June 9, 2025 • 23 mins
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:
- Why partnering with HR aligns your team and mitigates risk in chaos
- How to integrate HR into decisions to avoid siloed thinking
- What open-mindedness allows you to dream bigger despite HR challenges
This episode is ideal for for Founders, Owners, and CEOs in stage 4 of The Founder's Evolution. Not sure which stage you're in? Find out for free in less than 10 minutes at https://www.scalearchitects.com/founders/quiz
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/
Mentioned in this episode:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Scott Ritzheimer (00:00):
Hello, hello and welcome. Welcome, once
again, to the secrets of thehigh demand coach podcast. And
here with us today is yetanother high demand coach in
the one and only RhiannonAlbert, who is the founder of
my trusted HR it offersfractional and interim HR
leadership to businessesacross the US, and with over
23 years of HR experience anddual certifications, SHRM, CP
(00:23):
and HRCI, PHR, rhianonspecializes in guiding CEOs
and CFOs and business ownersin strengthening their HR
functions, managing risk andfostering company culture as a
trusted advisor to leaders,she mentioned she mentors HR
teams, helping them to elevatefrom reactive to strategic.
(00:44):
She's here with us today.Rhiannon, welcome to the show.
I'm so excited to have youhere. One of the big
challenges that I've foundcatches so many founders off
guard. I know that it happenedto me when I was running my
business, is that it onlyhappens when we're successful,
but it's like, you build amulti million dollar business
(01:05):
and you feel like you shouldbe thrilled about it, but
instead, it's just it'soverwhelming, like there are
so many things that come withthat success. And one of those
challenges, I believe, whetheror not the founder knows it,
is something that you call theHR leadership gap. So tell us,
what is it, and how cansomeone listening know if it's
(01:26):
happening to them?
Rhiannon Albert (01:28):
Yeah, so the HR leadership gap is just
that, that situation thathappens when the HR strategy
and the leadership of theorganization aren't in
alignment. So there's maybeconflict about, well, that
(01:50):
doesn't feel too risky to me.I think we go for it, and then
people on the other side arehaving a struggle with that.
You know, it's, it's kind oflike 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 reallythe big, the biggest pieces.
(02:15):
How are we going to moveforward? Are we going to go
ahead and and enjoy a littlerisk and take our chances, or
are we going to put safetyfirst? Or are we going to make
sure that we're doing this theright way, so that people, key
players, stakeholders, aren'tcompromised?
Scott Ritzheimer (02:36):
Yeah, so one of the things that I've seen
happen is you create successearly on in most categories,
right within the businessworld by saying yes to things
and then just figuring out howto do it, right? I mean, it's
like, and I would say, like, alot of founders don't even see
that as being risky, but it's,it's crazy risky most of the
(02:58):
time. Like, we have no ideahow we're gonna do it, but we
need to do it, and we get awaywith it, but at some point
that catches up with you,right? There's interest to be
paid on that, and so we goout, and usually during that,
we call it the fun stage, butthere's not a whole lot of HR
happening formally, right?It's happening all the time,
(03:20):
but it's not formal, and werealize, okay, maybe that's
not my strong suit as afounder, I don't understand
half of these HR laws. I don'twant to understand them. Let
me just go out and get someoneelse to deal with it. What
like? Why? What happens whenwe fail to integrate that
someone else right? Where wetreat it like a side issue,
(03:41):
how do we actually integratethat person into our decision
making?
Rhiannon Albert (03:47):
Great question. Um, I would say the
best way is to really see themas a partner. Um, it's, it's
just like a bookkeeper or, youknow, a CFO. You want them to
be using their expertise, youknow, use utilizing all of
(04:09):
that knowledge that they'regeared for, but also be a
partner, so that you guys canserve as a sounding board to
one another. And, you know, Ithink when I see it done
right, executives areutilizing me for a lot more
than what what you wouldinitially think. They'd say
(04:33):
like, Hey, can I pick yourbrain on this? Let's, let's
kind of process my thinking onx, 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 thisway, right? And you know it
there's a strategy to runningyour business right, just like
(04:57):
there's an HR strategy and afinancial. Strategy and a
cyber security strategy, soutilizing them as a partner,
not seeing it as a separatesilo, but But letting them be
a part of the key decisionsthat you're making and how
you're moving forward.
Scott Ritzheimer (05:16):
Yeah, I love that, because one of the
distinctions in there thatyou're speaking to is
sometimes folks who are verytechnical or very good at what
they do or aren't kind of asused to the entrepreneurial
mindset can be very fixed,right? Like they're good at
saying no. But what you justkind of spoke to is the Okay,
(05:40):
we can't do that, but here'ssomething that we can do,
right? What is the path toYes? And I think that's just
such an essential piece. Whenyou're going out and finding
someone to help you, likethis, a partner helps you find
a path to Yes, right? Theydon't just say no. Now,
there's times when a no isappropriate, but I love that
you bring that, that nuanceand that clarity, because I
think it's really, reallyreally important from a
(06:02):
partner standpoint. Now, a lotof the founders listening so
much of this feels like it'slike way down in the weeds.
They want to go after bigideas. They don't want to get
stuck doing this. We're inlike, the danger of Toby
flenderson zone, right fromthe office. So do your clients
after working with you? Is itthat they come to love HR, do
(06:25):
they just tolerate it? Is it anecessary evil, like, what's a
good, healthy relationship fora founder with HR?
Rhiannon Albert (06:33):
Good question. You know, I fight
the notion of Toby all thetime, just because I want for
HR professionals to be seen ina much better light. But you
know, deservedly so some of usare in this spot because, you
know, we aren't true greatpartners to the executives we
(06:58):
serve. And so the biggestpiece is to find the right
one. It's to find the one thatis going to push you to be
more proactive. It's the onethat's going to be pushing you
to think bigger and kind of bequestioning you on the
decisions you're making eachand every day. Because mind
(07:21):
you that right there isculture you you can't just
hire somebody to come in andfix your culture, right? It's,
it's the tried and truedecisions you're making every
single day that are buildingwhat everyone that you're
working with understands tobe, you know, your
(07:43):
organization. So, you know, Ithink the the leaders that I
work best with are are prettyopen minded. They know that
they don't have it all figuredout. And just like any of us,
right? I mean, I couldn't doall of the things that a lot
(08:05):
of people do the the big thebig key, is to stay open
minded, to stay curious and tobe willing to hear any kind of
feedback, whether that's frominside of your team, whether
it's from somebody outside,giving you really good clues
(08:27):
on the best practices from allof the industries and all the
different companies that weserve. Here's what I'm seeing.
Here's what I, you know,recommend, yeah, you know, I
think it takes a special breedto to allow themselves the
(08:49):
ability to stay open, to staystay open minded, stay
curious, and also just respectthe fact that we're here to
mitigate risk. We're here tokeep you in compliance. We're
here to kind of give you an analternate reality of your
people and and how it allcomes together.
Scott Ritzheimer (09:12):
Yeah, I love that idea of looking for
clues, because oftentimes whenyou go out and you start
asking for other opinions, fora founder that can feel like a
bunch of commands, like itfeel like a bunch of just
weight and expectations, butthe the idea of being curious
for clues is just a brilliant,like, mental model for finding
the best way forward, findingthe truth and really building
(09:33):
a strong team as a great,great principle. So mixed in
with that, there's thefrustration of all that stuff
that you just talked about,there a lot of times when you
get to the point where youneed an HR team member at that
level, there's a lot happeningin the organization. There's a
lot of stuff going on. May notalways be going all that well,
(09:55):
right? It feels like folks arefighting fires all the time.
And you've mentioned. Thinkingbigger several times, which
most folks listening at facevalue wouldn't really think
that's something that theyhave a problem with, right?
But at this stage, we just, wetend to get so narrow focused
that it doesn't feel likethere's actually room for
vision anymore. That's areally hard place for founders
(10:15):
to be. So how, from a positionof HR leadership, how do you
help founders break throughthis wall and be able to think
and dream bigger again?
Rhiannon Albert (10:27):
You know, it's one of my favorite parts
about getting to work withbecause they're typically
visionaries. You know,they're, they're typically the
sky is the limit thinkers, andit's one of my favorite
things, because it isn't thatisn't how I think. And so it's
(10:49):
kind of nice to be able toserve as the ying and yang to
one another. And the the greatpart about it is that I the my
probably my favorite thingabout being a business owner
(11:10):
and doing this for the lastsix years is that I get to
partner with leaders who Iknow this isn't their skill
set. I know this is not whatthey want to be doing. This
feels like they're gettingpulled into the weeds, like
you mentioned earlier, and toget to serve as their partner,
(11:30):
get to help them handle thethings that once really stress
them out, is a real gift,because not everybody can do
what they're doing. And in theworld needs them doing their
thing, and this is a great wayfor me to be able to step up
and help them with all of thethings that cause them
(11:54):
heartburn and headache, yeah?And take that off of them,
yeah? But you know, the bigkey is that they have to
remain open minded enough andand have kind of a fundamental
respect for what it is thatwe're trying to do. Otherwise,
(12:15):
it doesn't really work justbecause, you know, there and
there's a lot of reason thatHR isn't necessarily respected
in some pools, but those of usthat are doing it really well
want to serve as that partner.Want to give you the strength,
the knowledge, thecapabilities and the
(12:38):
explanation to you know, giveyou that support so that you
can go and keep doing yourthing.
Scott Ritzheimer (12:46):
Yeah, there's this misconception for
a lot of folks that asfounders, if they want to step
into like being the CEO, thattheir company needs, that they
also have to be all theseother things. And that's just
not true. They have to haveall these other partners. And
I think HR is such a greatexample of that you can't
ignore it, right? It has to bepart of an integral part of
(13:07):
the decision making process.But that doesn't mean you have
to be it yourself, andbringing in an HR partner is
just such a better way ofdoing it. So another question,
I think this will make yousmile, because I'm sure you've
been in a similar situation,but I was working with a team
once, and it was they hadreached this decision, like,
do we do this or do we dothis? It was like mutually
(13:28):
exclusive. We have to pickone. And the visionary leader,
the founder the organization,he said, you know, what I want
is simple. I want it all andand so when folks are looking
particularly in the area of ofHR. They don't want to get
sued. They definitely don'twant their people to get hurt.
They want someone who can be astrategic provider. They want
(13:52):
their teams to perform orperform at a really high
level. They want the freedomto pursue different
strategies. All of these soundideal, but they often compete
for our time and attention. Sohow do you help them to
wrestle through the balance ofof all of these different
competing priorities?
Rhiannon Albert (14:09):
Great question. Yeah, it's really
simple. I just want it all. Imean, so go to it. Go get it.
Go get it done. I i I hearthat usually, when I come on
board, I'm asking aboutpriorities. I understand, and
I hear that all of thesethings have to happen. Got it?
(14:33):
I'm clear and I and I'm takinggood notes. However, what are
the things that can't wait?What are the things that have
to be addressed now? And youknow, 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
(14:58):
we're pretty efficient. And sowe can be working on multiple
things at a time, and alsokind of be keeping our eye on
the prize, on a few otherareas, maybe even conducting
an audit to see where we'recurrently at in this whole
space. So start things startcoming together pretty
(15:19):
rapidly. The big thing is, is,just like anybody who's great
at something, right, you can'tbe great at everything, and
you can't be doing a great jobat everything. So hire people
that have that specialty andthat expertise so that they
can help you. And sometimesthat might look, you know,
(15:43):
I'm, I work in the fractionalspace, but I've also kind of
come on to teams to, like,literally, help lead their HR
department while they'relooking to hire someone. So
it's a little less fractional,it's a little looks a little
more like full time. Youreally can, these days, cater
(16:06):
to whatever needs there reallyare. And so when you're
talking to somebody like me,maybe this feels overwhelming,
and we've only got this amountof budget, but maybe you'll
only need me for 10 hours aweek, right? And I'm still
getting all of this otherstuff done for you, and then
it allows you to hire afractional CFO to kind of help
(16:30):
catch up on your books, and,you know, get your financials
in order. So I think the coolpart about it these days is
that there is an answer foreverybody, yeah. And I know,
in all of my experienceworking with startups, you
know, funding is a big one,you know, sometimes you're
(16:51):
working to get this off theground and get this done so
that you can be funded. And sothe the fractional, um, you
know, optional as needed helpis kind of a great feature.
Scott Ritzheimer (17:08):
I love that. So Rihanna, and there's a
question that I like to askall my guests. I'm interested
to see what you have to say.All right, here's a question.
What would you say is thebiggest secret that you wish
wasn't a secret at all? What'sthat one thing you wish
everybody watching orlistening today knew?
Rhiannon Albert (17:25):
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 dothis on my own, or, you know,
I hate asking for help, butthe truth is, is, you know,
(17:47):
like we said, you can't begreat at everything and hire
when you don't know how to dosomething, it is better to
have that piece covered onyour team and to hire for that
specialty than to not have itat all. So, you know, I'd
encourage you to, you know,really be honest with
(18:10):
yourself. How good would thatfeel to have a true partner, a
trusted partner that I couldturn to with all of my people?
Performance risk relatedquestions.
Scott Ritzheimer (18:24):
I love that it's so much easier than it
has been in the past, and thefractional piece is such a big
part of that. I love it. SoRhiannon, there's some folks
listening. They love the ideaof having a partner who
actually gets them andunderstands how to navigate
this gap that they're in. Theywant to know more about you
and the work that you do at mytrusted HR, how can they find
(18:46):
more out?
Rhiannon Albert (18:47):
Yeah, so my trusted HR, I am on LinkedIn.
I also have a YouTube pagethat you know, I've talked to
several people during podcastsand and then I also have works
live workshops on LinkedIn aswell. So I'd love to meet you.
(19:11):
I also offer complimentaryconsultations if you want to
just talk and get to know eachother.
Scott Ritzheimer (19:17):
Excellent. Well Rhiannon, thank you so
much for being on the show.It's privilege and honor
having you here. And for thoseof you watching, yes, and for
those of you watching andlistening, you know your time
and attention mean the worldto us, I hope you got as much
out of this conversation as Iknow I did, and I cannot wait
to see you next time. Takecare.
Hello, hello and welcome. Welcome, once
again, to the secrets of thehigh demand coach podcast. And
here with us today is yetanother high demand coach in
the one and only RhiannonAlbert, who is the founder of
my trusted HR it offersfractional and interim HR
leadership to businessesacross the US, and with over
23 years of HR experience anddual certifications, SHRM, CP
(00:23):
and HRCI, PHR, rhianonspecializes in guiding CEOs
and CFOs and business ownersin strengthening their HR
functions, managing risk andfostering company culture as a
trusted advisor to leaders,she mentioned she mentors HR
teams, helping them to elevatefrom reactive to strategic.
(00:44):
She's here with us today.Rhiannon, welcome to the show.
I'm so excited to have youhere. One of the big
challenges that I've foundcatches so many founders off
guard. I know that it happenedto me when I was running my
business, is that it onlyhappens when we're successful,
but it's like, you build amulti million dollar business
(01:05):
and you feel like you shouldbe thrilled about it, but
instead, it's just it'soverwhelming, like there are
so many things that come withthat success. And one of those
challenges, I believe, whetheror not the founder knows it,
is something that you call theHR leadership gap. So tell us,
what is it, and how cansomeone listening know if it's
(01:26):
happening to them?
Rhiannon Albert (01:28):
Yeah, so the HR leadership gap is just
that, that situation thathappens when the HR strategy
and the leadership of theorganization aren't in
alignment. So there's maybeconflict about, well, that
(01:50):
doesn't feel too risky to me.I think we go for it, and then
people on the other side arehaving a struggle with that.
You know, it's, it's kind oflike 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 reallythe big, the biggest pieces.
(02:15):
How are we going to moveforward? Are we going to go
ahead and and enjoy a littlerisk and take our chances, or
are we going to put safetyfirst? Or are we going to make
sure that we're doing this theright way, so that people, key
players, stakeholders, aren'tcompromised?
Scott Ritzheimer (02:36):
Yeah, so one of the things that I've seen
happen is you create successearly on in most categories,
right within the businessworld by saying yes to things
and then just figuring out howto do it, right? I mean, it's
like, and I would say, like, alot of founders don't even see
that as being risky, but it's,it's crazy risky most of the
(02:58):
time. Like, we have no ideahow we're gonna do it, but we
need to do it, and we get awaywith it, but at some point
that catches up with you,right? There's interest to be
paid on that, and so we goout, and usually during that,
we call it the fun stage, butthere's not a whole lot of HR
happening formally, right?It's happening all the time,
(03:20):
but it's not formal, and werealize, okay, maybe that's
not my strong suit as afounder, I don't understand
half of these HR laws. I don'twant to understand them. Let
me just go out and get someoneelse to deal with it. What
like? Why? What happens whenwe fail to integrate that
someone else right? Where wetreat it like a side issue,
(03:41):
how do we actually integratethat person into our decision
making?
Rhiannon Albert (03:47):
Great question. Um, I would say the
best way is to really see themas a partner. Um, it's, it's
just like a bookkeeper or, youknow, a CFO. You want them to
be using their expertise, youknow, use utilizing all of
(04:09):
that knowledge that they'regeared for, but also be a
partner, so that you guys canserve as a sounding board to
one another. And, you know, Ithink when I see it done
right, executives areutilizing me for a lot more
than what what you wouldinitially think. They'd say
(04:33):
like, Hey, can I pick yourbrain on this? Let's, let's
kind of process my thinking onx, 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 thisway, right? And you know it
there's a strategy to runningyour business right, just like
(04:57):
there's an HR strategy and afinancial. Strategy and a
cyber security strategy, soutilizing them as a partner,
not seeing it as a separatesilo, but But letting them be
a part of the key decisionsthat you're making and how
you're moving forward.
Scott Ritzheimer (05:16):
Yeah, I love that, because one of the
distinctions in there thatyou're speaking to is
sometimes folks who are verytechnical or very good at what
they do or aren't kind of asused to the entrepreneurial
mindset can be very fixed,right? Like they're good at
saying no. But what you justkind of spoke to is the Okay,
(05:40):
we can't do that, but here'ssomething that we can do,
right? What is the path toYes? And I think that's just
such an essential piece. Whenyou're going out and finding
someone to help you, likethis, a partner helps you find
a path to Yes, right? Theydon't just say no. Now,
there's times when a no isappropriate, but I love that
you bring that, that nuanceand that clarity, because I
think it's really, reallyreally important from a
(06:02):
partner standpoint. Now, a lotof the founders listening so
much of this feels like it'slike way down in the weeds.
They want to go after bigideas. They don't want to get
stuck doing this. We're inlike, the danger of Toby
flenderson zone, right fromthe office. So do your clients
after working with you? Is itthat they come to love HR, do
(06:25):
they just tolerate it? Is it anecessary evil, like, what's a
good, healthy relationship fora founder with HR?
Rhiannon Albert (06:33):
Good question. You know, I fight
the notion of Toby all thetime, just because I want for
HR professionals to be seen ina much better light. But you
know, deservedly so some of usare in this spot because, you
know, we aren't true greatpartners to the executives we
(06:58):
serve. And so the biggestpiece is to find the right
one. It's to find the one thatis going to push you to be
more proactive. It's the onethat's going to be pushing you
to think bigger and kind of bequestioning you on the
decisions you're making eachand every day. Because mind
(07:21):
you that right there isculture you you can't just
hire somebody to come in andfix your culture, right? It's,
it's the tried and truedecisions you're making every
single day that are buildingwhat everyone that you're
working with understands tobe, you know, your
(07:43):
organization. So, you know, Ithink the the leaders that I
work best with are are prettyopen minded. They know that
they don't have it all figuredout. And just like any of us,
right? I mean, I couldn't doall of the things that a lot
(08:05):
of people do the the big thebig key, is to stay open
minded, to stay curious and tobe willing to hear any kind of
feedback, whether that's frominside of your team, whether
it's from somebody outside,giving you really good clues
(08:27):
on the best practices from allof the industries and all the
different companies that weserve. Here's what I'm seeing.
Here's what I, you know,recommend, yeah, you know, I
think it takes a special breedto to allow themselves the
(08:49):
ability to stay open, to staystay open minded, stay
curious, and also just respectthe fact that we're here to
mitigate risk. We're here tokeep you in compliance. We're
here to kind of give you an analternate reality of your
people and and how it allcomes together.
Scott Ritzheimer (09:12):
Yeah, I love that idea of looking for
clues, because oftentimes whenyou go out and you start
asking for other opinions, fora founder that can feel like a
bunch of commands, like itfeel like a bunch of just
weight and expectations, butthe the idea of being curious
for clues is just a brilliant,like, mental model for finding
the best way forward, findingthe truth and really building
(09:33):
a strong team as a great,great principle. So mixed in
with that, there's thefrustration of all that stuff
that you just talked about,there a lot of times when you
get to the point where youneed an HR team member at that
level, there's a lot happeningin the organization. There's a
lot of stuff going on. May notalways be going all that well,
(09:55):
right? It feels like folks arefighting fires all the time.
And you've mentioned. Thinkingbigger several times, which
most folks listening at facevalue wouldn't really think
that's something that theyhave a problem with, right?
But at this stage, we just, wetend to get so narrow focused
that it doesn't feel likethere's actually room for
vision anymore. That's areally hard place for founders
(10:15):
to be. So how, from a positionof HR leadership, how do you
help founders break throughthis wall and be able to think
and dream bigger again?
Rhiannon Albert (10:27):
You know, it's one of my favorite parts
about getting to work withbecause they're typically
visionaries. You know,they're, they're typically the
sky is the limit thinkers, andit's one of my favorite
things, because it isn't thatisn't how I think. And so it's
(10:49):
kind of nice to be able toserve as the ying and yang to
one another. And the the greatpart about it is that I the my
probably my favorite thingabout being a business owner
(11:10):
and doing this for the lastsix years is that I get to
partner with leaders who Iknow this isn't their skill
set. I know this is not whatthey want to be doing. This
feels like they're gettingpulled into the weeds, like
you mentioned earlier, and toget to serve as their partner,
(11:30):
get to help them handle thethings that once really stress
them out, is a real gift,because not everybody can do
what they're doing. And in theworld needs them doing their
thing, and this is a great wayfor me to be able to step up
and help them with all of thethings that cause them
(11:54):
heartburn and headache, yeah?And take that off of them,
yeah? But you know, the bigkey is that they have to
remain open minded enough andand have kind of a fundamental
respect for what it is thatwe're trying to do. Otherwise,
(12:15):
it doesn't really work justbecause, you know, there and
there's a lot of reason thatHR isn't necessarily respected
in some pools, but those of usthat are doing it really well
want to serve as that partner.Want to give you the strength,
the knowledge, thecapabilities and the
(12:38):
explanation to you know, giveyou that support so that you
can go and keep doing yourthing.
Scott Ritzheimer (12:46):
Yeah, there's this misconception for
a lot of folks that asfounders, if they want to step
into like being the CEO, thattheir company needs, that they
also have to be all theseother things. And that's just
not true. They have to haveall these other partners. And
I think HR is such a greatexample of that you can't
ignore it, right? It has to bepart of an integral part of
(13:07):
the decision making process.But that doesn't mean you have
to be it yourself, andbringing in an HR partner is
just such a better way ofdoing it. So another question,
I think this will make yousmile, because I'm sure you've
been in a similar situation,but I was working with a team
once, and it was they hadreached this decision, like,
do we do this or do we dothis? It was like mutually
(13:28):
exclusive. We have to pickone. And the visionary leader,
the founder the organization,he said, you know, what I want
is simple. I want it all andand so when folks are looking
particularly in the area of ofHR. They don't want to get
sued. They definitely don'twant their people to get hurt.
They want someone who can be astrategic provider. They want
(13:52):
their teams to perform orperform at a really high
level. They want the freedomto pursue different
strategies. All of these soundideal, but they often compete
for our time and attention. Sohow do you help them to
wrestle through the balance ofof all of these different
competing priorities?
Rhiannon Albert (14:09):
Great question. Yeah, it's really
simple. I just want it all. Imean, so go to it. Go get it.
Go get it done. I i I hearthat usually, when I come on
board, I'm asking aboutpriorities. I understand, and
I hear that all of thesethings have to happen. Got it?
(14:33):
I'm clear and I and I'm takinggood notes. However, what are
the things that can't wait?What are the things that have
to be addressed now? And youknow, 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
(14:58):
we're pretty efficient. And sowe can be working on multiple
things at a time, and alsokind of be keeping our eye on
the prize, on a few otherareas, maybe even conducting
an audit to see where we'recurrently at in this whole
space. So start things startcoming together pretty
(15:19):
rapidly. The big thing is, is,just like anybody who's great
at something, right, you can'tbe great at everything, and
you can't be doing a great jobat everything. So hire people
that have that specialty andthat expertise so that they
can help you. And sometimesthat might look, you know,
(15:43):
I'm, I work in the fractionalspace, but I've also kind of
come on to teams to, like,literally, help lead their HR
department while they'relooking to hire someone. So
it's a little less fractional,it's a little looks a little
more like full time. Youreally can, these days, cater
(16:06):
to whatever needs there reallyare. And so when you're
talking to somebody like me,maybe this feels overwhelming,
and we've only got this amountof budget, but maybe you'll
only need me for 10 hours aweek, right? And I'm still
getting all of this otherstuff done for you, and then
it allows you to hire afractional CFO to kind of help
(16:30):
catch up on your books, and,you know, get your financials
in order. So I think the coolpart about it these days is
that there is an answer foreverybody, yeah. And I know,
in all of my experienceworking with startups, you
know, funding is a big one,you know, sometimes you're
(16:51):
working to get this off theground and get this done so
that you can be funded. And sothe the fractional, um, you
know, optional as needed helpis kind of a great feature.
Scott Ritzheimer (17:08):
I love that. So Rihanna, and there's a
question that I like to askall my guests. I'm interested
to see what you have to say.All right, here's a question.
What would you say is thebiggest secret that you wish
wasn't a secret at all? What'sthat one thing you wish
everybody watching orlistening today knew?
Rhiannon Albert (17:25):
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 dothis on my own, or, you know,
I hate asking for help, butthe truth is, is, you know,
(17:47):
like we said, you can't begreat at everything and hire
when you don't know how to dosomething, it is better to
have that piece covered onyour team and to hire for that
specialty than to not have itat all. So, you know, I'd
encourage you to, you know,really be honest with
(18:10):
yourself. How good would thatfeel to have a true partner, a
trusted partner that I couldturn to with all of my people?
Performance risk relatedquestions.
Scott Ritzheimer (18:24):
I love that it's so much easier than it
has been in the past, and thefractional piece is such a big
part of that. I love it. SoRhiannon, there's some folks
listening. They love the ideaof having a partner who
actually gets them andunderstands how to navigate
this gap that they're in. Theywant to know more about you
and the work that you do at mytrusted HR, how can they find
(18:46):
more out?
Rhiannon Albert (18:47):
Yeah, so my trusted HR, I am on LinkedIn.
I also have a YouTube pagethat you know, I've talked to
several people during podcastsand and then I also have works
live workshops on LinkedIn aswell. So I'd love to meet you.
(19:11):
I also offer complimentaryconsultations if you want to
just talk and get to know eachother.
Scott Ritzheimer (19:17):
Excellent. Well Rhiannon, thank you so
much for being on the show.It's privilege and honor
having you here. And for thoseof you watching, yes, and for
those of you watching andlistening, you know your time
and attention mean the worldto us, I hope you got as much
out of this conversation as Iknow I did, and I cannot wait
to see you next time. Takecare.
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