We live it. We enforce it. We are #HRToday.

It is starting to feel like we are truly lying to rest #HRYesterday. The paper pushing, request based, reactive and anti-tech savvy form of operating is our past. Rejuvenating!

Last week, I had the pleasure of getting coffee with Chris Rutter, 33, CHRO of Matrix Systems Holding, LLC. in Columbus, OH. Impressed yet?! Please let me continue! We discussed everything from being a young leader to workplace equality. Chris was dressed in denim shorts cuffed at the knee, thong sandals, backpack and a tattoo gracing his right forearm that read “familie” in a thick brush script. More casual than most business meetings, but he worked from home on that beautiful Friday. His t-shirt, most likely purchased locally which confirmed his “I love Columbus” statement on his Twitter bio read, “The Heart of It All”. Not only does Chris have a heart for Columbus, Chris has a heart for everything HR.

Chris started his career just 10 years ago as an intern with OCLC in Dublin. He then went to McGraw-Hill for his first full-time gig and coordinated a massive layoff of approximately 500 people. Taking a leap of faith, he ventured out of the cubicle graveyards to a very green (not environmentally friendly green but grassroots green) tech start-up. Chris was on the ground level of this organizations growth and they are still in an upward growth stage today. Discovered by his current CEO, Holly Tsourides, after she came across an article about him in Columbus Business First. Holly followed up by sending Chris a LinkedIn message. They met for lunch and the rest is his story! Yes, his story…During that meeting Chris asked, “What will be my biggest hurdle on the job?” and Holly’s response was, “That no one will be there to say no to you.” From that moment, Chris was sold on the new challenge.

Like the true #HRToday. Willing to take risk. Leaning on the philosophy that everything happens for a reason!

Chris has a passion for Performance Management. He has implemented improvements at Matrix and has invigorated the company’s policies. Making the push towards an unlimited vacation policy, Rutter executed a change that tied the PTO policy to performance. Same-sex domestic benefits, workplace harassment, gender inclusion, paternity and grandparent leave to name a few, are additional topics of interest lobbied by Chris.   

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn”. – Benjamin Franklin

In less than a decade, Chris has climbed his way to the C-suite. Preparation and action! He completed his MBA while at McGraw-Hill but when asked how he developed himself, simply put – SHRM. Rutter voiced that people whom do not have a respect for SHRM, do not realize the resource it is. He reached out to SHRM for advice and attended the annual conferences regularly as his source of professional development.

Curious if you are #HRToday?!

Are you willing to step up to the task?

Do you push the envelope when necessary?

Do you stare failure in the eye and say “try me”?

Are you prepared to have a seat at the table host the table?

If you answered YES to all of the above, you are #HRToday!

You can find Chris on Twitter at @imChrisRutter.