Rory C. Trotter, Jr., of rorytrotter.com, is featured in the very first of my HR to Who Interview series.

1. kylemjones.com
http://kylemjones.com/hr-interview-rory-trotter-jr/#.UwqKAfRdVGI
The HR to Who Interview: Rory Trotter, Jr.
Sometimes the best thing for a blogger is to be silent and let others speak. Sometimes it is best to ask questions
because you can learn so much about a person from the answers they give. This is why I've started this interview
series and I thank Rory C. Trotter, Jr. for being the first in this interview series.
The HR to Who Interview: Rory C. Trotter, Jr.
Let’s start with the basics. Tell me about yourself.
My name is Rory C. Trotter Jr. I’m an HR leader specializing in
Compensation, Talent Management, Employee Relations, and
People Analytics. I’ve provided enterprise wide support on
matters related to base pay, executive pay, and long-term
incentives for a Fortune 50 company, conducted analyses of
remuneration packages favorably reviewed at both the CEO
and board levels, managed employee relations at the division
level, and led recruitment efforts for hundreds of jobs spanning
a wide range of functions, complexity, and scope. I have both
an MBA and a Master of Human Resources and Industrial
Relations from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I
love sushi, writing/reading/thinking about HR, learning about
new technical spaces via MOOCs, and watching TV show
marathons (The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Revolution,
and House of Lies are my current guilty pleasures).
Why Human Resources?
Because I believe tomorrow’s economy will be driven by those
companies that most effectively leverage their human capital in the pursuit of innovative solutions to the 21st
century’s unprecedented business and social challenges. To accomplish these aims, the best organizations will
successfully use descriptive and prescriptive analytics to recruit top talent, identify and nurture said talent’s strengths,
and ensure sustained productivity and innovation through the use of initiatives that both recognize and reward high
performance.
If you had to choose another career other than HR, what would it be - and why?
I wouldn’t have guessed even 12 months ago that I would be strong in this space, but I’m actually really enjoying the
learning process here.
I’m starting to suspect that I might have been a fantastic programmer. I’m currently learning both R and Python (the
former for work-related goals and the latter for pleasure). I wouldn’t have guessed even 12 months ago that I would
be strong in this space, but I’m actually really enjoying the learning process here. With that said… I think that I’m in
the ideal function already. I love people management, conflict resolution, everything to do with compensation, and
greatly enjoy leveraging people data to improve both business and talent outcomes.

2. Tell us about your blog and what caused you to start blogging.
For this I can thank Suzanne Lucas (many know her better by
the name “Evil HR Lady”). About 18 months ago I started reading
her articles online and sharing them on Twitter. From there we
struck up a dialogue, and she encouraged me to start a blog to
share my thoughts on HR. I did so and loved it! I’ll have been
blogging for a year as of February 22nd 2014, and I can honestly
say that it has been an incredibly rewarding experience on both a
personal and professional level.
What do you find most challenging in life?
Time management! I have *so* many things I want to do right
now! I’m looking to really cultivate my strengths in the data
analytics space (because that’s one of the core areas where I
think businesses are going to look to our function to add value going forward); I blog every day; I manage my
presence on several personal social channels; I am of course constantly looking to add value in new ways at work; I
try to stay up on all the latest studies in HR (as well as reading as many 10ks and def14a statements as I can); and
I’m really trying to work on my speaking skills (the strongest leaders are great communicators). Juggling all of the
above while also trying to have a social life is extremely difficult. Some days there just isn’t enough time in the day!
How has blogging and social media changed you?
I am more disciplined. I’ve posted something HR related every day for 355+ days at this point. Setting aside time to
write about fresh topics in the HR space and curate content 7 days a week requires me to be very organized with my
time. If I’m not then I don’t have time to do anything else besides read/write/learn about HR and work! Fortunately,
over time I’ve developed some very good habits that allow me to live a balanced life while also leveraging blogging
and social to both expand my network and learn all that I can about HR!
If you could spend an hour with anyone from history, who would that person be and why?
That would have to be Abraham Lincoln, who is one of the greatest people and project managers ever. I think
that I could learn a lot about leadership from spending an hour with him.
Contact Rory Trotter, Jr.
Twitter - https://twitter.com/RoryCTrotterJr
LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/roryctrotterjr
Email - rorytrotter86@gmail.com
Website - Rorytrotter.com
About Kyle Jones

3. I am the Human Resources Manager at Megagate
Broadband, Inc. and have been with the company since June
1996. My tenure with the company has provided experience
in customer service, accounting, marketing and social media
in addition to HR.
I've served in a volunteer leadership role on both the local
and state SHRM levels. I currently serve as Co-Social Media
Director of Mississippi SHRM and 2014-2015 Social Media
Director for South MS SHRM.
Finally, this blog is my creative outlet and doorway to the
world of Doctor Who and HR blogging. I've provided guests
posts to several HR blogs and have been featured on
SocialMediaToday.com.