How to Deliver Consumer Grade Employee Experiences - Jay Polaki

Jay Polaki, is the Maryland-based founder of HR Geckos, an HR Technology & Management company. She’s spent the last two decades in leadership positions across industries, as a business partner, executive human resources consultant, and human resources director. 

At HR Geckos, Jay continues to create, fuel, and encourage next-gen ideas, practices, and tools on Human Resources Technology, Leadership Development, Talent, and Compensation Strategies. In 2016, Jay founded the Global Indian Professional Network (GIPN), a non-profit focused on the professional development for Indian-Origin professionals and the advancement of global Indians in business. 

Together we discuss the human side of the pandemic. It’s effect on organizations, their leaders and employees. And we dig into the HR Geckos platform; discussing the reasons for automating employee queries and service delivery. 

It speaks to a trend that blurs employee and customer experience. Marketing and Sales organizations for years have architected customer experiences to reduce friction, increase engagement, and ultimately provide the individual with the information / inspiration they need to take the next step. It’s only more recently that HR professionals have shone a similar light on the employee experience. From hiring, orientation and onboarding, to learning, succession and performance management, there are predictable, repeatable interaction points between employees and their organizations. 

It was a really enjoyable, timely discussion and we hope you enjoy it.

Jay Polaki

Jay Polaki is the founder of HR Geckos (www.hrgeckos.com), an HR Technology & Management company. Having spent the last two decades in several leadership positions across industries Jay has impacted how some of the most important HR functions are defined and executed. 

While she handles clients internationally across all HR Geckos’ markets, Jay lives, writes, grows tomatoes, solves crosswords, and integrates work into life in the USA.

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Thinking Inside the Box

Constraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.

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Matt Burns

Matt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.

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Transcript

 [00:00:00] Guest 1: [00:00:00] If we are not leveraging technical tools and analytical systems today, I think [00:00:10] HR will kind of as a function within a business die. And it's really imperative that. If we have not [00:00:20] leveraged technology in the past that we start doing that immediately.

[00:00:30] Matt: [00:00:37] Strengths drive innovation. [00:00:40] Hey everyone. It's Matt here for another episode of thinking inside the box, a show where we discuss complex issues related to work and culture. If you're interested in checking out our [00:00:50] other content, you can find us at bento, hr.com, wherever you find your favorite podcasts by searching, thinking inside the box.

And now in virtual reality, [00:01:00] each Thursday at 5:00 PM Pacific standard time in Altspace VR. This episode, I chat with Jay Malachy, the Maryland based founder and [00:01:10] CEO of HR geckos. Jay has spent the last two decades in leadership positions, across industry, as a business partner and executive HR consultant [00:01:20] and a human resources director active in the community.

Jay is a member of a variety of local and national nonprofits focused on education, [00:01:30] diversity leadership, and the advancement of women. In 2016, she founded the global Indian professional network, a nonprofit focused on the professional [00:01:40] development for Indian origin professionals and the advancement of global Indians in business.

She attended Southern Illinois university [00:01:50] graduating with a master's in industrial and organizational psychology and is an official contributing member of the Forbes human resources council. And I've known Jay [00:02:00] for quite some time now, actually, but this was our first real in-depth conversation. So over the course of our 40 plus minute discussion, we were able to cover a number of [00:02:10] interesting topics that we only scratch the surface of in our previous interactions.

We talked about the human side of the pandemic and how it's affected organizations around the [00:02:20] world. We dug deeper into the HR collect geckos platform. And it's a technology that's meant to compliment traditional HR service [00:02:30] delivery with a proprietary chat bot that expedites service requests, employee inquiries, and management support.

It's the future in a lot of [00:02:40] cases for a service orientation like HR. But it poses many questions. And one such question is finding the right sweet spot between tech and [00:02:50] human interaction inside of organizations. So I was eager to speak with Jay a bit more about that. And we wrap things up with a discussion around global networking and the importance of [00:03:00] knowledge sharing particularly now and how we can leverage our global networks in support of that mission.

It's far reaching discussions like this, where Jay really [00:03:10] excels and bring a breadth of experience to a number of topics. Her and I had a great chat and I hope you enjoy it. So without further ado, Jay Palagi. [00:03:20] Hello, Jay, how are you doing today? 

Guest 1: [00:03:21] Wonderful Matt. So happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me to the 

Matt: [00:03:25] show.

Oh, thanks for stopping by. I've been looking forward to this conversation for a few weeks now. [00:03:30] So I look forward to digging into all manner of topics around. HR service delivery, the importance of treating your employees, like your [00:03:40] customers. We're going to get through a lot of interesting topics today.

And I think before we do that, though, before I get too ahead of myself and excited about the conversation, maybe for those of you who don't know Jay [00:03:50] Polaski, if you just walk us through your background, your experiences. 

Guest 1: [00:03:52] So JP Malachy is, uh, an HR professional, um, with a background in industrial organizational [00:04:00] psychology.

And right now, um, I'm in the throws of going to market with my HR tech platform. HR solve. [00:04:10] Um, I founded my company, my HR tech startup a couple of years ago. Um, HR geckos, uh, here in the DC Metro area. And I'm [00:04:20] super excited, um, right now about growing tomatoes in my garden because it's spring and everything's sprouting.

So there you go. [00:04:30] That's deep. 

Matt: [00:04:30] Malachy it's, uh, it's an interesting, uh, I like how you ended things. I think it's, we've all I was. Was gardening for you, something that you enjoyed before the pandemic, [00:04:40] or was it a hobby you picked up during the pandemic? 

Guest 1: [00:04:42] Oh, I grew up around a person who had 10 green thumbs.

My mom, who's also a botanist. So, um, gardening [00:04:50] has always. Kind of being in my DNA. So I enjoyed 

Matt: [00:04:52] it a lot. There's obviously some synergies between botany and growth. So I'm not surprised to hear that in [00:05:00] an organizational context, you ended up in human resources, a profession that really is about, you know, nurturing and growing and supporting people throughout their careers.

Um, you mentioned your [00:05:10] background in human resources. Maybe you wanna talk a bit more about what that looks like. 

Guest 1: [00:05:13] So when I started out in human resources, I was fresh out of grad school, uh, from the IO psych [00:05:20] program at Southern Illinois university. And, um, I, you know, interned at a couple of fortune, a hundred fortune 500 companies in the Midwest, [00:05:30] um, and also was a consultant, um, for, uh, uh, physical performance and cognitive ability test builder, kind of a pioneer in the [00:05:40] area.

Uh, for a couple of years before I started working for the government. Um, and I worked for the state government as well as the County government [00:05:50] locally, uh, both in, um, you know, different, different industries. My experience has taken me from the Pacific shores all the way to [00:06:00] the Atlantic and also the North Pacific.

So I've had, um, very interesting and, um, you know, um, I would say very gated [00:06:10] career. Um, my path into HR, um, has definitely been very colorful. I started out as, you know, a job [00:06:20] analyst within the IO psychology realm. Um, Studying multiple different jobs in various industries from LAPD SWAT teams to, [00:06:30] um, Pacific maritime association, longshore men, and, uh, firefighters and EMT technicians at, in Chicago.

Uh, [00:06:40] the famous ladder, uh, 49 movie was shot, uh, with Kurt Russell in it. So I, I had the good fortune of being in that. Fire station. [00:06:50] Um, I was also shot at, during a job, a routine job analysis and a, you know, job study, um, in [00:07:00] LA. So that's when I decided to kind of hang up those consulting boots and stick to onsite jobs and went into the healthcare industry, worked with [00:07:10] some of the upcoming startups here in the DC Metro area, um, dabbled in government and then started my own gigs.

So. There you go. It's a very, um, [00:07:20] uh, very gated again, to take a term from botany journey in HR, we 

Matt: [00:07:24] could probably have another podcast just on HR war stories. Um, it's it's w I think if you've [00:07:30] been in the industry long enough, you've had stories like yours in so far as. They can populate a memoir. As you wrap up your career, I'm [00:07:40] curious, you know, you spent a lot of time in a number of different functions of human resources, across a number of industries and a number of different geographic areas.

What led to the inspiration [00:07:50] around your platform, which is very focused on service delivery and providing, uh, an experience for employees that is more reminiscent of what we would expect to companies to provide for [00:08:00] customers. I'm just curious how you ended up in that place. So, 

Guest 1: [00:08:02] uh, throughout my journey, uh, you know, the, the role of a human resources professional is to make, [00:08:10] um, work really fun.

That's how I've always viewed it. And I've encountered employees. Who've [00:08:20] experienced the flip side of that. And a lot more of them, um, have expressed concerns around how HR delivers fun [00:08:30] in the workplace and how HR, uh, you know, ensures that, um, wonderful employee experience throughout the employee life cycle.

[00:08:40] So when I was thinking about. Leading from the outside of an organization and starting my own gig, the employee experience and HR [00:08:50] service delivery were things that I thought needed to be transformed digitally. Um, and, and I felt that leveraging technology in [00:09:00] HR service delivery is the best and foremost way to bring that.

Uh, you know, enlightened employee [00:09:10] experience to our employees and also bring that consumer grade employee experience to our employees. Um, so that's how, you know, HR [00:09:20] solve was mine. And I get to call myself the mother of HR. Geckoboard so. That's pretty 

Matt: [00:09:26] cool. Right. Very cool. And I think it, [00:09:30] it does illuminate a number of challenges within traditional organizations.

And again, I think you and I could have a long conversation about this, but for those of our audience that may [00:09:40] not be as. Intimately aware of when we say HR service delivery or employee service delivery, could you spend a couple of minutes just maybe defining what that means in practical terms? [00:09:50] What is service delivery from an HR perspective?

When you know, the employee is in this context, your customer. So 

Guest 1: [00:09:57] as you are very aware, Matt. [00:10:00] Today's employee has technological expectations. You know, the ease of use of technology in their personal life has definitely led them to expect their [00:10:10] employers to possess a similar capability. And what I referred to earlier, the consumer grade employee experience is revolutionizing our workplaces [00:10:20] today.

Um, if we want to retain and attract as well as motivate, uh, talented individuals in. In our company, [00:10:30] we definitely need to provide that consumer grade experience as the default and no longer is it just, uh, you know, a good to have [00:10:40] it's a necessity, especially after what has occurred in 2020. So the, the purpose of HR solve is [00:10:50] to help HR digitally transform leveraging technology and Def and redefining the role of HR in the future of work, [00:11:00] because.

If we are not leveraging technical tools and analytical systems today, I think HR will [00:11:10] kind of as a function within a business die. And it's really imperative that. If we have not leveraged technology in the [00:11:20] past that we start doing that immediately. And, and it's no longer, like I said, something nice to have.

It's a necessity that we pivot [00:11:30] and transform our processes and leverage technology today. 

Matt: [00:11:34] I agree with you. I think that. Traditionally, we've applied a different standard to our internal [00:11:40] employees than we have to our customers. And we have this discussion in circles here at bend to HR, a lot about the, the, the confluence between [00:11:50] marketing and HR.

And if you think about the two functions, marketing and HR specifically, they're not that much different. They serve very similar purposes [00:12:00] though. Their audiences are. Clearly different marketing of course has an external facing component to it. And HR is largely internal facing with the exception of perhaps recruitment.

[00:12:10] And yet they're treated very differently in an organizational context because marketing is. Audience, if you will, is externally facing, they're viewed as a profit center or a revenue [00:12:20] generating function within an organization. And because HR is largely viewed as an administrative cost center, um, they're treated differently in every way, [00:12:30] strategically resourcing.

Budget, just their overall, uh, impressions within the broader organization are inherently different. And they, as a [00:12:40] result, they attract different types of people into the roles and they attract different kinds of support and resources and attention inside of organizations. And for those of us. [00:12:50] Like you and I who've believed that we are on a path to a much more competitive labor landscape.

Um, that's only become more competitive in a [00:13:00] pandemic context and will become increasingly competitive in a post pandemic context where the ability to have employees work remotely with greater flexibility is [00:13:10] going to become much more commonplace and. The, the traditional value proposition of working inside of an organization is going to need to [00:13:20] shift.

And to your point, as a consumer, I expect a great degree of service. I expect, you know, with ILO and I interact with a particular [00:13:30] brand or organization or a service provider, I expect best in class. If I'm putting money forward, I expect. To receive good service in exchange for that. And yet we've convinced ourselves over the [00:13:40] course of time that we don't need to provide the same level of service to our internal employees.

And we have this conversation offline. We just wouldn't, we wouldn't tolerate that. We wouldn't talk as, [00:13:50] as customers, we wouldn't tolerate the way we're being treated, but we seem to tolerate it as employees. And I think what your solution does, a nice job of addressing is filling in that gap [00:14:00] where we can use technology to.

Really bridge the gap between what employees need during the course of their employment. And at the same [00:14:10] time, freeing up finite resources inside the organization to really spend time where it's it's best leveraged. I think about all the hours that I spent filing [00:14:20] paperwork or, um, you know, checking the box on.

Assessments or, you know, following up on people for tasks that they were, they were accountable [00:14:30] for, but I had no direct accountability for, but my job was to make sure they did something. Um, I think about all the hours I've spent doing that, that if we'd had technological interface, [00:14:40] I could've spent my time more on talent development or on engagement or on coaching and leadership development and that context.

So I'm really excited about [00:14:50] solutions like yours. I think it solves a number of problems simultaneously. 

Guest 1: [00:14:53] It certainly does. You know, and I, I really view HR, uh, as, as [00:15:00] a function, as a catalyst for change in our organizations. And so if EHR is not revolutionizing and taking up, um, the challenge of [00:15:10] transforming digitally, um, then how can we expect that?

Other functions. And to your point, I do agree with you about, you know, marketing and HR, um, [00:15:20] being kind of complimentary functions. Um, we really need to take a page from marketing on how we should build our employee brand and our employer brand at the [00:15:30] same time and be, um, be that, you know, resource and, and be that catalyst in, in all of this.

Upheaval at, in the [00:15:40] world of work right now. Well, 

Matt: [00:15:41] and that's just, it begs a follow up question. Um, the, I mentioned this to you before, and we alluded to the, the nature of your [00:15:50] solution, the predominant interface with your platform. It's a chat bot and it's a chat bot in enabled by artificial [00:16:00] intelligence, which provides a number of different use cases internally.

Not. Specifically, or, sorry, specifically if I'm an [00:16:10] employee and I'm looking to access things like details of my personnel file or perhaps make requests for time off or review my attendance history I can do so [00:16:20] without having to interact with a human and therefore can expect likely faster service. Um, I can expect asynchronous service that is [00:16:30] asynchronous with traditional business hours.

And I have a sense of self-empowerment. Around my ability to access records, which would be available to me in any other [00:16:40] context, but because we had a human interface before my, my ability to have my needs satisfied would be dependent on their availability to satisfy said [00:16:50] needs. And when I've kind of grown up in the HR profession, a common refrain that I heard particularly early in my career was that in some [00:17:00] ways, There was a resistance to technology in HR.

There was a reluctance to pursue technological solutions as the interface between the employee [00:17:10] and the organization, because there was a feeling that some things, especially more sensitive topics, you really wanted that human interaction. Uh, it showed [00:17:20] HRS broader value proposition when we were. Speaking with employees one-on-one even if it meant a slower level of service, there was an expectation both within HR and [00:17:30] within our client groups that, you know, we would interact with, with them on a, on a recurring basis.

And then if we ever pushed them to a resource guide or to an intranet or to a [00:17:40] policy manual or to some other mechanism, Uh, for information, it was met oftentimes with resistance. And I'm curious if you've experienced [00:17:50] similar feedback in building your platform. Um, you know, have you come across instances where people are, you know, highlighting challenges with a technological [00:18:00] interface for service delivery, and if so, how have you been able to respond to those challenges?

Guest 1: [00:18:05] Well, you do bring up one of the most talked about conversations [00:18:10] surrounding chatbots. I'd like to start by stating something that we both focus when we are discussing bots, chat bot [00:18:20] conversations are expected to deliver. $8 billion in cost savings by 2022. And this was a [00:18:30] factoid from before the pandemic.

So you can, you know, multiply for 2022 because these are cost savings for [00:18:40] businesses and chat. Bot conversations are definitely nascent in, in the technology, but. We can use [00:18:50] chatbots, um, where we are freeing up our humans to do the more, um, you know, the human side of things there, [00:19:00] where they're talking to employees about their wellness, they're coaching employees through their personal and professional development journeys.

Um, and they're [00:19:10] basically there to empathize and be a resource, a human resource at times when an employee. Well, he needs a human to talk to. 

[00:19:20] Matt: [00:19:21] Hey everyone. It's Matt here, and I hope you're enjoying today's discussion before we continue. I want to make you aware of our latest creative project, [00:19:30] HR in VR, every Thursday at 5:00 PM.

Pacific standard time. All connect with technology pioneers, business executives from the [00:19:40] world's most iconic brands and industry thought leaders to discuss the future of immersive technologies like virtual reality. And their impact on future [00:19:50] workplaces. In partnership with Microsoft we're broadcasting each episode on LinkedIn live and in front of a live studio audience in Altspace.

[00:20:00] Joining is easy for LinkedIn users. Simply follow my account, Matt in VR and stay tuned Thursdays at 5:00 PM. Pacific standard time for the [00:20:10] LinkedIn live stream. Or for a truly immersive live experience, visit alt vr.com to download old space on your Mac, [00:20:20] PC or VR headset, and join us live in our studio audience.

There you'll have a chance to ask questions, meet me and our incredible [00:20:30] guests and connect with others from the comfort of your own home. This is the future folks. And I hope to be part of it. And I'll link the details for [00:20:40] HR and VR, along with all other relevant information in the show notes of this podcast.

And now back to our discussion.

[00:20:50] Guest 1: [00:20:52] Other times, and I believe about 60% of the transactional work within an HR [00:21:00] function can be handled by chatbox technology, even though it's not perfect yet. It's. Definitely being developed exponentially since this [00:21:10] past year and human resources is ripe for artificial intelligence and machine learning and chat bots, because you can definitely streamlined so [00:21:20] many processes from enrolling in benefits, say for example, or discussing vacation policies, um, or completing a training, um, for sexual [00:21:30] harassment.

HR bots can assist employees in every step of their journeys when it comes to those type of tasks and, and they're available on demand anytime [00:21:40] on any device. So why not leverage that, uh, technology to help us provide a more enriching [00:21:50] experience, a more engaging experience to our employees. And we all agree that, you know, chat bot technology is not perfect yet.

It's here [00:22:00] and we should be using it. 

Matt: [00:22:02] Yeah, I agree with you. And I think that whenever we see a tech illogical innovation of this nature, there's going to be resistance to it. [00:22:10] I use the example. I've used it a few times in this podcast of, I remember a time when, when we used to go to banks and deal with physical human tellers.

[00:22:20] When we, if we want to make it go to a transaction. I remember when I was young, I used to go to the bank to make deposits or tail withdrawals, and that was the predominant. Modality to be able to [00:22:30] access money, my money, my resources, my savings, my my investments. And over the course of time, of course, we move things first into ATM machines.

And then [00:22:40] now the majority of us do our banking digitally, um, and moving money around in slart sums using a web based interface. And when we first [00:22:50] started that path, I remember people in my family, you know, my parents and my grandparents at the time. Lamenting the loss of the teller lamenting the loss of the [00:23:00] relationship with the bank.

And the reality is that in a lot of cases, there really wasn't a deep relationship between the bank and. The [00:23:10] customer, it was a perception. And a lot of cases, the banks, traditional method of operating was very much centered around the needs of the bank [00:23:20] and not the client at all. And then they just did a really good job of training the client that this was the, these were the acceptable hours of operation.

And that if you wanted to get your money out in the [00:23:30] weekend, well, that just was too bad for you. And like we built a society around the financial sectors and the financial services. You know their own model. And now we live in a [00:23:40] world where everything is 24, seven, seven days a week, 365 days a year. And you have flexibility and freedom and empowerment.

And the majority [00:23:50] people that we pull now, I'm sure would say they wouldn't want to go back to a model where banks are open Monday to Friday and maybe a half day on Saturday. Otherwise you can't access or [00:24:00] interact with your financial, um, you know, your financial, you know, ownings and investments and savings.

So. I see something similar here in the context of [00:24:10] HR more broadly, but specifically around chatbots to your point. I think 60% is a very conservative estimate of the number of transactions that occur with an HR that can be [00:24:20] at least performed on par between a chat bot and a human interface, or it can be performed better.

Um, I think about organizations that are multi-national, [00:24:30] uh, where language requirements are much more robust and where a chat bot of course has the ability to have a number of languages that it supports. [00:24:40] I think about w operations that are increasingly becoming 24 seven. And I worked at a number of organizations that had overnight shifts or graveyard shifts where HR, of course, wasn't [00:24:50] working on a consistent basis during those hours, but we had employees working there in those hours.

So if they wanted to interact with. With us, they would have to adjust their schedule and perhaps delay [00:25:00] when they'd go to sleep or get up early to interact with us, which was inconvenient to them. Um, and with, uh, you know, objects like chatbots to be able to interface with on a, on a schedule that works [00:25:10] for their schedule, I think is a significant enhancement.

And you're also right to point out that there are some are some activities that will remain the [00:25:20] domain of the human interface. Uh, if there's a harassment investigation in an organization that needs to occur with an HR business partner and HR generalist and the employee that I just, that needs to [00:25:30] be a situation that occurs.

Um, and I don't think you're purporting or suggesting that those types of interactions occur through a chatbot. Uh, so I think for people that are [00:25:40] concerned about. The idea of depersonalizing and I'm using air quotes here, depersonalizing human resources. I think we can give them some comfort of knowing that if we [00:25:50] segment the types of interactions that we're hoping to solve for, with a chat bot, we can actually provide an enhanced level of service for our employees for those [00:26:00] repetitive administrative transactional tasks and free up those resources.

As I mentioned earlier, To be available for the things [00:26:10] that do require a human interface with them. So, you know, I think it's a, I think it's an important conversation. And I think that we have to wrap our heads around using technology [00:26:20] more effectively, particularly in a space now where. Let's be honest, we're moving into a hybrid work culture in most organizations where you may not be able to look down the [00:26:30] aisle and find the HR person, because either you or the HR person may not be in the office anymore.

And do you want to send a request to an email inbox and hope [00:26:40] it gets responded to in a timely fashion? Or do you want to interact? Do you want to deal with a synchronous chat bot where you can get instant answers to questions that are pressing for you today? 

Guest 1: [00:26:48] Absolutely. [00:26:50] And you know, While we are all muddling through this pandemic.

There is one thing that, um, has definitely come to the fore [00:27:00] work. Can no longer be done the way it used to be prior to 2020. And you know, if you're afraid of digitalization [00:27:10] or any of those buzzwords, like machine learning or artificial intelligence or automation, I think we should overcome that fear [00:27:20] around those buzzwords and, and try to, um, see how we can incorporate digital technology into our workplace, because it's already [00:27:30] a part of our life outside of the workplace.

So why isn't it more. Within our workplace and within our, our realm of work. And you [00:27:40] spoke about the hybrid workplace where, you know, we are no longer going to meet across the hallway or at the water cooler. Uh, if you probably are chatting on some [00:27:50] Slack channel or on, on a zoom call, um, definitely zoom fatigued out there, but still that's.

The way of work for the future. Um, [00:28:00] and, and we can't, you know, just hold back and hold on to any of the, the past mindset around adopting digital technology [00:28:10] anymore. Because today, if, if we are not digitizing our HR processes and if you're not adopting and leveraging technology to the best [00:28:20] possible level possible, we definitely are not going to be.

Viewed as a business function and they're not going to be [00:28:30] successful as a business because what's HR after all, but HR is in the people function. And we deal with people. I would say a hundred [00:28:40] percent in our function, more than any other, uh, function or department, but then a business. So if we are not level.

Eating for this [00:28:50] digital transformation for this digital first agenda. While of course keeping the human at the fore of all of this because people first and digital first [00:29:00] need to happen in tandem as a function, we definitely are not going to survive. And, and that's my. Biggest concern because [00:29:10] as a department, we really need to ensure our survival past this pandemic, past this upheaval in the world.

Matt: [00:29:19] You're [00:29:20] spot on it's. We can't as an HR profession as an organization, strategic partner, more broadly, we can't keep a claw like grip on [00:29:30] repetitive manual. Administrativia we just can't. It just doesn't add value to the function. It's ultimately going to be digitized [00:29:40] through one of the number of innovations that you mentioned, whether it's artificial intelligence or machine learning or quantum computing, you know, there are chat bots.

There are so many different interfaces that will [00:29:50] eventually. Swallow up a large component of what HR traditionally would perform an organizations by the way, is going to do the same thing with finance [00:30:00] and it and marketing because technology is going to disrupt all of these verticals going forward. So it's incumbent upon HR.

And also [00:30:10] organizations themselves to redefine it and the role of what HR can be. And I I've been spending a lot of time thinking about this in the context of hybrid work. I mean, you and [00:30:20] I, you know, that I work with an organization, bento, HR, that I founded a few years ago that focuses on digital HR transformation.

And right now a lot of work we do for organizations, centers [00:30:30] around digital transformation roadmaps, which is really thinking through where an organization is today. Where it needs to be in the coming years from a [00:30:40] technological perspective yes. In HR, but also in other aspects of business technology and business analyst and helping them prepare a plan and then execute [00:30:50] that plan so that they can read it, realize economies of scales, efficiencies, flexibility, better tools, better interfaces, better employee experiences.

We're [00:31:00] helping them go make this transition because we know that this has an inevitability in every organization. That those that dragged their heels on this will become increasingly [00:31:10] less competitive because the competitor in their industry is going to be able to perform many of the same functions, more effectively at a lower price [00:31:20] point.

And therefore we spend our time solving that problem, but I've been spending as much energy thinking about where does that take us next? [00:31:30] And if we assume a world where. Everything is fully digitized, where we've gotten widespread adoption around chatbots, and we have enhanced the [00:31:40] internal HR service delivery and employee experience to be on par with the customer experience.

What should the role of human resources really evolve into? And I'd be [00:31:50] curious in your thoughts on this, where my mind floats too, is this idea of performance that HR can play a role of. Building the next generation of [00:32:00] corporate athletes and being much more intentional and thoughtful about how do we identify onboard, develop, [00:32:10] grow, nurture, and then ultimately in a lot of cases, exit people from the organization in a way that.

Speeds the path, the productivity ensures the right [00:32:20] kind of fit between the individual and our organizational culture and extracts the most amount of value of that individual. Not in an exploitative way, but in a way that's [00:32:30] collaborative by pairing the right kinds of technologies with very specific personalized at our development plans.

I think that to me is the path HR needs to go down. We'll [00:32:40] never get there. If we insist on holding onto our spreadsheets. And we'll never get there if we don't, if you will envision and [00:32:50] discuss and make moves towards realizing this new future. Because absence of doing that, it's just too easy to say. Put it in a chat [00:33:00] bot, cut a full-time equivalent person in the organization and we've saved money provided better service.

That's fine. We have to one find the efficiencies, but to develop that vision [00:33:10] for the future. That talks about resource reallocation and the upside that we can achieve by redeploying resources to functions that are [00:33:20] probably much more aligned to revenue generation than traditional cost control. Uh, measurements.

Guest 1: [00:33:26] Absolutely. Absolutely. And you know, the XXL [00:33:30] spreadsheet is no longer the sharpest tool in our HR toolkit. We got to accept that and we got to adopt the mindset around that [00:33:40] because all of the challenges that have come out of this pandemic, uh, are challenges that we've never anticipated in our careers.

Uh, [00:33:50] There is no playbook to handle any of these challenges. And they're all muddling along as more big [00:34:00] challenges are being thrown at us from every direction. So in order for HR to, you know, take on this adaptive [00:34:10] challenge that I believe that's the technical term, um, that underlies the adoption and dissemination of.

Uh, more, uh, growth [00:34:20] mindset around HR, around the HR function. If we are to be at the forefront of this adaptive challenge and [00:34:30] we are to be kind of that catalyst in the organization because we are the catalyst in the organization. Uh, right now we need to. [00:34:40] Ensure that there is a clear dialogue between us and our employees.

We need to make sure that we're inviting, you know, all opinions [00:34:50] based upon how successful, um, things have worked and, you know, being this past year or in the past and how unsuccessful there've been [00:35:00] also. So it's, it's kind of a dialogue barrier learning and growing and nurturing at the same time, because right now the, the flow [00:35:10] of work is actually the flow of life.

I mean, they're all working within. Everything that life is throwing at does, and, and [00:35:20] more so than ever before. And it requires some amount of, you know, dedicated thinking on our part, around logistics, [00:35:30] around the health and safety of our employees around. It's being that true HR department, being that true human [00:35:40] resources department and filling that and filling that gap, uh, you know, where organizations are struggling to communicate with their HR and have it, their [00:35:50] employees, not just their HR employees, but the HR function needs to fill the gap where they act as the.

The communicator, they act as [00:36:00] that, um, you know, that empathetic, compassionate, uh, human resource. Professional bridging the gap [00:36:10] between, uh, what the business wants in terms of productivity and what the employee wants out of their workplace. And, and today the employee wants [00:36:20] much more than just a good paycheck and a flexible work policy and, and life demands much more right now because of the pandemic, [00:36:30] uh, you know, everything.

Thing that we know around the world of work seems to have become obsolete overnight. And, and as HR leaders, [00:36:40] we need to make sure that we are also taking care of the mental and physical wellbeing of our, of our people. And so [00:36:50] all of that. Has been thrown into the mix much more than before. And so workforce engagement and productivity and [00:37:00] skillset, redeveloped, reskilling, or upskilling of our employees are all turning points for not just HR leaders, [00:37:10] but the leaders of an organization.

And if we are not able to sustain the communication and the collaboration. All of [00:37:20] these issues, um, as HR professionals and as HR leaders, we'll definitely be left far behind in the business [00:37:30] and, you know, will no longer play that pivotal role in. Bridging the gap between the leaders and our [00:37:40] people and being that capitalist within the organization 

Matt: [00:37:43] and being an advocate.

Uh, you know, we we've talked about the archetype of the, of the proverbial boardroom and [00:37:50] each of the members of the executive team play a critical role. In achieving some form of a healthy ecosystem in an organization and [00:38:00] everyone, you know, whether it's the CFO speaking to the financial interests of the organization, which are critically important, or the CIO speaking to the [00:38:10] technological implications in the organization, which are critically important or the CMOs and marketing.

And we can go down the list. HR has a role to play in the context of [00:38:20] advocating for the employees in the organization. And to ensure that that voice is heard and that it maintains a degree of [00:38:30] relevance. It has to have people inhabiting the profession that understand the implications of what they're doing in a broader organizational [00:38:40] context, and that are equally innovative in leveraging tools.

Like technology and like data to, to your [00:38:50] point address the table stakes elements that every department has to, to really reflect [00:39:00] and to nurture a vision forward involving whether it's a performance, um, mindset, whether it's an engagement [00:39:10] mindset, but do your point. The world has shifted over night and the pandemic, right.

We'll create workplaces of the future out of necessity. And [00:39:20] if we're still trying to figure out how to best issue policies in a timely fashion, we're missing the broader conversation. And we're frankly, losing [00:39:30] ground on topics that we can't afford to let slide by us. And. I think in a lot of cases, HR has been [00:39:40] their own worst enemy in that we've been reluctant to embrace some of the tools around technology and data in particular, believing that [00:39:50] we weren't the right people to solve these problems or that we were concerned about our ability to have a real influence.

And I don't think the traditional. [00:40:00] HR, you know, educational programs and professional associations have done HR professionals, any degree of service in that many of those programs and offerings [00:40:10] don't highlight the critical importance of technology and data in providing HR inside of an organization. And I think that going [00:40:20] forward, HR professionals.

Business professionals. We need to be more mindful of the inherent interdependencies of all of the functions within an organization and how they [00:40:30] support one another. And the reason that I chose to launch bento HR was because I do strongly believe in the potential of humans inside of [00:40:40] organizations to do amazing things.

And that I believe that if we streamline and modernize and digitize the parts of administrative. [00:40:50] Functions like HR, like finance, like it. And free up finite resources to perform better work. That's more human centric. That's more, um, creative, that's [00:41:00] more collaborative that we can achieve great things, but we'll never get there if we're managing, you know, stacks of spreadsheets.

And if we're filing documents into filing cabinets and [00:41:10] we just won't be able to have the impact that we can have otherwise. And I think that we could design technology and data in a way that is more human centric. And I believe that people like [00:41:20] yourself are helping us get to that place. 

Guest 1: [00:41:21] Absolutely. You know, if you see the organizations that have survived through 2020, there is a clear [00:41:30] demarcation on which organizations survived well and which were kind of floundering.

Um, based on how [00:41:40] agile and digitally savvy they were to begin with, even before the pandemic and, and many organizations are kind of thanking, you know, their lucky [00:41:50] stars that they were able to. Change and pivot overnight to this hybrid or actual remote workplace, [00:42:00] um, and that they had those tools and the connectivity to do it, uh, without, you know, having to do too much at the last minute.

So [00:42:10] definitely 2020 has shown us. That Ben, we provide the tools to our employees and we trust them to perform using [00:42:20] those tools. They do rise to the occasion and that they are able to adopt technology at warp speed. I mean, everyone went [00:42:30] remote overnight last year, mostly organizations that had the technology in place, but we're not using it to the fullest.

Capability kind of [00:42:40] pivoted and said, Hey, we have all this technology in place. We just have to switch it on. We just have to turn it on and they turned it on and they kind of turned on their employees as well, [00:42:50] because there are people are thriving and flourishing through this pandemic. Um, definitely there is a permanent shift shift in how, uh, the [00:43:00] world of work.

Functions. Um, it, when it comes to the hybrid and distributed work workforce, but you know, the  [00:43:10] of the people to adopt and, and the willingness of them to work smarter, uh, against all the odds. That life threw at us. [00:43:20] Um, it's something to applaud and something to be very proud of as well. Um, and, and the workplaces that pioneered this and, and we're a [00:43:30] giant and digitally savvy have, have a lot more going for them today than the ones that.

That weren't so, so if you ask me, [00:43:40] what's the word for HR for 2021 and beyond? Definitely a giant and digitally savvy are two, uh, you know, words that [00:43:50] come to mind. I 

Matt: [00:43:51] love it. And I think it's, it's the right conversation for today and I've enjoyed our conversations today more broadly. Uh, Jay has always a pleasure to reconnect [00:44:00] with you and for those folks that are interested in learning more about you or your solution, I'm going to link all those details in the show notes of this particular podcast.

I want to wish you [00:44:10] a really great. 2021. If we don't have a chance to speak before the end of this year, but knowing you and I, I think we're going to find a couple of reasons to do that. So I'm looking forward to those chats. Take [00:44:20] care of them. Absolutely. 

Guest 1: [00:44:21] Matt, thank you so much. I am looking forward to hearing more about the global HR collective and bento HR and, and being a resource.

To your [00:44:30] audiences about thank you,

Matt: [00:44:39] Ben to [00:44:40] HR, we enable your HR strategy with custom HR technology, procurement implement stations and integrations. Deliberate your team from administration enhance their [00:44:50] productivity and experience to position them at the center of your organization's transformation. Where they belong with experience as an HR executive myself, I have a real [00:45:00] appreciation of the challenges facing today's HR leaders.

The world is changing. Your industry is being disrupted. Your organization is transforming and [00:45:10] all the while you're trying to do more with less you're being asked to simultaneously model fiscal restraint, while the expectations of your departments are only increasing. [00:45:20] At bento HR, we can support you at every stage of your transformation from architecting, the strategy to developing and selling the business case.

[00:45:30] Internally we support procurement implementations and ongoing sustainment, and we tie it all together with a deep knowledge of the HR profession. [00:45:40] And over six decades of combined experiences from our founding team who has worked in or supported large HR organizations across [00:45:50] multiple industries, including, but not limited to financial services, technology, retail, transportation, and healthcare, check out [00:46:00] bento HR today to build your very own bento box, which doubles as your business case for transformation.

Leveraging recent research into the upside of digital automation [00:46:10] inside organizations. And with your help in answering a few simple questions related to your organization, our bento builder will provide a directional business case for [00:46:20] change. So log onto www dot bento, hr.com and build your bento box today. [00:46:30]