Can I Really Blog?

At 59 and change, I have six months before reaching my company’s mandatory retirement age. After nearly 38 years in human resources, I find myself reflecting on my journey and the lessons I’ve learned along the way. It’s been a path filled with challenges and triumphs, that has provided me with a wealth of insights that I feel obligated to share.

Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working with a diverse range of organizations, from small startups to large corporations. What has always stood out to me is that successful organizations have the ability to consistently apply one very simple principle: people matter. It may sound cliché – something we've all heard countless times, but in practice, putting this principle at the center of leadership decisions, management policies, and institutional practices is far more challenging than it seems.

In many organizations, the daily grind can often drown out the importance of treating people with respect and dignity. Real partners and not just hands and legs. I’ve witnessed first-hand how easy it is for leaders to become so focused on metrics, targets, and financial outcomes that they forget about the very people driving those results. I’ve seen how this oversight can lead to disengagement, high turnover rates, and toxic cultures that stifle innovation, creativity and individual growth. But on the flip-side, I’ve also seen what happens when organizations make a conscious effort to prioritize their employees: productivity soars, morale improves, and a genuine sense of loyalty and teamwork emerges.

As I embark on this new and exciting journey, I want to explore these themes more deeply. I want to share my thoughts on the significance of leadership that embraces empathy, emotional intelligence, and genuine concern for employees’ well-being because I firmly believe that organizations cannot achieve sustainable success without first addressing the needs and aspirations of their workforce.

Through my blog, I hope to offer practical strategies that HR professionals and leaders can implement to truly put their people first. This includes promoting transparency, open communication, and opportunities for growth and development. These are not just nice-to-have people initiatives; they are essential for creating a thriving workplace.

I recognize that I’m ready to connect with a wider audience beyond my own organization. By sharing my experiences, both lessons learned from successes and setbacks, I hope to inspire others—especially younger HR professionals and leaders. I want to encourage them to question the status quo and to champion an approach to management that places people at the heart of everything they do.

I want my blog to serve as a platform where conversations about Human Resource Management can thrive. I hope to spark dialogue around leadership practices that elevate the employee experience, ensuring that the cliché of treating employees as our most important assets becomes a living and breathing reality rather than just an empty phrase. As I transition into this new chapter of my life, I’m excited to share my journey, insights, and passion with others who believe, like I do, that a people-centric approach is the true path to organizational excellence.