Taking an HR crash course and setting expectations

Katelyn Mary Skaggs

Aug 1, 2026

Going to journalism school, I never thought I would be dealing with HR issues. I thought I would spend my career chasing the top story, sitting through city meetings and asking the hard-hitting questions.

Instead, my journalism career has taken a turn I was not expecting.

These days, I spend a lot less time writing and a lot more time on the business side of the newspaper. I have found that my role behind the scenes helps make sure that journalism continues to happen.

One thing I definitely was not prepared for was HR.

The moment I stepped into an ownership role, I also stepped into an HR role, whether I realized it or not. No one really prepares you for that. If you are a publisher, owner or even promoting someone into management, there is a good chance HR is suddenly going to become part of your job description.
My biggest advice would be to find an HR crash course.

Take an online class, watch a webinar, read a book — whatever works for you. There are things you simply do not know until someone teaches you, and it is much better to learn them before you need them.

One of the biggest lessons I learned fast was the importance of having written policies.

The Leader was founded with the idea of being the opposite of a big, corporate newspaper. We have always tried to create a workplace that feels relaxed and personal. That has worked really well for us over the years, but we also found out that not having written HR policies can eventually catch up with you.

Many of our office practices had simply become "the way we have always done things." Everyone knew the expectations until someone new joined the team or a situation came up that had never happened before.

That is when you realize having something in writing really matters.

When we started putting together an employee handbook through our PEO (professional employer organization), they sent us a sample that was 35 pages long. I did not want to read that, and I knew our employees would not want to, either.

Our newly written HR policy is now two pages long. It covers the basics without making everyone's eyes glaze over. We included policies about no call/no shows, drug testing, workplace harassment and a few other important items. Nothing fancy — just enough to make sure everyone understands the expectations.

Writing those policies also made us take a hard look at some of our long-standing office traditions.

For years, the sales team could have a beer at the office after 4 p.m. on Fridays if everything was turned in and deadlines were met. There was always beer stocked in the refrigerator downstairs. It had become such a normal part of the office that nobody really questioned it anymore.

As we were writing our HR policies, we realized it was probably time for that tradition to end.

Employees can absolutely still leave at 4 p.m. on Fridays if everything is finished. They can meet somewhere after work and have a drink, if they want. We just decided the office was no longer the right place for it.

Sometimes, writing policies forces you to step back and ask if something still makes sense or if it is simply something you have continued doing because no one ever questioned it.

Before finalizing our policy, I had our state press association’s hotline attorney review it. I also reached out to a few newspaper friends who have HR professionals on staff and asked them to look it over. Getting another set of eyes on it gave me confidence that we were headed in the right direction.

Maybe your newspaper already has an employee handbook. Maybe it has not been updated in years. Or maybe, like us, you have never really had one at all.
My advice is not to create a giant manual that no one will ever read. Instead, create something your employees will actually look through. Keep it simple, keep it clear and make sure everyone signs it.

I'd be curious to hear what your newspaper has in place. Do you have a full employee handbook or a simple policy sheet? Are you still operating on verbal understandings like we were? Sometimes the best ideas come from asking another newspaper how they solved the same problem.

Katelyn Mary Skaggs is the sales manager and part owner of Leader Publications, a group of four papers based in Festus, Missouri. Skaggs, a Southeast Missouri State University graduate, stated at the publishing group as an intern and then as a full-time reporter in January 2019.