Good morning!
As we approach one year of CHRO Daily and nearly 52 interviews with top HR leaders around the globe, we’re looking back on how leaders answer one question: What keeps you up at night? When I launched the newsletter last August, I began with the goal of finding out what was top of mind for the world’s preeminent HR heads. Luckily, many leaders were willing to share their deepest motivations and frustrations of the job.
Today, I’m highlighting some of the more impactful answers I received about their most significant concerns and preoccupations in the space. It’s a full circle moment, as today is also my last day steering the CHRO Daily ship and exploring how the function has changed in the wake of the pandemic, amid economic constraints, and as CEOs exalt the talent strategy role. In the coming weeks, my colleague Paige McGlauflin will take the helm. Please send your best work-related pitches to paige.mcglauflin@fortune.com.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Allison Rutledge-Parisi, senior vice president of people at Justworks
“We have not yet figured out how to live comfortably in the hybrid work world. We’ve spent so much time debating things like return-to-office [policies], and what number of days, and all that jazz. Now that it’s settled down a bit, we’re asking how we can make this [arrangement] awesome because hybrid work is a great opportunity. Still, we haven’t learned enough yet about how to ensure that when we’re doing the kind of work optimized by in-person presence, it actually happens. We’re still learning and experimenting. That keeps me up at night—I don’t think we have mastery yet.”
Lauren Valente, chief human resources officer at Vanguard
“Because of my role as a member of the exec team and years outside of the HR people space, probably what keeps me up most at night is in the cyber realm. We talk about risk, cyber-attacks, and the sophistication of those breaches. As a team, we also discuss ensuring that our information security and security and fraud division is top-notch. The space is evolving all the time, and it’s sophisticated.
On the talent side, I don’t know that it keeps me up at night, as it’s not something I’m overly worried about, but a primary focus area we have is on a lot of newly recruited members. With the labor market tightening, we didn’t have drastic attrition, but there was an uptick from our normal attrition level. At the same time, we were also growing. So the number of crew members we hired over the last three years is no small number. With that said, I’m really focused on ensuring a strong understanding of our mission and our culture, as well as ensuring that those crew members that join us have connections with other crew members and leaders.”
Ben Gaunt, chief talent officer at BP
“What keeps me up at night is that so much of what we’re focusing on now is change [management]. We’re trying to affect change for those driving the business, and we have to be careful that that person, whether it’s a line manager or someone else that receives all this change, is not the integrator of change. We have to do that work way before we get to that person. And we have to be really clear on how we will help them.”
Jacqui Canney, chief people officer at ServiceNow
“I feel very responsible for the stewardship of our culture and people strategy—even before this tight labor market. And now it’s amped up even more. When I say every hire matters, I really mean every hire matters. But what makes me able to sleep is that I have a great people analytics function. That is like the warning signs or the positive signals of when we’re on the right path.”
Marjorie Powell, chief human resources officer at AARP
“We’re all working on talent: keeping our talent engaged and keeping them well. I’ve found people are worried about the economy, everything that’s going on in the world, [and] keeping that balance. So the engagement piece of that is the well-being of our workforce and the competing priorities for talent. We’re in disruption, and the skills, abilities, and capabilities we need today were not necessarily the ones we needed yesterday. So how do we get those things quickly? And how do we help the labor force develop after being reskilled? It’s those kinds of questions that keep me up at night.”
Amber Burton
amber.burton@fortune.com
@amberbburton
Reporter's Notebook
The most compelling data, quotes, and insights from the field.
Researchers find that inflexibility is one of the primary culprits behind the stubborn skills gap in the workplace, according to a recent Harvard Business School report. Companies often under-utilize skilled part-time workers who would be willing to log more hours.
“There is a vast reservoir of skilled hidden workers shut out of employment by inflexible rules established by companies,” the authors write. “The skills shortage can be addressed if companies relax their stringent definitions of the attributes they are seeking in applicants.”
Around the Table
A round-up of the most important HR headlines.
- Amazon has failed to provide adequate accommodations for workers who have disabilities or are recovering from an injury, according to a new report from the nonprofit United for Respect. Fast Company
- Yelling in the workplace is generally the best way to scare your employees away, but some prefer it to apathy or passive aggressiveness. Wall Street Journal
- As interest rates rise and VC investments slump, an “efficiency” approach, powered by layoffs and shrinking salaries, is the new go-to for startups. Economist
- New measures announced by President Biden mean heat protection is finally on the way for American employees. Washington Post
Watercooler
Everything you need to know from Fortune.
Jet lag. Lingering pandemic anxiety, geopolitical conflict, and an unreliable travel industry are just some of the reasons employees have become more hesitant to take business trips. Just one-third of surveyed business travelers are happy to be on the road again. —Frank Harrison
Safe space. Some employers are ditching the post-work happy hours and opting for “recovery-ready” workplaces to support employees with a history of substance abuse. —Erika Fry
It pays to A.I. Netflix is willing to pay almost a million dollars a year in total compensation for an A.I. product manager, according to a newly posted job ad. Meanwhile, striking writers and actors are protesting the streaming service for unlivable wages and the threat artificial intelligence will have on their pay. —Chloe Berger
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