The People function
is a necessity
for effective
businesses
In our latest Up-Close interview, we speak with Fiona Curry, Senior Human Resources Director at Figma and former Human Resources Director at LinkedIn.
Could you please start by giving us a sense of your career journey and how you arrived in your field?
My journey into HR was pretty straightforward. I studied psychology and sociology at university, and throughout my studies, I was able to gain some work experience with a sandwich course. It became obvious very quickly that my interest in people was in the business world. It wasn't in the context of becoming a psychologist or a psychiatrist; I quickly established I wasn't cut out for that! My first role was in Learning and Development (L&D), then I moved into recruiting, and from there, I pursued a master's in psychology in human resource management and became a generalist. I have now been a generalist for around 15 years. About as linear as it gets! I've spent my whole career in this function, and I absolutely love it. It's always been a very obvious career path for me because it blends perfectly my passion for people with my curiosity about businesses, how they function, and the community created within the work environment. I'm fascinated by the evolving role of businesses in our society.
When you look back over your career, do you have any moments that were clear highlights for you where you felt as though things were going well?
Well, I felt like I won the lottery when I joined Google in its very early days in 2006. People simply browsing on the internet was a new concept at the time! I felt like I got really lucky getting into that and joining a company that was just so incredibly forward-thinking in its ways, its functioning, and its culture. I wouldn't say it was a time when everything was going perfectly, but it was a huge amount of learning. I went through redundancy at Google, actually. That was a pivotal moment for me because I was not intending to leave, but during the 2008 crisis, there were a lot of layoffs in the tech industry, and I was a recruiting manager. I was trying to make the move into a generalist role, but I probably didn't have the right skills for it at the time. Being able to then go and do a Master's degree was an absolute blessing. It gave me that larger lens into the function and an understanding of the theory behind the practice, which was a great foundation. Then I joined the HR leadership program at GE, which had a great reputation and taught me so much. It was a move from the Disneyland world of tech at Google to a blue-collar factory in the middle of England, discovering the real world. Factory workers had a real cynicism for this function but it was such a great experience to figure out how to empower managers and add value. I also got to live in Florence for eight months, an absolutely amazing place to live. Then, I got lucky again with LinkedIn. I had been looking to join LinkedIn for some time; I was a very early adopter back in my recruiting days so joining LinkedIn was incredible, especially at a time when the company was going through incredibly fast growth. Experiencing that hyper-growth journey again was so much fun, following my experience at Google.
Drawing on these experiences from your career, namely your time at Google, LinkedIn and GE, what were the main learnings from these experiences that have made you into the People leader that you are today?
I work in an industry with a very young demographic. Even though I'm 43, which isn't that old, being in the tech industry can make me feel very old! In the US, 40-year-olds are a protected class, which I recently discovered, and it's crazy. My point is that life and experience shape who you are. Going through the various challenges in these roles, you're building your toolkit at every junction. That's why this function is so fun; there are always different challenges to figure out, solve, and tackle, making every day unique. Having that experience and maturing my thinking about how to approach the role is what has made me the leader I am today. I went through quite a few years suffering from imposter syndrome. Part of the reason for that is the People function is challenging to explain, and measuring success is difficult. Understanding your effectiveness and impact on the business is hard. However, through experiences and supporting organisations and leaders, you realise the role you play and the impact you have. Over time, gaining confidence in my skills and knowing that I add value to the businesses I work with, employees, and leaders, I understand that this function is such a necessity for effective businesses. At the end of the day, successful businesses bring great people together to make things happen, and my job is making sure the right environment and culture exists for them to thrive.
What do you believe makes a great Chief People Officer or People Leader?
I believe it's a combination of factors. Helping leaders articulate and shape the vision of the business is crucial, considering the Chief People Officer (CPO) often serves as the cultural ambassador of the business. This involves understanding the business' objectives and their significance for users, customers, and employees. Having the capability to see strategically and communicate effectively is paramount. Intellectual curiosity and business acumen are essential to grasp what people do and understand the business thoroughly. Combining intellectual curiosity with soft skills, such as building trusting relationships, requires emotional intelligence and coaching skills. Another crucial aspect is the ability to facilitate decision-making, especially in a fast-paced environment with incomplete data. The CPO plays a vital role in mediating and communicating within the team. Embracing and managing change is critical, as the People function is a key business partner during changes. Agility is necessary to navigate constant changes effectively. The ability to inspire, motivate, and communicate effectively is vital. Additionally, being a champion of the culture and understanding organisational values and what the company cares about in terms of how people work together, not just what they do, is crucial. This includes addressing diversity and inclusion topics to create a culture that enables a diverse workforce to thrive and feel a sense of belonging.
“I think that AI is going to fundamentally transform all our jobs. For example, we have just introduced AI into our whiteboard product and it's just incredible – all the hours we used to spend building decks and PowerPoint presentations will be a thing of the past.”
How do you believe the People function has changed over your career?
Thank you for referring to it as the People function! I have always taken some issue with the term Human Resources! This shift in terminology reflects some broader change I believe. It's no longer just about HR administration and performance management, but rather has evolved into a function that, especially with the impact of COVID, has become highly strategic. COVID was a significant turning point; at LinkedIn, the entire organisation turned to the People function for guidance on enabling remote work, decision-making, and the necessary technology pivots needed. Becoming a strategic force in an organisation is a positive trend. However, it's not universally the case. When I'm interviewing for a leadership role in the People function, the first thing I observe is how much the company values it. In some cases, it is mere lip service, making it challenging to succeed as a People leader. The strategic role is progressing positively, but it's not always a done deal. Sometimes, even leaders struggle to grasp the role of the People function, particularly in founder-led companies where they may lack prior organisational experience. In such cases, demonstrating the value of the function becomes crucial.
“Sometimes, even leaders struggle to grasp the role of the People function, particularly in founder-led companies where they may lack prior organisational experience.”
Looking at the different areas of your function and based on what you have seen in the last year or so, what is trending and where do you think the biggest evolution is going to lie?
AI is the obvious answer to that. I think that AI is going to fundamentally transform all our jobs. For example, we have just introduced AI into our whiteboard product and it's just incredible – all the hours we used to spend building decks and PowerPoint presentations will be a thing of the past. Now, you just need to have an idea, and even generating ideas can be assisted by AI. Everyone's role is undergoing a fundamental transformation. The People function will play a critical role in figuring out the evolution of the talent needed in the business. What roles are changing, and what are the new skills required? What tasks can be efficiently handled by technology rather than through talent acquisition? Moreover, what skills remain irreplaceable by technology? The skills sought in the market are undergoing a fundamental change.
You mentioned the difficulty faced sometimes when it comes to defining the function and other leaders not necessarily knowing what the function can deliver for them. What do you think is the biggest misunderstanding that people have about the People function?
I think about walking into a cocktail party and saying that you're an HR Director and everybody's like, "Oh, you're going to fire me," and that's the cliché! So, HR has a bad rep, basically. I think that traditionally this function is understood as being the performance management function, and when you're in the room, people are in trouble. Sadly, that's still the case a lot. I invest a lot of time in dispelling that myth whenever I walk into an organisation, and I try to change that branding in how myself and my team show up every day and with the positive impact we can have on people and organizations.
How then would you like it to be seen?
I would like it to be seen as everything that I've just described: a strategic function that adds value to everyone in the organisation and helps create an experience for people that will drive their career development, well-being, and growth – as well as managing the fundamentals really well. It also contributes to the expectations and goals of the business. That's what we spend all our time doing and thinking about—marrying these two things and making it work.
How do you keep up with what's going on in your function? Is there anything that you do actively? I guess not just in terms of the function itself, but also regarding the different tech tools that come up. How do you manage to keep up?
My main thing is having a network around me of peers that I can go to for recommendations, advice, and support. New tech tools are popping up left, right, and centre, making it really hard to discern which ones are good or bad. Having that experience group around you that you can lean on for help is crucial. I think that is the number one answer for me—knowing who to ask. That's why having networking events is valuable as just recently, I connected with a lady who had an answer to a fundamental question I have right now because she's been through it. So, having the right network around you is the number one advice I would give anyone. And then there are obvious things like being a CIPD member or understanding macro trends, which are also interesting. But for me, the number one thing is the network.
“New tech tools are popping up left, right, and centre, making it really hard to discern which ones are good or bad.”
Are there any podcasts or any other similar resources that you regularly use? Or is there any specific content or individuals that you would recommend people to follow in this specific field?
I don't listen to a lot of People function podcasts as I don't think there are many out there! I listen to things like the Diary of the CEO because I find people who come on there are generally extremely interesting, providing thought leadership around any possible topic, usually centred around business, mental health, or well-being. These are all things that I think are relevant in the world that I live in and the People function. It's other things like Brene Brown and thought leaders like that who really help you think about the psychology of things and drive strong and effective communication in the business so those topics are also interesting to me. Additionally, I've got a coaching qualification, so I really enjoy listening to coaching podcasts as well.
For me, having data-driven conversations is hugely helpful in building trust with leaders. I think metrics like employee engagement are really important for me, understanding the pulse of the organisation is super important. Understanding retention, how you're filling in your vacancies, and how long it's taking to do that are also crucial. Additionally, understanding your diversity metrics to the extent that you can is important. These are all things that are significant, along with keeping a pulse on productivity and performance metrics. Manager capability is another aspect that comes to mind. These factors also depend on where you are in the business and its journey; some of them will be more important than others at certain points in time.
This is a slight deviation from what we are discussing but what are the KPIs that you pay attention to in your function?
What sort of approach do you take with regards to diversity? Is that still a focus, or has it become embedded? What is your view on it and how do you approach it?
I'm very lucky to have what we call a Belonging, Equity, and Inclusion (BEI) function in the people organisation that I work for, and I lean on that team a lot, even though they're a very small team. I find that having thought leadership and subject matter expertise in the business on this topic is really important. Without any claim to knowing everything on this topic because it's impossible to do that, having somebody in the business who is looking out for these things and can call you or the business out when necessary is crucial. At one point in my career I had to work with an office that had a very non-inclusive culture. This issue was driving real problems in terms of talent retention and business performance. I think it's very clear in the work that we do that these topics have a direct impact on the business success, and businesses are increasingly realising this. Regulatory changes help as well; there's a lot of focus on these topics now because organisations are sometimes forced to address them, particularly in certain industries and environments. That's a good thing. Obviously, compliance around equity of pay and similar topics are things that organisations need to care about. So, you need to have someone in the business, at a certain point in time or size, who really cares about these topics and can drive thought leadership around them.
How have you gone about striking the right balance of hybrid work post COVID and what are your overall reflections on that discussion?
I believe that for this topic, COVID provided the push that we needed to evolve our thinking around office time because in truth the technology to make remote work possible has existed for a long time. It's just that changing habits is so tough but thank goodness that we've enabled that because as a Mum, I've got such a better work-life balance as I don't have to commute two and a half hours a day anymore. I think that's an absolute blessing. Being able to build trust with your employees and understand that it's not about how much time they spend doing work; it's the work they do and the outcomes that you measure. Where and how they get it done is up to them. That's a massive improvement, I think, to the employee experience. With that said, I also feel very strongly that we need to support employees building relationships with each other, and nothing replaces physical time spent together. In my business, the approach we've taken is encouraging people to come to the office by creating environments in the office that people want to come to. This includes creating inspiring workspaces well as providing perks like food, massages, or whatever it is. Understand what will make people want to come to the office and make it worth their time. It's a big investment of time for many people to go to the office, so let's make it worthwhile and create environments that people want to come to. Also, invest in employee engagement activities, such as budgeting for parties, events, social events, or ERGs—opportunities for people to get to know each other at a human level and build relationships. For me, the hybrid world is perfect. If that's not possible because you're a remote employee, then think about your operating cadence and what events throughout the year as a company you want to drive where people come and attend, giving them an opportunity to meet in person and build those relationships. You will be a lot more productive if you have relationships so understanding what key moments make sense for people to be together—whether it's during key projects, deadlines, product releases, or any other critical moments. There are times when being in person makes sense because you can get things done a lot faster, allowing people to travel can make a big impact on productivity too.
Finally, what advice would you have for someone coming into this function who may be facing some of the challenges that you have faced throughout your career?
I think it's a little bit cliché, but being incredibly curious, asking a lot of questions, and just learning about the business is the biggest advice I could give. Also investing time in building meaningful relationships. Many people may walk into the HR function and see it as a box, but it really isn't. You must be blended into the business. Therefore, having intellectual curiosity and a willingness to understand how the business works is how you're going to add value in the People function and build credibility with business partners. Anyone coming into this function should think about it not as a box but as a business partnership. To do that, you need to have intellectual curiosity and ask a lot of questions!
