Kiersten Robinson is the Group Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Ford Motor Company. She assumed this position April 1, 2018. In this role, Robinson oversees all global people processes including talent management, workforce planning, learning and development, recruiting, diversity and inclusion, compensation and benefits, and the dealer policy board.

As the senior leader and corporate officer overseeing people processes globally, Robinson ensures the development and execution of business strategies that reflect the global business environment, customer and market needs. She reports to Jim Hackett, Ford president and CEO.

Before being appointed to this role, Robinson served as Ford’s interim Human Resources leader, assuming the position in November 2017 after having served as executive director, Human Resources, Global Markets.

Robinson joined the automaker in 1995 as a labor relations representative in Ford of Australia and quickly rose through the ranks, serving in the first of several international assignments in 1997 with the Ford of Europe manufacturing organization. Following two additional positions in Australia, Robinson moved to Ford’s headquarters in 2002 to hold a variety of roles of increasing responsibility, culminating in her appointment to vice president of Human Resources for Ford in Asia Pacific in 2010.

In 2016, Robinson was appointed to lead human resources for The Americas, and in early 2017, her role was expanded to include Global Markets.

Here are the excerpts of the interview.

How do you see the current COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for the world of work? How are you dealing with it?

I’m extremely proud of how Ford is keeping our people safe, doing our part to limit the spread of the virus, taking care of customers, and managing through the crisis in ways that safeguard our workforce, our business and our partners. We are a company driven by purpose. We put people first and focus on the wants and needs of people to drive human progress. 

Across much of the organization, we have asked all salaried employees – except those performing business critical roles that cannot be done off site – to work remotely until further notice. We have technology in place so employees can connect with each other and customers to maintain business continuity. We also temporarily suspended production at manufacturing sites in North America, South America, Europe, India, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam. 

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