The PULSE of HR
Curating conversations from the H.E.A.R.T. of HR with Honesty, Equity, Accountability, Resiliency and Transparency. Empowering you and equipping you for your next level.
The PULSE of HR
S2_Episode 1: Reigniting the Pulse of HR: A Conversation on Leadership, Identity, and Navigating Industry Trends
Discover the heartbeat of HR discourse as we, your HR Practitioners Angela Hooper-Menifield and Robin K. Butler, reignite our passion for empowering conversations in this much-awaited podcast revival. Together, we promise a treasury of knowledge, blending federal and private sector expertise to guide professionals, small business owners, and entrepreneurs through the labyrinth of HR practices. Our candid dialogues are anchored in real-world experiences, and we're here to help you navigate the latest industry trends with empathy and precision.
As we share our personal journeys, including a serendipitous discovery about my husband's and my parallel paths, we explore the critical themes of identity and reinvention in the professional world, especially post-pandemic. The episode traverses leadership challenges, emotional intelligence, and the importance of psychological safety in the workplace. We shed light on the delicate art of political savviness and maintaining confidentiality, skills paramount for HR professionals. Whether you're looking to refine your craft or seeking actionable insights, join us for a thought-provoking session that goes beyond the surface of HR and leadership.
Contact Your HR Practitioners
Robin K. Butler
www.catalystconsultingagency.com
Instagram - www.Instagram.com/robinkbutler
Facebook - Facebook.com/robinkbutler
Twitter - @robinkbutler
LinkedIn - http://linkedin.com/in/robinkbutler
Angela Hooper-Menifield
Radio Show - “The People Side of Business” - www.ibgr.network or catch the Podcast - https://pod.co/the-people-side-of-business-with-angela-hooper-menifield
Instagram - www.instagram.com/Menifield_Assoc
Facebook - www.facebook.com/MenifieldandAssociates
YouTube - Menifield & Associates, LLC
Twitter - www.twitter.com/Menifield_Assoc
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelahoopermenifield/
Supervisor Journal - The New Supervisor 30 Day Growth. Journal
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Welcome to the Pulse of HR, with your host practitioners Angela Cooper-Minifield and Robin K Butler Curating conversations from the heart of HR with honesty, equity, accountability, resiliency and transparency, empowering you and equipping you for your next level and equipping you for your next level.
Speaker 2:All right, welcome back to the Pulse of HR. I am so excited to be here today. I am Angela Hooper-Minifield, one of your co-hosts and HR practitioner, and I am here with my girl, my friend, my sister, my sorority. Look, I could just call them all up, right. Look, dr Robin.
Speaker 1:K Butler Yay, hey everybody, we are so, so excited. Thank you, angela.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, it's been a long time coming, but we are, we're here.
Speaker 2:Words cannot say how long we've been talking about this. So first we just going to take our licks real quick. Right, For those of you who have continued to download and listen to episodes you know a year or so ago recorded, we get it. We have been MIA, we own that. We respect that. Life has been busy, a lot of good busy, a lot of just busy, but nonetheless we are excited to be back and we are, as we sometimes say, new and improved, Whether it's the pivot, it's the reorg, it's a whole lot, but we are here and so we are just really happy to be here and we give you our word we will not take another extended hiatus.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's time for the upgrade and the up level right.
Speaker 2:So here we are. That's right. So so, robin, you know this, this first episode back. You know how about we just start off and just tell people, you know, remind them why was the Pulse of HR even created initially, back in 2020? It's hard to believe. It's almost been four years and you know what was it that we were hoping to do with it. So I'll let you start off.
Speaker 1:Wow it that we were hoping to do with it.
Speaker 1:So I'll let you start off.
Speaker 1:Wow, just like the intro says, angela, we were wanting to be able to curate conversations really from the heart of HR, with both of our backgrounds being similarly situated in HR You've worked more in the federal space, I've worked in the private sector and we thought that we could bridge our experiences and really bring something unique to our listeners where they could really understand.
Speaker 1:We have talked about a myriad of issues and concerns that come up and I think, just being our authentic selves and showing up in that space to share those experiences, to give some insight based upon relevant issues, we wanted to talk about things that were going on, things that were practical, so tips and tools that we could give to those that want general information, and then also we would pivot in our podcast, remember, and we would actually serve those who were in roles like ours, and so it was really just to have some honest conversations about things that you know were going on. So I can just reflect on several of the topics that we covered, you know, early on and throughout our journey when we first introduced the Pulse of HR, and so it was really just to have some authentic conversations to empower you and equip you for your next level?
Speaker 2:Yes, and I think the other piece that we both felt was really important, as now, both being business owners and some of the services that we offer is often to small businesses, even sometimes entrepreneurs, people just getting started out. Where do those people go when they have a just you know, they just want some guidance or quick unofficial because of course, we're always going to say, speak to an attorney, legal advice or HR support but just some general knowledge and awareness so that they can be more educated. I think we've both witnessed so many people make what we would call preventable mistakes, right, things that had they just taken a small course or listened to one of our episodes, they could have avoided, and so we wanted to also be that place. And you know cause as you're growing, you know our business owners are their own HR departments and you know whether it's it's working with the independent contractor, it's hiring someone part-time, it's even working with the intern. There are still some standard procedures, protocols and things that people need to do and should do to again, as we like to say, lay a solid foundation.
Speaker 2:Because even recently, about a month or so ago, maybe two months ago I spoke at the New Jersey Bar Association's solo and small firm and CEU day. And the reason why I was invited? Because, again, a lot of these attorneys are very small, they have their own firms, it's a handful, maybe two, three lawyers and some support staff, but they're making mistakes and these are attorneys, mind you, right. But again, we think that because a person is in the field of law, they know all the laws, but if they're not doing appointment law, they are, you know, sometimes can be saying inappropriate things and get themselves in trouble. So I just say all that to say that was another facet of what it was we wanted to be able to do, yes, of course was we wanted to be able to do yes.
Speaker 2:And then, of course, we loved Hot Topics. Yes, yes, we did, we did yeah and give our spin, our thoughts on some of those things and I see us moving forward. We definitely want to do more of that, because the topics have been really good lately. Oh, yes.
Speaker 2:Not necessarily good in a good way, because folks are clowning and we need to see who we can help, because some people hear some of these stories and they can't figure out, well, what did they do wrong or what could they have done better. And I think we'll be able to add that Most definitely, most definitely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so just our Spanish, as we would call them, the hot topics, but the heart topics, exactly our heart topics. Our heart topics since they were coming from us. But, yeah, it's a lot of times you know us being able to provide a level of insight. You know, with things like you said, the business owners, because they don't know. I mean, I've run into, just as you have, many business owners that just are not aware they want to do the right thing but they don't know. And if they don't have someone that's leading and guiding them, you know, they just know they want to have a business, they want to hang that sign on the door and they want to do business.
Speaker 1:But then those pieces, those intricate pieces when it comes to human capital and what you do, the do's and don'ts, that's where so often, they're, just, like I, messed up. And so, yes, angela, I love how you said that, because we kind of help them get away from that, we help them to get off the ledge, right, because you know, I can just remember one of my clients said oh, you know, you just helped me to get off the ledge because you know, hey, we've heard you don't know what you don't know. And I just really believe in many business, in many instances with business owners, people are not just trying to do things and do the wrong things, but when we hear them it's like, oh no, so just that awareness that we're able to to to provide so yes, yes, and so one of the things you know I'm sure they've already seen, but the the big updates to theulse of HR is we are now on camera.
Speaker 1:Yes, she got me here, you all.
Speaker 2:So, as you get to know us, you'll know look, we're a good mix. One of us is a little bit more glamorous than the other. I ain't gonna call no names, so they'll get to know us. Look, I was gonna call it. I had to run and at least put on some lipstick. I said I ain't even put on nothing. Look, I'm around here today. But we committed to you know what, instead of just being the voice in the ear, we'll still have the availability to listen to the audio. But for those who are visual, as I actually am, and they want to see who are these women and what are they talking about, what's connected as they get caught up in.
Speaker 2:You know our smiles and our laughter and our other facial expressions that'll come up as we talk about some of these issues. We want people to really get to know us, robin, because you know you talk about. You know the heart of HR and HR is all about. You know caring for those you serve, caring for people, and while you can hear what we say, we want you to see what we feel as well.
Speaker 2:And as the saying goes, the good, bad and the ugly right, like there'll be sometimes. Y'all will see us be like no, they didn't, he said ain't. So you know, and we want you not only to hear those words but feel it in our heart, because we also feel troubled. Workspaces are not safe and conducive to a healthy environment and I think the more people whether they're an HR practitioner, they're a small business owner or they're just somebody who enjoyed some of these topics and want to learn more we want to be able to bring you into our homes, literally right now. You're in Robin's office, beautiful isn't it.
Speaker 2:Thank you. You're in the second bedroom in my apartment. I didn't turn into a quasi office. I put a little futon back there so I could. My husband was nice enough to get me this paddle recently. Do you know now, even even though I've been married, so now we should we totally off subject already Like we going to do a lot? Do you know, Robin, that even though I've been married 19 years, my husband and I both been Greek the whole time, Like I've been, you know, adults of 37 years that it wasn't until I saw the paddle that he had for himself that I realized we had the same line number? Are you kidding me? It wasn't until I saw the paddle that he had for himself that I realized we had the same line number.
Speaker 1:What Are you kidding me? So?
Speaker 2:what's your line number? We both was on small lines, right.
Speaker 1:Okay, so that is so funny. So you know what, angela, that's something else we have in common. So my line Tim, of course, pledged, you all both pledged undergrad, we both pledged grad chapter.
Speaker 2:I was actually pledged grad chapter.
Speaker 1:Okay, but interestingly Tim is the tail. His line only had 10. Mine was a line of 41. But I'm the dime of my life. So, we both have the same line number two, so the 10s and the 5 line number two, the tens and the fives. Interesting Look at that.
Speaker 2:I saw his paddle and I saw the five, I was like I want one. He was like well, I actually got you one made. Oh nice Go Charles. It's just funny. We say all that to say we're bringing you guys into our homes with us. And now one of my nicknames you know we'll just put that out there in case people don't follow me and I mean I know is also the queen of planes. Some of our other communities have dubbed me that.
Speaker 2:So I say all that to say you might not know where you're going to be recording with me.
Speaker 2:What the background's going to be. But the reason why I tell you that is because that means Robin and I have also made the commitment that travel or whatever, we're going to get these episodes done. Yes, yes, we're going to be able to get your dose of the pulse of HR and really begin to just dig into some of these hard topics. And so we say all that to say. Our email is still PulsiveHR at gmailcom. Like, feel free to email us questions. If you want to be a guest, we would love to have you, but again, you got to come on camera with us. Now, right, like, we're doing a whole new thing. You're going to love it, and you don't have to be an HR practitioner. You can be somebody that feels passionate about a topic, like you know what are some topics that you would love to have us, you know, begin to discuss Robin.
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness. So I'm going to say out the gate, identity, because I think that is one of the topics that you know I really started to really peel back the onion on, and I would say it happened before the pandemic, but we really started to hear a whole lot more about it because everything that we thought was I'm going to use the word normal kind of was shaken up. And so, you know, some of us lost our footing and it's like how do you reinvent yourself and what does identity look like? So there were, you know, it didn't matter where you were, what your social economic status was. That pandemic impacted you some way, and so it all. It had some of us walking around as imposters, like what do I do? And then some of us, myself included, started to feel like, okay, well, do I really know this? Am I a fraud here? What's going on? And you know, you know, in the midst of the pandemic I transitioned out of corporate America, you know, taking a layoff package, and here we go. It's like, what are you really going to do next?
Speaker 1:And so I think that identity piece is important, just general leadership topics. I think you know you do a whole lot, angela, in the work of Supervisor 101. And you know we both I jokingly say you know, gary Smalley has his book, the Five Love Languages. I'm saying now, you know, leadership is our love language, angela, and I can say that between both of us you know leadership is our love language, angela, and I can say that between both of us we really have a heart and passion for leadership and wanting leaders to lead the best way possible, and so we kind of blood, sweat and tears is what we do because we really pour all of us into that. So I would say general leadership topics and you know just the things that are coming up that would probably be centered around the heart topics and relevant HR issues that are going on that we want to bring to the community. But I just think you know leading in general, that identity piece, management skills. I think emotional intelligence to me continues to be a big one as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I would you know things. I hear a lot in some of my workshops, trainings and speaking events is mental health.
Speaker 2:Mental health is a really big one. Psychological safety, political savviness yes, you know, figure out how to navigate, and you don't have to be in politics. You need to understand the dynamics and what's happening in your industry, your environment. Those are some topics you know, I so often hear.
Speaker 2:I'm a little I hate to say this out loud, but it's the truth that some of our HR practitioners are not honoring HR, some of the discretion and tactfulness skills that, to me, are necessary to want to be in any type of career where we handle people's PII, personally identifiable information, and so, I think, just topics like that. But I just say I'll let the say the sky's the limit, yes, and so, while we know some of the things that are important to us and what we're hearing and reading, I think it's really important that we hear from you all Because, even though, going back to what I said at the beginning, we have not made a new episode for over a year I don't even want to know the real date. Some of y'all are probably going to tell me because we get messages. People put our flyers on milk cartons and text us and let us know they think we're missing. But, having said that, what's important to you?
Speaker 1:At the end of the day.
Speaker 2:There is a reason why some of our episodes every week still get downloaded. Some of the things we've talked about before will come back and revisit. Regulations have changed. Laws have changed. Another topic that I'm hearing a lot about is neurodiversity. Often in the DEI space, we're talking about race, gender, sexual orientation, age, but we're not talking about neurodiversity, which is people's mind, the diversity and processing and thinking. Oh yeah, ai and HR is huge right now. Yeah, diversity, which is people's mind, the diversity and processing and thinking oh yeah, ai and HR is huge right now. Yeah, companies are coming up with policies to manage this. So when I tell you HR is like at the heart.
Speaker 2:Yes, oh big time, big time, everything right, and I'm laughing because I didn't even realize it. But look at the cup I got today on my desk. Oh, wow, wow, wow in hr. Uh, now more than ever. I bought this at last year's sherm conference. I saw it and I was like I don't use a lot of cups, but if I'm aware of you something, I want the message to resonate. And, uh, so you might see us with some other branding things, some of our own, some of other people, but nonetheless, if we, if if see something here, you should know it's because we feel strongly about it. So you know. But when, when you were even talking about identity and I saw that look down, I said that is so funny that I didn't even realize I brought this cup in here for today's recording.
Speaker 1:That's good, that's so good, yeah, here for today's recording. That's good, that's so good, yeah. And I, oh, to echo, to echo you on that whole neurodiversity, because I often because you know, both of us, Angela, are disconsultants and I talk about and introduce diversity of thought and what I love about that, because of the neurodiversity piece that you just introduced and I think that is such a great topic to explore, and I did, and in fact I did this workshop this past Monday and I said let's begin to look at diversity from the lens of what we don't see and we don't have our glasses on right. What is it that you don't see? And so I love that neurodiversity piece because you don't see that. But diversity of thought and what we can introduce is so important because you know it's like okay, well, you know, I want to be mindful of this and what I see, but I think it's those things, like you said, that are beneath the surface, that are just not easily identifiable. So I love, I love that neurodiversity piece.
Speaker 2:Yes, I often say in my DEI trainings that we can talk about the visible all day long, but let's not ignore the invisible diversity, because I have seen where people have gone into a room and looked at it visually and said, oh, this room has no diversity, it's homogenous. You are so incorrect. You are so incorrect Right, like you know. Let's just keep it real, because I've said this before in a dish training, sometimes I'm in my great that even with my blood, I can feel like I don't belong. And then again, right when we say D-E-I, we go and add D-E-I-B, the belonging piece. So diversity is real and it already exists. And so the diversity piece, while we can always still do better in some of the areas, don into the power or the dynamics of diversity.
Speaker 1:Because, yeah, yeah, that piece, what we see is one thing, but what we don't see? And so because what's invisible is still invaluable, oh, yes, I love that.
Speaker 2:We hear that everybody. That's your nugget today. What's invisible is still invaluable. Well, robin, like I said, I am so excited that we are back. Yes, and you know, I see some amazing opportunities, not only for us to add value, but for us to learn Right. So, like, if, if there's some things we're not talking about and you want to be the person to bring that out, like again, reach out to us. Follow us on social media. We may even step out and get bold and get a post of HR Instagram. Who knows what might happen with us. And I'm saying this about two people who with us. Look, I'm saying this about two people who, while we use social, don't use social.
Speaker 2:But you know, we just want to make it easier for people to reach us. We really do to connect and just to be a part of our family.
Speaker 1:Yes, most definitely, most definitely. So, yes, I echo you, angela, wholeheartedly. I'm so excited that we're back. We're here, you know, because, at the end of the day, at the core of who we are as practitioners, our goal and desire is really to add value to you, so that that's ultimately who we are and and what we want to do. And so if it's not adding value, then what are we doing it for Right? And so if it's not adding value, then what are we doing it for Right? And so we know that we really want to be able to get that message across to you and how we add value and how we continue to grow, how we continue to build.
Speaker 2:So we're excited. That's right. That's right. So good to see you, my sister, and it's like we said, it's good to be back. So consider this episode one of the new and improved Pulse of HR, or we can call it the Pulse of HR 2.0, whatever name you want to give it. But we are back and better than ever and looking forward to having a great opportunity to grow and share with you. So, again, stay connected, share with a friend we promise we won't let you down. And I guess, robin, as you say, curating conversations of the heart.
Speaker 1:From the heart of HR, with honesty, equity, accountability and resiliency and transparency, equipping you, empowering you for your next level.
Speaker 2:Thanks everybody, Until next time. Bye.