The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

Latest Episodes:

19 - Emma Brudner (Head of People, Reggora) Apr 04, 2021

Show notes

Emma Brudner, Head of People at Reggora, joined us on The Modern People Leader.

We talked about what it has been like building out Reggora's people processes from scratch, going fully distributed, and what they’re measuring on their first-ever pulse survey.

Timestamps: how Emma made the jump from being a journalist to Head of People (3:52), prioritizing people processes being put into place (13:17), why she meets with every new hire (17:23), influencing without authority in HR (19:13), building the employee handbook & ensuring the policies are equitable (21:31), how going fully distributed is fueling headcount growth (28:03), how Reggora designed their first pulse survey (32:16), recruiting for industry-specific expertise ( 39:20), and the difference between radical candor and being a jerk (40:45).

If you have any feedback for the MPL podcast or would like to connect, don't hesitate to reach out on LinkedIn:

Daniel Huerta and Stephen Huerta

18 - Jaclyn Jussif (Director of Talent Acquisition, EnterpriseDB) on Hiring & Onboarding Apr 01, 2021

Show notes

Jaclyn Jussif, Director of Talent Acquisition at EnterpriseDB, joined us on The Modern People Leader.

We talked about hiring, onboarding, and how to create custom ramp plans for new hires.

Timestamps: biggest differences hiring internationally (12:29), using the WHO method for behavioral interviewing (16:22), calling out the elephant in the room (COVID) in interviews (22:04), front-loading information in the onboarding process (25:52), creating customized 30, 60, 90-day ramp plans (29:33), tying references to ramp plans (33:08), nudging people to connect (36:00), why the EMPLOYEE needs to drive the onboarding process (38:45), and the magnified imposter syndrome that people are feeling right now (42:56).

If you have any feedback for the MPL podcast or would like to connect, don't hesitate to reach out on LinkedIn:

Daniel Huerta and Stephen Huerta

17 - Gillian Godfrey (Chief People Officer, Storable) on Psychological Safety Mar 28, 2021

Show notes

Gillian Godfrey, Chief People Officer at Storable, joined us on The Modern People Leader.

Gillian shared how Storable is creating Psychological Safety across the entire employee experience. We also dove into the recent work that they did with their Employee Value Proposition.

Timestamps: why Psychological Safety is front and center right now (12:31), how their leadership team is “wrapping their arms around their people” (14:46), the two new roles that Storable created to improve employee engagement (21:05), “making deposits to the trust bank” (25:37), how they’re creating psychological safety from candidate to “graduate” (28:15), now is your time in HR to step up as a leader (34:28), how Storable launched their new Employee Value Proposition (38:20), how they grew their LinkedIn page from 1,000 to 10,000 followers (45:00), and how Storable connected their EVP to a compelling story (50:37).

If you have any feedback for the MPL podcast or would like to connect, don't hesitate to reach out on LinkedIn:

Daniel Huerta and Stephen Huerta

16 - Building Recognition Programs for a 6,000 Person Company Mar 21, 2021

Show notes

Sarah Salbu Young, Talent Experience Partner at Pegasystems, joined us on The Modern People Leader recently.

At Pegasystems, Sarah’s role is fully dedicated to building recognition programs for their 6,000 people worldwide.

We talked about “the lost art of saying thank you”, how companies can incorporate traditions and rituals to build a stronger culture, and lastly, she broke down the 3 core pillars of Recognition at Pega.

Timestamps: how Sarah made the jump from PR to the People function (2:49), Sarah's unique role & the 3 core pillars of recognition (9:39), the power of saying “thank you” (17:54), creating a culture of positivity (20:36), incorporating traditions and rituals to build a stronger culture (31:42), creating “water-cooler” like moments virtually (34:48), infusing humor into the workplace (37:09), creating unique “badge of honor” moments for big milestones that everyone can look forward to (40:11), peer-to-peer recognition and awards at Pega (43:54), and measuring the success of recognition programs (46:06).

If you have any feedback for the MPL podcast or would like to connect, don't hesitate to reach out on LinkedIn:

Daniel Huerta and Stephen Huerta

15 - Dena Upton (Chief People Officer, Drift) on Going Digital First Mar 14, 2021

Show notes

Dena Upton, Chief People Officer at Drift, joined us on The Modern People Leader the other day. Drift is a hyper-growth startup (440 employees) that has been named to Deloitte's Fast 500 List, Forbes' AI 50 List, and Inc.'s of the Best Workplaces of 2020.

Dena shared the details around Drift's recent decision to go Digital First:

Defining Digital First, how it’s different than a hybrid approach, and why it’s a mindset shift (10:33), why the hybrid approach will start to deteriorate post-pandemic (13:38), doubling down on what’s working for your culture in a digital work environment (16:16), Monday Metrics and Friday Show & Tell (18:52), giving employees permission to make big life decisions and picking an edge (21:04), focusing on impact and outcomes over facetime (28:56), putting the finishing touches to their culture deck (30:24), the importance of storytelling and showing your work (34:39), the Drift leadership team’s commitment to their people agenda (37:01) relocation and market-based compensation (39:12), and the metrics that Dena is constantly looking at (46:00).

If you have any feedback for the MPL podcast or would like to connect, don't hesitate to reach out on LinkedIn:

Daniel Huerta and Stephen Huerta

14 - Lyndsay Lord (CHRO, Team Car Care, dba Jiffy Lube) Mar 11, 2021

Show notes

Our guest today was Lyndsay Lord, CHRO at Team Car Care, dba Jiffy Lube, the largest Jiffy Lube franchisee in the US.

For all of the HR practitioners that work in multi-unit businesses, this episode is for you! And for everyone else, listen to Lyndsay on why working in HR for a blue-collar company is so rewarding.

What we covered: focusing on their 5,000 teammates to deliver an amazing guest experience (7:32), how role clarity can drive high engagement (9:43), building a strong data foundation on the HR side (11:51), 2021 will be the year of anticipation with their analytics (12:13), managing data for a multi-unit business (13:58), laying out a clear career path for employees (16:32), identifying high-potential teammates to promote (20:34), working in HR for white-collar vs. blue-collar companies (21:39), listening to employees to make their experience better (29:29), trainings to develop inclusive leaders (36:20), International Women’s Day shoutouts (39:49), qualities of the great leaders she’s worked with (43:30), navigating motherhood while focusing on your career (45:00), and more.

If you have any feedback for the MPL podcast or would like to connect, don't hesitate to reach out on LinkedIn:

Daniel Huerta and Stephen Huerta

13 - VP of People + Talent at Privy on Performance Reviews (Jennifer Paxton) Mar 08, 2021

Show notes

Our guest today was Jennifer Paxton, VP of People + Talent at Privy.

We covered quite a bit: the craziest thing she's experienced in her career (0:49), why she loves her job (3:30), the monthly HR/Talent breakfast that she hosts (8:26), the employee preference for a quarterly performance review vs. the manager pushback for a less frequent cadence (13:48), how she built Privy's performance review process from scratch (18:16), how she built a competency bank & tailored competencies for different teams (19:49), the debate on whether or not to include self-assessments (31:24), how to enable managers to have professional growth conversations with their direct reports (37:21), and more.

If you have any feedback for the MPL podcast or would like to connect, don't hesitate to reach out on LinkedIn:

Daniel Huerta and Stephen Huerta

12 - The Gray Area of "Anonymous" Employee Feedback Mar 04, 2021

Show notes

Today we talked about the importance of anonymous feedback and the new “gray area” that has emerged: challenges companies are having taking action on employee feedback (1:32), skepticism from employees on survey anonymity (5:35), “confidential” surveys that aren’t truly anonymous (10:48), the argument for pseudo-anonymous feedback (12:56), what a world of fully-attributed surveys would look like (20:01), and how people might be able to one-day “opt-in” to attributed feedback channels (23:33).

If you have any feedback for the MPL podcast or would like to connect, don't hesitate to reach out on LinkedIn:

Daniel Huerta and Stephen Huerta

11 - Leveraging LinkedIn to Build Your Employer Brand Feb 23, 2021

Show notes

Our guest today was Chris Walker, CEO of Refine Labs.

Chris has grown his business from 1 person to 20 in the past 16-18 months, and he plans on being at 100 by the end of 2022.

100% of their growth (on both the customer and people side) has come from the employer brand that they've been able to build on LinkedIn.

He gives a full breakdown of how they do it.

We then talk about how he vets 900+ candidates for roles (16:10), how they've built an army of employee advocates on social media (23:38), why they are a 100% remote-based company (40:17), and more.

If you have any feedback for the MPL podcast, don't hesitate to reach out on LinkedIn:

Daniel Huerta and Stephen Huerta

10 - Al Polizzi (Chief People Officer at VetCor) Feb 19, 2021

Show notes

Our guest today was Al Polizzi, Chief People Officer at VetCor.

We talk about her love for dogs (0:48), how she transitioned from an English professor to HR (3:27), how VetCor is finding ways for employees to connect (16:42), their virtual onboarding “buddy system” (20:51), how they implemented their first-ever virtual career fair (25:36), why companies should stop selling an inauthentic version of themselves to candidates (26:56), her definition of employee engagement (30:02), how they’re connecting employees to teach one another (36:05), the “Tech Life” Facebook group for Vet Techs at VetCor (39:33), creating change champions for mental wellness programs (42:40), and finding “reverse mentors” across your front-line workers.

If you have any feedback or suggestions on future topics/speakers, please reach out to us on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenhuerta/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-huerta-74661390/

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