I also look for somebody who has got the agility to me and flexibility because, oftentimes, youre going to need to pivot. >> /URI (http://www.prnewswire.com/) Don Robertson is on Facebook. The number one thing I would leave you with is diversity and inclusion cannot be a hobby and a separate thing. Youre not going to get to where you want to get to in your career because youre going to get trained. Through a distinctive, whole-picture planning approach, we empower our clients to make the most of every single day and plan for important moments in their future. I used to teach something. Ive used the analogy for those people that are pro-football or soccer but there are not too many soccer fans, except Mike Cirelli, who reminds me all the time. Weve all had failures. Marcela was somebody who believed in me and Bina Chaurasia on her team. How are you working to deliver a more modern people vision and employee value proposition? First and foremost, make sure that you spend a lot of time with the people that manage your people. It has got to be in the right location. If you start to look at the percentages of people when they leave a company, most of your attrition comes from people that are down in the organization. These were some capable people. $1 .PP]BT~|h}&~MXQ+{f>}edeaV5[f:WJj. It has to be threaded in what you do. Don is a catalyst of change within Northwestern Mutual, bringing a strategic mindset and a unique flair for identifying and developing talent to his role as CHRO. Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and its subsidiaries. Ive tried a lot of different techniques over the years. >> Don and George talk about how Don got into the HR space and what hes learned as an HR practitioner. During Women's History Month at Northwestern Mutual, we're celebrating women and the power of bold: of moving from realization to action. I dont think you started in HR. Were pretty close to the same age, although I stopped counting at 50. Build those key relationships early.. Don also serves on the Boards of Directors for the Northwestern Mutual Foundation, Wisconsin Humane Society, and the Milwaukee Public Museum. Somebody asked me, We talk in general terms about developing talent but do you have any specific tips as to how they would develop that talent? One of the things is we put such an emphasis that you have to develop your talent but many times, they dont see it from great leaders. What I tell managers all the time is, Your job is to be a talent multiplier. I tell employees, Your job is to own your career. You need to be clear as an employee, what it is you want to accomplish in your career, the path that you want to go down, the skills and capabilities that youre going to need to achieve that but your manager needs to work with you to chart out a path. It brought me crossing paths with you and Tracy Keogh. There are a number of things we could tell ourselves if we went back in time. It has to be threaded in your mainstream of what you do for talent. We refined the way we recruit. With $265.0 billionin assets, $28.1 billionin revenues, and $1.8 trillionworth of life insurance protection in force, Northwestern Mutual delivers financial security to 4.5 million people who rely on us for life, disabilityincomeand long-term care insurance, annuities, brokerage and advisory services, trust services, and discretionary portfolio management solutions. My first thought was to throw my chest out, yell louder and I would lead with ego. >> Lets turn it into that. The next thing you know, theyre jumping at something when you probably could have had great opportunities for them had you been intentional about it. John M. Grogan is responsible for the strategy and performance of the company's insurance businesses. There are a lot of different levers you can pull. Products and services referenced are offered and sold only by appropriately appointed and licensed entities and financial advisors and professionals. You got to go back and tell Don, 22 years old, after so many years of great wins and failures that you learned from, all of those things. You are the only person I knew that viewed it as an ecosystem. Northwestern Mutual ranks 104 on the 2018 FORTUNE 500 and is recognized by FORTUNE as one of the "World's Most Admired" life insurance companies in 2018. This goes without saying, Whoever has the best talent is generally going to win. We are in a talent war. Theres nothing on paper that would have said that I should have been the Head of HR for HR. Copyright 2019 The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, WI. She recognized that I had a strong affinity for HR but also had the business and what I would call agility that she needed to help her transform the HR function at HP. How can you assure that you have the best talent for your company? Ultimately, what we have to do as businesses is to get away from requisitions and more instead of creating talent pools. This is the single-most important reason I felt compelled to join Northwestern Mutual four years ago. Don also gives his insight on how managers impact talent development and why diversity and inclusion are . Who do you count as people other than Jack Welch? The biggest thing when I think about diversity is it cant be a bolt-on. Im in the gym five days a week. /Annots 15 0 R Unbelievable. I could give you the standard things with leadership, Be honest and humble, but I thought I would try to give you things that were a little bit unique, maybe to some of the experiences. I remember when you had to go present to Mark Hurd, you better be speaking at crisp. We set benchmarks and goals for engagement, organizational health, transformation, diversity, and inclusion, and more and we adjusted our bonus structures to reflect these new targets. Tracy taught me a lot about interacting with boards at the board level and those levels. Do you think I show five slides to Tracy, Meg or whomever? I was like, No, Caroline. You have some people reading and I know they do want to read. How do I get there faster, better and easier? What would you tell yourself? I became more authentic as I got older and I would say, Heres what I was thinking. A member of the company's Senior Leadership Team, he leads the Finance and Risk function responsible for the company's financial management and planning, budgeting, actuarial, investment risk and operations, enterprise risk management and resiliency. /Type /Action Phone Email. First of all, you need to institutionalize the way you do your talent so that diversity is at the forefront of anything you do. Best Talent: Diversity and inclusion cannot be a hobby. Schlifske joined Northwestern Mutual as an investment specialist and later led a variety of the company's investment operations as well as different parts of its business operations. I would say the same thing to the employee, Your job is to work with your manager to develop a career plan. Don Robertson (March 21, 1929 - March 21, 1999) was an American novelist. Theres nothing that youre going to be trying to take on from a challenge at a business level that is going to go from A to Z in a straight line. There was nothing about the companys mission helping Americans make smart financial choices so their goals arent left to chance that needed to be fixed. On the contrary, a strong foundation was already in place one built over the companys storied 164-year history. When we talk about leaders, one of the things that Ive shared with companies or is an example that you give and many others have given, which is investing in your time and growing current leaders. Thats true but I dont ever remember sending you an email or a text that wasnt instantaneously received and I was anywhere on the globe at that time. Lets figure out how to do this better together.. If people were going to tap dance on a question, its usually the weakness question, the failure or whatever form that that comes in. /Filter /FlateDecode I made the wrong call. One of the statistics we came up with is that CHROs are paid 1/3 less than their C-Suite counterparts. You ended up progressing that way, didnt you? Im going to start teaching that. m+LbPcByzbZ8&@eZre|(wa"A+mc1aDM~_Y#]l$0h+4qm{=9,s}sa^o{{sx]%6\pltk[;:ca$-`\k=O>+Ists:R.xesO{N'Z^5 P`lWwliLi8 7|Oj"4O 0`x >YLAep)^/Y=6P c j.qA\90jV!!`X fx?"$XN I make it okay to talk about a real failure because we all get these questions, Tell me something that didnt work. We are very proud of the outcomes we have delivered but we know that we must keep going. I cant thank you enough for all that youve done for me, helping us with the book and then taking time out of your day-to-day. Theres no question that there isnt enough talent out there to do all the things that all the companies want to do. In this role, Sippel leads an organization of more than 1,700 employees that are responsible for the company's technology architecture, infrastructure and cloud services, reliability, service support, and information risk and cybersecurity. I was always picking up something good. Robertson joins Northwestern Mutual after serving in human resources leadership roles at companies ranging from Fortune 50s to maturing start-ups. Some policies may not receive dividends in a particular year or years even while other policies receive dividends. Oftentimes, managers, frankly, theyve got their team. Investment brokerage services provided as a Registered Representative of NMIS . I tell my team all the time, Tell me the punchline and if I have questions but dont take me through the pain. That was a big one. Whats your particular view? /Pages 2 0 R The team that youve got there, I know its Kelly. What weve accomplished here is remarkable. Im obviously looking for intellect. Before Apttus Don was the CHRO for Sutherland Global Services. Don earned his bachelors degree in business administration from California State University in Fresno, where he currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Craig School of Business. Thats what I try to get to, is get people to not give me those pat answers but they have to think from their experiences how they would operate. Georgia Public Defender Council. Leverage a lot of smart people. Your job is to develop the next generation of not just leaders but of talent.. Best Talent: We are in a talent war. /S /URI There were pockets of high engagement here and there, but many employees did not feel they had the same opportunities for growth and career success as others. Ill give you due credit and make sure that you share your own first. We took those precious pillars of our company off the table. You think youve got it all figured out. Those are a few of the nuggets in terms of what I might do differently. I know that much. Legal Assistant . Its just leaders are leaders. Thats the one advantage of not being with a crazy tech company. Best Talent: Youre not going to get to where you want to get to in your career because youre going to get trained. /Rect [34.5000000 465 129 475.500000 ] Im going to give her that feedback. When she is making this presentation to me, I know its a good presentation for her level but if she wants to be at my level, she is going to get questions asked this way or that way. I dont think its that unique. Don and George talk about how Don got into the HR space and what he's learned as an HR practitioner. Im talking about some significant stuff because most people that Im going to be interviewing with have had those kinds of things. /SMask /None>> Theyve been in many times resigned to compliance or overhead. We combine the expertise of our financial professionals with a personalized digital experience to help our clients navigate their financial lives every day. 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