The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

Today we shook things up and interviewed each other.  We talked about the openness of the HR community, what it has been like interviewing some of the top HR leaders, the biggest challenges of starting a podcast, what MPL looks like in three years, and more. Timestamps: (4:50) Stephen’s biggest learnings since starting the podcast (7:00) The world of work is fractured right now (10:20) There is no set playbook for doing a podcast (11:43) The most unexpected thing that’s come out of doing the podcast for Stephen (15:40) How open the HR community has been (17:13) What The Modern People Leader looks like in three years (19:40) Being more than just a podcast for the HR community (20:30) Stephen’s number one fan (23:25) The most challenging part of growing Modern People Leader (28:00) Daniel’s biggest area of growth since starting the podcast & finding his own genius (32:00) What it has been like for Daniel interviewing some of the top HR leaders (35:30) Advice to anyone looking to start a podcast (38:39) Optimizing for the feelings we have at the end of an episode (42:17) Daniel’s number one fan Come hang out with us at Transform. Get $200 off your ticket here: https://transform.us/modern-people-leader/ Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

Tony Buffum (VP, HR Client Strategy, Upwork) joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the biggest misconceptions that employers have about freelance talent, why the rise of freelance talent isn’t a trend, and how Fortune 100 companies are integrating independent talent into their talent strategy. Timestamps: (5:23) Tony’s journey and unique role at Upwork (13:57) Why we should be jealous of his job at Upwork (19:16) The rise in independent talent (21:05) 39% of the US workforce performed freelance work last year (23:36) The biggest misconceptions about doing freelance work (25:25) The biggest misconceptions that employers have about freelance talent (31:02) Why the rise of freelance work is not a trend (33:44) Tony’s advice to people selecting freelance talent for the first time (37:00) The customer service mindset of freelance workers (39:52) Benefits of tapping into global talent (45:15) Fortune 100 companies are integrating freelance talent into their talent strategy (49:24) Thinking about work differently (53:00) His definition of a Modern People Leader (53:55) The advice he’d give to his 22-year-old self (55:30) What he’d fix in HR with a magic wand Come hang out with us at Transform. Get $200 off your ticket here: https://transform.us/modern-people-leader/ Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

Brandon Sammut, Chief People Officer at Zapier, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about Zapier’s secondment program, how they build awareness of different talent pathways, and how to build bridges with your CEO. Timestamps: (4:58) Wanting to find better ways of mapping people’s capabilities to opportunities that help them realize their potential (13:28) Why we should be jealous Brandon gets to work at Zapier (15:30) Zapier’s secondment program (18:10) Their cultural instinct to redeploy talent & being a bootstrapped company (21:20) How Zapier has redeployed their TA team (24:25) Progress over perfection (26:55) Advice Brandon would give to HR leaders trying to get their internal mobility programs started (30:26) The talent pathways they’ve built at Zapier (35:00) ‘Career Pathways’ at Zapier (36:46) How they build awareness of their talent pathways (39:25) Having a CEO that understands the importance of these programs (42:26) Bridge building with your CEO (47:04) Transparency without context is sometimes unhelpful (49:21) Brandon’s definition of a Modern People Leader (49:55) The career advice he’d give his 22-year-old self (51:03) Shoutouts to the Zapier team Come hang out with us at Transform. Get $200 off your ticket here: https://transform.us/modern-people-leader/ Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

Today we shared our biggest learnings from MPL guests in January and February. Timestamps: (6:57) Mindi Cox on moving from employee engagement to employee fulfillment (14:00) Having boomerangs is a sign of a healthy culture (16:20) Drawing more diverse voices into the VC world (17:52) The disconnect between the people who build HR tech and HR (22:46) Tapping ERGs to help solve business problems (28:10) Building a network of teams (31:06) The pathological organization and why people don’t leave (36:30) Moving to a curated workplace Come hang out with us at Transform. Get $200 off your ticket here: https://transform.us/modern-people-leader/ Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

Rich Jacquet, Chief People Officer at Coursera, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how he always wanted to be in HR, dedicated learning days at Coursera, their internal leadership academy, AI in HR, and more. Timestamps: (5:53) Rich went to school wanting to be an HR person (13:28) The course he took on the history of the Ukraine region (17:35) Creating skills rubrics internally at Coursera (20:32) Dedicated learning days & their two global weeks of rest (23:57) The most in-demand jobs right now (27:55) Using AI to coach leaders (32:08) Driving alignment and effectiveness across their People Team of 75 people (34:40) Their leadership academy (37:30) The year of the manager at Coursera (39:55) Helping people build personal connections at work (42:50) Getting a heartbeat of what’s going on at your company (48:17) How Rich defines a Modern People Leader (49:50) The career advice he’d give his 22-year-old self Come hang out with us at Transform. Get $200 off your ticket here: https://transform.us/modern-people-leader/ Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

Christine Song, Chief People Officer at Knix, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about her experience in HR across eight different industries, her first three months as Knix’s new Chief People Officer, and the importance of doing the ground zero work before moving into the strategic work. Timestamps: (9:37) Why we should be jealous that she gets to work at Knix (12:39) The advice she recently gave to soon to be graduates (16:56) The one skill that has served her well as an HR leader that’s worked in 8 different industries (21:58) Knix’s ‘Aerial Tours’ discussing the hard things (26:33) The mistake Founder CEOs often make: hiring one person to do both HR and talent acquisition (31:21) Doing the ground zero work will help you succeed in the strategy work further down the line (35:22) How to know when your direct report is ready for that promotion (39:45) What her first 3 months have looked like as the new Chief People Officer (44:44) Creating an environment for the People Team that allows for more risks (50:20) Her definition of a Modern People Leader (50:50) The career advice she’d give her 22-year-old self Come hang out with us at Transform. Get $200 off your ticket here: https://transform.us/modern-people-leader/ Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

Josh Bersin, HR Analyst at The Josh Bersin Company, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the most impactful events he’s seen in HR over the decades, the network of teams operating model, the highest predictor of top performing HR teams, and the two lessons he hopes everyone takes away from reading his book, Irresistible. Timestamps: (4:45) Do what you love and worry about the promotions and money later (10:00) Why we should be jealous of his day job (12:05) The most impactful events he’s seen in HR over the decades (16:38) Irresistible: The Seven Secrets of the world’s most enduring, employee-focused organizations (20:06) Network of teams operating model (25:07) The symptoms of not operating as a network of teams (30:30) The mythical man-month and the agile manifesto (34:40) The Nestle innovation center (36:00) Characteristics of high performing teams (38:29) The highest predictor of top performing HR teams (42:06) The two lessons he hopes everyone takes away from reading his book (45:16) AI in HR (48:47) Josh’s definition of a Modern People Leader (49:16) The career advice he’d give his 22-year-old self Come hang out with us at Transform. Get $200 off your ticket here: https://transform.us/modern-people-leader/ Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

Femily Howe, Gender/Equity Advisor at Femily On The Go, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about her work advancing women in the workplace, leaning into the awkward conversations about diversity, and using ERGs to solve business problems. Timestamps: (13:24) Why we should be jealous of her day job (15:30) Her work advancing women in the workplace (18:12) Addressing the statement, “I want to be more gender inclusive, but I don’t want to lower the bar” (25:38) Misgendering and microaggressions (28:30) Explaining privilege to someone that doesn’t get it (38:13) Focusing on actions and behaviors instead of changing hearts and minds (43:23) How to hold recruiters and hiring managers accountable for diversity targets (47:45) People would rather avoid awkwardness than reach out to diverse talent in their network (49:12) Getting more out of your ERGs Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

Allison Baum Gates, General Partner at SemperVirens, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked what led her to the intersection of VC and work tech, why the future of work is the single most important problem to solve, and her upcoming book, “Breaking into Venture”. Come hang out with us at Transform. Get $200 off your ticket here: https://transform.us/modern-people-leader/ Pre-order your copy of "Breaking into Venture": https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-into-Venture-Capitalist-Life-Changing/dp/1264698941/ Timestamps: (7:51) Arriving at the intersection of VC and the future of work (14:38) Biggest changes related to the future of work from a VC perspective (19:08) Why making work better is so important (21:15) The 5 D’s of the future of work (25:46) Leaning out (28:21) What makes SemperVirens a unique VC firm (30:23) The 3 A’s of being successful in Venture Capital (32:15) The difficulties of being a Work Tech founder (34:44) Predicting what’s coming for the future of work (39:18) Need to haves versus “vitamins” in HR tech (44:32) Her upcoming book: "Breaking into Venture" (52:36) The career advice she’d give her 22-year-old self Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

Mindi Cox, Chief Marketing & People Officer at O.C. Tanner, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about moving from employee engagement to employee fulfillment and the work required to change culture. Timestamps: (17:37) Why we should be jealous Mindi gets to work at OC Tanner (19:38) Moving from employee engagement to employee fulfillment (25:00) Looking at the value of your work situation beyond just your salary (33:41) The self determination theory applied to work: autonomy, mastery, and connection (39:00) How to change your company’s culture (42:15) The Southwest Airlines culture (47:35) Her definition of a Modern People Leader (48:00) The career advice she’d give her 22-year-old self Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader