USA 
United KingdomLaura Lowe,
Chief People Officer, Avanade
Avanade's CPO Laura Lowe unveils how an outward gaze has been instrumental in cultivating a safe, secure, and engaging environment for her employees...
Laura Lowe,
Chief People Officer, Avanade
Avanade's CPO Laura Lowe unveils how an outward gaze has been instrumental in cultivating a safe, secure, and engaging environment for her employees...
In the last four years, human resources have faced unprecedented challenges. Global health crises, economic upheavals, and political turbulence have rocked organizations of all sizes and sectors. Amidst this turmoil, the role of the chief people officer has evolved dramatically.
Laura Lowe, Chief People Officer at Avanade, oversees a broad spectrum of people initiatives, from recruiting top talent to fostering a vibrant alumni network, all while nurturing a culture that resonates with a unique and compelling employee value proposition.
Part of the secret of Lowe’s success is taking an outside-in approach, looking at the world around her, and using observations as an inspiration and driver for her people strategy. In a candid conversation with HR Grapevine, Lowe unveils how this outward gaze has been instrumental in cultivating a workplace that is a safe, secure, and engaging environment for its employees—one which thrives on inclusivity and support despite sociopolitical turmoil and growing divisiveness.
It’s evolved over the course of my career. My daughter, for example, always inspires me. I look at the world through her eyes, I want to make things better for her, and she was also a very competitive surfer. I drew inspiration by traveling with her, it pushed me to learn new skills like photography so I could get the best shots of her and capture those moments.
But over the past several years, my inspiration has really come from what’s been going on in our world, and drawing upon that to shape, create, and foster a workforce that recognizes and responds to it. Whether it’s political, racial, religious, or environmental, my inspiration is about getting in touch with what is going on. I’ve been fortunate in this role and with this company to create a space that brings work, families, and the world together in a meaningful way so that people feel they can address both personal and work-related challenges in a safe space.
Whether it’s political, racial, religious, or environmental, my inspiration is about getting in touch with what is going on
Before becoming Avanade’s CPO, I was Head of HR for North America, responsible for 4,000 employees and leaders, throughout a lot of incredibly pivotal moments that impacted the world and the US. One was the murder of George Floyd, which changed how we talk about and think about race relations. Going back to my daughter, I remember her and some of her friends doing silent protests and marches.
I knew it was going on, but should we talk about it at work or not? I had members of our employee network, too, saying ‘We feel this should be addressed. We want to hear our leaders addressing us because we are a values-based culture and this matters to us.’
Between our Chief Diversity Officer, CEO, and area presidents, I was able to facilitate and create listening sessions where our leaders from all different backgrounds, races, religions, and locations invited all employees who wanted to come to simply talk about their lived experiences to help teach others. It was a safe space for people to feel that they were surrounded by leaders and others who cared and who knew how to engage in a productive dialogue for the sake of learning.
That was a start within Avanade to a much deeper level of engagement within our culture and between our leaders and our people. This has perpetuated far beyond that single period event to now, where our Jewish employee network and Muslim employee network asked to come together to talk through the divisiveness they were seeing in the world.
When Roe versus Wade was overturned, it impacted women's right to choose in the US for abortions. And that was another pivotal moment. I remember seeing women in tears and when people came to work it was on their minds.
So, we as a leadership team agreed that we needed to say something. To show that it mattered to us too. It’s always difficult because there are people within your workforce who are always going to be on opposing sides of any issue. But we try to address those things in such a way that inspires listening, learning, understanding, and respect.
Within a week, we announced we were expanding our benefit offerings to compensate travel for medical services that anyone may need that are not provided within 100 miles of their geographic residence. We didn’t take a position on the ruling, but we made sure everyone had the support they needed.
And I got so many emails from workers – men and women all over the US – saying thank you for addressing it and not keeping it outside of the workplace. It’s what I’m most proud of and where inspiration continues to be drawn from because it’s those moments where people come together and a sense of loyalty is created. Because even when things are tough, they feel we’re addressing them too and it gives them empowerment to do the same.
I’ve appreciated the shift in language from traditional HR to titles like mine of Chief People Officer. It doesn’t mean I don’t own and manage traditional things within it, and we know there are HR professionals who excel at executing compensation cycles or having tough conversations with employees.
But successful HR leaders, now and in the future, need a people-led empathetic side and infuse that into the workforce and into the work they do. Whatever the source of inspiration, it brings out creativity, new ideas or connections, and the energy to work on the hard things rather than feeling overwhelmed.
Successful HR leaders, now and in the future, need a people-led empathetic side and infuse that into the workforce and into the work they do
Our people are very multifaceted and have lived experiences that an HR leader might say they can’t relate to or will never experience. If they’re not inspired to look outward to learn from other experiences, they’ll be less likely to relate to them, and less likely to make recommendations or develop programs or support services that meet their needs, because they might not understand them.
It’s so important to seek that inspiration or knowledge outside of just your company or your craft.
It’s very powerful to identify others in the field of HR, other leaders, who you find inspiring. If you seek it out, you can find certain leaders who are doing great things, developing new programs, getting sponsorship from their companies, and winning great awards.
Maybe it’s something as big as that, or maybe it’s just a leader you’ve worked for in the past who you admired and wanted to emulate. But the more we can seek and draw from other people’s experiences, the more we can learn. And that’s important because there are facets of HR that are very hard, you’re accountable for the employee experience and at times there are things that do go badly, or you know you must deliver very difficult messages to people that may even change their lives.
I’m passionate about leading and developing others and strive to be an authentic and human leader. And undoubtedly, these values that I hold dear to me would have come about from my being inspired by other leaders and people.
Finally, if you want to rock your role as an HR professional more generally, first build your network and business knowledge. Secondly, prioritize your own development and wellbeing. You can’t pour from an empty cup so make sure you take care of yourself and invest in your own learning and growth. Thirdly, show up positively and authentically for your internal clients and stakeholders. Be the leader or partner that you would love to have. Be honest, be kind, and be inspiring.
