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HR Mixtape is a weekly human resources and business leadership podcast for HR professionals, people leaders, and executives navigating the real work of managing people. Episodes cover human resources strategy, HR compliance, workplace culture, leadership development, employee experience, payroll and HR technology, and the future of work.Whether you work in HR, talent management, people operations, or business leadership, HR Mixtape offers practical insights, expert conversations, and real-world perspectives to help you lead with confidence in today’s evolving workplace.
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Most workplace advice assumes you can leave. Quit, find a better boss, start over. For plenty of people that option sits behind a student loan or a tight job market, and the advice has nothing left to offer them. Lynnae Brown, Consultant and Strategist at Lynnae Brown LLC, spent more than a decade training and managing people in mental health recovery. She built her work navigation approach during her own burnout as a program director, when she was two and a half years from student loan forgiveness and couldn't walk away. In this episode, she covers: Why a micromanaging boss's habits become planning information once you ask whether he does it to everyone How small, quiet experiments, like leaving at 6:00 instead of 7:00, show you which expectations are real and which are just habit What HR can say to a struggling employee that starts with empathy and moves to questions, without sounding like the company line Timestamps [00:01:32] What work navigation is: reading what's really happening at work and finding where you have agency, with staying sane as the goal instead of promotion [00:03:18] Why treating irritants as information gives you a more neutral way to decide what to do when you're fed up [00:04:33] A micromanaging boss walkthrough: ask whether he does it to everyone, and why the answer takes the problem off your shoulders [00:11:10] How Lynnae developed work navigation during her own burnout in 2018, when two and a half years from student loan forgiveness meant she couldn't leave [00:12:05] Why wanting to keep your job without chasing a promotion lets you drop the glad-handing, from the gala to after-work drinks [00:15:50] Where to start: use what irritates you as the entry point for figuring out what isn't working [00:16:53] Testing whether 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. is required by trying 8:00 to 6:00, and telling the difference between someone being irked and your job being in danger [00:18:17] Questioning invisible labor, from the Dixie Cups to the meeting notes, by seeing what happens when you stop doing it [00:19:59] Whether quiet experiments can work in military and other highly documented workplaces, where an experiment can end up in your file [00:24:15] How HR can offer work navigation to an employee without sounding like it's reading the company line: empathy first, then questions Guest Bio: Lynnae Brown, Consultant and Strategist at Lynnae Brown LLC, spent more than a decade training and managing people in mental health recovery. She built her work navigation approach during her own burnout as a program director, when she was two and a half years from student loan forgiveness and couldn't walk away. She has lectured at Columbia University, NYU, and Mount Sinai, and holds a degree in International Business and Marketing from Northeastern University. Brought to You by Paylocity: Paylocity is the fastest growing unified platform for HR, Finance, and IT. Paylocity brings your people, processes, and data together in one place so HR leaders can spend less time managing systems and more time doing the work that actually moves their organizations forward. Learn more at paylocity.com Keywords: work navigation, employee burnout, micromanager, micromanaging boss, can't quit your job, staying in a job, HR support for struggling employees, workplace experiments, invisible labor, emotional labor, working fewer hours, relationship with work, employee agency, public service loan forgiveness, mental health recovery, coaching skills for HR, golden child, HR Mixtape, Lynnae Brown, Dr. Shari Simpson
Most leaders who lose their edge still work hard. They log 60-hour weeks and sit through back-to-back meetings, and somewhere in there the judgment their job depends on starts wearing down. Jared Quoyeser, co-founder and managing partner of the Louisiana Impact Fund, spent more than 20 years at Intel and is chair of Louisiana's largest private employer. His book, The Flow Multiplier, lays out the system he built after two decades of making calls where a bad one cost real money. In this episode, he covers: How to find your own deep-work hours (his run from 4 to 11 a.m.) and tell your team exactly when and how you're reachable Why HR gets further with executives by pitching peak performance, and why the wellness pitch gets waved off What the "above the line" split means as AI takes over the messy middle of work, and why HR has to connect senior judgment to entry-level hires Timestamps [00:01:20] Why Jared calls himself a builder, not a babysitter, and how that thread runs from Intel to private equity [00:03:23] The flow multiplier idea: high performers have plenty of discipline, and their work habits wear down their thinking [00:06:23] Up at 4 a.m. and guarding 7 to 11 a.m. for critical strategy calls, plus how to find a window that fits you [00:08:48] Shari's no-meeting Fridays and why she had to start blocking them three months out [00:10:05] Why Jared dropped Friday afternoon meetings after shortchanging his one-on-ones 60 to 70 hours into the week [00:11:31] Getting your boss on board: start the conversation, then come back with qualitative and quantitative results [00:13:23] How HR should raise slipping decision quality with executives: lead with peak performance and skip the wellness framing [00:15:55] The badge of honor of 16 back-to-back meetings a day, and the daily 1A, 1B, 1C priority list that replaces it [00:21:28] Above-the-line and below-the-line leaders, and the careers built on "the biggest sand pile in the sandbox" [00:24:07] HR as the connective tissue between senior leaders, middle managers, and entry-level employees working with AI Guest Bio: Jared Quoyeser is a private equity leader, operator, and builder who has spent more than two decades leading in high-pressure environments where decisions carry real consequences. He is Co-Founder of the Louisiana Impact Fund, an operator-led lower-middle-market private equity platform, and Chair of Louisiana's largest private employer. He is the author of The Flow Multiplier (Entrepreneur Press, 2026), which introduces the PEAK Performance Framework — a structured system for how senior leaders sustain focus, judgment, and decision quality when the stakes are highest. Jared's central observation, formed across two decades of operating at scale: high-performing leaders do not fall short because they lack discipline. They struggle when the way they work degrades their ability to think clearly, focus, and make decisions. The Flow Multiplier is the system he built to solve that problem — and the system he now applies across LIF, its portfolio companies, and the LIF CxO Leadership Program. Brought to You by Paylocity: Paylocity is the fastest growing unified platform for HR, Finance, and IT. Paylocity brings your people, processes, and data together in one place so HR leaders can spend less time managing systems and more time doing the work that actually moves their organizations forward. Learn more at paylocity.com Keywords: flow multiplier, peak performance, decision quality, deep work, leadership burnout, executive productivity, no-meeting Fridays, priority setting, OKRs, Andy Grove, AI in the workforce, above-the-line leaders, entry-level talent development, knowledge transfer, HR strategy, private equity leadership, focus time, calendar management
Plenty of managers think leadership means carrying everything. They answer every question and fix every problem, then wonder why nobody on the team grows. Zach Arend, founder and leadership coach at Create Purpose, is a two-time state champion saddle bronc rider who spent nine years rising to VP of sales at a $300 million logistics company. Then he got demoted at 34, and that demotion is where his coaching philosophy started. In this episode, he breaks down: How carrying 20 direct reports for four years made Zach a "good soldier" instead of a leader, and why too much ownership strips it from your team What the LIFT practice (listen, identify, focus, transform) looks like for a middle manager caught between the team and the executive suite Why "are you running away from something, or toward something?" is the question to ask before you quit a job that isn't working Timestamps [00:02:23] Zach's rodeo coach tells an 11-year-old to saddle his own horse, then walks away [00:04:39] Getting demoted from VP of sales at a $300 million logistics company at age 34 [00:05:19] A new boss hears about Zach's 20 direct reports and tells him a good soldier isn't the same as a leader [00:06:09] How too much ownership takes the weight of responsibility away from your people [00:08:32] The fearful rider, the rogue cowboy, and why Zach coaches leaders to become the horseman [00:12:12] The LIFT practice, built from a rodeo lesson about lifting on the rein of a 1,200-pound bronc [00:14:23] A billion-dollar CEO admits nobody in leadership knows what they're doing, and why that's what growth feels like [00:17:46] The question that stopped Zach from quitting: are you running away from something, or toward something? [00:22:08] Why true servant leadership means letting people work through their own discomfort [00:24:19] Zach's first step for anyone stuck as a good soldier: a journal and a Friday afternoon at a coffee shop Guest Bio Zach's journey from the rodeo arena to the boardroom is packed with grit, growth, and the kind of no BS leadership wisdom we all need more of. He’s spent the last 20 years helping entrepreneurs, executives, and sales pros "Saddle Their Own Horse" a modern leadership mindset built on clarity, confidence, and purpose. If you’re ready for fresh ideas, real connection, and the kind of energy that’ll fuel your next big move, you’re going to love Zach! Brought to You by Paylocity Paylocity is the fastest growing unified platform for HR, Finance, and IT. Paylocity brings your people, processes, and data together in one place so HR leaders can spend less time managing systems and more time doing the work that actually moves their organizations forward. Learn more at paylocity.com Keywords: saddle your own horse, good soldier, empowered leadership, servant leadership, fear-based leadership, extreme ownership, delegation, middle management, LIFT practice, imposter syndrome, demotion, career change, executive coaching, leadership coaching, journaling for leaders, manager development, employee ownership, rodeo leadership lessons
Most companies know turnover is expensive. Plenty of them still answer it with a pizza party on Friday and call that culture. Dr. Sharon Grossman, Retention Strategist at Turnkey Retention Solutions, spent years as a psychologist coaching people out of burnout before she turned to the problem companies would pay to fix. She wrote Don't Buy Their Lunch, Buy Their Loyalty and has taken the idea to the TEDx stage. In this episode, she breaks down: Why one-off perks and three-day retreats fade, and what a daily "slow drip" of leader behavior does in their place How her HABIT system (huddle, appreciation, barometer, improvement, and tracking) fits into 10 to 15 minutes at the start of every shift What happens when you plug salary and turnover rate into a simple cost formula, and why the result wakes leadership teams up Timestamps [00:02:40] Why companies wouldn't pay for burnout prevention but will pay to stop turnover [00:03:59] The pizza party problem: one-off perks that get mistaken for culture [00:05:11] Why a three-day leadership retreat fades unless people apply what they learned within 24 hours [00:09:05] Promoting top performers into management with no training, and the turnover it causes above and below them [00:12:20] The daily huddle: 10 to 15 minutes at the start of each shift, mostly spent on people [00:13:22] The anonymous smiley-face mood check that leaders say they value most [00:15:28] Asking "what do you need in order to do an even better job?" and coming back the next day with an answer [00:17:02] HABIT spelled out: huddle, appreciation, barometer, improvement, and tracking as one daily system [00:21:40] The workshop formula that turns your turnover rate into a dollar figure leadership can't ignore [00:24:30] Why AI will probably double managers' workloads instead of freeing up their time Guest Bio: Sharon Grossman, PhD, is a psychologist and industry expert dedicated to solving the employee retention crisis. With over 20 years of experience and a Doctorate from Fordham University, Dr. Grossman moves beyond surface-level perks—a philosophy captured in her book, Don’t Buy Their Lunch, Buy Their Loyalty and shared on the global TEDx stage. She specializes in translating complex psychological research into high-impact strategies that stabilize workforces and sharpen leadership decision-making. From the stage, Dr. Grossman empowers organizations to transform their culture before disengagement turns into attrition, ensuring that top talent doesn't just stay, but thrives. Brought to You by Paylocity: Paylocity is the fastest growing unified platform for HR, Finance, and IT. Paylocity brings your people, processes, and data together in one place so HR leaders can spend less time managing systems and more time doing the work that actually moves their organizations forward. Learn more at paylocity.com Keywords: employee retention, turnover cost, employee engagement, disengagement, leadership habits, daily huddles, employee recognition, peer recognition, manager training, new manager development, burnout, workplace culture, culture consistency, pulse surveys, HABIT system, performance habit system, Sharon Grossman, Don't Buy Their Lunch Buy Their Loyalty, AI and workload, HR Mixtape
Every HR leader is being told to adopt AI faster than they can evaluate it. The harder question isn't whether to use it. It's whether the company behind it can be trusted with the most sensitive data your organization has. Toby Williams, president and CEO of Paylocity, joined the company as CFO in 2017 and has led it through the busiest product launch stretch in company history, culminating in the release of Ignite AI. In this episode, he covers: Why Paylocity built Ignite Hub to give HR teams visibility and control over every AI agent running on the platform How client feedback on high volume recruiting led Paylocity to acquire the Grayscale application What happens to client data once AI enters the picture, and why it never trains outside models Timestamps [00:01:36] How a career spanning product and finance shaped Toby's focus on usability and integrated data [00:03:23] The one question every leader is asking right now about using AI productively [00:05:13] Inside Paylocity's busiest launch stretch in nine years, from Elevate and retirement to recruiting AI [00:06:00] Why Ignite Hub gives HR teams visibility into, and control over, every AI agent on the platform [00:07:22] Ignite AI utilization has doubled every quarter since launch, and what that signals about adoption [00:08:10] Why direct client conversations, not internal guesses, drive Paylocity's product roadmap [00:09:25] The recruiting pain point that led Paylocity to acquire the Grayscale application [00:11:41] Paylocity's direct answer to whether client data is ever used to train AI models [00:12:42] Why a great HCM platform still isn't enough without the service to back it up [00:14:22] The simple standard Toby uses to decide whether a new feature is worth shipping Guest Bio: As President and CEO at Paylocity, Toby is responsible for articulating Paylocity's vision, driving the company's go-to-market strategy, and ensuring operational excellence across the company. Key areas of focus include serving our clients, supporting our people and teams, capitalizing on our growth opportunities, and delivering our vision of a modern HCM platform. He joined Paylocity in 2017 as Chief Financial Officer before being promoted to President and Co-CEO in 2022. Most recently, he was named sole CEO in August 2024. Toby came to Paylocity with a breadth of software operating experience, most recently serving as Chief Product and Strategy Officer at global higher education software leader Ellucian. He also brings significant payroll and HCM industry experience, having led mergers, acquisitions and corporate development at Paychex from 2006 to 2011. He started his career as a securities and M&A lawyer in D.C. and New York and worked as an investment banker at Citigroup in New York. Toby earned a B.A. from Houghton College and an M.B.A and J.D. from Ohio State University. Brought to You by Paylocity: Paylocity is the fastest growing unified platform for HR, Finance, and IT. Paylocity brings your people, processes, and data together in one place so HR leaders can spend less time managing systems and more time doing the work that actually moves their organizations forward. Learn more at paylocity.com Keywords: AI in HR, Ignite AI, Paylocity, HCM technology, AI trust, data privacy, AI governance, HR technology leadership, recruiting AI, Grayscale acquisition, product roadmap, co-creation, AI adoption, client feedback, HR innovation, workforce technology, AI agents, data security, unified HCM platform, CEO leadership
Pay used to decide who took the job. Now the first question most candidates ask is whether they can work from home, and companies still writing postings around salary alone are losing candidates before anyone even applies. Myla Ramos, co-founder and CEO of SearchPros, built the company from a local Sacramento staffing firm into a nearly $175 million global managed service provider. She cut her company's time to hire by 45% using AI while keeping retention above 70%. In this episode, she covers: Why flexible job postings pull in 10 times more applicants than office-only roles, and why candidates will take 30% less pay to get it How SearchPros cut time to hire by 45% by pointing AI at candidates it already had, instead of chasing new ones What determines whether a new hire survives the first 90 days, and why Ramos calls it a two way responsibility Timestamps [00:01:10] Myla's early years making 200 calls a day, and the shift required to stop doing the job yourself so the company can scale [00:03:45] The origin of "Change the World Tuesday," SearchPros' internal term for rebuilding a broken process by the start of the next week [00:05:04] The widest gap between what employers say they want and what candidates actually bring to the table right now [00:08:41] What leaders get wrong about hiring and keeping Gen Z, beyond the usual complaints [00:09:21] Why SearchPros dropped its call and placement quotas in favor of measuring results [00:13:08] Why flexible postings draw 10 times more applicants than office-only roles, and why candidates will take 30% less pay for remote work [00:15:43] The real hiccups of adopting AI in recruiting, and why there's no single tool that does all of it [00:17:48] How SearchPros uses AI to mine a database of millions of existing resumes instead of chasing new candidate sources [00:19:44] Why an estimated 85% of applicants inflate their information, and the in-person interview SearchPros added to catch it [00:24:10] What actually determines whether a new hire survives the first 90 days, and why Ramos treats retention as a two way responsibility Guest Bio Myla Ramos is the CEO and Co-Founder of SearchPros, a full service provider of human capital and workforce solutions. A member of the 2024 SIA Global Power 150, Ramos has earned numerous leadership awards, including the Business Journals Most Admired CEO, Power 100, and Women Who Mean Business; and the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Outstanding Women Leader of the Year. She is a finalist for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award. Ramos is proudest of SearchPros' "Best Place to Work" recognition from numerous organizations, including Inc., the Sacramento Business Journal, and SIA. Brought to You by Paylocity Paylocity is the fastest growing unified platform for HR, Finance, and IT. Paylocity brings your people, processes, and data together in one place so HR leaders can spend less time managing systems and more time doing the work that actually moves their organizations forward. Learn more at paylocity.com Keywords: AI in recruiting, staffing industry, talent acquisition, Gen Z hiring, employee retention, flexible work, remote work, managed service provider, recruiter productivity, candidate experience, resume fraud, pay transparency, onboarding, contingent workforce, HR technology, time to hire, work from home, new hire retention
HR asks for a new system, more headcount, a bigger training budget. Finance says no. The instinct is to assume the idea wasn't good enough. John Sansoucie, Founder and CEO at CogNet, spent years as a CFO inside HR service companies and PEOs before he built his own business process outsourcing company, so he has sat on both sides of that budget table. In this episode, he covers: Why HR requests get denied even when they're worth funding, and what a CFO is actually listening for before approving a budget line How to turn a list of 28,000 possible metrics into the three numbers a CFO will remember What cost to serve measures and how to calculate it for any HR function Timestamps [00:01:05] John's path from CFO inside an HR outsourcing company to founding CogNet with his own former team [00:02:20] Why finance treats HR as a cost center, and the shift in language that changes that perception [00:03:18] What cost to serve actually measures and how to calculate cost per unit for HR work [00:04:04] Why John sent his newly promoted CPO 28,000 metrics, and how they got that down to three [00:05:14] The five-year cost of ownership question that ends most new software pitches [00:08:23] How John used to pitch the true cost of turnover to justify outsourcing deals [00:12:06] Why John cares more about losing star performers than his overall turnover rate [00:16:23] How to find a bestie in finance, and why that person is often junior [00:17:47] Why payroll gets scrutinized while performance management and open enrollment go unmeasured [00:22:41] Why HR doesn't have to choose between process discipline and automation Guest Bio: John Sansoucie is the Founder & CEO of CogNet, a global business process management company that helps HR service firms, staffing companies, and payroll providers scale their operations through specialized offshore teams and process automation. With more than 30 years of experience across payroll, HR technology, PEOs, and operational leadership, John brings a practical operator's perspective to conversations around HR operations, AI, and the future of work. Brought to You by Paylocity: Paylocity is the fastest growing unified platform for HR, Finance, and IT. Paylocity brings your people, processes, and data together in one place so HR leaders can spend less time managing systems and more time doing the work that actually moves their organizations forward. Learn more at paylocity.com Keywords: cost to serve, HR metrics, CFO relationship, finance and HR, business process outsourcing, HR outsourcing, turnover cost, cost per hire, regrettable turnover, HR budget, AI in HR, HR technology, process automation, Six Sigma, ISO 9001, offshore teams, PEO, payroll, workforce metrics, HR leadership
Leave of absence looks like paperwork until you're the one holding it. A request lands, and you're reading federal, state, local, and company policy against each other while an employee waits on an answer during the worst week of their year. Rachel Wyngaard, Senior Product Manager at Mitratech, worked in HR, talent acquisition, and recruiting before moving into product. She now leads the build and launch of Mitratech Leave, an AI-powered leave of absence intelligence platform. In this episode, she breaks down: Why leave requests keep climbing while HR headcount stays flat, and what that gap does to case quality How the tactical thing HR asks a vendor for differs from the root need sitting underneath it What changes when you design HR software for the worst day of the quarter instead of the ideal one Timestamps [00:00:16] Rachel's path from recruiting and talent acquisition into product leadership at Mitratech [00:01:01] The three problems running at once inside every leave case, and why only one of them is paperwork [00:01:41] The employee at the center of a leave case is living through surgery or a family emergency, not filing a request [00:02:14] Leave volume climbed for more than half of employers last year and staffing never followed [00:02:35] New and updated laws add qualifying reasons, stacking questions, and complexity to every single case [00:03:40] The gap between what HR asks a product team to build and what HR needs it to solve [00:04:11] What goes wrong when teams hand leave to an outside administrator, and why the liability stays home [00:05:29] Rachel's product rule: design for the most stressful version of the interaction [00:06:42] The one change small teams can make this quarter without buying anything [00:07:00] Headcount thresholds, new states, and a remote workforce that moves all change your leave obligations Guest Bio Rachel Wyngaard is a Senior Product Manager at Mitratech with a focus on building HR technology to solve real workforce problems. With deep roots in HR and talent acquisition, she brings both practitioner perspective and product expertise to the Leave of Absence space, and is currently leading the build and launch of Mitratech Leave, an AI-powered leave of absence intelligence platform. Brought to You by Paylocity Paylocity is the fastest growing unified platform for HR, Finance, and IT. Paylocity brings your people, processes, and data together in one place so HR leaders can spend less time managing systems and more time doing the work that actually moves their organizations forward. Learn more at paylocity.com Keywords: leave of absence, leave management, HR compliance, FMLA, state leave laws, absence management, leave administration, employee experience, HR technology, product management, talent acquisition, case management, compliance risk, small HR teams, remote workforce, multi-state employers, HR operations, AI in HR
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HR Mixtape is a weekly human resources and business leadership podcast for HR professionals, people leaders, and executives navigating the real work of managing people. Episodes cover human resources strategy, HR compliance, workplace culture, leadership development, employee experience, payroll and HR technology, and the future of work.Whether you work in HR, talent management, people operations, or business leadership, HR Mixtape offers practical insights, expert conversations, and real-world perspectives to help you lead with confidence in today’s evolving workplace.
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