In this episode of Redefining Work, I’m speaking with 10x Genomics Chief People Officer Becks Port. In this conversation, Becks and I discuss her career experience, her path from Ph.D in psychology to chief people officer and how she shapes strategy through the science of happiness. 

For more than a decade, Becks has helped global companies manage their people functions. Her passion for understanding people goes back to her university days, where she majored in psychology. Becks wanted to use her education to create influence in understanding workplace ‌human behavior, which led her to focus on occupational psychology. 

From there, Becks went on to get her master’s and Ph. D, where she researched the role of leaders in fostering innovation inside organizations. “At the time there was a lot of literature written around ‘Is innovation a trait?’ ‘Is it that geniuses are born or made?’” Becks says. “And I just couldn't help but think that everybody has good ideas, but putting those ideas into practice doesn't always work because of the environment that people are in.”

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Recalibrating the Idea of HR and People Management

Early in her career, Becks was at DDI’s U.K. office when she received the opportunity to help create DDI’s presence in India. 

Being in a new market, country and environment meant a huge learning curve for Becks, who came to realize her love for the commercial side of business. She liked running the business and building new things. From that experience, Becks knew that she wanted more out of her career. 

“I don’t want to be just the HR person. I want to be a leader of the business that just happens to specialize in people,” Becks says. 

Being in India also helped the U.K.-born Becks understand how different cultures operate and the importance of challenging her thought processes, especially when encountering very different viewpoints.

“It taught me to really question ‘why’ and go back to first principles. Even though things have always been done this way, and this is a convention in your organization or your business or your family, it doesn't always have to be,” Becks says.

Talent Density and Psychological Safety

Many large organizations experience what’s called talent density, which is the collective amount of talent within the workforce. Talent density brings many benefits but also can complicate the organization’s ability to maintain psychological safety. 

“In an environment where people are managed out quickly, the psychological safety can go down,” Becks says. At 10x Genomics, Becks and the team want to avoid this by looking at their employee value proposition and exploring the psychology of workplace happiness and belonging.

“What people actually need is a sense of belonging. And when people don't have psychological safety, it's really hard for them to have this sense of belonging,” Becks says.

Sometimes, people have to be let go. Becks wants to ensure that whatever decisions are made, that 10x Genomics maintains a “deep perception of fairness” in managing talent and helping average performers improve before more drastic action occurs. 

“It's certainly helping people understand that fairness and feeling that the process is fair,” Becks shares. “It’s deeply ingrained in our company culture to treat people with dignity and respect.”

An Environment That Fosters Happiness

Becks’ team at 10x Genomics has been researching the psychology of happiness at work. That research has informed a re-examination of their processes, data and what’s most important to them. “Happiness is the precursor to every measure of success that you can basically come up with,” Becks states. 

To be happy is to be understood and to belong, and one powerful way to build those traits is by challenging people to solve big problems together. “If somebody's unable to collaborate, they don't belong here. And so we should follow through on that: How do we pay against that?” Becks says.

10x Genomics is already seeing results from this mindset. “On our engagement surveys, 95% of our employees say that they work with other amazing colleagues, which is huge, especially compared to the benchmarks. And so really digging into that and thinking, OK, how do we train managers around that?” Becks says.

People in This Episode

• Becks Port: LinkedIn