The HR Connection Podcast with Sabrina Baker

How to Pay Your Employees – Compensation Basics for Small Business

Do you know what happens when pay isn’t planned in a small business? Chaos. Two employees in the same job can end up making wildly different salaries, and once they find out, gossip, resentment, and turnover follow.
In this episode of The HR Connection, I walk you through the step-by-step process to fix compensation chaos and build a fair, consistent pay structure in your small business. And Penelope, our Payroll and Operations Partner, joins me throughout to share the payroll perspective — from cleaning up messy records to phasing in adjustments without breaking your budget.
Whether you’re inheriting a pay mess or building structure for the first time, this episode gives you the tools to take “anything goes” pay and turn it into a system your employees can trust.

Top 5 HR Tools Every SMB Needs

At 100 employees, the duct-tape approach to HR — spreadsheets, Google Forms, and manual processes — stops being “good enough” and starts hurting your credibility with employees and candidates.
In this episode of The HR Connection, Sabrina Baker breaks down the five HR tools every growing small business needs and why integration is the real ROI.
Why This Matters
At scale, HR systems aren’t just about efficiency — they’re about reputation. Employees and candidates are watching, and an outdated setup sends the wrong message. A modern HR stack tells people: this is a place worth staying and growing.

How to answer the question, HR is not your friend

If you’ve been in HR for even five minutes, you’ve probably heard it: “HR is not your friend.”
In this episode, Sabrina breaks down where that phrase came from, why employees still believe it, and how to answer confidently when it comes up. From a quick HR history lesson to real-world insights from other practitioners, you’ll learn how to reframe this narrative and shift the focus from “friendship” to “trust.”
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
📜 The origins of the “HR is not your friend” idea (and why it stuck).
💬 A 3-step framework for responding: Acknowledge, Clarify, Reframe.
🤝 Why consistency, transparency, fairness, and follow-through build lasting credibility.
🧭 How to reposition HR as a trusted partner—not a friend, not a foe.

Grow Your Small Business with Performance Management

Are your employees working hard… but not on the things that actually move your business forward? That’s the silent killer of growth in small businesses — and the root cause is often poor performance management.
In this expert voice episode, Sabrina Baker shows you how to transform performance management into a true growth driver by combining two critical tools:
The Goal Alignment Cascade – cascading goals from business → department → team → individual so that every employee is directly tied to business results.
The Skills Framework – mapping hard skills and soft skills across time, ensuring employees not only hit goals but also grow in the behaviors your business needs.
Together, these tools give you the full picture of performance: both the what (goals achieved) and the how (skills and behaviors developed).
 
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
Why misaligned goals waste effort and stall growth.
How to cascade a goal like “Increase Revenue by 20%” into department, team, and individual goals.
How to use the skills framework for performance management, not just hiring.
Why soft skills and behaviors are just as critical as technical skills in small businesses.
How to build quarterly check-ins that reinforce alignment and skill development.
👉 If this episode was helpful, subscribe, rate, and share The HR Connection with someone managing HR in a small business who needs practical, no-fluff advice.

How to Hire with Confidence – Without 5 Rounds of Interviews

The number of interviews doesn’t equal confidence. Clarity does. And clarity starts long before the job post ever goes live.
In this episode, Sabrina breaks down how small businesses can create a lean, repeatable hiring process that actually helps you make strong, confident hiring decisions — without dragging candidates through endless rounds.
She’s joined by Acacia HR Business Partner Marie Rolston, who shares how this process works in real life, both inside Acacia and with clients.

Best Time Management Tips for HR Leaders that work!

If you’re handling HR in a small business — officially or unofficially — chances are you're overwhelmed. Not because you’re bad at time management… but because you’re spending time on things you shouldn’t have to.
In this episode, Sabrina Baker breaks down the real reasons HR leaders in small companies feel stretched thin — and why AI alone won’t save you.
Instead, she shares:
How to leverage simple tech wins to automate the things people keep asking you
How to train your managers to own their responsibilities (and stop defaulting everything to you)

Small, But Mighty – What We’ve Learned About Small Employer HR

You don’t need a huge team, a massive budget, or some fancy HR title to do HR the right way. What really matters is knowing how HR works in a small business.
In this season finale, Sabrina’s breaking down the biggest takeaways from Season 1 — including why HR in a small company comes with its own unique challenges and what you can do about it.

Employee Relations Issues Hit Different in Small Businesses

Employee Relations Issues Hit Different in Small Businesses 
It’s louder, messier, and harder to ignore. With fewer policies and less hierarchy, when things go wrong, everyone feels it.
In this episode, Sabrina sits down with Acacia HR Business Partner Marie Rolston to talk about the unique challenges of managing ER in small organizations and share practical strategies for handling issues before they blow up.

Understanding Employee Benefits: A Guide for Small Businesses

Pop quiz: What’s one thing employees look for in a job besides pay? You guessed it—benefits. But for small businesses, the traditional “big company” benefit model often isn’t realistic. So how do you build a package that employees love without breaking the bank?
 
In this episode, Sabrina sits down with Acacia HR’s resident benefits expert, Christine Kopp, to break it all down. From creative benefit solutions to common pitfalls and cost-saving strategies, they share how small employers can think differently about supporting their teams.

Why Payroll Matters So Much in a Small Businesses

Payroll mistakes? They hit way harder in small businesses. One missed paycheck, one “oops” with a contractor classification, and suddenly you’re dealing with broken trust — and maybe even compliance headaches.
 
In this episode, Sabrina chats with Acacia’s own Payroll & Operations Manager, Penelope Angulo, about what it really takes to run payroll like a pro when you don’t have a giant HR department backing you up.