The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

Shelby Wolpa, Founder of Shelby Wolpa Consulting, joined us on The Modern People Leader. Shelby talked about her experience scaling the people function for 4 separate unicorn+ status companies. Then, we talked about what it takes to build a best-in-class culture in a remote-first environment. Timestamps: learnings from scaling the people function for 4 venture-backed companies (9:19), what it was like pioneering a remote-first culture (10:55), foundational steps for setting yourself up for success in a remote-first environment (14:10), common pitfalls when going remote-first (20:12), what type of work should happen in the office (24:40), Shelby’s prediction for remote work (25:50), there’s no such thing as hybrid (30:30), the three phases of onboarding (33:45), and what’s keeping people leaders up at night (43:15). You can find Shelby’s free guide for building a remote-first culture and her other playbooks on her website: https://www.shelbywolpaconsulting.com/ 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

Allison Whalen, Co-Founder and CEO at Parentaly, joined us on The Modern People Leader. She shared what she wishes people would have told her before she became a parent and took leave. Then, we talked about what the best companies are doing for parental leave. Timestamps: Allison’s personal struggles dealing with the career stressors of parental leave (3:55), what she wishes people would have told her before she took leave (8:20), why parental leave is front and center right now (18:20), moving past the old way of thinking about paid leave (22:16), the challenges companies face with extending leave (22:36), using parental leave to take inventory of what work matters most (28:08), and re-onboarding parents when they come back to work (31:36). 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

Dom Boon, VP Talent & Organizational Development at Liberty Latin America, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about LLA’s manager research and how they identified the 8 habits of the top 10% of their managers. Timestamps: Navigating the pandemic across 30 different markets (15:02), how Liberty Latin America identified the top 10% of managers (17:58), 5 questions to measure managers (21:34), the 8 habits that differentiate the top 10% of managers at LLA (22:22), building talent programs from this manager research (30:15), and shifting to a human-centric style of leadership (34:42). Check out Dom's recent post on LinkedIn where he writes about the 8 new habits of their top people managers. 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

Today we reflected on the past ten months and all of the great conversations that we've had on The Modern People Leader. At 19:00, we each give our top 3 moments from the show. 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

Angela Shaw, Chief People Officer at JuiceLand, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about her nontraditional path into HR, uninviting people from the party if they can’t get behind your organization's shared beliefs, and bucking industry norms when it’s the right thing to do.  Timestamps: Angela’s nontraditional path into HR (4:20), her first 30, 60, 90 days on the job as the new CPO at JuiceLand (9:10), creating shared beliefs, shared knowledge, and shared action with DEI efforts (12:05), why the fight over who should own DEI is so frustrating (15:46), bucking the industry norms when it’s the right thing to do (26:55), staying true to who you are and what you represent (33:07), and finding balance and learning how to say NO (40:00).  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

Jess Galica, the founder of the Reclaim Your Career project, joined us on The Modern People Leader. Over the past year, she has interviewed 100+ women that have made successful career pivots.  In this episode, she shares her findings as well as some of those stories. Timestamps: what led to Jess’s desire to make a career pivot (4:48), what propelled her research and writing around women & career pivoting (16:08), people in our generation are mastering the art of pivoting (22:09), what's feminist guilt? (25:03), you’re the only one who needs to wake up and do your career every day (32:41), women are bearing the disproportionate brunt of the challenges the pandemic has put on people as it relates to work (39:50), and the three steps of a career pivot (50:48). If you want to learn about Reclaim Your Career: Follow Jess on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessgalica/ Learn from women’s stories: https://www.reclaimyourcareer.co/ 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

This week we had two return guests for another MPL Group Chat: Libby Fiumara, Talent Program Manager from Expel and Sarah Salbu Young, Talent Experience Partner at Pegasystems We talked about how companies can bounce forward vs. focusing on the great resignation, the importance of pausing and reflecting on people who are making a positive impact on you at work, and trends heading into the last quarter of the year. Timestamps: it feels like things are moving slowly (4:45), bouncing forward vs. focusing on the great resignation (10:49), the concept of High School and being exposed to different people, ideas, and work (13:36), doing work that gives you energy and aligns with your purpose (18:20), time off is going to become a part of employees’ Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (24:06), the importance of pausing and reflecting on people who are having a positive impact on you (29:02) and trends heading into Q4, the “People Quarter”(39:45). 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

Steve Cadigan, author, and former CHRO at LinkedIn, joined us on The Modern People Leader to discuss his recent book: Workquake: Embracing the Aftershocks of COVID-19 to Create a Better Model of Working Timestamps: Steve’s journey from graduating with no plan to becoming LinkedIn’s first CHRO (3:00), the inspiration behind his book (13:33), workers and companies can see LESS of the future than ever before (17:21), what companies can learn from Duke basketball’s Coach K and his talent strategy (23:54), organizations are hiring for intellectual curiosity (38:03), the lifespan of a new skill is shorter than it has ever been (43:03), and how Steve was conned by students into joining TikTok (56:07). 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

Today we talked about hybrid work and the possibility of a four-day workweek. 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

This week we had three return guests for another MPL Group Chat: Jennifer Paxton, VP People at Smile.io, Jaclyn Jussif, Director of Talent Acquisition at EDB, and Adrienne Barnard, SVP, People Operations & Experience at Mainstay We talk about the summer of counteroffers & choice, moving people ops from an administrative function to a strategic function, and an employee-driven future of work. Timestamps: moving people ops from an administrative function to a strategic function (1:55), the summer of counteroffers & choice (8:38), focusing on key performers and high potential employees (16:55), mental wellness is top of mind for employees (21:20), will the four-day workweek be the norm in the future? (25:53), redesigning the employee journey for the future of work (28:00), collecting data is a strategic approach to making decisions (36:00), advocating for more people on the people team (38:16), HR has the data to make the decisions that will change employees’ lives (41:14), and an employee-driven future (44:33). 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