For HRuprise, 2021 was a grand experiment, with HUGE discoveries.
Written by HRuprise founder, Rebecca Weaver.
Well, friends, it was a hell of a year.
Again.
As I look back, I’m reflecting on not just one, but two years and all that we’ve learned since our lives and careers were hijacked by a deadly disease.
The verdict is in: employees are done with being treated like productivity robots. Life is just too damn short.
Covid fundamentally changed our relationship to our jobs, and laid bare the dehumanizing nature of the status quo.
We learned that long freeway commutes, rigid 9-6 workdays, and in-person supervision have never been necessary for productivity, and in fact often hinder it.
We learned that organizations and whole sectors in which we’ve built our careers can be decimated overnight, and that we should be wary of attaching our life’s meaning to our careers, especially when those careers come without a sufficient safety net.
We learned that applauding frontline workers for being “essential” is mere lip service, and that what these employees actually deserve is good pay, reasonable hours, respect, and the material conditions to make their work lives sustainable.
For many of us, Covid reminded us that we want meaning in our work, and want to be supported as humans while we do it.
This includes being supported in our disability, parenthood, racial & gender identity, and family life.
It also includes being supported in our career goals, without those being seen as a threat to the company.
After two years living with an airborne virus that has killed nearly a million Americans and disabled countless more, we all want to make sure that we’re devoting our lives to work that means something to us, for companies that see us as more than just a job description.
There’s never been a more important time for the message of HRuprise. And I’ve never felt so driven to make change in the world of work.
In 2021, finished with cancer treatment and revving with new ideas and new urgency, I dove back into HRuprise and began experimenting with programs and collaborations to respond to the massive cultural shift happening in American employment.
Experiment #1: HRuprise Coaching
The first experiment began in January 2021, on the one-year anniversary of my cancer diagnosis, when I invited the first coaches to join the HRuprise Coaching Platform.
Since then, more than 80 coaches have joined me in this unprecedented initiative to level the playing field at work by offering independent HR advice directly to employees.
Freeing HR from company oversight has proven an appealing concept to our audience, but it still remains to be seen whether individual employees will pay for this type of coaching on a broad scale.
Employers, however, are increasingly seeing the value of independent HR.
Companies by and large are searching for practical ways to create healthier work environments, and in 2021 many of them turned to HRuprise Coaches to help them get there.
As La’Kita Williams said on a recent podcast episode, small and emerging businesses are leading the way in transforming workplace cultures.
I saw this truth in action this year, as numerous startups and small companies reached out to ask if they could hire an independent HRuprise coach for their employees.
These employers understand that unequal power dynamics often prevent employees from speaking directly to their bosses about sensitive concerns. They want to keep employees safe, even if it means conceding a little power.
I say, more power to them! ✊🏻✊🏽✊🏿
This leads me to…
Experiment #2: HRuprise Business Consulting
Businesses are hungry to make their work environments better, more inclusive, and more people-centered. But they have no existing structures or systems to help them do that.
This is where HRuprise comes in.
In 2021, we created several services geared towards businesses, including:
86 Harassment, a support network and resource bank for food & beverage industry leaders seeking new practices, templates and tools to eradicate harassment in their workplaces.
This led to our partnership with Brave Noise, a global “collab brew” that gives consumers and breweries a tangible way to stand in solidarity with women, LGBTQ and BIPOC brewers facing harassment in the industry.
HR for HR, a mentorship service designed to support green HR professionals and managers taking on HR duties for the first time.
HRuprise for Business, an independent HR service for businesses that are too small to need a full-time HR person, but still need employee relations support for their employees.
Business consulting has proven to be the area with the most momentum and urgency in 2021.
Employers are playing defense right now, trying to retain their current employees while appealing to prospective ones.
And most employers genuinely want their employees to be happy at work, to feel well compensated, respected, fulfilled and free from harm.
HRuprise is helping them figure out how.
Experiment #3 - HRuprise Media
In 2021 we committed to regularly putting out content-rich written and recorded media for our audience, under the umbrella of HRuprise Media.
In addition to our social media presence and my guest contributions on podcasts and in print, we fired up the HRuprise Blog, developed a series of webinars, and hosted fireside chats on hot-button topics with thought leaders like Coonoor Behal and Jules Gill-Peterson.
And, we finally launched a personal dream of mine, the Problem Performers Podcast.
I've dreamed of hosting an HRuprise podcast for at least two years – almost as long as I've been dreaming up HRuprise itself.
I'm personally an avid podcast listener and a frequent podcast guest. But I really wanted a space (and mic) of my own, where I could have candid conversations with badass experts about everything HRuprise stands for.
So far we've tackled:
Paid leave and working momdom w/Lauren Brody Smith
Inclusive company cultures w/La’Kita Williams
Neurodivergence in the workplace w/Nickolett Hocking
The human face of HR w/Kristina Minyard and Jazmine Wilkes
Benefits as an equity issue w/Cassandra Rose
Sexism in the beer industry w/Ash Eliot
The ethical pitfalls of performance improvement plans w/Chris Rutter
Truthfully, it's been a bit scary to launch my literal voice into the webosphere like this.
But I've always felt that most things worth doing are at least a little scary.
So for our first episode, I went solo to talk about why I'm doing this scary thing, and why I'm calling it Problem Performers.
I even told a personal story I've never shared publicly before, about my rude awakening, as an early-career HR pro, to the built-in inequities of my chosen field.
In upcoming episodes we'll be tackling mental health, layoffs, LGBTQ workplace issues, and more, with a roster of impressive guests who are innovating new, people-centered ways of thinking about work.
What’s next in 2022?
If 2021 was a year of experimentation, 2022 is shaping up to be a year of focus. Specifically, we’ll be focusing our energies on business consultation and HRuprise Media.
HRuprise Flexible HR
We’re consolidating everything we’ve learned from 86 Harassment, HR for HR, and HRuprise for Business into a single streamlined offering geared towards small to midsize businesses without in-house HR.
Our incredible HRuprise Coaches are in growing demand, as small businesses recognize the huge value of providing their employees with quality HR without having to hire a full-time HR pro of their own. We’re building a community of business leaders who are committed to building inclusive company cultures from the ground up.
And our custom templates and best practices for anti-harassment training, employee code of conduct, equity & inclusion, and allyship tactics are proving indispensable to employers who are eager to lead the way in a new era of transparency and accountability.
Stay tuned for a multi-tiered business offering, with free and paid memberships, designed for businesses that want to lead in the solution rather than be part of the problem.
HRuprise Media
We will continue to grow the podcast, social media, and blog, as well as launch regular webinars on topical HR issues. We’re developing a library of customizable templates, policies, and guides for businesses and individuals navigating sensitive HR concerns.
As we develop HRuprise Media into a dynamic content resource, we’d love to hear from you about what you’d most like to see! Engage with us on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook, or just drop us an email with your thoughts.
Would you benefit from a webinar series on how businesses can cultivate diversity without falling into tokenism?
Or a series of written guides on how to approach layoffs with compassion and fairness?
Something else?
Tell us what would help you!
Thank you.
There are few of us out here on the cutting edge of the new HR…and the HRuprise Coaches are leaders among those visionary few. They are fighting the good fight in their own companies, while working with HRuprise to provide expert coaching to employees who need it most.
I want to sincerely thank the HRuprise Coaches for their faith in HRuprise, and for putting themselves out there as HR revolutionaries who want to change our profession from the roots on up.
Last but most definitely not least, I’m deeply encouraged by the support of fans and followers like you, who have responded to the HRuprise message and mission with a resounding YES.
YES, we should be able to do our jobs free from toxicity, harassment, and discrimination.
YES, we believe that inclusive company cultures are the way of the future.
YES, we need to blow up the status quo and create a new standard in which all employees can thrive at work.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for journeying with us as we navigate the uncharted waters of a new HR.
You are the reason I ever thought the HRuprise message could have traction in the first place, much less become a full-blown business, and my life’s work.
We wouldn’t be here without you!
In solidarity,
RW
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: REBECCA WEAVER
Rebecca Weaver is the Founder and CEO of HRuprise, a marketplace that connects people with HR coaches to help them grow, develop, and navigate their toughest workplace challenges. LEARN MORE
