5.21.24 HR Pathways and Perspectives

Daniel Horgan / Lana Williams / Michael Nemeth - another fantastic HR Pathways and Perspectives call tonight!! SO much valuable knowledge packed into 60 minutes!

We heard from several engaging speakers:

- Jane Marvin; Board Member, HR Visionary, Consultant and Senior HR Leader

- Manuel Valdez; Talent Development Leader, Storyteller, Facilitator, and Culture Enthusiast

- Prudence Pitter, MBA, SPHR, GPHR; Global Head of HR, Automotive & Manufacturing & HCLS at Amazon Web Services

- Mark Blankenship, Ph.D.; Retired EVP, Chief of Staff & Strategy at Jack in the Box

So many takeaways... here are mine! (and if you haven't joined one of these calls yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

You can register here: https://www.shrm.org/membership/students/mentorship-experience-events)

1. One thing that is currently lacking within organizations is CONNECTION and ENGAGEMENT. Organizations need to figure out how to build connections, drive inclusion, and empowerment of their employee base. The organizations that master this will WIN. (Jane)

2. How do we build authentic connections? Be willing to be open, be vulnerable, be empathetic, and accept that you may not have ALL the answers! (Jane)

3. How do you stand out when applying to roles right now? The market is extremely challenging right now. Best approach would be to use your network whether it is school, LinkedIn, etc. to see if you can find someone that can help get you in front of the recruiter or hiring manager! (Jane)

4. It is important to REMEMBER WHERE YOU CAME FROM! Your front line workers are probably experiencing your company values more than anyone else in the business. (Manuel)

5. Remember that your career will not be just one direction. It could be side to side, up and down, etc. This will allow you to learn and progress. (Manuel)

6. Don't be afraid to take risks. Make sure you are hungry to learn and don't be afraid to try something new because it can help provide insights on what you want to do in your career and what you may not want to do. (Manuel)

7. How to find the best organization to work for? Make sure you RESEARCH organizations and look for where your values show up. Be very clear about what you will and won't do and be able to talk about how you will do it. Ask yourself: "Is the organization doing things you love the most or are they doing things you DON'T want to do? (Manuel)

7. How do you understand the business better? Talk to your peers. Find out what their day to day looks like, what is important to them, and ask them who else they think you should talk to! Connect with others and make sure you are having NATURAL conversations. Make sure they know you just want to LEARN! (Prudence)

8. What aspects of HR will evolve with AI? Data and storytelling will be more powerful when using AI. " The person who leans into AI, will replace the person who does not." (I loved this quote! Might as well learn AI because it isn't going anywhere!) (Prudence)

9. How to progress your career in HR: Maintain curiosity and communication; what are things you are not a part of that you should be, are there any external publications I should be looking into? (Prudence)

10. It is important to maintain human connection with those you work with. When you know that people care about YOU as a PERSON, rather than just your head/hands, it allows you to feel like you have a sense of belonging. Generating emotional connections with others will drive performance, commitment, and engagement. (Mark)

11. Importance of AI: We need to learn AI, give administrative functions and people analytics to AI so we can focus on strategic initiatives within HR. Research AI online because there are tons of resources. Network with others at work who use AI to learn more and reach out to organizations to see if you can meet with someone to learn more about AI. (Mark)

12. How do you know you have good data? You need to have a framework that you are working from, have clean data, and use the right statistics and modeling to test your hypothesis. (Mark)

Thank you all so much! Hope to see you in the next one!