BNO had the opportunity to attend Disrupt Northern New Jersey’s semi-annual meetup, hosted by our friends at Logical Design Solutions in Florham Park, NJ (hat tip to VP of Marketing and HR, John Fee, for the invitation). For those who haven’t had the pleasure, the format is a series of 10 speakers, 5 minutes each, 20 auto-advancing slides, with networking breaks throughout.
Here are just a few of the highlights that caught our short attention spans…
NJBIA President and CEO
Michele Siekerka discussed the challenges of “Mining our Intellectual Capital in NJ” – keeping millennials raised in New Jersey IN New Jersey. New Jersey is the 4th highest exporter of millennials for post-secondary education and employment. Michele shared insights on what New Jersey’s companies need to do to attract and engage this important generation, from being mission-driven and diverse to providing meaningful career opportunities and engaging experiences.
Colgate-Palmolive Manager of Innovation Capabilities
Regina Hourigan discussed transforming innovation culture with a grassroots approach. She shared the ten-year journey of Colgate-Palmolive’s Monarch program. Monarch team members seek new paths to achieving customer empathy and ignite innovations based on current cultural dynamics. Regina noted that a true grassroots approach demands faith and patience. Early stage chaos may feel uncomfortable, but can lead to an innovation culture that strengthens, evolves and endures.
PepsiCo VP of Human Capital Strategy and Workforce Analytics Beverly Tarulli helped the group earn “Talent Analytics Decoder Rings” with a lighting round tour. In a model rivaling Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Beverly powered through the talent analytics capability maturity model. Level 1: Reporting. Level 2: Trends and Relationships. Level 3: Insights and Evaluation. Level 4: Predicting and Forecasting. Boom.
Verizon Director of Strategy, Marketing and Operations for Smart Communities
Victoria Dower shared recent advances in creating smart communities that bring people together, while reminding us of just how far we’ve come in ten years (
ahem, Mapquest print outs clipped to your rearview mirror). From transforming community healthcare (Chicago
smart corners,
Heat Seek NYC) to elevating the shopping experience of dog owners (Dog Parker), Victoria painted a vivid picture of the new world of connected people enabled by technology.
Check out DISRUPTHR NORTHERN NEW JERSEY for more information and to learn about future events. We hope to see you there!
About DisruptHR NNJ
DisruptHR NNJ is the Northern New Jersey chapter of DISRUPT, a non-profit international network of meet-ups designated to facilitate networking and knowledge sharing with a focus on innovative practices in talent, culture and technology.
