"Self-awareness, honesty, and humility: the cornerstones of business success."
Welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview with a true trailblazer in the world of Human Resources and employee empowerment, Cierra Gross, Founder and CEO of Caged Bird HR. In this enlightening conversation, we delve deep into the innovative and transformative approaches Cierra has brought to the HR landscape.
Hailing from the vibrant state of North Carolina, Cierra Gross has traversed the nation, amassing a wealth of experience in renowned companies like ExxonMobil and Google, while specializing in various HR facets, from labor relations to executive staffing and development. Today, as the driving force behind Caged Bird HR, she is on a mission to reshape the way employees interact with HR departments.
Cierra’s vision is clear: to bridge the trust gap between employees and HR by providing them access to independent HR support from skilled professionals outside their organizations. Her company caters to every stage of a professional’s career, from quick queries to navigating job offers, raising concerns effectively, or planning an exit strategy.
Join us as we explore the future of HR and business success in this exclusive interview.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Cierra Gross: My name is Cierra Gross, hailing from the great state of North Carolina. I am a career HR professional with a Master’s in Human Resources. My career has taken me across the country for companies like ExxonMobil and Google, working in labor relations, executive staffing and development, frontline HR, etc.
Currently, I am the Founder and CEO of Caged Bird HR, the first HR services company to offer employees access to independent HR support at scale.
We are solving the problem of employees not trusting HR by disrupting the space and giving employees something they have never had access to, HR support from technically sound HR professionals outside of their organizations.
We support employees through every stage of their career from answering quick questions to helping them negotiate job offers, effectively raise concerns, or plan an exit. Our mission is simple, to improve the lives of professionals by educating and empowering them to advocate for themselves at work and beyond.
Quiet quitting, The Great Resignation, are an ongoing trend causing many businesses to struggle to keep talent engaged and motivated. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued, and misunderstood in the workplace. In your experience, what keeps employees happy? And how are you adapting to the current shift we see?
Cierra Gross: We have a unique perspective on The Great Resignation. To my last point, companies continue to struggle to get down to the real cause of attrition. They can only go off what employees tell them, and companies ultimately control the narrative. Our data reveals a lot of themes.
The most recurring is a lack of accountability for their treatment, which stems from inconsistent policy application. Said differently, employees feel like when they raise concerns to HR, they are not treated equitably, and the outcomes are inconsistent with company policies.
This leads to, among other things, employees feeling unheard and misunderstood in the workplace and a poor employee experience. We know employees don’t trust HR, and that’s the issue companies need to solve to create better employee experiences.
As we grow as an employer, I remain hyper-focused on our company culture and how we support our employees because I understand how HR functions within Caged Bird HR will be the key to lower employee turnover and higher satisfaction.
Online business keeps on surging higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for the year to come and how are you capitalizing on the tidal wave?
Cierra Gross: We are a 100% remote business both internally and externally. We provide all services, from consultation to providing support remotely.
I expect this to continue, so I did not opt for a physical office location that employees have to report to, or customers have to come to for support. The nature of our business is very time-dependent.
When clients experience something at work, they want to be able to talk to someone immediately and not have to drive to a physical location. We capitalize on this surge by collecting client data to truly understand our clients’ experiences, leveraging AI where possible to respond to the influx of engagements from potential clients.
This enables us to scale quicker and meet employee demands faster. We also are not geographically restricted by taking an online approach to the business.
Christopher Hitchens, an American journalist, is quoted as saying that “everyone has a book in them” Have you written a book? If so, please share with us details about it. If you haven’t, what book would you like to write and how would you like it to benefit the readers?
Cierra Gross: I am in the process of completing my exciting first book. It’s a book sharing all the strategies and information we provide to clients. Essentially, it’s a book unlocking all the secrets of HR that employees otherwise would not have access to.
I start from the beginning by giving employees tips and best practices on how to effectively search jobs, take them through exiting their organization, and how the severance process works. Anybody with a w2 job can benefit from the information in the book, and I am excited about it coming out next year.
In your experience, what tends to be the most underestimated part of running a company? Can you share an example?
Cierra Gross: The most underestimated part of running a company, especially a start-up up is how deeply personal the whole thing is. Who you are, what, and how you think will show up in your organization.
If you have limiting beliefs about yourself, it will impact the speed of your decisions and your business. If you manage your finances poorly, you will handle business finances poorly. Running a business takes an extreme amount of self-awareness, honesty, and humility.
You must own your shortcomings to hire someone good at that part of the business. Nobody tells you that when you’re starting a business. It’s all glamorized on the internet, but running a business is way more personal than you most people realize.
What does “success” in 2023 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Cierra Gross: I tell my staff daily that if we educate and empower someone, we are successful, and we’ve been successful since day 1. At the company level, that keeps us focused on why we are here. However, in the 19 months we have been in business we have reached the nationwide level with interest from employees in other countries.
So, from a business perspective, I’m focused on operational efficiency, simplification, and automation, which will enable us to support people internationally.
At the micro level success looks like educating and empowering as many people as possible. At the macro level, it looks like continuing to position the business to scale in the united states and beyond.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Cierra Gross for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Cierra Gross or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page
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