How Amazon Innovates Through HR and Culture

The world’s most successful companies acknowledge that their most valuable resource is their people. And Human Resources (HR), when properly invested in, is a lynchpin to their success. Innovative HR systems are being introduced at a dazzling pace, and HR departments and practitioners must keep up. Attracting the best and brightest talent is a highly competitive game. Employees today are used to fast, intuitive, effective technology as consumers and they expect this from their employer as well. For those contemporary employees choosing where to work, the line separating traditional companies and companies with innovative, high-technology systems is increasingly obvious. The talent gravitates to progressive companies with creative cultures and leading-edge HR technology. Where traditional companies make do with pen-and-paper and semi-automated solutions, progressive companies gain a competitive advantage not just in acquiring top talent, but in all aspects of supporting them with an engaging organizational culture relying on data and technology. Employees expect instantaneous, exhaustive technological systems: HR must be no different.

Amazon is a prime example of a company taking advantage of every opportunity technology presents. In October of 2019, I left Amazon after two incredible years as HR Head. While there, I saw first-hand just how seriously the…