From Operations To Strategy: HR’s Pivot To Project-Led Transformation with Karla Eidem

Strategy beats panic when work changes this fast. We sit down with Karla Eidem, North American Regional Managing Director at the Project Management Institute, to explore how HR can turn AI disruption into a springboard for skills, execution, and meaningful outcomes. From facts over fear to practical, lightweight tools, we walk through the moves that help teams adapt with less noise and more impact.

Karla breaks down the PMI Talent Triangle—power skills, ways of working, and business acumen—and shows why these capabilities now matter across every HR function. We dig into skills-based hiring, internal mobility, and creating early-career on-ramps when routine tasks are automated. If you’ve ever run a “meeting for everyone with no one accountable,” you’ll get immediate value from simple project tools like a team register, a sharp charter, and a clear cadence that turns ambition into action.

We also tackle the tough questions about AI: where it helps, where it can’t, and how HR should evaluate tools to truly capture value. Karla shares field stories, including leading a COVID-19 vaccine rollout, to illustrate how project management provides structure in ambiguity. Plus, we highlight insights from her SHRM session and extend an invitation to stay connected with PMI’s global community through year-round learning and networking, including the annual PMI Global Summit.

If you’re ready to shift from operations to strategic leadership, this conversation offers a practical playbook. Subscribe, share this episode with your team, and leave a review with the one skill you’re prioritizing next—we’ll feature our favorites in a future show.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And PMI Introduction
• 3:23 How AI Is Changing Talent Needs
• 5:02 Facts Over Fear And Upskilling
• 7:35 Entry-Level Paths And Power Skills
• 10:02 Why Project Management Drives HR Impact
• 12:32 Personality Traits Of Effective PMs
• 14:36 Practical PM Tools For HR
• 18:01 SHRM Session Takeaways And AI
• 21:06 PMI Global Summit Invite
• 22:08 Partnering HR And PM To Close Skill Gaps
• 24:00 Connect With Carla And PMI
• 24:41 Closing And Subscribe

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:02

Welcome to the HR Chat Show, one of the world's most downloaded and shared podcasts designed for HR pros, talent execs, tech enthusiasts, and business leaders. For hundreds more episodes and what's new in the world of work, subscribe to the show, follow us on social media, and visit hrgazette.com.

SPEAKER_03: 0:26

Welcome to another episode of the HR Chat Pod. Hello, listeners. This is your host today, Bill Bannham. And in this episode, we're going to explore how HR leaders can prepare their workforces for a rapidly evolving future shaped by AI automation and constant transformation. Joining me on the show today is none other than the amazing Carla Idom, North American Regional Managing Director at the Project Management Institute, also known as PMI, the world's leading authority on project, program and portfolio management. Since 1969, PMI has been helping millions of professionals and organizations deliver results through better project execution. From the renowned PMP certification to global learning networks, PMI has become synonymous with turning ideas into impact. And Carla is passionate about helping HR and business leaders understand that project management isn't just for project managers, actually. In fact, it's foundational to success and transformation across every function, including human resources.

SPEAKER_00: 1:37

I am doing great. Thanks for having me, Bill. How are you?

SPEAKER_03: 1:42

I am good. I am good as we record this today. Otherwise, I'm good, Carla. And I'm excited for this chat. So um beyond beyond my reintroduction just a moment ago, why don't we start by uh by helping our listeners who are less familiar with PMI? Can you give can you give them an overview of the organization and its mission?

SPEAKER_00: 2:07

Absolutely, Bill. Thanks again. Uh PMI, uh, as you mentioned, is the leading authority in project management. And we are dedicated to supporting and elevating the profession. Our purpose is to maximize project success, to elevate our world. And we do this through our global or gold standard certifications. We've got career-long learning and development tools and resources. And of course, at the center of it all is our community. We've got over 1.8 million certified professionals around the globe and local chapters, over 300 of them around the world. In North America, we have 133 local chapters in the US, 18 in Canada, and one in the Caribbean, and over half a million certification holders. So it's a giant community that is there to support the profession and the journey of each uh project professional.

SPEAKER_02: 3:07

Thanks for listening to this episode of the HR Chat Podcast. If you enjoy the audio content we produce, you'll love our articles on the HR Gazette. Learn more at hrgazette.com. And now back to the show.

SPEAKER_03: 3:23

All right, rock and roll. Thank you very much. So obviously the world of work is evolving faster than ever. From your perspective, Carla, when it comes to what you guys are seeing at PMI. How are how are tech shifts, especially AI, changing what organizations need from their people?

SPEAKER_00: 3:42

At PMI, we are seeing that businesses face rapid transformation, whether it's digital transformation or AI, and of course, we've got economic shifts. And with that, uh, organizations will need talent that can adapt. With these new business models and uh emerging technologies, they're evolving faster than traditional education systems can keep up. And that's why there is an opportunity for uh organizations to focus on skills. And this is where HR can be at the center of it, where they can build more resilient and future-ready workforces, improving internal mobility and retention, and of course, ultimately aligning talent development with organizational strategy and innovation.

SPEAKER_03: 4:31

Excellent. Regular listeners of this show, Carla, will know that I am a bit of a cynic when it comes to AI and its impact on the world of work, specifically lots of types of jobs, but maybe I am wrong. I hope so. Uh recently we heard predictions from Amazon and JP Morgan leaders about job losses and skill shortages tied to artificial intelligence. In your opinion, what do these statements tell us about the urgency for human resources to act now?

SPEAKER_00: 5:02

I think there are many people that are joining you with a type of curiosity or sometimes even fear of the unknown. But what we at PMI even encourage our own project professionals is that you it is hard to understand what's truly happening without the facts. So we have to stay facts over fear. And if you are not learning what AI can bring and how it can make our project professionals better, faster in what they do, because it automates, it can potentially automate or remove some of this routine tasks so that people can focus on the more complex uh problem-solving opportunities, then everyone really needs to see the value of opskilling and reskilling. It's those that don't understand or even try to understand what AI can do, can be left behind. I think that's that's the we got to do some myth busting, I believe. And I share that same kind of curiosity with you. And this is not the first time that we've had this kind of shift in technology. I mean, back in the early 2000s is when the Y2K happened, and a lot of organizations did a lot of preparations to make sure that they are ready. So, with that same mindset of being ready, um, gathering the information, the facts, to ensure that we are uh keeping up with the trends and and what AI can bring and understanding the value of it, I think that's we were we are going to be better positioned in in uh having skills in our teams continue to be elevated. And the the jobs that uh require a lot of navigating through complexity and ambiguity, that's where where the the human and the loop definitely comes into play, right? Those are the things that cannot be automated or will be hard to be to be automated.

SPEAKER_03: 7:02

Completely agree with what you just said there towards the end about the complexity piece. Uh just a quick follow-up to your answer there. What about the more uh in averted commerce, the the more simple jobs, um the lower skill jobs, uh particularly here? I'm thinking about entry-level workers. How on earth do they enter the job market today if lots of those uh lower skill jobs, the the the tasks that don't require lots of um lots of knowledge built up over a over a career, um, how do they get a foot in the door?

SPEAKER_00: 7:35

That's a fair question. I often get asked that question anyway, within the community. Um, and oftentimes I I what I try to advise our upcoming leaders or those that are entering the workforce for the first time is we might be forgetting the opportunity to network. I think beyond the skills, your community, the people that can vouch for your power skills or your communication skills, your ability to work with other people, that's equally important. And that's why at PMI, we have something what we call the talent triangle. So there's three legs of that triangle, and one of them is the power skills. And like I said, examples of those would be the human components or what we call the communication, collaborative leaderships, you know, strategic thinking. And then you have the technical side of it or the ways of working, and then the last bit would be business acumen. If you're new to the industry, I think the first, one of the first things that you need to also complement your education is your ability to form a community around you. And that's where the networking comes into play. Networking is not a side hustle, it shouldn't be something that you do only when you need a job, because it is those people that can be with you throughout your journey. Sometimes those people can open doors. And if they can see that you can do more than just do data entry jobs and you are a problem solver or a critical thinker, then that puts you on top of uh the rest of the candidates. So I think it's the mindset shift, Bill, that our new entries to the workforce need to pay attention to beyond what they've uh acquired through education or through training and equip themselves with those power skills.

SPEAKER_03: 9:32

I absolutely love that answer. Um, partly because I'm a bit of an extrovert and I love networking myself. But um, you know, it it wasn't many years ago on this show we were talking about front-end or back end developers commanding these extraordinary wages straight out of uh college, right? Forget about that now. Most of those roles are redundant. It's been replaced by AI. They need to get out there, they need to network, they get they need to get the experience, they need to build the relationships so that they can put themselves in a situation where they are employable today, and that's great advice. So thank you very much. Um, continuing through, you you've said before that great ideas often fail because they lack structure. Why is project management such a critical success factor for HR-led transformation initiatives?

SPEAKER_00: 10:16

Uh in my career, I don't I don't believe I've I've mentioned this, but this is my 20th year as a project professional. So before I even joined BMI, um, I was doing projects and leading projects for the last 20 years. And I've worked with um HR departments from financial services and healthcare and not-for-profit organizations. And what I found is that regardless of your industry and your role, project management skills become fundamental skills. When you understand how to put things together and the order of things and how to work with people to encourage them, to motivate them so that they're working towards the same goal, it's it's it's making things happen. That's what project management does. And so you don't necessarily need to have a project management title to be able to do that. And what project management, especially at PMI, what we impart to project professionals and through the certifications and the training that we have are the tools and the frameworks and the capabilities. And more importantly, I'll say this again, it's the mindset shift, right? When you're at a situation where it's high stakes, you know, you've got all these um complexities in place. When you have project management, you will at least know which tools to pull from. And and and if you know how to do that, then you can guide the rest of the team on how to go through in solving this problem. And a quick example I could give you is that I actually led the COVID-19 vaccine implementation in the healthcare systems that I used to work for. I mean, at that time, if you remember, Bill, the whole world was worried about so many things. We didn't know what was going to happen. We didn't know when vaccines are gonna come. I leaned on my project management skills to know exactly which tool to use and to solve the problem at hand. And it's a combination of skills. It's not just the tools and the frameworks, but those power skills that that balancing of the power skills and getting the team motivated, but more importantly, understanding the business too. I didn't know I would know more about vaccines my entire life until I got there, but you are the translator. As a project manager, you are the translator between business and um the team that you're leading. And in in HR, that's often your role, anyway. You're the translator between what the the strategy is and how to achieve it through all these initiatives that are driven by HR professionals. So there's there's an important opportunity there for our HR leaders and not only HR leaders, but any role for that matter.

SPEAKER_03: 13:07

Do you think do you think in terms of personality type, do you think the most successful project managers are folks who are naturally outgoing extroverts, or actually are they a bit more analytical? Get given your last answer. What are your thoughts there?

SPEAKER_00: 13:22

That is a great question, Bill. I don't think it is a requirement for you to be an extrovert to do this job. I think what is required from you is yes, being organized and analytical will actually be a good starting point because uh project managers oftentimes make sense of the chaos. They provide that that structure around the chaos. And uh I I personally don't enjoy puzzles, but I enjoy putting together the pieces when I'm leading a project, which is very interesting, very uh you know, contradicting to that. But I enjoy knowing pulling the right resources at the right time, pulling the right tools at the right time. So being organized and being analytical will be critical. But more importantly, if you do not enjoy working with people, that's gotta be hard because project managers lead teams, and these teams don't necessarily report to you. And when they don't, what do you do? It's your level of influence and your your motivation with the teams that will definitely uh you know propel you to leading the project teams.

SPEAKER_03: 14:36

Okay, so many HR leaders may not see themselves as project people. What are some ways that maybe they can begin applying project management principles to drive impact in their organization?

SPEAKER_00: 14:51

I think that's what most people don't often realize is that they are informal project managers. Everybody does a project anyway. And in fact, that was a question I asked when I was at CHERM recently. I asked the room how many of them do projects, and every single hand was raised. And these are age are leaders, right? They know that they're leading projects and they might not even have the title or uh don't even have the resources, project managers within the team. But where they can start really is A, this is why PMI exists. We are here to support the profession. We even have a free course called the Kickoff. That's a good starting point to just learn the and understand what project management is about. We have many other resources within PMI, but more importantly, I'm sure that these HR leaders would probably know the project managers in their department or in their organization. And I have done that in the past where HR did not have a project manager, and I consulted with them as a teammate. Uh, and I just taught them a few basic things, like uh a project team register. And that sounds technical, but it's literally a very simple yet powerful tool. I'm sure you've experienced this, Bill, where you're in the whole room with 50 people trying to lead a project and you're trying to go somewhere, but nobody takes the time to list all the all the people that are involved and their role in that project. And sometimes it becomes a meeting for everyone with no one, no one that is truly responsible for the job that needs to be done. That's a quick tool, just listing who's part of the of the project that you're leading, what are their roles? Do they have the expertise to really contribute to this project? And it's often overlooked. I I go to teams and I sometimes consult and for friends, even when they don't have project managers in their team. And as you can tell, I'm very passionate about project management. So I typically teach them a tool or two. But at PMI, we have many resources and um they can check them out. And like I said, I'm sure they've met a project manager or two in their career or even within their team. It's a good time to check in and introduce yourself to a project manager.

SPEAKER_03: 17:22

I didn't make it to SHERM this year. I try and go most years. I was at HL Tech a few weeks ago in Vegas, but I didn't make it to SHEM. I heard great things. You spoke at Sherm as well, I understand. You you spoke on maximizing HR's potential, a new approach to project execution. What were some of the key takeaways that you hope attendees walked away with?

SPEAKER_00: 17:41

Yeah, I was very fortunate to have uh an excellent panel um for that session. And I felt so bad because we had to close the door. It was a full session. Um, there were many people uh that came to that session at 7:30 a.m. on a Monday morning. And what that tells you, Bill, is that it truly is depicting what we've seen at PMI, that our our work is really shifting into a project-based economy, right? Like every single person in the room, like I said earlier, raised their hand when I asked how many of you are leading projects. And what we've talked about with the panel are a few things. One, what truly contributes to failed projects? Um, and what we've found is that sometimes understanding just some basic frameworks and tools and project management can make your life easy as an HR leader to know where you're going and how to pull uh the resources that you need. That's one. Two, we talked about AI. We certainly talked about the challenges that um twofold, the challenges in in terms of hiring, right? With the rise of AI, how is that becoming a challenge in terms of hiring and growing talent? And how HR needs to now shift a little bit into looking into skill-based workforce or skill-based hiring and building resilient teams. And the other side is uh how it impacts them, how AI impacts them as an HR professional. What tools are they using? If they're not spending time to understand the tool, then it is hard to get the value out of the tool. So the the panelists um in that session shared some tips and tricks of of how to do that and how to use some of these tools for their benefit. And the last part is that they are not alone. That we have the same way that the HR community is diverse and huge, the project professional community is big. We have over 700,000 members in the world. So there are many of those that truly understand and have the skills and how to lead projects. And I will hook in again what I talked about at the beginning, which is networking. Networking is not only an opportunity for our new people entering the workforce, it's applicable to any professional. So it's important to expand your perspective and expand your network and your community to acquire skills that you may not have today. So there were very good examples that were given by the panelists. And um, I could talk all day, but one more thing that I wanted to mention is that we put a spotlight on what is truly at the heart of each of these projects. It is the people. You cannot do these projects without the people. And who is at a uh at the center of it all? HR now need to shift their thinking from just being operational into being strategic partners in their organization.

SPEAKER_03: 20:50

Okay, very good. Wow, you covered a lot there. Thank you very much. Um, so you love Sherm, you travel over time, and any other big events that you're involved with, PMI is involved with that you'd like to highlight uh to our listeners?

SPEAKER_00: 21:04

Yeah, absolutely. Well, the largest signature PMI event is coming up soon. It's November 12th to the 15, and it's called the PMI Global Summit, happening in Phoenix, Arizona. And when I go to these events, uh and not just as the regional managing director for North America, I get this little bit of FOMO. You know, I have been a project professional, and this is the place to be, not only for all the networking, but for the learning and advancing your skills. This is where you find your people. So I highly encourage you, whether you are an official project manager or an accidental project manager or an HR leader that's leading to projects, do check that out. Um, we've got hundreds and hundreds of sessions. We've got amazing keynotes, but like I said, nothing beats human connection in a place like PMI Global Summit on November 12th to the 15th.

SPEAKER_03: 22:01

Rock and roll, we love a shameless plug on this show. Uh just a couple more questions for you before we do wrap up for today. As we look towards the next few years, how can HR leaders and PMI work together to close the skills gap, embrace AI responsibly, and prepare people for the work of the future?

SPEAKER_00: 22:23

Absolutely. I think HR, again, is at a point where it needs to shift from operational to strategic leadership. And when you need to future-proof your workforce, that means you need to focus on agility and adaptability and capability building. And where project management comes into play is what that's where we provide the frameworks to navigate that uncertainty and the ambiguity and deliver a transformation. HR leaders must also prepare their teams for disruptions like AI and digital transformation and to partner with project managers or to partner with project professionals, what that does is it ensures that these changes are implemented effectively and creating real outcomes. We were so excited to be at SHERM this year. Hopefully, we'll be there again next year. I think there are shared capabilities and mindsets that we can learn from each other. So looking forward to that stronger partnership, hopefully, in the future.

SPEAKER_03: 23:28

Yeah, I think Sherm 2026 is in Orlando, Florida. So as a chap who spends most of his time under the clouds in the UK these days, that sounds quite nice. So I'm hoping I'm hoping to get over there and maybe we'll see each other in person. Uh, just finally for today, Carla, how can our listeners connect with you? So uh maybe that's LinkedIn, maybe you might want to share your email, maybe all over Instagram, TikTok, and places. And of course, how how can they learn more about PMI?

SPEAKER_00: 23:58

Well, thank you for the opportunity. Please uh find me on LinkedIn and my email is carla.idom at PMI.org. And of course, our website is packed with all the tools, the resources, thought leadership for project professionals and HR professionals alike. Uh, so that's PMI.org.

SPEAKER_03: 24:21

Wonderful. Well, that just leaves me to say for today. Um, although I will be chasing you to do another one of these, I think. But for today, Carla, thank you very much for being my guest.

SPEAKER_00: 24:30

Thanks so much, Bill. This was a lot of fun. Have a great day.

SPEAKER_03: 24:34

And listeners, as always, until next time, happy working.

SPEAKER_01: 24:41

Thanks for listening to the HR Chat Show. If you enjoyed this episode, why not subscribe and listen to some of the hundreds of episodes published by HR Gazette? And remember, for what's new in the world of work, subscribe to the show, follow us on social media, and visit hrgazette.com.