Why a retail technology company tapped its CMO to win the war for tech talent

Zebra Technologies has a unique challenge: convincing roboticists and highly-skilled tech workers that it’s more than a warehouse and retail tech company. The company, known for its barcode scanners and mobile checkout devices, is pivoting to expand into robotics, machine vision, and retail software. In 2021 the company invested in a robotics business and purchased Fetch Robotics, a developer of autonomous mobile robots, in a $290 million deal. Now it needs talent to support its new businesses. 

In 2020, Jeff Schmitz was tapped to take on the job. Schmitz, who has been the company’s chief marketing officer for almost seven years, is now also its CHRO. He’s tasked with leading the company into its next phase of growth while changing how prospective talent perceives the company. The latter directive is where his marketing skills come into play. Schmitz spoke with Coins2Day about how he’s repositioning the brand to attract more talent and why his marketing background makes him suited to oversee Zebra’s nearly 10,000 employees.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Coins2Day: What led you to your current combined role of CMO and CHRO at Zebra?

I’m an engineer and a computer scientist by education. I came to Zebra to be the CMO in 2016 and kept that role through 2020 as my primary responsibility. About two years ago, our CEO asked me to pick up the CHRO position, which was actually something I wanted to do. I viewed it as an area of learning for me.

As I like to say, it’s probably the best and most challenging time to be in HR because it’s never been more important. We’ve gone from everyone going home to worrying about how to return to the office and dealing with well-being and burnout. 

How did your marketing background show up in your early days as CHRO? 

It was November 2020, and we were in the middle of the pandemic—past the early days of everyone working remotely. We first had to ensure we were effectively communicating with our 10,000 employees who were all at home. This goes right to the sweet spot between the marketing and CHRO role; it starts with communication, and that’s become increasingly important. 

Can you describe the unique talent challenge at Zebra Technologies?

We’re really in transition, moving from our core business to redefining what work looks like. We’re number one in key spaces—barcode printing, scanning, mobile computing—so it makes sense  that you might be looking to join Zebra if you’re in one of those businesses. But even though we’re roughly a $6 billion company in revenue, you may not think of Zebra as the place for machine vision, robotics, or even software. And therein lies some of the challenges we have as we’re evolving the business. We need to be vigilant about retaining our people, attracting people, particularly in these new areas, and developing them.

How have you used marketing techniques to attract new talent?

We’ve started to say, ‘Hey, when people look for products, where do they go?’ Most searches happen either on Google or Amazon. And that’s why there’s such a great advertising budget that people put into search engine marketing or search engine optimization. Now, we’re using those tools for talent. If I’m looking for a job in robotics, how do I ensure that I’m showing up where the roboticists are? How do we use marketing money to put ads in front of those people to pull them into our talent pool, and how do we do that proactively? So advertising, particularly digital advertising, has been very effective for talent acquisition. 

What other traits have served you in leading both marketing and HR? Most people have heard about the “rule of seven,” meaning if someone sees something seven times it’s more likely to be committed to their memory. Have you brought theories like that into HR?

The rule of seven is a good one. The other one I like is ‘by the time management is getting tired of saying something, that’s when people are just starting to understand it.’ You need to over communicate. We use a lot of tools like our intranet and also send videos to both the marketing and HR teams every month or so. 

Have you had to do any rebranding to attract new types of talent? 

We have people within the company who own the employee value proposition, and that has to be layered in with the marketing. Having the link between marketing and HR does help to ensure that interconnectedness happens. When we put out ads or an image of the company to be an employer of choice in robotics, software, or places where we’re not an expert, layering up that messaging and having the right materials is essential.

What do you see as the headwinds in the talent market that make it possible for a CMO to also be an effective HR leader?

I think there are a couple of different directions for CMOs. One is you see a trend of CMOs staying where they are. There’s a lot of value in marketing staying independent on its own. Sometimes you also see marketing move more toward a chief revenue officer. But I’ve also met a fair number of people who have marketing connected to HR. And again, it’s for the reasons that I mentioned before; they’re people who understand the business. Sometimes having a good understanding of that business is a good backdrop for running HR. 

You can find domain HR experts. But somebody who understands the business, connects with the executive team, and helps people understand HR and how it’s connected to the business is also important. 

The headwinds for all of us will be what happens with the macroeconomic situation. Everyone’s worried about that. We see what’s happening in the stock market, interest rates, and the desire to slow the economy down. It’s going to have some ripple effect, and the question is, how do we navigate that? I don’t know exactly what’s next, but it looks like the macroeconomic situation could be changing, and that will change what happens for talent.

Amber Burton
[email protected]
@amberbburton

Around the Table

- The U.S. Added 263,000 jobs in September, down from 315,000 the month prior, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report out this morning. The decline signals a slowdown in the labor market. Wall Street Journal

- Peloton announced it would lay off 500 employees in its third round of job cuts this year. The company has cut about 3,000 jobs since June 2021. New York Times

- Amazon will increase starting pay to $19 an hour and offer signing bonuses of up to $3,000 as it looks to hire approximately 150,000 holiday workers. CNBC 

- Tyson will close its Chicago offices and relocate its employees to Arkansas. CNN

- The pandemic has made some employers skittish about laying off workers, even as a recession seems possible. Vox

Watercooler

Everything you need to know from Coins2Day. 

Quiet quitting while Black. Quiet quitting is more complicated for Black Americans who often operate under the assumption of “twice as hard to get half as far.” In a must-read piece, Coins2Day’s Trey Williams delves into this phenomenon and what it says about the collective Black experience in corporate America. —Trey Williams 

Silicon Valley’s #MeToo reckoning. Ellen Pao sued her VC firm Kleiner Perkins for gender discrimination in 2012, bringing to light Silicon Valley’s treatment of women. In a Q&A with Coins2Day, she reflects on the “very lonely” period during the ensuing trial and her “ambivalence” to the tech industry’s supposed cultural changes since her suit. —Maria Aspan 

Fast fashion. Zara, the Spanish fast-fashion juggernaut, has long been accused of harming the environment because of its use of large quantities of water, fossil fuels, and chemicals used to produce its clothing. Now, the company’s new nonexecutive chairperson (and heiress) is trying to usher in an era of sustainability. But critics say her promises are hollow and don’t reflect a genuine commitment to a changed business model. —Vivienne Walt 

Mile-high lawsuit. A Southwest pilot is suing the airline and a former colleague who pleaded guilty to locking her in the cockpit and exposing himself during a flight. —Terry Spencer