The Lucent Perspective
In The Lucent Perspective, host Rebecca Hastings interviews executives and leaders from the tech sector to learn about their successes, most valuable lessons learned, challenges, solutions and insights. Rebecca is an executive headhunter who has built leadership teams and helped technology companies rapidly scale. If you're looking to learn about startup and scale-up technology companies and hear from some of the most entrepreneurial and innovative leaders, join Rebecca Hastings and guests on The Lucent Perspective.
The Lucent Perspective
Level Up Your People Strategy: CPO Jess Igoe Shares Her Playbook
In this episode, we're joined by Jess Igoe, Chief People Officer at Amici. Jess shares her expertise in building highly effective engineering teams, hiring salespeople, developing career ladders, getting the culture right, and more.
0:41 - The importance of hiring self-motivated engineers
3:15 - Sales recruiting requires more planning and consistency
5:17 - Using psychometric assessments in the hiring process
9:47 - The power of probing questions in interviews
15:00 - Rebuilding company culture after redundancies
20:47 - Incorporating soft skills into career ladders
26:44 - Routinely communicating and updating career ladders
31:34 - Founders must model desired company values
35:00 - Adapting culture initiatives when challenges arise
40:27 - Boosting engagement in hybrid work environments
45:09 - Handling the transition back to on-site work
51:28 - Jess's key advice - know yourself, communicate your values, demonstrate them
I spoke with Jess Igoe, a seasoned Chief People Officer, about hiring self-motivated engineers and building successful sales teams. Jess emphasized the importance of finding passionate individuals who thrive in a fast-paced environment and recommended a structured recruitment process with tailored interview questions. She also advised conducting comprehensive reference checks and incorporating psychometric testing.
Jess stressed the need for effective communication and compassion during times of layoffs or redundancies, encouraging managers to motivate and support their teams. In terms of career advancement, Jess warned against promoting based solely on job titles and encouraged creating career ladders using real workplace competencies.
Jess recommended self-reflection and executive coaching for individuals transitioning to leadership roles and emphasized the importance of understanding all aspects of the business. To foster a desired culture, Jess suggested visibly celebrating company values and keeping motivational initiatives going during challenging times. She advised bringing in dedicated HR professionals as the business scales and adjusting location flexibility in a hybrid working environment.
Jess's ultimate advice was to know yourself, exemplify expected behaviors, and transparently communicate the vision from day one to retain top talent and cultivate an inclusive culture.
Rebecca Hastings, Founder and Director at The Lucent Group
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hastingsrebecca/
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The Lucent Group Ltd website - https://www.thelucentgroup.co.uk/
The Lucent Perspective website - https://thelucentperspective.com/
Rebecca has extensive talent and executive search experience supporting digital and technology businesses through complex changes and fast-paced scale-up periods. She works with businesses advising on C-level, technical, sales and commercial appointments, workforce planning, strategic talent management, recruitment processes and associated technology and employer brand development.