The mandate for and position of HR have evolved since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and these trends are only accelerated by continually shifting employee expectations. Lynanne Kunkel, chief HR officer (CHRO) of Vail Resorts and member of Gartner’s CHRO Global Leadership Board, shares her vision for how the HR function can strive for excellence while facing ongoing pressures in this new environment. She urges HR functions to develop capabilities like change leadership and human-centered experience design. She also discusses how HR can engage with other business leaders to become more integrated and aligned to strategic business outcomes.

Lynanne Kunkel is the CHRO for Vail Resorts. Prior to joining Vail Resorts in 2017, Lynanne served in various executive positions for Whirlpool, most recently as senior vice president of global HR. Throughout her career, she has led all aspects of HR to deliver enhanced business performance in areas that include business HR, talent acquisition, talent management, leadership development, organizational effectiveness, diversity and inclusion, and talent analytics.

Peter Aykens is the chief of research for Gartner’s HR practice. He is responsible for building and leading research teams within the practice to address clients’ key initiatives. Before his current role, he spent over 25 years at Gartner leading research teams focused on banking and financial services strategy, producing numerous studies that addressed business strategy, channels, marketing, customer experience and product challenges. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from St. Olaf College; a master’s degree in international politics from Aberystwyth University (formerly known as the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth); and a master’s degree and a doctorate in political science from Brown University.