THE HR CHIEF INTERVIEW
“ More than anything else, growing up taught me about drive: not to always rely on others for success and to go get it,” he adds.“ It’ s a big lesson I try to pass on because, too often today, people are looking for the company to move them rather than moving themselves.
“ My experiences influence me all the time. I always think of what kind of impact I’ m having based on two philosophies: anything that HR does should have little to no disruption to the business, and it should absolutely increase employee experience and create an environment that people want to come work and succeed in.”
Courage for taking risks Jason“ fell into HR” after his brief flirtation with law enforcement ended courtesy of his wife.“ She told me‘ you’ re
NAME: JASON DESENTZ JOB TITLE: CHIEF HR OFFICER COMPANY: TOSHIBA AMERICAS INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY HEADQUARTERS: CALIFORNIA, US
Jason has over 25 years’ experience in HR. He is a passionate advocate for leading with authenticity, vulnerability and a people-first approach to human capital a little clumsy, I don’ t think you and a gun is a smart idea. You may want to try something else’,” he laughs.“ And, in hindsight, she was right.” After early work at the Ford Motor Company providing technical training programmes to workers, Jason progressed through other training roles at Chrysler before becoming immersed in the world of HR courtesy of several key mentors who recognised and nurtured his abilities. It was at this point his innate drive and self-determination took over.“ I remember,” he says,“ there was a long row of offices at Chrysler’ s HQ in Detroit and I just went for it – literally knocked on the doors of each of the directors across the HR departments, introduced myself and told them I wanted to learn as much as I could about what they did.“ I ended up having dedicated time with every single director over the course of about six months and, after that, every time there was a job opening, nine out of 10 times I got a call and got the job,” he recalls. Today, Jason’ s HR philosophy is still powered by actively taking risks and accepting that failure builds strength. He also expects the same of the HR teams he builds and hires.“ I call them mustangs,” he says of the people that make a successful unit.“ They take the initiative, have ideas and embrace the freedom to run with it. I don’ t want a camel that I have to push and lead.
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