Tony and Steve welcome Derik Clark — Army counterintelligence veteran, body language expert, and apparently a crowd favorite on par with Steve (high praise). Derik breaks down his HEED framework for reading nonverbal cues in HR investigations and job interviews, and why the thing you think you're seeing (lying) is almost never the thing you're actually seeing (discomfort). He also shares the true story of an Iraqi weapons smuggler who had perfect body language… until someone asked him where he was getting his money. Tony connects the dots to workplace investigations, written warnings, and why 80% of every workplace conflict story is actually the same from both sides. Steve didn't know Rocky Raccoon was a song, which tells you everything you need to know.

Learn more about Derik Clark at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derikclark/
Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/
Learn more about Steven "Big Deal" Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/
Learn more about the Books mentioned on the podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast
Learn more about MegastarHR at: https://www.megastarhr.com/
Learn more about Pucks for Autism at: https://www.pucksforautism.com/

Derik Clark is a veteran counterintelligence officer who served in the US Army and now works as an HR business partner and consultant.  He's an expert interrogator that specializes in how to read people and the room. 

Derik's HEED Framework:
Hide
Escape
Ease
Defend
(How people react when they feel uncomfortable.)  

Tony and Steve kick off the show in full Star Wars mode — it's May the Fourth, Steve spent $19.77 on themed donuts from Lehi Bakery, and the great AT-AT pronunciation debate is finally settled (hint: Steve is wrong). The real guest of honor is Albert Foster, founder of Express Evaluations. The episode digs deep into one of HR's most stubbornly unsolved problems: why performance evaluations, invented in the 1950's, still look almost exactly the same today.  Albert lays out a compelling case for why most companies are doing evaluations wrong. From the one-size-fits-all form that means nothing to the employee who fills it out, to the trap of asking "how can you improve?"  Finally, how does Steve use Vader's origin story to tie everything together at the end? Tune in to find out!

Listen for Opportunity knocking in this episode.

Learn more about Express Evaluations at: https://www.expressevaluations.com/
Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/
Learn more about Steven “Big Deal” Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/
Learn more about the books mentioned on the podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast
Learn more about our sponsor MegastarHR at: https://www.megastarhr.com/
Lean more about Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG) at: https://jag.org/
Learn more about Pucks for Autism at: https://www.pucksforautism.com/
Learn more about the Thrive Life Project: https://www.thrivelifeproject.org/

Albert Foster (MHR, SPHR) is an HR professional and the Founder and CEO of Express Evaluations. His passion in HR is to help employees find joy in their employment and to help employers retain their hard-earned talent. Albert earned a master’s in human resources in 2012 from Utah State and has been in the HR world for the past 15 years as both an HR consultant and an HR director. While working as the HR director of a special service district with about 500 employees he was tasked with finding a new performance management system. After several months of searching it became clear that a product didn’t exist in the current market that encompassed both the flexibility and affordability for his company, so he decided to create his own.   Albert considers himself to be an avid mountain biker, marginal golfer, and recently converted ice bather.  

We're not choked up, you're choked up.  Wow!  The guys spend an afternoon interviewing students at JAG's (Jobs for America's Graduates) National Career Development Conference (NCDC).  In this episode, you'll hear how lives changed, doors opened, and how a group of young people is making the most of their opportunities, all because of JAG.

A list of Guests Interviewed:  Bailey, Jamarcus, Gabe, Madison, Caleb, James Jackson, and Lane Faulkner.   

Video of Steve getting an award (at Appx 1.48:10) here:  https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=2093927045342003&rdid=3ziMBc5LK1ucOUqR ...Oh, and Johnny C Taylor spoke too. 

Learn more about JAG at: https://jag.org/
Learn More about Money Moves University at: https://moneymovesuniversity.com/
Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/
Learn more about Steven "Big Deal" Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/

Steve and Tony talk international remote workers and retention methods with Troy Blanchard from ZConnect.  Steve talks about implementing COVID early and often.  Tony talks about Ford Verses Ferrari and how the bureaucracy so prominent in that movie was real... and was probably the fault of the CEO.  And finally, Tony introduces everybody to the "Slug Line" in DC. 

Learn more about Troy Blanchard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trblanchard/
Learn more about Zconnect at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zconnect-global-outsourcing/posts/?feedView=all or https://zconnect.biz/
Learn more about the Shingo Model at: https://shingo.org/shingo-model/ or at: https://huntsman.usu.edu/mba/shingo-online-mba
Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/
Learn more about Steven "Big Deal" Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/
Learn more about the Books mentioned on the podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast
Learn more about MegastarHR at: https://www.megastarhr.com/
Learn more about Pucks for Autism at: https://www.pucksforautism.com/ 

Troy is the co-owner of ZConnect, a company that helps U.S. businesses scale by connecting them with highly qualified remote professionals across Latin America and other parts of the world.  With decades of experience in operations, leadership development, outsourcing, business development, sales, and strategic growth, Troy is passionate about helping companies solve complex business challenges, improve efficiency, and build strong cross-border teams. He enjoys bringing people together in a way that creates value for both the client and the professionals supporting them.  Through ZConnect, Troy helps companies grow more profitably by developing and integrating remote teams that support key business functions while allowing leaders to stay focused on growth, service, and long-term success.

Tony and Steve break down parts of SHRM's annual State of the Workplace report, but only after venturing into stories of strange women playing footsies with Steve on a cruse.  Who is the most optimistic that employers are meeting the needs of their employees?  Employees, HR professionals, and HR Executives, are all in agreement that the second biggest need n the workplace is...?  Want to know what is happening now in HR?  This is your episode. 

Find the study at: https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/research/state-of-the-workplace-summary-and-report/2026-sowp-full-report

Join us at Fuel HR on May 14.  Learn more at: https://hracu.starchapter.com/meetinginfo.php?id=88&ts=1744305292

Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/
Learn more about Steven “Big Deal” Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/
Learn more about the books mentioned on the podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast
Learn more about our sponsor MegastarHR at: https://www.megastarhr.com/
Lean more about Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG) at: https://jag.org/
Learn more about Pucks for Autism at: https://www.pucksforautism.com/

Join us at Fuel HR on May 14.  Learn more at: https://hracu.starchapter.com/meetinginfo.php?id=88&ts=1744305292

Tony and Steve talk about the state of HR, AI, eating catnip, and the fact that HR is both doing well and in trouble.  Tony's cynicism is both peaking and ebbing as he discusses HR with a wandering choo choo.  The guys discuss what is going on in the world of HR consulting and fractional HR.  Tony reads a post from Facebook and Steve gives a great HR in Life segment.  But don't drop out of the podcast early.  Steve makes a major announcement at the end of the podcast that you wont want to miss. 

Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/
Learn more about Steven “Big Deal” Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/
Learn more about the books mentioned on the podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast
Learn more about our sponsor MegastarHR at: https://www.megastarhr.com/
Lean more about Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG) at: https://jag.org/
Learn more about The Thrive Life Project at: https://www.thrivelifeproject.org/

Quote of the Episode: "AI is great but it won't take you on a date."  - TonyB.  

In this episode Tony and Steve tackle toxic work environments and Tony's fantastic ability to kill wasps from more than 10 feet away.  What is a toxic work environment? What role do front line managers play in creating or toxic environments?  Do front line managers or the C-suite have a bigger impact in your efforts to improve culture?  In this week's HR in Life Segment the guys talk about misunderstanding the meaning of ethics. Why do people mistake bad business decisions for unethical behavior?   

The five elements of Toxicity
Abusive
Disrespectful
Unethical
Cutthroat
Non-inclusive

Quote of the Episode: "So is this something he needs to talk to Jesus about?"  - Tony Benjamin

Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/
Learn more about Steven “Big Deal” Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/
Learn more about the books mentioned on the podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast
Learn more about our sponsor MegastarHR at: https://www.megastarhr.com/
Lean more about Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG) at: https://jag.org/

Join us at Fuel HR on May 14.  Learn more at: https://hracu.starchapter.com/meetinginfo.php?id=88&ts=1744305292

In this episode Tony and Steve expose some insights into how to train your managers to interview.  What are they interviewing for? The guys debunk the myth that you can only ask the same set of questions in the exact same order to every candidate.  Steve sheds light on the number one things candidates complain about, the number one things interviewers complain about, and Tony loses his choo choo. Oh... And that is how long Steve's hair is right now.   

Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/
Learn more about Steven “Big Deal” Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/
Learn more about the books mentioned on the podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast
Learn more about our sponsor MegastarHR at: https://www.megastarhr.com/
Lean more about The Thrive Life Project at: https://www.thrivelifeproject.org/

In this episode Steve and Tony discuss Steve’s Four Myths of HR and define the difference between administrative and strategic HR.  For HR professionals looking to contribute in a strategic manner at an executive level, this discussion forms a guide to what that entails.  Of course, the guys talk about Project Hail Mary and the upcoming He-Man Movie as well. 

The four myths:
HR is administrative
HR isn't data driven
HR is a cost center
HR is reactive, not proactive
 

Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/
Learn more about Steven “Big Deal” Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/
Learn more about the books mentioned on the podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast
Learn more about our sponsor MegastarHR at: https://www.megastarhr.com/
Learn more about Pucks for Autism at: https://www.pucksforautism.com/

Quote of the Episode: “I’ve always thought that Strategic HR is the fundamental rethinking of how organizations treat people.” – Steven Smith

Listen as Tony and Steve are once again joined by Andrea Hollingsworth.  In this fantastic episode Andrea lays out the SAFE Framework that helps HR and leaders cope with RIF's, Layoffs, and survivors.  They discuss how to survive extremely difficult conversations with those leaving the business and those who are staying.  They also touch on gamifying the workplace and performance reviews.

Quote of the episode: "Can we say chicks on the podcast?"  - Tony Benjamin

Learn more about Andrea Hollingsworth at: https://hollingsworthconsulting.com/
Get Andrea's book here: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+compassion+advantage+book&crid=3IFCIXBF6LBEE&sprefix=the+compassion+advan%2Caps%2C158&ref=nb_sb_ss_p13n-expert-pd-ops-ranker_1_20
Learn more about Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/
Learn more about Steven "Big Deal Smith" at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/
See a list of all of the books referred to on the Podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast
Learn more about our sponsor, MegaStar HR, at: https://www.megastarhr.com/
Steve and Tony highly recommend supporting the Thrive Life Project.  Learn more at: https://www.thrivelifeproject.org/

Andrea Hollingsworth, Ph.D., is an acclaimed keynote speaker, bestselling and award winning author, and trusted consultant who’s spent years studying the transformative power of compassion. Since 2008, she has been speaking and writing about the science and spirituality of human emotions and relationships.