As Vice President of Total Rewards for Securitas North America, Una Raghavan brings a wealth of experience in designing and implementing strategic HR programs that drive engagement, well-being, and performance. With an extensive background in benefits, compensation, and global HR strategy across industries, Una has developed a reputation for creating holistic rewards programs that support employee growth and organizational success. Her work at Securitas USA includes overseeing benefits, compensation and recognition initiatives that align with the company’s mission to attract and retain top talent.
Previously, Una held senior roles in Total Rewards and as a consulting actuary, giving her a diverse perspective on employee needs and effective leadership in complex environments. Her comprehensive understanding of Total Rewards and its role in broader HR strategy makes her a valuable thought leader, particularly in today’s evolving workplace where employee experience and retention are key priorities. Known for her strategic insights and collaborative approach, Una’s leadership helps shape a positive, inclusive work environment at Securitas North America.
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company
Una Raghavan: After 24 years as a consulting actuary with bigger consulting firms like PwC, Buck Consultants, and WTW, I was ready for a new challenge. Transitioning to the corporate world, I initially managed retirement plans before quickly moving up to lead Benefit Strategy and Implementation.
My journey then took me to a major global organization, where I was hired as VP of Total Rewards for North America during a transformative post-merger period. I successfully harmonized benefit plans, leave policies, and bonus plans across the region.
Now, as the VP of Total Rewards at Securitas North America, I am dedicated to crafting and executing a Total Rewards strategy that supports and enables business growth and development for our organization.
How has your approach to leadership evolved to meet the changing expectations of today’s workforce, especially regarding remote and hybrid work?
Una Raghavan: Initially during and post-pandemic, the corporate workplace leaned into to remote/hybrid work. Now we are seeing more and more mandates requiring employees to be in the office, more frequently and with less flexibility in terms of having the ability to choose work-from-home days. Traditionally employers looked at wellness as physical, mental, social, emotional, and financial wellbeing, but there is another ever-increasing component to this – work life balance. A shift is imminent as employees transition from prioritizing work-life balance to embracing a broader well-being trend.
Employers have a huge opportunity to build an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) that incorporates flexibility in their culture. Employers who embrace hybrid/remote work and who include flexibility as a pillar of their culture/EVP, have most success with attracting/retaining/motivating top talent.
In a recent global pulse survey done by WTW, 80% of employees cited increased employee engagement by promoting personal and work life balance, as one of the advantages of remote versus in-person work.
The foundation for remote/hybrid work, is built on trust. As HR leaders, in order to incorporate a sustainable hybrid workplace, we need to reshape our culture and leadership by setting and communicating our expectations with our employees. While there is no exact science to measuring employee engagement, as it looks different for different companies, different industries, and different people, as leaders simply communicating with employees about their work, their challenges, their career goals and concerns they may have in the workplace is so important. Engagement in a team is greatly improved by offering flexibility in the workplace rather than expecting employees to reluctantly comply with an outdated policy.
Of course, not all employees can work from home/work remotely. In organizations where there are very diverse work forces, for example, a mix of corporate employees and field operation employees, leaders should think carefully about what makes sense from a culture perspective. While we do not want to miss the opportunities that hybrid/remote work present, we need to be mindful that the overarching philosophy and culture of the company cannot be solely focused on corporate employees.
What specific strategies have you implemented to foster Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) within your organization?
Una Raghavan: Building a culture that incorporates DEI and a positive working environment is a hugely important investment in any company’s future. At Securitas, we’re proud to have been recognized by Newsweek as one of the Best Places to Work for Women and Diversity, reflecting our ongoing commitment to creating an inclusive workplace. While there are a multitude of actions that can be taken such as implementing inclusive hiring, ensuring pay equity across all employees, fostering an open communication environment, recognizing diverse cultures etc., the most important aspect is ensuring our leadership demonstrates their commitment to DEI values by modeling inclusive behaviors and actively listening to, and engaging with, employees with diverse perspectives across all levels of the organization.
How do you keep your team engaged and motivated in a workplace culture that increasingly values flexibility and work-life balance?
Una Raghavan: During the pandemic, our Total Rewards team was able to seamlessly transition to fully work from home until the restrictions were lifted. This is a testament to how resilient and capable our team is. Now that we have returned to a hybrid approach for our corporate employees, my team has made significant and deliberate steps to stay connected despite not being in the same location every day. To help keep teams engaged and motivated while working from home, we have prioritized frequent check-ins, team meetings and clear and concise communications. We recognize key achievements, we strategize together and set goals and in doing so, we are fostering a strong company culture. We are also continuing to provide opportunities for professional development, and occasional all-hands in-person team meetings to maintain connections.
What do you see as the biggest challenges in preparing for the future workforce, and how are you addressing them?
Una Raghavan: As we undergo our company transformation from a traditional guarding company to a tech-forward, security solutions company, we need to think about how our workforce can support that model. We should consider retention of our employees and planning around training and reskilling, ensuring we have the right employees with the right skill sets in the right roles as we evolve the company. Our employee benefits, plans and policies should be reviewed to ensure that they are supporting the company strategy and enabling the transition. As leaders, we need to be steadfast in our approach but nimble enough to be able to pivot as economic, labor markets and technological changes occur.
How has the shift toward digital and remote collaboration affected your company culture, and what adjustments have you made to maintain a strong, cohesive team?
Una Raghavan: I think that the shift has challenged us as leaders to rethink what our company culture means and it is pushing us to continually adapt to a changing workforce. We need to rise to this challenge and create solutions that work for our employees while also supporting and enabling the business to grow. Wherever we are on this evolution, there is always room for improvement, and we should keep progressing on this journey. Ultimately our teams are depending on us, as leaders, to help foster and maintain a culture that is conducive to the success of the team and our business.
