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We’ve had a white-hot recruitment market for some time now and I thought it was right to take the temperature again and see if it’s still as hot as we’re led to believe  - given the multiple issues we’re facing not least the cost of living crisis.  William Tincup is the President & Editor at large of Recruiting Daily the world’s number 1 online site for recruitment content.  William is at the intersection of work and technology. He's a writer, speaker, advisor, consultant, investor, podcaster & storyteller. William serves on the board of 20+ HR technology startups and he's been writing about HR and Recruiting related issues for longer than he cares to disclose! Do technological innovations in recruitment benefit the candidate? [01:41] On the whole, no they don't says William.  He cites the number of 'chefs' in the recruitment 'kitchen' such as sourcers, hiring managers, employee branding, recruitment marketing etc. all of whom have influence in the hiring process and of course pay the cost of the tech so by and large the candidates are the 'ignored' constituency. The great resignation - lipstick on a pig? [04:10] Is the great resignation all that is seems to be?  William argues that as a society we haven't really understood the reasons why someone chooses now not to work - it needs as he says greater archeology and anthropology to get to real reasons. Are organisations using the cost of living crisis to exploit consumers? [08:56] William isn't convinced that cost of living crisis has been inflated by organisations seeking to recoup losses incurred during the pandemic.  He cites the oil industry who he believes are cynically using the conflict in Ukraine to drive prices up. Will the recruitment market stay white hot? [11:39] Depends entirely on the sector according to William. There are some inherent structural shortages such as there are not enough software developers to handle the software needs of today let alone tomorrow. Should employers help workers with the cost of living crisis? [16.35] Yes is the simple answer.  This is an opportunity for HR to engage on a deeper level with employees and provide solutions to help employees thrive in and out of work.  He reveals the movement towards 'daily pay' and innovative solutions that allows employees to trade holiday days for other benefits such as paying down student debt. Work-life balance is a con! [20:30] Tincup argues that work-life balance does not exist and never has.  He says it's work-life integration.  We discuss at length organisational culture and how some 'cultures' fit or don't fit but there are no bad cultures except those that are illegal. Gen zZ & millennials ask the right questions [24:11] We discuss why Gen Z and millennials are better as asking questions about work-life integration and what has given them the confidence to challenge the norms. The end of working from home? [26:39] The tech giants of Silicon Valley still operate a command and control culture where you have to be seen to be believed to be working. Tincup believes these firms are on the wrong side of history. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable [28:42] Radical Flexibility is going to be the default position and to attract talent and organisations are going to need to raise their game. Resources https://recruitingdaily.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/podcasthost/ https://ovenreadyhr.com

There are so many big employment and workplace stories at the moment.  From chaos at UK airports due to staff shortages and the raging work from home debate to planned strikes on the rail network and of course the fallout from 'partygate' at 10 Downing St! Added to that this week's narrowly  won vote of no confidence in the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson all adds to a sense of upheaval and uncertainty - hardly a welcome backdrop for any organisation. The political uncertainty is a timely prompt to start looking at what the world of work would be like under a Labour administration.  Justin Madders MP is Labour's Shadow Minister for Employment Rights and Protections. Justin is a former solicitor who specialised in employment law before being elected as the member of parliament for Ellesmere Port and Neston in 2015.  I start by asking the Shadow Minister his view on the impending National Rail strike. Who's to blame for the chaos at UK airports? [02:30] Justin Madders believes it's very convenient for the UK government to blame airlines and other travel providers for the chaos at UK airports. He believes government support was lifted far too quickly before the sector was back on its feet. Is Boris Johnson's unpopularity a gift to Labour? [04:10] Justin Madders accepts that whilst Boris Johnson's unpopularity is a gift for any opposition party, the national interest will be affected by paralysis and in-fighting amongst Conservative members of parliament, therefore the sooner the Prime Minister is removed the better. What will the Downing St culture be like under Sir Keir Starmer? [05:39] 'Partygate' has highlighted the dysfunctional culture at the heart of government.  I ask Justin Madders what sort of workplace culture Sir Keir Starmer would instigate if he were the Prime Minister? What are the key elements of Labour's Future of Work plan? [06:39] Justin Madders explains the key pillars than underpin Labour's future of work plan.  The plan is designed end the precarious nature of employment that many workers face and provide well-paid jobs and a level-playing field for all employers. What's happened to Lord Hendy's Status of Workers bill? [08:35] Justin Madders explains why he isn't confident that the Government will support Lord Hendy's bill. Do we need more collective bargaining in the UK? [11.57] Yes is the simple answer and in Labour's plan there is a desire to move towards more sectorial collective bargaining / fair pay agreements. What's happening with the P&O dismissals? [15:40] Justin Madders is keen that the Government maintains pressure on P&O in light of their sacking of hundreds of workers without consultation and notice. The working from home debate [20:13] I ask Justin Madders for his view on the working from home debate.  Is WFH just a blip? Resources https://www.linkedin.com/in/podcasthost/ https://ovenreadyhr.com https://labour.org.uk/people/shadow-cabinet/ https://www.justinmadders.com

In this episode of Oven-Ready HR I talk to Stephen Bevan who is head of HR Research Development at the Institute for Employment Studies about why many employee wellbeing initiatives on their own fail to have the required impact.   Stephen has almost 40 years of experience in the field of HR research with highly sought-after expertise in workforce wellbeing, performance, and productivity. Stephen has numerous publications on health at work to his name. And he was an expert witness to a review of NICE guidance on workplace mental health, which was published in March of this year. He has recently published a book with Professor Sir Cary Cooper, entitled The Healthy Workforce, Enhancing Wellbeing and Productivity In The Workers Of The Future. We’re measuring the wrong wellbeing outputs [03.20] Although lots of organisations have created a suite of wellbeing benefits such as healthy meals and subsidised gym memberships, most employers measure the wrong output.  Instead of measuring how many workers take-up the benefits, organisations instead to measure the impact these wellbeing interventions have on issues such as sickness and recovery time from illness.  Interventions in isolation don’t work [07:08] Stephen argues that interventions such as mental health first aid whilst useful are often used in isolation and therefore have limited overall impact. Instead, employers need to look at more complex issues such as job design, the quality of line management and employee workload.  Without looking at these issues, you’ll end up back at square one! Isn’t a bit of stress good for performance? [09:11] Well up to a point. Stephen argues that those employees who have a certain amount of control and autonomy over their work will tend to cope better with stressful situations than those who have little or no control and essentially at the mercy of their line manager. How to create high-performance work practices [10:36] Research has shown that managers who trust employees and assist them by securing more people or other resources and provide clarity for the employee together with plenty of autonomy are more likely to create a happy and fulfilled workforce who will perform better. Stephen argues that stress is a very poor motivator of performance despite what some managers believe.  So where should you start if you want to create a wellbeing culture? [15:23] Stephen starts by saying don’t rely on eye-catching interventions and instead look at systemic changes such overall culture, the quality of line management, job design and the demands placed upon people.  Stephen argues there is a golden triangle of wellbeing, performance and employee retention.  Should HR be in charge of employee wellbeing? [20:42] To a point. The biggest influence is the line manager and therefore HR need to be supporting the line manager which in a hybrid working world is a challenge. Additionally Stephen cites Occupational Health professionals. However, Occupational Health is more than simply patching people up and sending them back to work, but instead looking at the ‘preventative’ measures such as alleviating workload pressures so that employees aren’t overwhelmed in the first instance. Resources https://www.linkedin.com/in/podcasthost/ https://ovenreadyhr.com https://www.employment-studies.co.uk https://www.employment-studies.co.uk/staff/stephen-bevan

In this episode of Oven-Ready HR I take a closer look at an innovative employment model that’s growing in popularity around the world.  The 4 Day Week is a reduced-hour working model, which seeks to prioritise working smarter to produce better business productivity and positive employee outcomes such as employee retention, engagement and reduced absence levels. Joining me to discuss this growing work-trend is Charlotte Lockhart, co-founder of 4 Day Week Global – a not-for-profit community for those individuals and organisations keen to explore new ways of working.  Charlotte herself is a business advocate, investor and philanthropist. She’s on the board of the  Wellbeing Research Centre at Oxford University and the advisory boards of the US and Irish campaigns for the 4 Day Week.  How does the 4 Day Week Work? [01:15] Charlotte explains the principle behind the 4 Day Week. Workers are paid 100% of their wages for only working 80% of the time whilst providing 100% productivity. The idea is to reduce the amount of work time by focusing on productivity. After all if productivity is maintained why should pay be reduced?  How do businesses boost productivity? [02:11] Boosting productivity is notoriously difficult. Charlotte explains that within a business environment, the answers are found in the micro-environment; for example how many widgets are produced, how many meetings are called but most importantly work with your employees as they will help you identify time-saving efficiencies.  Are some employees resistant to change? [07:11] Charlotte explains that there are always employees who confuse productivity with being ‘busy’ but as she says “busy is not productive” and working 80 hours a week is not a badge of honour. She goes on to explain that millennials and the generations that follow view work in a different way and don’t want to work the hours their parents did.  Can the 4 Day Week work across all sectors? [20:00] Yes is the simple answer.  Charlotte gives an example of a bus company in New Zealand where one of the routes operated attracts very few passengers but is convenient for the company to use.  Her argument is that if you talk to your workers and your customers efficiencies can be found that won’t affect the level of service. At [23:01], Charlotte further explains that it’s dangerous to assume that no sector couldn’t benefit from revieing the way work is structured or organised.  Meetings are the enemy of productivity [24:21] ‘No Agenda No Attender’ is the mantra Charlotte quotes when it comes to meetings.  She explains the changes she made at her own firm to reduce time spent on these fruitless interactions. She further illustrates how people eating lunch at their desk and the use of open plan offices has a detrimental effect on individual productivity. Resources https://www.4dayweek.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/podcasthost/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlottelockhartnz/ https://ovenreadyhr.com

Why can't managers manage? This week I turn my attention to the quality of management in organisations or perhaps the lack of it.  Are good bosses as rare as hen’s teeth? Without fail, poor management is one of the top, if not the top reason we leave organisations.  Why can’t managers manage? Chris Roebuck is the honorary Visiting Professor of Transformational leadership at London’s Cass Business School. A former serving military officer, Chris is also former global head of Leadership at HSBC Investment Bank and UBS.  Whilst at UBS, the work that Chris and his team delivering success through people became a Harvard Business Review Case Study. Speaking truth to power [5:33] A fundamental element of an open culture is the ability for employees to tell managers the truth.  Workers who are frightened of delivering bad news or news they don't think managers want to hear can lead to catastrophic events such as the Boeing 737 Max disaster and BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010. Changing workplace culture [09:14] Chris argues that even if the c-suite are committed to changing an organisational culture, the message often gets diluted as the message filters down.  Managers are often distracted by their own operational issues. Many people argue this is because communications say in a global business are complex. Chris disagrees and points to a 50 year old communications framework published by the Industrial Society (since rebranded as The Work Foundation) called 'Team Briefing' that provides the fundamentals of good communication that he believes far too many organisations ignore. Should HR be guardians of organisational culture? [13:16] No is the simple answer. The C-Suite are the guardians of the culture along with other leaders in the organisation.  HR are their to facilitate and support.  If leaders and managers abrogate their responsibility to HR, the leader is just passing the buck.  The employee relationship rests with the line manager and it's the line manager who needs to do the talking. Why don't business schools teach leadership skills? [17:20] I ask why business schools seem to be so poor at teaching soft skills. Chris responds saying this sort of training is seen as old fashioned and unimportant and business strategy is the sexy stuff.  Chris provides some startling statistics that underline that managers are ill-equipped to to deal with overwhelming majority having never received any management training in for example effective delegation. What lessons can be learnt from military training? [21:28] Chris is a veteran of the world-famous Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He comments that Sandhurst and other military academies around the world don't even talk about strategy until the officer cadets are skilled in the basics such as time management, prioritisation, communication, giving feedback and delegating to others.  These he feels are valuable lessons managers in the civilian organisations should be taught. Does effective management equal better team productivity? [23:59] Chris suggests that it is basically impossible to draw a direct correlation between management performance and the performance of teams or individuals as its impossible to isolate this one variable.  However, he quotes plenty of statistics that  demonstrates that employees who are managed by an effective and inspirational manager will drive bottom line performance. What's the one thing that defines a good boss? [34.33] Chris reveals the single leadership quality that he says is mentioned time and again when hew asks audiences to describe the best manager they ever had. Resources https://ovenreadyhr.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/podcasthost/ https://chrisroebuck.live https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/work-foundation/

Regular listeners to the Oven-Ready podcast will know I frequently cover the more 'humanistic' side of HR.  I regularly interview guests on topics such as employee engagement, organisational culture and purpose and wellbeing. These are all of course hugely important to HR practitioners but in this episode I wanted to discover what the executives of the 'C-Suite' are focused on and whether HR as a function is on the same page. Andrew Bartlow, this week's guest suggests in many instances we're not on the same page at all. He argues HR's focus is often on 'HR Stuff' instead of 'Organisational Stuff'. Andrew is a veteran of both HR and of the boardroom.  He's participated in 11 M&A transactions, numerous business scale-ups, countless IPO and Private Equity exits and as HR lead for a real estate start-up business that became a $14 bn listed firm, he certainly knows his 'stuff'.  His expertise is widely sought with Andrew mentoring a number of HR leaders. His 25 years of HR experience  also led him to co-author 'Scaling for Success' a book the provides an HR framework for high-growth companies. HR is a servant [01:39] Andrew argues that HR is really good at giving 'customer service' to the organisation. We're eager to please and at every stakeholders beck and call but is that he states showing leadership? Advocating for the business as a whole [3:35] HR tends to be guilty of navel gazing. We tend to work on HR things that matter to HR as opposed to seeing a bigger picture and working on things that will benefit the organisation as a whole. Employee engagement is all a bit squishy [10:21] I mention to Andrew about how important it is for HR to build a sense of community and focus on employee engagement.  Andrew doesn't really buy that. Employee engagement for example is all a bit squishy, HR is again focusing on the humanistic element as opposed to driving business performance. The wellbeing 'air quotes' [13:34] Andrew suggests that wellbeing may be important to the organisation right now but is HR working on that at the expense of other goals such as role clarity and management training which the company also may require. Merging two cultures [17:20] Andrew discusses at length how you merge two different business culture that have come together because of a merger or takeover and cautions against the 'usual' go to slogan of bringing together the best of both worlds. HR practitioners need to wear their 'business' lenses [23:22] Andrew recommends that HR leaders out away their HR lenses and wear business lenses instead to trust understand what your organisation needs right now. Resources https://ovenreadyhr.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/podcasthost/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scaling-Success-Priorities-High-Growth-Organizations/dp/0231194447 https://www.seriesbconsulting.com/about-us

In this episode of Oven-Ready HR host Chris Taylor talks to author, speaker, psychologist Gethin Nadin.  Gethin is one of the world’s top Employee Experience and Wellbeing Influencers.  Gethin’ work has been featured in the FT, Forbes, Guardian and The Huffington Post. Gethin is also Chair of the UK Government-backed Engage for Success Wellbeing Thought Action Group and a fellow at the RSA. How many pillars of wellbeing are there? [01:33] Gethin says a lot of organisations struggle with this but he believes s that there are broadly 5 pillars of wellbeing and these are: 1.     Physical wellbein 2.     Financial wellbeing 3.     Emotional wellbeing 4.     Community wellbeing 5.     Leisure wellbeing Gethin recommends that organisations think about wellbeing in these five broad terms and to move away from ‘buying’ off the shelf wellbeing products where he believes many organisations get it wrong. Why should organisations be concerned about wellbeing?[03:30] Gethin argues that there is compelling evidence that organisations who commit to employee wellbeing benefit from increased profits and shareholder returns.  When an organisations is seen to care for its employees, employees perform better in terms of improved customer service, their productivity increases and they produce better outcomes.  Gethin states that employee wellbeing is an investment in people. How much of the wellbeing tech is evidenced based?[12:49] Gethin estimates that there are some 400,000 wellbeing apps available for download but warns that the majority of this technology is scientifically unproven despite some of the technology being recommended by healthcare organisations such as the NHS in the UK. Gethin goes on to warn that some of the available apps could actually cause harm by creating a sense of over-reliance and self-diagnosis by the individual.  So he cautions organisations against putting technology based solutions in front of employees that lack the necessary scientific rigour and evidence. What is Psychological Reactance?[19:40] Gethin explains the terms Psychological Reactance the term used to describe human behaviour when we’re told something that we feel threatens our freedom.  Gethin explains that messaging surrounding health and financial wellbeing often fail because organisations use ‘negative associations’ as opposed to ‘positive’ ones.  He gives an example of retirement planning where positive messages such as dining out and holidaying regularly once retired are much more successful. i Employee Burnout and toxic work cultures[26:19] Gethin states that having work-based friends is effective in employees not feeling isolated or alone at work. Gethin argues that employee ‘burnout’ is most likely to be caused by poor organisational design and structure and quotes recent research to back up this claim.  A lack of autonomy, not feeling appreciated, a lack of direction and unrealistic deadlines all contribute to burnout.   How do I start a wellbeing strategy?[38.27] Gethin outlines the very first steps an organisation needs to undertake when embarking on an employee wellbeing journey.  The steps include asking why are we doing it and what do we hope to get out of it whilst at the same time keeping the employee front and centre. Resources: https://www.hellobenefex.com/about-us/our-team-leaders/https://www.linkedin.com/in/gethinnadin/ https://buddyboost.co.uk https://ovenreadyhr.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/podcasthost/

So if you’re a regular listener to Oven-Ready you’ll know that at the end of each season we put together a couple compilation episodes called Oven-Ready Reheated looking again at some of the themes and best bits.  Season 4 of the show has been hugely popular with some fantastic interviews so thanks again to all of my exceptional guests.  Remember all of the seasons shows are available at ovenreadyhr.com or wherever you get your podcasts but here are some tasty appetisers:  Radical Candor is the management philosophy developed by Kim Scott based on caring personally but challenging directly. I asked Kim to tell me the inspiration for her approach: David Hieatt, the co-founder of Hiut Denim talked to me organisational purpose and also his approach to finding talent.In the first of two segments, author, entrepreneur and thinker Julia Hobsbawm came on to the show to discuss her new book The Nowhere Office, here she explains why she believes the Monday-Friday working week is history. In this second segment, Julia Hobsbawm reveals why she thinks HR need to kill some ‘darlings’.Andrew Bazeley from the Fawcett Society – the UK’s leading charity campaigning for gender equality and women’s rights explained why they are asking for the salary history question to be banned.I ask entrepreneur Alex Kruger if he was in anyway proud of ‘Grace’ the funeral start up business he founded and later closed.I ask HR advocate and speaker Tracie Sponenberg if she feels that HR leaders have a sit at the board table.It has been 25 years since Professor Dave Ulrich coined the phrased HR Business Partner.  In our interview title is it time kill off the HR business partner role? Author, futurist and Consulting Partner at HR Curator, Dave Millner gives an assessment on why firms seem to be appointing non hr professional to senior HR roles. That’s it folks – Season 5 of the show will return in May 2022. If you have themes or stories you’d like me to cover then I’d love to hear from you – get hold of me at ovenreadyhr.com. Resources: https://ovenreadyhr.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/podcasthost/ Twitter: @OvenHr https://www.personneltoday.com

So if you’re a regular listener to Oven-Ready you’ll know that at the end of each season we put together a couple compilation episodes called Oven-Ready Reheated looking again at some of Season 4's themes and best bits.  Season 4 of the show has been hugely popular with some fantastic interviews so thanks again to all of my exceptional guests.  Remember all of the seasons shows are available at ovenreadyhr.com or wherever you get your podcasts from but here are some tasty appetisers:  Paul Nowak, Deputy General Secretary of the UK’s Trades Unions Congress explains how the media characterisation of a them and us relationship between unions and employers is unhelpful.  Paul also tells me how he started his trades union journey.  The jobs market is apparently white hot so I sat down with Nick Croucher the lead UK partner for global HR search and recruitment firm Frazer Jones.  In this segment, I talk to Nick about the trend to appoint non HR practioners to senior HR roles and whether professional HR qualifications are  really worth it.  Lord Hendy QC widely acknowledged as one of the UK’s leading experts in employment law has recently introduced his own bill called the Status of Workers Bill to simplify the UK’s confused position on who is and isn’t an employee,  His bill will also extend  employment protections to millions more of the country’s most vulnerable workers. In this segment, I put it to Lord Hendy that it’s often confusing to establish if an individual is an employee a worker or something else!  In the following segment I ask Lord Hendy if his bill will raise costs for employers and I asked him if he thought this was a price worth paying?  Sticking on the legal theme, I talk to Nick Hurley, Divisional Managing Partner in the employment practice at Charles Russell Speechleys about expected developments in UK employment law.  Here Nick explains a little more about the Governments pledge to make a request for flexible working a right from the get go.  Thanks to interventions from individuals such as Michele Obama in the US and TV personality Davina McCall in the UK, the menopause at long last has been recognised a major work place issue.  I turned to Anne-Marie Yates and DR Lynne Green from Kooth, the UK’s longest established digital mental health provider to share both their own experiences and what enlightened employers should be doing.  First up Anne Marie explains why she thinks we’re now having a proper conversation about the menopause.  Dr Lynne then explains why she believes employers have a moral duty to consider the impact of the menopause on women in the workplace.  If like me you’re constantly checking your phone you might benefit from a digital detox. Hector Hughes co-founder of the digital detox business Unplugged explains how his customers feel when they emerge from one of his digital detox cabins having been separated from their devices. A final compilation of the last 7 interviews of Season 4 available next week. Resources: https://ovenreadyhr.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/podcasthost/ Twitter: @OvenHr https://www.personneltoday.com

In this episode of the Oven-Ready HR with Chris Taylor, our guest is Dave Millner. Dave is an organizational development and design consultant with over 30 years of experience, specializing in employee engagement and experience strategies, workforce frameworks, executive coaching, and HR and digital transformation initiatives. Today, David talks about David Ulrich's HR Model Template, the critical role HR Plays in the company, and how he wants to reinvent the HR Business Partner Structure.   The HR Model Template  [04:05]   There are many problems surrounding role design and business expectations, and David Ulrich's HR Model template was never intended to be cut and pasted into an organization. It was a suggestion to assist you in designing the function and role that would serve as the main point of contact for the HR community. As a result, these difficulties are causing a slew of problems.   The HR Strategy [05:51]  A strategy is a promise given by a company's executives to its stakeholders, including shareholders, customers, employees, regulators, investors, and analysts. The strategy attempts to determine where the organization's budget and funds should be invested to maximize the return on investment and satisfy the organization's targets, growth, KPIs, and scorecard measures.   [07:06]  Human resource business partners can be extremely beneficial. They can advise and challenge; They should be looking ahead and devise a hybrid model in targeting their objectives. It is a strategic viewpoint in which a manager or leader is removed from day-to-day operational issues and encouraged to think in new ways.   HR as a Power Station  [11:59]  Leaders want HR to be a force to be reckoned with. They want HR to be a part of the decision-making process, advising on which goals to prioritize and a strong future focus on technology, analytics, and design that allows business partners to function as trusted thought leaders in their responses.  Finite VS Infinite Resources  [13:23]  We need to think about technology differently, what it can accomplish for us, and stop focusing solely on cost. In return, the income, profitability, and added value are endless, These are the areas where we should endeavor to make a difference. While it is admirable to aspire to something, we must first have an aspiration or vision to create change. We need to adopt a new paradigm in terms of how we work, interact, and communicate with our internal clients and customers.  HR Competencies  [15:39]  Human resources professionals must have a good understanding of financial management and other related topics. You do not need to be a finance expert to work in this field, but you should know it. Keep an open mind and learn about your competitors' current recruitment practices and career advancement strategies. You must understand the organization's strategy, which means reading the document and understanding the plan's interdependencies. You must be organized and able to finish tasks. You must have an opinion on everything.  [23:19]  Over the last 25 years, there has been a push to demonstrate the value of what human resources do; you can't just rely on HR to tell you what to do. We'll need to develop business cases to demonstrate why and where we're going. One thing to keep in mind is that this isn't about transforming HR professionals into finance or data scientists; rather, you'll need a better understanding of the company's business and commercial issues, as well as a much more data-driven approach to viewing and dealing with your customers.  Dave’s Reinvention  [31:09]  Dave Millner reinvented HR business partners. Withi

Every Season of Oven-Ready I like to talk to an HR leader that’s actually doing the job.  Yes it’s great to learn about the high level developments and challenges in the profession and in the wider business but for Oven-Ready to remain grounded it’s great to talk to individuals on the front line. In this episode of the Oven-Ready HR with Chris Taylor, our guest is Tracie Sponenberg. Tracie is an Executive leader focused on aligning people strategy with business strategy at privately held or private equity backed businesses experiencing growth. She is the Chief People Officer of the Granite Group, an award-winning, third-generation family-owned business, and is a Keynote Speaker on HR, Technology, Leadership, and Branding. Today, Tracie talks with us about the true meaning of being a Business Leader Specializing in People. “A Business Leader Specializing in People” [01:25] Working in HR did not represent Tracie anymore. It diminished the power of HR and her work. Throughout her career, she became a people-specializing business leader. Her work prioritizes advocating for people. Building Confidence [03:31] Confidence just came to Tracie. She was just looking at things around her that she could not be a part of. Seeing those things gave her a conscious shift in her mindset that developed into a growth mindset. She then realized that her world and network were small, and she decided to get intentional about expanding that. Eventually, she became comfortable with reaching out and talking to other people. Is HR a lonely Profession? [06:22] HR doesn’t need to be a lonely profession. But by nature, it is. Many HR practitioners are the only HR practitioner in their company. That can be a lonely place, and you're holding a lot of confidential information.Although, with larger organizations, HR can cave better support networks. The 21st Century HR Practitioner [10:04] The modern HR Practitioner combines a deep understanding of business, technology, having that foundational HR knowledge, and making sure you're embracing vulnerability and empathy and a growth mindset. Run everything through a lens of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and making sure that that's woven into the fabric of your company. Then be bold, courageous, and stand up for yourself and your people. Can you get into HR Positions without prior HR Background? [13:17] Companies filling the Senior HR Positions with people who don’t have an HR Background can be seen as a bad thing. You don't need to have a foundational background to lead HR or be a strategic HR leader. If you are leading with empathy, you're leading with vulnerability, and you are a strong people leader. You have some foundational knowledge. It's a wake-up call for those practicing HR in a tactical way and not a strategic way. The Gen Z Expectations [20:06] Everybody wants the same things. People want to feel valued, and they want feedback. The generations coming in now are willing to voice that, and they're not willing to stand for companies. They're demanding and prioritizing change and improvement. That forces companies to design their culture and design their jobs for people instead of expecting people to fit into a box. Tracey’s Agenda as an HR Leader [26:24] In addition to balancing everything in the company, Tracie and her company hired new talents in their way. They brought in a manager that took charge of building a learning path for every single position. They also did foundational work that became beneficial for the company.    Learn more about Tracie Sponenberg: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/traciesponenberg Website: https://traciesponenberg.com/

In this episode of the Oven-Ready HR with Chris Taylor, our guest is Alex Kruger. Alex is the founder of Grace, the $2 Million Funeral startup firm. Grace is believed to be successful with money, but not in terms of its purpose. In my conservation with Alex, he shares the importance of a company’s purpose and its role on the employees. Grace as Uber but for Cremations [01:49] At the age of 25, someone approached Alex and encouraged him to start a company  that involved funerals. What attracted him to agree is that he’s going to be the CEO of that company. [02:52] Upon establishing the company, they went through a lot of ideas. The first one was closing accounts of those who passed away, basically handling the admin side of death. The most interesting idea that they’ve encountered is being a one-stop-shop where they will be handling the actual person by body logistics, cremation, and etc. Is it difficult to find hires? [10:13] Alex mentioned that it was difficult to find hires because of what they sell. There is a lot of competition from other businesses. People would rather do something else than what they were doing. They would also prefer work that allows you to separate your personal and professional lives. They can't do that in this industry because they need to fix the dead's papers so that their cremation can take place right away. The Death Knell of the Company [11:19] Towards the end of the company, both Alex and his co-founder realized what they learned while operating the company. They decided to give up and thought it was no longer worth continuing. They were earning, but they were also losing money. Nevertheless, this company brought them a sense of fulfillment.     A Company’s Purpose [16:49] Alex has no prior experience working for large corporations. Following Grace, he spent time reflecting on who he is, his motivations, and what brings him joy. He believes that in a small company, there is a better chance of finding people who can put the company's mission, vision, and goals into action. However, large corporations such as Amazon and Facebook are not the same. There will be a low likelihood of having employees who care about the company's goals. [18:59] Alex believes that when you grow into a certain size in a company, you might lose it. Although, there must still be a way to maintain that thinking. When a person is treated better in a company, they would be working for you well. Advice as an Entrepreneur [22:29] Your business shouldn’t revolve around money. There are a lot of ideas out there that you can do for your business. Make sure that whatever you're starting connects with something that intrinsically motivates you more than virtually anything else. What is Alex Currently Doing? [24:43] Alex manages an interim CMO agency with only himself and a team of eight contractors. They often conduct zero-to-one marketing. After that, Alex spent around a fourth of my time doing nothing else. Writing is something he could do for hours. But he tries to spend his time on marketing execution and implementation.  Learn more about Alex Kruger: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amkruger/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/krugersays Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kroogz/