The New Era of Leadership Empowering Teams and Championing Diversity

When Anne Donovan took her first steps in the HR world, she probably didn't expect her path would lead her to become a guiding force for small businesses and an advocate for employee retention. Yet, here she is, our guest on today's episode, sharing inspiring stories of resilience inherited from her mother and drawing from wisdom gained through mentorship. Our conversation with Anne, a principal consultant at Donovan HR Solutions, celebrates the unsung heroes of the corporate world—people. We dissect how pivotal they are for any organization's success and how their welfare goes hand-in-hand with genuine corporate progress, especially in the context of the dynamic and high-turnover hospitality industry.

Venture with us as we navigate the complexities of the modern workforce where leadership is no longer a rigid hierarchy but a fluid dynamic that fosters empowerment, autonomy, and the permission to learn from mistakes. Anne and I examine the extraordinary strides women have made in breaking the glass ceiling, yet we remain acutely aware of the distance still to travel for genuine gender equality in the workplace. We also scrutinize the challenges small business leaders face, from the pitfalls of neglecting long-term planning to the benefits of investing in the growth of their teams. This episode isn't just a dialogue; it's a call to action for leaders to embody adaptability, humility, and a commitment to their most valuable asset—their people.

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Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any organization or entity. The information provided in this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice. Listeners should consult with their own professional advisors before implementing any suggestions or recommendations made in this podcast. The speakers and guests are not responsible for any actions taken by listeners based on the information presented in this podcast. The podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice or services. The speakers and guests make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in this ...

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to Unpacked Podcast with your host leadership consultant, Ron Harvey of Global Core Strategies and Consulting. Ron's delighted to have you join us as he unpacks and shares his leadership experience, designed to help you in your leadership journey. Ron believes that leadership is the fundamental driver towards making a difference. So now to find out more of what it means to unpack leadership, here's your host, Ron Harvey.

Speaker 2: 0:27

Good morning. This is Ron Harvey. I'm a vice president of Global Core Strategies and Consulting, which is a leadership development firm that my wife and I started just 10 years ago. We're both retired veterans and we wanted to figure out another way to serve, and so we started the company to really do two things. One was to help develop leaders that wanted to be good and they have to have the desire to be a really great leader and the second was to help organizations create a culture that people wanted to be a part of, and so those things are really, really important to us, because our motto is people always matter. I got it the bottom line, I got it. You got to climb the corporate ladder, but you never do that at the expense of people ladder, but you never do that at the expense of people. People always matter, and so that's what we are passionate about.

Speaker 2: 1:08

What I do on this is we started a podcast, and it's really to let you hear from leaders the real conversation behind the curtain about who we are, what we've done, what has been our biggest accomplishments or struggles. We don't know the questions that's going to come up. We do know one thing we'll talk about leadership and we'll be pretty transparent, and so I love that our guests come on and they don't put pressure that I have to have the questions in advance. We've all had those people give me the questions before I start and all of them agree it's okay. They love the platform, they love the format that we have, where they get to just be themselves for a day and let people know a little bit more about who they are. So I'm excited to have our next guest. So, anne Donovan, welcome to the show and, if you can, I'm going to invite you in to introduce yourself and share with people who you are, where you are. How do they locate you after this call? They want to talk to you again.

Speaker 3: 1:52

Thank you so much for having me on your show, ron. I am excited to be here, I'm excited to speak to your listeners and I'm just excited, so thank you very much. I am Anne Donovan.

Speaker 3: 2:05

I'm the principal consultant for Donovan HR Solutions and I have spent many, many years in the human resources sphere.

Speaker 3: 2:16

I started as an HR administrative assistant, moved into an employment manager and then up to human resources director, and most of my experience is in hospitality, retail and restaurants, and, after sitting behind the desk for many years, I went out on my own last year as a consultant, and my mission is now to work with small businesses that probably do not have human resources department or, if so, they have the foundations of one, and I work with those small businesses to develop their HR department from the ground up, to work with their leaders on being people managers, on being people managers, and my mission in life is to increase employee retention across all organizations that I work with, and there's a lot of different strategies that I use, but years ago, when I was just getting started in human resources, I was the employment manager and I worked week in, week out to recruit onboard train, and then the next week I was doing the same exact thing.

Speaker 3: 3:33

So, working in the hospitality we had high turnover it was about 50% and to me, I thought that there were resources we could use to progress things rather than to continue to recruit, interview onboard and things. So that's where I fell in love with increasing employer attention and that's what I do now. Your listeners can find me at donovanhrsolutionscom and on LinkedIn at annedonovanspr.

Speaker 2: 4:11

Yes, yes, thanks, and thank you for letting us know who you are. Thank you for sharing you know your background and the journey you've taken. So for everyone that's listening, we really have real experts on the call that we're interviewing and we're talking to and having real conversations. So thank you for sharing who you are and what you do. And for all the people that are running business, you need someone in your corner that helps you understand HR. That way you can do what you do well in your company and don't get bogged down by the things of trying to become the expert in that space. So, for everyone that's a small business owner, don't try to be the expert of everything in your organization. Really, go out and find someone to help you be great so you can do the things that you really started your business, for HR can be a nightmare. Talent is very, very hard to find and retain, and so you want someone like Ann in your corner. So please, as we go through and you hear what we're talking about, research her on LinkedIn. Go out there and send her an email. She gave you how to find her, but when in doubt, go to LinkedIn. You'll find most of our guests on LinkedIn and they're very accessible and they'll respond to you. So please reach out to us. We'd love to have a conversation with you.

Speaker 2: 5:10

So let's dive into a little. It's Women's History Month, which is huge for us. I mean, we've been celebrating now, you know, like the importance of women in leadership, the importance of women in the professional industry, the importance of women in our society, and I'll ask you to do two personally and professionally. Who's a person, a woman, that poured into you personally to help you become who you are today? And professionally, who was that woman that served as a mentor or a model or a champion for you? Who are those two people that poured the most into you?

Speaker 3: 5:37

So personally, it's my mom. She is the absolute strongest woman that I know and she has a heart of gold, so she is his nails but the sweetest person you'll meet. And so she's really influenced me because of the struggles that she's been through and what she has done in her life and had a smile on her face and had a smile on her face. She is kind and caring and that really influenced me to be strong but kind and I think that we all could use a little more kindness these days that we're all in a hurry and we're rush, rush, rush, but share a smile with somebody, ask them how they're doing and generally listen to them.

Speaker 2: 6:23

So, anne, you're HR. Now come on, you're asking leaders to be kind, so leaders struggle like that word kind and show some love and be nice Like you're HR. So help leaders understand, because some people think kindness is weakness, niceness, people take advantage of you and I don't agree. But this happens in conversation. So you're HR. Yeah, I'm sure you've heard this conversation before. Can you unpack that for a second? How do I still stay firm and hold people accountable and be kind and take care of people?

Speaker 3: 6:50

So I think about some leaders that I've had that were very nice, but they didn't share with me the feedback that I needed to hear. I was going through some stuff and I wasn't really showing up at work and I was miserable. And you know what, ron, everybody else around me was miserable too because my attitude, and so I knew that I needed to change and I knew that I probably should have taken some time off, and I knew all of this, but my leaders didn't talk to me and they say, hey, ann, you got to snap out of this. And they were nice. Oh, ann, how are things going today? Oh, ann, would you please do this rather than Ann, you're miserable. Snap out of it To me.

Speaker 3: 7:41

When leaders show that they care, they give that feedback, they let people know when they're succeeding and doing great, but then they also find ways to be direct and help people improve their performance. And that's not mean, that's not blackhearted, it is simply we all have a mission that we're working towards and you're not really helping us. How can we help you get to where we all need to be? And so having those conversations, though not easy, we are buckled down by fear fear of that other person's reaction fear of rejection, fear that that person might quit because we're giving them feedback they don't want to hear. But from my experience, ron is, people want to hear that feedback. You know what? If I'm getting feedback, I'm being noticed.

Speaker 3: 8:38

And so to me that is kind. But being nice doesn't get the job done. Being nice can actually turn people away and so giving feedback, having those conversations you can still have those conversations in a kind way and to me that's being kind. It's not weakness, it's not the wrong way to do business. It's actually going to help your team and help your business grow and succeed.

Speaker 2: 9:10

Yes, and I love that you're sharing it, because oftentimes you know feedback. I love that you're using the word feedback and if you're listening and you have to get feedback, it's required for people to get better. And if you're the person that needs to get feedback, ask for it. You know, tell your boss or tell your leader, your supervisor hey, I want some feedback, I want to get better. It's hard to get better without feedback. So, Ann, before we move forward and unpacking, who's the person professionally, what's the woman professionally that you would talk to us about? That's helped you become who you are.

Speaker 3: 9:54

Can I name names? Absolutely Okay. Okay. So Katie Neufeld is a general manager of hotels and she is the one that really she is supportive and celebrates every success. She can handle any challenge without breaking a sweat and she's really somebody that I admire, I look up to. And another thing about her is that she's willing to share her knowledge. She doesn't hold information in like so many people do. She wants to train people, she wants to help them, because knowledge can only help somebody get better. So all those make up Kate Neufeld and she is phenomenal. And that's not to say that I haven't had other incredible women mentors in my career, but she's one of the first ones that just I really admire.

Speaker 2: 10:53

You were talking about. You know the one professional mentor that you had that stood out the most for you. What were the things that stood out? Kind and niceness and holding you accountable was important.

Speaker 3: 11:02

Her willingness to share knowledge that so many times leaders and again it goes back to fear the fear that somebody is going to take my job or fear that people won't think I know what I'm doing. But with Katie she was willing to share her knowledge and by sharing her knowledge she was able to help prop everybody up, help the business succeed even more. And the trainings that she did, the meetings that she held, she wasn't afraid to let people know how the business was doing. And again that just helped us be stronger and be better. And I talk a lot about succession planning and what to do if you know when leaders retire or a manager quits. What happens and so Katie kind of made sure that nothing would happen if she left is that the business would still move forward. So her willingness to share her knowledge was tremendous.

Speaker 2: 12:06

Yeah, which is amazing. As you talk about it and you think about the leader that doesn't want to share, the leader that doesn't want to delegate or empower, and you associate that with the fear and I'm on board People get afraid that I'm gonna work myself out of a job or someone's gonna look better, or they have some insecurities that they're bringing to the table. That's no fault of the team that they're leading. How do you help a leader that's stuck in that place that you're talking about get?

Speaker 3: 12:31

past that fear? That's an excellent question, and a lot of it for me is. I tell a lot of stories, that I use my experience a lot because I was that leader. I was afraid that, oh no, they're going to find out that I don't know what I'm doing, or they're going to find out that the person I trained is better than me and wants me to leave. And so, for me, I started writing. I would write out everything in a journal, but then I would also write just the stories that happened to me and what I learned.

Speaker 3: 13:09

And so when I'm working with a leader who doesn't want to share their knowledge or doesn't want to help others celebrate others do writing exercises, that what's the best thing that happened in the past week? So, starting with the really good things, and then I asked them well, holding me back, why am I not reaching my full potential or reaching my goals? And then that brings me to goal setting. Is that, what are leaders goals and what are they trying to work towards? And by looking at the goals, leaders can identify what's holding them back and work towards it.

Speaker 2: 13:52

Yes, yes, thank you. So, when you think about absolutely moving past it and thank you for being transparent, because all of us, you know, we see people and they've arrived, or they're better than what they used to be, and we think they don't have any fear, or we think they didn't make any mistakes and we think like, oh, they're really good. Yeah, we all been through that journey and, if leaders are really honest, none of us started off as good as we may look today. It's just not reality. Nobody is born and all of a sudden they're this phenomenal leader or they got all these.

Speaker 2: 14:18

You know, I share when I speak nationally, and I share a lot. I say everything I've learned. I wasn't born with any of it. Someone poured it into me, shared it with me, educated me, developed me, trained me, trusted me. But I wasn't born with any of the wisdom, knowledge or abilities that I have, and I had a gift to be able to speak but all the other subject matter expertise. Someone actually helped me get there, and so I tell leaders be okay with sharing. It's needed.

Speaker 2: 14:46

How do you help leaders? We think about the space that you're in, and the world has changed drastically From the time you and I may have come into the industry. What have you seen as the biggest changes that leaders are going to have to make to work with five generations hybrid people? The turnover is high. There's not no more command and control like it used to be. Sit at your office, sit at your desk. What is going to be the most significant things that, if I'm that leader that's stuck in the past that I'm going to have to make adjustments for to be more effective based on today's world?

Speaker 3: 15:17

Oh, my goodness, ron, you just brought up a whole bunch of stuff. Yeah, how much time do you have? Is that the workforce, from what I've seen, has done a complete 180 from three or four years ago? Is that with remote and hybrid work, with the completely different workforce, there are fewer people in the workforce. There's more people retiring now than it's coming in. There's a lot of flexibility that organizations are going to have to offer to fulfill the needs of their business If they have open positions. It's being flexible with finding the talent and hiring people. People now are better at saying no, I'm not going to stay in the office till 6.30 because I have to pick up my kid at four from daycare. But you know what, I'm willing to come into the office at seven or 7.30 when I drop my kid off, and so flexibility is a trait that leaders are going to have to get okay with right now. The second one I know that you only asked for one but oh, no, no, you're fine to share.

Speaker 2: 16:39

Yeah, I mean yeah, this is for our audience that we're gonna add value. So literally, I mean, you know you can answer however many of those that stand out for you, because I think leaders gotta figure that out. Flexibility is huge. It's not the robot. Everything's the same. There are multiple recipes to success and when we grew up there was one way to do it and only one way to do it, or there was going to be trouble for someone. That's not the world today. Even for kids that are in school, there's more than one way to get to an answer. If you're going to create critical thinkers, you're going to have to be flexible to let them critically think.

Speaker 3: 17:09

Absolutely yes, and let them go out on their own and solve those problems and figure things out. And they're going to make mistakes, and you know what? That's okay. We make mistakes all the time.

Speaker 2: 17:23

Most of our best products come from a mistake being made. Oh I love it, man. Go ask the right brothers. Now we're flying around uncomfortable, but that's not what they started off with. I'm sure they had a whole lot of takeoffs that didn't take off. So let's be real. Some of my best products if you think about any relationship when you're younger and you're on the playground that relationship that you learned in second grade or third grade on the playground helped you become if you did it right a better person. But you made mistake and you said something you shouldn't. You have to apologize. You have to learn your value system so you learn from mistake. Now, it's a mistake. If you don't learn from it, it's a big problem then. But let people have a safe space to make a mistake and recover from it. Don't destroy people's character, confidence or reputation because they made a mistake.

Speaker 3: 18:08

No, be okay with that. Just as a leader, if I make a mistake, I own up to it, I apologize. Let's try to fix it.

Speaker 2: 18:19

So answer it. Own it first, leaders. Own it first. Don't pretend it didn't happen. If you're going to get past it, own it. If you don't own it, you'll never get past it. What are some other things you're noticing that we're going to have to do differently, and I say we, because I'm in a leadership role as well in our company. What are some things we're going to have to do different? We're going to have to be more flexible as one. What others come to mind for you that you're seeing in your space of you know you're running a company around HR and you're helping small businesses, which is really tough. We'll get into that later. What are some things?

Speaker 3: 18:46

we got to do differently. Humility we have everything and you mentioned it in the beginning that asking for help is crucial, that not everybody is a human resources expert and I'm not an accounting expert, so I had to ask for help. When I was first starting out, I'm thinking, golly, I'm going to do everything, I am going to create my own website. That didn't work out, so I had to be okay with asking for help and that, to me, was a knock on my humility, like I'm like what do you mean? I can't do everything and it was tough, but I'm much better for it because I have a better website than I ever would have. My husband is helping me out with accounting and he's doing a much better job than I ever could.

Speaker 2: 19:37

So, knowing who's in your corner and being okay with knowing that you're not the expert in everything- yeah, you know, it was amazing and as you talk about it, there are people that want to help you if you just get out of the way. Yes, exactly, like, really like, hey, and I got it. I know how to do this. In my sleep you're staying up to midnight trying to do some website. I can do that in an hour. Just here's what it looks like. Or the county. You know in our business, the same thing.

Speaker 2: 20:03

My wife is better at the numbers than I am. I don't touch the numbers at all. I tell people if you want to mess up, give it to me. If you want it done right, give it to her, because I I literally have anxiety and frustrated and if I'm off by a dollar, I'll pull it out of my pocket. My wife will find it Like honey, it's a dollar here, just leave me alone. But that's not the right way to do it. It's not a professional thing to do. You need to know your numbers. So band is saying unpacking here, be flexible, ask for help. Don't be the know-it-all. You shouldn't be doing everything in your business. So these are some things that you can actually take and put into place today and if you're running a business or if you're in an organization, ask for help and receive it when it shows up, swallow your pride and your ego and let somebody help you.

Speaker 3: 20:46

That's it exactly.

Speaker 2: 20:47

Yes, yes yes, anything else, stand out. And then we'll dive into some of the things around small businesses and the work of women, because this is Women History Month. What would you share with women leaders that are listening and watching, so they don't get caught up in anything that may not be productive for them, and I don't want to say effective productive? How do women show up in the workplace today? What are you noticing?

Speaker 3: 21:06

I'm liking where we're going, and so I've noticed a distinct change from when I started many, many years ago and I was seen as aggressive and overconfident and I was a bull in a china shop, so I've learned to tone that down a little bit. But now I'm not hearing the words aggressive anymore or overconfident. I'm hearing that women are showing up and they are confident, they know their stuff and they can speak intelligently to it, and then they're also bringing that kindness that we need in the workplace, and so I have seen a shift from when I started till now with. You know, any woman leader was branded aggressive or I was called the B word a lot, and I was just doing my work. So I'm seeing more women that show up. They are confident, they're talking about what they know and they're not being called those nasty words anymore.

Speaker 2: 22:18

Yeah, it's amazing for us that we've shifted, because, you're exactly right, a man would do the exact same behavior. We wouldn't be called nasty names, we'd call he's effective, he's great, he's awesome, he's holding them accountable and if a woman did it, you get destroyed. I mean, there are some names that we can't even mention on the show that women will get called and we are making that shift, but women are showing up really, really confident in the workplace. What do you think has allowed that to happen? Has it changed that men are doing more? Has it changed that we've changed the landscape Because women had to almost work like a man or pretend to be a man, or dress like slacks in this color and this thing of like. Can I just be a woman and still do my job? What do you think has changed for us to get to the place where you can be a woman and you can be professional and you can hold people accountable without being the B word?

Speaker 3: 23:01

I don't know, ron. I absolutely don't know what's changed. I do know that we still have a long way to go, though we're not there yet, but we have come a long way. But I don't know what's changed. You know, have people changed? The work environment has certainly changed, and remote work, that flexibility that we were talking about earlier, is more common, and just business in general has changed but, I can't really put my finger on it, you know.

Speaker 2: 23:32

I think for men.

Speaker 2: 23:35

they realize that there are some phenomenal women in their organization and they will start and not to retain them. You know, for me, as a guy that sits in organizations and sit in a lot of boardrooms, is that we started advocating and championing and making sure we recognize. So I think we had to do a better job of saying, no, we do want to hear what you got to say. You know, you're more than this face in the room and we want to meet some number on our database and say we hire women and we've got women in leadership, but we don't listen to them. I think we've really embraced like hey, these people are really good, they know what they're talking about. Why aren't we doing this thing?

Speaker 2: 24:05

So I think, as men, of course, I think we've done a much better job of ensuring that we value everybody in the workforce and understanding that the gender doesn't hold them back from being successful. I think we've done a much better job. We still got work to do. So, guys, I know I'm giving you some kudos here, but we're not there yet. As Anne said, there's still a lot to do because there's still a lot of women. Their voices are not heard. There's still some workforces and some careers that are dominated by men and we don't pull them in enough. So I think we still got work to do, but I think we're going in the right direction. In your industry and you think about, you love helping small businesses and leaning into that what do you notice about leaders and smaller businesses? What's some of the mistakes you're seeing them do to stop them from being successful?

Speaker 3: 24:47

I think what holds a lot of leaders back is not seeing the big picture. As leaders, we have a tendency to just get bogged down in the day to day and we don't see the bigger picture of why are we doing the work that we're doing? Or, from a human resources perspective, I see the training and development. I live in Montana and we have very low unemployment, so it's a very tight labor market and so as soon as somebody shows up to work, it's like hey, great, we're glad that you're here, here's your job, good luck, you got to figure it out because we don't have the time or resources to train you.

Speaker 3: 25:26

And then the career development. Is that? Okay, you kind of figured out how to train yourself on that, but we really don't have the time or resources to give you the career progression that you really want. So go read some books and here's a list that I liked and well, good luck so then, within the business.

Speaker 3: 25:47

It's seeing the overall, the bigger picture of what is the business doing. And why am I turning the hog? Is it because somebody told me to, or what is the end result? And so really looking at the bigger picture and taking a step back, and I get it we're all strapped, we don't have the time, our day is jam packed. We barely have time to eat a cliff bar in the middle of the day, to get some energy.

Speaker 3: 26:16

And so, no, I don't have time to develop a cliff bar in the middle of the day to eat this menagee and so, no, I don't have time to develop a training program for you. I don't have time to realize what the customer experience is all about, because I'm just turning that cog. So it's looking at the big picture and understanding it and learning the business.

Speaker 2: 26:34

Yeah, I love it. So you're listening and you're out there and you're a leader and you're in a space is that we all are super busy and that's so important about empowering others and delegating to others and trusting others so that you can really do. You know the customer experience and you can understand your numbers and you can grow the business and you can meet with partners and do things that are super important, you know. So. You look at our business, where you know we started 10 years ago. We're much bigger than when we started, but I had to let go some stuff. I had to stop. The things that made me feel good sometimes were actually not good for our business. So I had to find a new role in our own business, because me being on stage all the time is not the best use of my time, the best way that my company and my team needed me. Oh man, I don't get to do that thing that I love and that makes me feel good. I said, well, this is what we really need you to do. So look at your business, look at your role and what does your role require? Not what your ego requires, and that was important, because your ego will lead you to bankruptcy or bad business or bad leader. But if you follow what your role says, I think you just end up doing what's best for everybody involved. Live up to your, your role and expectations in your position.

Speaker 2: 27:42

I want to do a rapid fire question with you. Let's see how we go here. Okay, so these are just fun facts that we can learn about you. But now that I know Montana, would you prefer the snow or the beach Snow? No, wow, yeah, I'm from Florida, so you know I would be like let's go to the beach Pizza, or would you prefer to cook on a grill? Oh, pizza, it's a perfect cruise. Everybody loves pizza, right? Yes? So would you prefer to take a nice flight to a nice location or would you prefer a cruise Flight? Yes, you like to fly.

Speaker 3: 28:10

So get me there. Yes, I think about the cruise and do I really want to be stuck on a ship for a week without really doing? And I know that's not what cruises are, but put me on a plane.

Speaker 2: 28:22

Hey, they give you a lot of food, a lot of alcohol on those things, so we got to give them something to do while they're on this boat. The last question if you had a magic wand that you could wave to help leaders be more effective, what's the one thing you would want us to do better to be a more effective. What's the one thing you would want us to do better to be a better leader. What's the number one complaint that you're hearing about leaders? You're in HR space and you've heard a ton of them, I'm sure, going all the way up to HR director. What's the one thing that you just wish you didn't have to hear one more complaint about that? We would get right.

Speaker 3: 28:52

It is the catch-all and it's communication. A catch-all and it's communication, yes. So I wish I knew that the VIP was coming in today and I wish that my manager would give me more feedback, and I wish my manager would pat me on the back a little bit more, recognize the work I'm doing. So I wish I knew more about the business. So that catch-all of communication.

Speaker 2: 29:15

Yes, yes. Everything is communication. Every single thing is communication. Getting you on the show was communication. You know how do we get here and what do we do when we get on, and so hopefully we've added some value to you. What I want to do before we close out what would you like to leave the audience with that you haven't shared with them at this time? What's your hey, here's two takeaways.

Speaker 3: 29:47

What would you share? So two takeaways. One that I haven't shared is the importance of core values in making every decision in your business. So how are core values showing up in your recruiting processes? How are core values showing up in your communication with your team members? How does your core value show up in every single decision you make in the business? So think about your core values, and if you haven't thought about them, there are some great resources out there. And then the one that we did talk about is asking for help, and how important it is to realize we don't know everything, we can't do everything, so ask others for help, wow.

Speaker 2: 30:23

Yes, I mean I'm doing a retreat for a company today and you just brought me back to you know, one thing I left out of the retreat is bringing them back to their core values. They want to build their team up, so it helped me. I mean, cause now it's like, okay, that's one thing I left out of that workshop. We get ready to do a retreat today with a client. So bringing that back to the forefront of core values, what would be going on in my organization that says I need your help? What would I be experiencing that says call in high turnover.

Speaker 3: 30:49

So you're hiring employees and you're onboarding them, but they're leaving. And yes, every organization will experience turnover because people's lives change. But there is usually a large portion of turnover that is preventable. So your experience hang turnover. Or you just like to talk about human resources and the people department? That's me. I can talk about this stuff all day long.

Speaker 2: 31:16

Yes, yes, and everybody needs to end In your organization. You need a human resource professional. So, when it comes to onboarding, employee handbooks and things that you should be doing, that you're required to do if you own a business because you're a small business, modern pop don't mean you get a pass, that you don't have to have these things in order. You do need to have these. So please make sure that you know you don't miss it until you need it. So I'd rather for you to be on the front end and have someone in your corner that you can run things past and they say, no, you can do this, you can't do this. Even to the point where now you know, for small businesses, a contract employee versus an FTE. The law has changed.

Speaker 1: 31:52

March 11th be ready.

Speaker 2: 31:53

Yes, yes, and you need to know what that looks like because at some point you're going to have to answer to is this an employee or contractor? And that's real dicey right now. So please have someone in your corner that can explain that without you reading tons and tons of pages and books and laws. You want someone that's already done it. Here's what it means in layman terms. Here's what you can and can't do. Get someone in your corner to do that.

Speaker 3: 32:23

So how do we reach you if someone's interested in making contact with you? So the best way is through LinkedIn at Ann Donovan S-H-R-M-S-C-P, or on my website at donovanhrsolutionscom. Yes, yes, Phenomenal. Thank you for joining the show.

Speaker 2: 32:38

Thank yousolutionscom yes, yes, phenomenal. Thank you for joining the show. Thank you for being with us. Really, really great information, and everybody needs that service. I mean, every single business has to go through someone to help them get their HR correct, and you want to be able to have a professional on your corner. So thank you for sharing the wisdom and the nuggets and being really transparent, which is what we say. We want to add value, we want to unpack and have real conversations.

Speaker 2: 33:03

Again, ron Harvey, with Global Core Strategies and Consulting. The best way to find us is through our website at wwwgcsconsulting with I-N-G, or you can find us on LinkedIn. I have a profile out on LinkedIn. So, ron Harvey, feel free to reach out to us, ask questions and, if you're interested in being a guest on the podcast, reach out to our team and they'll help you get everything scheduled. But we love having guests. The only thing we tell you is that we don't send any questions in advance. This is all real conversation and it happens organic and we have fun. So to everyone, have a wonderful day. Thank you for joining Anne and I, as we shared with you about the role of women and happy Women's History Month, so join us again for the next recording that we will release every single Monday for all of our guests.

Speaker 1: 33:42

Well, we hope you enjoyed this edition of Unpacked Podcast with leadership consultant Ron Harvey. Remember to join us every Monday as Ron unpacks sound advice, providing real answers for real leadership challenges. Until next time, remember to add value and make a difference where you are, for the people you serve, because people always matter.