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Transparent HR Podcast
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Transparent HR Podcast
Workplace Dilemmas & HR Insights | 10th Episode Special
In this special milestone episode, host Prince Tate welcomes his brand-new co-host, Mario Hunt, to tackle fun and thought-provoking workplace dilemmas! Together, they debate hot topics like:
✅ Remote Work vs. Office Life – Which works best for you?
✅ Micromanaging vs. Laissez-Faire Leadership – Is there a winning style?
✅ Performance Reviews vs. Continuous Feedback – Which drives success?
✅ Vacation Time vs. Unlimited PTO – The ultimate employee perk face-off!
👉 Play along, share your answers in the comments, and send us your workplace questions!
🚀 TWO exciting new segments:
-Career Chats: Quick, motivational episodes packed with actionable career tips to fuel your journey.
-HR Inbox: YOUR questions, scenarios, and challenges answered directly on the podcast! Email us at TPHRPOD@gmail.com.
Episode Sponsored By: Halo Vision Media - https://www.halovisionmedia.com/
👉 Hit play now and be part of the conversation! Let’s tackle workplace dilemmas and thrive together!
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💼 Connect with Prince Tate
Hey and welcome back to the Transparent HR podcast, where we aim to empower individuals with transparent HR insights, fostering career opportunities and navigating workplace success for all. It's your host, prince Tate, and you are listening to the 10th episode. This is a very special milestone and a very special episode that you are listening to today. Not only that, we've made it to 2025. So happy New Year's to you, and I just want to say thank you all for listening to the Transparent HR podcast, for supporting us in year 2024. It has been an awesome journey, whether you're listening from Memphis, tennessee in the United States, or across the world, mario, welcome to the podcast, man.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be back. I can't wait to get things kicked off for 2025.
Speaker 1:I've been waiting for this moment, wait to get things kicked off for 2025. I've been waiting for this moment, absolutely. Look, I want y'all to hold on to your seats because we have some exciting news towards the end of the podcast, so stay tuned in. But we're going to go and this is going to be a really fun episode. We're talking about workplace dilemmas and we have a few examples that we're going to go over, and we're just going to have fun and talk about them, right? So we have HR dilemmas not HR dilemmas, but workplace dilemmas, workplace dilemmas and we're both HR professionals, and so we're going to give you our take on it. So, mario, I'll let you go first with the first one we got.
Speaker 2:OK, so we're going to talk about workplace dilemmas, workplace dilemmas and, as he stated, we're both HR professionals. So sometimes we have to dig and broaden our minds to think outside of HR. That's true, and sometimes it's a little bit easier because we work with people every day. So let's talk about those dilemmas, so workplace dilemmas. So let's have a little fun with that. I want to ask you one, and you tell me which one you prefer.
Speaker 1:I got you.
Speaker 2:And then give me a little bit of insight on why you prefer that one. Okay, I got you Micromanaging or laissez-faire.
Speaker 1:Man, that's interesting. You know, everyone hates a micromanager. So of course I do not want to select that one, course I do not want to select that one. You know, when I think about this, you know, I would say, you know, I would probably never want to work for a micromanager. I mean, that's just it. I wouldn't either. I mean, you know micromanagers, they're always on your back trying to. You know, see what you're doing. My thing is either you're going to trust me to do the job or not. Either you're going to trust me to do the job or not. And you know, there's a difference between me knowing the job versus me not knowing the job. If I'm experienced in this role and I'm doing certain things and I'm experiencing and what I'm doing, just trust me to do the job. And if you don't trust me to do the job, just let me know.
Speaker 2:That's my whole take on micromanaging. So if you hired me for the job, just let me know. That's my whole take on micromanaging. So if you hired me for the role, basically you're stating that you feel like I'm qualified for the job that. I can do it, allow me to do it. Now, the thing with, let's say, fair is for me is it's kind of a borderline situation for me too, because there has to be some structure.
Speaker 1:It's okay to give people the free will to do their job.
Speaker 2:You shouldn't have to watch over them and actually dictate their every move. But sometimes, when you give too much room for people to do things the way that they want to, it can get out of control. So how do you feel?
Speaker 1:about that. Yeah, I do like that one better. But my thing is, if you're a great leader, you're going to check in on your staff anyways. Right, you're going to. Even if you're not there physically, you're going to send a text, right. And so I think it's really important that while you, while I do prefer flexibility and kind of doing things on my own, I still want to feel supported, knowing that my leader is there, even if I don't really need them, right, Right, so you know, I appreciate that one much more yeah, and again I agree 100 percent, because I cannot do the micromanaging thing.
Speaker 1:Allow me to come in, do my job and I think, if, if you felt like I, was qualified for the job.
Speaker 2:you would be OK with allowing me to do that If you felt like I was qualified for the job you would be okay with allowing me to do that, Especially sometimes when you first come in. They want to make sure that you're trained and that you know their way, the way that they want that job and the direction. You may have the skill set, you may have the experience, but every institute is different, every department and every department leader is different.
Speaker 2:So sometimes you have to come in and you may have to go through that small period of time which some may consider a probationary period and then some don't. It's just kind of coming in and learning the ways of this, this um, this department, this Institute. But once you've gotten, you know, gotten past that part, then there's no, no reason why I should be hired or you should be hired in a role, and then that person has just constant micromanagement involved Do it yourself.
Speaker 2:Is that how I would see it? If you're going to do it anyway, and tell me exactly how to do it, why do you need me.
Speaker 1:Let me ask you this have you had a micromanager before?
Speaker 2:Oh, my God, I have Didn't work very long. It did not work very long because, you know, I am a true believer in making sure you select someone that can do that job. If you're going to work, if I'm going to be your leader, I want you to be able to come in. I'm your support person. I'm the person that you come to if you have some questions and maybe you need to synergize, energize or bounce things off, but at the end of the day, I need for you to be able to make those decisions and operate within that role holistically, not me. I shouldn't have to do that job for you. You should be able to do that job.
Speaker 2:So for me, working for someone that is going to come in and dictate everything that I do, try to tell me how to do the job, when to do it, make the decisions for me, I would basically feel as if you don't need me because you could just do it yourself. So, no, I have had a micromanager that is a micromanager or a leader that is a micromanager. It did not work for me. So happy to not be in an environment like that now. We'll never be able to or we'll never work in an environment like that. That just does not work for me, for me that is what creates a toxic work environment.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know if they're asking. One time I had this leader. They asked me hey, did you recruit these roles today? You know what's your updates? I gave them all the updates that I had made sure that that day I went in to have the information for that leader Because I just knew they was going to ask, right, yeah, and for that department leader that I was supporting.
Speaker 1:I just so happened to see him that day and he asked me. He said, hey, your leader was asking did you get any updates from Daniel? And he was like, of course he gives me updates every day. And he was like it's just weird, let me show you this email. And he showed me the email that, uh, she had sent him, wow. And at that moment I was like I know where I'm, I know where I stand and I, you know, found me another job because I'm I'm not finna play with, I'm not finna play with stand. And you know, I found me another job because I'm not going to play with you and I don't want you playing with me. You know, I just gave you the information.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm in a place in life now before I knew what I know now. I'm in a place where I will not work in an environment that is a toxic environment. I will not work for a company or leaders where I have to come in. I'm uncomfortable, that's true. I'm unhappy. I can't operate within my free will of being who I am. You can't do your best or give your best if you're inside your head all the time, if you're worried about things taking place, what they're going to say, what they're going to do.
Speaker 2:Are you in an environment where you feel like your leaders or the people that you're working with are working against you? I won't work in an environment like that. It's not worth it. No matter how much they pay you. You can't pay me enough to be stressed out to feel uncomfortable when I walk in a place to have to sit in a car before I walk in and start my day and pray every day.
Speaker 1:How many people do that? It's okay to pray. It's okay to pray. Hey, we want you to pray. It's okay to pray.
Speaker 2:But not pray because you know you're walking in an environment where you feel like people are working against you, feel like people are working against you. You're walking in an environment where you feel like you're stressed, that it's not working for you, that you're unhappy in that environment or that you're dealing with a leader or an environment that is toxic. That type of prayer I believe in praying every day.
Speaker 2:But if I have to, sit in my car and pray five minutes, up until the very minute that I need to walk in the door, because I hate where I am, because of how it makes me feel that's not where you should be and for anyone that's in that environment right now, continue to pray.
Speaker 2:Continue to pray, but at the same time, do the work. Faith without works is dead. Look, pray, you know, believe wholeheartedly that there is something out there for you that is for you, but do the work. You've got all of these job boards, you've got LinkedIn and always, always, always, as I always state, never stop networking, never stop, you know, building relationships, meeting people in your industry, in your profession, because, yeah, a job or it will help you.
Speaker 2:But most times, if you've built a large network of people that are within your profession, that know you, they know your work, they know your personality, a lot of times it's just basically informing them or reaching out and say, hey, daniel, I'm looking for another opportunity. This one is not working for me, man, this is the type of opportunity I'm looking for. Are you aware of any opportunities? Are you aware of someone that you may know that has an opportunity similar to that? And, a lot of times, just opening your mouth and speaking and networking or being involved in some of these events that Daniel's always speaking at, mr Sherm, look, go to those events, network, meet people and, again, pray, but don't sit in an environment where you're unhappy and you're being mistreated or neglected because you can't give your best. If you're not at your best, no, that's true.
Speaker 1:No, you're absolutely right, mario, but let's go to the next one. Okay, I think you like this one, so do you prefer remote work?
Speaker 2:or office life. Oh, I love this one. I love this one. This is one of my favorites. I love, love, love remote work Hold on, give me that tune again. Love, love, love remote work. Hold on, give me that tune again. Love, love, love Remote work. I could sing it all day long and I don't need no background. This is a solo. Tune me up. No, seriously, I love remote work. Why Tell?
Speaker 1:us why.
Speaker 2:Why Remote work is flexibility. I am Mr Flexibility, if you know me, I do a million things. Yeah, I like to have my hands in a million things. Um, I often complain, sometimes because I'm tired, but if I'm not tired then I don't feel like I'm doing anything accomplishing stuff I love to.
Speaker 2:I love to do multiple things at one once, and being remote allows you to do that, allows you, yeah, being locked in an office. I'm kind of, I almost feel like what's generation? What's before Generation Z, because Z is a little bit, you know, baby boomer. No before Z, because I am baby boomers are way before. I'm a millennial. What's after millennial? Oh wait.
Speaker 1:It's boom, remember I'm a millennial.
Speaker 2:what's before, what's after millennium? Oh wait, I is boomer. Then it's x, then it's z I mean millennials, then it's millennials, then is I think we're at it, I don't think, I don't know. Okay, well, I am a millennial, but I think there's one in between millennial and z. What's generation after? You know millennial you're talking about after millennial, yeah, what comes after millennial? Oh, gen Z, is it Z? Yeah, okay, I probably should have been Z.
Speaker 2:I love remote. I'm a millennial, but I love remote work. I love remote work.
Speaker 2:I love to be able to have that flexibility to say, okay, this is my day, this is what it's painted out for, knock this out right now. Then I might take a break and I might do this. I might knock this out and let me tell you working from your home. Oh, my God, perfect for me. I can go ahead, knock out my calls or do whatever I got to do. Have a couple meetings, step away, go wash my clothes, do this, get a drink of coffee or tea, jump back in, knock this out.
Speaker 2:Being able to do multiple things at once is everything to me, and I feel like I'm more productive because I don't mind doing it. I work all day and all night, which I don't think. A lot of people say that that is not, that's not good, it's not healthy. But for me, I love to. If I'm watching TV and I'm watching something and I think, oh, I forgot about so and so, ok, let me pause this, knock it out, jump in, knock it back, back out, so you work all day.
Speaker 2:Most people who love remote working that are good at what they do. The institute gets way, way more out of those persons to me, because you don't have a real, you don't have a cutoff which you need a cutoff here and there. But for me, I love to be able to jump in at night and say, oh, let me do this right now before I go to sleep, so that I won't have to worry about it tomorrow and I can check this off my list now because it's something quick, it's quiet right now, nobody's bothering me, it cuts out all that. What do they call it? Water cooler talk, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:The water cooler. Talk Water cooler talk.
Speaker 2:You know, when you're at work you get locked in that office or in that space and then you got to walk around face and then you got to walk around. You just got to. You know, get your mind right, you know, synergize sometimes that you might walk.
Speaker 2:I might walk over and talk to you, you know, just like right now, if I walk over and talk to daniel, that could be five minutes or it could be 30 or even an hour. Yes, but when you're at home you can work around there, or when you're in an environment that's remotely, you can sit it however you want, and I am way way more productive. So it's going to always be remote work over office life for me no, no, I understand, you know everybody has their preferences, right?
Speaker 1:um, if there would, if there's a hybrid option. I love hybrid because you know I'm an extrovert and I love being in people's faces. Yeah, true, you ain't got to say it like that, I'm just saying.
Speaker 1:But I like the hybrid option because just because you're an extrovert doesn't mean you want to be in somebody's face 100% of the time, right? There's some moments where you want to just relax, right, and not have to be all out in the open, and so that hybrid flexibility schedule gives me the option to when I want to be seen, I could be seen, but at the same time, when I want to, you know, be at home or remote, I can be remote and be flexible and, like you said, get stuff done. You know, now I will say this, if I'm just being transparent, this is the Transparent HR podcast. Please be transparent.
Speaker 1:Working in the office, I feel like I waste so much time, right From having to travel to there, having to, you know, get settled and then, once I get settled, get some work done. Then again, you talk about the water cooler, talk right, the good mornings and the conversations, and then some people you don't even want to engage with, some people you do.
Speaker 1:And then lunchtime and you know, it's just you, you, you waste so much time right but a lot of companies argue that, well, remote work really interferes with culture, and I think that workplace or not workplace, but remote settings is a little bit more challenging. But you just got to be a little bit more creative, right, when you talk about workplace culture. But honestly, if it was me, I would love to just have a hybrid work schedule.
Speaker 2:I like hybrid. I like hybrid and actually I work in a hybrid role, transitioning from it being a office life position, and my leader at that time, when we were preparing to go into the transition to hybrid instead of office life, she was against it completely. What I found out is when you a lot of leaders that are in traditional or have worked in traditional pretty much all of their experience. They don't like change, and sometimes it's not about whether it works or not, it's just that they don't like change. This is what they're used to. Then you have those leaders that they don't really trust their team.
Speaker 1:Why hire? Someone that you can't trust to do the job that you hired them to do.
Speaker 2:Again, it goes back to what we just talked about with micromanaging. If I hired you to do the job, I trust that you can do it. I don't care where you do it, as long as the job's getting done.
Speaker 2:I don't care where you do it, being able to trust the people that you put in those roles that professional that they're going to do their job and that they're qualified and that they can do the job. I think that plays a lot in it. Also, the traditionalist those people who are traditional dealing with change they want you to come in and be prepared for the changes that they have, but they're not prepared for change or they're not okay with change. I think it's holistically. It goes in a 360 circle. Yeah, you want us to be flexible and prepare for whatever changes that you bring with us within our role, but you have to be flexible as well. As a leader, even if traditionally, this is what you have been used to, it's okay to try something different and if you have hired the right professionals, they're going to do what they need to do to make sure that their job is done. So, for me, hybrid works and, as I stated, that leader that I worked with that had only been in traditional.
Speaker 2:When we went hybrid, she was completely against it A little bit. We tracked our metrics. About two months into it, she sat down with our team and she was like, hey, honestly, when we first went into this. I was completely against it and she verbalized it. She did not hold it back. She told us I don't like this change, but this is the way that it's changing. She didn't have a choice and I love the way that it's working for our team, because you all are producing much better than you were when we were in the office every day. So the metrics and the numbers changed her as well, as she trusted her team to do and to continue to be as productive and to do the job that we did when we were in the office. And we did and we excelled and became better. So it opened her eyes and she didn't want to go back to the traditional office setting and you know, remote setting.
Speaker 1:I definitely believe like I work a little harder, yeah, and I definitely get much more work done in a remote setting. So what's the next one you got?
Speaker 2:for us. So for me, I'm going to run this one to you, and I'm glad it's on you and not me.
Speaker 1:Today's episode is brought to you by Halo Vision Media, a visual media agency based in Memphis, tennessee. Halo Vision Media specializes in high quality content designed to elevate your brand and help you stand out in a competitive market. Whether you need a podcast or talk show recordings, enhanced online courses or even a polished commercial, halo Vision Media has you covered For professional, reliable media services. Check them out today at wwwhalovisionmediacom or check the link within the description below.
Speaker 2:So if you had to choose performance reviews or continuous feedback, which one would you?
Speaker 1:choose and why I would say continuous feedback. Ok, honestly, I don't really believe in performance reviews, just the process, I feel like for employees it's it's not, it's not that beneficial, because a lot of companies don't do it the right way, right, like if they actually do it the right way it would be good. But I believe a lot of leaders don't like doing performance reviews. I agree. I believe that a lot of performance reviews um could be biased. And then two you know there's a budget that's set in front of you, right, right, and so everybody can't get exceeds expectations, everybody can't get meets expectations, and so a lot of times leaders would have to decipher who gets exceeds, who gets meets and who gets needs improvement. And so I don't think that annual performance reviews are beneficial to team members. And also I think that sometimes it depends on that timeframe of the year, of the season that you're in.
Speaker 1:If you're about to go into performance review season, you need to be working hard, right, because, and then too, you don't want to be in a place where you know you, there's issues going on with you and your leader, or there's a challenge that happened because that leader may be biased, and put that in your performance review when majority of the year, 10 months out of the year, you was perfect, you was great, right. But then that one month an issue came and now they're putting that on your performance review. I don't think that's fair. But I think continuous feedback is really important. It really helps employees and me as a worker to continue to improve on my skills or whatever else that I'm doing in that specific job so I can do better, be better and to prepare me for the next level. So I prefer continuous feedback. It's the way of the game. I like feedback on set, you know. I like immediate feedback.
Speaker 2:I get you. So for me, looking at performance reviews versus continuous feedback, I would prefer continuous feedback as well. I do agree with you with performance reviews about them being inconsistent.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's inconsistent A lot of times it's very inconsistent.
Speaker 2:A lot of times most leaders are rushed into doing it because it's a part of the format that we've got to do it on this date. They don't want to do half of them, so they rush through them. And then the budget oh my God, the budget piece, the budget and the metrics part. We're going to go back to metrics again, because sometimes metrics are needed and they are productive, and sometimes those metrics run us into a brick wall, and what I mean by that is, from what I've seen during performance reviews, when they have a budget and metrics wrapped around. Like you said, everybody can't, you know, exceed. Everybody can't meet. So it puts this, I guess, the stigma. There's a stigma wrapped around it when it comes to the leaders, that I've got to find a group of people that are not going to meet, that that I've got to find a group of people that are, or, if so, I can only do so many when if I feel like my entire team is performing above and beyond and.
Speaker 2:I can prove that and I can show it within. The metrics, then why not? Why can't I make everyone?
Speaker 1:you know, exceed, you're right.
Speaker 2:But that's not the way most institutes are set up in my experience. In my experience, you have oh, you can't make everybody meet, or you can't make everybody meet or exceed.
Speaker 1:But a lot of employees don't see that part of by-performance review. But from an HR perspective we see it because we have to have some of those conversations with leaders, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and honestly, if I was to put my own opinion around it, I don't think it's fair. Me personally. I'm not saying that, everyone believes that, but I don't think it's fair. If my team is exceeding, showing in the metrics showing in our performance.
Speaker 1:Why?
Speaker 2:do I have to go through and find people, basically based off of these metrics that you've given me, that are not meets, that are not exceeds. And then I have to figure out and come up with a way to tell them oh Prince, unfortunately I won't be able to give you exceeds, well, why? Well, you did X, y and Z, but you did X, y and Z last period too. So you know you didn't do anything outside of that. Well, is it? Is it above and beyond what you do within your job?
Speaker 2:yes but you did it last last performance, so you didn't do anything different. Yeah, yeah, you still exceeded, right, right. So that's that's the problem that I run into that you can still exceed, but not exceed because you did it last quarter. You know, you did it last review and that's not. You did it last review and that's not, that's not, you know if. I'm keeping it real. In my opinion, that's not fair, so I don't like that.
Speaker 1:Let me ask you this have you ever had a below expectation rating For me, and how did you take it?
Speaker 2:I had someone try to give me one. It was not a below, you know for sure. Like I'm not below, it was not a below, you know for sure, like I'm not below, oh I know for sure I'm not below.
Speaker 2:I'm not going to operate in an environment where I feel like it's not fit for me, yeah, so I'd rather leave and find something that's better fit for me than to stay in an environment and know that this is not a fit for me. So if you're going to tell me that I'm going to be below, we're going to have to have a discussion and you're going to have.
Speaker 1:No, it's not going to be a discussion, it's going to be a debate, a debate.
Speaker 2:Um, I need to grieve this we're going to have to have a discussion, slash, debate, and you're not going to be able to tell me that. You're going to have to be able to put that and paint that picture in black and white. What did I not meet, what were my goals? And you're going to have to show where I did not meet those goals because now I have you coached me before on it. Have you coached me right? If have you, am I aware that's one of the biggest issues with a lot of leaders.
Speaker 2:They'll come and tell you what you've been doing wrong for a whole year, but you've never brought that to my attention.
Speaker 1:I think I'm walking around operating in excellence right, and you know what a lot of employees come to HR and complain about that. Yeah, but if I be, there's not a lot HR can do about that, right?
Speaker 2:Just being transparent, there's not a lot we can do Well there is a lot, but there's not a lot that they allow us to do.
Speaker 2:There's a lot that can be done because honestly, if you're telling someone that they have not been operating at a performance level in their role for an entire year, if you're their leader, then you have not been operating at a performance level in your role, because it's your job to coach and counsel.
Speaker 2:So if Prince has been doing his job, thinking he's doing a great job, but he has not been performing at the level that he should be performing at, it is your job as his leader to go to him and say hey, let's talk, let's run through some things. These are the things that you're doing great. Here's some of the things that you're not doing so great. So how can we get you to a point? Are there some things that you need? Are there some tools that I can provide? Is there some counseling that I can provide to help you get to where we need you to be? But if you, as a leader, have never taken the opportunity to go with him, go meet with him, show him where he's not performing and then offer suggestions, offer to help him counseling, ask him if there's something that he needs to get to that level, then you have not performed at the level that you should be performing at.
Speaker 2:Because it's your job to lead him, it's your job to counsel him, it's your job to make sure that he's performing at a performance or above performance level. So, as a leader, or even as an employee, it's not 100% his fault if he's not performing well, if he's never been told that he's not performing well. And it's not right if you would wait until performance reviews to throw that on him and try to you know, ding him for that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but that's why continuous feedback is important.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And especially if you're a leader, document it right.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And make sure that you have something documented. We got one more, and I think you like this one too Mario Vacation time or unlimited PTO.
Speaker 2:Oh, so vacation I don't. So we walk a tightrope, a whole tightrope with this vacation time and PTO, because paid time off, right? Yeah, well, same thing paid time off Same. Thing basically so if you're going to ask me vacation time or unlimited PTO, I'm going to go with unlimited PTO.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Because PTO is paid time off, no matter what kind of paid time that is, and if it's unlimited, I'm all for it. I'm all for it. Now, one thing about me that you'll learn, and most of my leaders will tell you this even when I'm off work a lot of time, I'm still working. That's true. I just came from a cruise.
Speaker 1:You a workaholic.
Speaker 2:I just came from a beautiful cruise. This is probably the first cruise or first time that I've been off and taken more than four or five days at one time off where I literally basically did not work. I worked just a little bit as I was entering Mexico, getting off of my cruise, getting ready to go through the checkpoint and security.
Speaker 2:I had a meeting to take place you know, and so I jumped on really quick and jump right off. But it's not very often that I take any kind of vacation or pto where I'm not working at all. Um, this was probably the trip that I did the least amount of work and I'm happy that I did um. But unlimited pto is a go for me, because that means it's unlimited and you can take it whenever you know what I like I hadn't.
Speaker 1:I have not worked for a company that says, hey, we offer unlimited PTO, you won't find one. I just wonder, like, what are the stipulations to that? I really feel that those companies who say unlimited PTO, that they really are going to work, you, you know, throughout the year and maybe that's just in my head, but that's just what I think.
Speaker 2:Have you found a company?
Speaker 1:that offers unlimited PTA? No, I haven't. I have not found one yet. I'm looking for you. No, I'm just joking.
Speaker 2:Look, call us 901. That's funny. Inbox me. Put that plug in there, but they say, hit me when it goes down in the DMs, dm me. And it does not have to be transparent.
Speaker 1:HR, but this is what I want to say.
Speaker 1:He might try to take my job DM me no, but this is what I want to say. If you work for a company that offers just regular accruals, I would say I would say take your PTO. A lot of employees don't realize this, but PTO is a benefit that the company offers. That was one way to retain people when they started doing PTO. And so PTO is not guaranteed. No Right, it's a benefit, it's a benefit, and you have to just being transparent. You have to look at it that way, and so I really I advise people if you have pto, use it, right.
Speaker 1:Um, now there's, there are some companies now where they say use it or lose it yeah and there are still companies that are uh, like, if you leave the organization, uh, they'll pay you out of PTO payout, but that's not edged in stone for our companies. That's true, you have to look at the policy, yeah Right. So I'm really advising everyone look at your policy as it relates to vacation time or PTO, see if it's a use it or lose it, or see if it's unlimited.
Speaker 2:Right. And let me know I might need to check on that. It may be not. I know mine is not.
Speaker 1:But yeah, but I think about that all the time. But if I could work for a company that have unlimited, hey, I want to really see what that is. Because my question is like okay, what do you do if an employee is abusing it? You know they, let's just say what is considered abuse Right, but how is it defined in the policy? That's what I'm saying. What?
Speaker 2:is considered abuse. How can you abuse unlimited PTO?
Speaker 1:It says unlimited. I don't understand that, though.
Speaker 2:Because even when you asked me the question, right so, you said vacation time. So that's very broad. What about vacation time? Like what about?
Speaker 1:it.
Speaker 2:Regular accrual rates.
Speaker 1:What's regular accrual rates?
Speaker 2:Because I know some companies that barely give you any vacation and wonder why everybody's always sick. No, I'm just joking, no, but seriously, vacation time Like what is regular vacation time? Like what is regular vacation time? Because, honestly, for most people, especially like for me, I operate where I'm working all the time, even when.
Speaker 1:I'm not supposed to be working.
Speaker 2:Hey, I have my laptop in my book bag right now, so I'm always, you know, trying to stay ahead because I don't like to get overwhelmed. So unlimited PTO I have not found that anywhere I'm looking for you. Listen to me, zoom in. I am looking for you on unlimited PTO, unlimited PTO with good pay.
Speaker 1:No no.
Speaker 2:But seriously, I would love to have that, I would love to have that benefit, but it is a benefit and really quickly, for people that are going into a job. Understand and know your policies wrapped around that, because some jobs will not pay you out when you leave. That's true. Yeah, some jobs will not pay you out when you leave. So, as he stated, utilize and you need to utilize your vacation time. Don't overutilize it. I know jobs that allow you to go into the negative and continue to build in the negative. Yes, oh wow that Jobs that allow you to go into the negative and continue to build in the negative.
Speaker 1:Yes, oh, wow, that's a whole nother story and a whole nother topic. Well, look, we want to know your answers as it relates to some of these that we just went over, so comment on them. Send us a message DM. If you're listening on TikTok.
Speaker 2:It goes down in the DM.
Speaker 1:Or you know we want to hear from y'all Like we really do, or you know we want to hear from y'all Like we really do. If you're listening to the podcast, there's an option that says text us. So you can text us as well. Text him, we'll both get it. But yeah, it's a thing in the description. If you're listening to the podcast on Apple or Spotify or something like that Okay, yeah, it says send us a text.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they won't text that. Okay, yeah, just send us a text. Yeah, they won't text our personal numbers, but we want your feedback, y'all.
Speaker 2:We want the engagement 2025, we want way more engagement. We want to hear real topics and we do understand I want to say this really quick we do understand that a lot of people are concerned about asking certain questions and bringing up certain topics because of their jobs. So, if you again utilize the DM text, we won't release any names or anything like that. If you just want to holistically, you know, reach out about certain topics or certain questions, we want to be able to provide that information or even talk about it in the podcast.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about exciting news for 2025 for the podcast, as we we you know, this is episode 10 and we're celebrating this milestone moment, uh again, because a lot of podcasters who start podcasting they don't make it to episode 10 go 10, um, and so this is a really exciting moment for us, uh, with the transparent hr podcast. So we got some news for you today. Another exciting news that I have for y'all, and the reason why you see Mario again, is because he is going to be our co-host for the Transparent HR podcast. So I want to say officially welcome to the podcast, mario. As a co-host. He's going to be leading some of his own episodes, you know, look, he came back from vacation and I'm going to go to vacation. Thank, you.
Speaker 1:So he's going to be doing some things, leading his own episodes. We're going to continue to collaborate with each other and, believe it or not, you know, a while ago we we had we was having a conversation about helping people in their careers Right, and speeding up to 2024, 2025, I never thought like we'll be here doing a podcast together. So thank you for this journey with us, but tell us, is there anything about you that you want the people to know? Well, yeah, well, first, thank you, thank. You want the people to know.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah Well, first, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:They like me.
Speaker 2:They brought me back. I'm here to stay as the co-host, so thank you again for adding me to the team. Holistically full, holistically 360, where it started to where we are now. I was around when he first mentioned that he wanted to start this podcast. He's like I think I want to start a podcast and I was just kind of like, well, go for it. I mean, I feel like he can do whatever he set his mind to. He's very, very ambitious, he's a go-getter and I'm really excited to have had that first conversation where you first came up with the idea that you wanted to do a podcast, to actually be sitting here on episode 10.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And to actually be a part. I really just wanted to be in the background and support him. However, he needed that support to make sure that he's successful with this. He has already been successful and it's going to grow.
Speaker 1:I see it growing.
Speaker 2:I'm super excited about and it's going to grow. I see it growing. I'm super excited about where it's going. I'm super excited to be a part. As for me, what's going on with me right now? I am still working in the HR field. I still love HR. It's still my profession. This is going to be added onto it because this is another facet that's attached to HR to be able to talk about, another facet that's attached to HR to be able to talk about, to be able to discuss, recommend, taking feedback from other people about the profession that I so love and have been a part of for more than 20 years. I am still operating in many roles. Just opened in November, along with my business partner, sophia Noble Starts, we just opened a weight loss, wellness and aesthetics clinic in Bartlett, tennessee. Please come out and see us. 2855 Stage Village Cove.
Speaker 1:Suite 5. You know I'm going to have to come. Please come and see us. Can you see this? Good, I'm losing some weight this year, that's winter, winter loving that's all it is. Look them them chocolate chip cookies. That's all.
Speaker 2:That's all he ate santa's. He ate santa's cookies and he's paying for what you cannot eat santa's cookies. No but no. We just opened up a clinic. Um, I think we're on our seventh week. It it's going very well.
Speaker 1:That's awesome.
Speaker 2:We offer a lot of different services and we have so many great things that we are going to add to those services, so please stay tuned about that as well. It's Genesis Weight Loss, wellness and Aesthetics LLC, so that's going really well. Still got everything going with the photo booths and the 360 booths. You a busy man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I work in conjunction with MHJ Agency, as well as Iconic Spins with Corey Owens Jr. We partner with that. We've got some stuff that's going to be popping up in a few months, hopefully a location. So you know, keep praying for us.
Speaker 1:Keep praying.
Speaker 2:So that's some things that I'm working on and again looking forward to operating within the role of co-host here at Transparent HR.
Speaker 1:Not only with your expertise, but even just a sense of humor that, you add, I think is going to be really great for the podcast Right so? You know, just a fun, lighthearted discussion. The podcast right so, you know, just the fun, lighthearted discussions. And as we continue to grow with the podcast, you're going to hear a lot more from Mario Hunt. All right, so we have some other new additional news that we want to share. We're changing things up this season. So, in addition to our main episodes, where we dive deep into important topics like the ones that we've had before, is HR your Friend. You know. Those episodes are here to help you navigate your career and workplace, and so we're introducing new bonus episodes. Episodes First we have career chats, bite-sized inspirations, and these are quick episodes to bring you motivational quotes, actionable tips and relatable insights to fuel your career journey.
Speaker 1:So I'm really excited about that, because we already do that on the episodes, but what we're going to do is take it out so we can get into the main discussion and let it be its own thing, and I think this is also going to allow us to bring on more guests to the show, uh, who really have some great experience into, you know, just career and and and even just some good uh, career topics as well. Uh, next we have I think I'm gonna let you share this one- Okay, Next, we're introducing HR Inbox your questions, our insights.
Speaker 2:This is where you, our amazing listeners get involved. So we'd like for you to send your workplace scenarios, career questions and or challenges and we'll address them right here on the show. So, basically, we're opening up the floor to you. Send us some scenarios, Send us some of the things that you've experienced, any questions that you have and, again, as I stated earlier, we don't have to release your name, your information, because we do understand that. We've had feedback that some people have a lot of questions and things that they'd like to address. However, they're concerned about their jobs. They're concerned about if it's against their policies.
Speaker 1:So you can send that information directly to us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we won't call out any names if you don't want us to Now, if you want us to, give you a shout out.
Speaker 1:send us your name, we will shout you out.
Speaker 2:But if you don't just send us those scenarios, we need that feedback from you. We want the feedback. It helps us to produce the information that our viewers want to discuss, want to talk about the topics that you guys want us to talk about and communicate about. So send that information to us. Use our HR inbox. Send your questions, scenarios, hey, challenges or anything that you'd like for us to discuss on the show.
Speaker 2:And we'll talk about it, not saying that we will, yeah, but we'll talk about it If it's something that we feel like would be educational, or something that we can provide back to assist you all with your daily walks within your jobs or just working with your HR team.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So these bonus episodes are designed to give you practical advice in small, actionable doses. So stay tuned, keep listening and don't forget to send in your questions for HR Inbox. We can't wait to hear from you. All right, so to wrap up this awesome episode, we want to provide an encouraging Bible verse for you that are listening today.
Speaker 1:We're coming from Philippians 4 and 13. You know it, Mario? It says I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me. So, basically, whatever you are going through, you may be going through some challenging moments in your career, or even in just life, and you're trying to figure out how am I going to get through this? Look, I want you to look at it from this perspective. If you are going through something and it's teaching you you know how to live better, or teaching you you know how to get through some challenging moments, Look at that because you are going to be a testament and you'll be able to provide your testimony to others who may have to go through that same situation. So, stay steadfast, believe that God, he's with you and he's going to get you through this season that you're in. So just know that you can do all things through Christ, which gives you strength. You got any commentary on that?
Speaker 2:No, I was just going to say absolutely, you can get through it.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely. You can get through it.
Speaker 2:You can get through it. And again, as he stated, you know if you're going through something, there's something that you got to get out of it. You don't go through it to not get something out of going through that. So, in this period of life, if you are experiencing something where you're going through something, whether it be professional wise or it just be in your life period, don't focus so much on the going through part and the things that may be hurting you, the things that may seem uncomfortable, that may be challenging, but put more focus on what do I need to learn from this, what can I take and utilize for this or what am I experiencing to be a testimony for someone else and help them get through. There is a reason that you're going through what you're going through, but remember trouble does not. Trouble do not last always and it is temporary. This is temporary and that this is really an experience for you to gain something for either you or someone else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so thank you so much, man you, you wrap that in a bow really nicely. So that's it for episode 10. Y'all tune in, keep in with what we are doing. Again, a big thank you to Mario. Thank you for being on the show and being our new co-host.
Speaker 2:I'm here, I'm here to stay.
Speaker 1:So, to recap, you know we talked a lot about workplace dilemmas. We announced some new things that we're doing with these exciting bonus episodes, so just stay tuned in tune with that, with what we are doing. We also had a lot of fun, uh, today, uh, but we want to hear from y'all. We want y'all to send in those questions. That's going to make it keep on rolling right. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, follow us on social media. We're on tiktok, even though, even though I think TikTok is going away yeah, I believe so. But hey, they created something else for TikTok, but we'll see what that looks like right.
Speaker 1:But stay tuned, listen in to what we got going on and we look forward to seeing you on the other side. Thank you.
