An organization’s CEO and CHRO face individual and shared challenges in driving strategic change. Each holds a unique collection of skills, experiences and perspective that when combined can create a dynamic partnership and some entertaining debate. Phil Rykhoek and Whitney Shelley talk about how open collaboration was and is a critical element in the execution of a successful merger and navigating the ongoing challenges of rapid growth and constant change. Hear how their partnership has produced a workplace based on trust and stimulated measurable improvements in engagement that is fostering opportunities for business growth.

Session discovery topics:

• Facilitating direct and honest communication between team members at all levels of the organization
• Integrating HR into the overall business strategy and CEOs into the human capital strategy
• Working inside and around the “box” whose borders change weekly, daily and often hourly

Making leadership development a priority at all levels of the company has produced impressive measurable results for BNSF Railway Company. Riz Chand, VP and CHRO shares how creating a commitment to growing leaders internally and a sustained leadership development program enables flawless execution and results. BNSF’s approach has produced a highly unified culture with leaders who deliver strong results as a team.

Session discovery topics:

• Defining the leadership model - identifying what you want in leaders

• Reviewing BNSF’s approach to inspiring and sustaining executive commitment, personal involvement and a willingness to invest in leadership development

• Considering the business and people perspectives to maximize impact and results

While organizations re-calibrate to respond to current business pressures, external forces will continue to change and shape the nature of business. Based on extensive research from a global survey and interviews with more than 2,200 people and 300 companies, Dr. Karie Willyerd will share research findings on the ways organizations are implementing social media to address the communication and connectivity needs of a global and increasingly Millennial workforce.

Session discovery topics:

• Predicting what will dramatically change in the workplace over the next 10 years.
• Important innovations in HR — impact on productivity and retention
• Identifying critical human capital strategies

Culture defines who we are, what we expect, and how we behave. Leading organizations know they need to pay attention to culture, as it reflects what they aspire to become. Culture exists, but it can be shaped. This session will consider the dimensions of organizational culture and examine how one company is reshaping its culture to support its new business strategy. The discussion will include a detailed review of the organization’s challenges and its response to them.

From cutting healthcare costs to building a world-class wellness program, Kip Koso of Devon Energy Corporation and Jean Lee of Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc., accompanied by Dr. Kenneth Cooper, have each lead their organizations to exceptional successes. Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc. has a unique and scalable approach to healthcare cost mitigation that offers consideration to their geographically dispersed workforce. Devon Energy Corporation has partnered with the Cooper Clinic to build wellness initiatives in which 90 percent of their employees participate. Each will present best practices, lessons learned and provide supporting data of how they have done things differently (and how you can, too) to achieve maximum results.

Building an integrated recruitment strategy is a much different task today than it was three years ago. It requires an understanding of both today’s complex job seeker and the technology they utilize to search for opportunities and evaluate prospective employers. Utilizing years of business intelligence on job seekers trends, this session’s leaders will discuss proven ways to integrate new technologies to meet long-term recruitment goals and map out a recruiting strategy that takes into account a rapidly evolving market for hard-to-find skills.

The onus of proving HR’s impact on the organization lies with top HR executives. The HR department should run like a business in itself, being able to showcase efficiencies and productivity relative to the workforce. In this interactive session of self and group discovery, Toyin Ogun, SVP, human resources and customer service at Zale Corporation shares his three part approach to correlating ROI to human capital. He will detail the most effective metrics to drive organizational initiatives and highlight the ideal balance of analog and predictive methods. Learn how HR can optimize the data being collected to produce the most meaningful impact to operational and financial bottom lines.

Session discovery topics:

• Using metrics to build internal support for HR
• Selecting the most relevant metrics to the organization’s dashboard
• Predicting peak performance and leadership capacity gaps

To develop a cultural transformation centered on engagement in a global company, Martin Evans, VP of HR at Kimberly-Clark Corporation (K-C) speaks about the importance of setting the strategic framework for engagement to ensure it is a management process and not an HR event. This framework includes the value proposition of engagement on financial results (making the business case), a clear set of deep operating and philosophical principles that will drive implementation and utilization of results, and the integration of engagement into management processes. Kimberly-Clark is in the middle of their journey with successes and challenges that will resonate with attendees.

Session discovery topics:

• Clear, powerful principles eliminate most games
• Line management owns engagement, not HR
• Global engagement is an oxymoron — all engagement is local

The challenge of picking the right candidate to fill executive positions is getting more difficult with rapidly shifting technology, economic pressures and stakeholder expectations. It is the CHRO’s responsibility to interpret the needs of the future by identifying current skills and criteria that will translate in the long term. To be successful the CHRO must locate multiple viable candidates that match the projected leadership profile. Hear this group of elite executives draw on their decades of collective experience to weigh in on what is important to consider in planning for, selecting and on-boarding top performing successors.

The cost of talent is one of the largest items on most of our budgets, and yet we still have difficulty calculating the real value that talent brings to the bottom line. Performance measures fall short as many years find performance ratings high and bottom line results low or desired outcomes wanting. Research shows a direct connection between accountability and bottom line results.

While engaging employees is critical, it turns out that engagement is not enough. Engagement without accountability is chaos. It is the organizations that cultivate a culture of personal accountability that are truly winning. Join Cy Wakeman as she challenges conventional HR wisdom with evidence-based research, revealing the major flaws in the logic supporting traditional talent programs and initiatives. Listen as she provides techniques for hard wiring the magic competency of accountability throughout your team and your organization.

Facing an aging workforce, organizations are developing the next generation of leaders from an increasingly diverse talent pool. SMU’s Cox School of Business has been working with corporations on programs to develop high potential employees to accelerate their development. An innovative program aimed at high potential Hispanic executives illustrates both the challenges and opportunities in partnering to address talent issues.

Session discovery topics:

• Being aware of the current and future demographic landscape

• Creating leadership development experiences for the future labor force

• Partnering with an academic institution to address talent challenges

The holy grail of many CHROs has been “gaining a seat at the table”. Dan Walker, chief talent officer at jcpenney has heard this refrain many times in his 38 year career in the HR profession. Walker believes that much of the concern and confusion arises from HR’s failure to define its role in the company with pinpoint accuracy. A crisp, line-operation definition of HR’s purpose eliminates any confusion. Walker suggests that HR executives start asserting that HR is core to company success. Human capital is the most essential of all corporate asset classes. CHROs own this asset and need to step up and act like line operators.