Wonolo
Our sixth hero of human resources hails from a retailer in which we have all certainly shopped, Macy’s. The Senior Vice President of Human Resources & Total Rewards, Bill Tompkins, shares some of his secret powers that he utilizes to lead an organization of 140,000 employees. Before Bill donned the Macy’s cape, he was spotted at The Coca-Cola Company and Gap Inc. We had the opportunity to ask her our HR Hero’s questions and share some knowledge in type form below.
Be on the lookout for more profiles of HR Heroes, and if you have someone that you think would be a great fit for this series, tweet your nomination to us using the #hrhero hashtag.
I started working in HR because…
Value creation was shifting from physical capital to human capital.
The one piece of advice I’d give to a new manager is…
Understand it is not about the right answer but the right question.
I feel happiest when…
My team innovates and I remove barriers.
I’m most proud of…
My daughters.
I’m particularly excited about…
Infusing data science into HR practices.
HR is…
Entrusted with a company’s true value creation mechanism.
I believe you can improve employee retention by…
Being authentic and sharing a vision
The next great innovation in HR is…
That employment will be one of many ways to acquire capabilities. HR will have to broaden its focus from people on payroll to an ecosystem of capabilities
My go-to interview question is…
“Share an example of how you broke conventional wisdom with an innovation.”
We can sexify HR by…
Handing it over to line leaders who understand it is their role.
Ultimately, my job is…
To grow leaders who grow the business.
The biggest challenge in the war on talent is…
Forgetting about the talent you already have in your company. Development is less expensive than search.
The one trait I look for in a good employee is…
Aligned values.
I think the staffing industry is…
Innovating faster than corporations.
The HR and recruiting tools that I can’t live without are…
The power of networking through conferences and seminars. The original LinkedIn.
My HR Hero is…
Randy McDonald, former IBM HR head, who recently passed.
