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Executive Summary: Paycor Fall 2023 Virtual Summit
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Executive Summary: Paycor Fall 2023 Virtual Summit

This year’s Fall HR & Compliance Virtual Summit, held October 11 & 12, highlighted emerging artificial intelligence trends in HR; dug in to how Paycor is implementing AI in our products; shared legal requirements and best practices for employee discipline and terminations; focused on how to build and support new managers; and delved into the alphabet soup of employment law. And we closed out with a fun quiz, Two Truths & an AI! Our speakers shared insights with nearly 10,000 HR leaders over the two-day event.

Did you miss any of the live sessions? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Check out this executive summary for top takeaways.

Thriving in the Great Unknown: HR’s Critical Role of Workforce Leader in The Age of AI

In this session, Paycor Summit favorite Joey Price, CEO of Jumpstart HR, unpacked five key areas where AI is influencing HR’s work the most:

  • Data Analysis
  • Task Automation
  • Workforce Planning
  • Security
  • Compliance

Whether you’re convinced we’re in the next workforce revolution or not, there’s something for you to gain by listening to this informative and inspiring conversation.

Key Quote:

“Technology will drive new ways of communicating, collaborating, and performing. It will make some jobs unnecessary, it will create other jobs, and it will replace portions of still others. HR will be critical in ensuring people’s skills evolve and their work continues to have meaning.”

Safeguard Your Organization: Expert Strategies for Discipline & Termination

Julie Pugh, Assistant General Counsel for Labor and Employment at TopBuild outlined the dos and don’ts of conducting internal disciplinary investigations including the often-overlooked concept of chain-of-custody documentation.

Attendees learned when and how to properly involve local authorities and left the session with a thorough understanding of legal requirements and best practices. Whether you’re an HR veteran or new to the field, this session offers a roadmap to risk minimization, operational excellence, and a bulletproof HR strategy.

Key Quote:

“Creating a safe and supportive environment reduces stress, burnout, and anxiety. Not only does that lead to better well-being, but more productive employees and more engaged employees.”

Rising Stars: A Blueprint for Building Competent and Confident First-Time Managers

Have you ever been frustrated that your managers don’t know how to manage? As you know, most employees get promoted into their first manager role because they are good at their jobs, not because they’re good at managing people. In fact, most first-time managers have never had any manager training at all!

In this session Suzi Sosa, co-founder of Verb, a Paycor company, discussed the top skills every first-time manager needs, as well as information for how to quickly stand up a low-cost, high-impact first-time manager training program that really works.

Key Quote:

“Coaching is different than just micromanaging, and it’s a skill to learn how to ask questions and help someone find their own answers through discovery versus just telling them what to do.”

The Augmented Workforce: Paycor’s Approach to Human-Centered AI

Google CEO Sundar Pichai says AI will potentially be more important than the discovery of fire, and he’s not alone. Head-spinning headlines like this have become everyday news since Chat-GPT took the world by storm in November 2022. But what does AI mean to HR leaders today? How do you think about and plan for a technology with such disruptive potential?

In this session, Paycor’s Katy Bunn (Senior Vice President, Strategy) and Timothy O’Neill (Senior Director, Engineering & Data Science) explained Paycor’s approach to AI and shared how Paycor is building and planning for the AI-augmented workforce. Katy and Timothy also offered practical advice attendees can apply to their own organizations and participated in an AI AMA (Ask Me Anything).

Key Quote:

“Paycor’s AI is Human-centered, Ethical, Accountable, Reliable, and Transparent.”

The ABCs of EEOC, FMLA, FLSA, NLRA and More: Making Sense of Employment Law Alphabet Soup

Attorney Merry Campbell’s session highlighted the ins and outs of several important employment laws related to employee treatment and expectations, including Title VII, ADA, FMLA, wage and hour laws, union laws, and sick and safe leave laws.

She emphasized the need for HR leaders to understand the basics of these laws and their acronyms and discussed the requirements for reasonable accommodations under the ADA and the importance of complying with minimum wage and overtime regulations under the FLSA. The session provided a comprehensive overview of key employment laws and their implications for employers.

Key Quote:


“Wage and hour laws are strict liability, which basically means even if you had no bad intent, if you goof, you are liable and the damages are often quite significant…two or three times plus attorney’s fees.”

Soft Skills, Hard Impact: Mastering the Art of Influence and Buy-In

Navigating the realms of influence and buy-in demands a balanced set of skills that engage both the mind and the heart. This session from Deb Calvert, president of People First Productivity Solutions, uncovered the often overlooked but critically important soft skills needed for persuasive and effective leadership.

We delved into:

  • Tangible benefits that await leaders who cultivate a strong soft skills repertoire.
  • Core soft skills vital for eliciting enthusiasm and securing commitment from team members and stakeholders.
  • What the latest research reveals about the traits most common among admired leaders—spoiler alert, they’re mostly soft skills!
  • Practical tools, tips, and techniques to cultivate the soft skills that amplify your influence.

Key Quote:

“A strong employee experience can make a huge difference on your organization’s bottom line. An analysis of over 250 global organizations found companies that scored highest on employee experience benchmarks have 4x higher average profits, 2x higher average revenues, and 40% lower turnover compared to those that didn’t. This demonstrates that an investment in employee experience does pay off.” 

Embracing Human-Centric Leadership: Nurturing Growth, Empathy, and Authentic Connections

This session, presented by Catherine Mattice, founder of Civility Partners, focused on “Human” leadership. This leadership approach recognizes the importance of treating employees as individuals with unique needs and aspirations, rather than just as resources to achieve organizational goals. 

In this session, attendees:

  • Discovered the core principles that define this leadership style.
  • Explored methods to foster a human-centric leadership.
  • Learned how to identify and address toxic behaviors within your organization.
  • Discovered the importance of leading by example and the outcome of being a human leader.

Key Quote:

“90% of HR leaders believe a human touch in leadership is crucial to company success but only 29% of employees recognize their employer as a ‘human leader’.”

Play a Game – Two Truths & an AI

In this interactive lab, participants played a true & false quiz game to see if they could spot the false statements in a sea of incredible, real-life AI headlines and images. Take the quiz yourself and see how you do!

Key Quote:

“It took Chat-GPT just 5 days to reach 1 million users(by comparison, it took Instagram almost 3 months), and now it has more than 100 million active users.”

Even though our Fall Summit has concluded, we’re already starting to plan our next event coming in spring 2024! Stay tuned for more details.