I Hate It Here S9 E8: No HR in Your Leadership Meetings? BIG Mistake with Ana King
If you’re still debating whether HR deserves a seat at the table, let me save you the suspense:
Your seat is already cemented there.
Hell, depending on the day, it might even be a throne!
And today, I’ve got Ana King, CPO at SAPI, joining me to dig into this hard truth.
With experience at Twilio, Trainline, and Google, Ana knows firsthand that no leadership meeting should ever happen without the leaders in the room, and that includes People Leaders.
We’re not support, we’re strategy. And if your exec team hasn’t figured that out yet…buckle up.
0:01:25 - One Hard Truth About Work
0:04:56 - Why No Leadership Meeting Should Happen Without Leadership in the Room
0:07:35 - Why Does HR Even Need to Earn a Seat at the Table?
0:11:27 - The Consequences of the “Earn It” Narrative
0:16:03 - A Time When Excluding People Leaders Backfired
0:19:21 - The Direct Link Between a Strong People Leader in the C-Suite and Commercial Success
0:21:50 - Why HR is a Strategic Partner, Not Just a Support Function
0:25:40 - What Separates Modern Leaders Today from Traditional Head of HR Roles
0:30:27 - Balancing Being an Employee Advocate and Being Accountable to the Business
0:36:22 - Why HR Sees Things That Nobody Else Can See in an Org
0:40:51 - How AI Will Reshape Everything We Do
0:47:07 - Ana’s Vision of the C-Suite of the Future
Choosing the wrong HR platform is rife with regrets: losing a top performer, promoting the wrong person, or failing to engage your team when the business needs it most.
Fortunately, you don’t have to choose between investing in people programs and consolidating your tech stack. With Lattice, you can have both.
Visit lattice.com to learn more.
And if you love I Hate It Here, sign up to Hebba’s newsletter! It’s for jaded, overworked, and emotionally burnt-out HR/People Operations professionals needing a little inspiration.
https://workweek.com/discover-newsletters/i-hate-it-here-newsletter/
And if you love the podcast, be sure to check out https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here for even more exclusive insider content!
Follow Ana:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastancu/
Follow Hebba:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef