Episode 239: HR Isn’t Paperwork. It’s People. | Khalilah T. Olokunola | People Lead HR Expert, Speaker, Changemaker
Most people think HR is about policies and procedures. Khalilah T. Olokunola (affectionately known as KO) is here to shatter that perception. In this conversation, we talk about what HR is really about: people, community, and transformation. KO shares how ministry and HR overlap, why small businesses need to think beyond compliance, and how trauma, burnout, and leadership are all connected. We get into HR’s evolving role post-George Floyd, how to build people-first workplaces, and the soft skills leaders must have to build anything that lasts. If you think HR is boring, you’ve never heard KO speak. She’s here to remind us that better is possible, and that it starts with us.
“HR has nothing to do with policies and procedures. It’s about the people and being kind. Helping people show up at new levels to build the things we need to create the world we want in and out of the office.”
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters:
(00:00:00) HR found her, not the other way around
(00:02:00) The overlap between ministry and HR
(00:04:20) HR is not policies. It’s people
(00:06:45) How HR can drive culture and change
(00:08:20) Helping HR leaders shift their mindset
(00:10:00) What small businesses get wrong about people management
(00:12:30) Why silence is still a message
(00:15:00) Leadership doesn’t mean you should be CEO
(00:17:20) Self-evaluation and the power of coaching
(00:19:10) Burnout, quiet quitting, and remembering your why
(00:21:00) The real story behind "brewed by rivals"
(00:26:00) What makes KO a “people pro”
(00:28:20) What "powerful" means to KO
(00:30:30) Redefining power and taking up space differently
(00:34:00) Cancel culture, compassion, and coaching
(00:36:00) Where HR is headed next
(00:38:15) Second-chance hiring and inclusive HR trends
(00:40:30) Creating cultures of empathy and proactive support
(00:42:20) The importance of soft skills for leaders
(00:44:00) What KO is building next and how you can help
(00:46:00) Kara’s final thoughts: power, purpose, and people
I look at it every day as a reminder of my why, because if I haven't said yes to hr, those young men, may not have gotten what they needed. It was there that I discovered that I was a people pro and not necessarily a human resource executive.
That's Khalila Olo, canola. I'm Kara Duffy and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast.
I am so excited that I'm getting to talk to you today. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule. Before we jump into questions, let's tell everyone who you are. Where you are in the world and what you're up to.
Yeah. Great. Kalila, ALO, canola, affectionately known as Koko for short. I am in Wilmington, North Carolina.
The good part of the dirty south. And I'm up to all things HR centered around impact.
And you also do a lot of ministry work as well. Is that correct?
Yeah, lots of ministry work. The duality of ministry and marketplace is just a part of who I am, my DNA that duality is something lots of people don't talk about, but I think it's important, an important conversation to have and to share.
Yeah. So other people feel okay in mentioning both sides of who they are.
What I think is really interesting, and part of why I was like, saw you on Instagram, I'm like, I really wanna have a conversation with her is because. I think that there is so much overlap between ministry and HR and just being in that place of how do we serve people.
Yep. I 100% agree. I think HR in itself is a ministry, right? Because when you realize that people are the most important asset to an organization, I mean to the earth that we live on, it helps you understand how to cultivate them in a different and unique way.
I saw a beautiful thing on Instagram yesterday actually, where a guy was giving a talk somewhere, and the little clip was about how would the world change if we told everyone from a very young age that we need them and all of their gifts contributing to this world to make the world what we want it to be.
And it, it breaks my heart that so many people aren't told that we need you and that your gifts are what's actually gonna make the difference. That
is that's powerful. I'm not gonna cry this early on in this recording. But I think that. There's some power there, that confidence is a big issue.
And a lot of times when people aren't validated by their peers or people that surround them, they don't walk into the fullness of who they are capable of being. And the reality of it is that each one teaches one. We all have something in us that the world needs. And it takes going through this moment, this place of de discovery so that you can define it yourself and move forward before you're actually able to do it.
So what a powerful truth he shared.
Yeah. And I think also a lot of people have some misconceptions about hr. 'cause some people think of HR and they're like paperwork rules. Onboarding the end. Can we please redefine what HR actually is and why it matters so much?
Yeah, and so that's one of my life's goal, I feel like to help redefine and we engineer what HR is.
HR has nothing to do about policies and procedures. HR is about people, right? And you have to be kind. Kind is an acronym. Knowledge inspires new direction. If you use data to define and design, you create for the people that you're serving. And so human resource is a way to serve people, to help them show up so that they can build the things that we need so that the world can be sustained.
And I think that we create so much or we enforce policies. Against people, but we don't stand for the people that we are enforcing policies for. And so HR has never been about paperwork. The reality of it is that HR started way back when as a response to war. That's where recoupment started.
We needed people to fill roles and we had to get people that could do the job. And so we begin to look at hr, not just from a perspective of being, production workers or people that just have a plow and they're doing stuff, but individuals who have diversity of thought, innovation and ideas that's coming together to create things that we need to help facilitate what we want to see in the world.
I'm thinking a lot of us would build different in our internal organizations and we would manage different. When we call ourselves hr, I always say this Kara. If you have a seat at the table and you don't use your voice to advocate for people, you need to give up your seat, right? Because that's what you're there for.
To facilitate change, it doesn't have to look like the traditional way. In fact, it shouldn't. You should be part of the change that we want to see to make sure that we are not just producing plans for the planet and for products, but for the people who's going to help us save the planets and build the products that we need.
It's amazing how we forget that step, right? Yeah and I don't know if it's because it's easier to follow existing habits and procedures or if we're just so overwhelmed with all the other things we're dealing with on an individual basis, that when it comes to having to like do people oriented changes and level ups.
For people who aren't passionate like you are about HR and people, often the response is, ugh. Like I do not wanna have to have this conversation. I don't wanna do it. As a coach, I hear they're so not standing the possibility of what could be happening. So like how are you working with other HR leaders and organizations to remind them that managing people is such a privilege and.
It doesn't have to be this heavy lift that is distracting from all the other things on their to-do list.
Yeah, so I do it a few ways. The first way is inspiration, and when I say inspiration, I don't just mean the feel goods, I give them case studies, evidence of what's worked and where someone has made change.
It's often hard to do something if you don't have proof that it worked, because you don't wanna be the first one to fail, right? Especially when you're already biased about the situation. The second way is is insight. So I like to use audits and assessments, and I have a tool called the Alphabet Audit.
The nos are icebergs and the yeses are impact. So I show you icebergs before they hit your ship and let the impact that you can celebrate and announce to help build culture and celebrate your team. And then this information, how do you gather that data and show this HR Pro what they could do and the change that they can make based on this case study and this data that they have, and then the process you have to power, empower them to believe different.
I think the perspective is really important as a coach. I'm sure you meet with so many different personalities of people For sure. And so helping them see through a different lens and with the work I do, I feel like my job is not just to show up and give solutions and strategies, but help them see through a different lens and not just see what I do, but see what they're capable of doing through that lens and give them the steps that they need to get there.
And when you give them a full framework and the process and show them evidence and inspire them and put together data. They're more inclined to take that first step, which is always the hardest. But conversations challenge what you believe, and beliefs are foundational for skills and skills lead to opportunity.
So that conversation we have, that sparked that idea change, that sparked that perspective change will lead to a open door of opportunity and what you believe is possible. So when I work with HR Pros, in short, right? It is me inspiring them, me informing them, and me providing insight to them to show them that I, on each one of those words, mean that the change that they wanna see can start with them and applying that evidence so that they believe that they can.
HR is an area that I think is transformed so much in my professional life, but in even more so in the past five years. And even more so in the last three years. So it is, I feel like there is an overwhelming sense, especially for small businesses about how to keep up and what to be doing.
I have a lot of my because business clients coming to me saying. Things like how do I manage the quiet quitting trend, which makes me crazy as an idea. And then how are we managing this new approach of Gen Z and what are we doing with our older employees who are struggling with some of the technology updates and so they feel caught, just like we talk about parents, often caught between kids and their parents, and everyone needs help at the same time like.
I feel like so many business owners feel stuck in that space too, where they have all these people who they respect and want contributing, but they don't know how to get them all on the same page and moving in the same direction. So how, what advice would you give to small business owners in particular about navigating all these various relationships and.
New trends in HR and people management and creating space, I think for people as well.
Such a strong question. Really strong. I think that, I like to encourage people to build bridges. To break down barriers, like you don't have to have the full solution, but you, if you can build the bridge and show the two how they can intentionally connect, I think that helps solve a lot of our issues.
So we know that the workplace is filled with tons of generations. Gen Z boomers. Gen Xs, right? And so how do you create. Retirement plans for people like boomers and Gen Xs who want that, and Gen Zs, they're not even thinking about that. And so what you have to do is create a bridge where the individuals in your workplace that need it can tap into it.
And those that don't need it. Yet know that it's already in place for them. So now you're not just building based on the generation you're building based on building better, right? So you define how you do it. And what I've learned in HR is that HR changes and pivot based on world events. We think about trends and, every year there's a new color of the year, but every year.
We have something that happens, and HR is one of those industries where if there's a world event, we often have to pivot and make the change. And so I like to tell small business owners to keep their ears to the ground and don't be afraid to speak from a place of authenticity. What I mean by that is when.
George Floyd happened. A lot of CEOs didn't say anything. It's not because they didn't want to, they just didn't know how. Yeah. And silence becomes a conversation. And so even just showing up, saying, I wanna say something, but I don't know what to say. And so I'm leaning on the knowledge of the staff that I have here and on you as employees to help us all navigate through it.
And so I would say. Listen, don't be afraid to respond and walk in your authentic self and say that you just don't know, because employees honor that. They respect that. The great resignation wasn't about money. It was about values, on values. And so if they see who you are and they see that you have values, they're more inclined to stay, to advocate, to be loyal.
And it'll reduce, thinking about someone's leaving. And also don't build for a generation. Build for better build and let individuals know, Hey guys, we know that some of you guys may be looking for retirement. We having this open house. If you need it, great. If you don't, there'll be some packets and information in hr.
And one of the last roles I worked in, worked, excuse me, worked in, we had to create a hub across generations, across cultures. We worked with people that were really educated and individuals that hadn't gone past their GED. And being able to bring people into the workplace and find a meaningful and intentional conversation that they can spark to build culture and provide them with resources that they all needed was hard.
But that's what I learned. I wasn't building for a color. Class or a culture I was building for better and it was better based on the team that I was serving. So identify your team. Know what they need, create the resources for everyone. Those that need it now, and those that need it later. And don't be afraid to speak because your silence still is conversation.
It sure is. It sure is. We're making an impact every day, whether we do it intentionally or not.
We can't help it. Can't. And HR is one of those things, business owners, small business owners specifically. The difficult part is when you are building a small business, HR is really often the last thing that you put in place because it's not a it is not an investment that you wanna make.
And so that's the idea of. You spoke about it in the beginning, not thinking of HR as just policy and procedure, but people. And as a business owner, if you say, okay, how can I invest in my people? You can find ways to do those things. And the HR Pro may have been able to do it, but you started building the culture of it yourself.
Intentionally and on your own. And so just changing that perspective and that view.
I've been having a lot of conversations with my clients about how to be a great entrepreneur. You have to work on yourself. ' cause there's no way to have the hard conversations to be the leader you wanna be.
If you're not looking at your own neuroses, your own struggles, your own conversations about values, money, all the things, and. I don't think PE, even when you have a business where it's just you, there's no other employees, you have to do that work. But when you have employees, you really need to, and I know I've been, I'm sure you've been in a situation where you've had saw management, saw leadership, and you're like, I just, they need a coach, they need a therapist.
They need to go and have an exorcism. I don't know what they need, but they are, they can't see it. Like they're so stuck in their space that they can't see like what's right in front of them. And it's so close, and that's the hardest conversation to have with somebody, especially if they're the ones in charge.
Yes. Mirrors are difficult to look at, right? You never wanna see yourself, or you don't wanna believe that as the thought leader, the founder, the owner. You don't have it all together because you created the business. It's your idea, or you are the one in charge. And I think a lot of businesses fail there, I often tell people that the founder doesn't have to be the CEO, right? Yes. He may be the best person for the job, he may be a great thought leader and good at going to get investments and creating, having salesmanship making connection, but he may not be the right person to lead the organization.
And it's okay. And this is such an important conversation to have because if you can't lead yourself, it's impossible for you to be able to lead people. I have this. Process where I have to take time to listen, be empathetic, learn to adapt and dive in and the details to make sure I'm a good fit.
Meaning do I have the cognitive ability and mo motivating factors to get in this role, stay in this role, and be effective in this role because it's not about me, even though it starts with me, it's about the organization I'm serving and the people. And so it's a tough conversation to have. I like to encourage business owners to be mindful about performance evaluations that they require and be okay with giving themself one, right?
Yes. Looking back to what you do and where you may have dropped the ball and not being afraid to get professionally developed, having a coach is a plus. It tells me that you realize that there's still more to learn and that you want to. Create an ally with someone to help you become better. I'm such a big advocate of coaching for senior executives, for lead leadership.
Because the world changes, because we all have personalities. The coach usually will come in and look from a different lens and be able to see the things that we miss. And jump in, do it, you need it. But don't be afraid to evaluate yourself so that you can become better at what you're doing.
And also don't be afraid to put the right people in the rights. See to help you navigate the change that you wanna see. You don't have to be a jack of all trade in the master of none. You can just be really good at what you do and celebrate it for that and surround yourself with the right people to help you build an organization and a level of excellence that you desire.
Yeah and I think to build on that, getting coaching isn't about fixing you. It's also about. Like holding you to the greatness and the commitments that you have. 'cause it's so easy to get distracted by why we actually started this and who we want to be in our business. Like I have a coach because I know that I can't see my business 'cause it is so close to me that I can never get the far enough perspective to see the really easy option.
And you need that person like. When you don't have someone giving you regular feedback in a workplace, so many people are like, how do I know if I'm doing a good job? I'm like now we gotta ask your clients. Now we gotta ask your employees. We have to stretch out who we're getting feedback from.
But having a coach is a great way to do it just because my I wouldn't have survived in my business if I didn't have one. Because who else is who's helping hold me accountable. To why I was so excited when I started the business. It's not fun most days, like we try to make it fun, but it is a rollercoaster and I think of my coach as like my seatbelt.
As long as I have my coach, I'm not gonna fall off.
Yeah I agree 100%. I think a coach also helps you remind you of your why, because you get so burnt out in the day to day of being the marketing person, the sales person, all these things. You forget, the personality and the posture that you came in when you built this organization and burnout is wheel.
You don't just quietly quit at work. You can quietly quit your business, even though I hate. Yes, you can quietly quit your business, right? And when you do that. A coach is going to be able to identify those things that they see. They're also going to be able to show you your triggers, what's pushing you, in that place, and then help you remember your why so that spark doesn't dwindle out when you need it most and tell you what you need to let go of, what you need to lean into and what you need to leave behind.
And so 100% agree. Get a coach.
Yeah. If we go back to 8-year-old, you. Would she have imagined that this is your life today?
Absolutely not. No way. The 8-year-old me was really full of fear, afraid not a lot of confidence at all. Let me go back. The 8-year-old me still had a little bit of belief.
She was excited about life, but. She would've never thought that she would be traveling the country, working with organizations. I think I wanted to be a lawyer or forensic scientist back then. We all have these big dreams based on what we see on tv. I never saw myself in human resource. It's one of those jobs that has a stereotype that you stay away from, and that was me, and so the 8-year-old me had no idea.
How did you find hr? Or did, how did HR find you is maybe a better question.
Yeah, it's a great question. HR did find me. I did not find hr. Absolutely wouldn't look for it. I just so happened to be in New York City speaking at a organization conference, and there was a man there from Wilmington, North Carolina.
We're both in New York, those moments, those marker moments I call it. Yeah. And he's talking from an investment and about opening up this business that hired a diverse population. And I was talking to him and shared this story and he said, come share the story with my team. I went and shared the story with his team and he gave me a contract, and the contract went from 40 days to one 20 to one 60, and then he said, Hey, I got this really important job in education, learning and development in hr, and I think it's you.
I said, you want me to be hr? My exact words, I said, I'm too loud. I'm too extroverted. I come really close to the edge. I like to tell people, now I'm dirty hr. That doesn't mean I break rules. That means that and Dirty is a acronym. I'm the acronym queen, but it means something. It includes like intention, resilience, and trustworthy, right?
And so I come close to the edge, but I'm not focused on policy. I'm really focused on people, and so I, yeah. To him. I don't think I'm your person. He's I think you are. And I had to develop some curriculum for onboarding, and it went over well with the population of active gang member members and justice impacted individuals.
Wow. Saw a transformational change in their life where violence had decreased in our area by 73%, and they were doing things like change, changing credit, buying houses, getting reliable transportation, and this was a for-profit company. And then the individuals that were not in that population were coming in.
Through the training we're making meaningful connections. And so he thought, Hey, this young lady must have something. And so now I look back and I'm so thankful that it found me because I can't see myself outside the human resource. And I think not coming in the traditional route is what helped me become successful and I'm not.
I, by far have made it yet, I think that every day I learn something new, but because of that non-traditional pathway, and it's helped me. It's helped me do things from a perspective that most people that were traditionally trained may not have. 'cause I use lived experience, right? I use learnings from mistakes and failures that I made.
And Kara, I think the most important thing, I'm not afraid to ask people for help, yeah. And hr, a lot of people are. To themselves. And I have this is my organization, my ideas, and I'm just like, look, let's share. I need your help sister or friend, right? Whoever you are. And so I'm willing to sit down at the feet of people and listen to what they have to say and learn.
And so I dived in learning built relationships and started creating from an authentic space just for people. And that has helped me. And hR found me and and I'm happy it did because it's been most, one of the most rewarding and incredible. Things that I think I've done in my life, and I tell people, I go in the room, what are you doing with hr? Am I, and some people with me, it's stop, don't do that ko, hr I'm just hr. That's all I do. And they're like, it's more. But that's what I say because when people see what I do, I wanna change what they feel and what they perceive when they hear that terminology.
Hr, I don't have to go into the details and pull out, all the links of being online and on TV and in print. I just want them to see me and connect with me and have a conversation so that they see that me as an individual is different than what they may have perceived, and then they can dive in deeper.
Yeah. I just, I think it's so fascinating that there's entire degrees now and whole areas of study of cultures and leadership and the entire space that. Is the backbone of what all organizations are based on, and yet it isn't. It's only talked about in these kind of niche circles that care about habits and people and what's happening and it's, I think it's a shame because it's so much about just human anthropology and there's so much to learn from that research that's happening in an organization to also then talk about communities and households and everything else.
'cause they're. They're also organizations of people, as you said earlier, with personalities, with fears, with all the things that people bring into whatever they're doing. Yeah. For everyone who's listening to this, you have a sign behind you that says, brood by rivals to end violence. What is that all about?
Oh my God. So the last company I worked for it's a company called True Colors that hired active gang members. It was a for-profit brewery with a closeknit social mission to unite gang rivals and decrease violence in our community. Why unite in communities across the country? It was a job in exchange for putting your guns down.
And that the sign behind me that you see, Kara was signed by all the team. And it's one of the last things I have left from the organization before it closed. And I look at it every day as a reminder of my why, because if I hadn't said yes to hr, those young men, may not have gotten what they needed.
It was there that I discovered that I was a people pro and not necessarily a human resource executive. And it was there that I realized that HR did intertwine with ministry and marketplace, that HR wasn't just about the workplace, it was about community. That HR wasn't just about what we did at work, but about psychological safety and all the other issues that we were challenged with outside.
And it was there that I learned in this. Gerbert that is hr. We have such big jobs and because we don't understand it, we don't do it really like we should or supposed to and made it my job. Not to go sit in another company, but to be able to work with tons of companies to help them dig so that they see from that perspective as well.
And this was a beer, a brewery company. Where they brewed beer. And it was brewed by individuals that couldn't walk on the same block together, couldn't be seen in the same neighborhood, but they came together and discovered that they had more in common than what they did that divided them. And isn't that a word for our country?
We have more common that unifies us than we do. That divides us. And if we would do peace together as a country, we would do prosperity. We would see more unity. And where we see more unity, we would see effective change. And that. Is what being a people pro is.
Yeah. Where did your gift for speaking and inspiring and that passion come from?
I don't know. I I'll say so you, we know that I'm in ministry, so it's, yes, it's definitely from God. We know that, and I didn't know that it was there. I just started talking one day. And I think that when you speak from the heart and walk in your authentic truth unapologetically, it's hard to hide it.
Yeah. And so you can show up and you can be as, as trained as you want, but that authenticity is gonna be what comes out. And so I always just share from my heart. I share from a place of love and kindness and, a place of a person who, has made mistakes and had failures and has been able to overcome.
And looking at other people from that perspective and realizing that I'm here to make change and make impact, and having the desire to want to do it.
That's a great segue to asking you what is, what are the words powerful and ladies mean to you?
Man, powerful in ladies, right? And so it's, so for me it says it speaks a lot, not just to your strength, but to the whole person, powerful in ladies, and it, it reminds me that there's something that's inside of me, right? And oftentimes, and this is what I loved when I saw the podcast name, is that. I didn't know that there was something powerful in me. And when you think about this podcast, it's a way for people to listen and to truly hear and realize that there's also something powerful in them.
And so when I hear that, I hear it as an activator. Ooh, that was good. I hear it as an activator. It's a terminology, a word that activates you. And when you come behind it with podcasts, with language. With people that's speaking from this place of power, authenticity, it changes the perspective of the people that are listening to you.
Yeah. I, it's that definition is why this all got created, right? It similar to people not knowing that they're needed and their purpose and gifts are needed. It was making me crazy that women in particular were thinking, I'm not powerful. And this idea that we have to be fully cooked and done. To be powerful.
It's no. There are so many women that are not getting the airtime that other people are in our media landscape. Yep. Who every day are being more powerful than the people that get regular recognition. And to show the diversity of what using your power can look like, because I don't think we talk enough about.
The seasons that we go through in life and that we can repeat seasons as we go through different decades as well. And there's so much pressure for this linear growth. And just because you were a badass in your career and you paused to raise a family, or you pause to take care of a parent or you pause 'cause you were like, you know what?
I'm gonna travel the world before I can't. And then to go back, it doesn't mean that you lost that power, you're just. Either putting it on pause or using it somewhere else and it doesn't diminish, like we don't, we judge ourselves so much for not using the power we know we have or using too much of it, or there's always a reason why it's not good.
Yeah. I think that we define seasons by one moment. We let that one thing define what we name a full season. I love the example that you gave of being bad and then taking a hiatus and thinking that you've lost that power, but it took power for you to be willing to go off and to take that break and to take that vacation.
But because of society, we've defined what power looks like and yeah. That's, and I love this so much. I love what you do and love this podcast 'cause you're even helping us define what power looks like and what it is like. My power is me, and this is just me speaking from a truth. It's me. I haven't been on LinkedIn in almost 30 days.
I made the decision to come off because I wanted to build a tool and couldn't find anyone to help me. So I went to go learn how to code myself. How about that? That's powerful. And you know what? I don't wanna learn anymore. I just got what I needed. I'm done with, but I wanted to learn how to do it so that I could speak to it when I hired somebody because I was making these mistakes, and I'm thinking to myself, how am I going to get back on?
I didn't lose anything. I had to make the decision to use my power in a different way. And so I love this perspective. I hope that women dig deep and realize that everything from motherhood to mandates and mantles and big companies all operate in a place of power. It looks different, but it's still power that you possess.
Yeah, and similar to how I had someone recently explain trauma. Yep. Like we off also will judge people about the trauma that they're reacting to being brought back up. And we'll be like, oh, that's not trauma. And it's yeah, but if you, depending on your life, it was trauma was like if you had all this privilege, everything was great.
And the smallest thing happens, it feels so magnified in comparison to someone else who we would say collectively as a community has had a lot of trauma. And you're like, oh, they've had this and this, and they have a different level of resiliency even if they didn't deserve to have that level.
So I think. Like that. How we judge trauma, how we judge power. They're actually very aligned of, yeah. Assuming that the power or the trauma, whatever else we're feeling is it's not about comparing it to somebody else. It's about comparing it to you and what you know it you're capable of or what you know you're holding onto or wherever you are as you sit in that moment.
'cause listen there, there are days I regret calling my company Powerful ladies. Really only because there's days where I'm like, I don't want to be powerful today. I'm exhausted, I'm tired. I need a butler. I would like someone to handle all this for me. I need a cocktail and a, I wanna float in a lazy river for the day.
I'll be back tomorrow. And so it's like that space of knowing that minute to minute it's like. I'm gonna turn my power off. I need to recharge, or I'm getting turned up to level 20. And just having that space like I think, I feel like you and I are on similar missions of. Telling people what's possible with other people.
And we can't do that if we're not giving ourselves and other people space to be human.
That's right.
And there's so much of even with some of the cancel culture approach of you mess up one time, you're done. And I'm like, guys, that's not, no. You coach people like you. Where's the idea of like rehabilitation or teaching people or.
A hand up educating. Yes. Yeah.
A hand up. Bring them back, help them, show them, help them get back on path. Because you would want Yes. Somebody to do the same thing to you. Yeah. But we become a culture that. Like we perceive things based on our individual needs and we forget to look at other people's needs.
And like you said, we've defined what we believe is trauma. The worst thing I hate seeing is when people say, that's not that bad. You should get over it. And I'm thinking to myself everybody has their own litmus level, right? This is individual. If it hurts them, it hurts. It doesn't matter what it is.
It's is not a competition, right? We all go through things and have experiences, and if we would respect each other's issues and challenges we would be able to respond differently. And I have high hope that the world will. Change and it takes individuals like us one conversation at a time to help hopefully spark a conversation among people that makes them change what they believe, what they see, and what they do.
Because if we don't talk about it, we don't know who will. So we have to keep having the conversation, keep giving hands up and keep showing people that better is possible. But it starts with you.
Yeah. We ask everyone on the podcast where they put themselves on the Powerful Lady Scale.
If zero is an average everyday human and 10 is the most powerful lady you can imagine, yeah. Where do you put yourself today and on an average day?
Yeah, I would probably put myself at a seven. Yeah. And I think that. Seven is probably my average day. I would've said five. I used to say five, right?
But I put myself at a seven. And I say that because I realized that my power is not just about much muscle strength, it's about my ability to love and lead people authentically. And because that is a part of my DNA and who I am, it's helped me increase that number.
I love that, when you look at where trends are going with hr diversity, equity, and inclusion, what are you excited about and where do you think that, we really need to have a bigger conversation about this.
Yeah. I think, I think a lot of people are getting rid of the term diversity and a lot of roles in that area are moving. And that's unfortunate. But I think that people are beginning to understand that diversity is not just about color and culture, but also age socioeconomic status, demo demographics.
Thoughts, experiences. And so we're looking just beyond the differences of what we see, and we are engaging with people who may be different in thought, which is going to help us innovate and ideate. So I love that we are getting past that. I also love that a lot more companies are opening up opportunities to individuals that have been justice impacted.
There's a lot of trans hiring work happening. Every co companies as big as JP Morgan and Chase have committed to 10% of their US population. Being people that have are just as impacted. And that just means that organizations are willing to give opportunity to individuals. They're looking at a base of people they otherwise wouldn't have looked at if there hadn't been a workforce shortage.
And so we are not just closing companies, we are cultivating potential new employees and giving them a way in. So that's a trend that I like seeing as well. And I think the final trend that I'm seeing that I think is important is that companies are moving beyond just the traditional means of supporting individuals.
They're realizing that work is where we spend most of our time, whether it is virtual, remote, or hybrid, and we are creating process, programs and policies for the whole person. We are thinking about mothers who are on maternity leave and dad's. To, we're thinking about kids being sick, and we are showing more levels of empathy in the process of how we interact, engage, and create for people.
And I think that we do that. We'll have committed team members. We would we reduce. Turnover and we would see productivity levels increase, which if that increases, we know that sales isn't gonna increase as well. And so I see some of that happen. And then some other stuff around psychological safety and addressing trauma.
Mental health is still a mandate and it's becoming more and more accessible and these things are key. And I'm gonna mention this briefly. We've seen an uptick in the past year or two with violence in the workplace. And I met with a company where we created something called a Hope Fair to help them address bringing people back together to help rebuild that psychological capacity, that optimism, that grit, and build a culture of trust.
And I think that companies are recognizing that they have to. Not wait till things happen and be reactive. They have to be proactive, and so that's the trend I'm seeing I'm creating in advance, so that it's already available just in case we need it.
Yeah. And I think that there's. So many just like school, like we can't separate our communities and our home life from schools.
We can't do it from a place of employment anymore either. And the idea that it was a place where you show up and you left all your stuff outside and you just focus and you were here and you were out. That's in theory. It may, it's the most productive approach, but it's not reality. And I do think that's the most interesting balance of.
All the business owners I work with are compassionate, heart lit people, and finding that balance of being compassionate and empathetic, but also holding a line for excellence and greatness has been a really interesting line to walk with them. Wow. And having to tell everyone that if you're gonna be a, an owner of a company, you have to be a coach also.
And they're not trained to be coaches. They're not trained in communication or leadership. They're not trained in any of these things. And they're like, okay, sounds great, but I don't even know how to start that conversation. So there's just so much room for people like you and the opportunities you're providing in all levels in size of business because.
There's so many people who are hungry for that clarity and overwhelmed, just like they're overwhelmed in taxes and fi finances. The next area that most business owners are overwhelmed, even large companies, is in that HR space. Yeah. They know how to do the thing that they created, the product or service, everything else that goes around it.
It's if I don't look, it won't be there. And you're like, Ooh. Eventually the IR Rs will call. Eventually you'll run outta money. Eventually all your people will have a meltdown and leave. The sooner we can tackle those things that it feels sticky and scary to start unpacking, the sooner we realize they're like, so not the monster we've made them out to be.
Yeah. I love that. I think that what you mentioned about them not being a coach, they're not trained. I think that also lends to the conversation that there's a hard truth about soft skills moving forward in the world of work. Yeah. A lot of companies understand now that they need individuals with certain soft skills in order to thrive in the workplace and helping management.
Tap into their soft skills because, for a long time when you looked for senior executives or CEOs, you had to know finance or data or have an MBA, and I saw an ad online where in order to be the CEO you had to have great inter personnel skills and communication. And that wasn't typically a requirement before the, you just had to question numbers.
I think organizations are beginning to realize they need senior staff that can communicate and that understand people. And so soft skills I think also have a space and a place in coaching and in the future of the world of work. Yeah.
We've also been asking everyone who's on this podcast, what do you need?
What's on your to-do list, your to manifest list. What is something big or small that this community might have the answer for or the key, or be able to help give you exactly what you want?
Wow, what an incredible question. I need it all. I want all the stuff right? I want all the stuff. Just gimme everything.
Just everything. So I think that, right now I just finished creating that tool. I would love for people to test it out to see how it worked for them, just complimentary testing. And give me some super critical feedback, right? Because I wanted it to be right. I'd also love to hear from HR pros about what they're seeing in their workplace.
Like what challenges have they seen, what's happening? What are some of the things that you've had to pivot in the past year or so and what do you see in the future world of work? I think if we collectively listen and create a voice and amplify it, we each would realize that there's an organization that is similar to what.
We, we are and what we need and what we have. And it'll make it easier for us. So I would love feedback. Always open for co c connection with other HR pros to spark conversations. And I'd love to hear what's happening in your world. What are the challenges, right? Because I feel like that's what I wanna do.
I wanna help solve things and I can't solve them unless I'm listening to the HR Pros out here doing all the incredible work.
I hear that and the more that we're sharing today, the more I am aware of that you and I are on the same team to make these things happen. Yeah. I definitely have some incredible people to connect you with, and I'll share that tool with my community as well, so they can explore and test it for you.
But for everybody who wants to hire you, talk to you, connect with you, bring you onto their teams and their companies, where can they find, follow and connect with you?
Great question. So I am Kalila equips on all social platforms everywhere from LinkedIn to X, right? New name, right? And you can go to either www.reengineeringhrum.com, which is my company site, or you can use my name.
Kh alo canola.com to hit me up directly for speaking engagements as well. And so it's my name or the company name or Khalila Equips everywhere. Love to hear from you.
Thank you so much again for your time today and just I wanna acknowledge you for the work that you're doing and how important it is, and sometimes stepping into what we're meant to do surprises us and we resist it for a while.
And I love that you have found this groove where you are able to be fully you and. Do work that you are committed to and getting fulfilled back from as well. Like I, that's the secret sauce. Like you love what you're doing and you get more out of it than you're giving. And I'm just thankful that there are women like you out there doing that as well.
It, I've said it before in this podcast, that I sleep better at night. Talking to some of these guests like you where I'm like, okay, cool. She's got that handled. Cool. I can take it off my to-do list.
I do the same thing. That's awesome. Yeah. I'm just like, there's more. Yes. I to worry about it, she has it.
How can I support her in the process? Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So thank you Kara for this and if I can support you, I'm here. I love the work you do. I love this podcast. The name. It inspired me. Just so that and I don't know if this is a right place for me to inject and say this, but like when you sent the email and I was reminded I was coming on to record with you, it reactivated in me and reminded me what powerful means, and so thank you.
All the links to connect with Khalila and our HR genius, earn our show notes@thepowerfulladies.com. Please subscribe to this podcast wherever you're listening, and leave us a rating and review. Follow us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies, and if you're looking to connect directly with me, visit kara duffy.com or Kara Duffy on Instagram.
I'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Until then, I hope you're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
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Instagram: @Khalilahequips
Twitter: @Khalilahequips
Facebook: @Khalilahequips
Website: khalilaholokunola.com
LinkedIn: @Khalilahequips
Email: Khalilah@KhalilahOlokunola.com
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
