Cruising Altitude

Transforming Your Business through High Performance Culture and Diversity with Marlon Sullivan, EVP and CHRO of Johnson Controls

Episode Summary

This episode features an interview with Marlon Sullivan, EVP and CHRO of Johnson Controls International. Johnson Controls is a world leader in smart buildings and creating safe, healthy, and sustainable spaces. Here, Marlon works in every part of human resources. He focuses on talent acquisition, retention, and leadership development while defining a high performance culture that includes diversity and inclusion. In this episode, Marlon defines a high performance culture, and what HR elements businesses should focus on. He also emphasizes the importance of diversity and inclusion for true positive transformation.

Episode Notes

This episode features an interview with Marlon Sullivan, EVP and CHRO of Johnson Controls International. Johnson Controls is a world leader in smart buildings and creating safe, healthy, and sustainable spaces. Here, Marlon works in every part of human resources. He focuses on talent acquisition, retention, and leadership development while defining a high performance culture that includes diversity and inclusion. 

In this episode, Marlon defines a high performance culture, and what HR elements businesses should focus on. He also emphasizes the importance of diversity and inclusion for true positive transformation.

Quotes

“What is critically important for how we define a high performance culture is leveraging that of diversity, equity, and inclusion. That includes all of those elements with a focus on three core components, talent, people, and culture.”

“Having not formally been in human resources before, it was exciting, a little bit challenging in the beginning. Because I was bringing more of a business perspective. But what I also found is that was part of what helped to differentiate the offering. That  I could bring to the role that I was playing, but also how HR could play a differentiated role.”

“Transformation is not only a change in culture. It requires a change in the skill sets, the competencies, and the pace of business. And as we continue to drive this differentiated offering in the marketplace, it's allowing us to be a leader in the industry, and hopefully not only transform ourselves, but also transform the industry itself.”

“Now clearly we're not big tech, but we've been through a big technology transformation and that will continue. It's allowing us to welcome a different type of talent and team to the organization. And in particular, it allows us to make a difference. A part of what we talk about in terms of our employee value proposition is that of purpose. And so to be able to join a company where you can make a difference, not only for customers, but also for our communities, for the, for the climate, for the planet. And it inspires a lot of folks, and it's part of why I am here at Johnson Controls.”

“Here at Johnson Controls, it's not an exaggeration to say that we're saving the planet. And when you consider that 40% of the world's emissions come from buildings, then obviously smart building technologies are a differentiator. And it's been a big win for us because job seekers want to work for a company that provides meaningful work beyond just traditional competitive compensation and benefits.So when we talk about the power of purpose here at Johnson Controls it, it means a lot. And we go out of our way to make sure that we're able to measure it.”

“In order to be a highly effective HR leader that helps to really leverage human capital to drive outcomes, you have to understand the business, right? You have to understand the mission, the strategy, the operating model, the go to market channels, the value proposition. But you also have to understand the market within which we're competing.”

“There's nothing better than the taste of success. And being able to see that success and however it's measured, whether it's customer satisfaction or positive impact on the planet with CO2 carbon reduction, whether it's financial metrics, operational metrics, or just thinking about the excitement of our people and the fact that they love to work here. I mean, all of them are successes and we go out of our way to celebrate that.”

Time Stamps

*[00:16] Marlon’s current role

*[01:15] The war for talent

*[02:59] Johnson Controls’ transformation

*[06:21] Empowering meaningful work

*[08:32] Understanding HR and business

*[10:28] How to build an employee value proposition

*[17:57] Defining goals and success

*[21:32] Overcoming roadblocks

*[24:23] Combining HR and AI

*[26:43] What matters most to employees?

Links

Connect with Marlon on LinkedIn

Check out Johnson Controls

Thanks to our friends

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