The HR Connection Podcast with Sabrina Baker

In the Trenches - Caitlin Sampson

In the Trenches with Caitlin Sampson Caitlin Sampson, HR Director at Trivector, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business in Huntsville, Alabama, joins Marie for the second installment of In the Trenches. As a longtime HR department of one, SHRM chapter president, adjunct professor, and mother of two, Caitlin knows firsthand what it means to operate at full capacity with no margin for error. She unpacks the perfectionist trap common to solo HR practitioners, why employee relations is simultaneously the hardest and most rewarding part of the job, and how digging deeper into a complaint almost always reveals more than the surface issue. Her standout moment: a blue-collar, single dad called her when his son was sent home from school with a suicide note. She didn't hand him an EAP card. She made the calls, worked her network, and had a mental health appointment booked with insurance already processed before she called him back. That's small business HR, no handbook, no backup, just judgment and relationships built over time.

Paying People Right When You Don't Have a Comp Team

Compensation problems in small businesses don't announce themselves. They build quietly, starting with offer-time decisions that made sense at the time and were never revisited, until pay gaps have compounded long enough that someone finds out and tells everyone. This episode is for HR practitioners who need to do comp work without a dedicated team, a purpose-built tool, or a large budget. Sabrina and Marie walk through where to find reliable free market data, when it actually makes sense to pay for a comp tool, how to run a basic equity review with nothing more than a spreadsheet, and how to bring a pay gap to leadership in a way that moves them to act. One distinction that shapes everything else in this episode: there is a difference between historical inequity and current inequity, and they require different responses on different timelines. And once you have documented that a gap exists, inaction is no longer neutral. It is a decision, and a liability. A note for longtime listeners: this is Marie's second-to-last episode. After the next episode, The HR Connection will continue in a solo format with Sabrina.

The Policy Nobody Talks About Until They Need It

Most leave policies were written once and never revisited. The result: legal exposure, manager improvisation, and employees navigating a crisis without clear guidance. In this episode, Sabrina and Marie break down why leave of absence is the HR area most likely to catch small employers off guard — and what to do about it. What's covered: * The three-layer compliance problem: federal law, state law, and informal practice * The most common policy gaps (multi-state coverage, intermittent leave, and process documentation) * What a defensible leave process actually looks like from request to return * The manager's only job when an employee requests leave: direct them to HR * Three things to audit before the end of the week Key point: If you have employees in California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, or New Jersey, and your policy doesn't address those state requirements, you have a gap. Check where your employees work — not where your business is incorporated. HR Connection is produced for HR professionals and business owners managing people in organizations with 1–500 employees.

Performance Management That Doesn't Make Everyone Hate You

This episode of the HR Connection addresses the breakdown of performance management in small businesses and the cost of avoidance. Many organizations fall into two patterns: leaders who avoid difficult conversations entirely or leaders who escalate too aggressively. Both create risk, damage culture, and lead to reactive decision-making instead of structured management. Sabrina Baker and Marie Rolston outline a practical framework designed for real use—not compliance. The focus is on early, clear, and consistent communication so employees are not blindsided by feedback months after issues begin. The four-step structure—coaching conversation, counseling memo, written warning, and separation—emphasizes progression and opportunity for course correction at each stage. The episode also reinforces that process alone is insufficient. Manager capability is the failure point. Without training, managers default to avoidance or emotional reactions. HR’s role is to coach managers before conversations happen, ensuring they are factual, specific, and grounded in clear expectations. Resources mentioned: * Counseling memo template * Performance coaching conversation guide * Conversation starter library All resources available at Acacia HR Solutions’ website.

In the Trenches: Ivette Mills

HR isn't a spectator sport, and neither is this series. In the Trenches is a monthly feature on the HR Connection where co-host Marie Rolston sits down with HR practitioners working inside organizations with 1 to 500 employees. No consultants, no theorists, just the people actually doing the work. In our debut episode, Marie speaks with Ivette Mills, HR Director at 4Cs of Sonoma County, a nonprofit serving families across Sonoma County. Ivette shares what it was like to join a 200-person organization as its sole HR professional, how she built a case for headcount in a budget-constrained environment, and the career moment that reframed how she approaches advocacy. Whether you're a department of one or leading a small team, this series is built to remind you that your experience; the complexity, the invisible load, and the wins, is shared. In this episode: * Building an HR team inside a nonprofit * Managing a handbook revision and performance process overhaul simultaneously * The advice that changed how Ivette shows up in leadership conversations