April 25, 2023

Episode 38: People Science and Cultivating Effective HR Partnerships with Enspira’s Kurt Landon

From human resources to people engineers, HR has gone through a lot of rebrands. Throughout those shifts, what remains consistent is the necessity for leaders to organize and efficiently run teams. Kurt Landon stops by The Future of Teamwork to discuss approximately 30 years of consulting, team building, and partnering with HR teams to help businesses work more effectively together. With HUDDL3 CEO and show host, Dane Groeneveld, Kurt touches on outside leadership entering an environment, the strategic importance of customer advisory boards, DEI efforts, and more.

Episode 38: People Science and Cultivating Effective HR Partnerships with Enspira's Kurt Landon

Guest Bio

Executive and entrepreneur with ~30 years of experience in senior business and HR leadership roles spanning various industries and geographies. CEO of Enspira, a total solutions human capital consulting firm. Prior experience is with leading organizations such as Accenture, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Expedia, and Biogen. Most recently, led the Human Resources function at Pinterest as SVP, People (CHRO). Studied, lived, and worked in 4 regions, 8 countries, and 16 cities and speaks 5 languages. Founded and operated 3 successful companies. Frequent guest lecturer on the topic of “Business Decision-Making In the Context of Culture” at Northeastern University in Boston, Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium, and “Strategies For Growth” at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Undergraduate degree in Italian Language & International Economics from Washington University in St. Louis, and advanced degree in Global HR Leadership from Rutgers University. Kurt and Enspira have been featured on NBC News and recognized as a “Top Ten Workforce Management” firm by HR Tech Outlook magazine and as one of the “Top 50 Companies to Watch” by Silicon Review magazine. Enspira was named one of the Top 100 Best Workplaces by Inc. Magazine in 2022.

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Recap & Takeaways

[00:12 – 05:25] Kurt Landon’s background and path to Enspira
[05:32 – 11:52] The breadth of exposure to different industries and aspects of business during Kurt’s career
[12:12 – 17:04] Differentiating between human capital and human resources
[17:06 – 22:14] What enabled success when transitioning to an LLC and starting to do consulting
[22:39 – 26:01] Making outside and in-house partnerships see each other as teammates
[26:03 – 32:06] Navigating and addressing poor leadership, identifying talent within a company’s ranks
[32:12 – 38:05] What Kurt and Enspira started helping customers within the early days: business, culture, focus
[38:30 – 39:32] Customer-led journey advisory board
[39:36 – 43:11] People science and the art of engaging with employees, customer advisory boards
[43:15 – 50:39] Practices to change team dynamics toward DEI efforts