Today, we speak to Nancy Connery, the very first VP of HR at Salesforce, where she spearheaded strategic investments in human capital and fueled the company’s remarkable growth by building its industry-leading HR infrastructure. After seven years, she left Salesforce to build her boutique human capital consultancy Connery Consulting. From this sprung her latest venture, compensational intelligence company OpenComp, where, in addition to being co-founder, Nancy is the co-host of the OpenComp podcast, High Growth Matters. In this episode of Talk Talent to Me, Nancy sheds some light on the early days of Salesforce and her critical role in recruiting (and retaining) the best talent as the company grew. We also look at her decision to leave her comfortable position as VP to pursue her own path in the industry and gain some insight into her belief that talent retention and upskilling are just as important as hiring, plus so much more. Tune in for a fascinating conversation and some thought-provoking advice from someone with a litany of experience in the human capital space!

 

Key Points From This Episode:

• How Connery Consulting helped Nancy realize the opportunity for OpenComp.

• A look at the core offering of OpenComp: charting your organization’s compensation path.

• Insight into Nancy’s career journey, starting with her role as VP of HR at Salesforce.

• The benefits of investing in human capital early on.

• Why recruiting and retaining the best talent is important as you build a company.

• The constant evolution of an organization’s talent needs.

• Why retention is equally as important as recruitment and onboarding.

• The value of offering development opportunities and helping your people upskill.

• Nancy’s decision to leave Salesforce after seven years to start her own consultancy.

• Advice for making the leap from something comfortable into the unknown.

• Themes that Nancy has recognized when it comes to client challenges.

• Why a high headcount isn’t always a positive thing for team leads.

• How the attitude to talent has changed over the past five years.

• Tips for weathering the storm of tech sector layoffs as a leader in the field.

• What to expect if you tune into the High Growth Matters Podcast.

 

Tweetables:

 

“As people think about the evolution of their careers, [it’s important] to think about [the fact that] you don’t need to run everything. What are the core areas where you really shine and can help get the company to the next level?” — Nancy Connery [0:09:22]

 

“You need to think about employees [in the same manner as customers] as you grow the company, not only recruiting them but also how do you develop them? How do you retain them? Can they grow with the lifecycles and stages of the company?” — Nancy Connery [0:13:34]

 

“To me, [retention] is equally as important as the recruitment and onboarding piece for companies.” — Nancy Connery [0:13:50]

 

“There’s a lot of self-satisfaction and pride in the fact that I made that leap from something that was extremely comfortable to the unknown.” — Nancy Connery [0:25:09]

 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

 

Nancy Connery on LinkedIn

Connery Consulting

OpenComp

High Growth Matters Podcast

Talk Talent to Me

Hired