What You Missed at SHRM 2023

Last week, more than 20,000+ human resources leaders and professionals from around the globe gathered for the 75th Annual SHRM conference in Las Vegas.  This year’s theme, Drive Change, could not be more appropriate for all of the transformations that have occurred in the workplace over the past 75 years, three years, or even the past six months (ChatGPT - we see you.)  

At the heart of the conversations around driving change is people. Making the workplace better for people by improving communication and fostering engagement. Enabling innovation through people, helping to attract, retain, and grow people, as well as leading people through change and transformation, and sustaining organizations by supporting people. It is all about people. HR is where the people help the people and in a world that is changing at a rapid pace, HR will be instrumental in creating the organization of the future. 

Session after session, leaders spoke about the importance of empathy, listening, learning, and leading people though change. Challenges and changes come in many different forms: acquisitions, employee dis/engagement, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, new markets, talent wars, HR technology, and return to office, to name a few. What remains consistent is the importance of building the case for change, articulating the reasons for change, understanding the readiness and culture, and preparing, testing, scaling, gathering feedback and remaining open and empathetic through it all. Helping people.

As the conference closed, there was a call to action to be more successful in today’s evolving landscape. SHRM President Johnny C. Taylor Jr. instructed HR leaders to remember the human in human resources and become experts in three key areas:

Be a people expert, 

Be a business expert, and

Be a culture expert.

HR leaders that do this, will be poised to help their organization drive change and transformation into a future we can only imagine.