DayoneHR Tea Time Podcast Episode 5: HR Success Stories [Transcript]

Below is a transcript from Episode 5 of our Podcast. It has been generated using automated transcription technology, so please forgive any mistakes, including grammatical errors. Of course, if you’d rather listen to our Podcast, you can find this episode on Apple, Google, Spotify and Amazon.

Lauren: Welcome everyone to another episode of DayoneHR Tea Time. We are so glad to have you with us and to have you back if you've been listening to some of our other recordings so far this year. This is our last recording of 2022. I'm not really sure where this year has gone. But it has, and because this is our last recording of this year, we are actually gonna be focusing on HR success stories.

So we really wanna talk about not just our own successes, but successes we've seen, and also kind of emphasize that, no matter the size of the success, if it is a win to you or a win to your team, then it's a success. And you should definitely celebrate your wins and your successes when you can, for sure!

Okay, so Yogina, do you wanna start?

Yogina: Yeah, sure. Hey everyone, hope all of you are doing good and staying warm this winter. So as Lauren mentioned, this is like our very last podcast for the year. So we will be doing a review of our wins and successes for the year. So let me put you on the spot, Lauren, and let me do this as an interview where I ask you questions and you answer me.

This is going to be interesting and, trust us guys, it's like on the spot. We haven't rehearsed or practiced any of this, so whatever I'm gonna ask or whatever Lauren's gonna answer, it's going to be on the spot. So be ready for that.

So Lauren, my journey with HR Tech Stack started in 2016 when I was introduced to the world of application tracking systems in my former organization where I was working. And, that has been a pivotal moment in my life, going in a new direction. And that's where, you know, I find that as a celebration or a success because that introduced me to something new and that helped me learn into a new field and dive into it. What did you say, like, has been your, one of the biggest successes or one of the most celebrated moments of your life as an HR tech person?

Lauren: Yeah, so it's super difficult because I've always found that my successes have actually been not recognized in the moment. It's when I've looked back on them and realized, oh my God, that was such a win. That was such a success. And I think my first win was partly a kind of tech success because there were a lot of elements that went with it. But, 10 years ago when I joined Amazon, half of my time there was really part of the Amazon logistics team, which is now Amazon next day, same day, ‘Prime’ as we know it, and supporting to set up the HR function within that entity. And making sure that we aligned with the business digitally, making sure we aligned in PeopleSoft, payroll, ADP, everything. And getting that to a point where that pilot - originally - could flourish. And I think that for me was the first point where I thought: success! Success with technology, success with digitalising processes, you know, bringing us on board with the rest of the bigger, wider Amazon community.

And, my second part of my career there was digitalising processes and getting them into a very wide ranging HR tech stack that became later the EMEA Shared Services, which we set up in Prague in the Czech Republic. So at the time, because I was working, you know, every hour God gave me, I didn't really think about it. I was just like, right, that's done, onto the next, onto the next. And you just keep going and going and going, especially if you're in a really fast paced tech company. And then it was years later when I would tell people about what I did and what I achieved, that actually people were like, wow, that's really good. That's an amazing journey to be on. And that's when I always look back now to, you know, 10 years ago when I went through that journey and that transformation in two different roles within Amazon. And I think those were my first big wins and successes. I had things before that where I had implemented systems and things like that, but this just felt like big, it felt like I was a part of something truly pivotal at the time. And yeah, I just don't ever forget it.

Yogina: Yeah, that's good to know. Thank you for sharing that. And the other thing is, one thing that we, at DayoneHR, really emphasize is learning and growth and challenging oneself at what we are doing or what our normal, you know, just not staying and doing the things that we are only used to doing, but getting into a new skill.

So if you look back on the past couple of years or on this year, what would you say, like, has been that one challenging thing that you came over that you're proud of?

Lauren: I always find this is - and every time I think of examples, I think of when I am in rooms or on Zoom calls with people who are senior leadership level or heads running departments, and they are not convinced that something is going to be a success. And you have to sit in that room with them and explain to them what you're doing, why you're doing it, why they should have trust in you to do it. And I remember having a call, I think it wasn't this year, I think it was towards the end of last year, and there was a CFO from a publicly listed company saying, you know, are you sure that you are gonna have this system rolled out on, you know, the 18th of whichever month it was, and he was looking for me to hesitate and I kept thinking, no, I am confident. We have done everything. We have checked everything, we've been through our project plan. We have looked at the risks. We have prepped for the deployment and the go-live.

And I had to say maybe four times that I was ready. And that nothing was gonna go wrong to convince him. And ultimately we were ready and the system did successfully go live. But the hesitation that you have, you are questioning yourself and your previous successes and thinking, you know, can I do this again? Can I replicate this? I think that those conversations are the biggest motivator. They're just pivotal in being sure of what you are doing and why you are doing it. And I just - I've had various conversations like that throughout my career, but you have to be strong and you know, really sure in what you are doing so it can be a success.

Yogina: I really feel for that because a lot of times, you know, you have the confidence, you go and talk to people and they start questioning, and you start questioning yourself again; like, can I do that or not? But then having - being able to trust in yourself is important at that point of time to understand like, yeah, that's necessary and I've done it before or I have the confidence to do it because I've seen similar challenges in the past. Yeah. So, that's an encouraging story.

So, if you look back at 2022, as we reach the year 2023, what would be your biggest celebration of the year 2022?

Lauren: Oh, there's so many wins. And I'm not gonna say there's not any losses because there are, but if we focus on the wins, I would say, you know, at DayoneHR we built products that we couldn't have dreamed of building years ago. We rolled out four courses, four HR tech courses that are available on Teachable that people can log in and start instantly and work through as and when they like. And what that did was enable us to help to solve a problem; that there's not enough HR tech specialists out there. And we need to train people. We need to share our knowledge. And we have been a major part of that.

And I know there are some companies that are doing that, but nowhere near enough. And I think, to build a course and to get everything you've learned out of your head and down on a product takes a lot of time, a lot of energy, and possibly people don't realize that. But definitely I think that was a huge, huge win and big thanks to you and Andy for helping to make that happen because us three were pivotal in getting that down and making that happen. I think that was a huge win.

And I think there are other wins whereby when we've worked with clients and we've got them to see the value of HR Tech, we've got them on a path to where they need to go. Some companies we worked with weren't ready to go on that path now, and that's fine. They will be maybe next year or the year after. They're starting to think about what they need for the future, and that is really, really important. So I just, yeah, I look at that as a huge win and I look at it and think, I can't believe we did that. I can't believe we built the courses. I can't believe we got all the content out there and people are using it and loving it! So, I just feel so much pride in that. That's major.

Yogina: Yeah, I do agree, like - with none of us having a background or prior experience in developing online courses or using the system - to be able to learn the system, to build out those courses. Thinking about what we should add, what we should not add. And how we promote, you know, like we were all hands on deck. A team of three. And that makes me believe that teamwork makes the dream work. You know, something that we jumped into and we were able to do that. So yeah, one of my major takeaways from the year 2022 would be those courses as well.

So coming to the next question. What has been the most surprising thing for you this year or in the past couple of years? Something like you really hadn't thought about and when it happened, you were like, wow, you know, like you've never thought about it and something that made you excited.

Lauren: So I think it is seeing the new HR tech platforms that are coming on the market. And when I've been on some of these calls with companies and I've seen kind of what they're doing and, not only what they're doing, but the fact that they're aiming it not at just big companies - because I really feel for the small to medium companies who miss out on great tech platforms, like really good analytics, really good AI platforms that will help them with their culture and engagement. And we've really seen the development of Orgnostic, Humantelligence, I mean all these platforms are kind of coming out there and saying, Hey, you can have this level of technology no matter what size your company is, and you don't need to pay big money to have it. And I thought that was just never gonna happen.

I just thought you needed to wait until your company was, you know, ‘X’ size, have this many headcount, this much revenue. So you could buy a Workday, a SuccessFactors, you know, to really get the level of analytics that you need to really understand, and plan and forecast for your workforce. And the fact that smaller companies have access to this now is major because I think that they can make really big business strategy decisions based on their data and their people data, which is huge.

So when I had those calls this year with those providers, I've just been like, wow, okay, this is out there and this is happening in a gap in a market that we've had for a really long time. So for me that was just like, yes, we need to tell more companies about these platforms.

Yogina: Yeah, that really gets me excited as well. And, something that I've seen during my research and studies is the growth of the HR tech market in Asia as well, where they're trying to compete on a global level in terms of quality and service delivery. But also providing a lot of companies with more convenient, not so expensive platforms that they could use with almost all the features of a well known HRIS system. And that is encouraging in a lot of ways, but especially for companies who really want to have an HR system, HR tech in their companies, but somewhere like startups or small size companies, financially, they are not able to make that level of a big commitment. Where these Asian platforms are providing a convenient solution, without compromising on the quality or the level of automation the platform does. So, it's pretty exciting.

So moving out of your personal wins or the personal celebrations, if you look at the overall HR tech industry or HR tech area, what would you say has been like one of the recent major wins for the industry or the business?

Lauren: So, I always lead back to a story that I read about in 2020 because I know this story has been replicated throughout the past three years by different companies, with the support of different HR tech partners. And that's: any company that rolled out a HR platform or anything within their HR Tech Stack during Covid, especially during lockdown, in multiple countries, needs huge congrats! Because I have seen people- one notable company I will mention is in the UK, we have a retailer called John Lewis. I read a great success story about how they implemented Workday during the very first lockdown. So they had done a lot of work up until March 2020 to roll out this platform across their stores and head office. And, you know, most companies would have stopped if they were in that space and thought, we need to wait for the stores to reopen. We need to do this, we need to do that. But they kept going in a very agile way to get the system out and make it successful.

And it was. And that's just one company in one country. And I know that there have been a lot of project teams, projects that we've worked on. Companies that have rolled out and implemented complex software in complex, multi-location, multi-country businesses, and made a success of it. And these are people who have been stuck at home trying to talk to people via Teams, via Zoom, and they’ve made it happen. And anyone who's worked in project management will know that that's not easy. And I just think that's huge. And I think that for the future that will tell us that, you know, in terms of project management and rolling out and implementing these systems, is that we can do it remotely if we all communicate, we all have structure, and we have a plan, it can happen!

So, I think that's huge. And if anyone knows of any other companies who've rolled out systems during the pandemic and done it successfully, please DM us, let us know, because I know there's more out there and I'd love to hear the story.

Yogina: Yeah, it's a very big win, especially when, like during lockdown, a lot of companies might have been thinking like, we don't have enough revenue or the business is gonna take a hit. So, why invest in a platform at the moment? But being able to see that more as an opportunity than a challenge, and going through with it, is a very big deal.

So, coming towards the end, a very open ended question. Anything else you wanna share with our listeners? Any wise words?

Lauren: Yeah. I think actually in the last couple of weeks I've learned that when we use HR Tech products, when we're rolling out new products, there's always a huge emphasis on the end. You know, that go-live, that deployment, that big bang! When actually, if you've got a bigger organization that's in a lot of countries, you're maybe rolling out a HCM, then you're rolling out a time and attendance platform, then payroll. You've gotta celebrate all these little wins, you know? You got the new play role in Spain. Well done. Like, celebrate, you know? And I've been very terrible at this. I have done something and then I'm like, right, onto the next. And you have got to celebrate the small wins, you know, throughout a bigger project.

For some companies, it's celebrating that you've got through the HRIS selection process, because I will tell you how hard that can be in organizations where people can't decide what is right for them, even though they've mapped out all the requirements. And I think that, you know, if you are responsible for a team that is a part of these projects, make sure you send down those congratulations for those successes. Flag those successes all the time because if you don't, others might not. And then they just become something that we completed once. And that's just not gonna give people the fulfillment and also the pleasure of achieving something great in terms of transforming HR departments and rolling out HR tech.

So, I think it's kind of that. And that's a learning for me as well. I'm very guilty of not celebrating the successes. My husband says that to me all the time. So, even if you have to pencil in a 30 minute success call to go through it. We used to do it at Amazon, at the start of the call we would ask someone to state a success story. And I think Amazon still does that today. And you've just gotta celebrate the successes, big or small. Give the praise where it's deserved. That's probably my final take. And if you want a HR success story, let us be part of the journey. Because we love creating successful HR Tech selection, implementation and transformation projects.

Yogina: Yeah, agree. Regardless of whether it's HR, HR tech, or any field, I think it's important for you to pause, reflect back, and celebrate what you've done so that it boosts your morale for the next step. And, you know, just feeling encouraged by what you do. So with that, we come towards the end of our podcast. Just a quick reminder to our listeners that our Trick or Treat and Black Friday offers are still on. I believe our Black Friday offer is still on, so use this opportunity to go in and sign up for the courses and let us know how you enjoy it.

Also, Christmas and New Year are around the corner, so wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in advance.

Lauren: Yeah, and I just think congrats for getting through 2022. Sometimes I question what year it is because the last few years have just been a bit of a mix and I just wanna say that and also just say: I hope you have a healthy and successful 2023. And yes, see you in the new year!

Yogina: Thank you everyone, and keep listening and showering us with your love. We'll see you in 2023!

Lauren: Yeah, see you then!

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