Kerri Donnelly

Hey! NY HR professionals and recruiting agencies hiring for strategy, ops, bizdev roles in tech - this one is for you! ******** As part of NY Tech Week, we have nearly 300 registrations (and counting) of high caliber professionals from top consulting companies looking to get into tech. If you’re hiring for Strategy and Ops roles in tech, come join! We’ll make sure you’re approved on time for the event. If you need more info, feel free to drop me a private message on linkedin. For more information and to RSVP, visit: https://lu.ma/7nks6kk7 If you're seeing this post, don’t shy away - share/comment for visibility. We’re helping professionals transition from top consulting firms (Big 4, MBB, and other leading consultancies) into the tech industry. __________ FYI- if you’re looking to sponsor - whether recruitment agencies, HR tech companies, other tech companies, and MBA institutes - feel free to drop me a note as well #Networking #TechWeek #HR #Recruitment #Big4 #Strategy #Operations #NYTechWeek

14

2 Comments

Earlier this week, I brought my fully remote, distributed team together in Napa for a two-day offsite, where I intentionally stepped away from the typical planning and strategy sessions. Instead, I created space for us to simply connect.🙌 The days were mostly unstructured—a welcome break from the daily grind. We shared great meals, stories, and laughter—lots of it.🤣 Here’s what I walked away with: ✅ Immense gratitude for each person I work with. ✅ Confidence that those two days were time well spent. I truly believe that the supportive, psychologically safe environment we’ve built as a team is a direct result of the time we’ve dedicated to getting to know each other, understanding one another better, and prioritizing playfulness and fun. Too often, leaders underestimate the value of this type of connection, dismissing it as "fluff" or making minimal efforts, treating it as an afterthought. But for me, it’s the foundation of a thriving, cohesive team.❤️ Each smiling face in this photo is a big part of why my career is such a fulfilling and positive force in my life.🙏 #leadership #innovation #mentalhealth #peoplefirst #remote #remotework #wfh #humanresources

42

3 Comments

Laughter is one of the most connective and powerful emotional experiences people can share with each other at work. My absolute favorite moment at work in all of 2024 was a 30 minute meeting where my CEO Matt Cooper, Megan Beane Torres and a couple of other colleagues and I were trying out some filters for Google meet. In our defense, we were earnestly testing functionality to see what we may lose or gain in shifting some of our meetings to this platform from another we were using. Within minutes we found ourselves laughing so hard we were crying as we tried on various digital disguises and avatars - like pirate costumes and lion faces. Business topics just hit differently when you’re trying to have a discussion with a talking tomato! 🍅 (IYKYK!) We got absolutely no practical work done in that first 15 minutes, but we laughed so hard our sides hurt and it was just pure fun and silliness. It was not only fun but it was so so needed to bring some levity into our days. What was the business value in having those 15 minutes of fun? It cannot be practically measured but it’s clearly connection building gold. Work doesn’t need to be so serious all the time. We do hard things and work really hard yes- however, hard work doesn’t need to feel heavy. Finding joy, choosing happiness, injecting humor and being playful at the same time as you’re working hard can create magical connections and makes working more FUN. I also love this example because we were not co-located together, but we experienced side stitching laughter that you often only experience when you’re together with your friends. 💛 🙊

60

6 Comments

What Lars Schmidt brings to the table is deep empathy, community and artificial intelligence. I believe Generative AI is not to change what we do, but it is going to change how we do it. People and Teams will need to be more agile and embrace how to learn and grow together. To get there, People Operations and HR organizations will need to revisit their hiring, talent and development needs. Someone like Lars can change the conversation dynamic across an entire company in enabling change. I am thinking Lumen Technologies and Ana White could probably benefit from having an informational. I am sure there are other companies out there, but I think having Lars at Lumen can continue to add momentum in creating work spaces where all employees can do their very best work.

3

1 Comment

The holiday season is a time for reflection, connection, and renewal—a chance to step back, recharge, and prepare for the year ahead. At PagerDuty, we believe in the power of intentional pauses to foster creativity, focus, and well-being. That’s why we’ve embraced a company-wide shutdown during the holidays, giving our team the opportunity to disconnect from work and focus on what matters most—family, friends, and personal growth. Of course, we understand that some aspects of our business can’t pause entirely, which is why we have a dedicated coverage crew in place to ensure essential operations continue seamlessly. To honor their commitment, we make sure that those on the coverage crew receive their own dedicated time off to rest and recharge after the holiday season. This thoughtful approach ensures that everyone on our team has the opportunity to step away and return refreshed. As we come back together, reenergized and refocused, we’re ready to tackle the new year with creativity, purpose, and a renewed sense of drive. This balance of rest, responsibility, and mindfulness has transformed the way we approach the holiday season—and the work that follows. #pagerduty #wellbeing

32

3 Comments

Check out what Murphy has to say about Brightspot!

2

We have made the difficult, but necessary decision to merge Feedonomics and BigCommerce under one parent brand to reach the next evolution of our journey. Unfortunately this restructure is paired with a reduction and some incredible individuals were impacted, including my own team that I care about deeply. If any of you are hiring, I can immediately connect you with the following. Please send me a message so I can share their information. - A People Operations Specialist who is a queen of automation and will make every meeting more fun. - A Sr HRBP who will help your organization mature and be the best trusted HR partner you could ask for. - A Controller who not only will right the ship on finance and accounting teams, but will be a core part of your culture.  - Several Operations and Sales leaders who lead with heart and are admired by their peers. - Customer Success Managers who create connections way deeper than bottom line conversations. - Guided Trainers and Technical Account Managers who succeed at everything they do, especially onboarding. - A Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion executive who can help you weave inclusivity into your broader business fabric.

232

2 Comments

I was fortunate enough to attend a great Talentful and HIGHER Community event on the state of TA in New York, a few takeaway 👇 - Still some uncertainty, many teams aren't planning HC very far out - Knowing talent inside org is just as key for hiring plan and staffing, but truly getting a handle on this is still a hard nut to crack for many large orgs - There's a growing conversation about tapping into fractional talent, at least amongst growth-stage companies, one panelist noted how Hollywood movies are an interesting source of inspo on assembling great talent for a project - Talent density & QoH is a big focus, but 53% of co's don’t have a way to measure them — those that do most commonly rely on periodic reviews - Jessica Z. mentioned a really interesting take on the above, a Q posed to hiring managers: “If you could go back in time would you pay 100% of the persons salary to keep them, 50%, or cut ties altogether” - Although 87% of orgs think TA is at or under capacity, 75% of orgs aren’t planning to hire recruiters, big discussion is AI and how it impacts staffing   - Overall panel felt like AI was a copilot that’ll change roles, but people will re-skill and find new areas of focus in their roles   - DEI fallen off since 2023 (aligns to BrightHire data) but it’s still up dramatically from pre-pandemic levels, but there was a big discussion about how DEI leaders won't have impact w/out the power to make real biz change Thanks so much Talentful HIGHER Community Chris Abbass Jessica Z. for the lively discussion!

62

8 Comments

EAs are often the unsung heroes/heroines of an organization, balancing complex tasks, supporting leadership, and ensuring seamless operations—all while staying in the background. It's not just about managing calendars or meetings; it's about driving impact and adding value in ways that often go unnoticed. What’s even more challenging is that, in many organizations, there’s no defined growth plan for EAs. Career progressions or promotions are rarely offered, leaving many feeling stuck despite their immense contributions. It’s refreshing to see such posts that recognize the broader potential of EAs, and the opportunity for them to transition into Senior roles like Chief of Staff. For those of us in this role, it’s a reassuring reminder of the value we bring and the opportunities that can lie ahead when our contributions are truly seen. #ExecutiveAssistant #Recognition #Leadership #CareerGrowth #EAToCOS

7

6 Comments

This is the week! Join me on Thursday, June 6th as I chat with Dave Carhart, Strategist at Lattice, and Theodore Chestnut, Co-founder of BrightHire, for a conversation on the topic of Talent Density. I was honored to be asked to join this conversation to explore what we actually mean by talent density, and how we can concretely take steps to increase it on our teams. At a time when companies are more resource-constrained, every single hire needs to significantly contribute to your company's mission and goals, so how can you leverage every part of the employee journey (from hiring to onboarding to performance management) to increase the output of your talented team? Zapier's had a laser focus on talent density, and I'll attempt representing some of our learnings - and places where we're still learning, too! Together, we'll cover: - What does talent density mean, and why is it so important now? - How to get started with measuring talent density - Zapier’s experience putting talent density at the center of our talent strategy - An inside look at strategies leading TA teams are implementing today - Actionable tips that you can implement across the talent journey 🗓️ Thursday, June 6 at 10 am PT/1 pm ET 👉 Register via the 🔗 in the comments We look forward to seeing you there!

30

3 Comments

“What are you learning” is an important growth mindset shift in how to engage with employees and think about development. The number of times over the years I’ve been asked “how do I get promoted?” and when I ask “what do you want to experience that you haven’t? Or what do you want to learn in a new role? Or “what skills do you want to showcase and acquire?”, those questions haven’t been thought through. Let’s have quality conversations with our teams through the lens of skills and learning and ask the right questions to encourage them to do the same.

33

"Let's stop focusing on number of days in the office, and really double down on what's going to create the biggest impact while aligning the needs of the customer, the company, and the people." 🚀 Amazing Season 2 kickoff episode with Christina Luconi from Rapid7!

15

1 Comment

(Skip the deep Carrie thoughts below and order some fun sample employee recognition pins in the attached link) I've spent so much time in my career discussing and brainstorming thoughtful approaches to employee recognition. I want to create an experience that all employees can enjoy and appreciate, which can be a challenge.  What's a fun, modern, streamlined way to recognize important moments in an employee's journey (in a non cheesy way of course because for those who know me, you know I can definitely bring the cheese)?   Luckily for me, I work for a pretty incredible company that has helped me create a cute little pin recognition experience that I'm really proud to share. I feel like it represents Brilliant so well and allows us to commemorate anniversaries and other important company moments and milestones in a pin. We've even created a fun pin page(https://lnkd.in/gjirmxGi) to showcase the program.   If you'd like to see some examples in real life, I set aside a few samples for you to order and check out. Just throw your info (work email address, mailing address) in (https://lnkd.in/gzmvvB9g) and pins will be on their way!

64

5 Comments

I've been talking about New Hire ramp time a lot lately—internally with my teams and externally with other learning folks. What's been consistent for me looking at this data throughout my career (training across a variety of both IC and Manager roles) is that a ramp curve is almost never linear. It usually has (and should have) acceleration points (as we "hit our stride") and plateau points where productivity levels off and different roles start to use their energy on improvements like quality, innovation, etc... Which means that new hire curves should look something like this - with time being the factor that might separate roles from one another. What do you think? What have you found?

57

7 Comments

In our Employee EXperience team meeting this morning, Nadia K. posed this question: "who at the company would you switch jobs with for the day? why?" The responses were fascinating! And, no one chose evil! I encourage you to post this question with your team. (I said, a principal engineer- so that I could finally understand what they do and how they do it!)

67

10 Comments

I had so much fun partnering with the folks at Findem to write this piece. I think #AI presents a phase change opportunity for ALL of us and the impact it can have on our collective experience (especially at work) can't be understated. Business leaders need to play a disproportionate role in determining the trajectory of AI and its application, as the impact has the potential to transform our world. I hope this blog inspires the reader to think bigger about AI's role in our society, and to take meaningful action to achieve the sincere outcome of human and planet thriving. Give it a read!

50

4 Comments

Thanks to Rowena Hennigan, I recently read a new study from BambooHR which said that 25% of C-suite execs & 18% of HR leaders admit they hope for some voluntary turnover with RTO mandates. It's pretty shocking when you see the data and, of course, those attitudes are harmful to morale. More than 1 in 4 employees say they would consider leaving their position if subjected to an RTO mandate. Every organization needs to make the choice that's best for them but if you're not thinking employee first it hurts culture and ultimately productivity. Linking the full report in the comments, in case you wanna check it out.

10

4 Comments

This was me getting schooled by one of the most respected TA leaders on the planet - from a $50B+ company - a few weeks back. 📚 But in the best possible way. 😁 I'd finished walking through BrightHire at a high level and they offered some friendly feedback: "I'm sure you've given this a lot of thought, but..." Uh oh, where was this going? "... when you hear Interview Intelligence platform, I don't know, it doesn't do justice to the whole thing... this is equity, consistency, structure, quality, speed." She nailed it. We're known for "interview intelligence" and AI interview notes, but the most common reaction I get from demos is: "Wow, this is SO much broader." Last Friday it happened again. I was again speaking with one of the sharpest TA leaders around from a >$20B company - he hadn't seen the platform in 6 months. His reaction was similar: "Wow, I’m not usually at a loss for words - this is really impressive. I can’t believe how much you’ve built - this isn’t a product, it’s a platform. This solves a range of problems and use cases." My takeaways: 1) Hugely proud of the amazing BrightHire team and what we've built! 2) We need to 2x down on how we convey our value to the market Being a buyer is hard - you have limited time to understand solutions - and often everything in a category can seem the same from the outside. That means it's on us to step up our game. 👊 Also, we are not the same as everyone else. 🚀

118

14 Comments