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Jessica Donahue
I help startups and small businesses implement HR strategies designed to attract, develop, engage, and retain the best talent.
Jessica Donahue is the Founder of Adjunct Leadership Consulting, specializing in HR solutions for startups and small businesses, focusing on team engagement.
With a Bachelor's of Science in Human Resources from Marquette University, Jessica has over a decade of experience in corporate HR, excelling in talent acquisition, associate relations, and leadership development.
Prior to establishing Adjunct, Jessica held key positions at notable companies like Continental Properties, Rexnord Corporation, and The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc.
Her expertise lies in designing and implementing HR solutions that foster team engagement and efficiency for startups and small businesses, aiming to create highly engaged and thriving work environments.
To learn more about Jessica and her work, visit her website at https://www.adjunctleadership.com/
Highlights
As a kid, my home life was marked by addiction and dysfunctional relational patterns born from generations of unprocessed trauma. I learned to find safety in the only place I could: at school. Achievement became my primary strategy for feeling safe and seen, first in the classroom and then in the workplace.
And while it all looked kinda perfect on the outside, I'll let you in on a little secret—which is that no amount of "success" will ever fill the void of a sense-of-self built solely upon "what you can do for someone else" vs. "who you are at your core."
Inevitably, the day will come when you make a mistake or do not measure up to someone else's expectations of you. And, when that happens, the trauma responses programmed deeply into your nervous system will run at you full-steam ahead and knock you clear off your foundation. At least, it did for me.
Now that I'm on the other side of a whole lot of work on myself, I can look back and see so clearly that my trauma responses were running the show at work.
I quit jobs because of them. I failed to set boundaries because of them. I let career opportunities pass me by because of them. I prioritized people-pleasing above all else because of them.
When I think back on the different employers I've worked for throughout my career, it's clear that some of them were trauma-informed and helped me along in my healing, while others were far from it and kept me stuck.
To be clear, building a trauma-informed workplace is not about asking people to share their trauma histories with you [although, yes, most of us have them.]
It's about making sure your entire team is educated on the pervasiveness of trauma, the various trauma responses [think fight, flight, or freeze] and how they might show up at work, and intentionally promotes ways of working that contribute to an environment of healing and recovery rather than engaging in practices or interactions that inadvertently retraumatize people and perpetuate harm.
Building trauma-informed workplaces starts with awareness and education, so I'm excited to have signed on as a partner to The Wounded Workforce™'s Trauma-Informed Workplace Practitioner Certification, developed by Stephanie Lemek, SPHR, MBA, CTSS.
If you're an HR, Talent, or People Ops professional and want to help lead this change, this certification is one you should consider. We've only got a few months left in the year, and I know most of you probably have L&D budgets just waiting to be spent! Plus, it's pre-approved for 10 recertification hours through HRCI and SHRM.
Use my code "20PERCENT-JESSICA" to get 20% off the self-paced online certification. We'll donate 10% of sales to The Loveland Foundation - an organization dedicated to bringing opportunity and healing to communities of color, especially Black women and girls.
Everyone deserves to work for a trauma-informed employer, and it starts with us, People people!
#traumainformed #humanresources #people #culture #psychologicalsafety
"I work in HR; of course I know that everyone hates us."
After this article was shared, Josh Bersin, who has since 𝚎̶𝚍̶𝚒̶𝚝̶𝚎̶𝚍̶ deleted his original post, was quick to call the article click-bait and dismiss the very valid points several People people were quoted as making.
I don't have 900,000+ followers, nor do I research HR; I work in the field as an actual practitioner. So, while fewer people will see this post, I have some opinions on the concerns he was quick to dismiss.
The article perhaps painted things a bit too dark, but the concerns practitioners shared here are valid. It's no coincidence that HR had the highest turnover rate of any job Linkedin tracked in 2022.
The part I want to focus on is what Hebba Youssef said: "People in HR tend to be very compassionate, very empathetic, but a lot of employees look at us as inherently evil."
Yes, employees generally hate us. And yes, that does take a toll on our spirits because we know this, and we've 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 this.
And yet, we're showing up and doing the work anyway. Because, believe it or not, most of us care way more about the employees we support than we'll ever get credit for.
It might surprise everyone who hates HR to know that, behind the scenes, 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 usually the ones pushing for things like paid parental leave when most executive teams would otherwise never consider it.
Or that 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 calling out pay equity issues to ensure marginalized communities aren't being paid less.
Or that 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 practically begging leaders to focus on building trust with their teams, some of whom won't even bother to respond to us.
Instead, managers all too often take the easy way out, conveniently blaming us for unpopular decisions that we never had the power to make to begin with because they're too cowardly to stand firmly behind sharing bad news.
So they throw us under the bus, telling their people that, "HR said no." They move along unscathed while we're left to do damage control for a decision we had nothing to do with and probably never agreed with anyway.
After all, they already know everyone hates us. What's the harm in giving employees one more reason to perpetuate our already bad reputation, right?
So yes, many of us are tired and that came across in the article. And yes, some of the best People people are leaving their in-house roles in droves because we never want to work for leaders who disrespect 𝘶𝘴 the same way they've probably been disrespecting 𝘺𝘰𝘶 for years.
Most employees hate us because someone they worked for burned them in the past, and that makes sense. It doesn't matter that it wasn't 𝘮𝘦 who did it; 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 burned them, and HR will forever represent that. Those feelings are also valid and should not be dismissed!
We're not "just complaining," and we don't expect anyone to feel sorry for us; our good days still generally outweigh our bad—most weeks.
But you might as well know the truth.
#humanresources #careers #futureofwork #culture #hr
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Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.