The Humans Behind WorkHuman - Laury D'Oliviera

Workhuman Radio

We’re doing something a little different this 2019. Each month, we’re highlighting a specific human from Globoforce and learning all about their stories. Today, we have Laury D'Oliveira, our Office Manager and all-around cultural energizer. She’s sharing what it’s like to be the support system of the company, and will robots be taking over our jobs soon?

Early life

Laury grew up in Central Massachusetts as the middle child of seven kids, from a family of very strong women. When she was younger, she wanted to be a lawyer because she felt there were injustices in the world that she could help fix. She was always taking care of everybody, and it’s carried through her entire life. In college, she took up Psychology at Fitchburg State University.

Family life

She met her first husband when she was younger and they had two boys. After they decided to move on from one another, she was a single mom for a while. Laury shares how the support she had from her mother in raising her kids meant never needing a babysitter outside the family.

Daniel, her eldest, was a marine. He’s presently a personal trainer and hopes to open a gym where he can help veterans. The youngest, Jordan, is a teacher’s assistant and works with boys from difficult backgrounds.

She met her second husband, Paul, through work, even though she wasn’t looking for a relationship at the time. He never shied away from taking on the responsibility of raising her two boys, and she now introduces him as their father.

How did you start working for Globoforce?

The engineering firm she was working for was closing, and she came across a listing for a payroll administrator. She threw in her résumé and got the call to interview about the position.

The interview began typically, but at one point it had transformed into a warm conversation. It was the best interview she’d ever done. Her interviewer even told someone, “Don’t bother interviewing anyone else. We have who we need.” Two days later, she was offered the job.

What does your role here look like?

Laury started as the payroll person, but as she became familiar with how the company functioned, what was needed where and who needed what, she was asked if she wanted to be the Office Manager. Naturally, he said yes. At its core, it’s a job that helps people do their jobs better, and that’s just who she is.

If someone at the office has something going on in their lives, they can come to her about it. She (and Globoforce) believe that if they can help people in their outside lives, what they do during their time working will be much more productive because they can give so much more of themselves. Helping them deal through life and navigate doctors’ appointments and after-school activities just makes sense.

What is your biggest accomplishment?

Her children. They love giving back and understand that service to others and supporting each other is important. They’re caring human beings who aren’t afraid to fight for what is right: they’re not going to see someone struggling and say, well, that’s not my problem. It is. It’s all of our problems.

What do you see work becoming like in the next couple of years, especially with AI and robots coming in?

Globoforce will always have humans. There’s something to be said about eye contact, interacting with one another, and actually caring about each other’s days. A connection with another human being will always make things better, and despite all the negativity in the world today, we can — and must — be the light.

ResourcesLaury D'Oliveira (LinkedIn)