Transform Your Workplace

Jon Spencer, CFO, COO & Principal at Solutions YES and Brandon Laws discuss the growth of Solutions YES, meeting the demands of the market, their hiring and recruiting strategy, and why they continue to grow the business with purpose in mind. Click to learn about Solutions YES

Lacey Halpern of Xenium HR discusses the back-to-school challenges that working parents face. Inevitably, kids get sick, they have after-school programs they need to get to, and parent-teacher conferences come up. Lacey touches on each of these scenarios and shares what she believes employees and employers can do about it.

Brandon Laws and Tyler Meuwissen discuss the book Joy, Inc: How We Built a Workplace People Love by Richard Sheridan. In the episode, Brandon and Tyler discuss some of the most unique human resource practices Menlo Innovations is putting into practice in their business, such as hiring, recruiting, office set up, how people work together, purpose, and much more.

Fallon Niedrist, an Associate Attorney with JJH Law in Portland, Oregon, joins the Human Resources for Small Business podcast to discuss the new Oregon Paid Sick Leave Law, effective in 2016. During the conversation, Fallon shares all the details around the new Oregon Sick Leave Law, what employers may consider changing in their policies, how to track time, common traps employers will likely fall into as this law takes effect, and much more. Learn more about Fallon Niedrist and JJH Law at www.jjh-law.com/ or contact Fallon at fallon@jjh-law.com

Are you an HR professional who is curious about what it is like to be an in-house HR professional or an HR consultant? In the 45th episode of the Human Resources for Small Business podcast, Brandon Laws interviews Jenny Scull and Annie Oxenfeld of Xenium HR about their past experience as in-house HR professionals and how different their current roles are as HR consultants. Annie and Jenny share their experiences in each type of role by sharing what a typical day is like, the pros and cons to each type of role, what professional development is like, how they manage their work load, their teams and who they work with regularly, and much more.

Dan Grinfas, a labor and employment attorney at Buchanan Angeli Altschul & Sullivan LLP, joins the Human Resources for Small Business podcast to discuss the new proposed changes by the Department of Labor (DOL) to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that would raise the minimum salary for exempt workers. In the episode, Dan reviews when the proposed changes take effect, what is actually changing, duties testing and what the practical action items for employers are right now. Dan Grinfas BioEmail Dan

Lacey Halpern joins Brandon Laws as co-host in this episode as they discuss an article on LinkedIn Pulse titled "Millennials Don't Want Work Life Balance." During the conversation, Lacey and Brandon draw upon their own workplace needs as millennials and discuss the points in the article about flexibility, outcomes and collaboration.

Returning guest, Jan Foster, of Performance Resources, Inc, joins the Human Resources for Small Business podcast to discuss recruiting and hiring the perfect sales person for an organization. During the episode, Jan and Brandon discuss common challenges with hiring sales reps, behaviors to look for in the perfect hire, interview questions to ask, whether you should hire for culture or skill, and much more. You can contact Jan Foster at jan@prol.ws Notes Common variances between sales roles (as referenced in discussion): Company size Startup, emerging, established organization Collaborative vs. confrontational culture Self-directed vs. micro-management Supportive (resources) or self-reliant environment Formal training vs. on-the-job Hunter/farmer/both Type of buyer – CEO/VP (decision maker), purchasing, maintenance, etc. Target client industry - industrial vs. professional organization Software vs. hardware Services vs. products Value sale vs. commodity Concrete vs. conceptual sales Size of sale – millions, hundreds or dozens of dollars Sales cycle – enterprise long-term, transactional

Lacey Halpern joins the HR for Small Business podcast to talk about strategic interviewing. In this episode, Lacey gives tips, techniques and best practices for how to become a great interviewer. You will hear such things as what questions to ask, how many interviewers should be in the room, how to conduct remote interviews, how many rounds of interviews should take place, and whether or not anything should be done differently with key hires. Resources: Intelligent Hiring workshop Strategic Interviewing workshop Interview Etiquette for employers Tell us what you think: Take the Survey

Megan Leatherman, a human resources consultant in Portland, Oregon, joins the HR for Small Business podcast to discuss conflict management in the workplace. In the episode, Megan gives examples for how conflicts start and how to identify it, and she also shares tips on how best to manage conflict. Tell us what you think: Take the Survey Resources mentioned during the podcast: Megan Leatherman's email: megan.leatherman@gmail.com http://mediate.com/ http://www.omediate.org/ Concious Communication by Miles Sherts Staying with Conflict by Bernard Mayer