From Music Major to Passionate HR Professional: Randy Cazarez’s Transformation

In this episode, Randy Cazarez, HR Director at Panhandle Community Services, shares his journey from a music major to a passionate HR professional. He discusses the pivotal role of a college professor in guiding him toward HR and the rewarding moments in his job. Additionally, Randy provides insights on handling difficult situations in HR and emphasizes the need for HR professionals to assert themselves confidently, understand the business holistically, and demonstrate their worth at the executive table.

Randy Cazarez brings over a decade of experience in the field of Human Resources, with roles ranging from Human Resource Assistant to his current position as Human Resources Director at Panhandle Community Services. His expertise encompasses recruitment, employee orientation, benefits administration, and HR management, making him a valuable contributor to the organizations he serves. Randy's educational background in Human Resource Management and Services from West Texas A&M University further enhances his ability to excel in this dynamic field. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss in this episode of People Analytics.

• Randy emphasizes the importance of effective communication and creating a supportive work environment in order to retain valuable employees.
• Observing behavior and patterns is crucial in identifying when something is wrong with an employee.
• Proving the value and effectiveness of HR initiatives is essential to overcoming resistance to change.
• HR professionals often face skepticism and constant questioning, but perseverance is key to maintaining a seat at the table.
• HR professionals often struggle to be invited to the executive table and have their voices heard.
• Building confidence in HR requires observation, assertiveness, and a willingness to challenge established norms.
• HR professionals must continuously learn, observe, and adapt to maintain their seat at the table and be taken seriously.

Resources:

• Panhandle Community Service
• StaffGeek

Connect with Randy Cazarez:

• LinkedIn

Connect with our host, Lindsay Patton:

• LinkedIn
• Email

Quotables:

• 08:42 - “And one of the things that I used to talk to people about passionately was things like workplace violence, sexual harassment, discrimination, the importance of reporting those things, not ever knowing that it was making a difference. Because when you watch people's faces in the crowd, they, they, they kind of like get real clammed up when you start talking about stuff like that, because it's a little uncomfortable.”
• 19:57 - “And so I think that one of the challenges that, you know, I personally, and that we as HR can all kind of relate on is that, you know, we get to the table, but then when we get to the table, we get questioned at the table. Like, why is this change important? How is this impacting the organization? How, what, what's the return on investment here? What are we getting out of this? Like, for example, training. Training is a big part of change. And when you implement a training such as sexual harassment training, you know, you think about, many organizations will do sexual harassment training. They'll do it because they have to, and they have to go and they have to sit back and say, well, we'll do this, but they miss the mark because they don't actually talk about, like, people will just kind of click through it and they don't really understand the meaning behind it. But when you come in and you introduce something and you say, this is why we're doing this, it makes people to start remembering that.”
• 07:50 - “So let's talk about a little bit more positive, humbling moments. And those are the moments where in HR you realize that you're helping someone more than you really think you are. And I know those are the moments that you are, you know, they build up and really, really make you love your job.”
• 14:25 - “And that's such a challenge that employees have, because there, you don't know when you're in a safe environment because there are people, leaders like you who create safe spaces. And then there are people, leaders who people have had a bad experience with. And I, I'm definitely one, one of those individuals. And so it can be, at least from my perspective, as someone who has chronic migraine attacks, I, that bit of information could either help me or hurt me.”
• 17:35 - Lindsay: “So I know another challenging situation for, you know, many, many people, professionals, is having to earn and keep your seat at the table at the same time. So you, can you talk from your perspective, what that's like?”
  Randy: “Yeah. You know, I think HR is an interesting world because we're one, one profession that is constantly forced to earn our seat at the table. But then it's not a, not just a matter of earning that seat, we have to maintain that. Yeah. But what I mean by that is, is, you know, once we get invited to the table, we're not always welcomed at the table.”