Following the arrival of the new CEO, one of the earliest leadership changes was the quiet and unexpected replacement of the head of HR. In hindsight, however, it became evident that the move was part of a broader initiative to reshape the company’s leadership structure and redefine its operating philosophy—unencumbered.
Over the past several months, much of the legacy J.D. Power leadership team has been replaced by executives from the CEO’s former organization, Sterling, an employment background screening company with a fundamentally different business model from J.D. Power’s highly complex data and analytics-driven business. As a result, the operating philosophies carried over from Sterling have been implemented in ways that have created confusion and uncertainty rather than creating new product offerings, strengthening operations, and wooing customers.
While leadership transitions are common under a new CEO, the pace, scale, and lack of thoughtful execution surrounding these changes have continued to generate significant internal unease and raise broader concerns about the company’s long-term direction and stability.
The current leadership team lacks experience and a thoroughly informed perspective and is over-indexed on the CEO’s vision, yet their compensation packages exceed those of their predecessors despite ongoing cost pressures across the broader organization.
Most concerning is the disconnect between leadership messaging and actual execution. We are repeatedly encouraged to trust the process and embrace change, yet those who voice concerns about employee well-being, institutional knowledge, or the broader organizational impact of these transitions are noticeably marginalized or sidelined.
This has been disheartening to experience, and to some extent, those who have been replaced are the fortunate ones. The greed that now rules J.D. Power knows no bounds.
