The HR Hub by Andrea Adams

Andrea Adams
  • 4.6 (8)
  • MANAGEMENT
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Welcome to the HR Hub! This channel is for ambitious HR professionals! With the help of my expert HR guests, I aim to help you learn about all facets of Human Resource Management so when 'that' situation arises you have some knowledge and even skill to draw on. My guests provide tricks and tips you can apply immediately as well as insight into strategy to get you thinking about the future. What you learn, will help you advance your career. I'd also love to connect on LinkedIn or check out my website www.thehrhub.ca

  1. 1D AGO

    [SMB Essentials] Handling Employee Complaints - The Draining Kind

    Managing employee complaints in a small business can quickly become a demanding role that drains your decision-making energy. If you find yourself frustrated by constant venting about co-workers or office lighting, it is a signal that you may need to shift how you respond to complaints. In this episode, I break down how to differentiate between complaints that require your intervention and those that serve as coaching opportunities for your team. I explore the importance of written policies for predictability, how to handle feedback regarding your managers, and the specific questions you can ask to return responsibility to your employees. Running a productive business does not mean an environment free of friction, but it does require helping your people navigate that friction themselves.00:00 Managing normal complaints01:10 Why frequent complaints wear you out02:02 Balancing policy and nimbleness03:22 Deciding when to get involved04:38 Respecting employees through their own problem-solving05:30 Handling complaints about your managers07:08 Using coaching questions instead of fixing08:44 Calibrating realistic workplace expectations10:06 Support for small and medium businesses**Find Andrea (me)**Website: https://thehrhub.ca/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/Email: andrea@thehrhub.ca

    11 min

  2. MAR 24

    Hiring - An Evidence-Based Approach (w. Dr. Nita Chhinzer)

    Stop hiring for the wrong things. When you hire, are you actually screening for success, or just a polished resume and a good interview that ticks the experience and credentials boxes? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Nita Chhinzer (University of Guelph) who challenged my perspective on recruitment. And as a bonus, what's happening in the market.It turns out, most of us are looking at the wrong things and asking the wrong questions. While technical skills get someone through the door, the evidence indicates that three "hidden" traits actually predict long-term performance: 1. Professional Maturity: Can they handle the sometimes unspoken realities of work?2. Attitude (The Useful Kind): Do they have genuine ownership, are they resilient, or are they just clocking in?3. Feedback Receptivity: Can they hear feedback without becoming defensive? Then will they actually use it to improve? Because if they can't take feedback, they won't grow as much.Ad despite what your client says they want, these three qualities are what they actually want according to the evidence and research. Once the basic skills pass a screening.So what soft skills do you include in your screening? Leave a comment. Has a "great on paper" hire ever failed because they lacked one of these three? *Find Dr. Nita Chhinzer in the following places* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nitachhinzer/https://nitachhinzer.com/https://www.uoguelph.ca/lang/people/nita-chhinzer*Find Andrea Adams in the following places*https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/https://thehrhub.ca/

    23 min

  3. MAR 17

    Emotional Labour in HR (w. Dina Denham Smith)

    Emotional labour is the unwritten work of managing your feelings and the emotions of others to be effective in the workplace. HR professionals and leaders often act as "toxin handlers," absorbing organizational frustrations and conflicts without a formal strategy for recovery. In this episode, executive coach and author Dina Denham Smith breaks down why emotional labour feels like pushing a beach ball underwater and how to prevent it from leading to compassion fatigue. We explore the difference between emotional and cognitive empathy, the physical toll of suppressing true feelings, and practical ways to "metabolize" the stress of leadership. Key takeaways include: - The definition of a "toxin handler" and why this role is vital yet undervalued. - The three components of an emotion: behavior, physiology, and mental interpretation.- How to use the "Three Rs" (Reflect, Reframe, Restore) to recover your energy. - Why cognitive empathy is a protective strategy for those in high-conflict roles. **Find Dina Denham-Smith** Website: https://dinadenhamsmith.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinadenhamsmith/ Book Titles or other links: Emotionally Charged: How to Lead in the New World of Work **Find Andrea (me)** Website: https://thehrhub.ca/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

    29 min

  4. MAR 10

    [SMB Essentials] How to handle employee complaints - the LEGAL kind

    Complaints from employees can be intimidating for any leader, but especially in an SMB where you don't have HR or anyone in HR with this kind of depth. This episode breaks down the immediate steps you must take when an employee brings forward an alarming complaint to avoid legal issues and protect your organization. You need to know which kinds of complaints come with legal obligations and which don't and then how to avoid making the situation worse. Key Takeaways: 5️⃣ 5 steps during the initial complaint meeting. 🇨🇦 vs 🇺🇸: Key differences between Canada and the US around which complaints trigger your obligation to investigate 🤔 How to determine if you can handle an investigation internally or if you must hire an outside expert. 🙅🏻‍♀️ Common mistakes leaders make, including "gut-feeling" decisions and mediation traps. 00:00 Five steps for the initial meeting 01:25 Categorizing the three types of complaints 04:00 US vs. Canada: Legal trigger words 05:18 When you are obligated to investigate 08:40 Formal vs. informal complaint triggers 09:30 Internal vs. external investigator criteria 12:45 Advice for self-led investigations 13:40 Common mistakes to avoid **Find Andrea (me)** Email: andrea@thehrhub.ca Website: https://thehrhub.ca/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

    16 min

  5. MAR 3

    People First Culture - How Caring for Employees is a Performance Multiplier (w. Josh Block)

    Building a people first culture is an aspiration for many in HR and leadership. But we struggle to close the gap between our good intentions and the actual impact on people. In this conversation, Josh Block, President of Block Imaging and author of People Matter at Work, explains why caring is a legitimate business strategy that drives ownership and long term performance. So that our people FEEL that we care. We discuss the "Three T’s" of leadership, the difference between viewing employees as resources to be extracted versus a garden to be nurtured, and the specific questions we can coach leaders to ask so they build real trust. If you are looking to move beyond transactional management (where people are the gold mine) and create an environment where employees feel safe, seen, and successful, this episode provides practical advice for HR and leaders. **Find Josh Block** Website: https://www.peoplematteratwork.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuablock/ Book: https://www.amazon.ca/People-Matter-Work-Fostering-Everyone/dp/B0FYX543SN **Find Andrea (me)** Website: https://thehrhub.ca/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

    20 min

  6. FEB 24

    The Future of L&D (w. Josh Cardoz)

    There is trepidation in the learning and development community right now. With AI shifting the landscape daily, many are asking: What will the role of an L&D professional be in the future? What will the role of the function be?? I sat down with Josh Cardoz, Chief Creative & Learning Officer at Sponge Learning, to get a pulse on 2026. Josh is mostly excited - tempered with a warning for those wishing to go back to the old ways of doing things. Key Takeaways from our Conversation: - AI is a double-edged sword: Yes, AI will finally make hyper-personalization a reality. No more single course to solve a problem for 10,000 people. - A loss of community: Josh warns of a "related loss of community." If everyone is on a perfectly curated, solo AI path, we risk losing the shared standards and human connection that make a culture strong. - A shift in L&D language: L&D pros need to stop talking about "training" and "learning" and... - A business mindset: we need to talk about business problems and keep the L&D to ourselves Josh also shared some consulting tips that are gold for engaging with clients. *Connect with Josh and Sponge* https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshcardoz/Sponge Learning: https://www.spongelearning.com/ *Connect with Andrea* Website: https://thehrhub.ca/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

    25 min

  7. FEB 17

    Emotional Intelligence for HR (with Jen Shirkani)

    We’ve all seen the 'Brilliant Jerk'—the executive who delivers high-impact results but leaves a trail of cultural destruction and turnover in their wake.In today’s episode, I tackled emotional intelligence (EQ) in organizational behaviour. My guest, Jen Shirkani, has spent 25 years coaching the C-suite on how to bridge the gap between technical brilliance and relational leadership. She breaks EQ down into a high-performance framework: Recognize, Read, and Respond.We dive deep into the specific competencies that will contribute to HR performance, drive workplace trust, and help us improve leadership effectiveness, including: - Cognitive empathy vs. affective empathy: Why you don't need to feel an employee's pain to effectively validate their experience—a crucial skill for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). - The optimism trap: How to balance visionary leadership with reality testing to avoid strategic blind spots. This is one I fall into. - A crisis of emotional expression: Why people are biting their tongues and saying less, eroding psychological safety and killing organizational trust.For HR professionals managing the high emotional demands of the modern workplace, this discussion is invaluable. **About Jen Shirkani** LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenshirkani/Jen's Website: https://penumbra.com/Jen's Podcast: Ego vs EQ & You**About Andrea**LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/My website: https://thehrhub.ca/

    29 min

  8. FEB 12

    [SMB Essentials] How to Onboard a New Employee

    ~ 30% of your new hires will leave before the 90-day mark.Unless you onboard properly. You’ve already done a lot: you spent thousands on recruitment, vetting, and interviewing. You will pay for them and their training. But without a solid onboarding process, there is a high chance that your investment will walk out the door. Onboarding is quite possibly the easiest and most cost-effective retention activity you can do, yet so many businesses treat it as an afterthought. Or a tedious activity they avoid. So watch the video and make sure you do it! Onboarding isn't just a "nice-to-have" - it's a key bottom-line retention strategy. I'm an HR Consultant to SMBs. Find me at: https://thehrhub.ca https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

    9 min
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4.6
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Welcome to the HR Hub! This channel is for ambitious HR professionals! With the help of my expert HR guests, I aim to help you learn about all facets of Human Resource Management so when 'that' situation arises you have some knowledge and even skill to draw on. My guests provide tricks and tips you can apply immediately as well as insight into strategy to get you thinking about the future. What you learn, will help you advance your career. I'd also love to connect on LinkedIn or check out my website www.thehrhub.ca

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