Workplace MVP LIVE from SHRM 2021: Cassondra Halpin, VertexOne
On this live edition of Workplace MVP, Cassondra Halpin, Human Resources Manager at VertexOne, shared with Jamie Gassmann how her company went virtual in 2020 and how they managed to keep communication flowing. Workplace MVP is underwritten and presented by R3 Continuum and produced by the Minneapolis-St.Paul Studio of Business RadioX®.
This show was originally broadcast live from the 2021 SHRM Annual Conference held at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Cassondra Halpin, JD, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, Human Resources Manager, VertexOne
Cassondra Halpin, JD, SPHR, SHRM-SCP is Human Resources Manager at VertexOne. She began her career in employment law and transitioned to working in Human Resources at start-up and technology companies.
Cassondra has a JD from the University of San Diego Law school and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management.
VertexOne
At VertexOne, helping utilities provide the best customer service experience is what they do. It’s been in the DNA of the company, but also in all their people, too, since they started supporting utilities’ customer experience needs over 20 years ago. And that commitment continues to this day.
VertexOne partners with utilities and energy service providers to deliver world-class customer experience by reducing risk and maximizing value through improved customer operations. Their culture rewards innovation, personal and professional development and inspires a passion for their customers’ missions.
About Workplace MVP
Every day, around the world, organizations of all sizes face disruptive events and situations. Within those workplaces are everyday heroes in human resources, risk management, security, business continuity, and the C-suite. They don’t call themselves heroes though. On the contrary, they simply show up every day, laboring for the well-being of employees in their care, readying the workplace for and planning responses to disruption. This show, Workplace MVP, confers on these heroes the designation they deserve, Workplace MVP (Most Valuable Professionals), and gives them the forum to tell their story. As you hear their experiences, you will learn first-hand, real-life approaches to readying the workplace, responses to crisis situations, and overcoming challenges of disruption. Visit our show archive here.
Workplace MVP Host Jamie Gassmann
In addition to serving as the host to the Workplace MVP podcast, Jamie Gassmann is the Director of Marketing at R3 Continuum (R3c). Collectively, she has more than fourteen years of marketing experience. Across her tenure, she has experience working in and with various industries including banking, real estate, retail, crisis management, insurance, business continuity, and more. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mass Communications with special interest in Advertising and Public Relations and a Master of Business Administration from Paseka School of Business, Minnesota State University.
R3 Continuum
R3 Continuum is a global leader in workplace behavioral health and security solutions. R3c helps ensure the psychological and physical safety of organizations and their people in today’s ever-changing and often unpredictable world. Through their continuum of tailored solutions, including evaluations, crisis response, executive optimization, protective services, and more, they help organizations maintain and cultivate a workplace of wellbeing so that their people can thrive. Learn more about R3c at www.r3c.com.
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TRANSCRIPT
Intro: [00:00:03] Broadcasting live from the SHRM 2021 Conference at the Las Vegas Convention Center, it’s time for Workplace MVP. Brought to you by R3 continuum, a global leader in workplace behavioral health, crisis, and security solutions. Now, here’s your host.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:21] Hey, everyone. Jamie Gassmann here, host of the Workplace MVP podcast. We’re broadcasting from the SHRM 2021 Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. And with me today is Cassondra Halpin. She’s H.R. manager for VertexOne. Welcome to the show.
Cassondra Halpin: [00:00:39] Thank you very much.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:40] So, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Cassondra Halpin: [00:00:42] Well, I have been in H.R. for 15 years. I started out as an employment law attorney and decided I didn’t like that, but I had a real passion for H.R.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:54] Wonderful. I’ve got to imagine that employment law background comes in handy in your daily work.
Cassondra Halpin: [00:01:00] Very much so.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:01] Yeah. So, I got to imagine, like, do you leverage that with the staff at your organization in, like, helping them to kind of understand it from that legal perspective?
Cassondra Halpin: [00:01:10] Definitely. It’s been very helpful.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:13] Yeah. So, looking at this SHRM Conference, so you’re attending this year.
Cassondra Halpin: [00:01:20] Yes.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:20] Is this your first time coming to the conference?
Cassondra Halpin: [00:01:22] No. I’ve been to about five conferences.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:26] Okay over the last – well, obviously last year.
Cassondra Halpin: [00:01:29] Yes. I was supposed to be here last year.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:31] Yeah. You’re like, I planned on it. So, tell me a little bit about your background. I know you said employment law and you had 15 years of H.R. Have you always been at VertexOne or have you kind of moved to different lines?
Cassondra Halpin: [00:01:42] No. I’ve been mostly startup companies.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:47] Okay.
Cassondra Halpin: [00:01:47] So, I’ve been with several software startup companies. VertexOne is the company that’s been around the longest and isn’t a startup but is still a software company. So, I really enjoy working there.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:02:00] Great. And so, looking at over this last year from an H.R. perspective, can you share with us what were some of the challenges that you’ve had to navigate and how did you get through them?
Cassondra Halpin: [00:02:12] I think the biggest challenge for us was going virtual. We decided to shutter all five of our offices and go completely virtual. And, the challenge comes in with engaging employees and making sure that they still feel connected and have a strong culture.
Cassondra Halpin: [00:02:29] And, some of the things that we’ve done- we started a project called Virtual by VertexOne, which we have nine areas of the employee lifecycle that different employees come up with suggestions for, and then H.R. kind of make sure that those don’t fall through the cracks. And, we have small group discussions that we do. We have virtual team building, so just a variety of things to really help people feel connected to the company.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:03:00] Wow. I know the struggle I’ve heard from other H.R. leaders is that keeping that culture intact when you’re so far away, you know that lack of the water cooler chat, if you will, that we’ve lost over this last year. I know a lot of people crave that. As a social person myself, I totally get it.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:03:19] Today was the first day of the conference. Did you attend some of the pre-conference sessions that they had?
Cassondra Halpin: [00:03:24] I didn’t attend the pre-conference sessions this year. I have been to one general session and then one of the concurrent sessions.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:03:32] Okay. So, this expo event right now is kind of your first, like, you know, intro into the SHRM 2021, right?
Cassondra Halpin: [00:03:40] Yes.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:03:40] Awesome. So, looking at the agenda, what are some of the areas of interest you have from the sessions that they’ve got scheduled?
Cassondra Halpin: [00:03:49] I am really excited about the diversity, equity, and inclusion sessions. That’s one of our areas of the employee lifecycle that we’re working on in Virtual by VertexOne. So, I want to come back with some good ideas, how we can become a more inclusive environment.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:04] That’s fantastic. I’m sure they’ve got a number of sessions that are focused around that.
Cassondra Halpin: [00:04:08] Yes.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:08] To kind of help navigate that for you. Wonderful.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:11] Well, you know, if any of our guests were going to want to get a hold of you and kind of be able to share, either swap ideas or suggestions or just to connect with you, how would they go about doing that?
Cassondra Halpin: [00:04:23] They can email me at cassondra.halpin@vertexone.net.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:29] Great. And, thank you so much for joining us today, Cassondra. It was great to chat with you and I hope you have a great rest of your SHRM show, and we look forward to broadcasting this and sharing your great information, especially with the virtual environment that you created for your team. That sounds absolutely fascinating.
Cassondra Halpin: [00:04:45] Thank you very much. It’s been a pleasure.
