Ep 51: How Rachel Olchowka, balanced the role of GC & CPO @ Fetch

What do you need to know if you're considering taking on the people function? What's the difference between a chief people officer and a CHRO? And are GCs well-positioned to take on both of these roles simultaneously?

Rachel Olchowka, Former Chief People Officer and General Counsel at Fetch and current Chief Administrative Officer at Prizm Insurance, had no hesitations when she volunteered to operate a complex, metrics-driven people function in addition to her responsibilities leading in-house legal at a fast-paced organization. Not only did she learn how to do both roles—she learned how to do them well.

Listen as Rachel shares how she was able to find balance between two very different executive positions, know whether expanding into a people role is right for you, establish a game-changing comprehensive parental leave plan, craft culture within a company and executive team, and more.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-51

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Taking on the chief people officer role while serving as general counsel at Fetch: 2:25
The difference between CPOs and CHROs: 5:25
Encountering pushback from the executive team on HR policies: 9:01
Crafting culture within an executive team: 12:35
Establishing a comprehensive parental leave plan: 14:53
Approaching the hiring process as a CPO: 19:38
Comparing in-office policies against remote work: 24:40
Dealing with emotionally charged issues in the CPO/CHRO role: 30:57
Recommendations to GCs who want to take on multiple executive roles: 36:34
Considering the right candidate for dual GC and CPO roles: 42:39
Book recommendations: 46:37
What you wish you’d known as a young lawyer: 50:19

Connect with us:
Rachel Olchowka - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-olchowka/
Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn
SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft

SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.