The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

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

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.