HR BESTIES - HR Department of One

Episode Date: October 23, 2024

Today’s agenda:  Ashley meets The Backstreet Boys Cringe corporate speak: same page Hot topic: HR department of one It's normal to feel lonely in any department of one Communication Creating tools for self service Tactful education is key Questions/Comments  Your To-Do List: Grab merch, submit Questions & Comments, and make sure that you’re the first to know about our In-Person Meetings (events!) at https://www.hrbesties.com. Follow your Besties across the socials and check out our resumes here: https://www.hrbesties.com/about.  We look forward to seeing you in our next meeting - don’t worry, we’ll have a hard stop! Yours in Business + Bullsh*t,  Leigh, Jamie & Ashley Follow Bestie Leigh! https://www.tiktok.com/@hrmanifesto https://www.instagram.com/hrmanifesto https://www.hrmanifesto.com Follow Bestie Ashley! https://www.tiktok.com/@managermethod  https://www.instagram.com/managermethod https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyherd/ https://managermethod.com Follow Bestie Jamie! https://www.millennialmisery.com/ Humorous Resources: Instagram • YouTube • Threads • Facebook • X Millennial Misery: Instagram • Threads • Facebook • X Horrendous HR: Instagram • Threads • Facebook Tune in to “HR Besties,” a business, work and management podcast hosted by Leigh Elena Henderson (HRManifesto), Ashley Herd (ManagerMethod) and Jamie Jackson (Humorous_Resources), where we navigate the labyrinth of corporate culture, from cringe corporate speak to toxic leadership. Whether you’re in Human Resources or not, corporate or small business, we offer sneak peeks into surviving work, hiring strategies, and making the employee experience better for all. Tune in for real talk on employee engagement, green flags in the workplace, and how to turn red flags into real change. Don't miss our chats about leadership, career coaching, and takes from work travel and watercooler gossip. Get new episodes every Wednesday and Friday, follow us on socials for the latest updates, and join us at our virtual happy hours to share your HR stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So, you know, there's no such thing as a real dream job, because at a job, you're going to have to deal with like not fun things, right? But I did once have a job that was probably the closest thing to dream job in corporate that I ever could have had. So my first job, when I went to work from law firms to go and working in house, you work directly for a company, I worked for a radio company, like a large publicly traded radio company. In that environment, like a lot of times you work and it's kind of just, you know, what

it doesn't echo what the real life is like, but there we'd have music on all the time. And I would, so I was in legal and we really partnered and became kind of strategic HR. But on our hallway were like the different like heads of content, like the different channels and like, so we I get concert tickets, or I remember working on something and I was looked up at my door and there was John Tesh at the door. I heard his voice and I knew exactly who it was. Looking up he was going, you know, coming. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, and people would stop and come through these offices. And it was such a blast.

But perhaps the best day was I came to work and my assistant, who was amazing for the legal department, she had a master's degree. I used to want to call it international espionage, and I don't think that's it. I think it was just like international intelligence. Is this? Yeah, maybe it's, and she'd gotten it while she was working there. But so she was like, she was awesome. We were super close friends. I came in and she was like, clap, clap, clap, clap. She's like, this is the best day ever. And she was right. She told me the Backstreet

Boys are coming. Oh my gosh. To the office. So like, I was was like what? And I'm like oh my god that's crazy. And this was like ten, just over ten years ago. And so this wasn't like the 90s Backstreet Boys. But this was like still a big deal. Yeah. Yeah, big deal. So anyway, so I was like oh my god what? And she's like they're coming like 930. I mean it was like all points bulletin. When I talk about a workplace of like bring yourself to work, people were like driving

to go get their kids to bring them in. I mean, I did. My daughter was like two or so. I was only thinking about myself on this day, but I was like, oh my God, this is amazing. But this is where I worked was at the corner of Peachtree and Piedmont. For those that know Atlanta, it's like the equivalent of like, I don't not hate Ashbury, but like it's like a big, big, very heavily trafficked intersection and like big office towers all over the place shopping centers. Traffic is a biatch, especially around the holidays or

in the morning as this was. So we're like, oh, this is going to be amazing. And we're kind of getting the download and they're like, oh, well, the backstreet boys are coming. They're meeting up at the parking lot. I'm like at the Kroger across the across the street. Yeah, they're meeting the Kroger and they're all getting in separate tour buses to come over. Already I was like, by the Beatles. What do you mean? So, the Backstreet Boys each get in their own separate tour bus at the Kroger, LA Fitness, whatever shopping center. And they're, I guess, envisioning they're going to come over and people are going to be absolutely going nuts. Like, envisioning, they're going to come over and people are going to be absolutely going nuts. Like, well, people were going nuts, but not people standing there, like the traffic.

Like people are like honk, honk. So like, you know, so one bus comes in and another doesn't make the light. It's like all, you know, all, all disjointed. But over time, they, so they come in and like we go downstairs, I have as big as a smile as you can possibly imagine. And so they've set up because because we have this very cool, very well-decorated space for artists to come and perform if they want to. And so they came and performed. But you know what? AJ, backstories, I was like, wait, there were all these kids sitting there.

I was like, what does his hat say? AJ has had a journey a bit in his life. He wore a hat that in old English said, fuck. And I was like, oh, is that like French connection? Because that was also popular, like whatever. No, no, it was like old English. So already kids are like whispering, people are pointing and we're like chuckling. But it was like a maybe not job requirement, but job expectation that day that I stand

with everybody else and we watch the Backstreet Boys play their classics and got pictures. Unlike Beyonce, I got pictures, so I'll post the pictures. But of course, I didn't know. Again, at this time, I guess it doesn't matter because I wore business casual to Beyonce when I had advance notice that I was going. But I certainly did not have advanced notice here. And so I wore like a real kind of corny, I think, black and white spotted blazer. But I got my big group picture, picture with Nick Carter, and it was amazing. But it was, I really loved that job so much.

AMT – Oh, how cool is that? But I've got questions. Why did they do that separate tour bus thing? Like, what's that about? I mean, I think that their idea was like that they would literally come and it would be like, wow, like everyone outside. Each wanted their own moment. Yeah. Yeah. And like, like an excitement. And so I can't remember the order of like, I imagine Nick Carter was going to come last, just what I would imagine. But also, I think I'm pretty sure I was pregnant with my second child then.

I was like, I'm not going to go down there. I'm not going to go down all the way to the 23rd floor, and then I'll have to stand with my badge and scan back up, the things you think about in corporate. I think a lot of people made that decision. So there weren't a lot of people out there altogether. So that, I think, was a little disjointed. But I watched because I was watching out the window of maybe my boss's office to see what was happening.

So I don't think that driving into Atlanta traffic in rush hour does not tend to be the experience than you might imagine. Your group photos are likely missing someone important. You. With Ad Me on the new Google Pixel 9 Pro, never rely on a stranger again. Add yourself to any group photo through the magic of AI.

Get yours with TELUS at telus.com slash Pixel 9 Pro. Well, on that note, God, that's some hot goss. Let's go ahead and take a deep dive into the agenda, shall we? Let's get this meeting picked off. First things first, we're going to do our cringe corporate speak, of course, very, very important and educational. I'm on the docket for that today, so I will cover it. And then we will pivot into our hot topic of this meeting, which today it's all about being an HR Department of One. So we have had a ton of listeners and our own followers reach out and share that they

themselves are an HR Department of One. And so they appreciate this HR Besties community because they feel like finally they have supporters, they have friends at work, they have besties. You may be nodding your head yes, yes, yes while you're listening to this. And so we will share some of our own experiences with that as well as perhaps some best practices and little tips there and tricks. So we will also be ending with questions and comments, as always. So definitely think of those questions and comments to share. Should I go ahead and jump into the cringe corporate speak? Please, Jamie's like, please go for it.

Come on, move. Do it. Look at that. I know she's got a hard stop. And I talk so slow. But the cringe corporate speak today is on the same page. Can we get on the same page with this? I use that quite frequently.

I don't think we're on the same page. Do you use it? No. I don't think I do. Oh, I definitely do. I even use it with my kids. I think I said it this morning as. Oh, I definitely do. I even use it with my kids. I think I said it this morning as Johnny was getting out of the car because he is not being so

great in school. And so I had to remind him we got to be on the same page. Did they respond to that? My kids would make fun of me. Oh, yeah. Oh, no, no. Johnny actually has a probably because I do it to him, but like his vocabulary. He does corporate speak. It's like circle back mom. Yeah, like he'll say little things. I'm like, oh, what did I do? I definitely say it, but it is like it's funny. It's threatening. Yeah. It's usually used threatening, like, you know what I mean?

Yeah. I don't feel we're on the same page. Are we on the same page with this? We need to get on the same page with this? We need to get on the same page. I feel, you just put me in the grip by saying that I have like, I can feel having heard that in different environments or a secondhand cringe hearing someone say that to somebody else in a meeting. Not necessary. Please leave.

Oh, they're not on the same page. I'm on your page. I'm on that page. I'm on that chapter, I swear. But Clark, what page are you on? Just tell me. I'll be that page. I'm on that page. I'm on that chapter, I swear. But, Clark, what page are you on? Just tell me. I'll be right there. Like, ah.

I wonder what the origins are of that, because that's a weird one. Let me see. Let me get my... Yeah, I was getting... Like, I do. I'll stop paying attention to the actual meeting. I want to know, though. But it's all about being aligned, right?

Like, hey, are we aligned on this? Do we believe the same thing on this? Like, are we together in this? Right? I mean, it's kind of like you're, you're basically what you're saying is you're, we're not together. Like we're not on the same page. The origins of it, I found quickly, I should have, I should have stretched it out and spent the rest of the thinking about it, but is from like a choir and making sure that all the singers are on the same page of the songbook. That makes so much sense now though.

But I hear, I remember hearing for the first time a leader say a very similar saying, which was, let's all sing from the same songbook. Yes. I feel like I've heard that too. I've seen that. I mean, that's a Southern kind of like, turn to page of the old hymnal, but I remember thinking to myself, oh, it's so corny. I say that all the time.

Like it's important to get everybody singing from the same song book. Actually, I like that one, the second one, singing from the same song book, which takes longer. To me sounds more positive than the same page. So it is that connotation that you're right. Yeah, it kind of has that it can be used that way. How about that? You know, it can go all sorts of ways, but I typically hear it in the threatening

sense. Like we're not a team. Like you're not being a team player kind of, you know, it kind of has that vibe to it. You know, there it's divisive in a way. Yes. And you need to get on my page. The leader is like, you need to get on my page. And that sends a lot of signals to everybody else in that meeting. Oh, yes.

Yes. So feel free to try that one on at work today. Are we on the same page for lunch? See, it could be something nice. But I'm trying to imagine. Don't do this if you think it's gonna get you into trouble. But just envision if you're in a meeting saying that to your to your or even more like a senior

leader. Like, are we on the same page? Like, it is one of those things. If you were to say that to a senior leader, don't do that. Because HR is going to get a request for insubordinate to write you up for insubordination by asking that. And so exactly. Oh. Yeah, but it is like, I'm trying, I'm gonna imagine that the next time I see someone like Junior saying that to somebody. I don't think we're on the same page. Oh my God. There's so many things. When I be in meetings, I would just sometimes think about,

like, my imagination would run wild. And I would think about people saying things, or if you were to say what you really feel, it's probably why it's good I work for myself now. But I would just, because sometimes you'd like chuckle. They were like, you know. Oh, yeah, all the time. Yeah, it can be a real shit show. But feel free to say on the same page, just be careful, right? You got that caveat there from Ashley, you know, that warning, be careful, don't be getting fired today and then blame us. No, don't do it, just envision it and try to stifle up, but it is good because it's especially a good thing to do if you are an HR team of one.

Nice segue, shifting into the hot topic of today and we say HR because of course this is an HR focused podcast but you know what this actually could apply to a lot of functions or a lot of a lot of areas where you are alone and you are feeling isolated at work because nobody knows what you do nobody does what you do nobody understands it no one gives a shit but yet you are so integral to the success of the organization and what you do, of course. So like I shared, we've had a lot of people reach out, hey, thanks for building this community because it sucks being a department of one. It's incredibly, incredibly isolating. There's no one to ping to reach out to. You don't know whether you're on the same page with people.

Enter all of the cringe corporate speaks. But what about you all? Have you all ever been in HR Department of One? Does this resonate? Yeah, actually, in my 21 years, I've been in HR Department of One numerous times and numerous companies. And obviously, those are typically the smaller companies. So, you know, and where I'm reporting to like the CFO or something along those lines. The janitor.

Yeah, literally. So, I think one thing too is you don't really realize how much that one person has to do. So specifically in HR, because that's what I can speak to, is all the different facets that fall under HR. So I'm going to list a few, and I'm sure I'm going to forget some, but benefits, employee relation, onboarding, offboarding, compliance, training. Training could be different things. Obviously, there's on the job training, but there's other training.

Payroll, many times in my career, I've been payroll as well. Workers comp. Recruiting, talent acquisition, labor relations, media relations. I just keep going to communicate. And wearing all of those hats in one position. And that's actually one reason why I created Humor's Resources. It was September of 2020. And I was working at a nonprofit. I was a department of one. And I just felt like I was losing my mind. And I felt like I needed to hear from other HR professionals that I wasn't alone.

And this is a crazy fucking time. And I just need to almost like commiserate with someone. And that's why I created it. And look at where we are now. We've got a podcast ladies, but it is so lonely. It's so lonely. And you know, we've talked about it before. HR is usually not a well-liked function

of a company, unfortunately. And I feel like we've done a very good job of trying to dispel that, not only with this podcast, but also with our own socials. But it's even more difficult when you are a department of one, right? Or even just a lean HR team, even my current place that I'm at, we're very lean. Typically there is a ratio that they say, like for every 100 employees, there should be one HR person. Actually, I think it's 250, to be honest with you.

But typically there is a ratio that I'm pretty sure Sharm probably made it up out their ass. But there is a ratio of X amount employees equals one HR professional. So just to think how many people, employees that that one person may be serving, 250. I myself have, as an HR department of one, literally reported to the CFO, had no direct reports at a job, have had 500 people by myself. And that's a lot. Your inbox is always on fire because there really is always something going on. Employer relations or someone's getting a divorce, they need to drop their spouse off their coverage or, you know, oh, now so-and-so quit, so you need to do an exit interview. Oh, and by the way, start recruiting for that position because, you know, we've got to get

that filled and just the amount of work. And like I said, I can speak to HR because I've been doing that for 21 years, but I know that there's other positions too that are very lean or they have one, you know, one person departments. So I've been a legal team of one and HR team of two at my smallest. I've also been in organizations with a legal team of over 100 and HR team of hundreds and you know, that variance. And so it can be, I mean, I think the loneliness is a big part. I mean, everything you said, just the responsibilities and I

think it's so well put to say everything you have to do that people often take for granted. And so your compensation doesn't tend to be as high, but people expect everything to be done to be perfect, not to hear about it as little as possible. I've worked in legal teams, and we had 7,000 employees, and there were three of us lawyers. I worked eight to five. We did a lot of the employment law things. The ways that I've not just survived, but even thrived in environments, because to me, having actual work-life boundaries has been something I've found, having had that, is really important to me having actual work life boundaries has been something I've found having had that is really important to me the hours you know hours leaving work and leaving

like leaving work behind and not popping up the laptop every night so the ways that we did that were I mean having very standard like having having forms creating tools for people and so you know what you don't want to do in HR that can be easy to do when you're a lean team is to be unapproachable because you're to do when you're a lean team is to be unapproachable because you're so busy that you're irritated. Everybody reaches out, which is completely understandable. And so it's how we've talked in the past about having an auto signature with FAQ things, making it super, super easy.

But the way you communicate that to people and saying, I want to support you. My stack is crazy, so I'm doing the best I can. Here are ways you can support yourself. That's a lot of what I do now, which is performance talking points, standardizing training, all of that, was because out of necessity, I knew the need to create those tools for people so that managers could be more self-service and not have me do things. But I do think, so I do think that, you know, really thinking about that one that I've done is in leadership team meetings, have people rotate. I mean, hopefully in HR, when you're an

HR team of one or lean HR team, you're part of leadership team meetings. I hope that's true. I know that is not always true, but getting a seat at that table. One thing that can be helpful is to have different functions rotate during those meetings and just take a few minutes and talk about what you do and what that looks like. And I know there are going to be CEOs that are like, why would I do that? But people don't have an understanding of what everyone's plates look like. And it can be a way to talk through those and gain an understanding of, oh, that's why they may not be able to respond instantaneously. It's not because I don't care about you, but everything that comes through HR's door is

very personal to the person that it impacts. But you're not an octopus and you're not a wizard, so you can't do everything at once and you don't know everything at once. And so those are challenges. But again, some of the ways I think you can deal with that by creating forms, creating templates, and also finding a network of people, whether it's like a Facebook group, LinkedIn group, having a text group with people, but finding resources that you can use to make your life easier. Yeah, you know, I often think that HR is not liked at times, at least stereotypically, right?

And literally, because of that misinformation, because people do not understand. It's misunderstood. And I think as a function, we have to take some ownership of that in the sense that we need to be educating our clients and our employees, our workplaces on what HR provides, what HR does, what it doesn't do. Just that education and that information, especially to leaders, is so key and critical. It's not about doing a value sell. It's not about saying, hey, HR is worth a damn and here's why.

It's like, no, literally, full gamut of the employee experience from recruit to retire. I mean, the whole thing and all that involves, right? Because again, I just feel like we're just so misunderstood and we don't help ourselves having our heads down just working, doing the job because we're doing so freaking much work. That's why we don't have time to come up for air and explain. Here's exactly what we do. But a lot of folks I see in HR make the assumption people know outside of HR, they don't fucking know.

They don't know shit. They only know what you tell them. So if you're not telling them, they do not know. And so you don't get appreciation for it. They don't even know what you're doing, you know? So let's all, of course, take time, especially those HR departments of one to just share. And it's not like an event way. It's like just literal information and education. You know, here's what HR does. Here's what it doesn't do.

Here's, you know, just that education. That's why I love that coaching and counsel, Ashley, to to have those kind of moments, especially at the upper levels and staff meetings where people are sharing responsibilities and what they do. That's really good advice. If you're an HR team of one, that's just you.

And you may be talking about what you do. And it is that education piece. But also for teams that do have more, like your sales team tends to be often the biggest team in the organization. But if you have other teams or an IT support desk team, in your leadership meetings, don't just hear from the leaders, because even leaders don't always have a sense of the day-to-day. But having an account executive or having someone from that IT support desk center,

have them come and present to a meeting. That leader's going to be talking. In HR, you actually can really, HR can help to talk to that person to explain like, what am I supposed to talk about? Literally talk about your experience and the challenges that you have so that we can understand. And okay, but if that seems boring and easy to you, also we have no idea.

And get them ready and help them to feel confident because they may feel nervous, all of the feels. But having having that's also something that can happen at leadership team meetings, giving people a chance to shine, to educate the organization. That's how you grow together as a team. Hey, small business leaders. Have you ever thought there's got to be an easier way to do all the busy work. Because I know I have. As a small business leader myself, wow, so many different issues pop up, don't they? Well, that's where JustWorks comes in. The all-in-one platform that

supports small business growth, access seamless tools that help with benefits, payroll, HR, and compliance with transparent pricing. It's time to make payroll painless. You can run your payroll in 90 seconds or less and automate payments so you can set it and forget it. Visit JustWorks.com slash podcast to join the thousands of small businesses that trust JustWorks to take care of payroll, benefits, compliance, and more. That's JustWorks.com slash podcast. Your group photos are likely missing someone important. You, with Admi on the new Google Pixel 9 Pro, never rely on a stranger again. Add yourself to any group photo through the magic of AI. Get have with a manager to try to educate them. For instance, maybe they come to me for an employee relations issue, and then it might roll into an ADA or maybe it rolls into FMLA. And so educating them that this is also falls on me,

but doing it in an attackful way, not being like, Oh, by the way, look at the long list of shit I do for you fuckers. You know, I mean, but really like using it as a teaching experience because they don't know. I mean, why would they? Right? Maybe they know that I do payroll because they had an issue with their check a couple months ago, but they don't know that I also do leaves or they don't know that I'm also going to be posting their open position because they haven't had one, you know, the last couple of years. So it's just kind of like almost taking that extra moment to educate the managers in the role and what you do, but not, you know, the laundry list of I'm really fucking busy.

Yeah. You know, I have not been an HR department of one. I've worked for like a handful of Fortune 100s, Fortune 10s, whatever. So I've always had some other HR people to talk to, even if they weren't working with me. I've been HR client supportive one, numerous times where I've owned like all of global

engineering or something, and I'm just, you know, the HR person. But I've always had other resources within the business, but I've worked in very unique and isolating roles, meaning like I was seconded to a joint venture and I was out on my own, the only person, me and the CEO from the owner company or what, I mean, just crazy or, you know, I've had to do, well, I chose to do, I didn't have to do it, but I loved it.

I've had to integrate businesses into larger businesses and you're out remote on an island with people, they don't know the culture. Oh, shit. So, oh, like just so very isolated, right? Where you can't use the other HR support groups at all, right? So, I've had that kind of unique experience. And, you know, for me, something that really, really helped and I was really focused on doing in that type of role because I was so alone and so isolated is that I really locked arms and buddied up with the other functions, right? Like, I knew I needed champions within the business that would protect my name in rooms I wasn't in, in that location. And so, I mean, I got real close to them, very, very close, like weekly meeting close, right? To where they always knew kind of what

I was doing, what my team was doing, what we had against us, and how can we become a force for change and go together to get that change, right? So I would always, always do that. Like I'm never, very rarely would I propose, right? I do all the politicking behind the scenes where all of a sudden the GMs being blasted by eight functions that are all aligned, wanting X to happen.

That really helped me in those roles where it was just me and maybe a couple teammates, but no other support from anywhere else. Just because you always need somebody. You need to be collaborating or connecting with somebody. It's just the nature of work with people, right? And these types of, especially matrix organizations. And so if it's not HR, it's got to be somebody else. And those folks can help you too. They can't help you with the HR shit most days, right? But- But like operations, you can work hand in hand. Absolutely. You know, a lot for me in my years, it's always been someone in operations.

Maybe it's the COO that I'm working very close with and we're having our weekly touch bases because they are the people and I'm the people advocate. But you have to really focus on forming those relationships, big priority. You cannot do it alone, like facts. You are alone, but you can't do that all alone. Well, in times you'll be alone. In times there has to be no one because you're going to have to take time off. And one of the biggest challenge I certainly had as a legal team of one, and I know this is with HR team of one, and in some of those functions, legal, IT, HR, where like you tend to have a very full inbox

every day, is having that conversation with your boss, who may be the CEO, may be someone else, but saying, times I'm going to be out, what is that plan? And how can we set that tone? Because you have to be intentional about having that conversation and getting their support. And sometimes it's saying, because I don't wanna burn out because I can never, never take time off, it is important, but I also want things to be set up. And so then it's like a three-legged stool,

talking to your boss, being intentional about when you schedule it. Like if Jamie's, like Jamie, you know, we talked about your own vacation, it's payroll. And it's set up because, you know, that time that you've done that, it was set up because you didn't plan it that way. But when you learn as an HR about the calendars of organizations, when you can control that,

controlling that for your self-preservation, and then it's the over-communicating. Because people may, they're probably not paying in the different sales team constantly about things, but they do tend to ping HR, ping, and they, a recent word, but they also, they just get an out of office from you. Like, oh, Jamie's, you know, they're sending things to the CEO, Jamie's out, who can handle this? And so it's that communication well in advance of taking time off. These are my dates, put it on your email signature, communicating, hey, I'm going to be taking

this. And then when you come back, really carving that time out to go through that inbox, because you're likely going to do that. AMT – But definitely do not not take time off. It's easy to not if you are a department of one, but you need it more than anybody else. And you should be exhausting all of that. Everybody should, right? I mean, use it all. And don't make the excuse, well, you know, I just can't, you know, the place will survive. You're not so important. The work is always going to be there. That's the whole point of work.

It never goes away. So it's going to be waiting for you. Don't worry. But make sure you take that time and breaks and give that example. Give that example to your organization, too. Let them see that, right? Yes. Yes.

I remember being on our 10th wedding anniversary trip to Fiji. Again, we lived in Australia, so it was not quite the thing that it sounds like when I say that. I know. I was like, ooh, fancy. Yeah, but you know what I remember? I remember great memories from it. I remember in my mind being on the ferry from the mainland to this island we were going

to, editing an NDA on my phone on the thing. And then I remember every day volunteering to go when my son needed to nap because then I could open my laptop and get some work done. And having had that experience, I regret that so much. And I know there's things I could have done to speak up more in that. And I wish I'd taken that. So when I see people having like, well, I feel better. You come back to an empty your inbox.

Like when I've now taken the opportunity to really shut things off, I'm a better person at the rest of my life and I'm a better person at work by doing it. Empty your inbox or fuller life. Ooh. Choose one. Empty your inbox or fuller life. I'm always going to pick the fuller life. I would choose one. Empty your inbox or fuller life. I'm always going to pick the fuller life. I would take this mic off and drop it. It's fine. The email is always going to be there,

y'all. Email is not going away. People don't realize that the work is always going to be there and you want it to be there. So you stay employed, leave that work there and come back to it. So you have shit to do. So they keep paying you. It's job security. Godly, I'm gonna cry saying I've never heard that said that way before. I really like speaks to my soul. Empty your inbox fuller life. Empty your inbox fuller life. Choose one.

You can't have both. Be. What else? What other gems, pieces of advice we have for folks or messages of support? Well, I actually wanted to suggest, because I stumbled upon these, or maybe what resources or groups are you guys aware of that Department of Ones or Lean HR teams can kind of lean on.

So I know we've mentioned it before, but Ashley and I are part of a Facebook group called Evil HR Lady. And it's great. I think it's super supportive. You can post anonymously in there if you have a question. You can also just kind of post and for instance, like I'm in Tennessee, I have a Tennessee specific question. You can even do that. And there's so many people in that group be like, oh, I actually have experience in this. So that's a resource I say there's other HR groups, but I'm just saying that's one I've been a part of for a couple of years now that I highly suggest. There's also, you know, there's also, I wouldn't suggest SHRM, but there are also other, there's also other organizations though that have resources. Troop HR, give a shout out to them.

They're a little different as that it's actually a community. So same thing, you can go and like post your question or say, Hey, I'm doing this and I could use a little help sending one have an experience. So there are resources out there. You may have to do a little bit of research, but in TikTok, I mean, obviously Ashley and Lee, not so much me, because I just do dumb shit, but they're actually sharing important things on social media. And I feel like HR, social in general, HR talkers,

and are really building it up and I felt less alone when I started seeing you guys on socials. Just bringing a voice to HR, because I don't know if, I don't think we ever had it really before. I think to the extent you develop relationships with some of those people, and maybe former colleagues and having a text group with them, or as a lawyer, and maybe this isn't as similar with H.R., but as a lawyer, I went through kind of a challenging legal situation,

was able to see that people in some other similar companies had gone through a similar situation, and ended up, reached out to them, and ended up having this networking group of people in the same industry. And so industry groups as well. LinkedIn, you can find that and then often you can then find people that you message with that can create text. I was going to say FaceTime. Maybe people don't need to. I tried to FaceTime you. Decline.

I would decline. I know this. And then text you immediately, are you okay? Exactly. Yeah. Do you need something? But it is. But I think establishing those relationships, I think is really, is super, super important. No, all good advice. You know, I'm not really a part of anything anymore.

Since I left corporate at the end of last year, I'll be honest with you. But I've been very focused the last few years on creating that community. That's why that warms my heart, Jamie, when you say, oh, I feel community like from my page or Ashley's page. That is absolutely the point. And just bringing awareness to, giving exposure to, education to, all of that's very, very important for me. So that's been kind of my core focus here in this weird career shift that I've undertaken, different focus, but trying to do some impactful change here for the function and its people.

That's very, very important to me. I think we're all on the same page. Oh, there you go. You got one in there. Look at you. Oh, dang. But you have our support, whether you're in HR, Department of One, or many. We value you. We support you. We care. We're here to listen, and we love that you are a part of this community. So please, please,

please do not feel alone, like we've all been there in certain ways, you know? But reach out and lock arms with somebody and just know that you are valuable. That's why there's only one of you. You're a diamond. See, look at that. Look at it that way. Shift your perspective. You cannot be replicated. You're so beautiful.

Literally. Oh, God. At Don Miller Subaru West, we believe in being a positive force in our local community. Together with our customers, we have been able to sponsor and support local charities and nonprofits. Don Miller Subaru West has once again partnered with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of the Upper Plains region. Our donations have helped fund cutting edge research to cure cancer and improve the quality of life for so many.

Helping those in need, that's the Subaru Love Promise. Don Miller, Subaru West, more than a car dealer. Any questions or comments, ladies? What do we got? I have two questions. Two? Yeah. That's such a hard stop today, Are we soft stop Jackson over here?

All right. Well, Ashley, you said that, you know, the job that you had that you got to meet Backstreet Boys earlier in our episode was as close to like a dream job as you had. So I wanted to know, I want to know what was a job that you had that was like pretty close to great. And then why the fuck did you leave? No, I'm just kidding. No, that wasn't, that wasn't the follow-up question actually. I'll go first.

When I worked at Marriott, even though it was a very tough, like it's 24 seven, so like it's a lot and also departmental one, I would have to say it was so much fun. Like I got to do wine tasting and I would always get to taste like new menu items and the banquet staff whenever there was like a leftover breakfast or lunch, they would always take care of me and I gained weight. But that was just like, we just had so much fun. Like it was a lot of hard work, but I had a lot of fun when I worked in hospitality. I don't want to go back, but it was a lot of fun. And I ate good. I'll say two things really quickly.

I loved working with GE. I loved and adored that culture because I'm very high on strategy and it's very innovative place to work, right? And I loved that. And I just loved how the culture, you could put your finger on it and everyone was on the same fucking page. They just were, like everyone just knew

what they were working for, had that purpose, loved it. Okay, just loved that sort of environment. It was uplifting for me. It fit me. So that was one job where it's like, God, that culture was great. Like I just loved it, you know, and it just really, really fit me. And so I miss it almost every day and I think about it. But I wish I was still worked at Chewy's Tex-Mex restaurant where I also gained weight. I gained a lot of weight.

All right. That was like my senior high school job, because the chefs loved me. The cook, they just made me everything all the time. And oh, gosh. But I just loved the team spirit in the restaurant. And it was like anything frickin' goes in the restaurant. I mean, it was crazy. I was drinking margaritas while working.

Oh my god, please don't do that. I was underage and everything. But anyway, don't do that. I was underage and everything, God. But anyway, don't do that. But you know what I mean. And everyone's flirting with everybody. And it's just fun. Oh gosh, it was just like the show, like waiting, that movie, whatever.

Like it was just, you know, the flair and all that. It was just fun, something about it, you know, crazy. I'll say this aspect of that job of like, yes, I loved it because there was entertainment, but like that was fun. But there was an aspect aspect of that job of like, yes, I loved it because there was entertainment, but like that was fun. But there was an aspect that made that job really change my life and in a lot of what I do now. And it was, as I said, like I, when I interviewed, and this was think it's so important to be

candid interview. And when my boss had said, part of your compensation package is that you will only work eight to five, you won't work at night, you won't work on the weekends. And, and I was a lawyer, lawyers listening in a lot of jobs can tell you, when do you hear that, working for a public company on a lean team? We rose to that occasion. We would have so much fun. We'd laugh. We'd watch YouTubes together. We were right near the CEO's office. I think at times he was like, who is this legal department? It was like, LOLs, LOLs for days. And like, I felt like I could be myself. I had autonomy. So like, I didn't generally didn't have to run things by my boss. I could have conversations. I

figured things out. I learned and grew so much as a professional. And those were the aspects that my boss had created that made it a dream job. I also like celebrity gossip and music. And so that was wonderful, but the dream aspect was what, and why did I leave? Because it was in Atlanta, I had my second child, and we were basically working in the office, and it was pretty stressful to have a little kid, and so, two little kids, and so we moved back to Louisville

to be close to my family, and I worked for KFC, that was also transformational, but that was the only thing. I had a lot of challenges as a parent of young kids and constantly worrying about my kids getting sick. I think if I was more candid about that, I could have said, hey, can I have more flexibility? Yeah. I really do.

That's another aspect that I take in. People go through seasons of life, whether it's kids or other things, where you've got to find that flexibility. I think as a manager supporting that, you can create that dream environment even more. So my second question was, what would be your for real dream job? I can't believe this was the question I was going to ask Jay. Oh, I'm sorry. No, don't apologize. I love it. We're on the same page.

Yeah. God, I'd love to be an opera singer. And you got some pipes. Like if I had the- You could do it. Yeah, but my vocal break is weird. I'm just artist terms. Like it's a weird spot.

I'm not really a soprano. I'm a mezzo. I'd want to be a soprano in touring. I mean, you know, I just like, but I would love that. I think I could do that. I'd love to perform like that. It would really fulfill me. That or a professional travel blogger slash writer. Oh, very cool.

Slash digital creator. Doesn't that sound fun? Just being paid to do shit like that. But what I could see, what I could see, and I'm creating a new job for you, but don't stop doing the podcast, is voiceovers for a travel channel. I have people that will text me and be like, who's your friend with that voice? Sorry, it's not you or Jamie. I'm like, no, no, I got you. And I'm like, Lee? And they're like, is it Leah or Lee?

I'm like, Lee. They're like, oh my God, Lee's voice. And so with that voice. But I think if you do voiceover things or you're looking for talent, Lee is your person. Oh, I know. A dream job would be to do some vocalization in a movie, like an animated, like Pixar or something. Oh my gosh.

Because this voice does all sorts of different things. I mean, it really does. Oh my gosh. Never expect that. I mean, I do an Elmo, I do Chewbacca. I can do all sorts of things with my voice. So I would love to do that. Oh, Ashley, what about you?

A, playwright. I wish that's... Yeah, I want to be a playwriter, screenwriter, wanted to do it, wrote a spec script for The Office. Like, that's totally... I would have loved to have been in a writer's room for, like, an SNL or a sitcom type thing and would have... Absolutely, absolutely love that. Love, love it. But now I do, as I said, I do 59 second plays on TikTok and Instagram and LinkedIn now.

So here we are. There you go. Yeah. That's right. You're doing some version of it. Creative realm. God, I don't know. I don't think I want any job.

I just want to be on a beach, a bitch. Ooh, okay, okay, girl. I just want to be on a beach with my tits out, like eating fruit. But if I had to pick one, I don't know, I would love being a talk show host. Like just interviewing people and asking questions and stuff like that. I don't know. You would be great at that. I would love to do that.

Yeah, just the hot gossip. You would be great at that. And you'd be funny. And you have a good, you have like the good look for it too. You got the cute hair rocking. You got that smile. No, you look good. I love it.

I have a comment. Not a question, but I have a quick comment. Because of course the topic today we're talking about really isolation and loneliness in the office. If someone on your team or in your life, whatever, tells you there's nothing to be upset about or why are you so worried or it's not a big deal, oh my God. Like professionally tell them to fuck off, right? Oh, okay. Well, wishing you the day you deserve, right. Or say something. I mean, just don't say that to people. Right. We all have our different experiences. Like what

you see that someone's allowing you to see of them is just the superficial. You have no idea what's happening underwater for them. Right. I mean, and that's HR in a nutshell right there. Right. I mean, we're like those ducks on the water. The feet are going a million miles an hour under it, but we look all smooth and swan-like at the top sometimes, sometimes not. But man, I always would hate that shit. Well, it's not that big of a deal. Like why are you so upset?

Or there's nothing to be upset about or things aren't so bad or oh bitch. Like you do not know how crazy things are here, and what a shit show it is behind the scenes. Just a little comment, shut the fuck up. You don't need to say that to people. How are you doing? My God, ain't that some shit. I empathize. That's it.

The two of you have made me feel less alone. And those listening make us feel less alone. And so when we hear from you that, you know, we make you feel less alone. Like, we, you know, we're all recording this in our respective individual offices. I may spend my day not really seeing or talking to people. And we are very real people behind these mics and on the screens. We have all the emotions you can imagine. The two of you are my people, like my people, and all of you listening. You create this community as well.

When you add those contributions or you share, you send it, it makes our heart warm. Today, I saw somebody shared our Instagram story and was all excited. And it makes us feel like we are part of a community as well. So thank you all for being here. Like follow and share. While I'm like trying not to cry. Thank you besties.