Thomas Kohler, pplwise

The People Factor

Business EN ↓ 137 episodes

Welcome to "The People Factor," where we explore the role of the people function in driving business success. We dive into the strategies, tactics, learnings & failures from top organizations to drive strategic objectives impacted by the people function. Weekly, Thomas chats with industry experts and thought leaders about news, the latest trends and best practices related to develop an organization. Tune in to "The People Factor" to learn how to unlock the full potential of your team and organization.

Author

Thomas Kohler, pplwise

Category

Business

Latest episode

Jun 3, 2026

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Episodes

#37 - Adriana Hurduc | Strategic Talent Acquisition Manager at Cavalry Ventures 27.09.2023

Adriana is a Strategic Talent Acquisition Manager who has excelled across several industries. With a rich history, including roles at Babbel and GetYourGuide, she's honed her expertise. Currently driving global recruitment achievements at Cavalry Ventures, Adriana is a vital member of the VC Platform Global Community and Global Women in VC, showcasing her commitment to industry advancement. Having...

#36 - Peter van Kersen | Chief People Officer - Independent Consultant with Capital P 20.09.2023

Peter is a seasoned People/HR Leader with a track record of aiding startups in achieving sustainable and rapid growth. He emphasizes the significance of establishing a strong foundation, likening it to building a structure. Having contributed to the expansion of companies such as Catawiki, Delivery Hero, Glovo, REMY Robotics, and Docplanner, Peter excels in fostering empowering experiences and sol...

#35 - Alla Pavlova | Tech & Art Talent Sourcing at Riot Games 13.09.2023

Alla Pavlova, is an Interim IT Recruiter based in Amsterdam. Passionate about technology, Python programming, computer games, and space exploration. She has shared her insights through talks and interviews on platforms like YouTube and Recruiting Brainfood. Currently, focused on sourcing top talents for Riot Games, coaching sourcing teams, crafting exceptional candidate experiences, building the S...

#34 - André Neubauer | CTO @ Trusted Shops & Tech Advisor for Startups 06.09.2023

André has an impressive background in shaping tech environments and possesses extensive experience in software engineering, product development, and leadership as a Chief Technology Officer. With a strong passion for technology trends and innovation, André has successfully led various projects, including technical migrations and post-acquisition integrations. They are also a proponent of modern le...

#33 - Anna Michel | Founder @ The Secret Society of Awesome Business Women 30.08.2023

Anna is a Business Coach and Consultant with a specialisation in Strategy, Performance Culture and Organisational Design. Based on her own experience both as a former serial entrepreneur and scaleup coach, Anna helps leadership teams navigate the strategic transformations that are paramount to long-term business success. She combines a select toolkit of frameworks and methodologies with an experie...

#32 - Rene Insam | VP, Corporate Solutions @ Morgan Stanley 23.08.2023

René Insam is a Digital Product Strategist with close to 20 years of experience working for large financial services companies in the United States, including American Express, Charles Schwab, AIG, and most recently Morgan Stanley. René was born in Luxembourg and spent his childhood living in Germany and Greece before immigrating to the United States, initially to earn his MBA, then to embark on h...

#31 - Johanna Rauhala | Chief of Staff at Haiilo 16.08.2023

Johanna is Chief of Staff at Haiilo with 8+ years of global operations management experience in a global SaaS scale-up, building the company from seed round to acquisitions and integrations. She has managed various aspects of business operations at Smarp (now Haiilo) to ensure efficiency and achieve growth targets and has diverse experience in HR, talent acquisition, fundraising, legal, finance, s...

#30 - Juliane Nowakowski | Head of Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility at TOM TAILOR 09.08.2023

Juliane is a fashion retail professional with expertise in sustainability strategy, CSR, and corporate development. She is known for her strong personality, positive mindset, and agility. Highly motivated and a skilled team coordinator, Juliane is eager to expand her international business contacts and explore new markets. A team player with a passion for driving positive change, she brings a valu...

#29 - Merten Wulfert | Founder & Co-CEO of Ravio 02.08.2023

Merten is the founder and co-CEO of Ravio. Prior to starting Ravio, Merten spent several years at Deliveroo where he first led the company’s international expansion before stepping into the managing director role for Deliveroo’s APAC and Middle Eastern business. Merten started his career as an investor and has been working in the tech industry ever since. Shownotes 00:00 - Intro, Berlin vs London...

#28 - Hilary Klassen | CEO & Co-Founder bestselfy 26.07.2023

Hilary, an experienced entrepreneur and HR leader, believes in the power of positive human interactions for peak performance and well-being. With a background in startups and corporates across multiple continents, she is the CEO and Founder of bestselfy, an AI pocket coach for workplace excellence. Hilary also heads Quahog, an HR consultancy assisting scaling tech companies with various aspects of...

#27 - Constanze Buchheim | Founder & Managing Partner @ i-potentials 19.07.2023

Constanze Buchheim is a pioneering entrepreneur in Germany's digital economy, specializing in "future leadership" and intrapreneurial culture development. With over 15 years of experience, she has successfully built and transformed digital teams in various industries. In 2009, she founded the executive search consultancy i-potentials to address the lack of market solutions for scaling companies. C...

#26 - Charlotte von Riess | Director Talent Acquisition @DOCTOLIB 12.07.2023

Charlotte von Riess is the Director of Talent Acquisition of Doctolib, a healthcare Scale-up from France. Charlotte has a background in Sourcing, Employer Branding and Talent Acquisition at the probably biggest TA organization in Germany, Deutsche Bahn. She is also an Ambassador for female HR excellence and a global leader. Shownotes 00:00 - Intro 08:22 - Sourcing, Talent Acquisition & Busines...

#25 - Gitte Bendzulla | Chief Operating Officer @Deezer 05.07.2023

Gitte is an exceptional leader who embodies forward thinking, change-driven, and global-oriented qualities. She excels at transforming grand visions into tangible realities by developing and fearlessly executing robust strategic plans. Gitte thrives on embracing innovation and staying ahead of the curve to drive progress. Her leadership style is characterized by a strong focus on adopting and impl...

#24 - Christin Glaeser-Seidel | Head of Talent Acquisition & EB @wefox 28.06.2023

Christin Glaeser-Seidel is the Head of Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding at wefox. She has a background in talent acquisition, previously working at Deutsche Bahn, working in one of the largest talent acquisition departments in the world. She is also an Ambassador for One Young World, a global organization for young leaders. Shownotes 00:00 - Intro 05:52 - Corporate vs Scale-up 12:42 - EV...

#23 - Jens Bender | Founder & Managing Director | WorkTech Advisory 21.06.2023

Experienced entrepreneur with a successful track-record in building global businesses in the HR SaaS industry. Skilled in business strategy, digitization, start-ups, marketing, and market entry. Business professional with a consulting background and Master’s Degree in business administration, marketing and operations from WHU and HEC Montreal. Shownotes 00:00 - Intro 08:20 - Alumni software, Leadi...

#22 - Oliver Manojlovic | VP Sales @Personio | Partner & Scout for Picus Capital 14.06.2023

Oliver is a sales executive with a background in the B2B SaaS industry, currently VP Sales at Personio where he scaled sales from 500 to +10.000 customers. He started his sales career early, working in his parents' restaurant and later selling American Express credit cards. He has a passion for sales and believes there is a lack of focus on sales education in Germany. Oliver has experience in ente...

#21 - Ian Whiteford | Founder @ Rebel HR & Architect of Great Cultures 07.06.2023

Summary Ian Whiteford is an expert in building world-class teams and fostering impactful cultures for disruptive tech companies. With a background in a Global Investment Bank and a scaling technology firm, he founded Rebel HR to guide rapidly growing organizations, particularly in the cryptocurrency and Web3 space. Ian's focus is redesigning people and talent processes to empower employees and ena...

#20 - Michaela Matus | Chief People Officer @ censhare 31.05.2023

Summary Michaela is an energetic people leader passionate about shaping organizations and cultures of trust and impact. Her mission is to create an employee experience that enables all team members to develop and grow in an inspiring work environment. Michaela believes that building human connections within an innovative, collaborative mindset is key to aligning the demands of our volatile, digita...

#19 - Thomas, Amiel & Stratos | All about total Rewards 27.05.2023

Summary In this podcast episode with Amiel and Stratos, the hosts discuss various topics related to rewards and incentivization. We explore the EU 2023 Directive, the gender gap, and pay transparency. Then, we delve into a conversation about best-in-class grading, job titles, and the effectiveness of rewards schemes. They also address listener questions on topics such as sign-on bonuses, the impac...

#18 - Jakob Gillmann | Co-Founder HiPeople | Ex-VP Growth & Sales @ adjust.com | Angel Investor 24.05.2023

About the guest Jakob Gillmann, the Founder of HiPeople, is an innovative entrepreneur with a passion for revolutionizing the way companies approach talent management. With a keen understanding of the modern workforce, Jakob has leveraged his expertise in HR technology to create HiPeople, a cutting-edge platform that empowers organizations to make data-driven and people-centric decisions. His entr...

#17 Johannes Schmidt | Chief Business Builder @ Exxeta AG 17.05.2023

About the guest As the Chief Business Builder at Exxeta, Hannes Schmidt is a dynamic leader who empowers teams to independently arrive at optimal conclusions through his unique leadership style of freedom and responsibility. With a proven track record in driving strategic accounts, Hannes is skilled at developing and executing innovative strategies to achieve business objectives. Passionate about...

#16 Andreas Schmitz | Chief People Officer NanoTemper Technologies Ex-Roche| Ex-SAP 10.05.2023

About the guest Andreas is a dedicated family man, experienced senior leader, and passionate advocate of human-centric leadership. With a background in basketball, he brings a unique perspective to his leadership approach. Andreas has a proven track record of driving positive change in people and culture, having led HR functions at reputable organizations such as SAP and Roche. Currently, he is sp...

#15 - Alexander Insam | Partner at GÖRG, Lawyer, Employment Law Expert 03.05.2023

About the guest Dr. Alexander Insam is a seasoned expert in remuneration and labor law and sustainable decision-making, with over 12 years of experience advising banks on compliance with laws, regulations, and guidelines for compensation systems. He helps banks balance compliance and competitiveness, drawing on his extensive experience with over 30 major institutions. Alexander also has a passion...

#14 Carrie Krehlik | CHRO & Executive Advisor Biopharma Executive 26.04.2023

About the guest She is known for advising and influencing in complex organizations, and has a reputation as a systems thinker and well-rounded leader. Her passion lies in executive leadership, mergers & acquisitions, leadership development, and organizational effectiveness, among other areas of expertise. Shownotes 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:20 - Bay Area 00:12:04 - Germany, SAP mid 90s, pre-cloud...

#13 - Marie Toby | Director of Community Enablement | Oyster 19.04.2023

About the guest Marie is a strategic and creative thinker who excels in leadership, coaching, and advisory roles. She is known for being generous and hands-on when it comes to managing people. Marie is passionate about shaping the future of work and making a positive impact on people's lives and her expertise and dedication make her a highly valuable leader in driving positive change and shaping t...

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