The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

Q Hamirani (Chief People Officer, Paper) and David Hanrahan (Chief People Officer, Flare) joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about HR’s role in driving your company’s AI strategy, the best use cases for AI in HR, and why you need a solid data strategy first. ---- This episode was brought to you by Deloitte. Download their FREE Generative AI and the Future of Work report.  ---- (1:17) Good news stories (8:12) How the SXSW AIHR event came to fruition (16:22) You need a data strategy before you can have a real AI strategy (23:37) Whose responsibility is it to drive AI in the company (25:51) How HR leaders can identify where to invest in AI efforts  (31:33) We’re still very much in the innovation cycle of AI in HR (36:00) Using AI for Talent Development (38:56) There’s a lot of noise in the AI HR space right now (40:06) The best use cases for AI in HR that came out of the workshop (43:00) The one thing all people leaders need to hear about Generative AI in the workplace ---- 📬 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

Stacey Nordwall, VP of People Strategy at Pyn, discusses the burnout cycle in HR, advice for exhausted people leaders, and questions to vet people-first orgs during interviews. She also touches on the evolving role of HR leaders, red flags in the interview process, and the importance of asking specific questions to evaluate company culture.

Dena Upton, Head of People at Dandy, discusses her value framework for evaluating career moves, employee value proposition at Dandy, and their path to profitability providing career equity. Topics include building brand muscle, skills meritocracy, and connecting corporate with manufacturing employees.

Colleen McCreary, a 6x Chief People Officer turned VC, discusses the importance of looking beyond spreadsheets in VC, the lesson of profitability giving freedom, and the need for more HR professionals in VC. She shares insights on thinking like an investor, similarities between recruiting and deal-making, and the state of HR. The podcast unveils the value of human judgment in decision-making, emphasizing the limitations of data-driven analysis in HR and venture capital.

Anessa Fike, Author & “Queen of Fractional HR”, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about what’s contributed to her success as a fractional people leader, why it’s hard to move the needle in HR, and why we need to stop going through motions in HR. ---- If you’re an HR leader that’s trying to uplevel your managers’ 1x1 meetings, check out Leapsome’s FREE Meeting’s Module. ---- (1:33) Good news stories (8:54) Anessa’s story (17:44) The more open you are to the universe, the more opportunities you will see (19:47) What’s contributed to her success as a fractional people leader (23:00) The state of the union for HR  (25:50) It’s hard to move the needle in HR because it’s set up that way (29:06) The Revolution of Work: Fuck the patriarchy and the workplace it built (31:41) Stop going through the motions as an HR leader (38:40) Why CEOs are more prone to listening to a fractional executive over their people leader (40:55) You’re allowed to be way bolder as a fractional HR leader (44:20) The real reason she thinks there’s a disconnect between CPOs and CEOs (50:27) We need to step away from fear based leadership (52:40) Where to get her new book (53:47) 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

David Hanrahan, Chief People Officer at Flare, shares insights on testing team performance reviews, lessons from a survey to first-time CPOs, and the value of seeking mentorship from executives outside HR. Topics include rebuilding culture, AI emergence, handling layoffs, and actionable feedback from reviews.

Topics discussed in the podcast include having a common management language, the 70:20:10 rule for learning, changing behaviors in companies, and the 'no-drama feedback model'. They also touch on manager effectiveness, the traits of an effective manager, challenges in manager training, building a business case for training, and bringing people together to learn.

Zapier’s Wade Foster (Co-Founder & CEO) and Brandon Sammut (Chief People Officer) joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about how they pre-vetted their match in the interview process, why they did a company-wide AI hackathon, and how Zapier’s people team is building with AI. ---- If you’re an HR leader that’s trying to uplevel your managers’ 1x1 meetings, check out Leapsome’s FREE Meeting’s Module: ---- (1:23) Good news stories (7:29) How Zapier found their dream Chief People Officer (12:14) How this CPO pre-vetted the match with his CEO before accepting the offer (15:49) Zapier CEO put all the cards on the table for their Chief People Officer before he took the job (25:04) They swapped their 360 feedback in the interview process (30:33) How they shaped the prioritization of the people team (34:40) Zapier did a company-wide AI hackathon (41:41) What Zapier's People Team is building with AI (44:52) 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

Jennifer Henderson, Founder & CEO at Tilt, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about her disappointing experiences in corporate America that led her to building Tilt, the history of leave, the #1 way to create gender parity in the workforce, and what it looks like to successfully help people navigate these big life moments. ---- Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl. ---- (0:50) Good news stories (6:33) Jen’s disappointing experience in corporate America led her to building Tilt (12:00) What Tilt does (15:14) The history of leave (18:06) Why leave is here to stay (26:09) How AI is impacting the leave management space (32:42) The #1 way to create gender parity in the workforce (34:25) What a successful leave looks like (39:17) How Tilt is drinking their own champagne (41:08) 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

James Hudson, former TA leader at Nike and Levi’s, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about why the job market is more broken than ever before, why you should be more customer-centric in how you’re building talent pipelines, and how to make yourself more discoverable to recruiters on LinkedIn. ---- If you’re an HR leader that’s trying to uplevel your managers’ 1x1 meetings, check out Leapsome’s FREE Meeting’s Module. ---- (1:58) Good news stories (8:43) His career journey (32:30) The job market is more broken than ever (39:30) Remote jobs are getting 8x the volume of applications (42:24) Build long term talent pipelines by being more customer centric (46:27) How to make yourself more discoverable to recruiters on LinkedIn (52:03) Building a tech stack for the future in recruiting (55:00) 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