Lisseth Zouhbi
Chief Human Resources Officer
Child Care Resource Center
Episode 205
HR Leaders: Thrive in Constant Change with AI-Driven Adaptability & Strategic Vision.
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleMay 5, 2025 · 13:57
Thesis
“In an environment of constant change, particularly with advancing technology like AI, successful HR leadership hinges on adaptability, resilience, continuous learning, and strategic alignment of people and business goals.”
Show notes
When your company is simultaneously migrating to Workday and deploying AI-powered microlearning — while managing a workforce in the middle of a major org change — the HR leader who survives is the one who has made adaptability a personal practice, not just a corporate value. That's Charmaine Ellis Brown's edge.
Charmaine's career spans organizations where HR was never allowed to be static. She's led through HRIS overhauls, built learning ecosystems from the ground up, and deployed diagnostic tools that surface misalignment between what HR leaders think they're delivering and what the business actually experiences. Her McLane HR Governance Survey approach — gathering candid input from both HR teams and senior leadership — is a case study in using measurement to create honest, productive dialogue. The result: people strategy that doesn't exist in a PowerPoint, but actually steers resource allocation and business outcomes.
She's equally clear-eyed about AI. Not breathless about it, not fearful — curious. Her advice for HR leaders navigating the AI moment: learn how it works, experiment with microlearning tools that use it, and never let comfort with the old way become an excuse to avoid the new one. Adaptability, she argues, isn't a soft skill. It's the operating system for leadership in a world of constant change.
- Building a learning ecosystem — how to combine AI-powered microlearning, classroom training, and external platforms like LinkedIn Learning
- Using governance diagnostics — how HR leaders can identify perception gaps between their team and senior leadership
- Surviving a Workday implementation — the communication, preparation, and flexibility required to keep payroll running
- Managing change at scale — why explaining the "why" is the most underused change management tool
- Cultivating adaptability as a leadership habit — not just for your team, but for yourself
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What you'll take away
- 1Prioritize explaining the 'why' behind major organizational changes to build awareness, reduce resistance, and foster buy-in across all stakeholders.
- 2Implement a comprehensive learning and development strategy that combines training needs analysis, AI-powered microlearnings, classroom sessions, and external platforms like LinkedIn Learning.
- 3Utilize diagnostic tools, such as the McLane HR Governance Survey, to gather feedback from both HR and senior leadership, ensuring a clear alignment between people strategy and business objectives.
- 4Approach significant technology implementations (e.g., Workday) with meticulous preparation, phased rollout, continuous check-ins, and a commitment to adapting based on user feedback.
- 5Cultivate a mindset of adaptability, resilience, and curiosity towards new technologies and evolving business landscapes to enable continuous growth and successful pivoting.
What most organizations get wrong
In Lisseth's words
“Change is constant, and I think we live in that type of world nowadays.”
This quote sets the foundational philosophy for the entire discussion, emphasizing the perpetual nature of change in modern organizations.
“The big success was that everybody got paid. That was the most important.”
This highlights a critical, often overlooked, but fundamental success metric for any HR technology implementation, especially systems impacting payroll.
“Aligning the people and the business strategy. You know, this is one of the areas that I'm the most passionate about.”
This statement underscores her belief in HR's strategic role beyond administrative functions, emphasizing its direct impact on business outcomes.
“We shouldn't be afraid of it. We should be curious about it, learn about it, and pivot because that's the only way that we can succeed in the world nowadays.”
This provides actionable advice on approaching new technologies like AI with an open, learning-oriented mindset rather than fear, promoting adaptation.
“Having a communication plan is critical because the more communication that we have on updates in terms of What is changing? Why it's changing? Understanding the why is really important. What's in it for me to be able to adapt to these changes?”
This quote provides specific, actionable advice on effective communication during change, focusing on transparency and individual impact.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Organizations struggle with complex HRIS implementations (e.g., Workday), requiring extensive preparation, communication, training, and ongoing adaptation to ensure critical functions like payroll are uninterrupted.
- •Companies face challenges in developing robust leadership and soft skills beyond basic compliance, needing specialized training tracks for senior and middle managers in areas like strategic thinking and difficult conversations.
- •HR leaders need effective tools and methodologies to bridge the perception gap between HR teams and senior leadership, ensuring people strategies are tightly aligned with and contribute to overarching business objectives.
- •Managing employee resistance to organizational changes (e.g., reorganizations, policy shifts) demands strong communication plans, stakeholder identification, clear timelines, and flexible execution strategies.
- •Companies can experience stagnant internal cultures and slow innovation, necessitating strategic change management and learning & development initiatives to cultivate a growth and innovation-driven mindset.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
And as a starting question, I always love to ask about your career journey
How to Get Out There in the Workforce
CCRC recently implemented Workday across Human Resources and Finance
How to navigate a major organizational change?
CCRC led a learning and development initiative that transformed leadership and team dynamics
How Learning and Development (L&D) transformed CCRC's
You align the people and the business strategy through a series of surveys
How to Align the People Strategy with Business Strategy
Resistance to change is common. How do you turn skeptics into advocates
The Process of Change Management
Luceth: Change is constant and we have to be adaptable to change
Luceth on Change Management & L&D
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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