Cassie Brady
Vice President, Human Resources
BioUrja Trading
Cassie Brady is the VP, Human Resources at BioUrja Group and a Governing Body Member of the Houston CHRO Community.
Cassie is a native Texan and passionate HR professional. Outside of work, she is an avid traveler who enjoys exploring new cultures and cuisines, as well as hiking in new destinations.
Learn more about the Houston CHRO community here.
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
My journey to my current role as Vice President of Human Resources at BioUrja Group has been shaped by working within many disciplines of HR, beginning in Pension & 401k Administration at Solvay America, later providing a variety of HR consultancy services, honing my HR knowledge in the engineering, procurement and construction space at KBR, OGS and IHI International as well as the financial trading industry, first at Quantlab Financial and now with BioUrja Group.
Over time, I learned that my passion was building or redesigning HR functions. As I gained experience and took on roles with increasing responsibility, including CPO at Resources & Results, and Senior Director of People & Culture at IHI E&C, I returned to the world of Commodity Trading at BioUrja Group, where, for the last six years, I have led human capital initiatives across a global enterprise, driving strategic growth, employee development, and organizational success.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
One of my guiding leadership principles is a commitment to continuous improvement – continuously growing and developing people and the organization. Always be curious of new and better ways.
What is the greatest challenge CHROs face today, and how are you addressing it?
One of the greatest challenges that HR professionals face today is managing and adapting to the rapid pace of change, including navigating complex compliance across different regions, shifts in remote and hybrid work models, evolving employee expectations around work-life balance, and leveraging technology and data analytics to make informed decisions while ensuring data privacy and security - all while trying to do more with less.
These challenges can largely be overcome by embracing agility and flexibility in our rapidly changing world. By optimizing resources, leveraging technology and data, and fostering a culture of continuous learning, HR can collaborate effectively with other departments to ensure our strategies align with the broader organizational objectives.
What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CHRO?
First and foremost, embrace a 'business first' mindset – telling your story through data and financial impact to gain support. It is equally important to develop relationships across all departments and understand their needs and challenges, across all levels of the organization. Starting out, there should be a lot of "listening."
How do you measure success as a leader?
Leadership is about empowering others to grow, thrive, and have space to be curious. For me, the mark of a great leader is when a team can continue to excel in your absence, having gained the skills, confidence, and autonomy to succeed on their own.
What is the value of being a member of the Evanta community?
Collaborating with fellow HR professionals offers a unique opportunity to share experiences and step outside of the day-to-day, allowing us to reimagine what’s possible.
Evanta Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.
by CHROs, for CHROs
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