We need PD! Before scheduling a meeting or impromptu training which teams do you need to connect with?
Workforce Development
An employee is navigating a major life event, and their coworker’s advice starts with, "When my cousin took time off…" Who can help them understand their actual leave options and next steps?
Leaves
Surprise! You Start Monday.
A principal tells a candidate, “You’re hired! See you Monday.”
The candidate hasn’t received an official offer, and the position hasn’t been confirmed as available. These two teams need to get the hiring process back on track.
Talent Acquisition and Workforce Management
Your calendar says 5:00, but someone schedules a “quick check-in.” This Dolly Parton song names the workday you thought you had.
9 to 5
He wears a pineapple-adjacent business-casual look, loves his job at the Krusty Krab, and has been ready for work since 1999. His coworker Squidward would like him to calm down.
SpongeBob Squarepants
The Flash gets where he is needed fast. When staffing needs shift and schools need coverage, we help coordinate the response so students continue receiving support. Who are we?
Workforce Management
This team helps interpret bargaining agreements and supports labor relations.
Employee & Labor Relations
An employee’s assignment is incorrect in the HR system. This team helps investigate the record.
HRIS
New Job, Who Dis?
An employee accepts a promotion and begins leading functions outside of their original scope of work.
The payroll still shows their old position, and their new salary hasn’t been reflected. These teams need to connect the hiring action, approved pay, and employee record.
Talent Acquisition, Compensation & Classification, and HRIS
The team finally fills a hard-to-staff vacancy. This Kool & the Gang song belongs on the victory playlist.
Celebration
Before the meeting could begin, someone needed to explain how a young man from West Philadelphia became this.
The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Wonder Woman’s lasso brings the truth into focus. We help teams establish facts, interpret agreements, and navigate employee and labor matters consistently. Who are we?
Employee and Labor Relations
This team supports employee learning, onboarding, and professional growth.
Workforce Development
We have an approved vacancy and need great candidates. Before the principal starts recruiting in the grocery checkout line, who should they call?
Talent Acquisition
An employee is approved for an extended leave. Their supervisor says, “We’ll just have someone cover.”
The school needs a substitute now and may need to recruit a temporary replacement. These three teams need to coordinate.
Leaves, Workforce Management, and Talent Acquisition
The inbox is full, the requests keep coming, and Beyoncé says the job will not do this to her. Name the song.
Break My Soul
This workplace comedy features Janine Teagues, Barbara Howard, and Principal Ava Coleman. Our HR department would have a full calendar.
Abbott Elementary
Iron Man designs each suit around the work it needs to perform. This team examine job responsibilities and help align positions with appropriate classifications and compensation structures. Who are we?
Compensation and Classification
"I want to hire this person! They're my neighbor from my childhood home, best friend's ex doggie daycare part-time receptionist and AMAZING!" What can't the glowing grocery store line review replace and what team needs to be tap to lead?
Workforce Management
"I’m pretty sure the contract allows it" has entered the conversation. Before "pretty sure" becomes a decision, who are you calling?
Employee & Labor Relations
Other Duties as… an Entirely Different Job?
A manager adds supervisory duties and higher-level responsibilities to an employee’s role.
“It’s just temporary” has turned into six months, and the employee is asking about their classification, pay, and contract rights.
Compensation & Classification, Employee & Labor Relations, and Workforce Management
The meeting has gone 30 minutes over, someone says "Let’s go around the room," and you’re calculating how to leave without your chair squeaking. This Queen hit is your internal soundtrack.
I Want to Break Free
In 1970, Oregon officials used dynamite to remove a dead whale from a beach. The result: falling blubber, a crushed car, and an unforgettable case for asking a few more questions before approving the plan. In which Oregon coastal town did this happen?
Florence Oregon
Superman can see what others can’t. We look beneath the surface of employee data, catch discrepancies, and keep PPS’s HR systems and records accurate. When someone asks, "What does the record actually show?" we bring the facts. Who are we?
HRIS

"The announcement already went out.” Unfortunately, the staffing change hasn’t received the necessary approvals. How does HR take the lead without turning the reply-all into an episode of Law & Order?
Connect with the decision-maker, verify the facts and outstanding approvals, coordinate a correction, and give affected employees clear next steps.
The employee’s absence was extended, but the substitute assignment wasn’t. Before tomorrow’s coverage becomes today’s google chat, who are you calling to help coordinate the scheduling update?
They Need to Go
A supervisor wants an employee removed for ongoing performance concerns.
None of the concerns were documented, the employee says expectations were never explained, and the supervisor’s backup plan is to move them to another role. These teams need to address the performance process, development needs, and proposed move.
Employee & Labor Relations, Workforce Development, and Workforce Management
The supervisor says, "This has been happening for years!" The documentation is nonexistent. Now they want to terminate, and ELR’s first response sounds like this MC Hammer hit.
U Can't Touch This
In this sci-fi series, employees undergo a procedure that separates their work memories from their personal lives.
Severance
Batman has a utility belt for almost everything. This HR team has the workflows, resources, and coordination that keep the department moving. When the signal goes up, they help turn ‘Who’s handling this?’ into a plan. Who are we?
HR Operations
Three departments, three staffing totals, one leadership meeting. Before anyone declares their spreadsheet the correct version, what must everyone agree on?
What they are counting, the reporting date, and the approved sources used to verify the total.
We want employees to grow, feel connected, and see a future at PPS and another "please review the attached" email isn’t going to do it. Who are you calling?
Workforce Development
One Retirement, Five Workstreams
An employee’s retirement is finalized, and the manager asks to “post the same job.”
The manager wants to redesign the role, change its responsibilities and pay, and hire someone early enough for a handoff. These five teams need to coordinate before the plan can come together.
Workforce Management, Compensation & Classification, Talent Acquisition, HRIS, and Workforce Development
The retreat has ended, but this Pharrell Williams hit describes the mood you hope everyone leaves with.
Happy
In 2025, a concert camera caught a company’s CEO and HR chief in a viral moment that gave "employee relations" a whole new meaning. Which band was performing?
Coldplay
Nick Fury brings together the Avengers, recognizes each hero’s strengths, and unites them around a shared mission. This leader brings every HR function together, sets direction, and ensures our collective expertise supports PPS employees and students.
CHRO - Chief of Human Resources