Good morning!
Ellyn Shook, who was the CHRO of Accenture and served as an HR leader for more than 36 years, is retiring. When she leveled up to CHRO in 2014, the business had 300,000 global employees, and she played a prominent role in scaling and training the workforce ever since. During her executive tenure Accenture has grown to nearly 750,000 staffers across 120 countries.
I sat down with Shook to do an exit interview and hear more about what she’s learned over such a long career in human resources. She walked me through some of the highlights, what she’s looking for in a successor, and advice she has for other HR professionals. But what struck me most was her wide-lens perspective on the industry, and the changes she’s seen during her time at the top.
Shook says she’s witnessed three massive shifts. The first is the transition of HR workers from being considered administrators, to now being looked upon as workforce experts. The second is a new reliance on using data and analytics, rather than just going with your gut. And the third is the current responsibility for HR departments to reimagine the idea of what work is or should be.
“CHROs should be leading across the C-suite and really reinventing work, therefore preparing your workforce for change,” Shook told Fortune. “CHROs broadly repositioned themselves during COVID, and now are well positioned to play this large-scale transformation role across the business.”
What does the future hold for HR? Shook doesn’t have a crystal ball, but she says that preparing managers should be a major focus for all CHROs. And she emphasizes that the most significant leadership trait of our time is “compassion,” emphasizing a theme we’ve heard over and over again: Listening is key.
“It’s not just being empathetic, it’s being compassionate, taking action on that,” she says. “HR leaders also have to have very sophisticated listening frameworks that allow you to constantly be in touch with the pulse of the people, what’s on their mind, and what’s in their heart.”
You can read my entire interview with Shook here.
Emma Burleigh
emma.burleigh@fortune.com
Azure Gilman
azure.gilman@fortune.com
Around the Table
A round-up of the most important HR headlines.
The proportion of students reneging on job offers has doubled since 2021, as bad timing gets in the way of opportunities and stockpiling offers has become a survival strategy. Business Insider
Apple reached a three-year tentative contract with workers at a Maryland store location that will increase pay by 10% and guarantee additional benefits to employees. NBC News
More U.K. workers are whistleblowing and taking their accusations to an employment tribunal, following increased awareness around legal claims and the popularization of #MeToo. Financial Times
College graduates hoping to find promising entry-level jobs may have to look down south for the best cost-of-living wages—including Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, and Raleigh. WSJ
Watercooler
Everything you need to know from Fortune.
Best boss ever. A startup CEO changed the lives of his employees after realizing that through his stock incentive for workers, about 70 to 80 staffers had accrued millions of dollars. —Chloe Berger
Hybrid happiness. Employees are continuing to bunker down and stay in their positions due to “organizational confidence” and anxiety over job security—but flexibility is the key to retain them. —Jane Thier
Double standards. A new report shows that only 7% of CEOs work in-person five days a week, despite many companies forcing RTO mandates on employees in the name of creativity and collaboration. —Orianna Rosa Royle
