The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

Sara Gorjão, Chief People Officer at tb.lx, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the Human Energy Crisis we’re facing, tb.lx’s experiment with the 36-hour workweek, and why being a perfect people leader isn’t possible. Timestamps: (14:50) why we should be jealous that Sara gets to work at tb.lx (19:50) Sara’s mission and how it’s connected to her role (22:52) How Sara checks in with herself and manages her energy (30:45) The flashlight system for examining ourselves (33:51) tb.lx’s experiment with the 36-hour workweek (41:21) How they measured productivity during the 36-hour workweek (49:40) Being a perfect people leader isn’t possible (52:44) How Sara defines a Modern People Leader (56:30) The career advice she would give to 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

Amanda Ono, CHRO at Kroll Digital Services, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about 2023 planning, her biggest learnings scaling a company from 90 to 250 employees in one year, and navigating change as a leader. Timestamps: (10:27) Amanda’s experience as both an operator and HR leader (14:00) Why we should be jealous Amanda gets to work at Kroll (16:39) Budget season and 2023 planning (19:11) Taking the best of both cultures when integrating after an acquisition (23:11) Lessons learned growing from 90 to 250 employees in less than a year (24:59) Who should be on your “change council” (27:05) The importance of a strong communication plan (42:00) Her definition of a Modern People Leader (42:29) The career advice she’d give to 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

Today we reflected on the last couple of episodes and then we discussed 2023 planning for People teams. Timestamps: (6:30) Operating your people function like it’s a product of your company (8:30) The 3 products that every company is building (12:17) The domino effect that led up to the layoffs (19:20) Making the Chief People Officer role more commercial (22:59) Using your core values as a lens for everything your people team does (27:50) Building the employee experience like a house (33:00) The importance of going on a listening tour as the new people leader (36:23) 2023 planning for People teams (43:22) The people team hiring guide Use code "MPL10" to get 10% off of the People Team Hiring Guide from Shelby Wolpa: https://www.shelbywolpaconsulting.com/product-page/people-team-hiring-guide-1 Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

Jim Bartolomea, (SVP, Global Head of People and Places) at ClickUp, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the challenges he’s most excited to tackle as ClickUp’s new people leader, building the employee experience like a house, and getting buy-in as a new HR leader. Timestamps: Why we should be jealous he gets to work at ClickUp (12:49), the challenges he’s excited to tackle first as the new people leader (14:22), place being an important part of culture and connection (16:45), building the employee experience like a house (23:10), onboarding is your first chance to make a great impression (24:40), applying the core values lens to everything you do in the people function (30:45), the importance of career conversations (33:38), getting buy-in as a new HR leader (36:10), your org design and operating model create clarity (40:00), promoting managers that aren’t built to be managers is a big mistake (42:50), his definition of a Modern People Leader (50:20), and more. Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

Jessica Zwaan, COO at Whereby, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the recent layoffs in the news, how we can raise the CPO role to be looked at as more commercial, and why you should treat people ops as a product. Timestamps: why we should be jealous she gets to work at Whereby (6:01), layoffs this week (8:35), the domino effect leading up to layoffs (17:15), outside of the CPO role, women only make up 20% of the other C-Suite roles (20:15), raising the people role to be more commercial (23:49), there are 3 products a company is building at one time (30:35), you need a unique selling point for employees to really stand out in the market (38:35), 2 biggest challenges when trying to move to this new way of working (44:07), how she defines a Modern People Leader (52:51), the advice she’d give to her 22-year-old self (53:51), and the people problem she would fix with a magic wand (56:24). Get notified when Built for People is available for pre-order: https://form.typeform.com/to/VwL5AxNj 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 reflected on our biggest learnings from the last few months of The Modern People Leader. Timestamps: (8:10) Understanding what a human-centered organization is (14:10) The language and words we use to describe work (18:30) Employees don't want to work for a paternalistic organization (22:09) What type of support will organizations provide their people in the future (26:50) Merary’s advice to first-time HR leaders (29:20) HR teams playing to win versus to not lose (36:50) Four pillars of DEI (39:20) Gen Z is the most entrepreneurial generation yet (41:38) Gen Z want a diversity of experiences in their jobs (47:20) More talent will go independent than ever before (48:40) People are rethinking their purpose portfolio Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

Kim Rohrer, Head of Employee Experience at Oyster, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the biggest challenges in creating a unified employee experience across 70 countries, why every company should have a Head of Employee Experience, and why your company should consider hiring in tier 2 or 3 countries. Timestamps: Why we should be jealous she gets to work at Oyster (18:30), when Kim knew she didn’t want the CHRO role (22:53), why Kim enjoys employee experience work so much (28:30), the types of companies that should have a Head of Employee Experience (29:40), how she’s trying to evangelize the Head of EX role (34:39), FAIL'ing (first attempt in learning) (38:28), biggest challenges in creating a unified global employee experience across 70 countries (40:28), why companies should consider hiring in tier 2 or 3 countries (44:08), incredibly smart and capable knowledge workers exist all over the world (47:48), how they’re able to collect DEIB metrics at a global level (55:20), and more. Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

John Foster, 4-time CHRO & Founder of Gamut Labs, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the difference between a traditional and a human-centered organization, the 5 dimensions of a HCO, and why HCOs get more creative output from their people. Timestamps: (11:23) The difference between a traditional organization and a Human-Centered Organization (16:28) Why a little bit of hierarchical thinking can ruin a people process (25:25) The definition of a Human-Centered Organization (28:25) The 5 dimensions of a Human-Centered Organization (41:07) The best way to get creative output is by being human-centered (44:01) Why the traditional organization is a crack in the sidewalk of humanity (46:33) How John defines a 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

Merary Soto-Saunders, Global Head of DEI at CVC Partners, joined us on The Modern People Leader. She shared her advice to first-time HR leaders, CVC’s process for setting DEI goals, and how she’s able to impact DEI for over 500k people in her role. Timestamps: (6:32) Merary’s journey from investment banking to DEI work (10:50) Working in different countries has shaped her perspective as an HR leader (16:23) How CEOs view HR in other countries versus the US (19:40) Why HR & DEI should be separate (21:43) The 3 components of her role: internal DEI, DEI partner for portfolio companies, and external DEI brand (26:10) Process for setting DEI goals (31:18) DEI Dashboards (33:08) The 4 pillars of DEI at CVC (35:20) Having the ability to impact DEI for 500k people (45:23) DEI/HR Think Tank (57:17) Merary's definition of a 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

This week we had three return guests for another MPL group chat: Laura Robblee, CHRO at Zuora Steve Cadigan, Former CHRO of LinkedIn & author Stephanie Cramer, SVP of People at MGAC We discussed how Generation Z is impacting the future of work. Timestamps: (8:30) Are we in a recession? (16:21) Echo quitting (21:28) There are more commonalities between generations than differences (27:55) Employees have higher expectations for their employers than ever before (29:20) Younger generations are far more entrepreneurial (37:52) Everything is subscription oriented and it’s affected how people think about work (41:58) Gen Z and in-person work (43:50) More top talent will go independent than we’ve ever seen in the past (49:40) Companies have an internal awareness problem, not a recruiting problem (53:06) The one thing organizations should focus on to position themselves as an employer of choice for Gen Z (58:00) What it means to be a 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