2013 HR Executive Roundtable

On Thurs­day, May 16, 2013, Lon­er­gan Part­ners host­ed an event with a dozen top Human Resource exec­u­tives in technology. 

The focus was on ​“Work­ing with your Pub­lic Board — How HR can have Strate­gic Impact.” The dis­cus­sion was mod­er­at­ed by Ken Cole­man, board direc­tor and expe­ri­enced board Chair, and Becky Ran­ninger, for­mer EVP/​Chief Human Resources Offi­cer at Symantec. 

The group was ani­mat­ed and par­tic­i­pants came away with insight and advice.

• Start off on the right foot — HR should per­son­al­ly on-board direc­tors, as a way of get­ting to know them
• Between meet­ings, sched­ule oppor­tu­ni­ties to work close­ly with board mem­bers on var­i­ous topics
• Team­work with the CEO is cru­cial. He/​she can block or encour­age HR’s access to board room
• Come to board dis­cus­sions with a defin­i­tive point-of-view. Add insights and details when called upon to do so. Boards are look­ing for some­one who can stand up and make state­ments when it matters
• When work­ing with a Chair­man, offer insight on how he/​she can be help­ful to the CEO and both will thank you
• Don’t del­e­gate the comp com­mit­tee work to your staff or to out­side con­sul­tants. Do it your­self and do it well. Take per­son­al respon­si­bil­i­ty for bring­ing ALL the data to the dis­cus­sion. If you are pre­pared, this will be immense­ly help­ful to the comp com­mit­tee chair, who is under a lot of pressure
• Pro­vide the Comp Com­mit­tee with infor­ma­tion on the CEO’s pri­or­i­ties with respect to the CEO’s compensation
• When comp dis­cus­sions go well, HR earns the right to talk to the board about top­ics relat­ing to cul­ture, suc­ces­sion plan­ning, etc. which are of grow­ing inter­est to boards
• Look to the CFO and the GC for tips on how to approach the board. Their role in board meet­ings is usu­al­ly well estab­lished and they have vis­i­bil­i­ty into the board dynam­ics. Learn from them about the right way to build these relationships