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What’s the #1 trend for businesses in 2023, and also a potential risk to growth? It’s talent shortage, according to IBM Institute for Business Value. CEOs will have a critical need to find top talent, while also facing salary pressure and working to retain employees. People leaders will continue to play a key role in addressing talent issues. This month our team speaks with a Chief People Officer (CPO) about her own top HR priorities for 2023, to drive People strategy in a fast-growing company.
In February we are pleased to be unveiling a new look to our newsletter. We will also change to bi-monthly newsletters with other email updates in between. As always, we look forward to your thoughts and insights.
Questions? Call +1 650.614.0220 or visit www.fredericksonpartners.com
This month in our HR Advisory practice we are recruiting for the following Advisory job roles:
Interested? Please contact us to learn more at candidate@fredericksonpartners.com.
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to ensure that anyone who needs a healthy meal can get one.
We worked with Second Harvest of Silicon Valley to place Marcus Bryant as Chief People and Inclusion Officer (CPIO). In his role as CPIO, Marcus will be responsible for guiding, developing and executing an integrated people strategy that will enable the food bank to grow and develop while advancing inclusion and equity across the organization. He will report to the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Leslie Bacho.
Marcus joins Second Harvest from Vantage Custom Solutions, where he served as a Managing Principal. There he successfully led and managed the firm with primary P&L, strategy and growth responsibility. Previously, Marcus worked at FareStart as Chief People and Inclusion Officer. In this role, he partnered with the executive team to grow and scale the businesses, enhance their programs, and provide oversight for all aspects of human resources and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Marcus holds a Bachelor of Arts in Religion and Psychology from Charleston Southern University.
Marcus, congratulations on joining Second Harvest of Silicon Valley as Chief People and Inclusion Officer!
Academy of Art University fosters innovation through a faculty of current industry professionals, state-of-the-art facilities and curriculum in multiple areas of study.
We worked with Academy of Art University to place Ramin Daoud as Vice President (VP), Human Resources (HR). Ramin will provide leadership and direction in the operation of comprehensive HR policies and procedures. This includes executing hands-on HR responsibilities as well as strategic planning, organization and administration of the HR function. Ramin will report to the Chief of Staff, Chris Visslailli.
Academy of Art University is first and foremost a professional school—a specialized place that helps you master your craft as you prepare for professional roles as artists and designers. Their hands-on, no-nonsense curriculum is taught by some of the finest minds working in today’s creative and innovative industries.
Ramin, congratulations on joining Academy of Art University as VP, HR!
Valerie Frederickson
Founder & CEO
In its Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders in 2023, Gartner describes a new imperative for leadership that is human-centric. With recent changes and pressures in the workplace that have significantly impacted employees, ranging from virtual work, to change fatigue, to social and political disruption, there’s a critical need for leaders who will manage with empathy and adaptivity — putting people first.
In 2022 we partnered with Iterable, a SaaS marketing technology company, to place Sejal Patel Daswani as its Chief People Officer. Sejal spoke with our team about her own top HR and People priorities for 2023.
Biography
Joined Iterable in 2022. Previously led HR organization at Sunrun. Over two decades of experience as a people executive in the technology, sustainable energy, fintech, and healthcare sectors with experience scaling Fortune 500s. Received MBA/MPA from MIT/Harvard University, MIA in International Business, and BA from Columbia University.
Q. Congratulations on joining Iterable as CPO. Can you share your top HR priorities for 2023?
Thank you! I’ve had a spectacular time since joining the team — from day one, our employees (who we refer to as “Iterators”) have been incredibly kind, supportive, and welcoming! I had the pleasure of meeting many of these Iterators in-person in early February at our annual company kick-off, called Unite. It was a transformative experience, and really cemented my passion for Iterable and excitement for the year ahead.
My top priority as CPO is our people and our business — ensuring our team feels supported, energized, and empowered to accomplish the best work of their careers at Iterable and drive our business growth. Our core focus areas ensure we are building an experience that works towards this top priority, and include: articulating an employee value proposition, hiring and developing top talent, adapting to the future of work, and building a high-performance culture. Underwriting these focus areas is our implicit commitment to fostering a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and operational excellence. As our company continues to hire and grow, we will continue building on that foundation of excellence.
Our strategic diagram shows how our People team’s focus for 2023 will drive core priorities that take into account our business needs, company stage and market dynamics.
People Team Strategic Priorities
Q. A great diagram! Do any of your People/HR priorities represent new initiatives for Iterable?
Iterable’s core purpose has always revolved around people — to enrich the relationships between consumers and brands, to empower the marketers who create experiences, and to unite a team of people capable of bringing such a vision to life. These are the key moments that have defined Iterable, and they continue to guide us along our growth journey. The priorities I outlined above, and that you see in this diagram, are not, in themselves, net new — Iterable has long been committed to these focus areas. Rather, codifying these priorities, and showcasing how they fit along our journey as a company, is a new concept. And with codification comes organization, amplification, and formalization. We’re able to look at this diagram and see that we’re focused on treating our employees as we treat our customers. Importantly, we are now able to think critically about how we are designing for simplicity, how we are designing the future of work to fit the needs of our employees, and how we are driving toward a new, modern workforce. It’s all about thinking deeply about the employee experience.
Q. How large is your company now, and are you expecting it to grow?
About two years ago, our team was a little over 350 large. Today, we’re past 700 employees and growing. While we certainly have an impressive rate of growth when it comes to headcount, what is paramount is how we are growing. We are scaling predictably, efficiently, and responsibly, and building a team that is values-driven, talented, resilient, and innovative. As a company grows, it’s important that they also invest in infrastructure, lean into agility, and embrace empathy. That’s how we grow here at Iterable — with intentionality.
Which of your People/HR priorities is #1 this year?
One of our main priorities is investing in our Internal Talent rooted in DE&I (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). It’s why Talent Management and DE&I is embedded in everything we do as a business — how we lead, where we invest, who we work with, and more. It’s why DE&I is core to how we operate as people leaders. But diversity isn’t just a social good, it’s also a must-have for businesses that want to stay competitive.
At this point along Iterable’s growth journey (Series E funding), our HR/People Team is focused on getting us to that next stage — and continuing to fuel our growth. We’re prioritizing building operational excellence along the human capital levers that will fuel growth: hiring and developing top talent, supporting workforce planning and design for how we work now, and making sure manager-employee connection is very strong.
Q. Does the possibility of an IPO shape your HR strategy?
I think everybody wants the graduation party, so to speak, however the goal for me, and why I joined the company and this role, is the opportunity to build a billion-dollar revenue business with a vibrant culture. That’s the exciting journey. I feel that an IPO is just a chapter in an overall story.
Q. You got your start in human capital while doing management consulting. How did that lead you into HR?
My career was in management consulting and corporate strategy. I left to be a part of the founding team at Katzenbach Partners with Jon Katzenbach, a guru on teams and work performance. There were just four of us on the founding team to start the company in a small NYC brownstone. Our thesis was that in management consulting, nobody was factoring in the human capital component, and you always felt like you were leaving the client with a very expensive slide decks – often with great ideas, but ones that would easily collect dust if the human side of that strategy, the competencies and team structure, were not factored in. It was one of the most memorable experiences because we were at the advent of modern-day HR by integrating those areas into the strategy also. We scaled and grew that company and got acquired by Booz & Co. Today it’s PwC’s people practice.
What’s really driven my career into human capital is this notion that HR is the business, the people and the business are not two sides of a different coin, they are integrated.
As I reflected on my why … I realized that my passion is to learn and grow and achieve my human potential. It is a blessing and honor to be a CPO and help hundreds and thousands of employees meet their human potential.
As HR leaders, we are business leaders, and are thinking of the business as well as the culture, the people and the way we work. Because the two are not distinct from each other. And that’s really what brought me into the human capital world!
Frederickson Partners, a Gallagher company is a market leader in retained executive search since 1995. As one of the top-rated HR executive search and C-suite recruiting firms, we have expertise in placing Chief People Officers, Chief Human Resources Officers, Chief Diversity Officers, Chief Financial Officers, Chief Legal Officers and many other senior leaders. We draw on a broad network of rising and established executives and leaders, and a 28-year reputation as a talent acquisition and HR Advisory provider.