What did your eight-year-old self-love doing and how does it relate to what you do now?

I grew up as an only child and without a sibling as a playmate, so I was consistently put into situations that pushed me outside of my comfort zone.  More often than not, I had to learn to connect or relate to people that I did not know very well.  What I learned was how to really listen, put myself in other people’s shoes and make meaningful connections.  This definitely helped in my career in HR as an important part of my role is understanding and relating to people to help them feel more connected and included.

If you could go back 10 years and share some advice with your younger self, what would it be? (This could be a specific mistake that you learned from)

By nature I like order and structure – what some people would refer to as a perfectionist. What I have learned over the years is that not only can I not control everything, but it is often counterproductive to do so.

Earlier in my career that desire for control created a great deal of stress – and was anything but healthy.  At one point in my career, I was up for a promotion that I wanted and was stressed about it, as I had an idea of my career path and exactly how I thought it should progress.  Even though I had worked hard for the promotion, after a lot of unnecessary worry, it was given to another person in the company.  The loss hit me hard, and the feedback forced me to reflect and explore what I needed to do differently.  I learned in that moment, that even though I could not control the situation, I could control my reaction.  I realized that I did not need to stress about everything and to focus my energy on the things I could control. This allowed me to reduce my stress, reprioritize what was important in my life and allowed me to gain the perspectives that eventually helped me to achieve the things I wanted in my career… even earning that promotion in due time.  That life lesson of focusing more on what you can control, has helped me throughout my career since that point. The cliché “things happen for a reason” is absolutely one that I have found to be true.

How do you see your job as an HR leader changing over the next five years?

I feel like the traditional role of HR is changing and changing fast. It’s exciting to have a front row seat to it all.  In the past, when people find out you work in HR, they often responded with something like “oh”, when they are really thinking “great… the rule police or regulator is here”.  That has always been a challenge for me, as it is not the experience I want to create.

The good news is that the role of HR is changing.  We are doing a great deal more to meet people where they are and to be a true partner in their career journey.  Instead of trying to simply enforce rules and policy, we are developing deeper relationships with people and creating a more personal experience.

There is no program that works well with a one-size-fits-all approach.  We are too different, too unique, too diverse for any single model to work well.  One option is no longer a good choice.  We need to learn how to tailor the employee experience to the same degree we have developed the customer experience.  Meeting people where they are creates a greater sense of connection, belonging and loyalty.

Do you have a podcast (or book) you have listened to in the last year you would suggest to other people leaders? Why?

SIMPLE, conquering the crisis of complexity.  By exposing the overly complex things we encounter every day, this book reveals the reasons we allow confusion to persist, inspires us to seek clarity, and explores how today’s consumers demand simplicity.

In HR we often roll out programs that we make incredibly complex.  The more we can focus on simplicity, the better we can all achieve success.