While a passion for technology steered Christina Seargeant, CPHR towards MediaCore over three years ago, a professional passion for HR quickly took hold. Developing a full-suite of HR programs for the start-up, Seargeant elevated her organization and made it the obvious choice for acquisition by Workday, which occurred in 2015. Recognized as a valued HR business partner at Workday ever since, she was also celebrated as the 2016 HRMA Rising Star.

How did your passion for tech gave rise to a passion for HR when you first went to work with MediaCore?
Within six months of being an executive assistant at MediaCore, I knew that I was narrowing in on my passion. Broadly speaking, I was in the business of supporting others so they could be as productive and successful as possible. Whether that meant ensuring our developers had all the coffee they could ever wish for, or implementing an HRIS so our staff had access to their payroll and benefits information at a click of a button. Our CEO, Stuart, was incredibly supportive of me driving this area of the business—what we later dubbed people operations—and I was promoted.

The coolest part, was MediaCore’s technology inherently encouraged a supportive, collaborative workplace that focused on our employees professional development. We were in the business of e-learning and worked with teachers and students on a daily basis. It reinforced an amazing culture of learning and advancement.

What aspect of developing their HR program challenged and gave you the greatest satisfaction?
I think the piece that challenged me the most not only designing the program, but defining what performance management meant at MediaCore. We really struggled with clearly defining what success looked like, especially outside of the sales organization which had the benefit of working with concrete revenue targets.

How could we develop something that would be fair across disciplines, motivate people to work hard, reward them in a meaningful way, and that didn’t break the bank of a startup still trying to hit profitability? Should we reward individual contributions, or purely team achievements? Do we utilize non-monetary rewards, or purely variable-based pay?

Looking back at my 3.5 years at MediaCore, I was definitely most proud of our recruitment strategy—we built a killer team. I think what helped us the most is that we had a genuine reputation in Victoria for having a super sharp engineering team, and overall, an amazing culture. Kind, humble and lovely people. Just to say I had even a small part in helping grow our team is a wonderful honour and achievement.

What advice do you have to offer those who are seeking to better define the business worth of HR in their organizations?
I had the privilege of working in a startup in which allowed me to define the norms and beliefs around HR from the ground up. Now I work for a software company that puts the role of an HR practitioner at the forefront, given we are in the business of creating human capital management software. I have had a wonderfully privileged experience and it’s hard thinking that other practitioners need to fight to prove their worth to the business.

To anyone in that position, I would suggest that you let your actions speak for themselves. Sure we won’t be able to change the world’s opinion about HR overnight, but we can influence our teams and help them understand the value and commitment we bring to our organizations. For me, being able to advocate for the people I support is a huge piece of this. I listen to what my people want, and amplify their voices. I have to represent all sides, not just management; and that really helps me earn trust. My biggest challenge is advocating for multiple sides at any given time, but if I can do that with grace and professionalism, I know it will get me far in my career.

How would you define the “HR Mindset” and what can other business leaders learn from it?
People first. If you aren’t prioritizing the well being of your people in your organization, you are in trouble.

If you were not a Rising Star in the world of HR, what would you be doing?
If money were no object, I would be a serial volunteer. I spent a lot of my spare time volunteering with local organizations; I am the Chapter Lead of Ladies Learning Code here in Victoria and also sit on the board of directors for VIATEC (Victoria Innovation, Advanced Technology & Entrepreneurship Council), and the steering committee for the HR Tech Group in Vancouver.

I am most passionate about helping people be successful in their careers and promoting the tech industry as a vibrant sector for technical and non-technical folks alike. There is so much we can do to give back to the community and I just love being a part of it.

(PeopleTalk Winter 2016)