John Land Of Vantage Circle On How To Create More Inclusive Workplaces

Published Link: Medium

Creating inclusive workplaces is crucial for any organization that wants to get the most out of its talent. This means creating an environment where everyone feels like they belong, has equal opportunities, is empowered to do their best work, and feels comfortable making requests and contributing ideas. In this series, we asked prominent HR and business leaders about the steps they take to create more inclusive workplaces. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing John Land.

John Land is the Chief Advocacy Officer at Vantage Circle, a leading employee engagement and recognition platform. With a wealth of experience in HR strategy, digital transformation, and workforce management, John is dedicated to championing employee engagement, advancing industry thought leadership, and guiding organizations in designing modern recognition programs that drive business success.

Before joining Vantage Circle, John was a Partner at Mercer, where he specialized in HR transformation, employee recognition, and workforce strategy. He worked globally with clients to advance HR digitization, optimize talent strategies, and enhance operational effectiveness.

Prior to Mercer, John held leadership roles in HR management and cross-functional, global project management. His last corporate position was as the Chief HR Officer of a midsize, publicly traded company, where he played a pivotal role in driving strategic HR initiatives. He began his career as an officer in the United States Navy, instilling in him a strong foundation of leadership, discipline, and strategic thinking.

Throughout his career, John has successfully led large-scale global and localized projects, including M&A due diligence and transaction management, HR transformation and outsourcing, talent strategy, and HR technology assessment, selection, and implementation. As both a servant leader to HR teams and a strategic advisor to the C-suite, he has contributed significantly to shaping modern HR practices across industries.

John’s industry expertise spans retail, manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, transportation, professional services, life sciences, technology, higher education, and entertainment. His diverse experience enables him to provide insights and solutions tailored to the unique needs of various sectors.

John holds a Master of Science degree in Organizational Leadership from Norwich University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy.

As an advocate for employee engagement and recognition, John is passionate about leveraging technology to enhance workplace culture, boost employee morale, and drive business performance. He actively contributes to thought leadership through industry events, panel discussions, and publications, sharing best practices on HR transformation and the future of work.

With his extensive experience, strategic vision, and commitment to building employee-centric workplaces, John Land continues to shape the landscape of HR and employee engagement on a global scale.

Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Before we drive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

HiRachel, thanks for taking out your time and scheduling this interview. Well, I began my career as an officer in the United States Navy. The experience and starting point, might seem unusual for someone in HR and employee engagement. But I believe it was somewhat fruitful for me as I got to understand how to lead diverse teams through challenging situations that translates well to the corporate world.

After my military service, I transitioned to HR leadership roles where I discovered my passion for human capital management. I worked my way through increasingly responsible positions, eventually serving as Chief HR Officer for a publicly traded company. In that role, I saw firsthand how strategic employee engagement directly impacts organizational success.

My career took another significant turn when I joined as a Partner in Mercer, where I had the opportunity to work with global clients on HR transformation, employee recognition programs, and workforce strategy. This consulting experience broadened my perspective tremendously, allowing me to see patterns and solutions across industries from retail and manufacturing to healthcare and financial services.

Today, as Chief Advocacy Officer at Vantage Circle, I’m fortunate to combine my operational leadership experience with my consulting background to help organizations design recognition programs that truly drive business success. Throughout this journey, what’s remained constant is my belief that when people feel valued and engaged at work, extraordinary things happen — for individuals, teams, and organizations. That’s the principle that continues to drive my work every day.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Back in my previous organization, I had a moment that I now look back on with equal parts amusement and embarrassment. We had received an all-company email about some policy changes that was jointly authored by our CHRO and CFO. I critiqued an all-company email in front of the authors in an unfiltered manner. Although it was a funny, not funny moment, it did leave a lasting impression on me. This experience taught me an invaluable lesson about speaking my truth BUT doing it in a kind and compassionate way. I learned that while having critical feedback and fresh perspectives is valuable, how and where you deliver that feedback matters tremendously. There’s a vast difference between constructive input offered respectfully through appropriate channels and casual criticism that can undermine colleagues’ work.

What made this experience particularly valuable was how it shaped my approach to communication at Vantage Circle. In our work, helping organizations build recognition-rich cultures, I emphasize that feedback, both positive and constructive, needs to be delivered with intention and care. The medium, timing, and tone matter just as much as the message itself.

This lesson has served me well throughout my career, especially as I’ve taken on leadership roles where my words carry increasing weight. Sometimes our most uncomfortable moments truly become our greatest teachers if we’re humble enough to learn from them.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

Joel Ospa at Goldman Sachs told me, “John, don’t try and plan out your career. Do your best and take the opportunities that arise from doing so.”

I’m particularly grateful for Joel Ospa, a mentor I had during my time at Goldman Sachs. Joel shared some advice that fundamentally changed my approach to career development. The words he said was transformative for me, especially coming from someone as accomplished as Joel. Early in my career, I meticulously mapped out my future plans, specifying the roles and accomplishments I wanted to achieve by certain dates. While having goals is important, I was so fixated on this predetermined path that I was missing opportunities that didn’t fit neatly into my plan. Following Joel’s advice, I began focusing more on excellence in my current role rather than constantly looking ahead to the next step. Ironically, this approach accelerated my career far more effectively than my careful planning had.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“80% done is 100% awesome” — Dan Martell

This quote resonates deeply with me because it reflects a significant shift in how I approach work and life. There was a time when I thought everything had to be perfect before I could call it good enough. I either put in every ounce of effort, striving for perfection, or I gave up before even starting because I feared failure. Over time, I’ve realized that perfection is a mirage, and striving for it often prevents progress. Good enough is truly enough, and sometimes, making strides — however imperfect — is a victory in itself.

The “80% done is 100% awesome” philosophy highlights a powerful insight, especially in an organizational setting. This mindset serves dual purposes — both in how we approach project completion and how we nurture talent.

At Vantage Circle, we believe that striving for perfection often stifles both innovation and employee motivation. By recognizing incremental progress in real-time, we not only acknowledge effort but also build the confidence needed to drive projects to completion, fostering a cohesive management approach.

When managers recognize meaningful progress rather than waiting for flawless execution, they:

• Reinforce positive behaviors immediately when they matter most
• Build momentum that carries projects through difficult phases
• Create psychological safety for appropriate risk-taking
• Transform the workplace culture from perfection-focused to progress-oriented

This approach mirrors how successful product development works, iterative improvement based on real feedback beats waiting for theoretical perfection. By applying this same principle to how we recognize employees, we align human motivation with business outcomes.

Thinking back on your own career, what would you tell your younger self?

I would tell my younger self, “Don’t compare your insides to others’ outsides.” It’s so easy to get caught up in comparing yourself to others, especially when you’re only seeing the polished versions of their lives. But the truth is, everyone has their own struggles, and you can’t truly know what’s going on beneath the surface. Focus on your own journey and trust that it’s enough.

Also, if I could go back, I would tell myself to prioritize life in this order:

1. Spirituality — Find peace within yourself first. Everything else falls into place when your inner world is in harmony.
2. Health — You only get one body, so take care of it from the start. Without your health, nothing else matters.
3. Hobbies — Pursue what lights you up. It keeps you balanced and gives you a sense of fulfilment beyond work.
4. Friends — Surround yourself with people who uplift you. They’ll be there for the highs and the lows.
5. Love — Cherish meaningful relationships. Love is a grounding force in life.
6. Finances — Build a secure foundation but remember it’s not the only thing that defines you.
7. Mission/Career — Your work should feel aligned with your values and passions, but it should never be your entire identity.

It’s all about balance. When you keep the bigger picture in mind and focus on what truly matters, everything else follows in time.

Let’s now move to the central part of our interview. What systems do you have to ensure your workplace is as inclusive as possible?

Creating truly inclusive workplaces has been a passion throughout my career, and at Vantage Circle, inclusion isn’t merely a checkbox or initiative, it’s woven into the fabric of everything we do. Deloitte survey reveals 80% respondents chose inclusion as an effective factor while choosing an employer. Creating an inclusive workplace culture is very different from simply creating a diverse company culture.

At Vantage Circle, we have implemented several interconnected systems that ensure inclusivity remains central to our operations and culture. A cornerstone of our approach is the AIRe tool we’ve developed to measure the effectiveness of our rewards and recognition programs. By delivering valuable insights, this tool helps managers make informed decisions that enhance employee satisfaction, retention, and overall performance. To break down employee appreciation components into distinct dimensions, our AIRe framework stands for A (Appreciation), I (Incentivization), R (Reinforcement), and e (Emotional Connect). It offers a benchmark for companies to understand why their workers might feel underappreciated despite receiving regular praise.

The framework transforms recognition into a powerful tool for inclusivity by systematically addressing equity gaps across four dimensions: Appreciation identifies whether recognition is distributed fairly across all demographic groups; Incentivization ensures rewards are meaningful across diverse populations with different motivational drivers; Reinforcement measures consistency in recognition practices regardless of department or manager; and emotional connect gauges whether recognition creates genuine feelings of belonging among all employee groups. By measuring and optimizing these components, we turn recognition from a potentially biased activity into a structured practice that ensures everyone’s contributions are seen and valued equitably, creating a foundation where inclusion naturally flourishes rather than being imposed as a separate initiative.

We’ve also prioritized global accessibility in our platform. Our recognition systems operate in over 100 countries with support in 16+ languages, ensuring that employees worldwide can engage equally with recognition programs. This matters tremendously. I’ve seen firsthand how language barriers can silently exclude team members from full participation in company culture.

One often overlooked aspect of inclusion is corporate holistic wellness program design. Through Vantage Fit, we’ve created wellness initiatives that adapt to different cultural contexts, financial circumstances, and physical health needs. True inclusion means recognizing that wellbeing looks different across cultures and individual situations.

Another transformative approach we’ve implemented is what I call “flipping the R’s”. Through this approach, we prioritize recognition before rewards in our employee engagement strategy. This paradigm shift has had a profound impact on creating a more inclusive workplace culture. In a recognition first culture, a manager can instantly recognize their team members who go above and beyond, without having to wait for a formal ceremony or event.

We’ve found that when recognition precedes rewards, it naturally becomes more inclusive because it expands what we value.

Beyond platform features, we’ve implemented comprehensive manager training programs. Having served as a CHRO earlier in my career, I know that managers are the linchpins of inclusion efforts. We equip them with tools to recognize unconscious bias, facilitate inclusive meetings, and ensure equitable development opportunities for all team members.

Moreover, we also have Vantage Phygital Recognition Cards, that combines the tangibility of physical cards with the digital capabilities of technology to acknowledge employee contributions. These cards are designed to provide a personalized and inclusive recognition experience, especially for those employees who do not have direct access or limited access to digital R&R platforms. The cards allow for both physical presentation and digital interaction of employees, thus creating a more engaging and meaningful recognition process.

What I’ve learned from decades in HR is that diversity brings better teams and greater innovation, but inclusion is what connects people to the organization and makes them want to stay. That’s why we’ve built systems that don’t just attract diverse talent but ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute, grow, and feel valued regardless of their background, identity, or location.

Based on your experience and success, what are your top five tips for creating more inclusive workplaces? Please share a story or an example for each.

Creating an inclusive workplace goes beyond just hiring a diverse workforce. It involves creating an environment where all employees feel valued, respected, and empowered to bring their authentic selves to work. Based on my experience, here are five key tips that can help organizations cultivate a truly inclusive culture, along with real-world examples to illustrate each point:

1 . Creating Psychological Safety: Psychological safety is crucial for creating an inclusive workplace. It’s the belief that you won’t be penalized or humiliated for speaking up, sharing ideas, asking questions, or making mistakes. In teams where psychological safety is valued, members feel empowered to take risks and voice their concerns without fear of judgment. However, for individuals from marginalized social identity groups, creating psychological safety can be more challenging. For instance, a recent survey by Catalyst revealed that nearly half of female business leaders struggle to speak up during virtual meetings, with one in five feeling overlooked or ignored during video calls. Members of historically underrepresented groups may experience this even more acutely. When employees feel psychologically safe, they are more likely to engage in behaviors that drive innovation, such as offering feedback, sharing concerns, and respectfully challenging ideas, leading to a more dynamic, inclusive workplace.

2 . Recognizing Employees as Whole Individuals: Every employee is first and foremost an individual with unique family responsibilities, personal goals, and aspirations outside of work. To create an inclusive workplace, organizations must embrace employees as whole people. This involves creating a supportive, inclusive environment that prioritizes their well-being, values their contributions, and enables professional growth. An example of this could be implementing flexible work hours or offering remote work options to accommodate personal needs. Additionally, creating opportunities for employees to pursue learning and development helps them grow both personally and professionally, promoting a sense of belonging and appreciation within the organization.

3 . Celebrating the Small Wins: Recognizing and appreciating small wins, not just the final results, is essential to creating an inclusive culture. Often, organizations wait until a project is completed or a target is met before offering recognition. However, celebrating the progress along the way can have a tremendous impact on employee morale. For instance, if an employee has worked tirelessly on a challenging project or contributed significantly to a team goal, acknowledging their efforts — even before the final outcome — is incredibly motivating. This approach encourages continued growth and fosters a positive, supportive work environment where employees feel valued for their ongoing contributions.

4 . Leverage Technology to Make the Workplace More Inclusive: In today’s digital world, technology plays a crucial role in driving inclusivity in the workplace. From virtual collaboration tools to AI-driven platforms for accessibility, technology can help break down barriers and create a more inclusive environment. For instance, platforms that allow for anonymous feedback can help employees voice concerns freely. By utilizing the right technology, organizations can create more accessible, equitable, and inclusive environments that support all employees.

5 . Ensuring a Culture of Appreciation at All Levels of the Organization: Appreciation should not be a top-down exercise — it should be embedded across all levels of the organization. Recognition and appreciation can flow in any direction — peer-to-peer, manager-to-peer, peer-to-manager, or even manager-to-manager. For example, inclusion of monetary and non-monetary ways of recognition in an R&R platform.

Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen businesses make while trying to become more inclusive? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?

Common Mistakes Businesses Make in Trying to Become More Inclusive:

1. Surface-Level Diversity Without Inclusion
   Many organizations focus on hiring diverse candidates but fail to create an environment where everyone feels truly valued and included. This often leads to high turnover rates and reinforces the idea that diversity efforts are just for show. Inclusion should not be a standalone initiative — it must be integrated into the core business strategy. From recruitment to daily operations, inclusion must be embedded at every level of the organization to create a culture that truly reflects diversity.
2. One-Size-Fits-AllApproach
   Generic inclusion programs that don’t address the specific needs of different marginalized groups often miss the mark. Effective inclusion requires tailored solutions that acknowledge the unique barriers faced by these communities. A blanket approach is rarely effective. To improve, hold leadership accountable by linking diversity and inclusion outcomes to performance evaluations. This ensures that the commitment to inclusivity is not just a top-down directive but a measurable leadership goal.
3. Failure to Address Systemic Issues
   Many organizations implement diversity training or hire diverse employees without addressing the systemic barriers and biases embedded in their policies, procedures, and culture. Without addressing these root causes, organizations hinder true progress. Use data to track your progress, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions. Feedback from employees, especially those from underrepresented groups, can provide valuable insights into what is working and what needs adjustment.
4. Placing the Burden on Marginalized Employees
   It’s common for organizations to expect employees from underrepresented groups to lead diversity initiatives, educate colleagues, or serve on committees without proper compensation or recognition. This places an unfair burden on them and can lead to emotional labor and burnout. To avoid this, focus on building psychological safety. Employees need to feel they can bring their authentic selves to work without fear of judgment or discrimination. This type of environment builds creativity, collaboration, and openness.

How do you measure the effectiveness of your DEI efforts?

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) represents a set of strategies, policies, and missions adopted by a company to create and encourage an inclusive workplace that attracts a diverse pool of talent from various cultural backgrounds. Apart from being a business advantage, companies with robust DEI practices are more creative and supportive of different voices, thus attracting top talent across industries.

The importance of DEI cannot be overstated. Diversity without inclusion will not amount to any significant change in company culture or employee experience. For instance, you might hire people from various ethnic backgrounds to create diverse teams, but unless you take into account their opinions, perspectives, and experiences while making decisions and policies, you’re not truly embracing inclusion.

At Vantage Circle, we’ve developed a multi-dimensional measurement framework to effectively track the impact of our DEI initiatives:

Pulse Surveys and Feedback Mechanisms — We regularly conduct anonymous surveys that help employees provide genuine feedback without fear of identification. These surveys assess belonging, psychological safety, and inclusion among different employee groups, allowing us to understand how various aspects of identity shape workplace experiences.

AIRe Tool for Recognition Programs — We utilize our AIRe tool to measure the effectiveness of our recognition and rewards programs. This helps us identify where programs might be lagging behind and what changes should be adopted to ensure they’re inclusive of all employees across the organization at all levels.

In order for businesses to grow, companies must now integrate DEI policies into their work culture. Compromising on DEI strategies can lead to employees not feeling free to participate in the decision-making process actively, and hence business performance will suffer.

Additionally, organizations must also include educating managers and team leads about different leadership styles that contribute to inclusion. With transformational leadership, leaders can inspire employees to re-evaluate their judgments toward coworkers. Similarly, a transactional leadership style can create an unbiased workplace by focusing on results regardless of employee diversity.

We must also replace the traditional “culture fit” approach with a “culture add” mindset in our hiring practices. While culture fit focuses on familiarity and encourages more of what is already working, culture add welcomes new voices and talents that positively impact company culture.

By implementing these measurement frameworks and strategies, we ensure our DEI efforts create meaningful impact rather than remaining performative. When diverse employees feel truly included, both they and the organization thrive together.

Are there other organizations you admire for their approach to DEI? Can you please explain why?

While I admire several organizations for their innovative DEI approaches, I find myself particularly impressed with companies that have moved beyond traditional diversity metrics to create truly inclusive experiences.

That said, I’m particularly proud of how we’ve approached DEI at Vantage Circle. The company strategy is built on the understanding that employee recognition isn’t just a nice-to-have but a fundamental human need that drives engagement, particularly across diverse workforces.

Vantage Circle’s HR suite puts people first in all design decisions. The SOLI framework ensures workers are adequately compensated by factoring in their cost of living — critical for global equity. Our platform’s Insights feature identifies underrecognized employees, which often reveals unconscious bias patterns managers might not otherwise notice.

What makes our approach distinctive is how we’ve integrated DEI into everyday workflows through our four interconnected products. Vantage Rewards builds connections and trust between employees and management, regardless of location or background. Vantage Fit adapts wellness initiatives to diverse health needs and cultural contexts. Vantage Perks democratizes access to benefits through inclusive design, while Vantage Pulse helps management conduct surveys that establish benchmarks for improving employee experience across demographic groups.

The pandemic revealed how critical these systems are for inclusive culture. When teams could no longer interact in person, our technology helped clients establish virtual recognition practices that maintained connection across distributed workforces. By embedding inclusion principles into everyday tools rather than treating DEI as a separate initiative, we’ve helped organizations create environments where everyone can thrive authentically.

What do you do to address Proximity Bias? How do you ensure remote workers are treated the same as onsite workers and have equal access to opportunities?

Proximity bias is the tendency to favor employees who are physically present in the workplace. This can create significant inequities in hybrid work environments. Organizations must address this challenge comprehensively, thus focusing on creating visibility for all contributions regardless of location.

It is important to ensure that every employee feels seen and valued, regardless of their work location. An organization’s R&R platform must have a built-in reminder system that can prompt managers to regularly acknowledge team members’ efforts. These timely nudges have proven invaluable in preventing “out of sight, out of mind” scenarios with remote employees. When people are appreciated for their efforts, they not only feel more connected to the organization but also experience a measurable boost in performance and engagement.

Another strategy can be re-evaluating employee performance through set objectives. Redesigning performance evaluation framework to focus strictly on outcomes rather than visibility can remove any unintentional biases. Objective performance metrics allows one to evaluate contributions consistently across all work arrangements. By establishing clear targets and KPIs for each role, one can ensure that assessments reflect actual impact rather than physical presence. These standardized evaluation systems provide transparency and accountability for both managers and employees and create equal opportunities for career growth regardless of work location.

It is also important to set up virtual check-ins to establish cadences for one-on-one conversations. These team meetings can also accommodate various time zones so that all employees have easy access. Organizations can also design virtual workshops and training sessions to leverage digital collaboration tools and create a level playing field for all attendees, regardless of location.

By combining these approaches — objective performance metrics, systematic recognition practices, inclusive and meeting protocols, one can create an environment where career opportunities are determined by contribution rather than location.

We are very blessed to have some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have a private lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this.

I absolutely love this question! I hope you don’t mind me taking a bit of liberty here, but I’m definitely going to co-opt it. If you had asked me before Thor: Love and Thunder, I would have said Chris Hemsworth — I had a massive admiration for him. These days, though, I would say Dan Martell. Why? His book Buy Back Your Time has truly been a game changer for me and my family. It’s provided invaluable insights into productivity and time management, reshaping how we approach work-life balance.

How can our readers further follow your work?

I regularly share insights on employee engagement, recognition strategies, and workplace culture through several media publications, and social media channels like YouTube, and LinkedIn. These can be in the form of thought leadership, Industry quotes and Interviews.

I’m particularly active on LinkedIn, where I post deeper dives into employee engagement research and practice. You can find and connect with me there by searching for John Land at Vantage Circle. I regularly share thought leadership content on building recognition-rich cultures and the evolving landscape of employee engagement.