MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO’S DESK

Today is my birthday! I’m going through a lot of personal change and a lot of change within People Function, so I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting lately. I think it’s always healthy to look back and understand the lessons from our past and present, so why not share those lessons with you today of all days? 🥹

Here are five things I've learned running PFunc, all of which are applicable to founders, HR pros, and startup leaders alike.

1. Don't stretch yourself too thin. Your job is to keep replacing yourself with people who can do the work better than you can. Every time you do that, you free yourself up for the bigger problem you can't see yet, because you're too buried to look up. Stay stretched too thin and you do a disservice to all of the amazing people you hired, and eventually you’ll become the bottleneck and they’ll be annoyed! And honestly, they should be!

2. Keep learning. If you're just doing your job and waiting for the promotion or assuming you'll naturally stay ahead of the market, welp, you won't. I do most of my learning when I’m among business leaders outside of the HR space because they challenge me to think differently. Thinking of this past year, that happened at the Charter and VIA conferences. It also happens during one-on-one conversations with founders, HR leaders, and my friends in VC. Find the rooms and the people that stretch you, and then make sure you show up!

3. Pick your battles. My team will tell you I can be a warrior when I need to be. But if I fought every fight, I'd be insufferable, which is not that useful. I let my leaders handle plenty on their own. I save myself for the ones where I'm actually needed, i.e. something my team genuinely can't solve without me, our integrity getting challenged, or someone who needs a serious kick in the butt. 

4. Take time off. This one was so much harder early on. I had to build the structures and hire the people who let me walk away. My team knows exactly when and how to escalate if something needs my eyes while I'm out. Otherwise, I trust them to run it. Shoutout to Whitney, who is the absolute master of every coming and going at PFunc; Adriana, my consulting pro who makes it possible for me to actually be gone when I'm gone; and Celeste, who keeps all of the trains on the tracks. 

5. Feel when you're off-balance. Years ago, I was in an emotionally abusive marriage, and I leaned on work hard because it was the one place I still felt competent, capable, and in control. That wasn't healthy. Work and life drag on each other more than we like to admit, and ignoring one to survive the other delays the reckoning. For me, getting back to balance meant getting divorced. I hope your version of finding balance is a much chiller story than mine (but please, don't wait as long as I did to feel it and make the change!).

I certainly don’t have it all figured out and am learning new lessons every day. Regardless, here's to another year of doing more in less time, and achieving bigger success with less stress!

THE HR BRIEFING 🗞️

THE LATEST NEWS TO KNOW

HR headlines and stories, curated with our perspective. 🤝

AI isn’t outright stealing jobs, according to a new Apollo study, but it is squeezing paychecks, hitting 5.8 million lower-wage, “high-exposure” workers first, with a much bigger wave to come.

• ↪️ PFunc’s Perspective: To avoid letting wages stagnate and erode your company’s foundation, share AI productivity gains directly with employees through higher pay, better benefits, dedicated training time, and modernized job roles.

Soaring healthcare costs and a tough job market have pushed "job lock" to a record high, forcing nearly 25% of U.S. workers, including 41% of those with chronic conditions, to stay in jobs they'd rather leave just to keep their insurance.

• ↪️ PFunc’s Perspective: When employees stay only because they're terrified of losing their health insurance, you end up with a low-impact, burnt-out team. Leaders should aim to build a work environment their team wants to stay in for something other than health insurance - growth and development opportunities, job autonomy, work-life balance!

Another story we think you’ll like:

• Glassdoor: Employee confidence is at an all-time low due to rising energy costs and job security fears.

COMPLIANCE CHECK

Watch out for these HR compliances going into effect (or hitting deadlines) this month.

• Colorado (eff. 8/12) – HB 1207 will require private employers with 100+ workers to submit EEO-1 workforce demographic data to the Secretary of State starting July 1, 2027, even if the federal reporting mandate is repealed.

• Missouri (eff. 8/28) – Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protections, including the right to sue for violations, will soon extend to Missouri and out-of-state National Guard members called to active duty for over 30 consecutive days.

• New Hampshire (eff. 8/31) –  Independent contractors can voluntarily participate in portable benefits plans funded by optional hiring party contributions without jeopardizing their contractor status.

THE OPPORTUNITY EXCHANGE 📈

ROLES ON OUR RADAR

The PFunc job board is packed with open roles across our client companies, making it easier than ever to tap into our network.

This week, we’re highlighting the latest job openings in our network.

• VP of Support, Inspiren - Reporting to the COO, this senior leader will build a world-class contact center that supports Inspiren’s hardware and software in the senior living space.

• Head of Design, Luminary - Lead and grow the design team while crafting intuitive, high-impact financial software in partnership with the firm’s product and engineering leaders.

• Research Operations Manager, Outward Intelligence - Autonomously manage quantitative studies, from survey programming and fieldwork monitoring to vendor management and data validation, to ensure fast, flawless platform delivery at our newest client’s company (more on them below!).

See a role you’re interested in? Reply to this email and we’ll try to connect you with the hiring team. Hiring for an open role yourself? Reply to have your job featured in an upcoming PFunc Pulse issue.

THE PEOPLE PULSE

Another week, another new full-time hire at PFunc! We’re thrilled to welcome Anezi as our new Social Media and Content Manager. She joins us from Tableau, where she worked across community, marketing, and content, and she'll be taking our brand to the next level. Outside of work, Anezi is a huge K-pop fan and dancer, and she’s even learning Korean! 

We can’t wait to work with Anezi, and we know you're going to love her content. 😍

CHRONICALLY ONLINE📱

Since we’ve welcomed so many new faces to the PFunc team lately, here’s a quick throwback to Emma dropping by for a desk visit! 🤩✨

Join 100,000+ followers across PFunc’s Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn, hailed as “one of the best HR accounts online today.” 😉

STAY IN TOUCH 💌

If you’re interested in fractional HR support for your team, reply to this email or contact us to learn more about our offerings, pricing, and how we can support your growing company.

Join the Talent Network here (it’s free!). Whether you’re actively exploring new opportunities or happily employed but open to the right fit, becoming part of our network boosts your profile when roles align with your experience, skills, and career goals.💡

🗣️ Thoughts, feedback, requests? Let us know! 🗣️

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Every Tuesday, The PFunc Pulse delivers the HR news and compliance shifts you actually need to know about, without all the corporate fluff. Emma brings her unfiltered take on the trends keeping CEOs awake at night, served with the gritty, practical wisdom of a founder who’s seen it all. Real talk for better people decisions, week by week. (P.S. Do your work bestie a favor and forward this— friends don't let friends do old school HR. 🫢)