Today’s guest is Livia Freudl, Senior Vice President and Head of Human Resources at Varian.

Varian’s Intelligent Cancer Care is shaping the future of oncology by building shorter paths between consultation and treatment, connecting the world through intelligent thinking, data, insights, and solutions to deliver advanced care for each patient’s unique journey.

In her role at Varian, Livia oversees all operational and strategic human resources activities including talent acquisition, talent management, performance management, learning & development, compensation & benefits, workforce analytics, employee experience, diversity & inclusion, and organizational development.

In this episode, you’ll hear about Livia’s expansive global cultural experiences that inform her leadership, how Varian is promoting a wider cultural awareness by fostering curiosity, empathy and even self-awareness, and how she works to keep employees engaged and mentally/physically healthy in today’s hybrid work models,

Leaders Playbook is a podcast hosted by Dr. Diane Hamilton and powered by the Global Mentor Network. We share stories about how to drive transformational impact in your organization. We talk with innovative thinkers across various industry sectors to hear about the best tools, resources, practices, and strategies to help you and your team reach the top of their game.

Register for free on GMN.net to have access to our full library of content and resources on professional development.

Discussion Points:

• Livia Freudl’s background - from dreams of a professional harpist to global corporate HR
• Benefits of experiencing so many different cultures - Germany, Indonesia, the Middle East, and the U.S.
• What have organizations done to address the challenges of working parents?
• Empathy, and curiosity vs. rote learning
• Improving cultural awareness - requires curiosity, empathy and self-awareness
• Dealing with biases in the workplace
• Cross-training and job rotation within a company - adding valuable perspective
• Keeping teams engaged, healthy and enjoying their work in the new work models

Resources/Links:

Varian

Livia Freudl

Global Mentor Network Website

Global Mentor Network on Twitter

Global Mentor Network on LinkedIn

Dr. Diane Hamilton LinkedIn

Today’s guest is Tracy Ting, CHRO of Encore Capital Group, a global specialty finance company with operations and investments across North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Tracy brings almost three decades of combined finance and HR expertise to her role, and is an award-winning CHRO who enhances shareholder value through strategic business growth and cultural transformation at multi-national companies. At Encore, Ms. Ting is responsible for people, culture, communications and ESG, providing strategic vision and enterprise leadership.  Prior to Encore, Ms. Ting was the Chief People Officer at Avanir Pharmaceuticals and SVP & CHRO at Affymetrix.

In this episode, you’ll hear how Tracy spearheaded the creation of a global set of values for Encore, written by employees, that distilled ten different sets of values down to just three. She shares the metrics by which all these values are measured, and explains how a company’s core values should hit the heart more than the head. Tracy talks about the challenges and successes Encore faces post-pandemic regarding the future of work. She addresses how they make ESG initiatives their standard operating procedure rather than just a "special project.”

Leaders Playbook is a podcast hosted by Dr. Diane Hamilton and powered by the Global Mentor Network. We share stories about how to drive transformational impact in your organization. We talk with innovative thinkers across various industry sectors to hear about the best tools, resources, practices, and strategies to help you and your team reach the top of their game.

Register for free on GMN.net to have access to our full library of content and resources on professional development.

Discussion Points:

• Tracy Ting background
• Involving all voices in the co-creation process
• Distilling ten sets of company values down to three: We care, we find a better way, we are inclusive and collaborative
• Feeling values in your heart vs. head
• The impact on global employee engagement
• A constant search for incremental improvements
• Thinking through the future of work, and making ESG the new normal
• Metrics for measuring ESG and who wants to see them
• ESG has been a multi-year journey of incremental progress
• Five pillars of ESG: Consumers, people, operating responsibly, environmental, and community
• The biggest challenge in global collaboration is getting the right people at the table
• Advice- Tracy has a lot of it!
  • Be open
  • Navigate the new
  • Don’t be afraid of mistakes
  • “I don’t know what I don’t know.”
  • Be strategic in your career progression, think two steps ahead, not one.
  • Figure out your superpower and market it
  • Never compromise your core values

Resources/Links:

Tracy Ting LinkedIn

Encore Capital

Global Mentor Network Website

Global Mentor Network on Twitter

Global Mentor Network on LinkedIn

Dr. Diane Hamilton LinkedIn

Today’s guest is Susan Hailey, Vice President, Global Talent Acquisition and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at OpenText. As an expert in leading all aspects of human capital and talent for high-growth organizations in technology and life sciences, Susan is known for innovation, results, and creating high-performance teams around the globe.

In this episode, you’ll hear about the benefits and importance of interdepartmental “cross-pollination”, hiring process differences in cultures around the world, evaluating interviewees’ responses to behavioral interview questions, and some of the challenges facing talent acquisition professionals in today’s rapidly changing environment.

Leaders Playbook is a podcast hosted by Dr. Diane Hamilton and powered by the Global Mentor Network. We share stories about how to drive transformational impact in your organization. We talk with innovative thinkers across various industry sectors to hear about the best tools, resources, practices, and strategies to help you and your team reach the top of their game.

Register for free on GMN.net to have access to our full library of content and resources on professional development.

Discussion Points:

• Susan’s backstory
• HR challenges in a global team
• High-functioning companies ‘cross-pollinate’ across departments
• Cultural differences in talent and recruiting- India
• The theory of ‘weak ties’ in a job search
• Behavioral interviewing questions and how they are answered
• The pros and cons of panel interviews
• Online video interviews - the new normal
• Challenges around limits on travel and global time zones
• Generational challenges around new tech and other changes
• Talent advice for the near future - mindful hiring and scrutiny of high-level executives

Resources/Links:

Susan Hailey LinkedIn

OpenText Careers

Speaker Profile - Talent Acquisition Week

Real Talk with Susan Hailey

Book: The Silo Effect

Global Mentor Network Website

Global Mentor Network on Twitter

Global Mentor Network on LinkedIn

Dr. Diane Hamilton LinkedIn