Howard Fischer Associates Places Chief People Officer at Jack Morton Worldwide

February 5, 2018 – With the assistance of search firm Howard Fischer Associates, Jack Morton Worldwide, a global brand experience agency, has chosen Melissa Rose to be its new chief people officer.

Ms. Rose joins an established global HR team, where her primary objective will be “strategic people operations” – helping the agency continue to grow, retain and nurture its talent. She will serve on the Boston-based agency’s executive leadership team, reporting directly to the chairman and CEO, Josh McCall.

Ms. Rose has upwards of 20 years’ experience in strategic human resources and business partnership at a global level. She also has deep knowledge of the marketing industry and the agency business model. Previously, Ms. Rose held positions at Hill Holliday, ISM, Carat and iProspect. Most recently, she served as VP of HR at Anaqua, a global intellectual property software company. There, she built and led the HR capability, provided extensive leadership and career development and managed an evolving organization through a period of growth and transformation, said Howard Fischer Associates.

Talent Leadership

“Talent is critical to the success of our agency,” said Mr. McCall. “It’s the proof behind the promise of our brand. Investing in the future of our team is paramount to our business and the appointment of Melissa as our new chief people officer is testament to our efforts. Melissa’s industry insight, combined with her infectious passion, energy and drive will be a tremendous asset to our business and clients.”

Ms. Rose said she felt comfortable from the moment she met Mr. McCall and his team. “My biggest priority is to work alongside leaders who truly appreciate and value their people,” she said. “The opportunity to shape and advance employee retention, career progression, talent development, diversity and inclusion at Jack Morton is an exciting endeavor and true to the agency’s commitment to its people and unique culture.”

Howard Fischer Associates, based in Philadelphia, specializes in placing key executives in functional areas, including sales, marketing, engineering, research & development, operations, information technology, human resources, business development and finance. The firm has completed a number of senior-level searches for clients that include: BNY Mellon, Tyco International, Comcast, Google, Facebook, Juniper Networks, Eastman Kodak Company, Rovi Corp., Netflix, Penn Mutual, Ticketmaster Entertainment, and Yahoo.

The firm is led by founder and president Howard Fischer. It has additional offices in Silicon Valley and Boston. For 35 years, Mr. Fischer has consulted with CEOs, boards of directors and senior executives on the process of identifying, evaluating, and attracting leaders.

Coming Into Vogue

Talent acquisition strategies at many large companies have become as complex as their balance sheets. At most companies the chief human resource officer plays a vital role in overseeing an organization’s broad-based workforce. The chief people officer, on the other hand, typically goes beyond overseeing an organization’s people policies. The focus, instead, is on building talent as a key competitive advantage, with greater emphasis on culture, which includes values, ethics and the company’s mission.

Here’s a look at some recent chief people officer searches from Hunt Scanlon Media.

Lucas Group Seeking Chief People Officer for Joint Venture
Executive search firm Lucas Group was recently retained to lead the chief people officer search for the new joint venture formed by affiliates of KSL Capital Partners and Henry Crown and Company. Kyle Lehman, managing partner, human resources executive search, is spearheading the assignment.

Human Capital Consultants Places Chief People Officer for ONE Campaign
Human Capital Consultants, LLC placed Anchal Gupta as chief people officer for ONE Campaign, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy and campaigning organization. The search was led by senior search consultant Katherine Emery. 

Wendy’s Chief People Officer Adopts Blended Recruiting Strategy
In the following interview, Scott Weisberg, chief people officer at Wendy’s, discusses the nuances of managing recruitment efforts at the $10 billion international fast food chain and how to leverage and blend external search partners with his in-house …

Habitat for Humanity Taps Miller Black for Chief People Officer
Today, the chief people officer position is still a relatively new title within the HR function. It first appeared about a decade ago. But now, as companies look to build internal brand awareness and set their sights more on establishing and driving their own unique cultures, CPOs are coming more into vogue.

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media