In this episode of the Future Proof HR podcast, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Shanda Mihali, Chief Human Resources Officer at Axiom Healthcare Services, a long-term health and assisted living organization serving communities across the U.S. Shanda brings a frontline perspective to HR transformation in one of the most compliance-driven industries, where the pressure to adopt AI collides with limited budgets, lean teams, and rising expectations.

Shanda shares how she navigates the tension between AI’s promise and the realities of HR leadership: from vendor overload and compliance guardrails to the ever-expanding definition of HR’s role in employee well-being, retention, and culture. Her story highlights both the risks of rushing adoption and the opportunities to reshape HR when technology handles the transactional, freeing people to focus on strategy and connection.

Topics Discussed:

• Why AI in HR feels like both the “wild west” and a lifeline for overloaded teams.
• The reality of “more with less”: shrinking budgets, lean staffing, and rising expectations.
• The pitfalls of vendor fatigue and the hard questions every CHRO should ask before buying.
• Balancing compliance, trust, and innovation in healthcare HR.
• How to leverage peer networks and roundtables to evaluate tools more effectively.
• Why adaptability, creativity, and willingness to explore matter more than perfect expertise.
• A vision of HR’s future: AI handling policies, handbooks, and routine Q&A while humans focus on well-being, retention, and creative strategy.
• Practical advice for early-career HR professionals looking to make the biggest impact on frontline staff.

If you’ve ever felt the weight of doing more with less while being pushed to innovate, this candid conversation with Shanda Mihaly is both validating and inspiring.

Additional Resources:

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

When we implement a fix or a product, it touches every employee.

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All of the staff, all our employees

are end users, they build a trust with

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us that we're going to come up with

and implement something that they can

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use and that it's going to be safe.

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And it's going to do everything that

we're being told it's going to do.

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And so that is the scary part for HR.

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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 Kunjappu: Hello and welcome

to the Future Proof HR podcast, where

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we explore how forward-thinking HR

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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Now today's guest is Shanda Chief Human

Resources officer at Axiom, a long-term

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health and assisted living organization

serving communities across the US.

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And Shanda brings a

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frontline perspective to HR

transformation in one of the most complex

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compliance-driven industries, healthcare.

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While others tout AI implementation

wins, Shanda gives voice to the

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reality that most HR teams face, where

you're understaffed, overwhelmed,

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and under pressure to innovate

without the time or tools to do.

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So we're going to go into a little

bit and unpack what it really

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means to make change in HR when

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your plate is already really full.

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Which I think is something

we can all relate to.

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Shanda, welcome to the podcast.

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Excited for this.

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Shanda Mihali: Yeah, thank

you so much for having me on.

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I'm excited too.

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It's definitely something that

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as we explore more of it, the wild west

of AI, it gets either more scary or

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you get more comfortable either one.

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And hopefully we can

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take camaraderie in where our

feelings are all at the same time.

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Thomas Kunjappu: Okay,

let's start right there.

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Could you tell me, so we're in 2025.

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What are the feelings of

towards the promise of AI for

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you from your perspective?

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Shanda Mihali: You hit it on the head

when we are very compliance driven.

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So that becomes, there's the innovation

and the fun that comes with AI,

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the idea that you can do so much

more with the little that we have.

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But there's also that compliance

piece that we always have to be very

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protective of the information that

we house, whether that be just a

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general HRIS system, that there's a

lot of employee information there.

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But then if you are in healthcare

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or any private information sector,

you have to protect that too.

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I love the adventure of AI

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and that exploration area, but it does

come with, you want to put your guardrails

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up and figure out where those need to be.

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And so it is really, we're

all exploring that together.

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So apprehension and excitement, I

would say they pair really right now.

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Thomas Kunjappu: Okay.

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That's apprehension and excitement.

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How far advanced have we gotten, like,

from your perspective, because a big

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issue of the promise, anyway, the

promise of AI is to help overloaded

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teams across the board, in our case,

overloaded HR teams to just take

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things off their plate and get to it.

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But we were talking earlier

about a vicious cycle,

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right?

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Sometimes where you can't

actually get into it.

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Can you talk a little bit about how

that has played out like for you?

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Shanda Mihali: Yeah, absolutely.

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We're limited.

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And most HR teams are.

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They're thin on people, thin

on resources, a thin budget.

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So we're all pretty much

operating as high of our title

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and skillset as we possibly can.

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We're asked to do more with less.

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And that becomes frustrating

because every time you want to vet,

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I probably get 15 emails a day.

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Give me 35 minutes of your time.

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I can show you what we can do.

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And, there is not enough of

me or anyone on my team to

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do that, to make that happen.

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If I could, I would hire

someone just to do that for me.

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And that might be out there.

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There's probably an AI platform for that.

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And if not, it might

be a good opportunity.

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But just having the kind of the

know-how of navigating all of that

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to vet those different platforms so

that you can implement something.

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But right now, without that resource,

you have to get ingenuitive, even

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with AI, just to make that happen.

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So one of the things that I use,

like the free or the $20 version of

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AI for is giving me the direction.

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Where should I go?

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I know when you just Google something,

you get 30 sponsored links and they're

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all going to tell you that this is

what you need, but they're sponsored.

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So I really don't know

how much I can trust that.

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So when I go through and if I use

ChatGPT or any of the other platforms

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I generally use chat just because

it's pretty easy user-friendly but

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you could use the other ones but when

I ask, I just go down the 5 Whys.

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So in healthcare we have what's called

the 5 Whys and I think it's generally

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it's other organizations do that too.

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But that you just keep asking.

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You ask a broad question and then you

start filtering it down till you get

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to one that gives you some specifics.

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So I'll ask a broad question like,

how can I help my employees with

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resources for a fringe benefit like

childcare for the state of Kansas

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or whatever state we're helping.

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Most of our facilities are in Kansas.

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So then it will give me some of the

broad answers and I'll go explore those

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answers, see which ones might actually

fit for us, and then go back to chat

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and ask more specific questions.

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Like how would I help an employee

fill this application out?

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Or what are the qualifications?

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So that is really helpful.

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But the issue with going back

to these different platforms,

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there's so many products right now.

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And they all want you to try them.

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And they all want you to try them.

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And there's a lot of issue with doing

that because there's a big difference

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between HR and operations, finance, IT.

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Because when we implement a fix or a

product, it touches every employee.

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Whereas if finance implements a product,

it's generally going to be for the finance

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department or IT for the IT department.

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But when HR does it, all of the staff, all

our employees are end users, they build a

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trust with us that we're going to come up

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with and implement something that they

can use and that it's going to be safe.

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And it's going to do

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everything that we're being

told it's going to do.

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And so that is the scary

part for HR is being able

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to say, this is what we're going to do.

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And this is going to work this

way because we all know that

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sales people and then implementation

people are very different.

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So when you get sold a product,

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you think, oh, it's going to be amazing.

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And then it ends up underperforming.

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So yeah, all of that stuff is mixed in.

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Thomas Kunjappu: There's so

much to what you're saying.

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I want to unpack.

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I definitely want to

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get to the vendors and like the

explosion that's happening right now.

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But even before that, what

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you mentioned is that you're

being asked to do more with less,

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right?

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Generally speaking.

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And also as you look across your

peers, could you really help me

145

understand viscerally,

what does that mean?

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What is the more like the things that

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like is coming in as for like

pressure or demand or asks of you

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and your department and your peers?

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And what is the less?

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And maybe that's a little bit

simpler in terms of like resources,

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but is it people or just maybe even

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like the seniority of people

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or just straight up budget

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outside of that for tools?

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But help me bring that to light.

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Because I think that is something

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that is happening industry-wide,

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but tell me your perspective

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about what is the more

and what is the less?

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Shanda Mihali: Yeah, I love that question.

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Less is less budget.

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We also have less time because the

general rule, you're supposed to

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have one HR employee for 150 of your

staff or your employees, your FTEs.

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There are very few HR departments

I know that run at full capacity

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like that.

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So you not only have less physical people

on staff, but training time, you're asked

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to give them less time in training

because you are running thin.

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So you don't have a lot of time to give

them, but you also don't have the budget,

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the salary budget to hire people

that have a lot of experience

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and a lot of time in HR.

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So they

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might be more novice to it.

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And so you're introducing them to the

huge world, multifaceted world of HR.

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So that's what I would say I mean by less.

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And then budgetary.

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We don't have a lot of exploratory

budget to go to try this, try that.

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Does this work?

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We are asked to do more because

HR 15 years ago, the thought

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of well-being for an employee

was really not our job as much.

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There was an element to it,

but now it's our job to explore

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this place of mental health.

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well-being and social well-being

and their sense of community.

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All of that is ambiguous.

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It's not tangible.

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You can't put a dollar amount on it.

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You can't really fill out

a piece of paper and say,

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okay, this is what this employee needs.

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It's this sense of self that we're

asked to give back to employees.

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And sometimes we lack it in ourselves.

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We're not self-aware enough to know

what that means to me, let alone

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what it means for an employee.

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So yeah, trying to hit

that is really hard.

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Thomas Kunjappu: That's a good point.

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And especially when you can say

it's not tangible, but it is

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very tangible when the department

was called benefits, like 20

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years ago, when it is completely

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at an administrative function,

an employee wouldn't expect all

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these things from this department.

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So

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I guess part of the expectations,

and this is pre AI, right?

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It's just been moving in this kind of

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direction, where there's

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just more kind of demand coming.

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But then the less, it's something

that everyone is facing these days.

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You know, that 150 number

seems it's always like in the

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future, like it's never actually

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something that people get to

in a lot of organizations.

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And maybe that ratio is

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like increasing, right?

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Maybe it's going to be 200 or 300 to 1.

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And that's just actually the target.

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And maybe it shifts more.

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Do you think that shifting on the

less, do you think that's fundamentally

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driven by just like these budget

pressures specifically like for HR?

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Is that because of the expectation of the

ability to drive at least the same, if not

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more productivity because of

the ability to drive at least

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the same, the latest tools?

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Or is it just realities of businesses?

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Or what is driving that there's

less budget going in towards HR?

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Shanda Mihali: We're always

looked at as a cost center.

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And

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I do think that's improving.

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I think like from the CEO

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seat and the CFO seat, because we're

adopting more of that retention,

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engagement, well-being aspect, they are

starting to shift the way they approach

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and look at HR and even our budget

reinvesting into the employee, which

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means reinvesting into the HR department.

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But I also think that because

with the invent of AI and

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the adoption of it, this expectation.

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Because most CEOs don't know what HR does.

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So in the mind,

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it's an easy, just find a platform, find

an AI platform that will do XYZ for you.

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And that would ultimately be

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the awesome goal.

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But in reality, since we are still so

fledgling with AI and knowing and learning

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what it does and beginning to trust it,

I don't think we're quite there yet.

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So yeah, you're

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point to one day having one to 300 people.

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I think that's a reasonable

expectation, but probably not, not yet.

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Thomas Kunjappu: So then let's talk

about that vendor side, just the dynamic

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that's emerged because there's been

an explosion of a lot of innovation

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happening and with AI for

various HR applications.

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But then I think you've already

started to voice a little bit,

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just the trepidation of a CHRO

to say, hold on, how can I

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trust this particular platform?

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I have to think about compliance,

or is this really going to be

247

something I can roll out to the

entire employee or stakeholder base?

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To some degree, that's

always been there, right?

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Vendors promising

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things and things maybe

not going exactly to plan.

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How do you think that's shifted lately?

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And have you shifted your

strategies as buyer in response?

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Shanda Mihali: Yes.

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It has shifted more of the,

let me pay for your time.

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So a lot of vendors are saying,

you'll get $125 gift card if

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we get 35 minutes of your time.

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Thomas Kunjappu: Sure.

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Shanda Mihali: And if you respond

to every one of them, you could make

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a million dollars in gift cards.

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But the practicality of

it, we have a job to do.

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And that's not my job title.

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It's just AI exploration.

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That would be fun.

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But it's just not realistic.

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The one thing that's

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been definitely helpful for me is finding

your professional equivalent, even in

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like, as far as HR goes, or if your

industry is in banking or wherever it is.

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Find your professional

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equivalent in a similar sized company.

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Just explore them online and then

reach out and just be honest.

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What's been working for you.

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If you can join a round table,

there are a lot of same titled

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people in different professions that have

created round tables that you can join.

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And then you just have a network.

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And I totally recommend a network

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because not everybody can find a mentor.

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I absolutely recommend a mentor.

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But a network great because then you

can ask a question to all of them.

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What are you guys using for your

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onboarding processes?

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How do you guys do your background checks?

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How are you vetting your candidates?

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And then asking those key questions

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to multiple people, even if

they don't have a direct answer,

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it causes them, it sparks a

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motivation in them to research that too.

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And collectively, you can

find good answers for a

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lot of the questions that you have.

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But as far as with the vendors

themselves, when I do see something

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that I think might be a value, as

I'm going through that process, I

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have several questions that I don't

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fail to ask because they're

very important to me.

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And because we

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are rolling out a system

to every employee.

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I don't want to lose their

trust every time we do that.

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And then six months down

the road, that didn't work.

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We have to redact it, retry.

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I have some key questions that I ask.

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I always ask to get the SOC report.

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I want to review it.

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And then I want to

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send it to my IT team and just say,

what does this look like to you?

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How is this reading to you?

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I may even send it to our liability

just to ask them to review it

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because they have a legal team.

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So they'll review it and

see if it reads right.

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Cause I don't know very

much about security,

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but somebody-

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Thomas Kunjappu: For the audience

out there, so the SOC report or SOC 2,

310

there's type 1 or type 2, it's a security

compliance report for software companies.

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So that's like a shorthand

for an IT to know that this,

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depending on what the report says.

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But it's third party audited.

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So it's getting you a sense of, can

this organization protect your data?

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Which is like a starting point.

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But then, oh, you mentioned

something interesting.

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I think that might be something

you might uniquely have access to

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because of the industry you're in.

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You have like a healthy compliance

team that's around what your policies

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are towards your customers, I assume.

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And then you're leveraging

that group as well to help you

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from a compliance perspective.

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Shanda Mihali: Correct.

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Yeah.

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Thomas Kunjappu: Got it.

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Shanda Mihali: Through even

if you have access to your

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general liability property team, if

you're maybe not part of that team, I

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am, but if you're not part of that team,

usually like your finance department is,

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and you might even send it to them

and say, hey, can you have our

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GLPL look through this SOC report

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and see if it's something that

they feel is compliant to the

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organization.

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Because they're looking

for cybersecurity threats.

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They're looking for

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any kind of breach.

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Because it is the wild west.

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So you want to make sure that anybody

you're introducing to your platform

338

can't just start, or there's not a

risk of starting some kind of leak.

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Thomas Kunjappu: What

else are you asking?

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What are these questions

that you think about?

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Shanda Mihali: I don't want to

say raw, but I do ask some hard

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hitting questions with them

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because they can bells and

whistle it all day long.

344

But I really want to know on the

pragmatic side, after it's been

345

implemented, is anybody

renewing with them?

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Because anybody can say, okay,

yeah, we'll budget that this

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year and we'll start it.

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But I want to know, like, how

long have they been in business?

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How innovative are they?

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And is anyone that's under their current

book of business, are they renewing?

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Because I think that answers way more than

just, oh, we got 15 new clients this year.

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How many did

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you have last year

that's still coming back?

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I think that's really

a testimony to whether

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something's working for someone or not.

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I always ask for a recommendation.

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So do they have a referral

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generally in the same size

business, preferably in the

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healthcare world that I can talk to.

360

And then I can ask some

honest questions with.

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There's one other question that

I tried to ask is if they have a

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soft rollout that we can trial

run like in a dummy platform and

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just ask a bunch of questions

too and see what we can get back.

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If those responses satisfy me, then I

believe that they'll satisfy my employees.

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Those are a few.

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Thomas Kunjappu: That's a good list.

367

And then you're right.

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It's almost harder, right?

369

When you're flooded with options

to feel like the pressure's

370

on to get it right, if at all.

371

And also if you're going to

go in at all and the other

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untold costs, and let's explore

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that a little bit, because

you mentioned, I don't have a

374

title of AI exploration role.

375

That'd be

376

nice.

377

There's a lot of time to figure out

both the business process and the

378

tooling and like how we would actually

potentially roll it out and how we

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combine the tool to our particular

needs the implementation aspect of it

380

not to mention the change

management of it all there's a

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lots to do even beyond the vendor

382

evaluation like stage.

383

Is that like how does that work

for like you and your team as a

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CHRO, are you seeing that you and

your peers are like rolling your

385

sleeves up more than maybe you

were like a few years back?

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Because a lot of our high level

and strategic questions being

387

asked, even in a tool rollout

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versus having, I don't know,

someone focusing on people

389

operations or an HRG taking on this

390

kind of evaluation to roll out phases.

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Is that also evolving in your view?

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Shanda Mihali: Yes, yeah.

393

The more exposure that we have,

that our team has to how AI works,

394

those different products,

the more educated we are.

395

So every time we are

introduced to a different idea,

396

it either sparks thoughts of okay,

maybe the direction we thought we

397

wanted to go isn't quite what we want.

398

So we're constantly fine-tuning our

approach and our questions that we ask.

399

But also even the prompts that we put

into regular chat where we're getting

400

smarter as it's getting smarter.

401

So adapting our approach to those

things with less of a doe-eyed,

402

oh, wow, that's so cool,

403

to okay, that works like this,

404

but how can I make it work

405

for me?

406

Thomas Kunjappu: Let me ask a question

407

just from the executive

standpoint as well.

408

Where the leadership

team is naively thinking,

409

yeah, just go explore, trial,

implement different tools so that

410

you can now get the same level

of productivity and outcomes

411

that you were while you have quote, less.

412

So how does that conversation happen?

413

And how would you advice like for your

peers, how that conversation productively.

414

Shanda Mihali: That's tough.

415

It's always tough to be the

spokesperson to go to the

416

executive team and say, I have this

idea and I think it would be great.

417

And the first question

418

obviously is how much does it cost?

419

And then what's the return?

420

What will we get back if we

do try to implement that?

421

And what's the need?

422

So before I can even

423

present possible solution, I

have to present the problem.

424

How many people that problem affects,

if we've done any kind of survey with

425

our staff to find out if that's really

going to be something they want,

426

or is it just in my mind that oh,

I think our team really needs this.

427

And when in reality, maybe they don't.

428

So I have to go through the scope of

every employee that we have, their

429

whole life cycle, and determine

what would be the most valuable

430

thing that I can add for them.

431

And then put together why it would

be valuable, how much it would cost,

432

but the return.

433

Because obviously retention is so

important for every HR department.

434

You lose so much when you have to just

constantly retrain and rehire people.

435

That's always one of the forefront

questions from the executive team.

436

Is that going to help?

437

Thomas Kunjappu: You lose some attention.

438

Shanda Mihali: Yeah, exactly.

439

Thomas Kunjappu: Yeah, that's one of

the biggest levers you have to pull.

440

The trouble is, just like you

were talking about, the more being

441

asked of HR, including things like

mental well-being and sense of

442

community and social well-being,

that theoretically should translate

443

towards retention and everything.

444

It's just very hard to pin

these things down, right?

445

Depending on the particular project

that you're putting in place.

446

But then one thing I'm hearing

is it's often reversed with

447

AI where the executive team,

448

it's not the HR leaders going to the team

saying hey, we have, I have an idea that's

449

going to help with onboarding

or help with mental wellness

450

or a new benefit that we should

451

have, whatever it is.

452

And so here's the cost and

I think we should do it.

453

It's more like top down saying,

hey, everyone needs to be using AI

454

in everything that they do and go off

and come back with what you've got.

455

Are you seeing that dynamic happen

more with you and your peers?

456

Because almost like this

blank mandate without,

457

I don't want to say teeth, but

it's just a general posture, right?

458

That, hey, we need to do X,

459

which you don't really hear

that before as universally.

460

Shanda Mihali: Absolutely.

461

Yeah.

462

In fact, that's been the theme

of probably the last three

463

months, specifically the last

464

three months of our

executive meetings has been.

465

We need to use that more.

466

I think the challenge is, yeah,

predominantly, what does it look like?

467

What is it?

468

Which platform is going

to be what we need?

469

But also, how much can

we trust it right now?

470

It does feel like a murky waters.

471

It feels you don't want to necessarily be

the pioneer of a brand new platform that

472

promises all these wonderful

things, but you also don't

473

want to be behind that curve.

474

So hitting that sweet spot of

revolutionizing, but also being

475

able to trust it, that it's went

through some processes and some of

476

those kinks have been worked out.

477

Because you don't want to be

the guinea pig that ends up

478

paying for the sins of AI.

479

Thomas Kunjappu: Yeah, definitely not.

480

Right.

481

With the role of like safeguarding

both the company and employees, which

482

is like the duty of the function.

483

And okay, so we've gotten a lot of

heavy doses of reality here, right?

484

Like of all

485

the compliance, the vendor

relationship, the time needed, right?

486

So even if you want to do this,

like there's an one-time cost

487

that we have to like figure

488

out and get over.

489

Maybe just talk about that

just for a couple more minutes.

490

So how do you do that?

491

So let's talk about like your team

or like the HR team in general.

492

Do we think that your

set of people operations

493

or HRGs or recruiters, to some

degree like the business partners

494

or the centers of excellence,

495

but just everyone who is in the function,

executing, doing administrative work,

496

doing the job to ensure that employees

497

don't have to worry about all these things

and that their questions are answered

498

and policies are being renewed.

499

How ready is this whole

500

group of the HR function for playing

a key part in any of these things

501

like evaluating to implementing

502

to coming up with ideas

for and all of that?

503

How do you view that?

504

Shanda Mihali: That's a loaded question.

505

There is so much there to unpack

because it really depends on the

506

caliber or the quality of the

people that you have on your team.

507

How inventive, how creative,

how explorative are they?

508

How comfortable are they with

509

trying new things or

looking into new things?

510

You might have some people on

your team who are set in ways

511

that old HR that we do this way.

512

Hopefully they're not quite pen

and paper, but the adoption rate

513

is different for every person.

514

So if you have willing participants,

515

then I think you can absolutely.

516

The sky's the limit there.

517

Their willingness to go explore.

518

You might have to rein them in

versus someone whose team is a little

519

more not willing and they're

resistant to it or so apprehensive

520

they're too scared to move.

521

And that could be actually

a detriment to your HR team.

522

So I would say if you have someone

on your team like that, you might

523

need to reevaluate and determine

if they're really in the right

524

role because HR is ever changing.

525

So many of our other operations are

as well, but HR truly is because we're

526

dealing with the technology part, but

mostly we're dealing with the human part.

527

The human landscape

528

has changed so much in the last 20 years.

529

So if you have a resistant employee,

you probably want to think through that

530

process and see if they're in the right

role, because we have to move forward.

531

We have to adopt things that

we're scared of a little bit.

532

Thomas Kunjappu: So we're all about

future-proofing the function and thinking

533

about how at every level of the HR

function, how we can look forward to

534

like how that will evolve so that it's

535

really central and serving its purpose.

536

So I mean, one aspect you're

talking about is just the

537

willingness to adaptability,

the willingness to change

538

seems to be like important.

539

Are there other

540

qualities that you see as we go into

the next age where humans and the

541

job, everything will continue

changing that you think

542

will be even more important?

543

Shanda Mihali: Yeah, I think that

the next generation that grew up with

544

the iPad kids, I think that they're

545

going to be amazing at knowing what

they want, knowing how to read it.

546

Just like our generation is pretty

good at going into the library and

547

understanding the Dewey Decimal System.

548

Those kids are just going to walk

into a technology age where they're

549

like, yep, that's what I want.

550

They're just going to identify so quickly.

551

And it is cool to be under ground

floor, that first floor building up.

552

But I think that they will take

it and run with it and just be

553

so good at knowing what they want

and knowing how to execute it.

554

So I'm excited for them.

555

Thomas Kunjappu: Wow.

556

Let's go into the future a

little bit and be optimistic

557

around the technology, right?

558

So

559

what are the kinds of use cases

that you're seeing that are

560

just things of drudgery that

you think there's opportunity.

561

Assuming everything works out,

562

the technology as promised

563

and that actually is compliant and safe.

564

What are the different areas that you

think as a function we could really

565

potentially leverage new technology for?

566

Or forget the technology.

567

What are things that you think maybe

568

should just be eliminated

from human work going forward?

569

Shanda Mihali: Yes, I love it.

570

So I wish we had AI or chat

571

four years ago when COVID hit.

572

I could have totally used

that to write COVID policies.

573

Yeah.

574

That was drudgery.

575

It was pretty awful because every day the

CDC was coming out with a new regulation.

576

And so you had to not only create

from scratch, a huge policy.

577

It was pages and pages of policy

that hit every note, but that

578

was also constantly changing.

579

So absolutely love AI for policy writing.

580

I check it.

581

Definitely do your

582

due diligence, check to make

sure all the facts are straight.

583

Everything works right, because we know

584

that there is a little

bias there about AI.

585

And then in your employee handbook.

586

In fact, when the beginning of

this year, so I've been with this

587

company for four years.

588

When I first started, one of my big

overarching goals was to update the

589

employee handbook.

590

It was 11 years old.

591

And I thought that's one of my

big, hairy, audacious goals.

592

I am going to update that book.

593

January 1st, 25.

594

I had a new handbook and thanks

595

to the help of Chat because I

would throw policy after policy

596

into it and ask it to give me the

597

updated federal and state

laws surrounding that policy.

598

And obviously I have to do a little fact

checking just to make sure it's okay.

599

But that helped so much.

600

Policies, your handbooks.

601

I eventually see onboarding

being a really cool part.

602

So instead of an employee just

being introduced to your HRIS

603

system and they go through

604

and check boxes, I see there being

a little widget or something.

605

Remember when we had Word doc, when you'd

start a new Word doc, what was his name?

606

You're not talking about Clippy.

607

Yes, Clippy, yes.

608

I don't know where he went.

609

But like something like Clippy to

go through with your onboarding

610

and your benefits to just help you.

611

So you ask him questions like

I have four people in my family

612

and we have these medications.

613

What do you recommend?

614

And then Clippy or whatever his name

is, you know what the best policy or

615

yeah, what the best benefit packages.

616

So I definitely see it

growing into this very

617

personable character that our

employee lives with and just grows

618

with as they go through their tenure.

619

So I think it's exciting, but

I just don't know how long it's

620

going to take before we get there.

621

Thomas Kunjappu: Let's just go to the

employee life side, on the recruiting

622

side, promise or peril with AI?

623

Shanda Mihali: Right

now it feels like peril

624

because there is so much bias

625

that goes with the selection process.

626

And so I think after they

work out the kinks of bias,

627

which I think that's possible.

628

I think that there

629

is a way for that platform to be

to where there is nothing that

630

AI is looking for except for the

631

best candidate.

632

So once we get through that,

I think it'll be great.

633

I think that automated process.

634

Because whether we like it

or not, humans have bias too.

635

So we're working through

our own kinks in that way.

636

And I think AI will develop

eventually to be there too.

637

Thomas Kunjappu: Okay, so it's

still very on the recruiting side.

638

Very human touch centered

approach that you're taking.

639

And how about things

like, what else is it?

640

Payroll, benefits.

641

You talked a lot about policy.

642

Clearly, that's a big area.

643

Policy writing, that's a big area.

644

Yeah, anything else that

comes to mind for you?

645

Shanda Mihali: Just any

question an employee has.

646

I would love to have less of my team

hands-on in that process because so many

647

of those questions are the same answer.

648

So that would be great.

649

And just even a well-being platform,

650

somewhere where an employee can

go and it's a trusted source

651

where they can get practical

652

help or advice or resources

to get them what they need.

653

I think that would be wonderful.

654

Thomas Kunjappu: Thanks for looking

into the future a little bit for me.

655

And then can we also talk about the HR

656

function itself?

657

So imagine these kinds

of things exist, right?

658

To help our recruiters, our managers,

our HRGs, as well as business

659

partners across the board, CHROs.

660

Yeah.

661

What does that future function look like?

662

What are people doing

all day versus today?

663

And how is it different from today?

664

Shanda Mihali: If my team could spend

less time with those transactional

665

items, I would definitely want to see them

expand into the strategic and creative.

666

I think because we're so limited, we

don't get to have boots on the ground.

667

So they don't get to make visits to those

staff and just have real conversations.

668

But I think if we had more technology in

the background doing the functional part,

669

then my Human Resources could actually

be out there interacting with humans.

670

So that would be really valuable because

I think that's missing the connection.

671

The other thing is just

the creative element of HR.

672

We create employee wellbeing courses.

673

We create leadership

and management courses.

674

And so having more human resources

to do that would be beneficial

675

to our midline staff, to our

floor staff, to really everybody.

676

Thomas Kunjappu: Like better personalized

learning and development work, right?

677

So that it's specific and maybe

even for the specific person.

678

Imagine that like you're literally

creating a course for one specific

679

person, not even like a function or

something because that's possible.

680

Shanda Mihali: That'd be incredible.

681

Yeah, I would love that.

682

Thomas Kunjappu: Interesting.

683

So then what do you think if you're

giving advice to someone who's getting

684

into or considering getting into this

function early on in their career,

685

they're just getting in, coming out

of college, what should they be?

686

What advice might you have

687

for them as they're going into

688

the HR function and obviously wanting

to be future proof themselves.

689

Shanda Mihali: Yeah, I would say

pick that part of HR that they

690

love the very most, and then see

how they can make that absolutely

691

streamlined and effective towards the

692

people that it's going to affect, most

especially the ground level staff.

693

So anyone that's doing

694

those absolutely essential jobs

that executives are important,

695

but no one is as important.

696

The heart of any organization

is their frontline staff.

697

So that 80-20 rule of making the biggest

698

impact with as much effort as

they can for those people would

699

actually, it means the most to me

personally, but it also says the most

700

to the broad group because it does

701

go up like that.

702

The people talk, and they're always

praising those who do for them in their

703

behalf.

704

So that word goes back to the CEO.

705

Generally, they make themselves

valuable if they're affecting in a

706

positive way, those frontline staff.

707

So

708

if you have a niche in that

direction, definitely explore it.

709

Helping others.

710

Thomas Kunjappu: Helping others.

711

Seems like it's generally good advice.

712

So thank you for that.

713

I'll wrap up here, Shanda.

714

How can people connect with you

715

or follow your work as

LinkedIn the best way?

716

Shanda Mihali: That is a great resource.

717

I'm not on there as much as I should be

718

because I'm busy, but I'm working.

719

But they're welcome to email me

720

or LinkedIn is a

721

a great way to connect just

to message and get to know.

722

I love connecting with people and being a

723

mentor for those or

finding a mentor of my own.

724

I love that.

725

Yes, LinkedIn or email is a great

726

platform.

727

Thomas Kunjappu: Well, wonderful.

728

So thank you so much for

this conversation, Shanda.

729

We covered so much

730

ground from your honest take on the

pressures that they were facing in this

731

particular moment in the CHRO kind of

role between sandwich and between the

732

ask for more with less and with an

ever changing landscape and not enough

733

time and this potential vicious cycle

that we need to kind of get out of.

734

But that's not to say that

there isn't a ton of promise

735

with where everything can go.

736

So I appreciate you looking

forward as well and seeing that

737

these are all solvable problems.

738

And there's really a promise that we can

739

solve these things better.

740

And it might just take us

some time to really get there.

741

And I love all your thoughts about the

questions to ask vendors or potential

742

partners and the idea of really

networking and helping almost like in

743

groups, like trying things out together.

744

So you're really like being very real

with your peers as you're ideally it's

745

you and your colleagues in your network

are together trying a tool or something

746

to see the nuances and differences.

747

But with all that said,

thank you again, Shanda.

748

This has been a wonderful conversation.

749

And to everyone out there who is

looking to innovate and future-proof

750

your own organization and your own HR

function, thank you for listening in.

751

I hope you found this as useful as I did.

752

With all that said, see you next time.

753

Bye now.

754

Bye.

755

Thanks for joining us on this

episode of Future Proof HR.

756

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757

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758

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759

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how we can all thrive in the age on AI.