Three Questions That Fix the HR-Finance Gap

Three Questions That Fix the HR-Finance Gap

RyanMae McAvoy has worked with the same finance leader at Blackthorne for four years. They don't fight over budgets. They co-build them. In this conversation, she shares the exact approach she used to build that relationship, starting with three questions every HR leader should ask their finance partner. In this episode: * The three questions RyanMae asks every department leader to understand their priorities * Why framing a comp tool purchase as an EBITDA play changes the conversation * How Blackthorne uses time as currency when measuring the real cost of turnover * The "drop everything" framework for knowing when to break your own rules * Why unlimited PTO without a minimum requirement is a red flag * How putting therapy on your public calendar sets the tone for your whole company * What happens when HR has to stand up and deliver bad news about budget cuts This episode is for people leaders who know they need a better relationship with finance but aren't sure where to start. Episode Chapters: * 00:00 | Meet RyanMae McAvoy * 03:35 | The remote vs. office debate nobody wins * 05:38 | Why HR and EBITDA feel like different languages * 07:40 | Should HR ever report to finance? * 11:49 | Three questions that change your budget conversations * 13:07 | Time as currency and the four-year finance partnership * 15:32 | Comp philosophy in the most expensive US market * 17:41 | Quiet Fridays and why unlimited PTO is overrated * 18:58 | How to learn the business * 25:07 | The "drop everything" framework for distributed teams * 26:23 | Putting therapy on your public calendar * 32:11 | When budget cuts happen, HR can't stand alone * 35:17 | Fair vs. equitable in global compensation * 35:17 | Data can tell any story you want Connect with RyanMae McAvoy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rm80920/ 🎙️ Pulse by HRBench. Practical people analytics for HR leaders who tie their work to business outcomes. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.

Silence Turned a Firing Into a $52M Verdict

A $52 million whistleblower verdict in LA. Six years of litigation. Attorney's fees not added yet. Susanne Kleveros, founder of Don't Tell HR, joins Pulse by HRBench to unpack why employee relations just exploded, why silence after a termination is the clearest signal a lawsuit is coming, and how HR leaders at fast-paced companies can handle the hardest conversations in a way that protects both the business and the people in the room. In this episode: * Why employee relations cases tripled at many companies in the last year * The $52 million LA whistleblower verdict every HR leader should know about * How employment councils are tightening what counts as a valid policy acknowledgment * Why silence after a termination almost always means a demand letter is coming * The severance-offer mistake that invites the escalation you were trying to avoid * How to support managers through the emotional weight of investigations and firings * Why HR should be trained like salespeople on open-ended questions For HR leaders at PE-backed and mid-market companies navigating more sensitive situations than ever. Episode Chapters: * 00:00 | Why employee relations just exploded * 04:22 | Meet Susanne and Don't Tell HR * 06:28 | Where companies underfund the highest-risk HR work * 07:59 | The $52M verdict that started six years earlier * 08:36 | Policy acknowledgments that hold up in court * 10:42 | Adapt to AI. Don't just adopt it. * 12:59 | Recording laws and termination video calls * 13:40 | Employees are ambassadors for life * 17:30 | Bill Walsh and scripting hard conversations * 17:56 | Silence escalates emotion * 22:04 | How managers change after an investigation * 27:22 | Vicarious trauma and HR's emotional load * 29:20 | Train HR like salespeople, not interrogators * 31:13 | The post-mortem every HR leader should run * 34:53 | The story behind "Don't Tell HR" 🎙️ Pulse by HRBench. Practical people analytics for HR leaders who tie their work to business outcomes. New episodes every week. Connect with Susanne and Don't Tell HR on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanne-kleveros-914b7a71/ Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.

Results Don't Happen. They're Designed. w/ Dr. Tim Williams

Results don't just happen. They're designed. Dr. Tim Williams spent his career at P&G turning that idea into operating systems that HR leaders can actually run. He joins Pulse by HRBench to unpack what changes when HR treats outcomes like engineers treat problems. In this episode: * Why most HR leaders are managing, not leading, and how to flip that * The organizational design framework behind culture and performance * The P&G Brockville safety story: why they rehired the workers they fired * How to plan for where your org needs to be, not where it is * Why finance isn't the gatekeeper to funding your programs * How to tie HR work to productivity, attrition, and bottom-line results * The BE, BECOME, and ACT model for career transitions Episode Chapters: * 00:00 | Introduction: Tim's engineering roots and the science of HR * 03:42 | The rain analogy: every result has a process behind it * 05:17 | Why Tim's team is built from operators, not HR-only backgrounds * 07:38 | The shift from administrative to strategic HR * 08:25 | Making the decision to lead * 10:42 | Manager vs. leader: handling resources vs. envisioning outcomes * 12:05 | The 80 vs. 120 mph car: plan for what you need, not what you have * 15:55 | Organizational design produces culture, culture produces results * 18:06 | Where HR leaders should start pulling the thread * 21:17 | P&G Brockville: the safety turnaround story * 24:35 | People do what they value, not what you tell them * 25:42 | Funding your programs: influence beats finance * 29:21 | HR metrics are not soft. Productivity, attrition, and performance * 31:55 | Determining your BE, BECOME, and ACT For HR leaders at PE-backed and mid-market companies who want to move from administrative work to strategic influence. Connect with Tim Williams on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothywilliamssr/ Connect with Organization: https://orgtransformgroup.com/ 🎙️ Pulse by HRBench. Practical people analytics for HR leaders who tie their work to business outcomes.

The HR AI Playbook Nobody's Talking About: Automate Before You AI

Everyone's being told to "use AI." But most HR teams don't have a flight plan, a pilot, or even a destination. In this episode of Pulse by HRBench, we sit down with Kristin McDonald and Dani Woods, two seasoned HRIS and HR tech leaders, to talk about what AI adoption looks like inside HR departments today. They get into the real challenges: why AI tools still can't handle system-specific work like Workday configurations, how to measure AI impact beyond headcount reduction, and why automation should come before AI in most cases. Kristin and Dani share what's working in their day-to-day, where they've seen AI fall short, and how HR professionals can future-proof their careers without freezing up. If you're an HR leader trying to figure out where AI fits without blowing up your processes, this one's for you. Topics we covered: * Leading AI without a roadmap * Measuring AI ROI beyond headcount * Practical ways to start with AI today * Career advice for HRIS professionals * Why "exposure therapy" might be the best AI adoption framework Episode Chapters: * 00:00 | Meet Kristin and Dani: HR tech nerds and proud of it * 01:37 | Leading AI when there is no roadmap * 03:01 | Where AI actually helps (and where it completely falls short) * 04:20 | Co-Pilot, ChatGPT, and Mando: tools HR teams are actually using * 06:44 | How to measure AI impact beyond headcount * 08:55 | Mapping workflows before layering on AI * 10:35 | Why SaaS workflows were already hard before AI entered the picture * 11:47 | Practical ways HR leaders can start using AI today * 15:10 | "Are you going to take my job?" Managing AI fear in your team * 16:40 | Career advice: which HRIS skills are future-proof * 19:42 | Exposure therapy for AI: just start playing with it * 21:15 | One thing HR leaders should remember about AI in 2026 🎙 Pulse by hrbench.com Connect with Kristin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinmcdonald1/ Connect with Dani on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellejwoods/

How FirstKey Homes Turned HR Data Into Manager Coaching, and Built Credibility Across the Business

John Youngkrantz, Payroll & HRIS Manager at FirstKey Homes, spent years watching HR hand managers spreadsheets and call it reporting. On this episode, he breaks down exactly how his team changed that — building dashboards that give HR business partners real turnover trends, open rec data, and headcount context to bring into manager walkthroughs across 29 markets and 16 districts nationwide. John also walks through how HRBench became the single source of truth that finally got HR and Finance in the same room — and what that's done for HR's credibility across the business. In this episode: * Why headcount definitions cause conflict between HR and Finance — and how to fix it * The 3 metrics every HRBP should bring into manager walkthroughs * How to use trend data to coach managers instead of overwhelming them * What changed when HR stopped being the report-on-request team * The next frontier: actuals vs. forecast inside HRBench If your HR team is still building reports in Excel and hoping managers figure out what to do with the numbers, this episode is for you. Episode Chapters * 00:00 | Introduction: Meet John Youngkrantz, FirstKey Homes * 03:07 | Why HR-Finance alignment matters in budgeting season * 04:29 | Building a single source of truth with HRBench * 05:34 | How headcount definitions create conflict between HR and Finance * 06:46 | What changed this planning cycle vs. previous years * 08:42 | The next step: pulling finance forecasts into HRBench * 09:14 | Building manager coaching dashboards from scratch * 10:32 | How HRBPs use data in their manager walkthroughs * 12:32 | Key metrics: headcount, open recs, and turnover * 14:52 | Why less metrics is more: focusing on decisions, not data * 16:01 | How data dashboards elevated HR's credibility company-wide * 18:32 | Before and after: from spreadsheet dumps to trend conversations * 20:26 | Managing frontline worker turnover in real time * 21:20 | John's closing advice: ask the right questions, give context not panic 🎙️ Pulse by HRBench — practical people analytics for HR leaders who tie their work to business outcomes. Connect with John Youngkrantz on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-youngkrantz-mba-962123a7/]. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.