Matthew T Welden

Amazon's RTO mandate is more than just a policy shift—it's a calculated workforce reduction strategy. With 75% of its workforce already onsite and in customer-facing roles, this decision is aimed at flattening the organization and cutting middle management. It's a strategic way to reduce severance and unemployment costs under the guise of returning to "normal." A smart move financially, but one that raises questions about the long-term impact on employee engagement and retention. #employeeengagement #rto

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Thanks to Jennifer George who wrote this in such detail and by using such apt examples. Observing Leadership in Action: Boeing and Starbucks It's fascinating to see how Kelly Ortberg at Boeing and Brian Niccol at Starbucks are navigating their respective turnarounds. Both are leveraging their company's heritage and engaging directly with front-line teams, which is a powerful approach. Key Takeaways: 1. Heritage as a Guiding Light: Embracing the company's roots to drive future success. 2. Engagement with Front-Line Teams: Real insights come from those on the ground. 3. Clear Problem Statements: Identifying and naming the core issues is crucial. 4. Structured Change Frameworks: Simplifying complex changes into actionable steps. 5. Managing Expectations: Acknowledging that meaningful change takes time. As rightly brought out by Jennifer George, it's inspiring to see how clear communication and respect for the company's legacy can pave the way for successful transformations. #changecommunications #leadership #ceotransition

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"You're leading the SVP review." These words from my manager - just 2 months into my Amazon journey - sent my imposter syndrome into overdrive 🤔 My internal dialogue went wild: "But I just got here... I haven't even written my first doc... Surely there's someone more qualified?" Every day until then, I'd been waiting for someone to realize they'd made a mistake in hiring me. But my manager's decision to trust me with this high-stakes presentation did something unexpected - it shattered the glass ceiling I'd built in my own mind ✨ Key insight: Sometimes we need others to believe in us before we can believe in ourselves 💡 My manager didn't just assign me a task - she handed me a mirror that showed me my true capabilities. The review was successful - we got alignment and headcount for our team. But the bigger win? Finally understanding that I was the only one putting limits on my potential. Leaders: Share a moment when someone's trust in you helped break through your self-imposed limitations 👇

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Both my promotion to Director and then again to VP at Amazon came partly because my peers were promoted before me. When a peer of yours is promoted, it creates an obvious opportunity for you to go next. Seize it - here is how. As a Senior Manager, I was in a software development role and I was paired with a business leader to run the broader team. He was promoted, and this gave me an obvious reason to push my boss for consideration. We had worked on the same product, shipped the same releases, etc. My manager at the time was frustrated, he said "X went and promoted your peer", X being my peer's manager on the business side. He did not agree with the promotion. Despite this, he could see that I now had a legitimate reason to "expect" a promotion. If the standards are the same and the other guy met the standards, then I did too. Years later, history repeated itself. A parallel organization promoted four Directors to VP all at the same time. Internally they clearly saw the issue of “if you promote one, all the others will be upset”, so they just promoted everyone at once. I was in another organization, but I worked closely with all four of these newly promoted Vice Presidents. So, the same argument applied. They were now all VPs, and I had worked on the same products and projects with the same results. My peers’ promotion would not have led to mine if my circumstances were not similar or if my work was not good; a peer moving up does not ensure that you will too. That said, a peer being promoted kicks the door open for you, so run through it! Managers are aware that when someone who seems similar to you is promoted, you will ask about it. Good! Use it. First, use the promotion to drive a discussion with your manager Second, look objectively at what your peer has that you may not, but also at what you have that they do not. I am sure my original manager would not have thought of me for promotion if my peer had not been promoted, so his promotion literally enabled mine. Who has been promoted near you recently that you can study and use as a lever for your own progression? For much more on how to set up your next promotion, take my class: https://buff.ly/45x84xA

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interviewing for a job at Amazon? Successful candidates who thrive during their interview (and eventually during their career at Amazon) tend to share certain characteristics and behaviors. Here are a few of the things top candidates almost always do.

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Yesterday I celebrated my 15th anniversary at Amazon. No idea where the time has gone. Feels like a blink of an eye and a life time at the same time. I love my team, my amazing manager Amy Ruddell, and my job (mainly because of the smart people I work with). That hasn't always been the case, it’s been a ride with ups and down to get here, lost myself in the job at times, but grew more than I ever could imagined. Here’s what I’ve learned to thrive in a high-demanding company:   - Love what you do, or leave it. Life’s too short to do something you hate. - Say yes to opportunities. Do something that makes you uncomfortable. Whether you succeed or not, you’ll always expand your mind and skills. - Find as many role models and mentors as possible, there are many people to learn from. - Focus on what makes the biggest impact to your customer, not what/who makes the most noise. Push back on 'busy work'. Deadlines are most often artificial. Escalations are only truly urgent if lives are impacted. - All employees are human, nobody is above or below you, regardless of their level and position. Tread everyone with respect while staying true to your principles and instincts. - You are the owner of your work-life-harmony. Set healthy boundaries. Ask your leadership to help prioritizing, if needed. - You are the owner of your career path. Ask for what you want and need, nothing will be handed to you if you're not clear where to go and how to get there. - A bad manager can not only block your career path but also impact your mental and physical health. Choose a manager who fosters growth, independence, uniqueness and a healthy work climate. - Life is about connections. Care about people around you. Make time to ask them how they are, truly. Most importantly: Don’t lose yourself in your job. Stay holistically happy. Take care of your physical and mental health, have creative hobbies, foster your social connections. If you’re a happy human, you can be a much better employee, too.

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Transparent Post: Today’s my last day as a Senior HRBP at Amazon. I've been in office 5-days a week since July 2023, transitioning from 7 years remote work. My decision isn’t related to the recent RTO policy. Sixteen months ago, I made the leap from recruiting to HR, taking on new challenges. In that time I’ve led regional initiatives collaborating with HR leaders across the US, made significant impact to Amazon employee experience, and collaborated with senior leaders in global operations, gaining invaluable insights about myself and my career. Recently, I experienced burnout and a sense of unfulfillment, despite my growth at Amazon. The daily 2.5hr RT commute, long hours, and changing environment also took a toll, leaving me feeling disconnected as a wife and mother. Mornings were a whirlwind of anxiety—getting my daughter ready for school while catching up on her day, and ensuring I connected with my teenager before he left for school because I wasn’t sure if I’d be back home before bedtime. I was physically present but mentally disconnected, and knew I needed to prioritize my mental health and family more. Additionally, my work commitments limited time to take on clients in my coaching business—something that kept me fulfilled as I helped others. I also hadn’t been as active on LinkedIn, sharing tips and insights like before. If you noticed my absence, that’s why. So, what did I do about all of this? I took a four-week leave of absence to focus on my well-being and seek support from my doctor and my therapist. 💡Friendly Reminder/Tip: Use your benefits when you need support, that’s what they are there for. If you’re not sure where to start, reach out to HR💡 This time away from work to focus on my mental health helped me regain clarity about my true desires moving forward and daily steps I needed to take to create an environment I can thrive in. I started journaling daily, took daily walks in the morning, made dinner for my family again and incorporated after dinner family walks. I did what I loved and focused on me. That investment paid off and I’m excited to announce that I’ll be starting a new role on Monday in a senior HR risk and compliance role, leading equal employment programs at Amazon globally. My new manager is amazing, commute is no longer an issue, flexibility/understanding is present, and the team’s energy/enthusiasm is inspiring! I’m thankful that Amazon offers diverse opportunities for employees to transition into roles that align with their career goals and work/life balance needs. Reflecting on my journey, I am grateful for the challenges that have brought me to this moment and for the incredible people I’ve learned from over the past year at PGA1 and across all of Amazon Global Operations. Thank you!🙏🏽 To those at a crossroads in your career or life, if I can navigate this path, I believe you can too. Here’s to new beginnings! 💙 #coachkarie #mentalhealthmatters #prioritizeYOU #worklifebalance #familyfirst

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This goes out to the Nike folks (esp. the recently laid off) . Since I spent a VERY large chunk of my career trying to recruit and convince y'all to leave Nike and work for The North Face and Allbirds... I feel a particular affinity for the brilliant talent that exists in your ranks and know so many of you personally, come see me for a free mini session! Layoffs hit hard, I know there are a ton of people out there telling you to breathe, center, take a minute and that is wonderful advice, do that. When you are ready to take action, go out and hit the market hard, or explore what you want to do next, or maybe just scream into the void about how unfair it all is (and then get productive...), come chat with me, I offer some free mini 20 min Office Hours sessions to get you started! I have probably done over 250 mini sessions and folks who have been in these sessions can attest to how much we can get through in a short time! Please follow along, don't hesitate to pop into one of my free office hours (just released some more but they book up fast) https://lnkd.in/gukXe5iQ to chat, listen to some helpful podcasts on getting yourself ready for the job search and interviewing, utilize my network, I am happy to help with quick on the spot coaching or more extensive support. To be clear: this goes for anyone looking for support from any layoff, I just know a lot of the folks in the Nike rounds! Crafting your Narrative, feeling confident in how you tell your story can be a huge boost in your process! If you have a friend who needs help don't hesitate to share! LinkedIn Profile Review: Free 20 min Office Hours Slots: https://lnkd.in/gukXe5iQ Podcasts on Job Search Strategy: Part 1: https://lnkd.in/ggEuBNNA Part 2: https://lnkd.in/g5wkXep8 #nikelayoff #6453 #6453alumni #nikealumni #opentowork #laidoff #freecoaching #careerstrategy

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A couple of years back, the Great Resignation was the most notable trend in the labor market. With mass layoffs raging, this seems like a lifetime ago. Recently, Amazon's strict return-to-office (RTO) policy has reignited discussions about "backdoor layoffs"—strategies where companies indirectly reduce headcount by implementing policies that lead to voluntary resignations. While this approach might seem controversial, it might not be a bad idea for companies aiming to realign their workforce. By encouraging voluntary departures, organizations can: 1. Reduce Costs: Save on severance packages and minimize legal complexities associated with formal layoffs. 2. Enhance Cultural Alignment: Retain employees who are fully committed to the company's vision and adaptable to change. 3. Maintain Brand Image: Avoid the negative publicity that often accompanies mass layoffs. However, with Amazon's RTO policy, there's a risk of losing top talent, especially in competitive fields like AI, to companies offering more flexible work arrangements. This strategy underscores the delicate balance companies must strike between operational efficiency and employee satisfaction in today's evolving workplace. #Amazon #ReturnToOffice #WorkforceManagement #BusinessStrategy #FutureOfWork

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Monday reminder… — A problem well state is a problem half solved. Leaders, please spend less time spinning your team up on work and more time reducing ambiguity up front. This is your job. Effective leaders lay a strong foundation for finding effective solutions by both showing and teaching their teams how to *define* what it is they’re even solving for. The “so what” of it all. ✌🏻 #leadership

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People want to do a good job. People want to be seen and valued. People want to have impact. ——— As a leader, I think this is a good baseline assumption to have. It will dictate how you proceed when you see people struggling or blocked. It doesn’t mean you can’t correct or coach. It just means you assume they want to be successful and that you are responsible for helping them get there, whatever that looks like. Good leaders remove barriers. #leadership #manager #leader #coach #people #grow #lead #coaching #culture #leadershipdevelopment

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Bias can be subtle, or it can be dramatic. All female engineers have times when they were assumed to be non-technical based on their gender/appearance. I have some examples that live in my hall of fame. 1) At Amazon, there was a team in another org whose systems we were considering working with. I emailed their senior engineer and asked for a meeting to walk through their architecture, which he agreed to. The meeting started out strangely difficult, with him giving vague descriptions even when I asked direct technical questions. Finally, after about 20 minutes, he offered "I could talk to your lead dev about this if you want?" I had to respond emphatically that I was the lead dev. Apparently, he had been assuming I was a PM, despite my senior SDE job title being visible when I emailed him. 2) Also at Amazon, I was doing a system design interview for an SDM candidate. My introduction included "I'm a senior engineer, I've been at the company for 11 years" - I deliberately emphasized this upfront in all my interviews for this exact reason. I asked him to explain a system he'd worked on in the past in detail, and it was a rough interview, pressing him for details without success. Finally after about 40 minutes, I moved to "Do you have any questions for me?" His first question was: "What do you do? Are you a PM, do you have a team?" And most recently: 3) In a post on LinkedIn, where my headline reads "Engineer and entrepreneur," in which I referred to "my fellow Big Tech engineers" and talked about technical infrastructure, I received a comment that, among other things, asked me to clarify if I had technical co-founders or if I'd outsourced all the dev work for my project. (For the record, I was a solo founder. I invented CO2ign tech and built the initial proof of concept myself before hiring a small team.) I've told these stories and had people react with indignation, but it's important to realize these are not isolated cases - they are just outliers in the distribution. Everyone has some level of unconscious bias. Our brains are trained to do pattern-matching, and sometimes the pattern is the wrong one to match. That bias doesn't just impact clear-cut decisions like "do I hire a woman or a man." The more subtle cases have an impact too, and they make it more difficult for people to do their jobs. I spent a lot of the last few years pitching, and a meeting can go very differently depending on how much someone is willing to assume I am competent. When you have to spend 15 minutes of a 30-minute pitch convincing someone that you know what you're talking about, that doesn't leave a lot of time for meaningful conversation or communicating a broader vision. That's a real disadvantage. Of course, there are people who consciously think women are simply worse at things, too. But *everyone* has to work to be more aware, and to allow everyone to succeed, we need systems that work to counteract systemic biases.

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Even as a Director at Amazon with 12 years under my belt, ramping up in a new position was rough at times. Here's a quick quote from a story about my new general manager job. --- "So, let's talk about your organization. You should cancel 3 of your 4 major projects. They are useless. Only project Y is useful. Here's what you should do." And she confidently explains why one of my projects is useful, and I should move my entire organization onto that single project. There goes my confident happy feelings. Since I'm only marginally familiar with my project, the business, and where Amazon should fit into the industry, I'm mostly able to nod and say "interesting" and "ahh" at the right times. --- For the entire fun story, read on!

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Asking whether we should be polite when interacting with AI is like asking whether candidate experience still matters when the job market sucks. (hint: the answer is yes) If we have integrity, we are who we are whether anyone is watching or not. Wondering if we “still have to be polite”… implies we’d never be, if given the choice. Pay attention here, job seekers. Especially those in industries that have saturated talent markets (like key areas of HR). Pay attention to how companies treat you when they believe they don’t need you. How they treat you now will represent how they authentically operate. Do they treat you as though people are at the center of what they do - or do they see this as an opportunity to take a break from faking it? #benice #itseasyifyourenice

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Subculture, noun. "a cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of the larger culture." I've worked at gigs where I was waiting for leaders - my CEO, my boss, anyone more senior than me - to "make culture better." As if they were going to suddenly wake up one day and think they know exactly what's going to make all of us happy. And it took me YEARS to recognize that there was power within me all along. Within all of us. This is why I talk so much about what subcultures can teach us. The punk subculture wanted no part in the status quo - so they created their own movement. Organizational subcultures can make big ripples when that autonomous power is harnessed. We can set boundaries together, set expectations with one another, and build trust in a way that allows us to move more quickly, more clearly and more creatively together. This requires: ✳ bravery ✳ progressive leaders (this doesn't mean people with leadership titles!) ✳ someone who is willing to ask, "what do we want to do to make positive change?" ...and all of a sudden everyone outside of that subculture starts saying "DANG. What are THEY doing differently!?" Who do YOU know who wants change where you collaborate? How can you start that movement? Never forget that people have the power! What will you do with yours? #subculture #psychologicalsafety #movementmaker #organizationalchange

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This post is dedicated to my fellow recruiting community who are #OpenToWork in the Talent Acquisition function across Americas. Please share this with anyone who might benefit from it... 🤗 Inspired by the insightful posts of Steve Levy and Aaron Lintz, I wanted to provide a helpful resource for those in our community. You can check out their original posts here: Steve Levy's Post https://lnkd.in/eUhPZkCa Aaron Lintz's Post https://lnkd.in/e-kB5A5w I encourage you to duplicate the Notion page linked below and make a copy for yourself. If you haven't signed up for Notion yet, it's quick and easy to do so. The page includes job tracking templates to help you manage all your job applications in one dashboard, which is especially useful if you are a data-driven person. For those looking to automate their job search process, I can assist with tools like Zapier or Make while these tools have free versions, they do come with some limitations compared to the premium templates. Here’s your Notion jobs feed page: ATS Boolean Search Strings https://lnkd.in/ejP_k_g8 *Note - some search results returned ads and misrepresenting URL's, so be mindful with irrelevant results. I've tried to clean up as much as possible.

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We really do not prioritize the right things for layoffs. As someone who has had to help execute way too many, and been the lucky recipient twice of layoff news - it really is devastating and I've seen people carry the pain/loss of a layoff for YEARS afterwards. In addition to all of the fun financial stress - there are deep feelings of rejection, anger, loneliness and lack of confidence that comes with this. Additionally trauma exposure is such a big thing because people who are impacted have to go on LinkedIn to restart their next life but they've likely connected with everyone from their company - and they'll either see C-suites indicating how unfortunate it was - or fellow employees post how hard it is for them to be a survivor, or other employees who were impacted, putting them into that mindset I can't stress enough - when I help companies with their post-layoff and outplacement services, the focus has to be on mental, the emotional and the deep rooted impact something like this can cause. Some people can just shake it off and are ready to move on to the next, but to others - who wrapped their identity into their work, making sure they have these resources and this time/space/community is just as important as resume reviewing If you're part of a layoff, it's important for you to know you are never alone, your feelings are valid, and you will get past this

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3 Lessons in Leadership I Learned at Google --> 1) No One Is Successful in a Vacuum In my first month at Google I met with a colleague who looked me straight in the eyes and said, "We only hire the best in the world. If you are here, you deserve to be here. If you fail, it's because we didn't support you and give you the tools to be successful." Talk about taking your breath away. That kind of support, camaraderie, confidence--it's life changing. You can say all you want about top talent, but the truth is no one is successful in a vacuum. Hire the best people, surround them with the best people, and incentivize them to help each other and you will be absolutely blown away by the results. 2) Free Up Your Top Performers to Make Impact I once had a manager who sat me down during a performance review and said, "I want you focused on the most challenging problems that are the most exciting to you." She wanted me to deprioritize work that was boring to me and find ways to get it off my plate. 😱 At the time, for me, this was revolutionary. Most employers don't think about their employees this way, as if they were actually human and cared about the things they spend the bulk of their waking lives on. I had always been treated like a robot, a cog in a machine that was paid to do whatever work I was given, regardless of how I felt. The result? I doubled down on what was both interesting and impactful. She got more out of me. I got more accomplished AND more satisfaction out of what I was doing. Win-win. 3) The Power of Positive Feedback I used to think of feedback as a bad word. I dreaded getting it, avoided asking for for it, and downright loathed giving it (I did give it though…but that is a post for another day). Then I met a manager who gave positive feedback. 😮 It started in our interview when he said, "Can I give you some quick feedback on that answer? I was really impressed with the way you were thinking about...." After he hired me, it looked like reverting back only to me on emails he was copied on to tell me how well I had handled them. His style gave me the confidence to ask him regularly for feedback, and when I did he would often share what I was doing well. The result? I gained confidence. I stopped beating myself up and second guessing myself. And I did the best work for my entire career. What are some of your biggest leadership lessons? #google #leadership #feedback #impact #success

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