The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

Tracy Letzerich, Vice President of People at Wheel, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We discussed why feedback is the lifeblood of organizational progress, why Wheel is ditching the annual performance review, and why every manager should start keeping feedback journals with their team. ----  This episode was brought to you by Great Place To Work®. Download their Employee Retention Report here. ----  (0:45) Good news stories (3:52) Great Place to Work’s research on RTO mandates. (5:05) Tracy’s story: Nontraditional HR path and becoming VP of People at Wheel. (9:00) Why do some business solutions work and others fail? It boils down to the people. (13:42) What does Wheel do? (15:39) Tracy’s passion for feedback in organizations. (17:23) What does it mean to have a culture of feedback? (18:29) Was there something in the data or personal observation that led to the focus on feedback? (19:52) Tracy's journey at Wheel and the need for a new feedback model. (21:59) Feedback culture is an ongoing journey. (24:16) Balancing informal and formal feedback. (25:16) Building relationships in a remote world. (27:48) Role modeling feedback behaviors. (29:23) Rethinking the one on one: The Feedback journal. (31:32) Direct reports should own the one on one. (33:01) The challenges of being a manager today. (35:57) The journey to pay transparency at Wheel. (38:18) Resistance to change around the annual review. (39:30) Replacing the annual review with continuous feedback. (41:04) The importance of training and ongoing support for feedback. (43:09) Accountability in feedback culture. (44:22) Performance map as an alternative to the annual review. (45:01) Integrating feedback and compensation. (47:45) Rapid fire questions. ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn

Greg Hill, Chief People Officer at Exos, shares insights from his journey in HR, illustrating the evolution of Exos from elite coaching to corporate wellness. He delves into the Readiness Culture Code and the promising outcomes of implementing a four-day workweek. Hill discusses the balance between productivity and effectiveness, highlights the role of middle management in accountability, and explores the challenges of adapting workplace culture post-COVID. He also hints at future research on 'quiet quitting' and the role of generative AI in enhancing productivity.

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 of I Hate it Here and Chief People Officer at Workweek, shares her snarky perspective on HR challenges. She discusses the difficult dynamic between CEOs and CPOs, emphasizing the need for CEOs to have coaching and support. Hebba highlights the importance of elevating managers through targeted training and reflects on the growing scope of the CPO role. Her insights blend humor with honest critiques of workplace culture, making complex topics accessible while advocating for a more empathetic leadership style.

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.