Laura Birk is the Vice President of Human Resources for Barilla America, Inc. where she has been for over 15 years.
Laura is responsible for all the talent management and people processes supporting the Americas business which includes Canada, U.S., Mexico and Brazil. She is a Board Member for the company and has the pleasure to serve almost 1,000 employees across the Americas.
Laura’s recently been recognized by OnCon as a 2020 Top 50 Human Resources Professional and Chicago Business Crain’s 2021 Notable Leaders in HR. She also leads a great team who has won several industry awards for diversity, wellness, employee benefits, and talent management and development activities.
Laura serves on the Board for Missouri State University Advisory Board, and former Board Member for the Tyler Clementi Foundation. She supports and volunteers at the Cradle Adoption agency, Special Olympic, Walter & Connie Payton Foundation, Hispanic Alliance Career Enhancement (H.A.C.E.), and several other Diversity and Inclusion organizations.
She received her degree from Drury University and prior to her current role, Laura spent 10 years at Morgan Stanley.
More from Laura…
Laura has focused on making progress at her organization when it comes to bringing in diverse candidates for hiring.
“I think, for us, we had to think about our entire system, so we weren’t even hiring them. So, if I back up the truck a little bit, it’s easier said than done that you’re gonna look at a diverse slate of candidates and bring them in. We had to back it up. I think what you have to ask yourself as a leader is you can say that, but what are you doing?
So for us, we moved all of our recruiting spend to minority recruiting. We actually moved the money to make sure that we were spending the money in those spaces and we put specific goals in place. So for example, our recruiter, her goal, the measurement of her success: is she presenting a diverse slate of candidates? Not is she talking to them? Are we hiring them? It has to be a diverse slate of candidates. And it takes time because it takes more work. But you can find super-talented people, you just have to make the measurement and the resources aligned to that.
Then, when you bring them in, to your point, you have to make sure that it’s not just about getting them in the door. It’s one: they’re super talented leaders. So you got to get them in, onboard them, make sure that they do feel inclusive so that they can do great work. That’s really the fruit of making sure that everything upstream is set up for the minute you have to provide opportunities for them. You have to be willing to make bold ask and make bold risks to ensure that these leaders have the opportunities to be super successful. I find time and time again, they step up to the challenge and they lead very well.”
