Isabel Naidoo, Chief People Officer at Wise, joined us on The Modern People Leader to share how Wise builds a cohesive employee experience across global offices while still honoring local identity.
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Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode281
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(05:23) Isabel’s Career Story and Path to Wise
(10:54) Shift to Culture and the Global Playbook Topic
(11:58) Why Wise Needs a Global Footprint: Customer Proximity and Regulation
(13:27) Designing a Seamless Employee Experience Across Locations
(14:27) Global Consistency vs Local Identity in Workplace Design
(16:38) How Wise Creates an Irresistible Office Experience
(19:22) Measuring Culture vs Driving Business Outcomes
(21:47) Product Operating Model and Avoiding “HR Theatre”
(23:05) Rituals That Maintain Mission Focus During Growth
(24:31) Company Calls, Demos, and Ownership Through Equity
(25:26) Quarterly Planning Rituals and Open Participation
(27:38) Observable Signals of Culture and Employee Pride
(28:25) AI and How It Changes Talent Strategy at Wise
(28:58) Three Focus Areas: AI Usage, Building AI Skills, and Leading AI Teams
(32:32) Measuring AI Impact Beyond Usage and Where to Start
(35:22) Prerequisites for AI: Data and Operating Model
(37:05) Choosing Use Cases, Human-in-the-Loop, and Reinforcing Human Skills
(39:33) In-Person Connection and What Sets Strong Cultures Apart
(40:34) Value of Community Learning in AI and HR Networks
(43:22) Collaboration Model, Flexible Work, and Benefits That Support Performance
(45:43) Sabbaticals and Work-From-Anywhere Policies
(47:24) AI Use Case Example: Feedback Coach and Scaling Support
(48:48) Innovation at Wise: Hiring for Excellence and Practicing Feedback
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Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.
