In this episode of the Future Proof HR podcast, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Omar Alhadi, Senior HR Director at Adobe Population Health(APH), a rapidly scaling, multi-state healthcare provider redefining how proactive, human-centered care is delivered.

From leading HR as a one-person operation to shaping a strategic function that bridges AI, culture, and clinical innovation, Omar shares how he’s building an HR model where technology amplifies human connection instead of replacing it.

He talks about transforming change management into a continuous habit, using data as a catalyst for empathy, and navigating the complexities of growth, acquisitions, and frontline care. Omar also unpacks how HR can champion innovation from within, not by imposing tools, but by building trust, piloting ideas, and letting adoption grow organically across teams.

Topics Discussed:

• Embedding AI into healthcare workflows without losing the human touch.
• Scaling HR from tactical support to strategic business partner.
• Turning data into a tool for empathy, insight, and efficiency.
• Building change-ready cultures in fast-moving, high-impact industries.
• Managing acquisitions through research, communication, and care.
• Why the future of HR lies in combining high-tech systems with high-touch leadership.

If you’re exploring how HR can drive transformation while keeping people at the center, this conversation offers a rare look at innovation grounded in humanity where care, culture, and change move forward together.

Additional Resources:

• Cleary's AI-powered HR Chatbot
• Future Proof HR Community
• Connect with Omar Alhadi on LinkedIn

If it's a work thing, it's an HR thing.

2

And there's a big component of: "Hey, if

it's a People thing, it's an HR thing."

3

Because all our employees are

the center of all that we do

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Thomas Kunjappu: They keep

telling us that it's all over.

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For HR, the age of AI is upon

us, and that means HR should

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be prepared to be decimated.

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We reject that message.

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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,

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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: Hello and welcome to the

Future Proof HR Podcast, where we

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explore how forward-thinking HR

leaders are preparing for disruption

16

and redefining what it means to

lead people in the changing world.

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I'm your host, Thomas

Kunjappu, CEO of Cleary.

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Today's guest is Omar Alhadi, Senior HR

Director at Adobe Population Health - not

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to be confused with the software company.

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Omar leads HR for APH - a fast scaling

multi-state healthcare provider that

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blends population health, social impact,

and human-centered care delivery.

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Under his leadership, the HR team

has evolved from a one-person

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operation—him— to a strategic

function, enabling both internal

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transformation and frontline innovation.

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From navigating acquisitions to embedding

AI in care delivery and HR practices,

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Omar brings a rare combination of

operational depth and cultural clarity.

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Omar, welcome to the podcast.

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Omar: Thank you, Thomas.

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Appreciate it.

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Thomas: Yeah.

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So tell me a little bit about AI.

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Within the healthcare context.

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When I think about an organization

like Adobe Population Health, you are

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working in healthcare, you're working

hands-on in caregiving, one of the most

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human things that we can possibly do.

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How do you - if at all - introduce

AI to folks who are caregivers

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and field clinicians in these

very deeply personal roles.

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Omar: Yeah.

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It's a great question.

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I wanna take it a little bit back to

the start of the organization and how it

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started and what the model of care is.

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And the idea behind it is proactive

case management and care management

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to really focus on improving health

outcomes while reducing costs.

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And this is to be done through us

going into the homes of our members

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and rural areas and supporting

them throughout the array and

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challenges of the healthcare system.

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What attracted me first to Adobe, and

this is ties into the structure and

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model of it, was the fact that I was a

primary caregiver for my grandparents.

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And I got to experience firsthand the

many challenges of the healthcare system

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- whether it's going into the hospital,

coordinating care, getting out of the

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hospital, coordinating with specialists

and primary caregivers, whether it's

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case management, whether it is education.

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What needs to happen, there's care

gap solutions and resolutions.

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There's also a lot of social

determinants of health.

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Like I was there to be able to take my

grandfather to the appointments, right?

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I was there to be able to support him and

help him with the financial aspect and

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get him everything he needs from the home.

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But what about the members that are

in rural areas that have nobody?

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So this unique model that was created from

a dissertation by our CEO and and founder,

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allowed us to have that opportunity.

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Now, being that it's such an innovative

company, we've been innovative from

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the ground up in everything that we do.

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So when it comes to the data, right?

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This is a really big important aspect

of it, is how do we use data to improve

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the lives of our members, right?

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Our mission is to positively

impact the lives of our members.

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So how can we use data to do that?

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The human aspect of it is something

that we wanna focus on, but there's

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so many other things that we could use

AI and technology, the tools, right?

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That we could equip our clinicians

with these tools and our support staff.

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Because we have RNs, we have nurse

practitioners, we have social

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workers on staff, we have array

of different types of positions.

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How can we use this tool to help them

improve the quality of life of the

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members and really improve the quality

of service that they're providing.

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So there's a lot of manual

tasks potentially that are used.

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We have our technologies that we use.

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How do we find the opportunities

within those spaces, right?

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To be able to enhance the quality of work,

but also to be efficient and effective

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in delivering those services- allowing

us more time to connect with the members

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directly instead of, say, charting or

capturing notes or different types of

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reviews or those different aspects of it.

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We want to try to eliminate

some of those automations,

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things that we could help with.

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And then that way, they can care

more directly with the members and

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we have more face time with them.

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Thomas: That's interesting because I

think over the last couple of decades

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with digitization coming into every

industry, certainly in healthcare,

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there's so much the patient-doctor

or patient-nurse interaction I've

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personally seen evolve, right?

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From one where you're facing each other

having a conversation constantly to one

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where a majority of the time is spent

with the caregiver behind a screen.

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Taking notes, dropping stuff into

the EMR and it's definitely changed

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the relationship a little bit.

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But then interestingly, you guys have

dug even deeper into technology, right?

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So did I understand it right that

you basically have your own, bespoke

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internal EMR that you've built out?

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Omar: Yes.

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In speaking with our CIO, Chief

Information Officer, Alex Waddell,

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when he first came into the company,

the idea behind it was if you

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could dream it, we could build it.

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And because it was so innovative,

there was nothing off the shelf

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that we'll be able to do that.

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And there is such a big component

of data and business analytics

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to it that's unique, right?

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That's not in the market.

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Most companies have EMR and a business

system or Excel sheets, and they

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collaborate and work with the two here.

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We have it all together, which

enable us to work faster.

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So the team being able to really just

build it off of Salesforce and create our

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own EMR, create our own business system.

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Allows us to be able to have that

level of innovation and creativity

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and to capture the data that we

need, to capture the points that we

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want, to create the workflows that

we want, that we seem deem fit.

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Because again, it's such a

unique company, unique model

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of care, unique space to be in.

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So innovation's key, and it was

from the very start and the team

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has done a phenomenal job coming

into seeing their work in action.

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It's been amazing and every

time we interact it's always

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amazing to see the amount of

innovation that they're working on.

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So it's fun.

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Thomas: That's awesome.

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Then what about from the

employee's perspectives?

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And then we can transition also

to talk about the HR department as

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well, because, there are parallels

here, but is there resistance?

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I know broadly in the healthcare industry,

when I was talking about digitization

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and introduction of EMRs and a lot

of caregivers feel like technology is

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getting in between them and their work

as opposed to aiding them in their work.

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I think the intention here is

to aid and simplify over here.

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Do you have any examples of how that

has come to be, and also from an HR

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enablement perspective, change management

and communication perspective, how have

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you partnered there to enable all these

things coming into the ecosystem and the

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day-to-day lives of the employee base?

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Omar: Yeah.

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Change is difficult.

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our vision is to change how

healthcare is delivered, right?

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So we're from the forefront,

we're very innovative.

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Our CEO is very innovative.

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Our C-suite is very innovative.

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And they love change and

they love to move fast.

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That's why we've been able to grow in such

a rapid face three years now in a row.

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In the ink, 5,000.

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But when it comes to change as our CEO

says, nobody wants change unless it's

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a child needing their diaper changed,

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right?

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It's in all references

that we're humans, right?

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We like structure, we like to do

things- and that's a challenge.

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But I think it's important to set

expectations from the beginning,

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people understand our culture.

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It is our lifeline, it is our

bloodline, and everything that we do.

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So having that from the beginning is

important, but then it's also important

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to understand that on the user side of

things, and even as a practitioner or

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as a support staff, it's tough because

you're trying to do the right thing.

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There's a lot of information.

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It's hard to adjust, it's hard

to learn, it's hard to apply.

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All of this on top of one being out in the

field potentially and seeing members and

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then taking care of the members directly.

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So it's just layer upon layer.

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The challenge is how can

we make it easy for them?

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How can we be proactive about it?

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And it was a big challenge earlier on.

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I think we are getting

much, much better in it.

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And a lot of it has to deal with the order

of operation in which we go about it.

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It has to deal a lot

with change management.

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It has to deal a lot with communication,

has to deal a lot with being strategic on

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the rollouts with regards to the updates.

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It has to be strategic with

regards to emphasizing training

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and spending time for that and

allowing time to adapt and change.

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So all of those different components

are still very important and that's how

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we're able to continue to innovate and do

things is because we understand it's hard.

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But we also understand that it's important

to do and that's how we'll continue to

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grow and innovate as we continue to adapt.

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So it's important to have

that level of flexibility.

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It's important to have

that level of resilience.

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And then ultimately, it's important

for everybody to adopt, to understand

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that: "Hey, this type of culture,

the only constant is change."

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And you have to be okay with that.

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Thomas: Let's talk a little bit more

about that change management and

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specifically the role of HR in such

an environment, which, we're talking

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about a very innovative, rural,

especially healthcare delivery model

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which is leading to a lot of change

and an internally built and implemented

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tool, which needs a lot of change

management and built out on top of that.

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But I think there's a generalizable

story here with a lot of change

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management coming around, how the

skills are expressed in almost any

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function in almost any industry, right?

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Like it's how you accomplish a task is

changing, generally speaking, and you've

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been at the forefront of that because

of the specific model that you have.

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So what has been the HR lens on this?

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For change management or learning

and development, what have you

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been doing to enable this change?

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And do you think it's pulled

anything different from you and

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your team than in times past?

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Omar: Yeah, it's very unique.

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I'll tell you what, for when I first

joined the organization, the HR

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department, there was one person here and

they're doing the best to try to scale and

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do the best to do all areas of HR, right?

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So the idea was: Hey, we need somebody

with some HR experience to come in

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and help the team, develop, grow the

team, build their everything out, build

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their structure out, and support it."

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Luckily, I've had great mentors

in the past that really allowed

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me to have a mindset of thinking

about the future and thinking about

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growth and thinking about everything

as an opportunity to get better.

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And when you have that kind of mindset

and you have a service-oriented mindset,

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for me it was about: "Okay, how can we

service the leaders to service their

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employees, to service the members?"

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And coming in through that lens,

it's really about developing the

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relationships, building the trust, and

then offering support when you can.

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Because there's a lot of things moving.

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We say it all the time.

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It's like we're going down the river and

we're building a boat at the same time.

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So change management sometimes is

not on the forefront, but if you can

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help communicate it to the leaders

and let 'em know: "Hey, if you want

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this to be a smooth, that's possible.

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And if you don't wanna deal with

the headache in the aftermath, of

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constantly having to go back, it's

important just to set things up from

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the beginning and then allow it."

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And as we've been able to grow and

we've able to add structure, add

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positions, add individual help, because

as a startup, initially, everybody's

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wearing multiple hats, right?

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It's important for me, one of the first

things was to identify positions where

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we could actually create those positions,

where we could fill those positions and

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to be able to give the existing leaders

some support so they could focus on

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some of the more strategic functions

and allow us to continue to grow.

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The first and foremost thing that I

did was take a look at that structure

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within itself and saying: "Okay, you

know what, as soon as we hire talent,

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we'll be able to relieve so much stress

off our existing staff to be able to

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put them in positions to succeed and

create new positions that will allow

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them to flourish and continue to drive."

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That was the initial phase, but as

we could continue to go forward, it's

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important to continue to advocate for

increased communication, increased

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order of operation, increased structure.

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And then increase training as it goes

through and everybody's on board.

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That's the good thing, right?

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The leadership is always on board for

anything that helps us move forward,

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anything that helps our employees.

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So for me, it's lucky to be in

a position where we have such a

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supportive leader, such innovative

leaders that are able to act upon it.

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And then opportunistically,

where I can add value to the

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operations, I go ahead and do.

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Thomas: What are you doing in

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previous years as an HR department?

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What's different now in

this moment, do you think?

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Omar: It depends If you're looking

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Because it's a whole new landscape

with AI and the technologies

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that we have in place.

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I refer to AI as a friend and as a tool.

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As we move forward with the different

technologies, a lot of the things that

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we do now, we still have to do manually.

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And we used to have to

cipher through a lot of data.

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We used to have to figure things out.

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We used to have to do our own internal

researches, which we still do but

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things have gotten much faster.

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There's much more clarity,

there's much more efficiency.

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And that's a big difference between

where we were and where we are now.

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So in 2025, I think the biggest thing

is actually using the data, using

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the technology to support, right?

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In the past we've used it, but we

haven't really implemented it as per se.

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So what I mean by that is that, it

was like on the outside looking in.

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But now we've adopted it and we've

used it more and more that it's

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become part of our daily use.

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Thomas: Can you gimme a

specific example of that?

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Like in the past you're talking

about data analysis, for example,

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like performance review or comp

planning or talent pipeline and then

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used to leverage it or not do it.

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What do you mean?

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Omar: Yeah.

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it's everything from the

entire employee lifecycle.

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Whether we're talking about change

management, so we could focus on that.

268

It took time to create

communication plans.

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It took time to point out certain

aspects that you need to focus on.

270

It took time to create FAQs.

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It took time to cipher through

survey data, to find patterns,

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and to dissect it even further.

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And so all of those different components,

274

than there was previously in say, 2023.

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Thomas: So are you saying it's easier

or more efficient to accomplish

276

any one of these tasks today?

277

And just because of that things that

there was no time to accomplish that

278

in the past, so it wasn't really

getting done, it's getting done

279

more often or you're going deeper

in with all these type of workflows?

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Omar: Absolutely.

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When it was introduced, It's a new tool.

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You really don't know how to use it.

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You don't know how to adopt it.

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You don't know the futures of it, right?

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So it's relatively new.

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And just like anything, even going back to

healthcare space, do you really trust it?

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What's the intent behind it?

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Is it really accurate?

289

All those different components

with anything, right?

290

With practice, you start to see:

"Okay, here's an opportunity

291

where I could use this.

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Here's another opportunity.

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Let's try it with this,

let's try it with that.

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Let's see what it was."

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Initially it was just simply

to redraft an email, right?

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And now, we're taking it to where

it's helping us with analytics

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and helping us figure out what's

our next with recommendations on

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next steps and things like that.

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For me, I use it almost in

every aspect like a friend.

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It's almost like a subconscious in a way.

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Thomas: So tell me, for you

personally, what's a use case that

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has really surprised you with AI,

specifically within the HR kind of

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landscape that this actually helps me?

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Omar: For us, obviously, we mentioned

we're in rural areas, right?

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So from a talent standpoint,

we're trying to find talent.

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We talk about all the time, right?

307

Fishing from small ponds.

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Because we need people with certain

certifications, certain experiences,

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and then that are willing and able to

drive and go into members' homes, right?

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And to be able to support the members.

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So for us, that's a

very unique talent pool.

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So how do we reach them?

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And certain areas now, we became very

efficient in the state that we operated.

314

But as we expanded to Nevada, as

we expanded to New Mexico, Oregon,

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California, as we keep going, there's

a lot of these rural areas that

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is really hard and it's very time

consuming to find the right talent.

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So for us, for example, we use AI

sourcing to help us source talent

318

for us to be able to engage with them

and see if it'll be a good fit for

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them and for us as we move forward.

320

That's an example of that where

sourcing takes a lot of time in the

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talent space and that's one of the

things that could help with is that it

322

looks at a lot of different databases

and gives you some recommendations

323

based on what you're looking for.

324

That's been a big help on that front.

325

This has been a fantastic

conversation so far.

326

If you haven't already done so,

make sure to join our community.

327

We are building a network of the

most forward-thinking, HR and

328

people, operational professionals

who are defining the future.

329

I will personally be sharing

news and ideas around how we

330

can all thrive in the age of ai.

331

You can find it at go cleary.com/cleary

332

community.

333

Now back to the show.

334

Thomas: That's a great win.

335

So then, earlier in the conversation

we're talking about the impact

336

of AI usage for the organization

and primarily, care staff, right?

337

And given that you're in healthcare

and some of the challenges, but

338

as well as the innovation that

you've taken on to enable that.

339

But then we've just been now

talking about the HR side as well.

340

Do you see there is like a parallel

there or is there something unique or

341

different, do you feel about the HR use

cases that AI can leverage versus the ones

342

in your case, in your industry, right?

343

What you're doing for caregivers.

344

Are there any nuances there or

is it pretty much the same things

345

like: "Change management is hard.

346

Look for the simple

wins, for efficiencies."

347

But is there anything different?

348

Omar: Yeah, I think for HR and any

support function, the use of that

349

data is easily adaptable and you

could work through a little bit more.

350

Because you're focused on employees,

you're focused on industry.

351

There's a lot more things

you could work with, right?

352

You have a lot more variables

that you could look through, a

353

lot of things you could use for.

354

In the healthcare space, it

is a little bit more limited.

355

But there's also a lot

of opportunities, right?

356

They're endless.

357

For example, one of the things that

we use AI for is our case management

358

team, they have to present to the health

plans at a random, 10 different members.

359

And they have to look in the charts

and they have to gather information,

360

create presentation, talk about their

summaries, talk about all the different

361

components, and present on that.

362

That potentially took an

hour or two hours to do.

363

Now with AI, we've embedded in

there, it takes the individual

364

data, it summarizes it.

365

So now the practitioner could take

a look at the summary, take a look

366

at the charts, validate its usage,

validate its accuracy, validate its

367

information, build on it, right?

368

It's directional help, but it

eliminated, almost 50%, close to 80% of

369

their time that they would, normally.

370

So this gives them back more time to focus

on the members and to be able to assist.

371

So there's opportunities like that,

that the team has worked through.

372

They're also working on, for example,

transcriptions as simple as that.

373

Like they're at the member's home

instead of having a chart, use the AI

374

tool to capture some of that information

and be able to potentially, leave

375

it for them where they could chart

appropriately, review it and approve it.

376

So it's things that, it's a tool to

enhance their service delivery model.

377

And there's a lot of opportunities

for that because again, the idea

378

is save them some time, save them

effort, but then give them more

379

time and more focus on the member.

380

Thomas: So the use cases are endless.

381

I love that they're just coming

off the top of the dome, right?

382

Like in this case, for the care provider.

383

So in both these use cases,

transcription recording, recording

384

plus transcription for note taking, or

the first example that you mentioned,

385

Omar: summarizations

386

Thomas: Right.

387

Let's call it a monthly process and

you're trying to summarize and create

388

some data, and create a presentation.

389

Tell me about the change

management element of that.

390

So how does this get introduced

as a concept in the organization?

391

Is everyone on board?

392

How do you make that the standard

operating procedure and what's

393

your role in enabling that?

394

Omar: Yeah, so it's very unique because in

this particular area, I have very limited

395

kind of support, but what the team has

done in the past, and they continue to do.

396

As we know, clinicians, especially

licensed clinicians, they're

397

responsible for their own integrity

essentially- of course, you have

398

the organizational integrity, but

they're also held accountable to

399

their licenses, to their boards.

400

So they have a personal invested

interest into making sure that: "Hey,

401

what I produce is not only accurate.

402

But it's to the best of my ability,

and is it within the guidelines

403

of my certification or degree."

404

And it's important to realize that,

and that's why sometimes change can

405

be difficult because there could be

some additional personal risk, right?

406

It's not just organizational risk.

407

There's also sometimes personal

risks associated to clinicians

408

as it relates to delivering care.

409

So what the team has done is

that they've worked on a project.

410

They'll ask for our clinicians

and say: "Hey team, we are working

411

on this option, can we pilot it?

412

Can we work with you on it and

partner together and see what it looks

413

like and see how it can help you?"

414

And luckily again, everybody's moving

in the same direction when it comes

415

to how can we positively impact

the lives of the members we touch.

416

And if we could do that in the most

efficient way, we have a lot of

417

open-minded clinicians willing to do that.

418

So they take a couple and they work with

them, and then they start using them.

419

And now, they've become essentially

a testimonial with the product or the

420

new project or the new innovative way.

421

So they go back and they say:

"Hey, this is how we're using it.

422

This is how it's helping us."

423

And then they talk to their

peers directly about it.

424

And their peers are like:

"Hey, great, just love this."

425

You're saving time

426

Thomas: and you're using it, I respect

you and I want to do it as well.

427

Let's try it out.

428

Yeah.

429

It's almost like internal product

development and you're doing an internal

430

pilot for any even process kind of shift

and moving the the pebbles along, right?

431

So until you have something much

bigger, as you keep going through that.

432

It sounds like the culture is top down.

433

But hey, we're innovative.

434

We're focused on this mission.

435

But any specific workflow change or

innovation is a lot more bottom up, right?

436

So the team is piloting and

there's a couple of people who

437

are gonna try it and then it

escalates and snowballs from there.

438

That's really interesting.

439

So I don't wanna let you go

without talking about acquisitions

440

'cause you've done a lot there.

441

And I think you might have some ideas

about what a future-looking, acquisition

442

workflow might look like for HR.

443

So tell me a little bit about your

work on the HR side with acquisitions

444

and how you see that evolving, with

each one and also in the future.

445

Omar: Yeah.

446

Acquisitions are a lot of fun, but

they're also a lot of work, right?

447

Because potentially you're acquiring

a company and a similar industry.

448

In a different state with different

folks, different companies,

449

different cultures, right?

450

So how do you approach this?

451

And you dive into it by saying: "Okay,

how can I gather as much information as I

452

can to take a look at their current state

and understand what's our future state?

453

How can we bridge the gap

and how can we make it fast?"

454

So for me, I've used it.

455

Hey, let's take a look at the state

and let's take a look at compliance.

456

Let's take a look at

what's needed for setup.

457

Let's take a look at the company.

458

Let's take a look at leadership.

459

Do a deep dive into the

company, the research aspect.

460

Because before I got in HR, I was really

a data analyst for a financial company,

461

and we used to research companies,

so we used to do a deep dive on both

462

domestic and international companies and

strategic partners, and all kind of data

463

gathering used for business intelligence.

464

So for me, being involved with

data, this is my home, so I

465

like to do a lot of research.

466

The more information I have, the

more I can then customize a plan.

467

The more I can help, lead our

efforts to be able to do that.

468

So it's really across the board,

even as we look at the company, of

469

course we're doing deep dive on the

company from an external standpoint.

470

Pre-acquisition.

471

Yeah.

472

Pre-acquisition.

473

We haven't really engaged in the

conversation, but then we start taking a

474

look at their positions and take a look

at the market for those positions in that

475

particular area from a talent standpoint.

476

And we start to take a look at what

their salary looking range is, 'cause

477

I don't know what's everywhere.

478

And so you start to take a look

at that and then, because you're

479

thinking about how to integrate into

your organization potentially as

480

well and what does that look like?

481

So all those different components

throughout the entire chain is, you're

482

looking at it, from a pre standpoint.

483

And then when it comes time to

actually start engaging, having those

484

conversations, then it's a matter of

whether it's notes capturing, whether it's

485

summarizations, whether it's those types

of tasks that are helping with efficiency.

486

And it helps a lot in that area.

487

And then you're taking a look at

employee sentiment by sending surveys,

488

gathering the feedback, slicing and

dicing, taking a look at patterns,

489

sediments, and seeing how you could,

again, make it a smooth transition

490

and make it the best kind of employee

experience as possible for existing

491

staff and future staff, potentially.

492

So taking a look at the entire chain

and utilizing this tool of data,

493

technology and AI to be able to

help you do all of that work much

494

faster and much more efficiently,

and hopefully, more effectively.

495

Thomas: So within the world of

acquisitions, is there any new work that

496

you're doing because you're able to,

that you were not able to do before?

497

Omar: That's a great question.

498

I think it's just having access to

data and be able to do it faster

499

is really the name of the game.

500

I don't know if there's anything new.

501

Because I was involved

in previous acquisitions.

502

I think sharing and getting

data is much faster.

503

And that's newer, I guess, in that

space because previously it'll take

504

a lot more time to communicate,

coordinate, share, build trust.

505

So the process has gotten much faster.

506

So it's a lot more

efficient and effective.

507

I don't know about new.

508

Thomas: Got it.

509

Are you involved in pre-acquisition?

510

'Cause that's and the HR role has

changed a little bit, where I think often

511

there is a due diligence on the talent

side, even beyond executive leadership.

512

Is that something that you're seeing,

like more involved in that assessment

513

or when you're talking about data

sharing, it's even in the pre-close

514

stages to help provide an HR lens.

515

Is that true?

516

Omar: Yeah, I think so.

517

Now I think, there's phases, right?

518

So the initial phase, there's the

initial talks, seeing how it fits.

519

There's the financial aspect, those types

of things happen, seeing if it's a fit.

520

So senior leadership, executive CEOs,

they're working on that part of it.

521

I think it comes in to discovery phase

on the second side of things, right?

522

So it's Hey, we are interested.

523

let's do a deeper dive."

524

And in that phase, we become involved.

525

And able to support the organization

from that standpoint and all the way

526

towards, of course, right before close,

because there's financial aspects

527

as relates to employees and employee

rosters and all those things as well.

528

So there's a small element of that.

529

And then of course, during the

transition, because you have

530

to onboard everybody, right?

531

So you have to create those plans,

communication plans, et cetera, et cetera.

532

You have to work with the employees,

work with their leaderships.

533

You have to create job alignments.

534

You have to create new job

descriptions, you have to get those

535

positions posted, you have to give

them an idea of what that looks like.

536

Bring 'em onto the organization

and all of those different pre-hire

537

essentially, if you're doing all of that.

538

There's integration of benefits.

539

There's an integration of all

those different components.

540

So you're heavily involved in that stage.

541

And then of course, afterwards making

sure that the transition went, they're

542

onboarded, they have what they need, and

that you're supporting them effectively

543

and supporting the leaders to be able

then to deliver services and move forward.

544

Thomas: So let's look forward a bit

together if we could, as we close out

545

here about the future of HR, right?

546

As you've seen specifically at Adobe,

the evolution from a one person team

547

to scaling up as well as all the

innovation, both for caregivers as well

548

as all the things that you've done for

efficiency within the HR organization,

549

what's your vision for how the

HR function is gonna help shape

550

the rest of the organization?

551

How does that change?

552

Omar: In simplest terms, I was at

553

Vegas, or I'm sorry, LA in San Diego.

554

And one of the things that CEO

of SHRM harped on and they passed

555

it out, the theme was: "If it's

a work thing, it's a SHRM thing."

556

So for me, if it's a work

thing, it's an HR thing.

557

And there's a big component of: "Hey, if

it's a people thing, it's an HR thing."

558

Because all our employees are the

center of all that we do, right?

559

How can we utilize talent to be able

to drive the organization forward?

560

How can we make HR the strategic

growth driver for the organization?

561

That's been my mindset from the very

beginning, and it will continue.

562

Now with this new age, I think

it's also important to say how can

563

we blend high touch technology?

564

And healthcare values with

high tech HR infrastructure?

565

Because we wanna automate the things

that we wanna use, the tools that we

566

wanna use, and we wanna focus more

time and allow our HR members to really

567

improve the employee experience by

focusing on relationships, coaching,

568

development, and ultimately our culture.

569

As we move forward, that's my

vision to support the organization.

570

It's been that way just now.

571

It's more enhanced.

572

But as we build in continued

infrastructure and add additional

573

layers of leadership and support, we

hope we all hope to continue to find

574

ways to positively impact the lives of

our members, but for us as well, take

575

care of our employees so then they

can take care of the members as well.

576

So all collectively, we're

rowing in the same direction.

577

Thomas: Alright, we'll

have to leave it at there.

578

It's a good place as any.

579

Thank you so much for this conversation,

Omar, where we're talking a bit

580

about the evolution with a very

innovative model of the technology

581

and processes that you have to deliver

582

what is the most human of services, right?

583

Healthcare.

584

And making sure people are doing okay.

585

But you're combining that with technology

to make everyone like more efficient.

586

And it's really interesting, you talk

about the culture and tone setting at

587

the top without mandates per se, right?

588

And it's every single initiative is

almost like an external push with a pilot

589

key individuals opting in and people

opting in over time as they see others.

590

And there's a certain level of autonomy

that comes in for all the caregivers

591

that you're valuing very highly as

your employee base saying we're always

592

looking to innovate together, but

then there's a shared skin in the game

593

around the actual way to get to the

care and the outcome, but then setting

594

that vision at the top and consistently

reinforcing that helps enable that.

595

It's really interesting.

596

And of course you're taking that,

by your own actions and also with

597

your own team into the HR function,

basically most of those things apply.

598

But I think you mentioned how specifically

in HR and really other operational

599

roles, you almost have no excuse.

600

That's like this is the job is to be

operationally efficient and enable the

601

rest of the team as much as possible.

602

So it's just core to just keep finding

efficiencies and do that faster than

603

you did yesterday, because that means

that you can spend more time on more

604

strategic, items that can actually

make HR a growth driver, right?

605

A strategic partner for the

business which is the key.

606

As you pointed out with your vision,

if it's a work thing, it's an HR

607

thing, should be more and more of

the case for more organizations.

608

And it can only be the case if HR is

valued and leadership actually has

609

had good experiences with the team

and seeing that come to fruition.

610

So that really is something

that we've got to ensure is a

611

reality, and it's hard one, right?

612

It doesn't come by just saying it.

613

So thank you for going through

all those variations of that.

614

And, for everyone out there who's

listening in, thank you and good

615

luck to you as your future proofing

your own organizations and your

616

own HR departments so that we

can all thrive in the age of AI.

617

Thanks once again to Omar for

this enlightened discussion, and

618

I'll see you on the next one.

619

Bye now.

620

Thanks for joining us on this

episode of Future Proof HR.

621

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