<p><b>Listen to this episode to get your strategic mindset on. <br /></b>Strategic planning should be on your radar as an HR professional; if your organization is known for strategic planning, so should your HR department. You’ll also learn if there is a secret sauce to setting realistic timelines for HR initiatives. </p><p><b>Key episode takeaway:</b> “It all goes back to the culture of the organization we work in. If we don't have support from the top down, it's hard for HR to see how strategic planning and HR are connected.” Interdepartmental relationship management is crucial—keeping up-to-date on other departments and their timelines is essential. No matter how large or small your department is, you can accomplish this without running out of time.<br /><br />---<br /><b>EARN SHRM RECERTIFICATION PDCs FOR LISTENING</b><br />Honest HR podcast episodes will help you build your competencies while you earn professional development credits (PDCs) toward your SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP recertification! All you have to do is listen to a full mini-series to earn PDCs! All relevant details, including the Activity IDs, are provided during the podcast recording itself.<br /><br />The Honest HR podcast is only one of SHRM's podcast offerings. And currently, it is the only one approved for recertification PDCs.<br />---<br /><b>This episode is Part 3 of a three-part series. </b>When you listen to both parts of the series, you are eligible to receive PDCs for your participation.</p>
Listen to this episode to get your strategic mindset on.
Strategic planning should be on your radar as an HR professional; if your organization is known for strategic planning, so should your HR department. You’ll also learn if there is a secret sauce to setting realistic timelines for HR initiatives.
Key episode takeaway: “It all goes back to the culture of the organization we work in. If we don't have support from the top down, it's hard for HR to see how strategic planning and HR are connected.” Interdepartmental relationship management is crucial—keeping up-to-date on other departments and their timelines is essential. No matter how large or small your department is, you can accomplish this without running out of time.
---
EARN SHRM RECERTIFICATION PDCs FOR LISTENING
Honest HR podcast episodes will help you build your competencies while you earn professional development credits (PDCs) toward your SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP recertification! All you have to do is listen to a full mini-series to earn PDCs! All relevant details, including the Activity IDs, are provided during the podcast recording itself.
The Honest HR podcast is only one of SHRM's podcast offerings. And currently, it is the only one approved for recertification PDCs.
---
This episode is Part 3 of a three-part series. When you listen to both parts of the series, you are eligible to receive PDCs for your participation.
Callie Zipple:
Hey everybody, and welcome back to Honest HR. I am your host, Callie Zipple, and I'm excited to be actually back with one of our guests that joined us in season one. So, she came back for season two, which is exciting. As a reminder, we are in mini series number two. This is part three of that mini series, and my guest today is Katie Powers. Katie was with us in season one. Her episode was very well received, so we're excited to have her back to talk about something which she will tell you she's not an expert in, but she actually came to us and said, "It would be really cool if you could talk about strategic planning and how HR departments or HR professionals can do it better."
And we said, "Why don't you come on and tell us about your journey through strategic planning within your organization?" So, that's what we're going to be talking about today. So, Katie, I want to welcome you back to the podcast. Remind our listeners who you are, what you're all about, and then we'll jump right into strategic planning for HR.
Katie Powers:
Sounds good. Hello. Hello. I am Katie Powers. I am the HR director at Path Forward. We're based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. We are a managed service organization serving primarily healthcare practices. We offer a wide variety of technology services, and I think relevant is that almost six years ago, we started a contact center offering, which has been a huge impact on our growth and launched me into my HR journey here. I did not have a traditional HR path. Like I shared last time, I don't have an HR degree, I have a fine arts degree, and I started with the organization in a non-HR role and kind of evolved into the opportunity here.
Like I said, some of the ways that our business has evolved created a need which I was right for at the time, and we'll talk a little bit later, I'm sure, about that. But I appreciate you having me back, Callie, and also just the challenge of turning the tables on me. Like, "Why don't you talk about strategic planning?" which I think is really cool, and also in line with some of the themes that we'll talk about later.
Callie Zipple:
Yeah, and I'm excited. Like I said, I think you're one of our first returning guests, so I'm pumped to have you back, and I know that we'll revisit some other guests later on in season two, but welcome back.
Katie Powers:
Thank you, ma'am. Thank you.
Callie Zipple:
Yeah. As I mentioned, we're talking strategic planning and I think this is one thing that some of our organizations do well, but some of our HR departments might not. So, I want to talk to you and I want you to actually talk to us about how we can do better with a structured approach to strategic planning. So, walk us through why you were looking for this guidance or why you wanted to listen in on a conversation like this, and then how you actually got started developing your own plan.
Katie Powers:
I think that my goal since I started in HR was to evolve to a more strategic mindset and function, but I knew that I wasn't going to be able to just do that in year two, so it's definitely been something that has been on my mind and I also think on the mind of the folks that put me in this position, where that was always the goal. I don't know if I shared this last time, but there wasn't really a true HR department when I was put in the role of HR manager, it was just a function... Which is really common in other organizations. It wasn't a high need, so another director was just wearing another hat and going through the paperwork, and when things were needed, he would jump in.
But I've been able to, because we had that contact center like I shared, and the volume of that department is two thirds of our entire employee base, just to give you a sense of how intense that volume was and that growth was, but also how important it was to support those employees with what HR brings to the table. So, needless to say, I was busy for a few years trying to just lay the foundation, but it was always in my mind of trying to get there, trying to get there. Things have been positioned well over the last few years to get me to this place, so I have a member on my team, she's moved to the role of HR generalist, but I've been able to replicate myself and others to finally get to where I have someone who can take on the majority of the day to day.
She can handle pretty much everything, but she escalates when she needs to, and it just allowed me to start thinking and focusing on the bigger picture of what we needed to be doing as an organization. And this is super recent. That's why, literally, in the fall I had asked because I was preparing what I felt like was my 2019 strategic plan. I'm using air quotes, and I was mentally seeing that maybe this was an opportunity for me to get more to the strategic phase that I had been waiting for, and so, of course, I wanted to know like, "Give me the textbook answers. What did we learn about in our SHRM courses on this?"
And I wanted to nerd out and get to it in a more comfortable way, but I think this was a more uncomfortable way to get there, which as we all know, can lead to a lot better growth in the end. Yeah, I'm excited to share how the first-quarter experience with this went, but that's how I got there. I think this has always been an on my mind to get to this point.
Callie Zipple:
Well, and I think you're not alone in that. I talk to HR practitioners and professionals every day who are asking, "How can I get out of the day to day and get into a more strategic mindset?"
And a lot of times, it has to do with the culture of the organization that they're in. If they're not in a organization that thinks strategically about the business, and then obviously about human resources, it's tough to get to a place where, in HR, we can structure a strategic plan. So, it's really cool to hear that you have support of your leadership team to think more strategically about the human part of the business. So, I'm excited to hear about your path to getting a fully-baked plan, if you will.
Katie Powers:
Absolutely. With all humility, I will share.
Callie Zipple:
Yeah. Well, it's funny because when we were talking about this and teeing up this conversation, you felt the need to remind me several times that, "I'm not the expert in this," but when are we ever, really? I'm just excited to have you on and talk us through this path that you're on. Another thing that we talked about when we were teeing up this conversation was that you started in one direction, and did your whole presentation or something like that to your leadership team, and then learned some things during that presentation, and maybe had to shift. So, tell us about that experience.
Katie Powers:
Absolutely. I'm thinking 2017 and then even more so in 2018, I was trying to be more intentional with the things that we were... Kind of your checklist for the year. All the things that you have to get done in a year, and then maybe all the things that you should have done but you didn't get to. So, maybe it's audits, or different types of sign off, different types of compliance or training, things like that should just be happening every year. In the fall, like I said, of 2018, I was getting together a pretty good project plan of what that would look like for 2019. I even had a phase of the plan that was suggested enhancements or places that we could put some of our efforts. I think there were some things related to recruiting, and maybe proactive recruiting, because in our HR department we pretty much do everything.
We definitely partner with our hiring managers for some of the aspects of recruiting, but everything's housed here. So, I had that plan and I was calling it my strategic plan for 2019, so really, it was basically this annual plan, this project plan. I shared it with our owners and they very respectfully explained to me that what I was sharing with them was really what should just be happening within my role and my responsibilities. It really wasn't a strategic plan or strategic goals, and I think that's always kind of a... It was a push for me, where I'm like, "Oh, my gosh."
So, in addition to just making everything run, the concept of, "No, there's these other things in addition to these..." We need to come up with some strategic goals in addition to just the day to day and what needs to happen in a year. So, we came back together and they actually set me up initially with three strategic goals that they felt were important in quarter one, and they aligned with the organization, where we were going. They also aligned with my peers, the other directors, as far as what their goals were, and the intent was once we got through quarter one, I would be able to bring back suggestions for what I felt like was relevant going into quarter two, of, "Here's what I think after completing this. This is what I think makes sense for me to focus on in quarter two."
But it was really cool, because what they were trying to evolve from is... We've always been, I think, a organization that we're not afraid to take on many, many things at once. There's new business, there's crazy growth that we're going through, and we were moving into a new building not long ago while all this stuff is going on. But their whole thing was, "Instead of having 20 things that we're trying to do at once as a team, why don't we really try to get down to three things that we want to do very well?"
And there's different concepts that I think people have this, but we used... It's called Start Today and we used journals and things like that. But the concept is three goals, breaking those out, and rather than this entire year predetermined, we're focusing on this one quarter at a time. Anyway, so that whole experience was really this, "Oh, so this is more of an annual plan versus a strategic plan," and just having that aha moment and also having the challenge of like, "All right, let's do it. I'm not sure if I can do it, but let's say yes and let's move forward and see how much we can get done in 13 weeks."
Callie Zipple:
I think one of the cool things about what you just shared is that you were comfortable, or you leaned into your vulnerability, and you had support from your leadership to say, "You know what, Katie? We're going to help you get started." And I think that's something... It comes back to the culture of the organizations that we work in. If we don't have that support from the top down, it's very hard sometimes for us to be successful. So, I give you and your organization so much kudos in the way that you're looking at the HR department, both from the person who's practicing it, but also from leadership wanting to get involved and sharing with you the direction that they want you to go. Sometimes, it's hard for HR to realize how we're aligned to the business, but your leadership team helped you with that, and I think that's just so cool.
Katie Powers:
And I think it helps connect you to the other areas of the business as well and really see... I mean, we know that the partnership is so relevant and so important, but when you see those goals parallel to your other partners in the different departments, it's really neat because it gives you more of a reason to meet with them, ask how it's going. Some of your goals might cross over, and of course with HR, a lot of... I mean, mine impact all of them, and so I'm excited to share with them and help. A lot of my things are more tools for the other directors and people in the company. But yeah, I think it's hugely important and it's a cool opportunity, for sure.
Callie Zipple:
Is one of the underlying initiatives in your company collaboration? Because I feel like a lot of what you're doing with the strategic plan is collaborating with other departments within the business.
Katie Powers:
We have been working a lot on... When you said the vulnerability thing, we've been working a lot on feedback and we're trying to get away from... So, we have a lot of new leaders company wide, in supervisor positions and manager positions. I mean, I would still consider myself a new... I've been here seven and a half years, but I would still consider myself newer. We're giving opportunities to those that maybe on paper wouldn't get that opportunity, which is really cool, but you really have to figure out how to train them into the culture and untrain certain things that might have come from cultures that weren't as healthy.
So, we are really focusing right now on feedback and explaining that when you are interacting with your employees, it is not just discipline, so we've really tried to step away from... There's not the discipline, but it's feedback, and certainly the feedback that, there's collaboration in that, and the whole concept of being vulnerable actually builds trust. I'm sure we could do a whole episode on this, but for sure, that's definitely been a focus, and I think that's what gives you momentum and helps you break through a ton of barriers, so absolutely.
Callie Zipple:
I think another thing that helps, especially when you're aligning your goals, not only with the business but with other departments within the business, there's this level of cohesion. I mean, you said trust and I think trust is key to a lot of cultures that are successful, but this idea of cohesion, too, where you're going in the same direction and you know what direction the other departments within the business are going. I think that's another thing that you might have seen as part of this strategic plan, is it not?
Katie Powers:
Absolutely, and it's just, you can't operate in a vacuum. I mean, even if there's a department where you're like, "I don't even understand what they do. We have nothing in common," but there's something that I think you can pull out, especially as HR. Because that was the thing I was thinking about as I was going through my goals. I'm like, "I'm trying to figure out how I can lift up my peer group because the things I'm trying to build, like dashboards and employee programs and things like that, it's only going to help give them tools that are going to benefit them in their team."
And trying to think about it that way, because I think sometimes we think about it as this silo... It's like, "Oh, HR." We're doing onboarding and we're processing paperwork, but that's when you're talking about the strategic stuff, when you really start looking at the big picture of what we're capable of, especially when it comes to having the analytics work for us and empower us, and helping our directors and our managers get what they need, or even identifying issues in advance and things like that. So, I think that was a connection for me, of just it's so interwoven and what I'm here to do is really to help lift them up. We feel that connection to lift up all of our employees, but it really can start with those managers and those directors.
Callie Zipple:
I think sometimes when we take the time to understand what other departments are doing, it helps us better inform the decisions that we make. Or it helps us better understand their day to day and what direction they're going in strategically, because sometimes when we ask for support or ask for help and we don't get it immediately, we think that they're ignoring us. But the reality is that if we are more familiar with their day to day or some of the things that they're working on from a strategic perspective, they might have deadlines that we're not aware of. But if we've broken down those barriers, not only from a strategic planning perspective but just from a relationship management perspective, which I would argue is absolutely necessary to a successful strategic plan, it comes back to cohesion. It comes back to trust, and I think we're just doing a better job of understanding what everybody's working through by having those conversations and developing a more well-rounded and robust strategic plan throughout the organization.
Katie Powers:
Absolutely, and I think when you have that relationship, you get... That partner or that peer is going to come to you a lot faster if they need help with something or a heads up. I feel like that's what's been really cool about what I'm calling my peer group here, of the other director team, is I feel like because I have that relationship with them, it's awesome, because they're kind of looking out. Like, "Hey, heads up, this is going on," or if we missed like our Friday meeting, just making us aware of something that might be coming, or hiring, or new business or something like that. When you have that relationship, it's a little bit more natural to just give those updates and have that line of communication.
Callie Zipple:
I love that. I love that. So, one of the things that I often get questions on, and I'm sure this is something you were struggling with maybe before and after you got that HR generalist you mentioned to help you out, but how can we better balance our day to day with the direction that we need to go strategically?
Katie Powers:
This was probably my biggest learning from this first quarter. Like I said, when I met with the owners, they chose to use as a tool the Start Today journal, and they actually gave each of us a physical journal. And then, we also started using Microsoft Teams and also Planner, which is... You can look that up they're Microsoft projects... Or products, rather. Those were some of the tools that we started with, but the real thing for me, or the aha moment, was in the planning. The journal is something that you're physically mapping out your day, your month, your week, and it makes you do certain reflections about gratitude and specific goals and things like that.
But the thing that I thought was huge was, I would spend time on a weekend or a Sunday night or Friday or something, and I would completely map out my next week. I am a nerd, so nobody has to do this, but I use color coding and I would highlight. I would have pink for my meetings, I would have yellow for my strategic goals, I would have green for free time, and then that was actually the same way that it was represented on my Outlook calendar. But there was something so peaceful about that. I did not have the Sunday Scaries. I went into the week with a sense of peace that I was dictating what my schedule was, and I just feel like, for sure, the days and the weeks that I spent the most time planning I got the most accomplished and it gave me the most momentum, and I'm fully aware of the reactive, because I think that's the reality of our...
Everybody lives in that world, especially in HR, and those are the things that you didn't know were going to happen, but because I had my calendar mapped out that way, it did a lot of things for me. One, if I had those crazy reactive things come up in a certain part of the day or one day, I was able to very easily move them and figure out where they needed to go, and I didn't forget about them. It was still something that I knew I needed to do. But the other thing that I felt like was huge is that, I think we feel like we have to be available all the time, and before you know it, your calendar's completely spoken for. I know for me, it's usually about Tuesday. The rest of the week, done. I mean, 8:00 to 5:00, done. Forget about it.
Callie Zipple:
[inaudible 00:20:43].
Katie Powers:
So, I think that when you have that time, you have to really break down those goals into bits and pieces to figure out how to tackle, and then put that intentional time on your calendar. I'm not saying block out three to four hours, I'm saying you have one hour for a specific strategic part, your goal, and maybe it's some research you have to do. Or for me, I did a lot with dashboards, so it was a specific part of the dashboard I needed to accomplish. And that was huge. There were some weeks where I asked my team, I was like, "Listen, I'm kind of behind from last week. I've got to take this hour to do this specific thing. If you can block for me, that'd be amazing." That was a strategy that I used, but like I said, the planning part was just huge aha moment for me.
Callie Zipple:
I would agree with you. I'm looking at my desk right now and I have so many color pens, and I got to tell you, I found erasable color pens, which have been a life changer for me. But what I do, I make lists on lists on lists, and I am really intentional on making sure when I'm done with something, it gets crossed off or it gets removed. And I continue to refresh my lists because the sense of accomplishment when you can move something off of a list or checkbox something off is next level, I feel like.
It makes you feel like you're actually getting something done and seeing a outcome that, either you were expecting or not expecting, but the point is that it's there. So, I think lists for me has always been helpful. I've always been a list maker. I need to get better at that now that I travel as much as I do, but I love the idea of a color-coded calendar, and I bet you get so much joy from just looking at it and knowing exactly what you're supposed to be doing each part of your day.
Katie Powers:
Right. Well, the thing you were mentioning about the list and making sure you cross something off... I'm a huge list maker as well, and the thing that I really liked in that journal activity that took it a step further was, it made you reflect on what accomplishment in your week are you most proud of? And then, it also had a space for you to reflect on, what are you going to do better next week? What did you take away? Not a bad thing, but just...
Because a lot of mine were... I think it was around the time thing. There were weeks where I'm like, "You know what? I should have just pushed through. I should have figured out a way to prioritize that," and that's where I think I started to get to with the schedule and the time, because it really is hard day after day to just keep grinding towards those things, when there's all this stuff going on. You're just like, "Are you kidding me?"
But I think that, honestly... And again, I know nothing, but I feel like maybe this is the key to this whole strategic thing. I don't think that people who are primarily maybe in like a VP of HR role, I doubt that their lives are like, they're playing Mozart in the background and sipping on their tee and just cranking out strategic plans. I am sure that their days are pretty darn stressful and they've got things coming at them from all angles. So, I feel like maybe that's part of this, is really learning about the planning piece and how to keep giving yourself the momentum of... Because I'm sure you've heard this, about how it's so important to celebrate the wins and when you don't stop to celebrate the wins, it's kind of hard to keep the energy going because you're just like, "Why am I killing myself?"
So yeah, when you're crossing things off and really looking and being like, "Wow, look at everything that I've accomplished this week. That's amazing."
Callie Zipple:
I am thinking back. I know it's Thursday only, but that's a great thing to look back at on a Thursday or a Friday, and just look back at your week and say, "What have I done this week that I want to tell somebody else about?"
That's such a great insight. I have another question that we didn't prepare for, so I'm hoping I'm not putting you back on your heels too much, but have you been able to find the secret sauce to a realistic timeline for your strategic planning initiatives?
Katie Powers:
Hmm. A realistic timeframe. Meaning...
Callie Zipple:
Yeah. So, I've tried to do strategic planning initiatives and put together a real robust plan, and I find that I'm like, "Yeah, I could totally get this done in six months." And then, six months hits and I'm like, "This was a way larger project than I thought it was, and I'm going to need another six months or another year," or whatever it is.
How have you been able to find a more realistic approach to really figuring out how much time you need to get your strategic plan done?
Katie Powers:
Oh, so even literally within a week, breaking it out down to that, down to the full extent of the goal, even. I think for me... I mean, I was an athlete a million years ago, so I feel like I have that competitive... If a coach tells me to jump higher, I am going to die trying. So, I feel like that was part of the... One of my goals was to actually launch an employee program, and when I shared that with my peer group, they were just like, "Seriously?" And I was like, "So, I'll just write my resignation letter now. Ha ha ha. No problem."
But I also just wanted to try. I was just like, "Let me give this a whirl." I didn't launch the program. There were a lot of things as I started to pull it apart, there's so much to it that needed to happen, and so it was trying to figure out maybe recommendations of what could happen in quarter two. And then, I got it to a PowerPoint to start sharing and getting feedback, and also, launching a program you have to be really aligned with, obviously, with our owners because it's their vision. They've had a vision for this program for years, and so again, I think it's the humility thing of putting in your best work, but also as you start to get more information, you can come back and share where you've landed, and maybe a new plan of how you're going to make it happen. But it's going to take... This is not something that's going to take a quarter, it'll take continual development.
But like one of my bosses was saying, "Progress over perfection." Let's see where we can get this in 13 weeks. The other two goals were fine in that timeframe. I still had to push, but they got done, so I don't know. For me, I feel like you really have to start breaking it out pretty detailed to figure out all the little pieces to it that you feel like you need to accomplish and make sure, obviously, that you're aligned, that those things relate and things like that. But yeah, I don't know.
I feel like goals are so... It's so nuanced. It depends on what it is. But I also had one of my other directors, she got her goals and reset one of her goals. She actually knew. She was like, "This is not a quarter-long thing," and requested to adjust a bit to make it a 13-week goal. So, she already knew, but I just think it depends. For me, I feel like I have to dissect it and dig in and outline it, and then I can figure out if it makes sense or not. But again, like I told you, I also like the challenge of just trying.
Callie Zipple:
Yeah. GSD. Getting stuff done, right?
Katie Powers:
Yeah.
Callie Zipple:
So, my last question then is, we're on this path of strategic plan. We've identified them. We've written them all down. We're committed to the direction that we've identified. How can we still, as HR professionals and businesses, remain flexible to things that happen, or business drivers in our industry that we need to shift for?
Katie Powers:
Yeah. I feel like for this, for me, because I do think it depends on your organization, but where we are as an organization, we are still... I hate saying, "We're very entrepreneurial," but things are constantly changing as we evolve based on what our clients need and within the industry and staying competitive. I've always worked for entrepreneurs or people who have run their own businesses, but I've never worked for someone who's at this level of creative and innovation, and just really taking advantage of opportunities. So, it's super exciting, but what it means for me and even the workforce is that we have to be committed to flexibility, to being open to change, and that means to me, that strategy has to be fluid. Again, I know that there's different organizations out there, but maybe a lot are in this stage of their development.
But that's something that I just try to be. I just try to spread it as a culture, where people know coming in that that's how things are, because it isn't just in strategic goals, why we're not mapping out all of 2019, why we're going quarter to quarter. It's also when I'm hiring people, because they're going to feel that in the contact center. They're going to feel that in that a workflow can change, that their seat might change because we're renovating the building, things like that. So, I do think that it's a culture thing and you have to be fluid and flexible, just knowing that sometimes things change and business needs change, and you've got to evolve.
Callie Zipple:
And not forget your overall direction at the same time. I think that's the other thing, too. A business will have a direction that they're looking at for the next three to five years, but the point is that quarterly things change. And that's why I think it's so cool that your strategic plan and your direction right now is to look at, quarterly, what you're focusing on and how you can impact the business in a way that is meaningful. I think that's such a great insight for the rest of our listeners to hear.
Katie Powers:
Right, and there's still vision and mission, and we are... I don't want to sound like, "Oh, my gosh, we're going..." We're staying within-
Callie Zipple:
Flying by the seat of our pants. Yeah. No.
Katie Powers:
Right. Absolutely not. There is still 100% a vision and there is a mission. We talk about our core values, that's our north. So, I think that those things, it's still important foundationally for those things. I mean, that's obviously been there all along, but I just think it is the reality that, especially where we're in... I mean, you think about recruiting and how aggressive people have had to get for that because of where the job market is. And that's just the reality of what's going on right now. You've got to pivot and change, and maybe what was your typical recruiting strategy the last five years isn't going to cut it anymore. There's outside things like that, too, that affect the overall strategy.
Callie Zipple:
A lot of organizations now are trying to remain or stay or become curious, too. I've seen organizations and I've worked for organizations that have said, "We'll revisit that idea in three years, but right now we're on a path on the strategic plan we identified a couple of years ago." I think it's exciting to me to hear that more organizations are trying to be curious and trying to flex in a way that makes sense for the business and get out of this whole, "We'll revisit that in three years," because I think in three years we're going to forget what it was we suggested and it could be a game changer.
Katie Powers:
Right, yeah. It won't be relevant in three years.
Callie Zipple:
Yeah, totally.
Katie Powers:
Right. Yeah, absolutely.
Callie Zipple:
Well, is there anything else you want to share before I ask you to share your contact info, in case people want to connect with you about your progress here?
Katie Powers:
Sure. Well, I do want to go back for the thing that I shared with the planning and my aha moment. I did want to share with the group, the concept of sharing before you're ready. I think that's another thing that ties into this, and it's something I actually heard on a podcast a week ago, but I think it's very easy for us to get sucked in and stay in the vacuum until you think that it's perfect, and that you can then share the PowerPoint or the concept you've been working on. But that is something that I learned along the way that I don't think I did very well this quarter, and I'm working on for next quarter, but just put it out there.
Share it before you're ready. You're going to make better progress. You're going to get things done faster. And then, the other thing that I do think is along this whole time conversation that we had is, as you're evolving as an HR individual along in your career, you start more in this admin role and it's more reactive. As HR people, we're used to just being available all the time. I mean, how many times do you get a message? "Do you have a moment? Can I pop in?" And the thing that I do think you have to have a mind shift as you're trying to get to this more strategic place, is that you have to be able to triage those requests in a way that's not going to isolate you or frustrate or make you unapproachable, but it's going to protect your time. So, just trying to maybe ask a couple of questions like, "Is this urgent? Can you help me understand what it's regarding?"
That's the thing that I've started thinking about. If I get a Skype from somebody asking a really super general question about our PTO policy, does it make sense for me to just stop everything I'm doing, if I'm working on this program that's going to impact all of our employees? Does it make sense? Or, can you maybe either redirect, can you email me, have somebody else answer? But I just think we have to start thinking about it that way, but don't think about it as...
You're not putting up a wall, but you're just getting smarter with how you're managing your time, and I think that that's something that's been a shift for me and is important to think about as we go. You might not be in that place right now, my friends that are HR parties of one, but there are ways to do that even when you are the only one, of just trying to triage requests like that and get better about protecting your time.
Callie Zipple:
I love everything you just said more than I thought I would. The idea of sharing before you're ready, it comes back to the vulnerability we talked about. You probably get a lot of good feedback in that vulnerability state that you're then able to use and pivot, maybe, if you needed, and things you maybe wouldn't have thought about or weren't ready to think about. I love that idea so much. Katie, I want to thank you for coming on. If our listeners want to connect with you, how can they reach out?
Katie Powers:
LinkedIn is the best, and I've been more intentional with my time on LinkedIn, so if you want to find me on there, just Katie Powers. I'd love to connect and meet more folks out there.
Callie Zipple:
Cool. And again, my name's Callie, last name Zipple. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram at SHRMCallieZ. You can always reach out via email, or LinkedIn, obviously, as well. If you want to connect a little bit more intentionally, to Katie's point, with Honest HR, go out to shrm.org/honesthr and have a look at some of the stuff we've got going on out there. We're always open to topic and guest requests, and we do have a mechanism for you to do that out on our shrm.org/honesthr website. This episode is part three of miniseries two, and it's the final episode in this mini series. If you haven't already done so, please go back and listen to part one of this mini series, featuring Parker McKenna, and part two of this mini series featuring Robin Chapekis.
Once you've listened to all parts of this mini series, you can enter the SHRM Professional Development or PDC code into your SHRM re-certification profile. The code you'll need is 21-E6WHA, that's 21-E as in echo, six, W as in whiskey, H as in hotel, and A as in alpha. It will be eligible for 1.5 PDCs. Thanks for being SHRM certified, and as always, for listening to our Honest HR podcast.