Building Blocks | Edition 10 💌
Stories, reflections and tools from People leaders to help navigate the new world of work.
In this issue…
Retrospective – Celebrating 1 year of People Builders ⚡
Building Together – Upcoming Community events 🗣️
Building Voices – Eryn Marshall, VP of People, dives into all things AI for HR 🤖
Resource Hub – Curated articles selected by our Ambassadors all about AI 💻
Hello, People Builders! 👋
Here we are, welcoming another exciting year, and guess what? A full 365 days have passed since we began our journey with People Builders and the Building Blocks newsletter! A year brimming with learning, sharing, and growing together. To commemorate this milestone, we've prepared a special retrospective—a journey through our past, highlighting our collective triumphs together.
On top of that, we’ve dedicated this newsletter to REALLY uncovering the intricacies and implications of AI and what it means for our industry. I know you will love the insights Eryn will share in the Building Voices section and all the articles and support our Ambassadors have shared in the Resource hub!
Now, let's dive into the excitement that awaits you in this month's newsletter! 🎉
Retrospective – Celebrating 1 year of People Builders ⚡
We are SO immensely proud of how far the People Builders Community has come in just 1 year! Thank you to all of YOU, our dearest Community members, for co-creating resources, events, and incredible knowledge to share among us all. Thank you for your endless participation and energy and for all your support this whole year! 🥳
We are so excited to have you all on board for another trip around the sun and we can’t wait to share all the exciting projects we’re planning for this year. 🙌
Building Together — Community events 🗣️
Next up, we have a VERY exciting event coming up on Wednesday. It’s not only going to be so insightful, but we’ve also partnered with the Butter platform to make this workshop extra engaging and fun. We’ll see you there!
2024 is all about proactive, holistic, and human-centred approaches that focus on the full employee experience. But where do we even start? One innovative approach is to apply Design Thinking, which is typically only used in business and product teams, to our People & Culture strategies.
By viewing our employees as 'internal customers', Design Thinking focuses on digging deep to understand the real needs, values, and aspirations of employees to resolve any challenges and increase engagement and productivity. Essentially, it's shifting from a traditional process-oriented structure to a dynamic, people-oriented system. 🤸♀️
I'm super excited to be joined by Expert Culture Designer and Co-Founder of the Future Kind Collective, Alicia Grimes, for our interactive workshop all about a designer’s mindset and the secret to creating powerful remote and hybrid people experiences.
💫 Discover why adopting a designer’s mindset is crucial to creating psychologically safe, connected, and high-performing teams.
🌈 Learn about the core pillars of how to design strong cultures.
🔧 Co-create your own unique action plan to apply these design principles and create meaningful moments for your teams.
Building Voices – Eryn Marshall, VP of People, dives into all things AI for HR 🤖
This month, we're diving deep into AI's role in shaping People & Culture teams. A survey by KPMG of UK CEOs found that 71% are now citing AI as their top investment priority. AI is no longer just a buzzword, and HR professionals need to make sure we understand its function in the workplace so that we don't get left behind.
We're so thrilled to have Eryn Marshall, VP of People at Oyster, joining us for a candid chat about all things AI so you can best prepare for the future ahead. She's sharing insights on leveraging AI to enhance company culture in remote and hybrid models, balancing tech and human touch, and much more. Get ready for some real talk!
Looking ahead, how do you foresee AI transforming the role of People and Culture leaders in the coming months? What major shifts or trends should we be preparing for in the short term?
HR has been in a state of evolution since I started my career over 15 years ago. What we’ve seen in People is people becoming more and more strategic. And I think AI is going to push that trend even further. We’ve mostly seen AI take over repetitive tasks, which has freed up time to work on bigger projects or initiatives as well as add more value to business leaders. What we’re now seeing is AI having the capability to do even more complex tasks, such as creating interview plans complete with competencies and questions based on a series of questions. Recruiters and leaders spend countless hours developing strong interview plans. This isn’t something that every Recruiter or hiring manager knows how to do well, so having the technology to assist will help equitable and consistent hiring practices be more widely used.
Where do you see the most significant potential for AI to revolutionize People & Culture practices in the next 5 years?
Performance. Even the best managers don’t always know how to give constructive feedback or create solid development plans for their employees. The technology available today relies heavily on previous experience or strong leadership enablement. AI has the potential to revolutionize the way that leaders manage and develop their teams.
From your perspective, how can organizations best utilize AI for efficient and unbiased hiring processes in a fully remote setting?
Using an interview intelligence tool (we use Brighthire) helps you to reduce recall bias because we forget the details of an interview in about 20 seconds. With recordings, transcripts, and instant summaries that feed into your ATS based on what was actually said, you are better positioned to make an objective and informed decision rather than rely on your recall of the situation. We’ve also improved our efficiency by allowing interviewers with busy schedules or in different time zones to review interviews asynchronously.
How do you think AI can be used to support employee development and career progression, especially in a remote work setting?
The potential here is really exciting. Right now, development and career progression are very manager-dependent. Imagine having access to every leadership book ever written and being able to access the information to improve the performance review process and to help leaders better coach their teams. The same goes for employees being able to unlock new areas of their own development, empowering them to grow their own careers.
Let's keep this conversation going – let us know your experience in the comments, and don’t hesitate to connect with Eryn on LinkedIn!
Resource Hub – Curated feedback articles selected by our ambassadors all about AI 💻
Our People Builder Ambassadors have outdone themselves! They've curated a selection of top-tier feedback articles, tailored just for you, our People Leaders and professionals. Dive into these resources and empower your teams like never before in preparation for this year full of AI.
Audience: People Leaders
Experts from Harvard, Cornell, and Carnegie Mellon explore the HR trends that will reshape what leaders will need to double down on in 2024.
What does ChatGPT mean for HR?
Audience: People leaders and Professionals
The Bright & Early team tackles the impact of ChatGPT in our industry both cautiously and optimistically.
Championing Humanity in the age of AI and Transformation
Audience: People Leaders and Professionals
In our digital dominion, it's essential to remember that AI and automation are our allies, not replacements for the human spark. It's time to champion emotional intelligence and empathy as we navigate this tech terrain.
HR Predictions 2024: Generative AI, Employee Experience, Remote Work and More
Audience: People Leaders and Professionals
As we sail the seas of hybrid work, AI tools are our compass for navigating HR service delivery and enriching the remote employee experience. From virtual onboarding adventures to engagement tracking treasures, these tools are key. But let's not forget the legal and ethical compass - transparency is our guiding star here.
Audience: People leaders and professionals
Remote work is reshaping how we scout and welcome talent. It's time to harness AI for a hiring journey that's not just efficient, but fair and transparent. Let's break down walls and build bridges, ensuring every remote star feels connected and valued.
Seven key HR Trends to watch in 2024
Audience: People leaders and professionals
In our remote and hybrid world, DEI isn't just a buzzword; it's the heartbeat of our community. We're championing equal opportunities and resources for every member of our digital tribe, from virtual mentorship programs to diverse team compositions.
We don’t have to choose between ethical and innovative AI
Audience: People Leaders
An example of ethical AI use that impacts HR/benefits: Reshma and her team at Moms First rolled out Paid Leave AI , which leverages the power of AI to make paid family leave and related benefits accessible to those residing in the US.
HR + AI: 6 Ways Strategic People Leaders Can Leverage ChatGPT
Audience: People Leaders
Lots of ChatGPT prompts and use cases for HR teams so you can leverage ChatGPT to improve your workflows.
Audience: People leaders and Professionals
If you are looking for guidance on how to implement AI ethically in your teams, this is a fantastic workshop by Gooder, a consultancy helping build ethical companies.
Article series about AI regulation in different countries
Audience: Organizational leaders (HR and other functions)
This is broader scope, but the Council of Canadian Innovators (an organization we work with here in Toronto) released a helpful article series about AI regulation in different countries. This may be important for organizational leaders (HR and other functions) to read so they understand important updates on how AI is being regulated:
As we wrap up this edition of Building Blocks, let's take a moment to appreciate the journey we've been on. From vibrant events to shared challenges, we've done it all together. And there's more to come! 🚀
Until next time,
Carmen, Community Lead
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