REL Talk
Maria Rodriguez, Michelle Elder and Keith Leonard
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Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best REL Talk episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to REL Talk for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite REL Talk episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
11/18/20 • 30 min
Today marks the third installment in this month’s ‘Culture, Culture, Culture!’ series, and this time around, Maria and Michelle focus on ‘Culture Controversies’. There are arguments out there stating that if you don’t do culture ‘right’, or you focus too much upon it, that problems can arise. Our hosts confront these notions head on with their usual dose of candor, insight, and humor here today. They begin by looking at the idea of focusing too much on culture fit during the recruitment process, Michelle’s checklist for this process, and the perspective of Hootsuite’s CEO, Ryan Holmes, on this topic and some responses to that perspective. Maria and Michelle together review culture and recruitment at a couple of major corporations, the potential impact of culture fit hiring upon an organization’s level of innovation and diversity, the importance of being able to articulate core values, and the use of behavior-based questions when interviewing. In the end, they clearly demonstrate that the correct interpretation of ‘culture’ is the key to resolving these culture controversies, and that, fortunately, they have just the tools necessary to help you through the process.
The Finer Details of This Episode:
- Focusing too much on culture during the recruitment process
- Maria’s example of this
- Michelle’s checklist for the selection process
- Ryan Holmes’s (CEO, Hootsuite) perspective and responses to it
- The examples of the culture and recruitment at Google and FedEx
- The potential impact of culture fit hiring on innovation and diversity
- The importance of being able to articulate your core values
- Behavior-based questions
- Misinterpreting what is meant by ‘culture’
- REL Talent’s 6-step process to help you define your culture including best practices and common pitfalls
Quotes: “If you’re hiring and you’re just looking for perfect culture, sometimes it’s not always going to be successful.” “I’d focused on it with this one candidate and it ended up backfiring.” “Culture’s not how well the team gets along at a social event. Culture is how well the team can execute together with the same principles and expectations to deliver superior results with customers whether internal or external.” “Customers are wrong a lot.” “It comes down to asking the right questions to target truly what your value is and your value proposition, and what you’re trying to target and get from that.” “Past performance or past habits strongly determine what future performance or future habits will be.” “Our core principles say that we love and respect each other.” “Basically, the underlying message is we misinterpret what is meant by culture.” “At the end of the day, the problem is the leader or the organization.” “We need to dig a little bit deeper.” “We’re not assessing culture correctly.” “Every level has to truly buy in and believe what you stand for in order for it to resonate and to sustain within your organization.”
Show Links:
REL Talent homepage: https://www.reltalent.com/
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Did You Know?
REL Talk
05/04/22 • 25 min
In today’s episode, Michelle and Maria begin a new series discussing the positive things going on around the world. Join them today as they start this series with a recap and update on REL Talk, REL Talent, what’s going on with them, and what they have to offer.
Their new series will focus on their continued assessment of the things going on around the world from an HR perspective. Make sure to also tune in for the next few episodes where they will talk about current trends, who are doing those things well, and how to prioritize and incorporate those things into your role or organization.
The Finer Details of This Episode:
- Michelle takes back a previously held opinion
- Planned debates and discussions with REL Talk listeners
- REL Talent updates
- REL Talent’s role as consultants
- Changes and evolutions demanded by fully remote and hybrid working situations
- REL Talent tips for making necessary changes
- REL Talent certifications, tools, and products to help your team and business succeed
Quotes:
“My greatest personal growth has happened when someone was willing to take an opposite opinion of mine on a hard topic... that’s when some of my greatest professional growth happens as well.”
“We’ve had incredible opportunities to help organizations launch procedures and processes, help organizations launch software that makes learning easier, we’ve been able to jump into leadership development...”
“Leadership development is critical, and how you set up your business and set it up for success is also critical. If you take a look right now, Amazon and Starbucks are unionizing. That’s a result of people not feeling heard, or not getting the benefits or items that are important and critical to them as employees within an organization.”
“It just means that you, as the owner, take a stand and say ‘Here’s who we are and this is the way we behave’.”
“You have to be invested in them in some way, you have to know what’s going on with them, you have to care what matters to them. And when you become invested in another person that’s really when the teamwork clicks, and people start to step up for each other.”
“Some of those are really great products that people at any company can obtain from us whether or not you just want it sent to you, reporting wise, or you actually want us to come in and facilitate any sort of conversation.”
“We just wanted to spend some time and create a relatable moment again, where you guys know what we’re working on, what we’re doing, and what’s keeping us busy and motivated.”
Show Links: REL Talent: HR Consulting Email REL Talent REL Talent on LinkedIn
09/16/20 • 16 min
In this third installment of the ‘Lencioni’s 5 Dysfunctions of a Team’ series, Maria and Michelle take a look at how the lack of commitment can cause dysfunction within a team as well as some ways to ensure that doesn’t happen.
They begin by looking at the traditional notion of ‘getting buy in’, explaining what ‘being heard’ really means and how important it is, and Michelle explores one component of The Leadership Challenge. They also discuss the importance of employees feeling ownership and involvement within their team, allowing them to be part of the process, ensuring clarity in communicating decisions with them, and the correlation between commitment and staying with a company. Once again, our HR experts from REL Talent demonstrate their expertise by sharing knowledge and experience about a potential pitfall, and offering the effective and practical advice necessary to ensure that you and your team successfully overcome it.
The Finer Details of This Episode:
- The traditional notion of ‘getting buy in’
- What ‘being heard’ means
- Kouzes and Posner’s ‘The Leadership Challenge’
- The importance of feeling ownership and involvement
- The relationship between commitment and staying with a company
- Allowing people to be a part of the process
- Ensuring clarity in decisions with staff
Quotes:
“They don’t get to decide what our goals are...the company decides what our goals are.”
“All of a sudden, people had tons of input on how to achieve their goal.”
“When we don’t give people the feeling that they own something, they’re part of something, they will always treat it like a rental car.”
“Lack of commitment manifests as a fake ‘Yes’.”
“When I don’t own it, I am less likely to be as proactive as I need to be.”
“In the absence of information, people will fill in the blanks, and usually they fill in the blanks with their past experience.”
“Commitment is extremely important. It builds layers upon layers, and it, literally, takes a whole team in order to understand that foundation.”
Show Links:
REL Talent homepage: https://www.reltalent.com/
07/08/20 • 45 min
This week Michelle and Maria continue their ‘Shut the Culture Up’ series, and welcome Nicole Metzel back to share her experience and perspective. In this episode, they look at how culture is defined within an organization, how to determine it, and how to make improvements to it.
They begin by exploring how to help upper management understand their organization’s culture, and taking an in-depth look at the varied approaches to transparency within a business, particularly during the current pandemic. The importance of beliefs, the roles and preparation of effective leaders, and the tools to help fix culture issues through such exercises as facilitating feedback sessions, and performing pulse checks are discussed as well. Admittedly, no organization is perfect, but today’s episode is filled with insight and advice on how to make the necessary improvements to the culture of any business that will ultimately benefit all of its stakeholders.
The Finer Details of This Episode:
- Helping upper management understand their organization’s culture
- Approaches to transparency, particularly during COVID-19
- The importance of an organization’s beliefs
- Leading as ‘a duck, an armadillo, and a chameleon’
- Preparing leaders for their roles
- Tools to ‘fix this shit’
- Facilitating feedback sessions/roundtables
- Pulse checking
Quotes:
“If we sit back as leaders and take no active role in defining what our value system is, it means that we sort of have to accept what we get.”
“No one will ever tell the Emperor that he is naked.”
“Being transparent about your challenges as a company, and allowing people to openly share their transparent challenges with you...that’s how you create that trust relationship.”
“They will make assumptions about your beliefs if you do not take a position...particularly with large issues.”
“There is not a perfect organization on planet Earth – it does not exist.”
“If we were ‘perfect world’ what would it look like...what are the things that are getting in our way of being in that perfect place, and what are the solutions to solve those things?”
“You can’t fix culture overnight.”
“People in your organization are your most valuable asset above anything else.”
Show Links:
REL Talent homepage: https://www.reltalent.com/
An Everyone Culture: https://www.amazon.ca/Everyone-Culture-Deliberately-Developmental-Organization/dp/1625278624
07/02/20 • 26 min
Today marks the beginning of the ‘Shut the Culture Up’ series in Michelle and Maria take an in-depth look at workplace cultures in businesses of all sizes. Special guest, Olivia, also joins our hosts to contribute her vast amount of knowledge and experience to this fascinating series of discussions.
In this first episode of the series, they explore the impact that the size of the organization has upon its ability to establish or influence the culture, as well as the role that leaders play in this area. The difference between the culture a corporation promotes in their marketing and the culture that actually exists there is also reviewed and they take a look at the examples that both Google and Amazon provide. Finally, they define just what culture means, and briefly touch upon two ways it can become defined within a business. Over the years, there has been no shortage of talk about cultures within organizations, and today’s episode begins a valuable series demonstrating how to change all that talk into some real action.
The Finer Details of This Episode:
- The impact of an organization’s size on its ability to establish culture
- Leadership’s role in influencing culture
- Marketing messages vs. ‘the real shit’
- A look at Google and Amazon
- Defining ‘culture’
Quotes:
“I don’t know that I believe that a company has the ability to establish a top down culture when you exceed a certain size.”
“You’ve got to have a strong foundation for your message to be heard.”
“Corporations try to sell this culture mentality and they don’t allow it to organically happen.”
“We’ve created this monster which is impossible.”
“You also have to be genuinely caring about the people that are working for you.”
“Amazon treats their workers like a sweatshop.”
“You can either try to play an active role in defining what the culture of your company is, or you can let the loudest person on your team decide what that culture is.”
Show Links:
REL Talent homepage: https://www.reltalent.com/
Intro to REL
REL Talk
05/27/20 • 42 min
Welcome to the premiere episode of the REL Talk podcast, the home of real conversations about real HR topics for the real world, brought to you by RelTalent.com. Co-hosted by REL Talent’s Managing Director of Culture and HR, Maria Rodriguez, Managing Director of Talent and Organizational Development, Michelle Elder, and Managing Director of Team Development and Coaching, Keith Leonard, this is a podcast created by three professionals who are decidedly passionate about their work.
By way of introduction, our hosts discuss the circumstances which led to the creation of RelTalent.com, and introduce themselves, their stories, and their roles. They then go on to share the reasons why they started this podcast, just what you can expect from it each week, and touch briefly on some examples of upcoming topics and segments. While it is very true there will be many times when the opinions of these passionate professionals will differ in the episodes to come, one thing that they all agree upon, and which will be woven throughout the series, is the importance of companies maintaining a policy of putting people first. Today’s opening episode of the REL Talk podcast presents the first of many powerful conversations about elevating people perspective in organizations that will positively impact the lives of business owners, leaders, and employees along the way.
The Finer Details of This Episode:
- How reltalent.com started
- Getting to know Maria, Michelle and Keith
- What to expect from this podcast
Quotes:
“It was just so motivating to sit there and listen to a CEO talk about how passionate they are about their people, and how they put people as their first priority.”
“Companies have to have the right philosophy for me to stay...do they put people first?”
“For the most part, there is clear, clear linkage between good HR practices, good HR policies, and the success of a business.”
“If your biggest concern is that your employees are going to be saying negative things about you on social media, I think your biggest concern...is your culture.”
“What we know confidently is that there has to be a balance.”
“From a podcast perspective, we want to help not only business leaders in an organization help elevate their people perspective, but we also want to help those of you listening that are employees of an organization.”
Show Links:
REL Talent homepage: https://www.reltalent.com/
08/05/20 • 25 min
Today marks the 11th episode of the podcast and begins the new series, ‘I Hate My F*n Job!’, a logical progression from the previous series, ‘Shut the Culture Up’. Joining Michelle and Maria for her third episode is their special guest, Olivia, and together they look at one of the top reasons people hate their job – abusive leaders.
In their discussion, they explore some effective questions to ask prospective leaders during interviews, share some of their own experiences with poor leaders and the lessons these experiences can 0ffer, and look at the notion of leadership as manipulation. Communication styles, leadership training and HR’s role within that, advice for those working with abusive leaders and the importance of acting on feedback are also covered in this enlightening episode. If you have ever dealt with poor leadership in your job – and, let’s face it, everyone has – today’s frank and insightful discussion is a ‘must listen’.
The Finer Details of This Episode:
- Effective questions to use when interviewing leadership candidates
- Experiences with poor leaders and the lessons learned
- Leadership as manipulation
- Communication styles
- Franchise leader and corporate leader training
- HR’s role in leadership and training
- Advice for employees and organizations with abusive leaders
- The importance of acting on feedback
Quotes:
“My leadership style really depends on the person that I’m talking to.”
“Everyone has had a bad boss – I guarantee it.”
“I literally left a company because of a shitty leader and a shitty feeling.”
“It was either, she would give you the silent treatment, or she would yell at you and throw things at you in front of customers.”
“It’s not the intention, it’s the perception.”
“Abusive bosses probably get snappy with their kids.”
“You have to be able to adapt to your team’s style.”
“HR is there to recommend, not require...we are here to be a partner to make sure lawsuits don’t happen.”
“Eventually I found the greener grass.”
Show Links:
REL Talent homepage: https://www.reltalent.com/
02/17/21 • 53 min
Today marks the third installment of Michelle and Maria’s ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ (DEI) series, and they welcome a very special and highly knowledgeable guest to the podcast today. Robyn Knox is the President and Founder of The HR Business Connect, LLC, an HR consulting, coaching, and leadership development firm located in the Upstate of South Carolina. Robyn is an experienced HR leader with over 25 years of human resources experience in the manufacturing industry, and she was recognized as the 2016 Greenville Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) HR Professional of the Year, and the 2017 South Carolina HR Professional of the Year. Robyn begins by sharing her extensive background in HR all the way up to her current position, as well as a great deal of information about SHRM and the many valuable resources it has to offer. She delves into some of the powerful initiatives that SHRM has generated, her role in many of them, and also provides a number of other extremely valuable resources. Along the way, she and our hosts discuss the importance of a company inclusion philosophy and making positions attractive for a diverse pool of candidates, as well as the critical role that leaders and those outside of HR play in bringing DEI to life within an organization. Robyn’s vast amount of experience and knowledge renders her a leading expert in the field of HR – you don’t want to miss the many pearls of wisdom she shares here today.
The Finer Details of This Episode: · Robyn’s background and current position · The SHRM Foundation and its resources for employers and job seekers · The 2019 Veterans’ Summit and Robyn’s role in creating it · The Veterans at Work Digital Toolkit · Robyn’s advice for leaders and interviewing · Making your positions attractive to a diverse pool of candidates · SHRM’s initiatives especially ‘Employing Abilities @Work’ and ‘Getting Talent Back to Work’ · Having and living a company inclusion philosophy · Some valuable resources that are available · Robyn’s critical advice
Quotes: “My goal that year was to educate employers across the state of South Carolina on this Veterans at Work Certificate Program...we would encourage businesses to become more Veteran-friendly.” “That education piece of it becomes critical if companies are going to do different.” “You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.” “The easier it is for that interviewer to translate your experience into applicable skills, the further you will go in that interview process.” “You see things a whole lot different when you’ve dodged bullets.” “My biggest angst and anxiety is when they go through the interview process and they start asking those questions that may be protected.” “People...aren’t staying as up to date as they should because things are changing so rapidly.” “Teach your managers to interview better because your HR teams should not be selecting who works for a manager.” “There are so many components you just have to be super cautious on.” “You should have an overall talent strategy.” “It was probably one of the times in my career where I had the most heartburn ever.” “A succession plan is not a guarantee.” “Every single action they recommended wouldn’t have just made it better for someone with a disability, it would have made it a better place to work for everybody.” “Use what worked somewhere else...look for help.” “It’s a conversation that needs to be had.” “It needs to be a vision that the top of your organization has really bought into, but it needs to have support from someone outside of HR as well to help drive that vision.”
Show Links: REL Talent: HR Consulting SHRM Resources and Tools Veterans at Work Digital Toolkit Getting Talent Back to Work Together Forward at Work General Mills Allyship Resources CEO Action Resources Walgreens Anderson County Distribution Center Walgreens Social Responsibility
03/17/21 • 19 min
The ‘Elevating Your Culture’ series continues today with our hosts, Keith, Maria, and Michelle discussing how to build rewards and recognition into your overall culture strategy. Given their vast amount of experience in this field, they’ve witnessed both the good and bad elements of these programs, and today they share these examples and their valuable advice for listeners as well. They begin by looking at what they feel is the key to a successful rewards and recognition program, providing some examples of such programs, and the issues with using cash or gift cards as rewards. Our hosts also offer advice for those planning on running such programs, recommend a great resource, and emphasize the importance of celebrating everybody within the organization. While it may be true that ‘most companies probably aren’t successful with rewards and recognition’, today’s episode and the expertise shared in it will provide all listeners with the tools to definitely put them on the right track.
The Finer Details of This Episode:
- The key to successful rewards and recognition programs
- Some examples of successful programs
- The issues with using cash/gift cards as rewards
- Advice for starting a rewards and recognition program
- Kouzes and Posner’s The Leadership Challenge
- The importance of celebrating everybody
Quotes: “I would say most companies probably aren’t successful with rewards and recognition.” “They are maintaining their program with unwavering consistency.” “Everybody in the joint got to see the recognition, but you didn’t have to necessarily announce it in a meeting or something.” “I’ve seen the simplest things show up as the employees’ favorite things.” “You’ve got to start somewhere, but you’ve got to start simple.” “Money...it really has an effective negative return.” “What part of today was great?” “Don’t forget your top performers.” “You’re communicating to them that you appreciate their contribution and that you celebrate the successes that they had.” “Crawl before you walk.”
Show Links: REL Talent: HR Consulting
We Found Everyone
REL Talk
04/06/22 • 23 min
As a follow-up to their last episode (Where is Everyone?), Maria and Michelle spend today’s episode discussing things they are seeing across the board during the hiring and interview process as a result of the pandemic. They’ve “found everyone”, but hiring managers and recruiters are still having a hard time filling open positions, which translates to employees having a hard time as well.
Today’s discussion moves from the length of time it’s now taking for people to find a job to the fact that the entire specialty of recruiting is getting a bad rap. So much of what they’re seeing is a lack of follow-up, and in some cases, recruiters and employers are “ghosting” their applicants. But that’s not all; they maintain that the screening process many employers use is too trivial and does not work in the “world of work” right now. Tune in and find out what Michelle and Maria are seeing, and more importantly, find out their suggestions for how to make things better.
The Finer Details of This Episode:
- What multitude of things are they seeing in the “world of work” right now?
- Candidates are out there... why aren’t you finding them?
- Why should the recruitment process be re-evaluated and even revamped?
- Weeding out the bad choices or finding the right people?
- How creativity and innovation in hiring techniques are key to filling open positions
Quotes:
“I’ve seen people cycle through dozens of interviews, they are ghosted or ignored completely from the beginning. In some cases, it starts from the beginning, completely ignored, no follow up. In other cases, it is ghosting, where you get to start the process, but you never get any further. And in more cases than I care to admit to, there’s no follow up or no contact based on why you did not receive the offer.”
“From a hiring perspective, it makes zero sense.”
“Do I know you’ll stay? Because that’s the big question. When it comes to “overqualified”, is there a fear that you’re going to have to replace that person when they find a better gig?”
“The entire recruitment process needs to be re-evaluated because the candidates are there, they’re just being weeded out before conversations can happen... the talent is there, but they are just overlooking them in the recruitment process.”
“If you cannot hire and fill your positions within a reasonable amount of time with someone who is capable of doing the job, then clearly something about your process is broken.”
“Instead of having a recruiting team who believes their job is to weed out bad choices, why not approach it from the perspective that ‘your job is to find the right people’.”
“It’s also very easy to start implementing changes in your organization.”
“Start with your teams, have them do some introspection, have them assess what’s working and what isn’t working, and then start to brainstorm some solutions.”
Show Links:
REL Talent: HR Consulting Email REL Talent REL Talent on LinkedIn
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FAQ
How many episodes does REL Talk have?
REL Talk currently has 114 episodes available.
What topics does REL Talk cover?
The podcast is about Management, Podcasts, Business and Careers.
What is the most popular episode on REL Talk?
The episode title 'Culture, Culture, Culture!: Culture Controversies' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on REL Talk?
The average episode length on REL Talk is 30 minutes.
How often are episodes of REL Talk released?
Episodes of REL Talk are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of REL Talk?
The first episode of REL Talk was released on May 23, 2020.
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