‘I Love My Job’: Exploring How I’m Encouraged to Use My Voice, Think Big, & Make My Team Happier

Welcome to I Love My Job, the series where we hear from women who really love their jobs. In this edition, we sat down with Kristina Henry, the Employee Experience and Onboarding Global Lead at Sprinklr, a company that aims to make customers happier through the use of their  leading enterprise software for all customer-facing functions.

And Henry herself is an expert in happiness. In fact, Henry tells us that culture and helping others are where her passion lies. So, when her company was experiencing turnover like most companies last year, “I took it to heart,” says Henry. “I was thinking, ‘what could we do?’” 

Luckily, at Sprinklr, “if you can see a problem or challenge in the organization, you have a voice and the opportunity to [come up with and implement a solution],” explains Henry. As such, the company supported her in creating an innovative program: Sprinklr Homecoming. 

“The concept of Homecoming is globally bringing together everyone from the organization once a quarter to celebrate, to engage, to inspire, and to connect around our company goals,” Henry tells us. And not only has this program been a success, it’s now positively impacting the lives of people around the company. “I'm proud to say it is a part of our legacy now,” exclaims Henry. 

In the video below, Henry shares more about why she loves working at Sprinklr. We also provide lightly edited highlights from the video discussion in the following article.

In case you have trouble watching this video, please click here to watch it on YouTube.

Can you tell us about your career journey at Sprinklr?

I'm from Brooklyn, New York by way of Flatbush and of Afro-Caribbean descent. I have been a Sprinklr for about seven years. I started out as an executive assistant, and I was supporting our revenue facing organization.

Then, around 2018, we were going through a shift in the business where our leadership was changing, and the team that I was supporting was exiting the company. I knew that I really, really wanted to stay at Sprinklr. So, I summoned two of our executive leadership team (ELT) members, and I said, “look, I really love what Sprinklr is doing. I love our values, and I would like the opportunity to stay.’ And both of them agreed to give me the opportunity wherever they could find it.

Turns out, Diane Adams, who is our culture and talent C-Suite executive, gave me the opportunity to work with my advocate, my champion, and my now-manager, Naomi Chavez Peters. I have the amazing opportunity to work on talent development, and I've been doing that ever since.

We started out with our Splash Program, which is our onboarding program. [Peters] started it, [before] giving me the amazing opportunity to run it, which I've been doing now globally for about five years.

How would you describe the culture at Sprinklr?

Our culture is inclusive, that’s number one, but it’s also the ultimate equalizer. Your title and who you are in the organization doesn’t matter. We all signed up to be a part of this culture, so we speak through the lens of our culture when we want to solve problems. If I have a problem or a challenge with you, I'm going to speak the language of our culture to get things done and to respectfully engage with you. I love that about our culture.

I love the people. We go through a rigorous inspection of the quality and character of the people that we hire at Sprinklr. Because of that, you know that you're going to be met with goodness and that you're going to work together to solve challenges… The culture really does help to equalize everything. I can tell you, from being an individual contributor, that I have gone and spoken to ELT members and gotten things changed in our organization because of my passion and because of the Sprinklr way, which is our equalizer and what we call our values.

What is your favorite thing about working at Sprinklr?

Aside from our culture, which is my ultimate favorite, my favorite is our growth mindset. I started out at Sprinklr as an executive assistant, and, honestly, I was happy playing behind the scenes. Most executive assistants do really well by being the quiet voice who talks to the different team members to get things done: the one that makes magic happen. That's what I think executive assistants do — shout out to you if you're an executive assistant!

But, what I realized was that I was leveraging a skill of connectedness [...], and I really believe in connecting things and putting things together to contribute to the overall success of an organization.

When I started working with the talent development team, I realized that I could use this skill to help us grow. While I was insecure, one of the foundational books that we read at Sprinklr is called The Growth Mindset by Carol Dweck. This really made me inspect myself to figure out where my areas of insecurity were. I held a mirror to myself, and once I was able to identify those areas of opportunity, I worked on my growth mindset. I pushed myself, I went to every meeting, and I asked a lot of questions. I am where I am today because of that growth mindset, which is key.

At Sprinklr, we are a learning environment. You can't come to Sprinklr and sit back; you're going to be learning all the time... We have learn-to-grow plans, which are your personal and professional goals that you put together…

The growth mindset is really big at Sprinklr. It's one of those things that keeps us engaged because we don't care just about what you're doing for the business, we really want you to enjoy your whole life personally and professionally. 

For example, I'm an opera singer. I use the learn-to-grow plan to challenge myself, to learn the languages, and to push myself. And my manager actually cares!

How does Sprinklr support you?

One benefit that's really unique to Sprinklr is our in-house Happier Coach. Part of our mission and values is to make our employees and customers happier. So we use that word, as a culture, internally all the time. We have a Happier Program, which is our own personal executive coach that leads trainings on wellness, breathing techniques, yoga, exercise, and diet. She has a 21-day program that you can elect to be a part of. We also have 15-minute daily breathing sessions if you choose to be a part of that. This infuses health and wellness into your day. I love that this is not telling me “you should take care of your health” — it's actually doing it! And I love that about Sprinklr…

For work-life balance, we are one of those companies that has unlimited time off. One of the things that happens sometimes with burnout is that you have unlimited time to take off and you don't necessarily plan it. So, as a part of our manager's training, we make sure that our managers are really invested… My manager will ask me, “what time are you taking off this quarter? I noticed you didn't take off much last quarter. I encourage you to take time off.” That is something that's really important for us, and it's something that we stand behind.

What advice do you have for other women looking to work at Sprinklr?

We love women, and we need more women working in tech and specifically at Sprinklr! The advice that I would give to any woman thinking about working at Sprinklr is to use your voice. 

I will never forget the day when I was in college, and I met the amazing Dr. Maya Angelo… She asked me, “what is your name?” I tell her “Kristina,” and she goes, “Kristina, what?” I said, “Kristina Henry.” Then, she told me that “whenever someone asks you your name, you give them your full name, and you remember your voice.” I carry that with me in any role, any job, and any environment that I happen to enter. 

We women are natural multipliers. We are nurturers, and we are innovators. We think big. We know how to make sense of nonsense. And, for women, to work at Sprinklr is a great opportunity. So, if you are thinking about it as a woman walking into Sprinklr, you are welcome here. There's much for you to do, and our business is growing in leaps and bounds…

This is an amazing place to work. Your voice matters, it's important, and we are listening. And not only is our leadership listening, they're pushing you forward because they want to see more women in leadership at the company. I’m very proud of the work that we're doing, and I'm excited to see you.

Fairygodboss is proud to work with Sprinklr. Find a job there today!

Check out other posts in the ‘I Love My Job’ series:

• ‘I Love My Job’: How I’m Empowered and Valued at One of America’s Best Midsize Employers

• ‘I Love My Job’: I’m Empowered to Build My ‘Own Career Path’ and Experience ‘Tremendous Growth'

• ‘I Love My Job’: From Giving 66% of Every Dollar to Charitable Causes to a Supportive Team

• ‘I Love My Job’: From a Chance Encounter to a Cybersecurity Manager at a People-Centric Company

• 'I Love My Job': Capital One Supports Everything From Work-Life Balance to Meaningful Career Growt