Ayani Yapa Bandera has served as an Onsite HR Generalist at Xenium for nearly three years, building a strong strategic partnership with Far West Recycling. She’s passionate about developing custom employee training programs and changing the traditional perception of HR by emphasizing the “human” in Human Resources.
What is your role at Xenium?
I am currently an onsite HR Generalist for a client (Far West Recycling).
And how long have you worked here?
2 years and 9 months.
Tell me about your career progression and what led you to work in at Xenium?
I started my career in the temp staffing industry and slowly progressed into internal talent acquisition and HR. I have worked in both multinational companies and small to mid size firms and found my sweet spot to be smaller to mid size companies.
I started as a part time onsite HR with Xenium in 2022 and grew the role to a full time one. I was able to build a long-term successful relationship with my client (Far West Recycling) with trust, passion and a good work ethic. I was able to become a strategic partner, and provide added value and insight to any people-related decisions at Far West.
The flexibility of working part time at the time I was hired was attractive to me given that my daughter was young. I always appreciate, that flexibility that Xenium offers to its employees. These are the true values that make a company great in my opinion.
What is your favorite part of working for an outsourced HR and payroll firm?
Being able to be a part of two teams, the best of both worlds as I would say, and the support system that I have to successfully do my job. Which enables me to provide the best client service possible. This is very satisfying to me personally.
What has changed over the years in your experience in this field?
HR is now a strategic partner to a company. Not just a rule maker. HR has been known for years as the department that hires and fires. But now HR can support leadership to make informed business decisions and therefore become an integral part of a company. I look at it as, operations are the muscles, finance is the brain and HR is the heart of the company.
What are the challenges facing our industry in the near and long term?
I would say, near term challenges would be, balancing flexibility and productivity especially in the hybrid and remote work environments. Talent Acquisition and retention is one other challenge, since candidates and companies are more selective and perhaps less trustworthy in my opinion. Candidates look for better benefits, work life balance and purpose at work. And companies are looking for more independent learners due to AI and other tools that are available.
Long term challenges that I have personally come across would be managing a multigenerational workforce. Baby boomers have a different outlook on what work ethic and values are as opposed to millennials. For example, handwork/smart work, and millennials expecting more flexibility. And of course, Gen Z’s now slowly entering the workforce that appreciate AI and other such technologies more.
Another long term challenge is adapting to different cultures in the workforce. Given our workforce is becoming more cross cultural, diverse and dynamic, we now need to be more sensitive and knowledgeable about different cultures and demographics across the globe.
Can you tell me about a project or accomplishment that you are particularly proud of?
One of the most recent projects that I am proud of would be, introducing employee trainings to my client. I personally developed these training courses catering to their needs. I did assessments, interviewed managers to understand the gaps, then created the training and delivered them to supervisors and managers. I also collected feedback from them to better myself. Now these training courses are a quarterly event at Far West! I enjoy sharing knowledge and supporting employees to be their best at their jobs. Seeing them learn and grow makes me feel like I am making a difference.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out in this field?
HR is a continuous learning career. Your attitude will determine success more than you think. Listen to understand. Stay neutral and finally confidentiality is key.
Can you tell us about your best memory working with a client?
My best memory with a client would be working with the president at Far West to come up with creative and strategic HR solutions. We collaborate on improving communication and collaboration at the senior leadership level and all employees across the board. Together we have come up with innovative and out of the box ideas to assist in the new cultural direction that Far West intends to go in.
How do you see your role evolving in the future, and what are your goals?
I do wish to someday get into a leadership role. I enjoy assisting with the growth in employees and, in turn, aligning it with the client’s success. I like working with different personalities, understanding what ticks for each of them and helping them achieve their goals while aligning them to the client’s growth. I do realize that leading is much more than that and I am humble and willing to learn.
What do you wish more people knew about working in our industry?
That “when HR calls you, it doesn’t mean you’re in trouble”. My goal is to change the mentality that people have in the word HR. Emphasize the “human” in Human Resources. Empathy, understanding, relationships, and building trust. HR is an action-oriented, trustworthy ally. HR doesn’t work against you. But it works for you. And I understand that the first step to achieving this goal, is to walk that walk. It starts from within.