EP. 25 Being A Professional People Person

Megan Thornton, Chief People Officer at SwagUp, is in the "People" Business and with her extensive experience in culture, training and development she has helped companies from Ford to FinTechs nurture their most valuable asset- Their People.  Megan's start as a teacher is what accidentally landed her first job in human resources, which she admits was not a profession she ever imagined doing.  Her passion as a teacher to help young people chase their dreams, perfectly positioned her to be an effective people advisor.  Megan shares some advice for those looking to get into the People Profession and that the credentials are not the most important thing.  Megan says that her time in the Peace Corps brought along a humble perspective and belief that you must honor a place, before you start to change it.  Adding value to a company, only happens after you really understand what's going on, but that takes time.  Training and development for employees is typically an area where budgets are cut or the process is overlooked- Megan shares her philosophy around onboarding and how the "first day of school" never stops, even as an adult.  Taking the time to make new employees feel welcome and giving them the tools to be successful is not only good for the Teammate, but also for a company's retention strategy.  Megan's role in advising CEOs on people concerns has showed her that the office of the CEO, can often be the loneliest.   In the end, Megan has found that Teams better operate when they live out their values (not just some words on a wall, in the lobby) and understand that everyone from the entry-level employee to the CEO are just people, with regular people stuff (family, money, fears, etc), and that we are more the same than different.  After all, business is just a collection of ordinary people trying to do the extraordinary.