Frisky Friday 11.10.23 – Hi from the beach! ???

Frisky Fridays is a new segment of Safe For Work! Shorter, offbeat posts in addition to regular ?thought leadership? Wednesdays.

I'm writing this from Cancun, where I’ve spent the last few days at the People Ops Leaders retreat. At the conference, I gave the keynote talk and spoke on a DEI panel. The experience is giving me a lot to reflect on, but starting with a couple now:

The Value of in-person gatherings

Truly, there’s no substitute. Especially for this group, who have shouldered enormous burdens for their teams in the last ~3 years.

Pretty much every HR person I know is tired. I’m saying, People leaders really deserve a few days at a 5-star all-inclusive resort on the pristine Caribbean white sands - spending time with others who really know what it’s been like.

The future of People Leadership

In group conversations with old friends and new, a theme emerged, and it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time.?

I’m tired of the disconnect between on-the-ground People practitioners and everyone else related to this space.?

There was much frustration expressed about HR tech that over promises but underdelivers. The endless internal battles to be taken seriously, for budget/support/even appreciation. Wanting to be inspired by our industry leaders, but finding it difficult when most of them are white men talking heads who never had to start this career path from the ground up like the rest of us did.

(A pro tip for spotting this archetype, beyond race/gender: how much they talk about AI and its application to HR, in their attempts to build their thought leadership brand. If they were actually attuned to their audience they claim to serve, they would know that AI is far from 99% of practitioner’s minds, as they’re facing far pressing challenges they need real support on.)

I think the community is starting to realize something is seriously wrong with our industry, and more importantly - that it’s something to be explored (and possibly tackled) together.?

Another positive trend I’ve been seeing is the shift in? the new generation of HR tech founders, who seem much more interested in actually getting to know their users, to better serve them better, as opposed to seeing them as nuisance hurdles in the way of revenue. Strange that this is a new development, but frankly speaking, I don’t think traditional HR tech has fundamentally understood or respected their user for a long time.?

I don't know what the future holds, but the above factors and more - are the reason I am optimistic that People work is going through a lot of shifts and getting taken more seriously.

In the meantime, I also feel re-energized having reconnected with People leaders (many of whom turned out to be longtime followers who gushed how excited they were to meet me in person! ??) and the change of scenery was good for me as I continue on my nomadic stint.?

Now, I'm off to Seattle for a week! Would love recommendations for your favorite activities, restaurants, people etc :)

ICYMI

Earlier this week, Jess Yuen, the former Head of People of Gusto, joined me for a fascinating exploration on startup CEO leadership trends. Check out the interview here!

Reader feedback that made me :) this week

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Lastly…

Join me in contacting your representatives to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. This is a humanitarian crisis and truly, every voice counts. Here’s a tool that make this easy-peasy.?