How to transform HR to be more digital and building a culture of diversity

Welcome to the inaugural episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast and video series, where each time I'll be speaking to a range of senior HR leaders who are pushing a data-driven and digital HR agenda. You'll hear from people leaders who are driving transformation in their organisations on how HR can prepare for the future and what HR leaders need to do to prepare for the Future of Work.

We hear a lot about digital transformation in HR, but how do you achieve this in partnership with the business rather than in isolation? That’s the topic of this week’s podcast.

My guest is Sharon Doherty, Chief People Officer at Finastra who until recently spent nearly six years at Vodafone as Global Organisation and People Development Director, where she led Vodafone's approach to Organisational Effectiveness, Resourcing, Talent, Capability, Diversity and Inclusion and Digital Transformation across 30 markets.

I can’t think of many better guests to have on our first show than Sharon. She is one of a new breed of Chief People Officers. Business focused, data-driven but at the same time people oriented and passionate about diversity and inclusion, where she has led some truly ground-breaking work at Vodafone.

In this week’s podcast we discuss:

• The digital transformation of HR at Vodafone, which was done in close partnership with the business 
• How to co-create the employee experience with and for the workforce 
• The work Sharon led at Vodafone around diversity and inclusion 
• The role of the Head of HR in light of Sharon’s new role as CPO at Finastra 
• Finally, we also look ahead and ponder what the role of HR will be in 2025

This episode is a must listen for anyone who is currently or about to undertake a digital transformation of HR and/or who has a passion for the critical topic of diversity and inclusion. You can also check out the full transcript from the interview below.

Support for this podcast is brought to you by Culture Amp - find out more at cultureamp.com.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

To listen to the Podcast and read the transcript of my interview with Sharon, head over to myHRfuture by clicking on this link: How to transform HR to be more digital

WATCH THE VIDEOS

As well as the podcast, there are a couple of videos available on the myHRfuture YouTube channel highlighting two of the questions Sharon and I covered in our discussion.

Firstly, Sharon describes How To Build A Culture Of Diversity (see also below):

Then, Sharon tackles the question we'll be asking all our guests on the Digital HR Leaders show: What Will The Role of HR be in 2025?

A SMALL FAVOUR

If you enjoyed listening to and watching the discussion with Sharon, I'd be grateful if you could take the following three steps:

1. Please subscribe to the Digital HR Leaders podcast and weekly newsletter to make sure you don’t miss an episode.
2. Who would you like to see me interview in future episodes? Let me know in the comments below.
3. Lastly, don’t forget to share on LinkedIn and Twitter with your friends and colleagues, your support is always greatly appreciated!

THANK YOU

A huge thank you to Sharon for sharing her time and expertise - you can connect with Sharon on LinkedIn or follow Sharon on Twitter, to Ian Bailie, Manpreet Randhawa and the myHRfuture team, and finally to Culture Amp for sponsoring the first series of the Digital HR Leaders podcast and video series.

Next week, my guest will be Ed Houghton, Head of Research and Thought Leadership at CIPD.

CATCH UP WITH ALL THE FIRST 25 EPISODES OF THE DIGITAL HR LEADERS PODCAST

If you haven't listened to some of the other episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast, you can catch up now by clicking on the links below:

• EP 25: Julie Digby - How HR Drives Transformation and Org Design at Mars
• EP 24: RJ Milnor - How McKesson uses ONA to identify what drives high performance in sales
• EP 23: Rupert Morrison - Rethinking Workforce Planning & Organisation Design
• EP 22: Dawn Klinghoffer - The Evolution of People Analytics at Microsoft
• EP 21: John Boudreau - Reinventing Jobs: The Future of Work and it's impact on HR
• EP 20: Tanuj Kapilashrami - How Standard Chartered designed an exceptional Employee Experience
• EP 19: Anna Tavis: What is Agile HR and how are companies adopting it?
• EP 18: Sarah Johnson: How to use employee surveys to create strategic value
• EP 17: Leena Nair - How HR drives business value at Unilever
• EP 16: Keith McNulty - HR 3.0: more data driven, more agile and more business focused
• EP 15: Jason Corsello - The Shift From HR Tech to Work Tech
• EP 14: Jill Larsen - How does the CHRO successfully partner with the CEO
• EP 13: Frida Polli - How AI and Behavioural Science can reduce bias in recruiting
• EP 12: Ian O'Keefe - The Workforce Analytics journey at JP Morgan Chase
• EP 11: Dave Ulrich - The role of HR in the Digital Age
• EP 10: Jordan Pettman - How Nestlé uses People Analytics to measure Gender Pay Gap and Equity
• EP 9: Catalina Schveninger - The Evolution of Corporate Learning at Vodafone
• EP 8: Richard Collins - How is Automation, AI and Analytics changing recruiting?
• EP 7: Katarina Berg - Spotify's CHRO on Leading HR in a digital world
• EP 6: Nick Holley - How HR can become more business relevant 
• EP 5: Eden Britt - How to build a People Analytics team in a global organisation | The People Analytics journey at HSBC 
• EP 4: Yvette Cameron - How Blockchain will disrupt the Future of Work and HR Technology 
• EP 3: Didier Elzinga - How to Create a Culture First Company 
• EP 2: Edward Houghton - The Head of Research at the CIPD on Driving Business Performance with People Data 
• EP 1: Sharon Doherty - How to transform HR to be more digital and building a culture of diversity

PRESS PLAY ON YOUR CAREER: JOIN THE myHRfuture ONLINE ACADEMY

Invest in your career and learn the HR skills of the future. The myHRfuture Academy, of which I am part, provides you with an on-demand platform where you can get access to short, bitesized learning content to help you build knowledge in the skills that you need to prepare for the future of HR. Join here to get access to exclusive content on People Analytics, Digital HR & HR Technology, Design Thinking, Workforce Planning, Consulting & Influencing and Stakeholder Management.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David is a globally respected writer, speaker, conference chair, and executive consultant on people analytics, data-driven HR and the future of work. As an Executive Director at Insight222, he helps global organisations create more cultural and economic value through the wise and ethical use of people data and analytics. Prior to joining Insight222 and taking up a board advisor role at TrustSphere, David was the Global Director of People Analytics Solutions at IBM Watson Talent. As such, David has extensive experience in helping organisations embark upon and accelerate their people analytics journeys. 

SEE ME SPEAK AT THESE EVENTS IN 2019

I’ll be chairing and/or speaking about people analytics, data-driven HR and the Nine Dimensions for Excellence in People Analytics model at the following events until the end of October 2019. 

• 21 May - HRtechX, Copenhagen
• 10 Jun - CogX: The Festival of AI and Emerging Technology, London
• 1-2 Aug - People Matters Tech HR, Gurugram, India
• 3 Sept - New York Strategic HR Analytics MeetUp - Careers in People Analytics: fireside chat with experts, New York
• 5-6 Sept - People Analytics & Future of Work, Philadelphia
• 9 Sept - Leading HR in the New World of Work, Data Driven HR Panel (11.00 EST) - Online Conference, Hacking HR
• 24-26 Sept - Global Executive Retreat, near London, UK (for Insight222 clients only)
• 22-23 Oct - UNLEASH World, Paris
• 4-6 Nov - HR Summit & Expo, Dubai