How to Put the HR in THRIVE with MRA CEO, Susan Fronk

Susan Fronk, President and CEO of MRA - The Management Association dives into the history of MRA and its mission of helping businesses thrive. Fronk opens up into her personal and professional background, the greatest business challenges heading into the year, the benefits of 30 Minute THRIVE, and more.

Listen to Discover:

1. Over the past 38 years that Susan has been with MRA, she has seen a lot of changes. Main changes include: complexity and regulations HR professionals need to be aware of
2. Good leaders paint a vivid picture of the future, make sure there isn’t uncertainty, and communicate clearly
3. Key business concerns: Comp trends, talent acquisition, talent retention (consider lowering your turnover and becoming that employer of choice. Provide what employers and employees need and you have fewer spots to fill! Employee retention may be even more important than talent acquisition

Bios:

Susan Fronk, President & CEO | MRA - The Management Association

Resources:

For more information on MRA, visit www.mranet.org

Transcript:

Intro | 00:00:00:01 - 00:00:23:02

Hello, hello everybody, and welcome to 30 minute THRIVE—your go-to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA - The Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever-changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We’ll be the first to tell you what’s hot and what’s not. I’m your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you’re here. Now it’s time to THRIVE.

Sophie Boler | 00:00:23:13 - 00:00:31:14

I am joined with Susan Fronk, president and CEO of MRA. Good morning, Susan. It’s great to have you on.

Susan Fronk | 00:00:31:17 - 00:00:33:13

And it’s great to be here. I’m looking forward to it.

Sophie Boler | 00:00:33:13 - 00:00:41:18

Good. Me, too. Well, as we dive in, I thought it would be a good start to start at your journey here at MRA. So how long have you been here?

Susan Fronk | 00:00:42:01 - 00:01:07:09

Well, I’ve been at MRA most of my professional life, and I hurried through college, was fortunate to be hired by a large manufacturer—2,200 employees, five plants, three bargaining units, 74 general foremen. They were all men at the time, and I was the factory employment supervisor, so I had a lot of on-the-job training. I worked for great bosses.

Susan Fronk | 00:01:07:17 - 00:01:27:05

That doesn’t always mean friendly bosses, or the nicest bosses. They were bosses who expect a lot out of me and gave me a lot of feedback so that I could do my job and be the best that I could be in human resources. So that was a really exciting time. And, you know, I learned to love manufacturing and I still do to this day.

Susan Fronk | 00:01:27:07 - 00:01:43:15

I love seeing what our members do and I really honored and respected the people that I hired into the plant and the people that I supported with human resource services. It was a great foundation for then moving to MRA.

Sophie Boler | 00:01:43:21 - 00:01:48:02

Absolutely. And you’ve been here for 38 years. That’s pretty impressive.

Susan Fronk | 00:01:48:08 - 00:01:53:02

I don’t want to ask how old you are. And before you were born, I’m pretty sure.

Sophie Boler | 00:01:53:03 - 00:01:59:17

Thirty-eight years is very impressive. So I would like to know what you started out as, at MRA; what role were you in?

Susan Fronk | 00:01:59:20 - 00:02:21:05

Well, it’s kind of funny, actually, because I was employee 16 and I was the “labor guy.” That was what I was hired to do. I was labor guy and I had just a few years of experience. So when I came on board, I was on the Human Resource Hotline, which is one of our most favorite and valued member benefits still today.

Susan Fronk | 00:02:21:15 - 00:02:46:20

I wrote content for our publications. I stepped into the classroom to do HR training. So, much less specialized and much more of a generalist. And I kind of loved that—it played to my strengths and I got to do a little bit of everything. But as labor guy, which was not on my business cards, but that’s what I was, I worked with a lot of our members, primarily manufacturing.

Susan Fronk | 00:02:47:06 - 00:02:55:06

If they had employee relations issues or specifically labor issues, I was the go-to and I loved that.

Sophie Boler | 00:02:55:12 - 00:03:08:14

Right. Like you said, it’s pretty inspiring that you’ve got to experience each component that makes up MRA. So you’ve been here for 38 years, like we said. So you’ve seen the ins and outs of the organization.

Susan Fronk | 00:03:08:16 - 00:03:09:02

I have.

Sophie Boler | 00:03:09:05 - 00:03:14:07

What is the biggest change that you’ve seen in HR since y...