"Not waiting to make some difficult choices is really in your best interest, because you're going to end up making them anyway." — Kim Hauer

Kim Hauer didn't plan a career in HR. It found her during a college internship at Caterpillar, when an assignment to interview an HR manager turned into a job offer. Nearly 20 years later, she was the company's CHRO. In this episode, Hauer, now Executive Vice President and Chief HR Officer at SC Johnson, tells Ani Huang about the moment that changed how she leads: fainting in a hallway overseas after saying yes to everything. "I have to lead and operate differently," she realized, "and take control of my career."

Hauer explains why nobody hands you a seat at the table. "You earn your seat at the table," she says, "and if you add value, good things will come." She shares how she caught a costly mistake during an acquisition, why she moved a star performer out of her comfort zone, and how transparency during layoffs built trust instead of breaking it. What does resilience really look like when the job never stops? And what's the one lesson she hopes outlasts her career?

Kim Hauer is Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at SC Johnson, a 130-year-old company with $10 billion in annual sales and 13,000 employees worldwide. She joined after nearly 20 years at Caterpillar, starting as a college intern and rising to Chief Human Resources Officer, leading HR across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas. She also held roles in compensation and benefits, including a stint in Belgium. Hauer holds a bachelor's degree in management from Purdue University and is a certified HR professional.

In this episode:

• (00:00) Introduction: you earn your seat at the table

• (01:13) Welcoming Kim Hauer, CHRO of SC Johnson

• (01:58) From Caterpillar intern to a 20-year HR career

• (03:39) The hallway fainting story that changed how she leads

• (06:24) Earning influence and a seat in the deal room

• (09:10) Leading a major organizational shift as a first-time CHRO

• (13:23) Redefining resilience and integrating work and family

• (20:28) Building culture through transparency, developing talent, and the lesson she hopes outlasts her

About the Show:

Lessons from the Field is a podcast from the CHRO Association, the only independent community built for Chief Human Resource Officers. Hosted by Ani Huang, each episode sits down with today's leading CHROs and business leaders to unpack the defining moments, hard-won decisions, and career-shaping experiences behind their leadership. The series draws on the same lived experience and peer insight that make the CHRO Association a trusted resource for the leaders that boards and CEOs rely on — bringing that wisdom directly to listeners navigating their own HR careers. It's a show about how great leadership is actually built: in the boardroom, in a hallway conversation, and in the moments no one else sees. Where Policy Meets Practice.

Resources

Kim Hauer Profile: ⁠https://www.chro.org/w/kimberly-s-hauer ⁠

CHRO Association website:⁠ https://www.chro.org⁠