I always leave an interview with Dan Houston, Principal’s president, CEO and chairman, feeling a bit smarter than when I walked in, and that’s true even when it’s someone else conducting the interview. In this case, Houston shared some insights in a Fortune on Demand video that was posted on Aug. 20. Overall, a message I took away is that maintaining strong human capital by enabling consistent communication and listening to employees is just as important as having strong financial capital to weather a crisis like the current pandemic. The whole interview — a concise seven minutes — is well worth a listen, but here are a few nuggets. 

What concerns you most [about the economy]? 

Houston: What concerns me most is there has been a massive disconnect between what’s happening in the economy and what’s happening in the equity markets. I don’t think anyone should get head-faked in understanding that we’ve got a long road ahead of us. We’ve got 30 million people we’ve got to get back to work. We’ve got to make sure our products and services are relevant and that [customers] have access to good quality financial planning. … We have a lot of businesses around the world that need to get back up on two feet, and that’s certainly going to be a priority of ours. 

We’ve been doing [remote working] for more than five months now. What feedback are you hearing from your employees? 

Houston: The No. 1 thing that employees tell us is that they want a safe environment to come back to. … This facility would hold about 6,000 — today there are about 700 employees spread out throughout the complex. Two, they want the fitness center and the cafeterias opened up; we have not yet opened up our fitness facilities. Third, they want an extension of flexibility between home and the office. When I look at all three of these, I know that these are things we can achieve. 

How are things different for you as a CEO? 

Houston: No longer do I have the luxury of simply just walking around the company or traveling and doing town hall meetings in our various locations around the world. So I have correspondence that goes out to our employees every week. We have town hall meetings with all hands on deck about every three weeks — 18,000 employees around the world, two different calls. Then we do a Q&A, and whatever gets voted as the most important question moves up to the top of the list, and myself and my management team take those questions. 

The full interview can be found at this link. https://bit.ly/31Jc67J