Tom’s ENGAGING HR Tom Horne

On Today’s show we sit down for lunch on location at a great Mexican Restaurant in Littleton, CO to talk about his non-profit Longer Tables.  Tim has identified the power of connecting at a table, over food and with phones down as one of the true human connections.  We dive into how the phone is “microwaving” connections, I love that analogy btw, and what it means to really create meaning with those you connect with.  Tim’s perspective on belonging not being an outcome but rather the start of engagement is not to be missed. We hope you'll join us at the table for a great conversation about culture, connection, belonging in both your communities and the workplace.
Our Guest: Tim Jones, Founder
He’s the Executive Director of the non-profit, Longer Tables, who is creating places of connection through large-scale community table events – namely, a literal mile-long table in downtown Denver in 2025!Addressing employee engagement and retention within large companies, Tim is Lead Consultant at Vertiklë Solutions, a full-service consulting agency helping companies thrive through belonging. 
Company: Longertables.org
LinkedIn: Longer Tables
LinkedIn:Tim Jones
 
Mentioned in the show:
Disrupt HR Denver
 
Where to find your host Tom Horne and Tom’s Engaging HR
LinkedIn: Tom Horne
Email: tom.horne@adp.com
Personal Twitter: @TomsEngagingHR
Podcast Twitter Page: @EngagingHRPod
Youtube: @Tom’s ENGAGING HR
Instagram: @TomsEngagingHRPod
TikTok: @Toms.engaging.hr
Facebook: Tom’s Engaging HR Podcast
THANK YOU:
Intro and Theme song for Tom’s Engaging HR is “Better” by Break Signals.  Break Signals just released their first studio album “A Steady Frequency” and it absolutely rocks, check it out here:  Break Signals: A Steady Frequency
Fun fact, the song “That Guy”, which is also on the album, was inspired by a magician that was hanging around outside The HR Technology Conference in 2022
Karl Pawlewicz: He was integral with helping with our logo, social media, and answering my 1,000 questions while building out the show.  I appreciate you and your friendship for over 20 years, you’re the man!

Sims Tillirson is a well-known personality from LinkedIn and I’m super excited to sit down with him again to catch up.  You may know him from his skits he posts, the songs he sings, his raw and open presentation of himself, but I sit down and get a few layers deeper on this episode.  We both share an affinity for Nike’s in the workplace so we dive into that topic to get the engines running before pivoting to a lengthy conversation about employee benefits.  How do you get the most from your broker relationships?  How can you drive down costs while maintaining a high level of benefits for your employees?  Are there new legislations or compliance issues I have to be aware of regarding how we provide benefits?  All these questions are answered before we finish up talking about wellbeing…most notably ours. 
Our Guest: Sims Tillirson, SVP Sales & Broker Partnerships
Company: BLUE RAVEN actuarial
LinkedIn: Sims Tillirson
Spotify: Sims Tillirson
Mentioned in the show:
GOAT: Air Jordan 1
Nike Delta Force ¾ Aubergine
Mewing Definition
Kids Mewing, YouTube
HR&P: Consolidated Appropriations Act: Employee Benefits Provisions
What is RxDC
 
Where to find your host Tom Horne and Tom’s Engaging HR
LinkedIn: Tom Horne
Email: tom.horne@adp.com
Personal Twitter: @TomsEngagingHR
Podcast Twitter Page: @EngagingHRPod
YouTube: @Tom’s ENGAGING HR
Instagram: @TomsEngagingHRPod
TikTok: @Toms.engaging.hr
Facebook: Tom’s Engaging HR Podcast
THANK YOU:
Intro and Theme song for Tom’s Engaging HR is “Better” by Break Signals.  Break Signals just released their first studio album “A Steady Frequency” and it absolutely rocks, check it out here:  Break Signals: A Steady Frequency
Fun fact, the song “That Guy”, which is also on the album, was inspired by a magician that was hanging around outside The HR Technology Conference in 2022
Karl Pawlewicz: He was integral with helping with our logo, social media, and answering my 1,000 questions while building out the show.  I appreciate you and your friendship for over 20 years, you’re the man!

We're excited to present a special episode that I recorded with Leo Tokar from Lockton in 2023.  I think the content is especially relevant to what companies and employees are focused on today.  Leo joins the podcast for our first in-depth conversation about Total Rewards. We cover Total Rewards at a high level but also focus on how Total Rewards Strategies can be leveraged in today’s uncertain economy. Leo also connects the dots of how to engage your employees with Total Rewards to drive the best employee experience.  
Noted in Podcast: 
HR HOTSAUCE “Favorite song to bring you out of a funk playlist”:  Coldplay 
 What Leo is listening to:  
Marketing School Podcast 
Book: Atomic Habits  

Our Guest, Leo Tokar 
Leo serves as President, People Solutions and partner with Lockton Companies, a consulting and brokerage firm that provides insurance, risk management, total rewards, employee benefits and retirement solutions. Lockton is the 8th largest risk and benefits management firm in the world and the largest firm that is private and independent. 
Leo leads the strategy and financial performance of health & welfare, retirement, and executive benefits practices. In addition, he oversees consulting teams for key accounts and manages employee benefits and total rewards strategy for public and private organizations in a variety of industries.  
Leo has a MS in Marketing and MBS from the University of Colorado executive programs, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from the University of Kansas.  
Leo is a current board member of Delta Dental of Colorado, Denver Metro Chamber, Ensemble Innovation Ventures, and the American Cancer Society. He is also a graduate of Leadership Denver and has won the “Forty Under 40” Award from the Denver Business Journal. 
Leo.Tokar@lockton.com 
LinkedIn: Leo Tokar 
Lockton Website 
 
Where to find your host Tom Horne and Tom’s Engaging HR
LinkedIn: Tom Horne
Email: tom.horne@adp.com
Personal Twitter: @TomsEngagingHR
Podcast Twitter Page: @EngagingHRPod
Youtube: @Tom’s ENGAGING HR
Instagram: @TomsEngagingHRPod
TikTok: @Toms.engaging.hr
Facebook: Tom’s Engaging HR Podcast
THANK YOU:
Intro and Theme song for Tom’s Engaging HR is “Better” by Break Signals.  Break Signals just released their first studio album “A Steady Frequency” and it absolutely rocks, check it out here:  Break Signals: A Steady Frequency
Fun fact, the song “That Guy”, which is also on the album, was inspired by a magician that was hanging around outside The HR Technology Conference in 2022
Thanks to Jon Thurmond for your mentorship and help getting the podcast off the ground.  I appreciate you lending the voice for the introduction as well!
Karl Pawlewicz: He was integral with helping with our logo, social media, and answering my 1,000 questions while building out the show.  I appreciate you and your friendship for over 20 years, you’re the man!

John Bernatovicz joined me to talk about his journey to writing his best-selling book HR Like a Boss.  We cover a lot of ground from his early days at ADP, to a great story about how he beat Tiger Woods in a golf tournament, how he founded Willory and finally the main topic: How to HR Like a Boss.  It’s a really fun and engaging conversation with a great leader and voice in the HR Space.
Our Guest: John Bernatovicz, Founder, Author, Speaker
Email: john@willory.com
Company: Willory
LinkedIn: John Bernatovicz
HR Like a Boss Podcast
HR Like a Boss Community and Book
Mentioned in the show:
What John’s Listening to: John's Playlist
 
Where to find your host Tom Horne and Tom’s Engaging HR
LinkedIn: Tom Horne
Email: tom.horne@adp.com
Personal Twitter: @TomsEngagingHR
Podcast Twitter Page: @EngagingHRPod
Youtube: @Tom’s ENGAGING HR
Instagram: @TomsEngagingHRPod
TikTok: @Toms.engaging.hr
Facebook: Tom’s Engaging HR Podcast
THANK YOU:
Intro and Theme song for Tom’s Engaging HR is “Better” by Break Signals.  Break Signals just released their first studio album “A Steady Frequency” and it absolutely rocks, check it out here:  Break Signals: A Steady Frequency
Fun fact, the song “That Guy”, which is also on the album, was inspired by a magician that was hanging around outside The HR Technology Conference in 2022
Thanks to Jon Thurmond for your mentorship and help getting the podcast off the ground.  I appreciate you lending the voice for the introduction as well!
Karl Pawlewicz: He was integral with helping with our logo, social media, and answering my 1,000 questions while building out the show.  I appreciate you and your friendship for over 20 years, you’re the man!

RyanMae joins us to talk about how her team came to the decision to roll out a 4 day workweek.  I’ve heard this talked about a lot but excited to finally speak with someone who’s successfully launched it for their organization.  It may not be for every organization but Ryan shares how they came to the decision, rolled it out, where some of the pitfalls are, how they manage it and what it’s done for their company.  We also dig into her time at the Transform HR Show, some stories of the ski season and how she started her career in HR at a ski resort.  It’s a great conversation and Ryan is just so awesome to speak with!
Our Guest: RyanMae McAvoy, Director of People Operations
Company: Blackthorn.io
LinkedIn, Ryan-Mae
Mentioned in the show:
Transform HR Conference
Brittany Pietch Layoff on TikTok
21b Slack Consulting
What Ryan’s Listening to: Everything from Michael Buble to Taylor swift to Jimmy Buffet
Koe Wessel: Damn Near Normal
T-Pain: On Top of The Covers

 
Where to find your host Tom Horne and Tom’s Engaging HR
LinkedIn: Tom Horne
Email: tom.horne@adp.com
Personal Twitter: @TomsEngagingHR
Podcast Twitter Page: @EngagingHRPod
Youtube: @Tom’s ENGAGING HR
Instagram: @TomsEngagingHRPod
TikTok: @Toms.engaging.hr
Facebook: Tom’s Engaging HR Podcast
THANK YOU:
Intro and Theme song for Tom’s Engaging HR is “Better” by Break Signals.  Break Signals just released their first studio album “A Steady Frequency” and it absolutely rocks, check it out here:  Break Signals: A Steady Frequency
Fun fact, the song “That Guy”, which is also on the album, was inspired by a magician that was hanging around outside The HR Technology Conference in 2022
Jon Thurmond: Thank you for your guidance, support and inspiration.  Jon also recorded our introduction to the show, he's one of my favorite podcast voices! 
Karl Pawlewicz: He was integral with helping with our logo, social media, and answering my 1,000 questions while building out the show.  I appreciate you and your friendship for over 20 years, you’re the man!

Christie joins the podcast to talk all about networking in HR.  The conversation starts out talking about college sports before we get into some of the great place for HR to network and share Ideas.  Christie talks about the bi-monthly #HRSocialHour Twitter chats and how you can find them.  We also get into some of the other places to find a HR Community and some of the truly wild questions that get asked.  Tune in, it’s a great conversation with a seasoned HR Leader!
Our Guest: Christie Engler, VP of HR
Company: Diversified Systems
Twitter, @christie_engler
LinkedIn, Christie Engler
Mentioned in the show:
#HRSocialHour Twitter Chats: 2 x a month on X (Twitter, Twix, whatever you may call it) on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month at 7PM ESTSearch #HRSocialHour and you’ll find the chat on the above dates/times!

The HR Social Hour Half Hour Podcast with Jon and Wendy
 
Where to find your host Tom Horne and Tom’s Engaging HR
LinkedIn: Tom Horne
Email: tom.horne@adp.com
Personal Twitter: @TomsEngagingHR
Podcast Twitter Page: @EngagingHRPod
Youtube: @Tom’s ENGAGING HR
Instagram: @TomsEngagingHRPod
TikTok: @Toms.engaging.hr
Facebook: Tom’s Engaging HR Podcast
THANK YOU:
Intro and Theme song for Tom’s Engaging HR is “Better” by Break Signals.  Break Signals just released their first studio album “A Steady Frequency” and it absolutely rocks, check it out here:  Break Signals: A Steady Frequency
Fun fact, the song “That Guy”, which is also on the album, was inspired by a magician that was hanging around outside The HR Technology Conference in 2022
Karl Pawlewicz: He was integral with helping with our logo, social media, and answering my 1,000 questions while building out the show.  I appreciate you and your friendship for over 20 years, you’re the man!