HR Fundamentals
What HR actually does, the employee lifecycle, and the operating model behind modern people teams.
For: Aspiring HR pros, founders without HR, new managers
What HR Actually Does (And What It Doesn't)
The honest, end-to-end mental model of modern HR — its history, the four quadrants of the operating model, how it differs from People Ops, what it owns vs.
The Employee Lifecycle, Stage by Stage
A complete map of the eight stages employees move through — from 'never heard of you' to 'alumni who refers your next great hire' — with what to design at…
Modern People Operations: The HR-as-Product Mindset
What 'People Ops' actually means, how it differs from classic HR, the stack it builds, the rituals and metrics it runs on, who to hire and when, and the…
Day One as an HR Generalist: Your First 30 Days
A practical 30-day map for a brand-new HR generalist — what to read, who to meet, what to NOT change yet, and the artifacts you should have on disk by day 30.
How to Read an Offer Letter (Without Missing Anything That Matters)
A line-by-line walkthrough of a modern offer letter — base, variable, equity, benefits, clawbacks, IP assignment, and the clauses negotiators routinely miss.
Payroll 101 for People Who Don't Run Payroll
How a payroll cycle actually works end-to-end — gross-to-net, statutory deductions, off-cycle pay, year-end, and the controls that prevent the errors that…
Time Off and Leave Basics: PTO, Sick, Parental, and Statutory Leave
The categories of leave every people function manages, what's discretionary vs statutory, how accrual really works, and how to design a leave policy that…
The Employee Handbook From Scratch: What Goes In, What Doesn't
A complete table of contents for a modern employee handbook, what to write yourself vs link out to, how to keep it short, and the 9 sections regulators care…
HR Vocabulary You'll Hear Week One (40 Terms, Decoded)
A working dictionary of the 40 acronyms and terms a new HR pro, founder, or manager hears in their first week — what each one means, when it matters, and the…
Confidentiality in HR: What You Can Share, What You Can't, and How to Decide
The working framework for handling sensitive employee information — categories of confidentiality, who is entitled to know what, when to escalate, and the…
Your First 1:1 as an HR Business Partner
The opening cadence, agenda template, and listening discipline that turns a new HRBP from 'the HR person' into a trusted partner — and the four questions that…
The HR Operating Model: From Ulrich's Three-Box to the Modern Stack
Dave Ulrich's 1997 three-box model — HRBPs, Centers of Excellence, Shared Services — is still the most-cited HR operating model, and the most-misimplemented.
The Employee Lifecycle: The Eight Moments That Decide Whether HR Earns Its Keep
Every employee passes through the same arc — attract, hire, onboard, develop, perform, retain, exit, alumni. HR is judged not by its org chart but by what…
HR finance for people leaders: P&L, gross margin, and where payroll lives
Most HR pros can't read the company's P&L — and it's why they lose seat-at-the-table arguments. Here's the finance literacy you need to talk headcount, comp…
HR strategy on a page: the one document that aligns your people function to the business
If you can't summarise your HR strategy on one page, you don't have one. Here is the template — 6 boxes, a 90-minute workshop to fill them, and the…
Mini-MBA in HR — capstone: synthesise your own HR operating system
After working through the playbook's Mini-MBA path, this capstone consolidates the curriculum into your own personal HR operating system — strategy…