Latest / The Confident Entrepreneur With Jennifer Ann Johnson / The Art of Onboarding for Success with Karen Shepheard

Transcript

The Art of Onboarding for Success with Karen Shepheard · The Confident Entrepreneur With Jennifer Ann Johnson

• 0:36
  Jennifer Johnson: First impressions aren't just for first dates or client meetings.
• 0:39
  Jennifer Johnson: When it comes to business, the way you welcome and integrate new employees can make or break their success and yours.
• 0:46
  Jennifer Johnson: Today, we're diving into the often overlooked world of employee onboarding.
• 0:50
  Jennifer Johnson: It's more than just paperwork and introductions.
• 0:53
  Jennifer Johnson: It's about setting the stage for long-term success, engagement and retention.
• 0:58
  Jennifer Johnson: Did you know that a strong onboarding process can improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%?
• 1:06
  Jennifer Johnson: Yet many businesses treat it as an afterthought.
• 1:10
  Jennifer Johnson: In this episode, we welcome into the studio Karen Shepherd.
• 1:13
  Jennifer Johnson: Karen is the owner of HR by Karen and she has over 15 years of experience in HR and she's always described as genuinely passionate and creative by her peers.
• 1:24
  Jennifer Johnson: She is the partner that you want to take your business to the next level.
• 1:28
  Jennifer Johnson: She wants to work together to change.
• 1:31
  Jennifer Johnson: Why not you to why not us?
• 1:33
  Jennifer Johnson: We will explore why onboarding is crucial, what a great onboarding process looks like and how you can create an experience that turns new hires into long-term high-performing team members.
• 1:46
  Jennifer Johnson: Whether you're a startup founder hiring your first employee or an established business looking to refine your processes, this episode is packed with insights that you can't afford to miss.
• 1:55
  Jennifer Johnson: So get ready to transform your approach to welcoming new talent.
• 1:59
  Jennifer Johnson: Your journey to building a more engaged, productive and loyal workforce starts now.
• 2:04
  Jennifer Johnson: Let's dive in.
• 2:05
  Jennifer Johnson: Welcome, karen.
• 2:07
  Jennifer Johnson: Thank you, jennifer.
• 2:09
  Jennifer Johnson: I just love having you on because I always gain a new insight.
• 2:12
  Jennifer Johnson: Oh, how sweet.
• 2:14
  Jennifer Johnson: And I love being here.
• 2:15
  Jennifer Johnson: I mean, hr is such a vast field and there's so many different components about it and I know I just I had just recited the statistics and they may even be higher than that.
• 2:28
  Jennifer Johnson: Now I'm not sure.
• 2:29
  Jennifer Johnson: But why is hiring or why is the after hiring so I say the after hiring meaning the onboarding process, why is that so crucial for a company?
• 2:41
  Jennifer Johnson: Meaning the onboarding process.
• 2:41
  Karen Shepherd: Why is that so crucial for a company?
• 2:42
  Karen Shepherd: Actually, Jennifer, it's not the after hiring Recruitment is part of the onboarding process.
• 2:49
  Jennifer Johnson: See and look it.
• 2:49
  Jennifer Johnson: I learned that right now.
• 2:52
  Jennifer Johnson: So why it really is, because it's so important.
• 2:56
  Karen Shepherd: It is all about most people.
• 2:59
  Karen Shepherd: When they hire right, it is about filling the seat half the time.
• 3:05
  Karen Shepherd: If they're in panic mode, someone may have just quit.
• 3:08
  Jennifer Johnson: Oh, I know nothing about that, nothing.
• 3:13
  Karen Shepherd: I'm backing from the microphone because I know how my laugh can like squeal in the microphone.
• 3:18
  Karen Shepherd: But yes, it's so important to hire for your culture, hire the character of an individual, the soft skills of an individual and it is and the technical skills.
• 3:37
  Karen Shepherd: I obviously have to be there, but it shouldn't be the first focus.
• 3:42
  Karen Shepherd: So, when you hire right, the onboarding process is easy, okay.
• 3:48
  Karen Shepherd: Okay Because then and one of the important things to do during the recruitment process is transparency.
• 3:58
  Karen Shepherd: You have to be transparent.
• 4:01
  Karen Shepherd: You can't have a candidate sit across from you and say we are great, we do everything right, and then the candidate shows up and you don't have the tools in place for them, you don't have a process in place for introductions.
• 4:22
  Karen Shepherd: So it is not.
• 4:24
  Karen Shepherd: Onboarding does not start when they arrive, it's before, and you know, many times it's been my experience, think about it you hire someone you send them the offer letter, but they can't start sometimes for another two to three weeks because of their current commitments that they have Right and you want an employee like that.
• 4:47
  Jennifer Johnson: Right, of course, trust me, I would imagine so.
• 4:50
  Karen Shepherd: Yes, so you want to continue to engage them when they haven't even set foot in their door yet, especially if you have to wait three weeks or a month or whatever.
• 5:03
  Karen Shepherd: So it's very helpful.
• 5:06
  Karen Shepherd: Send a handwritten note, really simple there.
• 5:11
  Karen Shepherd: Send them some swag Get them ready.
• 5:14
  Karen Shepherd: Get them some excitement right.
• 5:16
  Karen Shepherd: And when they arrive, you know, is there a note for them?
• 5:22
  Karen Shepherd: Is there, are you celebrating them?
• 5:24
  Karen Shepherd: Are you introducing them to your staff, the rest of the team?
• 5:30
  Karen Shepherd: It's so important to continue that excitement for weeks before they walk in the door and continue that engagement.
• 5:39
  Jennifer Johnson: Now you mentioned something and I hear this a lot lately soft skills.
• 5:43
  Jennifer Johnson: What are soft skills for our listeners who may not know, because I know somewhat but I don't really know what are soft skills.
• 5:51
  Karen Shepherd: Yeah, so soft skills are your foundation.
• 5:56
  Karen Shepherd: Okay, how is your positive energy?
• 5:57
  Karen Shepherd: How is your work ethic?
• 5:57
  Karen Shepherd: How is your character?
• 5:58
  Karen Shepherd: How is your positive energy?
• 5:59
  Karen Shepherd: Mm-hmm, how is your work ethic?
• 6:03
  Karen Shepherd: How is your character?
• 6:04
  Karen Shepherd: How is your integrity?
• 6:06
  Karen Shepherd: How are those things?
• 6:08
  Karen Shepherd: Those are your soft skills.
• 6:09
  Karen Shepherd: Are you naturally going to show up or am I going to have to put a fire?
• 6:16
  Jennifer Johnson: under you to show up.
• 6:17
  Karen Shepherd: Sure, those can I count on you.
• 6:20
  Karen Shepherd: Are you reliable, mm-hmm?
• 6:22
  Karen Shepherd: Those are your soft skills, your insights.
• 6:26
  Jennifer Johnson: So do you, when you sit down in an interview with someone like is there questions?
• 6:35
  Jennifer Johnson: You can ask them to pull that out of them, because how am I supposed to see somebody's character or somebody's integrity by just talking to them for however long I interview them?
• 6:43
  Karen Shepherd: Well, that's a very good question.
• 6:45
  Karen Shepherd: Three years ago, I met someone who owns Trait Set, and Trait Set is a pre-interview assessment and you can assess their customer service skills.
• 7:01
  Karen Shepherd: You can assess their work ethic and integrity.
• 7:06
  Karen Shepherd: You can assess their leadership skills.
• 7:09
  Karen Shepherd: You could also assess how they're going to work remote, if your job can allow that, okay.
• 7:20
  Karen Shepherd: So it's.
• 7:21
  Karen Shepherd: They're great assessments and every time, every time I don't listen to them because they show me whether to consider them, to hire them or to decline them.
• 7:35
  Karen Shepherd: That's pretty amazing from a test From assessments.
• 7:40
  Karen Shepherd: Yeah, from it an assessment just like DISC, right Is a behavioral assessment, or there's so many different assessments out there Myers-Briggs and things of that nature but what I like about this is it shows where they're not good at.
• 7:59
  Karen Shepherd: So, for example, I just went through a personal hiring process.
• 8:03
  Karen Shepherd: Right, I'm hiring on an.
• 8:05
  Karen Shepherd: Hr, another HR to help me and it showed me where her weaknesses are.
• 8:12
  Karen Shepherd: Now, if I because I'm not a very good organizer- and we can't be everything organizer and we can't be everything detail oriented.
• 8:22
  Karen Shepherd: I can't have someone else like that, like that, right, because then we won't get anything done, right?
• 8:33
  Karen Shepherd: So it's very interesting, but I what's great about these assessments is they ask questions, they provide questions that you should ask in the job interview.
• 8:40
  Karen Shepherd: Great and I love it.
• 8:50
  Karen Shepherd: Is that based on what it came back as?
• 8:52
  Karen Shepherd: Yes, okay, yes, so, and it just tells you right in the assessment Wow, it's amazing, it's intuitive, it is so.
• 8:55
  Karen Shepherd: So I never, when people hire me for recruitment, I never not use these assessments.
• 9:03
  Jennifer Johnson: Yeah.
• 9:03
  Karen Shepherd: It sounds powerful.
• 9:05
  Karen Shepherd: Yes, it's very empowering for the client, for sure.
• 9:10
  Jennifer Johnson: So let me ask you this so the whole onboarding process starts from recruitment?
• 9:17
  Jennifer Johnson: Yes, okay.
• 9:20
  Jennifer Johnson: What is that impact if we don't start out there?
• 9:22
  Jennifer Johnson: Like what?
• 9:25
  Jennifer Johnson: What negative impact?
• 9:26
  Jennifer Johnson: Wrong, wrong souls for the wrong roles, the wrong butts in the seats, like Right Turnover, turnover, turnover, turnover.
• 9:36
  Karen Shepherd: You know those doors, those revolving doors and office buildings.
• 9:40
  Karen Shepherd: That's your office.
• 9:41
  Karen Shepherd: If you uh, if you try and go towards an individual's weaknesses, then they're going to be.
• 9:53
  Karen Shepherd: You're not setting them up for success.
• 9:55
  Karen Shepherd: You have to find the seat for them that works towards their strengths, not their weaknesses.
• 10:04
  Karen Shepherd: You don't want to train someone's weaknesses.
• 10:06
  Karen Shepherd: Someone's weaknesses are not going to get better by training Right.
• 10:11
  Karen Shepherd: They may become knowledgeable, they may learn something, but I'm not saying a technical skill can't be trained.
• 10:18
  Karen Shepherd: Of course it can.
• 10:19
  Karen Shepherd: However, if it keeps showing up, you have to talk to them three or more times about it.
• 10:27
  Karen Shepherd: They're not getting it because it's a weakness.
• 10:30
  Jennifer Johnson: And you're doing a disservice not just to yourself and the company, but to them as well.
• 10:35
  Karen Shepherd: Right and you also have to ask yourself the question am I training properly?
• 10:39
  Karen Shepherd: You look from within.
• 10:42
  Karen Shepherd: Is there something wrong with me?
• 10:44
  Karen Shepherd: Am I?
• 10:44
  Jennifer Johnson: doing this wrong.
• 10:46
  Karen Shepherd: Right, because someone may not be getting it because of how they're being trained.
• 10:51
  Karen Shepherd: So there is.
• 10:53
  Karen Shepherd: I mean it is.
• 10:55
  Karen Shepherd: Onboarding is such a critical component and I always say hire fast and fire faster.
• 11:04
  Karen Shepherd: And I don't mean hire fast and just fill a seat, I mean hire fast in the process, because when you get a gem and it takes you two to three weeks to make a decision, say bye-bye, right, and that could be just as difficult as the turnover.
• 11:26
  Jennifer Johnson: So now walk me through a typical onboarding.
• 11:29
  Jennifer Johnson: You say it starts with the recruiting.
• 11:31
  Jennifer Johnson: What's after recruiting?
• 11:32
  Jennifer Johnson: After the recruiting and the engagement before so if they can't start for two weeks, yes, Get them excited when you should always have a process.
• 11:47
  Karen Shepherd: Maybe it's an introduction having someone walk someone around the team show them the facilities, as ridiculous as it may sound, where the kitchen is, how to make the coffee.
• 11:59
  Karen Shepherd: With all the coffee different makers out there.
• 12:02
  Karen Shepherd: I know there's this one client I visit.
• 12:04
  Karen Shepherd: I'm embarrassed to ask them to make me a cup of coffee, but it's only because I can never figure out their fancy machine and there's no instructions, right, right, so it makes you feel at home.
• 12:15
  Karen Shepherd: Yes, it definitely does.
• 12:17
  Karen Shepherd: You know, make that person feel like they are valued as soon as they walk in the door and empowered to be them and bring their host selves to work every day.
• 12:30
  Karen Shepherd: They never should, but I have a gift for your listeners yes.
• 12:36
  Jennifer Johnson: What is the gift?
• 12:37
  Jennifer Johnson: We like gifts, yes.
• 12:38
  Karen Shepherd: I have a gift, so in my book Lead with Love.
• 12:41
  Karen Shepherd: There is a section in it with Lead with Love tools and part of one of my tools.
• 12:52
  Karen Shepherd: There's like 16 gems in there that helps with that.
• 12:54
  Karen Shepherd: There's a sample offer letter in there oh awesome.
• 12:58
  Karen Shepherd: And there is also an onboarding checklist.
• 13:01
  Karen Shepherd: That's awesome.
• 13:03
  Jennifer Johnson: That will be very valuable.
• 13:04
  Karen Shepherd: Yeah, so it is very valuable tool.
• 13:08
  Karen Shepherd: There's lots of valuable tools in there, and I'm willing to give this gift to your listeners.
• 13:13
  Jennifer Johnson: Wonderful, and your book, your book Lead with Love, has been out.
• 13:17
  Jennifer Johnson: They can buy it on Amazon.
• 13:18
  Jennifer Johnson: They can buy it.
• 13:20
  Karen Shepherd: Lead with Love Foundation.
• 13:20
  Karen Shepherd: They can go to HR by they can buy it.
• 13:21
  Karen Shepherd: Lead with love foundation.
• 13:21
  Karen Shepherd: They can go to HR by Karen.
• 13:23
  Karen Shepherd: They can go anywhere Awesome.
• 13:26
  Jennifer Johnson: And it's lead with love.
• 13:27
  Jennifer Johnson: 10 heart centered strategies to build a more profitable business is the name of her book, so if you're looking for that and that's where the QR code is and we'll make sure we can drop that into the show notes- yes, I'm, I'm happy to gift your listeners because you give so much, I want to give back.
• 13:43
  Karen Shepherd: So a checklist, you know, making sure your offer letter is compliant, and it's okay if it's not a formal offer letter.
• 13:52
  Jennifer Johnson: It can be an email.
• 13:53
  Jennifer Johnson: I was going to ask that because a lot of people don't, you know send them something in the mail.
• 13:58
  Jennifer Johnson: Yeah, it doesn't have to be.
• 14:00
  Jennifer Johnson: Is it always a good practice to email them, or is it good practice to call them first and say, hey, you got the job, and then email them?
• 14:08
  Karen Shepherd: That is an amazing question, because I always, always, a lot of people have that assumption.
• 14:18
  Karen Shepherd: A lot of candidates think that an offer letter, when it comes, it's time for negotiation.
• 14:23
  Karen Shepherd: Oh, I didn't go there.
• 14:26
  Karen Shepherd: Yes, thank you for the reminder for me to bring this up today because I always tell a candidate this is what's going to be in your offer letter.
• 14:37
  Jennifer Johnson: I always call them first.
• 14:39
  Jennifer Johnson: Yes, okay, so you call them with the offer, with the offer.
• 14:43
  Karen Shepherd: Sometimes, like last week, I didn't let her leave the office without me telling her.
• 14:47
  Karen Shepherd: I knew right away I was hiring her.
• 14:49
  Karen Shepherd: I knew before she showed up I was hiring her.
• 14:51
  Karen Shepherd: Wow, yeah.
• 14:52
  Karen Shepherd: So I uh, and I said this is what's going to be in it, this is what I can do.
• 15:00
  Karen Shepherd: And I gave her the rate, I gave her the date, I gave her what her position was going to be and I said, just so you know, when you receive this offer letter, it's not time for negotiation.
• 15:13
  Jennifer Johnson: Right now.
• 15:14
  Jennifer Johnson: So you were up front with her.
• 15:15
  Karen Shepherd: Oh, totally, transparency is so key with everything.
• 15:20
  Jennifer Johnson: Transparency is so key with everything.
• 15:21
  Jennifer Johnson: But some people would say if you bring up the negotiation part, that peaks their, you know they're going to be more apt to negotiate, whereas if we don't bring it up they won't.
• 15:34
  Jennifer Johnson: Does that make sense or is that false belief?
• 15:38
  Karen Shepherd: I feel that's false belief.
• 15:40
  Karen Shepherd: I really believe in.
• 15:41
  Karen Shepherd: Transparency is everything Like, and you and I explained the why and the because like listen, this is what I could afford to give you right now.
• 15:51
  Karen Shepherd: You do what you say, let's meet in the middle, I will.
• 15:55
  Karen Shepherd: I am the biggest giver there is.
• 15:57
  Karen Shepherd: I will never, I will not be that person.
• 16:01
  Jennifer Johnson: But that no, and I kind of meant, like you know, bringing up negotiation.
• 16:06
  Jennifer Johnson: If you just say this is what your salary will be, you're being transparent and you say you know you don't say anything about negotiation.
• 16:13
  Jennifer Johnson: At that point You're saying that that opens them up once you send the letter, to think that they can negotiate with you If you don't tell them.
• 16:21
  Jennifer Johnson: If you don't tell them, if you don't tell them.
• 16:23
  Karen Shepherd: This is the time to negotiate right now not when you get the letter.
• 16:26
  Jennifer Johnson: I see, okay, yes, so it's okay to bring it up.
• 16:29
  Jennifer Johnson: Yes, the negotiation part.
• 16:31
  Jennifer Johnson: Yes, saying it Okay.
• 16:34
  Karen Shepherd: Yes, because that's the time to have a conversation when you're face to face with them.
• 16:38
  Karen Shepherd: You're right, I mean because they're going to do it inevitably Otherwise exactly.
• 16:43
  Karen Shepherd: Exactly.
• 16:44
  Karen Shepherd: I don't why waste anyone's time.
• 16:48
  Jennifer Johnson: You're just cutting to the chase right now.
• 16:50
  Karen Shepherd: Yes, I'm very direct.
• 16:52
  Jennifer Johnson: There's no other way to be like but it makes sense because inevitably you know that they're going to probably come back after they get the letter and say, well, I really need this dollar amount and you know you can't move on it.
• 17:05
  Jennifer Johnson: So you tell them right then and there.
• 17:07
  Jennifer Johnson: And if they don't, if that doesn't work for them, then you know you're on to the next person and they're on to the next interview.
• 17:14
  Karen Shepherd: Again, the hiring process.
• 17:16
  Karen Shepherd: You have to hire fast and that doesn't mean fill the seat with anyone.
• 17:22
  Karen Shepherd: Again it means your process needs to be pushed, continuously pushed forward, so important.
• 17:31
  Karen Shepherd: And so my candidate she called.
• 20:03
  Karen Shepherd: She says I'm ready to sign, but I would like one change.
• 20:08
  Jennifer Johnson: And I'm like, here it comes.
• 20:10
  Karen Shepherd: Here it comes.
• 20:11
  Karen Shepherd: Can we change the title?
• 20:13
  Karen Shepherd: Her title, yeah, her title.
• 20:16
  Karen Shepherd: That is what was important.
• 20:18
  Karen Shepherd: So that is so critical to understand, because I didn't realize that a title was going to be so important and that was one thing I didn't talk about, so I'm glad we're talking about this.
• 20:28
  Karen Shepherd: And that was one thing I didn't talk about her.
• 20:31
  Jennifer Johnson: I'm glad that we're having this discussion about this, because have you found that over the last few years, that title has become really important to different generations?
• 20:43
  Jennifer Johnson: Yes, and why?
• 20:45
  Karen Shepherd: The why is I want to know the why is personal growth, leadership and personal growth?
• 21:02
  Karen Shepherd: It's all about it, because the real good gems know that they're going to continue to grow.
• 21:05
  Karen Shepherd: They want to grow, they're very career minded and you can't bust someone's chops for that.
• 21:08
  Karen Shepherd: Yeah, because that is what I believe in, that's why I love helping the younger people, and that's what we do with the foundation, our future workforce.
• 21:22
  Karen Shepherd: We have to listen to them, we have to understand what's important to them, and that is part of the onboarding process, too, is listening to them and understanding what is important after five o'clock, because it's not about it's not about you.
• 21:42
  Jennifer Johnson: Right.
• 21:43
  Jennifer Johnson: So let me expound on that a little bit.
• 21:45
  Jennifer Johnson: What if you somebody would say you know what?
• 21:47
  Jennifer Johnson: I really want a title change.
• 21:49
  Jennifer Johnson: Whether they're accepting a job or they've been working for you for a while, I really want a title change.
• 21:55
  Jennifer Johnson: They didn't ask for extra pay, they didn't ask for anything else, they want a title change.
• 21:59
  Jennifer Johnson: What if you're at a place in your company where you just don't have that position per se?
• 22:06
  Karen Shepherd: Then you're transparent about transparent, what do you say?
• 22:08
  Jennifer Johnson: I.
• 22:08
  Jennifer Johnson: I'm sorry I can't do it.
• 22:09
  Jennifer Johnson: Maybe I'll relook at that.
• 22:10
  Karen Shepherd: Yes, May we revisit.
• 22:12
  Karen Shepherd: May we revisit this conversation in another six months and see where we're at.
• 22:18
  Karen Shepherd: I mean, as long as you're transparent, you know, because right now we don't have that availability, Just like I was saying, with the salary.
• 22:27
  Karen Shepherd: You may want X, Y, Z, but I can only do the X right now.
• 22:33
  Karen Shepherd: You show me what you got, you bring it and then let's continue to have that conversation and you have to create that safe space for that conversation.
• 22:47
  Jennifer Johnson: And if they say no, I know, then you know that they're not for you Exactly.
• 22:52
  Jennifer Johnson: You have to be willing to, Because they're all about the money.
• 22:54
  Karen Shepherd: It can't be some candidates and employees.
• 22:58
  Karen Shepherd: It's not about the money.
• 23:00
  Karen Shepherd: They may want the first parking space, exactly.
• 23:04
  Karen Shepherd: As ridiculous as that sounds but it's important for them to say exactly as ridiculous as that sound, but it's important for them to say employee of the month.
• 23:11
  Karen Shepherd: You know you walk into a building sometimes and there's a space just for them there is.
• 23:15
  Jennifer Johnson: That is a proud feeling when you walk right, when you drive up, it is so I know we we started on on the the onboarding journey, yeah, but this is all part of the onboarding.
• 23:27
  Jennifer Johnson: I kind of went off in the flowers over here.
• 23:29
  Jennifer Johnson: That's what happens.
• 23:31
  Jennifer Johnson: We start talking about something and then something comes up.
• 23:33
  Karen Shepherd: So where were?
• 23:34
  Jennifer Johnson: we at in that process you offered them the job.
• 23:37
  Jennifer Johnson: You had the conversation.
• 23:38
  Jennifer Johnson: The offer letter, yeah, the offer letter.
• 23:39
  Karen Shepherd: Offer letter is really important.
• 23:41
  Karen Shepherd: It's going to be in the tools.
• 23:42
  Karen Shepherd: Your listeners will have it.
• 23:44
  Karen Shepherd: The onboarding checklist.
• 23:46
  Karen Shepherd: Give them attention on their first day.
• 23:49
  Karen Shepherd: Don't make it all about the paperwork a second.
• 23:51
  Karen Shepherd: They walk in the door, have a little breakfast for them, introduce them to the rest of the team and the paperwork can wait, even the I-9s.
• 24:02
  Karen Shepherd: You have three days.
• 24:03
  Karen Shepherd: I mean it doesn't have to be right that second, maybe the tax forms.
• 24:10
  Karen Shepherd: But another issue that is really with all the automotive automation of onboarding now, where a lot of employers have their employees do it online now I've seen that I know we don't do that, but I've seen people do that.
• 24:27
  Karen Shepherd: Yes, and if someone isn't sitting down with them, even though they did that online I talk about it in my book they're going to be lost.
• 24:38
  Jennifer Johnson: Yes, absolutely those tax forms are.
• 24:40
  Jennifer Johnson: I don't know they're going to be lost.
• 24:42
  Jennifer Johnson: Could be in a different language.
• 24:43
  Jennifer Johnson: I can't understand them.
• 24:44
  Karen Shepherd: But especially in the handbook.
• 24:46
  Karen Shepherd: Like the handbooks, oh sure, if you that handbook, I don't care if you have one employee or you have thousands of employees, you have to have a handbook.
• 24:57
  Jennifer Johnson: Okay, I'm glad you brought that up, because the handbook is very important.
• 25:00
  Jennifer Johnson: Yes, and I'm going to jot this in the notes because that's going to be something we're going to talk about.
• 25:05
  Jennifer Johnson: I want to go through the process, but we're going to come back to handbook and what should be in it.
• 25:09
  Jennifer Johnson: Okay, but let's continue walking through the process and then we'll go back to handbook.
• 25:14
  Karen Shepherd: Okay, and just so you know, there's a handbook checklist in my tools as well.
• 25:19
  Jennifer Johnson: That's great, that's awesome.
• 25:21
  Karen Shepherd: That's even better.
• 25:22
  Karen Shepherd: Okay, it's a checklist.
• 25:24
  Jennifer Johnson: I don't give you one of my magic handbooks, but you have the check, so there's no magic handbook QR code no.
• 25:36
  Karen Shepherd: Got to make a living somehow.
• 25:38
  Karen Shepherd: That's great.
• 25:41
  Karen Shepherd: Okay, so the handbook is part of the onboarding documents.
• 25:46
  Karen Shepherd: Okay, so the handbook is part of the onboarding documents.
• 25:49
  Karen Shepherd: And then, once you get through the party, the introductions, and maybe there's lots of different training training on billing, training on some software program, maybe it's something different that they don't have any experience with yet.
• 26:10
  Karen Shepherd: That is a technical training piece that you have to do.
• 26:14
  Karen Shepherd: And then I mean onboarding literally should take weeks.
• 26:21
  Jennifer Johnson: Okay, that was another question I had.
• 26:22
  Jennifer Johnson: How long should this take?
• 26:23
  Jennifer Johnson: It could take weeks.
• 26:25
  Karen Shepherd: Okay, you know, maybe someone takes them out for lunch, or maybe someone just to get to know them and to feel at ease.
• 26:34
  Karen Shepherd: You know, anytime you really want to get to know an employee, you take them out for a meal.
• 26:39
  Karen Shepherd: Sure, I firmly believe that, because you just see how they talk to the servers.
• 26:49
  Karen Shepherd: Oh sure how they interact with you.
• 26:53
  Karen Shepherd: Are they talking?
• 26:55
  Karen Shepherd: You know what?
• 26:56
  Karen Shepherd: If they're in leadership and they have to meet with customers and clients, how are their manners?
• 27:03
  Jennifer Johnson: That's a good point.
• 27:04
  Karen Shepherd: Yes.
• 27:05
  Jennifer Johnson: Very good point.
• 27:05
  Jennifer Johnson: Yeah, so it can take months or weeks.
• 27:08
  Jennifer Johnson: It could take weeks.
• 27:10
  Karen Shepherd: And really an employee is not going to be great, honestly, for a year.
• 27:17
  Karen Shepherd: It can really take an entire year for an employee to really mesh in Right.
• 27:27
  Jennifer Johnson: I did not know that, I didn't really.
• 27:28
  Jennifer Johnson: You know, when I think of onboarding, I think of what I am sure typical people think of.
• 27:33
  Jennifer Johnson: We think of coming in and doing all the tax forms and the documents and the book and all of that, and then then they're off to do their job.
• 27:42
  Jennifer Johnson: Yeah, and you kind of just not.
• 27:45
  Jennifer Johnson: You don't forget about them, but they just do.
• 27:48
  Karen Shepherd: That's the problem.
• 27:49
  Karen Shepherd: Yeah, so it's always fun to you know.
• 27:52
  Karen Shepherd: Another great recommendation is to have a mentor.
• 27:56
  Karen Shepherd: I like that.
• 27:57
  Karen Shepherd: Okay, it doesn't someone who's been there for a minute, not someone who just started last week.
• 28:03
  Karen Shepherd: Don't have the blind lead the blind.
• 28:07
  Jennifer Johnson: I don't know where it is.
• 28:07
  Jennifer Johnson: Do you know where it is?
• 28:08
  Jennifer Johnson: Yeah, I have no idea.
• 28:11
  Karen Shepherd: But it's part of that creating that safe space.
• 28:15
  Karen Shepherd: It is saying listen, if you have any questions, this is who you should go to.
• 28:20
  Karen Shepherd: This is who we're connecting.
• 28:22
  Karen Shepherd: Maybe the personalities are great.
• 28:26
  Karen Shepherd: You find that connection and people come to work with their friends.
• 28:32
  Karen Shepherd: Sure, they do, right I?
• 28:34
  Karen Shepherd: Was very lucky.
• 28:35
  Karen Shepherd: I got to go to work with friends for 21 years with one of my firms, and so that's why it's really important, as a entrepreneur who is a small, small business myself, to hire who is smarter almost than me in certain aspects that I can collaborate with and feel safe doing that Right Myself as a business owner, we never want to be the smartest in the room.
• 29:03
  Jennifer Johnson: No, you should never be.
• 29:05
  Karen Shepherd: I don't want to be room.
• 29:06
  Karen Shepherd: No, you should never be.
• 29:06
  Karen Shepherd: I don't want to be.
• 29:07
  Karen Shepherd: I mean, I do my job really, really well, but as a business owner, sometimes I fail.
• 29:16
  Karen Shepherd: We're human.
• 29:17
  Karen Shepherd: Yes, we're definitely human and yeah go ahead.
• 29:24
  Jennifer Johnson: So let's talk about the handbook.
• 29:24
  Jennifer Johnson: Okay, okay, what should be?
• 29:26
  Jennifer Johnson: I mean, you don't need to tell us all Not a tell-all but why is a handbook important?
• 29:33
  Jennifer Johnson: Like what are a few components that are important to have in the handbook?
• 29:37
  Karen Shepherd: Right, the handbook is like a Bible.
• 29:41
  Karen Shepherd: I compare it to a Bible.
• 29:42
  Karen Shepherd: It is that important Uh in it it shows.
• 29:48
  Karen Shepherd: It shows uh compliance pieces, what it's really a guide.
• 29:57
  Jennifer Johnson: Handbook is a guide.
• 29:58
  Karen Shepherd: It's, it's a guide but it sets expectations, okay.
• 30:01
  Karen Shepherd: I write it where it's general so that it can be perceived by the owner and move forward in individual cases.
• 30:24
  Karen Shepherd: As long as you're consistent, that's the key right.
• 30:27
  Karen Shepherd: Consistency is key because once you change your mind, let's say pregnancy Okay, a woman is pregnant, let's just go for the hard one, okay.
• 30:42
  Karen Shepherd: And we don't call it maternity leave anymore, we call it parental and adoption leave.
• 30:47
  Karen Shepherd: So there's no discriminatory against anyone.
• 30:53
  Karen Shepherd: And it says in your handbook that you allow eight weeks of unpaid leave.
• 30:59
  Karen Shepherd: What if one of your best employees needs 10 weeks?
• 31:06
  Karen Shepherd: And family and FMLA, which is the Family Medical Leave Act, that you normally get 12 weeks, right, in large companies that are 50 or more employees Right, they need 10 weeks.
• 31:21
  Karen Shepherd: And you give it to them.
• 31:25
  Karen Shepherd: And then a year goes by.
• 31:27
  Karen Shepherd: And then a year goes by and one of your not so great employees says I need an extra two weeks.
• 31:35
  Karen Shepherd: And the manager or whoever says nope, our handbook says eight weeks, you only have eight weeks and if you don't come back, we cannot guarantee your job.
• 31:53
  Karen Shepherd: Well, technically you can't guarantee the same job anyways when they come back from pregnancy leave.
• 31:57
  Karen Shepherd: But then the employee says but you gave so-and-so 10 weeks, that's the big lawsuit, right there.
• 32:08
  Karen Shepherd: Consistency is key.
• 32:09
  Karen Shepherd: Consistency is key.
• 32:10
  Karen Shepherd: Consistency is key.
• 32:11
  Karen Shepherd: If you go off the guideline of what your handbook says, then you have to keep it consistent.
• 32:21
  Karen Shepherd: So you have to be really clear on that.
• 32:23
  Jennifer Johnson: I see that.
• 32:24
  Jennifer Johnson: Wow, so an employee handbook is different than an operations manual?
• 32:30
  Jennifer Johnson: Yes, because I think people do get that confused.
• 32:34
  Karen Shepherd: All the time.
• 32:35
  Jennifer Johnson: Operations manual is how to do your job.
• 32:39
  Karen Shepherd: It's how to do your job.
• 32:40
  Karen Shepherd: It is.
• 32:41
  Karen Shepherd: The job descriptions are in there.
• 32:46
  Karen Shepherd: Like I had one client, Job descriptions are in the operations manual, not the, not the handbook.
• 32:52
  Karen Shepherd: It should never be in the handbook because they change too often.
• 32:55
  Karen Shepherd: You want your handbook, so it needs to be reviewed every year, but you shouldn't have to make too many changes.
• 33:08
  Karen Shepherd: The biggest changes that we've added to a handbook is remote work and AI.
• 33:12
  Karen Shepherd: Right, ai is huge.
• 33:15
  Karen Shepherd: Employees need to know that they cannot put all the company's personal stuff into AI.
• 33:24
  Karen Shepherd: It will feed off of it, read it and it can be such a nightmare.
• 33:31
  Jennifer Johnson: It's something that people I mean.
• 33:32
  Jennifer Johnson: It's a learning curve for people because it's you know you wouldn't put that in Google, right?
• 33:40
  Jennifer Johnson: Put your company financial statement in there, right?
• 33:43
  Jennifer Johnson: You wouldn't?
• 33:43
  Karen Shepherd: Unless.
• 33:44
  Karen Shepherd: You're a nonprofit.
• 33:45
  Jennifer Johnson: But I understand.
• 33:46
  Karen Shepherd: Right, yeah, it's, it's crazy, it's crazy.
• 33:49
  Karen Shepherd: So those are the big ones.
• 33:51
  Karen Shepherd: Wages is another big one.
• 33:53
  Karen Shepherd: How you pay your exempt and non-exempt, those are really big components of the handbook.
• 33:58
  Karen Shepherd: Leave policies are really up to the company company.
• 34:14
  Karen Shepherd: I, I even I recently learned that there are some states that require you to give paid time off.
• 34:16
  Karen Shepherd: There are and I I didn't realize that they were making them.
• 34:22
  Karen Shepherd: Florida isn't like that, so that's good.
• 34:24
  Karen Shepherd: So leave policy here in Florida is if you don't want to give it, you don't have to period.
• 34:32
  Karen Shepherd: It's not rockin' science, but to me one of the biggest.
• 34:36
  Karen Shepherd: And of course, the non-harassment and all those compliance pieces have to be there.
• 34:44
  Karen Shepherd: But in my eyes it is the last I have mine in sections and the last section is conduct.
• 34:55
  Jennifer Johnson: The do's and don'ts, the don'ts.
• 35:00
  Karen Shepherd: Don't do this, don't?
• 35:01
  Karen Shepherd: You know?
• 35:01
  Karen Shepherd: Like don't be a jerk, I'll just say jerk.
• 35:05
  Karen Shepherd: Yeah, I know.
• 35:06
  Jennifer Johnson: I know what.
• 35:06
  Jennifer Johnson: So Karen's book was supposed to be called something other than lead with love.
• 35:10
  Jennifer Johnson: We're not going to discuss this on this podcast, but that's what she's talking about.
• 35:16
  Jennifer Johnson: It starts with an A yes are Lou Holtz's principles.
• 35:17
  Jennifer Johnson: You don't know who Lou Holtz is in his football season.
• 35:20
  Karen Shepherd: I'm so glad it's football season.
• 35:32
  Karen Shepherd: He was the coach of Notre Dame and he had those three simple principles and it's so important so that have good behavior.
• 35:44
  Jennifer Johnson: Model good behavior.
• 35:45
  Karen Shepherd: Model, because everyone is a leader.
• 35:47
  Karen Shepherd: The organizational chart is flat.
• 35:50
  Karen Shepherd: I know I've said that before.
• 35:53
  Karen Shepherd: Yeah, we only have different job responsibilities.
• 35:59
  Karen Shepherd: We're all in it for the same mission and vision.
• 36:03
  Jennifer Johnson: That's it.
• 36:03
  Jennifer Johnson: Yeah, that could be better said.
• 36:05
  Jennifer Johnson: Yes, that's awesome.
• 36:06
  Jennifer Johnson: Well, as always, I've enjoyed our conversation.
• 36:10
  Jennifer Johnson: I know we went through a lot and we took a lot of twists and turns, but it's all great information for our listeners.
• 36:17
  Jennifer Johnson: Traveling through the HR world is not easy, especially if you're doing it alone, so that's why they have someone like you on their team who can help them.
• 36:26
  Jennifer Johnson: Karen, if our listeners would like to get in touch with you, how can they do so?
• 36:30
  Karen Shepherd: They could either call me at 239-776-5919 or email me at karen at hrbykarencom, or just go to my website and check us out at hrbykarencom.
• 36:46
  Karen Shepherd: That is fabulous.
• 36:47
  Karen Shepherd: Thank you so much again.
• 36:48
  Karen Shepherd: It is always fun spending time with you, jennifer.
• 36:50
  Karen Shepherd: I love itcom.
• 36:50
  Karen Shepherd: That is fabulous.
• 36:50
  Karen Shepherd: Thank you so much again.
• 36:50
  Karen Shepherd: It is always fun spending time with you.
• 36:52
  Karen Shepherd: I love it Yay.
• 36:53
  Jennifer Johnson: I heart you very much.
• 36:54
  Jennifer Johnson: I heart you too, and thank you to all of our listeners.
• 36:57
  Jennifer Johnson: I heart you as well.