Employee handbooks, investigation procedures, company policies…are you yawning yet? Understandable. All three have a well-earned reputation for being dry as dust. But they don’t have to be boring. Moreover, they shouldn’t be. After all, your company policies are the bedrock of your employee experience. They define your company culture, far more than any activities, parties or gym discounts you can offer.

Even with the best intentions, it’s way too easy to compartmentalize diversity into a niche spot in company thinking – eg. diversity hire, diversity training program, diversity office. The good news? Early-stage companies have a unique opportunity to build diversity, equity and inclusion into the very foundation of their operation, right from the get-go.

Paid time off is so crucial to a healthy, thriving workplace! It gives employees an opportunity to refresh and restore themselves, which in turn helps them be more productive, creative and committed to the company in the long run. And it gives bosses an opportunity to provide meaningful support for each employee’s unique life needs, cultural background and values. So if everybody wins from generous PTO, why are most PTO policies so damn stingy?

Are benefits necessary, burdensome, or both? After all, bennies often are the second-biggest expense a company has (payroll being the first). Benefits might feel like an obligation, but they’re so much more than that. They’re a chance to show your employees how much you care about them. Benefits are your biggest chance to put your money where your mouth is.

Employee compensation is by far the biggest expense for most business owners. And it’s foundational to your operation. So be sure to get it right on the first try. What do I mean by “getting it right”? Well, I like to break it down into three main categories.

Hey, leaders! Chances are you haven’t gone to law school. You chose to be a leader, not a lawyer. (Not that you can’t be both.) 😉 But as you already know, being an employer comes with all kinds of legal ramifications. It can be a little overwhelming to navigate, especially in the beginning. The good news? You don’t have to be an attorney to understand your legal obligations, and ultimately protect your employees, your company, and yourself.

One of the hardest parts of being a boss is telling an employee their performance isn’t up to snuff. But as a leader, holding employees accountable is just part of the job. Right? Well, yes... but there's much more to it than that.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… If our employees aren’t safe at work, we don’t have the right to be talking about anything else. This is exponentially more true since the pandemic began.

Most workplace policies read like the instructions on a shampoo bottle. “Apply to hair, lather with water, and rinse.” Thank you, Captain Obvious. We write infantilizing company policies to target that one employee, out of dozens or hundreds, who needs that level of detailed instruction on basic human behavior. Let’s call him Chad.

When the concept of anonymous reporting first crossed my radar, I was skeptical. As an HR professional, I believed in creating safe spaces for employees to report any issue. But how was I supposed to investigate or resolve a misconduct issue if I didn’t have all the details? As a business leader, you may share these concerns. But I’m here to tell you, with all respect and sympathy, that I was wrong — and so are you.

I had a conversation the other day with an HRuprise client who’s in a jam. He’s the GM of a close-knit organization built on family connections, whose founder has been exhibiting some problematic behaviors. It’s the GM’s job to hold the founder accountable - but in this intimate setting, it feels way more personal than this GM would like. Sound familiar?

This is a painful time for small business leaders. The Great Resignation has rightly shifted negotiating power into the hands of employees. I for one am celebrating this with no holds barred! But while this power shift is holding corporate America’s feet to the fire, it’s also caught small businesses and startups off guard.

Lots of leaders and entrepreneurs have fantastic business ideas, but feel lost when it comes to hiring employees — especially when they’re first starting out. It can be daunting if you’ve never hired before, especially if your business doesn’t have an HR department.

As an HR leader, I used to think company policies were the most boring part of the job. In fact, when I launched HRuprise I vowed not to let it become just another HR consulting firm that writes employee handbooks. I. WAS. WRONG.

Uggghhhhhh omicron. As a working parent, I just…can’t anymore. Schools are overrun with cases. Teachers are calling out in droves. I’m so damn tired. I never planned to be a stay-at-home mom, much less a homeschool teacher while I build a business. Yet here the fuck I am. Here the fuck we all are.

Well, friends, it was a hell of a year. Again. As I look back, I’m reflecting on not just one, but two years and all that we’ve learned since our lives and careers were hijacked by a deadly disease. The verdict is in: employees are done with being treated like productivity robots. Life is just too damn short.

Americans are in the midst of an employment reckoning. Employees nationwide are deeply reevaluating their relationships to their careers, their finances, and the role they want work to play in their lives. Are you one of them?

For small, new, and growing businesses, HR can seem like an extravagance, something corporate, something you only need after you reach a certain critical mass. But if you’ve followed #MeToo or #BlackLivesMatter, you know that HR is both essential to any workplace, and SUPER problematic in its traditional form.

Have you ever or do you currently work in a restaurant? Me too. Did you experience harassment or discrimination from your managers, colleagues, customers, or all of the above? Yeah, me too. It’s not a surprise to learn that we’re not alone.

For a lot of employers, the concept of Human Resources feels like a luxury at best, or a barrier to progress at worst. If you’ve founded a small business or are scaling up a startup, the last thing you need on your plate is bureaucracy gumming up the works. And after all, that’s what HR is known for, right?