DisruptHR Birmingham and The HR Shockwave with Sara Andrews

Episode notes

What happens when engineering principles meet people strategy? Sara Andrews , Chief People Officer at Ecovyst , brings this powerful combination to the HRchat Show, revealing how her background as an engineer transformed her approach to human resources leadership. Looking toward her upcoming presentation "HR as a Shockwave: From Compliance to Competitive Edge" at DisruptHR Birmingham , Sara previews how trust, talent frameworks, and culture serve as driving forces for organizational transformation. She also offers practical insights on balancing legacy practices with innovation, adapting strategies across different business environments, and leveraging AI for talent attraction, workforce planning, and personalized development. Sarah also shares her journey of recognizing that truly effective HR requires building "strong, capable, competent and coherent teams" that directly impact business outcomes. Rather than viewing HR as a support function, she positions it as a strategic driver of enterprise value.