Veronica Knuth started her HR career from the numbers side rather than the people side. Her first job was in accounting (her major in college), followed by a series of early-career roles spanning auditing to risk management to financial reporting. But when she found herself working for a human resource team as the finance partner, she discovered that the HR work was much more interesting than what she was doing. So, when a compensation and benefits role opened up at the company, Knuth jumped to the HR side. She worked her way up the HR ladder at a handful of companies and now serves as the chief people officer for Quantum Health, a consumer health care navigation company.
How did your accounting background affect your move into HR?
In hindsight, I couldn’t have asked for a better entry into HR. I was able to use my analytical skills to benefit the business while learning the nuances that come with human resources. At the time, I worked for a large retailer with many growing brands, and I was able to quickly move to different roles within HR (recruiting, learning and development, and finally HR generalist). I loved the generalist space and knew that was where I wanted to be long term.
Which HR initiative that you’ve led are you most proud of?
I had the opportunity to be the HR leader for the creation of a finance shared service center. The business case was to consolidate more than 20 accounting teams from multiple business units to deliver efficiencies in people, process, and technology. My outcomes included a headcount reduction of 50%, which would have resulted in the loss of jobs for almost 300 associates over three years.
I quickly decided we were going to find a way to retain as many people as possible and still achieve our goals. My team created pathways to build the capabilities of our associates, and we became the “farm team” for open positions in other business units.
Not only did we meet the business efficiency goals in under three years, we were able to retain 95% of the employees and keep our employee engagement scores above 84%. It was this project that fueled my passion of ensuring that—regardless of the size or complexity of a business transformation—I have an obligation to do whatever it takes to bring employees successfully to the other side of change.
I have an obligation to do whatever it takes to bring employees successfully to the other side of change.”
What is your leadership philosophy?
Some things that I view as critical to my success:
- I try to stay several steps ahead of where the business is going and am better than average at working through contingencies for what might happen.
- I am purposeful in surrounding myself with people who have talents that I lack and who aren’t afraid to challenge my point of view. They make me better every day.
- My title is a privilege that I do not take for granted, and it comes with the obligation to use it whenever possible to help others in their success. This is something I learned working for and having incredible mentors.
How do you envision the CHRO role changing over the next decade?
We will have to appreciate the younger generations coming into the workforce and their expectations of employers and the experience they are looking for. This will require us to rethink how we select and deploy benefits, workplace dynamics, and how a company embraces new views on both the business and world around us.
I also believe that it is no longer enough to be an HR expert. We have to be strong financial stewards. We need to have a deep understanding of the core business capabilities and how they need to evolve in the future. Also, we must be students—always curious, always learning, always evolving.
What is the one piece of advice that shaped you the most as a CHRO?
Approach any business issue from a human perspective first, and recognize that rarely is there an answer in the problems you must solve that is definitively wrong or definitively right. Instead, you must manage on a constant continuum of least optimal to most optimal, and you should try to stay to the right of the midline as much as possible.
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