The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

Today we shook things up and interviewed each other.  We talked about the openness of the HR community, what it has been like interviewing some of the top HR leaders, the biggest challenges of starting a podcast, what MPL looks like in three years, and more. Timestamps: (4:50) Stephen’s biggest learnings since starting the podcast (7:00) The world of work is fractured right now (10:20) There...

Tony Buffum (VP, HR Client Strategy, Upwork) joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the biggest misconceptions that employers have about freelance talent, why the rise of freelance talent isn’t a trend, and how Fortune 100 companies are integrating independent talent into their talent strategy. Timestamps: (5:23) Tony’s journey and unique role at Upwork (13:57) Why we should be jea...

Brandon Sammut, Chief People Officer at Zapier, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about Zapier’s secondment program, how they build awareness of different talent pathways, and how to build bridges with your CEO. Timestamps: (4:58) Wanting to find better ways of mapping people’s capabilities to opportunities that help them realize their potential (13:28) Why we should be jealous Bran...

Today we shared our biggest learnings from MPL guests in January and February. Timestamps: (6:57) Mindi Cox on moving from employee engagement to employee fulfillment (14:00) Having boomerangs is a sign of a healthy culture (16:20) Drawing more diverse voices into the VC world (17:52) The disconnect between the people who build HR tech and HR (22:46) Tapping ERGs to help solve business problems (2...

Rich Jacquet, Chief People Officer at Coursera, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how he always wanted to be in HR, dedicated learning days at Coursera, their internal leadership academy, AI in HR, and more. Timestamps: (5:53) Rich went to school wanting to be an HR person (13:28) The course he took on the history of the Ukraine region (17:35) Creating skills rubrics internall...

Christine Song, Chief People Officer at Knix, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about her experience in HR across eight different industries, her first three months as Knix’s new Chief People Officer, and the importance of doing the ground zero work before moving into the strategic work. Timestamps: (9:37) Why we should be jealous that she gets to work at Knix (12:39) The advice she...

Josh Bersin, HR Analyst at The Josh Bersin Company, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the most impactful events he’s seen in HR over the decades, the network of teams operating model, the highest predictor of top performing HR teams, and the two lessons he hopes everyone takes away from reading his book, Irresistible . Timestamps: (4:45) Do what you love and worry about the pr...

Femily Howe, Gender/Equity Advisor at Femily On The Go, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about her work advancing women in the workplace, leaning into the awkward conversations about diversity, and using ERGs to solve business problems. Timestamps: (13:24) Why we should be jealous of her day job (15:30) Her work advancing women in the workplace (18:12) Addressing the statement, “I...

Allison Baum Gates, General Partner at SemperVirens, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked what led her to the intersection of VC and work tech, why the future of work is the single most important problem to solve, and her upcoming book, “Breaking into Venture”. Come hang out with us at Transform. Get $200 off your ticket here: https://transform.us/modern-people-leader/ Pre-order your c...

Mindi Cox, Chief Marketing & People Officer at O.C. Tanner, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about moving from employee engagement to employee fulfillment and the work required to change culture. Timestamps: (17:37) Why we should be jealous Mindi gets to work at OC Tanner (19:38) Moving from employee engagement to employee fulfillment (25:00) Looking at the value of your work s...

Today we shared MPL updates for 2023 and our 8 biggest learnings from 2022. Timestamps: (2:55) MPL updates for 2023 (5:40) MPL origin story (17:08) #1 Flexibility (plus trust) is the name of the game (24:06) #2 DEI & the future of work are connected (31:13) #3 Everyone would benefit from therapy (especially HR) (37:52) #4 Think of the employee experience as a product (42:51) #5 The role of the...

Julia Soffa, Principal Internal Communications Manager at Guru, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about information overload, the golden rule of communication, how to build an attention audit survey, and why we should all embrace JOMO. Timestamps: (10:03) When Julia started noticing digital debt in her personal life (15:00) Why we should be jealous she gets to work at Guru (16:47) H...

Lars Schmidt, Founder of Amplify Talent, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about what you should know if you plan to make the jump into HR, the 2 most important things for HR practitioners to prioritize their careers around, and the ways HR will look different in 2023. Timestamps: (3:20) Recent launch of Amplify Academy's Diversity Council (4:37) Lars’ career story and how he starte...

Amy Lavoie, VP of People Success at Torch, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about Torch’s people success scorecard, the importance of measuring your people programs, and what their research uncovered about how different groups perceive progress on DEI efforts. Timestamps: (8:48) Why we should we jealous Amy gets to work at Torch (9:44) Torch’s people success scorecard (15:45) The b...

Kelly Keegan, VP of People at Built In, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how she’s thinking about building the people function of the future and why everyone in HR could use a therapist. Timestamps: (12:17) How she’s thinking about the future of the people function (16:26) What companies can do to make the recruiting function more sticky during economic downturns (22:34) Why...

Recharge’s Michael McArthur (SVP People) & Ashley Grech (COO) joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why Recharge is focused on reducing toil, the 3 pillars of what it means to work for a great company, and the work they’re doing on the career development front. Timestamps: (5:00) How Ashley and Michael would describe one another (7:30) Why we should be jealous that they get to...

Sara Gorjão, Chief People Officer at tb.lx, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the Human Energy Crisis we’re facing, tb.lx’s experiment with the 36-hour workweek, and why being a perfect people leader isn’t possible. Timestamps: (14:50) why we should be jealous that Sara gets to work at tb.lx (19:50) Sara’s mission and how it’s connected to her role (22:52) How Sara checks in w...

Amanda Ono, CHRO at Kroll Digital Services, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about 2023 planning, her biggest learnings scaling a company from 90 to 250 employees in one year, and navigating change as a leader. Timestamps: (10:27) Amanda’s experience as both an operator and HR leader (14:00) Why we should be jealous Amanda gets to work at Kroll (16:39) Budget season and 2023 planni...

Today we reflected on the last couple of episodes and then we discussed 2023 planning for People teams. Timestamps: (6:30) Operating your people function like it’s a product of your company (8:30) The 3 products that every company is building (12:17) The domino effect that led up to the layoffs (19:20) Making the Chief People Officer role more commercial (22:59) Using your core values as a lens fo...

Jim Bartolomea, (SVP, Global Head of People and Places) at ClickUp, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the challenges he’s most excited to tackle as ClickUp’s new people leader, building the employee experience like a house, and getting buy-in as a new HR leader. Timestamps: Why we should be jealous he gets to work at ClickUp (12:49), the challenges he’s excited to tackle first...

Jessica Zwaan, COO at Whereby, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the recent layoffs in the news, how we can raise the CPO role to be looked at as more commercial, and why you should treat people ops as a product. Timestamps: why we should be jealous she gets to work at Whereby (6:01), layoffs this week (8:35), the domino effect leading up to layoffs (17:15), outside of the CPO...

Today we reflected on our biggest learnings from the last few months of The Modern People Leader. Timestamps: (8:10) Understanding what a human-centered organization is (14:10) The language and words we use to describe work (18:30) Employees don't want to work for a paternalistic organization (22:09) What type of support will organizations provide their people in the future (26:50) Merary’s advice...

Kim Rohrer, Head of Employee Experience at Oyster, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the biggest challenges in creating a unified employee experience across 70 countries, why every company should have a Head of Employee Experience, and why your company should consider hiring in tier 2 or 3 countries. Timestamps: Why we should be jealous she gets to work at Oyster (18:30), when...

John Foster, 4-time CHRO & Founder of Gamut Labs, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the difference between a traditional and a human-centered organization, the 5 dimensions of a HCO, and why HCOs get more creative output from their people. Timestamps: (11:23) The difference between a traditional organization and a Human-Centered Organization (16:28) Why a little bit of hie...

Merary Soto-Saunders, Global Head of DEI at CVC Partners, joined us on The Modern People Leader. She shared her advice to first-time HR leaders, CVC’s process for setting DEI goals, and how she’s able to impact DEI for over 500k people in her role. Timestamps: (6:32) Merary’s journey from investment banking to DEI work (10:50) Working in different countries has shaped her perspective as an HR lead...