The future is here – and it's not all dominated by robotics and virtual reality
The future is here – and it’s not all dominated by robotics and virtual reality. While there’s no denying that HR is becoming more and more reliant on technology, the function is, at heart, one based on people and culture.
HR Leaders Summit West’s closing key note speaker, Christina McClung, Chief People Officer and Chief of Staff to the President for Capital One Canada, spoke to us about her vision of HR’s future, and revealed why their charitable initiatives are about more than just money.
“The culture at Capital One is highly unique and our main differentiator,” she explained. “Many companies have competitive, talented, bright and driven people; Capital One has the same. But we also employ people with heart.”
“That’s a key characteristic that runs through our organization straight from the top. That was always so unique to me when I first joined Capital One. I recognized the same level of talent at the top that I’d seen at multiple companies before, but the heart and compassion of our people across the organization really stood out.”
And this talent demonstrates their heart and passion through activities like the company’s impressive ‘out of hours’ charitable offerings. One such initiative, McClung told us, brings together not-for-profit organizations with tech-savvy coders in order to aid both parties.
’Gift the Code’ is a hackathon that’s focused on bringing together the technology community within Toronto and introducing them to charities that need help advancing their tech platforms. We bring the charities to the event and pair them with technologists who then spend their weekend writing code to help them build solutions that last.”
Understanding the role HR plays in tech is essential to the future of the function. It’s now up to HR leaders to combine the people aspects of their role with emerging digital trends.
"There’s no doubt in my mind that technologies like AI and machine learning will play a huge part in transforming HR,” added McClung. “There are techniques we can leverage like gamification strategies or different pre-existing algorithms to transform how we select the best talent.”
“However, I believe the real differentiation will lie in the chief people officer role, with the opportunity to focus on the long-term, in regards to strategy and workforce planning. We’ve got to speak up more and, as HR professionals, take our seat at the table with other business leaders.”
Christina McClung promises to deliver an innovative key note, with plenty of actionable takeaways for our guests.