Spotify’s CHRO on the return-to-office debate, layoffs and HR’s changing role
Raconteur | B Corp?
Stories that connect modern business. Certified B Corporation. PPA Business Media Brand of the Year 2022.
While the likes of Amazon and Dell are urging workers back to the office , Spotify is retaining its work-from-anywhere policy.
The music-streaming company first introduced this model – which lets staff determine how often they work from home or in the office – in February 2021, as countries began easing their Covid-19 restrictions. Now, at a time when many other?companies are rowing back on these pandemic-era perks, Spotify is committing to keeping?them.
“You can’t spend a lot of time hiring grown-ups and then treat them like children,” says Katarina Berg, Spotify’s CHRO. While she says she understands why some companies have returned to the office, “they are going back to what they know”, Berg is yet to find a reason to enforce a mandate for Spotify’s employees.
“We are a business that’s been digital from birth, so why shouldn’t we give our people flexibility and freedom?” she says. “Work is not a place you come to, it’s something you?do.” And you can read more from her conversation with Sam Forsdick here .
Diversity in the CFO role: what is going?wrong?
The news that HSBC is potentially appointing Pam Kaur?as?the first female CFO in the bank's 159-year history speaks volumes about this traditionally male-dominated profession.
Although progress has been made in recent years, women still remain largely under-represented in the role. While the number of women appointed as CFOs globally reached a five-year high in 2024, only 44 of the 163 appointments were women, according to data from executive search firm Russell Reynolds.
领英推荐
Outdated biases persist, while mentorship, sponsorship and succession planning too often bypass women, say finance leaders. Steps must be taken to overcome these barriers. Sam Birchall explores what those steps might look like. Read more.
Element CEO on why enterprises need privacy in the remote work?era
The pandemic made collaboration software a workplace essential. But few businesses are aware of the security risks these tools pose. Matthew Hodgson, CEO and founder of Element? – an open source, end-to-end encrypted alternative to Microsoft Teams and Slack – is on a mission to change those perceptions.
?"There is no understanding of the risks of sending all of your data to Microsoft," he warns, "where it will sit unencrypted in a single-point-of-failure data centre, that we already know is compromised by nation-state adversaries.”
?'Privacy may not be in vogue but that doesn't mean it's not a risk. Governments are starting to take notice of Element, with the French civil service and NATO among its customers. Tamlin Magee asks: could these institutions, with their requirements for top-secret messaging, be the thin end of the wedge for private sector adoption? Read more.
More from the business world
Global Social Media Professional | Employee Advocacy Strategist
1 个月This is brilliant: “Work is not a place you come to, it’s something you?do”