Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Join host Linda Ostovitz each month for meaningful, practical discussions with guests who are on the cutting edge of business. They'll talk and you'll grow.
Linda Ostovitz: Hello everyone and
welcome to Real Talk Real Growth.
I'm Linda Ostovitz and I am very
pleased to have as my guest today Kelly
Mitchell, who is the owner of Impact HR.
And Kelly and I, I think, first
crossed paths in connection
with our respective roles of the
Howard County Chamber of Commerce.
Kelly Mitchell: Yes.
Linda Ostovitz: And we were board
members together for a number
of years and have bounced off of
each other in various capacities.
I've asked Kelly to speak to my Rotary
Club of Columbia Patoxin on several
occasions in connection with her role
at Impact and her expertise in HR.
We have a small business committee, or we
call it Business Round Table, where some
of the Rotary Club members gather, and
Kelly has graciously come to join us on
a couple of occasions to help educate us
on what to her is her expertise that we
all need, and we know it and we need it.
And Kelly, thank you for joining
me today in sharing some insight.
Kelly Mitchell: Yes.
Hi everyone.
And Linda, thank you
so much for the invite.
Looking forward to
having this conversation.
I'm always excited when I have
an opportunity to chat with you.
Linda Ostovitz: Well, good . I was looking
forward to it myself and here we are.
So Kelly you have been in business,
I think, for yourself for about 20
years now, but you've been in the HR
field for double that amount of time.
Is that right?
Kelly Mitchell: That is, and
now you're just kind of showing
everybody my age, I guess.
But yes, I've been in
HR for quite some time.
I started in corporate HR obviously,
and various different companies,
various different industries.
And I guess the last six years
or so, being in corporate HR,
I had an opportunity to go
into the consulting field.
And so I've been in consulting since then.
So in consulting, I would say
probably closer to 26, 27 years.
Linda Ostovitz: Now look,
we'll show your age.
If you'll show yours, I'll share mine.
Okay.
So I've been practicing for 44 years.
I'm not gonna leave you
hanging out there, my friend.
You know, we have experts in
these conversations and, to be an
expert, you've been around a while.
Kelly Mitchell: Yes.
Yes.
Linda Ostovitz: That's how
we're gonna measure that, right?
Kelly Mitchell: That's right.
That is right.
Linda Ostovitz: So you've been
in the industry for 40 years.
What has changed over the
course of those 40 years?
We use the term HR now, but I
remember a day when it was personnel
Kelly Mitchell: my goodness.
Yes.
Linda Ostovitz: had other
names associated with us.
What have you seen in
terms of the transition?
What does HR become over 40 years?
Kelly Mitchell: Right.
So you're absolutely correct.
When I first started in the world
of hr, it was not called hr.
It was personnel department.
And the mindset back then was
very administrative, right?
It was ensuring that people
got all of their benefits
and payroll set up properly.
Very, very administrative.
That still continues.
The world of hr, you can't get away from
the administrative tasks, but I have
seen over the years as we transition
into providing more value to the
companies and so it then transitioned
into human resources management, right?
And the assets being
called human resources.
Now I'm seeing the trend that
it's more people and culture.
Because again, that shift of
understanding that it's not just
about the administrative function, but
really understanding the organizational
culture and how do you keep people
motivated and productive and having
the culture that really sets people,
the companies apart from each other.
And encouraging to having those
cultures that make sense for them.
Linda Ostovitz: Sounds like it's a
much more strategic role nowadays.
And I would assume knowing you and
knowing your industry a little bit,
that the more involved you are in the
culture and the future and strategic
planning and so forth, the more benefit
you can provide to your clients.
Would that be true?
Kelly Mitchell: Yeah, absolutely true.
I still think there's still this,
misunderstanding in some ways that
business owners or companies still
view HR as still kind of part
of the administrative function.
And I think as I mentioned,
the world of hr, we're never
gonna get away from all of that.
Because we do manage benefits.
And we work closely with payroll,
so we need to make sure all of
the taxes and deductions and
all of those things are correct.
But again, the shift I'm seeing is the
true value that HR professionals can
provide is being able to strategize,
work with the leadership team to
understand workforce planning.
Companies go through different phases,
of organizational development and
HR needs to be a big part of that.
Because we are managing human
resources for those companies.
So yeah the shift is existing and
it's continuing to grow that way.
And the true value is providing
that strategic level of support.
Linda Ostovitz: And I would think that,
with the world becoming more complicated
with covid, with remote work and, we could
list the million things I guess, that are
battering business owners right now and
affecting and challenging their ability to
have a strategy and implement a strategy
that the role of an HR professional
becomes even more significant.
Kelly Mitchell: Oh, absolutely.
And especially in times of uncertainty.
Like HR people based on our education and
all of our trainings, it is tied primarily
to the compliance piece of things.
We need to understand what is it
that we need to do to minimize risks
and liability for the employers.
But in times of uncertainty that's where
truly HR professionals need to do more.
They need to step up more to provide
some level of certainty for the
employers and for the organizations.
And yeah.
During all of, throughout covid.
Even now with changes in some
regulations under the new administration,
it's just times of uncertainty
is when HR needs to step up.
And they need to provide and step into
that strategic role so that they can be
ahead of the game and be able to advise
and consult and guide the leadership team.
Linda Ostovitz: Being a lawyer, I get
to say this, in this litigious society
that we're in, I would imagine employers
are always looking over their shoulder,
especially when it comes to firing
somebody or cutting a benefit or changing
a policy, or always looking over their
shoulder with, do I have liability?
Am I gonna get sued?
And I would imagine you're the first phone
call when somebody's considering that.
Kelly Mitchell: Yeah, absolutely.
Now, granted there are some
companies out there that.
Do it anyway without
any advice or guidance.
And unfortunately for those
employers that what happens is that
then something comes back, right?
And it hurts them because they didn't
get that advice upfront to ensure
that whatever decisions they wanna
make or policies they wanna implement,
they didn't get that insight and to
do it right right outta the gate.
Linda Ostovitz: So let's
talk about that in a minute.
I know I have found in my 44 years
of business being in the business
of practicing law that as businesses
grow, there's always a moment in
time and maybe more than one moment
in time where a business owner says.
Gee, is it time for me to hire someone?
Is it time for me to
bring in the HR expert?
Oh my goodness, it's gonna
cost me money to do that.
And there's this real balancing act
that goes on with a business owner to
know when it's time to spend that money
on the professional that they need.
Which first of all, moves them
out of a space where they don't
have the business being, 'cause
they don't have the skillset.
But secondly, frees them up to go do
what they're really good at and let the
HR professional do his job or her job.
So my question to you, Kelly, is,
for our listeners out there who are
saying, gee I'm a one person shop
or I'm a 10 person shop, is it time
for me to engage an HR professional?
What advice would you
give to those individuals?
Kelly Mitchell: Yeah.
When an employer hires their
very first employee they, there's
obligations and requirements for them.
Because they're now an
employer of an employee.
So, it starts from the time that they
hire that first person at understanding
what they need to be in compliance with.
But as they grow, certainly
there's that time when they go,
okay, it's just too much for me.
I can't wear this HR hat, right?
Because there's too many people, there's
too many laws, there's too many things
that I just don't know what I don't know.
To answer your question, in
the HR profession we've grown
up under this premise that you
know, every 100 employees, you
should have an HR professional,
knowledgeable, HR professional.
I personally think, my opinion only
that has changed over the years.
And I really think it dependent
upon the size of the organization.
Where they are in their business
cycle, what industry that they're
in, because based on that industry,
there's other requirements and other
regulations that apply to them and not
just from a E-E-O-C basis, if you will.
I always like to tell employers that
when they're going through this question
about when is that right time for us to
either consider hiring someone or even
outsourcing this, I always share with
them to really look at, not just in
the moment of their business, but where
do they wanna go with their business.
What does that growth look like for them?
Certainly, yes.
You can have an HR person write
a handbook for you if you've
never had one or update it.
And those are easy enough things
to do that you can outsource.
You can get attorneys
like yourself, right?
Or someone from your firm to do that, but
that ongoing advice and consulting and
developing and implementing and executing
the necessary policies and procedures, it
really is to say, okay where do we wanna
go if our strategic goal or objective is
to double the size of our organization in
the next 12 months, well, you know what?
We wanna be ahead of that eight ball.
So it's really in my personal
opinion, I don't think that
there's a magic number for that.
I think that it really depends on
the organization and where they are.
Linda Ostovitz: So we come back to,
again, this is my word, strategic.
Kelly Mitchell: Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Linda Ostovitz: You gotta look
at the organization and all the
things that you've mentioned to
figure out where they wanna go.
And it's a plan.
It's not an action.
It's a plan.
Kelly Mitchell: Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely and that plan is,
all around when is it the right
time to start hiring people.
I mean, looking at that process to say,
are we doing all the right things to
identify and hire the right people?
And of course, how we're actually
onboarding them to engage them from
day one and really focusing on that new
employee experience from day one because
we wanna engage them from day one.
So it's, it is the planning
aspect of all of that.
Again, the administrative
part of HR is really okay.
Now we wanna develop.
We wanna implement, and that comes
with some of the, administrative
tasks to get that done.
Linda Ostovitz: You made reference a
few minutes ago to one of the functions
of an HR professional is to be up on
the laws and obviously the legislature
is a constant hotbed of activity.
Sometimes well thought out,
sometimes not so well thought out.
But what is the obligation?
What is your handling of as an HR
professional knowledge of what's coming
down the road in terms of legislation,
what employers can expect to see and
how do you help them plan, strategize
for what's coming down the pike?
Kelly Mitchell: I think that every
HR professional, whether there are
consultants like us or in-house HR
professional, they should always be
staying current with what's happening.
And I would say, and I would bet that
all HR professionals are doing that.
The challenge is there's so
much of it, right, Linda?
You just get bombarded with
what might be happening.
And then to top that off, it's
not just at the federal level.
We also need to understand state level.
We all need to understand local.
And so it does get challenging,
but every HR professional needs
to stay current to your point.
And the way to do that is,
especially if we're certified.
My team and I, we're all certified
HR professionals and what that means,
just like CPAs and other professions
out there that we need to keep up
with our continuing education credits.
And through that, we are
able to stay current.
We're able to know what we need to know
so that we're advising our clients to be
prepared for anything that's happening.
And then for us, what we appreciate the
most are our relationships with what
I like to call our strategic partners.
Employment attorneys, other firms
that need to also stay current like
benefit brokers, insurance companies.
And so we're able to share information
with these strategic partners
because as soon as they know of
something that affects them in their
industry, they're allowing us and
their clients to know about it.
We know something, we're sharing
that out with everyone, our partners,
our alliances, our clients as well.
So it is staying current, finding ways to
stay current, finding those relationships
to stay current, and then being able to
use that information for the employers
so that they can do the right thing.
I always tell my team that our
goal is always to help our clients
be ahead of the eight ball and
not chasing it all the time.
And I think what happens, generally
speaking in my experience is that
especially for HR professionals that
are internal, like they're part of
an HR department, they're so bogged
down in the day to day that it does
become challenging for them to stay
current, and or to find out what is
down the pipe to know what might be
coming and when it's gonna be coming.
And so our job as consultants is
to advise them and try to get them
to be ahead of that eight ball.
So that going back to being
strategic, to know what to plan
for, as those things are happening.
And in our crazy, crazy world.
We get laws that are, or bills
that are executive orders that
come out and then all of a sudden
we're told, well, wait a minute.
I don't think it's gonna happen.
So it may change or it may not even
go through or not be agreed upon.
And so it's all of that uncertainty.
But yet, the law comes out, or this
executive order comes out and it says,
okay, it's gonna be effective July 1st.
So now all HR professionals
are scrambling to say, okay,
we wanna be ahead of the game.
We wanna start doing all of these things.
And then all of a sudden, a
month before July 1st, like June
1st, we're told, oh, nevermind.
Hold off on doing anything right now.
So it's just that chasing all the time.
It's also important being at
ahead of the game and knowing
what is coming down the pipeline.
I know it's kinda long-winded
to answer your question.
Linda Ostovitz: But you know, it's
interesting because of being an
attorney, it is not uncommon to
see that legislation has passed.
A law is passed that is intended to
accomplish some goal, but the law
passes and the regulations, which
is how you actually carry it out.
Nobody's thought about.
We have a law, okay?
This is supposed to happen.
And as we know, in the last several
years, there have been a lot of things
that have hit employers, in terms of
hours and, minimum wage and a whole
lot of things that have hit employers.
But the meat of how you're supposed
to carry it out doesn't get addressed
by the legislature in the form of
recommendations until long after the
effective date of the statute, right?
Which I guess then puts everybody
in a posture to rely on you, all
the experts for how you think the
best way exists to effectuate and to
carry out the goal of the statute.
This is not a word I use in my
normal parlance, but I feel like
you are part of an ecosystem.
Again, not a word I use regularly.
I probably shouldn't even use it.
But that you're part of something so much
bigger than Impact HR because you do have
these other experts and professionals
that you interact with on a regular
basis, and you share information so
that you together have the collective
benefit of all of you, like you say,
to put your customers in the best
position to be able to plan for things.
Kelly Mitchell: So I wanted to go
back to what you mentioned about the
regulations part of it, and these
laws and not really understanding the
regulatory requirements behind that law.
And I was just in a meeting yesterday
and that's exactly what I had said.
I said, the problem and the challenge is
that these laws get passed, but no one's
thought about how is it gonna be executed?
And so then that creates all of this
additional burden for small businesses
to try to figure it out so that they can
be in compliance because no one's really
thought about the impact of the execution.
And the regulations and how to comply
with those regulations, and when just
recently with a lot of these changes to
your point about us being that resource
and allowing our clients to know what is
happening and how are they gonna execute?
Because these laws have come into play.
We do get, as soon as it hits, we're
just getting bombarded because again,
there was no clear definition about how
businesses move forward with that new law.
So I just wanted to make that comment.
Linda Ostovitz: And you go back
to that word, compliance, which
was a word we started with
early on in this conversation.
And I'm sure there is a fear.
Okay, wait a minute, I've gotta do
this, but you haven't told me how.
Kelly Mitchell: Right.
Linda Ostovitz: So we turn to
Kelly Mitchell and Impact HR.
We say, okay, give me your best advice
based on your extensive experience
for how I should work to be compliant.
How long has your company
been in existence, Kelly?
Kelly Mitchell: So I launched Impact
HR in 2006, and when I launched
it, I had a business partner.
So she and I grew it.
Then in 2012, I believe it was, she
decided she wanted to retire and go live
her personal vision and good for her.
So since then I've been a sole
member and I have a team of, right
now there's a total of 11 of us.
And then I have a team of
wonderful, wonderful partners
with some independent contractors,
senior level HR professionals.
So we are coming up to
our 19th year in June.
Linda Ostovitz: Congratulations.
Kelly Mitchell: Thank you.
Thank you.
I have a wonderful team.
They're just incredible and knock
on wood, we've been very fortunate
to have the clients that we have
and being able to do what we do.
Linda Ostovitz: And I would imagine,
again, as we hinted at previously,
there may be people who can hire you
full-time, hire you for a project,
hire you for particular advice.
What are the types of services
that you offer to your clients?
Kelly Mitchell: Yeah.
Thank you for that.
So there's kind of three primary ways
that we get engaged by our clients.
And when I say clients, our clients are
in every industry you could possibly
think of at every size and location.
And I think that's one of our strengths
is that we are able to do that.
We're not limited to industry, we're
not limited to the particular size.
We're not limited to just
Maryland based employers.
But there's three primary
ways that we get engaged.
The first is, as you mentioned, projects.
So they have a specific project,
they need extra hands to get that
project completed and delivered.
So some examples of projects.
We do a lot of compensation work.
We do a lot of training and development.
We do HR assessments,
audits, employee surveys.
So they're very specific.
It meet a specific need
that the client might have.
And then the second way that we can engage
is what most people might refer to as this
outsourced model or this fractional model.
Like fractional CFOs and fractional, CTOs.
We are fractional hr, so we go in and
help our clients on an ongoing basis.
To help them to look at what
is happening in the HR world.
We do the strategic part of it, and
then we also roll up our sleeves and
we get some of the transactional
work done as well for them.
And then the third way that we get
engaged, primarily geared for our
smaller clients is that unlimited
access to somebody that they can
just pick up the phone and call.
And just serving as that sounding board.
So you, I think you just mentioned it.
The ability for someone to
say, I just need some advice.
I just need someone to tell me am I
on the right path or am I gonna get in
trouble for doing something that I want
to do, but not quite sure if I should do.
So that is our HR Express model.
Linda Ostovitz: And that's interesting
because we had the discussion
about when is the right time.
And perhaps some people struggling with
when is the right time don't recognize
that there are a number of different
levels at which an HR professional,
such as Impact HR can be engaged.
Kelly Mitchell: And just to add
to that, when is the right time?
And unfortunately hr, especially for
us in the consulting world, we tend to
be a response to it's very reactive.
Something is going on in an organization
or something's happening in that
company and they're like, oh my gosh,
we need to talk to an HR professional.
Which is, it's a great way
'cause they do need that advice
and they need that support.
Ideally companies that are looking at
it, not necessarily as a reactionary
way to engage HR services, but really
looking at it from being proactive.
To say, going back to my point earlier
is when they're looking at their
entire infrastructure and saying, okay.
We want to get to X where we need to
build our workforce, or we need to
be looking at succession planning.
Or career development opportunities.
That is for me, a good trigger sign
that they might need to have someone
more than just being able to come
in and fill out benefit paperwork.
They need that, but they also need
to be looking ahead, down the road.
Linda Ostovitz: The more we talk Kelly,
the more it is apparent to me that, just
like any business person needs, I don't
know, pick any industry, an IT person, a
banker, again, we could list a whole lot
of different disciplines and occupations
that are part of a good collective whole.
And hr, it's so interesting because
again I was around in the days when
personnel was the word that was
used, and that meant time sheets and
paychecks and benefits and all that.
Nothing strategic like
what you're talking about.
You're talking about engagement,
retention, the employee experience,
which is so much broader than what
you know personnel used to be.
Can you tell us a little
about your clients?
Kelly Mitchell: Well, as I mentioned
they're in every industry, right?
Different sizes.
We work with clients that are startups
and helping them actually hire their
first employee to some pretty larger
organizations where they might have a
really good HR infrastructure in place.
They just need some additional support
and maybe primarily on that project side.
Our ideal clients if you will are
companies that are probably around
that 50 employees to a couple hundred.
It's not to say we wouldn't support
clients less than that, but the
reason I say that is because
in our experience, they're the
companies that are looking at both.
It's time to be looking at on
that, some of that strategy side.
And so we're able to bring both the value
of making sure things are getting done
on a day-to-day basis, but really being
able to work with the leadership team and
identifying other ways to keep people from
that recruitment, retention, productivity,
engagement, all of those things that's
gonna be important for the companies.
Linda Ostovitz: So you've been around
a while in terms of this industry,
and you've described how it's
changed in the last 40 ish years.
What do you see for your
industry going forward?
Kelly Mitchell: It's a good question.
In my opinion, I do think that
more and more companies will
consider this outsourced model.
And I'm not saying that because I'm in it.
But I was just doing a presentation
and I was doing some research for
that presentation and I found that
between now and 2030 that outsource
HR is expected to grow by another
72% or so across the country.
And I think it, it's a good
way just like, companies that
outsource their IT services.
Or they might be outsourcing
their finance or CFO function.
I see the trend of hr, especially
on that strategic level, maybe
being outsourced more because it's
giving them that option to utilize
those services or that knowledge.
On an intermittent or maybe times
that they really need to start
developing and implementing a certain
things across the organization.
So again, my experience of just being in
this industry and then of course just some
of the trends that I've seen I do think
that it'll, it will continue to grow.
Linda Ostovitz: Look, I asked you
to look in your crystal ball, and
that's what you've done for me.
So I thank you for that.
Kelly Mitchell: Yeah, I just, I don't
want my peers that are and there's
some great HR professionals out there.
I don't want to scare
them with my comment.
I, yes, I do think outsourcing is gonna
continue and it may, it's gonna grow,
but I strongly believe that companies
cannot be successful without having the
right HR professionals to support them.
For sure.
Linda Ostovitz: That
makes perfect sense to me.
As we've explored the depth of
what an HR professional can do.
And again, I think a lot of
people think of, like you say, the
compliance, I'm gonna fire somebody.
How do I handle this?
They look at those things rather
than the strategy piece of it,
which we keep returning to.
Makes me wonder do you ever go into
a business, Kelly and facilitate
the development of a strategic plan?
Do you ever perform in that function?
Kelly Mitchell: Not formally.
My consultants, my team and I, we
have supported our clients with the
development of what that would look like.
And then maybe partnering or
bringing someone else in that
is an expert in that space.
So we're a part of it, we participate
in it, we help facilitate it, but
we would not actually develop that
process for them, we would partner
with someone that is an expert.
And I think that's the other
thing is that we just know.
Where, what our limits might be in some
of the needs that our clients have.
And yes, we're all generalists by trade.
Meaning that over the 40 years
of, we've all been in a senior HR
professional, we've had our hands
in a lot of different things, but
we also know what our limits are.
And that's usually when we do reach
out to our strategic partners, our
alliance partners, and then bring
them in to support our clients
because we know that they're gonna
be doing a better job than we would.
Linda Ostovitz: The sign of a true
professional who knows her limitations.
Kelly Mitchell: Oh thank you.
Yeah.
And my team they certainly
know that as well.
And we do collaborate as a team to say,
Hmm, you know what, we could do that.
Certainly we're innovative enough
to do that and resourceful enough to
be able to do that, but is it really
the best for our clients to do that?
Or should we bring in someone that we know
that could be doing such a better job?
Linda Ostovitz: A true
professional knows how to say that.
Kelly Mitchell: It took
some time, Linda, for sure.
When I first started it was like, oh God,
does that fall under the HR umbrella?
Of course it does.
Let's figure it out and
we're gonna get it done.
And truth be told.
Probably back then we might've been
better off bringing in a partner 'cause
we spent a lot of time and energy
to make sure that we were delivering
it at that level we wanted to.
But so it took us took me some time
to get more comfortable in my own
skin to be able to say no, I don't
think we're the right fit for that.
Linda Ostovitz: Look, we are both
seasoned professionals and that is a
sign of maturity to be able to say,
wait a minute, there's somebody who
can do it better, more cost effective.
It's their wheelhouse.
I'm not gonna lose my client because
I've brought in somebody else
who's got a little better developed
skillset in a particular area.
That's the sign of a professional,
not somebody who says, yes, I can
do everything and anything, and they
manage to get their way through it.
Kelly Mitchell: And our pitch to our
clients is that, when you're looking
at your human resources which is the
most expensive, outside of your salary,
our job, whether we're a consultant or
whether we're an internal HR professional,
is ensuring that everything that
touches across that employee lifecycle
is aligned with what the company
wants to do, where they wanna go.
And so we're always looking at that
entire process, and not just from
compliance standpoint, but the efficiency,
the effectiveness, all of that.
And there may be areas along that way,
along that process where we need to
raise their hand and say, you know what
I, I think we, yes, we could probably
do this, but there's people out there
that could do this better than us.
So those partnerships
are very, very important.
Linda Ostovitz: Sure.
Kelly, you have always been so generous
with your time and sharing your expertise
and trying to educate us oftentimes at
my request for what we should be thinking
about and when we should be thinking about
it, and today is no exception to that.
So thank you so much for sharing your
time and your expertise with all of us.
To our audience, Kelly
Mitchell, Impact HR.
She is a local Howard County
business with a wonderful reputation.
And as I say, Kelly and I have been on
the board of directors of the Chamber
together, and I don't invite anybody to
come to my space who I don't respect.
Anyway.
So Kelly, thank you so much.
Appreciate you being with us today.
Follow, subscribe to
Real Talk Real Growth.
Next month, we will have
another conversation of interest
that'll get us all thinking.
Kelly Mitchell: Yeah.
Thank you so much.
It was a lot of fun.
Linda Ostovitz: It was a pleasure.
Thank you.