Are you struggling to manage remote or hybrid employees — or are you still holding out hope that everyone just comes back to the office? Whether you're a reluctant convert or a seasoned remote manager looking to tighten things up, the fundamentals of leading people don't change when they're not in the building. What changes is how intentional you have to be — and this episode walks you through exactly what that looks like in practice.

In this episode, you'll learn:

1. Why managing remote and hybrid employees isn't fundamentally different from managing in-person teams — and what actually does need to shift in your approach
2. How to set clear expectations around work hours, availability, deliverables, and response times so that both you and your employees stay out of the guessing game
3. Why micromanaging remote workers backfires — and how to define success as an objective, measurable outcome instead of monitoring minutes spent appearing busy
4. How to build a communication rhythm that works for both you and your direct reports, including how often to check in, what cadence to use, and why the Pomodoro technique is worth recommending to your team
5. Why trust is the foundation of every successful remote work environment — and how leading by example on work-life boundaries sets the tone for your entire team

Chapter Markers:

• 00:00 — Managing Remote & Hybrid Teams: The Real Truth
• 01:22 — Practice 1: Schedule Regular Video Check-Ins
• 03:34 — Practice 2: Set Clear Expectations & Define Success
• 05:08 — Practice 3: Communicate on Their Terms (Response Time & Cadence)
• 07:09 — Practice 4: Encourage Breaks & Model Work-Life Boundaries
• 09:07 — Practice 5: Trust Your People — And What That Actually Requires
• 11:57 — Free Download: 5-Point Performance Rating Scale

If you've got remote or hybrid employees and you're not sure whether your performance management system is actually built to support them, take the free HR Audit and find out where the gaps are: saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit

🔍 Ready to find out what's really going on inside your business? Take the free Salt & Light HR Audit at saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit. In about 10 minutes, you'll get a clear picture of where your people operations stand — and exactly where to focus next. No fluff, no sales pitch. Just clarity.

Resources to keep building:

🎯 Take the free HR Audit — Score your HR systems in 5 minutes and see exactly where your gaps are. 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit

🎙️ Listen to Don't Waste the Chaos — The podcast for small business owners building strong people operations. 👉 kerrimroberts.com/podcast

📖 Get The HR Easy Button — Kerri's book on building HR systems that actually work for small businesses. 👉 https://amzn.to/4cPyrFh

✉️ Subscribe to the newsletter — Weekly HR insights for founders, in your inbox every Monday. 👉 saltandlight.myflodesk.com/saltandlightadvisors

Need fractional HR support or want to talk through a specific challenge? 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/contact

Ready to build foundational HR systems on your own? 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/hrfoundations

Connect with Kerri: 📷 Instagram: instagram.com/kerrimroberts 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kerrimroberts 🐎 Hippo Creek Farm on Instagram: instagram.com/hippocreekfarm

Episode-specific resources mentioned:

• Free download: 5-Point Likert Scale Performance Rating — link in show notes
• The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey
• The Pomodoro Technique — pomodorotechnique.com

Full show notes + transcript: kerrimroberts.com/dontwastethechaos/5

Support the show

Do you know how to negotiate your salary — or do you just hope your employer does the right thing and pays you what you're worth? For most women, negotiation feels uncomfortable at best and terrifying at worst, and that discomfort is costing us real money. This episode is the push you didn't know you needed, straight from someone who has sat on both sides of that table for over 20 years.

In this episode, you'll learn:

1. Why women struggle more in salary negotiations than their male counterparts — including five key factors: socialization and gender norms, the likability vs. assertiveness double standard, lack of role models, the gender pay gap, internalized stereotypes, and fear of backlash
2. How to use research and market data — not just a salary website — to remove emotion from the negotiation and make a case that actually lands
3. Why confidence is a muscle, not a personality trait, and how to build assertiveness even if advocating for yourself has always felt hard
4. What effective communication looks like in a negotiation — including why silence (the "pregnant pause") is one of your most powerful tools
5. How to get creative when salary isn't moveable — from flexible work arrangements and PTO to variable compensation tied to results — and the key principles from Getting to Yes and Never Split the Difference that change how you approach every negotiation

Chapter Markers:

• 00:00 — Why Women Struggle to Negotiate Pay
• 02:08 — The 5 Factors Holding Women Back
• 07:03 — What Happened When Kerri Advocated for Herself (A Hard Lesson)
• 13:02 — What to Do About It: The 5 Negotiation Skills
• 13:41 — Skill 1: Research & Market Data
• 14:39 — Skill 2: Confidence & Assertiveness
• 15:31 — Skill 3: Effective Communication & the Pregnant Pause
• 16:28 — Skill 4: Flexibility & Creative Compensation
• 17:09 — Skill 5: Negotiate With Data
• 19:27 — Book Recommendations: Getting to Yes & Never Split the Difference

If you're a business owner wondering whether your compensation structure is actually competitive enough to attract and retain women at every level, the free HR Audit will show you exactly where your pay practices stand: saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit

🔍 Ready to find out what's really going on inside your business? Take the free Salt & Light HR Audit at saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit. In about 10 minutes, you'll get a clear picture of where your people operations stand — and exactly where to focus next. No fluff, no sales pitch. Just clarity.

Resources to keep building:

🎯 Take the free HR Audit — Score your HR systems in 5 minutes and see exactly where your gaps are. 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit

🎙️ Listen to Don't Waste the Chaos — The podcast for small business owners building strong people operations. 👉 kerrimroberts.com/podcast

📖 Get The HR Easy Button — Kerri's book on building HR systems that actually work for small businesses. 👉 https://amzn.to/4cPyrFh

✉️ Subscribe to the newsletter — Weekly HR insights for founders, in your inbox every Monday. 👉 saltandlight.myflodesk.com/saltandlightadvisors

Need fractional HR support or want to talk through a specific challenge? 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/contact

Ready to build foundational HR systems on your own? 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/hrfoundations

Connect with Kerri: 📷 Instagram: instagram.com/kerrimroberts 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kerrimroberts 🐎 Hippo Creek Farm on Instagram: instagram.com/hippocreekfarm

Episode-specific resources mentioned:

• Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss & the Black Swan Group — blackswanltd.com
• Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher
• 3D Negotiation by David Lax & James Sebenius
• Hustle and Heart Podcast with Beth Donaldson — episode on confidence

Full show notes + transcript: kerrimroberts.com/dontwastethechaos/4

Support the show

Do you have a strategic plan for your business — or are you just showing up every day and hoping the momentum carries you somewhere good? If you've ever hit the end of a year feeling like you worked incredibly hard but somehow went nowhere, the missing piece is probably not effort. It's direction. A real strategic plan doesn't have to be complicated, but it does have to exist — and this episode walks you through how to build one that actually works.

In this episode, you'll learn:

1. Why strategic planning matters for businesses of every size — and the three core reasons you can't afford to skip it: direction and focus, resource allocation, and adaptability to change
2. How to use the EOS framework from Gino Wickman's Traction — specifically the mission, vision, and values component and the "rocks" system — to set quarterly goals your whole team can execute against
3. Three practical methods for developing meaningful company core values, including how to crowdsource them from employees, build them from a leadership exercise, and define them as a solo founder
4. How employee support for organizational change dropped from 74% in 2016 to 43% in 2022 — and what leaders can do right now to reduce resistance and build a more adaptable culture
5. What a P&L audit has to do with strategic planning — and why blocking 2.5 to 3 hours for this exercise could be one of the most valuable things you do this year

Chapter Markers:

• 00:00 — Why Strategic Planning Is Non-Negotiable
• 01:15 — Reason #1: Direction, Focus & the EOS Framework
• 02:30 — How to Set Mission, Vision & Core Values
• 11:52 — The "Rocks" System: Breaking Big Goals Into Quarterly Wins
• 13:20 — Reason #2: Resource Allocation & the P&L Audit
• 15:43 — Reason #3: Adaptability to Change
• 16:29 — Why Employee Resistance to Change Is at an All-Time High
• 19:47 — Leadership Strategies to Build a Change-Ready Culture
• 23:44 — How Salt & Light Can Help You Build Your Strategic Plan

If your business doesn't have a clear plan written down — including who's responsible for what and by when — your people operations are probably feeling that gap too. Take the free HR Audit to see whether your HR systems are aligned to support the direction you're trying to grow: saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit

🔍 Ready to find out what's really going on inside your business? Take the free Salt & Light HR Audit at saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit. In about 10 minutes, you'll get a clear picture of where your people operations stand — and exactly where to focus next. No fluff, no sales pitch. Just clarity.

Resources to keep building:

🎯 Take the free HR Audit — Score your HR systems in 5 minutes and see exactly where your gaps are. 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit

🎙️ Listen to Don't Waste the Chaos — The podcast for small business owners building strong people operations. 👉 kerrimroberts.com/podcast

📖 Get The HR Easy Button — Kerri's book on building HR systems that actually work for small businesses. 👉 https://amzn.to/4cPyrFh

✉️ Subscribe to the newsletter — Weekly HR insights for founders, in your inbox every Monday. 👉 saltandlight.myflodesk.com/saltandlightadvisors

Need fractional HR support or want to talk through a specific challenge? 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/contact

Ready to build foundational HR systems on your own? 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/hrfoundations

Connect with Kerri: 📷 Instagram: instagram.com/kerrimroberts 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kerrimroberts 🐎 Hippo Creek Farm on Instagram: instagram.com/hippocreekfarm

Episode-specific resources mentioned:

• Traction by Gino Wickman — EOS Entrepreneurial Operating System
• The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey & Rebecca R. Merrill
• Everything Is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo
• Donald Miller / StoryBrand — storybrand.com
• Business Made Simple Podcast — businessmadesimple.com
• Salt & Light strategic planning packages ($500–$20,000/month) — saltandlightadvisors.com/contact
• 2024 Workday Employee Experience Trends Report

Full show notes + transcript: kerrimroberts.com/dontwastethechaos/3

Support the show

Are your performance reviews actually doing anything — or are they just a box you check once a year and forget about? If you've ever dreaded review season, skipped it altogether, or wondered why your team still seems disengaged despite your best efforts, this episode is for you. Performance management done right isn't a burden — it's one of the most powerful tools you have for driving results and keeping great people.

In this episode, you'll learn:

1. Why performance reviews are not dead — and what the data actually says about their impact on productivity and employee engagement
2. How aligning individual employee goals to overall company goals produces a 23% increase in performance
3. What effective performance management looks like beyond the annual review — including check-ins, one-on-ones, and performance improvement plans (PIPs)
4. How to build a performance management system from scratch, including job descriptions, compensation studies, and regular feedback loops
5. What confirmation bias is costing leaders who have declared performance reviews unnecessary in their organizations

Chapter Markers:

• 00:00 — Why Performance Reviews Still Matter
• 00:47 — The Data Behind Performance Management
• 02:37 — Confirmation Bias & Why Leaders Ditch Reviews (And Why That's a Mistake)
• 03:58 — Beyond the Annual Review: Ongoing Performance Management
• 05:37 — The Bottom Line Impact: Profitability, Retention & Customer Satisfaction
• 06:31 — Quick Tips to Improve Your Performance Management Right Now

If you've been avoiding performance reviews because you're not sure where to start or your current process feels broken, take the free HR Audit to see whether your people systems are actually set up to support those conversations: saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit

🔍 Ready to find out what's really going on inside your business? Take the free Salt & Light HR Audit at saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit. In about 10 minutes, you'll get a clear picture of where your people operations stand — and exactly where to focus next. No fluff, no sales pitch. Just clarity.

Resources to keep building:

🎯 Take the free HR Audit — Score your HR systems in 5 minutes and see exactly where your gaps are. 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit

🎙️ Listen to Don't Waste the Chaos — The podcast for small business owners building strong people operations. 👉 kerrimroberts.com/podcast

📖 Get The HR Easy Button — Kerri's book on building HR systems that actually work for small businesses. 👉 https://amzn.to/4cPyrFh

✉️ Subscribe to the newsletter — Weekly HR insights for founders, in your inbox every Monday. 👉 saltandlight.myflodesk.com/saltandlightadvisors

Need fractional HR support or want to talk through a specific challenge? 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/contact

Ready to build foundational HR systems on your own? 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/hrfoundations

Connect with Kerri: 📷 Instagram: instagram.com/kerrimroberts 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kerrimroberts 🐎 Hippo Creek Farm on Instagram: instagram.com/hippocreekfarm

Episode-specific resources mentioned:

• Download the Salt & Light performance review template — saltandlightadvisors.com/resources
• Online course on performance management — saltandlightadvisors.com/resources
• Book a one-on-one with Kerri — saltandlightadvisors.com/contact

Full show notes + transcript: kerrimroberts.com/dontwastethechaos/2

Support the show

What does it actually take to build a small business that doesn't fall apart from the inside out? If you've ever felt like running your business is just controlled chaos — HR headaches, people problems, operational fires — you're not alone, and you're exactly who this podcast is for. Welcome to Don't Waste the Chaos, the show that takes the mess of small business ownership and turns it into something you can actually learn from.

In this episode, you'll learn:

1. Who Kerri Roberts is, what she's built across two decades in HR and operations, and why she started this podcast
2. What "Don't Waste the Chaos" means — and why the challenges inside your business are actually your biggest growth opportunities
3. What topics will be covered in future episodes, from HR strategy and people operations to entrepreneurship, sustainable business practices, and real personal stories
4. Why HR and operations aren't just back-office functions — they're the foundation of every small business that lasts
5. What kinds of guests, frameworks, and actionable strategies you can expect every episode

Chapter Markers:

• 00:00 — Welcome & Why This Podcast Exists
• 00:15 — Kerri's Background: From Farm to CHRO to Entrepreneur
• 01:17 — What This Show Is Really About
• 02:07 — Who the Podcast Is For
• 02:54 — What's Coming: Guests, Stories & Strategies
• 03:18 — Subscribe & Join the Journey

If you're just getting started and not sure whether your HR foundation can actually support the business you're trying to build, take the free HR Audit and find out where the gaps are before they become expensive: saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit

🔍 Ready to find out what's really going on inside your business? Take the free Salt & Light HR Audit at saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit. In less than 5 minutes, you'll get a clear picture of where your people operations stand — and exactly where to focus next. No fluff, no sales pitch. Just clarity.

Resources to keep building:

🎯 Take the free HR Audit — Score your HR systems in 5 minutes and see exactly where your gaps are. 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/hraudit

🎙️ Listen to Don't Waste the Chaos — The podcast for small business owners building strong people operations. 👉 kerrimroberts.com/podcast

📖 Get The HR Easy Button — Kerri's book on building HR systems that actually work for small businesses. 👉 https://amzn.to/4cPyrFh

✉️ Subscribe to the newsletter — Weekly HR insights for founders, in your inbox every Monday. 👉 saltandlight.myflodesk.com/saltandlightadvisors

Need fractional HR support or want to talk through a specific challenge? 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/contact

Ready to build foundational HR systems on your own? 👉 saltandlightadvisors.com/hrfoundations

Episode-specific resources mentioned:

• Connect with Kerri: 📷 Instagram: instagram.com/kerrimroberts 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kerrimroberts 🐎 Hippo Creek Farm on Instagram: instagram.com/hippocreekfarm
  Episode-specific resources mentioned:
  • Salt and Light Advisors — saltandlightadvisors.com

Full show notes + transcript: kerrimroberts.com/dontwastethechaos/1

Support the show