Webinar Recap: Netflix's Former Chief Talent Officer on Scaling Global Talent

Jessica Neal built Netflix's talent function from the ground up as its Chief Talent Officer. Under Neal, Netflix built a reputation for only hiring the best, whether they were local or required sponsorship.

On Sept. 15, she joined Jeff Joseph, President of Immigration Strategy at Manifest Law, for a conversation on how that philosophy scaled as Netflix became a global behemoth. Here are three moments that stuck with us.

1. Sponsorship as a default, not a reward

At Netflix, visa sponsorship wasn't a bonus. The company wanted the best, and if the best needed sponsorship, they got it.

“We are going to assume you're the best, and we're going to treat you like that,” Neal said.

If an H-1B wasn't available, the team looked for another path, like an O-1, instead of making the employee wait. The same philosophy applied to permanent residency.

Neal dismissed fears that sponsoring someone for a Green Card meant they'd leave the moment they got approved. Their status is only one reason employees stick with a company.

“People stay because they love working at your company,” Neal said. “They love their boss. They love that you sponsored them for a visa. They love that you're going to help them get a Green Card. They stay because it's a loving environment that they get joy from.”

2. Making the case for talent

One viewer asked Neal how companies without Netflix's budget can still build a top-class benefits program, including sponsorship. Her answer: Stop copying what other companies offer and connect the cost to revenue.

Netflix didn't sponsor visas or fund benefits just because competitors did. Neal tied every dollar spent to the business case: why it mattered to employees, and how it affected growth.

“If you have that case, it's very easy to get the capital,” Neal said. “And it's very easy to convince the top, because you've made a business case for it.”

3. 'Make it exceptional'

As Netflix grew into a global company, immigration got more complicated. Employees moved not just into the U.S., but out of it, and across dozens of other countries.

Neal's team had to navigate new problems as Netflix scaled, such as how stock options were taxed across multiple jurisdictions. That kind of complexity could have meant more paperwork and more confusion for employees. But Neal's team treated it as their job to absorb the pain, part of their standard of making every experience “exceptional,” Neal said. “Why take a painful thing and make it more painful?”

Watch the full conversation

When an audience member asked how companies can improve their immigration and mobility functions, Neal responded:

“The one change you can always make is to take the friction out,” Neal said. “Do a survey and ask the people that are experiencing it, whether it's mobility or immigration, do they love it? Or do they not?”

The full conversation covers more, including how Neal's path from art school to recruiting shaped the way she built Netflix's talent function, and her take on which skills will matter most for human resources leaders in the future. Watch the full session here.