What I Learned during My First Week at Microsoft

Even though it seems like yesterday, it was over three years ago that I made the move from T-Mobile to Microsoft. 

I was ready to try something different, willing to stretch a new set of muscles and feel the butterflies, as they say.  Initially I questioned what I might be able to bring to Microsoft.  I wondered, wouldn’t they have everything down already? What building could I do at Microsoft? I have always thrived on change, the thrill of the build, the satisfaction of knowing that I am contributing to the bottom line of the corporation.   

Part of my on-boarding plan included a one on one with the CFO of the organization.  I was prepared to share the workforce plan with him and provide him an update on the typical recruiting metrics, the ones we are all familiar with.  Things like time to fill, starts per month, and cost per hire were beautifully illustrated as graphs and charts in my PowerPoint presentation.  I took a deep breath prior to entering his office and handed him the hard copies of the presentation that would end up in the recycle without a single eye past the first page. 

There were two things I heard from my client that day in a thirty minute meeting that have influenced everything I have been able to accomplish at Microsoft.   

1. Your role as the “procurer of talent” is the most important job in the company. 
2. These HR metrics aren’t business metrics. Find something that matters to all of us, and we can get some meaningful work done together. 

In addition, I had the wonderful realization that Microsoft was going to be a great adventure for me and would stretch my professional muscles like they had never been stretched.  Microsoft is a marathon not a sprint, and I was thankful that I would be able to contribute to the bottom line in a way I had perhaps considered, but never had time to implement as an HR professional.  I was at the beginning of a great journey with an incredible company.

Kelly McGill is an HR Director at Microsoft.  Kelly possesses over 15 years of diversified business experience with major emphasis in Organizational Change Management, Leadership Development, Process Improvement, ERP and HR Technology Implementation, Marketing and Talent Assessment and Selection. Over the last 3 years, Kelly has been the Director of Global Staffing for the Microsoft Business Division, which includes Microsoft Office, Microsoft Exchange, Dynamics CRM and Unified Communications.  She is also a writer and holds the Human Capital Strategist (HCS) designation.

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