Who are the people that are taking the lead in disrupting the future of work?
TheyÛªre the official Disruptors (Organizers) of DisruptHR events held in cities around the world. Each week, weÛªll introduce you to one of these intelligent, inspiring, and beautiful people (okay, pick two) who have stepped up, and volunteered to organize a Disrupt HR event in their city.
Aaron Pottichen of DisruptHR Dallas (Disruptor #97)
LinkedIn ÛÒ [ Aaron Pottichen ]
Twitter ÛÒ [ @apottichenåÊ]
Who are you, and what do you do in your ÛÏday jobÛ?
I’m Aaron Pottichen and in my ‘day job’ I am the President of CLS Partners Retirement Services. I lead the Retirement Services division of CLS Partners, we also have an employee benefits and risk management divisions, but really we act as one company to our clients.
Within our division we provide consulting services to companies related to a host of issues regarding their employer sponsored retirement plan (think 401k). Our company has a very unique and value added process prior to ever getting hired that allows a potential client to try us on before they buy. This results in us getting to know their HR team very well. You can learn more about us at clspartners.com.
How did you first hear about DisruptHR?
From where I hear about everything, Twitter.
Why did you decide to raise your hand and become an organizer for DisruptHR events in Dallas?
Once I found out that the Dallas area had no DisruptHR events going on, my hand went up instantly. Everything DisruptHR stands for aligns so much with what our company stands for. Out with the old ideas or methods and in with the new.
How many events have you organized?
We put on our first event in September 2016 and we just finished our second event this past September 2017. For the first event we had maybe 35 people. This time around we probably had close to 70 people attend. For 2018, we are going to get back together soon and decide on doing an event in the spring and in the fall. The response we got from this past event was very positive. And that’s a direct result of the group that organized the event and the quality of the speakers we had.
What types of people/industries have attended your events?
We had HR people, but we also had entrepreneurs, marketers, recruiters, a few vendors and CFOs. We also had people from the non-profit community. It was a great cross section of people from business.
What are you most proud of that has come out of being involved with/organizing DisruptHR events?
I’m most proud of the team that we had and the smiles people had after the event was over. Hearing people say they loved the format and the quality of the presentations was awesome. It was also great to hear people ask when the next event was as soon as the event was over.
What kind of feedback have you received from those who attended prior DisruptHR Dallas events?
It was great to hear people ask when the next event was.
What is your favorite DisruptHR Talk, and why?
Bud Browne at our last DisruptHR Dallas event. Bud’s delivery along was great and I don’t think anyone else could have given that presentation like him. Just watch it for yourself.
Based off of the Talks and conversations at your events, what do you feel are the areas with the biggest opportunity for disruption?
There is so much change going on in every industry and no one really feels like they are safe from innovation eliminating their job. I think any conversations talking about how people can build ever lasting skills in the work place independent of innovation are interesting and timely. “Alexa, How Can I Never Be Unemployed’ might be a good title.
What excites you or frustrates you about the future of work, your career and/or DisruptHR?
What frustrates me is people not being objective and accepting facts in the face of overwhelming evidence. In our business we have come across many people who we have presented clear evidence of a better path, but they still choose to maintain the current path even it was going to lead them to mediocre results. Part of being successful in business is being flexible. Marc Andreessen, a successful VC, has a great quote of “Strong beliefs, loosely held,” and I wish more people in business believed in that.
What excites me is the rate of change that is happening in every area of life right now. Rapid change represents opportunity to upend antiquated ideas and install processes or services made for today’s world. At my company, we have firmly planted our flag on the side of upending antiquated and old school ways of doing business. And what better area of business to bring about this change then the engine of business, HR.
WhatÛªs Happening With DisruptHR Dallas:
ÛÒ DisruptHR Dallas Community Page
ÛÒ DisruptHR Dallas Facebook Page
ÛÒ DisruptHR Dallas on Twitter (@hdisrupthrdallas)
ÛÒ #DisruptHRDFWåÊTwitter mentions