Inside the Magnite C-Suite with Chief People Officer Shawna Hughes

In this Q+A, we sit down with Chief People Officer Shawna Hughes to discuss her passion for fostering a supportive and flexible workplace culture at Magnite, her approach to driving employee development, and the innovative talent strategies she’s implementing to meet the evolving needs of the ad tech industry.

Magnite’s C-Suite series provides a unique opportunity to gain firsthand perspectives on critical industry trends and strategic initiatives shaping Magnite’s core values and future. 

As the Chief People Officer at Magnite, how do you approach fostering a strong workplace culture?

I am focused on the small things that reinforce support and care for our employees. Our approach at Mangite is if you live it, you don’t have to say it.

Finding multiple avenues to show that support in different ways excites me about my job. 

When it comes to driving the culture, the People team is a conduit. The People team creates and coordinates tools and processes to enable leaders and employees to take ownership of the culture. When everyone feels like they are part of the culture rather than being told what it is, that drives a great workplace.   

The People team looks to foster culture by allowing individual choice. Employees can regularly elect what is important to them. Examples of this include extensive benefits offerings, peer-to-peer recognition and customized awards, tenure recognition, and company donation matching for charitable donations. Employees are offered a number of options and can truly navigate the company in a way that’s customized to them.  

In a fast-evolving industry like ad tech, how do you ensure that Magnite’s talent strategies remain innovative and forward-thinking?

It goes back to the small things that matter because if you’ve built the foundation of flexibility and multiple avenues of support, you can double down at any moment on one of those. Driving flexibility and creativity in how we support our employees is the foundation of being able to adjust whatever is thrown our way, especially in an environment that’s very focused on costs. It’s not just about programs. It’s also about tools. 

For instance, we recognize the need to broaden our conversations and enhance the tools available so managers and employees can better discuss performance and career development. In response, we rolled out the 9-box evaluation method. This tool evaluates employees on performance and potential growth. We are also transparent about job leveling within the organization. It’s like a compass for employee development—once you know where everyone stands, you can confidently map out the best route forward.

We offer employees development opportunities and transparency regarding the skills and abilities required for each role and in all functions. We also have an open forum for employees to ask our CEO and other senior leaders questions about the company or industry as a whole. 

With so many teams and personalities at Magnite, how do you balance the varied needs of employees across departments while setting company-wide people initiatives?

We prioritize getting a lot of feedback. We have an engagement survey for company employees and gather feedback from different steps in the recruiting process. We will not succeed without that feedback. Being proactive about getting feedback is the foundation of what we do. We can’t always say yes at the moment to any given request, just like a product roadmap, but it always goes on the list to build and enhance.

Can you share any programs or initiatives at Magnite that support employee growth and well-being?

This year, we’re trying to launch more employee-led resource groups. We will keep evolving our performance management process to support ongoing career development. We also offer a lunch program funded by the company that allows people to order lunches instead of catering. This allows individual needs to be met by ordering the food they want to eat and the flexibility to choose when to eat it, unlike a catered lunch, where people cannot choose the food they want to eat and may miss out on getting food due to meetings or other work commitments. I’m very proud of our lunch program.

If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be?

Personally, it would be singing—I cannot sing at all! Professionally, it’d be transforming from reactivity to proactivity.