Two weeks ago, it was such a privilege to host a roundtable lunch for women HR leaders in technology. Held on a sunny Thursday afternoon in the beautiful Palm Room in the Marylebone Hotel, the lunch was a chance to reflect on the role of HR in the rapidly evolving and increasingly challenging tech sector, and swap insights on some of the industry’s most pressing issues.
Among our group of more than a dozen distinguished leaders were Chief People Officers from major ecommerce players, HRDs from innovative AI firms, and senior HR executives from global tech behemoths. Each person around the table was passionate about HR’s role in driving growth.
We were delighted to have Claire Ainscough, Chief People Officer at Ocado Group, join us for the event. In her opening remarks, Claire shared insights from nearly four years at the tech giant, reflecting on Ocado’s extraordinary growth, and its breadth reaching from retail to logistics to cutting-edge automation technology.
“Ocado has been around for 23 years now,” Claire told our group in her opening remarks, “which is really astonishing when you think about it. We’ve got our retail business, which is a joint venture with M&S, and then a logistics division with a 15,000-strong team, and a technology arm designing warehouse technology. I’m responsible for these last two parts of the business.” It was the tech division, Claire explained, that first drew her to Ocado Group. The arm is powered by a team of 5,500, who work to create the automation technology used in Ocado’s logistics and retail divisions.
“It’s such a fascinating business,” Claire continued, “in large part because it’s still run by one of the three original founders, Tim Steiner. We’re under the FTSE spotlight, but in many ways, we still operate like a startup. In HR, my task is to find solutions that cater for each of the three employee populations, and recognise that everyone across the group is really working towards the same goals: innovation and efficiency.”
Throughout our discussion, it was fascinating to hear the group’s views on some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing tech businesses today. Our lively discussion was held under Chatham House rules, but here we’ve outlined the themes that resonated most strongly throughout the afternoon:
1. Working with – and without – tech founders
Many tech firms are defined by their founders. Over our delicious lunch, we agreed that leading the HR function in a founder-led business comes with unique rewards, opportunities and challenges. One point that resonated particularly deeply was the unparalleled access that CPOs get to a founder and their vision for the company – and how fascinating and rewarding that can be.
One of the most critical tasks for the HR function is managing a founder’s exit. With any founder-led business, there is a risk that a company’s vision gets lost once the founder leaves, and it was inspiring to hear how HR leaders had empowered their teams to drive the business forward without their founder at the helm.
“One of the most critical tasks for the HR function is managing a founder’s exit. With any founder-led business, there is a risk that a company’s vision gets lost once the founder leaves.”
2. Bringing employees on the journey
Central to HR’s remit is building, maintaining and protecting company culture – especially in large organisations, and in businesses scaling at rapid pace. The group agreed that HR leaders have to take employees on the journey: to ensure that everyone in the organisation is clear on the company’s values, the business model, and its ultimate goals.
One HR leader shared her approach to this, telling us that she likens her job to a subscription model. “Sometimes I think: what do I have to do to make sure that every employee subscribes again at the end of each month? How can I keep them engaged in our company?”
3. Guiding tech businesses into their next chapter
A common challenge for HR leaders in the tech space is how to implement clear people processes, and build an inclusive and effective culture in companies which have historically been driven primarily by innovation. Especially in earlier-stage companies, there can be a real resistance to change.
Bringing the company forward means melding together old and new. Our group shared insight on how best to bring in new policies, establish new mindsets, and hire new people without losing sight of the company’s core mission, or losing engagement from original team members. One HR leader said that building a solid succession plan for the long-term success of her company had been the most rewarding part of her career to date. “It’s just a joyful activity,” she said, “identifying the people who I know will make a difference.”
4. The evolving role of HR
When once the HR function was associated with payroll, hiring, and firing, today it sits firmly at the heart of company strategy. This is, of course, in no small part because of the pandemic, when HRDs were tasked with keeping colleagues healthy and mentally well, overseeing vast remote working networks and acting as a reminder to CEOs to remain focused on their people.
Each leader around the table agreed that Covid-19 marked a shift in the leadership landscape, and today HRDs are guaranteed a top seat at the Board table. As Moira put: “the best chief people officers are those who could be mistaken for a CEO, CFO or COO when they stand at the podium and deliver the strategy.”
“The best chief people officers are those who could be mistaken for a CEO, CFO or COO when they stand at the podium and deliver the strategy.” – Moira Benigson, Founder, The MBS Group.
5. Who will be the next generation of CPOs?
Interestingly – and perhaps counterintuitively given the role’s recent prominence – many of our group spoke to the challenge of attracting the next generation of Chief People Officers. The position requires serious resilience, and the ability to carefully manage executive relationships. The way the CPO is positioned within the organisation can have a make-or-break effect on success in the role, and one HR leader suggested that the high-stakes nature of HR today may be putting future generations off. Looking ahead, it is the responsibility of current HR executives to inspire and prepare future leaders. Building a solid succession pipeline, and providing upskilling and training opportunities will be critical here.
We came away from the lunch feeling inspired about the future of the tech space – and clearer than ever that HR has never been more critical, or more exciting. Today’s HR leaders are protecting culture, inspiring action among employees, and shaping the organisations that are changing our world.
Helen.Benigson@thembsgroup.co.uk | Liana.Osborne@thembsgroup.co.uk | @TheMBSGroup