The HR Life Podcast

EP 46 Retention, Troy Blanchard's Connections, and Ken Miles Got Jacked

1 h 26 min · 28. apr. 2026
episode EP 46 Retention, Troy Blanchard's Connections, and Ken Miles Got Jacked cover

Description

Steve and Tony talk international remote workers and retention methods with Troy Blanchard from ZConnect.  Steve talks about implementing COVID early and often.  Tony talks about Ford Verses Ferrari and how the bureaucracy so prominent in that movie was real... and was probably the fault of the CEO.  And finally, Tony introduces everybody to the "Slug Line" in DC.  Learn more about Troy Blanchard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trblanchard/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/trblanchard/] Learn more about Zconnect at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zconnect-global-outsourcing/posts/?feedView=all [https://www.linkedin.com/company/zconnect-global-outsourcing/posts/?feedView=all] or https://zconnect.biz/ [https://zconnect.biz/] Learn more about the Shingo Model at: https://shingo.org/shingo-model/ [https://shingo.org/shingo-model/] or at: https://huntsman.usu.edu/mba/shingo-online-mba [https://huntsman.usu.edu/mba/shingo-online-mba] Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/ [https://www.thegrangellc.com/] Learn more about Steven "Big Deal" Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/ [https://thehiringtreebook.com/] Learn more about the Books mentioned on the podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast [https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast] Learn more about MegastarHR at: https://www.megastarhr.com/ [https://www.megastarhr.com/] Learn more about Pucks for Autism at: https://www.pucksforautism.com/ [https://www.pucksforautism.com/]  Troy is the co-owner of ZConnect, a company that helps U.S. businesses scale by connecting them with highly qualified remote professionals across Latin America and other parts of the world.  With decades of experience in operations, leadership development, outsourcing, business development, sales, and strategic growth, Troy is passionate about helping companies solve complex business challenges, improve efficiency, and build strong cross-border teams. He enjoys bringing people together in a way that creates value for both the client and the professionals supporting them.  Through ZConnect, Troy helps companies grow more profitably by developing and integrating remote teams that support key business functions while allowing leaders to stay focused on growth, service, and long-term success.

Comments

0

Be the first to comment

Sign up now and become a member of the The HR Life Podcast community!

Get Started

1 month for 9 kr.

Then 99 kr. / month · Cancel anytime.

  • Podcasts kun på Podimo
  • 20 lydbogstimer pr. måned
  • Gratis podcasts

All episodes

59 episodes

episode EP 57 Careless Hiring, Skinwalker Ranch, and Britt Davies' Long Awaited Debut artwork

EP 57 Careless Hiring, Skinwalker Ranch, and Britt Davies' Long Awaited Debut

Britt Davies started her HR career before she graduated High School, and is most recently in the tech industry, which puts her right in the middle of the layoffs and AI anxiety everyone keeps talking about. She joins Tony and Steve for a real conversation this time, after her first appearance got lost to a technical glitch, and she comes with a historian's eye for how we got here. Britt walks through the shift from Peter Drucker's era of management theory to Jack Welch's forced ranking system in the 1980s, and makes the case that every major leap in technology, from the printing press to the steam engine, has followed the same pattern: fear first, then a new frontier nobody saw coming. She also gets personal about why AI matters to her beyond the workplace, and she doesn't hold back on what concerns her either. And what does Gallup's engagement data, now the lowest it has been since the pandemic, actually tell us about the people managing others, not just the people being managed? Britt has answers, and a few surprising ones. Stick around for how her idea of an annual girls trip involves Bigfoot, Skinwalker Ranch, and a paranormal conference most people have never heard of. Learn more about Britt Davies at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittdaviespeople/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittdaviespeople/] Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/ [https://www.thegrangellc.com/] Learn more about Steven "Big Deal" Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/ [https://thehiringtreebook.com/] Learn more about the Books mentioned on the podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast [https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast] Learn more about Dyno Outfitters at: https://www.utahviaferrata.com/ [https://www.utahviaferrata.com/] Learn more about MegastarHR at: https://www.megastarhr.com/ [https://www.megastarhr.com/] Learn more about Pucks for Autism at: https://www.pucksforautism.com/ [https://www.pucksforautism.com/] Learn more about Thrive Life Project at: https://www.thrivelifeproject.org/ [https://www.thrivelifeproject.org/] Ring doorbell sound effects provided by Britt.

14. juli 20261 h 24 min
episode EP 56 Where's My Ashtray, Hire Right Fire Fast, and the OceanGate Culture Collapse with Bryan McCurdy artwork

EP 56 Where's My Ashtray, Hire Right Fire Fast, and the OceanGate Culture Collapse with Bryan McCurdy

What does a foreman burning a coworker with a cigarette have to do with a submarine imploding two and a half miles under the Atlantic? On this episode, Tony and Steve sit down with Bryan McCurdy, HR Director at Hughes General Contractors, to find out. Bryan didn't set out to work in HR (nobody really does, apparently), but nearly twenty years later he's running people operations for a seventy-year-old, third-generation family construction company He explains why he failed a forty five minute personality test at Target during a Christmas hiring push, why the traditional job posting is broken, and why he'd rather hire for what someone is great at than spend forever trying to fix what they're bad at. The conversation gets even more interesting when the guys pull the OceanGate Titan disaster into the mix, using it as a gut punch example of what happens when leadership refuses to listen to the people warning them something is about to break. Learn more about Bryan McCurdy at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-mccurdy-shrm-cp-ab703630/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-mccurdy-shrm-cp-ab703630/] Recovery Friendly Workplace of Utah: https://rfwutah.org/ [https://rfwutah.org/] Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/ [https://www.thegrangellc.com/] Learn more about Steven "Big Deal" Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/ [https://thehiringtreebook.com/] Learn more about the Books mentioned on the podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast [https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast] Learn More about the Netflix film Titan at: https://www.netflix.com/title/81712178 [https://www.netflix.com/title/81712178] Learn more about Dyno Outfitters at: https://www.utahviaferrata.com/ [https://www.utahviaferrata.com/] Learn more about MegastarHR at: https://www.megastarhr.com/ [https://www.megastarhr.com/] Learn more about Pucks for Autism at: https://www.pucksforautism.com/ [https://www.pucksforautism.com/] Learn more about Thrive Life Project at: https://www.thrivelifeproject.org/ [https://www.thrivelifeproject.org/]

7. juli 20261 h 28 min
episode EP 55 Disrupting Benefit Management with Rhonda Nerenberg and Jacob Davis artwork

EP 55 Disrupting Benefit Management with Rhonda Nerenberg and Jacob Davis

The guys sit down with Rhonda and Jacob from Weltrio and talk maximizing effective use of benefits.  Rhonda and Jacob give the history of Weltrio and how they are helping companies manage their plans.  What would happen if you didn't have a group open enrollment meeting this year and instead sat down and had a personal conversation with every employee?  Why are HR people so afraid of change or rocking the boat?  The discussion also turns to the recent DisruptHR event in Salt Lake City and reviews that said only vendors and consultants were in attendance.  Learn more about the team at Weltrio at: https://www.weltrio.com/ [https://www.weltrio.com/] Find the Behind the Premium podcast at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3UMiw6juj5ZWZcuA9gm7eQ [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3UMiw6juj5ZWZcuA9gm7eQ] Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/ [https://www.thegrangellc.com/] Learn more about Steven "Big Deal" Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/ [https://thehiringtreebook.com/] Learn more about the Books mentioned on the podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast [https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast] Learn more about Dyno Outfitters at: https://www.utahviaferrata.com/ [https://www.utahviaferrata.com/] Learn more about MegastarHR at: https://www.megastarhr.com/ [https://www.megastarhr.com/] Learn more about Pucks for Autism at: https://www.pucksforautism.com/ [https://www.pucksforautism.com/] Tony's "Robot Voice" courtesy of The Internet.

30. juni 20261 h 22 min
episode EP 54 HR's Opportunity to Drive the AI Bus with Ryan Kohler and Fragments of Tony's Skull artwork

EP 54 HR's Opportunity to Drive the AI Bus with Ryan Kohler and Fragments of Tony's Skull

Ryan Kohler, founder of Applicant Pro, joins the guys and blows Tony's mind in the first minute of the podcast.  As Tony picks up pieces of his skull, Ryan unfolds the nature of AI, what it is really capable of, and the opportunity HR has to drive the AI bus in American business.  In this episode you'll learn the real impact AI will have on your company, what job searches will look like in the future, the future of purchasing software, and what the dramatic reduction in intelligence costs means for your future.  The Hosts of this podcast are not responsible for any minds of listeners that short-circuit or get blown after listening to its content.  Listeners are encouraged to consume in moderation.  Learn more about Ryan Kohler at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ai4teams/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ai4teams/] Get Ryan Kohler's book at: https://www.amazon.com/Bus-Has-Driver-Authority-Organization/dp/1968164340/ref=sr_1_1?crid=10DQ2SZWEJW0Y&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.HBMjj0_WMtAuITo6NoZubnbSY4PBM_MMAF4FIEieekc.LmaNxcI9u35RwsVMYvL9idcFPkA_bIweMG-ih76EMHI&dib_tag=se&keywords=ryan+kohler+bus&qid=1782224946&sprefix=ryan+kohler+bus%2Caps%2C213&sr=8-1 [https://www.amazon.com/Bus-Has-Driver-Authority-Organization/dp/1968164340/ref=sr_1_1?crid=10DQ2SZWEJW0Y&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.HBMjj0_WMtAuITo6NoZubnbSY4PBM_MMAF4FIEieekc.LmaNxcI9u35RwsVMYvL9idcFPkA_bIweMG-ih76EMHI&dib_tag=se&keywords=ryan+kohler+bus&qid=1782224946&sprefix=ryan+kohler+bus%2Caps%2C213&sr=8-1] Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/ [https://www.thegrangellc.com/] Learn more about Steven "Big Deal" Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/ [https://thehiringtreebook.com/] Learn more about the Books mentioned on the podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast [https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast] Learn more about Dyno Outfitters at: https://www.utahviaferrata.com/ [https://www.utahviaferrata.com/] Learn more about MegastarHR at: https://www.megastarhr.com/ [https://www.megastarhr.com/] Learn more about Pucks for Autism at: https://www.pucksforautism.com/ [https://www.pucksforautism.com/]

23. juni 20261 h 14 min
episode EP 53 Joe Tate Music, Japan, and the Power of Presentations artwork

EP 53 Joe Tate Music, Japan, and the Power of Presentations

Joe Tate got into HR because his handwriting was better than the other guy's. He left one of his biggest roles because he refused to let his HRIS manager take the fall for a company-wide data breach. And somewhere in between, he built Boost HR, mentored hundreds of professionals through his six-week HR essentials course, and took a ski trip to Japan that ended up reshaping the way he thinks about people, culture, and the kind of workplace we all say we want but rarely build. Tony, Steve, and Joe cover a lot of territory in this one: why getting HR a seat at the table with the CFO is still a fight worth having, what promotion from within actually looks like when you celebrate it the way it deserves to be celebrated, and why live training is making a comeback that should have you rethinking your next all-hands. What can a heated bidet seat at 2 a.m. teach you about the employee experience? Listen and find out!    Learn more about Joe Tate at: https://boostrecruits.com/ [https://boostrecruits.com/] and https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-tate-a92b02/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-tate-a92b02/] Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/ [https://www.thegrangellc.com/] Learn more about Steven "Big Deal" Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/ [https://thehiringtreebook.com/] Learn more about the Books mentioned on the podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast [https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast] Learn more about Dyno Outfitters at: https://www.utahviaferrata.com/ [https://www.utahviaferrata.com/] Learn more about MegastarHR at: https://www.megastarhr.com/ [https://www.megastarhr.com/] Learn more about Pucks for Autism at: https://www.pucksforautism.com/ [https://www.pucksforautism.com/] Voice audio distortion courtesy of The Internet.   Joe Tate is a regionally renowned speaker, trainer, and source for HR compliance information.  After serving more than 1,000 clients with his company, Boost HR, he knows what he's talking about.

16. juni 20261 h 16 min