Tech & Innovation Blog
Humanization and Digital Disruption Trends in the Workplace with Don Weinstein
Senior Leaders, Future of Work, What We Do
A podcast episode for those interested in the importance of data, humanization, and digital disruption trends in the workplace.
Humanization and Digital Disruption Trends in the Workplace with Don Weinstein
Don Weinstein, Corporate Vice President of Global Product & Technology, spoke on Now of Work, a weekly podcast hosted by Jason Averbook and Jess Von Bank.
The episode is excellent for anyone interested in the importance of data, humanization, and digital disruption trends in the workplace.
“We hire data journalists who took all the pay equity data that were hard to unpack and put them in infographic style,” Don said. “We didn’t advertise; instead, we stepped back and watched what happened. We had over 1,000 clients discover it.”
Imagine seeing two employees with the same job, skills, and experiences but different pay. Don’s team found more than 75% of the clients, meaning over 1,000 organizations, acted, and made pay adjustments for over 210,000 individuals.
The power of data collection and engaging apps are changing the workplace across generations. “We’d like to do our part and give back to the community,” Don said.
When it comes to conversations on current challenges, Don shared with hosts Jason and Jess his insights on hybrid work. The key elements to consider include getting the taxes and pay right when employees work in different cities and states.
On top of hiring remote workers, Don emphasized the importance of onboarding and engagement.
“We’ve been studying engagement for over 20 years,” Don said. “Last year was the first we’ve seen the honeymoon effect, meaning employees tend to have the highest engagements during their first-year arrival at the company, went away.”
As ADP continues to hire globally, Don encouraged the teams to be focused. The responsibilities include training managers, engaging, and providing for hybrid workers.
Listen here for more insights on designing and leveraging technology to enhance the HR function!
Podcast: Using Data to Advance Diversity
Podcast: Using Data to Advance Diversity
Transcript
Mark:
Welcome to PeopleTech, the podcast of the HCM Technology Report. I’m Mark Feffer.
My guest today is Bob Lockett, chief diversity and talent officer at ADP. He’s responsible for the company’s diversity and talent strategy and oversees performance management, leadership development, engagement and culture, among other things.
We’re going to talk a lot about data and its relationship with DEI, from helping determine where a company’s at, to initiating new programs. That’s on this edition of PeopleTech. Bob, welcome. It’s great to meet you.
How does one attack the task of leading on diversity for a company the size of ADP?
Bob:
Well, Mark, the first thing I’ll tell you, it’s a very challenging task, because you have so many different constituents and everybody wants their own piece of the pie. What about us? What about us? What about us?
As you can imagine, DEI is a very emotional topic, for that reason. So, the approach that I’ve taken, that we’ve taken at ADP, is really tied to doing a couple of things.
Number one is using the scientific method. You know that thing, Mark, that we learned about back in middle school, that many of us did those experiments?
You would say, develop your hypothesis. Then from the hypothesis, you allow data to prove or disprove your beliefs. And then once you do that, then you really define the problem.
After you define that problem, then start to put plans in place to achieve the outcomes. You tweak as you go, as needed, based on feedback.
So what we’ve done is taking that exact approach and say, let’s take the emotion out of it as best we can. Let’s focus on the data. Let the data be our guiding light, to help us understand where we need to focus and what we need to do.
Now, this doesn’t just apply from a US standpoint. Think about it. This is a global opportunity that we’ve embarked upon. The way I view it is, there are needs everywhere, for people to feel like they are seen, valued and heard for all that they are.
So, not only do we think about diversity… You can measure diversity very easily. You can look at demographic data. How many of these do you have? How many of those do you have?
You can measure equity by looking at pay, but the key is also to measure inclusion. So, we take this holistic approach, all data driven.
The inclusion piece is all sentiment driven, but it’s really leveraging the scientific method and leveraging data, to help tell our story.
Mark:
Can you expand a bit on how data is used in DEI work? I mean, you mentioned that this is a pretty emotional subject. It always strikes me as interesting when you apply data to an emotional subject. How do they work together? So can you talk about that?
Bob:
Sure. I could tell you the stories of how we landed where we are, with some of our things.
The first thing that we did as an organization, when I took over the role, I wanted to understand how we looked, because I have a vision that our associate population in our company is reflective of the communities in which we operate and the clients that we serve. That’s very specific and very clear.
How do you test that, your hypothesis about that? How do you make it a realistic vision?
We looked at about three or four different datasets. One dataset was a census data. And as you know, the census data doesn’t mean that everybody’s working.
So, we looked at the census data and we say, “What’s the representation for African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, white women, everybody in our organization?” Let’s lay that out to understand it.
Then we looked at the Bureau of Labor statistics data. Of the people in the workforce, let’s take a look at how that compares and then let’s compare that against our information.
So, we compared it against our information, I’m talking specifically in the US and said, “Huh? Where do we have gaps?”
My hypothesis was that we didn’t look like the communities in America, but the reality of it was, we did. So, I was really impressed. I was like, wow, this is great news.
But as you look at the data, we also found that when you look up in the organization, you don’t have parity in representation for two populations in particular, which were African Americans and Hispanics.
We said, they represent 15% of the overall workforce in the US, for Hispanics. Let’s say it was 11% for African Americans.
Well, we noticed a gap in our company of about four percentage points each way, for African Americans and Hispanics.
We said, well, we should close that gap, because as you come to an organization, you also want to be able to see if there are opportunities for you to advance.
If you don’t see anyone that looks like you, in management level positions, then you start to wonder if you have a real future there. So, that was our quest.
This is how we use data to really understand and tell our story and to put plans in place to do it.
Now, notice the nuance here. Because again, if you go back to my original hypothesis, that we didn’t look like that, we did, but then we pivoted very quickly, because the data told us a different story. We said, that’s where we’re going to focus our efforts.
Now, some people use, Mark, data to try and boil the ocean. You can’t do everything. You can’t be all things to all people. That is a recipe for failure, particularly in DEI.
So, that’s why we have a very narrow focused approach. We have multiple initiatives that we work on, but suffice it to say, that was our main effort, for us to be able to say, we’re moving the needle when it comes to leadership representation in our company.
Mark:
Now, do you think your company is an outlier in that, or do you think that more corporations are starting to get on board with the idea of using data in this regard?
Bob:
Yeah. I think it’s a mixed bag, Mark, is probably the best way to describe it. Most organizations will take a look at their data. They’ll focus on where they think their opportunities are.
But it depends on where they are in their journey, their DEI journey, which I always talk about, that not everybody’s at the same place.
For us, I believe we’re an outlier. We’re an outlier because if you think about DEI, it’s one of our values. The things that really resonate in our organization, is that each person counts. In order for each person counts, by default, you have to have a DEI strategy.
Some organizations don’t put as much interest or effort into it, so there at varying stages.
It became a great corporate buzzword two years ago. Prior to that, many organizations weren’t making headway, with respect to that. So, my belief is, we’re certainly an outlier with our use of data.
Of course, Mark, that is our middle name. So, we use data to make sure that we can tell our story, to solve the problem, to understand all of those things. We’re all about measuring success. How do you measure the effectiveness of what you’re doing?
Having said that, I think we’re a bit of an outlier. I think there are other organizations that are doing great things, but I think there are some that are not doing anything because they don’t know where to start.
If that’s the challenge for them, then a great place to start is, understand your data at least. Then, think about where you want to have an impact.
Mark:
Can you think of any particularly surprising things that you’ve learned from data?
Bob:
I can give you a couple of examples of things that I think we’ve learned. Number one is that it’s never enough. Here’s what I mean. We had to put plans in place to do this.
I’ll just give you this example, Mark. We launched our talent task force. It was a specific focus on the African American and Hispanics/Latino community.
Well, as soon as we put that out, the first question that came was, hey, what about the Asian community? I said, “Huh? I’ve got a story for you. Asians represent 5% of our population, but yet they represent 8% of leadership.” So, there’s no problem there.
Then the next call came from the LGBTQ+ community. I said, “Huh? Tell me what the data says.”
The reason we couldn’t make a decision and put a plan in place to improve representation for that community, is because we didn’t have any data. So, that’s one of the things that will surprise you about that.
And when you don’t have enough of it, everyone wants to do these things, which is back to my point about, people get involved in this. They want to represent their constituents.
But at the same time, without the data, you can’t get involved and create corporate programs to improve something.
The second piece still ties to self-ID. If you take this to a global scale, so typically in numerous countries, they don’t collect the same data that we do in the US. They don’t collect it because their philosophies are different. It could vary, country to country.
However, there’s renewed emphasis on understanding your workforce and being inclusive. So, just imagine, you’re a multinational corporation and you don’t understand the dynamics that exist in operating in Tunisia or the dynamics that exist in operating in France or Italy and who the underrepresented groups are. So, we’re trying to capture new data.
That’s one of the surprising things, is that we’re beginning a journey globally, to do a self-ID approach.
It’s not just us, by the way. There are multiple companies now showing renewed interest in this, to say, how do we understand our workforce? How do we become more inclusive, so we can appeal to the needs of various communities where we operate?
Mark:
Are you satisfied with the kind of data that’s available to you today? What could be better?
Bob:
Yeah. I’m in a unique position, Mark. I tell people this all the time. At ADP, because we’re a data company… again, it’s in our middle name, I have the unique opportunity that we have our own department that does all of the analytics, pulls the data, does the comparative analysis, the sensitivity analysis to whatever we want to do.
Now, for companies that don’t have that, we do have a diversity dashboard, that gives them insights into their own information, that they may not have thought about before.
They may not have the luxury of having a large DEI department, like we do. They may not have the luxury of having the analytic capability, but we can provide them with some insights about how their organization looks, what their leadership makeup is. Oh, by the way, with pay equity too, we can take a look at that data as well.
So I think I’m in an enviable position. I’ve got all the data that I need. The key for me, is staying focused and executing, to ensure that we make a difference with our DEI efforts.
Mark:
What are your overall goals for your DEI efforts? I mean, what kind of changes are you hoping to enable or enact? What has to happen for you to be able to get there?
Bob:
Yeah, it’s a great question, Mark. I’ll go back to my vision. The vision that, we want our associate population to be reflective of the communities in which we operate and the clients that we serve.
That is the most important thing, because I believe that the efforts that we take to do that, will have a great cyclical impact on the environment.
Here’s what I mean. I’m not in the DEI business because I’m a social justice warrior. I’m in the DEI business because I believe that there are economic opportunities in a capitalistic society, that we can get everyone to participate in and grow the pie. I firmly believe that.
In many cases, it starts with employment. So, what do we do as part of our DEI, some of the work that we’re doing? Well, we want to hire in those various communities.
We have outreach efforts to every community, to make sure that we’re attracting the best and the brightest for our organization.
Then of course, once you get there, you have to walk the talk. So, culture is really important, Mark, in this space, to ensure that if you said you’re going to do it, then you have to do it.
My saying is, don’t talk about it. You have to be about it. So, if you’re about what you said you are, by bringing everybody together and giving everybody an opportunity, so they can be their true authentic selves, then that makes a tremendous difference.
So, that’s the talent piece of it. Getting them in, giving them the opportunities to grow and develop, and then seeing them get promoted and being able to contribute.
Now, I also talk about DEI from a business practice standpoint. Oftentimes in the past, organizations that I’ve worked for, DEI was all about some of the HR practices, which I just talked about briefly. It was all about talent practices,
But I also incorporate business practices. Business practices are really about, well, how do we tap into the ecosystem of businesses and communities?
Oftentimes, you have underserved communities, that don’t have the same opportunities to understand things.
Give you an example. We have a company that we partner with. What the founder shared with us, was the fact that for many minority-owned businesses, they only have one way to finance their business. That’s through loans from family members or debt.
So, they don’t get the full spectrum of how to do revenue-based financing for their business, or how to think about the debt market very differently, that others have had exposure and access to.
So, giving them exposure and access to the full gamut is really important, but that also requires some education. So, we partner with organizations, to do that, just so businesses can finance it.
Now, selfishly, because I am a capitalist, I believe that we should be able to capture some of that market.
We should be able to say, we’ll help them. There’s no guarantee that they’re going to come back and nor is there an expectation, but just imagine if we’re the ones that help them understand how to run payroll.
I said, “We want you to focus on your business. If you make pizzas or if you have a restaurant, we want you to focus on what you do best. Let us do what we do best, which is run payroll, help you do time and attendance and help you with all of those other things. That’s what we do”
So, I think it’s important for us to extend our reach into the underserved communities, such that we can help raise the tide for all boats. That’s really the impetus here.
Say, if we do this the right way, DEI becomes much more holistic, so it’s focused on the economic empowerment.
If you do that by getting people great jobs, what do they do? Well, they go spend money in their communities. If they spend money in their communities, businesses grow. And if businesses grow, for us it’s a great thing, because that means you have more people to pay from your payroll systems and the like.
So, this ecosystem approach that I think is really critical and important, when we think about DEI.
Now, the other piece, Mark, that I’ll share with you about DEI is, I’ll share two other avenues of this.
One is the environment. Our environmental practices now, have become relevant in the DEI equation.
Let me back up and give you the broader view. Most companies talk about ESG, environmental, social and governance. The environmental piece is really critical. That’s where you have, what are you going to do for greenhouse gas emission reduction?
This S is all DEI. The G is board governance or governance of whatever programs that you take a look at. So, that’s something else you have to consider as you think about DEI.
We have practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The good news for us is that, we don’t manufacture anything. Probably, our facilities and employees driving to work are our largest contributors to this. But what we also focus on is, what can we do to meet target? We put together plans to do that.
The last thing I’ll mention is what we’re doing as an organization, to make a difference, as we think about DEI and the like.
We have the ADP Foundation. We make contributions to a variety of 501(c)(3)’s nonprofits, to help support them in the communities in which they operate. So, there’s this holistic view that we have about, we can do well and do good at the same time.
Mark:
Bob, thanks very much. We appreciate your time today.
Bob:
Thank you.
Mark:
My guest today has been Bob Lockett, chief diversity and talent officer at ADP. This has been PeopleTech, the podcast of the HCM Technology Report.
We’re a publication recruiting daily. We’re also a part of the Evergreen Podcasts. To see all of their programs, visit www.EvergreenPodcasts.com.
To keep up with HR technology, visit the HCM Technology Report every day. We’re the most trusted source of news in the HR tech industry. Find us at www.HCMTechnologyReport.com. I’m Mark Feffer.
Image: iStock
Tech & Innovation Blog
I Became My Own Nutrition Coach
Women in STEM, Voice of Our People, Impact
“It’s about receiving guidance from nutrition coaches on maintaining a healthy, personalized diet in life.”
I Became My Own Nutrition Coach
Dan W.
Dan W. is a Principal Data Scientist who supports sales and marketing initiatives across different businesses. Her team provides data insights, builds predictive models, and turns them into actionable information to support business decisions. This is her seventh year working at ADP! Dan came for the opportunity and stayed for the people. As an immigrant from a foreign country, she feels supported and looks forward to inspiring other women technologists with her story.
My ADP journey began in 2015 when I worked as a business intelligence manager in worldwide sales and marketing. I built predictive models and conducted deep analysis supporting all business units. My team then moved to Global Product & Technology (GPT), where I got promoted to my current position as the principal data scientist. I’m always proud to build impactful models for solving real-life business problems.
I’ve come a long way as a woman technologist who became her own certificated nutrition coach.
I know what it’s like to feel overwhelmed and uncertain about where to start when it comes to making positive changes for your health. Throughout my journey, I experienced rewarding feelings of finding the healthy mindset and approaches that worked for my body. In this blog, I’ll share my story of how I became a certified nutrition coach.
Nine years ago, I was diagnosed with autoimmune disease. I suffered from chronic inflammation and symptoms of metabolic syndrome. Doctors told me I would be on medication for the rest of my life, and the news struck me. I felt defeated and did not want to rely on medicine. After connecting with a friend who teaches pharmacy and a professor who studies nutrition, I received support and learned about what nutrition human bodies need to stay healthy.
It was a long discovery process when I spent time on myself, monitoring both physical and mental health. I am incredibly grateful for my church community and family members who encouraged me to dive deeper into different learning opportunities. I decided to participate in the weight-loss program while enrolling in two nutrition certificate programs.
I first took weekly seminars from NutraMetrix Educational Institute and went through in-person training by health professionals every other year to get recertified. To gain more experience working with different clients’ needs, I completed another two-year Family Wellness Coach program at Whealkon Nutraceutical College and graduated in December 2021.
After hundred hours of training, I became a certified nutrition coach. Not only did this decision change my life, but also it gave me an opportunity to support others in need. As a nutrition coach, I remind myself, my clients, and my family of three best practices to achieve wellness goals:
1) Practice Healthy Eating Habits
Ask yourself: why do you want to achieve these health goals?
The diet changes start in daily behaviors. I help people understand their goals and have conversations beyond exercising and nutrition, including sleep schedules and how they feel about their lifestyles.
2) One Thing at a Time
It’s impossible to see immediate changes overnight. I find asking diet-related questions in systems helpful. As a coach, I switch focuses between the food quality and the quantity of each meal, depending on the client’s health condition.
3) There is No “Best Diet”
Every case is different. My goal is to find what works the best for everyone, making individuals feel strong and healthy based on the diet approach they choose to pursue.
I provided customized wellness coaching and weight management consulting in a family doctor’s clinic before the pandemic. It feels amazing to contribute to the community, including running wellness seminars, hosting 12-week weight loss programs, and providing 1-1 nutritional consultation. I plan to host more in-person events in the future!
Dan and Her Family
In my six years of practice, I encountered patients with common health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. One can overcome these conditions with weight-loss training while maintaining a healthy diet. Coming up with customized nutritional goals for them always brings me joy as I see their health conditions improve, building friendship and support along the way. If you are interested in learning more about what nutrition coaches can do, you may find this article helpful: How are Health Coaches Trained and Certified? Is Hiring a Health Coach Right for You?
Looking back, working as a data scientist has prepared me with essential skills in pursuing nutritional health. The common ground in both roles is excellent communication, efficient negotiation, and customized analysis.
In our current world, we see artificial intelligence (AI) everywhere as people adapt to their digital footprints. It makes our lives easier by speeding up communication across nations and time zones. As a data scientist supporting sales and marketing, I encourage associates to learn teams’ needs and strategically develop a plan to fit those needs. My advice for those new to the field is to focus on gaining experience in analytical and communication skills. They are also essential as I switch roles, working with different groups of people.
I used to be “shy” in starting conversations, but my experience as a data scientist has allowed me to take in stories through a new lens. I practice the same mindset in working as a nutrition coach, stepping out of my comfort zone to conduct health seminars at the clinic. Working with patients has also improved my presentation skills, which I can apply to the tech workforce.
It’s about receiving guidance from nutrition coaches on maintaining a healthy, personalized diet in life.
Regarding my health condition, I am happy to say I no longer need medication. I focus on making intelligent decisions in healthy eating behaviors and taking responsibility for my health goals. I am proud of my journey and will continue to help others in need, especially women who suffered from fatigue during the pandemic.
When giving nutrition advice, I am mindful of people’s financial situations. The same thought process applies to working as a data scientist, analyzing circumstances for different clients. Both roles build my confidence in identifying the needs and proposing customized plans after assessing them.
As a data scientist, I compare solutions and propose the best ways to reach business goals in given timelines. Mentoring new data scientists and identifying their needs has been a wonderful experience. I see myself continuing practicing analytical and interpersonal skills in tech and in nutrition coaching, achieving both health and career goals.
Join our community!
Learn more about what it’s like working for ADP here and our current openings.
Tech & Innovation Blog
Hacking the Future of STEM with iWIN EMPOWER and GirlsHack
Early Talent, Impact, Women in STEM
We thank the EMPOWER committee and members who generously donated their time to make this event successful.
Hacking the Future of STEM with iWIN EMPOWER and GirlsHack
In celebration and recognition of International Women’s Month, ADP’s International Women’s Inclusion Network (iWIN) Business Resource Group (BRG) sponsored GirlHacks 2022 Hackathon event at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). GirlHacks 2022 was a 36-hour women-centric hackathon that featured motivational speakers, discussion panels, and mentoring programs created to inspire women and support advanced career growth.
The event was an initiative propelled by the iWIN EMPOWER Committee. With core values of inspiring innovation and social responsibility, many ADP iWIN BRG members volunteered to participate in the event. In addition to providing tech guidance during the hackathon, our associates engaged students in thought-provoking discussions about the GPT Development programs, summer internship positions, and work opportunities across ADP.
GirlHacks at New Jersey Institute of Technology
“With a commitment to growing opportunities for women in STEM, the iWIN Empower BRG is proud to offer insight and guidance to new technologists, even before they begin their careers,” said Aini Ali, Vice President of Major Accounts Operations at ADP. “This event aligns closely with our mission to provide tools, guidance, and a network for women and children of all ages to reach new heights of success in STEM careers. It was an amazing experience too.”
The first-place winner of GirlHacks 2022 was Imposter Bubble, a mobile app inspired by the idea submitter’s own experiences with Imposter Syndrome (IS). IS refers to an internal experience of believing you are not as competent as others perceive you. 75% of executive women identified having experienced IS at various points during their careers. Imposter Bubble provides positive, powerful affirmations to women, helping them process their negative thoughts. The application was built using Flutter, a cross-platform app development framework by Google that allows the same codebase to develop apps for iOS, Android, and web platforms. Learn more about the Imposter Bubble and other submissions on Devpost.
ADP iWIN BRG would like to thank the EMPOWER committee and members who generously donated their time to make this event successful. ADP is committed to Diversity and Inclusion. We encourage you to learn about the fantastic opportunities for collaboration and partnership our BRGs offer.
Join our community!
Click here to search for your next move and visit Who We Hire.
Tech & Innovation Blog
Career Fair: Perseverance is the Key in Job Hunting
Early Talent, Intern to Full-Time, Career Advice
Recruiters want to find the star to add to their team, while candidates want to be the ones that shine.
Career Fair: Perseverance is the Key in Job Hunting
By Amy H. Chiu, Tech Brand Content Developer
What’s better than a firm handshake, a strong resume, and a great impression?
I remember first walking into career fairs seven years ago as an undergraduate student. Before the career fair, I was busy researching what a professional outfit meant. I stood in front of the mirror, changing from one business outfit to another. My feet felt awkward in those black closed-toe shoes, and I practiced smiling while saying my full name again and again.
Walking in the career fair, I saw other students and alumni holding copies of resumes in one hand and the map of the employer booths in another. Some looked stressed, and others looked excited while practicing their introduction line in the corner. Larger companies had long lines that averaged one hour or longer, like lining up for a ride at a theme park. I remember feeling overwhelmed, wondering how to stand out. The students and alumni were just as competitive and intelligent. I had seven seconds to make a good impression and five minutes to make my face memorable.
There were times when I started to wonder: When would someone take a chance on me? When would it be my turn? There were tears of frustration and a lot of nervous perspiration. I ask myself for the 10,000th time, “What does that person have that I don’t? If they take me, I will give my best and everything I’ve got. I promise.”
The stress of finding a summer internship and a first job was tremendous. Imagine waking up scrolling through social media and seeing many of your classmates posting, “I’m so proud to announce I’ll be starting as a (job title) at XYZ company,” followed by a sea of compliments. You check your inbox and refresh again, still nothing. No one talks about the rejections in the sea of positive social media posts on Instagram.
I remember feeling overwhelmed before attending my first career fair, I prepared and showcased myself by setting up a strong LinkedIn profile, writing a cover letter, and revising my resume. I even hired a career coach, visiting my strengths and weaknesses. I filled out worksheets, took personality tests, spent days and nights reading about my favorite companies on the list. On top of that, I visited the career center, attended more than 20+ workshops, and worked with counselors. I wanted to draft the “perfect” one-line bio on my profile, thinking it could make a difference. There were mock interviews, and I signed up repeatedly, hoping the skills would come in handy one day.
At the end of the day, I learned having a positive mindset in the process is just as crucial as any training. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed in the interview process. Allow yourself to be okay with that.
After finishing three internships and entering the workforce for a few years, I learned the value of perseverance. Speaking with many ADP tech associates as part of my job, I’ve noticed a common theme in their advice for future technologists: Do not be afraid.
Some other standard advice: continue to focus on your goal, ask questions, look for mentorship opportunities. Rejections are not the end of the world. It takes rejections to give you time to reflect, improve, and revise. Fear of rejection shouldn’t keep you from applying.
From the recruiter’s perspective
The hiring process is also two-sided. Recruiters want to find the star to add to their team, while candidates want to be the ones that shine. Sometimes people don’t recognize all the effort that goes into hiring and recruiting. Many students think about “impressing” the company rather than fitting into the company culture or the role.
I had an opportunity to speak with Lisa S., Senior Director of Talent Acquisition, and gained some interesting insights. Lisa and her campus recruiters want students to make the best-informed decisions on accepting an offer and ensuring the placement is an excellent match for both parties.
During our conversation, I was surprised to learn how frustrated companies get when students accept a job offer only to renege right before their start date to go to a different company.
I wondered if this happens more frequently in the world we live in today compared to 20 years ago. And does this occur only in tech, where most large corporations offer rich compensation to candidates? Is this a generational phenomenon? There’s not a right answer, but let’s observe and use these open questions in discussion with our teams.
When it comes to virtual and in-person recruiting events, Lisa encourages attendees to come prepared. From digital files to physical copies of resumes, have them ready. You never know who you will meet at the fair. Like it or not, a messy room in your zoom background shows the recruiter something about you.
Lisa and I also talked about the interview processes, and one thing stood out to me. Dear future candidates, please don’t memorize cheat sheet answers from online resources. The recruiters know, trust me, they know. Their recruiting experience can spot right away if your answer is authentic or not. I understand presenting your best self is essential, but please answer interview questions from the bottom of your heart. It sounds cliché, but verbally highlighting what you genuinely want makes you stand out.
Where do you want to be when you grow up? The last time you answered this question probably was when you had to write an essay for a homework assignment at school. I challenge you to find a balance between the job you are searching for and your passion.
It’s good to have a stable job, but great to have a job you love.
“Do you want to work in product development? Do you want to work in management? Have a definitive path and speak to it,” Lisa said. “Come to us and say ‘I want to be a (job title) because of X, Y, and Z.’ The more information the candidate provides at the career fair, the better for us to place them in the right area.”
Come to the ADP booth and learn about the six-week extended GPT Development Program. It’s an opportunity for students to meet with leaders and understand our products. You will make a real contribution if you are lucky enough to get chosen for the program. One of our students developed an algorithm to match graduating students with leaders based on their top five choices. Everyone has a voice here, no matter the title or years of service.
If I could tell my younger self one thing before I walked into that career fair, it would be: Go for it! Talk to the recruiter, and don’t be afraid to show your curiosity. ADP’s campus recruiting team spends time reading all the resumes they collect, but it’s the impression you make that sets you apart. We hire in various settings, including tech conferences, virtual fairs, and employee referral programs.
Fill your career path with pleasant surprises. Every decision adds up and reroutes you to a different place, preparing and building you for the next challenge. I’m excited to explore mine, and I’d like to invite you to take on your own unique adventure here at ADP.
Interested in our Campus programs or ready to start your next chapter?
Learn more about what it’s like working for ADP here and our current openings.
Tech & Innovation Blog
Team APIs: What They Are and Why They Matter to Teamwork
Voice of Our People, Innovation, Future of Work
Team APIs could vary depending on team context and needs. One universal value is to listen to your people and act on what they vocalize.
Team APIs: What They Are and Why They Matter to Teamwork
Charles L., Senior Director of Application Development, shares team topologies and how you can use the concept of APIs to better manage teams. In this blog, Charles explores various team management methodologies, including four different team types and three interacting models.
We live in a world where people are always looking for the next best thing. When it comes to leadership, we know that if you’re not engaged with your team, they won’t be engaged either, which translates into a lack of passion and excitement in the products they are creating! One way to create more cohesiveness and get everyone on board is to use Team APIs. These team communication interfaces have become the backbone of modern tech companies.
What is a Team API?
In the case of software development, an API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of instructions that tells a computer how to interact with another piece of software. We can use the same idea to create instructions for interacting with our team.
I first read about the Team APIs in Team Topologies, a book by Matthew Skeleton and Manual Pais that talks about creating effective teamwork and helps businesses choose the right pattern of interactions for their organizations. The authors also teach you how to keep software healthy while optimizing value streams.
Let’s Begin: Build an API
A critical first step to creating a communications API for your team is to establish a contact point. This can be a team lead, business analyst, or product owner. All communication will flow through that person from outside the team. This keeps the work visible and consolidates the Works in Progress (WIP) under one contact.
Charles and his son
Tool Recommendations
If you are looking for a tool to assist in this process, consider products such as Asana, Basecamp, or Jira to streamline communication within your company. The tools can help you manage projects, tasks, and meetings efficiently while also providing an environment where everyone can work together harmoniously.
My prioritization and goal-setting approach have changed over time, influenced by Allen Hollub and Domenic DeGrandis. When running a software team, the two hardest things are working together and ensuring each person’s work is meaningful and making sure each team player produces quality results without feeling overwhelmed or undervalued by their organizations. This is when these tools come into play and help us stay organized, while creating an easy developer experience.
Easy Developer Experience
While prioritization comes down to leveraging and optimizing the flow, it’s also important to create an easy developer experience. This translates into spending time improving our team’s development process every quarter to make code more efficient and ready for production. It’s essential to optimize and align goals between business and development processes.
Developer experience is so important because developers should focus on building software that solves business problems. Developers should not be burdened with non-business value add work like dealing with infrastructure, deployments, firewalls, domains, provisioning, procurement, or networking etc. A good developer experience makes it so easy for a developer to do their work, so they can focus on building and experimenting with features that enable our clients to do more.
Introducing Team Topologies
According to Team Topologies, the authors introduced different team types and interaction modes.
Four Types of Teams
- Stream-Aligned: A team that is uniquely positioned to drive business change and opportunity, with an alignment of core values, skills mix tailored towards delivering value on their own.
- Platform: A team that helps to reduce cognitive load by providing everything in one place.
- Enabling: A team dedicated to helping other teams with the adoption and modification of software, as part of their transition period.
- Complicated Sub-system: A team with the mission to help other teams transition as they jump from old software and processes into something more modern.
Three Interaction Modes
- Collaboration: Two teams work together to solve a shared goal, particularly when it comes down to finding new technology or approaches.
- X-As-A-Service: One team consumes APIs, tools, or full software products from another team.
- Facilitating: An enabling team facilitates the other team learning or adopting new approaches.
The bread-and-butter of team types is Stream-Aligned. This team type has everything it needs to deploy software to production independently. The most common interaction model is a collaboration where two teams work closely together, for example, X-AS-A-Service, meaning one team uses another team API.
Why APIs Matter in DevOps
APIs are a crucial component of software development. They provide greater insight into how applications work and allow for faster integration, easier consumption across the lifecycle – all things that DevOps teams want in their task lists!
More companies have started to build core platforms, accelerating and scaling development. The state of DevOps conducted based on DORA metrics by Google points to an increase in large enterprises adopting cloud and high-performing software companies in 2021. Good documentation is key to implementing development capabilities and positive team culture to mitigate burnout risks. There is another DevOps report by Puppet Labs that focuses on team topologies. These are all evidence where Team APIs makes a positive impact on DevOps.
Team Success: Prioritize the Developer Experience
An effective team values the Developer Experience (DX), meaning the overall experience developers experience in working on your product. DX is essential for a company’s core product and development. Large enterprises learn to react quicker to market changes when they remove friction in the development process, which leads to revised change management practices and more frequent deployments. Shortly, I see this happening. Companies will modernize their change management processes to accelerate their software delivery. When teams prioritize the DX, their success is inevitable.
Charles and his family
Teamwork: Care for Your People
Another consideration in team building is the lag, meaning time spent waiting on someone or something to happen. Grouping people by functions like Dev, QA, or Ops, or Product creates a lag in your team’s flow. What happens when people must wait? They get bored and work on something else. Once a developer works on two things at once, the chance of introducing a defect rises.
Grouping people into functional tribes also creates unwanted behaviors. One of the most important things to understand in DevOps is the people; they are your teammates. Since everyone is on the same scrum teams, instead of calling each other by roles such as OPS or QA, use ‘my teammate’ and recognize ‘my teammate needs help on this item.’ Your mindset changes when you apply the rule in day-to-day life. You’d want to help and contribute more to the team.
What You Should Know: As a Leader in DevOps
How do you know that you are doing a fantastic job as a leader? The answer can be found in the feedback loop. Making the workplace a more comfortable and enjoyable place can help associates flourish. A positive feedback loop achieves that by listening to the voices and using the comments to improve organizational structures.
I recommend The DevOps Handbook for any technology leader looking to improve their organization’s culture and innovation levels. The book includes three DevOps principles: Flow, Feedback, Continuous Experimentation & Learning. To improve any system, you need feedback loops, and the faster the feedback, the better. It is important to improve any system, especially in delivering software to production. Not having suitable feedback loops can lead to poor outcomes.
For example, my team uses ADP’s Standout app, a high-performing tool that helps identify each individual team member’s strengths through a series of surveys that are designed for different types of companies with various needs, including software developers. You’ll find out exactly where tasks need improvement on both individual levels and group discussions, ensuring everyone has an opportunity to share their opinions about what works best within these parameters.
Our community: ADP’s Transformation
I’ve seen such a great technological leap forward over the last decade. I love the direction ADP is going. We didn’t have all these avenues for connection when I founded the ADP Developer Community back in 2013. Coordinating inner sourced projects was more difficult. Since then, the openness and sharing within GPT have been incredible. I feel encouraged hearing our leader, Don Weinstein, celebrate innovations such as CI/CD. What we do at ADP is incredible, especially the annual GPT Connect developer’s conference that shows sharing technology across teams is a high priority.
Team APIs could vary depending on team context and needs. One universal value is to listen to your people and act on what they vocalize. Prove to the team you hear them and do something about their proposed ideas. I believe a high-performing team will be open and honest with each other. It’s a group effort for the team members to use feedback to improve while receiving support and help from their leader.
Interested in DevOPs or Application Development positions at ADP? We’re hiring!
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Tech & Innovation Blog
Looking for an Internship or First Job? Here’s the secret sauce to getting hired
Early Talent, Intern to Full-Time, Career Advice
A great candidate needs to come to the table with something to offer, and unique skills will get attention.
Looking for an Internship or First Job? Here’s the secret sauce to getting hired
By Liz Gelb-O’Connor, Global Head of Employer Brand & Marketing
Here’s some good news for people without an advanced degree. Just because you have a higher education doesn’t necessarily give you more marketable hard skills or soft skills than someone without a bachelor’s degree.
Why? You can’t learn some soft skills in school. Money can’t buy them, and books can’t teach them. But if you have them, they can set you apart. Same for hard skills you’ve developed on your own, like learning a design tool, taking a free Google Analytics course, or nurturing your love of photography. When creating a resume for your first job or an internship, dig deep and mine your hidden treasure of transferrable skills and interests to help differentiate yourself.
ADP Interns at Roseland Headquarter
A true story for you. When I hired my first marketing intern in 2014, I wasn’t sure what to expect. So, I approached the experience with an open mind and discovered something valuable—not all critical skills were found on a resume. Sadly, despite the high cost of college and university education, not all students emerge with marketable business skills. I guess that’s kind of the point of internships and first jobs, right? To gain marketable business skills. Still, a marketing class on the 4 P’s (business majors, you know what I mean!) is almost meaningless when competing for a marketing internship, while working knowledge of InDesign will likely increase your chances.
Here’s what happened. My recruiter sent me 5-6 potential candidates for our marketing internship. During the candidate interviews, I felt like a dentist pulling teeth. Or worse yet, the aunt no one wanted to talk to at the annual holiday party. Seriously, some candidates gave one-word answers and had such low energy during the interview that I wanted to check their pulse. Pro tip: Don’t be like them.
At the end of the process, only one candidate seemed viable. He accepted a juicy Wall Street internship before receiving our offer. I wanted to give up and hire an experienced temp, but my recruiter called and begged me to meet one last candidate.
Enter Mia*, a rising college senior and transfer student. A few things stood out on her resume, neither of which she learned as part of her pricey college education: she owned an Etsy store for custom-designed party invitations and had experience using Adobe Creative Suite. Not only were these skills directly relevant, but they indicated three things:
- An entrepreneurial spirit
- Ambition to learn
- An eye for design
When we met for an interview, she came prepared with great questions and displayed an authentically positive attitude. She also sent a “Thank You” note, which some people might consider “old school,” but it shows gratitude and respect to me. All things being equal, I will choose the candidate who says “thank you” over someone who doesn’t.
Two weeks into her summer internship, I was so impressed that I offered Mia a full-time position when she graduated.
Here’s the additional secret sauce Mia brought to the table:
- Initiative – She volunteered to take on tasks that I didn’t even dream of asking her to do. I’d throw out an idea, and the conversation would go something like this, “Oh! I’ll do that. I’m not sure how to do it yet, but let me figure it out, and I’ll get back to you with some recommendations.”
- Creativity – “I have this idea for If your cool with it, I’d like to design something and show it to you.”
- Collaborative – “Do you need help with that? I can help you.”
- Organically Take on More –“I’m done with that. Do you have something else for me to work on?”
- Reliable – As a leader, I’m flexible and very supportive with time-off and vacation requests. No last-minute, unexplained absences for Mia. She always requested time-off in writing and with notice.
- Respectful – She always treated people with respect and acted with integrity.
When I build my teams, I look for these traits and skills whether someone has a degree or not.
After Mia, I hired two more interns that became full-time employees after graduation. Both went on to have successful careers at ADP.
ADP associates
Some questions you may have:
What do I do if an internship requires a specific degree?
Hard skills aren’t necessary for some internships because on-the-job training is provided. That said, some internships may require you to be a matriculated college/university student to qualify. Even so, this is where your soft skills can make a difference: collaboration, creativity, reliability, being a team player, etc. If the internship program offered is unaffiliated with current college/university attendance, you may only need the skills to do the job.
So, look at the actual internship requirements and gather your arsenal of soft and hard skills that can be transferrable to that role—then showcase them on a version of your resume.
What if the job required 2 years of relevant experience and I only have 1.5 years?
Again, examine your transferrable skills and highlight them. You may have less than two years of experience in that exact role, but what else do you bring to the table? Showing you are an avid learner and taking the initiative to develop other skills will demonstrate traits that could make you even more valuable than someone with those two years of experience.
So, when you interview for an internship or your first job, think beyond your resume. Think about how to showcase the skills you have that make you an asset, a functional part of a team, and uniquely you in a way that adds something to a role. Please, don’t be the candidate with a low pulse rate. Be the one who shines with positivity and shows how you will make the existing team even better and stronger.
How did it all turn out for Mia? She stayed with our company for over 3.5X longer than the average new grad. We even featured her in one of our employer brand campaigns for our campus channel. It was indeed a pleasure to watch her learn, grow, and thrive in our company, where she moved from marketing to a tech UX Design position. We are still in touch on Instagram as she travels the world and navigates the next chapter of her career.
For more, listen to Life @ ADP Podcast Episode 3: Tips for Interviewing, How to Make Lasting Impressions, and Helpful Hints.
*Name changed for anonymity
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Tech & Innovation Blog
Inside DataCloud: How ADP Shapes the Future of Work
Innovation, What We Do, Future of Work
ADP continues to play a crucial role in shaping the future of work, impacting people’s lives.
Inside DataCloud: How ADP Shapes the Future of Work
By Amin Venjara, General Manager, Data Solutions, ADP DataCloud
Over the past two decades, fields like marketing and finance have seen an explosion in data-driven decision-making. Data informs everything from measuring performance to the microtargeted ads we see in our social media feeds. Data and analytics have even reshaped the world of professional sports as a “Moneyball” approach to building and deploying teams are now deeply integrated into most management teams and coaching staff.
In a similar vein, a data-driven approach to HR and talent decisions, known as people analytics, has grown rapidly over the past decade. As one of the largest providers of human capital management offerings, ADP has the data assets to lead in the people analytics space. Last year, we processed 69M W2s and moved over $2.3T—that’s over 10% of US GDP. With over 920K clients, we pay more than 38M workers worldwide, and just in the US alone, we reach nearly 20% of the private US workforce.
This rich data foundation explains why our monthly National Employment Report is considered a key indicator for the state of the US economy. It is also why economists from the Federal Reserve and leading universities are using ADP data to create more real-time measures on the state of the workforce. In a 2019 speech, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell described the Fed’s partnership with ADP: “We began to collaborate with ADP to construct a measure of payroll employment from their data set, which covers about 20 percent of the nation’s private workforce…. We believe that the new measure may help us better understand job market conditions in real-time.”
Our Data Solutions business unit and the DataCloud product team aim to amplify ADP’s data value, creating a more meaningful work experience for all employees. As one example, organizations are always looking to find and keep their best talent. Similarly, workers are looking for opportunities that best leverage their strengths and create opportunities to grow and thrive.
Skills Graph extracts, aligns, and normalizes key information such as skills, job titles and levels, education, and qualifications from non-structured data and infers missing skills and qualifications from context. Skills Graph powers ADP’s Candidate Profile Relevancy tool to help score, assess, and predict candidates who are the best fit for a job opening. While the model is not an algorithm that tells someone which candidate to pick, it helps identify those who are not the right fit, speeding up the application review process. This way, recruiters and hiring managers can focus more time on the human side of recruiting, having deeper, better conversations with candidates.
We have also used our data and analytics capabilities to help organizations address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) questions. From the earliest days of our analytics journey, we have included metrics that help organizations quantify and baseline their DEI. We have previously won the HR industry’s top technology award with our Pay Equity Explorer, which helps organizations understand pay equity gaps based on gender and race. Over the past year, we have continued to grow our DEI toolset, adding a question-based DEI Dashboard that helps organizations create and maintain turn-key answers to question like “How diverse is your workforce?”, “Which areas of my organization are not diverse?” and “How diverse is my organization’s leadership distribution?” from their HCM systems.
And what’s more – our focus on DEI with our clients has driven real outcomes. We’ve seen over 50% of our DEI solution’s active users act and realize a positive impact on their DEI measures. Active clients have seen pay equity gaps decrease by an average of 25% or more than $700K per client, making this a real investment for our clients based on our insights to enable equal pay for equal work.
The power of our data also extends beyond the world of HR. It is a powerful, real-time signal on the state of consumer demand, demographics, and the broader economy. Using our anonymized and aggregated data, we can construct views of migration patterns at the county level. For example, we found that before the pandemic, less than 3% of San Francisco and New York high earners making $100K or more moved out of the cities during the 12 months that ended in January 2020. After the pandemic, that number leaped to 14%. Those high-wage employees moved to the surrounding suburbs with a manageable commute to job centers. Large retailers and state governments use this data to shape their demand forecasting and to optimize their organizational agility in this rapidly changing world.
By putting our clients first and applying one of the richest data sets in the world to some of the most pressing societal and business issues of our day, our teams make a real impact every day at work. The client-obsessed and data-savvy product managers, engineers, UX designers, and data scientists that fuel our teams are constantly pushing the boundaries of technology to solve problems for our clients. At ADP, we are always designing for people, and in DataCloud and the broader Data Solutions team, data is the beating heart of everything we do.
Interested in a tech career at ADP?
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Tech & Innovation Blog
Innovating Retirement: How ADP Uses Machine Learning to Plan for the Future
How We Work, Culture, Team Collaboration
At ADP, people don’t have to be a leader by title. If there is an idea, and you can think big and innovate, that’s all you need.
Innovating Retirement: How ADP Uses Machine Learning to Plan for the Future
As one of the country’s leading HR technology companies, ADP uses its unmatched data in exciting and new ways. We had an opportunity to catch up with two people critical in recognizing the opportunity to innovate and create a machine learning product for Retirement Services.
Hemlata R., Director of Product Development, oversees the entire product development process. In addition to managing scrum masters, architects, developers, and tech leads, she also heads web development, mobile development, and the machine learning strategy for the entire Retirement Services team.
Sanjay V.R. is the Lead Application Developer and oversees the machine learning practice within Retirement Services.
We asked them how their small team creates cutting-edge technology to build data-driven solutions for their customers, and here’s what they said:
First, let’s hear a bit of what brought you to ADP.
Sanjay V.R.
Sanjay: I started at ADP as an intern while I was attending school in upstate New York. Once I completed my internship, I actually had multiple offers to join other companies. I chose to stay at ADP because getting good opportunities is one of the most challenging obstacles in today’s job market, and at ADP, if you put in the work, getting rewarded is the easiest thing.
Hemlata has been my director for 80% of my career, and I’ve been able to turn to her if I have an idea or if I want to pick up a new role or responsibility. She’s always encouraged me. My senior leaders make sure to recognize me for my hard work. I’ve been promoted three times in my three years at Retirement Services, and that speaks volumes.
Hemlata: I also had several offers when I was looking for a change after my last job. I was attracted to ADP because I’d heard that it was moving toward being more of a technology company that valued innovation—and that its leaders prioritized diversity and inclusion. I’ve seen first-hand that you don’t have to have an impressive title to be a leader here. You can be a leader at any level. You can innovate at any level, and ADP supports and invests on that front. I’m so happy and thrilled that everything I had heard about ADP turned out to be more than true.
Speaking of innovation, tell us about the Retirement Services product you built.
Sanjay: People Like You is a new feature based on machine learning algorithms; it helps participants better prepare for their retirement by offering benchmarks on how people similar to them are planning their retirements. For example, we can show you what percentage of your coworkers are contributing to their 401(k)s and how much of their income they’re contributing. Maybe you contribute 5%, and when you see that your peers contribute 8%, you have the confidence to invest more.
In the retirement industry, advisors usually group people by age or salary and then start giving advice. We wanted to answer the question better and offer advice based on what others in similar socioeconomic situations are actually doing.
Hemlata: ADP pays one out of six Americans; the amount of data we possess is unparalleled. When I joined the company, we discovered that many of our clients’ employees do not contribute to 401(k)s. Since we work for Retirement Services, we saw this as a problem. People often look at their peers and follow them, so we asked ourselves how our data could help create a solution.
How did you go about building People Like You?
Hemlata: We tried to combine the mind and the machine by leveraging our experts’ expertise at ADP and machine learning.
Sanjay: We have folks at ADP who have over 20 and 30 years of experience in Human Resources and Retirement Services. As much as data is our strength, our people and their expertise are equally valuable. So first, we talked extensively with our internal stakeholders since they already know the ins and outs of the industry intimately. Then we conducted market research to understand people’s motivations and concerns better about retirement investing.
After that, we went back to our data sets—everything we have from our payroll and retirement resources—and we started looking at this socioeconomic information to see any relevance between multiple parameters. For example, does age or compensation influence your retirement decisions? What if you’re married, single, or have kids? Based on our internal and external research, we were able to identify somewhere around 30 factors that make an impact; we then narrowed those factors based on the extent of their influence on an individual’s decision. Once we started analyzing that data and built models to create the personas, we realized that we had something worth integrating with our existing retirement products.
When we began this project, it started on a small scale. It was just one other data scientist and me. The two of us created the machine learning part of it, but as we built specific pieces of code for the APIs, we pulled in engineers as we needed them.
Were there any complications you had to work through?
Hemlata R.
Hemlata: The tricky part for me was to make sure that we were compliant with all the security olicies. People trust ADP. It’s our brand. That’s why they come to us for payroll, compliance, workforce management, legal, and security solutions. ADP knows what to do and takes excellent care of its customers, and we take this to heart and always obtain the consent of our clients and employees before we include their data. We’re extremely careful to keep all the data anonymous and not look into any specific client or individual employee data.
Sanjay: Yes, ADP is very sensitive toward privacy laws, so we were very specific about reading only as much data as people were comfortable with. One of the biggest advantages we had was that we partnered with ADP’s DataCloud team. They acted like a data custodian in the project and were responsible for making the data anonymous. They also made it possible to identify an employee—only with their consent—if I needed to access that data to connect specific pieces of information.
I’m a millennial, and I’m one of those people who always clicks on “Do Not Sell My Info” on websites. So, I’m particular about my data, and I think I always had that in the back of my mind. DataCloud made my job easy in that regard.
How do you think machine learning will affect your future work?
Hemlata: We are looking at leveraging this concept of combining the mind and the machine on other aspects of our business, such as compliance processes. As of now, we have used descriptive and prescriptive analytics. Next, we are planning to use predictive analytics to help our clients predict the upcoming required actions. ADP and our clients can solve any predicted problems upfront. We’re always trying to see how we can take our ideas and solutions to the next level.
Sanjay: This is the beginning of an entirely new way of thinking about improving our clients’ experience. We want to look beyond traditional solutions to ensure our clients and their employees feel empowered by our products. ADP also has a general excitement to identify pain points to be resolved and processes we can enhance using machine learning.
Speaking of your customers, do you see any results from People Like You? Are more people signing up to contribute to their 401(k)s?
Hemlata: The results are way better than what we expected. Employee contributions and new enrollments have definitely increased. We also saw this product gain so much attention internally within ADP that several other teams contacted us to see how they could leverage similar solutions within their departments. It’s been fascinating to see the outcomes and the interest from all the other teams.
Sanjay: It’s funny because a bunch of my peers was like, “Oh, I don’t really need a 401(k). I’m too young for that.” Then, two or three months after we released People Like You, someone remarked during lunch, “Hey, did you know that I just signed up for my 401(k)?” Then others joined in—four people also signed up. It’s just a wonderful experience when you hear people say your solution impacts their lives.
After we launched, Don Weinstein pinged me on Webex Teams and said what a great job I’d done and that he was looking forward to what I’d build next. It was a total fanboy moment for me.
Hemlata: This goes to show you what I was saying earlier. At ADP, people don’t have to be a leader by title. If there is an idea, and you can think big and innovate, that’s all you need. Once you have that, you can take it to any level, and people will be so open to talk to you, encourage you, and help support any of these thoughts. It’s really amazing to see that!
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Tech & Innovation Blog
CI/CD at ADP: Going Global with GitOps
Engineering, Innovation, What We Do
Leo Meirelles first worked at ADP for more than six years as a lead technical analyst and senior software programmer. Then he left for stints at Google and The New York Times, where he had the opportunity to learn new environments, improve his knowledge, and refresh his tech stack—all benefits he brought with him when he returned to ADP in 2016. Below, Leo discusses the continuous integration and development (CI/CD) process he implemented with his team and the company-wide plans for adopting it.
As we globalize and streamline GitOps, we are laying the foundation for our future.
CI/CD at ADP: Going Global with GitOps
By Leo Meirelles, Principal Software Engineer and Principal Architect
As a principal software engineer and principal architect at ADP, I work on multiple projects and provide support as needed. Since ADP has a lot of products, one of our biggest challenges is streamlining our processes. Our engineers work on payroll systems, retirement services, and pension services, to name some, for both small and large companies—and that’s just in the United States. Each country we support has different portfolio options for companies that integrate ADP products. Since we continue to evolve our technology, we’re never short on opportunities.
I worked at ADP for close to seven years the first time. When I returned in 2016, I got involved with a great project to aggregate multi-country payroll; we integrated with in-country providers, with internationalization (i18n) and accessibility (a11y) support. I’d spent a few years at The New York Times and then eighteen months at Google, and I was excited to bring that skillset back to ADP. At ADP, I’d always liked the people I worked alongside, and with ADP’s pivot to a technology-first company, I knew I could have a real impact here. In particular, I had the opportunity to implement continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD), first with one group, then two, and now we’re looking at global implementation throughout the company.
CI/CD combines continuous integration and delivery practices, relying on automation to guarantee that code changes are efficient and that application deployments are reliable. With the project I was initially working on, we had teams in multiple countries and multiple time zones, and when you have such a large amount of people spread out like that, you need to stay efficient.
Before this project, to deploy in a QA environment, we needed a UI Development Lead and a Backend Development Lead to approve a deployment release request since they were the most likely to be aware of any issues that could hinder QA work. They had to give the green light and say, “Hey, this code is good to go.” But when you have 30 developers, things get more complicated since you have to merge multiple pull requests. On top of that, we have eight microservices in the backend and three micro frontends—the login, the old application, and the new application, because we’re migrating a few things toward a new Angular version. This level of complexity underscores why ADP needed a global, automated solution that can work for everyone—and why we started the CI/CD implementation via our GitOps project.
GitOps is an evolution of infrastructure as code, where you build the whole environment from a configuration/definition file, and it stays together with the application source code. Later, it can be run by machines and build new environments without human intervention. The idea of GitOps is to use tools that you already use every day, which makes things easier since you don’t have to add new tools to your stack or change how you get work done. Instead of emailing, messaging, or calling someone to say, “Hey, can you deploy that version for me?” now you do that using Bitbucket and make a pull request, make a commit, and merge your code. After that, everything else happens automatically behind the scenes, and you can skip trying to find people for approvals. Because both the infrastructure and your code go into Bitbucket—in fact, the whole process for a new release—we’re able to have a new deployment in 10 minutes for the local environment using GitOps once the code review is finished, approved, and merged. From that point onward, QA owns the release management for their environment; they control what goes into the environment without involving DevOps and managers, giving more autonomy for the team to manage releases.
We knew that having GitOps would make life easier for DevOps and allow them to focus on other things, like maintaining production and improving monitoring and availability. Also, engineers deserved to oversee their code. But we had to figure out the best way to introduce the new process. So, we started slowly to minimize disruptions with the current software development process and give people time to adjust to a new way of doing things.
We had to get developers over the fear of breaking something. Everybody wanted to be either first or last. If they were first, they wouldn’t have to merge their code, and if they were last, they could make sure everything was working before adding theirs. Until we got into a rhythm, it was a stressful time. But once the teams started adopting the new process, things changed dramatically in a positive way. Instead of making considerable changes in the last few days of a sprint, we slowly transitioned to making several small changes every day. And if something didn’t work, it was a straightforward process to revert changes. Since everything is on Bitbucket, we can see the previous versions, making the long-term management much easier.
I talk to team members often, and we’re in a sweet spot right now. What really helped adoption was implementing a process when everyone was ready and open to trying a new process. I prefer to lead by example rather than trying to force people to do something. But as time passed, we built trust when it became obvious the new system worked. Now people have the flexibility to start working in whatever time zone they’re in and look at our online chats to see what’s changed since they last looked. We even have a bot that judges the quality of a pull request. We have twenty to thirty deployments in our development environment every day, and no one even notices. And if we need to make a production fix, we can do it in 20 minutes using GitOps and our other automation tools.
I’m looking forward to the full adoption of GitOps globally. We have a lot of products on a lot of platforms, so that will take time. But there are a lot of exciting things happening right now at ADP. We’re an evolving tech company and developing a cohesive development engineering team. Since I’ve been back, I’ve seen the environment grow stronger. We communicate and share between teams, do a lot of cross-team collaboration, and help drive innovation and ideas through events like global hackathons. As we globalize and streamline GitOps, we are laying the foundation for our future.
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