"Businesses can thrive by prioritizing agility and adaptability."
Meet Mallory Herrin, the CEO and Principal HR Consultant of HerrinHR, an HR consulting firm that provides customized HR solutions for small to mid-sized businesses.
With almost 20 years of experience in human capital management, she’s known for her innovative and effective approaches to HR that prioritize the employee experience.
Mallory aims to help businesses achieve their goals and create a competitive advantage through strategic HR practices that enhance employee engagement, retention, and productivity.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Mallory Herrin: Thank you for having me! My name is Mallory Herrin, and I’m the CEO and Principal HR Consultant of HerrinHR, an HR consulting firm that provides customized HR solutions for small to mid-sized businesses. With about 2 decades of experience in human capital management, I have become known for my innovative and effective approaches to HR that prioritize the employee experience.
At HerrinHR, our goal is to help businesses achieve their goals and create a competitive advantage through strategic HR practices that enhance employee engagement, retention, productivity, and more. Our services include a la carte offerings of strategic HR consulting and tactical HR support, employee benefits, recruiting, training (on topics that cover HR compliance, management and leadership and professional skills), and fractional HR leadership.
We also offer a complete outsourcing model that provides clients with a robust HRIS, payroll processing, and benefits administration in combination with our HR consulting services.
In the past year, what is the greatest business achievement you’d like to celebrate with your team? Please share the details of that success.
Mallory Herrin: In the past year, I am proud to celebrate the expansion of our payroll and recruiting services. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, we were able to successfully onboard new clients and continue to provide exceptional service to our existing ones.
Our team collaborated efficiently and innovatively, implementing new technology solutions and streamlining our processes to ensure that our clients’ payroll and recruiting needs were met in a timely and accurate manner.
This expansion not only helped our clients to grow and thrive but also enabled us to create new jobs and support the local economy. I am incredibly grateful for the dedication and hard work of my team, without whom this achievement would not have been possible.
Quiet quitting, The Great Resignation, are an ongoing trend causing many businesses to struggle keeping talent engaged and motivated. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. In your experience, what keeps employees happy? And how are adapting to the current shift we see?
Mallory Herrin: In my experience, employees are happiest when they feel valued and heard, while being set up for success in positions that provide a sense of accomplishment and meaning.
This means creating a culture of open communication, providing opportunities for growth and development, and recognizing and rewarding their contributions. At HerrinHR, we have always placed a strong emphasis on employee engagement and have adapted to the current shift by prioritizing flexibility and work-life balance for our team, as well as creative career paths.
We also encourage continuous feedback and collaboration to ensure that our employees feel heard and valued. As a result, we have seen increased job satisfaction and employee retention, even during these challenging times.
At HerrinHR, we help our clients implement retention strategies that prioritize the employee experience too. This means ensuring that employees feel valued, heard, and supported throughout their entire journey with the company – from onboarding and training to ongoing development and career growth.
To achieve this, we work closely with our clients to develop customized programs that address the unique needs and goals of their workforce. These might include regular employee engagement surveys, flexible work arrangements, professional development opportunities, and more.
By prioritizing the employee experience, we help our clients foster a positive and supportive workplace culture that encourages retention and drives long-term success.
Online business keeps on surging higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for the year to come and how are you capitalizing on the tidal wave?
Mallory Herrin: As a company that has been working remotely for years, we have always believed in the power of virtual communication and online business. In the coming year, we expect to see even more businesses continue or to adopt remote and hybrid work policies and embrace virtual communication.
To capitalize on this tidal wave, we are investing in more technology and online tools that will enhance our ability to provide our services virtually, without sacrificing the personal touch that comes with in-person meetings. Whenever a client wants or needs us on site, we will always come in person.
Virtual business is amazing, but face time is important too. We are also working to expand our reach by developing new online marketing strategies and leveraging social media to connect with potential clients.
Ultimately, we believe that this shift towards online business presents a tremendous opportunity for us to grow and thrive as a company.
Christopher Hitchens, an American journalist, is quoted as saying that “everyone has a book in them” Have you written a book? If so, please share with us details about it. If you haven’t, what book would you like to write and how would you like it to benefit the readers?
Mallory Herrin: Yes, I have written a book called “Intentional HR: A Revolution of Strategic Thinking”. It is a guide for HR professionals and business leaders to create a culture of intentionality within their organization, by focusing on the employee experience and aligning HR initiatives with business strategy.
I wrote this book to share my knowledge and experience in the field of HR, and to help others elevate their HR practices to drive business success.
The book is part of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Read for Recertification program, and is available for purchase online via the SHRM store, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, etc.
2020, 2021, 2022 threw a lot of curve balls into businesses on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past years, how can businesses thrive in 2023? What lessons have you learned and what advice would you share?
Mallory Herrin: Businesses can thrive by prioritizing agility and adaptability. The past few years have shown us that unexpected challenges can arise at any moment, so having a flexible mindset and being able to pivot quickly is crucial.
It’s also important to focus on the employee experience, as engaged and satisfied employees are more likely to be productive and contribute to the success of the company. Additionally, leveraging technology to streamline processes and improve efficiencies can give businesses a competitive edge.
Finally, staying informed about industry trends and consumer behavior can help companies anticipate and proactively respond to changes in the market. My advice for businesses would be to stay nimble, prioritize employee well-being, leverage technology, and stay informed to succeed in 2023 and beyond.
What does “success” in the year to come mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Mallory Herrin: To me, success in 2023 means continuing to grow and expand my business while also maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Personally, success would be finding more time for hobbies and self-care while also spending quality time with my family and friends.
Business-wise, success would mean continuing to provide exceptional service to our clients, while also expanding our reach and impact in the HR industry. It would also involve empowering and mentoring my team to achieve their professional goals and contribute to the growth of the company.
Additionally, success in 2023 would involve giving back to the community through volunteer work and philanthropy.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Mallory Herrin for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Mallory Herrin or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page
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