Halff

Carol A. Kiburz

In an interview with Carol A. Kiburz, VP of HR, Halff; she talks about the HR industry and the significant changes faced by it. She also expands on the technological advancements and the major predicaments commonly witnessed.

1. What are some of the major challenges and trends that have been impacting the HR Industry lately?

The talent acquisition market is still challenging; HR struggles to find enough talent, and the right talent, to meet the business needs of our companies. Tech sector layoffs has delivered some great talent to us, but frequently we are still actively searching. 

A trend I have witnessed over the last several years is the increasing strategic value HR is delivering to the business not only as their business partners, but also as leaders of thought. This requires an understanding of the business as well as HR, but it is so satisfying to see our human resource leaders becoming thought leaders at their companies. 

2. What keeps you up at night when it comes to some of the major predicaments in the HR Industry?

The thing that keeps me up at night is the vast expanse of the Human Resources function, trying to cover all of the duties without burning out our teams. We support our people and companies throughout the talent lifecycle, which includes but is not limited to sourcing, recruiting, onboarding, talent development, performance management, succession and career planning, leadership development, compensation, benefits, safety, leave management, employee relations, communications, change management, offboarding and alumni relations, to name a few. The broad and deep skills needed within an HR to manage all of these duties well, are significant. 

The second thing that keeps me up at night is another world-wide health crisis. While I believe our world is more prepared for something of this nature after COVID, I am concerned about the mental health impacts that such a crisis could have on a still-recovering world.

3. Can you tell us about the latest project that you have been working on and what are some of the technological and process elements that you leveraged to make the project successful?

My team at Halff is working on several projects that leverage technology and process.  On the talent acquisition side, we are utilizing social media in an increasing way to stay in contact with our applicants, both experienced professionals and campus.We are using MS Forms to more effectively capture candidate contact information on the campus recruiting side. In addition to this, our talent development team has embarked upon a six month needs assessment project to establish training audiences, identify their developmental needs, and then match training assets to these needs. We plan to launch a world of continuous learning in the form of learning journeys to support the developmental needs of our people throughout their careers. 

4. What are some of the technological trends which excite you for the future of the HR Industry?

The AI trend is what I am currently most excited about. ChatGPT is already delivering content that can be used by HR practitioners in the form of policies, handbooks, guides, offer letters, coaching, and reference information. This can be particularly useful for small or under-resourced HR teams. The content ChatGPT serves up must still be vetted, but it has the potential to save us legwork. With the current level of investment in ChatGPT, its content is only going to become more comprehensive, correct, current and on point.