Why You Should Look At People Strategy As You Would A New Product Line
Summary
As I reflect one year in as a first-time Chief People Officer (CPO), from day one, I never saw any reason why I shouldn’t be looking through the same lens of business impact as my peers on the senior leadership team. Years ago, I earned an MBA and have since been fortunate to work at General Electric in M&A, at PepsiCo in marketing, and at Target as retail strategist; I also led a company called MindPoint as CEO until its acquisition. At a board meeting earlier this spring, I gave a data-supported presentation where I explained how metrics such as retention, engagement, satisfaction, recruiting/offer win rates and turnover led to the statistic that matters most to me: revenue per employee (RPE). I also explained our five-to-10-year talent strategy and why certain global markets were going to be our preferred targets for hiring, and it included data about local salary and wages expectations, governmental tax credits available and other financial factors. Set quantifiable goals and track progress, including but not exclusive to performance evaluations, DEI efforts, retention, engagement, satisfaction, recruiting/offer win rates and turnover.