According to Anneke Victorica, founder and director of BloomHR, leading a remote HR team has its distinct obstacles, but there are certainly ways to overcome — and even thrive — in this growing field. In this episode of the Transform Your Workplace podcast, Brandon Laws and Anneke Victorica discuss approaches, resources, and best practices for navigating HR challenges in the ever-changing remote workplace.
GUEST AT A GLANCE
The Founder and Director of BloomHR, Anneke Victorica is passionate about the growth of individuals and teams. She uses her years of HR expertise to help leaders explore areas for improvement so that they and their teams can flourish.
A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST
🔊 Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR
🎙️ Host: Brandon Laws
📋 In his own words: “The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders.”
REACHING OUT
By the time Anneke Victorica reached out to Xenium, she had been managing HR for quite a while. With a growing HR team, Anneke’s boss suggested that the company find someone to take over the operations side so that Anneke could focus exclusively on HR.
For a team of only 10-12 people, according to Anneke, it was “pretty luxurious” and “it was a testament to how the organization prioritized its people and culture.” To ensure that she gave it her best, Anneke began listening to the Transform Your Workplace podcast. She eventually reached out to Lacey from the Xenium team for guidance.
Anneke wanted something holistic, she explained, “which is also why I think connecting with the person was important to me. I think I wanted the expertise, but also a sounding board for how to approach a tricky situation or to listen to my potentially bad ideas.” In Xenium, Anneke found a safe place to learn, practice, and grow in the world of human resources.
PODCAST EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
The Challenges of Remote Management
“The Engine Room is a nonprofit, and it supports activists and civil society organizations throughout the world to use data and technology strategically and responsibly. And the team is made up of incredibly inspiring researchers, activists, technologists, and communications folks. But they’re all around the world, so […] every policy and process, you kind of have to look at it with a slightly different lens. You’ve got the non-profit aspect, you’ve got the remote aspect, and you’ve got the global aspect. And whenever you think of any kind of HR process, policy, or activity, you’ve got to account for those variables.”
Finding the Right Resources
“I think finding really great support and service providers externally is key. Professional employer organizations allow you to legally employ people, and that has been crucial for a remote global team. For many organizations, there’s definitely a limit to what you can do in-house. There’s an argument to be made that, in some cases, it’s smart to outsource even if you technically have the internal capacity. Would people’s time be better spent on something else?”
Building a Workplace Culture
“When it comes to culture, a big part of it is the hiring process — because it’s about hiring people who you think are going to contribute to a positive culture. […] And even if they’re not necessarily written down, it’s important to have a sense of what your organization’s values are. I’m obviously a big fan of dedicating more time to it. But I think it’s important to have clarity on what is really important — what the deal-breakers are, the must-haves, and the nice-to-haves — and then bring people on who are going to contribute to that.”
Just Starting Out In HR?
“Try to be self-aware. Be true to your strengths, your interests, and your struggles. I think being open helps. And focusing on relationships, because relationships with people are always going to matter. One thing I learned is that sometimes HR has limited leeway, but being open to them about the constraints within which you’re operating can be helpful.”
Understanding Your Power
“I love connecting people, but at the same time, you have to be aware of the power that you have in an organization and be mindful of that. So I think finding a way to manage that closeness and openness with people, that honesty and authenticity, while at the same time also being honest and clear in terms of boundaries and constraints is important.”
LEARN MORE
Head over to bloomhr.com to learn about the services that Anneke offers, connect with her directly, and access free resources for all things HR.