SHRM is out front and leading the conversation on the most critical issues facing today’s workplaces— like healthcare, workforce development, inclusion and civility.
In SHRM’s new series of televised commercials, which began airing on major cable networks yesterday, we are partnering with CEOs of major brands and having conversations about these issues, which have a profound impact on workplace culture. We are starting with healthcare and my conversation with President and CEO Bruce D. Broussard of Humana. Bruce and I discuss the impact of healthcare benefits—one of the most costly line items for employers, but critically important to employees, according to SHRM’s 2019 Employee Benefits Survey.
As Bruce explains, we are seeing healthcare evolve from, “How do I provide this benefit that pays for your healthcare?” to something much broader. To attract and retain top talent, employers must go beyond providing one or two plans to embrace the physical, mental and emotional well-being of employees and their families across a spectrum.
The commercial series continues with my conversations with the CEOs of IBM and Mastercard. In my talk with IBM’s Ginni Rometty, we explore how HR can transform old ways of doing things to become a true change agent when it comes to accessing and developing talent—rethinking the necessity of a four-year degree, for example. “The biggest thing HR has to do is drive a culture of skills,” she told me.
Ajay Banga, President and CEO of Mastercard, and I also talked culture, specifically around fostering inclusion and workplace civility. We live in a time where there is a heavy cloud of divisiveness and incivility in the public discourse that ultimately finds its way into the workplace. Ajay and Mastercard have paid close attention to these culture issues, and have some interesting approaches to ensuring employees understand, embrace and live Mastercard’s company values.
This new commercial series builds on our first #WeAreWork series in 2018 that called on CHROs to address key policy issues impacting the workplace, like workplace harassment, employment-based immigration and closing the skills gap. This time, we turned the spotlight on CEOs, because their role is so innately connected to workplace culture. CEOs have the unique responsibility of understanding the “nitty gritty” of the company’s operations, and also identifying and embodying the values and experiences employees take in at work.
I am excited by the many opportunities these televised conversations will create to elevate HR, champion better workplaces and shape the policy issues affecting the millions of people our profession impacts every day.
Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management. With over 300,000 members in 165 countries, SHRM is the largest HR professional association in the world, impacting the lives of 115 million workers every day.
As a global leader on the future of employment, culture and leadership, Mr. Taylor is a sought-after voice on all matters affecting work, workers and the workplace. He is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors the weekly USA Today column, "Ask HR."
Mr. Taylor's career spans over 20 years as a lawyer, human resources executive and CEO in both the not-for-profit and for-profit space. He has held senior and chief executive roles at IAC/Interactive Corp, Viacom's Paramount Pictures and Blockbuster Entertainment Group, McGuireWoods LLC, and Compass Group USA. Most recently, Mr. Taylor was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
He is a member of the White House American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and chairs the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He serves on the boards of the University of Miami, Jobs for America's Graduates, the American Red Cross and Guild Education.
In 2020, Mr. Taylor was named one of Savoy magazine’s “Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America” and later that year received the Distinguished Executive of the Year Award from the Academy of Management.
He is licensed to practice law in Florida, Illinois and Washington, D.C., and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources.
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