HRPI Fall 2019 Meeting

The 2019 Human Resources Policy Institute Fall Meeting was held at the Questrom School of
Business on October 17 and 18. The meeting topicwas “New Strategies for Managing Employee Experiences”. Professor Fred Foulkes opened the meeting by inviting participants to introduce themselves and share topics they would like
addressed in the HR Roundtable.

Following introductions, HRPI Fellows Charlie Tharp and Brad
Harrington shared updates on compensation and parental leave, respectively.
These updates were followed by the HR Roundtable, moderated by Professor Foulkes. Topics
discussed included concerns about employees and offices in Hong Kong: What are companies
doing with respect to fears about the future and employees thinking of leaving Hong Kong? Tuition reimbursement: Pay in advance or reimburse oncecourse and grades are complete? Measurement/Engagement surveys: What are companies doing and using successfully? Commuting and flexible work arrangements: Some companies continue to
move forward on this while other companies have pulled back. What is best?

Professor Foulkes introduced the first speaker, John Reid-Dodick, Senior Vice President of Cultureat WeWork. He discussed managing employee experience and briefly introduced WeWork’s space-as-a-service model with a global platform for businesses from entrepreneurs to enterprises. Mr. Reid-Dodick stated that culture matters and
whatever you do, you will get a culture. Therefore, companies should try to build the culture they want and the culture they need. He suggested that companies need to consider the external forces affecting all companies: climate change, technology, globalization. In addition, companies need to consider the business imperatives of their
company. These imperatives should be specific to the context of the business, be supported by  the board, and owned by the C-suite, with the CHRO and CEO the choreographer and conductor, respectively.

The Dean’s Speaker Series followed. Dean Susan Fournier welcomed and congratulated HR Executive of the Year, David Rodriguez, who participated in a question and answer session moderated by Kenneth Freeman, Dean Emeritus and Professor of the Practice. In response to questions, Dr. Rodriguez who participated in a question and answer session moderated by Kenneth Freeman,Dean Emeritus and Professor of the Practice. In response to questions, Dr. Rodriguez discussed how he ended up working at Marriott; innovations he has been involved in at the company that have been successful; and cultural innovation at Marriott. Cocktails and dinner followed this session, where Dr. Rodriguez and other HR
Executive Honor Roll recipients were honored