Docusign Vice President and Chief Talent Officer Iesha Berry has spent nearly three decades rising through the ranks in the human resources field, charting out her own career journey as a first-generation corporate America professional.
And, in her free time, she turns to mentoring — something that’s brought value to her professionally and personally. Through her church, Berry has become a mentor to a cohort of women with both similar and different lived experiences.
“We are sharpening each other through this year-long commitment. We are connecting and building a community for the furtherance of their ongoing impact in the world,” Berry told HR Dive.
Editor’s note: This conversation was edited for clarity and length.
HR DIVE: What changes have you seen in the HR space?
IESHA BERRY: It has really become evident that being a practitioner in this space is going to require what I call those utility skills, or fungible skills, across various aspects of the HR continuum. Because of the impact of what's occurring around the globe, on some level, HR practitioners are becoming business continuity executives. HR leaders are going to be, in my opinion, at the epicenter of being the model for what cross-functional leadership looks like to address and go after those tough business issues.
How do you manage political changes on the DEI front?
What happens externally always will impact a corporation internally. What I have committed to, not just for my team, but as a leader within the organization, is that I'm going to tell you the truth, and I'm going to keep you abreast and be transparent. If I don’t know, I will let you know that I don’t know.
Our work has to align with our ability to move the mission forward, and that is how we are anchoring: by continuing to embed the work into every aspect of the talent life cycle, whether that be from how we attract and create various pipelines for broadening the net — because we want the best talent in the organization — to how we look at offering holistic learning to every employee in a way that everyone has fair and equitable access.
What is the best advice someone has given you?
I had a mentor, and unbeknownst to me, he was my sponsor as well, who told me, “It is time for you to step out of the shadows.” And that is the mantra that I live by. And it’s not a mantra that I behold and focus on for myself; it’s about what I can do to support members of my team, whether they directly report to me or indirectly report to me, to see the value in what they can deliver to the organization and be a part of helping them to step out of the shadows to drive impact.
What advice would you give women new in their careers?
I am the first generation [in my family] to work in corporate America. It was because of the individuals who invested in me that I began to understand what it meant to work in corporate systems. I would say for new professionals: Be a student of the organization that you have joined. Go in with a learner’s mindset. It’s one thing to have academic expertise and have very strong academic success; it’s another thing to be able to apply that success practically.
