CHRO IN ACTION The “gray areas” where functions intersect and value hides Francine Katsoudas, Chief People, Policy and drive greater productivity in their company. Given Purpose Officer at Cisco, thinks of her role as Cisco’s business, and the networked solutions the “being focused on anticipating market transitions company develops, their learnings can also inform and understanding the business strategy and how it the company’s client offerings. links with our people strategy to accelerate growth Katsoudas notes that Cisco’s work to unlock for the company.” employee potential and create better experiences— It’s a relatively new approach, but it reflects the from recruiting to workforce planning, to skill Cisco C-suite’s evolving understanding of how development and ways of engaging—is dependent people, technology and data must combine to drive on leaders. “Elevating leadership expectations productivity. As Katsoudas explains: “Historically, and focusing on longer term outcomes is critical,” you would have business discussions and talk tech she says. “Data and insights from our HCM cross- and data—and then you would talk separately about enterprise platform reinforce the efficacy of this people. Now we’re understanding that success approach and can help create efficiencies that can means braiding these discussions together.” be reinvested to further improve people’s ability to collaborate and deliver value.” This “braiding” manifests itself in relationships and new ways of working within the executive team. As a result, Cisco is fast-tracking change for its To illustrate, Katsoudas points to her increasingly people, its business and its communities. collaborative partnership with Chief Information Officer Fletcher Previn, which shines a new light for both on how technology can elevate people to 23