Listen, Learn and Lead: The Employee Experience Equation

Tracy Allensworth, Director of Employee Experience, Waste Connections

Tracy Allensworth is the Employee Experience Director at Waste Connections, where she has been instrumental in shaping workplace culture and employee engagement strategies. With a career spanning education, human resources and organizational development, she brings a deep understanding of individual motivations, learning styles and workplace dynamics to her role. With experience in both public and private organizations, Allensworth has played a key role in identifying employee needs, addressing organizational challenges and driving cultural transformation. Her expertise in leadership development and organizational strategy ensures that employees feel valued, engaged and empowered to succeed.

AT A GLANCE

• Listening Drives Action – A 95 percent participation rate in the engagement survey shows that employees trust that their voices matter, leading to targeted improvements across the organization.

• Decentralized Yet United – Local leaders are empowered to make decisions tailored to their environment while aligning with our Servant Leader culture. This balance ensures empowered teams across all sites.

• Hands-On Leadership – They mentor, develop and provide resources to ensure employees’ growth and success. This approach drives internal promotions and strengthens company culture.

• Investing in Employee Experience – Whether through employee-focused technology, recognition programs, or learning initiatives, we’re seeing a tangible ROI in engagement, retention and performance.

• Aligning Employee Experience with Business Goals – By integrating employee needs with our business strategy, we have enhanced engagement, boosted productivity and set the stage for long-term success.

Recognizing Allensworth’s leadership in employee experience, this interview explores her vision at Waste Connection—prioritizing a tech-enabled, people-first culture and business success.

Empowered Voices, Stronger Teams: Building an Engaged Workplace

Listening to employees is the foundation of a thriving workplace. When employees know their voices matter, engagement rises, performance strengthens and culture transforms. At Waste Connections, we’ve taken this belief a step further by making intentional investments in technology that not only gather feedback but turn it into real action.

Our employee listening tool has been a game-changer, providing real-time analytics on employee sentiment and allowing us to make targeted, meaningful improvements. With an incredible 95 percent participation rate, our employees have made it clear—they trust that their feedback leads to change. That trust fuels our leaders, empowering them to take action where it matters most.

But listening alone isn’t enough. We knew we had to bring our culture to life in every aspect of the employee experience— starting from day one. That’s why we revamped our hiring technology, ensuring that the process reflects our relationshipdriven culture and sets the right expectations. These efforts have paid off, leading to a 40 percent reduction in voluntary turnover, boosting employee morale and even improving safety performance, reinforcing our standing as an employer of choice. In our servant leader culture, feedback is the engine for growth. When our engagement survey revealed that supervisors wanted more development opportunities, we didn’t just acknowledge it; we acted on it. By implementing targeted learning programs for frontline leaders, we’ve strengthened their ability to support teams, drive results and enhance workplace culture.

At the end of the day, I believe that listening without action is just noise. When employees feel heard, valued and supported, they bring their best and that’s when organizations truly thrive.

Decentralized, yet United: Strengthening Engagement Culture across Every Location

It’s about connecting. At Waste Connections, our decentralized structure is one of our greatest strengths. Each site has local leaders and teams who are deeply embedded in their communities, making decisions that work best for their specific environment. Yet, what ties us together across regions is our commitment to a Servant Leader culture—a framework that guides leadership development, fosters accountability and ensures that no matter where an employee is, they feel supported.

While every location has its own way of engaging, celebrating and setting goals, we provide consistent communication, leadership training and resources to maintain alignment. Our internal social networking app has also played a key role in fostering a sense of community and belonging, connecting employees across our decentralized sites. Now, we’re taking it a step further. We’re moving to a new platform that integrates productivity tools and personalized employee journeys, such as seamless onboarding and one-touch access to resources. This shift ensures that while each site operates independently, employees remain connected, engaged and aligned with our culture and mission.

Investing in Our Leaders: The Hands-On Approach Behind Our Thriving Culture

Leaders set the tone for the employee experience.

Our leaders are actively involved in training, mentoring and creating growth opportunities for our employees. They’re committed to making sure everyone has the resources and guidance they need for professional success and advancement. This hands-on approach has allowed us to largely promote from within, a testament to our investment in our people. We see the results every day, with visible improvements in engagement, retention and the overall strength of our company culture.

Advice to Peers: The Playbook for Employee Experience Success

A holistic, employee-centric approach is foundational. Start by actively seeking feedback and using data to understand what your employees truly want and need. The key isn’t just collecting insights—it’s continuously evaluating the effectiveness of the deployed strategies and prioritizing employee needs in real time.

Empower your leaders across the organization to cocreate the vision, strategy and culture alongside their teams. When leadership and employees work together, it fosters trust, commitment and shared accountability—creating a culture that isn’t just designed from the top down but built from the ground up.

Our role as an organization is to provide the resources, inspiration and rewards, while actively removing any unnecessary obstacles that might get in their way. Let them focus their energy on what matters most—their people. If you’re investing in employee experience—whether it’s through employee-focused technology, recognition programs, learning and development initiatives or workplace improvements—it will deliver a tangible ROI. By directly aligning employee experience with your business goals, you can enhance engagement, boost productivity, improve retention and set the stage for long-term success.

ROI