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Laura Allen
HR Program and Operations Manager at Loadsmart
Laura Allen, a seasoned professional, has a rich background in driving positive strategic and culture change within top organizations.
With over 25 years of experience, Laura leverages visual methods, innovation, and human interaction to bring about measurable and lasting transformations.
Having engaged with 2 out of every 3 Fortune 50 companies, Laura has established a strong reputation for fostering meaningful change and enhancing strategic clarity.
Laura's educational credentials include an M.B.A. in Management & Organizations from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and English from Duke University.
Her professional journey includes roles at prominent organizations like Loadsmart, Root LLC (part of Accenture), Varsity Tutors, KIPP Foundation, and Tilden Marketing, showcasing her diverse skill set and experience in human resources, consulting, and project management.
Highlights
Back in 2021, Loadsmart took a chance on me (thank you Catalina Palau and Gita Selli - Cellei!!) and brought me on as a Sr. HRBP despite having ZERO formal HR experience. It was an amazing opportunity to jump in, learn on the fly, apply transferrable skills, grow from mistakes and continually push myself outside my comfort zone.
Needless to say, these past two years have been a wild ride 🚀🦄 and I'll be forever grateful for the opportunity. Since I'm a few weeks past my two-year anniversary with LS, I figured it was a good moment to pause, reflect, and share some thoughts on HR after officially being in the space for two rotations around the sun 💫:
1️⃣ HR is NOT - in fact - boring - I cannot stress enough how different, challenging, and intriguing my days as an HRBP are. Are there parts that are more tedious than others? Absolutely, but what role doesn't have that? No two days look the same and I am kept constantly on my toes.
2️⃣ Relationships are it. Full stop. - you can be the most data-driven, analytical and strategic thinker on the planet, but if you haven't built trust and respect with your business leaders, your contributions will fall flat. Relationships are absolutely foundational to everything that you do as a support function and you need to put time in every day to being visible and to connecting with the business.
3️⃣ Embrace difficult conversations - this is an incredible differentiator (I would argue for any role), and I believe boosts your value 10x if you can be trusted to have direct, honest and constructive conversations with business leaders at all levels.
4️⃣ Design for the end user - this is obvious, but can sometimes be overlooked in the HR world. Put yourself in your business leaders' shoes when designing solutions. Where can this process be streamlined or reduced? What context or information might they be missing? Do they understand the why? How do you make this sticky and repeatable?
Thank you Loadsmart for the opportunity to continue to learn and grow, and a HUGE amount of gratitude to my People & Experiences team who is out there in the trenches with me every single day. I am so lucky.
#randomreflections #imnotregularHRimcoolHR
It’s been a long week, but finding this on my desk from one of the leaders I support makes it all worth it.
Friday tip: #recognition is free and HIGHLY effective.
Ps - Nate Allan I’m proud of you for printing this out all on your own. Thanks for helping to make Loadsmart the place that it is.
