The Spotlight Is on Human Resources
Conversations with our CHRO and HR executive network are very revealing on how organizations at various stages are addressing retention, culture, right-sizing, hiring for specific skills, and much more. There is new urgency to integrating the people function with business strategy and to develop more dynamic talent and work models. People leaders are working more closely than ever with the rest of the C-suite in reevaluating what productivity means and redefining employee experience in our new reality.
This shift is happening in companies of all sizes, creating a growing need for HR leaders who bring strategic and transformational skills to the leadership teams, addressing employee engagement and performance management.
Our Human Capital practice has recently worked on several strategic HR executive searches, both full-time and fractional, to closely partner with the CEO and top management.
Eikon Therapeutics, is a Series B, well-funded biotech startup led by a visionary CEO with strong appreciation for the People function. Partnering with Eikon’s CHRO, Barbara Howes, Westwood & Wilshire built out the business partnering team to engage the company’s talent to work strategically with the different business functions within the company.
Westwood & Wilshire placed four new HR hires of diverse backgrounds and experience to form a high-functioning team led by a VP with an MBA and extensive experience at J&J. As Eikon is very much an engineering computing company, the need for an HR business partner with relevant background was filled with top talent from Meta. The third placement brought extensive pharma background, and the fourth contributed a strong consultative base coming from BCG. In partnership with Eikon’s CHRO, this team was thoughtfully chosen as they had successfully supported similar functions earlier and were excited to bring their skills to a fast-growth startup.
Vaxart, developing oral vaccines, is another example of leadership conscious of the strategic importance of People Leadership. After prior collaborations on placements at the C and VP level, Westwood & Wilshire was tasked with finding a VP of HR. Vaxart is still in clinical stage and already public. The challenge was to attract talent who could bring both public company experience and an entrepreneurial spirit as Vaxart is gearing up for growth. Our successful candidate brings strong systems thinking, solid experience from larger corporations and transformative energy.
iTradeNetwork, a Roper Technologies company, delivers supply chain software solutions to the foodservice and retail grocery industry. A private company with no aim to go public, but with strong entrepreneurial thinking, the CEO saw a clear need for a strategic HR leader to join his leadership team. The emphasis in this next stage of growth is placed on the sales organization. Our placement brought extensive experience in building successful sales forces in addition to being a strong strategic People leader.
As seen in each of these cases, CEO engagement, and commitment to a strategic People function, is at the core of building a great organization. Attracting and retaining top talent requires understanding of employees’ evolving expectations, motivations, and aspirations. Success requires linking these to the company mission and purpose in order to deliver the best experience for both employee and business. We’re excited to be partnering with these dynamic organizations.