Chief human resources officer, Shopify
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Silas has ushered Shopify’s workforce through the implementation of multiple bold changes to improve employee experience and retention, including an overhaul of career paths for non-managers and a flexible compensation system that gives workers more choice in their total rewards.
The most notable change under Silas’ leadership, however, has been Shopify’s famed meeting reset: All standing meetings beyond one-on-ones were deleted from workers’ calendars, with a productivity payoff equivalent to hiring an additional 150 people. At last year’s Charter Workplace Summit, Silas urged leaders to follow Shopify’s example in creating friction around scheduling new meetings, pointing to the company’s meeting calculator, which displays the cost of gathering based on attendees’ compensation and the scheduled duration. Any new meeting, she noted, should invite reflection: “Is that really how we want to spend our time versus building?”