Center for Effective Organizations

Brian Schipper

Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Cisco Systems, Inc.,

A highly respected Human Resources senior executive with more than 25 years of experience, Brian Schipper leads the global Cisco HR team. His organization enables Cisco's workforce of more than 70,000 employees who develop products and support customers in more than 200 countries, all working to support the company vision of changing the way the world works, lives, plays, and learns.

Recognized for its strong employee culture, Cisco is continually ranked in the top 10 employers in nearly every country that evaluates employers, and has garnered recognition throughout the world for its employment, diversity, inclusion, and workplace flexibility practices. Most recently rated #1 in Fortune Magazine's Most Admired Companies in the network communications category, the company was also ranked #6 in the Best Companies to Work for list. In addition, Cisco was highlighted on the 2008 World's Most Ethical Companies list for its record of corporate citizenship, governance, and industry leadership.

Brian established the vision and strategy for the Cisco HR function and devised the structure and operating model to strategically support Cisco's globalisation model. His team has enabled the business to attract, hire, develop, and engage a global workforce with diverse talents and skills. By establishing and improving the processes and business engagement points necessary for the global identification and movement of talent to where the business needs it most, Cisco is regarded as one of the most agile and successful companies in the world. Cisco also enjoys one of the lowest turnover rates in the high-tech industry, which is attributed to its ability to reward employees with the programs and support they value to achieve success. Average employee tenure at Cisco is 7-10 years.

Before joining Cisco in 2006, Brian led the HR function for the Platforms and Services Division (PSD) of Microsoft. The PSD HR team provided Human Resource support to an organization of 20,000 employees worldwide. Previously at Microsoft, Brian led the Compensation & Benefits, Systems & Solutions, and Employee Relations teams at Microsoft. Prior to joining Microsoft, Brian was Partner & Senior Vice President, head of HR and Administration for Andor Capital Management, LLC in New York, one of the largest hedge-fund management firms in the world, with offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia. At Andor, Brian established the HR function and led the administrative functions. Prior to Andor, Brian was Senior Vice President of HR and Administration at DoubleClick in New York.

Brian held three senior human resources positions at PepsiCo. In his last assignment, Brian led HR for PepsiCo Food & Beverages International for Europe, Middle East and Africa, based in London. In this role, he led the HR functions from the U.K. through Russia, and from Scandinavia through South Africa. He also held HR executive positions at the Purchase, N.Y. headquarters of PepsiCo, and the Dallas, Tex. headquarters of Frito-Lay. He holds a bachelors degree from Hope College and an MBA from Michigan State University.