HR Trends – Details, episodes & analysis

Miller-Merrell delivers an inspiring message for HR: “Be the change you want to see and challenge those around you to be inclusive and supportive.” HR has a critical role to play in workplace wellness, including leaning into conversations about domestic violence. “Normalize these topics,” she says and create systems to get employees what they need. Swapnil Prabha, Vice President of Workforce Wellness Solutions at Unum Group, moderates the discussion.

Unum took its Gartner Marketing Award-winning HR Trends podcast studio on the road (again) to the 2023 HR Technology Conference & Exposition, held October 10–13 in Las Vegas. Listen as HR Trends host Clare Morin and others interview some of the biggest influencers in the HR tech world. You’ll hear their expert opinions on how technology will change the HR profession and improve the employee experience through 2024 and beyond. 

Tune in to hear Boese review his 15 years at the HR Tech conference and the innovative ideas he’s seeing at this year’s Pitchfest, where startups bring new ideas to the fore. According to Boese, one of the top challenges for HR in 2024 is embracing technology more meaningfully. “AI can’t teach us how to love,” he says, so we must find ways to use technology while preserving the human touch.

Unum took its Gartner Marketing Award-winning HR Trends podcast studio on the road (again) to the 2023 HR Technology Conference & Exposition, held October 10–13 in Las Vegas. Listen as HR Trends host Clare Morin and others interview some of the biggest influencers in the HR tech world. You’ll hear their expert opinions on how technology will change the HR profession and improve the employee experience through 2024 and beyond. 

“People are struggling,” says Dr. Conrad. “IQ is down since the ‘70s; emotional intelligence has been going down; chronic conditions are on the rise. We need to figure this out because these are our people, our employees, our customers.” Hear why he believes HR needs to get more sophisticated at understanding people on an individual level.Erin Casey, Vice President of Platform Partnerships at Unum Group, moderates the discussion.

Unum took its Gartner Marketing Award-winning HR Trends podcast studio on the road (again) to the 2023 HR Technology Conference & Exposition, held October 10–13 in Las Vegas. Listen as HR Trends host Clare Morin and others interview some of the biggest influencers in the HR tech world. You’ll hear their expert opinions on how technology will change the HR profession and improve the employee experience through 2024 and beyond. 

Along with Polly Nicholas, Senior Vice President of Unum Solutions at Unum Group, Williams explores the challenges HR will face in 2024, including the multigenerational workforce, burnout, and how “40% of employees can’t come up with $400 today.” He urges HR to be bold: “We can’t go in the boardroom meek; we need to go in with ROI and a point of view.” Listen to learn about HR tech solutions that help meet this mandate.

Unum took its Gartner Marketing Award-winning HR Trends podcast studio on the road (again) to the 2023 HR Technology Conference & Exposition, held October 10–13 in Las Vegas. Listen as HR Trends host Clare Morin and others interview some of the biggest influencers in the HR tech world. You’ll hear their expert opinions on how technology will change the HR profession and improve the employee experience through 2024 and beyond. 

Organizations change every 90 days, says Stelzner, and transparency and consistency will be key to helping employees thrive in 2024. If organizations are open about what they do and don’t know, who they are and who they aspire to be, employees can self-direct and HR can enable. Listen to learn how HR can lean into leadership this coming year.

Unum took its Gartner Marketing Award-winning HR Trends podcast studio on the road (again) to the 2023 HR Technology Conference & Exposition, held October 10–13 in Las Vegas. Listen as HR Trends host Clare Morin and others interview some of the biggest influencers in the HR tech world. You’ll hear their expert opinions on how technology will change the HR profession and improve the employee experience through 2024 and beyond. 

With generative AI and cutting-edge technology, HR professionals have an opportunity to reimagine the world of work for future generations. However, Von Bank believes HR professionals must first change their mindset and become business transformation agents. Listen as she reflects on emerging technology and how HR can lead a revolution to fuel change.

Unum took its Gartner Marketing Award-winning HR Trends podcast studio on the road (again) to the 2023 HR Technology Conference & Exposition, held October 10–13 in Las Vegas. Listen as HR Trends host Clare Morin and others interview some of the biggest influencers in the HR tech world. You’ll hear their expert opinions on how technology will change the HR profession and improve the employee experience through 2024 and beyond. 

According to Harris, the most important question for 2024 is “Do we have the data?” Hear about Sapient Insight Group’s newest research and why Harris believes transformational leave management is a key HR priority this coming year. “Don’t just do change management,” she says, “manage the change. Employees are burning out. Give your executives a reality check.”

Unum took its Gartner Marketing Award-winning HR Trends podcast studio on the road (again) to the 2023 HR Technology Conference & Exposition, held October 10–13 in Las Vegas. Listen as HR Trends host Clare Morin and others interview some of the biggest influencers in the HR tech world. You’ll hear their expert opinions on how technology will change the HR profession and improve the employee experience through 2024 and beyond. 

Clare Morin speaks to Jenn Lim, bestselling author and speaker known for her work on happiness and workplace well-being, and Swapnil Prabha, Vice President of Workforce Wellness Solutions at Unum Group focusing on employee benefits and mental health. They discuss topics related to authentic leadership, mental health and workplace well-being. 

Authentic Leadership: Lim emphasizes the importance of authentic leadership in today's working world. She defines authentic leadership as being true to one's authentic self and emphasizes that it involves self-awareness and addressing both strengths and weaknesses. “Just be real and be weird and like everyone's weird in their own way. And why not cherish that and celebrate it, says Lim.” [11:55]

The Greenhouse Model: Lim introduces the "Greenhouse Model," which focuses on first nurturing one's own well-being and values. She says, “I went to more of this metaphor of growth. No matter who we talk to in the world, there's no one that wants to not grow.” Lim emphasizes that authentic leaders should start by grounding themselves and understanding their purpose and values. [16:55]

Tools for Thriving: Lim discusses tools for thriving in the workplace, including fostering psychological safety, creating a sense of belonging, embracing accountability, and building meaningful connections. Lim highlights the importance of aligning individual and organizational values: “So therefore we have a new social contract together.”  [19:35]

Looking Ahead: The discussion concludes with a focus on the future of work. Lim suggests that leaders need to prioritize well-being and encourage teams to find meaning and balance in their work. Prabha emphasizes the importance of shaping company cultures that support mental health and well-being. She encourages leaders to ask for help and hold their partners and solution providers accountable when it comes to employee benefits and mental health support. As Prabha says, “I want to see what are the clinical outcomes? Is my employee population actually getting better?” [26:05]

Featured Speakers 

Jenn Lim 

CEO at Delivering Happiness | Bestselling Author | Global Workplace Expert

Jenn Lim is the bestselling author of Beyond Happiness and has been named one of the world's top 50 keynote speakers. She's had the privilege of leading a company to the INC 5000 fastest growing list, sitting on the global Happiness Council of Work and Well-Being and working with hundreds of companies from Fortune 500 and best places to work to startups and governments. Her mission is both simple and profound to teach businesses how to create workplaces, lead with happiness and humanity that generate more profit, sustain all people at every level of the organization, and share how we can make an impact by being true to our authentic selves.

Swapnil Prabha 

Vice President, Workforce Wellness Solutions — Unum Group

A thought leader in the insurance industry, Swapnil Prabha's work is helping to shape the digital future of employee benefits. She has helped to develop solutions such as Unum Behavioral Health, which addresses the full continuum of mental health for employees from baseline measurement to a complete range of easily accessible resources and therapeutic interventions. She also leads strategic direction and capability priorities for Unum Leave Logic — an industry-leading leave education and planning SaaS solution.

Curt Burghardt and Denise Ferguson, Unum HR leaders and people analytics experts, explore how real-time data connectivity with leave and absence information transforms efficiency, transparency and downstream processes for employers managing leave in Workday.®

•  People analytics is more than just basic reporting.  [03:49]
• Real-time connectivity simplifies leave processes. [06:42]
• Simplicity saves time and creates a better experience. [08:33]
• Connectivity helps solve the challenge of intermittent leave.  [10:24]

WORKDAY and the WORKDAY logo are trademarks of Workday, Inc. registered in the United States and elsewhere. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Featured speakers

Curt Burghardt 
 Vice President, People Delivery Group, Unum 

In his role as Vice President of the People Delivery Group at Unum, Curt Burghardt drives how the organization leverages cutting-edge technology to transform the employee experience — among our own employees and in close partnership with key business partners and customer facing initiatives. Curt lives in Portland, Maine with his wife and their two children. He has lived across the United States — from Hawaii to Boston and several places in between, including Chicago, San Francisco and Denver — during his previous roles with both Walgreens and United Airlines. 

Denise Ferguson 
 Assistant Vice President, People & Communications Technology 

Denise Ferguson is the AVP of People & Communications Technology. She joined Unum in April of 2015 as the AVP of HR Technology. Her responsibilities include enabling strategy through the use of cutting-edge technology and delivery of the technology roadmap for human resources, diversity and inclusion, corporate social responsibility and corporate communications. Prior to her role at Unum, Denise was the Senior Director of Human Resources Information Systems for Smith & Nephew. Before moving into dedicated technology roles, Denise held various functional HR roles in recruiting and compensation, and served as a HRBP and HR Manager for RSA Security, Inc. in Bedford, Massachusetts. Denise earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Boston University.

New research from LIMRA and EY shows that workplaces have reached a “generational tipping point.” Millennials and Gen Z employees now make up the majority of the workforce — and are on pace to constitute 60% by 2031.1 These younger workers (42 years old and under) have different benefit preferences from the Baby Boomers and Gen X cohorts for whom benefits have traditionally been designed, and greater needs when it comes to benefits education and enrollment. LIMRA’s Kimberly Landry joined John Stibal from Unum and Michael Stachowiak from Colonial Life to discuss how HR should react to this profound generational shift.

• A much broader view. According to Landry, LIMRA’s second annual Benefits and Employee Attitude Tracker (BEAT) study shows that younger employees still want core benefits above all else.  But they also want their benefits package to include a wider variety of supplemental health, wellness, mental health and other benefits. “The benefit programs of the future need to be more customizable and provide more options for employees to pick and choose from,” says Landry. [02:02]
• More choice means more confusion. As employers offer a larger number of benefits, they will need to increase their efforts to educate younger benefit consumers, according to Stachowiak. Stibal agrees that education is important to making informed decisions because with choice, “your employer is not making the decisions for you any longer.” [04:00]
• More benefits are more important. According to the LIMRA/EY Harnessing growth and seizing opportunity: 2023 Workforce Benefits Study, employers and employees both assign a high degree of importance to a fairly long list of benefit options. To compete effectively for talent, employers need to show that their benefits portfolio contains a wide range of choices to fit employees’ differing needs. “About half of the employers in our survey told us they expect to be increasing the number of benefits that they offer in the next five years,” Landry says. [06:30]
• The biggest change since last year? Importance of leave. Employer perception of the importance of paid family and medical leave benefits jumped 26% over last year, as shown in the LIMRA/EY study. “Paid family leave sounds simple, but it’s really, really complicated for employers,” says Stibal. Between complying with multiple federal, state and local leave laws and creating a good experience for employees administering leave is a challenging issue for employers. Employers may want to outsource [A1] leave management to a carrier who can provide a good combination of technology and human support. [13:00]
• How does all this factor into enrollment? As employers offer more benefits and as employees need more education, it’s important to be mindful about how you roll out your benefits enrollment. Some best practices:

1. Spread communication out over time in a drip campaign instead of bombarding employees with an overwhelming amount of information all at once. 
2. Talk about only one or two benefits at a time, so employees can pay equal attention to all their options. 
3. Communicate more about brand-new or unfamiliar benefits. 
4. Encourage employees to start enrolling early in the enrollment window, so they have time to ask questions and make informed decisions. [27:12]