June 27, 2025 • 23 mins
What makes a truly effective CHRO in today's complex business landscape? Chelle O'Keefe, Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer at Associa, brings refreshing clarity to this question through her remarkable journey from psychology graduate to C-suite leader.
The power of Chelle's approach lies in her unique perspective: despite never taking a formal business class, she's mastered the executive suite by focusing on the fundamental thread connecting all her work—understanding human behavior. "The common thread through my entire background is human behavior," she explains, detailing how this focus has guided her through roles in learning and development, change management, communications, and even marketing before landing in HR leadership.
Chelle shares the strategies behind her impressive achievements, including an 80% internal promotion rate and 30% reduction in turnover. Rather than adopting off-the-shelf solutions, her team developed leadership competency models by studying their own successful leaders. This authentic approach created a powerful eight-month development program that transformed their talent pipeline. On retention, her philosophy is wonderfully straightforward: "Leadership is absolutely the first thing that drives that turnover rate," combined with directly asking employees what they want through simple polls rather than complex engagement surveys.
Leading HR for an organization with 300 branch offices serving 7.5 million residents worldwide presents unique challenges. Chelle discusses how they manage cultural alignment during acquisitions and maintain cohesion across dispersed locations through their "Associa Book" of values. She offers practical wisdom on AI implementation, suggesting leaders focus on automating "painful repetitive tasks" rather than getting overwhelmed by the broader concept.
Perhaps most valuable is Chelle's candid insight into executive influence: "You have to be able to speak the language of the business to sit at the table. That's just table stakes." What truly differentiates exceptional HR leaders is bringing humanity to the C-suite—building relationships, having tough conversations, and sometimes being "the only adult at the table." In a world increasingly focused on technology and metrics, Chelle reminds us that understanding people remains the heart of effective leadership.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the HR Chat Show, one of the world's
most downloaded and sharedpodcasts designed for HR pros,
talent execs, tech enthusiastsand business leaders.
For hundreds more episodes andwhat's new in the world of work,
subscribe to the show, followus on social media and visit
hrgazettecom and visit.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
HRGazettecom.
Welcome to another episode ofthe HR Chat Show.
Hello listeners, this is yourhost today, Bill Bannum, and
joining me on the show today isShelley O'Keefe, Executive Vice
President, Chief Human ResourceOfficer over at Associer.
(00:44):
As a seasoned executive,Shelley has worked across
industries including healthcare,financial services and
professional services, bringinga holistic and data-driven
approach to solving complexbusiness challenges.
With more than 300 branchoffices across North America,
Associa is building the futureof community for more than 7.5
million residents worldwide.
(01:06):
That sounds pretty cool.
Hey, Shelley, how are you doingtoday?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
I'm great, Bill.
It's early on a Monday morning,so hopefully I've had enough
coffee to keep it entertainingtoday.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yes, shelley is very, very kind and gracious to
record with me first thing on aMonday morning.
So we'll go easy on you,shelley, first thing on a Monday
morning.
So we'll go easy on you, shelly.
Shelly, you've had a richcareer spanning HR, marketing,
communications andorganizational development.
How has this multi-disciplinaryapproach and background shaped
(01:37):
what you do as a CHRO over atAssociate?
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Yeah, great question.
The common thread through myentire background is human
behavior.
So when I was in university,that's what I studied.
I studied psychology.
I thought maybe I'd take adifferent path in the corporate
environment but ended up inlearning and development and
really loved the idea of shapinghuman behavior to impact an
organization, but also to impactthose leaders' lives, and so
(02:04):
really started in that direction.
And then leadership development.
Learning and development isn'tenough.
It has to operate in a broaderecosystem, and so I got into
change management and intocommunications.
I had an opportunity to play inmarketing for a little bit.
That was really fun and it'sreally the flip side of the coin
.
So marketing is customerbehavior instead of employee
(02:25):
behavior.
But it's still how do youinfluence human behavior towards
the goals that you're trying toachieve?
And then all of that seemed tobe a natural pathway into the HR
role.
So there is a common thread,even though it's it's been
through different disciplines inthe corporate environment.
But it's always served mereally well, although the irony
(02:46):
is I still, to this day, I'venever taken a business class.
So you know, today I operate,you know, in the C-suite and
spend a lot of time inspreadsheets and with data and
have had to be a littleself-taught and also choose some
mentors to really learn some ofthe finance and accounting
components of business.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Very good, and what's the best thing about your job?
Speaker 3 (03:09):
The best thing about my job is the people I get to
work with every day, and I feellike that's a very cliche answer
, but one of the questions thatyou and I talked about that may
come later is what are thethings that are important for HR
leaders to bring to the tableso that they can have a seat at
the table?
And certainly data and thosecomponents and AI and everyone's
talking about all of thosepieces, but what I love the most
(03:31):
is to be the human at the tableand to be the person who has
the tough conversations with theother executives, that that
hold space for the employees,that make sure that in all of
the conversations that we'reconsidering that our business,
especially, is people servingpeople, and so how do we make
sure that?
Certainly, we need to evolveand we need to look forward and
(03:55):
consider all of these greatadvances in technology, but how
do we treat one another?
How do we help our employeesget there?
How do we think about this veryhuman organization as we plan
for the future?
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Okay, love it.
Thank you very much.
Now, then, you've done somepretty cool things in your
career so far.
So, for example, in past rolesyou've achieved an 80% internal
promotion rate.
That's very impressive,congratulations.
What specific programs orpractices helped cultivate such
a strong internal talentpipeline?
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Yeah, at the time that we really set off on that
initiative, we were having a lotof challenges bringing people
into our organization and havingthem be successful.
Our organization we servecommunities.
It's a very niche industry andwe are the largest in the
industry and therefore it's atough talent pool, and so we
were pulling people fromhospitality and other like
(04:50):
industries and really not havinga lot of success, and so we
started to ask ourselves whatmakes a leader here successful?
So, instead of going out andfinding different leadership
competency models, we decided toreally work with our internal
leaders and the ones that hadhad great careers and been
really successful in ourorganization, and we said what
(05:13):
makes you successful?
Tell us the traits.
Let's study all of these leadersand develop a competency model
out of their leadership thatthen we can use to then train
internally.
And that's really thefoundation.
So we just used our internalmodels, we developed a
competency framework and then wedeveloped our leadership
(05:33):
training around that, and one ofthe key positions that we
focused on is really our branchpresident position.
So you mentioned we have over300 branches across the world
and we looked at that branchpresident position and said, hey
, how do we make sure that weare being successful at training
and preparing those futureleaders for those roles, and so
(05:57):
we developed, using thatcompetency model.
We developed an eight-monthlearning development program
that put them through a lot ofdifferent experiences so that
when an opportunity for themcame available they were ready,
and that really helped changeour promotion rate, certainly in
that position.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Okay.
So internal hires are great fora whole bunch of things.
I mean, you hinted there atknowledge transfer, for example.
You know, if you can retainthose people and you're giving
them all that wonderful training, why wouldn't you want to then
develop them into leaders?
But would you also agree thatit's important to have fresh
blood?
It's important to bring newperspectives into the company
whenever you can, because maybethat enriches company culture
(06:37):
100%.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
So what's interesting is so we went through that
process and we flipped.
You know we were hiring about80% externally, we flipped it to
about 80% internally.
Where we're landing today is,to your point, a little, some of
(07:04):
that fresh blood, as you wouldsay, or fresh thinking that
really helps move theorganization in a different
direction.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the HR Chat
Podcast.
If you enjoy the audio contentwe produce, you'll love our
articles on the HR Gazette.
Learn more at HRGazettecom.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
And now back to the show we are totally on the same
page here.
Uh, you've also been involvedat companies where you've helped
reduce turnover, uh, by around30.
Again, congratulations, uh.
That is no small feat.
What, uh?
What were some of theapproaches or mindsets that
(07:44):
helped you reach that kind ofmilestone?
Speaker 3 (07:47):
You know, interestingly, one of the things
that really influenced mythinking in this area was I was
at a benefits conference andeverybody was talking about all
of the new benefits and how wecan structure a better benefit
plan to retain employees.
And there was someone at thatconference who was speaking and
she said the benefit packagethat you're offering is
essentially worthless if youdon't have the right culture and
(08:09):
leader in place.
That you're offering isessentially worthless if you
don't have the right culture andleader in place.
And you know that reallyresonated with me.
Ironically, like I said, it wasa benefits conference, but you
know.
So, going back to what we justtalked about, I mean leadership
is absolutely the first thingthat we feel like drives that
turnover rate, and so, byfocusing on helping our leaders
be more effective and be betterin their roles, we absolutely
(08:31):
believe that we saw a drop inturnover that was correlated
with that.
Secondly, you know, when Ithink about turnover, I think we
get a little too complicatedsometimes and what we have done
is go directly to our employeesand just ask them.
I don't use a built out surveyfrom a Gallup or any of the
they're all great.
(08:52):
All of the different vendorsthat offer.
The surveys are great.
What we do is we do a pollsurvey twice a year and we ask
our employees very specificquestions about what they're
looking for for their career andtheir benefit package for in
their work environment, and thenwhat we look to do is improve
(09:13):
all of those pieces based ontheir feedback.
So it's a little.
It seems very simple to me, butat the same time, I think
sometimes we get enamored bysome of the bigger initiatives
and some of the sexy things andwe forget that.
Why don't we just go ask peopleand take their feedback and use
it to then improve their workenvironment?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
And in terms of collecting that feedback, is it
more authentic, is it moregenuine when it's anonymous?
Speaker 3 (09:42):
That's an interesting question.
So we've struggled back andforth with those different
components and, you know, Ithink the sign of a healthy
culture is the ability to beable to feel that you're safe
enough to express your opinion.
We keep it and we keep oursurvey anonymous because we want
people to be as transparent asthey possibly can.
(10:05):
At the same time, we strugglewith that idea of you know which
way.
Which way do you go there?
So it's a hard question toanswer.
I don't know that I have theexact answer on that one.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
All right, and that's an answer coming from
experience, though Thank youvery much.
Now that you've been involvedin successful M&A integration,
Shelley, what are the mostcritical steps that HR leaders
should take to align culturesand ensure a smooth transition
post merger?
Because that's no small feat,is it?
You know that can involve, forexample, a very different
(10:38):
company culture.
Focus on the go forward.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
It can.
Yeah, it can be.
I mean, I think you know when Ithought about that question, so
we're not acquiring kind ofacquisitions that are the same
size, requiring anywhere fromsmall acquisitions, to, you know
, companies that have a thousand, roughly a thousand, 2000
employees, so somewhere in thatrange.
(11:00):
And when we do that it's reallyimportant we don't get involved
pre-close, so we're not fullyinvolved in the due diligence
process.
I know that's like the Holygrail for HR is, so we're not
fully involved in the duediligence process.
I know that's like the holygrail for HR is, you know, be
involved in due diligence andall of the things.
But we get involved after theclose and we start to talk with
the leaders.
And I think there are two thingsthat I really focus on.
(11:22):
The first one is how are ourcultures similar?
We tend to again, our industryis niche and we are looking for
cultures that are similar toours and leaders that have built
businesses that are similar toour values, and so we share our
values, we ask them to do thesame and we focus on the
similarities there.
And then to really yourquestion.
(11:42):
I think the other piece is it'snot about pushing our culture
on them, it's about celebratingthe best of what they already
have and the best of what wehave and bringing that together
and bringing that forward.
So we take a slower integrationapproach.
We don't walk in day one andsay you're part of Associa, now
you will start to integrate, butwe keep those owners and
sellers pretty heavily involvedin the process so that they can
(12:06):
help make those decisions andthey can help walk their
employees through the changemanagement that's required.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
So you've got lots of employees in lots of different
locations 300 differentlocations, as we've mentioned a
couple of times so far.
How do you go about measuringbut also sustaining culture when
a company is geographicallydispersed and as diverse as a
socio?
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Great question.
So we have to acknowledge thatall of those 300-ish locations
have their own cultures andsubcultures within them, and yet
we want a broaderorganizational culture, and so
we built different things alongthe way.
One of the things that we're afan of is something called the
Asocia book.
It's a cultural icon.
It's actually a little bookthat houses our values and some
(12:52):
of our key principles that wereally live by.
We share that with all of ouremployees.
We share it with new employeeswhen they join as well.
It's just this is what you'rejoining, this is what you're a
part of.
At the same time, the question,the word is interesting when you
say sustaining, because I don'tknow that it's about sustaining
.
I think it's about evolving.
Interesting when you saysustaining, because I don't know
that it's about sustaining.
(13:12):
I think it's about evolving,and so, as we think about you
know where our culture has beenand where I started, so I joined
this organization in 2014.
You know, 10, 11 years later,the culture has to evolve and it
has to look at.
You know, before we reallyfocused on, one of our key
values is family, and that onegets a little bit of a bad rap
these days, by the way.
Is the workplace a family ornot?
(13:32):
But given that we are aprivately held company that has
a heavy family dynamic to it,family is one of our core values
.
We focused heavily on thatinitially.
We're really starting to focuson service and look at now how
do we create more of aservice-oriented culture?
We've built a strong family.
We've focused on how peoplereally enjoy the people that
(13:54):
they work with.
How do we use that as astrength to then focus more
deeply on service and how do weserve one another and serve our
clients?
And so our culture is alwaysevolving and we always involve
all of our team members, all ofour leaders across the
organization in all of thosepieces.
It's not something that wecreate at corporate and push
(14:14):
down.
It's something that everyone'sinvolved in in the process.
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Speaker 2 (14:57):
Okay, we are flying through these questions and
answers today, shelley.
Very good, very impressed.
I don't think this is the firsttime you've done a podcast
interview.
Okay, let's talk aboutsomething we can't help but talk
about on this show everyepisode.
At the moment, I've justactually spent the last couple
of hours preparing a giant decktalking about AI in the world of
work.
So let's talk about AI andautomation.
(15:18):
Specifically, with AI andautomation impacting workplaces
across industries, how isAssocier preparing its workforce
for what's next, and what roledoes HR play in that
transformation?
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I'm certainly not an AI expert, but one of the things
that you know we've talkedabout, I mean AI has been part
of all of our organizations fora really long time.
I think the newsy part of itmore lately is generative AI, as
opposed to some of the machinelearning and pieces that we've
had in place.
Quite know, you mentioned, weserve seven and a half million
(15:58):
residents worldwide.
We process then all of thosepayments and then all of the
community invoices centrally sothat we can make sure that our
communities run.
We've had AI as part of thoseprocessing centers for years.
Now we're trying to build itinto the front end.
If you can imagine and I don'tknow, we're not in the UK today,
(16:21):
but there are a lot of Europeancommunities that are served I'm
not currently yet by ASSOCIA,but one day I'm sure.
But if you can imagine,post-covid community management
has gotten more and moredifficult, so people have gotten
a little angrier.
People expect service a littlequicker.
(16:41):
Part of that is driven by thetechnology and so we're looking
at different AI components ofhow can we take some of that
more rote, more basic componentsof that community manager's job
off of them so they can spendmore time with their board of
directors on more strategic work.
So the way I always think aboutAI and the way it helped me, not
(17:05):
just in our organization butalso in my function, was I
attended a conference years agoand again, this was probably
2018.
And people were already talkingabout AI.
It was before, probably 2018.
And people were already talkingabout AI it was before again
generative AI and how can HR useit.
And the leader of that sessionsaid something that flipped it
for me and he said stop thinkingabout this big concept of how
(17:27):
can you use AI and startthinking about what are the
really painful repetitive tasksthat your team is doing that
could be automated.
Repetitive tasks that your teamis doing that could be
automated, that you could thinkabout using different tools to
help free them up.
That helped me kind of flip itand it had me go right back to
my team and we automaticallystarted looking at different
(17:49):
ways to do that, and I thinkwe've got to flip the question
in different ways, both forourselves but also for our team
members.
So when you said, how do wehelp our teams?
We have to help them get morecomfortable with it and familiar
with it and show them thebenefit of it that it can help
reduce some of this moreadministrative, more back office
functionality, so that you canfocus more on again the people
(18:09):
side of your role.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
So does that mean that the best companies are
companies that offer uhopportunities to reskill in ai?
Uh, you know, there are lots ofstats out there saying that by
2030, 30 of jobs that exist atthe moment will not be there
anymore because they'll bereplaced by ai.
Uh, bill gates, just a coupleof weeks ago, as we record this
particular episode, said that uh, within probably 10 years, a
(18:33):
lot of people might be lookingat a two-day work week because
AI has replaced so much.
Are the best companies, thecompanies that really value and
want to develop their people,are those, the companies that
are offering ways to reskill orupskill in AI.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
I mean, I certainly think that is the best approach
for companies.
I think it's not somethingwe're currently focused on.
I think it's interesting to sayyou focused on.
I think it's interesting to sayyou know AI is replacing this
many jobs by a certain year.
We've all heard that.
At the same time, then what arethose employees being
re-skilled on?
Is it more of the human side ofthe business, like, what are
(19:10):
then the next skills that thatorganization then needs, as
opposed to those jobs are beingreplaced, fully replaced.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
So the question for me, too, is not just hey, how,
how can companies reskill, butwhat are they reskilling for
specifically, as we look at thistransition, yeah, and I'm yet
to hear a good answer in termsof how we are going to keep all
those people in the workplacewith AI taking over so much.
You hinted at it earlier on.
I do want to cover this withyou briefly before we wrap up
(19:39):
for today.
Board relations and executiveinfluence.
This is an important ongoingthread in our chit chats on the
HR chat show around bringingpeople, leaders and HR leaders
to the top table and making surethat they have a voice that is
actually heard and respected andrecognized and acted upon by
the C-suite.
You've worked closely withboards and C-suite peers, of
(20:00):
course.
What advice do you have forother HR leaders looking to
build stronger influence andcredibility at the executive
level?
Speaker 3 (20:07):
I think it's twofold, and you mentioned I spoke about
one of them.
That'll be my second one.
I think the first one is justfirst of all, you have to know
your organization.
Be my second one.
I think the first one is just,first of all, you have to know
your organization.
I think I'm humble enough toknow that I am a good CHRO for
this organization, but maybe notfor every organization and so
what are my strengths and whatdo I bring to the table, and how
does that fit with what theorganization needs?
(20:28):
So that would be the first oneis just know yourself, know your
organization, and make surethat there's a good alignment
between those two.
And then, secondly, I do think,being that human at the table I
know that AI, and I know thatdata is critical.
I think that's almost tablestakes.
You have to be able to speakthe language of the business to
sit at the table.
(20:49):
That's just table stakes.
The next level, though, is howdo you bring yourself?
And then how do you be thatperson at the table that A has
relationships with all of theleaders and B can have the tough
conversations?
I think one of the things that Ienjoy most.
(21:09):
Going back to one of your priorquestions about my job is
having those tough conversationsand being the person that
people know that if you come tome and ask me a question, you're
going to get my opinion.
I'm not playing politics.
I'm actually here to make theorganization better, and that
means to make the executive teamfunctional and make the C-suite
(21:30):
a place that people wanna be in, and so I do think that's part
of this specific role and makingsure, yes, you have the table
stakes and you can speak thebusiness, but you also sometimes
are the.
This sounds terrible, but I'vehad it said to me multiple times
, so I'm going to say it.
Sometimes you are the onlyadult at the table, and being
(21:54):
that adult at the table isactually a critical function for
the chro I love and respectthat approach.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
I suspect that's why the wonderful jeff wold hey,
jeff, how you doing if you'relistening today?
Uh did an intro, uh to makethis uh conversation happen
today.
So thank you very much, jeff.
One last question for you,shelly, before we wrap up for
today, and that is how can ourlisteners connect with you?
Is that linkedin uh emailaddress?
Are you all over the tiktoksand instagrams of this world?
And, of course, how can ourlisteners learn more about
(22:22):
asocia?
Speaker 3 (22:23):
yeah, so, um, I am not uh very active on social
media outside of linkedin, sothat's for my own personal
mental health, but, um, linkedinI'm pretty active on, so find
me on linkedin.
I'm happy to connect with you.
Also, you can learn more aboutAssocia at our website,
associaconlinecom, and we'rehappy to also entertain any
(22:46):
future clients as part of that.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Wonderful and, as always, there will be links in
the show notes so you can learnmore and connect with Shelley
and check out as out Associatethrough those.
That just leaves me to say fortoday Shelley, thank you very
much for being my guest.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Thanks, phil, it was a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
And listeners as always.
Until next time, happy working.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Thanks for listening to the HR Chat Show.
If you enjoyed this episode,why not subscribe and listen to
some of the hundreds of episodespublished by HR Gazette and
remember for what's new in theworld of work?
Subscribe to the show, followus on social media and visit
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Welcome to the HR Chat Show, one of the world's
most downloaded and sharedpodcasts designed for HR pros,
talent execs, tech enthusiastsand business leaders.
For hundreds more episodes andwhat's new in the world of work,
subscribe to the show, followus on social media and visit
hrgazettecom and visit.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
HRGazettecom.
Welcome to another episode ofthe HR Chat Show.
Hello listeners, this is yourhost today, Bill Bannum, and
joining me on the show today isShelley O'Keefe, Executive Vice
President, Chief Human ResourceOfficer over at Associer.
(00:44):
As a seasoned executive,Shelley has worked across
industries including healthcare,financial services and
professional services, bringinga holistic and data-driven
approach to solving complexbusiness challenges.
With more than 300 branchoffices across North America,
Associa is building the futureof community for more than 7.5
million residents worldwide.
(01:06):
That sounds pretty cool.
Hey, Shelley, how are you doingtoday?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
I'm great, Bill.
It's early on a Monday morning,so hopefully I've had enough
coffee to keep it entertainingtoday.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yes, shelley is very, very kind and gracious to
record with me first thing on aMonday morning.
So we'll go easy on you,shelley, first thing on a Monday
morning.
So we'll go easy on you, shelly.
Shelly, you've had a richcareer spanning HR, marketing,
communications andorganizational development.
How has this multi-disciplinaryapproach and background shaped
(01:37):
what you do as a CHRO over atAssociate?
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Yeah, great question.
The common thread through myentire background is human
behavior.
So when I was in university,that's what I studied.
I studied psychology.
I thought maybe I'd take adifferent path in the corporate
environment but ended up inlearning and development and
really loved the idea of shapinghuman behavior to impact an
organization, but also to impactthose leaders' lives, and so
(02:04):
really started in that direction.
And then leadership development.
Learning and development isn'tenough.
It has to operate in a broaderecosystem, and so I got into
change management and intocommunications.
I had an opportunity to play inmarketing for a little bit.
That was really fun and it'sreally the flip side of the coin
.
So marketing is customerbehavior instead of employee
(02:25):
behavior.
But it's still how do youinfluence human behavior towards
the goals that you're trying toachieve?
And then all of that seemed tobe a natural pathway into the HR
role.
So there is a common thread,even though it's it's been
through different disciplines inthe corporate environment.
But it's always served mereally well, although the irony
(02:46):
is I still, to this day, I'venever taken a business class.
So you know, today I operate,you know, in the C-suite and
spend a lot of time inspreadsheets and with data and
have had to be a littleself-taught and also choose some
mentors to really learn some ofthe finance and accounting
components of business.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Very good, and what's the best thing about your job?
Speaker 3 (03:09):
The best thing about my job is the people I get to
work with every day, and I feellike that's a very cliche answer
, but one of the questions thatyou and I talked about that may
come later is what are thethings that are important for HR
leaders to bring to the tableso that they can have a seat at
the table?
And certainly data and thosecomponents and AI and everyone's
talking about all of thosepieces, but what I love the most
(03:31):
is to be the human at the tableand to be the person who has
the tough conversations with theother executives, that that
hold space for the employees,that make sure that in all of
the conversations that we'reconsidering that our business,
especially, is people servingpeople, and so how do we make
sure that?
Certainly, we need to evolveand we need to look forward and
(03:55):
consider all of these greatadvances in technology, but how
do we treat one another?
How do we help our employeesget there?
How do we think about this veryhuman organization as we plan
for the future?
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Okay, love it.
Thank you very much.
Now, then, you've done somepretty cool things in your
career so far.
So, for example, in past rolesyou've achieved an 80% internal
promotion rate.
That's very impressive,congratulations.
What specific programs orpractices helped cultivate such
a strong internal talentpipeline?
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Yeah, at the time that we really set off on that
initiative, we were having a lotof challenges bringing people
into our organization and havingthem be successful.
Our organization we servecommunities.
It's a very niche industry andwe are the largest in the
industry and therefore it's atough talent pool, and so we
were pulling people fromhospitality and other like
(04:50):
industries and really not havinga lot of success, and so we
started to ask ourselves whatmakes a leader here successful?
So, instead of going out andfinding different leadership
competency models, we decided toreally work with our internal
leaders and the ones that hadhad great careers and been
really successful in ourorganization, and we said what
(05:13):
makes you successful?
Tell us the traits.
Let's study all of these leadersand develop a competency model
out of their leadership thatthen we can use to then train
internally.
And that's really thefoundation.
So we just used our internalmodels, we developed a
competency framework and then wedeveloped our leadership
(05:33):
training around that, and one ofthe key positions that we
focused on is really our branchpresident position.
So you mentioned we have over300 branches across the world
and we looked at that branchpresident position and said, hey
, how do we make sure that weare being successful at training
and preparing those futureleaders for those roles, and so
(05:57):
we developed, using thatcompetency model.
We developed an eight-monthlearning development program
that put them through a lot ofdifferent experiences so that
when an opportunity for themcame available they were ready,
and that really helped changeour promotion rate, certainly in
that position.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Okay.
So internal hires are great fora whole bunch of things.
I mean, you hinted there atknowledge transfer, for example.
You know, if you can retainthose people and you're giving
them all that wonderful training, why wouldn't you want to then
develop them into leaders?
But would you also agree thatit's important to have fresh
blood?
It's important to bring newperspectives into the company
whenever you can, because maybethat enriches company culture
(06:37):
100%.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
So what's interesting is so we went through that
process and we flipped.
You know we were hiring about80% externally, we flipped it to
about 80% internally.
Where we're landing today is,to your point, a little, some of
(07:04):
that fresh blood, as you wouldsay, or fresh thinking that
really helps move theorganization in a different
direction.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the HR Chat
Podcast.
If you enjoy the audio contentwe produce, you'll love our
articles on the HR Gazette.
Learn more at HRGazettecom.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
And now back to the show we are totally on the same
page here.
Uh, you've also been involvedat companies where you've helped
reduce turnover, uh, by around30.
Again, congratulations, uh.
That is no small feat.
What, uh?
What were some of theapproaches or mindsets that
(07:44):
helped you reach that kind ofmilestone?
Speaker 3 (07:47):
You know, interestingly, one of the things
that really influenced mythinking in this area was I was
at a benefits conference andeverybody was talking about all
of the new benefits and how wecan structure a better benefit
plan to retain employees.
And there was someone at thatconference who was speaking and
she said the benefit packagethat you're offering is
essentially worthless if youdon't have the right culture and
(08:09):
leader in place.
That you're offering isessentially worthless if you
don't have the right culture andleader in place.
And you know that reallyresonated with me.
Ironically, like I said, it wasa benefits conference, but you
know.
So, going back to what we justtalked about, I mean leadership
is absolutely the first thingthat we feel like drives that
turnover rate, and so, byfocusing on helping our leaders
be more effective and be betterin their roles, we absolutely
(08:31):
believe that we saw a drop inturnover that was correlated
with that.
Secondly, you know, when Ithink about turnover, I think we
get a little too complicatedsometimes and what we have done
is go directly to our employeesand just ask them.
I don't use a built out surveyfrom a Gallup or any of the
they're all great.
(08:52):
All of the different vendorsthat offer.
The surveys are great.
What we do is we do a pollsurvey twice a year and we ask
our employees very specificquestions about what they're
looking for for their career andtheir benefit package for in
their work environment, and thenwhat we look to do is improve
(09:13):
all of those pieces based ontheir feedback.
So it's a little.
It seems very simple to me, butat the same time, I think
sometimes we get enamored bysome of the bigger initiatives
and some of the sexy things andwe forget that.
Why don't we just go ask peopleand take their feedback and use
it to then improve their workenvironment?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
And in terms of collecting that feedback, is it
more authentic, is it moregenuine when it's anonymous?
Speaker 3 (09:42):
That's an interesting question.
So we've struggled back andforth with those different
components and, you know, Ithink the sign of a healthy
culture is the ability to beable to feel that you're safe
enough to express your opinion.
We keep it and we keep oursurvey anonymous because we want
people to be as transparent asthey possibly can.
(10:05):
At the same time, we strugglewith that idea of you know which
way.
Which way do you go there?
So it's a hard question toanswer.
I don't know that I have theexact answer on that one.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
All right, and that's an answer coming from
experience, though Thank youvery much.
Now that you've been involvedin successful M&A integration,
Shelley, what are the mostcritical steps that HR leaders
should take to align culturesand ensure a smooth transition
post merger?
Because that's no small feat,is it?
You know that can involve, forexample, a very different
(10:38):
company culture.
Focus on the go forward.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
It can.
Yeah, it can be.
I mean, I think you know when Ithought about that question, so
we're not acquiring kind ofacquisitions that are the same
size, requiring anywhere fromsmall acquisitions, to, you know
, companies that have a thousand, roughly a thousand, 2000
employees, so somewhere in thatrange.
(11:00):
And when we do that it's reallyimportant we don't get involved
pre-close, so we're not fullyinvolved in the due diligence
process.
I know that's like the Holygrail for HR is, so we're not
fully involved in the duediligence process.
I know that's like the holygrail for HR is, you know, be
involved in due diligence andall of the things.
But we get involved after theclose and we start to talk with
the leaders.
And I think there are two thingsthat I really focus on.
(11:22):
The first one is how are ourcultures similar?
We tend to again, our industryis niche and we are looking for
cultures that are similar toours and leaders that have built
businesses that are similar toour values, and so we share our
values, we ask them to do thesame and we focus on the
similarities there.
And then to really yourquestion.
(11:42):
I think the other piece is it'snot about pushing our culture
on them, it's about celebratingthe best of what they already
have and the best of what wehave and bringing that together
and bringing that forward.
So we take a slower integrationapproach.
We don't walk in day one andsay you're part of Associa, now
you will start to integrate, butwe keep those owners and
sellers pretty heavily involvedin the process so that they can
(12:06):
help make those decisions andthey can help walk their
employees through the changemanagement that's required.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
So you've got lots of employees in lots of different
locations 300 differentlocations, as we've mentioned a
couple of times so far.
How do you go about measuringbut also sustaining culture when
a company is geographicallydispersed and as diverse as a
socio?
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Great question.
So we have to acknowledge thatall of those 300-ish locations
have their own cultures andsubcultures within them, and yet
we want a broaderorganizational culture, and so
we built different things alongthe way.
One of the things that we're afan of is something called the
Asocia book.
It's a cultural icon.
It's actually a little bookthat houses our values and some
(12:52):
of our key principles that wereally live by.
We share that with all of ouremployees.
We share it with new employeeswhen they join as well.
It's just this is what you'rejoining, this is what you're a
part of.
At the same time, the question,the word is interesting when you
say sustaining, because I don'tknow that it's about sustaining
.
I think it's about evolving.
Interesting when you saysustaining, because I don't know
that it's about sustaining.
(13:12):
I think it's about evolving,and so, as we think about you
know where our culture has beenand where I started, so I joined
this organization in 2014.
You know, 10, 11 years later,the culture has to evolve and it
has to look at.
You know, before we reallyfocused on, one of our key
values is family, and that onegets a little bit of a bad rap
these days, by the way.
Is the workplace a family ornot?
(13:32):
But given that we are aprivately held company that has
a heavy family dynamic to it,family is one of our core values
.
We focused heavily on thatinitially.
We're really starting to focuson service and look at now how
do we create more of aservice-oriented culture?
We've built a strong family.
We've focused on how peoplereally enjoy the people that
(13:54):
they work with.
How do we use that as astrength to then focus more
deeply on service and how do weserve one another and serve our
clients?
And so our culture is alwaysevolving and we always involve
all of our team members, all ofour leaders across the
organization in all of thosepieces.
It's not something that wecreate at corporate and push
(14:14):
down.
It's something that everyone'sinvolved in in the process.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
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Speaker 2 (14:57):
Okay, we are flying through these questions and
answers today, shelley.
Very good, very impressed.
I don't think this is the firsttime you've done a podcast
interview.
Okay, let's talk aboutsomething we can't help but talk
about on this show everyepisode.
At the moment, I've justactually spent the last couple
of hours preparing a giant decktalking about AI in the world of
work.
So let's talk about AI andautomation.
(15:18):
Specifically, with AI andautomation impacting workplaces
across industries, how isAssocier preparing its workforce
for what's next, and what roledoes HR play in that
transformation?
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I'm certainly not an AI expert, but one of the things
that you know we've talkedabout, I mean AI has been part
of all of our organizations fora really long time.
I think the newsy part of itmore lately is generative AI, as
opposed to some of the machinelearning and pieces that we've
had in place.
Quite know, you mentioned, weserve seven and a half million
(15:58):
residents worldwide.
We process then all of thosepayments and then all of the
community invoices centrally sothat we can make sure that our
communities run.
We've had AI as part of thoseprocessing centers for years.
Now we're trying to build itinto the front end.
If you can imagine and I don'tknow, we're not in the UK today,
(16:21):
but there are a lot of Europeancommunities that are served I'm
not currently yet by ASSOCIA,but one day I'm sure.
But if you can imagine,post-covid community management
has gotten more and moredifficult, so people have gotten
a little angrier.
People expect service a littlequicker.
(16:41):
Part of that is driven by thetechnology and so we're looking
at different AI components ofhow can we take some of that
more rote, more basic componentsof that community manager's job
off of them so they can spendmore time with their board of
directors on more strategic work.
So the way I always think aboutAI and the way it helped me, not
(17:05):
just in our organization butalso in my function, was I
attended a conference years agoand again, this was probably
2018.
And people were already talkingabout AI.
It was before, probably 2018.
And people were already talkingabout AI it was before again
generative AI and how can HR useit.
And the leader of that sessionsaid something that flipped it
for me and he said stop thinkingabout this big concept of how
(17:27):
can you use AI and startthinking about what are the
really painful repetitive tasksthat your team is doing that
could be automated.
Repetitive tasks that your teamis doing that could be
automated, that you could thinkabout using different tools to
help free them up.
That helped me kind of flip itand it had me go right back to
my team and we automaticallystarted looking at different
(17:49):
ways to do that, and I thinkwe've got to flip the question
in different ways, both forourselves but also for our team
members.
So when you said, how do wehelp our teams?
We have to help them get morecomfortable with it and familiar
with it and show them thebenefit of it that it can help
reduce some of this moreadministrative, more back office
functionality, so that you canfocus more on again the people
(18:09):
side of your role.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
So does that mean that the best companies are
companies that offer uhopportunities to reskill in ai?
Uh, you know, there are lots ofstats out there saying that by
2030, 30 of jobs that exist atthe moment will not be there
anymore because they'll bereplaced by ai.
Uh, bill gates, just a coupleof weeks ago, as we record this
particular episode, said that uh, within probably 10 years, a
(18:33):
lot of people might be lookingat a two-day work week because
AI has replaced so much.
Are the best companies, thecompanies that really value and
want to develop their people,are those, the companies that
are offering ways to reskill orupskill in AI.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
I mean, I certainly think that is the best approach
for companies.
I think it's not somethingwe're currently focused on.
I think it's interesting to sayyou focused on.
I think it's interesting to sayyou know AI is replacing this
many jobs by a certain year.
We've all heard that.
At the same time, then what arethose employees being
re-skilled on?
Is it more of the human side ofthe business, like, what are
(19:10):
then the next skills that thatorganization then needs, as
opposed to those jobs are beingreplaced, fully replaced.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
So the question for me, too, is not just hey, how,
how can companies reskill, butwhat are they reskilling for
specifically, as we look at thistransition, yeah, and I'm yet
to hear a good answer in termsof how we are going to keep all
those people in the workplacewith AI taking over so much.
You hinted at it earlier on.
I do want to cover this withyou briefly before we wrap up
(19:39):
for today.
Board relations and executiveinfluence.
This is an important ongoingthread in our chit chats on the
HR chat show around bringingpeople, leaders and HR leaders
to the top table and making surethat they have a voice that is
actually heard and respected andrecognized and acted upon by
the C-suite.
You've worked closely withboards and C-suite peers, of
(20:00):
course.
What advice do you have forother HR leaders looking to
build stronger influence andcredibility at the executive
level?
Speaker 3 (20:07):
I think it's twofold, and you mentioned I spoke about
one of them.
That'll be my second one.
I think the first one is justfirst of all, you have to know
your organization.
Be my second one.
I think the first one is just,first of all, you have to know
your organization.
I think I'm humble enough toknow that I am a good CHRO for
this organization, but maybe notfor every organization and so
what are my strengths and whatdo I bring to the table, and how
does that fit with what theorganization needs?
(20:28):
So that would be the first oneis just know yourself, know your
organization, and make surethat there's a good alignment
between those two.
And then, secondly, I do think,being that human at the table I
know that AI, and I know thatdata is critical.
I think that's almost tablestakes.
You have to be able to speakthe language of the business to
sit at the table.
(20:49):
That's just table stakes.
The next level, though, is howdo you bring yourself?
And then how do you be thatperson at the table that A has
relationships with all of theleaders and B can have the tough
conversations?
I think one of the things that Ienjoy most.
(21:09):
Going back to one of your priorquestions about my job is
having those tough conversationsand being the person that
people know that if you come tome and ask me a question, you're
going to get my opinion.
I'm not playing politics.
I'm actually here to make theorganization better, and that
means to make the executive teamfunctional and make the C-suite
(21:30):
a place that people wanna be in, and so I do think that's part
of this specific role and makingsure, yes, you have the table
stakes and you can speak thebusiness, but you also sometimes
are the.
This sounds terrible, but I'vehad it said to me multiple times
, so I'm going to say it.
Sometimes you are the onlyadult at the table, and being
(21:54):
that adult at the table isactually a critical function for
the chro I love and respectthat approach.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
I suspect that's why the wonderful jeff wold hey,
jeff, how you doing if you'relistening today?
Uh did an intro, uh to makethis uh conversation happen
today.
So thank you very much, jeff.
One last question for you,shelly, before we wrap up for
today, and that is how can ourlisteners connect with you?
Is that linkedin uh emailaddress?
Are you all over the tiktoksand instagrams of this world?
And, of course, how can ourlisteners learn more about
(22:22):
asocia?
Speaker 3 (22:23):
yeah, so, um, I am not uh very active on social
media outside of linkedin, sothat's for my own personal
mental health, but, um, linkedinI'm pretty active on, so find
me on linkedin.
I'm happy to connect with you.
Also, you can learn more aboutAssocia at our website,
associaconlinecom, and we'rehappy to also entertain any
(22:46):
future clients as part of that.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Wonderful and, as always, there will be links in
the show notes so you can learnmore and connect with Shelley
and check out as out Associatethrough those.
That just leaves me to say fortoday Shelley, thank you very
much for being my guest.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Thanks, phil, it was a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
And listeners as always.
Until next time, happy working.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Thanks for listening to the HR Chat Show.
If you enjoyed this episode,why not subscribe and listen to
some of the hundreds of episodespublished by HR Gazette and
remember for what's new in theworld of work?
Subscribe to the show, followus on social media and visit
hrgazettecom.
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