The Edge of Work
The Edge of Work provides new insights and ideas to help leaders navigate the changing world of work. In each episode, we’ll talk to leaders, practitioners, and innovators to explore new ideas for attracting and developing talent, leadership, and culture, all to help you lead and succeed in a changing world of work.
The Edge of Work
Aligning People Strategy with Business Strategy with Jelena Djordjevic (Chief People Officer, Thumbtack)
Jelena Djordjevic is the Chief People Officer at Thumbtack. During the early months of the 2020 Global Pandemic, Thumbtack made the decision to go virtual first, and subsequently and iteratively implemented a people strategy that enabled its thousands of employees to work effectively in a whole new way. Three years later, Thumbtack remains virtual first, and under Djordevic’s leadership has taken a strategic and intentional approach to aligning their people strategy with their business strategy to drive results, for both the business and their people.
During our conversation, Djordjevic shared her own philosophy as a Chief People Officer about how she strategically thinks about the role of the HR function in enabling business strategy. Jelena also shared some of the programs and policies that are a part of their people strategy for a virtual-first organizations, how she and her team use data to drive strategy and programs, and how she and Thumbtack thing about critical levers of a virtual first organization, such as fostering connection, in-person experiences, and the role of their managers.
Links:
- Jelena’s Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jzdjordjevic/
- https://blog.thumbtack.com/two-years-in-our-virtual-first-model-is-here-to-stay-and-its-only-getting-better-18d33c443d80
- https://blog.thumbtack.com/new-report-finds-employees-perform-their-best-when-working-virtually-and-senior-leaders-agree-59eee67c8aac