Hiring great talent is only half the battle.
Keeping them — especially in today's workplace — is where the real work begins.

In this episode of HR Baddies, host Katie Garcia breaks down the retention strategies that actually work for 2025. No fluff, no outdated HR clichés, and definitely no "pizza party solutions."

Katie explores what today's workforce truly wants, the real reasons high performers leave, and why fixing your middle managers is the single most powerful retention move any organization can make. She also dives into actionable tactics HR teams can implement immediately — from stay interviews to career pathing to workload redesign — and explains why these strategies uniquely support veteran and military spouse retention as well.

This episode gives HR pros, people leaders, and executives the blueprint for building workplaces where people stay because they want to — not because they don't have another option.

✅ Why outdated retention tactics fail in 2025
✅ What employees really want from leadership and culture
✅ How middle managers directly make or break retention
✅ Practical retention strategies you can use tomorrow
(This is the good stuff — stay interviews, mobility programs, flexible work done right, leadership coaching, real recognition, and workload fixes)

• Retention is a leadership strategy, not a perks program
• People stay where there is clarity, purpose, and psychological safety
• Development > perks
• Skill-based hiring + modern retention = unstoppable workforce
• Fix the manager → fix the turnove

🎧 Listen Now: www.hrbaddies.com

The hiring landscape is shifting — fast.
Degrees are no longer the golden ticket. Perfect résumés aren't the benchmark. And "5 years of identical experience" is quietly dying out.

In this episode of HR Baddies, host Katie Garcia breaks down what hiring looks like in 2025 and why the companies getting ahead are the ones embracing skill-based hiring — a model that opens the door wide for veterans, military spouses, and nontraditional candidates who bring real capability, adaptability, and leadership to the table.

"Skill-based hiring is the great equalizer. It doesn't ask where you sat — it asks what you can do."

Katie dives into the practical, tactical side of skills-first recruiting. Not the theory — the application. From rewriting job descriptions to retraining hiring managers, she shows how to build a talent pipeline that's stronger, more diverse, and more aligned to business needs than anything a degree requirement could ever deliver.

✅ Why skill-based hiring is skyrocketing across major industries
✅ How to rewrite job postings to focus on capabilities over credentials
✅ How structured interviews and scorecards reduce bias
✅ Why military experience translates into powerhouse corporate roles
✅ How military spouses bring unmatched adaptability and cross-functional skill
✅ Where to find skill-based talent (HOH, MSEP, SkillBridge, RecruitMilitary, Vets2PM, O2O & more)
✅ How skills-first hiring improves retention, strengthens leadership pipelines, and broadens diversity organically

• When you focus on skills, your talent pool expands — fast.
• Veterans and military spouses excel when evaluation focuses on capability, not linear career paths.
• Skills-first hiring reduces bias and levels the playing field.
• Hiring becomes faster, fairer, and far more successful.
• The future of talent isn't pedigree-based — it's potential-based.

If you're ready to modernize your hiring process — and finally tap into the powerhouse talent you've been missing — this episode gives you the blueprint.
Whether you hire five people a year or five hundred, skill-based hiring will make your recruiting process stronger, fairer, and more competitive.

This is how great teams are built in 2025.
This is how we unlock veteran & military spouse talent.
This is how HR leads the future of work.

🎙️ Listen Now: www.hrbaddies.com

📘 Related Resource: Empowering Military Talent → https://a.co/d/efmRboC

Influence isn't about titles — it's about impact.

In this episode of HR Baddies, host Katie Garcia breaks down one of the biggest challenges HR professionals face: how to drive decisions, shape culture, and move the business forward even when you're not sitting in the C-suite.

Because the truth is, HR teams are often expected to lead transformation, manage crises, and fix culture — yet still fight to be taken seriously in strategic conversations. This episode gives you the blueprint for shifting that dynamic once and for all.

Katie dives into the real reasons HR struggles for influence, and more importantly, the four levers every HR pro can use to build credibility fast: data-driven storytelling, stakeholder mapping, piloting solutions, and becoming the calmest, most prepared voice in the room.

She also breaks down what NOT to do — the habits and communication styles that unintentionally undermine HR's authority — and replaces them with practical, modern strategies to elevate your voice and your function.

✅ Why HR is often looped in too late — and how to change that
✅ How to shift from being seen as "support" to being seen as "strategic"
✅ The four influence levers HR can pull — even without a fancy title
✅ How to communicate in business language that executives respect
✅ Why pilots create faster credibility than presentations
✅ What behaviors quietly hurt HR's influence (and how to avoid them)

• Influence is built on consistency, not job titles

• Data turns HR ideas into business decisions

• The strongest HR leaders lead through clarity, not volume

• Trust grows when you deliver — and keep delivering

• You don't need permission to lead; leadership is a behavior, not a role.

If you've ever felt overlooked in a meeting, dismissed when raising concerns, or frustrated that HR isn't treated as a strategic partner, this episode is the mindset — and method — shift you need.

Katie gives you the exact frameworks, language, and confidence to make your ideas land — and to make leadership listen.

This isn't about waiting for the promotion.
It's about showing up like the leader you already are.

🎙️ Listen Now: www.hrbaddies.com