👋 I’m Alanna Rodriguez, an HR Business Transformation professional, doctoral candidate at Walden University, and founder of Cafecito & Careers. My interests include leadership, employee growth, mentoring, and career development.

🏢 Cafecito & Careers

📍 Orlando, Florida

👀 My current focus/challenge is: Recruiting leaders for my doctoral study on internal mobility and reskilling strategies to improve employee retention in large U.S. technology firms. I’m looking to connect with leaders who have led these initiatives in organizations with at least 10,000 employees.

🔗 Let’s connect here on LinkedIn! I enjoy meeting others who care about developing people and creating opportunities for growth.

💡 A fun fact about me is: I’m an avid reader, a mom of two boys, and rarely leave Barnes & Noble empty-handed.

I’m Alanna Rodriguez, a doctoral candidate at Walden University studying how leaders use internal mobility and reskilling strategies to improve employee retention in large U.S. technology firms.

I’m seeking leaders with experience leading these initiatives at U.S. technology firms with at least 10,000 employees. Your work in talent development, internal mobility, or workforce planning may align with my study.

Participation involves a voluntary, confidential 45–60-minute interview. If you’re interested, I would be happy to share the study details and confirm eligibility before you decide.

If this opportunity isn’t a fit for you, would you consider forwarding this invitation to a colleague whose experience may qualify?

Thank you for considering my invitation and supporting doctoral research.

Alanna Rodriguez, JM, PHR
[email protected]
Doctoral Candidate, Walden University

Hey community!

We always have room for more HR, TA, and PeopleOps pros in the community. Let's make the circle bigger!

To invite your network, send them to this link:

ssr-newsletter.beehiiv.com

Feel free to grab this invitation and paste it wherever you connect with HR pros:

Hey HR friend!

I'm part of an awesome new community for HR pros. It called PeopleOps Insiders, and it's free to join. Hope I'll see you there!

You can use this link to sign up: https://ssr-newsletter.beehiiv.com/community

• 👋 I'm a HR Business Partner and Consultant, helping to build the HR foundation for small businesses and start-ups.

• 🏢 Lotus Business Services - SaaS Technology, Cyber Security, Financial Tech, and Pharmacy

• 📍 Austin, Texas

• 👀 My current focus/challenge is: Training managers on continuous performance conversations, creating role clarity, job leveling, and pay grades for Software Engineering team in Columbia.
  🔗 Find me on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-deutschendorf-shrm-cp-36979b14/
  💡 A fun fact about me is: I have a large garden and love to grow organic vegetables and fruit from my fruit trees. 🥕
  
  

Hey everyone, I’m helping a friend with research! 👋 For those who are heavy AI users, I’d love your input:

What would you consider a reasonable minimum price for AI token usage? At what price point would you feel the cost per token is fair and worth paying for regular/heavy usage?

[FREE Virtual Conference] Real-World Tools for Building a Leadership Culture That Lasts

Register here 👉 https://selectsoftware-reviews.webinargeek.com/fall2026_peopleops_huddle?cst=ssrcommunity

🗓 Wednesday, October 7 at 12 PM ET - Come & go as you please!
✅ Earn up to 4.5 HRCI/SHRM recertification credits

HR has a bigger role to play than simply offering leadership training. The most effective People teams aren't just responding to leadership gaps…they're building the systems, practices, and culture that prevent them.

This season's PeopleOps Huddle is all about that work. From women in leadership (perfect for Women in HR Day on Oct. 7), rethinking manager onboarding to recognition, difficult conversations, career growth, leadership trends, and what it means for HR professionals to lead themselves. We're getting into the real challenges and the real strategies behind building a leadership culture that actually lasts.

🎁 Live networking, resources, and attendee giveaways in EACH session
💬 Live Q&A + MORE!

• Vice President, Human Resources (Remote – United States) at Rectangle Health $200,000 – $285,000/yr

• Senior People Partner (Remote – United States) at Deepgram $130,000 – $185,000/yr

• Senior Manager, People Business Partner (Remote – United States) at BILL $132,900 – $166,400/yr

• Manager, Talent Acquisition Operations & Enablement (Remote – United States) at DigitalOcean $120,000 – $150,000/yr

• Human Resources Manager (Remote – United States) at Pacific Catch $100,000 – $115,000/yr

• Head of Talent Acquisition (Remote – United States) at YipitData $280,000 – $350,000/yr

• Director, People (Remote – United States) at Deepgram $180,000 – $250,000/yr

• Senior People Business Partner (Remote – United States) at The Zebra $120,000 – $150,000/yr

• Talent Acquisition Partner (Remote – Canada) at CapIntel CA$100,000 – CA$115,000/yr

• People Operations Generalist (Remote – United States) at CopilotIQ

Hello PeopleOps Community! 👋🏽

After 5+ years of delivering top-tier customer experiences, I am pivoting my passion for people inward to People Operations and Employee Experience. As a recent peer-nominated Culture Builder Award recipient and dedicated Culture Committee leader, I thrive on designing workplace initiatives that elevate morale and drive engagement. I'm excited to connect, network, and bring my background in cross-functional collaboration and community building to a forward-thinking remote People Ops team!

You can find me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/roslyn-g-a206a017a

A fun fact is that I love laughing, singing, and dancing (big 80s fan)!🎶

👋 My name is: Erin Smith
🏢 My current role is: HR Manager
⚙ My industry is: Digital Agency. I have worked in retail, tech, luxury, food & beverage industries.
🌎 I live in: San Diego.
👀 My current focus/challenge is: Growth in current role & operating as a department-of-one across 8 states while strengthening team culture and cementing better HR practices/processes.
🔗 Find me on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-c-smith/
💡 A fun fact about me is: I am total Foodie, follow local chefs, and love cooking! 🥘

• VP, Global HR Operations (Remote – United States) at D-Wave $206,000 – $290,000/yr

• Vice President - People & Culture (Remote – United States) at Greenbox Capital $175,000 – $225,000/yr

• Senior Technical Recruiter (Remote – United States) at honeycomb.io $140,000 – $165,000/yr

• Sr. HR Business Partner (Remote – United States) at Intuitive Machines $76,000 – $145,000/yr

• Senior Human Resources Manager (Remote – United States) at Mia Aesthetics

Hi Team, quick question for those of you using Claude and how you have thought through Enterprise vs Team tiers: how are you handling the audit trail gap for sensitive HR/finance data?

Our internal IT team is pushing for us to transition from Enterprise to Team tier. Enterprise gives us 180 days of exportable logs; Team gives us none. For anything touching comp, disciplinary records, health data, or financial records, I'm not sure we can demonstrate proper access control or GDPR accountability without that audit trail. I would love to hear from anyone who has been through this and how is your company tackling this.

Hey community - is there a quick way to send an invite for other HR people to join? Or best just to forward an SSR newsletter? Would be great for a quick, obvious "invite your colleagues" button. And if it's already there, just point me to it!

Hey all - you may be familiar with various Contractor of Record offerings where your ex-US contractors are technically contracted via a third party, and that party takes on any misclassification liability.

Deel, Rippling, and basically all the EORs are offering this CoR service now.

However, I've looked at a few of these contractors and I'm not really convinced they protect the employer that much.

Anyone done work here or used one of these? Anyone ever had it put to the test when a government comes after you for a potential misclassification?

Good morning everyone 👋. I would love to connect with those here and, especially right now, talk through any open roles you might have or know of.

• 👋 Who you are + what you do - my name is Tyler, and I am an HR and talent acquisition professional with nine years of experience. I have a master's degree in human resources management from the business school at Western Governors University. I have specialized credentials in HR data analytics and HR AI.

• 🏢 Your company or industry - I am currently open to work. I am looking for a role as a Director of Talent Acquisition, Manager of Talent Acquisition, or HRBP. I have worked in fintech, insurance, SaaS, healthcare, and home services.

• 📍 Where you’re located - I am in Provo Utah, about 45 minutes south of Salt Lake City

• 🎯 Your LinkedIn profile - www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-fisher-hr-talent-leader

BIG CONGRATS to today's giveaway winners! Their responses to the "What's one unique or special thing someone did for you — or that you do for new hires — in those first few days that made a real difference?" giveaway question:

Daniella McDonald : In my last company, the CEO joined new hire orientation every Monday to be able to talk about the company, have employees get to know him, and just to show how important they were to the company.

Megan V.: When I started a hybrid/remote job, I received a box of personalized merch, including things I had noted during my interview process. The timing of the delivery and personalization of the contents made me feel known and seen from a physical distance.

Stephanie Mecca: I changed industries and was absolutely clueless about manufacturing. My supervisor was patient and took me out on a full plant tour showing me the flow of work, explaining ever single machines, etc. It was immensely helpful and I was very grateful for it.

Thank you to everyone who shared their insights. You all made it so hard to pick just three winners!

It was great being part of the conversation! Thank you for including me.

• Chief People Officer (Remote – United States) at Verndale $250,000 – $350,000/yr

• Principal HR Business Partner (Remote – United States) at Oracle $114,600 – $234,600/yr

• Human Resources Director (Remote – United States) at Surescripts $160,000 – $195,600/yr

• Senior People Partner, G&A (Remote – United States) at Horizon3.ai $142,000 – $185,000/yr

• HR Generalist II (Remote – United States) at Danaher $72,500 – $95,000/yr

👋 My name is: Erin Bennett
🏢 My current role is: Manager - Talent Programs (recruiting, career pathing, performance, & succession planning)
⚙ My industry is: Non-profit/Higher Ed/Research
🌎 I live in: Connecticut, USA
👀 My current focus/challenge is: modernizing our people and talent approach; improving our tech stack; identifying and piloting opportunities for AI integration
🔗 Find me on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-bennett916/?isSelfProfile=true&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base%3BpNxIk0sxRD%2Bd7XIikAah2g%3D%3D
💡 A fun fact about me is: my husband and I are live music junkies with an unhealthy obsession of 90s/2000s pop punk/emo

Stephanie Ruiz: We've been trying to automate more of our onboarding process but I worry it's starting to feel impersonal. How do you find the right balance between efficiency and the human touch? 

Stephanie Ruiz: How do we know if our onboarding is actually working? We don't have a ton of data and I'm not sure what we should even be measuring.

Stephanie Ruiz: We do a lot of high-volume hiring for hourly roles. Does the onboarding approach need to look completely different for that population, or are the core principles the same?

Stephanie Ruiz: We have a fully remote team. How do you recreate those natural, human connection moments when everything is virtual?