Good Morning, HR

In episode 277, Coffey talks with Jeremy York about leader roles moving from managing tasks to building the trust-based relationships that drive engagement and retention.________________________NEW! Read the Good Morning, HR Thursday News Brief for a quick rundown of HR-related news items that caught Mike’s attention, along with his take. Read this week's brief here.________________________They discuss the difference between managing tasks and leading the people who do the work; why employees bring their whole lives to work and leaders can no longer treat them as interchangeable resources; the costs of a task-first culture, including turnover, disengagement, and lost discretionary effort; why the relationship between an employee and their direct manager shapes workplace culture more than perks and amenities; why managing work processes and managing people require different skill sets when promoting individual contributors; the five pillars of people-first leadership: trust, transparency, respect, empathy, and kindness; building trust and psychological safety so employees can admit mistakes without fear; how leaders can own their mistakes and reset a damaged working relationship; practicing transparency by saying what you can’t share instead of blaming upper management; everyday respect and the generational differences in how respect and professionalism are defined; why empathy complements accountability and performance management rather than replacing it; and how kindness pairs high standards with genuine care and reflects emotional intelligence in leaders.For HR teams who discuss this podcast in their team meetings, we’ve created a discussion starter PDF to help guide your conversation. Download it here https://goodmorninghr.com/EP277Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—Bulletproof Background Checks. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com.If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for three quarters of a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com.About our Guest:If you want your company to succeed, you have to put into place strategies that allow your people to succeed. As founder and president, Jeremy ensures that InvigorateHR does just that. Through his leadership, InvigorateHR develops and delivers client-specific solutions that are tailored to meet clients’ needs and enhance their business. Jeremy has over 20 years’ experience in human resource strategy and business operations. Holding various HR leadership roles, he has worked with and advised all levels of management on critical business and people-related issues. These items include HR strategy, performance management, strategic planning, talent management, and so on.Jeremy’s expertise in defining and understanding the "big picture" enables him to translate business needs into tangible solutions. With his guidance, organizations have improved employee relations, increased performance, and developed cultures based on mutual trust and respect.Education and Certifications• Master of Science in Management, Indiana Wesleyan University• Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership and Supervision, Purdue University• Certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) by the Human Resource Certification Institute• Certified as a Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) by the Society for Human Resource Management• Certified Everything DiSC Trainer• Certified Five Behaviors TrainerProfessional and Community Involvement• Author, "People Not Tasks: A Leader’s Guide to Building Solid Employee Relationships"• Co-Author, "JoyPowered Organizations"• Professional speaker at international and national conferences and seminars• Member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)• Advisor, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Education Team• Member, International Leadership Association• Member, The Damien Center Board of Directors• Member, IndianaSHRM Conference Committee• Past Membership Advisory Council (MAC) Representative, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)• Past Director, HR Indiana SHRM• Past President, IndySHRM Board of Directors• Past adjunct faculty for the Department of Organizational Leadership at Purdue University Indianapolis• Recipient of the SHRM Indiana Lifetime Leader AwardJeremy can be reached at https://www.invigoratehr.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyyork/About Mike Coffey:Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher.In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make better people decisions.Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, hundreds more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies.Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business’ small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association.Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas’ 30 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee.Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teaches multiple times each week.Mike and his very patient wife of 29 years are empty nesters in Fort Worth.Learning Objectives:1. Distinguish task-focused management from people-first leadership and explain how each affects engagement, retention, and discretionary effort.2. Apply the five pillars of trust, transparency, respect, empathy, and kindness to everyday leader-employee interactions.3. Identify the relational skills to assess when promoting individual contributors into people-leadership roles.4. Use transparency and ownership of mistakes to build trust and repair damaged working relationships.5. Balance empathy and kindness with accountability when addressing performance concerns.

In episode 276, Coffey talks with Scott Cawood, president and CEO of WorldatWork, about how work has changed and what leadership must do in response. This conversation happened before an executive track audience at The HRSouthwest Conference on October 13, 2026.________________________NEW! Read the Good Morning, HR Thursday News Brief for a quick rundown of HR-related news items that caught Mike’s attention, along with his take.Read this week's brief here.________________________They discuss WorldatWork’s shift toward tying total rewards to business outcomes, workforce strategy, and data analytics; how employees’ lower tolerance for workplace dysfunction is driving executive women out at higher rates; why speed has become a competitive advantage and employers should hire for it; why leadership mentality lags behind how work actually gets done; workforce costs of up to 70% of revenue and productivity as HR’s biggest financial lever; return-to-office perks and the shift from presence-based to outcomes-based performance; redesigning jobs when AI lets employees finish their work in fewer hours; why static job descriptions no longer fit and how fluid, skills-based roles create capacity; the consumption model of work and the share of base pay employees would trade for a remote day; projected salary increase budgets, targeted pay for skill gaps, and development as a reward; investing in manager capability when compensation budgets are tight; rethinking middle management layers and pushing decisions closer to customers; digital dexterity as the biggest workforce skills gap and moving from onboarding to “everboarding”; redefining productivity, performance, and leadership readiness; more frequent pay for lower-wage workers as a retention tool; rebuilding employee trust after return-to-office mandates; human accountability for AI-assisted compensation decisions and protecting employee data; union contracts that set a minimum share of work done by humans; and why HR should lead AI integration as its role shifts from collecting data to interpreting it.For HR teams who discuss this podcast in their team meetings, we’ve created a discussion starter PDF to help guide your conversation. Download it here https://goodmorninghr.com/EP276Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—Bulletproof Background Checks. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com.If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for one recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.comAbout our Guest:Scott Cawood brings more than two decades of leadership experience at the intersection of organizational effectiveness, employee engagement and workplace transformation. As CEO of WorldatWork since 2015, Scott has led the organization through a period of strategic growth and innovation, championing the mission to make work, and workplaces, better for all.Prior to joining WorldatWork, Scott served as Global Leader for Organizational Effectiveness at W.L. Gore & Associates, where he led enterprise-wide efforts to align culture with business strategy and drive associate engagement across a 10,000-person workforce. His earlier roles include President of Synygy, a global compensation and sales software company, and senior leadership positions at Revlon and the Great Place to Work Institute, where he contributed to the development of Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Places to Work list.A dynamic speaker and bestselling author, Scott’s most recent book, The New Work Exchange: Embracing the Future by Putting Employees First, was published in 2023 and quickly became an Amazon bestseller. He joined the WorldatWork faculty in 2023 and teaches with a passion for helping organizations unlock the full potential of their people.Scott holds an EdD in Organization and Work-Based Learning from the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School and Graduate School of Education), an MS in Learning Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in Labor and Industrial Relations from Michigan State University, and a BA in Organizational Communication from Michigan State University. He holds multiple WorldatWork certifications, including Certified Compensation Professional (CCP®), Global Remuneration Professional (GRP®), Certified Sales Compensation Professional (CSCP®) and Certified Benefits Professional (CBP®).Scott can be reached at https://worldatwork.org/https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottcawoodworldatwork/About Mike Coffey:Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher.In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make better people decisions.Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, hundreds more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies.Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business’ small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association.Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas’ 30 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee.Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teaches multiple times each week.Mike and his very patient wife of 29 years are empty nesters in Fort Worth.Learning Objectives:1. Explain how shifting employee expectations and the consumption model of work affect rewards strategy and job design.2. Evaluate flexibility, pay frequency, skill development, and early trust as cost-effective rewards that support retention.3. Redesign job descriptions and productivity measures around outcomes rather than hours or physical presence.4. Prioritize manager capability and decision-making closer to customers when budgets and organizational structures are under pressure.5. Establish governance for AI used in compensation and other people decisions, including human accountability and employee data privacy.

In episode 275, Coffey talks with Amy McDowell and Sasha Vaikhman about resolving workplace conflict before it grows into a complaint, a resignation, or a lawsuit.________________________NEW! Sign up for the Good Morning HR Thursday News Brief to get a quick rundown of HR-related news items that caught Mike’s attention and read his take. Read this week’s and sign up for it here.________________________They discuss why workplace conflicts escalate when managers and HR avoid difficult conversations; how facilitated workplace conflict resolution differs from legal mediation and arbitration; when complaints involving harassment or discrimination belong with legal counsel instead of a facilitated conversation; how employers in Europe and Asia already use neutral facilitators to get ahead of employee disputes; running separate one-on-ones that let employees vent, feel heard, and see the impact on their team; the forward-looking question that turns a joint session into brainstorming instead of relitigating the past; modeling active listening and gently redirecting "always" and "never" language; why voluntary participation and employee buy-in drive lasting results; drafting a written agreement with specific, measurable behavioral commitments the employees create themselves; scheduling 30-day follow-ups and deciding upfront whether broken commitments carry consequences; how a documented reset supports progressive discipline without limiting the employer’s right to manage performance; what to do when the process ends in an impasse; and prioritizing facilitated resets for high-value, hard-to-replace employees so HR doesn’t become a full-time referee. For HR teams who discuss this podcast in their team meetings, we’ve created a discussion starter PDF to help guide your conversation. Download it here https://goodmorninghr.com/EP275 Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—Bulletproof Background Checks. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com. If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for half a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com. About our Guest:Amy S. McDowell and Sasha Vaikhman are the co-founders of Inquiring Minds, a Houston practice providing workplace investigations, early employee conflict resolution, and HR training. Between them they have practiced more than 50 years as employment lawyers, much of it in-house in the energy sector - Amy at what was once Marathon Oil (now ConocoPhillips), and Sasha at Grizzly. Both are past Presidents of the American Petroleum Labor Lawyers Association (APLLA). Amy has spent over 25 years on sensitive workplace matters, from two-person disputes to large-scale investigations, and employers rely on her for findings that are thorough, fair, and defensible. Sasha brings nearly 25 years of legal experience, the last three of them in independent practice as a workplace investigator, alongside her separate litigation mediation practice at MediationMaven.com. The combination lets her approach conflict with rigor and empathy both. Together they’re a good balance. Amy is a soft-spoken diplomat; Sasha is tenacious, with an infectious laugh. Their company mascot is an octopus, because the octopus is a brilliant and creative problem solver (and modest). They don’t take themselves too seriously - just the work. Amy and Sasha can be reached at https://www.iminvestigations.com, https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-mcdowell-8b3815124/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/sasha-vaikhman-b08650101/ About Mike Coffey:Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher. In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make better people decisions. Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, hundreds more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies. Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business’ small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association. Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas’ 30 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee. Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teaches multiple times each week. Mike and his very patient wife of 29 years are empty nesters in Fort Worth. Learning Objectives:1.    Distinguish interpersonal workplace conflicts suited to facilitated resolution from complaints involving harassment, discrimination, or other potential legal claims that require counsel or an investigation.2.    Conduct one-on-one sessions that help employees feel heard and recognize how a conflict is affecting their team.3.    Facilitate a joint session using forward-looking questions so employees generate and own their solutions.4.    Draft a written conflict resolution agreement with specific, measurable behavioral commitments and scheduled follow-up.5.    Prioritize which workplace conflicts justify the time investment of a facilitated reset, including those involving high-value or hard-to-replace employees.

In episode 274, Coffey talks with Matt Taylor about how employers can use the data already sitting in their HR and payroll systems to reduce turnover, manage risk, and make better decisions.They discuss how HRIS platforms, automation, and AI have made workforce analytics accessible to employers with as few as 25 employees; the compliance failures and costly employee turnover that most often convince business owners to start tracking people metrics; overlooked data in HRIS, payroll, and applicant tracking systems such as turnover by manager, PIP completion rates, and overtime trends; why inconsistent data entry undermines HR technology and the value of implementing systems with the end in mind; choosing the workforce metrics and KPIs that actually move the needle for a specific industry and workforce; structured 90-day onboarding goals and daily new hire check-ins as early indicators of engagement and quality of hire; how job description creep and remote work weaken employee connection and drive voluntary turnover; using knockout questions and applicant self-selection to improve quality of hire and reduce interview time; why one-on-one leadership conversations often yield more insight than employee engagement surveys; net promoter scores, values-based peer recognition, and EOS quarterly meetings that connect employees to company vision; and where AI agents can safely automate operational tasks and where human review remains essential for compliance and bias.For HR teams who discuss this podcast in their team meetings, we’ve created a discussion starter PDF to help guide your conversation. Download it here https://goodmorninghr.com/EP274Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—Bulletproof Background Checks. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com.If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for half a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com.About our Guest:Matt Taylor is President & CEO of Guardian HR, a people-first HR, payroll, and compliance partner that helps businesses simplify workforce management through expert guidance, employment law support, compliance services and integrated payroll solutions. Under his leadership, Guardian HR has helped organizations nationwide navigate the increasingly complex challenges of managing and supporting today’s workforce.With more than 20 years of experience in human resources and workforce management, Matt works closely with business owners, executives, and HR leaders on issues ranging from employment law compliance and employee relations to benefits strategy, payroll operations, and organizational growth.Matt can be reached at https://guardianhr.com/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewtaylorhr/About Mike Coffey:Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher.In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make better people decisions.Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, hundreds more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies.Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business’ small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association.Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas’ 30 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee.Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teaches multiple times each week.Mike and his very patient wife of 29 years are empty nesters in Fort Worth.Learning Objectives:1.    Identify workforce metrics already available in HRIS, payroll, and applicant tracking systems that reveal turnover, performance, and compliance risk.2.    Select people metrics and KPIs tied to organizational objectives rather than collecting data without a defined purpose.3.    Design onboarding goals and check-ins that produce early, measurable indicators of new hire engagement and quality of hire.4.    Compare employee engagement surveys with direct leadership conversations as sources of reliable workforce insight.5.    Determine which tasks AI agents can automate safely and where human review must remain in place to manage compliance and bias risk.

In episode 273, Coffey talks with Karissa Pfeffer about how perimenopause and menopause quietly drive attrition among experienced women and what employers can do to recognize, support, and retain them. – HRSOUTHWEST October 11-13, 2026 –Good Morning, HR listeners can use the promo code 2026-CoffeyGMHR-100 to save $100 on an HRSouthwest full conference registration at https://hrsouthwest.com! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They discuss Karissa’s path from corporate finance at Rocket Mortgage to workplace menopause consulting after mistaking her own symptoms for burnout; the difference between perimenopause and menopause, typical onset ages, and surgical or chemically induced menopause; perimenopause symptoms like brain fog, poor word retrieval, fatigue, and hot flashes that undermine on-the-job performance; why managers misread perimenopause as burnout, disengagement, or declining performance in strong employees; the recognize, respond, refer framework that keeps managers supportive without diagnosing employees; how existing health plans, EAPs, and menopause benefit vendors often already cover what employees need; menopause accommodation laws and executive orders emerging in Illinois, Washington, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and the United Kingdom; the replacement cost of losing senior women leaders and why menopause support is a retention strategy rather than a wellness perk; using attrition data for women aged 35 to 55 to measure hidden workforce risk; low-cost first steps including ERG subgroups, manager training, and prescription coverage reviews for hormonal and non-hormonal therapies; and how the flawed 2002 Women’s Health Initiative study fueled two decades of fear about hormone replacement therapy. For HR teams who discuss this podcast in their team meetings, we’ve created a discussion starter PDF to help guide your conversation. Download it here https://goodmorninghr.com/EP273 Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—Bulletproof Background Checks. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com. If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for half a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com. About our Guest:Karissa Pfeffer is a Workforce Menopause Consultant, Speaker, and Founder of Perimenopause Power. Drawing on more than 15 years in the finance industry, including seven years at Rocket Mortgage, she brings a business and financial lens to an often-overlooked workforce issue. Karissa helps organizations understand how perimenopause and menopause can affect retention, productivity, performance, and benefits utilization, translating women’s health challenges into measurable business impact. Her evidence-based programs equip employers with practical strategies to better support employees while strengthening workforce outcomes. Karissa has presented for organizations and professional audiences including the University of Michigan Workplace Mental Health Summit, the State of Michigan, and the National Association of Women in Construction. Karissa can be reached atWebsite: www.perimenopause-power.comEmail: [email protected]: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karissa-pfeffer/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perimenopausepower/ About Mike Coffey:Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher. In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make better people decisions. Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, hundreds more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies. Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business’ small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association. Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas’ 30 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee. Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teaches multiple times each week. Mike and his very patient wife of 29 years are empty nesters in Fort Worth. Learning Objectives: 1.    Distinguish perimenopause from menopause and identify symptoms commonly mistaken for burnout, anxiety, or disengagement.2.    Apply the recognize, respond, refer framework to support struggling employees without attempting to diagnose them.3.    Analyze attrition data for women aged 35 to 55 to estimate the organization’s menopause-related retention risk.4.    Evaluate existing health plan, EAP, and prescription benefits for gaps in hormonal and non-hormonal menopause treatment coverage.5.    Monitor emerging state menopause accommodation laws that may affect single-state and multistate employers.