HUB's new CHRO reveals her game plan for recruiting

As the new CHRO of HUB International, an insurance brokerage firm with more than 16,000 employees worldwide, Amy Halliburton has a lot on her to-do list. 

"There are so many opportunities within the space of HR in any company, but definitely at HUB on things we could and should do," Halliburton says. "I've got 20 days of wisdom under my belt. But I really play a critical role in this — the breadth of my experience really allows me to be the bridge and create a feedback loop in the organization." 

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Halliburton says her priorities will be focused on the continued challenges of recruiting and scaling HUB's workforce, as well as streamlining communications among disparate HR teams across the company. Both of those areas have gotten more challenging post-pandemic, but are also open to change and growth. 

"It's just a huge opportunity to make sure we're all seeing things the same way and are focused on all the right things for the company," she says. "Over time, it will get to the point where we have more connection points between the various leaders that report to me and make sure we can create a community."   

Halliburton recently spoke with EBN about what's changed the most over her 25-year career in HR, her plans at HUB, and her advice for other leaders navigating HR challenges today. 

You have over two decades of experience in HR — what are some of the things where you say, "Wow, this has really changed since I started?" 
There are three things that I've noticed have really evolved over the course of my career, but frankly, most recently, in the last three to five years. Attracting talent is a problem that every industry has, and what our employees are expecting of employers these days has certainly evolved. Organizations need to work harder to find the right talent. I think there are some unique challenges to the insurance industry, in the sense that our unemployment rate is a lot lower and we have a large percentage of our workforce hitting retirement age in a short period of time. So the reality is, we're all looking at the same talent and competing for the same talent. So how do we differentiate ourselves within the industry, but also create a compelling case to join the insurance industry in general? 

There's also the emphasis on talent development and career development — we're hearing loud and clear that our employees really want to learn, they want to grow, they want to be challenged, they want to see a career path for themselves. And I think that's always been the case, but I also think that the newer generation of talent is really looking for that, and if they can't find it, they're going to be compelled to look elsewhere. Fnally, as we think about the hybrid work environment that many organizations find themselves working in, it does place a little bit of pressure on the skill set of being a great leader. It was a little bit easier to lead when your people were in the office; now, it's more challenging to do so in a hybrid work environment, both to manage people who are working remotely, but also to try to figure out how to manage a team that's not always in the office together and to keep those connections. 

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You've only been with HUB for about a month — what are some of the main pain points that you've been hearing from leaders and employees that you feel need to be addressed right away? 

We are on a growth trajectory, and we have no plans to stop that growth. As we've gotten bigger as an organization, the HR team has obviously gotten large as well. And so one of the opportunities that I've heard a lot about in my first few weeks is really the opportunity to create alignment between the field HR teams and the corporate HR team in terms of priorities and connection and making sure everybody knows what's going on. 

The other area is around scalability, meaning as we continue to grow as an organization, how do we operate within HR to be able to support both the current and future needs of the business while really maximizing the ROI of HR? What does that look like going forward? I don't know. But I have had, over the course of my career, a variety of roles in HR around compensation, employee relations, talent acquisition, talent development, and then I've also had quite a few business HR roles. And so the breadth of that experience really allows me to be the bridge and create a feedback loop in the organization. But it's going to take time for the team to get to know me, and it's going to take time for the team to operate a little bit differently than maybe it has in the past. 

It sounds like you have a full plate — how are you prioritizing your own wellness, and a culture of well-being for those at HUB? 
We have to make sure that we've got the bandwidth to do whatever we choose to do well, and do it efficiently and effectively, instead of falling into the trap of trying to do too much, too quickly. 

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When you talk about well-being, I think for so long companies have the perspective of just making sure people are exercising and eating well. But with COVID, the impact on mental health and people not being able to separate home and work, it was a very stressful time. I do think it puts some pressure on HR. I feel very lucky though that the HR team is very tuned into that. I feel that we are equipped as a team to really help our managers help our employees, or help our employees directly. We also have wonderful EAP resources, and we rolled out our new well-being platform this year which introduced some great tools around mental health and helping people stay balanced. 

Is there one area in particular that you see as being a central focus for 2023?  
We are in the process of making those decisions, meaning everything that I've just talked about are things that I've heard are opportunities for us, I've heard are really critical for us to focus on in order to get the right talent and to retain our talent. But at the end of the day, that is a very long list of things. We haven't gone through that whole prioritization exercise ourselves or had the chance to talk with our leaders about all the opportunities we see and get their input on what they think would be most impactful for their business. So that's still to come. 

What's your advice to other HR leaders who find themselves in that same boat? 
I would say it comes down to staying focused on our employees and on the business needs. What are our people asking for? And what do our people think we need to really create the employee experience here? 

I love what I do. And over the course of my career, I've had a lot of different kinds of opportunities within HR. When I came to HUB, I was at a point in my career where I just wanted to continue learning and continue broadening the impact that I could have on an organization. And so when this opportunity at HUB presented itself, it just was a great way for me to build on all of the experiences I've had so far, and apply them in a familiar business and industry. I really felt a connection to the mission of HUB, around empowering our people to learn and grow and make and make a difference in their communities. So from the lens of HR, what a wonderful opportunity to lead.