Summary

What happens when a compliance-minded HR veteran who has seen the inside of more than 50 companies takes on workforce planning for an almost entirely frontline, cross-border workforce right as AI rewrites the rules? In this episode of The Human Element, host Barb Bidan sits down with Dawn Stastny, Chief Human Resources Officer at BelPak, the packaging company formed when Coregistics, Proven Partners Group, and Belvika combined into one organization with more than two dozen facilities across the US and Canada. Dawn shares why she refuses to call them soft skills, how AI screening unlocked a pool of candidates her recruiters could never reach, the governance guardrails she applies to every AI decision, and why she has a calendar reminder set for the middle management crisis she predicts in 2031. This conversation is for HR and people leaders navigating AI adoption with frontline and deskless teams.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

02:30 From consultant to operator at BelPak

05:45 There's nothing soft about humanity skills

07:30 Merging three legacy companies into One BelPak

11:15 AI recruiting and the third shift problem

15:30 AI governance and compliance guardrails

18:30 Give the time back to your people

24:00 The 2031 middle management crisis

28:30 Developing talent through community partnerships

32:00 Lightning round and final advice

Takeaways

-Humanity skills like empathy, judgment, and discernment become more valuable as AI advances, not less.

-AI screening lets recruiting reach candidates the traditional process never could, like third shift mechanics, while removing unintentional bias from the first pass.

-AI gives you information; humans are still responsible for verifying it and making the final decision.

-Entry level jobs cut by AI in 2026 and 2027 could create a middle management shortage by 2031, so leaders need to protect their pipeline now.

-Instead of consuming talent, develop it: community college partnerships can build the skilled workforce you cannot hire off the market.

Connect with the Guest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-stastny-sphr-shrm-scp-/

Website: https://belpak.com

Sponsor
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