The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

In this episode we reflected on MPL guests' responses to our three rapid-fire questions: What career advice would you give your 22-year-old self? (1:25) If you had a magic wand, what would you fix in HR? (16:43) What’s coming next for the future of work? (27:05) Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8

This week we had three return guests for another MPL group chat: Darren Murph, Head of Remote at GitLab Hallie Bregman, The Bregman Group Valerie Jackson, Chief Diversity Officer at Zuora We talked about how COVID has given everyone the opportunity to take the red pill and why focusing on the HOW of work will make the biggest impact on DEI. Timestamps: 7:46 - are concepts like quiet quitting new or have they just been rebranded 9:00 - people are rethinking how they invest in their “purpose portfolio” 12:50 - the unspoken expectations for employees 18:40 - loud retention is the antidote to quiet quitting 21:55 - COVID has given everyone the opportunity to take the red pill 29:26 - has hybrid work made DEI harder or easier in the workplace 35:17 - focusing on the HOW of work and not just the WHERE will make a bigger impact on DEI 44:15 - what the next evolution of DEI work will look like 57:32 - what it means to be a Modern People Leader Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8

This episode was recorded a couple of weeks ago, so we apologize if the content from this episode is a little dated. We talked about Malcolm Gladwell’s thoughts on remote work, quiet quitting, and our 3 biggest takeaways from our last 5 episodes. Timestamps: Malcolm Gladwell’s thoughts on remote work (1:25), quiet quitting (11:23), layoffs in 2022 (15:30), our 3 biggest takeaways from the last couple of months on MPL (23:00), companies are recession-proofing (23:50), being a CHRO is really hard (30:50), and the next 12-months will be the year of the Modern People Leader (49:10). Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8

Ciara Lakhani, Chief People Officer at Dashlane, shares insights on HR strategies during economic downturns and the importance of transparency. Topics include employee expectations vs. investors, traits for people leaders in uncertainty, job hopping tradeoffs, and Dashlane's feedback strategy.

Zuora’s Laura Robblee, CHRO, and Valerie Jackson, Chief Diversity Officer, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why their CHRO/CDO partnership works so well and how they’re laying the foundation for a new Zuora. Timestamps: their favorite thing about working with one another (16:40), prioritizing diversity and inclusion at Zuora (21:50), why having both the CDO & CHRO reporting to the CEO works for them (25:08), the swim lanes for Human Resources & DEI at Zuora (30:00), why diversity is a measure of organizational health (37:39), why their leadership playbook is a big focus for them right now (40:05), the summit they’re hosting for VP + folks at the company (44:00), the career advice Valerie would give her 22-year-old self (47:10), and what Laura would fix in HR with a magic wand 49:10). Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Connect with us on LinkedIn: Daniel Huerta and Stephen Huerta

Melissa Werneck, Global Chief People Officer at Kraft Heinz, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the work Kraft Heinz is doing to help support and develop their managers, why it was important for the move from a “know it all” culture to a “learn it all” culture, and how they’re using new tech to turn their ambitions into reality. Timestamps: why we should be jealous she gets to work at Kraft Heinz (9:58), moving from a "know it all" to a "learn it all" culture (14:28), the year of the manager at Kraft (22:20), only 10% of people are naturally wired to be a manager (23:00), the launch of Project WIN (24:20), how they’re using nudges to make their ambitions a reality (34:20), why the forgetting curve is real (37:43), the advantages of being an early adopter of new tech (39:00), how they've been able to scale people programs at such a large organization (42:20), and the career advice she would give her 22-year-old self (45:06). Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Connect with us on LinkedIn: Daniel Huerta and Stephen Huerta

Stephanie Cramer, Vice President of Human Resources at MGAC, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how she’s incorporated solution selling into the way she recruits and what MGAC is doing to support their employees’ mental health. Timestamps: why we should be jealous that Stephanie gets to work at MGAC (11:20), how recruiting has changed in the last 10 years (14:08), how she’s incorporated solution selling into recruiting (16:10), stacking the deck in your favor to land the dream candidate (17:58), what discovery looks like at each stage in the recruiting lifecycle (22:00), applying her empathic approach to recruiting to herself and her mental health journey (25:35), her purpose analogy for life (30:10), what MGAC is doing to support their employees’ mental health (34:57), empowering employees to get more active on social media (40:40), and the career advice she’d give her 22-year-old self (46:35). Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for the top takeaways and the full transcript of each new episode! https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Connect with us on LinkedIn! Daniel Huerta and Stephen Huerta

Beth Steinberg, Senior Vice President of People and Talent at Chime, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why it’s so hard to find good HR leaders, what happens when you don’t invest in leaders early enough, and long-term talent planning. Timestamps: what Beth feels was some of her best work as a people leader (7:00), why we should be jealous that Beth gets to work at Chime (12:40), the importance of #behuman in business (14:22), why it’s so hard to find a good HR leader (17:40), what happens when you don’t invest in leaders early on (23:35), how Beth builds business cases for HR investments (27:10), what the people team at Chime is up to right now (31:30), headcount has become an ego metric (35:08), putting together a recession proofing playbook (39:20), creating a framework for what your company will speak out about (41:35), the career advice she’d give to her 22-year-old self (44:00), and the HR problem she’d fix with a magic wand (47:45). Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for the top 3 takeaways and the full transcript of each new episode: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Connect with us on LinkedIn! Daniel Huerta and Stephen Huerta

Jackson Lynch, 3-time CHRO and Founder of 90Consulting, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why there needs to be consistency in what’s expected from a CHRO, why talent strategy should be bifurcated from talent operations, and why the job of the CHRO is so difficult. Timestamps: how working at PepsiCo in the early 2000s shaped his career (9:57), the best and worst career advice he ever received (12:22), why Jackson thinks there isn’t consistency in what is expected of a CHRO (17:12), we haven’t defined what a CHRO needs to have to be a CHRO (20:22), why we need to bifurcate operations from talent management (27:40), getting board members to set clear expectations of what good looks like for an HR leader (31:53), the 3 biggest changes for HR leaders the past couple of years (33:25), finding the least wrong answer as an HR leader (40:40), how HR teams can think differently about investment decisions being made (46:50), and the four agreements (57:24). Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for the top 3 takeaways and the full transcript of each new episode: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8 Connect with us on LinkedIn! Daniel Huerta and Stephen Huerta

Mai Ton, Chief People Officer at Fabric and Author of Come into My Office, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why your identity shouldn’t be centered around what you do at work, how she prepped her former company for the 4-day workweek, and her book that she published last year. Timestamps: why we should be jealous that Mai gets to work at Fabric (10:20), why your entire identity shouldn’t be centered around your job title (13:35), how companies can help their people rediscover themselves (22:58), sharing your story of the need to be more than your work (28:30), how Mai prepped her company for the four-day workweek (33:00), a couple of tools for taking control of your time (40:48), why she wrote a book full of her crazy stories as an HR leader (43:50), the advice she’d give her 22-year-old self (53:24), what she sees coming next for the future of work (55:18), and more. If you have any feedback for the MPL podcast or would like to connect, don't hesitate to reach out on LinkedIn: Daniel Huerta and Stephen Huerta