HR is the Heart of Leadership

At Oppidan, we believe a great company starts with our people, which means putting Human Resources at the center of our organization’s strategy and leadership. Our Vice President of HR Nikki Hauck attended the Twin Cities Society Human Resource Management (TC SHRM) Conference, a powerful gathering of HR professionals and business leaders committed to elevating workplace culture and performance.

The conference was not just informative, it was energizing. As Nikki put it, “The TC SHRM conference is like breathing fresh air.” In a world where HR leaders are often overlooked, it was inspiring to see more organizations recognizing HR not as a support function, but as a critical driver of business success.

Here are Nikki’s key takeaways from the event:

HR Legitimizes Organizational Values
One of the strongest messages of the conference was that HR brings legitimacy to the values of an organization. The days of HR being just about policies are long past, HR is not sitting with fellow leaders to drive the business forward in all aspects. It’s about interpreting, integrating, and challenging leadership to ensure that values are lived, not just posted on the wall. As one speaker shared, “The best CEOs have a great HR leader at their side.”

The Rise of Personalized Leadership
A powerful shift in leadership philosophy is underway, from “treat others how you want to be treated” to “treat others how they want to be treated.” This subtle but profound change encourages empathy, active listening, and adapting leadership styles to individual needs, a practice we’re proud to already model at Oppidan.

The PG³ Framework: Passion, Perspective, Patience, Generosity, Gratitude, and Grace
This model stood out as a roadmap for today’s leaders. In a fast-changing world, leading with these six attributes isn’t just good practice, it’s essential to building trust, resilience, and collaboration.

Insights That Matter to the Future of Work
Emerging trends at the conference reinforced what Oppidan already knows: soft skills matter more than ever. While many employees bring the technical know-how, challenges persist around communication, time management, and collaboration. HR must continue to coach, support, and develop these skills, and this is something we take seriously in our culture of growth and accountability.

Tech-Enabled, But Human-Driven
The surge in AI-powered tools for recruiting, compensation analysis, and HR operations is here now, this is no longer being talked about as something we are watching for in the future. At Oppidan, we see AI as a possibility to be used in all aspects of a business to work smarter and to use innovation and efficiency to create deeper, more personalized employee experiences.

What This Means for Oppidan:
The conference validated and reinforced the work already happening at Oppidan. Our HR team strives to not only be accessible and approachable, but also integral to decision-making, leadership alignment, and cultural continuity. We understand that fun culture does not matter if people do not trust their leaders, and we prioritize the leader/player relationship every day.

As we look to the future, we’ll continue enhancing our leadership development and communication strategies, ensuring that our people feel seen, heard, and supported. We know that leading is not about being right, it’s about getting it right and to do that it takes heart, humility, and a whole lot of listening. All of these are reasons to have a great HR leader within an organization.