I see a bright future for the way we work, one where people leaders, founders, and HR teams all have the support they need to focus on what really matters: people.

As Co-Founder and CEO of Humaneer, I’m proud to be leading the team reimagining how businesses manage their people operations through AI. Our platform, Mak, helps anyone doing HR handle the heavy lifting of compliance, admin, and process so they can focus on culture, strategy, and impact.

With over 20 years in the people space, building and leading global teams, I know the daily juggle of managing people and running a business. That’s why we built Humaneer: to make people operations faster, smarter, and more human.

I also sit on the UNSW HR Advisory Board, helping shape the future of HR and the next generation of leaders driving change in how we work.

Careen Redman-Matthews

This is Maisie, she turned 100 this week - (15 in human years) 
And we've been best friends since she was 7 weeks old. 

I'll admit it, totally pup crazy over here 🙋‍♀️ But I never used to be, in fact I was scared of dogs as a child, really scared. If I could hear a dog bark walking home from school, I would walk the long way home just so I didn't have to walk past it.

Thats how scared I was. 

Yet, when a housemate of mine was getting her puppy (Hamish) it was love at first sight when I saw this little bundle of joy. 

And overnight... I became a dog person. 

So much so, that in the past 15 years Maisie and I have fostered 6 dogs to get them ready for a forever home (and one foster fail (Rusty) who ended up spending his last few years with us as part of the family 🙌

Dogs are incredible beings, and i think we can learn a lot from them, heres my take on what they do better than some humans: 

🫶 Wake up every morning with excitement for what the day will bring (turning in circles is optional
🫶 Curious about everyone they meet 
🫶 Everyone is a potential friend 
🫶 Find joy in the small things, a leaf, a bird...wait...🐿️
🫶 Make everyone feel seen 
🫶 Food is the BEST thing EVER- never gets wasted 

Be more like Maisie 
Happy Friday 😀

Careen Matthews

CEO & Co-Founder | The platform for the HR work most systems ignore

A few weekends ago I caught my dad heading out for coffee wearing our (vintage logo) company t-shirt humaneer.

He didn’t just get it because he’s my dad. He earned it.

He helped me at an expo last year, lugging screens, banners, boxes and fliers in 40-degree heat with zero complaints. Just getting on with it because it mattered to me and our team.

So seeing him here in Australia, visiting from Scotland for Christmas, choosing to pack that t-shirt in his suitcase, even when their weight limit was already maxed out with the 4000 decaf Tea bags from M&S (IYKYK 😂) it honestly meant the world.

Earbuds in. Smart watch on. (Kindle in hand) - He is absolutely ROCKING IT

There’s something really special about seeing someone who’s been in your corner long before any of this existed, supporting what you’re building in such an understated way.

A small moment that carried a huge amount of weight for me over the break 🫶

Sometimes support shows up loudly. Other times, it shows up in the little moments. 

Happy Friday 🚀

This is my husband and I on our wedding day. When he said his vowes they didn't include being an unofficial co-founder. (Thats the one with no equity and no title) 😜

But he is my rock through it all. The long days. The late nights. Holding the fort when Im travelling. Listening to my moments of doubt and celebrating our moments of momentum at humaneer.

What he brings, more than anything, is grounding.
He comes from a heritage where connection to the land is non-negotiable.
Shoes off. Feet on the earth. Breathe. Get perspective.

And especially as an expats in Australia, with no family here permanently, that grounding matters more than I can properly explain.

When my world starts to narrow to decisions, deadlines, and momentum, he gently pulls it wider again. Reminds me to slow down. To step outside.

To remember there’s a bigger picture beyond the immediate problem in front of me.

Building a company is rarely done in isolation, and as a female founder, I’ve know just how much this journey depends on the village around you. 

 - Friends who check in (and let you stay in their spare room when your travelling 🫶).
- Co Founders who are are driven and committed to the mission (heres looking at you Kimberly Burns Annie Johnson) 🚀
 - Neighbours who show up.
 - Mentors and advisors who offer perspective when you’re too close to see clearly.
 - An incredible community that reminds you you’re not doing this alone.

And at the centre of mine is this human.
Supporting, beleiving. And being there. 

It’s easy to celebrate milestones and wins.
But today I wanted to acknowledge the people who make it possible to keep going.

Grateful doesn’t even begin to cover it. 

Happy Friday 😀

Chuckling as I write this...

I’ve never been someone who “goes for a jog” or "goes for a run". That just… wasn’t me. A few months ago I couldn’t run for the bus never mind a park run. 

And yet, two Saturdays ago, I did. 5km on a Saturday morning... And it was incredible 😁

On my birthday in November last year, I decided to give myself a different kind of present. The gift of health and wellbeing.

So I started where I was (To be fair the bar was pretty low after a massive year at humaneer and juggling #parentlife).

There have been times, when it's been tough to get out and get away from the screen, when the effort has been real. 

But ....I finished... I blinking finished that first park run... 

And that’s the part that’s driving me now... 

I know ...it's only 5km.. but that seemed impossible 2 months ago and it reminded me how much we can change when we take that first little step. 

I’m still very much a beginner. Still building fitness. Still figuring it out.

But already...
I have more confidence. More energy, and I'm super proud of myself. 

So if anything, this post is a reminder that if you want something to change - start small ...but start.

Whether that’s at work, in life, or somewhere in between.

2 months ago I couldn't run. 

Until I did. 

Happy Friday 🎉

Hey HR friends 👋

It’s January 2026.
New goals.
Same broken systems.

Who’s inbox is already full?
Who’s got meetings getting stacked back-to-back already?
And who’s feeling the compliance pressure bubbling in the background already? 

...And, the biggie... who’s been told to “be more strategic this year.” Amongst all of this.

If you’re wondering how that’s meant to happen when you’re straight back into admin-heavy work… you’re not alone.

Nothing really changed over the break (if you got one).
Except perhaps expectations.

And let’s be clear,  this is not a problem created by HR.
It’s a systems problem.

HR is asked  to lead, influence, and transform…
while being buried in manual processes, fragmented tools, and work that should never require this much effort.

✅ Strategy needs space.
✅ Thinking needs time.
✅ Leadership needs breathing room.

If the system doesn’t give you that, no amount of goal-setting/strategy documents will.

So maybe the real January question isn’t... 
“How do I do more this year?”
But 
“What needs to change so this work is actually possible?”

What’s your thoughts, what question should we be asking? I’d love to know ...

humaneer

CEO & Co-Founder | Building support for the HR work most systems ignore

Last year, I made some mistakes.
Not the dramatic kind (thank goodness). More little ones that happen when you’re moving fast, making calls with imperfect information without losing momentum along the way. 

Now, with a bit of distance, I can see why. Doing what startups do. Moving quickly (because we have to). Responding to customers. Building while learning and making decisions based on base level data (because that’s what we have). 
Speed wasn’t my issue. Lack of reflection was (and lack of time was the excuse).

In the startup environment we work in, speed isn’t optional for us. Our runway is real. The market keeps moving. Decisions stack up quickly. And most days, everyone is wearing more than one hat (10 hats) IYKYK Kimberly Burns Annie Johnson.

The thing about startups is we don’t just move fast - we change shape constantly. Our priorities shift. Roles evolve. Plans get rewritten, and growth creates new problems before we have had time to understand the last ones. 
Without moments to pause and make sense of it, this speed can feel like: whiplash, rework, constant context-switching, confusion passed off as agility or fatigue disguised as ambition.

And so,  I needed to find a way to perform better, to reflect quickly and make better decisions, fast. 

A framework that supports me. 

So I wrote down 5 questions which have formed a mini framework for me to work fast and better when time is scarce… (Feel free to save this and use them) 

📍 What problem are we actually trying to solve right now?
📍 What have we learned that may change our thinking?
📍 What are we doing out of habit that might not make sense?
📍 What’s the clearest next decision (not the perfect one)?
📍 What is this going to cost us, (time, money and sanity)?

It’s not a long reflection. It’s not workshops or off sites. It’s my brief, intentional internal calibration. 

I learned the hard way last year that speed without reflection doesn’t stay fast. It creates rework and it can slow you later with more mess (and stress).

Already this way of working has cleared my thinking and given me just enough room to reflect quickly when I need to. It's not about hesitation, it`s not about slowing down. It’s what’s going to make the speed sustainable and the decisions better at humaneer 🚀

The HR Events calender (ANZ ) 2026 is LIVE 🚀

Thats right- no more googling "HR events near me" anymore 😂

And this year its gone up a notch, we have included a playbook to "Get the most out of HR events" (virtual and in person) 

The Calendar comes with the following 

✅ Events Calendar
✅ Playbook - Get the most out of HR events
✅ Submit an event link 

Coming soon.... The reviews page- so you can rate events you have been to and see what others thought. 

The link is in the comments, if you know of a HR/HR Adjacent event thats not in there- let me know below in the comments and Ill get it added quick smart. 

Happy Monday 😀

And thanks so much Matt McFarlane for the nudge to get this live - you ROCK 🚀

Kimberly Burns Annie Johnson Andrea Kirby Jason Portelli Cindy Hayer Kathryn Palmer Adam Axon Nick Sayer-Gearen (MBA, MAHRI) Katie McLean Tash Pieterse Christina Carden (she/her) Sharon Banfield Jodi Rosenthal John-Paul Costales Samantha Grabish (nee Williams) Kylie Fuller

Hey HR Friends 👋
A little reminder.... You’re not meant to have all the answers alone.

Some of the best HR decisions I’ve been part of didn’t come from a framework or a strategy deck. They came from conversations with people who’d been there before.

Quick sense-checks.
Different perspective.
PSometimes a moment of reassurance that you’re seeing the situation clearly.

After many (many) years in HR, I’ve noticed something important.

As HR leaders we rarely struggle with knowing what to do.
What we often look for is confidence in our judgement, especially when the responsibility is real and the implications stretch beyond the moment.

Because we know the HR decisions aren’t in isolation...
They affect people’s livelihoods.
They shape culture.
They influence trust, fairness, and long-term outcomes.

That’s why community matters so much in this profession. Not as a place for noise, hot takes, or performative opinions. Not as a substitute for expertise or experience.

But as a space for us to:

✅ Talk through nuance
✅ Share context that perhaps doesn’t fit neatly into policy
✅ Learn from lived experience, not just theory

When we, as HR leaders can sense-check decisions with peers who truly understand the role, something powerful happens.

Clarity improves.
Confidence grows.
And we can move forward knowing we are not carrying responsibility in isolation.

This kind of support doesn’t dilute judgement. It strengthens it. Its powerful. 

And at a time when HR is being asked to operate with more care, more consideration, and more impact than ever before, that kind of support isn’t a “nice to have”.

It’s foundational.

If you havent already, come check out the humaneer community, we would love to welcome you 🫶

Kimberly Burns Andrea Kirby

If your HR role feels busier than your calendar suggests, this is probably why.

Because so much of the work doesn’t sit neatly in tasks or meetings.
It lives in the thinking.

Checking before a conversation. What context we’re holding, understanding and assessing legislation... “if we do this, what happens next?” 

All of this is constantly running in our heads. 

Then we have a meeting.... and the next part of the work continues.

Notes.
Documentation.
Follow-ups.
Turning a conversation into something clear, fair, and defensible.

For a long time, I thought all of that was just the extra part of the role.
Something we absorb. 

It took me building a solution humaneer to truly address the reality of working as a HR professional to really understand that this is THE work.

Not just what happens in the room (or virtual room), but everything before and after it.

That’s why HR roles can feel mentally full even when calendars are not back to back (though back to back calendars .... thats a post for another day 😜).

If you work in HR, this probably won’t surprise you, but it might explain why the role feels the way it does.

HR doesn’t need "another" strategy deck this year. (Yep I'm saying it)

I say this having spent years in HR leadership roles where the strategy was clear and still the pressure sat with execution.

The real admin heavy work for me always came after meetings:

✅ Writing up decisions properly - ensuring everyone was clear on what was discussed, actions and outcomes. 
✅ Checking compliance twice (thrice in some spicy situations)
✅ Making sure nothing was missed 
✅ Weighing up,  then carrying the risk long after everyone else logged off (yep, most of this work was done after hours) 

We didn’t lack vision as a function, we didn't lack capability . We lacked capacity and execution support.

So strategy quietly became another responsibility in HR  - without the systems to carry it to full capacity.

That’s one of the big reasons sometimes our roles can feel heavy. We get  bogged down in the execution layer.

We doesn’t need more frameworks or slides. We need systems that actually do the admin work.

That’s how strategy stops being aspirational and becomes sustainable.

Do you agree? I'd love to know.... 

Kimberly Burns humaneer

HR isn’t just a role.
It’s a responsibility.

Sometimes I try to explain why I care so deeply about our industry and the people in it.

Because it can be a lot.

Imagine doing a role where your judgement is constantly questioned.
Where people drop into your office, your DMs, your inbox, asking for a “quick chat”. (that 9 out of 10 times is never quick 😉)
Where advice is sought and sometimes ignored until something goes wrong.

Imagine knowing that getting it wrong isn’t just awkward or inconvenient.
It can mean legal action.
Tribunal hearings.
Real consequences that follow people and companies for years.

And imagine carrying the awareness that what you advise could directly affect someone’s livelihood, wellbeing, and sense of worth.

That doesn’t switch off at the end of the day.

So when I talk about supporting HR better, it’s because I understand what comes with this profession.
Not because the role needs sympathy, but because it carries responsibility most people never see.

And supporting this industry, and the people in it, is a responsibility we take seriously and with the utmost respect humaneer

If HR feels heavy already, it’s not because you’re failing.

It’s because the system you’re working in was never designed to support the reality of modern HR.

More complexity.
More legal and people risk.
More expectation to be strategic.

With the same tools.
The same capacity.
The same admin-heavy execution sitting with you.

So if January already feels like you’re carrying too much, that’s not your motivation, it’s not a resilience gap. It’s an execution problem.

HR leaders aren’t struggling because we lack capability.
They’re struggling because too much critical work still relies on manual follow-up, memory, and work happening after hours.

There is a better way to work, one where execution is supported and not silently absorbed by HR.

And no, you don’t need to “try harder” to get there.

If you’re curious how HR leaders are reclaiming capacity, comment "LESS ADMIN" if you want the short execution load check I’ve been sharing privately with our HR friends. 🙌

humaneer

As a new week begins, there’s something I’m very clear on after 20 years in the People Space... capability has never been the issue.

I’ve worked alongside HR professionals who are thoughtful, principled, technically superb and deeply committed to doing the right thing, (often in tough situations where there is no perfect answer).

What has changed is the level of responsibility the role now carries.

More complexity, more expectation, more legislation and more nuance in how decisions affect people, culture, and the business.

For a long time, we've adapted quietly. Thinking ahead and connecting dots others couldn’t see all while holding context, judgement, and care. Often working out of hours to ensure this.

What gives me real optimism now is that this no longer has to be the norm....

We finally have better ways to support how HR actually works, not just documenting decisions, but supporting judgement, execution, and follow-through in concise ways that reflects the importance of the decisions and actions we take. 

And this matters.

Because when HR is properly supported (especially at the execution layer), it doesn’t just make the work feel more sustainable, it increases our capacity and our impact. 

And I'm here for it!

This is the version of HR I’m deeply invested in helping build.

Who's with me? 😀

humaneer

Most people think the HR work happens in the meeting.
It doesn't.

Certainly alot of work happens in meetings, but a HUGE proportion of the work we do happens around them.

Before a meeting there are: 
✅ The checks.
✅ The context.
✅ The history.
✅ The legislation.
✅The thinking through of how this could land (and what happens if it doesn’t) and preparing for scenarios.

None of this shows on the calendar invite. But it’s essential.

Then there’s the meeting itself.
✅ The conversation.
✅ The reading of the room. Noticing tone changes, slight shifts
✅ The split-second judgement calls you make as things unfold.

And once the meeting ends, the work continues.
✅ Notes.
✅ Documentation created
✅ Decisions that need to be captured properly.
✅ Follow-up that has to be clear, fair, (and sometimes defensible).
✅ Turning what was said/decided/discussed into action.

For a long time, I thought all of the work outside the meetings was just “part of the job” - something we did in the background.

It took me years to really see that this IS one of the biggest parts of our job.

Not just the conversation, but everything that surrounds it.

That’s why I care so much about how HR is supported across the whole arc (shameless plug for humaneer 😜) - before, during, and after.  Not just in the moment everyone sees.

Because when that work is properly supported, everything feels steadier, clearer and more sustainable.

What do you think, do you agree?

The meeting ends. The work doesn’t.

One thing I didn’t really appreciate early on in my HR career was just how much of the work happens after the conversation.

Everyone leaves the room and moves on to the next thing.
And HR keeps thinking.

Replaying what was said, wondering how it landed, working out how to turn intent into words that are fair, clear, and considered.

Because no matter how much we prepare for meetings, the variable is always people.

Things can get messy.
Feelings can get hurt.
Egos can get bruised.

Not because anyone meant harm, but because work is human, and people bring emotion, history, and context into the room with them (and thats what makes us human).

For a long time, I just thought (or accepted) that was part of the job. Something you did quietly, unseen, that just happened.

It wasn’t until much later and once I stepped into building humaneer that I realised how much judgement, care, and responsibility sits in the moments after the meeting is over.

That thinking isn’t extra. It’s not overthinking. It’s the work.

What makes me genuinely optimistic now is that we finally have better ways to support ourselves in HR for those moments. Not just pre meeting or in the meeting itself, but afterwards, when decisions are being shaped and our confidence really matters.

That’s where things become clearer. And that’s where expertise and impact shows up.

I'd love to ask my HR friends - do you agree... so much of our work starts after the meeting?

Stepping out and being brave today by sharing this article I wrote in December.  Writing has never been a strength of mine, and delving into it at the end of the year to write articles has been a "journey"... and one that I am thoroughly enjoying now.
Don't forget the humans is a little corner of the web for curiosity, rubber ducking on paper and making sense of the world of work - I'd love to know what you think....

How does organisational culture hold up when so much knowledge now lives in systems, not people? This is something I’ve been thinking about alot recen

Open article: If systems hold knowledge and humans hold culture. What happens if one starts replacing the other? by Careen Matthews • 5 min read

If systems hold knowledge and humans hold culture. What happens if one starts replacing the other?

House of Talent is BACK 🕺🏼

A night of People people and great house music- where it's all about connection not content. 

We absolutely love teaming up with Viren Thakrar and Andrea Kirby for this event again in Melbourne. 

If you love music and meeting people this event is for you.

🗓️ Thursday 26th Feb
⏰ 5.30-9.30pm 
📌 Secret Melbourne CBD cocktail bar (details released to ticket holders before the event) 


Early bird tickets are live - details down below in the comments 👇🏼

Kimberly Burns Annie Johnson Jodi Rosenthal Tamara Di Veroli Tammie McDonald Ivan 'Harry' Harrison Matt Vido Adam Axon Bridget Thakrar GAICD humaneer 

can't wait to see you on the dancefloor ...

فعال میدیا

هیچ دینی را فراتر از انسانیت نیافتم!
بنی آدم اعضای یکدیگرند 
که در آفرینش ز یک گوهرند
چوعضو بدرد آورد روز گار 
که دیگر عضو ها را نماند قرار
تو کز محنت دیگران بی غمی 
نشاید که نامت نهند آدمی

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