The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

This week we had three return guests for another MPL group chat: Laura Robblee, CHRO at Zuora Steve Cadigan, Former CHRO of LinkedIn & author Stephanie Cramer, SVP of People at MGAC We discussed how Generation Z is impacting the future of work. Timestamps: (8:30) Are we in a recession? (16:21) Echo quitting (21:28) There are more commonalities between generations than differences (27:55) Emplo...

In this episode we reflected on MPL guests' responses to our three rapid-fire questions: What career advice would you give your 22-year-old self? (1:25) If you had a magic wand, what would you fix in HR? (16:43) What’s coming next for the future of work? (27:05) Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8

This week we had three return guests for another MPL group chat: Darren Murph, Head of Remote at GitLab Hallie Bregman, The Bregman Group Valerie Jackson, Chief Diversity Officer at Zuora We talked about how COVID has given everyone the opportunity to take the red pill and why focusing on the HOW of work will make the biggest impact on DEI. Timestamps: 7:46 - are concepts like quiet quitting new o...

This episode was recorded a couple of weeks ago, so we apologize if the content from this episode is a little dated. We talked about Malcolm Gladwell’s thoughts on remote work, quiet quitting, and our 3 biggest takeaways from our last 5 episodes. Timestamps:  Malcolm Gladwell’s thoughts on remote work (1:25), quiet quitting (11:23), layoffs in 2022 (15:30), our 3 biggest takeaways from the la...

Ciara Lakhani, Chief People Officer at Dashlane, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about what HR can do to weather the storm during economic downturns, employee expectations for their organizations versus investors, and Dashlane’s employee feedback strategy.  Timestamps:  How Ciara ended up in HR (4:20), why we should be jealous that she gets to work at Dashlane (9:2...

Zuora’s Laura Robblee, CHRO, and Valerie Jackson, Chief Diversity Officer, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why their CHRO/CDO partnership works so well and how they’re laying the foundation for a new Zuora. Timestamps :  their favorite thing about working with one another (16:40), prioritizing diversity and inclusion at Zuora (21:50), why having both the CDO & CHRO...

Melissa Werneck, Global Chief People Officer at Kraft Heinz, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the work Kraft Heinz is doing to help support and develop their managers, why it was important for the move from a “know it all” culture to a “learn it all” culture, and how they’re using new tech to turn their ambitions into reality. Timestamps : why we should be jealous she gets to...

Stephanie Cramer, Vice President of Human Resources at MGAC, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how she’s incorporated solution selling into the way she recruits and what MGAC is doing to support their employees’ mental health. Timestamps: why we should be jealous that Stephanie gets to work at MGAC (11:20), how recruiting has changed in the last 10 years (14:08), how she’s inc...

Beth Steinberg, Senior Vice President of People and Talent at Chime, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why it’s so hard to find good HR leaders, what happens when you don’t invest in leaders early enough, and long-term talent planning. Timestamps: what Beth feels was some of her best work as a people leader (7:00), why we should be jealous that Beth gets to work at Chime (12:4...

Jackson Lynch, 3-time CHRO and Founder of 90Consulting, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why there needs to be consistency in what’s expected from a CHRO, why talent strategy should be bifurcated from talent operations, and why the job of the CHRO is so difficult. Timestamps: how working at PepsiCo in the early 2000s shaped his career (9:57), the best and worst career advice...

Mai Ton, Chief People Officer at Fabric and Author of Come into My Office, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why your identity shouldn’t be centered around what you do at work, how she prepped her former company for the 4-day workweek, and her book that she published last year. Timestamps: why we should be jealous that Mai gets to work at Fabric (10:20), why your entire identi...

Mindy Honcoop, an HR exec with 20+ years of experience, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about employee feedback, the new world of work, and what companies can do to help their people connect. Timestamps: the best and worst advice Mindy has ever received in her career (11:20), the companies that are getting things right (15:50), what companies can do to better listen to their emplo...

Today we talked about the interconnectedness of all of the HR buzzwords, diversity being the key to everything, and the best career advice we’ve heard from our guests. Timestamps: the interconnectedness of the all of the buzz-words we’ve heard over the last year (4:23), the 3 P’s of Rituals in the workplace (6:22), the importance of intentionality (8:07), the common denominator to success is diver...

The Starr Conspiracy's Bret Star (Founder & CEO) and Steve Smith (Partner & CMO) joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked with the Work Tech gurus about the metaverse's place in the workplace, the difference between employee engagement and employee experience, and why they recently raised money to send body armor to Ukraine. Timestamps: how Starr Conspiracy is testing the applicati...

Erica Keswin, the author of two Wall Street Journal best-sellers (Bring Your Human to Work & Rituals Roadmap), workplace strategist, and podcast host, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how rituals are the human way to transform everyday routines into workplace magic. Timestamps: her career journey (5:15), Bring Your Human to Work and Rituals Roadmap (8:10), why connecting...

Mita Mallick, co-host of the Brown Table Talk podcast and Head of Equity, Inclusion, & Impact at Carta, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the importance of belonging, the big disconnect between the billions of dollars being invested in DEI and a true understanding of the work that’s being done, and what to do if you’re working in a toxic environment. Timestamps: her career...

Tracy Hawkins, VP, Work Transformation at Twitter, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about giving employees the choice on how they want to work and how Twitter has zoned their offices. Timestamps: Tracy’s journey from flight attendant to Twitter (7:07), her role as VP, Work Transformation (13:45), why we should be jealous that she gets to work there (20:33), how their real estate st...

Udemy’s Cara Brennan Allamano (SVP, People) and Rachel Ernst (Sr. Director, People Programs) joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about Udemy’s new normal and what they’re doing to provide connection and flexibility for all employees. Timestamps: the most pivotal moments in Cara and Rachel’s careers (4:53), the “New Normal” at Udemy (17:35), what flexibility means to Udemy (23:09), the...

Today we talked about Belgium approving the four-day workweek, the possibility of working in the metaverse, and then we talked about culture and the themes we're seeing across different guests. Timestamps: Belgium approves the four-day workweek (3:58), will we work in the metaverse one day (5:58), and common threads from recent guests about culture, talent attraction, and career advice (13:14). If...

Liz Fosslien, the co-author of No Hard Feelings and Big Feelings, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about her journey to becoming a best-selling author, the 7 Big Feelings that we've all been experiencing the past couple of years, and how we can begin to make peace with our emotions at work. Timestamps: Liz’s journey to becoming a Wall Street Journal best-selling author (4:44), why...

Refine Labs’ Megan Bowen, COO, and Jessica Williams, VP of People, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about Refine Labs’ culture playbook, how they’re leveraging social media to become a talent destination, and why they’re focused on onboarding. Timestamps: why we should be jealous that they get to work at Refine Labs (7:05), how they created their Culture Playbook (11:10), the “oh h...

Katie Burke, Chief People Officer at HubSpot, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about HubSpot’s award-winning culture, how they conducted 4 panels to make future of work decisions, and how they’re giving employees the ability to automatically opt into the work style that best suits them. Timestamps: why we should be jealous that Katie gets to work at HubSpot (11:05), how HubSpot’s a...

On this very special best of 2021 mash-up, you’ll get insights from guests throughout our episodes from last year. In Part 2 you’ll hear from the following guests: MPL Group Chat (episode 36) on this being HR’s time to step up and how we’re entering the age of HR (0:37). Steve Cadigan, former CHRO of LinkedIn and author (episode 38), on how workers and companies can see less of the future than eve...

On this very special best of 2021 mash-up, you’ll get insights from guests throughout the last year. In Part 1 you’ll hear from: Dilshan Rathnayake, Chief People Officer at Securonix (episode 7), on the importance of learning the business that you serve so that you can better serve your people as an HR leader (0:37). Dena Upton, Chief People Officer at Drift (episode 15), breaks down what it means...

Jill Larsen, Chief People Officer at PTC, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how the CHRO role has changed, the evolution of HR, and some of her predictions for the future. Timestamps: the one piece of advice that transformed her career (12:05), the worst advice she’s ever received (15:15), how the CHRO role has changed over the last 15 years and where it’s going from here (19:...