In his early 20s, Jon Lowe thought an analyst job at a high-level accounting firm was the way to
Lowe went on to have successful
"The way people get through a month is not solely driven off a singular source; it's now a byproduct of multiple sources that are highly variable," Lowe says. "This is what it takes to make ends meet for a large percentage of Americans. Being able to provide a degree of transparency around the finances people have at their disposal so they can be thoughtful and efficient in the way they deploy them is really exciting."
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DailyPay provides employees with earned wage access, allowing them to see and use their wages in real time, as well as the ability to set up automatic deposits to their savings account. The company's dedication to providing financial wellness for customers is something Lowe shares with DailyPay's 750-person workforce, and one of the reasons his transition into the role of CPO has been so successful, he says.
"The quantity of passion [the employees] have for the organization's mission is palpable," says Lowe. "The way people think about their work, the way they engage and the value they believe it creates for our users is very different."
Lowe talked with EBN about one of the biggest leadership lessons he has learned, his philosophy on maintaining a highly-engaged team, and why power tools are a big part of his work-life balance.
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What is one of the toughest challenges you have faced when it comes to managing people?
One of the management challenges I've had within the last three or four years is the idea that people grow at the same velocity as businesses, so there will always be a good match between people skills and what it is that the business requires. Within organizations, there's an approach of retaining as much talent as possible all the time, full stop. In some organizations that may make sense, like institutional banks or post offices, but a lot of that is actually specific to the industry and specific to the growth rate within a certain industry.
I have learned it is actually OK for there to be a mismatch between the growth of the organization and the growth of people. Depending on where people are in their career, they will outgrow the organization, and organizations should be OK with that. I used to beat myself up wondering why I couldn't retain more 26-year-old MBAs, and the reason for it is they are growing at a rate that significantly outpaces the growth of the organization. I think that organizations do a disservice to people when they entice them to stay in a role that doesn't maximize their value during their high-growth years.
You also have the opposite scenario, where organizations grow faster than people. During the tech growth period, we had organizations that were flush with money and were expanding like crazy. That's another scenario where being able to retain people or being able to assess fit is OK, meaning that inevitably, this idea of permanency is actually a fallacy. It's OK to part ways with people, but under the right circumstances, and for the right reasons.
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What is your system for making sure your team members feel their value is equal to their role, and that they are a continuous good fit?
Organizations should look at the basket of goods that it can deliver to the individual. This is not only salary or stocks, but experiences, skill sets, leadership opportunities — applied, hands-on stuff — and then you have to have the employee evaluate whether or not that creates enough value for them. I'm completely OK if people look on the market to make sure that they're maximizing value for themselves.
I think about every year like a re-contracting period. The cost of admission is that you have the hard skills to be able to go out and do the job, and that is easily screened for with recruiting tools and AI. What's more difficult is ensuring there is a high match between the basket of value that the individual wants and the basket of value that I can reasonably create. If you have an employee who is getting enormous value out of their role, you almost don't need to worry about engagement because your interests are perfectly aligned. But again, what people need is transient, and it's based off of a broader journey. While there might be strong overlap for a period of a year or two years or three years, I assume that eventually the body of value I can offer that person is less than the body of value that a different suitor can offer them, and I'm OK with that.
This model allows me to have authentic conversations with people on my team saying, 'This is the value I can create for you; is that enough for you to be able to stick around for another year?' The availability of options for an individual does not stop at the walls of the business, and they may say no. I'm invested in making sure that they're successful not only when we're working together, but also for [their next role].
How do you disconnect when you're outside of work?
I like to balance the largely cognitive work that I do at work with things that are very tactile, so I like building stuff with power tools. During COVID I bought a shack in the middle of nowhere. It was a complete pile of garbage, and I've been watching HGTV Monday through Friday and then I try to go and execute some of that stuff on the weekend. For everything I fix, two more things break, but in the spirit of being grateful I still have all my fingers. It's a total pipe dream and it's probably a safety hazard, but it's my safety hazard.
