The Evolution of HR and Building Trust in the Workplace

In this episode, Lindsay Patton interviews Amanda Zouroudis, the Director of Human Resources at Shipium. They discuss the changing role of Human Resources and the importance of building trust in the workplace. Amanda shares her journey into Human Resources, the transition from a startup to a larger organization, and her strategies for understanding and supporting employees. She highlights the need for Human Resources professionals to be hands-on, business-oriented, and data-driven. Additionally, Amanda emphasizes the significance of building trust through active listening, open dialogue, and a focus on individual needs.

Amanda Zouroudis has ascended the ranks of Human Resources leadership over her career, currently steering the ship as the Director of Human Resources at Shipium. With dedication and a relentless pursuit of excellence, she's spent over a decade shaping workplaces and nurturing talent, from sunny Miami to leading the charge in remote Human Resources initiatives, making her an inspiration in the world of Human Resources. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of People Analytics:

• Building trust in the workplace involves demonstrating that HR understands individual department needs and acts as a strategic partner.
• Lack of structure in a remote environment can be challenging for some.
• Different stages of a startup require different levels of adaptability.
• The importance of having open conversations to uncover the root cause of dissatisfaction.
• Supporting employees through transitions involves offering various forms of assistance.
• Being present and available for someone during their transition is a valuable and compassionate act.
• Personalized follow-ups and check-ins demonstrate care and concern for individuals facing career challenges.

Resources:

• Shipium
• StaffGeek

Connect with Amanda Zouroudis:

• LinkedIn

Connect with our host, Lindsay Patton:

• LinkedIn
• Email

Quotables:

• 01:21 - “Understanding what makes the business successful, what the business needs, looking more future forward and strategically and holistically as to what are the gaps? Where's the business trying to go? How can we leverage our people and bringing in the right people to further expand the goals of the company so that everyone there can be successful. I think it's really important that, we consistently as HR professionals work on kind of revamping our relationships and our own kind of branding so that people can see us as a partner versus as just kind of like that negative, you know, I only see you when I'm hired and fired type of dynamic. And in a lot of startups and smaller companies, you don't necessarily have that dynamic.”
• 02:09 - “But I do think it's really important that as HR gets more visibility at the table for executive teams and decision-making, that we really understand the business and bring data so that we can justify why we're making recommendations or why we're, we're pushing forward strategies that align to the greater business cause.”
• 09:13 - “I'm not just here to police people on their time off or move people out or be super cutthroat about performance management. Does HR have to handle all of those things? But I think there's a way you can approach all of those things. And it always starts with having the right relationship, so you can partner with people, even if it's folks that maybe aren't the right fit or possibly are off track for what the expectations are. And I think that's where you can leverage your relationship to have not just positive conversations, but to have open dialogue around things that sometimes are more difficult to talk about.”
• 16:20 - “I feel like in the HR role, it's unique in that you kind of get to know all three of those things or more facets really. Like we represent the business. And we need to ensure the business succeeds, but that all rides on the people that are in place. So I don't want to call it pressure, but some of the importance of figuring out, do you have the right person in the role, is really understanding that person and their perspective and their relationships within their realm of the business. And it's also making sure you don't just gloss over something and you really give someone an opportunity to explain what's happening for them.”
• 23:25 - “So what we did is we pretty much set up like mini workshops where people could sign up who were in the layoff. We helped them rewrite their resumes. There was a couple of people that did like practice interviews with my worker. We actively were basically like scouring and forwarding job links and sharing our networks and like warm introducing folks to companies that we're hiring.”