Diane Hughes
Chief People Officer
Alliant Credit Union
Diane Hughes is the Chief People Officer for Alliant Credit Union, one of the largest credit unions in the U.S. with $20B in assets, serving over 800,000+ members. She has served in HR leadership roles for over 20 years and has led global teams in developing HR strategies that enable business excellence. A fun fact about Diane, she is an avid traveler and the #1 Chicago Bears fan.
Learn more about the Chicago CHRO community here.
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
My entire career has been in HR in the financial services space. I began my career at JP Morgan Chase as a recruiter and HR business partner. I later moved to Northern Trust where I took on global leadership roles in HR consulting, talent management and HR strategy. My years of experience leading HR COEs and business partner teams, led me to my current role with Alliant Credit Union.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
I am a strong believer in enabling others to act. My role as a leader is to empower my team through communicating, building trust and supporting the effective use of their skills and talent.
What is the greatest challenge ${BRAND}s face today, and how are you addressing it?
Building a future ready workforce is a challenge for many CHROs. The global skills shortage continues, and talent identification and retention remain competitive. We are addressing this through reskilling managers and focusing on internal mobility for our employees.
What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a ${BRAND}?
CHROs have to successfully navigate between the board, leaders and employees. Building transparent relationships across these groups and understanding business priorities are key to success in this role.
How do you measure success as a leader?
I measure success as a leader through employee engagement. That engagement is more than a survey score – effective leaders show genuine empathy, provide meaningful work and strong cultures. When leaders make employees feel valued, they create healthy workplaces.
What is the value of being a member of the Evanta community?
Evanta has developed a peer group of CHROs who support each other through networking, knowledge sharing and thought leadership.
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
Join the conversation with peers in your local ${BRAND} community.