We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jasmine Herbert. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jasmine below.

Jasmine, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry?

Corporate American culture has long been considered the standard for the working professional. For decades, many have looked to corporations to set the tone for professional interactions, work performance, and overall employment value based on one’s skillset, education, and experience. Over the past few years, however, and especially since coming out of the post-covid era, there has been a significant shift in how corporate America is being perceived.
One thing that I feel corporate America gets wrong time and time again, is its inability to adjust or change with the times and the needs of the people they seek to employ. I understand, even more now that I am a business owner, the multiple competing priorities that organizations face every day. However, businesses that are so rigid or glued to traditional ways of approaching these new workforce challenges are the ones I see suffering the most.
For example, the biggest adjustment that we see now is the debate over remote work. Remote work was something that for years companies said would be impossible to do. When we were all faced with the terror of the pandemic, a lot of people didn’t have a choice. Unless you were considered an essential worker, you were relegated to the confines of your home. Through the tragedy of COVID-19, corporate professionals discovered an entire new way of working and in most instances maintained or increased their level of productivity (McKinsey & Company, 2022). Those numbers almost doubled amongst women and minorities when surveyed.
Companies like Airbnb, Amazon, Salesforce, Google, and AT&T were amongst the first to adopt a remote first workforce, allowing their employees the choice to work remote, hybrid, or come into the office based on their level of comfort and productivity. These organizations reported record profits and employees reported increased job satisfaction as well.
Organizations that didn’t allow remote or hybrid options reported increased turnover, employee burnout, and a decline in their overall revenue and profits.
If corporate America adjusted with the needs of the people, especially since employment should be viewed as a mutually beneficial agreement, the outcomes for all involved, even beyond remote work would be increasingly positive.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

The Employee Handbook, Career & Workforce Solutions is a boutique career coaching and talent consulting firm located in Upstate South Carolina. Backed by over a decade of human resources, career coaching, recruitment, and consulting experience, The Employee Handbook provides results-oriented career strategies to meet the needs of both job seekers and employers alike. Career Coach: I provide career development services to students, early career, mid-career, senior, and executive-level professionals. These services include professional resume writing, interview coaching, salary negotiation strategies, LinkedIn profile optimization, and HR-on-Demand.
Talent Consultant: I provide services to small to mid-size organizations looking to enhance their current recruitment strategies. This includes providing full-cycle recruitment support, analyzing current recruitment processes, training HR and management teams in recruitment best practices, and implementing those recommendations into daily practice.
I am known for my education-based approach to career coaching and talent consulting. I use data, metrics, trends, and professional experience to support, train, and provide services to my clients.
What sets me apart from others is my background in both HR and Talent Acquisition. I have over 10 years of direct experience in the field as well as a master’s degree in human resource management. I’ve dedicated my entire career to the field and study of HR and have a unique perspective that most resume writers or career coaches don’t have.
I am proud of the small but mighty aspect of my brand. You won’t see a trendy style of coaching from me. I am, by nature, laid back, but when I have something to say, it’s powerful and helps those who are seeking information.
What I want readers to know about The Employee Handbook is that each client I work with, I build a relationship with. I am deeply invested in their career journey and am always rooting for them through all phases. I love getting text messages and hearing the good news about promotions, interviews, and multiple job offers.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

In my industry, sharing knowledge is critical and not just anything you can find online, but information that only someone with a particular background and experience can share. For me, that is where I started and what I continue to do today.

Debunking myths around career exploration and transition, giving the real “tea” on what happens behind the scenes of your favorite organizations, and encouraging those going through their own journeys is what helped build my reputation in the market.

My clients know they can trust the information I give them because of my background and the many years (over 10+) I’ve spent working as a corporate HR professional across a number of industries.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One lesson I’ve had to unlearn in business is that I had to do and be everything in my company. In the beginning, I felt immense pressure to learn and perform every aspect of the business; IT, sales, marketing, finance, operations, customer service, and fulfillment. I was exhausted. So, I had to unlearn the unhealthy practice of doing it all. I outsourced help in areas that took up too much time or that I simply didn’t want to do. It has been a game changer. Adding business partners to my journey as a business woman has increased my productivity and creativity 100%.

If I hadn’t learned to open my hands to let go, I would have missed all the things that freeing up that space allowed me to receive.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.emphandbook.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theemployeehandbook/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheEmployeeHandbook
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theemployeehandbook

Image Credits
Denise Benson Photography