Principal CHRO: ‘For many, change brings uncertainty. My focus is to engage with change in a healthy way’

“The past few years have brought about a substantial increase in the pace and volume of change,” declares Jon Couture, EVP and CHRO at Principal Financial Group.

“For many, change brings uncertainty” – but that’s not the case for the $1.7 billion-revenue Fortune 500 financial services giant.

Under Couture’s stewardship, Principal navigated the pandemic by leading with “empathy and grace” – “building a resilient workforce starts with taking care of our employees and their families so they can take care of our business”.

Jon Couture, EVP and CHRO, Principal Financial Group.

Of course, COVID-19 didn’t bring an end to workplace disruption – we are living through record high burnout rates, the economic uncertainty and the cost of living crisis continues unabated, and geopolitical tensions are being heightened by incoming elections across the globe.

While the resilience that Principal and its 20,000 employees built during the pandemic is putting them in good stead, there’s a need to continue to innovate to ensure that employees continue to “engage with change in a healthy way”.

Ahead of his appearance at UNLEASH America 2024, we sat down with Couture to get a sneak peek into how Principal is thinking about resilience now and into the future, plus his top tips for HR leaders struggling with AI and future-proofing their workplace.

Resilience, learning and Principal

Couture is clear that “the way we work is fundamentally changing”, and that requires rethinking “who does the work, how they work, and where to make sure our workforce is best positioned to deliver efficient and effective results”.

Given that “change is ever present”, Couture tells UNLEASH that Principal is increasing its change management consulting expertise, as well as “providing training for HR team members, leaders and employees”.

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The ultimate aim is to create the right “environment and resources” for Principal’s global workers to thrive in the evolving world of work.

A huge part of this is equipping employees with the skills of the future – something which the workers themselves are calling for, and is powered by learning tech tools like LinkedIn Learning.

But to forecast and figure out the skills that Principal needs now and in the future, the financial services giant does a lot of workforce strategic planning.

Success here requires top notch HR data and analytics to “map the needs of our organization and plan for the future”, and to “best align our resources to the most pressing needs” of the business globally.

Couture tells UNLEASH: “Talent insights are used to guide nearly all we do in HR at Principal” – and this approach has helped Principal to realize $20 million in labor arbitrage last year.

AI and the future of HR at Principal

Given this focus on resilience and future-readiness, it is no surprise that Principal is keen to experiment with AI because of its “power to change how we work”.

While there are lots of unknowns with AI (and its impact on the world of work), for Couture, AI presents real opportunities to drive efficiencies at work – “if we can use AI to make us more productive, our employees can spend more time innovating to drive the business forward”.

Plus, on a macro level, AI can help Couture and Principal balance growing the organization “while keeping labor costs in check”.

The HR and IT teams are always collaborating to look at metrics on labor cost percentage revenue, revenue per full-time employee and wider HR return on investment.

The financial services giant is keen to take employees on the journey with AI – so it is focusing on educating workers on AI, and the “showcasing the opportunities AI could bring to our industry and their specific jobs”.

To help here, Principal is leaning into upskilling and reskilling– “employees are encouraged to participate in AI learning challenges to hone their skills” – plus specialist teams are experimenting with sandbox programs and vendor tools.

Principal is also highly aware of the risks and compliance issues around AI – so the employer has set up governance structures internally to make sure employees are using the tech in ethical and responsible ways.

His advice to HR leaders further behind on their workforce planning and AI journey is to take the time to “understand the impact of AI technologies on your workforce”.

It’s okay if you not aways get it right – the key is being nimble and adjusting as AI evolves and innovates.

Jon Couture and UNLEASH America 2024

Want more insights from Couture on how to lead through change and uncertainty?

You’re in luck! Couture is speaking at UNLEASH America 2024 from 7-9 May.

On Thursday May 9 at Caesar’s Forum in Las Vegas, Couture will be sitting on a panel with Kate Zimberg, CHRO of F5, and Sanjeev Sahgal, Mercy Corps’ CPO, and they will be sharing their expertise, tips and tricks on strategic workforce planning, technology and skills.

It’s not too late to sign up for a ticket to our US show – you can grab your ticket here!