The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR 138 - Building culture in a remote-first environment: Vanesa Cotlar (VP People & Culture, PolicyMe)
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Oct 30, 2023 Vanesa Cotlar, VP of People & Culture at PolicyMe, discusses getting executive buy-in on people team hires, building culture in a remote-first environment, and building trust remotely. Other topics include experimenting with ChatGPT, the importance of collecting feedback regularly, and advice for one-person HR teams.
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From Consulting To Founder And Back
- Vanesa described leaving management consulting to travel with Remote Year and co‑found an HR tech startup in 2018 that later failed in Germany.
- That founder experience taught her empathy for founders and clarified she prefers being an integrator who makes others' visions real.
Focus On How People Work Best
- Remote vs. in‑office is less useful than asking: where can people do their best work?
- Employers should offer choice and design environments around productivity and trust, not a single model.
Use AI For First Drafts, Not Final Answers
- Use generative AI for first drafts, brainstorming, and templates, then humanize the output.
- Avoid deploying AI as a finished product for employee Q&A or sensitive interactions without human oversight.