The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

Geanne Weaver-Hepler (Director of EX, Charlie Health), Allison Vendt (VP, People Ops & Head of EX at Dropbox), Nick Freeman (Co-CEO, Marco), and Brian Elliott (CEO, Work Forward) joined us to talk about what’s broken with employee connection—and how to fix it. We explored practical frameworks for offsites, hybrid team building, and creating meaningful connection moments across distributed workforces.---- Sponsor Links:🔗 Request a demo of Workleap.MPL Links:🔗 Buy your ticket for MPL Live New York.🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build.---- (06:00) Why we stopped talking about connection—and why that’s a mistake(08:00) Gallup data: engagement is falling, especially for managers(10:00) Geanne on building connection at scale at Charlie Health(13:00) From Airbnb bonding to 400-person team offsites(14:00) Dropbox’s shift from office-first to virtual-first with intentional team gatherings(16:00) The importance of milestone-based anchor weeks(17:00) Nick: What makes an offsite successful? Frequency, location, and shared space(19:00) Using AI to plan team retreats faster and smarter(20:00) Lessons learned: The pendulum swings of remote, RTO, and hybrid(22:00) Brian: Airbnb’s team cadence model and the importance of rhythm(25:00) Dropbox’s “gathering matrix” and designing for outcomes(27:30) Virtual connection challenges & async collaboration tips(30:00) Why structured rituals help sustain remote trust(32:00) Peer learning over presentations: How Charlie Health restructured their offsites(33:30) Role-playing, competition, and fun as part of sales team development(36:00) Common offsite pitfalls: over-indexing on logistics, under-indexing on experience(37:00) How to save 20–30% on offsites by avoiding weekends & bundling bookings(39:00) Q&A: What to say to executives who don’t see the value in connection(41:00) Q&A: How Dropbox uses Slack, swag, and planning to drive pre-event excitement(43:00) Q&A: Aligning in-office vs. remote culture differences(45:00) Q&A: Measuring success with post-event surveys and engagement impact(48:00) Q&A: Designing experiences for introverts and overstimulated employees(50:00) Playbooks: Charlie Health’s tiered gathering strategy & Founders Trip(51:00) Dropbox’s Offsite-in-a-Box and Virtual First Toolkit(53:00) Why group travel is the fastest-growing segment of corporate spend(54:00) Tips for booking better hotels, avoiding weekend rates, and maximizing ROI---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn

Jessica Zwaan, COO at Whereby, joined us again on The Modern People Leader for a deep dive into Employee Lifetime Value (ELTV). We explored how HR leaders can adapt marketing-style metrics like LTV to CAC for talent, the different ways to calculate it, and how the process itself can reshape how People teams think about value, cost, and impact.---- Sponsor Links:🔗 Request a demo of ChartHop.🔗 Get your free 30-day Synthesia account.MPL Links:🔗 Buy your ticket for MPL Live New York.🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build.---- (05:45) Wrapping up Jessica’s second book & reflections on avoiding hustle culture(06:31) How to balance multiple big projects without burning out(07:42) Personal habits that help prevent hustle culture(09:16) Stephen on using “extra time” with intention(11:29) Mary Oliver’s “Don’t Hesitate” poem and finding joy in work(13:02) Daniel on keeping play in work despite business growth pressures(14:05) Segue to main topic: Employee Lifetime Value (ELTV)(15:26) Why ELTV sparks debate and common misconceptions(16:25) Treating ELTV conversations like an AMA to address objections(17:05) Behind-the-scenes of Stephen’s LinkedIn post that started the conversation(18:21) Image generation with Midjourney & content process for MPL Build(21:42) Different ways to calculate ELTV depending on company context(24:23) Why People teams resist new metrics compared to Marketing teams(27:56) The value of the calculation process itself for HR teams(29:13) Why ELTV is calculated on an aggregate, not individual, basis(31:55) The halo effect of great employees & intangible impacts on value(32:29) Breaking ELTV down by department, team, or cohorts(36:27) Core cost factors in ELTV: recruiting, onboarding, L&D, benefits, comp(39:12) Why knowing cost per employee matters beyond ELTV(40:50) Tracking ELTV with different financial baselines (revenue vs. EBITDA)(43:32) The “gold standard” three-to-one LTV-to-CAC ratio and when to adjust it(44:58) Similar or alternative metrics for different business models(46:05) Why each company’s key metrics should look different(47:15) Recognizing others who pioneered ELTV concepts(48:22) Final advice: ELTV is a compass, not a map---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn

Joanne Rodgers, CHRO of New York Life, joined us on The Modern People Leader to share how her 30-year journey at the company led her from securities regulation to the C-suite. We talked about the DNA of New York Life’s culture, how they’re rolling out AI tools company-wide, and why HR must lead the charge in this era of transformation.---- Sponsor Links:🔗 Request a demo of Workleap.🔗 Get your free 30-day Synthesia account.MPL Links:🔗 Buy your ticket for MPL Live New York.🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build.---- (06:51) Joanne’s Career Journey: From Securities Regulator to CHRO(09:43) Career Hub and Recognizing Hidden Potential in Employees(11:46) What is New York Life? Products, Distribution, and Secret Sauce(12:53) Innovation at a 180-Year-Old Company(14:25) Culture at New York Life: Relationship-Centric and Supportive(16:31) Formal & Informal Structures That Fuel Career Growth(19:10) Empowering Your Growth: The Ecosystem (Performance, AI, Career Hub, Leadership)(22:13) Real-World Use of Eightfold AI for Internal Mobility(24:19) Why Skills Visibility Drove the AI-Powered Career Hub(26:42) Metrics of Success and Anecdotal Wins from Gig Projects(28:40) Younger Talent, AI Anxiety, and Supporting New Grads(30:53) AI Tools, Mindset Shift & Connor Grennan’s Influence(33:44) Organizational AI Readiness and Excitement(34:54) Governance, Training, and AI Adoption at Sale(37:48) ELT Buy-In: How Senior Leadership Went All-In on AI(41:50) Net New Skills, AI Champions, and Future-Proofing with Career Hub(44:04) The HR Role in AI Transformation(46:24) 2025 Priorities: Empowering Growth as a Fully-Integrated Ecosystem(47:58) AI Coaching for Leadership Development(50:28) Advice to HR Leaders on Starting Their AI Journey---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn

Jennifer Henderson (CEO, Tilt), Jessica Winder (SVP People, CoLab Software), Allison Whalen (CEO, Parentaly), and Justin Clifford (CEO, Bereave) joined us to talk about what most companies get wrong when it comes to employee leave. We discussed parental and bereavement leave through a human lens—from compliance and continuity to return-to-work strategies and performance review pitfalls.---- 🔗 Go download Tilt's Modern HR Leader's Guide to Leave that Works - this is a full recap of this conversation. ---- Sponsor Links:🔗 Request a demo of ChartHop.MPL Links:🔗 Buy your ticket for MPL Live New York.🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build.---- (06:26) The 3 core challenges of employee leave: compliance, continuity, and care(09:58) What “support” actually looks like during leave, not just compliance(16:09) Real-life examples of how broken leave policies hurt employee trust(18:57) Bereavement leave: why 51% of people leave their jobs within a year of loss(21:09) Building better return-to-work frameworks and communication plans(23:56) “Did you know?” HR comms and surfacing underused employee benefits(25:38) The manager’s role: why they’re the most powerful force during leave(26:49) Jessica’s childcare breakdown story + creative leave support solutions(30:22) Small, meaningful ways to show real care during a return to work(32:02) Why policies mean nothing without psychologically safe manager behavior(34:14) Performance reviews: how leave-related bias undermines careers(36:16) The need for written re-onboarding plans for every returning employee(37:42) The “10x” moment: leave as a defining employer brand experience(40:52) Why many managers never wanted to manage people—and how that shows up(43:44) SOPs for grief: standardizing human touch, not just tasks(44:57) Why outsourcing leave support can actually free managers to show up better(46:48) What not to do: excluding managers from leave conversations entirely(48:14) The untapped business value in training middle managers(50:04) Jessica’s fears returning from leave as a senior executive(52:12) Why sales comp during leave is never perfect—but always worth refining(54:45) Err on the side of employee-favorable: retention > replacement(56:07) Every leave situation is different—so start planning 3–4 months ahead---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn

Kahina Ouerdane, Chief People Officer at Workleap, joined us on The Modern People Leader.We talked about her journey from international human rights law to tech, how software is the new workplace, why AI is forcing a rethinking of learning and org design, and more.---- Sponsor Links:🔗 Request a demo of Workleap.🔗 Get your free 30-day Synthesia account.MPL Links:🔗 Buy your ticket for MPL Live New York.🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build.---- (05:43) Kahina’s Origin Story: From Human Rights Lawyer to People Leader(07:56) Discovering Her “Why” and the Power of Collective Harmony(11:11) Intro to Workleap: Origins of Gsoft (12:34) Workleap's Growth and Mission to Make Work Simpler(14:54) Overview of the Workleap Product Suite(16:21) Officevibe, Pingboard, Barley, and the Future of the Platform(18:34) The “Foggy Road” of AI (19:22) AI is a New Language: Learning Amidst Uncertainty(21:38) Why IT Now Reports to HR at Workleap(24:34) IT and Onboarding: Lessons from M&A and Employee Experience(26:46) Why HR May Be Better Suited Than IT to Lead Change(28:33) How IT and HR Are Co-Learning AI Together(29:52) Rethinking What Learning Means in an AI-Powered World(31:32) The “Third-Life Crisis” of the Knowledge Worker(34:02) Why Nobody’s Talking Enough About Re-skilling(36:17) Vibe Coding and L&D Reimagined with AI(37:26) The Accidental On-Ramp to Using Workleap AI(39:22) Weekly Rituals and Cross-Functional Learning Moments(41:40) The Limits of Our Imagination in Predicting the Future of Work(43:13) How Workleap Dogfoods Its Own AI Tools(44:50) Data as the Engine: The Power of Connected People Analytics(47:25) Future Vision: Org Charts with Real-Time Engagement & Performance Insights(48:48) Innovation From the Ground Up: HR Leading a Company-Wide Sprint(51:35) Why Canada Might Be Leading the Way in Future of Work Innovation---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn

Alex Buder Shapiro, Chief People Officer at Jasper, is leading the charge in rethinking organizational design amid the AI revolution. She discusses how AI is transforming early-career roles and the urgent need for HR teams to adapt through experimentation and innovative workflows. Alex reveals the importance of real-time learning and reskilling at scale, while provoking thoughts on HR’s evolving leadership role. From prototyping with AI to the complexities of organizational structures, this episode dives deep into the future of work and the unique challenges ahead.

Eliza Jackson, Chief People and Administrative Officer at ButcherBox, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how operational excellence can protect and scale company culture, how her team built a "work in service of" mindset, and how ButcherBox is using AI agents to unlock capacity—not replace people.---- Sponsor Links:🔗 Request a demo of Workleap.🔗 Get in contact with the Career Sandwich team.MPL Links:🔗 Buy your ticket for MPL Live New York.🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build.---- (05:59) Eliza’s Career Journey: From Finance to Education to ButcherBox(08:04) What ButcherBox Does & Its B Corp Mission(09:23) Why Ops Isn’t Just for Efficiency—It’s for Culture(11:44) How Eliza Assessed ButcherBox’s Ops When She Joined(13:52) Creating the Business Operations Team & Their Embedded Model(16:30) Eliza’s Nerdy Toolkit: Time & Task Management(17:58) People Ops & Biz Ops Tech Stack at ButcherBox(21:09) Managing Hybrid Work: Boston-Based Flexibility(23:47) Protecting Company DNA & Building Connection in a Hybrid World(26:48) Evolving ButcherBox’s Return-to-Office Strategy(29:35) Culture is the Differentiator in a Post-COVID Workplace(33:31) What Great Leadership Looks Like in a Talent Factory(35:46) The Shift in Leadership Mindsets Since COVID(38:04) Belonging, AI, and the Performance Push: Can They Coexist?(39:28) ButcherBox’s AI Task Force: Building Capacity with Agents(41:50) Example: AI Copy & Design Agents That Talk to Each Other(44:39) Why an AI Coach Can Sometimes Be Better Than a Manager(45:57) AI Adoption at ButcherBox: What’s Sticking & What’s Scaling(47:29) The CPO of the Future: People + Digital, Inspired by Moderna(50:41) Why HR Should Lead AI Transformation, Not Just IT(52:01) Rapid Fire: Advice, Superpowers & What to Steal from Slalom(55:27) BetterUp & the Human Condition at Work(55:40) One-Word Close: Inflection Point, Moderna, Baby---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn

In this discussion, Joris Luijke, CEO of Pyn, and Jessica Zwaan, author of 'Built for People', delve into the art of employee journey mapping. They emphasize designing for impactful moments rather than just processes, explaining why many employee experiences fail. The conversation covers the balance of prioritizing key moments, the common pitfalls in journey mapping, and the importance of creativity in crafting experiences. They advocate for a holistic view of the employee journey, suggesting effective collaboration across departments to enhance satisfaction and engagement.

Thomas Forstner, VP of People and Talent at Juro, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about building an AI-native company, why HR should own workflows not just the workforce, and how people teams must evolve from playbook followers to visionary architects of the modern org.---- Sponsor Links:🔗 Request a demo of ChartHop.🔗 Get in contact with the Career Sandwich team.🔗 Get your free 30-day Synthesia account.MPL Links:🔗 Buy your ticket for MPL Live New York.🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build.---- (06:32) Thomas’ origin story: from psychology to global work experiences(09:52) How he ended up at Juro and grew with the company(11:03) What Juro does and how it’s changing legal and HR workflows(13:05) The state of HR today and the growing gap in AI adoption(14:33) Why giving ChatGPT access will soon be like giving email(16:22) The emerging core AI tech stack every team needs(18:27) How Juro is enabling AI experimentation across teams(20:33) Their “how to AI” rituals, lab reports, and internal AI philosophy(23:40) Why making their AI principles public is a competitive advantage(25:15) Why IT now reports to People at Juro: owning the workflows(26:57) What “WorkTech” means and the rise of the Chief Work Officer(29:12) How AI tools reshaped Stephen’s view on HR and product(32:18) HR as the company OS: When it’s good, everything flows(34:23) Parallel thinking: Sales teams, onboarding, and internal design(37:02) Should you rebuild your HR tech stack? Custom vs. off-the-shelf(39:47) The power of documentation and training AI agents(41:13) Building internal tools with low/no-code: Just try things(43:30) Automating personalized rejection emails with custom GPTs(44:47) Is PeopleOps as a Product evolving into something new?(47:48) People leaders as shape shifters, AI engineers, and CSMs(50:09) Stop chasing playbooks—start building your own operating model(51:17) Setting a clear vision: Juro’s “Company OS” and annual rewrites(54:41) Rapid fire questions: advice, favorite resources, and dream strategies(58:42) What Thomas would steal from Dropbox---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn

Helen Russell, Chief People Officer at HubSpot, dives into fostering an AI-first culture and the pressing importance of belonging in the workplace. She discusses how HR leaders can balance urgency with a human-centered approach, especially during times of change. The conversation highlights the evolution of HubSpot’s talent strategy and the critical role trust plays in employee engagement. Russell also shares insights on integrating AI tools to enhance connection and productivity, ensuring that culture remains a priority in a tech-driven environment.