The HR Huddle

In this episode of HR, We Have a Problem, Teri Zipper and guest Kate O'Neill, Founder and CEO of KO Insights, examine what it actually takes to lead through a period of rapid technological change. The conversation moves beyond AI adoption tactics and into the harder questions around how people make decisions, resist change, and find meaning in their work when automation is reshaping the ground beneath them. Kate draws from her background in tech humanism to explain why the fears employees have about AI are worth listening to, not just managing, and how organizations that skip those conversations tend to pay for it later.  Key points covered include: ↪️ When employees resist new technology, they may be sensing real trade-offs the organization has not acknowledged, such as loss of institutional knowledge or cultural continuity. HR leaders are well-positioned to surface those concerns rather than manage around them. ↪️ AI tools work best as scaffolding beneath human judgment, not as a replacement for it. Organizations that focus on structuring unstructured data and building clear rules and thresholds will move faster than those chasing full automation. ↪️ "Bankable foresight" is Kate's term for signals you are not ready to act on yet but track over time so your decisions are calibrated to something beyond the current moment's anxiety. ↪️ Prompt skilling is the minimum viable entry point for AI adoption. Teaching people to write better prompts also develops clearer thinking and stronger delegation skills, making it useful well beyond AI contexts. Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below: Sapient Insights Group Download the 2024-25 HR Systems Survey White Paper Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn Teri Zipper Instagram |  Twitter |  LinkedIn  Kate O'Neill LinkedIn

In this episode of Spilling the Tea on HR Tech, Stacey Harris and Cliff Stevenson break down Workday's announcement of Aneel Bhusri's return as CEO and what it signals about how HR tech companies are repositioning for AI-era challenges. New research reveals employee priorities have shifted more dramatically than at any point in the last 20 years, with organizational stability ranking above feeling valued at work for the first time since 2016. Major acquisitions continue reshaping the skills and assessment landscape, while new data governance solutions point to growing concerns about data quality and AI effectiveness. Key points covered include: ↪️ Workday leadership transition as Carl Eschenbach steps down and founder Aneel Bhusri returns as CEO, with analysis of what this means for customers and partners during the AI transformation. ↪️ Employee engagement research showing stability concerns now outrank feeling valued for the first time in a decade, marking the most dramatic shift in engagement drivers in 20 years. ↪️ Skills infrastructure investments including Phenom acquiring Be Applied for AI-first assessments, Skillsoft's Percipio rebranding, and Workday's Military Skills Mapper for veteran hiring. ↪️ Data governance entering the HR conversation with Pantomath's funding for data lineage tracking and G2's consolidation of software review platforms. Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below: Sapient Insights Group Download the 2024-25 HR Systems Survey White Paper Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn Stacey Harris Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn Cliff Stevenson Twitter | LinkedIn 

In this episode of HR, We Have a Problem, Teri Zipper and guest Melissa Reeve, creator of the hyper-adaptive model and author of the forthcoming book "Hyper-Adaptive: Rewiring the Enterprise to Become AI Native," explains successful AI integration requires organizations to spend 70% of their effort on people changes rather than technology implementation. The conversation covers how jobs will be deconstructed and reassembled as AI automates tasks, why companies need an "AI North Star" to guide adoption, and what organizational structures must be built to support the transition.  Key points covered include: ↪️ Organizations need an "AI North Star"—a clear, compelling business goal that helps employees understand why they're implementing AI and how their roles connect to that mission. ↪️ Companies are building things like  AI activation hubs and councils with programmatic support for AI leads, creating networks that atomize learning and deliver relevant information to frontlines quickly as new capabilities emerge. ↪️ Success requires creating protected time and safe spaces for employees to explore AI through their curiosity, such as "prompting parties" where teams compare approaches and discover possibilities together. ↪️ Start by using empathy mapping to identify tasks employees dislike (bug chasing, testing, invoice processing) and demonstrate how AI can handle those activities, shifting mindset from job replacement fears to capability enhancement. Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below: Sapient Insights Group Download the 2024-25 HR Systems Survey White Paper Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn Teri Zipper Instagram |  Twitter |  LinkedIn 

In this episode of Spilling the Tea on HR Tech, Stacey Harris and Cliff Stevenson discuss the latest tech acquisitions while exploring how AI-powered solutions are reshaping employee experience. The hosts address the Eightfold lawsuit and its implications for data privacy, examine CEO perspectives on AI decisions and implementations, and discuss Greenhouse's mission to make hiring work for everyone. They also touch on the role of HR leaders when business decisions present potential risks and how different generations view the social stances taken by their employers. Key points covered include: ↪️ M&A activity accelerates with acquisitions focused on AI-powered recruitment, global payroll services, and workforce planning capabilities that expand platform offerings across the full employee lifecycle. Acquisition deals discussed include Venture Solution/Distro, Remote/Atlas, Dayforce/Agent Noon, Docebo/365 Talent. ↪️ Eightfold faces legal scrutiny over data disclosure requirements, raising questions about how AI systems use external data sources and what organizations must reveal to candidates about data scraping. ↪️ The recent issues around ICE tactics demonstrate the importance of evaluating potential risks of business decisions involving employee training, hiring incentives, overarching policies, and even language used in communications.  All can impact employee safety and shape organizational culture, particularly in times of rapid change. ↪️ Three-quarters of CEOs report being the primary decision maker on AI strategy and 50%  believe their job depends on demonstrable ROI from AI use, creating pressure that may lead to rushed implementation without thorough evaluation and risk assessment. Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below: Sapient Insights Group Download the 2024-25 HR Systems Survey White Paper Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn Stacey Harris Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn Cliff Stevenson Twitter | LinkedIn 

In this episode of HR, We Have a Problem, Teri Zipper and guest Chris Taylor, Founder and CEO of Actionable.co, break down why most training programs fail to create lasting change and what actually works. The conversation explores the gap between understanding new concepts and caring enough to apply them, revealing that most organizations spend 80% of their time on content when they should be dedicating three times more attention to helping people find their own reasons for change.  Chris shares data from over 9,000 learning programs showing that simple tools like accountability partners can triple the likelihood of sustained behavior change. He shares practical strategies for designing sessions that stick, from cohort structures to permission slips for inevitable lapses. Key points covered include: ↪️ Effective learning requires a minimum 3:1 ratio of context to content, allowing participants time to work through the "so what" and "now what" rather than just consuming information. ↪️ Accountability partners increase the likelihood of sustained change by three times when participants check in at least twice after a session, yet remain underutilized despite being free and easy to implement. ↪️ Changing one behavior at a time produces better results than attempting multiple shifts simultaneously, with cohorts under 10 participants showing higher success rates for lasting change. ↪️ AI will commoditize the "how" of learning while human facilitation remains critical for helping individuals discover why they care enough to change their behavior. Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below: Sapient Insights Group Download the 2024-25 HR Systems Survey White Paper Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn Teri Zipper Instagram |  Twitter |  LinkedIn  Chris Taylor LinkedIn Actionable.co LinkedIn