PeopleStar Podcast

Growing as an organization also means hiring new players and setting the bases for a structure.

Christine Zapata, Vice President of Human Resources & Talent Development for Starplast USA, talks about how she’s building for growth within her organization from an HR standpoint in terms of management structure, hiring, and recognition. As Starplast seeks to grow, they bring in corporate-level managers, directors, and vice presidents to create a vision and structure that new employees can grab onto. She explains why this will relieve leadership from administrative tasks and relegate new positions with a focus on production, purchasing, and material management in the manufacturing environment. She also explains how she uses a multi-layered behavioral-based interviewing process to find new hires and successfully bring the best new players. Christine also speaks about why recognizing good performance and small wins can empower employees to continue this behavior and inspire their peers.

Listen to this episode and learn about HR’s role in growing an organization!

When companies are successful they have the need to transform to reach new goals. 

Mark Mathia, Chief Experience Officer at Signature Performance, is here to discuss why the company decided to split up its HR department into talent acquisition and talent operations, and how success has made them grow. He describes the functions of each new branch within talent, stating that the post-pandemic labor market has changed significantly. He also enthuses life-changing company culture strategies like listening, coaching, and communications. They work with their teams to take them from good to great, improving their people and the ROI. 

Tune in to this incredible conversation about moving forward with culture when a company is successful! 

Company Culture has transformed in recent years, and employee engagement is at the forefront right now. 

In this episode, Jen Weinberg, Talent and Culture Manager at Conifer Research, talks about how routines, meetings, and positive feedback loops create a consistent, proactive culture at the organization’s different events in its hybrid context. After the pandemic, Jen changed the meetings’ content and format, and its subsequent development required flexibility and adaptability. The team now has monthly in-person and virtual meetings, so everyone is included. She discusses what has proven to be cons and pros for this hybrid model, and she also explains how employee feedback has fed these changes to build a mix of activities and surveys that appeal to everyone’s engagement. Jen also emphasizes the importance of constantly evaluating the routines at work to ensure they achieve the goals they set up for and make the necessary changes if they aren’t. 

Tune in to learn more from Jen’s strategies to create a culture in a hybrid company!

The offboarding process requires extreme thought and care when an organization goes through layoffs.

Steve Lovig, Director of Human Resources for Homestar Financial, says that when it comes to managing layoffs and offboarding, approaching the impacted individuals from a human-empathetic perspective improves the experience. It all starts with ensuring that how the decision is communicated is respectful and keeps the employee’s dignity intact, preferably delivered by their direct manager but supported by the HR team. Steve explains how HR plays a crucial role in achieving this by building a communication strategy and framework in advance, preparing managers to choose the employees to be laid off, and outlining what will be said to them. However, individuals being laid off are still people with needs, frustrations, and desires, so Steve details how an HR department can ease the transition by helping them take the next step in their careers. 

Tune in to this episode to learn how you, as an HR leader, can step into an impacted person’s shows and make the process more easygoing!

Our careers are a central part of our identity, how can we best find fulfillment and joy in them? 

George Sample, Vice President of People & Culture for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, came to share how he impacts the lives of employees working in HR. Coming from a very different background, George found in HR a place where he could grow while helping others. George highlights how important it is for organizations and HR leaders to recognize where their people are to boost their processes with the right tools and resources. During the coaching sessions, George helps people understand why they do what they do, and how to align them with their goals. 

What’s the impact you want to have in the universe and why? Tune in to this episode and see if you can find the answer! 

You all know that what we love the most is listening to the HR stories people have to tell. 

In this episode of the PeopleStar Podcast, we welcome Adam Nierenberg, Human Resources Director at The Singelyn Group, to share his insights about connecting people inside our industry. As HR professionals, we all share one gift: the power to connect with other people. The basis of every work relationship is respect. One does not have to like coworkers outside of the job relationship; it’s the division between personal and professional settings. Another element that Adam highlights is understanding the why, from small items to more significant tasks, and how to give employees an incentive when they reach their performance goals.

Tune in to this incredible episode about managing people in the HR industry! 

People working in HR may come from various life paths, and all that experience makes them great.

Jacara Powers has been working in HR for the last 11 years after coincidentally falling into it, and she’s here to share some of her experiences in our field. Without knowing anything about healthcare rather than what happens in Grey’s Anatomy, Jacara found a place of love and passion at Duke Health. For quite a long time, Jacara bounced jobs until she landed one at Duke and realized she wanted to be in the candidate experience team. She decided to be the welcoming, smiley person she wished she had had at every new job she started!

Tune in to this wonderful conversation about employee engagement and Jacara’s story!

Let’s chat about HR without talking about HR.

Today’s conversation is an unusual but incredible one. HR has many points of view, and today’s guest has a pretty specific one that we need to share around a company’s culture and purpose-driven values. Michael Saterman is a Chief Customer Officer and managing partner working at Saterman Connect. When a company explains its purpose and what success is for them, its employees will come into alignment. Michael goes into the weeds of explaining his work with organizations, the key role HR has today, and how they engage in partnerships.

Tune in to this incredible episode about the role of HR today!

HR has and will continue to evolve through time, and people will always talk about what makes them proud; it’s just a matter of asking.

Today’s guest knows how to use his superpower: assessing people. Neil Katz has incredible experience working with C-Suite executives in different industries and is here to share his two cents on how to know people. Many HR professionals understand the organization and its people, but there are areas where they lack and fail to dive into, like business operations. Neil encourages every HR professional to start a learning journey within their companies. The benefits the whole company gets when HR is involved holistically are exponential.

Tune in to this incredible episode about growth, challenges, and professionalism!

Leadership is a two-sided growth highway: for both the employee and the employer.

Today’s guest found the perfect way to merge HR and healthcare through his positions developing businesses and strategy; we welcome Geoffrey Roche to the PeopleStar Podcast! He escalated the corporate ladder rather quickly and started having older individuals reporting to him. This was a challenge when he confronted a specific person that questioned what he, as his supervisor, could contribute. This experience was Geoffrey’s aha moment, and since then, he started identifying what each individual could provide and bring to the workplace. He always has tried to make people feel valued in their work, creating a positive and assertive environment within the organization.

Listen to this incredible episode about leadership and fomenting people to be their best selves, no matter their age!