H&R Block

Laura Klopatek

That is a scary phrase, but one I am proud of after more than 20 years of experience in this field. When the pandemic and the great resignation collided, many companies evaluated who we were and who we wanted to be…in my organization, we retitled our department to People & Culture. This is a nod to the criticality of these two elements to our enterprise and the criticality of this function to the future of business.

I have found that it is more important to be seen as a business partner than an HR professional because, truthfully, that is where the value of our function takes shape. The best compliment I ever received in my career was from someone who had just met me in a staff meeting and afterward indicated they did not realize I was in HR until ¾ of the way through the meeting because I actively engaged on all topics, business and otherwise. I will always be rooted in how I think about business topics in terms of people, cultural aspects, and impacts, but I think about business first.

If the People & Culture function can traverse the vast expanse of business topics, the value we bring to the table cannot be measured. We no longer ask for a seat at the table; we are invited in and welcomed as critical members of the team.

"Human resources may not exist in the ways it used to, but people & culture are alive and well."

How do we navigate the dynamics of this new expectation of HR professionals? Never be afraid to ask a question! I have found myself in highly technical conversations with our executive IT leadership team, and I will be the first one to ask what an API is or how the DevOps framework impact this decision we are making. I have examples of this in all areas of the business I support, and being willing to be vulnerable has served me well in my career. It has educated me on their work and candidly increased my credibility as I have learned to speak their language frankly; it helps me make better HR decisions because I understand the impact of their work.

Human resources may not exist in the ways it used to, but people & culture are alive and well. I see the function pivoting to deliver on the needs of the business and even anticipate what associates are craving to realize their long-term career goals. We must value and understand the culture at all levels in the organization and be willing to have difficult conversations if culture is not what it should be, as well as celebrate the areas it is alive and well. We must understand the needs of our people – the benefits, compensation, career aspirations, and leadership they require to be at their best. How do we take what we learn and drive change because of it – we must ask ourselves this every day. As people and culture professionals, we can enlighten leadership by helping shape their decisions with this knowledge.

Early in my career, I saw human resources mistakenly viewed as an administrative overhead necessary for compliance. I am so proud to be part of an industry that now sees people & culture as a critical business partners necessary to achieve our long-term enterprise ambitions.