2017 HR Symposium
The Employee Experience and the Future of Work: May 3, 2017
Our 2017 discussion centered around The Employee Experience and the Future of Work. We know that it takes more than big paychecks and free food to keep people engaged and inspired. As HR professionals, we influence almost every touchpoint within the employee experience and have a huge impact on company culture. Today's HR pros are focused on designing employee experiences to attract and retain the talent needed to achieve the company's vision.
Let's face it. Sometimes we get it right, and sometimes... not so much. Although we'd love to focus on the times we hit the ball out of the park, there's just as much learning to gain from talking about the times things don't go as planned, despite our best intentions.
Our keynote presentation and the panel of HR leaders shared the successes they've enjoyed, the challenges they've faced, and their perspectives on HR's responsibility for the employee experience. They addressed key challenges and opportunities in this area, as well the innovative ways cutting-edge companies are creating great experiences for their employees.
2017 Keynote
Chris Yeh
Chris Yeh is the co-founder and General Partner of Wasabi Ventures and has founded, advised, or invested in over 100 high-tech startups since 1995. He is a co-author of the New York Times bestseller, The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age, and the co-founder of Allied Talent, the official provider of The Alliance Framework for helping organizations better recruit, engage, and retain entrepreneurial employees. Chris earned two degrees from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was named a Baker Scholar.
2017 Winners
The HR Symposium awarded $45,000 in 2017 to the following scholarship recipients:
Katherine Agger - MS in Industrial/Org Psych - San Jose State University
Jennifer Bellenger - MS in Org Development - University of San Francisco
Attri Farahzadi - MBA - San Jose State University
Michael King - MS in Industrial/Org Psych - San Francisco State University
Shiv Kodak - MS in HR - San Jose State University
Samantha Lee - BS in HR - San Jose State University
Monica Lopez - BS in HR - Cal State Stanislaus
Dave Lyons - MS Org Development - University of San Francisco
Wendy McWilliams - MA in Career Counseling - St. Mary's College
Johanna Mendribil - MS Org Development - University of San Francisco
Phil Pham - MBA - San Jose State University
Avona Pinkston - BS in HR - San Jose State University
Jason Wilkinson - MBA - University of San Francisco
2017 Event Photos
2017 Sponsors
2017 Event Summary
HR Leaders Panel: Wisdom and Humor in an Era of Always-On Transparency
and Immediacy
SANTA CLARA—MAY 3, 2017—After revealing a few little-known bits of personal history, including a couple stints in Disneyland jail, an unfortunate encounter with a drunken pop star, and an uncanny ability to win at sports betting, top HR execs from five Silicon Valley companies settled into a free-wheeling panel discussion at HR Symposium 2017.
They delved into the theme of the day: the future of work and the employee experience—sharing wisdom learned from years of success as well as missteps that raised some sympathetic laughter from the audience of close to 500 HR specialists. The panel included: Kelli Dragovich, senior vice president of people at Hired; Liane Hornsey, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Uber Technologies, Inc.; Britt Sellin, vice president of human resources at Cloudera; Dawn Sharifan, head of people operations at Slack Technology; and Margaret Wheeler, chief people and culture officer at Stitch Fix. At the helm as moderator was Jeff Diana, a previous panelist and seasoned executive with more than 20 years of experience in the human resources field.
Topics ranged from how to evaluate employee experience and how to lead through change to name a favorite CEO, your worst HR buzzword and, of course, millennials.