Talent Report+THRIVE

Description: This week, we've got an encouraging conversation with Courtney Lamers, Senior Manager of Member Engagement at MRA, as she shares her expertise on interns and gives you 5 core tools to lead your internship program!

Key Takeaways:

1. Don't let your interns be bored! Give them meaningful work. Interns want to learn and grow. 

Resources:

MRA's Intern Leadership Program 

Interns as a Valuable Resource Guide 

MRA Membership 

About MRA 

Let's Connect:

Guest Bio - Courtney Lamers 

Guest LinkedIn Profile - Courtney Lamers 

Host Bio - Sophie Boler 

Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler 

Transcript:

Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.

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Description: In today's episode, we're diving into the complex and ever-changing world of employment law. Understanding the ins and outs of this legal landscape is crucial whether you're an employer or an employee. We'll cover a wide range of topics, from risky labor practices to data breaches and everything in between.

We'll also explore recent developments in employment law, including the impact of remote work on the employment relationship, the effect of The State of the Union Address on employers, and the increasing importance of mental health in the workplace. Join us as we unpack the nuances of employment law and equip you with the knowledge you need to navigate this critical area of business and employment.

Resources:

Employment Law Update 

MRA Membership 

About MRA 

Let's Connect:

Guest Bio - Christine Liu McLaughlin 

Guest Bio - Joel Aziere 

Guest Bio - Scott LeBlanc 

Guest Bio - Scott Reigle 

Guest Bio - Audrey Merkel 

Guest Bio - Craig Papka 

Host Bio - Sophie Boler 

Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler 

Transcript:

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Description: Jim Morgan, Vice President of Workforce Strategies covers the February edition of MRA’s Talent Report. If you aren’t familiar with the monthly Talent Report, Jim Morgan gives an up-to-the-minute review of what is going on in the world of business with an emphasis on talent, which is based on input from CEOs, CFOs, and HR leaders from MRA’s 3,000+ member companies, 1,000 roundtable participants, and subject matter experts!

Key Takeaways:

1. To attract talent, more companies are investing in producing and publicizing videos on their websites to have in their career section

Resources:

Talent Report + Webinar Series  

Talent Report + February 2023 

MRA Membership 

About MRA 

Let's Connect:

Guest Bio - Jim Morgan 

Guest LinkedIn Profile - Jim Morgan 

Host Bio - Sophie Boler 

Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler 

Description: FMLA is a hot topic for every organization. Amy Weyker, MRA HR Advisor, is here as your FMLA expert to make sure you know the regulations, proper notification, and frequently asked questions related to Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Key Takeaways:

1. Federal FMLA provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year.

Resources:

MRA's 24/7 HR Hotline 

FMLA Toolkit 

FMLA Made Simple - Training 

Supervisor and the Law - Training 

Let's Connect:

Guest Bio - Amy Weyker 

Guest LinkedIn Bio - Amy Weyker 

Host Bio - Sophie Boler 

Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler 

Description: Because we spend so much time at work, it is not surprising that we meet romantic partners, and sometimes future spouses, at the office. MRA's Maureen Siwula, HR Advisor, is here to clear up your curiousity and be transparent on everything romantic in the workplace. 

Key Takeaways:

1. In the top 5 places where you meet your significant other: Work! 

Resources:

Romance in the Workplace Guide

Workplace Harassment Toolkit

Preventing Workplace Violence Toolkit

MRA's 24/7 HR Hotline 

Let's Connect:

Guest Bio - Maureen Siwula 

Guest LinkedIn Profile - Maureen Siwula 

Host Bio - Sophie Boler 

Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler 

Transcript:

Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.

00:00:00:02 - 00:00:23:03

Intro

Hello hello, everybody, and welcome to 30 minute THRIVE, your go-to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA - The Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever-changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We’ll be the first to tell you what’s hot and what’s not. I’m your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you’re here. Now it’s time to THRIVE.

00:00:23:14 - 00:00:43:18

Sophie Boler

Hello everybody. Thanks for taking the time to spend part of your day with us here today. I’m excited to introduce our guests and our topic for today. And it’s February, the month of love, so you know what that means. We’re going to be talking about romance in the workplace with Maureen’s Siwula. She’s our HR

00:00:43:19 - 00:01:10:20

Sophie Boler

advisor here at MRA. But part of her role is working on our 27/7 HR Hotline. So Maureen has over 40 years of HR experience and has worked in both nonprofit and profit positions in health care, education, service, philanthropy, and manufacturing. So she comes with a ton of HR knowledge and hopefully some workplace romance knowledge too. So I’m excited to talk to you today, Maureen.

00:01:10:20 - 00:01:22:01

Sophie Boler

We can dive into the first question.

Maureen Siwula

Sure, Sophie.

Sophie Boler

So I’ve heard that work is quite a popular place to find your significant other. Is this true? I’m curious what you’re hearing.

00:01:22:14 - 00:01:44:07

Maureen Siwula

That’s not only what I hear and see in the workplace, Sophie, but it’s also researched. If you institute a study of ways people meet each other, the most popular ways that people see their partners, and in the top five is the workplace. So it’s something that’s kept me pretty busy in my career is dealing with workplace relationships.

00:01:44:08 - 00:01:52:23

Sophie Boler

Absolutely. So I guess I’m curious to know what are some of the challenges of a romantic relationship in the workplace?

00:01:53:09 - 00:02:15:08

Maureen Siwula

The challenges are many. The romance is not the challenge because who doesn’t love a romance story, right? As long as everything works out well. It’s when things go awry, when things get troublesome, when people don’t follow policies or rules, or you hear it through the grapevine or rumor mill, or you see something that’s inappropriate—that’s where things get very challenging.

00:02:15:18 - 00:02:22:12

Maureen Siwula

And employers and coworkers can become rather involved in situations that they really don’t need to be involved in.

00:02:23:01 - 00:02:34:18

Sophie Boler

Just going off of what you just said there, should every business have a policy on workplace romance, or can you really not make any strict rules and relationships?

00:02:35:00 - 00:03:04:20

Maureen Siwula

Based on the kind of company you are, you can have strict or less strict rules, but I do think every business, every organization, no matter what your purpose is, should have a conflict of interest or a business ethics or a relationship policy with guidelines. You don’t have to be as strict as absolutely no dating whatsoever because that might be just really very limiting for people and you might lose people because of that, but you should have parameters around the how to’s and the why to’s

00:03:05:05 - 00:03:23:09

Maureen Siwula

so there isn’t a perception of a conflict. You can understand in the supervisor/employee relationship, if somebody has more power over you in a role and it begins to become a relationship that might look like favoritism or it might be perceived as harassment. So this is where it gets challenging.

00:03:23:22 - 00:03:34:15

Sophie Boler

Absolutely. And just talking about your personal experience, have you ever had to deal with a workplace romance as a manager in your career or heard any calls on the hotline?

00:03:35:01 - 00:03:55:21

Maureen Siwula

Well, absolutely. Why do we call it the “hotline”? Because we get a lot of information that is from employers that they’re dealing with that very challenging. Absolutely. In my 40 years, I’ve seen everything from things go into sexual harassment, discrimination and seeing people happily ever after marry in the workplace. And we like that last story.

Sophie Boler

Oh, absolutely.

00:03:55:21 - 00:04:30:17

Maureen Siwula

But when employers call us, or when I’ve been a leader in an organization or challenged, it generally is because somebody is not telling the truth, not being transparent, not following the policy. Example would be—and this really did happen—is the coworkers of an employee started a rumor rising that, I’ll call her “Sally,” was dating “Bob,” and they saw them in the tavern after work and then they saw them at work in the car and people were talking and gossiping.

00:04:31:04 - 00:04:56:08

Maureen Siwula

And there was a policy about conflicts of interests. And Bob was Sally’s supervisor, so there definitely was a conflict. Then all of a sudden, Sally’s getting the preferred shifts and she’s getting the preferred projects. So what would have been best in that situation is for Bob or Sally to work within management or the human resource department, follow the policy which says you need to disclose any conflicts of interest.

00:04:56:21 - 00:05:07:04

Maureen Siwula

And what should have happened in that case is that if they truly wanted to have this relationship that was healthy and good, Sally would have been transferred to a different department.

00:05:07:12 - 00:05:20:18

Sophie Boler

For sure. And kind of going along with that, let’s say you do have two employees who just began a romantic relationship at work. What are their next steps, or do they go right to HR and tell them? Do they tell their teams about it? What’s your advice?

00:05:21:06 - 00:05:45:07

Maureen Siwula

Well, my advice is one thing. The practicality of what’s really happens sometimes is another. But the best thing to do always is think with intention about this relationship before you engage in it, if you can. You have a job first. You took this job first; meeting somebody at work came second. What’s the most important thing is for you to continue your job in a healthy way.

00:05:45:14 - 00:06:10:19

Maureen Siwula

So understand the policies, understand the rules, and be in this relationship in an honest way to say we can’t go any further with this because the policy says that we have to disclose this to HR. So we need to do that. I can do it alone. You can do it alone. But that’s, really need to do that if we’re going to be visible with our relationship, and then see what advice is given to you.

00:06:11:05 - 00:06:42:12

Maureen Siwula

If it’s a consensual, healthy relationship, it doesn’t conflict with anything in the business ethics, you’re you’re good to go ahead. But if there is a conflict, that power struggle once again, harassment or discrimination, or let’s say you meet a vendor that comes in and replaces cartridges in the printer or something and you, this is another person. Well, that’s also a conflict because the business has a relationship with that vendor for money and you don’t want to perceive as being involved in that situation.

00:06:42:20 - 00:06:48:02

Maureen Siwula

So it’s not just your coworker that this stuff can happen, but it can be people who enter into the business.

00:06:48:10 - 00:06:53:21

Sophie Boler

So would you recommend that couple telling their team?

00:06:54:20 - 00:07:21:10

Maureen Siwula

No. I have, recommend they tell HR or their manager first. Keep it at a high level and I would keep it relatively professional and private until you do get some advisement. Now, if your company doesn’t have a policy, let’s say you’re pretty small, right? Think about the consequences. Make a policy for yourself. Do you want to be seen as a professional individual contributing to work, or do you want to be seen as that person who dates at work?

00:07:21:10 - 00:07:35:19

Maureen Siwula

You want to be seen as a professional. And so even in the absence of policy, check yourself. You know, be sure that you want this relationship, but you also want to keep your job and be very healthy and professional about it.

00:07:36:10 - 00:07:53:01

Sophie Boler

Absolutely. So some research that I’ve seen have shown that office romances are actually frowned upon. So what really should HR be cautious of when one partner’s in a higher position at the company, kind of like you mentioned—Sally and Bob.

00:07:53:01 - 00:08:20:06

Maureen Siwula

Right. Right. Yeah, some companies do frown upon it and maybe even have a zero-fraternization policy that says there’s no dating in the workplace here. And that could be in a situation that is a very confidential product line or something. And employers have the right to make strict policies if it makes sense. You know, you want to be sensible about these things. But most of them have parameters and not the strict policy.

00:08:20:06 - 00:08:31:21

Maureen Siwula

There are some companies that absolutely, they’re too small and they just can’t tolerate what comes as a result of the drama of the workplace relationship. But the parameters are a better way to go.

00:08:32:13 - 00:08:40:08

Sophie Boler

And are there concerns on work performance when two people are in a relationship at work?

00:08:40:09 - 00:09:04:04

Maureen Siwula

Absolutely. If you get too distracted and you’re not contributing and not being that professional contributing individual, maybe you’re starting to show some public display of affection. Maybe, you know, there’s more times than not. And that’s a disciplinary measure whether it’s a good relationship or a bad relationship. If you’re spending too much time on break with one person, you need to be coached and counseled and redirected.

00:09:04:13 - 00:09:10:01

Maureen Siwula

But check yourself—what are you doing to make yourself look good for your employer?

00:09:10:01 - 00:09:17:00

Sophie Boler

So how things really change in the workplace when it comes to workplace romance? How has it all evolved?

00:09:18:08 - 00:09:51:17

Maureen Siwula

It has evolved immensely, like many things in the workplace have, you know. Sophie, when I started working, I didn’t really even have a computer, so and now I have, you know, many of them. So evolution in the workplace is everywhere, particularly on relationships and professionalism. The laws that have evolved around sexual harassment and the education we have had since the #MeToo movement and other things, discrimination makes us much more cautious and careful about how it is that we treat our workplace and our employees.

00:09:52:03 - 00:10:16:01

Maureen Siwula

So it starts with an employer. When you hire someone, you need to teach them the rules of the road and you need to set examples. So years and years ago there weren’t a lot of policies and procedures in place. And I don’t love the policy up for sake of policy, but we all need rules, don’t we? We all need some parameters and education, and it starts with the education at orientation.

00:10:16:01 - 00:10:37:11

Maureen Siwula

What kind of workplace culture are we? Okay, so I have read—I think it’s true—that at Google and Facebook they have a rule about dating. If you ask a person out once and they say, no, you can’t ask them again. So that’s very strict, right? But that’s what their rule is. Others just put it in the conflict of interest.

00:10:37:11 - 00:11:13:04

Maureen Siwula

Relationships need to be free of conflict, and then give some examples such as dating a supervisor, having illicit, not illegal but illicit affair, you know, having a unhealthy relationship. So the policies have evolved to support an employer, to teach their employees and hold them accountable to good behavior. So it’s through policy development, education, and accountability. So employers need not to be afraid or scared to call somebody into the office to coach them if things are not looking good or feeling good.

00:11:13:22 - 00:11:24:15

Maureen Siwula

I don’t know about you, Sophie, but if somebody was rumorizing about me that I was dating somebody at work and I truly was not, I would like to know that people are talking about that.

00:11:24:18 - 00:11:25:01

Sophie Boler

I would too.

00:11:25:01 - 00:11:39:13

Maureen Siwula

Yep. Exactly. And so when we say things that are not true, it hurts people very much so. And so see something, say something is what kind of our culture has become in the workplace, as well as in life.

00:11:39:22 - 00:11:50:07

Sophie Boler

So going along with that, you would recommend that an employer should be completely transparent on their workplace relationship policies right at the start?

00:11:50:13 - 00:12:10:12

Maureen Siwula

Right at the start. Just like when you get the handbook, and it says something like, you know, you can’t sleep on the job or you can’t steal from your employer, you can’t have an unprofessional, conflicted relationship within the workplace. Makes sense to me. I came here for a job, I didn’t come here for a spouse or partner, but that could be a bonus.

00:12:10:17 - 00:12:13:16

Maureen Siwula

Absolutely. If I’m doing it according to the rules.

00:12:14:08 - 00:12:21:22

Sophie Boler

So should that. should the couple have a plan in case it doesn’t work out? Or what happens when it doesn’t work out?

00:12:22:10 - 00:12:42:05

Maureen Siwula

Well, usually they don’t have a plan if it doesn’t work out. People want their relationships to work. But again, check yourself, be professional. What is going to happen if we don’t tell somebody? What is going to happen if all of a sudden we’re fighting at work and before we were dating? Plan B is always, always good to have, right?

00:12:42:13 - 00:13:02:11

Maureen Siwula

Plan A is it all works out, but Plan B, it all works out and we still can work together and be decent to each other. So yes, having a backup plan is the same as when your computer crashes. You want to have a backup for that as well. So if this romance crashes, we can survive it, right? Because we’re professional contributing employees.

00:13:02:21 - 00:13:33:18

Maureen Siwula

We can get through this. However, sometimes intervention needs to occur, and I’ve had interesting calls on the hotline once again about when a relationship goes bad. Example: factory, two coworkers that relationship not power driven, perfectly somewhat healthy right and they’re dating and it’s going along fine, it’s not bothering anybody at work. Well, Monday they come into work and apparently they had a terrible weekend.

00:13:34:02 - 00:13:49:15

Maureen Siwula

They got into a disagreement over the weekend and it continued in the workplace on Monday morning. They punched in next to each other. And before you know it, I’m getting a phone call on the hotline because he took his lunch box and hit her up inside the head. So that’s when it could get really bad.

00:13:50:06 - 00:14:08:11

Sophie Boler

Yeah, well, you mentioned healthy relationships at workplace, and that didn’t seem too healthy.

Maureen Siwula

It wasn’t.

Sophie Boler

What about when it’s not a healthy relationship, and when there may be affairs in the workplace that are seen or talked about—do you have anything to comment on that?

00:14:08:17 - 00:14:54:18

Maureen Siwula

Yes, unfortunately, those are really difficult, sensitive issues. And sometimes it starts with a shoulder to lean on with a coworker or your assistant. And maybe you’re talking about your marital difficulties and all of a sudden you’re in a relationship with this person. Those are not good situations for anyone. And so, once again, if it’s being brought forward not by you or the other employee, we’re going to get into the rumor mill and we’re going to have unnecessary drama, and so in that situation, it’s the manager’s job and the leader’s job to talk to those people about this cannot happen in the workplace.

00:14:55:06 - 00:15:18:00

Maureen Siwula

And many times I would refer the employee assistance program, which is a benefit that most employers have. If they don’t I strongly encourage it because they can seek counsel or help for the situation. The person who is having marital difficulties should be seeking a doctor’s advice or a therapist’s advice, not your coworker. It’s just not the right place or time for those things.

00:15:18:07 - 00:15:30:10

Maureen Siwula

So lots of coaching. Compassion is really important in those situations, but firmness too. I mean, if people don’t want to listen to you and don’t want to stop, the next action is discipline and maybe even separation.

00:15:30:13 - 00:15:33:12

Sophie Boler

Yeah, it’s a tough topic, but it’s real.

00:15:33:12 - 00:15:34:01

Maureen Siwula

Very real.

00:15:34:02 - 00:15:43:12

Sophie Boler

Yeah. So as we do wrap up today, do you have any last thoughts or pieces of advice you can share with our listeners?

00:15:43:12 - 00:16:07:20

Maureen Siwula

Advice number one for the employees: Keep yourself very professional, keep yourself engaged in the work. And if you do meet somebody, do it the right way according to the policies and procedures. Don’t cause drama for yourself or for your employer. It’s not necessary. You can have romance in the workplace, but not always and not under all conditions.

00:16:08:18 - 00:16:35:13

Maureen Siwula

And then for employers: Teach, mentor, guide by example, have solid, clear policies and education for your employees. Don’t make assumptions that they know and understand. Don’t make the assumption that every employee walks into your organization knowing your rules because your rules, look at Google. I would never think I’d have a rule like that in my workplace, but I understand and respect why they do that.

00:16:36:05 - 00:17:00:18

Maureen Siwula

I wouldn’t walk in there assuming that that’s what the rule is. We have to know and understand what our employers expect of us. And always deal with people, you know, in a compassionate, understanding way and fair and reasonable. I think the days of top-down punitive management don’t work, understanding people where they’re at and getting them to a place that they need to be.

00:17:01:06 - 00:17:11:23

Sophie Boler

Those are all great points. So I thank you for being on 30 minute THRIVE today and really sharing your knowledge, expertise, advice on romance in the workplace. Fun topic.

00:17:12:00 - 00:17:15:01

Maureen Siwula

It was! Thank you, Sophie, I enjoyed it.

00:17:15:10 - 00:17:38:05

Sophie Boler

But if you liked our chat or topic today, I encourage you to leave a comment or review. Share this episode and consider joining MRA if you aren’t a member already. We have all of the resources available in the show notes below for you, including Maureen’s email and LinkedIn profile. So if you’d like to chat with her today or connect with her, those are also available to you in the show notes.

00:17:38:16 - 00:17:42:21

Sophie Boler

Otherwise, thank you so much for tuning in today and we will see you next week.

00:17:43:12 - 00:17:44:02

Maureen Siwula

Thank you.

00:17:44:10 - 00:18:06:15

Outro

And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes, where you can sign up to connect for more podcast updates. Check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA’s 30 minute THRIVE so you don’t miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you next Wednesday to carry on the HR conversation.’’’

Description: As an HR professional, you have a lot of roles and responsibilities. You also have many daily activities that take valuable time away from focusing on the larger and more impactful strategic planning and HR work. Jillian Jordan, MRA HR Business Partner, is here to tell you the biggest benefits of HRBPs to your company.

Key Takeaways:

1. HRBPs, as it says in the title, really are designed to be a partner with the member organization

Resources:

Learn more about MRA's HRBPs! 

Let's Connect:

Guest Bio - Jillian Jordan 

Guest LinkedIn Profile - Jillian Jordan 

Host Bio - Sophie Boler 

Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler 

Transcript:

Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.

00:00:00:02 - 00:00:23:03

Intro

Hello hello, everybody, and welcome to 30 minute THRIVE, your go-to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA - The Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever-changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We’ll be the first to tell you what’s hot and what’s not. I’m your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you’re here. Now it’s time to THRIVE.

00:00:26:18 - 00:00:57:05

Sophie Boler

Hello everyone, and welcome to this episode of 30 Minute Thrive. We're excited you're here with us and I'm excited to introduce our guest for today, Jillian Jordan. She's a human resource business partner at MRA and is about celebrate her one-year anniversary. So congratulations on that very much. But Jillian has had 17 years of leadership and HR experience under her belt, and I just want to mention some of the different areas and industries that you've worked in.

00:00:57:12 - 00:01:10:12

Sophie Boler

It's been agriculture, food manufacturing, aerospace engineering, logistics, construction, retail, auto sales and the service industry. So it seems like you've done just about anything and everything.

00:01:10:22 - 00:01:11:17

Jillian Jordan

A lot of different things.

00:01:12:20 - 00:01:32:23

Sophie Boler

But today I'm really interested in learning more about your current position as an HRBP or human resource business partner here at MRA. So I’ll just dive into that right away. So many companies are enhancing their HR department by hiring an HR business partner. What exactly is an HRBP?

00:01:34:10 - 00:02:04:14

Jillian Jordan

As simple definition of that would be just an HR business partner that comes in and partners with an organization to help them with their HR Business needs, for instance. It's pretty straightforward in the title, but if you want to expand that into what would like an MRA business partner, you’re really looking at a much broader range of solutions that we can provide because you've got not just that person that's coming in and helping with business solutions and HR

00:02:04:14 - 00:02:15:01

Jillian Jordan

Solutions, but you have the support of the 200 plus professionals that we have at MRA supporting. So I think that that's just such a cool part of what MRA does and can provide.

00:02:16:12 - 00:02:16:18

Sophie Boler

For.

00:02:17:03 - 00:02:18:09

Jillian Jordan

Our business partner.

00:02:18:11 - 00:02:23:18

Sophie Boler

For sure. So who does an HR business partner primarily work with?

00:02:25:08 - 00:02:51:12

Jillian Jordan

So I guess if your question is about like the size of the company,  really any size, you know, small, midsize, large, you're going to be looking at different solutions depending on the size and structure. If you're looking at if the question is implying like what kind of people do we work with, it could be HR Managers, it could be with the director level, could be management level, could be at the tactical administrative.

00:02:52:12 - 00:03:05:08

Jillian Jordan

You know, transactional level. So we really pride ourselves on being flexible to be able to work with any level of individual that's in the company and really any kind of size company.

00:03:05:08 - 00:03:13:15

Sophie Boler

Oh yeah, that's great to know that you have that flexibility of who you work with. Yes. So what does success really look like to an HRBP?

00:03:15:03 - 00:03:44:06

Jillian Jordan

I think that's such a good question to ask, because every company really is different. I think that success for us means the success of our member, and that's something that is something I really enjoy being able to go in and talk to our members, understand what is their mission, vision value, and really tailor what we provide to what their needs are, and asking that question, What does success look like for you?

00:03:44:06 - 00:04:00:23

Jillian Jordan

Is it three months thing? You know me out of here and you have this project done or is it the support for long term smaller amount of hours supporting that? So I think it really is something different for every company.

00:04:00:23 - 00:04:17:20

Sophie Boler

And I like how you worded that is like your success is the success of the company. Yeah. So you talked about also working with small companies, midsize companies and large companies. So how do you really determine how many HR HRBPs are needed for a member?

00:04:18:11 - 00:04:42:21

Jillian Jordan

What we do is utilize our member relations team along with the HR HRBP manager and we want to assess the business needs to find the right fit for the organization. So whether it's like culture, whether it's the specific skills that are needed for that project or as a project. But, I mean, it could be, it could be a number of things that we're doing.

00:04:43:06 - 00:05:01:15

Jillian Jordan

So I think we really work as a team to make sure that the right person is is out into the into the right place. So the HR Business partner also feels successful, right, that they are being able to successfully put in, you know, hey, this is my best work and I’m really feeling like I’m making an impact to this member.

00:05:01:23 - 00:05:20:05

Jillian Jordan

So I think that that's just a big part of that. And I know my manager does a really good job of recognizing the things that I like to do. And so I excel in it, making sure that I know the places I go are a good fit for my skill set and my personality and those kind of things, Definitely.

00:05:20:18 - 00:05:33:12

Sophie Boler

So we're really learning more about you and your specific responsibilities, but I'm also interested to know about the team of HRBPs you work with every day. So can you really describe the team you're on?

00:05:34:18 - 00:06:06:20

Jillian Jordan

Yes, I love talking about my team. Everyone is so friendly. I've really enjoyed I mean, you said I've been here almost a year now. I'm getting almost to a year. And I do feel like everyone has really welcomed me. I feel like everyone is really, really friendly. And when you think about, you know, when we meet regularly, I feel like we have such a diverse group of individuals who have experience from different backgrounds, different industries, and I just love learning from them.

00:06:07:08 - 00:06:32:17

Jillian Jordan

I don't feel like we have that like competitive nature. I don't think. I guess I just feel like everyone's so supportive of my success and invested in, you know, how are you doing? Like what classes are you taking? Oh, yeah, I took that OD last year. Last year? That was really good. Did you like it? You know, I think that people are just genuinely interested in your growth as a professional.

00:06:32:17 - 00:06:55:17

Jillian Jordan

The things that you're interested in here at MRA. So I feel just so fortunate to be able to have been surrounded by people who are just so, so friendly, so nice, and are there to learn from and grow from. We just don't have that, you know? It's just nice to know that you have people that have your back.

00:06:56:00 - 00:07:14:23

Jillian Jordan

You have people that, oh, I'm going to call this person because I know they're really good at this, or I'm going to call my BFF up and say, Hey, how did you do this? Or what would you suggest for that? There's no shame in not knowing. the answer, right? Is we're all just here to learn and grow from each other and to be better professionals.

00:07:15:10 - 00:07:18:07

Sophie Boler

That's great that everyone's truly a team player.

00:07:18:07 - 00:07:19:12

Jillian Jordan

Yeah, I do feel like that.

00:07:19:18 - 00:07:27:18

Sophie Boler

So just kind of diving deeper into the life of an HRBP What initiatives does a HR BP take on?

00:07:27:22 - 00:07:28:08

Jillian Jordan

Yeah, I.

00:07:28:08 - 00:07:28:23

Sophie Boler

Guess the list.

00:07:28:23 - 00:08:07:04

Jillian Jordan

Is busy. All of are, Yeah. So try not to fall asleep while I go through this. But I mean, it's really so many things. It could be like payroll benefits, compliance, recordkeeping, employee relations, process improvement, project management, working on strategic initiative, change management, some of our most frequently requested services, though I would say our working out handbooks, providing an extra set of hands-on reviewing job descriptions, compensation like the comp and class studies and performance management, assisting with HR

00:08:07:14 - 00:08:34:13

Jillian Jordan

Optimization and performing investigations, which I think is such a great service that we provide being able to take that third party perspective and really interview people and provide data and fast so that, you know, our members can look at that information and, you know, make good decisions about their, their practices for sure.

00:08:34:13 - 00:08:34:19

Sophie Boler

Yeah.

00:08:35:22 - 00:09:01:22

Jillian Jordan

So I think a part of that so those are kind of like a list of what we do. But essentially what we want to do is, you know, I’ve said this a little bit already, but we really want to get to know the business, right? So we want to understand what matters to you. We want to understand how can we really minimize the transactional tasks that we can focus on partnering with the business and and HR

00:09:01:22 - 00:09:14:12

Sophie Boler

Strategic needs. So you just mentioned transactional and strategic. Can you explain a little bit the difference between transactional versus more tactical and strategic? Yeah.

00:09:14:12 - 00:09:54:08

Jillian Jordan

So your transactional items are going to be those day-to-day task oriented, somewhat administrative tasks. And then when you look at the strategic initiatives, you're really taking your strategic plan and looking at what are all the tactical things you need to make that happen. And so when we say we're minimizing the transactional, it means we're taking a look at your process, seeing where you could be trimming it down so that you are spending less time and on those transactional items and that you are really focusing on your strategic needs.

00:09:54:08 - 00:10:15:05

Jillian Jordan

And I think that there's a lot of business partners HR professionals out there who are looking at, you know, how am I going to get to these strategic needs? And if I am so bogged down by administrative tasks and I would say, you know, in my many years of working in HR there’s never been a time where you may wish that we had more administrative tasks to do.

00:10:15:05 - 00:10:27:05

Jillian Jordan

And, you know, you're always thinking about how can I further the department, how can I really get to these other very strategic and tactical things without spending so much time on the transactional?

00:10:28:09 - 00:10:36:04

Sophie Boler

So how do an HRBPs responsibilities really differ from other HR roles in an organization.

00:10:36:09 - 00:11:09:12

Jillian Jordan

I'm going to twist your question a little bit and just kind of talk about kind of the roles that just an example. So a couple of examples of what we could be doing. So we could be working with like a smaller organization and we have a management individual who is performing some HR tasks but really wearing a lot of hats and feeling like they don't have, you know, they don't always have the right amount of time to spend on HR because these are professionals now is kind of up in the air.

00:11:09:12 - 00:11:29:14

Jillian Jordan

What am I going to be doing? I have this plan, I have these things that I have to get done. But you may have an investigation come up. You may have a disciplinary action come up. And it is really great to be able to assist members like that and allow us to be flexible and I say flexible a lot because we really are meant to be able to support them in whatever their needs are.

00:11:29:14 - 00:11:53:20

Jillian Jordan

So that's one example. You know, the small, small company with somebody wearing a lot of hats, it could be like a mid-sized company where maybe the team needs more support. Right? They've had these lists of projects that they've been wanting to do for a really long time. And they’ve just never seemed to get to them because your day-to-day things, the tasks, they really take up the majority of the time.

00:11:54:05 - 00:12:15:00

Jillian Jordan

And we want to make sure that we're supporting the work life balance initiatives that our members have right to support our H.R. teams, the internal HR. teams that they have. So I think that is more a little bit of a generic answer of like kind of the areas that you can see us coming into and helping just as like a couple of good examples.

00:12:15:20 - 00:12:29:16

Sophie Boler

So I know you've mentioned just throw out the podcast the responsibilities of an HRBP, but I'm curious to know some of your specific projects that you have worked on or are currently working on for companies since you joined MRA.

00:12:30:03 - 00:13:11:21

Jillian Jordan

Yeah. One project that really stands out that's been really fun is working on a recruiting project. So actually we, you know, we come in and we try to minimize the task of the transactional. And really what I've been able to do is work with the team. So it's definitely not me just doing all the work. It's a testament to the great teams that I work with, the great members that I work with, and we're able to look at the process, see where we can trim things down, specifically, maybe add some definition for some steps in the process, because there may have been, you know, we did this for years, but do we know why.

00:13:11:21 - 00:13:45:07

Jillian Jordan

You know, I always ask, why are we doing this? Does this add value to the process? Right. So it can lead to challenging conversations, maybe not challenging conversations, but really honest conversations about like, why do we do this and what can we do better? And I've been able to see that process evolve and just how much pride the team has in them believing in this process and understanding why we do each thing that we do and in order to really even sell themselves as an HR

00:13:45:07 - 00:14:11:04

Jillian Jordan

Unit to the rest of the organization, because that's essentially who we're servicing, right, is we're servicing our employees. We are helping them achieve their goals. So when I look at the recruiting project that I've been on that it's really exciting to see how far that things have come and just how much more excited people are about the process knowing why we do things.

00:14:11:05 - 00:14:13:13

Sophie Boler

So yeah, it's got to be a rewarding job.

00:14:13:13 - 00:14:22:10

Jillian Jordan

Yeah. And understand the value is that a lot. But I really want people to understand why are we doing things? And I think that's a huge part of it.

00:14:22:10 - 00:14:29:00

Sophie Boler

Yeah, we just talked about having to have some challenging conversations sometimes. Are honest ones.

00:14:29:00 - 00:14:29:09

Jillian Jordan

Yeah.

00:14:29:12 - 00:14:35:06

Sophie Boler

So what are some of the challenges that you may face as an HRBP?

00:14:35:06 - 00:15:11:19

Jillian Jordan

I think that in general HR. Is really challenging. Anyone who's been in HR or even just people that I’ve worked with said I would never want to do your job. It's so challenging. I love it. And i think that what we do specifically at MRA is the biggest challenge of being an MRA business partner would be exactly what we do is we have many different industries, many different size companies, many different personality types that we're working with many different levels of people that we work within the organization.

00:15:12:04 - 00:15:32:16

Jillian Jordan

But I think that's why we excel at that, because we recognize that challenge, we prepare for that, and we have designed our business model to be successful at that. So it is one of the most challenging parts. But I think when you know what you're up against in any challenge of HR. I would say that is a really challenging situation.

00:15:33:03 - 00:15:43:09

Jillian Jordan

But we're prepared for it, right? We know what we need to do and we can come at that challenge with confidence and just know that we did the right thing.

00:15:43:09 - 00:15:45:15

Sophie Boler

You're ready for the challenge. You bring it high.

00:15:47:01 - 00:15:47:06

Jillian Jordan

Well.

00:15:48:07 - 00:15:53:07

Sophie Boler

Kind of flipping that question, what is your favorite part as an HRBP?

00:15:53:07 - 00:16:23:08

Jillian Jordan

My favorite part is definitely the members. I really love working with the members, getting to know each individual that works for the member. I really have been very fortunate to have been welcomed onto these teams. They share their successes. They share snacks, they share lots of great things that we experience. Being on site with members is just understanding their mission and their value.

00:16:23:08 - 00:16:44:21

Jillian Jordan

And I say that a lot because I've been so inspired by the members that I work with. I mean, there's been times where I've been like, this is so like almost in tears, just like what we do for the communities. And I think that's something that we do well as an HR business partner team is recognizing we're part of the communities.

00:16:44:21 - 00:16:55:09

Jillian Jordan

We are not just this business, we are these many businesses that we work with and the impact that we have on the community is like, I feel like it's immeasurable.

00:16:56:02 - 00:16:59:11

Sophie Boler

And you have a very dedicated team and you are very dedicated and.

00:17:00:14 - 00:17:02:02

Jillian Jordan

Try to be.

00:17:02:02 - 00:17:07:21

Sophie Boler

But just before we wrap up here, do you have any last thoughts to share with our listeners today?

00:17:09:07 - 00:17:36:19

Jillian Jordan

I think I kind of covered all of my points. I definitely appreciate you allowing me to come and talk about this role. I think me personally, I have been I've actually worked at companies where I was a member, right? And I use the services, learning and development and the RBI trying to think some of the other areas that I've utilized, so many areas that have helped me, the hotline, etc.

00:17:37:10 - 00:17:58:12

Jillian Jordan

And I guess the one thing I hope that HR. Business professionals take from this is that, you know, I’ve been where you're at and I sometimes I’ve asked for help, and it's been the best thing that I’ve done. Sometimes I haven't. And so if I can encourage anybody else who maybe is struggling with, you know, just don't have time for this project or.

00:17:58:23 - 00:18:24:18

Jillian Jordan

Yeah, this process just really, really tough. And I just don't have the scope or the ability to understand where I can fix this. Please call us. Please let us know how we can help because I just I that's the goal is for us to help you with your business needs. And I hate for other people to be out there just trudging through it and suffering through just too much workload or things that you're just not that confident in

00:18:24:18 - 00:18:26:11

Jillian Jordan

And we can help with that.

00:18:26:11 - 00:18:52:09

Sophie Boler

Oh, yeah. Hopefully if you needed a little push to ask for help today was your was helpful. But thank you so much for joining us today and sharing a little bit about what you do and some great benefits of HR BPs. But to our listeners, if you liked our chat today and liked the topic, make sure you like the episode, share the episode, leave a comment or review and consider joining MRA as a member.

00:18:52:09 - 00:19:16:12

Sophie Boler

If you aren't a member already, we’ve got all the resources you need in the show notes below. And we have ’Jillian’s email and her LinkedIn profile in the show notes. So if you want to get in touch with her or have a chat or ask her more HRBP questions, I'm sure she'd love to answer those. Otherwise, thank you for tuning in today and thanks Jillian, for your expertise and we will see you all next week.

00:19:16:17 - 00:19:39:00

Outro

And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes, where you can sign up to connect for more podcast updates. Check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA’s 30 minute THRIVE so you don’t miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you next Wednesday to carry on the HR conversation.

Description: MRA’s Talent Report is an up-to-the-minute review of what is going on in the world of business with an emphasis on talent. This month, MRA’s Jim Morgan, VP of Workforce Strategies, and Alicia Kiser, VP of HR of member company M3 Insurance, cover recruiting & retention innovation, talent thinking, HR creativity, and more.

Key Takeaways:

1. Work/life balance: Are your people “blenders” – those preferring a work-life blend, or “splitters” – those who prefer work and life to be separated entirely?

Resources:

Become an MRA Member!

Talent Report + Webinar Series 

Let's Connect:

Guest Bio - Alicia Kiser

Guest LinkedIn Profile - Alicia Kiser 

Guest Bio - Jim Morgan 

Guest LinkedIn Profile - Jim Morgan 

Host Bio - Sophie Boler 

Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler 

Transcript:

Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.

00:00:00:02 - 00:00:23:03

Intro

Hello hello, everybody, and welcome to 30 minute THRIVE, your go-to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA - The Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever-changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We’ll be the first to tell you what’s hot and what’s not. I’m your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you’re here. Now it’s time to THRIVE.

00:00:23:14 - 00:00:50:16

Sophie Boler

Hello everybody. Thanks for taking the time to spend part of your day with us. I’m excited to introduce our topic and our two guests for today. We’re going to be covering how to leverage HR for critical business decisions. So we’ll be talking about the current best practices for HR and building strategy. So good thing I have two experts here with me today to really debrief this topic.

00:00:50:23 - 00:01:19:06

Sophie Boler

And that is Alicia Kiser, vice president of human resources at member company M3 Insurance, and MRA’s Jim Morgan, vice president of workforce strategies. So Jim and Alicia really make a strong duo for today’s episode, really based on their expertise and HR background. Alicia  started at M3 insurance as an HR business partner back in 2011 and has climbed the ladder to VP of HR, where she is now.

00:01:19:06 - 00:01:48:05

Sophie Boler

And Jim Morgan has an extensive background in business development, HR strategic planning, and he’s a keynote speaker on those topics, most recently being on his monthly Talent Report+ webinar. So he’ll be sharing some ideas from that as well. So I’m excited to talk to you two today. Thanks for being on the show. I want to really kick off our conversation today with what’s happening in the recruiting and retention world.

00:01:48:18 - 00:01:53:05

Sophie Boler

So, Jim, do you want to start us off with what innovations you’re seeing here?

00:01:53:18 - 00:02:20:14

Jim Morgan

Sure. And I’ll back it up just a little bit with the Talent Report, because this was something that we started putting together for our 3,000 member companies. One of the values of that and one of the things we can bring back to our members is having the chance to steal some best practices from different organizations. And M3 being one of those leaders who shares what they’re doing and some of the ways they’re getting around some things to be more effective than the ways they used to do it.

00:02:21:02 - 00:02:44:07

Jim Morgan

So we really are, we put the Talent Report webinar together to talk about what’s timely, what’s happening now, what are the best practices. And so the thoughts and ideas that I’m going to share with you are, you know, this is what we’re hearing right now, this is what some of the companies are doing. And Alicia will be able to dig into that a little bit deeper and talk specifically from a company’s point of view, some of the things that that they’re doing.

00:02:44:07 - 00:03:02:13

Jim Morgan

So in the last month, here’s a couple of things that we heard in the whole recruiting and retention area. One of the most fascinating things that I found was there was a survey done by Gallup and they were looking at how people manage work-life balance. And they found they really fell into two groups of people that they called splitters and blenders.

00:03:02:22 - 00:03:19:17

Jim Morgan

And the splitters were the people that were able to just divide their world, like, “Look, I’m working from 8 until 5 and then I get home and that’s it. Now I’m on life balance time,” and others that were more blenders that were like, look, I’m working and I’m, you know, and I’m doing my life at the same time.

00:03:20:03 - 00:03:47:09

Jim Morgan

And what was interesting is some of it fell by industry and some of it fell by job type. But the one that was the most interesting to me is when you got into people that were managers of people, it was almost a 50/50 split between blenders and splitters, which I found interesting. But the point in the whole thing was you need to know whether your people are blenders or splitters when you’re talking about benefits. You might be giving more hours and that’s not what somebody wants.

00:03:47:09 – 00:04:13:06

Jim Morgan

Or you might say, “You can leave a little bit early” and they’re like, “I don’t leave early. I never leave. I’m always working,” and truly understanding how your people are managing. That whole work-life balance really made a difference. The second one that we learned a little bit about was just everybody’s focused on learning. And I know Alicia can talk about this and the learning development they do at M3, but companies are really now starting to say, Look, we have to have somebody in charge of this.

00:04:13:06 - 00:04:55:17

Jim Morgan

We can’t accidentally do our learning and development here. It’s got to be more conscientious. It’s got to be more specific, and especially with a lot of the younger workers, that career path and development is really a big deal for them. And the last one that we spent some time on was when I called “catch ’em young.” And I think manufacturers have done this for a long time, going back to when the skill sets of skilled technology people, skilled tradespeople, carpentry, masonry, IT, things like that, they weren’t finding the people they needed, that they realized that they had to really go back, almost into the middle schools, and start saying, these are jobs that are available.

00:04:55:17 - 00:05:30:07

Jim Morgan

So don’t rule them out because people have said certain things. And then in high school, getting on the advisory councils for the tech department and making sure people know and at the tech colleges and universities and there we’ve seen just a huge growth in co-ops, youth apprenticeships and internships that companies are starting to realize that we gotta be the first ones to get in there and find these kids and university students and young adults, and not wait until they’re 18, 22, 23, because by then everybody’s looking for them.

00:05:30:15 - 00:05:42:10

Jim Morgan

So just the strategies that companies are starting to put into place now that say this talent supply chain starts much earlier than the age of 20, and we’ve got to figure out how to get in there a little bit quicker.

00:05:42:10 - 00:05:58:23

Sophie Boler

Absolutely. It’s kind of crazy to think that companies are targeting as young as middle school. It just sounds crazy, but that’s what’s happening. Alicia, Jim mentioned about work-life balance, so I’m curious to know what M3 is doing around work-life balance for your employees.

00:06:00:08 - 00:06:22:07

Alicia Kiser

Yeah, absolutely. But first of all, Jim, I need you to send me that report on blenders and splitters. That’s fascinating. I’m definitely not a blender. I’m a splitter. If you’re a  splitter and you have a team of blenders, I could certainly see how that would bring about some conflict. I think that’s really fascinating and a great topic for us to plug into.

00:06:22:07 - 00:06:46:12

Alicia Kiser

So kind of in that vein, you know, work-life balance—so we, M3 has chosen to have a hybrid approach to where people work. So what that means for us is that we, and we actually kind of branded this, right, so we could help people understand it with a nice flashy one-pager and did some all-company meetings about it.

00:06:46:12 - 00:07:17:03

Alicia Kiser

But what that means to us, what hybrid means to us, is that the office is primary and from there we just ask M3ers to work with their team to figure out when and how often they’re in the office versus not in the office. And to us not in the office could mean working from home, but for us, because we are, really revolve around our clients that could also be in the marketplace meeting with prospects and clients in the marketplace.

00:07:17:03 - 00:07:39:17

Alicia Kiser

And so and for us, it’s really not about butts in seats. I like to talk about that because I think there’s a difference in an organization’s posture, if you’re talking about butts in seats versus being in the office for the right reasons. And we went so far as to define here are some specific instances where we feel like being in the office is a must.

00:07:39:22 - 00:08:15:18

Alicia Kiser

So when you’re onboarding a new person to your team, when you’re having performance issues or communications within your team, you know, during, we are we’re in the insurance industry. And so there are certain times of the year where being on the same page and collaborating and connecting is extremely important, maybe more than others. And there are many, many others, but we want to define what are those kind of moments that matter, where being together, physically together is super advantageous and really help

00:08:16:17 - 00:08:18:10

Alicia Kiser

M3 stand apart from the rest.

00:08:18:18 - 00:08:36:02

Sophie Boler

So I mean, you just mentioned being a hybrid workforce, which is great. So can you dive in a little bit deeper on how you’re really handling that to ensure that all your employees, your customers, and M3’s needs are being met?

00:08:36:02 - 00:09:10:06

Alicia Kiser

Yeah. So: trust. We are not tracking fob swipes or we don’t have someone walking around taking attendance every day. We work really hard in whatever we roll out not to manage to the exception. I think it’s easy to think about, well, what about, you know, all these people that are going to take advantage of us and, you know, do 2-hour lunches in the middle of the day or do their laundry while they’re working from home, and we try to really kind of center around let’s not manage to the exception.

00:09:10:23 - 00:09:44:10

Alicia Kiser

Let’s focus on the majority and deal with the exception as it comes up. And so that’s our philosophy around the hybrid work, the hybrid workforce, but just generally most things  at M3. And I think that that bodes well for us from a recruitment and retention perspective. The hybrid, as we’ve been recruiting, we’ve had a lot of success in bringing people onto our team whose companies have said, Hey, we aren’t going to come into the office until we don’t know when.

00:09:44:10 - 00:10:08:23

Alicia Kiser

We’ve also had a lot of success in hiring and bringing people onto the team whose companies have said, like, Hey, we want you to be in the office, butts in seats, every day because of our approach. And I would say as the weeks and the months go on, I am seeing more and more people in the office because I think the kind of excitement or novelty around working from home is wearing off a little bit.

00:10:09:12 - 00:10:16:22

Alicia Kiser

But just to have the option and feel like you have the freedom to make a choice, of course, in working with your team, I think goes a long way.

00:10:17:12 - 00:10:39:18

Sophie Boler

Oh, absolutely. And I like how you brought up the whole trust aspect because that is so important. I mean, some employees, like we’ve seen, Jim, they like to work at 9:00, 10:00 at night, and you almost just have to put that trust into them, like they’re getting their work done when they feel most productive. And that might mean working at different times depending on the employee.

00:10:40:04 - 00:10:41:12

Alicia Kiser

So the blenders, right, Jim?

00:10:41:12 - 00:10:47:01

Jim Morgan

Yeah, the I get at 3:00 in the morning are the ones I don’t respond to.

00:10:47:12 - 00:10:50:08

Alicia Kiser

Yeah. So you’re, you’re not a blender then.

00:10:50:08 - 00:10:53:06

Jim Morgan

I think I am just not between 1 in the morning and 5.

00:10:55:01 – 00:10:55:22

Alicia Kiser

There are boundaries.

00:10:56:08 – 00:11:09:18

Sophie Boler

I would say I’m a blender, but. Well, moving on, another topic that I’d really like to discuss is what’s going on in the talent world. So, Jim, do you want to talk a little bit about what you’ve been seeing here?

00:11:09:18 – 00:11:39:23

Jim Morgan

Yeah, we had three things that we discussed in the Talent Report. The first one was the imposter syndrome, and that was the title that’s been given to the 2 years of COVID for employees and college students. And really what it relates to is if you think about those students that lost their junior and senior year in college and what happened in those 2 years, or you think about the people who came out right before the pandemic and their first 2 years of work

00:11:40:09 – 00:11:58:03

Jim Morgan

were right in the middle of COVID, that they missed out on a whole bunch of experiences. You know, for the kids in college, that’s where you sometimes get your internships. You get to go work for people. You didn’t have those opportunities. For those that had started work, you know, how do you figure out the culture? How do you figure out who your mentors are?

00:11:58:04 – 00:12:19:16

Jim Morgan

Who do you get to go talk to when you’ve got questions? Those things got disrupted and companies are now starting to realize things got missed during those couple of years and we may have to back up a little bit and say, you know what, We didn’t really get a chance to onboard them the way we like to onboard them or set things up the way we like to because we just couldn’t because of the circumstances.

00:12:20:00 – 00:12:42:15

Jim Morgan

And so that’s been an emphasis for some companies now to say what got missed out on and what blanks do we have to fill in now. Somewhat related to that was one that I called “Got Onboarding?” kind of after the “Got Milk?” campaign. But the whole onboarding process as companies now are moving from the, just the endless search for new employees and recruiting—

00:12:42:16 - 00:13:05:10

Jim Morgan

We got to find 10 more and then 10 more and then 10 more—stopping now and saying, well, that’s part of it. But once we get ’em, we got to figure out how to keep ’em. And that first week, month, 6 months of the job is just so critical. And so just like in the learning and development area, companies are now looking at onboarding and saying, we really need somebody to look at this strategically.

00:13:05:10 - 00:13:26:12

Jim Morgan

Not we got to check these seven boxes, but at the end of it, are people feeling welcome? Do they have a feel for the company and the culture? Is this a place they want to come back to? And I was in M3e just a week ago, and Sean LaBorde, the president, was saying, “You know, we’re trying to be a magnet for people,” which I found really interesting, that we want to have spaces

00:13:26:12 - 00:13:56:03

Jim Morgan

they want to come to and they want to have conversations they want to be a part of, and then they’ll want to be here. And I think that’s another part of this whole onboarding and building that culture is creating a spot that’s inviting and that that’s a place that I do want to be. And then lastly, a discussion on talent

 mobility and again, trying to hang on to people and looking at it from, you know, some companies are very passive and they say, Wow, Sophie’s a great employee.

00:13:56:09 - 00:14:12:11

Jim Morgan

We should figure out how to make her happy and keep her. And they just look at Sophie and say, Wow, we can give her an opportunity here or have her do this and have her do that. And it’s a great plan for you to hopefully help you understand your mobility within the organization and your chance to rise in it.

00:14:12:21 - 00:14:31:22

Jim Morgan

But it’s not really active for the organization. It’s not the organization saying, well, not just Sophie, let’s find all of our high performers. Let’s find everybody and see how do we move them, how do we give them different opportunities, whether it’s lateral or up and down. And so then we get into, okay, let’s be more active about it.

00:14:31:22 - 00:14:53:14

Jim Morgan

Let’s put a plan in place that gives people opportunities to figure out what they want to do. And then leading up to ultimately, how do we make this strategic? How is this mobility part of our succession planning of making sure we’ve always got the next person up so they can get their job done? And talking with companies about where are you with that.

00:14:53:14 - 00:15:13:07

Jim Morgan

Because traditionally or historically, I think it’s been more of a, well we find a person, let’s make sure we hang on to them versus an organization-wide opportunity to say strategically, we’ve got to look at people and figure out how can we keep moving them up in over 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and no longer have it be:

00:15:13:13 – 00:15:36:13

Jim Morgan

“Well, Alicia, if you stay here for 27 years, here’s the opportunity for you to maybe move up a little bit”. So a lot of work on talent, mobility and helping both the employee find their niche and what’s going on and the employer making sure that they’re not only have the butt in the seat, but that they’ve got the right people in the right seats so they can be as effective as they possibly can be.

00:15:37:11 – 00:15:48:11

Sophie Boler

I love that example, Jim. And just talking about talent mobility, Alicia, is that really a thing at M3? And if it is, what have you really implemented around this?

00:15:49:19 - 00:16:16:01

Alicia Kiser

Yeah, so I’m a huge fan of this topic. I actually started my career at a very, very large organization in a role, like a leadership development type program where every 18 months we rotated from one kind of department or discipline to the next, like think operations, HR,, logistics, customer service and while working for a very, very large organization wasn’t my cup of tea—

00:16:16:07 - 00:16:51:00

Alicia Kiser

I’m certainly happier at a midsized organization—I learned a lot. I would never take that experience back and, you know, the reason why is because I think that it really helps you understand, it helps you build your business acumen. It helps you learn about each of the functions of an organization in that particular industry and in that particular organization and the different levers that can be pulled to produce certain outcomes within that organization or that industry.

00:16:51:09 - 00:17:26:16

Alicia Kiser

And without getting the perspective from lots of different disciplines, it’s not as easy to do that. And I also think it helps you appreciate what your team, what your peers and coworkers are doing every day. And I think it allows you to have more empathy but just work better together on the softer side of things. And so specific to M3, I would say we are kind of in the early stages of this or working to find more opportunities to infuse talent, mobility, into our development efforts and into our roles.

00:17:27:00 - 00:18:07:17

Alicia Kiser

Right now we are absolutely doing it with our internship program, kind of our sales accelerator and sales development program. And, you know, per the reasons that I cited and why I think it’s so valuable, we’re certainly seeing, you know, those, that work pay off in those particular roles. The other thing that we’ve done to your comment, Jim, about college students who have lost their junior and senior years potentially entering the workforce: So in our internship program, I mean, we rotate and give them exposure to the different parts of M3.

00:18:07:17 - 00:18:32:03

Alicia Kiser

But we also started to partner with our insurance companies that we partner with. M3 is a broker. So we work with hundreds of different insurance companies and you know, those who have offices where we have offices, we’ve done intern swaps, and that is a fan favorite amongst our interns and interns from our carrier partners, because again, it gives you different perspective.

00:18:32:03 - 00:18:51:21

Alicia Kiser

And I think our perspective and our career partners perspective has been, you know, because one could say, well, what if they like that internship program better than this one? It’s like, well, we’re you know, the rising tide floats all boats, right? We’re gaining exposure and excitement and engagement throughout the industry. And, you know, we’ll all win in that way.

00:18:51:21 - 00:18:55:14

Sophie Boler

Mm. I love that example of intern swapping.

00:18:56:13 - 00:19:02:17

Alicia Kiser

It was it’s fun. And we’re just because it is such a fan favorite looking for more opportunities to do things like that.

00:19:03:04 - 00:19:20:23

Sophie Boler

Oh yeah. And even when I was younger or in college, job shadowing companies in their different departments was something I loved to do, to just get exposure of what each department is doing. And then I could find what I like doing and carry on from there.

00:19:20:23 - 00:19:38:08

Alicia Kiser

Yeah, as a young person, you kind of know what you want to do, but until you gain those experiences, I don’t think you really know and you’re secretly building up this business acumen that will for sure to your advantage in the future that you’re not even aware of at that time for sure.

00:19:38:11 - 00:19:55:05

Sophie Boler

Absolutely. Well, you know, more than ever, we’ve seen businesses needing to pull together some creative plans when it comes to some of the topics that we’ve discussed today. So, Jim, I’m curious to know some of the top creative HR strategies that you’ve been seeing.

00:19:56:08 - 00:20:04:06

Jim Morgan

Well, first I have to react to when the host of the show who I think is, you know, in her mid- to early 20 says, “When I was young ...”

00:20:06:05 - 00:20:07:05

Sophie Boler

I knew you would say something!

00:20:10:17 - 00:20:36:07

Jim Morgan

In the creativity area, a couple of things are happening. We have a lot of companies, especially manufacturers, that English is not the first language for a lot of their workers. And so companies have been spending a lot of time on helping those employees learn English as a second language. But now we’re seeing it work the other way, too, and expectations of supervisors and managers to learn the language of the people who are working for them.

00:20:36:07 - 00:20:57:09

Jim Morgan

And they’re sort of looking at this as if we come at it from both sides, we’re going to improve the communications one way or another. And so we’ve got a lot of people becoming bilingual, both as the worker and as the supervisor, as they try to figure out ways to make sure everybody is communicating as accurately and easily as possible.

00:20:57:09 - 00:21:18:10

Jim Morgan

I had an interesting experience in a manufacturing facility where they’re always trying to motivate the people that are running their machines, helping them know that, you know, the value they bring to the organization, which is fantastic. And also trying to subtly remind them occasionally that this is a $27 million machine you’re running here. So let’s make sure, you know, we’re taking good care of it.

00:21:19:00 - 00:21:39:02

Jim Morgan

And they had actually put the price tag of each machine right on the machine, saying that this lathe is worth this much money or this manufacturing piece is worth this many million dollars. And they said they do it as a way of saying to the people who are operating them, we’ve put this much trust in you, that we think that this is fantastic.

00:21:39:02 - 00:22:12:02

Jim Morgan

You’re a skilled operator and that’s wonderful. At the same time, you know, saying let’s not get sloppy here because there’s a lot at stake. And sometimes people sort of take that for granted. Now that I just made fun of you as a young person, generational diversity is one that we’re seeing, you know, popping up more in everyone’s diversity, equity and inclusion, especially as we have a whole bunch of younger people coming in and a pretty big generation of people still there but on their way out and the HR

00:22:12:02 - 00:22:31:22

Jim Morgan

people really having to spend more time with people helping them understand that sentences start with, “Well, you’ve been here so long, you probably don’t know that” or “You just got here. You’ll eventually figure it out.” That you know, the harm that’s done in a lot of these assumptions of saying, “Well, you’ve only been here for 2 years, what could you possibly know?”

00:22:32:08 - 00:22:59:21

Jim Morgan

And one example here where someone said, Yeah, somebody just said to me, “Well once you’ve been here longer you’ll figure it out.” And your reaction to that is, “Why would you have me figure it out over the next 5 years and keep making the same mistakes? Why don’t you just tell me what you know and we can both learn, you know, together,” that there’s a lot of things that are kind of taken for granted in the age compartment that, “Oh, that’s just a joke” or this “Everybody understands that, you know,”—not so much.

00:23:00:05 - 00:23:25:03

Jim Morgan

And so as the generations have very different communication styles, very different ways of communicating, very different life experiences, more time being spent on helping, you know, millennials and Zers understand boomers and Xers and everything in between that we’ve all done different things. We all bring great assets to the organization. And some of the stereotypes are in the way of that.

00:23:25:03 - 00:23:54:04

Jim Morgan

So spending a little bit more time on generational diversity. And then one last one that we had is people have been churning folks like crazy. And an HR department was having a hard time explaining to people that when we get these people in and they stay for 3 weeks and they walk out the door, that’s a lot of time and effort wasted, and trying to develop a corporate strategy that says this is HR and the recruiters and the hiring managers and the other people that they work with.

00:23:54:04 - 00:24:14:07

Jim Morgan

All of them have to do this together in order for us to hang on to these people. And so they decided to use an all-staff meeting as an example. And they had churned about 30 percent of their people in the past year. So they had talked to 30 people in advance and they got up and said, We’re trying to visualize here how much work we’re doing, trying to hang on to people.

00:24:14:15 - 00:24:43:17

Jim Morgan

And so we’re going to give you an example right now of this is how many people walked out the door in the last year and 30 percent of the audience, which was about 100 people, got up and walked out of the all-staff meeting to try to help visualize for people: Do you see how much work this is? And so that was their creative way of saying it is kind of everybody’s job and we would really like your help because otherwise we have to go fill those hundred jobs who just walked out the door in the last 35 seconds.

00:24:44:00 - 00:24:48:11

Jim Morgan

So I thought that one was a pretty creative way for people to try to get everybody on board.

00:24:48:20 - 00:25:06:07

Sophie Boler

Yeah, that is a creative way to show the impact. So Jim talked about generational diversity here. Alicia, how is M3 really handling diversity, equity and inclusions in general and how are you dealing with the whole generational diversity specifically?

00:25:08:01 - 00:25:44:03

Alicia Kiser

Yeah, it’s certainly ongoing. And I will say we are definitely not an expert in the space, but man, are we grinding. And so I actually co-lead, we have a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, which is a cross-functional group of some leaders, some individual contributors from across the organization, from all of our offices. I work with our CEO to put a strategic plan, if you will, together around diversity, equity, inclusion.

00:25:45:05 - 00:26:38:21

Alicia Kiser

And our committee is charged with education and awareness. But we really look for our leadership team to be accountable for and live out within their respective areas, helping M3 move the needle on all things diversity, equity and inclusion. And it’s been fun to see how, as we kind of, I recently saw a continuum of an organization’s DEI efforts from compliance to committee to leadership owned and then being a truly inclusive organization. I would say we’re moving into that leader owned phase of DEI and it’s been fun to see our leadership team find their own ways to lean into DEI work.

00:26:38:21 - 00:27:08:15

Alicia Kiser

And it’s been very different, but it allows them to own it and feel comfortable in leading on it with their respective teams. And so that’s been, that’s probably been the most notable and most fun thing for me to see. One of the things we moved away from when we were in that committee phase putting the organization’s DEI efforts on a committee, a cross-functional committee is a lot and that’s a heavy load to carry.

00:27:08:22 - 00:27:36:18

Alicia Kiser

And it’s tough too because this is this is like not a project, not an initiative. It’s a long game, it’s a marathon. And it can become discouraging when you’re not seeing maybe the immediate results that you want to see. And so when we made that, when we kind of articulated flipping the switch from, Hey, hey, committee, you’re actually not, this is, the responsibility for this work isn’t on your shoulders, but we’d like you to lead on education and awareness.

00:27:37:01 - 00:28:04:22

Alicia Kiser

This, the responsibility and accountability is on the leadership team. That was a big game changer, I think a big moment for us in moving our efforts forward. So maybe that’s that’s what I would say from a DEI perspective. There’s certainly other things. I mean, one thing we’re really proud of and I’ve had an opportunity to talk about with MRA in lots of different forums is our Women’s Business Resource Group.

00:28:04:22 - 00:28:30:14

Alicia Kiser

So it’s essentially an affinity group. We have over half, over 60 percent of our overall population is female. And so that was kind of a natural place for us to start is with women at M3, and especially with all the stats that you’ve seen kind of within COVID and post-COVID about women exiting the workplace, our focus is keeping M3 women in the workplace.

00:28:31:00 - 00:29:02:03

Alicia Kiser

And we started that group in 2018 and just have had a lot of great evolution in terms of providing development opportunities for women at M3 up to giving them opportunities to lead in ways or have more global involvement in work at M3 outside of like the key area that they’re focused in from a day-to-day basis, which allows them to get exposure amongst leadership and other people throughout the organization.

00:29:02:18 - 00:29:43:08

Alicia Kiser

But it is also a professional development opportunity as well. So those are just a couple of things maybe I would mention. And then as it relates to generational diversity, we’re hearing more and more about this in terms of M3’s interest in learning about how to navigate through generational diversity—certainly a hot topic. One of the things I’ll talk about that we’ve had a lot of success with and are trying to do more of is finding more natural ways to get different generations to collaborate and build relationships and respect for each other.

00:29:43:17 - 00:30:43:09

Alicia Kiser

And so, for example, we’ve got an overall mentorship program throughout the organization, but we also have mentorship in different pockets. Like, for example, we have a shareholder development program and are really intentional about how we match people up. I think that’s one way that we’ve supported generational diversity, but also going back to your comments, Jim, about onboarding and our development efforts, career planning, career mapping, we as much as possible with so much institutional knowledge with some of the folks that are nearing retirement, we try to lean on those individuals to facilitate our development sessions, training sessions, you know, use their expertise to educate other M3ers and obviously they’re not

00:30:44:01 - 00:31:07:09

Alicia Kiser

professional speakers or facilitators, or and they don’t have that expertise. But our talent development team works to provide the framework for them to share their knowledge, whether that be in-person or on demand, using our learning management system. So really like organize that and deliver it in a way that can be impactful for M3ers of all generations.

00:31:07:09 - 00:31:16:03

Alicia Kiser

And so that’s maybe a little bit more indirect way of navigating that generational diversity topic.

00:31:17:00 - 00:31:28:06

Sophie Boler

I like that, and I like how you brought up mentors. I think mentors are, can, I don’t know, lead to huge impacts on the organization and the employee too. But as we really wrap, oops sorry go ahead.

00:31:28:13 - 00:31:52:14

Alicia Kiser

Oh no, sorry. I was just going to say I was just on a call this morning with our CEO and he said, “You can’t rush wisdom.” And so I think that’s very true. And the more that we can get these folks working with each other, I think, you can’t rush wisdom. But the more we can help infuse and ensure that that moves from one generation to the next.

00:31:53:04 - 00:32:15:05

Sophie Boler

And like you said in a natural way. I like that. But as we do wrap up here, Alicia, Jim has mentioned to me your role at M3 and not only in HR leadership, but just as a leader at the company overall. So what advice would you give to HR professionals trying to move from a tactical position to more of a strategic one?

00:32:15:05 - 00:32:21:06

Sophie Boler

And Jim, feel free to offer your thoughts and advice as well.

00:32:21:06 - 00:33:17:18

Alicia Kiser

Yeah. So thanks for asking this. I would actually go back to my comments earlier about business acumen. I think, ,and I recently was reflecting on this with my coworker, my colleague, our HR director, and we both agreed that the, our early exposure to an ability to build business acumen was one of the key things that I think helps make that jump from I call it like taking off my department hat on and putting my M3 hat on and I think what that has allowed me to do is, of course, truly understand the business and the different levers that make the business work, but also helps me to be viewed as a more valuable partner

00:33:17:18 - 00:33:45:16

Alicia Kiser

to the other leaders throughout the organization, and helps have my opinions and perspectives validated because I’m not necessarily just approaching it through my department’s lens, but trying to frame it in a way that considers all lenses. And I certainly so. so I just I would go back to that business acumen. I think that’s a really big one.

00:33:47:04 - 00:33:54:10

Sophie Boler

Jim, anything to add? 

00:33:54:10 - 00:34:13:12

Jim Morgan

I would say that’s the biggest one. And I think the advantage right now is with the talent issue being what it is, you all of a sudden are one of the most important people in the decision-making process because they can find land, they can find a building, they can get a loan. But at the end of the day, somebody has to say, well, where are we going to find people to do it?

00:34:13:12 - 00:34:36:06

Jim Morgan

And that is the HR person. And the second one is with all of the HRISs out there and all the data that’s being collected in the HR department now, you also become a data analyst, and you can provide information on an awful lot of things that’s very business related. So I think both of those go right back to what Alicia said is that you’re not making HR decisions.

00:34:36:06 - 00:34:42:20

Jim Morgan

You’re making business, strategic business decisions, and that immediately elevate you to a different level.

00:34:42:20 - 00:35:14:06

Alicia Kiser

And if I could if I could summarize, I would say I always view myself—and I think this can apply to any department, whether you’re marketing, finance, HR, customer service—I consider myself a business person first, and HR just as the discipline or the way that I choose to channel my business skills, and I think if we think more like that, making that jump from tactical to strategic becomes, it becomes easier and fun.

00:35:14:16 - 00:35:37:09

Sophie Boler

And that’s some good advice. Yeah. Well, I want to thank both of you for being on the 30 minute THRIVE podcast today and sharing your knowledge on the latest of using HR as a strategic partner. So if you liked our chat and topic today, I want to encourage listeners to share this episode, leave a comment or review, and consider joining MRA if you aren’t a member already.

00:35:37:14 - 00:36:00:15

Sophie Boler

We’ve got all the resources you need in the show notes below, so take a look at those and we have linked Jim and Alicia’s email and LinkedIn profile in the show notes below. So if you’d like to get in touch with them or just chat about whatever, they’re available for you. Otherwise, thank you so much for tuning in today and thank you both for the great info and we will see you next week.

00:36:01:01 - 00:36:02:00

Alicia Kiser

Thanks for having me.

00:36:02:13 - 00:36:03:07

Jim Morgan

Thank you, Sophie.

00:36:04:01 - 00:36:26:08

Outro

And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes, where you can sign up to connect for more podcast updates. Check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA’s 30 minute THRIVE so you don’t miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you next Wednesday to carry on the HR conversation.’’’

Description: Whether it's HR best practices for critical compliance topics, providing a sounding board for complex employee situations, or just the latest information on an HR issue, you can count on MRA's experienced HR Advisors to lend an ear and provide answers. MRA's HR Hotline Manager, Nicole Morehouse, is here to give you an overview of this widely-used resource! 

Key Takeaways:

1. MRA's HR Hotline Advisors each have 15+ years of HR knowledge. 

The hotline is a member exclusive benefit, so membership is definitely encouraged if you want to use the hotline!

Resources:

MRA's 24/7 HR Hotline  

Let's Connect:

Guest Bio - Nicole Morehouse

Guest LinkedIn Profile - Nicole Morehouse 

Host Bio - Sophie Boler 

Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler 

Transcript:

Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.

00:00:00:02 - 00:00:25:08

Intro

Hello hello, everybody, and welcome to 30 minute THRIVE, your go-to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA - The Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever-changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We’ll be the first to tell you what’s hot and what’s not. I’m your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you’re here. Now it’s time to THRIVE.

00:00:26:08 - 00:00:48:00

Sophie Boler

Hello everybody, and welcome to this episode of 30 minute THRIVE. We are so glad you’re here and joining us today. And today we’re really here to introduce you and give you an overview of a great resource we have at MRA, and that is the HR Hotline. So luckily, I’m here with an expert today, Nicole Morehouse, our manager of the HR Hotline.

00:00:48:00 - 00:01:14:05

Sophie Boler

And Nicole has had over 20 years of experience in just about every area you could think of in HR. So she’s really passionate about what she does, and I’m excited to talk to her today. So thank you for being here today, Nicole. I’m excited to learn more about the hotline and hear some insight from you.

Nicole Morehouse

00:01:14:16 - 00:01:22:04

Sophie Boler

Absolutely. So like I mentioned, one of our most widely used resources here at MRA, is our 24/7 HR Hotline. So could you explain what the hotline is to someone who has never heard of this resource or isn’t too familiar?

00:01:22:14 - 00:01:50:02

Nicole Morehouse

Yeah. What is the hotline? The hotline is the most phenomenal resource. So you’re right. I mean, it is widely used by the members. Picture this: It’s 6 p.m. You have an issue. You want to hear some guidance from a knowledgeable person. You can call the hotline and the phone call is going to get picked up by someone that has 15-plus years of experience, like myself, to help you out.

00:01:50:09 - 00:02:04:08

Sophie Boler

Awesome. So you mentioned the hotline operates 24/7. What does that exactly mean and what happens if someone were to call in at 2 a.m. if they were up all night thinking about something or maybe on Christmas or a holiday?

00:02:04:16 - 00:02:24:01

Nicole Morehouse

Yeah, it truly is 24/7/365. So the hotline doesn’t rest on holidays. A member certainly could call any day of the week, any time of the day. It’s not often that a member needs something at 2 a.m., but I mean, if you do, right, it’s good to know that you have a resource available.

00:02:24:15 - 00:02:35:02

Sophie Boler

Okay. So going along with that question, how responsive are our hotline advisors to calls? I mean, do they pick up right away and answer? Would they put you on hold for a little bit?

00:02:35:21 - 00:02:48:11

Nicole Morehouse

Yeah, hopefully no putting on hold. Your call’s answered very quickly, usually within a matter of seconds. So if you’re calling in during normal business hours, it’s just a matter of seconds, then you’re connected to an advisor.

00:02:48:17 - 00:03:01:22

Sophie Boler

Okay. And you also mentioned this is a great tool to use for our members, but can nonmembers also use the hotline? Can they call in? Who really is this resource available to?

00:03:02:08 - 00:03:10:05

Nicole Morehouse

Yeah, the hotline is a member-exclusive benefit. So membership is definitely encouraged if you want to use the hotline.

00:03:10:09 - 00:03:19:04

Sophie Boler

Okay. And could you give us a good explanation of really a day in the life of a hotline advisor? What is your day in the life?

00:03:19:07 - 00:03:39:20

Nicole Morehouse

So I mean, during the day, right, you know, see picture during business hours, we had several advisors working and we get numerous calls that come in or sometimes emails. I remember a particular day where we had an advisor that had 40 calls, if you want to call them calls. So that’s a combination of phone calls and emails and requests from the website.

00:03:40:06 - 00:04:00:21

Nicole Morehouse

Those can be from, for numerous different reasons. So it could be something very simple, like asking for a sample policy or a sample form or maybe something super complex. So like newly implemented regulations or a disability accommodation or something like an employee relations scenario.

00:04:01:12 - 00:04:20:06

Sophie Boler

And you just mentioned a couple of reasons why people call into the hotline. I think some people are also pretty hesitant on calling just because they don’t want to ask a dumb question or look bad. So could you tell us more about what people should be calling about and how should they be using the hotline as a resource?

00:04:20:11 - 00:04:42:15

Nicole Morehouse

Yeah, that’s a great question. There really isn’t a dumb question. There’s no dumb question to call in for. So even the most experienced HR professionals call us sometimes. Sometimes they just want to talk through a scenario with another professional that’s on a level that they are at, and then sometimes it’s somebody very new to HR that might be, you know, they don’t have a lot of resources internally.

00:04:42:15 - 00:05:07:03

Nicole Morehouse

Maybe they’re a solo HR practitioner and then they want some guidance. A lot of times we save HR practitioners a lot of time because they will need certain things or certain information. They have to run off to a meeting. We’re there to answer or provide. And then when that person gets back to their desk, they have an email or the information that they were looking for in a particular topic.

00:05:08:03 - 00:05:18:11

Nicole Morehouse

You know, it’s all under the umbrella of human resources and compliance. But if you’re in HR, you know that anything that touches people really qualifies as HR.

00:05:19:13 - 00:05:28:16

Sophie Boler

And talking about some of those questions that people ask. Do you have any memorable or crazy stories from the hotline that you can share? Just had to ask.

00:05:28:18 – 00:05:55:04

Nicole Morehouse

Yeah, I thought you might ask me that. And that’s kind of a hard question because there are lots of memorable moments. I just was catching up with one of our advisors before I came in here and we chatted about a half a dozen of them—and not from our members per se, but from our experience as HR directors. And there are a lot of memorable moments, but we keep that very close to the vest.

Sophie Boler

00:05:55:04 - 00:05:57:02

Nicole Morehouse

When you call us, you’re calling in confidence.

00:05:57:18 - 00:06:15:22

Sophie Boler

I guess that’s a good thing. We won’t hear it today. So our hotline advisors like you must hear a lot of different questions on a lot of different topics. So where do you and the other hotline advisors really get all the information they need to answer the question correctly and thoroughly?

00:06:16:05 - 00:06:38:20

Nicole Morehouse

The criteria to be an advisor you have to have amassed a tremendous amount of experience, even to be an advisor. So right from the get-go, based on your experience, you probably have a lot of knowledge that’s required for answering calls that come in. In addition to that, we know exactly where to find regulatory information.

00:06:39:10 - 00:07:03:18

Nicole Morehouse

We get regular feeds on the information. So hopefully we know about information before the member does and have that all at the ready to go. So and we also produce content that relates to the types of questions that we get. So if members call in on any particular topic repeatedly, you know, we’re going to make sure that we have resources that the member can get quickly, get in their hands from the hotline.

00:07:05:14 - 00:07:15:22

Sophie Boler

So as we begin 2023, I’d really love to go over some stats from 2022. So how many calls did you receive on the hotline last year?

00:07:16:07 - 00:07:22:04

Nicole Morehouse

Over 24,000. So 24,386 calls last year.

00:07:22:04 - 00:07:22:13

Sophie Boler

That is crazy.

00:07:22:13 - 00:07:38:06

Nicole Morehouse

Most of those do come, about half or so come in through the phone, right? But we also get emails and then people contact us through the website. So the phone is the most popular way. It’s very interactive. And like I said before, you get answers within seconds.

00:07:38:10 - 00:07:53:03

Sophie Boler

Wow, that’s crazy. Well, you’re very successful here. And I’m sure out of all those calls, there were a huge variety of call topics on that. So can you narrow it down to maybe the most called upon topic from 2022?

00:07:53:13 - 00:08:20:07

Nicole Morehouse

Leaves of absence. And I experienced that myself. So if I’m on the hotline, you know, leave of absence, some other reasons that someone might call in are accommodating disability scenarios, definitely compensation, interpreting market data, maybe they participated in the survey and they have the survey and they want to use that data. So they might contact us about that.

00:08:21:01 - 00:08:47:18

Nicole Morehouse

Definitely employee relations. So performance management, discipline situations, situations that involve terminations, the step of termination, wage and hour compliance, a lot of our members have expanded in the last couple of years and they’re in locations that they’ve never been before. And so we get a lot of questions on mobile compliance in new physical locations where maybe they don’t have experience yet.

00:08:48:07 - 00:08:58:05

Sophie Boler

Sure. Well, we’ve been talking a lot about the hotline, but I want to know more about your role. So what is your favorite part on working with a hotline, with your team?

00:08:58:06 - 00:09:00:09

Nicole Morehouse

Okay, now you give me an easy question.

00:09:00:12 - 00:09:19:03

Nicole Morehouse

It is the team itself. So I mean, it’s a wonderful group of professionals. They’re very uniquely qualified. So just when I think I couldn’t be impressed more, they impress me. Yeah. I mean, it’s just the knowledge that they have and the skills that they have to do what they do is just beyond impressive.

00:09:19:06 - 00:09:26:22

Sophie Boler

Absolutely. The hotline team I feel like, is always like, ready to go, ready to give you an answer. They’re also excited about it, too.

00:09:26:22 - 00:09:32:16

Nicole Morehouse

Right. And they really, truly enjoy working for the member. And so they really value that relationship.

00:09:32:16 - 00:09:41:16

Sophie Boler

Well, just before we wrap up, do you have any lasting comments or thoughts to share with our listeners before we go?

00:09:41:16 - 00:10:08:15

Nicole Morehouse

Thank you for showcasing the hotline today. That’s greatly appreciated. And then if you haven’t used the hotline before or if you’re not a member and you want to use the hotline, I strongly encourage you to go through that process—become a member, or if you’re a member already, contact the hotline to get a couple of calls underway so that you can see the benefit that you have available to you.

00:10:08:15 - 00:10:31:07

Sophie Boler

And so when you start getting more comfortable calling and calling and you can’t stop!

Nicole Morehouse

Right, exactly.

Sophie Boler

00:10:31:20 - 00:10:52:14

Sophie Boler

We have all the resources in the show notes below for you needed. And then we’ve also included Nicole’s email and her LinkedIn profile. So if you want to get in touch with her or learn more about the hotline, she’s here for you. Otherwise. Thank you so much for tuning in today. And Nicole, thanks for all of your hard work and for joining us today.

00:10:52:14 - 00:10:54:15

Sophie Boler

We will see you all next week.

00:10:55:19 - 00:11:18:01

Outro

And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes, where you can sign up to connect for more podcast updates. Check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA’s 30 minute THRIVE so you don’t miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you next Wednesday to carry on the HR conversation.’’’

Description: Join us as MRA's President and CEO, Susan Fronk, shares advice and insights to help you start the new year right! 

Key Takeaways:

1. You need to find a balance between personal customer care, face-to-face care versus an automated, lower cost, more repeatable option 

Resources:

MRA's Talent Report + 

Let's Connect:

Guest Bio - Susan Fronk 

Guest LinkedIn Profile - Susan Fronk 

Host Bio - Sophie Boler 

Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler 

Transcript:

Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.

00:00:00:03 - 00:00:23:04

Intro

Hello hello, everybody, and welcome to 30 minute THRIVE, your go-to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA - The Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever-changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We’ll be the first to tell you what’s hot and what’s not. I’m your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you’re here. Now it’s time to THRIVE.

00:00:26:10 - 00:00:57:02

Sophie Boler

Hello, everybody. Welcome and Happy 2023! We’re so excited you’re here and joining us today. And we’re excited that Susan Fronk, MRA’s president and CEO, is also joining us today. And she’s going to be sharing some advice and insights to help you start off the new year right. So while researching for today’s podcast, it really dawned on me just how much information and resources, research, and data is out there, but it’s all kind of conflicting information at the same time.

00:00:57:17 - 00:01:04:08

Sophie Boler

So I guess my first question to you is really how and where do business leaders and HR professionals start?

00:01:04:21 - 00:01:30:20

Susan Fronk

At MRA I’ve always felt fortunate because we get to look into 4,000 companies a year in the Midwest—more than any media outlet, more than any newspaper article, more than any periodical I could pick up and read about or listen to or podcast. I’ll believe our members, because that’s real. That’s what’s happening now, and I get to hear the leaders of all of those companies talk about how they’re planning for this year.

00:01:31:05 - 00:01:52:25

Susan Fronk

So I’m not an economist, I’m not an expert, but I am a great listener and I feel fortunate to hear from all of our members, and I can bring some of those insights to bear for our podcast today. For example, MRA is part of the Employer Associations of America, the EAA—not the Experimental Aircraft Association. That’s a member too.

00:01:52:26 - 00:01:53:05

Susan Fronk

Don’t get confused.

00:01:53:05 - 00:01:54:22

Sophie Boler

Don’t get confused.

00:01:55:00 - 00:02:20:03

Susan Fronk

We do something very different. But those employer associations, or EAs, across the country represent tens of thousands of member companies. So we’re all listening to our members about how those organizations are planning for 2023. And we did a business trends survey on a national basis this fall. And so I can bring some of those facts to the table that might help plan for the year ahead.

00:02:20:18 - 00:02:54:26

Susan Fronk

For example, the EAA Business Trends Survey was almost 1,200 respondents, 1,200 companies that talked to us about what their concerns were and how they viewed the year ahead. Not surprising, the top three concerns are pretty much the same as 2022, but the strategies that employers are using to deal with those have changed a bit. So let me tell you some of the data.  Inflation is the number one concern of employers today and inflation drives wages.

00:02:54:26 - 00:03:26:19

Susan Fronk

So coupled with that is the HR reality of finding and keeping talent, which is the number two concern. Those are related. In the short term, meaning 1 year look ahead, 2023, 58 percent of respondents were saying inflation was the number one concern. Longer term, which we identified as a 5-year horizon, 51 percent were concerned. So still a majority of the respondents, but it is mitigating somewhat.

00:03:26:19 - 00:03:53:14

Susan Fronk

So inflation is believed by the leaders who responded to mitigate a bit, diminish a bit over the next few years, but still be a concern. And then number two, as I mentioned, talent acquisition in the short term, 58 percent. This year, it’s still going to be a primary concern for most employers that responded and longer term, 50 percent. So not a lot of change.

00:03:53:14 - 00:04:30:02

Susan Fronk

There are still half of the respondents believe that finding and keeping people is going to be a problem over the next 5 years. Quite honestly, I agree with that and would underline that with an exclamation point at the end, because it isn’t a talent problem, it’s a people problem. There aren’t enough skilled people to go around. That’s not going to change in the next 5 years. Actually, with baby boomers retiring, people choosing to work differently, there is going to be a people shortage, which just exacerbates the talent shortage.

00:04:30:15 - 00:04:54:16

Susan Fronk

That’s not going to change. Which then, number three, the concern is retention. So getting talent, yes. Finding what you need, yes. Wooing them to your organization, yes. But then the care and feeding of employees, the engagement, the culture development, the skills development, the way that you’re going to bring them along in their career. All of that is critically important.

00:04:54:16 - 00:05:32:29

Susan Fronk

And in the short term, 48 percent—maybe less than I would have expected to see—but  employers are feeling a bit better about turnover this year. That shows that maybe 2021 and 2022 coming out of the rodeo that was COVID, people changing for the sake of change, just wanting a different set of problems—maybe that has abated somewhat or, and/or probably, employers are understanding the kind of communications and the kind of culture and the kind of flexibility that employees are looking for.

00:05:32:29 - 00:05:48:12

Susan Fronk

So again, 48 percent in the short term, 45 percent in the long term—it’s not too much difference between the short-term and long-term views on all three of those top three concerns of employers in this National Business Trends Survey.

00:05:48:16 - 00:06:25:14

Sophie Boler

Absolutely. And thank you for covering all of that. There’s a lot of great data that you’ve just described, but I’d like to dive a little bit deeper into each of those top three concerns that you just described. So let’s start with inflation and the economy—one of the most uncertain aspects of them all. We recently polled more than 100 participants in our Talent Report+ webinar and the results showed that 19.74 percent believe that there will be a recession in quarter one, 39 percent believe there will be a recession in quarter two, 14 percent believe there will be one in quarter three.

00:06:25:14 - 00:06:41:18

Sophie Boler

Zero percent believe that we will end the year in quarter four with a recession. And that leaves about 26 percent believing that there just will not be a recession. So overall, maybe quarter two or maybe no recession at all seems to be their majority really.

00:06:41:18 - 00:06:45:01

Susan Fronk

What that tells me is that nobody knows.

00:06:45:03 - 00:06:45:22

Sophie Boler

Nobody knows.

00:06:46:22 - 00:07:10:19

Susan Fronk

And that doesn’t mean we’re not educating ourselves and reading as much and listening and learning and doing strategic planning. But who does know? And that’ll lead to a point I’d like to make later in the podcast about how we prepare. But when people talk about the new normal, I talk about the “no normal”: N-O.

00:07:10:29 - 00:07:30:19

Susan Fronk

And as leaders, we need to prepare for something we’ve never seen before. The fact that maybe Q2 is the most common response for a recession if there is one those are still very evenly spread, including no recession. So people really don’t know, and that is uncertainty, wow.

00:07:31:10 - 00:07:58:24

Sophie Boler

And in November, MRAr actually hosted our Economic Outlook event with Dr. Chris Kuehl, an expert economist, so he was able to describe a little bit more on what we’re seeing this year and we are on the verge of a downturn. But he would describe that it’s depending on how the consumer handles their spendings and extra savings. They could spend their way out of it or they could really hold onto their savings to plan for what’s coming for next year because they’re worried.

00:07:59:21 - 00:08:17:19

Sophie Boler

So really, how realistic is a serious downturn? How bad will inflation be? Those are all the key questions people are really asking today. So, Susan, what are some of the current key economic takeaways you consider of value to business leaders for this upcoming year?

00:08:17:23 - 00:08:51:16

Susan Fronk

Sure. Again, I’m not an economic expert, but synthesizing and distilling the information that I hear from hundreds and thousands of member companies knits together a pretty strong quilt of information. And that practical information underlines the fact that inflation drives wages, and especially in a year like 2022, where there was high turnover and people were leaving employment, moving to different employment, moving out of the workforce, deciding to do something completely different with their career,

00:08:51:27 - 00:09:16:29

Susan Fronk

companies were scrambling to try to A) for the right reasons, altruistic reasons keep their employees whole and help them keep up with inflation, where a loaf of bread or a tank of gas costs so much more than it did a year or two before, and second, stay in business … One of the things that MRA has is a thousand people registered and enrolled in our roundtable groups.

00:09:17:07 - 00:09:42:23

Susan Fronk

So we have 70 roundtable groups and those are peer discussions that really dive in professionally facilitated with a specific topic. And the economy has been a specific topic that we’ve covered a number of times. Our CEO and CFO roundtables have talked about the fact that the business cycle has speeded up so much where inflation is concerned. So you know that old adage, I don’t like, it do more with less.

00:09:43:24 - 00:10:10:20

Susan Fronk

We have to do things differently and we have to do things using technology and we have to determine where on that spectrum of personal customer care, face-to-face care versus an automated, lower cost, more repeatable option for whatever your customer service issue is probably service. And we have to decide for what segments of our business do we need to be on which part of that spectrum.

00:10:12:14 - 00:10:54:03

Susan Fronk

I was part of the bomb cyclone of December 2022, slept in a couple of airports, had six flights, made it home in time for Christmas. And that may be a bad example, but automation is good until it isn’t. And you have to give customers options. So allowing customers to choose when I want to self-serve, when I want to download something from MRA’s resource center and I don’t need to talk to somebody versus when do I have a really thorny employee relations issue and I need to talk to somebody with a lot of years of experience and I want to take an hour and do that and come up with options on how to solve my problem.

00:10:54:14 - 00:11:22:26

Susan Fronk

Whatever your product or service is, whether you’re making widgets or cars or a law firm or a marketing agency, what elements of your business cycle can you speed up and automate versus which ones do you need to really personalize, not leave that touch, make sure that your customers can choose to get out of being on hold for 7 hours while you wait in line.  They just won’t stand for it.

00:11:23:07 - 00:11:43:00

Susan Fronk

And we’ve seen automation in all aspects of our world, of course, that’s nothing new, whether it’s ordering fast food or how we build a car, but making it right for your business. What are you going to be known for? If it’s customer intimacy like we are at MRA, you better not automate everything.

00:11:43:04 - 00:11:43:27

Sophie Boler

No robots here.

00:11:43:27 - 00:11:50:13

Susan Fronk

No robots here, not yet. Unless it’s like to deliver our lunch. That I would like to do.

00:11:50:13 - 00:11:50:27

Sophie Boler

All right.

00:11:51:20 - 00:12:17:06

Susan Fronk

But Dr. Kuehl said a number of things. You know, if inflation drives wages, most of our CEO and CFO roundtables are talking about the fact that that will moderate this year, that last year they were doing double merits or they were doing more frequent merits, or they simply boosted people’s wages because they knew what was happening in the employee’s personal lives and they needed to make sure they kept pace.

00:12:17:19 - 00:12:43:14

Susan Fronk

So if it was 6 or 7 percent on average last year, this year they’re looking at probably 3 or 4 percent. So moderating to what we would consider to be a more traditional curve. But I think employers need to be very tuned in and aware of the economic signals for their own industry because it isn’t that skills are somewhat transferable but not always transferable.

00:12:43:14 - 00:13:06:29

Susan Fronk

And so if you need a specific kind of engineer, you might need to do something very different for that engineer than you do for the rest of your team. And HR has always been hesitant to not be consistent, to treat you different than you. And I say the time has come when you need to be custom, you need to go small.

00:13:07:11 - 00:13:37:01

Susan Fronk

We need to know what Sophie wants and thinks is important versus what Sarah thinks and wants is important versus what Jeremy thinks and wants is important. So harder for human resources, but more effective if we’re going to go small and customize. That’s not going to happen in the blink. That’s a trend I see happening. And it’s not just with employee benefits, but with customer selection.

00:13:37:22 - 00:13:40:01

Susan Fronk

What do how customers want what you do?

00:13:40:15 - 00:14:05:21

Sophie Boler

And that’s a great point to bring up and the EA survey actually showed that 93 percent will be replacing staff due to voluntary turnover, whereas 71 percent will be hiring due to newly created jobs. So if business is good and hiring is high, let’s talk about talent and the workforce shortage. So not only is it hard to find people these days, but it’s also hard to keep them.

00:14:06:07 - 00:14:13:13

Sophie Boler

So do you have any insights to share to our listeners today in finding and recruiting workers today?

00:14:13:24 - 00:14:41:09

Susan Fronk

Good question. It is a big question and I’m always inspired by our members because there’s lots of creative, innovative things going out there. So there’s dozens of different things we could talk about, but I would kind of group them into two big buckets. One I’ll call human resources is actually sales and marketing, and the other is creativity and flexibility and skill utilization.

00:14:41:09 - 00:15:08:17

Susan Fronk

So some of you listening might know that my husband is a human resource director and so he’s recruiting all the time. Let me give you a real anecdote. He’s very creative and he’s a great sourcer. He’s led some employees to us as well. But one Sunday recently he said, “I’ve just got a few, I just got a few phone screens to do and I’ll be done in time for the Packer game.”

00:15:08:28 - 00:15:35:19

Susan Fronk

Great. So I hear him on the phone in the office. He steps out and he goes, “I think I’ve found our new great specialty, blah, blah.” I said, “Wonderful.” He didn’t look happy. So what’s the problem? He said, he has 12 interviews this week. This is someone who had gone on LinkedIn, checked 17 applications, applied to 17 jobs. Twenty-four hours later, had 12 interviews.

00:15:35:21 - 00:15:36:00

Sophie Boler

Oh.

00:15:36:10 - 00:15:43:10

Susan Fronk

But here’s the difference. He said only two of those interviews were a human being who called and talked to me.

00:15:43:16 - 00:15:43:28

Sophie Boler

Really?

00:15:45:17 - 00:15:50:19

Susan Fronk

You can set yourself apart with the personal touch in an automated world.

00:15:50:28 - 00:15:51:06

Sophie Boler

Absolutely.

00:15:51:12 - 00:16:15:24

Susan Fronk

You might need to use technology to scale and to reach and to find. But then how you serve up, we call it at MRA warm bread. I got that from a human resource professional who worked here, and that’s what they did at church. Somebody visited them, sign the visitor’s book, and then a committee, a warm bread committee, was assigned to make that person feel welcome and invited back again.

00:16:16:10 - 00:16:35:19

Susan Fronk

So at MRA, we talk about warm bread. Once we find a candidate that we’re interested in, who’s going to email them? What photo are we going to send them? What link to a video that describes who we are? What little swag bag are we going to deliver into their house to say, “We want you here and this is where you belong”?

00:16:35:24 - 00:16:36:11

Sophie Boler

I love that.

00:16:36:20 - 00:16:47:02

Susan Fronk

Yeah. So all different kinds of warm bread. It doesn’t have to be expensive. Once I took a picture of somebody and then Photoshopped the new candidate’s head on there. I said, “Picture yourself here, at MRA.”

00:16:47:05 - 00:16:48:01

Sophie Boler

I love that. That’s creative.

00:16:48:01 - 00:16:50:11

Susan Fronk

He said yes. So it worked.

00:16:51:08 - 00:17:14:07

Susan Fronk

Mm. I’ve dropped little things off at people’s house. You know, you have to be careful that you don’t look like a stalker. If they’re expecting you and they know you’re going to drop something off, it really sets you apart. So human resources is in sales and marketing, and people like to know that they have attention, that they’re going to be treated differently than a number.

00:17:14:26 - 00:17:38:13

Susan Fronk

And so back to the story at hand. My husband was successful out of 17 prospective applications and 12 interviews in getting this individual to join their team. It doesn’t always happen. Sometimes you’re a competitive payer and somebody just outpaces you by many thousands of dollars. All right. But you’re going to win more often than you lose.

00:17:39:01 - 00:17:39:27

Sophie Boler

And you’re going to keep them too.

00:17:40:06 - 00:18:02:17

Susan Fronk

You are going to keep them, too. So sales and marketing, it’s not just the interaction with the candidate, it’s the supports that human resources have that tell that candidate or potential candidate who you are and how you operate and what your behavior is, as an organization. So I would say be a secret shopper.

00:18:02:29 - 00:18:31:10

Susan Fronk

Ask somebody on your team—because if you’re close to it, you think what you have online is great, you think your application is great, you think your process is great—to have somebody who you trust kick the tires, go through that process, find out how long it takes to get back to that individual, see what is the look and feel and culture that is described by your company website, by your candidate experience page?

00:18:31:20 - 00:18:58:03

Susan Fronk

We really have to be in sales and marketing, and human resources I think gets that and they’re embracing it, but it is a different skill set, or at least an add-on skill set. And so the second thing is flexibility and creativity. Since there is a people shortage and not just a talent shortage, you have to be flexible and creative in finding skills that might transfer and that you could develop.

00:18:58:19 – 00:18:59:03

Sophie Boler

Absolutely.

00:18:59:07 – 00:19:32:20

Susan Fronk

So I guess companies that say, Here’s someone with a military background and they were in administration and database. All right. First of all, I love hiring veterans. But second of all, that’s a rigorous skill set that you understand that person has the aptitude and the interest to learn what you need. Maybe you don’t actually need that specific software package or background.

00:19:32:20 - 00:19:46:14

Susan Fronk

You could look 6 more months in natural that position, or you can have 6 months with someone who’s leaning in, who’s saying, “I can learn this. I learned that.”

Sophie Boler

Exactly.

Susan Fronk

00:19:46:27 - 00:20:04:14

Sophie Boler

And we just had a podcast on nontraditional candidates and all of the great things they can bring to a company. So you just talked about skilled workers. So what about those younger, somewhat unskilled workers? How do you get them? What do you do with them?

00:20:05:01 - 00:20:39:14

Susan Fronk

What do you do with them? Well, they’re our future. So I would say you do everything with them. You didn’t quite ask the question this way, but something that I love to see and something that I’ve been told helped me in my career: All feedback is good, so all feedback is good. If you believe that you’re working for a manager who not only wants the company to succeed, but wants you to succeed, then embrace that feedback.

00:20:39:21 – 00:21:11:03

Susan Fronk

Good or bad, constructive criticism or “atta girls” and “atta boys.” Embrace that because it helps shape your development and what you’re going to do next in your career. So if you have a coach, be the best player you can be. And that is to say, I would seek out feedback. I would go to someone—my boss, a different person, a colleague—and I would say, “I just gave that little presentation at the management meeting.

00:21:11:03 - 00:21:39:15

Susan Fronk

What could I have done better? How did you think it went over? How did the message land? What could I have, what could I have done differently?” If you’re waiting for feedback, hopefully it’s happening regularly, but asking for feedback and asking for development and asking for coaching and not just the applause. Younger workers, newer managers, that’s really, really helpful.

00:21:39:29 - 00:22:00:17

Susan Fronk

Think about it. It changes the timber of the conversation. If you and I were a direct reporting relationship. You’re my boss and I’m coming to you maybe doing a performance review. You’re saying, “Okay, Susan, there’s there’s five things you do well, and there’s a couple things I’d like you to improve upon.” Right away I’m like, Whoa. Right? Even if it’s internal.

00:22:01:14 - 00:22:22:24

Susan Fronk

But if you flip that and you’re my boss and I come to you all the time and say, “Hey, Sophie, that presentation that I gave or that report that I made, what feedback do you have for me?” then I’m leaning toward you and you’re leaning toward me, and I’ve asked for that feedback. It changes the whole conversation.

00:22:22:24 - 00:22:23:26

Sophie Boler

That’s great advice.

00:22:23:26 - 00:22:26:26

Susan Fronk

Yeah, it’s really kind of the number one thing.

00:22:27:00 - 00:22:28:16

Sophie Boler

That’s great advice I can use too.

00:22:29:27 - 00:22:30:23

Susan Fronk

When you’re my boss.

00:22:32:05 - 00:23:05:19

Sophie Boler

Companies are also utilizing the strengths of younger workers in areas like technology, including software programing, integration, drones even, in gaming, and younger workers are really taking the lead on social justice, social media platforms as well as public presentations, like you mentioned. And in fact, one of our most downloaded podcasts was talking about emerging leaders with Kate Walker and how to really help upskill them and prepare those new emerging leaders.

00:23:06:02 - 00:23:17:25

Sophie Boler

So I know you covered this a little bit, but do you have any other advice for upcoming and emerging leaders? And what did you yourself take advantage of when you were an emerging leader?

00:23:18:19 - 00:23:45:10

Susan Fronk

Yes, well, what we talked about with feedback. I really tried to be a great player, not a perfect player. You’re going to make mistakes. I’ve made plenty, but always saying, “I want to be the best, help me be the best.” Second, it’s a phrase I’ve used before many times in management meetings and all staffs and things. The world is full of problem identifiers.

00:23:46:08 - 00:24:16:01

Susan Fronk

It’s rare to have problem solvers, and as a young or emerging leader, you want to make sure you understand what’s the problem to be solved. For example, if you’re in human resources, you may think your goal is to write an employee handbook. That is a step toward the goal. To understand, you need to say, What does a handbook do for the company?

00:24:16:01 - 00:24:45:17

Susan Fronk

So what? Well, a handbook should improve communications, decrease turnover, increase employee engagement, allow the human resource department to be more efficient and spend more time on employee relations things and culture instead of just answering questions. So you have to look beyond, especially as a new leader. But this goes for people of all ages, for all levels. Some people say, “Here’s my list of things that I did.”

00:24:45:17 - 00:25:18:00

Susan Fronk

So what? What did those things do? So that insight to say if I did this, if I wrote the best handbook and communicated it well and that was the best job you ever saw, what would you be experiencing? What would the company be experiencing? Positive and negative? What would make that the best handbook you ever saw? Now, that’s a small example because it’s a handbook, but it goes to, it goes to understanding the importance of the business and not just a task. Does that makes sense?

00:25:18:00 - 00:25:42:19

Sophie Boler

That makes sense. That’s a good example. And we also have other great resources to address the talent concerns out there. For example, MRA’s Talent Report, Monthly Talent Report, is just a monthly publication that really shares workforce information and innovations. We also have the Talent Report+ webinar series and we have linked both of those in the show notes.

00:25:42:23 - 00:25:54:28

Sophie Boler

So you can go check those out after this podcast. So we really talked about recruiting. Now let’s focus on retention. What matters most to employees, on retention?

00:25:54:28 - 00:26:22:24

Susan Fronk

Sure. Hearkening back to the National Business Trends Survey, again. The top three, no surprise, are number one: competitive pay: 86 percent. So that was important. I can’t imagine it wasn’t 100 percent because competitive pay, the table stakes. To me that’s not unless you’re going to be in the top 10 percent, unless you’re going to be that company in your market that everybody knows pays more than everybody else.

00:26:23:08 - 00:26:53:08

Susan Fronk

It’s just table stakes. You have to be competitive because it’s a dissatisfier, or not a satisfier. Our competitive pay are just table stakes. If you don’t pay competitively, people will leave. If you do pay competitively, that doesn’t mean people will stay. It just is a ticket you have to punch. So spending time to make sure that you’re competitive on pay, very important to most employees. Second is work-life balance.

00:26:53:08 - 00:27:29:05

Susan Fronk

Seventy-six percent of respondents said work-life balance and again, I don’t know why it wouldn’t be 100 percent. Well, I suppose some people don’t want work-life balance, but I don’t know who those people would be. But work-life balance. People just want, I think this translates sometimes in news outlets to work-life balance, meaning people want to work less. That could be true for some people, but work-life balance to me and how I see it played out in our hundreds and thousands of member companies is that employees want flexibility to do what’s important outside of work.

00:27:29:15 - 00:28:04:27

Susan Fronk

Their work still needs to get done and maybe they have no problem working 40 or 50 hours a week, whatever their job requires, but they want to be able to provide childcare. They want to be able to attend a school recital. They know they have elder care issues. Life is very fast and very complicated, and the trust bridge that’s built with employees to say, I understand you’re going to give 100 percent to your job, but some flexibility in how you get that is what they’re looking for today.

00:28:05:28 - 00:28:38:26

Susan Fronk

And that’s tied to the third one, too, about flexibility and how people work. That doesn’t mean just remote work. I look at it this way and how I’ve seen it borne out in our members. It depends on the position. Some positions can’t be remote, some are performed better in a team environment and some employees, it’s a privilege to work remote versus, you know, if that isn’t a top performer or if they’re a brand-new employee, maybe they need to work in the office, maybe they need to work with their colleagues to learn their business.

00:28:38:26 - 00:29:02:25

Susan Fronk

So I look at that as a wonderful conversation to have, preferably before somebody is hired, to say what are your expectations and what can this organization provide to you? But it doesn’t stay static. This should be an organic, ever-changing conversation that an employee is having with their manager because life circumstances change.

00:29:03:28 - 00:29:21:26

Sophie Boler

And you have some, it depends on the person too. Because it was funny, I was having a conversation with my boss and she’s, “Why are you emailing me at 10 p.m.? 11 p.m.?” But it’s sometimes people like working those hours. Maybe you don’t work at 6 a.m., but maybe I’ll be on my computer at midnight giving you what you need.