What C-Level Executives Were Reading in 2021

Find an updated list of "What C-Level Executives Were Reading in 2022" here.


2021 is a wrap, and we’re fully into 2022 now, but if you’re like us here at Evanta, you took a well-deserved break at the end of the year to regroup, reboot and spend time with family and friends. In case you’ve been away, we wanted to share some articles and survey findings you might have missed. These are some of the most-viewed articles (and most listened to podcasts!) on Evanta.com in the past year.
 

Hottest Current Topic: The Great Resignation

From our blog to our infographic with survey findings, executives wanted to know what their peers were doing about employee engagement and retention. With new hybrid work models to navigate and constantly changing plans about returning to the office, C-suite leaders faced a record number of workers leaving their jobs in 2021. More than 900 executives responded to our survey asking how they were managing the challenge of the Great Resignation, sharing their thoughts on the causes and solutions. 
 

Hottest Podcast Topic: Data 

Our two most popular episodes of The Next Big Question podcast this year shared the same topic: data. In this episode, How Does Data Strategy Keep Up with the Pace of Technology?, Vice President of Data Amit Sethi of Momentive shares how technology can accelerate your data strategy and how to execute your strategy in a rapidly changing environment. 

Another popular podcast, What Does it Take to Increase Data Velocity in Organizations?, features Head of Science and Machine Learning Dan Wulin of Wayfair. Wulin talks about the factors that can impact your ability to move quickly and successfully implement machine learning, such as technology, skill sets and organizational readiness. 
 

Top 3 Peer-Driven Articles

Our Peer Practice articles are based on interviews with C-level executives in Evanta communities, who share a specific business challenge, how they addressed it, and what insights they learned from it.

Grassroots HR – In the Weeds and at the Table: This article, featuring Jostens’ CHRO Florie Ellwein, tells the story of how Ellwein has taken a disadvantage (a small HR budget) and turned it into an effective way to grow skills within the HR team. She talks about how getting creative with what you have has driven her team to contribute in a variety of areas to meet the needs of the business. 

How CIOs Can Leverage Their Influence and Skills: Certain C-suite roles gained a lot of influence during the pandemic – for one, the CIO, who in many instances helped to rescue an organization with rapid digital transformation. With 25 years of experience in the restaurant industry, Natalia Barsegiyan, a Board member of Domino’s Pizza Group plc, discusses how to build on your organization’s existing digital savviness and how CIOs can best influence decisions at the board level.

DE&I: A Culture, Not a Program: There continues to be a lot of interest in how executives are driving diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives forward. Here, SVP and Global Chief People Officer Kim Sullivan of Concentrix shares that achieving outcomes requires organizations to instill DE&I into their culture. Sullivan offers 3 takeaways from their work at Concentrix to integrate DE&I into everything they do.
 

Top 3 Blogs

The Evanta Community Blog features insights from executives, thought leaders, and our own Content Team leaders, who help to ensure that all topics and agendas are driven by C-level executives and for C-level executives.

What Does Community Mean to You? At the end of last year, our first year of the pandemic, we were reflecting on the concept of community and how to create fellowship when you can’t connect in person. These were some thoughts from our community members on how to “calibrate, adjust, and pivot” to deliver the power of community during uncertain times. 

2021 CHRO Leadership – 3 Key Themes. The pandemic transformed HR and the future of the HR function -- and how other C-suite leaders view the CHRO’s role in business strategy. These 3 themes informed CHRO leadership priorities in 2021 and beyond.

3 Reasons to Be Excited About Live Events. For us this year, nothing could replace the energy, excitement and spontaneous interactions of live events. We planned and executed a return to in-person Evanta gatherings late in the year. Here, we explained why our communities are uniquely positioned for a live environment.

For more C-level content and resources, you can check out our library of peer-driven articles by C-level role: CIO Community Insights, CISO Community Insights, CHRO Community Insights, CDAO Community Insights.