HR Operations · Practitioner Playbooks

Playbooks

Practitioner playbooks on running HR — the HR of one, automation vs judgment, founder pushback scripts, the five operational systems that matter, when to argue for headcount. Written from twenty years inside people operations and training at companies large enough to feel the math.

Hiring
Job Descriptions That Attract (and the Ones That Quietly Repel)

The requirements wall is your biggest silent repellent. How to write a job posting that attracts: the first line that earns the second, real verbs, posted ranges, the repellent-words field guide, and the ten-minute inclusive pass.

Tom Christian June 12, 2026 ~9 min read
Pay Transparency
Pay Transparency by State: What a Small Business Actually Has to Do in 2026

A dozen states now require salary ranges in job postings — different thresholds, different rules, and a remote-work trap that catches employers who think they're exempt. The plain-English operator's guide, the five patterns that let you reason about any state, and the one safe default that covers most of it.

Tom Christian June 5, 2026 ~12 min read
HR of One
The HR Manager of One: A Survival Playbook for the Person Doing Everything

You are mathematically underwater. Not slow, not bad at your job. Here's the operating model that gets HR-of-one from drowning to running it — triage rubric, five systems, founder pushback scripts, and the five signs you need a second person.

Tom Christian June 3, 2026 ~14 min read
More playbooks publishing weekly.