You know how to get to work every day. First of all, you need to institutionalize the way you do your talent so that diversity is at the forefront of anything you do. Its interesting that you say that youre a business person doing HR because I dont remember whether it was Tracy Keogh or Meg Whitman. Im in the gym five days a week. Don Robertson is an Executive Vice President and the Chief Human Resources Officer of Northwestern Mutual a $30 billion in revenue, Fortune 90 financial services company; the largest U.S. provider of individual life insurance; and manager of more than $290.3 billion in policyholder assets. endobj Don Robertson. *Based on Northwestern Mutual internal data, not applicable exclusively to disability insurance products. James Wesland Robertson is an Insurance Agent of NM and NLTC. We did it as a team and because I have a lot of smart people around me. We have a great company driving unprecedented results with exceptional talent who are deeply engaged in our mission. With $265.0 billionin assets, $28.1 billionin revenues, and $1.8 trillionworth of life insurance protection in force, Northwestern Mutual delivers financial security to 4.5 million people who rely on us for life, disabilityincomeand long-term care insurance, annuities, brokerage and advisory services, trust services, and discretionary portfolio management solutions. You wear your best clothes. Lets turn it into that. Im looking for somebody who has good energy because what we do is not easy and you need to have the energy, resilience and perseverance. MILWAUKEE, Aug. 21, 2018 / PRNewswire / -- Northwestern Mutual today announced the appointment of Don Robertson to senior vice president and chief human resources officer. When you use that as an example of what youve done and thats where you failed on something and its real, profound and authentic, I found that it tends to draw people out. I know what you used to say to me and I always loved it. Georgia Public Defender Council. Prior to his role at Northwestern Mutual, Don developed workforces across the world at Hewlett-Packard Corporation, GE Capital, Stanford Research Institute, Apttus, and Sutherland Global Services, among others. Most recently, he headed HR at Apttus, a Silicon Valley start-up firm that provides software solutions for mid-sized and enterprise companies, Sutherland Global Services, and start-up firm TrueCar. For example, our company here now, weve got significant investments were making in technology, particularly significant investments were making in business initiatives to drive a better client and advisor experience. I learned that from going to Mark. Two more things before I finally get to the wrap-up question. [/Pattern /DeviceRGB] Because so many people invested in me, Ive got to pay it to others twice as much. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com Ive used the analogy for those people that are pro-football or soccer but there are not too many soccer fans, except Mike Cirelli, who reminds me all the time. Don also gives his insight on how managers impact talent development and why diversity and inclusion are important. Christian W. Mitchell is responsible for leading Northwestern Mutual's client experience. Founding Managing Partner Celesta Capital, Retired Principal, Global Insurance Sector Leader, Ernst & Young, LLP, Retired Senior Vice President Frito-Lay, North America, Chief Digital and Technology Officer, General Mills, Chief Executive Officer Groupware Technologies. If they do that, it means the person is performing. In this role, Sippel leads an organization of more than 1,700 employees that are responsible for the company's technology architecture, infrastructure and cloud services, reliability, service support, and information risk and cybersecurity. /ExtGState << If people were going to tap dance on a question, its usually the weakness question, the failure or whatever form that that comes in. Were pretty close to the same age, although I stopped counting at 50. You think youve got it all figured out. Lets figure out how to do this better together.. Best Talent: Diversity and inclusion cannot be a hobby. She said, This is not crisp. When I look at the percentage of people that are top talent and at certain levels, everything we do is directionally to try to make sure that our workforce is consistent with the diversity goals that we have. I also look for somebody who has got the agility to me and flexibility because, oftentimes, youre going to need to pivot. Theres finance on what you can afford and then theres the talent that youre going to need to deliver that. Outside of the talent acquisition space and creating talent pools, what do you say to the up-and-coming managers or the newly-minted managers or supervisors, people that are now in charge of developing others? Why do you want me in HR? That was my first thought but like Ive said a bunch of times on this show and with the clients that I work with, that was a gift that I didnt see coming when my career turned to HR. I was talking to a big client. The first half of my career was not in HR. We took intentional steps to be champions for our employees, and we protected the very core of our company what makes Northwestern Mutual such a special place to work. /Title ( N o r t h w e s t e r n M u t u a l A p p o i n t s D o n R o b e r t s o n t o S e n i o r V i c e P r e s i d e n t a n d C h i e f H u m a n R e s o u r c e s O f f i c e r - A u g 2 1 , 2 0 1 8) You got to go back and tell Don, 22 years old, after so many years of great wins and failures that you learned from, all of those things. The more of those experiences that youve had, especially unconventionally, the more that I can get confidence in how youre going to think and operate. "He understands the importance of the employee experience to our company strategy as we work to transform the financial planning experience for our clients.". What are the strategies? Fortunately, Ive had opportunities to resurrect. . << Robertson earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from California State University, Fresno where he currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Craig School of Business. Im looking for somebody that has got good energy that they can overcome the obstacles that are going to come at them. You can get this kind of exposure because this person is going to be a key decision-maker on whether or not you could do that someday. How would you make it work? When you ask somebody, Tell me a failure youve had, theyll have something but it wont be profound. Don and George talk about how Don got into the HR space and what hes learned as an HR practitioner. Were already down the path. Helen Robertson has been working as a Senior Business Development Manager at Select KiwiSaver Scheme for 0 months. It can aid individuals and businesses to. Northwestern Mutual Recognized by Forbes as one of America's Best Large Employers Are there certain things that you hold dear that are in your muscle memory that, If Im developing somebody, these are the things Im going to do?, Its something that a lot of people leaders could benefit from understanding. Don Robertson has been working as a Executive VP & Chief Human Resources Officer at Northwestern Mutual for 5 years. How much importance do you place on digging into a potential or a candidate who has failed? Products and services referenced are offered and sold only by appropriately appointed and licensed entities and financial advisors and professionals. When we talk about leaders, one of the things that Ive shared with companies or is an example that you give and many others have given, which is investing in your time and growing current leaders. Aditi Javeri Gokhale holds executive accountabilities for the company's strategy to drive growth, competitiveness, and relevance. Don Robertson EVP and Chief HR Officer at Northwestern Mutual 3w Extremely gratifying . Thanks, George. >> With its level term life coverage, you can choose between a 10- or 20-year term length. You cant ignore any piece of that. I dont know why Caroline is in my head to this day on that one particular term. Your managers job is to help you achieve that., Managers are the guides to their employees to achieve their career growth. from 8 AM - 9 PM ET. Northwestern Mutual Location 720 E Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53202, United States Description Industry Insurance Northwestern Mutual. When I was in finance roles, a few times, I had HR reporting to me. If you have never carried a bag as a sales leader and had a quota and held those kinds of things, youre not going to talk to those salespeople the way that I could because I understood the language, challenges and what they were going through. Email . How can you assure that you have the best talent for your company? You know those are the types of things that Ive done in my career, putting in a system like Workday that allows you to even know who your talent is. Previously Don was the Chief People Officer of Apttus. Those are the things I look at. I appreciate it. All right. Don Robertson (March 21, 1929 - March 21, 1999) was an American novelist. But this wasn't the case at Northwestern Mutual. Georgia Public Defender Council. I dont think you started in HR. . Email . We combine the expertise of our financial professionals with a personalized digital experience to help our clients navigate their financial lives every day. The company is benefiting but the individual is also benefiting. /SA true /Type /Page I wouldnt want to be anywhere near you if youre answering texts in the middle of the night with Anne. What happened is I got in it and I realized my business background, my experience and what I had done was advantageous. We changed the way we interview. I brought too much ego to the table. Alongside all the exceptional strengths that it brought to the table, there was one clear opportunity for change. Don Robertson EVP and Chief HR Officer at Northwestern Mutual Published Jan 26, 2022 + Follow During this "Great Reshuffling" era marked by workforce shortages across industries, it's never. Thats one thing. ,,0 XA`@Z>\8)Uj3OtsFz2'4B bK;X&,= iK"0jDaJPbpMZ6kQ; # Two additional senior leadership appointments include: Evamarie Schoenborn was named president. There are a number of factors that come into play. Those are a few of the nuggets in terms of what I might do differently. Anytime were doing slating or talent management, its got to have that DNI lens then and there, not afterward and you dont like the outcomes and you try to go back and reconstruct something. She is also accountable for NM Future Ventures along with digital disruptor, Wyshbox. q(G;9)3G2e]PCb# &8.th3geRyLJ* Tracy taught me a lot about interacting with boards at the board level and those levels. Im talking about some significant stuff because most people that Im going to be interviewing with have had those kinds of things. It cannot be a separate thing. /F6 6 0 R Believe it or not, I have lost every bit of sanity and Mike Cirelli talked me into a book too, which well probably be talking to you about your sin. Phone . If you didnt come from the business, you would better be a student of. You can always hire externally but you also can build internal marketplaces. This is a people business, and I can't think of a | 17 comments on LinkedIn Don Robertson on LinkedIn: Northwestern Mutual Recognized by Forbes as one of America's Best Large | 17 comments Marcela was somebody who believed in me and Bina Chaurasia on her team. I did the offers on both. Heres the first thing for leaders to keep in mind: if you want to grow employee engagement and organizational health in a short time, start with a great company and a virtuous vision. Before that, three great leadership pearls of wisdom? Youre playing catch-up to try to change it around. "He understands the importance of the employee experience to our company strategy as we work to transform the financial planning experience for our clients.". Nobody achieves things in life without the help of a number of folks. We changed the way we communicate with our employee population. I remember that one of the things that imprinted on me early in my career was they used to evaluate senior leaders not just by the business performance but also by how many people are now in leadership positions across the organization that used to work for that person. I wanted to soften the blow of that failure in my answer.