The Hennessy Report

Dave is joined by long-time friend, going all the way back to the start of the podcast, Ann Hargraves. Ann is the SVP at TScan Therapeutics and an amazingly eloquent speaker, passionate about the work and mission of TScan that she feels so connected to. As a cancer survivor herself, Ann speaks to the impact she feels working at a company whose mission is focused on life changing therapies for patients and their families. She also discusses how they choose not to publicize values to outside world, to encourage candidates to focus on who they are and what they are looking for first. Ann believes learning development should be offered equally across the company, and provides that across the company. Next up on the podcast is Nancy Folan, the CHRO of Amundi Asset Management US.

Dave is joined by Jen Nash, strategist and author of "The Big Power of Tiny Connections: How Small Interactions Spark Awesome Outcomes." This episode of The Hennessy Report was recorded live at NEHRA's annual conference after Jen's appearance as the keynote speaker. Through her research for her book, she has found that "highly engaged workforces are 21% more profitable and 17% more productive" and that "companies with connected workforces are 4 times more productive." In this episode Jen describes why and how you should engage your teams and urges companies who don’t see a link between dollars spent and productivity and profitability to take the leap into coaching, assessments, and more, noting "it costs us money to have disconnected staff." She also explains where her belief in connections came from as a child, and calls networks "the rockstar foundations of our world." Jen is upbeat and an amazing speaker you won't want to miss!

On this holiday edition of The Hennessy Report, Dave is joined by Erin Lovering, the CHRO at Edelman Financial Engines. Erin discusses her start in clinical psychology, juggling strong legacy cultures after a merger, as well as their mission statement: everyone deserves to move their financial lives forward. She believes HR’s job is to get the best out of organizations and the best out of leaders, and describes her role to her children as, "helping bosses be better bosses." At one point, Erin shares her beliefs on the importance of investing in new managers' skill sets and examining the end-to-end employee experience to identify how to pulse sentiment during those moments that matter. This holistic way of thinking is growing in popularity, mirrored in Keystone's own research and evolving messaging around preparing for the defining moments organizations and employees alike consistently face, from coaching to transitions. You'll enjoy this fast-paced, engaging conversation! Best wishes for a happy and healthy new year!

Dave is joined by Keystone colleague Shawna Simcik in this special edition of The Hennessy Report. Shawna and her team from ICC, the company Shawna co-founded with Susan Ruhl, recently joined the Keystone Partners community, bringing some amazing expertise and passion for leadership development. Together we will continue to support organizations and leaders at all levels through defining moments. One of the key offerings Shawna's team brings to Keystone Partners is the Accelerator program, a technology-based, holistically threaded development program teaching through micro-learning, practical application, cohort sessions, and accountability for front-line leaders and first-time managers who are often overlooked. She explains how Accelerator can impact critical pain points such as high turnover, low employee engagement, and retention issues within 30 days. Shawna also explains part of the research that influenced Accelerator - the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve, a study on when and how we memorize material. Two weeks from now, how much will you remember from this episode? A self-proclaimed "geek" for research, Shawna is excited for Keystone Partners upcoming research study on creating a resilient workforce - stay tuned for more! Shawna has an electric personality and some wonderful analogies you won't want to miss!

Dave is joined by Ajit Vakharia, President and CEO at Flare Education. Dave first met Ajit three years ago, at the start of Flare's creation, and has remained inspired by the mission ever since. Ajit shares that mission of providing high school students, often from generationally poor backgrounds, with work-based learning experiences. Flare is redefining the way internships can and should be done. Ajit describes the best practices employers must follow in order to consistently cultivate culturally significant internship programs that benefit the students, supervisors, and overall business goals. Tune in to this truly invigorating discussion and join us in supporting Ajit's mission of unlocking the potential of young learners and shaping a brighter future for all.

Dave is joined by Bob Selle, CPO at Ocean State Job Lot, in this episode of The Hennessy Report. From a memorable presentation at NEHRA, to sitting on NEHRA's board with Dave, to the podcast, we've been fans of Bob for years and are excited to share his unique expertise with our audience! Bob shares the origin story for Ocean State and how they've maintained their humble, family culture through the continued leadership of Marc and Alan Perlman. He also speaks to the importance of listening sessions to deliver on the benefits and ideas that will keep their associates "from hire to retire" and achieve greater business success. Bob discusses their fail fast, entrepreneurial spirit, hiring "athletes" for his HR team, and his belief that we are at an inflection point for workplace culture. Bob is an amazingly thoughtful speaker with so many great stories to share. You won't want to miss this episode! Next up on The Hennessy Report: Ajit Vakharia, founder and CEO of Flare Education.

Dave is joined by colleague Kim Littlefield and guest Paul Francisco, the first Chief Diversity Officer for State Street. On that topic, Paul speaks about a mindset change he experienced, no longer believing the goal is to work himself out of a job. Paul shares what it was like growing up in Honduras and his unexpected move to the US, which prompted his passion for DEIB. He also discusses the importance of employee networks, which they manage through the Four C's model: building community, culture, commerce, and creation and who the burden of allyship falls on. Dave and Paul share a connection to NEHRA, which Paul praises, along with Tracy Burns, for their dedication to spreading Frank McCarthy's memory, the godfather of diversity and recruiting in Paul's eyes. Next up on the podcast is Bob Selle, CPO at Ocean State Job Lot.

Dave interviews Josh Bersin, Founder and CEO of The Josh Bersin Company and author of "Irresistible." Josh describes his unique path to become an industry analyst, researcher, educator, and technology analyst covering all aspects of corporate HR, training, talent management, recruiting, leadership, and workplace technology. An innovative thinker, Josh shares his insight on the future of AI in HR, best practices during layoffs, upskilling, the danger of job descriptions, new models of performance management, people sustainability, and why companies should focus on purpose to remain productive. This is an insightful episode of The Hennessy Report you won't want to miss!

Dave is reunited with Lisa Reilly, the CPO at PTC, having known each other for more than 20 years. Rob Byron, Dave's colleague from Keystone Partners, also joins this episode of The Hennessy Report. Lisa shares her journey from falling into HR and moving from a global HR business partner role to leading the function as a CPO. She even reminisces on her time working as a consultant for us, where she says she learned the ultimate measure of success comes from seeing your work through your customer's eyes. PTC is a global software company that enables industrial companies to "use the digital to transform the physical." She describes the "play together" culture at PTC and their "Power to Create" mentality, all guided by their 5 core values. This is a lively, engaging episode you won't want to miss!

Dave is joined by colleague Brenda Stanton and Paul McKinlay, VP of Communications & Remote Working at Cimpress & Vista. Paul discusses their revolutionary rise to remote work and how they encourage employees to "live their best possible experience while working and achieving their best possible work" and how they began this ongoing transition. He also covers their dedication to small businesses, managing equity between remote and manufacturing employees, and the inefficiencies that arise from companies who are resisting or only committing halfway to remote work. Paul melds his passion for genuine employee experience with his expertise and professional advice in this not-to-be-missed episode!

Dave is joined by Kelly Schick, the CPO at C4 Therapeutics, Inc. on this episode of The Hennessy Report. Kelly is an empathetic, business-minded speaker excited to share C4's mission as a clinical stage biotech creating a new generation of medicine they hope will transform patients' lives. There are so many innovative methods and programs Kelly and her team have implemented to gain employees' trust and promote wellness, a passion of hers. She also describes the benefits Kim Scott's radical candor has had on her professional life, and how she is incorporating it into C4's culture. You won't want to miss this episode!

Dave and Mara Neufeld Rivera, CHRO, CPO, and Head of People & Culture at Chroma Technology Corp., recorded this episode of The Hennessy Report in front of a live audience at ADP's HR Conference in late 2022. There are few company structures as unique as Chroma, being 100% employee owned with even distributed profit sharing. Hear Mara describe the inspiring story on how Chroma was founded, and how they have stayed true to their ideals. Mara also shares the distinct differences, successes, and questions that arise in such a rare environment. Who protects the culture between HR and their board comprised of employees? How do you decide on talent competencies when hiring in teams? Mara offers book recommendations such as: Brené Brown's "Atlas of the Heart," saying, "if you love language and communication, and emotion, you’ve got to read this book;" "Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow" on making predictions about the future by Yuval Noah Harari, the author of "Sapien’s" and a professor in Israel; and "Immune" by Philipp Dettmer. You won't want to miss this episode of The Hennessy Report!

Dave was joined by Rich Sheridan, CEO and Chief Storyteller at Menlo Innovations, Speaker, and Author of "Chief Joy Officer" and "Joy, Inc." at the NEHRA 2022 Conference in this live edition of The Hennessy Report. Rich describes the truly unique culture at Menlo, with leaders traveling from around the world to tour their workspace and hear the team's stories. Whether it's working in teams of two on one computer, managing and conducting performance reviews with no "managers" but as a group, or pitting candidates towards each other rather than against - judged on how they support their rival - Rich paints a culture of true joy. You don't want to miss this unique episode of The Hennessy Report. Tune in now!

Dave is joined by Nakesha Lopez, CHRO and interim Chief Diversity Officer at Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest not for profit healthcare provider in Texas. Nakesha speaks passionately about their investment into mental health, wellbeing, coaching, and leadership development programs and the part they have played in letting employees know they are supported. She covers her recent focus on metrics to raise retention, vacancy rates, and engagement scores as well as her conviction that everyone is a DEIB leader, and thus must be integrated in our every day. Her team's DEIB priority hones in on active listening, creating a culture of inclusion, and closing gaps in care. Nakesha also goes into detail on how her team was able to tackle the industry agnostic talent acquisition crisis, with job openings climbing from 2,700 to 6,000 in a one year span. You will love this episode of The Hennessy Report.

Dave is joined by Fred Skinner, the CHRO at EVERSANA, for this episode of The Hennessy Report. He is also joined by Chad Brantner, a Keystone colleague and childhood friend of Fred from the small town of Sycamore, Illinois. Fred describes the "ridiculously awesome" culture at EVERSANA and their mission to revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry for both patients and providers. With 8,000+ employees, Fred says they've "cracked the code" on how to maintain culture while remaining inquisitive by leading with trust. He credits CEO Jim Lang for understanding the weight culture holds on a company and supporting HR initiatives. Listen now!

Dave is joined by the Head of Research, People + Performance at the ADP Research Institute, NYT Best-Selling Author, and Founder of the Strengths Revolution, Marcus Buckingham. Marcus shares his unique perspective on what's right and what's wrong with HR based on positive psychology — studying what's right with people. Listen to see if your perceptions will shift after Marcus' view on the immorality of high vs. low potentials, HR's bad data stemming from performance discussions/ratings, and rethinking why your company deserves the best people. Marcus also discusses the 15 question "thermometer" he and his team built that yielded insights into the necessity of HR on talent retention. Listen to the end to learn a surprising fact about Marcus' journey to becoming the accomplished speaker he is today.

Dave is joined by Darren Murph, Head of Remote at GitLab, a DevOps company and first all-remote organization to go public. Darren explains that his role sits at the nexus of people operations and strategic communications, but that it's such a new concept, it actually exists in different departments from company to company. CNBC has called Darren “the oracle of remote work” and we learn some of his predictions for the "future of work" such as "meeting hygiene," a focus on asynchronous work, and, of course, increased remote work. Darren is truly an expert in organizational design and shaping remote teams. You will truly take away actionable plans and thought provoking perspectives from this episode. As Darren says, the most dangerous words of business are, "we’ve always done it that way...”

In this special edition of The Hennessy Report, Dave is joined by Dr. Shanita Williams, SNHU, in front of a live audience at Strategic HR. Shanita's energy and passion draw you in as she shares personal and professional experiences that HR professionals will undoubtedly relate to, and draw inspiration from. She explains SNHU's mission to create access to higher education and how the university works with companies to invest in their talent. Shanita also goes into detail on programs her team has implemented, including: - training employees to carry out culture audits across the company - a university-wide recognition platform where 41% of their organization has received some form of recognition - developed communities, resulting in a 21 point increase in employees' perceptions of peer relationships Shanita has also released a book titled, "Feedback Mentality: The key to unlocking and unleashing your full potential" where she provides a unique perspective. You'll love this episode of The Hennessy Report. Next up on the podcast is Marcus Buckingham, Head of Research, People + Performance at ADP Research Institute and best-selling author.

Dave was joined by Carlos Echalar at NEHRA's first live conference in two years. Carlos is the CHRO at CDM Smith and the most recent president of the board of NEHRA. (Fun fact: Carlos is the 4th president of NEHRA's board to appear on the podcast!) Carlos discusses NEHRA's executive women's program, of which he was a mentor, CDM Smith's commitment not to layoff or furlough any of their employees due to the pandemic, and their mission to deliver water and infrastructure to all. He explains that they are involved in every water treatment plant around the US, and were brought in to aid Flint Michigan. NEHRA Events (March 2022): Tomorrow 3/10 - Talent Acquisition Summit: https://learn.nehra.com/nehras-talent-summit-march-10th-2022-needham-ma#product_tab_overview 3/31 - Annual Diversity & Inclusion Awards Gala with FIFA World Cup Champion, activist and best-selling author, Abby Wambach as the keynote speaker: https://www.gala.nehra.com/

Dave is joined by the Chief People Officer at AEW, Piper Sheer, in this episode of The Hennessy Report. Piper begins by sharing how her father's love for his work influenced why and what she does today. She joined AEW to be a part of shaping the next generation of leaders, and with employees all around the globe, Piper is focused on building and maintaining culture, especially through these hybrid times. There is a real diversity problem in the commercial real estate industry and Piper covers the different ways they have begun to address this, including a committee, affinity groups, and a speaker series. She also discusses their work with Project Destined, whose goal "is to transform minority youth into owners and stakeholders in the communities in which they live, work and play." Piper is a very engaging speaker and we are excited to share her story. Up next on The Hennessy Report, Carlos Echalar, the CHRO of CDM Smith and the President of the Board of Directors at NEHRA.