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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Founder's Quiz

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?

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?

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?

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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?

Yeah, so my trusted HR, 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.

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.