The People Factor: Recent Episodes
Thomas Kohler, pplwise
Welcome to "The People Factor," where we explore the role of the people function in driving business success.
We dive into the strategies, tactics, learnings & failures from top organizations to drive strategic objectives impacted by the people function.
Bi-weekly, Thomas chats with industry experts and thought leaders about news, the latest trends and best practices related to develop an organization.
Tune in to "The People Factor" to learn how to unlock the full potential of your team and organization.
Gitte is an exceptional leader who embodies forward thinking, change-driven, and global-oriented qualities. She excels at transforming grand visions into tangible realities by developing and fearlessly executing robust strategic plans. Gitte thrives on embracing innovation and staying ahead of the curve to drive progress. Her leadership style is characterized by a strong focus on adopting and implementing change, adapting to new environments, and fostering a global perspective. Gitte is a visionary who combines her strategic acumen with bold action to achieve extraordinary results.
Shownotes
00:00 - Intro 02:30 - Creator industry 08:25 - Background & Deezer 10:30 - Operating System for an organization, C-Level, Board 14:00 - Building trust with Executives, Communication 24:30 - Probem Solving, Politics or Influence 31:30 - Executive Teams, Role of the CEO & Individuals 41:00 - Recommendations
Links
Gitte: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gitte-bendzulla-/
Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/
Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.com
pplwise: https://pplwise.com/
Summary Christin Glaeser-Seidel is the Head of Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding at wefox. She has a background in talent acquisition, previously working at Deutsche Bahn, working in one of the largest talent acquisition departments in the world. She is also an Ambassador for One Young World, a global organization for young leaders.
Shownotes 00:00 - Intro 05:52 - Corporate vs Scale-up 12:42 - EVP, values, talent pooling 26:52 - Internal mobility 39:42 - Recommendations
Links Christin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christin-glaeser-seidel-b4b322104/
Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/ Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.com pplwise: https://pplwise.com/
Summary Experienced entrepreneur with a successful track-record in building global businesses in the HR SaaS industry. Skilled in business strategy, digitization, start-ups, marketing, and market entry. Business professional with a consulting background and Master’s Degree in business administration, marketing and operations from WHU and HEC Montreal.
Shownotes 00:00 - Intro 08:20 - Alumni software, Leading us player 13:35 - Retention engine 16:35 - Organisational transformation, Private equity 27:35 - Work-tech, HR-tech 33:35 - Angel network 37:20 - Recommendations
Links Jens Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jens-bender/
Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/ Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.com pplwise: https://pplwise.com/
Summary Oliver is a sales executive with a background in the B2B SaaS industry, currently VP Sales at Personio where he scaled sales from 500 to +10.000 customers. He started his sales career early, working in his parents' restaurant and later selling American Express credit cards. He has a passion for sales and believes there is a lack of focus on sales education in Germany. Oliver has experience in enterprise sales and has worked for prominent companies like GitHub and New Relic. He is an active angel investor in the HR Tech field and invested already in +15 companies.
Shownotes Oliver 00:00 - Intro 10:24 - Sales: US vs Europe 14:24 - Scaling Personio from 500 to +10.000 customers 24:54 - Sales expansion 30:54 - Angel investing 36:24 - Hiring & Outstanding performance 41:54 - Recommendations & final words
Links Oliver Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivermanojlovic/
Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/ Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.com pplwise: https://pplwise.com/
Summary Ian Whiteford is an expert in building world-class teams and fostering impactful cultures for disruptive tech companies. With a background in a Global Investment Bank and a scaling technology firm, he founded Rebel HR to guide rapidly growing organizations, particularly in the cryptocurrency and Web3 space. Ian's focus is redesigning people and talent processes to empower employees and enable career ownership. His advisory work extends to scaling fintech companies and a large electric mobility firm. As an avid HR enthusiast, Ian constantly explores management, culture, and leadership literature for continuous growth.
Shownotes 00:02:58 - Intro & context 00:08:58 - VC vs DAO 00:14:28 - Talentflows, Web 2 vs Web 3 00:22:28 - Improbable learnings, scaling from 50-1.200, EUR 500 M Softbank funding 00:28:28 - C-Suite partnering 00:30:58 - Scientific approach to org design 00:36:58 - People Infrastructure, People Ops, Mistakes vs Opportunities 00:42:58 - Recommendations
Links Ian Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-whiteford-10145225/
Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/ Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.com pplwise: https://pplwise.com/
Book recommendations Built for people https://www.amazon.de/Transforming-People-Operations-Evidence-based-Performance/dp/1398608025