Tara Lubbers (Van Dyken)

I recently had the pleasure of speaking at BrightHire’s Shine Talent Summit in San Francisco. On the panel, we dove into what it means to be an AI-first people leader and its implications for reshaping org structures, workforce planning, evolving skills, and more. It was a fantastic discussion with a fellow Chief People Officer, Christina Hall from Instacart.  Check out a clip from our session below! 🎥👇 Huge thanks to BrightHire for organizing such an informative and fun event!

162

9 Comments

🚀 Designing Fair and Transparent Promotion Practices 🚀 I’m passionate about helping organizations bring clarity and consistency to promotion decisions. Too often, career advancement feels opaque — leading to frustration, inequity, and disengagement. Through my work, I’ve focused on: - Building structured frameworks to guide leaders and HR in promotion conversations - Balancing readiness, equity, and business needs in career progression - Creating tools that make promotion decisions transparent, fair, and sustainable The result? Stronger trust in leadership, clearer career paths, and more equitable outcomes. I had the opportunity to share these insights at the 2025 WorldatWork Total Rewards Summit, and the conversations reinforced how critical this work is for the future of Total Rewards. #CompensationStrategy #CareerGrowth #HRLeadership #PromotionPractices #TotalRewards #EmployeeEngagement #TalentManagement

12

Research shows innovation thrives when trust is built into a company’s DNA. In my conversation with Dan Turchin on the ‘AI and the Future of Work’ podcast, we talk about what it takes to lead with trust as AI transforms the workplace. From equipping managers for augmented work to leading responsibly at the speed of change, we explore why clearly explaining the “why” behind decisions remains one of the most powerful trust-building tools leaders have. Listen to the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gtqhB_i8 #FutureOfWork #Leadership #TeamHuman 

149

5 Comments

Great organizations are shaped by the people behind them. Technology should create clarity, reduce friction, and give teams the confidence to do their best work. When people feel supported by connected systems and shared visibility, they collaborate more freely, make better decisions, and lead with greater purpose. Across industries and roles, I’m continually inspired by how our community uses Acumatica as a foundation for growth, not just in performance, but in people.

23

1 Comment

Feedback is both a gift and a challenge. In my experience, leaders that know how to ask and make the changes to build the trust and confidence with their teams are the special ones. I loved the simplicity of this article and the ways in which leaders can build ask not tell cultures. #feedback #jeffwetzeir #amyedmondson #asknottell

23

3 Comments

So great to see so many colleagues in San Francisco last week. I left the People Summit energized and reflecting on what it really takes to succeed in the AI era. The biggest shift? It’s not about adding more HR programs. It’s about fundamentally redesigning how work gets done. The People/HR function is undergoing a real transformation: from designing roles to redesigning work alongside AI. In my work, this shift is already tangible. People teams have to go first. Through people experience & AI transformation, we’re simplifying how we work, rethinking people processes, and embedding AI into how we create impact at scale. The takeaway is simple: winning companies won’t just adopt AI, they’ll fundamentally rethink how work gets done. HR is here to lead the way. That’s both the challenge and the opportunity ahead.

60

I’m really excited to share that applications are now open for the Port of San Diego Innovation Challenge. Ports are becoming ground zero for climate adaptation. They sit right where infrastructure, industry, communities, and ecosystems meet rising sea levels, stronger storms, and changing ocean conditions. That also makes them one of the most important places to actually deploy solutions, not just test ideas in theory. Through this challenge, we’re looking for companies that are ready for real-world pilots. Founders who want to work directly with port operators, test in San Diego Bay, and learn what it takes to operate in complex coastal environments. We’re particularly interested in solutions across coastal resilience, climate risk planning, water quality and ecosystem monitoring, and extreme weather preparedness. One of the things I care most about in this work is creating pathways for global innovators to plug into real infrastructure and real decision-makers. This is exactly that kind of opportunity. If you’re building something relevant or know a team that is, take a look and apply. And watch the video to hear directly from the Port team about what they want to see.

10

1 Comment

📈Rethinking Performance Reviews to Meet a Growing Team’s Needs 📊 🚀 As we round out H1 and step into mid-year reviews at Measured, I’m reflecting on 1) how quickly this year is flying by, and 2) how intentional team-driven changes can create meaningful impact. In 2025, we shifted from quarterly to semi-annual performance reviews. The decision wasn’t about doing less, but about doing better – aligning our cadence with how our teams operate and execute in a growth-mode environment. Throughout my career in People leadership, I’ve explored many approaches to performance management. I’ve consistently found that a semi-annual cadence is highly effective when grounded in clear expectations, continuous communication, and strong manager enablement. Alongside this shift, we evolved our practice from being primarily values-based to one that is core competency-driven and values-supported. This has helped set better defined performance objectives while reinforcing a culture rooted in accountability, growth, and shared principles. A key to making this model successful was investing in a strong foundation of intentional 1:1s and continuous feedback, supported by great frameworks and tools like Lattice. This allowed us to reduce the frequency of formal reviews without losing visibility into progress, or missing moments for recognition and development. Performance management isn’t static – it should evolve with your team, your culture, and your goals. For us, these changes have led to a more scalable, transparent, and growth-minded evaluation process. #PeopleOps #PerformanceManagement #HRLeadership #GrowthCulture #ContinuousFeedback

31

3 Comments

Last week, Guild released the first-of-its-kind Talent Resilience Index, a quantitative benchmark of workforce mobility and adaptability across the US labor market, in partnership with Lightcast. What it shows? Workforce mobility is a powerful signal of systemic resilience in our country and across our industries, and it's hit its lowest point since 2016. The aggregate data tells a compelling story, but I'm left thinking about resilience at the individual level. I've gotten pretty curious about resilience as a skill - in our personal lives and professionally. It's the "bounce back" ability - the capacity to withstand or recover from challenges or failures, and come back stronger. You can't build resilience without facing difficulty or setbacks. As a people manager, I used to think of my role as being responsible for removing roadblocks for my team, for minimizing the possibility of failure, for helping bear the weight of challenges. When I consider this in the context of resilience, I wonder if this approach yields easier wins but less resilient teams. There is a balance to be struck between removing obstacles and cheering on your colleague when they face the obstacle head-on, fall down, and do that beautiful bounce back. People managers, does this resonate? How do you build resilience in your teams and organizations? Tagging in some favorite leaders for hot takes 🔥: Kristie Griffin Allison Van Voorhis Bridget Hopkins LeShanda D. Liz Longenecker Nathaniel Cole Stafford Brunk Josh Hadden-Leggett Jonathan Marek Sveta Dawant Chandler K. Jay Nancarrow Abby Hollern Crissy McConnell Claire M. Casey Boyles https://lnkd.in/gxjzCfPV

54

10 Comments

It was a pleasure joining The Wharton School’s "Where AI Works" podcast to discuss what we are doing Walmart relative to AI including how we are equipping our workforce, how jobs, skills and career pathways are shaping.  Some takeaways from our conversation: 🔹 AI should help people work smarter Walmart, we see AI as a way to remove manual, repetitive tasks so associates can focus on work that requires judgment, service and human connection. 🔹 At Walmart the future of work will be people-led and tech-powered. Jobs will evolve, new roles will emerge and definitely there will be work and jobs that change. Our responsibility is to help equip people with the skills and support to grow through that change. 🔹 Human skills are becoming even more important. Communication, adaptability, curiosity, learning agility and interpersonal skills will continue to matter in an AI-enabled workplace. 🔹 Career pathways matter. As technology changes how work gets done, companies have an opportunity to choose to create pathways for associates to build new skills and move into growing roles. 🔹 Change requires transparency. In moments of transformation, clear communication and honest leadership matter. People do best when they understand the direction and feel supported on the journey. Thank you to the team at Wharton for the conversation. #TeamWalmart

87

10 Comments

Yesterday at Human+Tech Week in San Francisco, I spent the day in conversations about AI and the future of work. Much of the discussion was optimistic, focused on possibility and what AI can unlock. Then Van Jones closed the day, and the tone shifted. One line really stayed with me: "We're in danger of creating a world with an awful lot of knowledge and very little wisdom." The conversation wasn't anti-AI. It was a reminder that this moment is bigger than technology. As we build faster, scale more, and generate more answers, we need to center on some bigger questions: -Who's included? -Who's voices are missing? -What future are we creating and for whom? How we build matters. Who we build with may matter even more.

49

1 Comment

I'm seeing a lot of great AI tips in my feed today for #AIinWork day! My personal favorite this week: NotebookLM. I've been in several on-sites this month, and I'm using it to translate all of the pre-reads, slides and pages of notes into a thoughtful podcast or video – summarizing the most important details for me. It can even scan websites and videos. I'm also re-posting this article from Jen Fitzpatrick if you're curious about the other ways Googlers are using AI to get work done: https://lnkd.in/ef3suCHf

178

4 Comments

What is really top of mind for California’s online safety leaders? Last week in Sacramento, my colleagues and I at Family Online Safety Institute had the privilege of hosting nearly 30 digital safety experts for an honest discussion on the future of kids' online safety. While we came prepared to dig into the details of age assurance and AI chatbots, the most compelling themes to emerge were collaboration, education, and research: ➡️ Stakeholders stressed the need for better coordination across sectors. Gaps remain between research and policymaking, and young people are too often excluded from conversations about the tools meant to protect them. Policymakers in attendance emphasized the importance of industry collaboration. ➡️ More education is key. Media literacy programs like My Digital TAT2, a Health Connected initiative, are doing great work reaching students—but we need more funding and better resources for both students and policymakers. One-off lessons and meetings won’t cut it. ➡️ Research doesn’t always point to a clean solution. Experts reminded us that while data isn’t always causal, there is a plethora of research into the risks and benefits kids’ experiences online. That evidence needs to reach lawmakers and industry decision-makers. Our biggest feedback from the event is how the conversation could’ve kept going! So, FOSI will be back in Sacramento next year, with more time on the clock! Read more takeaways from FOSI Briefs the States: Changemakers in California: https://lnkd.in/ebCx_W_b Andrew Zack Jordan Glover Stephen Balkam Reichi Lee

12

I had the chance to share a few thoughts with Maggie Mancini for her latest article in HRO Today, and I’m genuinely grateful for the conversation. We talked about something I care deeply about: helping people navigate #AI without fear. Jobs aren’t disappearing - they’re evolving. The real shift isn’t #automation - it’s #mindset. AI is rewriting how we think, decide, and create. The orgs that win will be the ones that invest in their people now, not after the fact. And our responsibility as leaders is to give people clarity, skills, and trust so they can evolve with them. If you’re in HR (or partner with HR) - now is the time to treat AI adoption not as a technical rollout, but as a cultural transformation. With trust, transparency, and ownership mindset, we can help our people adapt - not with fear, but with confidence and agency. If this topic is on your mind too, here’s the piece: https://lnkd.in/dmtbqP99 #AIMindset #AITransformation #FutureOfWork #PeopleStrategy #Leadership

22

2 Comments

This piece in The New York Times has sparked a lot of conversation, but I’m not so sure it signals a new trend. People have always wanted trust, clarity, and psychological safety. These aren’t new ideas. But periods of disruption, like the one we’re in with AI, reminds us just how foundational they are. Now isn’t the time to “AI” our way through employee experience. It’s a moment to lean into what remains uniquely human: leadership, empathy, care, and support. The opportunity here is rethinking what an AI-era employee experience should really look like. Let’s keep this conversation going. https://lnkd.in/gTNtamE2 #EX #FutureOfWork #AI #HR #Leadership #EmployeeExperience

35

5 Comments

Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in WSJ’s Chief People Officers event, led by Willem Marx at the WSJ Leadership Institute. Along with my talented co-panelist KeyAnna Schmiedl, we talked about how the People team can help scale AI across the company. At Intuit, we declared AI as core to our strategy in 2019, so AI has been part of our culture for many years now, and we’ve always believed in the powerful combination of human expertise and AI to deliver the best outcomes for our customers. Here are my top 3 takeaways from the conversation: AI is not just a technology change, it's a people change. Many of us have been through enough waves of reinvention to know: technology and people have to move together. It’s our job to help employees see themselves in the change, and bring them along the journey. Al is part of everyone's job, not only technologists. Think about the entire company as your R&D team to test, learn, and scale what’s possible with AI.   Leading in the era of AI means building for agility, not stability. Hire and reward employees for a learning mindset in addition to their skills. Thanks to Willem and the The Wall Street Journal team for a great conversation.  Photo credit: Nikki Ritcher for The Wall Street Journal Leadership Institute

161

3 Comments

What an inspiring way to open the summit. It’s encouraging to see conversations about AI anchored not just in capability, but in responsibility. The reminder that integrity, transparency, and human judgment are still the core drivers of trust in this space couldn’t be more timely. The AI-created film sounds like a powerful example of what many outside the field don’t always see: that meaningful AI work isn’t a single prompt, but a collaborative, iterative process shaped by human creativity and critical thinking. Tools can accelerate the work, but it’s people who provide direction, ethics, and purpose. SPCSHP’s approach highlights exactly where innovation should be headed—technology that amplifies human imagination rather than replacing it. #WomenInLeadership #WomenInTech #FemaleLeadership #WomenInAI #Leadership #InclusiveLeadership

2

Two days at California Workforce Association's Meeting of the Minds made it abundantly clear that workforce professionals don't go a day without thinking about #ArtificialIntelligence. In the same sentence, they're thinking about how will this technology impact their local labor market AND how it will enable them to more effectively serve workers, job seekers, and employers. I sat in on one session featuring the SELACO WDB that really illustrates how this transformatio is unfolding. What they thought would be a technology sector strategy ended up being so much more: 💡 Building GenAI capacity isn't reserved for tech. It's something that businesses in all industries need to incorporate, and that means all workers, including workforce professionals, need to develop AI literacy. 🤝 Collaboration is key. SELACO sought out input from employers, job seekers, frontline workforce staff, and AI experts to understand their needs, questions, and fears (bias, energy use, losing personal touch just to name a few). My takeaway is that adopting these tools is as much an emotional journey as a rational one, if not more so. 💻 AI can be profoundly helpful in serving job seekers and employers. The SELACO team highlighted how job seekers lit up when they saw how AI could help them produce really good first drafts of resumes and cover letters, tailored to the jobs they wanted. What perhaps gave me the most hope from the SELACO story is that it was long-time staff leading the charge. This wasn't an academic exercise. Instead, it was grounded in a desire to best serve their community. It was a reminder that AI is a means not an end when it comes to enabling people to do what people do best. Even cooler, SELACO open sourced all of their documents, plans, interview guides, and more. https://lnkd.in/gqtAgjkK #WorkforceDevelopment #wkdev #AI

26

1 Comment