America Back to Work: Gill Godfrey, Storable

HR Trends Unveiled: Discussing Mergers, Remote Work, and Values

On this week’s episode of America Back to Work, host Arnette Heintze sits down with Gill Godfrey, the Chief People Officer at Storable.

Gill shares her extensive experience in HR leadership, managing large teams, and navigating the complexities of mergers and acquisitions. She also dives into her tenure at Storable, her unique approach to remote work, and the evolving landscape of HR.

Episode Highlights

  • Gill provides an overview of Storable’s inception and growth through multiple acquisitions. She explains how Storable has become a key player in the self-storage industry by offering comprehensive software solutions.
  • Detailed insights into the M&A process at Storable, the importance of change management, and the initial steps taken post-acquisition to ensure smooth integration.
  • Gill discusses the dramatic shift to a fully remote model at Storable, creating new roles to foster community and restructuring HR to support remote work effectively.
  • The last three years have affected HR practices, the importance of aligned leadership, and the strategies Storable uses to maintain a strong remote culture.
  • Gill shares her experience running her own consulting firm, the challenges faced, and what she missed about working within an organizational infrastructure.
  • The concept of “quiet hiring” and how Storable navigates tight labor markets by augmenting their workforce with 1099 workers and third-party firms.
  • How Storable aligns its values and social responsibilities with the expectations of the younger workforce and its comprehensive ESG roadmap.

Key Takeaways

  • The critical role of effective change management during mergers and acquisitions.
  • Strategies for maintaining company culture and strong communication in a fully remote environment.
  • The need for HR leaders to adapt and innovate in response to evolving workforce trends and tight labor markets.
  • Importance of corporate values and social responsibilities in today’s business environment.

Inspiring Quotes

  • “The last three years have been the biggest learning curve, and it’s been enormous.” 
  • “We are always looking at opportunities to augment our FTEs to manage our cost base effectively.”

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About America Back to Work

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S2Verify is one of the leading, privately held, pre-employment background screening companies in the United States. 

Arnette Heintze is co-founder and chief strategy officer at S2Verify. Before establishing S2Verify, Arnette spent more than three decades working at the highest levels of federal, state, and local law enforcement. 

He served more than 20 years in the United States Secret Service as a special agent and senior executive,—oØ where he planned, designed, and implemented security strategies to protect U.S. Presidents, world leaders, events of national significance, and our nation’s most sensitive assets, including financial infrastructure.  

After retiring from the Secret Service, Arnette focused on building the growth and performance of innovative start-ups and SMBs. In 2004, he established Hillard Heintze, a globally recognized strategic security risk management and investigations firm.

In 2009, along with Bill Whitford and Jim Zimbardi, Arnette established S2 Verify with an approach and methodology that delivers fast, accurate, compliant, and affordable background screening insights crucial to better managing insider risks, threats, and vulnerabilities.  

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