Top 23 HR Influencers To Follow In 2023

Whether you're just starting your HR career or have some experience already, it's crucial to stay up-to-date on the latest HR trends/developments and learn from some of the top minds in the industry.

You can never go wrong by gaining more knowledge and information to improve your work. And what better way to learn than watching those two or three steps ahead of you?

It can be challenging to filter online noise and fake stories from accurate and valuable HR content.

Between the myriad of tasks that fall on HR, we understand you have your work cut out for you and may not have time to find the best HR influencers yourself.

Don’t worry. We’re here to help.

We've curated a list of the top HR influencers and experts to follow on LinkedIn. These individuals have real-life experience leading and managing thousands of employees, so they know what works and what doesn't. 

Over time, they’ve also created content that has helped other HR leaders and professionals at various stages of their careers — and now you can get to know them so they can help you too.

1. Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.

Johnny Taylor is currently the President and CEO of SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management). He is also a Fortune 500 Board Director and sits as a board member of institutions and companies like iCIMS, XPO Logistics, and Guild Education.

Before joining SHRM, Johnny was President and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), a fund representing Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States.

Johnny uses his platform to discuss workplace culture, employee wellness, diversity, and inclusion.

He also has a book titled Reset: A Leader's Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval, which aims to provide HR leaders with tips backed by workplace research on finding and keeping talent.

You should give Johnny a follow if you want to learn the best practices for boosting employee morale, avoiding issues like age discrimination and political bias, and becoming a workplace role model.

2. Dr. Benjamin Granger

Dr. Benjamin heads EX Advisory Services at Qualtrics, a leading experience management company in the United States. In the past, he worked at Verizon to improve the efficiency of several critical HR processes.

Most of Dr. Benjamin’s content revolves around employee feedback and experience and how HR leaders can keep their employees happy. When he’s not sharing content from Qualtrics, he’s using real-life examples and scenarios to get his point across.

Dr. Benjamin has a Doctoral degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology from the University of South Florida. And he's had his work and research published on Forbes and academic forums like the Academy of Management (AOM) and the International Journal of Training and Development.

His expertise as a psychologist allows him to offer insights into workplace trends and the future of work.

3. Tamla Oates-Forney

Tamla has decades of HR experience that HR leaders and professionals can learn from. She currently serves as EVP and Chief Human Resource Officer at United Services Automobile Association (USAA), where she’s enabling a “people-first” strategy for over 30,000 employees.

Her human resource experience is handy as she shares insights on improving employee relations, elevating culture, and handling talent management.

Outside of USAA, Tamla holds many awards and honors that speak to her influence. These awards and honors include the 2021 Top 30 Influential Women of Houston, 2021 Most Influential Black Corporate Directors, and the Larry V. Green Advocate of the Year Award.

She’s also been featured extensively on sites like Harvard Business Review, HR Magazine, and Bloomberg.

4. Liz Ryan

Liz Ryan is the CEO and Founder of Human Workplace — a coaching and consulting firm for job seekers, entrepreneurs, and professional associations. In addition, Human Workplace has HR and career development courses for professionals who want to improve their craft.

Over 3 million people follow Liz on LinkedIn, and for good reason. Given her experience, Liz regularly shares her unique perspective on employee engagement, HR leadership, and career advice on LinkedIn.

Liz has also authored several books about getting jobs, managing talent, and using HR for good.

5. Katie Burke

Katie works as HubSpot's Chief People Officer — a position she's held since January 2017. In this position, she has helped HubSpot to deliver a desirable employee experience. Katie is results-driven and passionate about workplace culture and inclusiveness.

Her work hasn’t gone unnoticed as she and her team have racked in several awards as the best place to work for women, culture, parents, and diversity from companies like Glassdoor and Fortune.

Katie doesn't keep all her experience to herself. Instead, she regularly shares them with her over 42K followers on LinkedIn. Her posts are usually a mix of events that improve employee culture/engagement at HubSpot and practical advice HR leaders can follow.

Despite the changes to work conditions that the pandemic brought, Katie has worked to ensure HubSpot doesn’t lose its core culture. Frequent communication, offering flexible work, empathy, and inclusivity are some of Katie’s top recommendations for maintaining core culture during changes.

6. Marcus Buckingham

Marcus Buckingham is best known for his work around personal strength and employee engagement.

He started working at The Gallup Organization while still a student at the University of Cambridge. His work at Gallup focused on the factors that contributed to employee engagement.

After leaving Gallup, he co-founded the StandOut assessment, which focuses on helping individuals identify their unique strengths and how to use them in their careers.

On LinkedIn, Buckingham shares advice, hacks, and tips that help HR managers get the best out of their employees.

Buckingham has authored nine books. His latest, Love+Work, teaches how individuals can choose the right roles on the team, leave a lasting effect, and position themselves as leaders, among other things.

In addition to writing and consulting, Buckingham is a well-known public speaker who has delivered speeches at conferences and gatherings worldwide. He is renowned for his captivating and thought-provoking presentations, many of which incorporate his in-depth knowledge and expertise in personal development.

7. Stacia Sherman Garr

Stacia is Co-Founder and Principal Analyst at RedThread Research. Before then, she worked as the Vice President of Talent and Workforce Research at Bersin by Deloitte, where she did a ton of talent management work.

She is a prolific writer and speaker, with plenty of her work published in popular magazines like Forbes and The Wall Street Journal.

Her content focuses on HR topics like diversity & inclusion, employee engagement, talent management, and people analytics.

Stacia boasts an MBA from the University of California and a Master’s degree from The London School of Economics and Political Science.

8. Harlina Sodhi

Harlina is a professional with over 22 years of experience working in different HR segments. 

Before starting her company, Believe in Yourself (BIY), in 2018, Harlina had her fair share of corporate roles. Between working at Xerox, General Electric, Zenda, Genpact, and Reliance Industries, she gained valuable experience that has enabled her to manage change, scale, and leadership.

Harlina's work has helped her gain recognition from mainstream media. For instance, she's given 2 TEDx talks, gotten interviewed by BBC, and has a column at The Economic Times.

9. Tim Sackett

Tim Sackett is a familiar face in the HR/talent space. He’s been an HR consultant and speaker for over 25 years and has gathered a wealth of experience along the way. 

He's currently the President of HRU Technical Resources and is a member of the board of directors or an advisor for organizations like Pillar, Loxo, and Vette.

Tim doesn’t shy away from sharing his learning and experience as he regularly contributes to Forbes and posts on LinkedIn to his over 22K followers.

His content usually centers around employee retention, leadership, talent management, and recruiting. He has even authored a book titled, The Talent Fix: A Leader's Guide to Recruiting Great Talent. This book contains practical advice to help HR leaders overcome the struggle to find the right people.

Overall, Tim’s experience and expertise make him a valuable resource for HR professionals looking for practical advice and guidance.

10. Keirsten Greggs

Keirsten is a well-known HR expert with over two decades of experience. She is the Founder of TRAP Recruiter — an HR consulting and recruiting firm. She founded the company in 2016 after spending some time working in talent management at companies like Raytheon and Harris Corporation. Alongside her work at TRAP, Keirsten also consults with Visa.

She is passionate about relationship building between managers and employees and helping HR leaders find the right talent for their organization.

Her content on LinkedIn revolves around diversity hiring, recruiting, and interviewing. You might get one or two laughs as she sometimes uses memes and humor to convey her message.

Keirsten has been featured on many HR podcasts and other media like BBC and top HR blogs.

11. Latesha Byrd

Latesha is the CEO of Perfeqta (formerly Byrd Career Consulting), a talent development agency based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. Her agency focuses on transforming organizations into places where employees would love to work.

Aside from Perfeqta, Latesha also created Career Chasers — a global membership community or club for women of color to help them land their dream jobs. Career Chasers has over 600 members from over 11 countries.

On LinkedIn, Latesha talks about leadership, recruiting, career goals, talent development, diversity, equity, & inclusion.

Latesha is passionate about leading diversity initiatives and helping individuals from minority backgrounds earn what they deserve. 

Speaking on HR topics is another thing Latesha is excellent at, as she has given presentations at companies like Walmart, Universal Music Group, and Honeywell. She’s also been featured in magazines like Forbes and The New York Times.

12. Raquel Tamez

Raquel is the Chief Inclusion & Engagement Officer at Charles River Associates (CRA), where she works to make her team and the company more dynamic, diverse, and inclusive. Over the years, she has launched several programs and initiatives to strengthen CRA's culture.

Her LinkedIn content speaks to the struggles of Hispanics, diversity, equity & inclusion, and women in leadership.

CRA isn’t the only place where Raquel is doing a lot of work. She’s also a member of Melwood, Girls in Tech, and DeVry University’s boards. She also regularly contributes to Hispanic Executive — a publication that showcases Latino leadership in America.

13. Mary Jantsch

Mary is the Head of Talent & People Success at Elpha. Before Elpha, she worked in the People Ops role at several startups like Nextmv, Tuff, Hipcamp, and Buffer.

Mary's brand is synonymous with pay transparency and equity. Since she publicly shared her income on the internet in 2013, Mary has worked to remove the bias around salary transparency.

As expected, she writes and talks a lot about pay transparency, People Ops, hiring, and how to engage employees and turn them into brand advocates.

You should follow Mary to learn more about managing people, introducing pay transparency to your team, and recruiting and maintaining top talent.

14. David McLean

David is an HR professional with over 25 years of experience working in different industries. His expertise is handy in his position as Executive Advisor at McLean & Company.

As Executive Advisor, David guides McLean & Company in creating HR initiatives to improve the entire company and its employees.

David is recognized as one of LinkedIn’s top voices in company culture. On LinkedIn, he talks about how to build an enabling environment for inclusivity, employee feedback, and employee well-being.

In addition, David mentors individuals who want to develop a growth mindset and improve their careers.

Over the years, he has received several awards that point to the value he offers:

• Award of Excellence for Human Resource Service Delivery (issued by the Human Resources Leadership Council - Ontario Public Service)
• 2014 President's Award for Leadership (issued by The London Health Science Centre)

15. Netta Jenkins

Netta is the Vice President of Global Inclusion at Unqork, a no-code application for building custom software. She is also the Co-Founder of Dipper, a digital community for professionals of color to help tackle diversity and inclusion.

Netta is one of LinkedIn’s leading voices on anti-racism, systematic bias, diversity, equity, and inclusion. She regularly shares content around these subjects with her over 250K followers.

Outside LinkedIn, Forbes lists her among the top 7 anti-racism educators globally. She has also given a TED talk titled Reimagining The Workplace, and has authored two books including The Inclusive Organization.

Following Netta will show you the ropes around truly becoming an ally and bridging the systematic gaps in your organization.

16. Minda Harts

Minda Harts is the Founder and CEO of The Memo LLC, a company created to help women (specifically, women of color) achieve their personal and professional goals.

Minda is also a speaker, author, podcaster, and consultant.

She has given relevant and practical talks around leadership, career development, and eliminating racial bias in the workplace.

Some of Minda's past speaking engagements include clients like Amazon, Twitter, ALLY, Warner Brothers, and LinkedIn.

In 2020, LinkedIn named Minda as one of the top voices for Equity in the Workplace. She continues to share content around equity, diversity, and leadership with over 42K followers.

In addition, Minda is a bestselling author of two books, The Memo and Right Within. In 2022, Minda wrote another book, You Are More Than Magic, for young adults just starting their careers.

Minda also hosts a podcast called #SecureTheSeat, where she has conversations with women of color about how they’re overcoming the obstacles and challenges in their way.

17. Jennifer Paxton

Jennifer is the Vice President of People at Smile.io. She is an experienced HR professional who focuses more on the recruiting and culture-building side of HR.

Over the years at various tech startups, Jennifer has led initiatives to improve company culture, offered practical advice to help managers do their job better, and assisted employees in enhancing their careers.

Given her love for recruiting and desire to improve the hiring process and make it more engaging, Jennifer co-founded Jamyr. This software service provides on-demand video content for recruiters.

On LinkedIn, Jennifer shares tips and best practices around culture building, employee engagement, hiring, and people management.

Jennifer also sits as a member of the Cultural Alliance of Medfield's board.

18. Dave Ulrich

Dave Ulrich has decades of experience as a management coach, consultant, and HR leader. He is currently the Rensis Likert Professor at Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and Co-Founder & Principal of The RBL Group — an HR consulting and development firm.

Over his career, Dave has helped organizations of different sizes create HR systems that help employers and employees succeed. One of Dave's most famous processes is the David Ulrich HR model.

In this model, Dave splits HR operations into four key sections: Strategic Partner, Change Agent, Employee Champion, and Administrative Expert. This model has helped several organizations define employee roles correctly, measure performance more accurately, and create high-functioning teams.

In 2012, HR Magazine named Dave as the “Father of Modern HR” for his contribution to the industry.

Today, Dave continues to share his expertise on LinkedIn. You should follow him to learn more about the best practices for elevating company culture, managing talent, and other human resource processes.

You can find more of Dave’s work in the over 200 articles and 30 books he has written on HR processes.

19. Andrew Lewis

Andrew is the Head of Talent Acquisition at Higg — a sustainability data platform for consumer goods industries. Before joining Higgs in 2022, Andrew worked in talent acquisition and recruitment roles at five other companies.

He is an excellent relationship builder who’s always coming up with ways to improve people’s experience when looking for jobs.

Andrew shares engaging and insightful content around talent acquisition and hiring on LinkedIn, where he has over 14K followers. You should follow him if you’re interested in learning the best practices and trends around talent acquisition.

20. Laurie Ruettimann

Laurie is a speaker, writer, and podcaster with over 25 years of HR experience. Unsatisfied with her work providing HR support at various companies, Laurie decided to start Punk Rock HR.

Punk Rock HR is a podcast where Laurie offers her fresh take on fixing work. She regularly invites and has conversations with professionals from diverse fields. For instance, she has had singers, entrepreneurs, and corporate executives on her podcast.

In addition to promoting her podcast, Laurie also uses LinkedIn to talk about corporate leadership, the future of work, and people management.

Along with her podcast, Laurie offers executive recruiting, HR consulting, coaching, and corporate training to organizations. She also has a book on how employees can take control of their careers titled, Betting on You.

21. Amy Miller

Amy is a Senior Client Lead Recruiter for Amazon’s Project Kuiper. She has spent over 20 years helping companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft find the right talent for their projects.

She has 78K+ followers on LinkedIn, where she offers tips on creating excellent resumes, how to handle salary negotiations, and recruiting.

Amy also has a blog, Recruiting In Yoga Pants, that shares job search advice and a YouTube channel where she hosts weekly AMAs on job search, recruiting, and hiring.

22. Joey Price

Joey is the CEO of JumpStart:HR — an HR outsourcing firm for small businesses. With over 15 years spent in the HR industry, Joey has become an expert in identifying HR strategies and processes that underperforming companies need.

His over 12K followers on LinkedIn regularly hear him talk about the future of work, small business, and employee engagement strategies.

Joey has been recognized as one of the top HR professionals under 30 by SHRM’s HR Magazine. He also co-hosts a podcast titled While We Were Working and he sits as an advisory board member for UKG and Arena Analytics.

23. Jacob Morgan

Jacob is the founder of the Future of Work University — an education platform that focuses on employee experience, leadership, and the future of work.

He is a keynote speaker, podcaster, and 4X best-selling author. Jacob’s books, like his online education program, focus on the same themes.

Jacob is pretty vocal on LinkedIn, where he has over 100K followers.

People follow him to read his content and thoughts on leadership, employee experience, and the future of work.

Final Thoughts

LinkedIn is buzzing with stellar HR content from professionals setting the pace in different aspects of the craft — hiring, people management, DEI, company culture, employee engagement, and so on.

You can easily follow and connect with these professionals and learn how to improve. So what are you waiting for? Give the HR influencers who interest you a follow on LinkedIn.

As an HR-centric organization, we at Nectar are excited to see what each of these influencers create and how they continue to shape the industry as we enter 2023.