HR Superstars

The HR journey is filled with lessons, inspirations, and growth. Katie Cox Branham, VP of People at Salesloft, shares her story to motivate others to elevate their game. Hers is a testament to the dedication and drive as the first HR hire at Salesloft, eventually becoming a strategic people leader. In this episode, Katie talks about her early days doing tasks she loved, from reimagining the orientation program to transitioning off old systems and implementing new software. But as she rose in HR, she reflected on the struggle of letting go and transitioning into a management role. There's much to learn from the conversation's takeaways, including how employee fulfillment and engagement make up the formula for effective work cultures.

What does it *really* mean to be strategic in HR? In 2022, only 46% of HR leaders were viewed as contributing strategic value to the business by their peers in the C-suite, according to Sapient Insights Group’s 2023-2024 Annual HR Systems White Paper report. This week’s episode centers on the state of strategic HR today and as we approach 2024. Join the conversation recorded live from our recent THRIVE conference in Denver, Colorado, with Cliff Stevenson, Director of Research at Sapient Insights Group, and Jamy Conrad, VP of People at TrustRadius. Hot topics include the impact of AI on HR, the need for change management, and a remarkable decrease in regrettable turnover from 40% to 3%!

Just eight years ago, Alex Genetti, Head of People at Enable, started as a people coordinator, quickly advancing to lead a people function. In this brief period, she honed skills, including concise communication about important matters.

Imagine getting quality HR software to handle your everyday tasks. How would your role blossom if you had more time to concentrate on the work you love to do? Join the conversation with John Machado, CTO at UKG, as he shares his insights on how technology can empower HR leaders to unlock their full potential. You’ll explore the role of AI in harnessing HR data, the challenges and opportunities it presents, and the exciting possibilities that lie ahead. Learn how leveraging technology can elevate the future of HR work and lead you to become a more strategic thinker.

Elevating from individual contributor to C-suite, strategic HR leader is a hard yet worthwhile journey. It requires an identity shift from doer to leader, but the mindset change doesn’t happen overnight. Leadership coach Kelli Thompson, founder of [Clarity & Confidence Corporate Women’s Leadership, specializes in helping women advance to rooms where decisions are made. In this episode, she shares her personal experience of transitioning from an administrative role to a team leader. Kelli also discusses a pattern of behavior she’s seen with many clients, something she calls the “overwhelm cycle.” Anyone working toward a leadership role must learn how to be comfortable with the discomfort of delegating. When you let go of needing to be the hero who saves the day, you make room to find new answers for this new world of work.

What if HR could be a tool to elevate careers *and* build productive work-life balances? Even Bolstad, President of the European Association for People Management, explains that in Europe, it’s not a choice between one or the other. In this episode, you’ll learn about the need to upskill and reskill the workforce, the potential social consequences of not adapting to the culture that is (not what it should be), and the importance of learning from diverse HR practices across Europe.

Why do some HR leaders struggle with courage and confidence in advocating for themselves or others in the workplace? Michelle Gladieux, founder of Gladieux Consulting and author of “Communicate with Courage,” answers this question. As it turns out, the strengths that make you a good HR leader may prevent you from effectively communicating when it matters the most. But it doesn’t have to remain that way. In this episode, Michelle shares the four challenges that hinder people from taking risks and showing courage to communicate effectively in the workplace. You’ll learn more about the factors in overcoming those challenges: the impacts of biases, the value of diverse perspectives, and the importance of understanding the operations in your organization.

Building a work culture of appreciation among managers and employees is an HR dream. And while turning that dream into reality isn’t necessarily a snap, it’s not the obstacle you may have thought it once was. In this episode, host Adam Weber sits down with Dr. Paul White, coauthor of “The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace,” to explore why and how authentic appreciation in the workplace can transform your office atmosphere, whether it's in-person or remote. Dr. White delves into each of the five languages of appreciation: - Words of affirmation - Quality time - Acts of service - Tangible gifts - Physical touch HR leaders can create appreciation resources for employers and managers to live out the work, inspiring value and motivation among each other. But the key is to not treat every employee the same.

As an HR leader, how do you balance a work culture of strong, visionary, and confident employees with discussions about their challenges, failures, and struggles? You start by normalizing the idea of vulnerability at work. A trained futurist and an authority on workplace leadership, Jacob Morgan delves into his thoughts and concepts from his latest book, “Leading with Vulnerability” where he interviewed over 100 CEOs and 14,000 employees. In this episode, he discusses the important challenge of introducing vulnerability in a work setting. Jacob shares his own personal journey, starting out as a skeptic and ending as a believer. He also hones in on a crucial takeaway: vulnerability is only effective when combined with competence and leadership. With actionable tips and strategies, you’ll learn how you can integrate vulnerability into your own leadership style.

In this episode, host Adam Weber sits down with movement expert Lara Heimann, founder and CEO of LYT Method, to explore the powerful connections between mind messaging and movement. It doesn’t take much for HR leaders to set employees on the right track toward productivity, happiness, and overall well-being.

Want to know the secrets to a successful off-site program? Nadia Alaee, Senior Director, HRBP at Deel, has all the answers. She works diligently to build and execute an effective offsite program that brings people together for in-person collaboration. In this conversation, Nadia shares her insights and journey in building and implementing successful off-site events. She dives into several key areas: how to build a foolproof agenda, involve key stakeholders, leverage technology and offline interactions, all while fostering relationships and strengthening team dynamics.

Creating a culture of belonging begins with individual healing. Ritu Bhasin, author of We’ve Got This – Unlocking the Beauty of Belonging, shares how leaders’ personal growth cascades into organization-wide belonging. In this conversation, she unravels the complexity of belonging, leadership, and self-discovery, and how they all intersect to create inclusive and authentic work environments. Get ready to be inspired and challenged as we navigate the personal and professional journeys that shape our sense of belonging and the impact it has on others.

Creating a thriving culture requires both empathy and data. Sarah Lovelace, VP of People at Airbase, mixes these two ingredients perfectly. By blending data with human-centered initiatives, she’s built vibrant, successful cultures at several incredible organizations. In this conversation, Sarah shares her insights and her journey in building and implementing effective people practices. She dives into several key areas: connecting a global organization, using data to align leadership on initiatives, and collaborating with finance to plan effectively.

Analysis paralysis gets the best of us all, especially when it comes to hiring decisions. Gabby Popowitz, Senior Director of Talent & Culture at Boardable, shares her advice for crafting a consistent, empowering talent acquisition program that enables clear decision-making. She explains the importance of combining deep research with structure and simplicity in the hiring process. Gabby also shares what she’s learned about compassion as an HR leader after losing her mom. She emphasizes the importance of reacting with care and serving as a supportive ambassador for the company when employees face difficult situations.

Sayle Hutchison, CFO of 15Five, is one of the most accomplished CFOs in the software industry, but it took a journey of personal growth to get where she is today. She shares how she’s overcome negative self-talk and shame, developed confidence as a female leader in tech, and committed to creating a life worth living. In this conversation, Sayle unpacks the common obstacles she's seen other high-performing women face on their journey to becoming executives. She explains a concept called the Defeat Triangle and provides tangible steps to overcome it and unlock growth.

Core values are even more important than your strategic plan, according to Christine Kaszubski, Chief People Officer at Pindrop. She explains that core values provide a shared vocabulary, vision, and understanding. These elements establish a level of trust that companies lacking a strong set of core values struggle to develop. In this conversation, Christine shares her insights on building a strong organizational culture through actionable core values and culture champions. She also provides guidance for adapting those core values as your business evolves, setting yourself up for success at a new organization, and planning ahead for future needs.

Focusing on the human experience is crucial to effective HR leadership, whether you’re seeking to protect your organization, develop leaders, or foster employee growth. Andrea Butcher, CEO of HRD, author of the Human Resource Kit for Dummies, and host of the [Being [at Work]] podcast, breaks down the importance of human connection in these key areas of HR. She shares her perspective on how HR has shifted over the past two decades, explains how to create more human work environments, and offers her advice for aspiring HR leaders.

As HR leaders, we’re working inside broken systems. How do we positively influence our organizations despite the systemic issues we face? In this episode, Kara Kirby CEO of Insights Leadership Group and host of the Pop! On Leadership podcast, shares how HR leaders can borrow skills from sales to influence their organizations for the better. Kara emphasizes the importance of advocating for yourself, speaking the language of your audience, and starting small. She discusses the most broken pieces of HR today and shares how to address them to make a lasting impact on your organization.

Mary Slaughter, author and Distinguished Principal Research Fellow at The Conference Board, brings her decades of C-suite to discuss comprehensive employee experience, including the emotions of your employees, employee trust in the midst of layoffs, and the importance of prioritizing leadership development.

In this conversation, Gretchen Schott, Chief Learning Officer at Threefold, emphasizes the need to slow down and quiet the noise to enable personal and organizational growth. She explains how making time to reflect and cultivating a practice of stillness allows you to create a culture of growth, empowerment, and fulfillment for yourself and your employees.

Hacker One's Chief People Officer Dawn Mitchell and Senior Manager of Talent Strategy Pamela Greenberg are prime examples of getting your foundation right. They’ve learned that building a top culture doesn’t require flashy new approaches—just a simple, transparent strategy for taking care of your people. In this episode, you’ll learn how to implement tried-and-true approaches to developing trust, create a thriving remote-first culture, and establish a solid foundation that empowers leaders.

Sarah Walker, Head of People at LTSE, has always been a few years ahead of the trends in the HR world. In this conversation, Sarah shares advice for enabling business leaders and taking a strategic, operational approach to HR. You'll hear how her experience in operations and entrepreneurship have translated into powerful insights for her role today.

Ben Eubanks, Chief Research Officer at Lighthouse Research & Advisory and author of Talent Scarcity, reveals the root problem with hiring and retention. Through his research, he’s seen many job-hoppers end up unsatisfied no matter the pay increases or lofty titles they achieve. The common thread among them is that they’re seeking – and failing to find – deeper connection at work.

In this episode, Zee shares her powerful story of overcoming the concrete ceiling, a phrase reserved for women of color specifically, because while glass can be broken, concrete is much harder to break. She explains how she used her own experience to help others, and practical breathing techniques for stress relief.

The Vice President of People & Culture at Vidyard shares the crucial steps HR leaders can take to ensure seamless integration during mergers and acquisitions by prioritizing people and culture to drive results. She explains how she takes a proactive approach to people leadership, breaks down silos, and challenges herself to think differently to enable a new vision for the future.

Dr. Zak breaks down his Immersion Framework for creating incredible employee experiences including, setting the stage, immersing employees in the experience through emotional engagement, and targeting individuals who are especially engaged and can become champions.

Curaleaf CPO, Tyneeha Rivers, breaks down the process of creating lasting cultural change to create spaces where people can be their authentic selves. As you listen, you’ll hear strategies for equipping leaders to empathetically connect with employees and techniques for using data to measure and improve employee engagement.

From tuition reimbursement to creating training programs, investing in your employees’ growth can get expensive. So how do you know if it’s worth it? David shares how to make a data-driven case for employee development programs to ensure everyone is equipped to succeed at their current job and beyond.

Liesel shares practical ways to strengthen your empathy muscle as a manager, HR leader, and friend. She explains what is and isn't effective at helping someone through hardship and offers tangible tools to care for people well.

In this conversation, Tarveen Forrester, Head of People Operations and Diversity at Tastemade, shares her advice for navigating hard situations and leading others through them. Tarveen also discusses how to equip managers to lead a diverse workforce, leverage your team members’ strengths, and create a cohesive culture when spread across the globe.

Hebba is CPO at Workweek and creator of the popular “I Hate It Here” newsletter. She shares her experience about the importance of communicating to other leaders what is and is not a fire, and what she does not stand for as an HR leader. Curious to hear what that is? Listen in...

As a former VP of HR for over 20 years, Jill spent her career learning about the importance of a people strategy and how it can positively affect an organization’s culture and environment.Listen in to learn more about how to delegate so you have time to think, what it looks like to invest in outside partners, and how to get the most out of your people function.

What responsibility do leaders have in supporting the mental health of their employees? One thing is certain—authenticity and vulnerability play an important role. Holly speaks with Adam about the power of vulnerability and how it can impact employees, improving work relationships and performance.

The unwritten job description of a people leader is the need to listen and safeguard everyone’s worries and struggles, but it can be a lonely place. Jen shares how secrets can impact a person’s mental health and also shares practical ways to dig yourself out of that isolation.

Listen in to hear Brianna correct misconceptions about talent in VC ecosystems, reveal the secret to building a strong startup team, and share how to fuel your success with a talent strategy.

Kirsti shares the guiding principles that have allowed her team at Auror to create a cohesive and high-performing culture they love. This includes sharing context around every initiative, aligning the team on strategy, and the massive ROI of leadership development.

Salesforce’s Karen Mangia discusses leading with values, creating meaning at work, and how to make your company a community where people find belonging. She shares the importance of flexibility, autonomy, and choice for employees when it comes to workplace policies and benefits.

Christine shares how she helps set people up for success by emphasizing the importance of intentional onboarding, using cultural rituals to reinforce company values, and humanizing executive leadership. Perhaps that's part of why Rippling has grown from 200 to 1,600 people in just two years.

Kathleen Ragelis, Head of People at Komodo Health, joins the show to share her experience with the power of vulnerable conversations and how they translate to business results. She also walks us through how to build an environment that balances high-performance with high-care.

Jon Greenawalt shares how tech is making manager coaching and training more accessible, and how it can bring about lasting change. We dive into the core competencies of the modern leader, how to create learning programs that work, and how to show the return on your investment in personal development.

Helpscout's Latoya Lyn took her seat at the executive table to educate the business on what HR can do as a business partner and business leader. Listen as she explains why she's primarily a product leader, building products (acquisition, performance, etc.) for the business to drive on. 

Becoming a teammate with the rest of the leadership team is critical to building a successful HR function. In this episode, Kate McKinnon, Head of HR at Playfly Sports, discusses what it looks like to partner with your people, find creativity in HR, and unify around a shared mission.

15Five's Cara Pelletier shares her personal story around discovering her neurodivergence and how that fuels her passion for working in the DEIB space. Cara also explains how inclusive companies experience more than just safe working environments; they also see measurable returns on the investment they make in their people.

Today's leaders need to consider the enormous complexity we’re all facing and how to care for employees as human beings. Businesses tend to move to one end of the empathy/results spectrum. Josh Bersin, top industry analyst and founder of the Josh Bersin Academy, shares his thoughts on maintaining a balanced focus on both results and empathy.