Market View

Adaptive HR in a Dynamic World: Navigating Diversity, Jurisdiction, and the Modern Workforce

Interview with

Courtney LaTurner

Senior Director, HRBPs & People Operations

SecurityScorecard

About Courtney LaTurner

Courtney LaTurner is currently the Senior Director of HRBPs & People Operations at SecurityScorecard. In this role, she serves as the direct HR Business Partner support for C-suite leaders across various divisions including Technology, Product, Sales, Customer Success, and Growth Business. Additionally, she leads the People Operations function, which encompasses Compensation and Payroll. Courtney leverages her business acumen and expertise in People Analytics to coach and advise leaders, helping them achieve their business objectives within the company.

How has the evolving nature of work impacted your HR strategies, technology, and processes?

The most prominent change we're experiencing is the "do more with less" mentality, particularly prevalent in the tech sector. Post-COVID, many companies that expanded rapidly are now having to right-size their organizations based on economic factors. At SecurityScorecard, we haven't been immune to this trend. We're being asked to deliver the same impact with fewer resources, which has pushed us to think creatively about efficiency and innovation in our approach to HR management.

One example is how we've transformed our payroll processes across 30 different geographical locations. When I took over the total rewards function, I discovered we were using several disconnected tools and relying heavily on manual processes. By methodically analyzing our systems, we identified opportunities for automation and tool consolidation. This restructuring has significantly improved our payroll team's efficiency, allowing our single payroll person to handle a much larger workload effectively. The transformation wasn't just about reducing headcount; it was about creating smarter, more streamlined processes that could scale with our organization while maintaining accuracy and compliance across all regions.

How do you ensure your pay-for-performance philosophy is understood across different cultural contexts?

We've made transparent communication our cornerstone, especially when implementing processes that reward top talent based on performance and impact. We hold bi-weekly company meetings to provide updates and showcase how we reward high performers. A significant change was our approach to bonus payouts – moving from a system solely tied to company-wide metrics to one that incorporates individual performance components.

To bridge cultural gaps, we've implemented several strategies. As an HR business partner, I conduct fireside chats across different regions to explain our programs in detail. These sessions help employees understand the direct connection between their individual performance, company goals, and financial rewards. It's been particularly challenging in regions where standard annual raises are the norm, but starting with the bonus structure has helped demonstrate the value of our performance-based approach.

We also ensure that our global workforce feels valued by honoring local holidays and providing company-wide meetings at time zone-friendly hours. This attention to cultural nuances helps build trust and acceptance of our performance-based systems, even in regions where such approaches are less common. Through consistent communication and demonstration of fairness, we've seen increasing buy-in to our philosophy across all regions.

Can you share a recent challenge where having an adaptive HR approach was crucial to delivering a successful outcome?

A recent challenge emerged when we needed to fund a new company initiative related to our managed services offering. As a company positioning ourselves for a strategic exit, we needed to do this in a cost-neutral way while maintaining our focus on cash flow profitability and year-over-year growth. The business relied heavily on HR to identify areas where we might have redundancies or unnecessary management layers that could be trimmed to fund this initiative.

However, rather than simply cutting in one area to hire in another, we took a more strategic approach. We focused on evaluating our existing talent and their potential to pivot into roles supporting the new strategic offering. This adaptive approach helped us avoid the negative impact on culture and morale that typically comes with layoffs. Instead, we framed it as an opportunity for employees to contribute to a highly visible, impactful company initiative.

The success of this approach required extensive collaboration with department heads to identify transferable skills and potential growth opportunities. We developed targeted training programs to bridge skill gaps and provided clear communication about the transition process. This comprehensive strategy not only helped us achieve our business objectives but also demonstrated our commitment to employee development and retention.

How important is adaptability in your current HR solutions?

I particularly thrive in the 'build' phase, where I can take scattered pieces and create a more cohesive framework from the ground up. Working with tech organizations allows me to demonstrate how HR can significantly impact business outcomes. My goal is to reshape the perception of HR from a purely administrative function to a strategic partner that fundamentally enhances the business.

This approach requires constant adaptation and innovation. We're continuously evaluating new technologies and methodologies that can help us streamline processes while maintaining the human touch that's essential in HR. By staying agile and forward-thinking, we're able to anticipate and address challenges before they become significant issues, whether they're related to compliance, employee engagement, or organizational development. This proactive stance has been crucial in maintaining our effectiveness while scaling our operations across multiple jurisdictions.

In particular, I enjoy working with companies that are newer to the market and still evolving. These organizations tend to be more adaptable in how they work with us, which allows for greater innovation and impact. When you're involved early in a company's lifecycle or their HR journey, you have the unique opportunity to help establish a secure and reliable foundation, particularly in how they're perceived by potential partners and customers. This early involvement enables us to build HR systems that are not just efficient but also aligned with the company's long-term strategic goals and growth trajectory.

About SecurityScorecard

SecurityScorecard is a Series-E cybersecurity ratings company that provides risk assessment and monitoring services. Founded in 2013, the company has grown to over 400 employees spread across more than 30 countries, indicating its global presence and impact in the cybersecurity industry. SecurityScorecard specializes in delivering comprehensive security ratings, enabling organizations to evaluate and improve their cybersecurity posture as well as assess the risk of their vendors and business partners.