The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

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**The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR**

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.

Latest Episodes:

MPL Live @ Transform - Kevin Lowell (Chief People Officer, UScellular) on the power of the peer Apr 06, 2023

Show notes

Kevin Lowell (Chief People Officer, UScellular) joined us on The Modern People Leader live from Transform.

Timestamps:

(1:07) What’s giving him energy at Transform

(2:25) AI in HR

(7:40) Why the power of the peer is near and dear to Kevin

(11:40) Bringing a CIO mindset and a healthy skepticism to the Chief People Officer role

(15:40) What he’s the most excited to learn as a new Chief People Officer

(16:40) Personalizing benefit plans for people

Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

MPL Live @ Transform - Maureen Calabrese (Chief People Officer, Modern Health) on being burnt out on burnout Apr 06, 2023

Show notes

Maureen Calabrese (Chief People Officer, Modern Health) joined us on The Modern People Leader live from Transform.

Timestamps:

(0:57) What’s giving her energy at Transform

(1:40) Being burnt out on burnout

(5:06) Distinguishing burnout from something else

(6:20) Her journey from analytics to HR

(7:09) Her passion for the topic of mental health

(11:00) The one thing she wanted people to take away from her session at Transform

(12:35) The most compelling idea she heard at Transform

(13:45) The one key trait that Modern People Leader’s need to have for the future

Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

MPL Live @ Transform - Mahima Chawla (Co-Founder & CEO, Cocoon) on caring for caregivers Apr 06, 2023

Show notes

Mahima Chawla (Co-Founder & CEO, Cocoon) joined us on The Modern People Leader live from Transform.

Timestamps:

(1:00) What’s giving her energy at Transform

(2:00) Her founder story

(5:03) Caring for caregivers

(6:09) 20% of employees are caregiving in some way

(7:29) Individuals are twice as likely to stay at a company if they have a strong mentor

(12:00) The one thing she wanted people to take away from her session at Transform

(13:55) The one key trait that Modern People Leader’s need to have for the future

(14:17) Fad or future

(17:00) Clear is kind, unclear is unkind

Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

MPL Live @ Transform - Jolen Anderson (Global Head of Human Resources, BNY Mellon) on making an impact Apr 06, 2023

Show notes

Jolen Anderson (Global Head of People, BYN Mellon) joined us on The Modern People Leader live from Transform.

Timestamps:

(2:00) What’s giving her energy right now

(4:25) How impact, people, and purpose are coming together

(6:04) What’s going to stick from all of the change the last few years

(8:43) Navigating many competing demands as an HR leader at one time

(11:20) Giving people more choices in a way that’s structured

(13:46) The one thing she wanted people to take away from her session at Transform

(17:43) The most compelling new ideas that she heard at Transform

Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

105 - Tracie Sponenberg (Chief People Officer, The Granite Group) on modernizing your people function Apr 04, 2023

Show notes

Tracie Sponenberg (Chief People Officer, The Granite Group) joined us on The Modern People Leader.

We talked about what it's like working in HR for a traditional company, The Granite Group’s journey to modernizing their people function, and why the HR community is so important to her.

Timestamps:

(1:40) Good news stories

(6:11) Why Tracie wanted to be in HR ever since high school

(8:35) What The Granite Group does

(10:03) Why we should be jealous that she gets to work at The Granite Group

(14:50) Working in a traditional industry versus tech

(15:10) The biggest difference between the HR team she inherited versus the team she has now

(16:20) Shifting their mindset to become a modern people team

(19:20) The critical success factors to transforming the people function at The Granite Group

(22:57) They’ve built a dozen learning paths

(34:40) The steps you can take to build your employer brand as a traditional company

(37:00) Why the HR community is so important to her

(39:55) The unexpected benefits of being a part of different HR communities

(43:00) Finding ways to help people with mental health issues

(48:14) Rapid fire questions

Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8

104 - Heidi Hauver (Chief People Officer, TrackTik/Trackforce Valiant) on fueling growth at the director + stage of your career, going beyond data 101, & the paralells between leadership and parenting Mar 27, 2023

Show notes

Heidi Hauver (Chief People Officer, TrackTik) joined us on The Modern People Leader.

We talked about the process she followed for finding her CPO role, going beyond “Data 101”, and the parallels between leadership and parenting.

Timestamps:

(1:20) Good news stories

(7:08) Getting her degree while working her way up to the director level

(13:00) Thinking outside of the box with recruiting

(16:30) Why we should be jealous she gets to work at TrackTik

(18:00) How Heidi thought about her “dream role” when looking for her next job

(19:47) How she fuels her growth at this stage of her career

(23:14) Her mentors and how she found them

(28:00) Heidi’s “lean in circle”

(30:18) How Heidi identifies where to invest in her development

(34:08) Heidi’s process for landing her Chief People Officer role at TrackTik

(40:17) Sussing out the culture of the company you’re interviewing for

(46:00) Going beyond “Data 101”

(50:10) What her people experience team dashboard looks like

(51:50) Victories, Insights, & Puzzles

(58:12) The parallels between parenting and leadership

(1:05:56) Rapid fire questions

Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

103 - MPL Group Chat: Hiring in HR, the expansion of DEI, & a more transparent future Mar 23, 2023

Show notes

Merary Soto-Saunders (Global Head of DEI, CVC Partners) and Ciara Lakhani (Chief People Officer, Dashlane) joined us on The Modern People Leader for a group chat.

We talked about the skills they look for when hiring, embedding DEI into everything that we do, and why the future of work is more transparent.

Timestamps:

(1:52) Good news stories

(5:22) Acknowledging that we’re going through stressful times

(11:02) On working in HR for a big company versus a small company

(16:03) How recruiting for HR roles has changed

(23:22) The skills they look for when hiring for their people teams

(32:38) Moving beyond employee experience to people sustainability

(33:52) Embedding DEI into everything that we do

(38:18) Hybrid work

(39:50) The future of work/living is more transparent

(48:24) Reliable ways of looking at how we can influence inclusion

(50:40) What excites Ciara about 2023

Come hang out with us at Transform. Get $200 off your ticket here: https://transform.us/modern-people-leader/

Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8

102 - Jennifer Christie (Chief People Officer, DocuSign) on the personalization of the HR function Mar 20, 2023

Show notes

Jennifer Christie (Chief People Officer, DocuSign) joined us on The Modern People Leader.

We talked about the personalization of the HR function, how they keep their people team of 250 employees moving in the same direction, and the spirit of their future of work strategy.

Timestamps:

(1:20) Good news stories

(4:14) Her career journey: government service, executive search @ American Express, Head of People @ Twitter, CPO @ Bolt, & now CPO @ DocuSign

(7:54) How big their people team is

(9:53) Why we should be jealous she gets to work at DocuSign

(10:55) The personalization of the HR function

(14:58) Creating a safe space for employees

(20:30) More companies focusing on growing responsibly

(22:55) Making room for more focus time

(29:30) How their people team of 250 people is structured

(31:00) The cadence the people team has in place to keep everyone rowing in the same direction

(33:36) ‘The DocuSign Leadership Group’ is thinking through what the future of work looks like for them

(35:47) The spirit that DocuSign is trying to achieve with their future of work strategy

(39:06) Focusing on the how of work instead of the where of work

(40:17) Where she thinks we’ll see some serious advancements in the world of work

(42:30) AI in HR

(46:56) What is annoying & inspiring people about coming into the office at DocuSign

(49:30) Focusing on the employee experience in the same way you focus on the customer experience

(51:53) Her definition of a Modern People Leader

(52:50) The career advice she’d give her 22-year-old self

Come hang out with us at Transform. Get $200 off your ticket here: https://transform.us/modern-people-leader/

Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

101 - Bernard Coleman (Chief Diversity & Engagement Officer, Gusto) on going from politics to HR, how Gusto’s Employee Engagement team is structured, & common manager missteps Mar 13, 2023

Show notes

Bernard Coleman (Chief Diversity & Engagement Officer, Gusto) joined us on The Modern People Leader.

We talked about his journey from politics to HR, how Gusto’s Employee Engagement team is structured, and common manager missteps.

Timestamps:

(4:01) Bernard’s journey from politics into HR

(7:16) Learnings from politics that he’s been able to apply to HR

(11:18) Why we should be jealous he gets to work at Gusto

(14:00) Why Gusto integrated Engagement & Diversity

(16:38) How the Diversity & Engagement team is structured at Gusto

(20:59) How they’re tracking engagement

(24:48) How Gusto are tracking the membership and efficacy of their ERGs

(29:30) Gusto’s intersectional content calendar

(31:48) Where companies should start with ERGs

(34:30) Mentorship programs

(36:55) Advice to people of color on networking

(42:18) Underestimation is a huge misstep managers are making

(44:42) Providing direction as a manager

(47:01) His definition of a Modern People Leader

(48:24) The career advice he’d give his 22-year-old self

(49:36) Shout outs to the Gusto team

Come hang out with us at Transform. Get $200 off your ticket here: https://transform.us/modern-people-leader/

Subscribe to the MPL Weekly Digest: https://forms.gle/qdt6YaWULfoEHb6n8

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader

100 - SPECIAL EPISODE: The MPL interview Mar 09, 2023

Show notes

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 is no set playbook for doing a podcast

(11:43) The most unexpected thing that’s come out of doing the podcast for Stephen

(15:40) How open the HR community has been

(17:13) What The Modern People Leader looks like in three years

(19:40) Being more than just a podcast for the HR community

(20:30) Stephen’s number one fan

(23:25) The most challenging part of growing Modern People Leader

(28:00) Daniel’s biggest area of growth since starting the podcast & finding his own genius

(32:00) What it has been like for Daniel interviewing some of the top HR leaders