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The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

By The Modern People Leader

Listen to interviews with CHROs, Chief People Officers, and other work experts on how they're pioneering the way that we work. They share what's working, what's not, and how they've gotten to where they're at in their careers.
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25 - Libby Fiumara (Talent Program Manager, Expel) on Turning Performance Management Upside Down

The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HRMay 12, 2021

00:00
59:35
168 - It’s hard to move the needle in HR because it’s set up that way: Anessa Fike (Author, 14x Chief People Officer, & Founder of Fike+Co)

168 - It’s hard to move the needle in HR because it’s set up that way: Anessa Fike (Author, 14x Chief People Officer, & Founder of Fike+Co)

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.

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If you’re an HR leader that’s trying to uplevel your managers’ 1x1 meetings, check out Leapsome’s FREE Meeting’s Module.

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(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

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Mar 27, 202401:01:15
167 - Testing team performance reviews & insights from survey sent to 61 first-time CPOs: David Hanrahan (Chief People Officer, Flare)

167 - Testing team performance reviews & insights from survey sent to 61 first-time CPOs: David Hanrahan (Chief People Officer, Flare)

David Hanrahan, Chief People Officer at Flare, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about how he’s testing team performance reviews at Flare, the learnings from a survey that he sent out to 61 first-time CPOs, and why you should seek out mentorship from executives outside of HR.

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get access to their Employee Journey Designer here.

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(1:45) Good news stories

(5:30) What David’s been up to since we had him on in 2021

(11:02) What Flare does

(13:11) Why we should be jealous that David gets to work at Flare

(16:11) Rebuilding culture after a great period of change

(22:16) The emergence of AI & how constant change is the new reality

(25:20) Advice for People Leaders out there that are going through layoffs

(29:50) Sharing the plan coming out of layoffs

(31:30) Team performance reviews

(37:03) The actionable feedback that’s come out of team performance reviews

(43:00) Learnings from the survey that David sent out to first-time Chief People Officers

(47:30) Seeking mentorship from leaders outside of the HR world

(48:50) Rapid fire questions

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Mar 22, 202455:04
166 - Having a common management language & the “no-drama feedback model”: Lindsey Nehls (Elevate Leadership)

166 - Having a common management language & the “no-drama feedback model”: Lindsey Nehls (Elevate Leadership)

Lindsey Nehls, Co-Founder at Elevate Leadership, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about the importance of having a common management language, the 70:20:10 rule for learning, changing behaviors in your company, and the “no drama feedback model”.  

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Learn more about the “No-Drama Feedback Model”: https://www.elevateleadership.com/modernpeopleleader

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get access to their Employee Journey Designer here.

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(1:08) Good news stories

(5:51) Lindsey’s “full life story”

(13:30) How she looks at manager effectiveness

(14:50) The 3 traits of an effective manager

(17:22) On whether it’s harder to be a manager today

(18:42) What’s holding managers back from being effective

(20:17) The difference between good and bad manager training

(25:18) Building a business case for manager training

(30:44) Bringing people together to learn

(33:51) Having a common management language

(38:00) Training on skills that are specific to your company

(39:14) The 70:20:10 model

(42:30) Changing behaviors in your company

(48:30) The no-drama feedback model

(54:08) Rapid fire questions

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Mar 19, 202401:00:48
165 - Zapier's CEO & Chief People Officer: Pre-vetting their match, Zapier’s AI Hackathon, & how the people team is building with AI

165 - Zapier's CEO & Chief People Officer: Pre-vetting their match, Zapier’s AI Hackathon, & how the people team is building with AI

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.

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If you’re an HR leader that’s trying to uplevel your managers’ 1x1 meetings, check out Leapsome’s FREE Meeting’s Module:

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(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

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Mar 15, 202449:34
164 - Navigating big life moments at work: Jennifer Henderson (Founder & CEO, Tilt)

164 - Navigating big life moments at work: Jennifer Henderson (Founder & CEO, Tilt)

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.

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Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl.

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(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

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Mar 13, 202452:22
163 - The job market is more broken than ever: James Hudson (former TA leader @ Nike & Levi’s)
Mar 08, 202401:01:24
162 - How Expedia's disability inclusion leader is using her superpowers to bring about change to work & travel
Mar 06, 202448:02
161 - HR will help shape the future of human identity: The Disrupted Workforce
Mar 01, 202459:30
160 - Dave Ulrich: The ROI of HR is "Return on Intangibles"
Feb 26, 202459:17
159 - Huertanomics: Does going fractional in HR solve the burnout issue?
Feb 23, 202441:45
158 - Managers will make or break your company: Luck Dookchitra (VP of People, Leapsome) & Jenny von Podewils (Co-CEO, Leapsome)

158 - Managers will make or break your company: Luck Dookchitra (VP of People, Leapsome) & Jenny von Podewils (Co-CEO, Leapsome)

Leapsome’s Luck Dookchitra, VP of People, and Jenny von Podewils, Co-founder & Co-CEO, joined us on The Modern People Leader.

We talked about the evolution of the manager role over the last 5-10 years, “Review Jams” at Leapsome, and how to make manager 1x1s better.

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If you’re an HR leader that’s trying to uplevel your managers’ 1x1 meetings, use Leapsome’s FREE Meeting’s Module.

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(1:47) Good news stories

(6:55) The story behind what brought Luck to Leapsome

(11:58) What Leapsome does

(19:23) Defining the Chief People Officer role

(26:30) The 3 most important objectives they’re working on together as CEO and VP of People

(28:37) How Luck has approached her first 4 months as VP of People

(30:00) “Review Jams” at Leapsome and where the idea came from

(34:56) Going to slow to accelerate

(37:00) The product thinking and constant iteration at Leapsome

(43:19) The evolution of the manager role

(46:50) Commonalities of the best managers

(57:06) HR’s role in manager effectiveness

(59:15) Manager enablement days at Leapsome

(1:04:28) The 3 components of meaningful 1x1 meetings

(1:09:04) How to make 1x1s better 

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Feb 19, 202401:17:41
157 - Norton Healthcare’s Alumni Network
Feb 16, 202431:35
156 - How to identify (and keep) your top talent: Jess Johannson (CHRO, Canada Goose)

156 - How to identify (and keep) your top talent: Jess Johannson (CHRO, Canada Goose)

Jess Johannson, CHRO at Canada Goose, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about what’s wrong with the performance review process, what Organizational Network Analysis is, and how to find and recognize the key contributors at your company.

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get access to their Employee Journey Designer here.

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[00:01:41] Good news stories

[00:08:00] Jess’s career journey and her role at Canada Goose

[00:14:16] Trends and outlook for 2024

[00:22:31] Exploring generative AI's impact on HR and inclusivity

[00:33:28] Innovating the performance review process with organizational network analysis (ONA)

[00:42:20] Linking performance reviews to compensation

[00:45:34] Goals and transformation at Canada Goose

[00:49:00] Rapid-fire questions

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Feb 13, 202454:33
155 - Advice for Burnt Out Leaders: Kenneth Ceaser (Chief People & Culture Officer, Mothers Against Drunk Driving)

155 - Advice for Burnt Out Leaders: Kenneth Ceaser (Chief People & Culture Officer, Mothers Against Drunk Driving)

Kenneth Ceaser, Chief People & Culture Officer at Mothers Against Drunk Driving, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about the impact of his HR experience in the military, MADD’s people and culture strategy, and his advice for leaders that are burnt out.

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get access to their Employee Journey Designer here.

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(1:02) Good news stories

(07:28) Kenneth's career journey, starting from his upbringing, joining the Air Force, and transitioning to HR roles in the civilian sector.

(14:40) Insights into the transformation and challenges faced by MAD and HR's role in driving change.

(19:13) The impact of military experience on Kenneth's leadership and HR practices.

(26:27) Kenneth discusses prioritizing strategic objectives and the importance of workforce planning for MAD's goals.

(32:59) Exploring the future of HR technology and the balance between automation and personal touch in HR practices.

(36:26) Advice for burnt out leaders

(47:59) Rapid fire questions

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Feb 09, 202454:06
154 - Embracing a Culture of Healthy Conflict: Katya Laviolette (Chief People Officer, 1Password)

154 - Embracing a Culture of Healthy Conflict: Katya Laviolette (Chief People Officer, 1Password)

Katya Laviolette, Chief People Officer at 1Password, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about the art of saying “no” in HR, why healthy conflict leads to better business outcomes, and tips for having tough talks.

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This episode was brought to you by Leapsome. Join their community of 7,500+ HR folks today: People Over Perks

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(0:54) Good news stories 

(6:22) Katya's career journey and her role at 1Password

(11:06) Comparing large organization and startup experiences in HR

(13:46) Discussing the importance of having experience in both large and small companies for HR professionals

(20:57) State of the union for HR

(32:21) Embracing a culture of healthy conflict within organizations

(42:49) The transition to remote work and the impact of the pandemic on 1Password's operations

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Feb 06, 202401:04:49
153 - Reverse integrating a 10k employee company into a startup: Holly May (Former Chief People Officer at Datavant)

153 - Reverse integrating a 10k employee company into a startup: Holly May (Former Chief People Officer at Datavant)

Holly May, former Chief People Officer at Datavant, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about Datavant’s reverse integration: how they unified the two people teams, how they used real-life stories to illustrate their new values, and how they’ve made the company more agile.

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get access to their Employee Journey Designer here.

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Read Holly's leadership lessons from her time at Datavant.

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(1:00) Good news stories

(6:18) Her journey to becoming Chief People Officer at Datavant

(11:08) Going from being the CPO at a 100 person company to a 9,000 person company overnight

(14:20) Her approach to job searching and the value of targeting companies for their culture and potential for growth.

(17:08) The concept of 'done is better than perfect

(19:52) Reflections on the challenges and opportunities of integrating and leading a significantly larger HR team post-merger.

(22:00) The cultural integration and value alignment efforts post-merger

(22:00) Holly expresses her initial reaction to being asked to lead a much larger people team post-merger and discusses the challenges of integrating different organizational cultures.

(24:00) How Holly approached transforming the HR function to align with the new, larger organization's goals and culture.

(26:00) The importance of building a strong team culture and ensuring the HR team's alignment with the company's strategic objectives.

(35:30) Challenges and successes of implementing a new employee engagement and feedback system.

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Feb 02, 202455:28
152 - Southwest Airlines' Culture Team, Onboarding, & Moments that Matter: Whitney Eichinger (SVP & Chief Communications Officer) & Lori Winters (VP Total Rewards)
Jan 31, 202421:49
151 - Becoming a more Transparent Organization: Adam Horne (Co-Founder, Open Org)

151 - Becoming a more Transparent Organization: Adam Horne (Co-Founder, Open Org)

Adam Horne, Co-Founder at Open Org, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

He shared examples of the most transparent organizations, how to build a business case for more transparency, how to avoid giving employees mixed messages on things like flexible work, and unique ways of becoming more transparent.

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This episode was brought to you by Leapsome. Explore their intelligent HR platform here.

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(01:00) Good news stories

(08:00) Adam Horne's career journey and entrepreneurship.

(16:00) Open Org: Concept and impact.

(21:00) Transparency challenges in HR.

(34:00) Strategies for HR leaders: Approaching CEOs.

(38:00) Diversity and transparency in organizations.

(44:00) Decision making and internal transparency.

(49:00) Benchmarking companies in transparency.

(52:30) Open Org's free resources.

(53:00) Reflections from Open Org's cohorts.

(55:00) Rapid fire questions

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Jan 29, 202401:00:57
150 - How Top Companies Build Winning Cultures: Simon Taylor (Head of Organization Effectiveness, Gap)

150 - How Top Companies Build Winning Cultures: Simon Taylor (Head of Organization Effectiveness, Gap)

Simon Taylor, Head of Organizational Effectiveness at Gap, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

He shared the three steps to building a high performance culture, the three things all leaders need to do really well, and the commonalities that he’s noticed among the top performing companies.

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This episode was brought to you by Leapsome. Explore their intelligent HR platform here.

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Pre-order his book Build Smart: A Blueprint for Building a High-Performing Organization

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Timestamps:

(1:55) Good news stories

(7:50) Chasing his childhood dream of moving to America

(11:29) What you do in Organizational Effectiveness

(13:12) Why we should be jealous Simon gets to work for the Gap

(14:30) Culture change is the number two priority for Global HR leaders right now

(18:43) The conflation between values and culture

(22:17) The 3 steps to building a high performance culture

(27:35) Shoring up sponsorship for culture initiatives with your leaders first

(33:30) His experience writing his first book

(35:03) Commonalities among the top performing companies 

(37:52) The three things all leaders need to do really well

(49:04) How Simon identified his playbook for building a high performance organization

(50:37) The four pillars of building and managing a high performance organization

(53:46) Biohacking

(1:03:40) Rapid fire questions

(1:07:44) Build Smart: A blueprint for building a high performing organization

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Jan 26, 202401:10:08
149 - 1,000 Days of Distributed at Atlassian (Annie Dean, VP of Team Anywhere at Atlassian)

149 - 1,000 Days of Distributed at Atlassian (Annie Dean, VP of Team Anywhere at Atlassian)

Annie Dean, VP of Team Anywhere at Atlassian, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

She shared Atlassian’s learnings after 1,000 days of distributed work: their calendar redesign experiment, the impact of in-person gatherings on team connection levels, and the ROI of real estate at Atlassian.

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get access to their Employee Journey Designer here.

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(4:03) Good news stories

(9:17) Annie's journey from practicing law to becoming a leader in workplace innovation.

(14:22) Transition to Atlassian and the philosophy of 'Team Anywhere'.

(20:59) Discussion about Atlassian's core values and its unique Australian influence.

(24:53) Launching the '1000 days of distributed Atlassian' report and its insights.

(27:06) The significance of data-driven decision-making in a distributed work environment.

(31:15) The importance of setting priorities and how it shapes Atlassian's work culture.

(37:09) Exploration of time zone impacts on team effectiveness.

(39:18) Addressing challenges in distributed work environments and measuring team connection.

(43:33) The role of real estate and office space in Atlassian’s distributed model.

(47:25) Annie's thoughts on building a strong company culture in a distributed setup.

(52:00) Closing thoughts and takeaways from the discussion.

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Jan 22, 202401:09:32
148 - The CHRO & CEO Relationship: Hannah Yardley (Chief People & Culture Officer, Achievers)
Jan 18, 202454:54
147 - Help employees find their higher purpose: Sunny Grosso (Workplace Wellbeing Igniter & Culture Maven)

147 - Help employees find their higher purpose: Sunny Grosso (Workplace Wellbeing Igniter & Culture Maven)

Sunny Grosso, Workplace Wellbeing Igniter & Culture Maven, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about the current state of happiness at work, why wellbeing starts with your leadership team, transcendence and its role in the workplace, and helping employees find their higher purpose.

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This episode was brought to you by Leapsome. Explore their intelligent HR platform here.

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(0:55) Good news stories (04:50) Sunny shares her background, experiences, and how she became a happiness consultant (12:31) A deep dive into yoga's impact on Sunny’s personal and professional life (23:22) Sunny discusses her insights into the science of happiness and its relevance in the workplace (30:00) The employer’s role in the personal happiness of their employees (35:58) Strategies for embedding higher purpose in organizations for better culture and employee engagement (41:05) Practical advice for leaders to understand and implement concepts for a happier workplace (54:24) Discussing the concept of transcendence and its role in the workplace 

(57:38) Rapid Fire Questions

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Jan 16, 202401:02:12
146 - The first 6 months as a Chief People Officer: Q Hamirani (Chief People Officer, Paper)

146 - The first 6 months as a Chief People Officer: Q Hamirani (Chief People Officer, Paper)

Q Hamirani, Chief People Officer at Paper, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about his first 6 months as a Chief People Officer, why your company should have well-defined focus areas, advice to other first-time CPOs, and tying your HR KPIs to actual business outcomes.

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This episode was brought to you by Leapsome. Explore Leapsome's intelligent HR platform here.

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Go check out The PeopleGPT Community.

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(1:26) How Q’s first 6 months as Chief People Officer went

(7:45) Good news stories

(13:42) What Q’s journey as a first-time Chief People Officer has looked like so far

(18:45) Setting rigor on backfilling and workforce planning process

(21:30) How he describes the role of Chief People Officer

(23:08) Why people should aspire to be a Chief People Officer

(24:30) Rebuilding trust at Paper

(27:30) Why they moved comms under the People Team

(30:29) Defining the three areas of focus for the business

(39:06) Advice to other first-time CPOs

(42:45) Tying HR KPIs to actual business outcomes

(46:05) Changing his views on AI in HR

(51:47) Why he built the PeopleGPT community

(1:03:42) Rapid Fire Questions

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Jan 09, 202401:09:19
145 - Broken Systems & Shifting from Pay to Performance Convos: Haris Ikram (Co-Founder at CandorIQ)

145 - Broken Systems & Shifting from Pay to Performance Convos: Haris Ikram (Co-Founder at CandorIQ)

Haris Ikram, Co-Founder at CandorIQ, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

First, he interviewed us about how we got into the HR space and times we’ve noticed “the system” to be broken. Then, he shared how we can empower managers to have pay conversations, the insights they need to turn those talks into performance conversations, and how you can be more proactive about pay increases.

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Get the Pay Transparency Playbook: https://www.candoriq.com/resources/pay-transparency-playbook

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(1:45) Good news stories

(7:07) Haris interviews us

(8:07) How we got into the HR & People space

(14:50) Examples of times where we’ve noticed “the system” is broken

(23:16) Examples of times when the system has worked

(30:00) Stephen’s biggest learnings from interviewing over 100+ people leaders

(33:00) How Haris got into the HR Tech world

(35:30) The products need to work for the people team versus the other way around

(36:20) The most difficult thing about being a founder

(37:30) What CandorIQ does and why we should be jealous he gets to work there

(41:02) Equipping managers to have conversations about pay

(43:22) What makes talking about comp so hard

(46:47) The insights you need to turn pay conversations into performance conversations

(50:00) Understanding churn risks within your team 

(54:05) How to be more proactive with pay increases

(56:40) How remote and global work has changed pay over the last 3 or 4 years

(59:00) Moving pay data out of spreadsheets

(1:01:06) Rapid fire questions

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Dec 18, 202301:10:16
144 - An HR Leader’s Journey with Workplace Accommodations: Jodie Cenci (HR Director, Primary.com)
Dec 13, 202301:05:28
143 - The Science of High Performing Teams: Josh Siegal (VP People, 7Shifts)

143 - The Science of High Performing Teams: Josh Siegal (VP People, 7Shifts)

Josh Siegal, VP of People at 7Shifts, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about navigating complexity and conflict at work, the biggest misconceptions about high performing teams, and what the science says about the highest performing teams.

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get access to their Employee Journey Designer here.

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(2:40) Good news stories

(6:46) Josh’s non traditional path to becoming a VP of People

(8:22) What 7Shifts does

(13:28) The current state of HR: Complexity & Conflict

(15:45) Navigating complexity and burnout in the world we’re in

(18:17) Getting laser focused

(21:30) Creating a safe environment for people during tough times

(30:40) Biggest misconceptions about having a high performing team

(35:35) Renewal rituals and speedy meetings

(37:14) Listening to the rhythms in your body

(40:00) Take a hard look at your daily activities to prioritize focus work

(42:40) Rapid fire questions

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Dec 05, 202349:12
142 - The Retention Revolution: Erica Keswin (Author, Speaker, & Workplace Strategist)

142 - The Retention Revolution: Erica Keswin (Author, Speaker, & Workplace Strategist)

Erica Keswin, author of three WSJ best-sellers, workplace strategist, and podcast host, joined us on The Modern People Leader. This episode was recorded at O.C. Tanner's Influence Greatness.

She shared why we should be elevating and celebrating managers, examples of companies that are nailing onboarding, how to connect new hires to purpose as quickly as possible, and why talent mobility is so important.

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get access to their FREE Employee Journey Designer here.

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(0:40) Good news stories

(3:43) Where the idea for Retention Revolution came from

(6:23) Erica’s writing process

(10:19) The science and stories of connection at work

(12:43) Managers are having a moment so we need to elevate and celebrate them

(14:55) Onboarding, onboarding, onboarding: start as you mean to go on

(19:56) Managers are overburdened and undertrained

(23:47) Being a human professional is not an oxymoron

(27:34) Examples of how to connect new hires to purpose as quickly as possible

(29:39) Talent Mobility: from ladders to lily pads

(35:09) Higher “Churnover” is good

(37:06) Smart companies know how to get positive return out of employee churn

(40:20) Say goodbye to the lifestyles of the rich and flexible and hello to the flex for all

(42:55) The single biggest challenge Modern People Leaders are facing today

(43:30) Finding the sweet spot between tech and connect

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Nov 28, 202351:04
141 - Understanding the EX across 140k employees: Johanna Söderström (EVP, Chief People Officer, Tyson Foods)

141 - Understanding the EX across 140k employees: Johanna Söderström (EVP, Chief People Officer, Tyson Foods)

Johanna Söderström, EVP & Chief People Officer at Tyson Foods, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  

We talked about how she’s gotten a better understanding of the EX across Tyson’s 140k employees, how they've trained up the executive team on digitalization and building a learning organization, and how her non HR experience has shaped her approach as an HR leader.

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get access to their FREE Employee Journey Designer here.

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(3:33) Good news stories

(9:45) Johanna’s story: Born in Helsinki —> having “Sisu” —> handball champion —> Ericsson —> finance & marketing experience —> pivot to HR —> moving to Germany for Dow Chemical —> using the internet for recruiting —> Today

(22:20) 90k of Tyson Food’s 140k employees are frontline employees

(24:45) Why we should be jealous she gets to work at Tyson Foods

(27:31) Understanding the different cohorts of employees that work at Tyson 

(31:08) Running Tyson Food’s first ever engagement survey

(35:05) More firsts at Tyson Foods

(38:38) Johanna loves to create, build, & transform

(40:20) The momentum that has built since beginning their transformation

(43:00) HR needs to be hungrier for new skills

(49:17) Her thoughts on what’s to come with AI

(51:13) Tyson brought in an external expert to train the executive team on Digitalization and becoming a Learning Organization

(54:13) How her non HR experience has helped shape her approach as an HR leader

(58:00) Where future people leaders should be investing time to develop themselves

(1:01:37) The level of stress in society

(1:04:24) Rapid Fire Questions

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Nov 20, 202301:11:56
140 - Designing the Employee Journey & Going from CPO to HR Tech CEO: Joris Luijke (CEO of Pyn | Former CPO @ Typeform)

140 - Designing the Employee Journey & Going from CPO to HR Tech CEO: Joris Luijke (CEO of Pyn | Former CPO @ Typeform)

Joris Luijke, CEO at Pyn, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  

We talked about why “Employee Experience Design” has been getting more attention this last decade, how hard it is to be a Chief People Officer right now, and two ways information management is becoming easier to handle.

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get access to their FREE Employee Journey Designer here.

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(2:11) Good news stories

(6:56) Joris is a Chief People Officer turned HR Tech CEO

(9:37) He didn’t intend on being an entrepreneur

(12:39) One of his ideas as an HR leader that totally flopped

(14:43) What Pyn does

(17:21) Why we should be jealous he gets to work at Pyn

(20:55) The focus on “Employee Experience Design” is getting way more serious

(25:34) The advancements of AI in the workplace

(36:09) How hard it is to be a Chief People Officer right now

(39:31) The information management is a big challenge for People Leaders

(42:47) Targeted communications is about sending less communications and not more

(46:56) Two ways information management is getting a little bit easier

(50:56) How to selling something like Pyn to your CFO

(55:33) The Employee Journey Mapper

(58:46) Rapid Fire Questions

(1:04:53) A message from Pyn

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Nov 13, 202301:07:52
139 - Pat Wadors (Chief People Officer, UKG): Creating a Personal Scorecard, Coining “DIBs”, & The Agile Leader

139 - Pat Wadors (Chief People Officer, UKG): Creating a Personal Scorecard, Coining “DIBs”, & The Agile Leader

Pat Wadors, Chief People Officer at UKG, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  

She shared the story of coining the term “DIBs”, what’s on her personal scorecard and “Goldilocks Spreadsheet”, and why it’s important to be an “Agile Leader”. 

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This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get early access to their Employee Journey Designer here.

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(3:13) Good news stories

(8:03) Pat’s story 

(11:45) What Pat learned about HR from her uncle

(15:03) Learning to ask for help & building muscle in areas she didn’t feel as comfortable in

(16:38) What UKG does and why we should be jealous she gets to work there

(18:14) The state of the union for HR

(21:06) How Pat created the B in DIB

(28:40) Putting the scaffolding around managers and leaders so they can be leaders for all

(30:38) Why she recommends creating a personal scorecard

(37:20) What’s on her Goldilock’s Spreadsheet

(41:00) Pat’s purpose statement

(45:05) Asking for feedback to “Polish The Apple”

(46:49) Why it’s important to be an “Agile Leader”

(52:40) Characteristics of an “Agile Leader”

(55:51) Rapid fire questions

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Nov 06, 202301:01:35
138 - Building culture in a remote-first environment: Vanesa Cotlar (VP People & Culture, PolicyMe)

138 - Building culture in a remote-first environment: Vanesa Cotlar (VP People & Culture, PolicyMe)

Vanesa Cotlar, VP of People & Culture at PolicyMe, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  

She shared how to get executive buy-in on people team hires you plan to make, what goes into building culture in a remote-first environment, and how to build trust remotely. 

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This episode was brought to you by CandorIQ. Learn more here.

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(2:25) Good news stories

(7:52) Vanesa’s career journey

(12:54) How being a founder has helped her as a People Leader

(15:26) What PolicyMe does

(17:25) Employee choice & AI in HR

(21:12) Experimenting with ChatGPT

(29:35) What’s keeping her up at night

(31:05) Getting executive buy-in on hires you plan to make for the people team (see original post)

(32:35) Her “if I had time, I’d do it” list

(38:16) Building a good culture in a remote-first environment

(41:55) The 12 events PolicyMe has per year

(47:48) The importance of collecting feedback on a regular cadence

(50:35) Building trust in a remote-first environment

(56:15) Her advice to the one-person HR teams out there

(59:30) Rapid fire questions

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Oct 30, 202301:10:09
137 - Handling No’s from your CEO & Reminding fellow execs what HR is optimizing for: Melanie Naranjo (VP People, Ethena)

137 - Handling No’s from your CEO & Reminding fellow execs what HR is optimizing for: Melanie Naranjo (VP People, Ethena)

Melanie Naranjo, VP of People at Ethena, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  

We talked about how to handle no’s from your CEO, the questions to ask leadership when you’re interviewing for the top HR role, and why you need to remind fellow execs what you’re optimizing for on the people side.

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This episode was brought to you by People Leader Accelerator. Learn more here.

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(3:22) Good news stories

(14:50) Melanie’s story

(20:38) Melanie was too rigid in her approach early on in her career

(23:33) CEOs need to invest time into their HR leaders

(27:05) How to handle no’s from your CEO

(31:26) Using an agile approach for rolling out manager training

(33:57) The power dynamics at play between CEOs and the women of color in HR

(36:50) Remove all assumptions and lead with curiosity 

(39:15) The questions to ask the leadership team when you’re interviewing for the Chief People Officer role 

(43:30) Reminding leadership what you’re optimizing for on the people side

(47:48) Rapid fire questions

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Oct 23, 202352:47
136 - Understanding Pain Points & Using Metrics to build credibility as a People Leader: Joanna Kmiec (VP, People & Culture, Elastic Path)

136 - Understanding Pain Points & Using Metrics to build credibility as a People Leader: Joanna Kmiec (VP, People & Culture, Elastic Path)

Joanna Kmiec, Vice President of People & Culture at Elastic Path, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  

We talked about using metrics to drive your people strategy, understanding the pain points of other execs, and creating an employee experience that allows for flexibility and scale.  

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This episode was brought to you by CandorIQ. Learn more here.

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(3:03) Good news stories

(8:00) The two things important to her in her career: thinking strategically & HR being viewed as a partner

(13:38) What Elastic Path does

(15:01) Why we should be jealous she gets to work there

(16:48) State of the union for talent in Canada

(20:25) Rebuilding trust and doing more with less

(22:00) You can’t wait to put emphasis on your Employee Experience

(24:30) Ways people teams can save money and do more with less

(28:13) Using metrics to drive your people strategy gives you credibility

(31:43) Asking the “odd question”: Figuring out the pain points of other execs

(35:00) Having a leadership team first approach

(37:30) The rest of the C-Suite need to understand the strategic nature of HR

(42:23) “Full elastic approach”: Remote-first, their asynchronous charter, and having a flexible approach to all of their programs

(47:55) Rapid fire questions

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Oct 17, 202356:11
135 - Rivian CPO on scaling culture from 9 to 15,000 employees & changing the face of factory workers: Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, Rivian)

135 - Rivian CPO on scaling culture from 9 to 15,000 employees & changing the face of factory workers: Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, Rivian)

Helen Russell, Chief People Officer at Rivian, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  

We talked about scaling the culture as they’ve grown to 15k employees in the last few years, how Rivian is changing the face of what it looks like to be a manufacturing employee, and how they improved decision making throughout the company.

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This episode was brought to you by People Leader Accelerator. Learn more here.

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(3:22) Good news stories

(9:30) Helen’s career journey to becoming Chief People Officer at Rivian: Sonos, Atlassian, Rivian

(16:38) How she’s approached picking the right role

(19:57) Her hypothesis on why there’s a shortage of people leaders right now

(23:43) Why we should be jealous that she gets to work at Rivian

(27:10) Capturing the essence and scaling what it felt like to work at Rivian in the early days

(31:00) Their quarterly recharge conversations

(34:04) Measuring culture at Rivian

(37:40) The onboarding process at Rivian

(40:57) Changing the face of what it looks like to be a manufacturing employee

(50:46) How Rivian involved their frontline employees in their IPO

(54:48) The difference between scaling a company and operating at scale

(1:00:53) Spotting which leaders are going to be able to succeed in the next phase of growth

(1:04:20) How Rivian improved decision making throughout the organization

(1:12:08) Rapid fire questions

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Oct 09, 202301:19:30
134 - How CHROs can align themselves closer to revenue: Jessica Zwaan (Author, Built for People) & Ryan Bonnici (CMO, Gympass)

134 - How CHROs can align themselves closer to revenue: Jessica Zwaan (Author, Built for People) & Ryan Bonnici (CMO, Gympass)

Oct 06, 202301:01:53
133 - The 3 qualities of the smartest teams, letting AI replace routine work & fostering collective intelligence: Dr. Vivienne Ming (Professional Mad Scientist)
Oct 02, 202301:54:22
132 - Navigating major life & career changes: Alex Seiler (Former GHJ Chief People Officer, ex WeWork & NBC, and Advisor)
Sep 25, 202350:20
131 - Key Pillars of Internal Marketing (Kerry-Ann Stimpson, The Internal Marketing Podcast)

131 - Key Pillars of Internal Marketing (Kerry-Ann Stimpson, The Internal Marketing Podcast)

Kerry-Ann Stimpson, host of The Internal Marketing Podcast, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about the key pillars of internal marketing, why her company started an internal podcast, and how to use employee surveys to do internal marketing research.

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(1:23) Good news stories

(4:27) Kerry-Ann’s career in marketing and how that led to her passion in the people space

(7:05) Why she started The Internal Marketing Podcast

(8:40) What JMMB does

(10:50) The types of guests she’s had on her podcast

(12:30) What good internal marketing looks like

(15:05) Why internal marketing still isn’t getting the attention it deserves

(19:20) The different between internal communications and internal marketing

(20:58) The key pillars of internal marketing

(23:02) Giving employees the tools and skills to build their personal brands

(28:18) Starting your own internal podcast for your company

(29:40) You don’t need a fancy set up for your internal podcast

(30:50) Using employee surveys to test the affinity for your brand

(36:17) Auditing your recruitment process to identify people who are aligned with your mission, vision, and purpose of your brand

(40:40) The CMO <> CPO partnership

(45:15) Rapid fire questions

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Sep 21, 202356:04
130 - HR 3.0 & how boards are looking at HR (L. David Kingsley, Chief People Officer at Illumio)
Sep 18, 202358:26
129 - The Year of Productivity: Andrew Bartlow (People Leader Accelerator)
Sep 11, 202301:05:10
128 - Now is the time to double down on DEIB: Roshan Kindred (Chief Diversity Officer, PagerDuty)
Sep 05, 202301:01:08
127 - How Zillow made massive gains in DEI by embracing the future of work: Roz Francuz-Harris (VP of Talent Acquisition)
Aug 28, 202352:36
126 - From People Leader to Solopreneur: Reflections at Year 3
Aug 24, 202301:09:19
125 - How to be a trusted advisor as a Chief People Officer: Adam Ward (Founding Partner, Growth by Design Talent)

125 - How to be a trusted advisor as a Chief People Officer: Adam Ward (Founding Partner, Growth by Design Talent)

Adam Ward, Founding Partner at Growth by Design Talent joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about the shortage of HR leaders out there, how to be a trusted advisor to your CEO as a CPO, and how to run a structured job search.

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This episode was brought to you by Metaview – the AI assistant for interviewing. Try Metaview for free here.

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(3:06) Good news stories

(8:00) Adam’s journey in Talent Acquisition: Facebook, Qualcomm, Pinterest, and founding Growth by Design Talent

(13:00) Growth by Design Talent

(15:40) Why we should be jealous he gets to work at Growth by Design Talent

(17:25) The state of the union for talent

(21:25) Advice to people leaders right now

(25:00) The different styles of influencing

(30:00) Employees want to know what’s expected of them and where they stand with their leader

(33:58) We’re facing a huge shortage of CHROs and Chief People Officers

(36:00) The attributes of a trusted advisor 

(42:34) Having a structured job search framework

(49:48) Rapid fire questions

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Aug 21, 202359:27
124 - Finding your next People Leader role: Allison Mairena (Sproul), VP People, NewGlobe
Aug 14, 202301:07:58
123 - Adaptive Pay Transparency: Ashley Brounstein (Head of People, OpenComp) 
Aug 08, 202350:29
122 - The state of AI in the workplace: Siadhal Magos (Co-Founder & CEO, Metaview)
Jul 31, 202301:05:12
121 - Memeing for HR: Jamie Jackson from Humorous Resources
Jul 24, 202342:30
120 - Creating talent abundance for 40k employees at Goldman Sachs: David Landman (Global Head of Talent Development, Goldman Sachs)

120 - Creating talent abundance for 40k employees at Goldman Sachs: David Landman (Global Head of Talent Development, Goldman Sachs)

David Landman (Global Head of Talent Development, Goldman Sachs) joined us on The Modern People Leader. 

We talked about the retentive power of internal mobility, how they shifted from a mindset of talent scarcity to talent abundance, and how they're enabling the right conversations between managers and employees.

Timestamps:

(1:20) Good news stories

(7:00) David’s career at Goldman Sachs: from intern to Global Head of Talent Development

(12:15) How David cold called his way into his first internship at Goldman Sachs  

(15:20) Why we should be jealous he gets to work at Goldman Sachs

(19:45) The talent development team at Goldman Sachs and what they do: L&D, Performance, & Career Paths

(21:50) State of the union for talent: “we’re in a period of patient observation”

(24:30) This is the year of talent retention

(26:04) How AI can help bring more empathy and humanity to the workplace

(30:30) The retentive power of internal mobility

(38:00) Shifting from a mindset of talent scarcity to talent abundance

(45:00) How much time Goldman requires people to be in a seat before moving roles internally

(49:25) How they’re enabling the right conversations between managers and employees

(52:00) What it means to be a good manager at Goldman Sachs

(54:30) The 3 conversations at Goldman Sachs

(1:02:22) Supporting managers to have more empathetic conversations

(1:06:07) 2 HR tools to check out

(1:09:32) Rapid fire questions

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Jul 17, 202301:22:53
119 - Operationalizing your values & improving asynchronous communication: Nadia Vatalidis (Head of People & Culture, TestGorilla)
Jul 11, 202358:51