In this episode of the Future Proof HR podcast, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Terilyn Monroe, Chief People Officer at Guardant Health, to talk about what it takes for HR to operate like a business while still keeping people at the center. Terilyn shares how her team thinks about the employee experience end to end, from recruiting and leadership development to support, strategy, and workforce planning.

Together, they unpack how the role of HR has been evolving, not because its purpose is entirely new, but because the way the work gets done is changing fast. Terilyn explains why modern people teams need to think like enterprise leaders, build with design thinking in mind, and use AI to improve workflows rather than simply layering tools onto broken processes.

The conversation also reflects on lessons from the COVID era, especially the link between employee-centered decisions and strong business outcomes. From there, they turn to AI, discussing how leaders can move employees from fear to curiosity, why capability building matters at every level of the organization, and how senior leadership bootcamps, AI champions, and cross-functional learning communities can help companies adopt AI more responsibly and effectively.

This episode offers a practical look at how HR can help lead transformation by translating business strategy into talent strategy, building readiness for change, and making sure technology serves people, not the other way around.

Topics Discussed:

• Why HR should operate like a business while staying centered on employee experience
• How design thinking helps people teams solve real employee pain points
• What the COVID era taught HR leaders about balancing employee care and business continuity
• How to shift the AI conversation from fear to capability building
• Why senior leaders need baseline AI fluency before broader organizational change can happen
• The role of AI champion communities, workshops, and learning programs in adoption
• Why broken processes need to be re-engineered before AI can add real value
• How HR can future-proof the business through workforce planning, prioritization, and internal talent development

Additional Resources:

• Cleary’s AI-powered HR Chatbot
• Future Proof HR Community
• Connect with Terilyn Monroe on LinkedIn

Note: This episode was recorded in 2025.

Be on that journey.

2

And evolve your role with AI as

opposed to feeling afraid that

3

it's gonna do something to you.

4

Be in control of that and help us

figure out how your role can evolve,

5

leveraging things like AI, but also

where AI may not work because it's not

6

the silver bullet, it's not gonna work

for everything in every situation.

7

Thomas Kunjappu: They keep

telling us that it's all over.

8

For HR, the age of AI is upon

us, and that means HR should

9

be prepared to be decimated.

10

We reject that message.

11

The future of HR won't be handed to us.

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Instead, it'll be defined by those

ready to experiment, adopt, and adapt.

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Future Proof HR invites these builders to

share what they're trying, how it's going,

14

what they've learned, and what's next.

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We are committed to arming HR

with the AI insights to not

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just survive, but to thrive.

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Thomas Kunjappu (2): Hello and

welcome to Future Proof HR, where we

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explore how forward thinking people,

leaders are preparing for disruption

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and redefining what it means to

lead people in a changing world.

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I'm your host, Thomas

Kunjappu, CEO of Cleary.

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Today's guest is Terilyn Monroe, the

Chief People Officer at Guardant Health.

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Terilyn is a business first

people leader and coach.

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She's known for connecting

strategy, leadership, and culture.

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Balancing data-driven decisions with

a deeply human heart led approach.

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At Guardant, she's been helping

transform both the enterprise

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and the business of HR itself.

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Introducing AI power tools, rethinking

leadership, and shaping how work gets

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done, all while keeping employees,

patients, and customers at the center.

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welcome to the podcast.

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Terilyn: Thanks so much.

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Great to be here.

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Thomas Kunjappu (2): So let's just start

off with the remit of, of HR, right?

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you mentioned, you think of

it as you have to, run HR and

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change HR and also transform the

business, all at the same time.

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Tell me about that.

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Terilyn: Yeah, we call ourselves

a people team because we're in the

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business of people and we really feel

like when you look at the end-to-end

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employee experience and what our remit

is, it is operating like a business.

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Meaning we have recruiters that

are salespeople and we're selling.

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The company, the brand of the company, the

roles, the experience that we want people

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to have when they are here at Guardant.

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We have products and offerings

that we, have for our employees.

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So think leadership, and

development offerings.

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If you think about, all the

programs that HR delivers.

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We provide support to employees

answering their questions like

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a support organization, customer

service organization, if you will.

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And we think about our

employees being our customers.

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and so when you think end to end

about the employee experience and the

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role that we play in service to that

experience, we're really operating

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like a mini business within HR.

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I didn't even mention our.

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People, business partners that are

there to support the leaders that are

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also really understanding the strategy,

not only of the company, but of the

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organizations that they support.

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And translating those business strategies

into talent strategies, workforce plans,

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and really helping ensure that the

organizations at all levels can scale.

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Thomas Kunjappu (2): So a lot of HR

leaders are often working with executive

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teams that haven't necessarily.

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Seen in practice more of this definition

of what HR is or can be, right?

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So if you're, and I'm sure you've

come across different, where

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sometimes the HR or the people team

has to define themselves right?

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To the

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Terilyn: Mm-hmm.

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Thomas Kunjappu (2): leadership.

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So if you have to explain, what

is the essence of what a modern

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people function really can and

should be for an organization versus

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maybe what it was in the past.

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How would you describe it?

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Terilyn: We're here to partner with

the business to help accelerate

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our business goals, right?

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the vision of the company and

create the best possible employee

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experience along the way.

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So it's really that twofold.

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It's about the business outcomes and

it's about the employee experience.

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And then how we do it is through our

product services and offerings that

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we deliver and that we maintain.

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Thomas Kunjappu (2): So do you

think that has changed over time?

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That, like for, at least, even if in

your mind it has stayed the same, the

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expectation and also how it's received,

and the day-to-day, collaboration

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with the rest of the organization,

has that shifted in your time

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Terilyn: Yeah.

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I think what we have always focused on

as a function has been pretty consistent.

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You could say 10 years ago, weren't

you focused in on helping the

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business achieve its goals and

creating a great employee experience,

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whether it's hiring, engagement,

retention, development, et cetera.

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I think what's evolved over the

last several years and what will

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continue to evolve as we look forward

into the future is how we deliver.

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On those offerings, how we partner

with the business, how we drive

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more operational efficiency, how

we think about the employee value

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proposition, how we get the work done.

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The how is evolving so that

we can have greater impact.

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Thomas Kunjappu (2): So.

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what's been changing there?

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Technology comes to mind, obviously,

but, what's been changing, lately, right?

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What's, relatively new and

new challenges that, we're all

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overcoming in the function.

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Terilyn: Yeah.

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if you think about the last few

years, so much has been evolving.

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From the outside.

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If you look at the external

environment, we've got all this

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happening on a geopolitical basis.

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We've had a pandemic that evolved

how we thought about the work that

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we do, how employees thought about

where they work, how they work, when

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they work, and what's important.

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And so I just think that how we're

operating today is very different,

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which means we have to really

continue to evolve and transform.

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The processes, the workflows,

and we need to do it in ways

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that are really human led.

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So we're really re-engineering things

and we're leveraging tools like ai.

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To help drive more of that efficiency.

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But I think it's really different in the

way that we're managing things today where

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we need to think strategically about our

end-to-end processes, and we need to not

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lead with technology, but instead say,

how can technology help us get better?

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How can technology help us

create a better experience?

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How can technology help make things

easier for us within our own organization,

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but then also for employees and

leaders and others that we serve?

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Thomas Kunjappu (2): So you brought up

the concept of the employee experience

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a couple of times and now paired it with

pay technology can follow these other

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things versus be like the lead, right?

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So, I'd love to unpack

that with you a little bit.

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Terilyn: Yep.

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Thomas Kunjappu (2): When you're

thinking about solving for the

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employee experience or starting there,

to then go downstream to everything

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else, what does that mean for you?

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Like, how does that change the way your HR

function, operates on a day-to-day basis?

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Terilyn: It's interesting.

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I was just in a meeting earlier

today and we built, at Guardant,

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an AI champion community.

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So folks coming together who are driving

could be enterprise AI use cases or

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initiatives or working within their teams

to figure out how to better leverage ai.

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and just sharing learnings

across the group.

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One of the things that we were

talking about, and it's something

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that we are always focused on

within our people function here

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at Guardant is design thinking.

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So how do we understand what

are the business requirements?

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What are the needs or unmet needs of

our users, of our candidates, of our

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employees, so that when we take a step

back and we say, okay, we wanna design

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something, whether it's a new process

or whether it's rolling out some new

139

initiative, we're actually very clear on

what we're always trying to solve for, and

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most importantly, who we're solving for.

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You know, there are so many great ideas.

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I'm an idea person, so I can think

about a million different things

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to do, and I get excited about it.

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But if it's not in service to solving

a real problem that our employees

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or leaders are having or something

that's not working in a process that's

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creating pain points for folks that

are using our process, stakeholders

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that are part of that process, then

it's not gonna have as much impact.

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It's about design thinking and really

incorporating design thinking into

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how we think about the work that we

do and the improvements that we want

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to make, because then we'll actually

be able to have greater impact.

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Yep.

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Thomas Kunjappu (2): So let me come

at you from the, like the skeptical,

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employ HR or people operations associate

or specialist or maybe an HR VP who's

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hey, that's all to or CPO to make

sure that we're, thinking this way.

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in my day to day.

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What I have to deal with is all these

inbound employee questions that I, to,

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work on, or I need to, I'm just too busy,

with the calendar, for three months of

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the year figuring out our compensation

process or our performance review process

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or So to come out of that to.

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Do design thinking feels

like such, such a luxury.

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who's, how are you, how am

I gonna ever find the time

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Terilyn: Yeah.

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Thomas Kunjappu (2): to rethink

all these things, fundamentally.

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Terilyn: I always go back to, how can

we infuse design thinking into our

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day-to-day work and our processes?

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So design thinking's a lot easier when

you're starting up something brand new.

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You're starting from scratch.

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Absolutely.

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But to your point, there's a

lot of things already in flight.

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So how do we take a step back and really

ask ourselves, where are the pain points?

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Are we getting the exact

same question from a group of

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employees over and over again?

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And does something need

to improve in our process?

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And if something does need to

improve, how do we start with

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the pain points of our employees?

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and so that design thinking just means

that we are actually pausing to ask

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ourselves what's working really well.

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With the end user, what's not, and how

can we improve and design it in a way

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that improves that experience of people?

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So if we do it right, if we really

think differently about it, it's not

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a separate process or separate thing.

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It's actually fully integrated into

how we operate each and every day.

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Whether that's around continuous

improvement or addressing a recurring pain

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point, or creating something brand new.

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Thomas Kunjappu (2): I love

that pushback to the pushback.

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And I'm a huge fan of this

kind of approach, right?

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Employees are the customers

ultimately, right?

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And then you're just really

just focusing all your efforts

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on enabling outcomes for them.

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So as we talk about.

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Where HR is headed.

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I think it's interesting, for

us to go a little bit, just not

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so far back, but clearly now in

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So let's talk about that COVID era,

because there's a lot of, things I

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know that you've went through, which

can almost serve as a preview for,

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what we're talking about generally

on this podcast, which is about how

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we can future proof organizations

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Terilyn: Mm-hmm.

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Thomas Kunjappu (2): age of AI, right?

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So there are clearly

some like lessons there.

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Could you tell me a little bit

about, what you went through in

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the COVID days, in your role and,

what are some lessons from that?

203

Terilyn: Yeah, it is really interesting.

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We talk about scenario planning and

the future, and one of the scenarios

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that I know, our company, and at

the time I was with a different

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company, I was with Varian.

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What we made were

radiation therapy machines.

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And what was interesting as COVID was

happening, we were trying to figure

209

out how do we keep the business running

knowing that we were manufacturing

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radiation therapy machines because

cancer doesn't stop even for a pandemic.

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And we knew that around the globe, a

lot of our customers were expecting

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us to continue to deliver these

machines and provide services and

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support because cancer patients still

needed to go in and get treatments.

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Now you try and balance the needs

of your customers externally with

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this pandemic of then saying, okay,

how do we keep our employees safe?

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How do we ensure we care for our

employees and really have to make

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difficult decisions like do we shut

down, manufacturing for a period of time?

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And at the time, I, oversaw HR, but

also our facilities around the globe.

219

And, that's a real interesting,

decision and really trying to weigh

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the pros and cons and really leaning

into safety for your employees.

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And making tough decisions to

say, let's just pause, lean into

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safety and wellness and care for

our employees, and then figure out

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how we can safely bring them back.

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Because we were all

learning together, right.

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Do you remember all the masks and

the distancing, the social distancing

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and you know, and it was before

vaccinations were coming out and

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we were anxiously awaiting those.

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Do you require, vaccinations, do you not?

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There are all these decisions

that needed to get made during

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that time and I would just say,

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It always goes back to thinking about

what's most important, and that's why we

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were always leaning into, our employees.

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What's most important is making sure

we were keeping our employees safe at

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a time when they were very worried as

well about their health and safety.

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And so we started there because we knew

that if we had healthy, safe employees,

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they would solve for customers.

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and there are so many examples

around the globe, not just at our

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company at the time, but many other

organizations, where employees just,

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selflessly, continued to provide that

incredible support for patients or

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their customers around the globe.

241

but I think if as a company we take

care of our employees, they will

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help take care of our customers.

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Thomas Kunjappu (2): So if anything,

I'm, if I'm a takeaway from me,

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there is, if anything that, Is there

a lesson there that was actually

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being more employee centric?

246

Actually is, helpful in

getting to business outcomes.

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Terilyn: Yeah.

248

Thomas Kunjappu (2): actually helps.

249

'cause it's a little bit counterintuitive

to me because in a pandemic where you're,

250

you're looking at loss of revenue,

complete continuity issues, that's

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like the, it's a space for the CFO and

investors to have the biggest voice in

252

the room about, what needs to happen.

253

But, even in these moments of

crisis, leading with thinking

254

about your employees can get you

down the, to the right answers.

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Terilyn: That's why I always love

it when, as a company, if you looked

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at a balanced scorecard, right?

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What are we doing in terms of our goals

and measures that are in service to

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employees, to customers, to shareholders?

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And then in our case, because of, the

work that we do, the industry that

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we're in, we also look at patients.

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And so when you have a balanced

scorecard, you're actually trying to

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look at it from all those perspectives.

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So when you're making decisions during

a crisis or in those types where

264

decisions are really tough, you're

able to look at it very carefully.

265

And when you bring employees

along that journey.

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As so many of us did during that

time of saying, here's the situation.

267

Employees will solve for customers.

268

If your customers know employees are

cared for and caring for them, customers

269

will solve for shareholders, right?

270

Because they'll continue

to be loyal to you.

271

Because they know they're getting

great care from the employees.

272

So I just feel like it's

all connected together.

273

Thomas Kunjappu (2): So let's

connect that forward then.

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COVID hit like a ton of bricks

and it was like pretty...

275

after first few weeks, it was like

a big shock to the system, right?

276

That lasted months and

quarters, if not years.

277

what's happening right now

with AI and technology shifts?

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It's lighter, right?

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it's a lighter touch, let's call it.

280

and, but it's happening and it seems

to be accelerating and it's making.

281

an impact on the workplace and

just society from all different

282

like going forward, right?

283

So at least with the CPO hat on,

what, what is the role do you

284

think, for you Terilyn and your

peers, within this, this revolution?

285

And also what lessons, if any,

can we take away from this?

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very recent, impactful event that

interrupted business as usual.

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Terilyn: it is really interesting

to, to be in this role over the

288

last, I would say, decade because,

we just talked about the pandemic.

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That was a lot of learnings for all of

us and we were learning from each other.

290

And I've gotta say, I tapped into

my peers all the time who are doing

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amazing things, and we would share

what was working, what wasn't.

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I think this era that we're in,

another inflection point and another

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opportunity to continue to evolve

and transform as organizations.

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and another time to share learnings

openly, because, There's a

295

lot of unknowns, there's a lot

of experimentation going on.

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and we also have to always realize and

recognize what works in one company

297

may not work in another company.

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What works in one industry may

not work in another industry.

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For AI.

300

One of the things, and I've had the

opportunity to partner with our CIO and

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so we're exec sponsors of really driving

enter, AI across the enterprise, building

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that capability, making sure that we are

providing our employees with the tools

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and resources they need to successfully

embrace this era that we're in.

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Be along that journey with us, not

only from a productivity perspective,

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but also an innovation perspective.

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And while we've been using AI for many

years on the innovation front with

307

our offerings, there's something to be

said about this era that we're in right

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now where we're asking all employees

to learn new things and embrace ai.

309

And one of the things that I think every

company has realized is every employee's

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in a different space on that continuum.

311

some kind of skeptical,

312

Thomas Kunjappu (2): Right,

313

Terilyn: not quite sure, or

even uncomfortable using it.

314

Some who are like those trailblazers who

are like, yeah, I'm gonna check it out.

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I'm gonna check out every tool I can.

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I'm gonna use it however I can.

317

Thomas Kunjappu (2): right.

318

Terilyn: And there's, as we think about

our roles, there are things we have

319

to help our employees with no matter

where they are on that continuum.

320

For the folks who are unsure, how do

we shift their mindset and build the

321

capability so that they get that baseline

and understand how to leverage it so they

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themselves can continue to evolve and get

better and better with that technology,

323

but also use it because there's a lot of

fear around is AI gonna take my job away?

324

Be on that journey.

325

And evolve your role with AI as

opposed to feeling afraid that

326

it's gonna do something to you.

327

be in control of that and help us

figure out how your role can evolve,

328

leveraging things like ai, but also

where AI may not work because it's not

329

the silver bullet, it's not gonna work

for everything in every situation.

330

On the other end of the continuum,

you've got those trailblazers

331

and we've gotta make sure.

332

That we keep our data safe

and that we're using tools

333

Thomas Kunjappu (2): Yeah.

334

Terilyn: in the right way

335

Thomas Kunjappu (2): Yeah.

336

Terilyn: our data being

used in the right way.

337

So it's really an interesting time as

we think about how we scale and how

338

we meet the needs of these different

personas in our employee workforce.

339

Thomas Kunjappu: This has been

a fantastic conversation so far.

340

If you haven't already done so,

make sure to join our community.

341

We are building a network of the

most forward-thinking, HR and

342

people, operational professionals

who are defining the future.

343

I will personally be sharing

news and ideas around how we

344

can all thrive in the age of AI.

345

You can find it at go cleary.com/cleary

346

community.

347

Now back to the show.

348

Thomas Kunjappu (2): I love that like

framing because every organization,

349

regardless of industry, will

have this range and this starting

350

point, which, not gonna be the same

across their employee population.

351

I know earlier when we were talking

about you focus specifically on

352

senior leadership and creating like

a bootcamp, to enable, partially

353

to get everyone at least to some

similar shared like baseline, right?

354

Terilyn: Yeah.

355

Thomas Kunjappu (2): I imagine that's

part of the, this partnership that

356

you talked about with the CIO's

office in terms of what you're doing,

357

enablement for the organization.

358

me a little bit about, how you went

from strategy about, hey, okay, we

359

want to enable, AI learning across

the board to something as specific

360

as, okay, let's do this bootcamp for

senior leaders in this specific way.

361

how do you go from that, that higher level

decision to this particular, program?

362

Terilyn: Yeah.

363

it's so important to always start

with support from the whole management

364

team, so I'm very fortunate in

that I work for an organization.

365

One of our values is.

366

Is Blaze a trail.

367

And, we are a founder led organization

and I love it because our founders

368

are still very much around innovation.

369

And so with things like ai, again, while

we were using it in so many areas of.

370

Product.

371

when it came to enterprise ai, we

realized even our senior management

372

team, so think VPs and above, not

everyone were, was using it in that way.

373

And we thought, okay, if we're

expecting the whole enterprise to

374

leverage ai, we probably need to

do some education to make sure we

375

ourselves, at the senior management team

level, all of our VPs in the company.

376

Have a baseline knowledge.

377

Understand the tools, understand what we

want people to do with these tools and how

378

to safely use these tools so that they can

encourage their teams to use it so that we

379

can think about goals that are integrating

AI or use cases that are integrating ai.

380

Making it safe and encouraging

people to experiment and share

381

those learnings so that together we

can all continue to move forward.

382

And it's always that

tone at the top, right?

383

So if we're using it, if we're

comfortable with it, we're gonna

384

encourage our teams to use it and we're

gonna be able to drive that change

385

a lot faster through the company.

386

Yeah.

387

Thomas Kunjappu (2): was the

intention here to get this one

388

baseline, across the board.

389

where are you on that,

journey, would you say?

390

Terilyn: So we did a few things.

391

So we had a senior

management team bootcamp.

392

Everyone did it, which was great.

393

Then we, just have so many incredible,

L&D offerings for our employees to

394

bring them through wherever they are

in that continuum and provide support.

395

everything from on-demand

LinkedIn Learning.

396

We do customized sessions.

397

We do a lot of workshops.

398

we really did.

399

Shift the some of the remit of our

learning and development team to actually

400

double down on AI to support the groups.

401

We have AI Friday, every Friday we have AI

technology reviews with our tech talent,

402

which is great, where they do a deeper

dive and share learnings and use cases.

403

But we also have an AI champion

community made up of cross-functional

404

folks from different parts of the

business to talk about, hey, how do

405

we continue to take, these enterprise

AI efforts to that next level?

406

What is needed and how do we do it?

407

Again, looking at it from a people

process and technology perspective,

408

so it's not just leading with

ai, but it's really saying, how

409

do we think about our workflows?

410

How do we think about our processes,

and then what are the goals that.

411

This change, whatever we wanna do

is in service to, is it in service

412

to a better customer experience?

413

Whether those customers are internal

or external, is it in service

414

to productivity, operational

efficiency, or something as

415

scaling as another example, right.

416

Or something else.

417

Thomas Kunjappu (2): Yeah, it seems

like, there's been a little bit

418

of a backlash in the press about.

419

a lot of companies not quite

seeing the ROI from ai, from

420

these wall to wall, engagements.

421

And I wonder if a lot of that

is like too much too soon.

422

And it's interesting to, with a

smaller community like this experiment

423

with things, but really it goes back

to asking this question, Who is the

424

customer and what is the business value?

425

If this thing is even successful,

is it worth us like pursuing?

426

So that kind of community experimenting,

but then always being forced to ask the

427

question of, okay, why, should really

help ensure there's the ROI there.

428

So let's talk a little bit about HR

specific, the people, team's role

429

within this kind of transformation.

430

Because and let's let, I can take it

back a little bit again to COVID, right?

431

Because some of these decisions

that, heavy decisions, arguably

432

even in that era, right?

433

In many organizations, it

could or could not happen.

434

It needs to be made.

435

It could or could not happen with the

people team being right at the center

436

of it at the periphery or not involved

at all in some of these key decisions

437

about how the business is gonna operate.

438

I feel like there's a parallel

here, in terms of how AI will come

439

out into the organization, right.

440

So, you mentioned you're

partnering with the CIO's office.

441

I'm just curious, like with

your peers and like how you've,

442

seen just, AI transformations

at different kind of stages.

443

what have you seen, in terms of

different models around the roles that

444

the people function can play within

this and, is your chosen path and why?

445

Terilyn: Yeah, it depends on the company.

446

It depends on, the company's

approach to technology like ai.

447

It depends on the goals of the company,

and it depends on the resources that you

448

have available also within the people team

to be able to partner at different levels.

449

It really depends.

450

So what we choose to do is our team

is very focused in on a couple things.

451

One is building enterprise-wide capability

in partnership with the CIO team.

452

And part of that is because it's not

just throwing tools out there for

453

people and saying, go experiment, but.

454

How are we building capability around it?

455

So we are really focused in

on things being people led,

456

human led, and then AI powered.

457

It's not the other way around.

458

And so what that means is we need to

build capability as to how to translate

459

our strategies and our processes and

helping others figure out how do you

460

translate those things into processes

and workflows and really understanding.

461

When you wanna improve something,

you don't just start with a tool

462

saying, I'm gonna use ChatGPT, or

I'm gonna use some new AI tool.

463

And you're gonna put into an existing

process and you have to really re-engineer

464

sometimes a process because if the process

is broken to begin with, it doesn't make

465

a difference how great the technology

is, it's still gonna be a broken process.

466

Thomas Kunjappu (2): Yeah.

467

Terilyn: have to really rethink

things, which means we have

468

to build different muscles.

469

We have to think a little differently

as an organization, and that's where our

470

people team comes into play and how we

can really help the organization have that

471

growth mindset and take a step back to

say, okay, how do we think about things?

472

With a user-centered design approach,

how do we think about the pain points

473

and re-engineering a process so

that we make things better for all?

474

And I really feel that's the role

that we're playing right now in

475

trying to play in partnership with

the business and helping everyone

476

figure out how do we do this at scale?

477

we're never gonna have enough

folks where we're gonna be able

478

to have, someone from the people

team joining every single meeting.

479

So how do we build that

capability with leaders?

480

So that they can build

capabilities with their teams.

481

How do we create champions within the

organization so that they can also be

482

those leader teachers within their teams?

483

And we can get to that scale with

the mindset and the skills, the

484

capabilities, and then we provide

those scalable resources so we

485

can all move forward faster.

486

Thomas Kunjappu (2): Wow.

487

So if I were to make a statement

then that if there is an organization

488

with an AI forward strategy,

489

if you're an HR leader within such

an organization, if not a hundred

490

percent, a significant portion of

your L&D efforts should be about just

491

enabling the entire organization.

492

May maybe it's specifically focused on

senior leaders, but in some ways in such a

493

transformation, the L&D team is like the.

494

At least for some time.

495

Terilyn: the L&D team for sure.

496

And also, how do we use AI

in our own L&D offerings?

497

So we're role modeling what

that looks like, how you

498

infuse AI into, your programs.

499

We're using it also a ton on

the talent acquisition side.

500

Which is really cool, especially

as we think about sourcing,

501

great candidates, right?

502

There are amazing AI tools that are

able to help us do things much more

503

efficiently so we can cast a wider net

504

Thomas Kunjappu (2): Right.

505

Terilyn: candidates we would never find

before and with much more precision.

506

So there's a lot of excitement.

507

So I think part of it, you're

absolutely right, is how do we build

508

capability and think about enablement.

509

For the enterprise, but how are

we ourselves using the technology

510

Thomas Kunjappu (2): Absolutely.

511

Terilyn: within our own processes

and the experiences that we create

512

so that we can actually speak to it,

learn from it, and really role model.

513

Thomas Kunjappu (2): Yeah, role modeling

or the walk, is, it's really important.

514

And specifically in, in this,

in L&D, but also in, there's so

515

many potential use cases right?

516

Within, Within the people team.

517

you mentioned, some things on

the talent acquisition side.

518

have there been any particular, stories

of transformation or experimentation

519

that's been, that you're, I dunno,

particularly interested in or just see

520

for the space within the HR function?

521

You can imagine, starting to change over

the next let's say quarters or years.

522

Terilyn: Yeah, I think so

many organizations we're in

523

experimentation mode across

every facet of the people team.

524

So whether it's our total rewards team,

our L&D team, our, gosh, I mentioned

525

talent acquisition, but even, I use

it too when I am writing an email.

526

let's say to all employees and I'm

like, ah, I wanna say this better.

527

It's simple things like that.

528

let me, lemme rely on chat GPT to

be my thought partner for a second

529

and be a little bit more creative

with this sentence, or say this a

530

little in a little different way.

531

so again, I think this is just

a muscle we're all building and

532

we're building it together and

we have so much more to learn.

533

I'm just excited that we're

experimenting each and every day.

534

Both in big ways, but also little ways,

like the example that I just shared.

535

Thomas Kunjappu (2): So let's

talk about where this all this

536

experimentation might lead to, right?

537

a crux of what we like to get

at is like, how do we just build

538

resilient future proof organizations

539

Terilyn: Mm-hmm.

540

Thomas Kunjappu (2): HR

functions as well, right?

541

To enable such a thing.

542

So what do you think that future

proof HR team looks like and that HR

543

function that is strategic and providing

the value in the way that you were

544

describing at the beginning of this

545

Terilyn: Mm-hmm.

546

Mm-hmm.

547

Thomas Kunjappu (2): and is ready to

take on the challenges of the future.

548

Like what does that look like?

549

What are you doing day to day?

550

are there different titles

that emerge or how is that

551

evolving, you're looking ahead.

552

Terilyn: Yeah.

553

Ooh, I don't know about the titles.

554

You know, that's a slippery slope, so I

don't know if I'm gonna try and predict

555

what future titles might be out there.

556

What I would say though is, and

I would say this is true for any

557

leader today, and I would also say

the future is now, we need to be

558

thinking like enterprise leaders.

559

And what I mean by that is we

need to understand the context

560

in which we're operating.

561

We need to understand the business,

what's important in the business,

562

how is the business doing?

563

What are the strategies of the business?

564

And how can we better help the

business achieve its goals?

565

I think it just all starts

there as a people function.

566

So when we talk about future proofing

hr, we've gotta start with the business

567

because we need to translate the business

strategy into a talent strategy, into

568

a workforce of the future strategy,

so that then becomes our north star

569

to say, okay, do we have the mindset,

the skills, the capabilities needed?

570

To help the organization do what it needs

to do, not only today, but in the future.

571

So to future proof hr, we've

gotta start with the business

572

and understanding the business.

573

We also need to be thinking

like an, just in a very systemic

574

way or like an ecosystem.

575

And I often say, within HR and the

people team, we are an ecosystem.

576

We have a lot of dependencies.

577

So whatever I do, I need to

understand how my decision is

578

going to impact another part of hr.

579

Thomas Kunjappu (2): Sure.

580

Terilyn: then also let's pull back

as from an enterprise leadership

581

perspective, whatever I choose to do in

the decisions I'm making, could that have

582

any impact in terms of what it is doing

583

Thomas Kunjappu (2): Mm.

584

Terilyn: or what finance is

doing, or what's going on

585

in the business at any time.

586

So that ecosystem

sensitivity is another thing.

587

I think also when we are looking

at the HR function, we have to be

588

really good at prioritizing things

and sequencing and staging things.

589

So with AI that we've been

spending a lot of time on today,

590

there's a lot that we could do.

591

And so how do we sequence and

stage what we choose to do

592

that is in service to building.

593

The right capabilities at the

right time with where our workforce

594

is and where the business is.

595

There's gotta be a readiness for things.

596

And so we ourselves have to make sure that

we're constantly assessing the environment

597

to make sure that there's a readiness.

598

And when we do roll things out,

'cause there's a lot of cool

599

things we could be doing, how are

we monitoring the adoption of it?

600

How it's working, how are we

measuring, all those things.

601

So that we're just always bringing

everyone on that journey with us and

602

we're all getting better together.

603

So those are just a couple of examples

of how I think we can all continue to.

604

Future proof hr, but again, I would

always go back to it's gotta be in the

605

context of what is our business need

right now and how do we bring them

606

along that journey of what's needed.

607

So we've got the right talent in the right

place at the right time with the right

608

capabilities that are all in service to

the business strategy and our vision.

609

Thomas Kunjappu (2): So if you were gonna

give some advice to someone who is crazy

610

enough to wanna go into the function.

611

out of college or, it's like very

young or early in their career.

612

And they're interested, in, in

coming, in looking to build, a whole

613

career, over hopefully decades.

614

in the HR function.

615

given that sort of like

vision, what advice would you

616

have for someone like that?

617

Yeah.

618

Terilyn: Yeah, I would say be curious,

and really be interested in the

619

industry that your business is in.

620

really be curious and understand how

it operates and think bigger, meaning

621

don't just think about what's happening

within the people function or hr.

622

But be curious to learn about the

business, the strategy, the competitors,

623

the industry, and then really zooming

out to say what are those macro trends

624

that are happening and best practices

happening across other HR functions,

625

other companies, and learn all the time.

626

So it's just that growth mindset, that

continuous learning, that curiosity,

627

which I think makes us, more strategic

thought partners to the business.

628

Thomas Kunjappu (2): Great advice, but

particularly in this moment, right?

629

As we close out here Terilyn, can I

just ask, is are there any particular

630

projects or initiatives that you have

in the hopper right now that you're

631

particularly passionate about or

curious about where it leads to that

632

you'd be willing to share with us?

633

Terilyn: I think workforce

planning is a big one right now.

634

As we think about how to scale our

organization as we think about, this

635

infusion of this really cool AI driven

technology and how that works with

636

our processes, what does that mean in

terms of the evolution of our roles?

637

And how can we just continue to,

develop our internal talent so

638

that they're fully embracing this

era that we're in and, really just

639

helping us get better and better.

640

And as we think about workforce

planning, it's not just always

641

about acquiring new talent.

642

How do we continue to develop our talent

so that people, really feel like they

643

can grow their careers right where they

are and help the company get better as

644

they continue to get better themselves?

645

Thomas Kunjappu (2): That's a

great thought, Terilyn, because

646

especially in a moment where a new

skillset is just emerging, right?

647

A new technology is emerging and.

648

Everyone, the entire labor

market has the potential to learn

649

that and is on similar footing.

650

there's just as much opportunity for,

and it's easier if your own existing

651

talent has the space and enablement to

evolve themselves in that direction.

652

both from an organization standpoint,

but also for, people themselves

653

if, for that are able to do that.

654

Terilyn: I think it's a matter

of be part of the change and help

655

drive it, and that's where that

growth mindset comes into play.

656

Thomas Kunjappu (2): So to, everyone

out there who's listening probably

657

already has a growth mindset, if you're

listening on this, trying to think

658

about how you can future proof your own

organizations and your own HR functions.

659

I want to say thank you, Terilyn,

for this amazing conversation.

660

We we reached a little bit farther back,

but, through COVID and like some of these

661

lessons As you reflected on it, right?

662

It's just been this massive

transformation and a really interesting

663

perch to just view how society and

organizations have been shifting.

664

Not to mention the HR function itself

and how these lessons can take us

665

into this slow brewing revolution.

666

All leaders, to your point, right?

667

All enterprise leaders are

struggling with and thinking

668

through, from different angles.

669

there's a bunch of,

different, takeaways here.

670

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and

some of these, great projects that you've

671

been working on with, you and your team.

672

love to check in and see where those

things are, looking at in, for example,

673

workforce planning in a year or two.

674

Terilyn: Sounds great.

675

Thanks for having me.

676

Thomas Kunjappu (2): Absolutely.

677

Thank you and for everyone out there,

good luck as your future proof HR.

678

Terilyn: Bye

679

Thomas Kunjappu (2): now.

680

Thomas Kunjappu: Thanks for joining

us on this episode of Future Proof HR.

681

If you like the discussion, make

sure you leave us a five star

682

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683

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684

See you next time as we keep our pulse on

how we can all thrive in the age of AI.