We were lucky to catch up with Reanna Werner recently and have shared our conversation below.

Reanna, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

Having worked the majority of my career in HR Corporate America, there is a lot of good, bad and ugly. Corporate America is a dynamic environment that builds leaders and opportunities for our communities and workforce. There is a depth of specialized opportunity that can only be tapped into by large corporations. On the other hand, due to the depth of large corporate environments, there is a limitation in treating people like people. Unfortunately, the standard is to treat people like cattle. Corporate America treats human situations with automation, processes, and one-size-fits-all. Treating people with a systemized approach creates a gap in trust and loyalty. These systems alienate the only mechanism within a business that enables growth and opportunity… the people.
Often times Corporate America looks to HR to “humanize” the workforce experience. However, HR has limited capabilities. It all starts and stops with leadership. Leadership creates the day-to-day work-life experience. When organizational leaders take a people-focused approach that allows people to have their own individual successes, experiences, and failures organizations can find success through an authentic workforce.

Reanna, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Working in an corporate HR enviornment, leading HR teams to great success while building innovative programs, Reanna knew that she had found her calling… something was missing. For years there, there was a hole in her career that she just couldn’t put her finger on. When her husband set out to launch his CPA firm, BRW Tax & Accounting, his clients learned that she was an HR professional. Filtering HR questions through her husband to her, BRW’s small business clients were able to find answers to their people question that they could not otherwise find. Seeing this great need within the small business market, Reanna set out to create HR Branches.

HR Branches is an innovative business model that marries hands-on guidance from trusted local HR experts and an online platform with a robust (jargon-free) library of templates and Colorado-specific employer topics. With over 40 years of combined HR experience, Reanna Werner, MBA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP and the HR Branches team specializes in supporting Colorado small & micro businesses that do not require a full-time HR professional but who self-administer their HR functions and need affordable help and resources. “HR Branches is a trailblazer in providing services to the small businesses that are long overdue reliable resources and guidance” said Chief Problem Solver of HR Branches, Reanna Werner. HR Branches is dedicated to helping Colorado small businesses with affordable HR help that will allow businesses to grow and thrive through strong employment practices.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I’ll never forget the moment that I let Leah Walton. She was sitting behind a reception desk, her face was beautifully painted with a Dia de los Muertos calavera, and was incredibly kind and welcoming. On that Halloween afternoon, I was interviewing for a position that I would eventually accept and experience a tremendous amount of professional growth in.

Two weeks into the role the VP of HR submitted her resignation and left the HR team on shaky ground. It was an unnerving time. Leah quickly stepped in and assisted the team with administrative support. She was excited to learn and grow. As she and I got to know each other I learned that she has worked in recruiting in a previous role and wanted to grow as an HR professional. A few months of no leadership and uncertainty left the HR team vulnerable and stagnant. I was eventually promoted to the HR Manager role and I was provided the opportunity to promote Leah into the recruiter position. As she grew into her recruiter role, she became “thirsty’ for more. Leah absorbed as much HR knowledge as she could get her hands on. She took on more and more projects that exposed her to the intricacies of human resources. All I needed to do was tap into her passions and let her fly… it was magical to watch her metamorphosis.

When I set out to create HR Branches, I knew that there was only one person I wanted to build the business with side-by-side, Leah. Shortly, after launching HR Branches, Leah joined me as a partner. Together, we have built a business that does good in our community every day that is becoming a pillar in the Colorado small business community.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

The cornerstone of our reputation is centered around our vision “A collaboration of superpowers that helps the Colorado small business community sleep better.”

From the inception of HR Branches, we have been dedicated to supporting the small business community through reliable, consistent, and timely information. Whether a small business owner is a member or a “future member’ we are here to help the community thrive.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hrbranches.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hrbranches/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HRBranches
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/11690799/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAMnYutp0wtTN5F6joQLksQ

Image Credits
MRE Photography