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HR Keeps Inheriting Everyone Else’s Problems
Episode 526th June 2026 • HR Happy Hour Network • HR Happy Hour Network
00:00:00 00:32:29

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HR Keeps Inheriting Everyone Else’s Problems

Host: Sabrina Baker

 

Summary

If no one owns it, HR gets it. That's not a bandwidth problem, it's an ownership boundary problem. And they require completely different solutions.

In this episode, Sabrina Baker breaks down why unowned work keeps landing on HR's plate and how HR's own greatest strength — operating in ambiguity — works against them. The more capable and willing you are to step in, the more the organization learns to route things your direction. Involvement and ownership are not the same thing. One of the most strategic things HR can do is understand the difference.

She shares three moves for stopping the pattern that you can start doing today. The sentence to hold onto: every problem HR solves without clarifying ownership becomes HR's problem to solve again later.

 

Key Topics

  • Ownership boundaries in HR
  • Delegation and offloading tasks
  • Distinction between involvement and ownership
  • Strategies to clarify responsibilities
  • Impact of ambiguity on HR workload
  • Building organizational accountability

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The HR Happy Hour Network is sponsored by Workhuman.

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