EP 59 An HR Department of One, the Wild Wild West, and Almost Quit with Claire Lizear

Claire Lazaire is back for round two, and this time she's traded corporate HR for something she calls the wild, wild west: running HR solo across fifteen entities and four owners in an industry so new it barely has a rulebook yet. She talks about the year she almost walked away from HR entirely, what changed her mind, and how rewriting an entire employee handbook in her first month (attorneys included) turned into rolling out a full performance management program for a company pushing 300 employees nationwide. What does it actually take to build HR from scratch while the business is already running at full speed, and why did an industry with zero playbook end up giving her more real HR work than a decade in corporate ever did?She also picks a fight worth having: is there any real standard for what makes an HR professional good at their job, or is the whole profession just winging it based on whoever happens to be in the room? Claire, Tony, and Steve dig into what the "people ops" trend really means for who owns strategy inside a company, and why a thirty person business trying to stand up a full DEI program might be one of the more avoidable mistakes in HR this year. Is your HR function actually built for the size of your business, or is it running someone else's playbook?Learn more about Claire Lizear at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clizear/ Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/Learn more about Steven "Big Deal" Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/Learn more about the Books mentioned on the podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcastLearn More about the Netflix film Titan at: https://www.netflix.com/title/81712178Learn more about Dyno Outfitters at: https://www.utahviaferrata.com/Learn more about MegastarHR at: https://www.megastarhr.com/Learn more about Pucks for Autism at: https://www.pucksforautism.com/Learn more about Thrive Life Project at: https://www.thrivelifeproject.org/Claire Lizear, SHRM-SCP, is an experienced HR leader with a passion for creating workplaces where people feel seen, supported, and set up to succeed. Known for her thoughtful approach to employee relations and her ability to bring clarity to complex situations, she’s helped leaders and teams grow through change with empathy and accountability. When she’s not in HR mode, Claire gives her time to Pucks for Autism, a volunteer effort that combines her love of hockey with her commitment to community and inclusion.