SPOTLIGHT: Redefining the Manager’s Role, with Former Kimberly-Clark CHRO Liz Gottung

Mid-level managers are sandwiched between pressure from business
leaders to retain employees and rising employee expectations for
personalized support and communication. In this Talent Angle
episode, former Kimberly-Clark CHRO and member of Gartner’s CHRO
Global Leadership Board Liz Gottung encourages organizations to
rethink their expectations for mid-level managers or risk losing
these critical managers to burnout and fatigue. She suggests
organizations use technology and rethink role design to free
manager capacity for more high-impact work.


 




After a 35-year career with Kimberly-Clark, Lizanne (Liz)
Gottung retired as senior vice president and chief HR officer
in 2017. At the time, Kimberly-Clark was a $20 billion global
company with nearly 45,000 employees in more than 63
countries. Under her leadership, Kimberly-Clark’s talent
strategies were widely recognized for excellence and
innovation in HR management, winning multiple global awards
for diversity, equity and inclusion; succession and
development practices; and Kimberly-Clark’s employer brand.
Liz has been a member of the board of directors of the
Louisiana Pacific Corporation since 2006 and is chair of the
governance and corporate responsibility committee. She joined
the board of Sylvamo Corporation in 2021 and chairs the
management development and compensation committee. Liz works
with a number of non-profit organizations in the Atlanta
area, where she lives. She is also a member of Gartner’s CHRO
Global Leadership Board.


 




Peter Aykens is Chief of Research in Gartner's Human
Resources practice. Mr. Aykens is responsible for
defining research coverage within the practice and
building and leading research teams addressing client's
key initiatives. In prior roles at the firm, he spent
over 25 years leading research teams focused on banking
and financial services strategy producing numerous
studies that addressed business strategy, channel,
marketing, customer experience and product issues in
financial services. He holds a B.A. in Political Science
from St. Olaf College; a MSc.(Econ) degree in
International Politics from the University College of
Wales, Aberystwyth; and a MA and Ph.D. in Political
Science from Brown University.