Bringing JOY in HR-Choose Joy

June 7, 2025

On June 5th, I had the honor and privilege of speaking at HR Summer School to over a thousand attendees who joined online from around the world. What was even more special is that some friends took time out of their day to come attend in-person and hear me speak.

You are probably wondering what is HR Summer School? My friends Ben Eubanks and George Rogers started HR Summer School in response to the COVID lockdown.

Ben saw a need to connect with HR professionals during the time when it felt like the world had shut down. What started out as one online event, 6 years later now has grown to a 3-day event of learning, with thousands of attendees from around the world and multi-faceted speakers. It was truly an honor to be invited to participate.

During my session, George Rogers and I had a conversation about Bringing Joy in HR. After the session, I received some of the nicest and warmest responses and messages from around the country. I sat on my front porch reading some of the comments and stories. It moved me to tears to think that a country guy from Red Bay, AL could share a message of joy with someone through an online platform that would uplift their day across the world.

Here's the story version of “Bringing Joy in HR and Choose Joy”.

What does “Bringing Joy” in HR mean to you and how can leaders embed this idea into everyday lift?

Joy Is Now!

I believe “JOY IS NOW”. I believe that joy is now, not tomorrow or next week. Many professionals believe that I/we will have joy when we have our life right, our career, our finances, our relationships, our family life and more right. But the reality is that we are not promised tomorrow and therefore, Joy can be now.

If you are reading this at some point, then you were “on the list to get up today” and that means you have “purpose”. Being on the list means you have purpose for today. We are not promised tomorrow, so we have to be intentional about today.

“I Was on the List to Get Up Today!"

If you were on the list, then bringing Joy means you have purpose for today.

Author and Speaker Vitale Hardin says, “Be Where Your Feet Are.” 

That’s a powerful reminder to be where your feet are. Whether it’s a great day, a challenging day or that day you just want to quit. Be Where Your Feet Are, and you will never walk along.

Joy is a Choice

During the session I wore a blue t-shirt that said, “Choose Joy.” I chose that shirt because it conveyed the message in just two words, choose joy.’ Joy is a choice. It doesn’t just happen.

It takes a commitment and practice every day to get up and “put on your Joy.’ Just as I put on that T-Shirt for this event, I have to remind myself everyday of putting on “joy.’ It’s like a well fitted shirt or jacket that you wear all day.

Joy is not Rah, Rah or the cheerleader squad, it is not always an outward expression but it’s an inner settled-ness, a confidence.

What are some simple, practical steps HR professionals can take to cultivate a happier workplace culture?

“The Culture you Create Determines the Audience that You Keep.”

The Culture you create determines the audience that you keep. What type of culture are you creating? Is it one that people look forward to being a part of or is it one where people dread to come into work, or one that creates Sunday night scaries? Those things are real!

The culture you have determines the type of audience (employees) that you will keep. Employees will not stay in a stress filed environment too long. Being mindful of the "atmosphere" is very important in determining what type of culture you actually have. It's easy to think, "oh our culture is great!", but is it? Are your teams thriving in both work life, personal life and beyond. And most importantly... "Do YOU Have Joy?"

John C. Maxwell, one of my favorite authors says,

“People’s purpose in life is always tied to their giftedness.”

Every professional has a “professional giftedness.” Understanding and operating in your professional giftedness and those of your team allows you to create a better overall culture. When you operate in your professional giftedness, things happen effortlessly. The opposite is also true.

Trying to operate outside of your "giftedness" is like trying to pedal a bike up a very steep hill, when you haven't ridden a bike in many years."

Believe in Yourself so that you can believe in others.

When we believe in others it is easy, but when we first believe in ourselves it can be difficult.

One of the main components of bringing joy is being able to “Trust Yourself”. Caitlin Sampson says, “You Must Trust Yourself.”

I like to think of it this way, “Trust Yourself, Trust Your Training, and Trust Your Network.” By being able to trust yourself you can then trust others and believe in others.

“Trust Yourself, Trust Your Training, and Trust Your Network.”

Pastor and Speaker Jason Parks says, “Joy is a leadership multiplier.” 

"It just doesn’t lift the mood; it lifts the entire room. When a leader walks in with joy,

they create an atmosphere where people can believe anything is possible.”

Have you seen an example of where focusing on joy in HR lead to tangible improvements in employee morale or business outcomes?

“You Can’t Retain What You Do Not Maintain" Jason Thrasher

As HR pros, we are in the business of PEOPLE, and you can’t retain (people) what are not willing to maintain. You cannot hire and forget. Good people will not stay in a overly challenging or stressful environment for long. But when you sincerely care about people on a deeper level than just tasks, it will show in the organizations results.

Let me share a story with you that I have written about before.

Parisian Story

Several years ago, I worked as an HR Manager for a department store called Parisian. The Parisian name is no longer around and is now part of Belk. But back then, I was responsible for encouraging and motivating the employees at like 5:30 or 6AM in the mornings for freight production. In the mornings the store teams would put out merchandise and restock the sales floor. So, I was tasked to motivate.

One morning (just out of the blue) I got on the intercom and said, “Good morning everyone. Thank you for coming to work today. Now, look over at your neighbor and say, “hey neighbor, thank you for coming to work today.” I didn't really think much about it other than I was truly trying to motivate everyone, including myself.

I began doing that day after day, week after week and suddenly a year and past it sort-of caught on. Employees would hold me accountable if I did not do it, and they would say (in a lightheartedness), “Hey, aren't you going to thank us for coming to work today?” And I suddenly realized, we had changed the atmosphere of the entire building.

To this day, when I see someone whom I worked with at Parisian, they will usually say, Hey Jason, thank you for coming to work today or reference it. Recently, I was attending the ALSHRM state conference and ran into a former colleague from my Parisian day who walked up to me and reminded me of that saying.

Looking back, did it make production go faster or increased productivity, probably not. But what it did was change the "atmosphere" in which we worked. It didn’t just change the mood; it changed the entire store's atmosphere. It caused coworkers to talk with one another, it made you laugh, broke down barriers, and brought joy into the workplace (at 6AM in the morning).

Let's be clear, it wasn’t me. It was nothing I did or said, but it was the incredible group of individuals I had the privilege working with that gave “Thank you for coming to work today” meaning and purpose and brought joy to others along the journey of life and the day.

No, I didn't know each individual was going through that day and at times, I'm sure I probably wasn't my best. But what I do know, through years of doing HR, is that when we connect on a deeper level than just policy, tasks, strategic action plans, etc., we impact one another on a deeper, impactful level.

I like to think of bringing Joy in HR and in the workplace as the “Joy Factor.” The “Joy Factor” creates a higher sense of purpose and value.

How can HR teams break out of the mindset of only “checking boxes” and instead focus on human connections?

HR can be very task driven.

It is quite easy in HR to become very task driven. I mean, who doesn’t like a good checklist. But is “check on people” on your checklist? Don’t get me wrong, a good checklist in HR comes in mighty handy from time to time. But we can tend to get stuck on tasks and associate tasks with progress and in doing so, we leave out “people” in that progress.

It’s important to remember we are in the business of people. As HR pros., we have a mandate (if you will) to keep people a priority.

As my friend Caitlin Sampson says, you must “Trust Yourself.” It is easy to miss those people moments when someone walks into your office, unannounced, while you are in the middle of a big project with a fast-approaching deadline. What do you do? You BRING JOY to the moment. You stop, you listen, you empathize, you share the load, and you move forward.

You see, brining joy is not about brining happiness. Although they can coexist together. Joy is a foundational principle, not a feeling or a moment.

Pastor/Speaker, Jason Parks says, “A joyful leader shows up with energy and expectation, responds instead of reacts to challenges, celebrates progress and wins, speaks life over people and calls out their potential.”

Simon Sinek says, “Know Your Why.” Well, first you have to find your why and many times that comes through giving of yourself and stepping into that “professional giftedness”

One of my favorite quotes from John Maxwell says…

Success is:

Knowing your purpose in life

Growing to your maximum potential

Sowing seeds that benefit others

                                                            John C. Maxwell

2 Week Challenge

During HR Summer School we ran out of time before I could share a 2 Week Challenge for every HR Pro. So here it is.

For the next 2 weeks:

1. Be intentional about putting on Joy every morning before you start work.

2. Choose Joy- Regardless of the day, the circumstances, etc. Make a conscious decision to “Choose Joy” first.

3. Practice this every day for 2 weeks and at the end of 2 weeks, see what happens in you.

I challenge you to try this. At the end of 2 weeks see what it did for you? Then keep it going, and before long it becomes something that you just naturally do, without even having to think about it.

Final Thoughts on Bringing Joy in HR and Culture

Joy is NOW.

Not tomorrow, not next week. You put it on every day, just like a t-shirt and before long it becomes well fitting.

Trust Yourself, Trust Your Training and Trust Your Network

Believe in Yourself, so you can believe in Others

My Go To Joy Songs

During the session, George asked me what my “go to” joy/feel good songs are. I shared, well the last time we talked about this I said, “9-5 by Dolly Parton and that’s still one of my favorites.

But who doesn’t love some Whitney and “Oh I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and if you are a country fan, “Life Is A Highway” by Rascal Flatts.

Connect with me on LinkedIN or check out my website at BestLife50.blog

I’m Jason Thrasher and this is BestLife50.