The Workforce Therapy Files team attended the 2025 Kentucky SHRM Conference, in Louisville. We took the opportunity to interview over 20 professionals who stopped by our booth.

The team interviews Charles Duke, the HR Administrator for the Kentucky Historical Society, based in Lexington. He describes himself as an "inspirational leadership type of HR professional." The KHS was coping with a unique situation: its 60 employees had operated for 7 years without an HR person, relying on the Personnel Cabinet for onboarding and discipline. Charles came to the interview prepared. He used the museum's website to create a portfolio of ideas for each department, ultimately turning the interview into a conversation built on competence.

Charles also shares his extensive background, which included 30 years in the Air Force. When asked what he looks for in a candidate, he immediately answered, "authenticity," explaining that he needs to see the same energy displayed during the interview applied to the rest of the job.

Charles believes the HR professional's job is to put the "human" back in HR by handling employee relations and clarifying thought processes. That essential human element and relationship-building can't be done by AI or other staff, like a curator.

Finally, Charles leaves the following question for the next guest: What do you think qualifies you to be a human resources professional?

To learn more, visit:

· Website: www.history.ky.gov

Charles Duke, thanks for stopping by to speak with us!

That's where we'll leave the conversation for today. Before we close the file, we invite you to reach out to us with questions, suggestions or other comments. We'd love to hear from you.

Need Help Supporting Your Company's Recruiting and Staffing Goals?

We're here to help. You can contact us via our individual websites, depending on your specific needs or questions:

· Jamie Swaim, SPHR – www.ParcelKnows.com

· Molley Ricketts – www.IncipioWorks.com

· Jason Heflin – www.CrowdSouth.com

We hope you found this file insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!

The Workforce Therapy Files team attended the 2025 Kentucky SHRM Conference, in Louisville. We took the opportunity to interview over 20 professionals who stopped by our booth.

Jason Heflin, CEO of CrowdSouth interviews Jack Crowdis, Business Development Manager for PayFWDs, based in Louisville. Jack explains that while their payroll platform is similar to the big national providers, they bring a highly consultative approach. PayFWDs builds systems customized specifically around people, aiming to get the setup right. That may be a different experience from what the client has seen elsewhere. Each client gets a dedicated customer service representatives. PayFWDs serves clients across 48 states.

Jack comments the greatest hurdle they encounter is convincing prospective clients that switching payroll providers won't be a daunting process. PayFWDs tackles this by assuming the burden of the transfer, pulling necessary data for the client. They perform a full tax audit upfront and guarantee in their contract to pay any notice resulting from issues they should have caught.

Jason asks Jack to provide a question for the next interview. Jack asks, "What is the number one thing that drives revenue? Is it customer service, pricing, etc.?"

To learn more, visit:

· Website: www.payfwds.com

Jack Crowdis, thanks for stopping by to speak with us!

That's where we'll leave the conversation for today. Before we close the file, we invite you to reach out to us with questions, suggestions or other comments. We'd love to hear from you.

Need Help Supporting Your Company's Recruiting and Staffing Goals?

We're here to help. You can contact us via our individual websites, depending on your specific needs or questions:

· Jamie Swaim, SPHR – www.ParcelKnows.com

· Molley Ricketts – www.IncipioWorks.com

· Jason Heflin – www.CrowdSouth.com

We hope you found this file insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!

The Workforce Therapy Files team attended the 2025 Kentucky SHRM Conference, in Louisville. We took the opportunity to interview over 20 professionals who stopped by our booth.

Jason Heflin, CEO of CrowdSouth interviews Jeremy Jacobs, Founder of UnDesked. They discussed critical challenges in workforce development, especially with regard to frontline employees. Jeremy explained that while traditional office workers are equipped with resources like laptops and Microsoft Teams, 80% of the global population in the workforce, or 2.7 billion people, are "undesked" and lack access to a dedicated computer. This gap creates significant problems for organizations related to onboarding, training, daily job assignments, and providing access to necessary resources. UnDesked offers a solution as the only frontline productivity platform, essentially functioning as "Frontline 365" for these deskless workers.

In terms of scalability, while most clients are 50 people or larger, UnDesked serves massive clients like Berry Global, which operates 600 facilities with over 100,000 employees. The platform offers a significant financial value, costing only $5 per employee per month for the first year, which is even cheaper than securing email from Microsoft. Unlike complicated ERP systems that require lengthy implementation, UnDesked is designed for quick adoption, allowing clients to be up and running and communicating with workers within a week.

Jacobs revealed that the worst professional advice he received, often from trusted individuals, was the generalized suggestion to "just go to college and get a good job," advice that would have contradicted his nature as an entrepreneur. Finally, Jeremy provides a question for the next podcast guest, "What specific "puzzle" or non-typical issue keeps them up at night?" He clarifies that the answer should be more interesting than general work stress.

To learn more, visit:

· Website: www.UnDesked.com

Jeremy Jacobs, thanks for stopping by to speak with us!

That's where we'll leave the conversation for today. Before we close the file, we invite you to reach out to us with questions, suggestions or other comments. We'd love to hear from you.

Need Help Supporting Your Company's Recruiting and Staffing Goals?

We're here to help. You can contact us via our individual websites, depending on your specific needs or questions:

· Jamie Swaim, SPHR – www.ParcelKnows.com

· Molley Ricketts – www.IncipioWorks.com

· Jason Heflin – www.CrowdSouth.com

We hope you found this file insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!