Vanesa Cotlar (VP, People & Culture, PolicyMe) and Melanie Naranjo (VP, People, Ethena) joined us on The Modern People Leader. We discussed the three questions every manager should be asking themselves about their direct reports, why setting expectations with new hires can go a long way in improving performance, and how to create a common language for employees around performance. ----  This episode was brought to you by Great Place To Work®. Learn more at greatplacetowork.com/mpl. ---- (1:29) Good news stories (8:43) What’s new with Vanesa and Melanie (12:55) Why performance management is a hot topic right now (19:43) The 3 questions Ethena managers ask themselves about direct reports (21:40) Expectation setting with new hires during the first 90 days (31:47) Handling performance conversations (36:18) Create a common language for employees around performance (39:30) The percentage of managers effectively managing performance (45:39) What happens when your current team isn’t the right team to get you to the next level (51:18) Great Place To Work’s research on RTO mandates ---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get key learnings & career advice from Modern People Leaders 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn

Larry McAlister, Head of Digital Transformation at Nutanix, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We discussed what transformation looks like, the importance of defining it for your organization, and the difference between mere tinkering and true transformation. ----  This episode was brought to you by Great Place To Work®. Learn more at greatplacetowork.com/mpl. ---- (1:22) Good news stories (4:03) Great Place To Work’s research on RTO mandates (5:41) Going from CHRO roles to the Head of Digital Transformation  (9:02) What he does as a Head of Digital Transformation (10:20) What Nutanix does (10:59) Why we should be jealous he gets to work at Nutanix (13:45) What is transformation? (16:04) You need an enablement strategy for new HR tech (18:00) Get very specific about what transformation means to your company (20:00) Tinkering versus transformation (23:07) Tell people the truth about the change that’s coming (27:20) Generative AI & Microsoft Co-Pilot (38:55) The only reason there's still humans in Talent Acquisition (42:50) Why he wrote The Power to Transform (45:13) You are a technologist (46:56) Rapid fire questions ---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get key learnings & career advice from Modern People Leaders 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn

HR experts JP Elliott, Stephen Huerta, & Daniel Huerta discuss the future of HR leadership, challenges, and insights. Topics include elevating next-gen HR leaders, limiting beliefs, HR time capsule ideas, team performance reviews, and contrasting practices in startups vs. Fortune 500 companies.

Nick Bloom, Stanford Economist & Co-Founder of wfhresearch.com, discusses managing in a hybrid environment, WFH data points, benefits of being in office, and the four versions of the 4-day workweek. He also predicts future work trends and shares the weird things he's researching next.

Hebba Youssef, Founder & Creator of I Hate it Here & Chief People Officer at Workweek, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the work they're doing to elevate their managers to the next level, why the CEO and Chief People Officer dynamic is challenging, and whether there has been scope creep for the CPO role. ----  This episode was brought to you by Great Place to Work®. Download their latest research on Return-to-Office Mandates here. ---- 2:36 Good news stories 10:26 Your thirties 14:04 Hebba’s story 21:49 Balancing Dual Roles: CPO and Content Creator 25:42 What Hebba dislikes most about being a creator 27:30 Maturing as a company is painful 31:09 Getting managers to the next level 33:14 Friday manager trainings at Workweek 39:20 Changing the mindset of leaders to want to change 45:45 Why the CEO and Chief People Officer dynamic is difficult 48:53 Your CEO needs a professional coach and a therapist 54:24 Is the scope of the CPO role getting too big? 57:56 The piece of HR that Hebba would give away 59:11 Rapid fire questions ---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get key learnings & career advice from Modern People Leaders 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn

Erin Thomas, VP, Head of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging at Upwork, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how her team is leveraging data in their DEI work, why you need high utility DEI programs, and she shared a couple examples from the last year at Upwork. ----  This episode was brought to you by Great Place to Work. Learn more at greatplacetowork.com/mpl. ---- 1:11 Good news stories 05:22 Erin’s Journey to becoming the VP of DIB at Upwork 07:32 Where DEI efforts can go wrong 14:11 The polarization of DEI 16:50 Key ingredients of DEIB work in 2024 19:09 The Importance of Data in DEI 25:10 The GlowUp community at Upwork 30:00 DIBs programs VS the DEI work that has to be deeply integrated into the business 35:04 Using AI to improve feedback quality for people of color 41:13 Exploring Generative AI in DEI 46:12 Making DEI work fun 51:31 Rapid Fire Questions 55:03 Future of Work and DEI ---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get key learnings & career advice from Modern People Leaders 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn

Don Robertson, EVP & CHRO at Northwestern Mutual, discusses prioritizing company values over star performers, the future of work focusing on skills over job titles, and challenges in driving change in the workplace. He shares insights on turning HR discussions into business outcomes, the importance of managers as career coaches, and the need for CHROs to design systems based on knowledge rather than titles.

Erica Spitale discusses the importance of soft skills in the HR job market, rebranding them as 'power skills'. She emphasizes the need to measure these skills and shares her own superpower skill. Additionally, she talks about making leadership a choice, building inclusive leadership, and the concept of the work-life smoothie.

Trey Boynton, Chief Diversity & People Officer at Chief, discusses the similarities between running a community and HR work. Topics include the divestment of DEI, the importance of intentionality in community building, and the need for leaders to constantly evolve with their people. The conversation also touches on onboarding community members, the leadership crisis, and the value of leaders acknowledging what they don't know.

Sam Baber, SVP of People at Kalkomey Enterprises, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the work his company is doing to build a high performance culture, why he’s consolidating their HR tech stack, and why it’s important to maintain the perspective that HR is just a job. ---- This episode was brought to you by Tilt. Learn more at hellotilt.com/mpl. ---- (2:35) Good news stories (10:50) Sam’s story (17:35) Pivotal moments of his career (21:15) A career in HR is a journey and discovery of the human condition (24:21) What Kalkomey does (27:40) Developing conscious leaders (31:34) Building a performance culture (38:42) They’re working on their values (41:43) Thinking about the future generations (51:12) Consolidating the HR tech stack (56:58) Maintaining the perspective that HR is just a job (1:04:24) Rapid fire questions ---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get key learnings & career advice from Modern People Leaders 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn