The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

Libby Fiumara, Talent Program Manager at Expel, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how Expel is turning performance management upside down. Timestamps: when she realized she wanted to hone in on one facet of HR (5:54), why Expel rebranded performance management to performance enablement (7:18), turning performance management upside down (11:57), training managers to be more human (14:15), using the wobble scale to navigate tough conversations (16:16) applying energy management to prevent burnout (26:55), deploying quarterly "reflect and resets" (29:09), creating a common vocabulary across the company (31:41), making HR a sounding board (35:00), hybrid vs. remote vs. in-office decisions for companies (36:16), where you should start if you’re rethinking performance management (46:44), Adam Grant’s Think Again (49:05), and wine and performance coaching (50:25) LibeLabs Learning: Hybrid & Remote Work Playbook 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

Hallie Bregman, Global Head of People Analytics at PTC, joined us on The Modern People Leader. This episode is filled with nuggets of gold: Why the future Chief People Officer will have an analytics background (8:41), how COVID has elevated people analytics (10:09), the evolution of people analytics (11:40), the nuance between reporting & analytics (14:15), using analytics to tell stories (18:27), organizing your people analytics team (20:08), applying analytics to the candidate experience (24:08), getting alignment with stakeholders on analytics initiatives (31:20), year one of PTC's analytics journey (37:03), putting together the initial roadmap for people analytics (41:37), where to start with DEI analytics (44:56), how to run a self-identification campaign for DEI (48:06), and why Hallie hates diversity dashboards (50:18). 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

Michelle Wax, the founder of the American Happiness Project, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about her journey across the USA to learn what brings everyday Americans happiness and fulfillment and much more. Timestamps: why Michelle started the American Happiness Project (3:34), the 500 people that she interviewed on happiness (12:18), “you’re protected on this earth until you’ve served your purpose” (15:25), biggest lessons learned along her journey (19:32), consistent themes for creating happiness (25:04), why you should make the big life shift that your family doesn’t totally understand (32:01), the YOLO economy (33:42), & self-awareness will lead to a happier workforce (49:02). 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

Rhiana Barr, Chief People Officer at KushCo, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why HR needs to be involved early in the M&A process, how to ensure a successful cultural integration, and much more. Timestamps: why working in a wide range of industries has been so critical to her career growth (3:38), strategic workforce planning based on legislation (10:22), the changing perception of working in the cannabis industry (17:26), why HR needs to get involved early in the M&A process (23:39), the culture diligence is the missing piece to successful mergers and acquisitions (24:41), her step-by-step process for assessing culture pre-integration (29:16), why an HR leader is running their integration management office (33:25), and creating a single culture is a journey with your people (47:16),  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 the ups and downs of employee engagement scores over the past 13 months. 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

Adrienne Barnard, SVP People Operations & Experience at AdmitHub, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We covered all things manager-related: the secret sauce to becoming a great manager, rookie mistakes to avoid, how to run effective 1x1s, and much more. Timestamps: the secret sauce for becoming a great manager (9:12), the biggest rookie mistakes for new managers (13:42), people ops is important & companies are starting to take notice (25:36), why most 1x1s are ineffective (28:10), putting all managers through management training (32:34), having someone look after People Ops makes a big impact (37:50), leveraging engagement surveys to measure manager effectiveness (41:17), and using micro-learning opportunities to get quick wins with manger training (47:35). 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

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

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

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

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