Good morning!
Companies are adding all kinds of new job titles these days. There are chief heart officers, and chief enthusiasm officers. And who could forget when Tesla CEO Elon Musk decided to call himself “Technoking.”
As companies think harder about how to keep their talent, a new role has emerged: head of employee listening. At least that’s the case at software giant Intuit, which owns TurboTax and Quickbooks. Emily Pelosi took on the title in 2022, and leads a team that tracks how workers are feeling, analyzing that feedback to try and improve the company’s workforce strategy.
Pelosi told me that although her job might sound offbeat, it’s actually totally on trend for companies trying to get smarter about their people strategies.
“I noticed more and more of these types of roles emerging during the pandemic,” Pelosi says. “When employers realized we have to listen differently, we have to act differently, to navigate the first of many unprecedented global crises.”
Pelosi is tasked with uncovering “unique insights that ultimately help our leaders empower our employees to do the best work of their lives.” That means looking at exit surveys and focusing on a weekly model of feedback in addition to Intuit’s biannual engagement surveys.
She talked to me about the challenge of learning how to ask the right questions, the trick to finding wisdom within tough feedback, and the science of employee surveys.
You can read her full interview here.
Paige McGlauflin
paige.mcglauflin@fortune.com
@paidion
Today’s edition was curated by Emma Burleigh.
Around the Table
A round-up of the most important HR headlines.
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Workers may be under the impression that polite employees are passed up for promotions, but disagreeable staffers don’t climb the career ladder any faster. NBC News
Watercooler
Everything you need to know from Fortune.
Gutted. Elon Musk scrapped his entire Tesla Supercharger team, including his top-ranked female manager, as the company goes “hard-core about headcount and cost reduction.” —Christiaan Hetzner
Pre-show jitters. A retail giant is giving job applicants the interview questions ahead of time in an effort to mitigate performance anxiety and find the perfect fit for open roles. —Orianna Rosa Royle
Tough love. Nvidia employees say CEO Jensen Huang is a “perfectionist” with high standards that is not easy to work for. He agrees, but says this is necessary to be successful. —Eleanor Pringle
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