The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

Yemi Akisanya, Global Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Groupon, joined us on The Modern People Leader. This episode is filled with nuggets of gold. Yemi talks about why DEI needs to be a competency that every leader has, why your company needs to build a business case for DEI, and why you should focus on building a strategy instead of racking up a couple of quick wins. Timestamps: defining diversity, equity, and inclusion (20:50), the question you need to answer: why DEI now? (28:35), building a business case for DEI and making it more than a moral case (30:07), executives need to build the leadership competencies related to DEI (38:24), DEI programming CANNOT be effective if the CEO doesn’t have the competency to drive it (43:23), DEI is a cultural transformation (48:27), socializing your DEI data as a corporation (51:53), building an actual DEI strategy > quick wins (53:23), and shifting DEI from programming to leadership competencies (58:50). 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

Christopher D. Lee, CHRO at William & Mary, joined us on The Modern People Leader. He shared how he went from a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps to being the CHRO of one of the oldest and most prestigious schools in the US. We discussed how a leader's job is to help each employee be their very best, why boosting your employees’ confidence is important, and how to drive performance conversations by asking the right questions. Timestamps: why HR practitioners are miseducated & the 4 elements of HR (19:00), a leaders job is to help every employee be their very best (27:36), discretionary effort = employee engagement (31:20), boosting the confidence of your people (38:27), asking the right questions to drive performance conversations (42:25), and the common objections to scrapping the performance review (57:24). 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

Today we discussed the history of burnout and the power of kindness in the workplace. 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

Today we dove deep into employee engagement & what companies can do if they need to revamp their approach. Timestamps: the convergence of engagement and pulse surveys (2:53), what a “cookie-cutter” employee engagement strategy looks like (4:15), how pulse surveys have evolved over the years (6:10), what a blended engagement strategy looks like (7:18), where to start when revamping your engagement strategy (9:34), setting goals for your engagement strategy (11:16), what good and bad survey design looks like (15:26), the 3 primary engagement models being used right now (21:20), big misses in engagement in 2020 (29:00) 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

Kristen Barbor, VP, Global HR at Groupon, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We touched on a lot: how to be human on the HR side during tough times, how consensus-driven decision-making can be detrimental, and Groupon’s employee engagement strategy. Timestamps: being human during tough times goes a long way (13:40), using creativity as a secret weapon in HR (21:08), why consensus-driven decision making can be detrimental at times (23:30), deep-dive into Groupon’s employee engagement strategy (27:20), creating task forces to drive action after employee engagement surveys (33:50), and rebuilding and reenergizing Groupon’s workforce (39:17). 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

Leah Pettinari, Director, People Strategy & Engagement at The Boston Beer Company, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how The Boston Beer Company plans to pilot different work scenarios to figure out what works best for their people.  Timestamps: how COVID has impacted connection at BBC (13:47), how they’re adapting to the new virtual world (16:00) the fundamental elements that have improved their virtual approach (19:33), the higher productivity & improved pace of work in our new normal (23:58) how they plan to maintain flexibility AND drive better connection between their people (31:39), how they're piloting different work scenarios to see what works best for them (33:00), providing incentives for people to come into the office (38:01), and the aversion to returning to what work was (40:50). 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

Libby Fiumara, Talent Program Manager at Expel, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how Expel is turning performance management upside down. Timestamps: when she realized she wanted to hone in on one facet of HR (5:54), why Expel rebranded performance management to performance enablement (7:18), turning performance management upside down (11:57), training managers to be more human (14:15), using the wobble scale to navigate tough conversations (16:16) applying energy management to prevent burnout (26:55), deploying quarterly "reflect and resets" (29:09), creating a common vocabulary across the company (31:41), making HR a sounding board (35:00), hybrid vs. remote vs. in-office decisions for companies (36:16), where you should start if you’re rethinking performance management (46:44), Adam Grant’s Think Again (49:05), and wine and performance coaching (50:25) LibeLabs Learning: Hybrid & Remote Work Playbook 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

Hallie Bregman, Global Head of People Analytics at PTC, joined us on The Modern People Leader. This episode is filled with nuggets of gold: Why the future Chief People Officer will have an analytics background (8:41), how COVID has elevated people analytics (10:09), the evolution of people analytics (11:40), the nuance between reporting & analytics (14:15), using analytics to tell stories (18:27), organizing your people analytics team (20:08), applying analytics to the candidate experience (24:08), getting alignment with stakeholders on analytics initiatives (31:20), year one of PTC's analytics journey (37:03), putting together the initial roadmap for people analytics (41:37), where to start with DEI analytics (44:56), how to run a self-identification campaign for DEI (48:06), and why Hallie hates diversity dashboards (50:18). 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

Michelle Wax, the founder of the American Happiness Project, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about her journey across the USA to learn what brings everyday Americans happiness and fulfillment and much more. Timestamps: why Michelle started the American Happiness Project (3:34), the 500 people that she interviewed on happiness (12:18), “you’re protected on this earth until you’ve served your purpose” (15:25), biggest lessons learned along her journey (19:32), consistent themes for creating happiness (25:04), why you should make the big life shift that your family doesn’t totally understand (32:01), the YOLO economy (33:42), & self-awareness will lead to a happier workforce (49:02). 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

Rhiana Barr, Chief People Officer at KushCo, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why HR needs to be involved early in the M&A process, how to ensure a successful cultural integration, and much more. Timestamps: why working in a wide range of industries has been so critical to her career growth (3:38), strategic workforce planning based on legislation (10:22), the changing perception of working in the cannabis industry (17:26), why HR needs to get involved early in the M&A process (23:39), the culture diligence is the missing piece to successful mergers and acquisitions (24:41), her step-by-step process for assessing culture pre-integration (29:16), why an HR leader is running their integration management office (33:25), and creating a single culture is a journey with your people (47:16),  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