-house, but then also consulting and supporting other HR leaders and organizations in navigating this. So if you're looking for a thought partner, someone to talk to unpack this with, really encourage you to connect with him. Um, shared your LinkedIn. Anything else or anywhere else that people can follow or connect with you? I say just reach out to me via LinkedIn. Uh, I'm very active. Uh, I will tell you guys that I love helping people out. I generally do. It's- it's just who I am. Um, I will tell you, uh, that in HR it's all about fairness. That's all, that's all we're looking to do is just be fair across the board. So if you can utilize AI to- to be transparent, and I think that's the key word, transparency, um, with your employees and- and they know that if they're getting a merit bonus or they're getting an annual increase because they deserve it, and everybody across the board, they know how they're being evaluated. Yes, you cannot fully take the human piece out, but again, AI can be there. But just reach out to me, uh, through AI. Please hit connect, shoot me a message and say you were on here and- and I'll connect and I'm always happy to help or- or lend some advice and- or do some consulting. So thank you guys and thank you for hearing me ramble for the last minutes. (laughs) That was great. I'll take that ramble any day of the week. (laughs) So, uh, everyone give it up for Dr. Germain. That was awesome. I seriously think, like, talk about spearheading our way into the future of recognition. That was it. So Dr. Germain, thank you again. That was awesome. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.