HR: How to Be a Strategic Partner During Times of Change with Jay Salim

Hello high performers and high performing leaders. I’m coming at you with a little bit of a heavy heart because we are in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. This episode is near and dear to my heart, both Jay Salim and I have a background and work with people in HR and operations and so we wanted to bring you an episode on the high performing teams podcast that really helps you. I would say we centered it a lot around at HR, right, so whether you are working with people or in operations or whatever you want to call it, we did gear a lot towards HR. But sort of stepping back and just hanging out with Jay, I think there are so many goodies in here for leaders. For those of you who may not be leaders or people leaders in your organization yet by title, but you are blazing a path, you are an influencer internally, you are called to serve and continue to do that. So I think you guys are all going to get a lot out of this. Specifically, Jay and I talk about tips for being a solid partner to both the business and employees during times of change. We give five or six tips that you can leverage. So take the time, pull out the notebook and pen because I think you guys are going to want to be taking notes in this episode. It is a lot of value, especially during times of change and what we are all experiencing right now. So look, I'm sending you all peace and progress wherever you are, hoping that you and your family are safe and sound and moving forward.

 

“You know, being a doorman, you're a problem solver. It taught me how to adjust my personality and communication to my audience, because the building of 200-300 different people and they all have different personalities. Some of them are very rich and pretentious, and you'd have to communicate with those people in a certain way and some are down to earth and you can be a bit more natural with them. It actually taught me to be a little bit of a chameleon which is something I actually pride myself on being able to adapt to my environment and situation and adjust accordingly.” At minute 5:15, Jay recalls one of his first job experiences as a doorman and how that job helped shape his communication skills for today. He also highlights the importance of adapting to your environment. 

“I once had a CEO ask me, ‘Why do you think Mercedes can charge 10 times what Kia can charge for a car?’ And I said, ‘Oh, it's quality. The parts are more expensive,’ and he was like, ‘No. It's about the brand, right? They have built a reputation of being elite, for lack of a better term, and you have to think of yourself as a brand too. And everything you do contributes to your perception what your brand is.’” At 19:38, Jay shares wisdom he learned from a colleague about the importance of branding and perception in your business. Paying attention to your brand will allow you to instill passion into your company’s culture, help you make pragmatic choices, and further your understanding of the business.

“You have to be strong for everyone, especially in HR. If I've had to catch myself a couple of times, to be like, ‘Okay, people are looking to me as the leader and the person that's supposed to bring a sense of calm and instill confidence in people.’ So I've had to be strong. But take this opportunity to step up as a leader to introduce new ideas. There's no way you're gonna make everybody happy at this time, but at least give them a little bit of an escape and have them stop thinking about life or work for a while and just be humans, you know?” At minute 33:56, Jay stresses the importance of looking out for the people of your organization and allowing them to be human. While also realizing that people will turn to their HR department for confidence and strength in uncertain times.

Jay shared a lot of valuable information about how to be a strategic partner during times of change. He also gave a lot of helpful communication tips for all of us, so make sure to stay tuned!

If you want to know more about Jay and Complex, go to https://careers.complex.com/. Don’t forget to follow him on Instagram @jayflatbush, Twitter @JayFlatbush and on LinkedIn. Go follow him now! 

I hope you liked today’s episode. Please don’t forget to subscribe on all podcast platforms and while you’re there, please don’t forget to rate and review! I truly appreciate and love you, and can’t wait to see you in the next episode!

P.S. Please don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @theannaoakes and connect on LinkedIn to share your big takeaways and for more Build High Performing Teams updates. I’ll see you there! 

Peace & Progress,

Anna