Data can surface what’s happening across your organization. Listening reveals why it matters, and where your values are being lived or lost in the flow of work.
Understanding that dynamic helped Margaret Keane move Synchrony from #75 to #2 on the Great Places to Work list while scaling the business past $100 billion in total assets. She’s now applying the same people-centered, data-driven approach in her role as CEO of Cisive, a global background screening company where trust and employee experience are core to the business.
In this episode of the People Fundamentals podcast, Margaret shares how she uses people data to assess cultural health and why building high-performing teams depends on closing the gap between what leaders say and what employees experience. “It’s great to have values ... but if you’re not living them as a company or as leaders, then it’s kind of meaningless.”
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Use people data to pinpoint gaps and opportunities
At Synchrony, Margaret used the Great Places to Work survey to understand how her employees rated the company on three critical questions that predict organizational performance. The open-ended comments revealed what the scores couldn't, like where employees felt stuck, what leaders were missing, and which teams needed support.
She zeroed in on how employees felt about their immediate manager, whether leadership followed through on commitments, and if daily work reflected company values. "You could really look at that by team leader, by location, by different organizations within your company, and you could really see where you have gaps."
Then, they built and executed action plans by team, by leader, and by location. The return was measurable: lower turnover, stronger customer service, and higher productivity.
Close the loop while it still matters
Listening well means acting on what you hear — not months later, but when it matters.
That belief guided Margaret’s team during the pandemic, when uncertainty was high and employees needed support in real time. They started by running pulse surveys to understand what people were struggling with most.
Employees asked for more communication and help balancing work with kids at home. Within weeks, leadership launched global town halls with a medical officer and created online camps where employees' children could join cooking classes, crafts, and story time across geographies.
Taking action quickly tightened connections across the company and made employees feel seen.
That single survey and action led to a tighter-knit culture and gave employees both a sense of relief and a feeling of being valued. "People got to meet families that they normally would have never met through the online camp," she says. "They just got to engage very differently."
Make decisions even when the data is incomplete
Leaders rarely have perfect information. What matters is creating a culture where teams can move with confidence even when the path is only partially visible.
“You may not have the full data, but … you have to have the rationale around what you’re trying to do,” she says. Instead of waiting for certainty, she expects people on her team to share their reasoning, invite debate, and build alignment before moving forward. That transparency gives people permission to take thoughtful risks and course-correct quickly.
At Synchrony, that meant trusting early signals from experts even when the models didn’t yet point in a clear direction. “Sometimes it doesn't appear that clearly. It's more the person’s experience plus a little bit of data,” she says. Acting on that combination helped the company tighten or loosen credit ahead of competitors and stay resilient through economic swings.
That principle translates beyond financial risk decisions. When leaders can explain the “why,” welcome different points of view, and move without having every variable nailed down, employees feel safer contributing their own imperfect perspective.
Margaret’s experience shows that the real power of people data comes from how leaders use it. When employees see that their feedback shapes decisions and that leaders are willing to move forward even without perfect information, trust grows. And in high-trust cultures, performance follows.
People in This Episode
Margaret Keane: LinkedIn
