In today’s evolving work environment, employee care and engagement are becoming central to creating workplaces where individuals feel valued. One key approach to this transformation is the concept of human care design, an evolution of the more familiar human-centered design. This approach goes beyond typical employee experience strategies by focusing on care at its core—ensuring that employees feel cared for in meaningful ways.
Mindy Honcoop, a chief people officer with extensive expertise in people strategy, sheds light on the differences between these two concepts and how businesses can successfully implement human care design to foster deeper connections and better outcomes in the workplace. Through her reflections, we can see how this strategy transforms both leadership approaches and employee engagement.
What is Human Care Design?
Human care design, as Mindy explains, builds on the foundation of human-centered design but adds a critical element—care. “Care is unique to each person,” she shares, emphasizing that it’s not enough for organizations to merely delight their employees. Instead, they need to go a step further and ask, how does an employee feel cared for at the right moment, in the right way? Human care design, therefore, requires leaders to intentionally consider how their actions and decisions are perceived by employees.
In human-centered design, businesses are encouraged to co-create solutions with their employees. This means engaging workers early in the process, gathering their input on everything from initial problem assessments to testing and prototyping potential solutions. Mindy advocates for the inclusion of care as a core aspect of this process, saying that companies should not only focus on how they’re addressing problems but also on whether employees feel supported during these times of change.
Human-Centered vs. Human Care Design
At its core, human-centered design focuses on understanding employees—who they are, their frustrations, and what delights them. Businesses use this information to create processes that support employees’ needs. Mindy notes that human-centered design can often feel transactional, limited to gathering data and making assumptions based on surface-level interactions.
Human care design, however, delves deeper. It takes into account how employees define care for themselves, which varies from person to person. By asking the right questions, companies can move beyond generic strategies and implement changes that genuinely resonate with their teams. For Mindy, the biggest missed opportunity in traditional employee engagement strategies is a lack of intention behind these questions. She stresses that without intentionality, organizations cannot get the honest, meaningful feedback necessary to design experiences that make employees feel truly valued.
Why is Human Care Design Important?
Gallup’s annual reports on employee engagement show stagnating numbers year after year, despite increased attention on company culture and employee experience. Mindy emphasizes that the reason engagement remains low is because employees still feel disconnected. In many cases, they don’t understand their role or how it fits into the broader organizational mission. “It’s no wonder that engagement levels haven’t improved when employees don’t even know what is expected of them every day,” she states.
This disconnection directly impacts engagement, productivity, and the overall employee experience. When employees aren’t clear on their role or don’t feel like their work has purpose, they’re less likely to be motivated or committed to their job. Mindy believes that human care design addresses this issue by creating a deeper level of connection between employees and the organization. It prioritizes role clarity and ensures that managers take the time to reflect on and process changes before communicating them to their teams. By fostering these thoughtful connections, organizations can significantly improve employee engagement.
The Human Care Design Ecosystem
Implementing human care design requires an intentional, system-wide approach. Mindy outlines several components necessary for creating a successful human care design ecosystem, beginning with the foundational step of human-centered design. If companies aren’t already engaging employees in solution-making processes, this is where they must start.
Once a human-centered framework is in place, the next steps involve refining communication strategies, ensuring alignment with business goals, and fostering co-created strategies among key stakeholders. These elements are crucial to creating a cohesive environment where care is prioritized. “Everything needs to tie back to that business strategy,” Mindy explains, underscoring that human care initiatives must align with the organization’s overarching goals.
Another critical component is ensuring that businesses understand the employee journey—how individuals experience their role from onboarding to potential career transitions. Mindy stresses that understanding this journey allows businesses to provide the right care at every stage, from offering clarity during times of change to ensuring proper support during challenging periods.
Feedback channels play a crucial role in this ecosystem. As Mindy points out, organizations need mechanisms to consistently check in with employees and measure whether they feel cared for. This feedback should be gathered regularly and used to refine the organization’s approach to care, creating an ongoing cycle of improvement.
Mentoring Leaders in Human Care Design
Mindy’s passion for human care design extends beyond her work in organizations. She also mentors first-time chief people officers, helping them navigate the complexities of implementing people-first strategies. One of the most common themes she encounters during these mentoring sessions is the challenge leaders face in gaining a strategic voice at the executive table. “They know there’s a lack of knowledge and experience they have, and they need someone that’s been there to mentor and advise them,” she says.
These leaders often feel boxed in by administrative tasks and struggle to elevate their role to one of true strategic influence. However, Mindy encourages them to push for a more significant impact by leveraging human care design principles. By focusing on care, they can build stronger relationships within their leadership teams and drive more meaningful change in their organizations.
The Role of Leadership in Human Care Design
Mindy’s insights emphasize the importance of leadership in successfully implementing human care design. “Care is needed for meaningful work,” she says, highlighting that care is the key ingredient in fostering trust and building strong relationships within an organization. Leaders who take the time to genuinely understand their employees and create an environment where they feel supported are more likely to see improved engagement and productivity.
It’s not just middle management that needs to be invested in care strategies. Mindy believes that human care design must be practiced at all levels of an organization, from the boardroom to the frontline. This ensures consistency and demonstrates that the organization truly values its employees at every level.
Human care design offers a transformative approach to employee engagement and leadership. By going beyond the surface-level strategies of human-centered design, organizations can create workplaces where employees feel cared for in meaningful ways. Mindy Honcoop’s insights show us that when businesses prioritize care, they foster stronger relationships, greater clarity, and improved outcomes. In today’s fast-paced, ever-changing world, it’s more important than ever to create spaces where employees feel valued, supported, and connected.
As businesses continue to navigate the challenges of engagement and retention, human care design presents a path forward—one where care is not just an afterthought, but the very foundation of success.
Listen to the episode: Gut + Science | 250: Understanding Human Care Design with Mindy Honcoop
Key Takeaways:
- Defining and implementing Human Care Design
- Differentiating between Human Centered and Human Care Design
- Addressing global employee engagement statistics
- The impact of mentorship on first-time chief people officers
- The components of a Human Care Design ecosystem
Things to listen for:
[00:05:37] Employees involved in prototyping, iterating, seeking feedback.
[00:10:20] Lack of role clarity leads to disconnection.
[00:13:31] Mentoring new HR leaders facing leadership challenges.
[00:14:57] Seeking guidance and mentorship for professional growth.
[00:19:15] Building employee connection, care, and leadership lacking.
[00:21:25] Practice human care at all organizational levels.
[00:27:05] Human-centered design, co-creating meaningful work and engagement.
[00:27:58] Building relationships is crucial for understanding others.
