In this episode of the HR Mixtape podcast, host Shari Simpson sits down with Jamy Conrad, Vice President of People and HR at TrustRadius. They delve into the evolving role of HR professionals, focusing on the critical transition from tactical support to strategic partnership in the workplace. This conversation is particularly timely as organizations navigate the complexities of employee experience and the integration of AI in HR practices. Jamy shares her unique insights on fostering a culture of belonging and leveraging soft skills as power skills to drive business outcomes.
Listener Takeaways:
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Learn how to balance employee advocacy with organizational goals for mutual benefit.
-
Discover why developing an HR mission and values statement is essential for internal branding.
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Explore strategies for embracing AI as a tool to enhance HR efficiency and effectiveness.
Hit “Play” to gain valuable insights that can transform your HR approach!
Guest(s): Jamy Conrad, Vice President of People and HR, TrustRadius
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
You're listening to the HR Mixtape. Your podcast with
the perfect mix of practical advice, thought-provoking interviews, and
stories that just hit different so that work doesn't have to feel,
well, like work. Now, your host,
Joining me today is Jamy Conrad, Vice President of People and
HR at TrustRadius. Jamy is a seasoned HR executive with
(00:24):
over 15 years of leadership experience who transitioned to
the tech industry to join the TrustRadius team after a successful tenure
Jamy, thank you so much for jumping on the podcast with me today. Yeah, thanks
So we were just chatting and we'll actually be able to see each other
(00:45):
next week. We'll both be attending HR West. So I'm pretty excited about
that. And you have an amazing
role at an amazing company, something that Paylocity actually
looks at, TrustRadius. And I'd love if you could start with maybe you
sharing just a little bit about your background and how you got to where you're at right
Yeah, and just so you know, we love Paylocity. So this is
(01:08):
a really exciting for us to be a part of this. So
I am, you know, currently working with Trust Radius and
the story, you know, I'm one of those weird
people that actually wanted a career in HR. I
started in a customer service type of role in manufacturing,
(01:30):
and I was always partnering with our HR team. They
were growing, and so whenever they wanted to try something new before
they'd roll it out to the entire organization, they'd partner with
me and my team, and we'd try it for them, give them feedback, and then
they'd make adjustments and decisions on how and when and why
to roll it out. And I was always just really asking a
(01:51):
lot of questions. What are you doing that for? What does that mean? Why is
this important? And I was just really intrigued by
it. And so left that organization, went
to work at a small mom and pop shop in the
DME, durable medical equipment industry. And
they were growing. And I said, I really want a career in HR.
(02:13):
So if you'll give me a chance, All
I'm asking for is a chance. I have no background, no
experience, no college degree, but if you give me a chance and
give me six months to see if I can do it, I sure
would appreciate it. And they were gracious enough to do that. And six
months turned into almost 10 years with that organization building
(02:35):
their HR department. from the ground up, their
processes, procedures, the department itself, how
we supported the organization, the strategy, and
did that for almost 10 years before moving on to work in
the hospital system, not knowing that that was going to lead to
being in a hospital system during the global pandemic, but That's
(02:58):
the way it works sometimes. And was with
them for a couple of years. I was promoted
about halfway through my time with them to the corporate team, and
then moved to Trust Radius to learn a
different industry. So working now in the tech sector, which
is the extreme opposite of healthcare, and
(03:25):
I love that. I love your journey. And I actually cut my teeth in
HR in healthcare. So it is totally different than working
for a tech company, which I do now as well. So
I feel that in my soul, that journey that you went through. And what
a unique perspective to go from kind of building an
organization and really trying to have that passion. for
(03:46):
HR to being in a more strategic role now, which is what we're going
to talk about is, is how do HR professionals make
that transition, both from a mental perspective and
an actual doing the work perspective from that tactical support mindset
to that strategic partner mindset. So let's
just start there. What is the biggest mindset shift that either
(04:08):
you had to experience or that you talk about that HR needs to
I think in my career, one of the biggest mindset shifts has been
going from, you know, this idea of employee advocate
or working for the organization that it has to be, you
know, one or the other. And our role is so much walking that middle
(04:31):
line, right? Trying to balance both sides. But,
you know, instead of it being like a constant battle, the
mindset shift is around how do you create it so that it's a mutually beneficial
experience and relationship between the two entities. It
shouldn't be working against each other, it should be working together to try
(04:53):
and get to the resolution. And
as I think about major
mindset shifts, I've had a lot of opportunities to lead through a
lot of different situations, some crisis, a
lot of M&A. And so I think the next future
of work mindset shift that we're kind of going through is that
(05:16):
we go from, I think as
leadership, we need to go into this like from productivity to
performance. You know, we've seen so many
changes happen in the last five years and the demands of
work, you know, they've just shifted. And
a lot of that was because of the pandemic. Some of
(05:36):
it not, some of it just in the evolution of business. But
I think it's really important that we talk about like, in
order to retain top talent, what is that going to look like going forward?
And so, you know, is
it really about how many hours they're putting in and
how many emails they're sending or receiving? Is it
(05:58):
about butts in seats that focus, that's
important to focus on? Or is it about what's the impact that
they're making and what value did they deliver? And
then designing your systems around it, whether that's your
performance management system, your culture, your vision,
and normalizing things that are like stress and
(06:20):
recovery and some of the harder, more
vulnerable things that we've never talked about at work. So
I think that, you know, future of work is moving into this thriving,
not just surviving mindset. And productivity
is just a number and performance is the mindset. And
so I think if companies and leaders start to embrace that
(06:42):
shift, that they'll be the ones shaping the future of work, not
Well, and it's such a different view to kind of
lead the charge instead of responding to the charge. You
know, as you moved into a more strategic role, what
was something that really surprised you that maybe you
(07:02):
didn't quite understand prior to being in a more strategic role?
What was something that surprised me? Yeah. Oh,
well, there's
Yes, at HR, I said this before on the podcast, but I
feel like we're all writing a book in our head of all the things we've experienced. So
(07:28):
Well, I was a little surprised at some
of the things that you still are required to say to other
adults in a workplace that you didn't think
you would have to say, or you maybe even never thought you'd say to your
children. And I try to be really respectful when
I say that, but it's true. And that it
(07:51):
even the more surprised me that it doesn't get easier at the executive level
than it does, than it is with your frontline employees. So
I think the way that I've just worked through that
is to remind everybody how important feeling like
that you belong and that our employees belong are,
(08:12):
how important that is for organizations and for the culture.
So when we think about how we respond in certain situations
or the words that we're using or how we're approaching it,
taking that idea that it's important that we consider everybody's
perspectives and maybe not necessarily censor what
(08:33):
we're about to say or how we're going to respond, but
really think through the long-term impacts of what that's going to have on
I too have been surprised over the years, the
things that executives still kind of lean on HR
for, even if you're an equal, even if you're at
that executive level. I'm not sure
(08:56):
if I shared this story before in the podcast, but in a
previous role, previous company, I had a scenario where an
employee, high level employee came in and just happened to have a
rip in the back of their pants, just to happen. And
one of the owners of the company came up and said something to me like, hey, you need to
go tell this employee. And I was like, did they walk past
(09:16):
you? Did you notice it? And they were like, well, yeah, but I came to tell you to
say something. I was like, that's even more awkward that you came
and told me to go talk to this employee and I didn't even see it.
And granted, of course, the employee was embarrassed and was like, oh my gosh, I'm so
sorry. I was like, well, you didn't do it on purpose, but you probably don't
want to walk around like that all day. But I was shocked.
(09:37):
I was like, you're a co-owner of this company, and
you should be able to say those types of things that typically
kind of fall into that HR realm. So it leads
me to the next question of, if you're in an HR
role where Maybe you're an HR department of one, maybe
you feel like you're still fighting to have a seat at
(10:00):
the table. How do you start to show up in
a strategic way instead of having that mentality of fighting
for it? Because I think sometimes we get stuck in that I have to
fight for it instead of, let me just start showing up strategically.
And then my credibility is there and I can start to
talk about some of the things that I understand from a business acumen standpoint.
(10:22):
I think this speaks to some of the challenges that we have had
in our profession as a whole. As HR leaders,
one of the things that I hear about is that fight for a seat at
the table. I hear it a lot. And also
the burnout that's happened as a result of that in our profession and
(10:43):
how we're tired of fighting. We're tired of having to have these conversations.
We're tired of trying to justify doing the right thing.
One of the things I think we forget as HR professionals that are
that these soft skills are power skills, and
there are superpower skills, right. And so we
(11:04):
may feel like there's a lot of things that we just should do, or
it's the right thing to do, or, you know, it's what's
important to people in general. But we forget
that that's not everybody else's skill set. And while our gut
instincts tell us something and our superpowers
are to be able to see five steps down the road on what that
(11:25):
one word or what that one saying or when that one decision is
going to be, that is not the strengths of
all of the leaders around us. They have their own strengths. They have their own
skill sets. And it's our job to be
able to take what we know is the right things to do
and the right and what our gut instincts are and be
(11:46):
able to translate that into business, right?
And what does that look like? How does that feel? What
are those metrics that this is gonna impact or could impact and
how do you justify some of those things? And so instead
of it being, a fight or a struggle, it's
the ability to take those things that we inherently know
(12:09):
a lot or we've experienced and being able to translate that
into the business reason for why we're saying the
things we are or showing up in the way that we are, whether that's through
metrics, people data, KPIs, OCARES, whatever it
is, But having that data, telling
that story, and then creating solutions that are
(12:32):
going to help with business outcomes or prevent
business outcomes from being impacted in a negative
Yeah, and it makes me think about how HR still
probably is in this space where we need to kind of
develop our own brand internally in a lot of organizations. I
(12:53):
think, you know, some of the other offices, right,
your office of your CFO or your IT or those
types of things have more clear defined expectations as
they come in the door. And sometimes we get stuck in
the squishy category or the, you know, the fluffy category.
But you're right, we have a really unique perspective that
(13:14):
we can bring to the table. And if we marry
that with the business acumen that we can talk about the
decisions that are being made and how they're going to impact not only
talent from a personal perspective, but also
from a business perspective, that really is where we're going to shine.
But I think it starts with, in some ways, building
(13:36):
that internal brand, that HR brand. What are
some steps that you've either taken or you'd advised on to help HR
Well, I think you have to be really clear. One
of the things that HR professionals sometimes struggle
with is, especially when
(13:58):
they find themselves in the opportunity to learn from good, bad examples, is
where they draw the line and what's
the right thing to do when it doesn't matter
what the right thing to do as you're being told what to do. And
so I think it really boils down to starting with
What are your own boundaries? What are your own lines
(14:21):
that you won't cross? What does it mean to your integrity? And
start with those non-negotiables for
yourself as a leader and an HR professional. And
then you can take that and help to build your department identity
around that. So what do you want to be known for? What
(14:42):
what pieces of your integrity do you want
to be included in your HR department mission statement and
vision and values? for your team. I
know for me personally, I very much lean into
growth mindset, continuous improvement, and
customer service concierge. So white
(15:03):
glove, customer service, and if you're partnering with me, I expect the
same. And the
idea of we're going to build a culture that you
can rely on, you can trust. And that starts with who
I am and what I bring to the table. So if
you marry that with growth mindset, there's no right or wrong answers.
(15:26):
There's a way that we can approach this in
a very professional way. And
then you start to develop, you know, how does that operationalize and
how do you show up with those things? So if I am a growth mindset
kind of person and I lean into that, then I'm going to
be putting in all kinds of feedback loops so that there's multiple
(15:49):
different ways for you to communicate with me in a safe
environment. Or in a safe way for you so
that we feel comfortable with. Yes, we're receiving
that information back. We're receiving that feedback in doesn't
matter if it's positive, negative or neutral, then operationalizing what
we do with it, how we communicate about it and what the action
(16:11):
plans and results are around that. Same with the customer service.
If that concierge is what that looks like, then how
am I operationalizing that? Where are my touch points
that are above and beyond what somebody would expect? I
had a manager who always said, take it to the nth degree.
(16:32):
There's no limit on where that nth ends, right? So
if there's one more thing you can do, one more thing you can do, one more thing
you can do from a customer service mindset,
then do all those things without being told to do all those
things, but show up in that way. And so I've embraced those
ideas in developing what it means
(16:54):
to have an
And I want to go back to where you started at the beginning of that with
you, you said it, the HR mission and value statement
for your department. So many times we miss that. And
(17:14):
that is such a good point to help govern what you're going to do,
because you might be listening and go, yeah, no, I'm not a
white glove approach. Our team is not that that's not how we
approach HR. That's okay. How do you approach HR?
Yeah. What is your, your mission value, right? That might not
be the right thing for your team or your organization, but
(17:35):
what is? And then once you know that, like you said, you can operationalize
it and then you can go back to it. When, when something comes up, you can say,
Hey, listen, this is our mission vision values. This is what we stand for.
This is how we're going to show up for you. Appreciate the feedback. We're
not going to do that or whatever it is, or appreciate your feedback. We
hadn't thought about that, we're going to level up now. Such a
(17:56):
good point to think about if you don't have that for your department. Even
if you're an HR department of one, go ahead and write that out for yourself because
it goes back to what you just said. The core of who you are,
Yeah, and it makes it really easy so that when those things
come in, there's no question what lines you're not going
(18:18):
to cross. Yeah. And where you stand and how
Yeah, I want to switch gears for a little bit because being that
you work at a tech company that sees
a lot of information about other tech companies, you sit
in a space where I'm sure you're seeing tons of stuff right now about
(18:40):
AI and HR. In fact, next week, you'll be at HR West
talking about that on a panel. So I'd love to get just your perspective
on that, because I think there's still a lot of
there's either a lot of fear out there or there's a lot of trepidation
about using it? Or how do we use it? How do we stay safe with it?
Is it going to introduce bias? Is it not? I could probably go down a whole list
(19:01):
of things that I've heard. What's kind of your experience
been in that space? Well, it's
getting adopted quickly. It's evolving quickly.
It's evolving faster than we can keep up with. I
am an advocate for the Gen
(19:24):
AI and have explained
to my other HR peers that this is a self-help tool for
you. And there's so
many different opportunities that you can lean in, even if it's just your
day-to-day administrative work and responsibilities that
will help you become more effective in your organization. So
(19:47):
if I start with just the HR lens and the HR
department specifically, there's so many employee
internal comms, job descriptions, policy drafts, project
management tools, analyzing
people data, employee sentiment. There's just
(20:08):
so many different variations and ways that you can embrace
AI just to get you started. It's
not your 100%. It's not going to take you all the way. Your
experience is still very much required. Remember
those superpowers that I mentioned a couple of minutes ago? Those
aren't going to come out in Gen AI. Those are the things that is
(20:31):
still needed from you, but there are so many opportunities to
help make your life a whole lot easier when it comes to the
implementation of Gen AI in your day-to-day and your department's operations.
And then holistically, It's going to change
the world of work. It's going to change how we approach jobs, how
(20:52):
we approach skill sets, how we approach the
way that we expect data to be analyzed. It's
just, it's having a major effect on supply
chains, it's having a major effect on healthcare outcomes. And,
and it's just getting started. So we've got a long way
(21:13):
to go. But this there's so many opportunities to jump in.
And if you haven't already, start with something small
How have you started to help your own team upskill
So I am an HR department of one, so I'm running as
fast as I can with everything that comes across my desk, just to
(21:35):
see what sticks. As far as my
influence in the organization, I am on our security
and compliance committee, and we have a Gen AI policy
in place, and it was put there in place to put guidelines around
it, but not to restrict the creativity of usage.
We want our employees to lean into?
(21:58):
How can they make their life easier? How can they improve their
outcomes? How can they improve efficiencies? How
can they make their lives feel better, you
know, and job satisfaction go up with
the use of Gen AI? And so we're
heavily leaned in. I'm heavily leaned in. from
(22:21):
a utilization and that also means
then encouraging them to take courses
around the application of Gen AI or how it actually
works and what are the different types of
AI that's out there because it's not just Gen AI. AI has
been around for a long time. This is just the latest and
(22:42):
greatest in that So learn about it, get a
certification and go to these courses where Google
Workspace and Google's got plenty of education around
what they're doing and how they're doing it. with the use of
Gen AI. So don't be afraid of it. Just learn it.
(23:03):
And there are so there really is so many free resources out
there right now in this space specifically. And
you're so right about how quickly it's moving. You know, I
think I'm already hearing people talk more about Agenic
AI instead of Gen AI. Which is just
fascinating. But I think that that you're right. It just falls
(23:24):
in your night that category like anything else, you know, we do
such a good job of watching like state law updates related
to payroll and compliance and those kinds of things. This is just one more thing
we need to add to our bucket as far as a skill set to watch and learn
about. I actually use AI every
day. I think it is a wonderful, valuable resource.
(23:46):
Um, you know, I, I just have started to play with ChatGPT's
ability to automate some tasks for you. Um, and
I started simple. Like you said, I did, you know, Hey, these are the 25 people
that I follow on LinkedIn. Send me an email when they post
so I can engage with them so I don't have to have LinkedIn up during
the day. And I'm like, This is huge. Like I don't have to go back and
(24:07):
find it. But I mean, that's such a simple example. There's so much you
can do that can help your organization. So I
really appreciate those those points. You know, as we
wrap up our conversation, I'd love to ask you to
share maybe one thing for HR professionals as
to what they can do today to be
(24:30):
Join a community. We are moving
too fast. We are expected to
know and do too much as a profession. And
there is no way that any one person can do it
by themselves. And so the more that we unite. and
share resources and we're phenomenal at
(24:52):
it, right? So if you're feeling like you're out on an island or
out on a limb by yourself, join a community, lean
into that community, get involved in that community, volunteer in
that community, share your insights, your learnings, your
experience, because we have to be in
this together. And so don't feel like you are by yourself. We
(25:13):
are here. There's lots of really great communities out
I love that. Such great advice. Well, Jamy, thank you so much
I hope you enjoyed today's episode. You can find show notes
(25:34):
and links at thehrmixtape.com. Come back
You're listening to the HR Mixtape. Your podcast with
the perfect mix of practical advice, thought-provoking interviews, and
stories that just hit different so that work doesn't have to feel,
well, like work. Now, your host,
Joining me today is Jamy Conrad, Vice President of People and
HR at TrustRadius. Jamy is a seasoned HR executive with
(00:24):
over 15 years of leadership experience who transitioned to
the tech industry to join the TrustRadius team after a successful tenure
Jamy, thank you so much for jumping on the podcast with me today. Yeah, thanks
So we were just chatting and we'll actually be able to see each other
(00:45):
next week. We'll both be attending HR West. So I'm pretty excited about
that. And you have an amazing
role at an amazing company, something that Paylocity actually
looks at, TrustRadius. And I'd love if you could start with maybe you
sharing just a little bit about your background and how you got to where you're at right
Yeah, and just so you know, we love Paylocity. So this is
(01:08):
a really exciting for us to be a part of this. So
I am, you know, currently working with Trust Radius and
the story, you know, I'm one of those weird
people that actually wanted a career in HR. I
started in a customer service type of role in manufacturing,
(01:30):
and I was always partnering with our HR team. They
were growing, and so whenever they wanted to try something new before
they'd roll it out to the entire organization, they'd partner with
me and my team, and we'd try it for them, give them feedback, and then
they'd make adjustments and decisions on how and when and why
to roll it out. And I was always just really asking a
(01:51):
lot of questions. What are you doing that for? What does that mean? Why is
this important? And I was just really intrigued by
it. And so left that organization, went
to work at a small mom and pop shop in the
DME, durable medical equipment industry. And
they were growing. And I said, I really want a career in HR.
(02:13):
So if you'll give me a chance, All
I'm asking for is a chance. I have no background, no
experience, no college degree, but if you give me a chance and
give me six months to see if I can do it, I sure
would appreciate it. And they were gracious enough to do that. And six
months turned into almost 10 years with that organization building
(02:35):
their HR department. from the ground up, their
processes, procedures, the department itself, how
we supported the organization, the strategy, and
did that for almost 10 years before moving on to work in
the hospital system, not knowing that that was going to lead to
being in a hospital system during the global pandemic, but That's
(02:58):
the way it works sometimes. And was with
them for a couple of years. I was promoted
about halfway through my time with them to the corporate team, and
then moved to Trust Radius to learn a
different industry. So working now in the tech sector, which
is the extreme opposite of healthcare, and
(03:25):
I love that. I love your journey. And I actually cut my teeth in
HR in healthcare. So it is totally different than working
for a tech company, which I do now as well. So
I feel that in my soul, that journey that you went through. And what
a unique perspective to go from kind of building an
organization and really trying to have that passion. for
(03:46):
HR to being in a more strategic role now, which is what we're going
to talk about is, is how do HR professionals make
that transition, both from a mental perspective and
an actual doing the work perspective from that tactical support mindset
to that strategic partner mindset. So let's
just start there. What is the biggest mindset shift that either
(04:08):
you had to experience or that you talk about that HR needs to
I think in my career, one of the biggest mindset shifts has been
going from, you know, this idea of employee advocate
or working for the organization that it has to be, you
know, one or the other. And our role is so much walking that middle
(04:31):
line, right? Trying to balance both sides. But,
you know, instead of it being like a constant battle, the
mindset shift is around how do you create it so that it's a mutually beneficial
experience and relationship between the two entities. It
shouldn't be working against each other, it should be working together to try
(04:53):
and get to the resolution. And
as I think about major
mindset shifts, I've had a lot of opportunities to lead through a
lot of different situations, some crisis, a
lot of M&A. And so I think the next future
of work mindset shift that we're kind of going through is that
(05:16):
we go from, I think as
leadership, we need to go into this like from productivity to
performance. You know, we've seen so many
changes happen in the last five years and the demands of
work, you know, they've just shifted. And
a lot of that was because of the pandemic. Some of
(05:36):
it not, some of it just in the evolution of business. But
I think it's really important that we talk about like, in
order to retain top talent, what is that going to look like going forward?
And so, you know, is
it really about how many hours they're putting in and
how many emails they're sending or receiving? Is it
(05:58):
about butts in seats that focus, that's
important to focus on? Or is it about what's the impact that
they're making and what value did they deliver? And
then designing your systems around it, whether that's your
performance management system, your culture, your vision,
and normalizing things that are like stress and
(06:20):
recovery and some of the harder, more
vulnerable things that we've never talked about at work. So
I think that, you know, future of work is moving into this thriving,
not just surviving mindset. And productivity
is just a number and performance is the mindset. And
so I think if companies and leaders start to embrace that
(06:42):
shift, that they'll be the ones shaping the future of work, not
Well, and it's such a different view to kind of
lead the charge instead of responding to the charge. You
know, as you moved into a more strategic role, what
was something that really surprised you that maybe you
(07:02):
didn't quite understand prior to being in a more strategic role?
What was something that surprised me? Yeah. Oh,
well, there's
Yes, at HR, I said this before on the podcast, but I
feel like we're all writing a book in our head of all the things we've experienced. So
(07:28):
Well, I was a little surprised at some
of the things that you still are required to say to other
adults in a workplace that you didn't think
you would have to say, or you maybe even never thought you'd say to your
children. And I try to be really respectful when
I say that, but it's true. And that it
(07:51):
even the more surprised me that it doesn't get easier at the executive level
than it does, than it is with your frontline employees. So
I think the way that I've just worked through that
is to remind everybody how important feeling like
that you belong and that our employees belong are,
(08:12):
how important that is for organizations and for the culture.
So when we think about how we respond in certain situations
or the words that we're using or how we're approaching it,
taking that idea that it's important that we consider everybody's
perspectives and maybe not necessarily censor what
(08:33):
we're about to say or how we're going to respond, but
really think through the long-term impacts of what that's going to have on
I too have been surprised over the years, the
things that executives still kind of lean on HR
for, even if you're an equal, even if you're at
that executive level. I'm not sure
(08:56):
if I shared this story before in the podcast, but in a
previous role, previous company, I had a scenario where an
employee, high level employee came in and just happened to have a
rip in the back of their pants, just to happen. And
one of the owners of the company came up and said something to me like, hey, you need to
go tell this employee. And I was like, did they walk past
(09:16):
you? Did you notice it? And they were like, well, yeah, but I came to tell you to
say something. I was like, that's even more awkward that you came
and told me to go talk to this employee and I didn't even see it.
And granted, of course, the employee was embarrassed and was like, oh my gosh, I'm so
sorry. I was like, well, you didn't do it on purpose, but you probably don't
want to walk around like that all day. But I was shocked.
(09:37):
I was like, you're a co-owner of this company, and
you should be able to say those types of things that typically
kind of fall into that HR realm. So it leads
me to the next question of, if you're in an HR
role where Maybe you're an HR department of one, maybe
you feel like you're still fighting to have a seat at
(10:00):
the table. How do you start to show up in
a strategic way instead of having that mentality of fighting
for it? Because I think sometimes we get stuck in that I have to
fight for it instead of, let me just start showing up strategically.
And then my credibility is there and I can start to
talk about some of the things that I understand from a business acumen standpoint.
(10:22):
I think this speaks to some of the challenges that we have had
in our profession as a whole. As HR leaders,
one of the things that I hear about is that fight for a seat at
the table. I hear it a lot. And also
the burnout that's happened as a result of that in our profession and
(10:43):
how we're tired of fighting. We're tired of having to have these conversations.
We're tired of trying to justify doing the right thing.
One of the things I think we forget as HR professionals that are
that these soft skills are power skills, and
there are superpower skills, right. And so we
(11:04):
may feel like there's a lot of things that we just should do, or
it's the right thing to do, or, you know, it's what's
important to people in general. But we forget
that that's not everybody else's skill set. And while our gut
instincts tell us something and our superpowers
are to be able to see five steps down the road on what that
(11:25):
one word or what that one saying or when that one decision is
going to be, that is not the strengths of
all of the leaders around us. They have their own strengths. They have their own
skill sets. And it's our job to be
able to take what we know is the right things to do
and the right and what our gut instincts are and be
(11:46):
able to translate that into business, right?
And what does that look like? How does that feel? What
are those metrics that this is gonna impact or could impact and
how do you justify some of those things? And so instead
of it being, a fight or a struggle, it's
the ability to take those things that we inherently know
(12:09):
a lot or we've experienced and being able to translate that
into the business reason for why we're saying the
things we are or showing up in the way that we are, whether that's through
metrics, people data, KPIs, OCARES, whatever it
is, But having that data, telling
that story, and then creating solutions that are
(12:32):
going to help with business outcomes or prevent
business outcomes from being impacted in a negative
Yeah, and it makes me think about how HR still
probably is in this space where we need to kind of
develop our own brand internally in a lot of organizations. I
(12:53):
think, you know, some of the other offices, right,
your office of your CFO or your IT or those
types of things have more clear defined expectations as
they come in the door. And sometimes we get stuck in
the squishy category or the, you know, the fluffy category.
But you're right, we have a really unique perspective that
(13:14):
we can bring to the table. And if we marry
that with the business acumen that we can talk about the
decisions that are being made and how they're going to impact not only
talent from a personal perspective, but also
from a business perspective, that really is where we're going to shine.
But I think it starts with, in some ways, building
(13:36):
that internal brand, that HR brand. What are
some steps that you've either taken or you'd advised on to help HR
Well, I think you have to be really clear. One
of the things that HR professionals sometimes struggle
with is, especially when
(13:58):
they find themselves in the opportunity to learn from good, bad examples, is
where they draw the line and what's
the right thing to do when it doesn't matter
what the right thing to do as you're being told what to do. And
so I think it really boils down to starting with
What are your own boundaries? What are your own lines
(14:21):
that you won't cross? What does it mean to your integrity? And
start with those non-negotiables for
yourself as a leader and an HR professional. And
then you can take that and help to build your department identity
around that. So what do you want to be known for? What
(14:42):
what pieces of your integrity do you want
to be included in your HR department mission statement and
vision and values? for your team. I
know for me personally, I very much lean into
growth mindset, continuous improvement, and
customer service concierge. So white
(15:03):
glove, customer service, and if you're partnering with me, I expect the
same. And the
idea of we're going to build a culture that you
can rely on, you can trust. And that starts with who
I am and what I bring to the table. So if
you marry that with growth mindset, there's no right or wrong answers.
(15:26):
There's a way that we can approach this in
a very professional way. And
then you start to develop, you know, how does that operationalize and
how do you show up with those things? So if I am a growth mindset
kind of person and I lean into that, then I'm going to
be putting in all kinds of feedback loops so that there's multiple
(15:49):
different ways for you to communicate with me in a safe
environment. Or in a safe way for you so
that we feel comfortable with. Yes, we're receiving
that information back. We're receiving that feedback in doesn't
matter if it's positive, negative or neutral, then operationalizing what
we do with it, how we communicate about it and what the action
(16:11):
plans and results are around that. Same with the customer service.
If that concierge is what that looks like, then how
am I operationalizing that? Where are my touch points
that are above and beyond what somebody would expect? I
had a manager who always said, take it to the nth degree.
(16:32):
There's no limit on where that nth ends, right? So
if there's one more thing you can do, one more thing you can do, one more thing
you can do from a customer service mindset,
then do all those things without being told to do all those
things, but show up in that way. And so I've embraced those
ideas in developing what it means
(16:54):
to have an
And I want to go back to where you started at the beginning of that with
you, you said it, the HR mission and value statement
for your department. So many times we miss that. And
(17:14):
that is such a good point to help govern what you're going to do,
because you might be listening and go, yeah, no, I'm not a
white glove approach. Our team is not that that's not how we
approach HR. That's okay. How do you approach HR?
Yeah. What is your, your mission value, right? That might not
be the right thing for your team or your organization, but
(17:35):
what is? And then once you know that, like you said, you can operationalize
it and then you can go back to it. When, when something comes up, you can say,
Hey, listen, this is our mission vision values. This is what we stand for.
This is how we're going to show up for you. Appreciate the feedback. We're
not going to do that or whatever it is, or appreciate your feedback. We
hadn't thought about that, we're going to level up now. Such a
(17:56):
good point to think about if you don't have that for your department. Even
if you're an HR department of one, go ahead and write that out for yourself because
it goes back to what you just said. The core of who you are,
Yeah, and it makes it really easy so that when those things
come in, there's no question what lines you're not going
(18:18):
to cross. Yeah. And where you stand and how
Yeah, I want to switch gears for a little bit because being that
you work at a tech company that sees
a lot of information about other tech companies, you sit
in a space where I'm sure you're seeing tons of stuff right now about
(18:40):
AI and HR. In fact, next week, you'll be at HR West
talking about that on a panel. So I'd love to get just your perspective
on that, because I think there's still a lot of
there's either a lot of fear out there or there's a lot of trepidation
about using it? Or how do we use it? How do we stay safe with it?
Is it going to introduce bias? Is it not? I could probably go down a whole list
(19:01):
of things that I've heard. What's kind of your experience
been in that space? Well, it's
getting adopted quickly. It's evolving quickly.
It's evolving faster than we can keep up with. I
am an advocate for the Gen
(19:24):
AI and have explained
to my other HR peers that this is a self-help tool for
you. And there's so
many different opportunities that you can lean in, even if it's just your
day-to-day administrative work and responsibilities that
will help you become more effective in your organization. So
(19:47):
if I start with just the HR lens and the HR
department specifically, there's so many employee
internal comms, job descriptions, policy drafts, project
management tools, analyzing
people data, employee sentiment. There's just
(20:08):
so many different variations and ways that you can embrace
AI just to get you started. It's
not your 100%. It's not going to take you all the way. Your
experience is still very much required. Remember
those superpowers that I mentioned a couple of minutes ago? Those
aren't going to come out in Gen AI. Those are the things that is
(20:31):
still needed from you, but there are so many opportunities to
help make your life a whole lot easier when it comes to the
implementation of Gen AI in your day-to-day and your department's operations.
And then holistically, It's going to change
the world of work. It's going to change how we approach jobs, how
(20:52):
we approach skill sets, how we approach the
way that we expect data to be analyzed. It's
just, it's having a major effect on supply
chains, it's having a major effect on healthcare outcomes. And,
and it's just getting started. So we've got a long way
(21:13):
to go. But this there's so many opportunities to jump in.
And if you haven't already, start with something small
How have you started to help your own team upskill
So I am an HR department of one, so I'm running as
fast as I can with everything that comes across my desk, just to
(21:35):
see what sticks. As far as my
influence in the organization, I am on our security
and compliance committee, and we have a Gen AI policy
in place, and it was put there in place to put guidelines around
it, but not to restrict the creativity of usage.
We want our employees to lean into?
(21:58):
How can they make their life easier? How can they improve their
outcomes? How can they improve efficiencies? How
can they make their lives feel better, you
know, and job satisfaction go up with
the use of Gen AI? And so we're
heavily leaned in. I'm heavily leaned in. from
(22:21):
a utilization and that also means
then encouraging them to take courses
around the application of Gen AI or how it actually
works and what are the different types of
AI that's out there because it's not just Gen AI. AI has
been around for a long time. This is just the latest and
(22:42):
greatest in that So learn about it, get a
certification and go to these courses where Google
Workspace and Google's got plenty of education around
what they're doing and how they're doing it. with the use of
Gen AI. So don't be afraid of it. Just learn it.
(23:03):
And there are so there really is so many free resources out
there right now in this space specifically. And
you're so right about how quickly it's moving. You know, I
think I'm already hearing people talk more about Agenic
AI instead of Gen AI. Which is just
fascinating. But I think that that you're right. It just falls
(23:24):
in your night that category like anything else, you know, we do
such a good job of watching like state law updates related
to payroll and compliance and those kinds of things. This is just one more thing
we need to add to our bucket as far as a skill set to watch and learn
about. I actually use AI every
day. I think it is a wonderful, valuable resource.
(23:46):
Um, you know, I, I just have started to play with ChatGPT's
ability to automate some tasks for you. Um, and
I started simple. Like you said, I did, you know, Hey, these are the 25 people
that I follow on LinkedIn. Send me an email when they post
so I can engage with them so I don't have to have LinkedIn up during
the day. And I'm like, This is huge. Like I don't have to go back and
(24:07):
find it. But I mean, that's such a simple example. There's so much you
can do that can help your organization. So I
really appreciate those those points. You know, as we
wrap up our conversation, I'd love to ask you to
share maybe one thing for HR professionals as
to what they can do today to be
(24:30):
Join a community. We are moving
too fast. We are expected to
know and do too much as a profession. And
there is no way that any one person can do it
by themselves. And so the more that we unite. and
share resources and we're phenomenal at
(24:52):
it, right? So if you're feeling like you're out on an island or
out on a limb by yourself, join a community, lean
into that community, get involved in that community, volunteer in
that community, share your insights, your learnings, your
experience, because we have to be in
this together. And so don't feel like you are by yourself. We
(25:13):
are here. There's lots of really great communities out
I love that. Such great advice. Well, Jamy, thank you so much
I hope you enjoyed today's episode. You can find show notes
(25:34):
and links at thehrmixtape.com. Come back
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