Patty Babler, SVP, HR, global employee & labor relations and HR operations at Cargill, opened a fireside chat at From Day One’s Minneapolis conference with a candid assessment of the company’s employee experience. Babler discussed how Cargill is rethinking onboarding as part of a broader effort to better support its 155,000 employees worldwide.

“Our onboarding process is complicated, with lots of systems to navigate for a brand-new employee,” she told moderator Allison Kaplan, director of innovation and engagement at the Minnesota Star Tribune. Her frankness set the tone for a wide-ranging discussion that touched on employee experience, AI-powered recruiting, a global portal launch, crisis leadership, and more. 

Closing the Frontline Gap

Until recently, Cargill’s production employees’ top question for HR was how to access time, pay and benefits.

“Many of our programs were really focused on our professional workforce,” said Babler. To close that gap, Cargill launched Powered by Plants, an initiative that gathered feedback from frontline workers and turned it into action – creating a work experience based on employees say matters most.  It is a multi-year program to improve the end-to-end experience for our plant employees. 

The results included addressing the pain points and improving the hiring process, automated scheduling, an employee portal for pay and benefits, and a move away from paper forms. 

The most dramatic changes were made in the Talent Acquisition processes. Cargill once took up to two weeks to make job offers, while competitors were hiring on the spot. The company deployed an AI-powered recruiting assistant named Ana to address its slow hiring process and improve candidates’ experience. “We’ve reduced our time to hire from over two weeks to within a day,” Babler said, closing a critical gap in Cargill’s talent pipeline.

From Using AI to Doing AI

Babler drew a distinction that she repeated throughout the session. “Instead of thinking about using AI, we have to ‘do’ AI.” 

The difference, she says, is between applying AI to existing processes and rethinking those processes entirely. “It’s really challenging that process mindset we’ve all been used to,” she said. “If we don’t stop ‘using’ and get into ‘doing’ AI, I think we’re going to be behind as HR professionals.”

Consider an unlikely candidate for AI: employee relations. Cargill recently built an agent that drafts interview questions, synthesizes case data, analyzes credibility, and sequences events to flag potential problems and creates an investigation summary report for review by the team, saving time.

“Our employee relations specialists are able to focus on what matters most, providing proactive employee relations support and consulting,” Babler said. The goal is to free specialists for work that requires human judgment, she says. 

One Portal to Unify 155,000 Employees

Cargill had a vision of an integrated employee experience for more than a decade, and recently launched its new employee portal, “CargillNow.” recently launched. CargillNow it isn’t only about the HR experience; it’s built on the ServiceNow platform and unifies HR, IT, procurement, and finance resources into a single portal accessible from any device. 

“We launched a global deployment in four functions for all of our employees,” Babler said. Over 19,000 employees had already accessed the system just after the portal’s launch, and Babler describes the rollout as “really, really smooth.” 

Babler credits her team for the successful rollout. “I think it’s because of the people and the team we have, and I’m so proud,” she added.

Leading Through Crisis, Grounded in Values

With operations in 70 countries, Cargill navigates a constant stream of geopolitical, environmental, and local disruptions. Babler described a crisis action network that connects employee relations teams around the world to respond to disruptions such as plant fires, labor disruptions, or natural disasters. 

Babler says Cargill’s approach is consistent: Put people first, engage managers, and empower local leaders. For example, Cargill deployed on-site employee assistance program sessions, on-line group sessions, and individual support during Operation Metro Surge occurred. “We empower our leaders and are flexible and adaptable based on what our employees need, depending on the situation,” Babler said.

Underpinning that flexibility is a set of values Babler says she has found only at Cargill. “We put people first, we reach higher, and we do the right thing,” she said. “No matter where you are in the world, our values come out everywhere.”

The Road Ahead: Skills, Speed, and Hyper-Personalization

Looking forward, Babler pointed to strategic workforce planning as a critical opportunity. “We now can leverage AI to think about where those talent needs are, where we have critical roles,” she said. 

She advocates for shifting focus from jobs to skills, but technology alone won’t close the expectation gap. Employees, regardless of generation, are demanding a different employee experience. “We’re seeing different expectations from an employee experience perspective,” she said.

Her vision involves hyper-personalization that includes using the CargillNow platform to orient new hires before day one, share the company’s story, and accelerate proficiency, providing a more welcoming experience for new employees. “How can we do that in a tech-enabled world that is very personalized? It’s hyper-personalization going forward,” she added.

Kaplan closed the session with a question about the future: In a year, with CargillNow humming and AI tools fully embedded, what changes? “I do think we’ll be much more proactive, we’ll have way better insights and perspectives,” she said. “Think about where we were 12 months ago from an AI perspective and where we are today. It’s not getting slower; it will be even faster.”

Babler ended the conversation with a saying she often returns to: “If your head and your heart are pointed in the right direction, you never have to worry about your feet.” That grounded mindset may be the most enduring tool of all for a 160-year-old company navigating a revolution in HR. 

Ade Akin covers artificial intelligence, workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.

(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)