Leader's Playbook Global Mentor Network

Today’s guest is Livia Freudl, Senior Vice President and Head of Human Resources at Varian.
Varian’s Intelligent Cancer Care is shaping the future of oncology by building shorter paths between consultation and treatment, connecting the world through intelligent thinking, data, insights, and solutions to deliver advanced care for each patient’s unique journey.
In her role at Varian, Livia oversees all operational and strategic human resources activities including talent acquisition, talent management, performance management, learning & development, compensation & benefits, workforce analytics, employee experience, diversity & inclusion, and organizational development.
In this episode, you’ll hear about Livia’s expansive global cultural experiences that inform her leadership, how Varian is promoting a wider cultural awareness by fostering curiosity, empathy and even self-awareness, and how she works to keep employees engaged and mentally/physically healthy in today’s hybrid work models,
Leaders Playbook is a podcast hosted by Dr. Diane Hamilton and powered by the Global Mentor Network. We share stories about how to drive transformational impact in your organization. We talk with innovative thinkers across various industry sectors to hear about the best tools, resources, practices, and strategies to help you and your team reach the top of their game.
Register for free on GMN.net to have access to our full library of content and resources on professional development.
 
Discussion Points:

Livia Freudl’s background - from dreams of a professional harpist to global corporate HR
Benefits of experiencing so many different cultures - Germany, Indonesia, the Middle East, and the U.S.
What have organizations done to address the challenges of working parents?
Empathy, and curiosity vs. rote learning
Improving cultural awareness - requires curiosity, empathy and self-awareness
Dealing with biases in the workplace
Cross-training and job rotation within a company - adding valuable perspective
Keeping teams engaged, healthy and enjoying their work in the new work models

 
Resources/Links:
Varian
Livia Freudl
Global Mentor Network Website
Global Mentor Network on Twitter
Global Mentor Network on LinkedIn
Dr. Diane Hamilton LinkedIn

Today’s guest is Tracy Ting, CHRO of Encore Capital Group, a global specialty finance company with operations and investments across North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Tracy brings almost three decades of combined finance and HR expertise to her role, and is an award-winning CHRO who enhances shareholder value through strategic business growth and cultural transformation at multi-national companies. At Encore, Ms. Ting is responsible for people, culture, communications and ESG, providing strategic vision and enterprise leadership.  Prior to Encore, Ms. Ting was the Chief People Officer at Avanir Pharmaceuticals and SVP & CHRO at Affymetrix.
In this episode, you’ll hear how Tracy spearheaded the creation of a global set of values for Encore, written by employees, that distilled ten different sets of values down to just three. She shares the metrics by which all these values are measured, and explains how a company’s core values should hit the heart more than the head. Tracy talks about the challenges and successes Encore faces post-pandemic regarding the future of work. She addresses how they make ESG initiatives their standard operating procedure rather than just a "special project.”
Leaders Playbook is a podcast hosted by Dr. Diane Hamilton and powered by the Global Mentor Network. We share stories about how to drive transformational impact in your organization. We talk with innovative thinkers across various industry sectors to hear about the best tools, resources, practices, and strategies to help you and your team reach the top of their game.
Register for free on GMN.net to have access to our full library of content and resources on professional development.
 
Discussion Points:

Tracy Ting background
Involving all voices in the co-creation process
Distilling ten sets of company values down to three: We care, we find a better way, we are inclusive and collaborative
Feeling values in your heart vs. head
The impact on global employee engagement
A constant search for incremental improvements
Thinking through the future of work, and making ESG the new normal
Metrics for measuring ESG and who wants to see them
ESG has been a multi-year journey of incremental progress
Five pillars of ESG: Consumers, people, operating responsibly, environmental, and community
The biggest challenge in global collaboration is getting the right people at the table
Advice- Tracy has a lot of it!

Be open
Navigate the new
Don’t be afraid of mistakes
“I don’t know what I don’t know.”
Be strategic in your career progression, think two steps ahead, not one.
Figure out your superpower and market it
Never compromise your core values



 
Resources/Links:
Tracy Ting LinkedIn
Encore Capital
Global Mentor Network Website
Global Mentor Network on Twitter
Global Mentor Network on LinkedIn
Dr. Diane Hamilton LinkedIn

Today’s guest is Susan Hailey, Vice President, Global Talent Acquisition and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at OpenText. As an expert in leading all aspects of human capital and talent for high-growth organizations in technology and life sciences, Susan is known for innovation, results, and creating high-performance teams around the globe.
In this episode, you’ll hear about the benefits and importance of interdepartmental “cross-pollination”, hiring process differences in cultures around the world, evaluating interviewees’ responses to behavioral interview questions, and some of the challenges facing talent acquisition professionals in today’s rapidly changing environment.
Leaders Playbook is a podcast hosted by Dr. Diane Hamilton and powered by the Global Mentor Network. We share stories about how to drive transformational impact in your organization. We talk with innovative thinkers across various industry sectors to hear about the best tools, resources, practices, and strategies to help you and your team reach the top of their game.
Register for free on GMN.net to have access to our full library of content and resources on professional development.
 
Discussion Points:

Susan’s backstory
HR challenges in a global team
High-functioning companies ‘cross-pollinate’ across departments
Cultural differences in talent and recruiting- India
The theory of ‘weak ties’ in a job search
Behavioral interviewing questions and how they are answered
The pros and cons of panel interviews
Online video interviews - the new normal
Challenges around limits on travel and global time zones
Generational challenges around new tech and other changes
Talent advice for the near future - mindful hiring and scrutiny of high-level executives

 
Resources/Links:
Susan Hailey LinkedIn
OpenText Careers
Speaker Profile - Talent Acquisition Week
Real Talk with Susan Hailey
Book: The Silo Effect
Global Mentor Network Website
Global Mentor Network on Twitter
Global Mentor Network on LinkedIn
Dr. Diane Hamilton LinkedIn

Today’s guest is Eva Andres, SVP and Chief Human Resources Officer for Juniper. Juniper  strives to deliver network experiences that transform how people connect, work and live. Their solutions power connections in education, healthcare, secure banking and more. From Junos to Apstra and Paragon to Mist AI, Juniper pushes the envelope on predictability, programmability, automation, and insights. By making experience the top priority, Juniper creates agile networks that transcend customer expectations.
Eva is responsible for charting Juniper’s global people strategy, fostering diversity, inclusion, and growth among their most important asset, the employees. She leads the human resources organization and the Juniper Networks Foundation Fund, which inspires the next generation of engineers and innovators. With over 20 years of global leadership, Andres has held executive human resources roles ranging from startup to multinational organizations, and has a proven ability to prepare and lead organizations through transformation and growth. Prior to joining Juniper, she held senior leadership positions at Virtustream (Dell EMC), Documentum, and Dupont.
In this episode, we discuss about the renaissance of the work environment post-Covid, broadening the scope of what is discussed with potential job candidates, screening out candidates who are too focused on titles and hierarchies and hiring and training multi-dimensional candidates that will power Juniper into a sometimes unknowable future. 
Leaders Playbook is a podcast hosted by Dr. Diane Hamilton and powered by the Global Mentor Network. We share stories about how to drive transformational impact in your organization. We talk with innovative thinkers across various industry sectors to hear about the best tools, resources, practices, and strategies to help you and your team reach the top of their game.
Register for free on GMN.net to have access to our full library of content and resources on professional development.
 
Discussion Points:

Eva’s back story & matching talent to business objectives
Thinking more broadly about job candidates and skill sets
Interview questions - why do you want Juniper and what can we offer you?
Candidates want to know Juniper’s culture and responsibility before the job details
The focus on soft skills and emotionally intelligent leadership
Titles, pay levels and motivation
Changes in the way we work - it’s not just in/out of office
Anticipating needs in an unknown future - utilizing data and trends
Using personality tests - only for team building and training, not hiring

 
Resources/Links:
Eva Andres on LinkedIn
Juniper Website
Global Mentor Network Website
Global Mentor Network on Twitter
Global Mentor Network on LinkedIn
Dr. Diane Hamilton LinkedIn

My guest today is Chief People Officer of 2K, Bobbie Grafeld.  She leads 2K's People Team, including HRBPs, talent acquisition, total rewards, talent and organization development, employee relations, people operations, and DEI. 2K is a videogame publisher managing some of the most creative, respected and premium brands in games today.
Founded in 2005 within Take Two Interactive, 2K develops and publishes interactive entertainment for PC, console and mobile platforms. Their world-class team of engineers, developers, graphic artists and publishing professionals are stewards of a growing library of critically-acclaimed franchises such as Battleborn, BioShock, Borderlands, The Darkness, Mafia, NBA 2K, PGA TOUR 2K, Sid Meier’s Civilization, WWE 2K, and XCOM.
In this episode, I talk with Bobbie about her 6-year career break to start a family and returning to the workforce as an admin at  PayPal. From there she found a path through Walmart to 2K. You’ll hear about HR challenges in tech-related fields, the importance of training managers at every level, AI as an HR tool, and pivoting quickly during the pandemic.
Leaders Playbook is a podcast hosted by Dr. Diane Hamilton and powered by the Global Mentor Network. We share stories about how to drive transformational impact in your organization. We talk with innovative thinkers across various industry sectors to hear about the best tools, resources, practices, and strategies to help you and your team reach the top of their game.
Register for free on GMN.net to have access to our full library of content and resources on professional development.
 
Discussion Points:

Bobbie’s non-linear path to 2K
Surprising differences - perception vs reality in the hiring process
HR challenges in tech-related fields
Qualities that stand out in potential tech employees - soft skills
2K’s Manager Academy training
The costs of having poor managers
AI’s impact on the HR space
Standing out as a candidate - then and now
Data - distilling down, and curating/synthesizing to support the story
Generational differences and communication
Joining 2K during the pandemic
Giving back and corporate responsibility
Building the tech workforce for the future

 
Resources/Links:
Bobbie Grafeld LinkedIn
2K Website
Global Mentor Network Website
Global Mentor Network on Twitter
Global Mentor Network on LinkedIn
Dr. Diane Hamilton LinkedIn

Our guest today is Megan D. Burkhart, EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer at Comerica. Comerica Inc. is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas with three major divisions: commercial banking, retail banking, and wealth management. Megan’s position oversees Diversity & Inclusion, HR Operations, Technology & Risk, HR Consulting, Learning, Talent and Organizational Change Management, Talent Acquisition and Total Rewards.
Leaders Playbook is a podcast hosted by Dr. Diane Hamilton, and powered by the Global Mentor Network. We share stories about how to drive transformational impact in your organization. We talk with innovative thinkers across various industry sectors to hear about the best tools, resources, practices, and strategies to help you and your team reach the top of their game.
Register for free on GMN.net to have access to our full library of content and resources on professional development.
 
Discussion Points:

Megan’s background and path to her current position
Employees’ and job candidates’ wishes and desires post-Covid
Reimagining benefits packages
Career development - it’s not just about “moving up”
What has and has not worked at Comerica
Performance and incentives
Retaining top talent with retirement benefits
Keeping in communication with great employees that leave the company
Balancing compensation in a competitive market
Leadership development programs
Investment counseling around stock purchases, 401k’s and retirement
Psychological/soft skill development and situational leadership training

 
Resources/Links:
Comerica Website
Global Mentor Network Website
Dr. Diane Hamilton LinkedIn