50+ Unstoppable Women in HR Tech

 A diverse workforce breeds new ideas, angles, and developments. With fresh perspective comes creativity, a crucial asset for growth in any industry. It is important to recognize the achievements of those that bring such diversity and innovation to the table. Many technology industries suffer from a lack of a female workforce, however, the HR and HR Tech realm has a large female demographic. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2015 data, women make up 73% of HR practitioners at the managerial level. With such a strong presence in Human Resources, we felt it our obligation to celebrate the women leading the pack in HR and HR Technology.

We put together a list of these women to bring them recognition they deserve. We understand that there are scores of HR superheroes improving all areas of HR Tech around the world. This particular compilation highlights the diversity of talent within the umbrella of the HR Tech Industry, and recognizes their influence through strong social media presence. We acknowledge the importance of a diverse workforce with our list of HR Technology’s 50+ most unstoppable women.

But first, to kick us off, we sourced a small handful of quotes from some of HR’s most influential women, on their thoughts about upcoming or current trends in HR.

Georgene Huang

CEO & Co-Founder of Fairygodboss.com

“While it’s impossible to predict how exactly AI technology and capabilities will evolve, the fact of the matter is that AI is no futuristic science fiction, it is here today in many forms and manifestations. And AI exists in areas  you may not necessarily think it does - such as in HR departments where the technology actually helps place people in jobs rather than make them redundant.”

Greta Roberts

Entrepreneur

“Combine HR data with line of business data. If you are looking to predict and solve a workforce problem in the line of business (i.e. increase sales, reduce errors, increase calls per day and the like…) the outcome data in the line of business exists in software systems in the lines of business, not in HR.

As an example, sales performance, or calls per day data exists in Sales Operations or the Call Center or some other non-HR database somewhere.

You can’t predict which sales candidates are going to make their sales numbers without sales data from the sales department. You need to use line of business data as well as HR data. Unless you only want to predict something that impacts HR, you’ll need data from the line of business as well.”

Helen Poitevin

Research Director at Gartner

“There’s a greater level of maturity in AI tools in the recruiting space than in any other area of HR… Interpreting and inferring feelings based on candidates’ facial expressions is an intriguing use, but it is still early days for the technology… This is the kind of AI where a lot of investment and innovation is happening today.”

Janet Clarey

Lead Advisor at Bersin by Deloitte

“A fitness mobile app uses artificial intelligence (AI) to offer content tailored to the user’s needs and syncs with an activity tracker, too. But the best part of the app is that it connects the user to an actual human coach and a community of people who share their experiences and achievements and who encourage others to meet their fitness goals in real time… Companies don’t always realize the power of human touch when it comes to HR technology solutions. As a result, for example, many of the learning solutions companies offer employees are fixed and mechanical - and must be pushed out to employees year in and year out.”

Jessica Miller-Merrell

Founder of Workology

“Our industry is conflicted. On the one hand, there are a number of HR and recruiting teams who are already working within the fourth transformation [virtual reality, mixed reality, wearables and artificial intelligence]. On the other hand, a large majority of us are still working in the second and third. (In 2013, Aberdeen reported that 54% of HR and recruiting departments relied on staffing plans that were mostly spreadsheet based). The challenge is that reports like Bersin’s are highlighting companies who are early adopters - the truth is, the majority of HR practitioners won’t leverage “fourth transformation” technologies until 15 years from now.”

In addition to these five most influential women of HR, here is our list of HR Technology’s 50+ most unstoppable women:

■      Aliah Wright - SHRM - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Alexandra Cavoulacos - The Muse - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Carmen Hudson - Recruiting Toolbox - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      China Gorman - UNLEASH - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Chris Havrilla - Havrilla LLC - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Crystal Miller Lay - Branded Strategies - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Dawn Hrdlica-Burke -Dawn Burke HR - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Dina Medeiros - Blizzard Entertainment - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Ester Martinez - People Matters - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Georgene Huang - Fairygodboss - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Greta Roberts - Hire Smarter - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Heather Huhman - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      J.T. O’Donnell - Work It Daily - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Jackye Clayton - HiringSolved - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Janet Clarey - Bersin by Deloitte - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Janine Truitt - Talent Think Innovations - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Jennifer McClure - Unbridled Talent - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Jennifer Payne - Tops Markets - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Jenny Dearborn - SAP - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Jessica Lee - Marriott International - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Jessica Miller-Merrell - Workology - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      JoAnn Corley - JCS Business Advisors - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Joni Thomas Doolin - TDn2K - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Kathryn Minshew - The Muse - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Katrina Collier - The Searchologist - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Kelly Dingee - Marriott International - LinkedIn

■      Ken Ratri Iswari - Geekhunter - Twitter - LinkedIn 

■      Kirsti Grant - Populate - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Kristi Jones - H&R Block - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Laura Gomez - Atipica - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Laurie Ruettimann- Laurie Ruettimann - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Lisa Rowan - IDC - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Liz Ryan - Human Workplace - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Maddie Grant - Human Workplaces - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Maren Hogan - Red Branch Media - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Maury Hanigan - Sparc - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Meghan Biro - TalentCulture - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Melissa Fairman - Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Naomi Bloom - Bloom & Wallace - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Nisha Raghavan - American Heart Association - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Robin Schooling - Hollywood Casino - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Sabrina Baker - Acacia HR Solutions - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Sarah Brennan - Accelir - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Sarah Morgan - SafeStreetsUSA - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Shannon Pritchett - SourceCon - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Shannon Russo - Kinetix - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Sharlyn Lauby - HR Bartender - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Stacy Donovan Zapar - Tenfold - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Stephanie Lampkin - Blendoor - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Susan LaMotte - exaqueo - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Tiffany Kuehl - Versique - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Tiffany Pham - Mogul - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Trish McFarlane - HR Advisors - Twitter - LinkedIn

■      Yvette Cameron - Independent Analyst - Twitter - LinkedIn

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