Cory Rose
SVP of People
TAG (The Aspen Group)
Episode 399
Generic HR advice is failing. Master your unique business context to win.
Current chapter: Covering monthly expenses is the number one concern for employees in 2024
Built By PeopleOctober 23, 2024 · 18:25
Thesis
“Effective HR leadership demands a deep understanding of unique business contexts and diverse employee personas, advocating for adaptable, data-driven strategies over fads or 'one-size-fits-all' approaches.”
Show notes
Transforming HR: Cross-Cultural Insights, Innovations, and Strategic Leadership In this episode, Dave interviews our guest Cory Rose recounts an inspiring career journey in HR, from interdisciplinary college studies to roles spanning recruiting, HR management, and international assignments at esteemed organizations like Ronstadt, NIH, Deloitte, Udemy, Chime, and TAG. The guest emphasizes the significance of diverse cultural perspectives and continual learning in HR. Key trends discussed include AI integration, data-driven decision-making, and innovative retention strategies in budget-constrained environments. The conversation also covers the necessity of adapting HR practices across industries, tailoring employee engagement strategies, and the impactful yet controversial approach of reducing the frequency of surveys. The episode particularly highlights the crucial and often understaffed role of Total Rewards professionals in managing compensation and benefits. Concluding with practical advice, the guest urges HR executives to prioritize essential resources and focus on their specific business needs to excel. 00:00 Introduction and Career Beginnings 00:50 Early Career in Recruiting 01:24 Government Job Experience 02:01 Learning HR at Deloitte 02:38 International Experience in Berlin 03:31 Return to the US and Joining TAG 03:52 Current Role and Responsibilities 06:08 HR Trends and Adaptation 08:46 Navigating Diverse Industries 09:18 Adapting to Different Business Needs 09:51 Understanding Employee Personas 10:08 Embracing Direct Communication 10:48 Learning and Synthesizing New Environments 11:48 Controversial HR Practices 13:15 Rethinking Performance Management 14:09 Advice for HR Executives 17:26 Final Thoughts and Farewell
What you'll take away
- 1Prioritize understanding the unique business context and diverse employee personas to design effective HR programs, rather than applying generic best practices.
- 2Approach HR trends like AI pragmatically, focusing on how they can genuinely augment administrative tasks and drive value, rather than blindly chasing every 'shiny new thing'.
- 3Re-evaluate the cadence of traditional HR processes like performance management and engagement surveys, opting for less frequent but more actionable and impactful interactions.
- 4Invest adequately in Total Rewards professionals, as their expertise is critical for navigating complex compensation, benefits, and generational needs in a constantly evolving market.
- 5Cultivate a 'sponge' mentality when entering new organizations, actively listening and synthesizing information before implementing changes, to gain trust and ensure relevance.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Reducing the frequency of formalized employee engagement surveys (from quarterly to annually) to ensure more thoughtful action planning and minimize business disruption, while maintaining a commitment to employee feedback.
- •Pausing traditional twice-yearly performance reviews to fundamentally rethink the process, shifting focus to continuous expectation setting and real-time feedback for better talent management.
- •Advising HR leaders not to chase every fad or adopt practices just because large, well-known companies do, instead emphasizing the importance of tailoring strategies to one's unique people and business needs.
In Cory's words
“I was an interdisciplinary studies major with a minor in cross-cultural humanities and Africana studies. And so I've always been fascinated by different cultures and different points of view in the world, like how do people think, how do how do different cultures react to different situations...”
Highlights the guest's foundational interest in diverse perspectives, which later informed her international HR career.
“It's one thing to be a US-based person saying I support an international team, but until you like live and work every day in that environment and really understand that, like, the big world picture view outside of America, like, you don't really understand like what HR looks and feels like if you're not sitting in that culture day to day.”
Emphasizes the critical importance of immersion for true cross-cultural HR understanding and effective global people strategies.
“I think the first thing as myself, as an HR practitioner, I always do when thinking about the trends is like, what's a trend and what's actually going to stick around? Because I think it's very easy to get distracted by brand new shiny thing.”
Reveals a pragmatic, skeptical approach to adopting new HR technologies and trends, prioritizing long-term impact over novelty.
“I'm not afraid to say the hard thing in a meeting, and sometimes that's gotten me in trouble. I had a first job where I would just be like, just tell them to do that. And I got called abrasive, but I was just being very matter of fact, right?”
Illustrates a direct communication style that, while sometimes challenging, is rooted in efficiency and candor, essential for executive leadership.
“I would say maybe something controversial is we've taken a big pause this year on both performance and engagement.”
Directly addresses a controversial decision to rethink traditional HR processes for better strategic alignment and actionable feedback.
“I would actually say total rewards professionals, because I think a lot of times TR is an under-resourced team... You need somebody that understands the how and the why of how you pay people and how you reward people.”
Highlights the critical and often undervalued role of total rewards in organizational success and employee financial well-being.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Employees' number one concern in 2024 is covering monthly expenses, indicating a widespread financial well-being challenge (Previ sponsor message 0:30).
- •Businesses risk disruption and ineffective action planning when employee engagement surveys are conducted too frequently (e.g., quarterly) (12:50).
- •Traditional, infrequent performance management processes (e.g., twice yearly) fail to provide timely feedback, leading to employees being unaware of their performance standing until it's too late (14:00).
- •Under-resourced Total Rewards teams struggle to navigate complex and changing market dynamics, benefits costs, and diverse generational needs in compensation (15:50).
- •HR leaders face challenges in scaling programs and processes across highly diverse employee personas (e.g., dentists, vets, nurse estheticians) within multi-brand organizations (4:50).
- •The difficulty in discerning between fleeting HR trends ('brand new shiny thing') and genuinely impactful solutions can lead to distraction and wasted resources (7:14).
In this episode
Covering monthly expenses is the number one concern for employees in 2024
Built by People
Tell me a little bit about your career journey and what led you to HR
How to Get Out of Your Career Trap
I'd love to ask a question around some of the most significant trends shaping HR today
The Future of HR Tech
One trend that's swinging back is this idea of retention
Reasons for Retention in a Budget- constrained Environment
What are some of the challenges that you've faced in your HR career
WSJDLive: The Challenges of HR
We've taken a big pause this year on both performance and engagement
What's Controversial About Your HR Practices?
What question would you have me ask the next person I interview in this series
What is one area that you should never under-resource?
Corey Miller: Don't chase every fad, don't ignore trends
HR Live: Don't Chase Every Fad
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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