Beyond Resumes: Why Prioritizing 'Who' You Work With Unleashes Innovation

Welcome to the Built by People podcast, where we share the stories and insights of the world's top HR leaders. Join us as we dive deep into the minds of HR executives, uncovering their strategies, challenges, and triumphs in shaping today's workforce. I'm excited to welcome Priyanka to the Built by People podcast. Priyanka, thank you so much for joining us. And as a starting question, I always love to ask if you could share a little bit more about your career journey.

Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. So I've had, some would say, a non-traditional path into the role I have right now. I started out as a journalist. That's what I wanted to be. I wrote about brands, which is interesting now that I'm at Braze, and then came to the US to study journalism and also learn more about futures and options. I was really interested in that. And lo and behold, took a switch while I was still in college to take a job with an HR consulting firm, which was my first exposure. To the HR field. And then over the years, based on primarily the choices and the way I wanted to learn, I took a bunch of roles in and out of HR. So for the time that I was at Bridgewater, I joined in HR, did a stint in recruiting. I didn't have the background, but it was good learning. And then left it and started working with the head of the back office, which is really the clearance settlements function in a hedge fund. So nothing to do with HR. And then eventually went on to take a role to work as a chief of staff to the co-CEO. So again, nothing to do with HR, although it has a huge people component. And then when I left Bridgewater, as I was debating what to do, that's when it crystallized. I really enjoyed the people aspect of it the most. So that's when I joined Compass working in the HR function and moved on from there to Braze. So again, had a healthy mix, but not very traditional of doing either comm, benefit, just did a bunch of assignments here and there. And quite honestly, they've added up and they've been very helpful in the current role that I'm doing.

Priyanka, you've obviously had a set of very rich professional experiences. What lessons from those past experiences have influenced your leadership approach where you are now?

Yes. So, when you look back, and I think if I crystallize it into one thing, to me, And this was reinforced at Bridgewater, the who, the person you select, the people you select to spend your time with, the choices you make in that space, that is one of the most important ones. Make sure you're making the right choice. More often than not, people spend a lot of time thinking about what they're going to ask those people to do. As I said, focus more on who is it that you're asking to do. Focusing on people, what they're capable of, where they are, what their values are, how do they align with your values? Are these the kinds of people you're gonna spend a good part of your day? Would you enjoy spending it with them? I found that to be the most important and the most successful. And it's actually over the years led me to make what I would call some non-traditional bets. I've had people on my team, one engaging, promising person, she was a software engineer, gave it up to become an HR person. You don't see much of that. And she was one of the most successful ones. I think that was a very critical part, and I've found that helpful. The second is, You know, Bridgewater is known for being very honest. You're very direct and transparent, and that's a really good thing. It can be uncomfortable and I get it, but if it works for you, it's the right way to be. That having said, you have to have the filter of empathy. At the end of the day, you're dealing with people and different people have different expectations, different styles, how they like to receive information, how they like to receive feedback and coaching. Over the years, I've learned to really value, appreciate, and focus on that. Some of that came from an ex-manager who once told me, hey, remember at the end end of the day, people won't remember what you asked them to do or what you did with, you know, for them, but they will always carry with them and remember how you made them feel. And I think it's pretty important and very powerful for any leader, not just a people leader, any leader to remember that.

Priyanka, how does your experience within financial services shape your perspective on HR's role in driving innovation at a software company like Braze?

Yes, so if you step back and you think about it, what is really innovation and what does it take to have an innovative culture? You need to have a place that values it. You need to have a place that encourages it and something that's important and you must reward it. Innovation requires risk-taking. You must have a culture that actually appreciates and puts its money where its mouth is. You need to have accountability for innovation across all levels. It's not just that the CEO is responsible for innovation or the CTO is or the people officer is. All of us are responsible for it. You must build a community that is very comfortable with disagreeing and challenging each other's ideas to make sure that the best product and the best ideas come to life. And then from a people perspective, making sure that environment does exist, but there are the programs and the policies and the conditions that support it and encourage it. And so that's where I say that's where the people team plays such a critical role because HR team plays in all those spheres and is responsible for it. Not just high tech, but many other industries, the only resource that is most valuable and critical that we have is our people. What are you trying to do? What are your constraints? How can you get more creative in constraints? People typically are much more creative when they have constraints. And then continue to work for an environment that I think allows you to build that culture and community where innovation strives. Gets done, work gets done creatively, and where we are able to achieve our goals. So it's a very long way of saying just always remember at the end of the day, really good talent is very scarce. It makes a choice every day to come in and work with you. And it is— you must have the commitment to ensure that that passion and the creativity and the joy they get in working, that you create an environment and a culture that allows it to stay with you.

Priyanka, what strategies have you found to be most effective in aligning HR initiatives with business goals, especially in fast-paced, high-growth environments?

So, I say this to my team all the time. They probably get tired of me saying that the most important thing for a people team is understand the business. The Braze business is different from the Bridgewater business. The Bridgewater business is going to be different from, say, the Citigroup business. If you get my point, like, You have to understand what business are you in, what are the drivers for the business, take use of all the resources that are available to— and we are very fortunate. We live in a society and a culture, A, that information is free, readily available, and just learn to educate yourself, become smart about it. For publicly traded companies, the earnings call is the one I always say, go back and listen to it. You'll find out what keeps your leaders up at night, what are their goals, what are they striving to do? Because then you're designing programs and policies to help your leaders and your community achieve the goals they've set out for themselves. The risk of not doing that is you end up designing programs and policies that at times can be theoretical, out of touch with the business reality, and just end up feeling very bureaucratic and burdensome to the employee population. So, I keep stressing on it, and the team is very appreciative and, and values it.

Priyanka, how has your previous experience influenced your approach to collaborating with executive teams?

People who rise to the C-level, in my opinion, they tend to be Type A people. They've risen because they're very driven, they're specialists in their areas, they're confident in their views. And when you get to that level and observing them, you have to learn to understand and respect that. And when those groups of people work together, it does require a lot of give and take and a lot of active listening. And from a people person perspective, I think you play a very critical role of being that bridge builder. People from a legal background, from a finance background, from a sales background, from a product background, tech, they all will have different ways of thinking and different styles of communicating. That's just a given. So the roles that I've played, I've had the benefit and the luxury, which at times I didn't think was the benefit, to observe people. I would sit and I get a chance to observe and hear and listen and make sense of what they were saying and try to build the connections. I think my journalism background taught me, has taught me, and it comes into good use, is asking the questions, the hard questions, but in a good way. The why, why are you doing this? What do you think you were trying to achieve? Why do you think the outcome isn't matching to what we had said we would achieve and what can we learn from this? So I think all of those collectively have really helped me build what I call scalable machines and organizations and working processes so that we achieve the collective goal that we've set out for each other. And the last thing is you have to have mutual respect and empathy for each other. And so my past experience, when you look at people, you start understanding where they're coming from. And I always try to remind people, at the end of the day, we are working for the same goal. It may sound different, the process may sound different from what you wanted to do, but step back and let's look at it at the 60,000-foot level, and you'll find there's a lot more common ground than needed. And then you can build that bridge and get to that goal faster.

Priyanka, what parting advice would you like to share with our audience?

First and foremost, if you look at my career path, everyone will have their unique journey. It'll be dependent on your circumstances, what you value, what the choices and constraints you have in the moment. So just be true to yourself. I always tell people, balance— always have your aspirations and your goals clear, but balance them with pragmatism and reality. No matter what you do, just make sure don't settle for it. And the other thing that I found helpful for me is at times people are very focused on what the next role is going to be. I didn't focus on what was the size, what was the scope. I wasn't indifferent to it, but it wasn't the central factor in my decision-making. I really went to who would I want to work for? Do I admire them? Will I learn something from them? Do we have the same values? Do I wanna hang out with them? And I think that helped me move along the way. And also, you know, from a people function, make sure people trust you. Once you lose credibility in the people function, there's really nothing much to be done. Those are a couple of things that I feel if you focus on, you will get to the right outcome. Wherever you get to be is the right place for you, and you should be proud of that.

Priyanka, thank you so much for joining us on the Built by People podcast. It was a pleasure to have you involved.

Thank you. Great to be here.