Former BlackRock HR Head Jeff Smith Explains His People-First Approach to Leadership

Jeff Smith doesn’t speak about human resources in conventional terms.

His perspective, shaped by his background in industrial-organizational psychology and refined during his time consulting, tenure at AOL and Time Warner and the decade as BlackRock’s head of global human resources, represents a fundamental reimagining of HR’s organizational purpose. 

“HR has broadly not been a respected profession and is just there for administrative purposes and to support the business,” Smith observes. This perception, he argues, fails to recognize HR’s potential: “Who you hire, creating performance standards, developing leaders, aligning incentives and compensation, and creating the right culture for the business to work and thrive. It is something that needs to be fought for.”

The Psychological Foundation of Leadership

After studying psychology at the University of Connecticut, where he initially went to play soccer, he developed an interest in industrial-organizational psychology — a discipline applying psychological principles to workplace dynamics. He eventually obtained a Ph.D. in the subject.

“I think being ‘psychologically minded‘ is very helpful in terms of thinking through interpersonal dynamics and not just focusing on the business issue at hand but on the people who are dealing with the issue,” Smith explains. His psychological training provided interpersonal insights and quantitative abilities: “The other thing that is very useful that people often don’t associate with psychology is you actually have to be good at math — statistics in particular.”

HR Priorities

Smith’s approach to HR is centered on five critical priorities — leader and manager development, HR technology and data analytics, creating intentional culture, managing careers, and building the HR talent pool. These priorities reflected his conviction that HR should drive organizational strategy rather than merely implement it.

“Getting talent to the front and center of the agenda of the CEO and the leadership team and being a huge part of the agenda” is critical to successful HR. This elevation of talent development to board-level concern transformed how the organization handled human capital.

The way Smith deals with leader development extends beyond traditional skill-building to encompass role design and incentive structures. “Leaders need to drive change and help drive strategy and create culture,” he emphasizes. “Part of this is skill development but part of it is creating the right job for leaders and managers and the right incentives to do it — both compensation and recognition.”

This helped companies develop their leadership pipeline while addressing a challenge Smith identified: “Data suggests many people do not want to be leaders or managers, and people who are successful in what they are doing need a reason to take on more and different responsibility.”

Technology as Assistant, Not Replacement

Jeff Smith recognizes technology’s transformative potential while maintaining a human-centered perspective. “It is critical to have exceptional technology to make processes better and more efficient, for culture and risk management, and to help provide data and insight to make decisions,” he states.

However, he cautions against technological determinism, advocating for a careful evaluation of platforms against specific organizational needs. “The technology landscape has never been more complicated,” he points out, “so it is not enough to just go with one of the established players without evaluation.”

Culture creation represents another cornerstone of Smith’s focus through his career at AOL, at TIme Warner and BlackRock. “Culture is everything — it is what you stand for, how you do work, what you are held accountable for and how it feels to be somewhere,” he observes. “Don’t just let it happen —- which it will anyway.

“Creating a culture with intention is much more difficult in the hybrid environment with fewer in-person interactions and more time on video meetings,” he notes. His solution demanded comprehensive integration: “All communication, training, incentivization, promotion criteria, need to be created with intention and the desired impact on culture in mind.”

Elevating HR Talent 

Perhaps most revealing is Smith’s emphasis on HR talent development. “The job of HR is hard enough, one of the hardest, and without great talent it has no chance of success,” he says, cautioning HR leaders against becoming so focused on business needs that they neglect their own department’s development.

His commitment to HR excellence manifested in “hiring the best of the best in terms of HR professional, being a magnet for talent in the business and hopefully growing talent that will lead departments and go on to be Heads of HR at other companies.

This is one of the most important things any Head of HR can do.

A FEW OTHER PERSPECTIVES

His advice for difficult workplace conversations reflected this straightforward philosophy: “Take a deep breath. Say what you believe. Don’t expect a standing ovation.” Smith emphasizes examining one’s intentions before difficult conversations, ensuring they focus on development or organizational benefit rather than self-interest.

Smith largely rejects use of standardized “best practices” in favor of contextually appropriate solutions. “What you don’t want to do and too many people do is read articles and best practices and the things experts say is the right thing to do — but they have never been in your company and don’t know what you are trying to do,” he cautions.

Instead, he advocated taking “your own knowledge and opinions, mix them up with expertise and experience you have but most of all focus on the context and uniqueness of where you are and create the right processes and practices for that situation.” 

Smith’s plan to attract talent prioritizes organizational purpose beyond profit. When asked about attracting top talent, his primary recommendation is forthright: “Create and communicate a meaningful purpose beyond just making money.” This purpose should permeate all organizational communications: “Everywhere all the time. Mission statement. Website. All company materials. Marketing. Ads.”

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