Who are the people that are taking the lead in disrupting the future of work?
They’re the official Disruptors (Organizers) of DisruptHR events held in cities around the world. Each week, we’ll 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.
Ashley Wilczek of DisruptHR Louisville (Disruptor #137)
LinkedIn – Ashley Wilczek
Who are you, and what do you do in your “day job”?
My name is Ashley Wilczek. I am the VP of People and Culture at Justice AV Solutions. We are the leader in digital courtroom recording technology and have been in business for 36 years.
How did you first hear about DisruptHR?
I heard about DisruptHR by perusing LinkedIn for edgier, funner, and more engaging HR conferences to attend. I found Jennifer online, we made a connection and that was that!
Why did you decide to raise your hand and become an organizer for DisruptHR events in Louisville?
Louisville has a very tight-knit HR community and everyone in HR in Louisville is worried about one thing: our workforce. We need more skilled workers, we need to retain the talent we have, we need to attract talent away from other similar sized cities, etc.
In order to do that, we all agree that HR plays a critical role and that we can do business as usual. HR must take the lead in disrupting the workplace to usher in the new age of talent and the way organizations view and treat their talent. DisruptHR brings a fresh, edgy, no-holds-barred approach to this conversation.
How many events have you organized?
We had our inaugural Louisville event in January 2017, and our next event is scheduled for October 2017. We had about 120 attendees in January. We expect around the same for October.
What types of people/industries have attended your events?
HR practitioners, CEO’s, university professors, tech industry gurus, recruiters, brokers, local entrepreneurs.
What are you most proud of that has come out of being involved with/organizing DisruptHR events?
Reading the reviews. After the event we sent a survey to our attendees and our feedback was overwhelmingly positive. It was more profound that I expected. The entire event was impactful to the attendees and we received some excellent constructive feedback for the next event. It helped solidify why I wanted to do this in the first place. I suspected Louisville was ready for disruption, I didn’t expect they were actually craving it.
What kind of feedback have you received from those who attended prior DisruptHR Louisville events?
Really just the majority of the attendees saying they would “absolutely attend again” and also the dozens of attendees who wanted to be involved as a volunteer, organizer, or speaker at the next event.
What is your favorite DisruptHR Talk, and why?
My favorite DisruptHR talk is “HR is not a Dominatrix, Put Down Your Whip” by Erin Lawless. One the title is fantastic, and synonymous with disruption. Then you get to the actual talk. The points are spot on, they call out the nastiest of HR cliches, and her delivery and humor is perfect. I suggest everyone who is in HR now doing it the old school way watch this video.
Based off of the Talks and conversations at your events, what do you feel are the areas with the biggest opportunity for disruption?
Treating your employees as they deserve. Pay them for what they are worth. Leverage technology and embrace innovation to help you out in this crazy world we call HR. Don’t be afraid to think or speak something controversial in order to be competitive for talent.
What excites you or frustrates you about the future of work, your career and/or DisruptHR?
What is frustrating is that, even with all the data to support it, there are still so many people with tunnel vision who think that worrying about things like job satisfaction, fair pay, family friendly benefits and flexible hours, engaging your employees is all nonsense. They cannot see the forest for the trees. There is real data folks. Real numbers that show these things pay off big time in the productivity and bottom line game.
Also, what is frustrating about HR is that so many people are afraid of HR, or think the HR person is the scary bad person. I personally feel that if someone at my company is afraid of me, I have failed at my job. Of course HR has to do a lot of the not-fun things about employment, but your approach, delivery, and level of empathy makes a world of difference. There is a lot of work to be done!
Follow What’s Happening With DisruptHR Louisville City:
– DisruptHR Louisville Community Page
– DisruptHR Louisville Facebook Page
– DisruptHR Louisville on Twitter (@DisruptHRLOU)
– #DisruptHRLOU Twitter mentions