President & CEO, SHRM | F500 Board Director | I help shape the future of work. Follow for expert insights on leadership, civility, and workforce growth.
Alexandria, Virginia, United States
528K followers
500+ connections
528K followers
500+ connections
About
As President and CEO of SHRM, I have the privilege and responsibility of leading the world’s largest trade association of human resource professionals. With nearly 340,000 members across 180 countries, SHRM shapes the workplace policies, practices, and conversations that impact more than 362 million workers and their families globally.
My career spans over 20 years in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, and includes executive roles at IAC/InterActiveCorp, Paramount Pictures, Blockbuster Entertainment Group, McGuireWoods, and Compass Group USA. I also served as CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, helping develop the next generation of leaders.
Throughout my career, I have focused on strengthening leadership, advancing workplace culture, and elevating civility and inclusion as business imperatives — not slogans. I speak globally on the forces reshaping work and have been recognized among Savoy Magazine’s “300 Most Influential Executives in Corporate America” and Washingtonian Magazine’s “Most Influential People Shaping Public Policy.”
I am also the author of RESET: A Leader’s Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval and write the weekly “Ask Johnny” column for USA Today, offering practical insights on leadership, workforce growth, and navigating change in an era of disruption. My mission is clear: to help leaders build better workplaces for a better world — workplaces that drive performance, expand opportunity, and deliver measurable results.
If you’re an executive, board member, policymaker, or emerging leader shaping the future of work, follow for clear, actionable insights grounded in real-world leadership experience.
Articles by Johnny C.
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528K followers
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Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP shared thisYou don't really know your leader until something goes wrong. When things are going well, almost anyone can look like a great leader. The real test comes when targets are missed, and the room is tense. I've watched leaders respond to hard moments in very different ways: Some go quiet. Some get sharp. Some start looking for someone to blame. The ones I respect most don't change. Same composure. Same respect. Same willingness to have an honest conversation without making it personal. That's not a personality trait. That's a choice, made over and over again, especially when it's hardest to make. And teams notice. When people trust pressure won't land on them personally, they stop protecting themselves and start solving problems. That's the difference between an organization stuck in crisis mode and one built to move through it. Think about the leaders you've worked under. Who stayed steady when things got hard, and what did it make possible? ♻️ Repost this if you've seen the difference a steady leader can make. → Follow me for more on leadership and the future of work. Graphic credit: Chris Laping #Leadership #WorkplaceCulture #Civility #SHRM #LeadershipDevelopment
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Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP shared thisNearly 400 companies applied to this year's SHRM Labs Workplace Tech Accelerator. That number alone tells you something. The pressure on HR leaders is real, and the market for solutions that actually work has never been more competitive. What stood out in this year's review wasn't just innovation for its own sake. It was practicality. Teams building tools that solve the problems HR leaders are dealing with right now: compliance complexity, workforce transitions, smarter hiring, and leadership development at scale. Four companies rose to the top. Congratulations to the 2026 cohort: Clearbrief.ai, Mento, Onwards HR, and Testlify. Each of these teams is building something worth watching. And with access to SHRM's global network of HR leaders, mentors, and partners, I'm genuinely excited to see what comes next. Watch the video for the full announcement. #SHRM #HRTech #FutureOfWork #WorkplaceTech #HumanResources #HRInnovation #SkillsBasedHiring #Leadership #WorkforceDevelopment
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Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP shared thisHistory doesn't preserve itself. People do. The University of Miami Black Alumni Society is doing something that matters, honoring the trailblazers who walked through those doors first, so future generations can walk through them with confidence. The #UTrailblazers Experience is a permanent reminder: Progress has names and faces. And the world of work is stronger when we recognize the people who helped shape it. I'm deeply honored to play a small part in bringing this vision to life. To every honoree, every committee member, and every person who kept this dream alive for years. Thank you. This moment belongs to you. And to the students who will walk past this exhibit for decades to come: Someone believed in you before they ever met you. This is the power of community. This is the power of legacy. Congratulations to all the UTrailblazers being celebrated. Who helped pave the way in your professional journey? Share their name below so we can celebrate them too 👇 #UniversityOfMiami #BlackAlumni #Legacy #Leadership #Community #WorkplaceCulture #Mentorship #SHRM #FutureOfWork
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Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP shared thisSome leaders don’t raise the bar. They lower their people's belief in themselves. It starts subtly. A public correction that could’ve been private. A stretch assignment pulled without explanation. Credit redirected. Feedback that attacks tone, not substance. Over time, employees' confidence erodes. Risk-taking stops. Voice softens. Initiative shrinks. And then comes the verdict: “You’re not capable.” But strong leaders do the opposite. They create stretch without humiliation. They correct without diminishing. They separate performance gaps from personal worth. They build competence without breaking confidence. Because once confidence is damaged, performance follows. And rebuilding it takes far longer than destroying it. If you’re in a leadership role, ask yourself: Are people around me growing in clarity and capability? Or are they getting quieter? The answer tells you more than any KPI ever will. Graphic credit: Abdulla Pathan Phd - AI ML
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Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP shared thisOne of the most underestimated advantages in business is simple consistency. Not talent. Not a brilliant idea. Not even timing. Consistency. Most people don’t fail because they lack ability. They fail because the effort required feels unsustainable after the first few weeks. The excitement fades. The results aren’t immediate. The work becomes repetitive. And that’s exactly where momentum is built. What looks like “sudden success” is usually the result of months of small, uneventful actions stacked together. Showing up when it’s inconvenient. Doing the work when it feels invisible. The point isn’t intensity. It’s continuity. Graphic Credit: Tim Stoddart
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Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP shared thisThis morning at The Fletcher School at Tufts University, Dean Bhaskar Chakravorti, Editor at Fortune, Nick Lichtenberg, and I asked a question worth sitting with: Could AI do to white-collar cities what deindustrialization did to the Rust Belt? The conversation isn't whether jobs will disappear. Some already have. Block, Amazon, IBM, Salesforce ... the restructuring is happening in real time. The real question is whether we're moving fast enough to keep up with it. Artificial intelligence isn't coming for factory workers first. It's coming for white-collar jobs. Cities like Boston, DC, and New York are among the most exposed. And here's what makes this moment unlike anything we've seen before. SHRM research shows the U.S. is heading toward worker displacement and worker scarcity at the same time. Declining birth rates and constrained immigration mean long-term talent shortages are already taking shape, even as AI accelerates faster than our institutions can respond. For leaders, the priorities are clear: ➡️ Invest in reskilling and upskilling. ➡️ Adopt skills-first hiring practices. ➡️ Expand access to overlooked talent pools, including older workers, caregivers returning to work, and individuals seeking second-chance employment. ➡️ Prepare employees to work alongside AI. AI automates tasks. Leaders develop people. The Rust Belt didn't collapse overnight. But by the time everyone agreed it was a crisis, it was too late to move fast enough. The lesson is clear. How is your organization preparing? #FutureOfWork #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #WorkforceDevelopment #Upskilling #SkillsBasedHiring #Leadership #HR #SHRM
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Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP shared thisResilience isn’t built in a moment of crisis; it’s built long before one arrives. I’ve been thinking a lot about what it takes for organizations and people to keep moving forward as change becomes constant. In this month’s newsletter, I share what it means to build workforces able to adapt, grow, and stay ready, together. Read the full message.Resilience Is the Competitive Edge of the Adaptive Workforce.Resilience Is the Competitive Edge of the Adaptive Workforce.
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Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP shared thisI've sat in both seats. CEO. CHRO. And I can tell you, what separates them is rarely strategy. It's almost always relationship. Many CEOs I know can tell you their revenue targets, their market position, and their 5-year strategy. Ask them what's actually happening with their people? Silence. This gap is expensive. The CEO-CHRO relationship is the most underleveraged partnership in business today, and the companies pulling ahead have figured out why. Here's what it looks like when this partnership is actually working: ✅ Talent decisions are proactive, not reactive. ✅ Culture is a measurable outcome, not a talking point. ✅ Hard conversations happen early, not after the damage is done. ✅ Strategy and people are one plan, not two separate ones. But none of it happens by accident. It has to be built deliberately, consistently, and with honesty on both sides. We released SHRM's 2026 CHRO Priorities and Perspectives report, and the data backs this up. CHROs are navigating AI adoption, economic pressure, and a workforce expecting more. The ones succeeding have one thing in common: a CEO who sees them as a true strategic partner. Follow, comment "CHRO 2026", and I'll send you the executive summary directly. ♻️ Repost this for the CEOs and CHROs in your network who are ready to build something to last.
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Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP shared thisRecently, I had the honor of testifying before the Senate Special Committee on Aging. I came with two numbers I want every employer in America to sit with. In 1994, roughly 12% of Americans 65 and older were still in the workforce. Today, that number is nearly 19.3%. And rising. The fastest-growing segment of the U.S. labor force over the next decade? Workers 75 and older. Now here's what I think we get wrong about this. The conversation usually defaults to financial necessity: The idea people work longer because they have to. Many don't have to. They choose to. Because there is dignity in work. Purpose. Connection. And research shows that working beyond traditional retirement age is linked to a 9% to 11% lower risk of all-cause mortality. This isn't just good for people. It's good for business. Nearly 7 in 10 organizations report difficulty filling roles, while one of the most capable talent pools in America sits overlooked. Increasing the share of workers 50 and older by just 10% is associated with a 1.1% gain in productivity. SHRM data shows over 80% of HR professionals say older workers bring exceptional reliability and expertise. More than 90% say they perform as well as or better than other employees. And among HR professionals who work directly with older employees, 74% report positive experiences, with 88% saying older workers perform better than or much better than other employees. Yet 93% of organizations surveyed have no formal recruitment programs targeting this group. What I asked of our legislators, I'll ask of every employer reading this: 🔲 Build intentional recruitment strategies for experienced workers. 🔲 Create real flexibility (part-time roles, job sharing, phased retirement options). 🔲 Invest in mentorship that runs in both directions. 🔲 Provide access to reskilling, particularly in technology and AI. We also need to examine policies like the Retirement Earnings Test, which can inadvertently penalize older Americans for continuing to contribute. Talent does not expire. It evolves. The question is whether our organizations will. #FutureOfWork #WorkforceDevelopment #AgingWorkforce #TalentStrategy #HRLeadership #SHRM #Leadership
Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP replied to a comment
11h
I appreciate it, Tim. You're right. Pressure has a way of stripping things down to what's real. How someone communicates when it's inconvenient or uncomfortable tells you a lot about how they lead when it matters most.
Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP replied to a comment
11h
This is a strong observation, Jacob, and you're right to connect it to outcomes, not just behavior. I've seen it both ways. Some leaders come in with a natural baseline of composure, but even then, it still has to be developed. Self-awareness, feedback, and practice all matter.
This said, I do think organizations underestimate how much this should factor into selection. We tend to hire for experience and results, but how someone behaves under pressure is just as predictive of team performance.
If I had to choose, I'd say you select for the foundation, and then you coach for consistency. If you ignore either one, you feel it pretty quickly.
Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP replied to a comment
11h
Well said, Elizabeth. Kindness under pressure takes discipline, and it's often what people remember most when the pressure eases.
Experience
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IAC
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General Counsel & Senior Vice President of Human Resources -- Paramount Live Entertainment Group
Paramount Pictures
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Blockbuster
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Education
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Drake University Law School
Juris Doctor (J.D.)
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Activities and Societies: Drake Law Review -- Research Editor; National Moot Court Team -- Best Oral Advocate
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Drake University
Master of Arts - MA Mass Communication/Media Studies
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Activities and Societies: Honors Graduate
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Drake University
Master of Arts - MA Mass Communication/Media Studies
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Activities and Societies: Honors Graduate
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Drake University Law School
Doctor of Law - JD Law
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Activities and Societies: Drake Law Review (Research Editor) & National Moot Court Team (Best Oralist)
Honors & Awards
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Professional Society CEO of the Year
CEO Update
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LinkedIn Pros 2020 Best in Class for Government, Advocacy, and Non-Profit
LinkedIn
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2019 Alumni of the Year
Drake Law School
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