Anne Kiely, EMEA Lead HR, Twitter

Anne Kiely,
EMEA Lead,
HR Business Partner

Looking back at your time with Twitter, what are you most proud of?

I am most proud of the people team earning a legitimate seat at the table when key decisions are made at Twitter. Under the leadership of Jennifer Christie, our Global Head of HR, the function has been elevated to a place where my team and I are now among the leading stakeholders in discussions related not only to employee journey and culture, but increasingly to strategy and revenue and business planning.

I am proud of being part of an EMEA people team that is instrumental in driving the future of Twitter in this region: from proactively sourcing, attracting and onboarding the best employees [for our culture], to the consistent daily delivery of quality HR services, to cyclical performance and rewards projects, and through to career planning and retention.

What is the most exciting project that you’re working on over the next 12 months?

Twitter is committed to supporting its employees to do their best work and, increasingly, that may not be at a fixed desk every day in one of our global offices. The world of where and how we do our best work will continue to evolve at pace into 2020 and I am hugely excited to support and deliver how we will do this at Twitter. Our aim is to ensure that our day is spent being the most effective and impactful that we can be. Jack Dorsey, our CEO, is fully supportive of getting this right for our employees, and the people team globally will play a key role in executing it in a way that works for our employees and for our business. I cannot wait to see this take shape!

What do you hope to achieve at Twitter in the future?

There are two areas of my job that are a passion for me. The first has always been there; that is to build a cohort of people managers who are extraordinary at their job. The second passion has grown and accelerated during my time at Twitter and that is our commitment to Inclusion and Diversity. At some point there will be no need for an Inclusion and Diversity strategy. Until then I will work to have hiring managers, colleagues, processes, tools and a culture that help us achieve a workplace where simply the right person is doing the right job at the right time. While I love the mantra 'Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance,' I also look forward to a time when every day is a party where everyone dances.

What would you say your guiding philosophy to HR is?

The role of the HR professional is increasingly challenging. The lines between our personal, social and work lives are very blurred compared to when I started working 25 years ago, and the HR professional is right in the centre of that newly emerging environment. Employers expect a lot of their employees, and vice versa. As this world evolves, my underlying philosophy for HR remains the same: our job is to support our employees, our leaders, and our businesses to thrive. We provide our people with the opportunity to be as successful as they can be in their careers during their time with us. When we do that well – be it via equitable pay, an honest performance evaluation, an employee assistance programme, or an opportunity to grow – our businesses will be successful.