CHRO Advisor Jeff Diana on Not Doing More with Less

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Jeff Diana is a consultant for high-growth companies, helping scale global businesses amid today’s dynamic market. He was formerly the Chief People Officer at Calendly, Atlassian, and SuccessFactors and has held HR leadership positions at Safeco, Microsoft, General Electric, and BellSouth. His most recent board and advisory experience includes Behavox, SmartRecruiters, HootRecruit, Charthop, and Tribute.

On the “aha” moment that changed his career path

I left my Ph.D. program behind for the world of HR. I was on track to be a university professor in sociology, taking all my electives in the business school and their HR discipline. My professor called me into his office one day to let me know that my first article had been published; it was on the topic of collaboration and its impact on entrepreneurs. He then put the little journal on the shelf behind him and went right back to grading papers. It was a watershed moment for me: If I wanted to impact the world to the degree I envisioned, I'd have to get inside the organizations where people are working, collaborating, and innovating.

My first step was going straight into recruiting at Bell South because I wanted to make a difference at scale, and telecommunications was an industry that was being disrupted. I wanted to be a part of a deep, functional discipline where I could understand the processes of how you attract and assess great people, and I knew recruiting would get me there. It was the underpinning of my career.

On taking swings to drive change

Be bold, and believe in yourself, but start by being thoughtful. Understand the space you’re in, quickly form your opinions, and then share them with leaders to change the status quo.

Be bold, and believe in yourself, but start by being thoughtful.

In my first job, I actively criticized the way we operated. Once I had a good understanding of how the organization worked, I went right up to the vice president of recruiting and let him know that I saw an opportunity to approach our processes differently for our benefit. I volunteered to take a swing at making those changes, and I encourage anyone to take the lead in the same way to get noticed when they’re first starting out. You have fresh eyes to reinvent parts of the discipline that aren’t working, and people will recognize that entrepreneurial spirit. To be clear, this doesn't mean failing to listen, ask questions, and respect what has been done before—that’s all necessary if you want your voice heard.

On not doing more with less

Over the last year, I've noticed at least two major changes among HR teams. One, they've been forced to adopt the same lean mindset that startups and early innovators have always used. And two, they're realizing the importance of knowing their business and the macroeconomic conditions in ways that they’ve never done before.

It’s about doing the ‘right stuff’ with less

These two realities have pushed teams to get better at prioritizing where they can have the greatest impact with a scarcer resource set. And it’s not about doing more with less—that's a trap. We’ve always been doing more, but that hasn’t yielded the highest impact on the business; it’s only led to spending resources that have diminishing returns. It’s about doing the “right stuff” with less.

On reshaping the relationship between employees and employers

Over the next few years, we’re going to see a shift in how the employee and organizations reshape their relationship with one another. We’ve seen one-sided dynamics in recent years where companies either held all the power or employees held all the power and companies catered to them. We’re moving toward a more balanced partnership that respects both organizational needs and individual aspirations.

On the book that every talent leader should read

I recommend "Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets" because the book reminds us that achieving success isn’t about out-competing others or disrupting a market. Instead, we should aim for reinvention and creating “net new.” In HR, we are constantly redefining our work to create real business value, and we push our business leaders to do the same.

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