Timothy Richmond on leadership accountability
From Michael C. Bush & Tim Richmond on leadership blind spots · · Great Place To Work
“We hold leaders accountable through employee surveys, giving direct feedback on engagement and inclusion. Managers below a certain level get extra help with HR, including 360s and focus groups, and are required to re-survey. This helps protect the employee experience and reinforces accountability.”
On , Timothy Richmond, Executive Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer at AbbVie, spoke about leadership accountability during Michael C. Bush & Tim Richmond on leadership blind spots on Great Place To Work.
About Timothy Richmond
Tim Richmond, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at AbbVie, discussed leadership and workplace culture in a 2025 podcast with Great Place to Work CEO Michael C. Bush. Richmond stated that AbbVie holds leaders accountable through employee surveys, providing direct feedback on engagement and inclusion, and that managers below a certain level receive extra support from HR. He described listening as the most important leadership behavior and said executives must take responsibility for the entire chain of leadership, not just their executive team. Richmond also said that culture work is hard and that AbbVie’s chairman and CEO prioritized culture as one of the company’s top four business strategies. In a 2021 interview, Richmond said that the things driving attraction and retention include great people leadership, strong cultures, and alignment with a company’s mission and vision. He noted that AbbVie’s employee survey achieved a 90% response rate and the highest culture score in the company’s history. Richmond stated that the company makes the "how" equal to the "what" when assessing and rewarding talent, evaluating behaviors and performance together. He also said that a non-response to an external issue is a response, and that companies increasingly have to choose whether to take a stand on social or political issues.