Introduction: 0:00
- Introducing Rachel Olchowka, Chief Administrative Officer & Corporate Secretary at Prizm Insurance and former Chief People Officer and General Counsel at Fetch.
- Starting your legal career in litigation before going in-house at TransUnion.
- Balancing your family life and school schedules with your work life.
Taking on the chief people officer role while serving as general counsel at Fetch: 2:25
- Clearly voicing your intentions to your CEO about taking on additional work when an executive steps away.
- Operating two executive roles simultaneously.
- Identifying your knowledge deficits and familiarizing yourself with those areas.
- Taking the time to understand processes and functions so you can excel as a leader.
The difference between CPOs and CHROs: 5:25
- Looking beyond HR in the CPO role to oversee office management, IT, and employee experience.
- Understanding your company culture through the way the HR team titles their executive role.
- Managing a mature and cohesive team that prioritizes cross-training and engagement surveys.
Encountering pushback from the executive team on HR policies: 9:01
- Easily finding consensus on new initiatives with an open and flexible executive team.
- Prioritizing negotiation, balance, and a critical push-and-pull before arriving at a solution.
- Making sure you are always making the right decision for every employee.
Crafting culture within an executive team: 12:35
- Entering the CPO role with legal skills, then acquiring operational skills on the job.
- Bridging the needs of each team and shepherding ideas to their completion.
- Forefronting objectivity during negotiations.
Establishing a comprehensive parental leave plan: 14:53
- Recognizing that every company will need to take a unique approach to parental leave.
- Considering the entire family unit, not just birth-giving parents.
- Incorporating leave for adoption, surrogacy, pregnancy loss, and more.
- Looking at extended leave as a positive opportunity for your team to grow and try new things.
Approaching the hiring process as a CPO: 19:38
- Needing to understand the work of the role that you are recruiting for.
- Understanding that seeking “culture fits” can create a homogenous team.
- Seeking out employees who are energized by fast-paced environments.
- Resisting the tendency to become a traditional HR function.
Comparing in-office policies against remote work: 24:40
- Prioritizing the flexibility to work from home when necessary.
- Finding a tendency in younger employees towards wanting to work and interact in the office.
- Relying on trust as a core value.
- Designing a welcoming office environment for those who want or need to come in.
Dealing with emotionally charged issues in the CPO/CHRO role: 30:57
- Contrasting the intellectual work of a general counsel with the interpersonal challenges of a CPO.
- Complementing each role with the skills that the other lacks.
- Dealing with employees and managers trapped in difficult situations.
- Maintaining boundaries within the CPO role while understanding that executive roles are 24/7.
Recommendations to GCs who want to take on multiple executive roles: 36:34
- Recognizing that you can’t lead and be in the weeds all the time.
- Gaining an important ally by having a separate person fill one of the two roles.
- Digging into the complexities of metrics-driven goal setting.
Considering the right candidate for dual GC and CPO roles: 43:25
- Identifying lawyers who are energized by KPIs and addressing interpersonal challenges.
- Allowing passion to drive you into the role you want to take on.
- Life after leaving Fetch.
Book recommendations: 47:35
- Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility by Patty McCord
- The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
- The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
What you wish you’d known as a young lawyer: 50:19
- Being bold about what is and isn’t working for you.