Podcast

HR Problem Solvers is a podcast for business owners, CEO’s, or any other professionals given the task of solving their company’s HR issues. The podcast is hosted by Mark Mitford, Managing Director of HR Catalyst Consulting. HR Catalyst provides proven HR solutions and people strategies to drive business success.

The Purpose of Employee Development

The Purpose of Employee Development

Employee development may be more important than ever in today’s changing job market. Employee development is mutually beneficial for both employees and businesses as employees improve existing competencies and develop new skills while supporting the goals of business and filling skill gaps.

Putting Culture at the Center

Putting Culture at the Center

Let’s don’t make things more complicated than they really are. Having a great company culture can actually be rooted in the basics and made to be pretty simple. Today, we are looking at some of the foundational elements of a great culture that every organization should have at their center.

Leveraging Employee Strengths

Leveraging Employee Strengths

In today’s episode, we look at what would happen if we as organizational leaders, begin to reshuffle the tasks within job descriptions to match up to everybody’s giftings/genius?

The 5 R’s of HR

The 5 R’s of HR

In this episode, we are discussing the People Equation and the 5 R’s of HR in relation to the employee life cycle.

Having a Focused Leadership Strategy

Having a Focused Leadership Strategy

Today we are talking about what it looks like to have a healthy leadership strategy in your organization. Leading through influence – not authority which creates a healthy culture for growing leaders.

Leadership Success Tools

Leadership Success Tools

Most people are not born a great leader. They have to grow into it with time, effort, development and training. Today, we discuss some key areas of developing leadership tools that can take you to the next level.

Using Behavioral Assessments to Hire Great Talent

Using Behavioral Assessments to Hire Great Talent

Today we are looking at using behavioral assessments for more successful hiring outcomes. When evaluating candidates, hiring teams tend to focus on hard skills like computer proficiency or technical aptitudes, but even a highly qualified candidate can be wrong for a job if they lack the right soft skills such as emotional intelligence, collaboration and problem-solving.

Strategic Hiring: Mastering Recruitment

Strategic Hiring: Mastering Recruitment

There is a lot of talk about the changes that have taken place in the job market over the past few years, but how is that affecting the search for talent and what should a good recruiting process look like? We are looking at the current job market and the importance of having a strategic, repeatable, and scalable process to get the right talent in your organization.

Leadership The New Way

Leadership The New Way

We know there has been a shift in the world of work which means there also needs to be a shift in how leadership is responding and leading. Employees have shifted from wanting a boss to really wanting a coach, from focusing on their weaknesses to focusing on their strengths, from prioritizing the paycheck to prioritizing purpose.

Building Company Culture

Building Company Culture

In this episode, we are talking about how to build a great company culture. You may have heard the saying “Culture is King.” Having a great culture gives your company a solid foundation for success in all other areas.

Talent Management Tips

Talent Management Tips

Talent management when done well leads to a high performing workforce by attracting, selecting, developing, promoting and retaining the right employees to lead your company to success. This processes continues throughout the employee life cycle. Get some great tips here on building your talent management strategy as we talk with Talent Management expert, Julie Chance.

Perfecting Performance Management

Perfecting Performance Management

Have you been thinking you need to polish up your performance management process or maybe you need to implement one for the first time? Either way you are going to be equipped with great information and pointers on what it takes to have an effective performance managment process at your company as we talk with performance managment expert Kay Nadel.

Employee Engagement Strategy

Employee Engagement Strategy

We are talking with employee engagement expert, Tom Horne today and taking an in depth look at all things employee engagement. What it is, what it is not, how to get it, how it changes, how to get a good read on it at your company and more.

Taking a Look at Leadership Development

Taking a Look at Leadership Development

Today, we take an indepth look at Leadership Develepment and the importance of strong leaders building strong teams to carry your business forward. Good leadership makes a huge difference in the workplace as it improves morale, increase employee retention and employee engagement and raises productivity. Everyone can learn how to lead more effectively and impact those around them and those they are responsible for leading. Some may be natural-born leaders, but most people need training and development to hone these skills and there is always room for growth.

Strategic Planning – How it Benefits Your Business

Strategic Planning – How it Benefits Your Business

Strategic Planning helps you look ahead and define where you want to be three to five years in the future and then you can understand the steps that you need to take today in order to achieve your goals. So many businesses and business owners operate day-to-day without thinking about what the future holds. Strategic planning is taking a step back from working in your business and clarifying where you want to go with your business. Because once you have a clear direction then you can communicate that direction to your employees, then everybody can help row the boat in the same direction. Strategic Planning is the basis of growing your business and defining your course going forward. Figure out where you are going and then drive with intent to get there!

Compensation Strategy

Compensation Strategy

Today we discuss the basics of compensation that every business owner needs to know. We are talking with David Garza, Sr. Principal at HR Catalyst on the key components to build a compensation strategy, why you need to make sure you are paying competitively against the external market, and finally how you integrate this into your overall HR strategy.

The Basics of HR for Small Business

The Basics of HR for Small Business

Here we cover some of the basics of HR that can have a huge impact on the operation of your company and are many times overlooked when businesses are trying to keep up with the day to day business. You will get a better understanding of how to cover your HR basics and set your company up for success.

The Hidden Cost of Small Business HR Mistakes

The Hidden Cost of Small Business HR Mistakes

HR mistakes can cost small and middle market businesses both time and money. These unintentional missteps arise when small business owners and management teams unknowingly stray from HR best practices and processes. In this episode, we discuss ten oversights that are some of the most commonplace small business HR mistakes.

Fix Your Compensation Challenges

Fix Your Compensation Challenges


All companies are experiencing compensation challenges as they struggle to retain talent in a jobseeker’s market. Get answers to many of the questions business leaders are struggling with going into next year’s salary planning cycle through this recording of our recent “Fix Your Compensation Challenges” webinar. For the video version of this webinar go to our YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_DZbLlso1k

Fix Your Compensation Challenges

Having Grit – An Important Leadership Attribute


Some people naturally have grit and others have to develop it themselves, but everyone needs it! Grit is the ability to keep going when the going gets tough. The ability to succeed in the face of adversity. Grit is a recipe and foundation for success. Here we discuss a few tips on how you can add grit to your list of character attributes!

Fix Your Compensation Challenges

Specifics on How to Increase Employee Retention


Employee retention is something that is top of mind today. Everyone knows that spending a little time on employee retention can save the company alot of time in hiring and training new employees, but how exactly do you go about retaining your employees when so many seem to be seeking other opportunities? Here we discuss several simple and specific ideas that can be easily implemented and make a big difference in retention.

Fix Your Compensation Challenges

Taking a Look at the Great Resignation


We all know about the great resignation. What are the factors driving it and how are both employees and employers responding? Today we take a look at some of the many aspects of the resignation, what is happening in the labor market and how the war for talent is leading to changes in the workplace.

Fix Your Compensation Challenges

Developing Resilience

Today we are talking about developing resiliency versus putting your head in the sand. How do we problem solve and learn from our mistakes so that we don’t continue to use the same type of thinking that led us to the problem in the first place? We have to always keep growing and keep developing as we work to be better 6 months down the road or 3 years down the road. Managing our emotions and leading by example when things get tough is critical for everyone especially those in leadership roles.

Fix Your Compensation Challenges

Building a Core HR Strategy

Where do you start when you are building Foundational HR Strategy for a new or growing organization? Today we dive into many areas to consider when building a strong HR strategy that will carry your business forward and allow it to compete in today’s marketplace for hiring and retaining employees which ultimately leads to success and profitability. We discuss ideas around embedding your core values, mission and culture into all the company’s programs and strategies. The subject matter is a great overview on HR Strategy from an HR expert’s perspective.

Fix Your Compensation Challenges

Build a Winning Team in Your Business

The 7 C’s strategy helps us simplify the process necessary to creating that team we all need to make our business successful. Here we look at the process as put forth in the book You win in the Locker Room First by Mike Smith former coach of the Atlanta Falcons. It’s a great plan to build a winning team in business, sports and life .

Fix Your Compensation Challenges

Job Flexibility is King

Flexibility has become one of the main things people are looking for in their job. It is interesting that multiple polls are showing that flexibility is ranked above higher pay, more time off, and feeling comfortable in job security.

Fix Your Compensation Challenges

One On One Meetings and The Power of Conversation

Holding regularly scheduled one-on-one meetings isn’t just a nice to have management practice. It is an essential component of effective leadership and a key to getting the right results from those that you lead. It is the best way to establish accountable relationships between yourself and your employee and an important tool at the leader’s disposal to influence others.

Fix Your Compensation Challenges

Things to Consider When Pivoting Your Business

Pivoting your business means fundementally changing the direction of your business when you realize your products or services aren’t meeting the needs of the market. The main goal of pivoting is to help improve company revenue or survive in the market place. There are several reasons you might need to pivot your business and we discuss some of them here.

Fix Your Compensation Challenges

Leadership the “Radical Candor” Way

Here we discuss the model that is followed in the book Radical Candor by Kim Scott. The book is really focused on 2 basic concepts of leadership: 1) caring personally for your employees as individuals and, 2) challenging your employees directly. Radical Candor has become one of my favorite books and I most recently did a leadership series for a client and used this book as the foundation for the program.

Fix Your Compensation Challenges

Succession Planning – Why Every Company Needs It

Think of succession planning as having a 2nd string quarterback in the wings. No matter the size of your company, you need to have a succession plan. Here we look at the reasons for having a succession plan and how to implement one. Not having a plan in place could be a huge deficiency in your organization.

We Help Companies Like Yours Move to the Next Level

You don't need to feel constantly frustrated with your HR issues or waste time, money, and energy trying to do it all yourself. Work with us instead to get past those hurdles and move forward growing your business.