HR Collaborate 2017

October 25, 2017

While there is no shortage of published HR best practices, not all of them apply to smaller, growth companies with limited resources. How do we take the HR strategies heralded in large companies and reshape them for a growth environment? This question and other topics served as the focus for HR Collaborate 2017, LLR’s annual gathering of talent and human resources leaders from across our portfolio.

This year’s attendees looked ahead to 2018, each highlighting their top strategic HR priority for the new year. While performance management and scaling the workforce during growth were common themes, the standout priority for 2018 was culture. How do we establish culture goals and infuse them into employee engagement? How do we create more fluidity in our cultures while scaling for growth? Roundtable discussions enabled attendees to share ideas and support each other’s plans to enhance culture initiatives in 2018.

The event also addressed Preparing for M&A with a presentation by Lynn Nolitt, former VP, HR of Cigital (recently exited LLR portfolio company). Lynn shared her experience of going through a sale process and highlighted the important role Human Resources plays during a merger or acquisition to ensure processes, systems, benefits and talent are all adequately considered for successful integration.

Elise Doyle, VP, HR at Strategic Distribution, kicked off a discussion on Employee Engagement & Retention, presenting a practical and low budget (or no budget!) approach to launching an employee engagement survey. For SDI, the effort resulted in many positive culture transformations, including the SDI Champion Network, a culture and safety program at individual client sites. Robin Hamel, SVP, HR at Agility Recovery, then shared her strategy for addressing turnover and engagement in her sales team that focused on setting clear expectations around corporate values, instilling continuous development and feedback channels, and increasing internal communication so employees knew their voices were being heard.

Finally, Amy VanDuyn, VP, HR at Phreesia, presented her approach to Recruiting and Onboarding. Phreesia was named to Modern Healthcare’s “Best Places to Work in Healthcare” for the second consecutive year, which is no easy feat while doubling headcount and training new employees. The interactive conversation covered choosing an applicant tracking system, creating a recruiting process to support hiring goals, and tactics for balancing quality and quantity – how to fill the right jobs with the right people.

Read more about our complete series of Collaboration events for LLR portfolio executives and our network.