In this insightful episode, Rhiannon Albert shares how you can align HR strategy to manage growth and reduce overwhelm. If you’re struggling with team misalignment, or if you feel bogged down by HR complexities, you won’t want to miss it.
You will discover:
– What open-mindedness allows you to dream bigger despite HR challenges
– Why partnering with HR aligns your team and mitigates risk in chaos
– How to integrate HR into decisions to avoid siloed thinking
Episode Transcript
Scott Ritzheimer
Hello, hello and welcome. Welcome, once again, to the secrets of the high demand coach podcast. And here with us today is yet another high demand coach in the one and only Rhiannon Albert, who is the founder of my trusted HR it offers fractional and interim HR leadership to businesses across the US, and with over 23 years of HR experience and dual certifications, SHRM, CP and HRCI, PHR, rhianon specializes in guiding CEOs and CFOs and business owners in strengthening their HR functions, managing risk and fostering company culture as a trusted advisor to leaders, she mentioned she mentors HR teams, helping them to elevate from reactive to strategic. She’s here with us today. Rhiannon, welcome to the show. I’m so excited to have you here. One of the big challenges that I’ve found catches so many founders off guard. I know that it happened to me when I was running my business, is that it only happens when we’re successful, but it’s like, you build a multi million dollar business and you feel like you should be thrilled about it, but instead, it’s just it’s overwhelming, like there are so many things that come with that success. And one of those challenges, I believe, whether or not the founder knows it, is something that you call the HR leadership gap. So tell us, what is it, and how can someone listening know if it’s happening to them?
Rhiannon Albert
Yeah, so the HR leadership gap is just that, that situation that happens when the HR strategy and the leadership of the organization aren’t in alignment. So there’s maybe conflict about, well, that doesn’t feel too risky to me. I think we go for it, and then people on the other side are having a struggle with that. You know, it’s, it’s kind of like parenting. You have to be on the same page, you know, have to be in agreement about how we’re going to do things, how we’re going to move forward and and that’s really the big, the biggest pieces. How are we going to move forward? Are we going to go ahead and and enjoy a little risk and take our chances, or are we going to put safety first? Or are we going to make sure that we’re doing this the right way, so that people, key players, stakeholders, aren’t compromised?
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, so one of the things that I’ve seen happen is you create success early on in most categories, right within the business world by saying yes to things and then just figuring out how to do it, right? I mean, it’s like, and I would say, like, a lot of founders don’t even see that as being risky, but it’s, it’s crazy risky most of the time. Like, we have no idea how we’re gonna do it, but we need to do it, and we get away with it, but at some point that catches up with you, right? There’s interest to be paid on that, and so we go out, and usually during that, we call it the fun stage, but there’s not a whole lot of HR happening formally, right? It’s happening all the time, but it’s not formal, and we realize, okay, maybe that’s not my strong suit as a founder, I don’t understand half of these HR laws. I don’t want to understand them. Let me just go out and get someone else to deal with it. What like? Why? What happens when we fail to integrate that someone else right? Where we treat it like a side issue, how do we actually integrate that person into our decision making?
Rhiannon Albert
Great question. Um, I would say the best way is to really see them as a partner. Um, it’s, it’s just like a bookkeeper or, you know, a CFO. You want them to be using their expertise, you know, use utilizing all of that knowledge that they’re geared for, but also be a partner, so that you guys can serve as a sounding board to one another. And, you know, I think when I see it done right, executives are utilizing me for a lot more than what what you would initially think. They’d say like, Hey, can I pick your brain on this? Let’s, let’s kind of process my thinking on x, y and z, and then I can bring up, hey, that’s great, or this piece is illegal, but, but how about we try it this way, right? And you know it there’s a strategy to running your business right, just like there’s an HR strategy and a financial. Strategy and a cyber security strategy, so utilizing them as a partner, not seeing it as a separate silo, but But letting them be a part of the key decisions that you’re making and how you’re moving forward.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, I love that, because one of the distinctions in there that you’re speaking to is sometimes folks who are very technical or very good at what they do or aren’t kind of as used to the entrepreneurial mindset can be very fixed, right? Like they’re good at saying no. But what you just kind of spoke to is the Okay, we can’t do that, but here’s something that we can do, right? What is the path to Yes? And I think that’s just such an essential piece. When you’re going out and finding someone to help you, like this, a partner helps you find a path to Yes, right? They don’t just say no. Now, there’s times when a no is appropriate, but I love that you bring that, that nuance and that clarity, because I think it’s really, really really important from a partner standpoint. Now, a lot of the founders listening so much of this feels like it’s like way down in the weeds. They want to go after big ideas. They don’t want to get stuck doing this. We’re in like, the danger of Toby flenderson zone, right from the office. So do your clients after working with you? Is it that they come to love HR, do they just tolerate it? Is it a necessary evil, like, what’s a good, healthy relationship for a founder with HR?
Rhiannon Albert
Good question. You know, I fight the notion of Toby all the time, just because I want for HR professionals to be seen in a much better light. But you know, deservedly so some of us are in this spot because, you know, we aren’t true great partners to the executives we serve. And so the biggest piece is to find the right one. It’s to find the one that is going to push you to be more proactive. It’s the one that’s going to be pushing you to think bigger and kind of be questioning you on the decisions you’re making each and every day. Because mind you that right there is culture you you can’t just hire somebody to come in and fix your culture, right? It’s, it’s the tried and true decisions you’re making every single day that are building what everyone that you’re working with understands to be, you know, your organization. So, you know, I think the the leaders that I work best with are are pretty open minded. They know that they don’t have it all figured out. And just like any of us, right? I mean, I couldn’t do all of the things that a lot of people do the the big the big key, is to stay open minded, to stay curious and to be willing to hear any kind of feedback, whether that’s from inside of your team, whether it’s from somebody outside, giving you really good clues on the best practices from all of the industries and all the different companies that we serve. Here’s what I’m seeing. Here’s what I, you know, recommend, yeah, you know, I think it takes a special breed to to allow themselves the ability to stay open, to stay stay open minded, stay curious, and also just respect the fact that we’re here to mitigate risk. We’re here to keep you in compliance. We’re here to kind of give you an an alternate reality of your people and and how it all comes together.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, I love that idea of looking for clues, because oftentimes when you go out and you start asking for other opinions, for a founder that can feel like a bunch of commands, like it feel like a bunch of just weight and expectations, but the the idea of being curious for clues is just a brilliant, like, mental model for finding the best way forward, finding the truth and really building a strong team as a great, great principle. So mixed in with that, there’s the frustration of all that stuff that you just talked about, there a lot of times when you get to the point where you need an HR team member at that level, there’s a lot happening in the organization. There’s a lot of stuff going on. May not always be going all that well, right? It feels like folks are fighting fires all the time. And you’ve mentioned. Thinking bigger several times, which most folks listening at face value wouldn’t really think that’s something that they have a problem with, right? But at this stage, we just, we tend to get so narrow focused that it doesn’t feel like there’s actually room for vision anymore. That’s a really hard place for founders to be. So how, from a position of HR leadership, how do you help founders break through this wall and be able to think and dream bigger again?
Rhiannon Albert
You know, it’s one of my favorite parts about getting to work with because they’re typically visionaries. You know, they’re, they’re typically the sky is the limit thinkers, and it’s one of my favorite things, because it isn’t that isn’t how I think. And so it’s kind of nice to be able to serve as the ying and yang to one another. And the the great part about it is that I the my probably my favorite thing about being a business owner and doing this for the last six years is that I get to partner with leaders who I know this isn’t their skill set. I know this is not what they want to be doing. This feels like they’re getting pulled into the weeds, like you mentioned earlier, and to get to serve as their partner, get to help them handle the things that once really stress them out, is a real gift, because not everybody can do what they’re doing. And in the world needs them doing their thing, and this is a great way for me to be able to step up and help them with all of the things that cause them heartburn and headache, yeah? And take that off of them, yeah? But you know, the big key is that they have to remain open minded enough and and have kind of a fundamental respect for what it is that we’re trying to do. Otherwise, it doesn’t really work just because, you know, there and there’s a lot of reason that HR isn’t necessarily respected in some pools, but those of us that are doing it really well want to serve as that partner. Want to give you the strength, the knowledge, the capabilities and the explanation to you know, give you that support so that you can go and keep doing your thing.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, there’s this misconception for a lot of folks that as founders, if they want to step into like being the CEO, that their company needs, that they also have to be all these other things. And that’s just not true. They have to have all these other partners. And I think HR is such a great example of that you can’t ignore it, right? It has to be part of an integral part of the decision making process. But that doesn’t mean you have to be it yourself, and bringing in an HR partner is just such a better way of doing it. So another question, I think this will make you smile, because I’m sure you’ve been in a similar situation, but I was working with a team once, and it was they had reached this decision, like, do we do this or do we do this? It was like mutually exclusive. We have to pick one. And the visionary leader, the founder the organization, he said, you know, what I want is simple. I want it all and and so when folks are looking particularly in the area of of HR. They don’t want to get sued. They definitely don’t want their people to get hurt. They want someone who can be a strategic provider. They want their teams to perform or perform at a really high level. They want the freedom to pursue different strategies. All of these sound ideal, but they often compete for our time and attention. So how do you help them to wrestle through the balance of of all of these different competing priorities?
Rhiannon Albert
Great question. Yeah, it’s really simple. I just want it all. I mean, so go to it. Go get it. Go get it done. I i I hear that usually, when I come on board, I’m asking about priorities. I understand, and I hear that all of these things have to happen. Got it? I’m clear and I and I’m taking good notes. However, what are the things that can’t wait? What are the things that have to be addressed now? And you know, it’s just a matter of making a list of priorities. And when you’ve got somebody with 23 years of experience, you know, on your team, it’s we’re pretty efficient. And so we can be working on multiple things at a time, and also kind of be keeping our eye on the prize, on a few other areas, maybe even conducting an audit to see where we’re currently at in this whole space. So start things start coming together pretty rapidly. The big thing is, is, just like anybody who’s great at something, right, you can’t be great at everything, and you can’t be doing a great job at everything. So hire people that have that specialty and that expertise so that they can help you. And sometimes that might look, you know, I’m, I work in the fractional space, but I’ve also kind of come on to teams to, like, literally, help lead their HR department while they’re looking to hire someone. So it’s a little less fractional, it’s a little looks a little more like full time. You really can, these days, cater to whatever needs there really are. And so when you’re talking to somebody like me, maybe this feels overwhelming, and we’ve only got this amount of budget, but maybe you’ll only need me for 10 hours a week, right? And I’m still getting all of this other stuff done for you, and then it allows you to hire a fractional CFO to kind of help catch up on your books, and, you know, get your financials in order. So I think the cool part about it these days is that there is an answer for everybody, yeah. And I know, in all of my experience working with startups, you know, funding is a big one, you know, sometimes you’re working to get this off the ground and get this done so that you can be funded. And so the the fractional, um, you know, optional as needed help is kind of a great feature.
Scott Ritzheimer
I love that. So Rihanna, and there’s a question that I like to ask all my guests. I’m interested to see what you have to say. All right, here’s a question. What would you say is the biggest secret that you wish wasn’t a secret at all? What’s that one thing you wish everybody watching or listening today knew?
Rhiannon Albert
Good question. I would say the biggest thing for me would be, you know, I work with a lot of executives business owners, and there’s always this sense of, oh, I should be able to do this on my own, or, you know, I hate asking for help, but the truth is, is, you know, like we said, you can’t be great at everything and hire when you don’t know how to do something, it is better to have that piece covered on your team and to hire for that specialty than to not have it at all. So, you know, I’d encourage you to, you know, really be honest with yourself. How good would that feel to have a true partner, a trusted partner that I could turn to with all of my people? Performance risk related questions.
Scott Ritzheimer
I love that it’s so much easier than it has been in the past, and the fractional piece is such a big part of that. I love it. So Rhiannon, there’s some folks listening. They love the idea of having a partner who actually gets them and understands how to navigate this gap that they’re in. They want to know more about you and the work that you do at my trusted HR, how can they find more out?
Rhiannon Albert
Yeah, so mytrustedHR, I am on LinkedIn. I also have a YouTube page that you know, I’ve talked to several people during podcasts and and then I also have works live workshops on LinkedIn as well. So I’d love to meet you. I also offer complimentary consultations if you want to just talk and get to know each other.
Scott Ritzheimer
Excellent. Well Rhiannon, thank you so much for being on the show. It’s privilege and honor having you here. And for those of you watching, yes, and for those of you watching and listening, you know your time and attention mean the world to us, I hope you got as much out of this conversation as I know I did, and I cannot wait to see you next time. Take care.
Contact Rhiannon Albert
Rhiannon Albert is the founder of My Trusted HR. It offers fractional and interim HR leadership to businesses across the U.S. With over 23 years of HR experience and dual certifications (SHRM-CP & HRCI-PHR), Rhiannon specializes in guiding CEOs, CFOs, and business owners in strengthening their HR functions, managing risk, and fostering company culture. As a trusted advisor to leaders, she mentors HR teams, helping them elevate from reactive to strategic.
Want to learn more about Rhiannon Albert’s work at My Trusted HR? Check out her website at https://mytrustedhr.com/
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