Every season of Oven-Ready, I like to talk to an HR leader that’s actually doing the job.
Yes, it’s great to learn about the high-level developments and challenges in the profession and wider businesses, but for Oven-Ready to remain grounded it’s great to talk to individuals on the front line.
Tracie Sponenberg is the Chief People Officer at the Granite Group – a plumbing and heating wholesale business based in Concord, New Hampshire, employing some 700 people. Tracie describes herself as a former introvert, but she’s gone through quite a transformation and she’s now considered one of the leading HR practioners in the US and further afield – a fact affirmed by regularly contributing to podcasts, journals and articles.
Her views and opinions are sought widely and Tracie has contributed to pieces in USA Today, The Chicago Sun Times and the Wall St Journal. Tracie also makes regular appearances in the various top 100 global HR influencer and thought leader lists. Not bad for someone who never raised her hand in class until she attended college!
This is a down-to-earth, pragmatic and thoughtful interview from an HR leader who has successfully repositioned herself as a ‘business leader specialising in people’, rather than saying she works in HR.
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In this episode you’ll discover:
- Why Tracie considers herself a ‘business leader specialising in people’ and why this title better describes what she does
- How HR technology has revolutionised the service she and her colleagues provide
- The skills required to be an HR practitioner in the 21st century
- Has HR finally reached the top-table?
- Why she feels that people joining HR at a senior level without having any HR experience is a good thing.
