HR BESTIES - HR Besties Happy Hour - Lonely No More, Besties!

Episode Date: September 20, 2024

Welcome back to another Happy Hour, Besties! We’re sure as hell glad it’s Friday. In this Happy Hour: Vegas, here we come! When in Gatlinburg... (go to Sexy Stuf) Amazon's mandatory RTO Humanity in the workplace Your To-Do List: Grab merch, submit Questions & Comments, and make sure that you’re the first to know about our In-Person Meetings (events!) at https://www.hrbesties.com. Follow your Besties across the socials and check out our resumes here: https://www.hrbesties.com/about.  We look forward to seeing you in our next meeting - don’t worry, we’ll have a hard stop! Yours in Business + Bullsh*t,  Leigh, Jamie & Ashley Follow Bestie Leigh! https://www.tiktok.com/@hrmanifesto https://www.instagram.com/hrmanifesto https://www.hrmanifesto.com Follow Bestie Ashley! https://www.tiktok.com/@managermethod  https://www.instagram.com/managermethod https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyherd/ https://managermethod.com Follow Bestie Jamie! https://www.millennialmisery.com/ Humorous Resources: Instagram • YouTube • Threads • Facebook • X Millennial Misery: Instagram • Threads • Facebook • X Horrendous HR: Instagram • Threads • Facebook Tune in to “HR Besties,” a business, work and management podcast hosted by Leigh Elena Henderson (HRManifesto), Ashley Herd (ManagerMethod) and Jamie Jackson (Humorous_Resources), where we navigate the labyrinth of corporate culture, from cringe corporate speak to toxic leadership. Whether you’re in Human Resources or not, corporate or small business, we offer sneak peeks into surviving work, hiring strategies, and making the employee experience better for all. Tune in for real talk on employee engagement, green flags in the workplace, and how to turn red flags into real change. Don't miss our chats about leadership, career coaching, and takes from work travel and watercooler gossip. Get new episodes every Wednesday and Friday, follow us on socials for the latest updates, and join us at our virtual happy hours to share your HR stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy Friday besties! How are we ladies? Well, I mean like honestly? I know, right? Fine. Can I be honest? How are you doing? Terrible.

Okay, see you later. Shitty. Same. I'm good, only I'm not. Can I be honest? How are you doing? Terrible. OK. OK, see you later. Shitty. Same. I'm good only because I get to see you guys soon, like in person, obviously.

Isn't that crazy? Cannot wait. Oh my gosh. Vegas next week. Woo. Fuck. Yes. Oh, we've been counting down the days.

Literally, Jamie has a nice countdown. I get excited when you do this. I do have a countdown because I've been, like I told you, that I love, like for my mental health, I love having something to look forward to. And so I've been looking forward to this. So I'm very excited. What do you have after Vegas?

Do you have something else after Vegas? Well, sort of. I mean, now as of like literally yesterday, I booked a cabin in Gatlinburg in November. It's only going to be me and the kids and one of the kids' friends because my son got invited to play in a football tournament up there. So, I mean, it's not like going to be a walk around Gatlinburg and see the sights. It's going to be me sitting on a football field, but I'm still looking forward to it because the cabin has an indoor pool.

Whoa. Oh, posh. You know, when they had that big fire, I think it was in 2017, a lot of like the beautiful old cabins, unfortunately, burned down with the heart shaped tubs. But then all these developers came in and they put these fancy cabins with indoor pools and shit. So I'm kind of jazzed about it. Hopefully you do get to walk around though.

Like, I mean, you know, explore a little bit. Yeah, I love Gallenburg. Because, so when I went to UT, it's only about like 45 minutes away. So that was like a fun spot for sometimes us to go to like walk around and do dumb touristy shit when I was in college. So it's, it, Gatlinburg is definitely in Pigeon Forge has a weird place in my heart just cause like it reminds me of college.

My last year of law school in Atlanta, my girlfriends and I, we just went to, we went to Gatlinburg for like four days and went hiking. And I was just looking because we passed this place. We did not go in, but you can and should go in, Jamie. It's a lingerie store called Sexy Stuff, but with one F, like S-T-U-F. And so we call it still to this day. I mean, that was, oh my God, 16 plus years ago, we still text in tech bits, but we call it Se sexy stoof. I've probably been in it. It's still standing. It's a long, not just lingerie, but longevity. I'm impressed. So, just like you go to LA, go to In-N-Out Burger, go to Gatenburg. Go to sexy stuff.

Go to sexy stuff. Just one F. Also, this is very niche and only a few people will know this, but you have to see the BMW parked at an angle when you're coming into the city. That's very niche. Only a few will get that. Do you have a group chat with those people? Cause that should be what it's called. Sexy Stoof. Yeah. I have a group chat, but we don't have a name. We don't have a name for it. And so I'm going to do it. Well, you fucking name it right now. I'm going it right now. I'm gonna do it right now during this happy hour. Actually, Stu, they will die They will just die laughing. I mean, yeah

Rename that thing. I don't know. That's the best idea I've had today. I Had not so good at idea this week and that was to try to use social media good idea this week. And that was to try to use social media. So do you all use threads much? I do. I have all my posts, like my hard feed posts go to threads, but I don't post physically go to threads to post much. I think like we have one for HR besties. We have it. I'll think about it about once every six weeks. So go listen to that. I just kind of forget it's there. And I have Twitter. I use it to learn news or look for traffic or what are they filming in this thing. Anyway, last night I was on the couch and I was

looking and there's an individual that Lee and Jamie know who was rude, was very rude to all of us, but especially me. And I have noticed that this person has changed quite a bit, their social media strategy. This person probably that was maybe didn't think that most of us in social media or things like this, but anyway, all of a sudden has taken a very specific voice on their social media posts. And it is like the most obvious chat GPT thing you're ever seeing. I was looking at it and I was chuckling because it's like an M dash, that's like a dash. But if you do it in chat GPT, it's a very obvious M dash.

And these different telltale things that you'll know, like I use chat GPT obviously all the time for like different things. But there's some certain tells. So I was like chuckling to myself and I go on threads and like, oh, here's some things, whatever. I shut it down. This morning I get a message from someone I know from LinkedIn Learning and they're like, wow, good for you. You went viral on threads. And I'm like, oh, what, what was

that? I look, I did. And I open it back up. I probably would have seen this six weeks from now. Oh my God. I did this post and it was like telltale signs. Like one was an Oxford comma. One was, one was this and this. Oh man. Savage. I mean people and one was, I'll say this, I will own it. One was like if the cap, the hashtags are capitalized and someone's like that's for accessibility. So my bad. A hundred percent. Like I am, as you know, I'm very much in favor of accessibility. So it makes sense. But people were like fucking crazy. Like, like some of them of like, you're so rude and these things, it's proper grammar. I'm like, sure. It's

proper grammar. But when you see certain people that you're like 100% has changed it all of a sudden, and I included the rocket ship emoji, and people are like, what's wrong with the rocket ship emoji? I'm like, OK, come at me. Come at me for the hashtags 100%. Now, we stand by that fucking rocket ship. Yes.

Yeah, I'm going to stand by that one. But I am team Oxford comma. I know. You're team Oxford comma. I'm just not. Like, people are like, it's proper grammar. I mean, I know you're team Oxford comma. I'm just not like people like it's proper grammar. I'm like, I mean, I, I know it is proper grammar from like writing like a paper, which I've done, but in real life, there are people that don't use it. It was really all about one person. People are like, this is slick engagement bait. Oh, this person's trying

to write a course on copywriting. No, she's really not. Oh, geez. No, I'm not. Oh, my God. There's a reason I do videos. How to write an HR besties podcast newsletter. Oh, my God. That sounds terrible. Finally, I'm just like, wow. So I'm just going to go back to my corner. But I'm like, don't defend the rocket ship. The rocket ship is corny. No, the rocket ship's the worst. But anyway, but I texted and Lee's like, I use the Oxford comma with the fingernail polish emoji. Well, but I was thinking back on it. I don't now, but that's how I learned. But I think I feel like, and I read some of the mean comments because I questioned you,

but it said like, pry it from my cold dead Gen X hands. And I'm like, I think it is like a Gen X elder millennial, because we're millennials. I think it might be because that's how we were taught. Geriatric. And whatever, it's proper grammar. But yeah, fuck it. Yeah. I just think, hey, you got one, why not two?

Right? What the hell? The more the merrier. You know, like I'm one of those. I'm excessive. I'm opulent. Give me all the fucking commas. Which again, all that when it's all designed for one specific person. I'm like, I should have just

written this guy's an asshole and maybe I read a guy's an asshole. For real. And just like tagged him, Adam. Literally, you know, and one person would have seen it and it would have been done, you know. Tagged him. Yeah, he would have seen it and come up with a chat GPT response. And then I would have been like, then I would have been like, you know how I can tell? He wrote this with Chat GPT. And so anyway, but no, I promise you, so if you saw that and you're investing, you won't see it anymore because I deleted it.

And people are like, are you just trying to gain followers? Well, because I was like embarrassed. You're like, I don't need, first of all, in the accessibility front, like I certainly don't want to be rude on that. Like that's- Yeah, that's not how you went. Yeah.

That's not how I go down, but like, oh my God. I might make a video on a Zoom intent of others. And I'm like, oh yeah, thanks for that good point. People are like, ugh. So, next happy hour, I'm going to have more drinks in advance than I'll just reveal the person that I'm talking about. It was way too controversial. That's true, but they know who they are.

They do know who they are. I doubt they listen, but they know who they are. Oh man, who knew commas could be so controversial? It's the same thing. When I post some on Millennial Misery and you didn't experience it, people go ape shit in the comments like, this is not true. I don't think people realize that we didn't actually all live the same childhood.

So like, just because I post it doesn't mean it's aiming towards you. People get so angry though. People are just very angry in general on the internet. Yeah. They use the comment section as therapy. Literally. I'm like, it's going to be okay. Ma'am, this is a meme page.

Like ma'am, this is a Wendy's. This is a meme page. It's to be okay. Ma'am, this is a meme page. Like, ma'am, this is a Wendy's. This is a meme page. It's not that serious. Ma'am, this is a Wendy's. Yeah, but yeah. Oh, God. Do you want fries with that? Have a great day.

We do need to have a thing of like one day, just a skit of like envisioning people saying the comments in real life that they would never say to your face. Oh my God, that is a really good call. We should do that in Vegas. Yeah, we'll do it. We'll do it. So use listening. We'll see it. Then when you see the video, you can know that it was all of you besties were in the loop, but we'll do that. So what's it like to buy your first cryptocurrency on Kraken? Well, let's say I'm at a food truck I've never tried before. Am I going to go all in on the loaded taco? No, sir. I'm keeping it simple.

Starting small. That's trading on Kraken. Pick from over 190 assets and start with the 10 bucks in your pocket. Easy. Go to kraken.com and see what crypto can be. Not investment advice. Crypto trading involves risk of loss. See kraken.com slash legal slash ca dash pru dash disclaimer for info on Kraken's undertaking to register in Canada. So you're ready for Vegas, Jamie. You look excited. You got Vegas on the brain. You need a break.

I'm very excited. I'm not getting my dresses from Hong Kong. I know first world problems, so I'm very bummed about that. I did order them over a month ago and I really thought I had enough time, but they're not going to be here. So that's okay. I got backup dresses coming from Amazon. They're probably going to remain in the plastic.

So I'm going to be rolling up to Vegas like Ashley, but that's okay. I'm going to still going to be fun. Did you get yours Ashley? I'm concerned. Yeah, I know. I'm like Ashley. No, they're coming tonight. They're coming literally.

I have mine are literally coming Friday too. Like today. Yeah. This week, I picked some things out. I got some comfortable, like comfortable kind of high-heeled sneakers, not sneaks. Did not go with the new, you know, sneaks by Sarah Blakely, who's based in Atlanta.

I didn't go with those. Wait, I haven't heard of these sneaks. I haven't seen that. They won't have my size anyway. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know how I't seen that. They won't have my size anyway. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know how I feel about those. They do not look comfortable to me. And so I don't know if they have stores yet

where you can try them on, but again, I don't have time. Oh, they're just like platform? Sneakers. But they have like a heel. I mean, it's like a, they have like a heel. A wedge platform. Oh. Yeah.

Yeah, I don't know. No. I don't know. It is giving like 2001 for me. Yeah, maybe. Maybe. Like, remember when they had Timberland boots that were heels? What? No.

Oh, it was like a J-Lo thing. Okay, no. No, I lived, but I lived in my non-heel Timberland boots. Like I'm not a heel person like that. Lee remembers back from the Sherham Conference when I had to abandon my heels for the Yeti slippers. Oh my gosh. I can't remember that company.

I won them for you. And you did. Lee won them. I did not. I was won away. Lee won the Pip Plinko, whatever. So I have some high heeled sneakers. I don't know how that's going to work out. I have like platform sneakers that I'm bringing just because, you know, Lee is so tall and we are so short. I know, but then I'm there with mine. Yeah, I know. So we're Foxy either way.

Oh man. But you can spot me in a crowd, and that's great. And I can see what's coming up ahead and coming yonder, you know? And so that helps, you know? Yeah. And that's how I'll find you. I'll be like, mommy, mommy. Yeah, but we were like the same height in this AI-generated image.

And it is kind of funny because ChatGPT is not good at listening to you for images because you'll be like, can you make Lee taller and make someone else very short? And you're like, OK, that's not what I mean. My only feedback is my eyes are never coming out green. It's not going to. It's not. It definitely if you try to say make the eyes a different color, it'll always look at that. I'm like, my eyes aren't blue. My eyes are. I don't know. It'll always look at that. I'm like, my eyes aren't blue. My eyes are...

I don't know. It's that one thing. It literally gets y'all almost to a T and it never gets me, which is hilarious to me. I'm either African American, I have red hair, a man. Oh my God. I'm like, they see Jamie and they're like, fuck it. It's got a dick. But I'll literally upload. Okay. So they're still working on that model. So I get that they're working on other things, but I need the open AI team. It would make me happy. And then I think about, I don't want to use that much energy to create these images because you have to imagine it's probably bad for the planet.

I don't know. But I'll upload an image. It's killing our ozone. It's got to take up a lot of energy. Remember that? They talked about with Bitcoin and things like that of whatever- Oh, the vibration factories that are killing people? Yeah. Well, do you know-

So every time you make one of those, an angel loses its wings? Yes. So I have to think it's not that. So I need it to get better at seeing it. I've uploaded, like, this is our cover of Intermessage. Do you see what we look like? Yes. OK.

And then I make it, and I'm like, OK, we're all men. We're not. No. So yeah. And then the text is like Vegas drunk. It'll be like, it's a bubba. Well, it's from to what bubba? That was weird.

It didn't say welcome. What was that? No. It's like 3 a.m. in Vegas. Anyway, it's a fun hobby. Yeah. Well, speaking of Vegas, I just landed from Vegas an hour ago. Man. I know. Impressive. And I've only had three hours of sleep because I was at a Gwen Stefani private concert last night. Hell yeah. Which was cool as shit, obviously.

That shit is bananas. It is. B-A-N-A-N-S, you know? So I was dancing to that. But I knew all the lyrics. So I just like to say that because I'm in this crowd with a bunch of rock stars, which are attendees of Workday Rising, the conference that I was at. But I was looking around and people weren't, they didn't know those lyrics, you know what I mean?

But they're fist pumping and I'm like, you know, like you're kind of like, I grew up with her, okay, like I know this, I know all the songs, I'm just saying, you know, like, you know, you get like prideful when it's like an artist, you know, you know, you're like, I know every album. It's like when you know, like M&M's like forgot about Dre, like the whole thing. People are like, wow, like you can go viral. People will be like, old lady knows all lyrics to this song. And you're like, what? Yeah, like that lady with the Missy Elliott song.

Yes. You remember? Yeah, that was so fresh at the picnic. And she's so cute. She had like that horn. Yes. Yes. You remember? Yeah, that was so fresh at the picnic. And she's just, it was so cute. And she had like that horn. Yeah. I love her. Let me work it. Brrr. There was another lady that went viral too recently at an Usher concert and she knew

all the words too. And I'm like, that's going to be me. Like that's going to be us y'all. I mean, we're going to be. Maybe with something. I mean, I don't know if Usher is still going to be performing, but if he is. I like to see him all halftime. I enjoyed that. I think he has a residency. I don't know, or he just finished it or something. Yeah,

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get your hopes up, but... That's fine. I know. I was like, hold on. Magic Mike has a consolation prize. Exactly. I know. Magic Mike. Elbow or pants. That's a Real Housewives joke. I don't know how I'm going to survive two weeks in Vegas. You'll have us. Because I am an introvert. No, I know. Yeah. And I'm going to be at the spa a couple of times. I'll be working. Yeah,

during the day. Because I'm not looking to learn anything. You know what I mean? I'll probably be napping. I already told my boss, I was like, I'm gonna be out from this day to this day, but don't worry, I'm bringing my laptop. So if you need me, Jamie. I did, I totally did. Which speaking of work, I want- So you're not taking vacation time then?

No, I did take PTO. I am officially PTOing and my calendar's blocked. What does your out of office look like? Does it look like I'm out of the office, but, but, but, but, but, but call me, page me? But call me to get me instantly. No, it's text me, come find me at the club at 2 a.m. I'll reset your password. Do you want a drunk response? No. No, it's pretty tame. It's like, here's who you can contact in my absence. I will have limited access to email. So if you need something urgent, reach out here or

whatever to so and so. But I have Teams on my phone. So. Delete it, the app. So don't have it. Yeah, that seems like an unnecessary on vacation. Take care of yourself. Yeah, that's a good point. Well, I actually wanted to give a shout out. So last week with my company, we flew everyone into Nashville and we had a conference. And I can't tell you how many employees came up and were like saying, I love HR besties. And it literally, it just made me so happy because a couple of things I don't, you know,

I know we talk to the mic twice a week and we just kind of, we're all together. We don't know who listens and who doesn't. And we're just kind of talking, right? We're just talking heads on a screen and we don't know sometimes the amount of people that are listening to us, I guess. I don't know of a good way to say that. When people come up and tell it like, oh, I love it. I'm talking about people that are in HR space.

You know what I mean? I've learned so much and I'm like, oh my God. So shout out to those that listened and came up to me and said that because I really, I've made my day and I immediately texted our little group chat and I'm like, people like us. You're real emotional. It is neat. It feels good.

No, it does. And like I said, it's, it's sometimes you just like kind of forget the reach. The impact of the content. Yeah. Yeah. So. Looking for a path to accelerate your career? Yeah. Yeah. So. yourself, you will find it at York University School of Continuing Studies, where we offer career programs purpose-built for you.

Visit continue.yorku.ca. Well, that's what happens when you don't work in an office five days a week and work alongside people as you should, according to Amazon's CEO this week. Did you see this memo? She was busting her ass being a rock star. I was working 16 hour days plus in Vegas. I was, I was social squad for workday. So I read nothing.

I don't know shit. So fill me in. What did I miss in the HR universe? Jamie, did you read the full memo? I did not. I just told Jeff Bezos to get fucked. Well, it's... Did you tag him and say that?

You should. It's Andy Jassy now, the CEO, but he... It's very long, I'll tell you. Like, it's a very long memo. That went out to everybody, and it's like a long ass comms? It went out to everybody, long ass comms long ass comms? It went out to everybody. Long ass comms. And it kind of hits your key points.

Like, it starts with, hey team, period. With a period? He put a period after hey team. But I laugh because those that are in like internal comms, you know how much conversation went around. How do we start this? Like, hey team, is that too conversational? Is that like, do we have an exclamation point?

Do we have a comma? Like, oh, so Oxford, do we put an us comma? Not a fucking period though. Someone should have rose up. I am taken aback as a writer. I am shook. It's so stern. Hey, team, period. Oh, dumb fighting words. Like, if that word had come across my, I'm like, oh, they're about to say some shit. I'm going to roll up my sleeves. I'm going, I'm already angry. Right. As an employee.

And they started with like, I read it and immediately when I saw Hey team, I thought to myself, oh, I wish I had a bingo card for corporate statements. Um, so maybe that's another post idea, but it's like, it starts off, well, it starts off about how great the business is doing. And then it talks. So it's from Andy Jassy, the CEO. And then it talks about him and like, when I started, I had a plan on the back of my napkin, this is what level I started up, like,

and then it's about him and I'm like, nah, people don't care, they really don't. I hear you, but like, people don't care. And then it's like, you know, we're trying to get the organization, the whatever language it uses, like optimal levels, and you read it and you're like, oh shit, this is a layoff notice.

So anyone that read this, I guarantee you, was like, oh, is going to be layoffs. And so it's not, but so they made two changes and it took forever to get there. But the first one they announced is actually that they're making managers have more direct reports because they want to make the workplace more efficient. What's, what's their span? Did they share? I don't think, I don't think they share a span. They say they want to increase it by 15% on each manager. And the challenge I say is like the way it's phrased is it's like we want less bureaucracy, we want ownership. But the flip to that is one, the language makes it assume like managers just get in

the way, which can happen, but it shouldn't. And so a good manager should be able to like support you. And then if you have an employee, especially in a pretty high pressure organization, and now all of a sudden their manager has more direct reports than their, because it's like, we want people to have ownership. Well, you know how this works. People are like, I'm not making a choice. I don't want to get fired because I couldn't get my boss.

I can get a one-on-one with my boss because now they have too many people reporting to them. So I'm going to do less, not more. And so that's, to me, I was like, like, but that hasn't gotten as much attention as the other, which is now come back five days a week to the office. Mandatory RTO. Mandatory. Like you are coming back.

So that's what's gotten the headlights in part because Amazon again was like remote and then it was like, okay, hybrid, so three days. And you see, and I'll let you guys talk, but so people are like, whatever, in person, people should be in person, they shouldn't complain. And again, a lot of people have been working in person, we've talked a lot. So that is a service. But there's other people that were hired and were told three days a week in the office. And now they're like, okay, by January 2nd, they're like, we understand you may have personal, like whatever, it's like you may have personal arrangements that you need to figure out before January 2nd. Move. I'd be looking for a new job if I worked for Amazon. Looks like they want some voluntary attrition. That's what that sounds like to me, you know, that old thing, you know what I

mean? So they don't have to do the layoffs. They do bullshit like this, you know, to piss you off. Yeah. And I think a lot of these are. Yeah. And that's it. Yep. And I truly believe a lot of companies do that because there hasn't been like proven.

But then what happens is then the people that are leaving, like the people that are leaving, then you're like, okay, I'm leaving, I'm leaving because I was promised this, I'm actually going to go work somewhere that's remote. And then people are like, okay, I'm leaving. I'm leaving because I was promised this. I'm actually going to go work somewhere that's remote. And then people are like, no, wait, we didn't mean you. We want you. Oh, okay. So we'll grant you an exception. And then that person gets an exception.

And then other people on the team are like, what the heck? Oh yeah. Wait a minute. Yeah, they got an exception. Yeah. So all of a sudden then people on their team are like, well, I want that exception. No, not for you. Okay.

Well, that's when then people call Paige Sparks the employment lawyer. I was about to say employment lawyer. Yep. And they're like, and regardless how that ends up in the US court system, now you're paying these expenses. And so overall, like, because I saw this where like someone in an HR group, like another HR person was like, you know, this is all about maximizing shareholder value. CEOs have to do that. So you'd be irresponsible, not to make a decision if you feel like collaboration is best. I'm like, but where's the data? Because the recent data on this show is hybrid is actually,

for those roles that can be done partially remotely, hybrid is actually the most productive environment. Flexibility and personalization, right? I mean, that's what the future of work is all about. Our employees are expecting more of that for sure. Oh man, like that's some crazy shit. Well people are joking now because they're like, okay, so Amazon's what's five days a week in office, but you still can work from home two days a week because everybody at Amazon works nights and weekends as well because it's that kind of environment. Culture. Oh, this is a terrible segue, but the culture at EY Prune.

This week I did, earlier this week I did a TikTok on this and it's like 10 minutes long. But I read a 26 year old employee, she was an accountant with EY Prove India. Her name was Anna Sebastian, and I'm probably going to say her last name wrong when it's Payrel, passed away due to work stress. Specifically, I read her mother's letter to the chairman, and it was just so powerful. And I like didn't put any hashtags on, on like I wasn't doing it for clout. I really wanted to read her, her mom's letter, but just like how gut rushing and how toxic that environment is. And she was working a hundred plus hours a week. And you know, like she constantly would get calls from her boss, like while he's in a cricket match to do something. And, you know, she was young. So she was basically, this was her first job out of college and just, oh, it's just awful. And she was not getting enough

sleep, not eating correctly. She was having heart palpitations, chest pains, and ultimately she succumbed to the pressure from work. And it's just awful. And I'm like, when is this gonna stop? How many more of these are we gonna have? Her mom's letter, I think I agree, that to me, and it talked about how nobody from the company had attended her funeral there. Yeah, that's what I was gonna say, just awful.

It's really heartbreaking, but also, this one short, two sentences had said, this is a systemic issue that goes beyond individual managers or teams. The relentless demands and pressure to meet unrealistic expectations are not sustainable. And they cost us the life of a young woman with so much potential. And it's hard because you look at like, I'm sure the executive team at these organizations will be horrified to look at this and they'll have to, like, this isn't what anybody wants.

But when you have these things and these goals and talk about the relentless focus and you have this and this cascades down to managers that believe they have to meet these goals and so they are putting this pressure on when they're taking for granted the people that work below them. This is why when I read things that say like maximize shareholder value at all costs, you do not get shareholder value and you do not succeed as a business by working your people to death or to misery. And often it's to misery. But finding ways to have sustainable cultures is, it's important.

Yeah. I mean, it's awful. She was only there for four months. Yeah. I mean, it's just awful. And she was just so young and she was so excited and driven and wanting to be a part of the company. And this was like her dream.

Like so many, right? Entry level, you know, and new hires. Yeah, to have her life taken from her, I don't know, but her mother's love order was very powerful. If you have a chance, Google it and read it. She mentions the company's human rights statement and how it's literally completely opposite than how they actually treat their employees.

I believe EY has now responded, but it's some generic bullshit response. Using chat, GPT and the dash a along dash the extra dash. Yeah, probably probably put hashtags capitalize on a rocket. A rocket show. Yeah. But like just awful. I I just read that and like I couldn't even get through like I had already read it once. But while I was reading it out loud for the check, I couldn't even get through it. Like I had to stop several times. Just. Yeah, it was it was just really sad. Then I saw another one.

Becca, our friend over at Corporate Gossip Pot actually posted something and I haven't even had a chance to deep dive in that, but another young man passed away to work stress too. It was apparently earlier this summer, but it was kind of all hush hush. Mm-hmm. You know, Ashley, you said, oh, you know, higher-ups, you know, I'm sure they would care or whatever, but you have the middle kind of managers pushing these things. Like, they'd be horrified to know, but not always. Like, that's what's terrible is, you know, I saw research back in the day, and I think I've shared this a few times, but let's just say a third, who knows what the, could even be more now, a third of managers, people, leaders, or narcissists, you know?

And I've worked for some that are also sociopathic, literally, like, diagnosed that. And so I've had leaders not give a shit. And I mean, literally say to me, and after I tell them like an employee had passed, passed at work, kind of like, oh my gosh, write the media statement. Like that would be the response, right? Yeah. Or when, when can we get that job posted? I mean, the heartlessness that I've experienced from leaders on shit like this, I mean, damn. And I mean, I've called some out. Some I've just been too freaking shocked. I mean, because you can't change that. Yeah, no.

You can't make someone give a shit about life, someone else's life, you know? So that's what's so sad. This continues because a lot of those leaders are approving those behaviors. They're modeling those types of, I don't give a shit behaviors. So it continues. But I think that's why it's important to talk about it. I'm always talking about the toxic workplaces. And share your stories, people. Not everyone feels safe being vulnerable or transparent.

I'm an oversharer like a mother. And so, you know, I love being that voice, you know, to say, hey, don't tolerate this. Hey, talk about this, you know, because a lot of people suffer in silence. And so we need to, you know, help each other, support each other, and especially mentor early career, new hires. I mean, everyone really all levels, right? You deserve more and better. Take care of yourself, prioritize your health because obviously your employer's not, and

it's not necessarily their job first and foremost either. So protect yourself. They should be creating psychologically safe and physically safe work environments, but you, your ultimate job, prioritize your health. So health is wealth, people. Bless them. I'm sorry to hear that. And it's why, I mean, our Wednesday episode about HR,

I mean, some of the comments we got about HR and reputation and title and all of this, we got comments and some of them said, and they're like legitimate question, may disagree with this, legitimate question, why would HR have a seat at the C-suite? And I'm glad people put that in the comments, because it is.

It's important to talk about these things. But case in point, you have an organization that has a chief financial officer, a chief technology officer. Even if you're not going to care generally about the well-being of your people, or even a story like this isn't going to shock you into worrying about you and your reputation as a company, as a leader. Well, your number one investment

is generally at an organization is people. And so if you are not making a C-suite role in having a voice for someone and somebody else had said, but shouldn't any advice about employees be by the general counsel, then HR, hell no. As a lawyer, no. Again, even as a lawyer, I wasn't an asshole. I'm sure four people would disagree with that. Maybe one. I know one. But generally, it's like, no like there's so much involved in like the support of people. Well, HR doesn't do that. Okay, because no one has fucking taught them to. And so that's what we're trying to do and help people have voices, but they have to

have support from the rest of the organization. And so it's amazing that people are like, God, I had no idea. Like, are people, we're real people with feelings. Okay, well go watch Family Man with Nicolas Cage Cage if that's what it takes for you to realize the bibbidi-bobbidi-boo that like a dose of humanity can have. But oh my God, it like, it just incenses me when people, you know, you get to the end of your life and you're like, oh God, generally people have regrets about how much time they spent working. Not, you know, not being like a decent human being to somebody else and respecting the people that work with them.

Some of those comments, I mean, I'll say I'm not angry. I'm just disappointed. Like when I read them. I feel sad. I feel sorry for those people that that's the HR that they've experienced because I've been in a very privileged place of HR where it's been very strategic and the HR professionals around me are business leaders that happen to specialize in HR. And so it's just been very strategic and a big focus at the majority of organizations that I've had the privilege to work at. And so having that seat and that voice and you have everyone against you in the room, you're surrounded and then you say one thing and it's like light bulb moment for everybody else and the whole room turns to remember that people work here is profound. It's a beautiful thing. The HR I know for those that

are listening and you don't work in HR is one where so many times, hundreds, it could be a thousand in my career, I was the only one defending you in a meeting. The only one looking out for you. Because I'm an employee too that wants freaking paid and great benefits and flexibility and all of this. I was the only one that remembered that we're human in the room when everyone else was talking dollars. So that's the HR I know. Yep.

Yep. Preach on. Mic drop. Okay. And I hope that's the HR everyone gets to experience. I'm sorry if you haven't, but you can stop leaving those fucking comments. Thanks. HR is not your friend.

Neither is Larry in accounting and neither is Bill, the CEO. They're not either. Oh yeah. Finance is definitely not your friend. We're fuck that. Well, we're your friends. We're your friends. We're your besties! I talked to somebody today who's an HR besties listener and we talked

and they're in HR department of one and they said like come like anything else you need support on? I just get lonely at work. Yeah, it's lonely as fuck. Coming soon we have a whole episode on Lee and HR teams, HR teams of one. But just now, we got you, so sometimes you've got to pop those earbuds in and have some team members.

That's why I even created Humorous four years ago, Humorous Resources four years ago, because I was in HR Department One and I was so fucking lonely. It is, right? Oh, man. Yeah. So now here we are. Yeah. Lonely no more. Going to Vegas together. Oh my God. Look, yeah. So now here we are. Yeah. Lonely no more. Going to Vegas together.

Oh my god. Look at us. We got your back, besties. Apparently, people listen to us. My parents. My parents listen every time. I don't even think my parents listen. My mom texts out. Yeah, Lee, my mom wants to know where she got a pair of shoes. She saw you wearing this. I get a text. I'm like, I want to give you a love note from my mom. She's like, I like Lee's shoes. Are those the Office of Angela Scott? Because I looked on this, I didn't see that. I'm like, I assume so. And so anyway, I'll have a forward, Jimmy, I have an automatic forward. Mama, Mama Manager Method loves those. I love it. I love it. Just give her my number. She can text me. She wants the shoes. I'll send her the direct link.

Oh yeah, that's going to happen. I'm going to see her in Vegas and I'll be like popping up on Lee's phone. I know. She's not even responding to you. We're done. We're done. The daughter she never had. I just offered to shortcut it, but that's all you. She's listening to this right now. There she is. But whatever. Your mom, I'll send you the link. That's fine.

You can sit in there. But I'm just offering, you know. That's fine. That's fine. We all find love in different places. Well, lonely no more, everybody. You got your besties. We got your back.

Please take care of yourselves out there. TGIF. Yeah, and the next happy hour you hear us, we will be live in Vegas. Real Vegas. Make sure you tune in next Friday's episode. Yes. Vegas, baby.

Woo.