HR Superstars

Companies hire for technical skills because they are easy to identify, test, and validate. But the qualities that drive success, like communication, leadership, and collaboration, are much harder to measure. In this episode, Karina Young is joined by Mark Herschberg, CTO, MIT instructor, and author of The Career Toolkit. They discuss why recruitment needs to evolve beyond traditional hiring signal...

Does it feel like HR is excluded from strategic conversations? Elles Skony says it's time to stop waiting for permission to lead. In this episode, she joins Karina Young to talk about how HR leaders can earn trust, build influence, and show up as true business partners. As the founder of Fractional People People, Elles shares what moving into fractional work taught her about setting boundaries, cr...

There's a misconception that great leadership means having it all figured out. But slowing down to ask questions and bring people into the conversation is what helps teams move faster. In this episode of HR Superstars, Karina Young sits down with Dr. Debra Clary, founder and leadership advisor of The Clary Group, to discuss why curiosity is a measurable driver of performance, not just a nice-to-ha...

Mental health is a priority for many organizations, but knowing how to talk about it is still one of leadership's biggest challenges. In this episode of HR Superstars, Karina Young sits down with Melissa Doman, organizational psychologist and author of the "Cornered Office: Why We Need to Talk About Leadership Mental Health". They discuss what it takes to make mental health a true leadership compe...

Introducing new values doesn't change culture. New conditions do. In this episode of HR Superstars, Karina Young speaks with Paula Brockwell, founder and lead psychologist of The Employee Experience Project. They discuss why culture is something you design, not declare, and why so many culture initiatives stall six months after the big announcement. There's no single definition of a good culture,...

We've been taught to picture career growth as a straight line upward. That's not how careers actually unfold. In this episode of HR Superstars, Karina Young speaks with Brittany Storie, Product Advisor and Sales Leader at AllVoices. They discuss how HR leaders can build a more flexible approach to career growth in a workforce where linear paths are no longer the norm. Brittany shares why companies...

What do you do when your highest-performing employee is also creating tension across the team? HR leaders often face the difficult choice of tolerating harmful behavior because of someone's results or taking action and risking the loss of valuable expertise. In this episode of HR Superstars, Karina Young sits down with Diana Lowe, executive coach, author, and founder of Blue Light Leadership. They...

High performance has traditionally been measured by individual output, but that definition is starting to change. In this episode of HR Superstars, Karina Young continues her conversation with Chris Walker, entrepreneur and author of The Frequency Era. They discuss why companies need to move beyond measuring individual output, how hiring practices can better identify potential, and how HR leaders...

As routine tasks become increasingly automated, organizations need to rethink how they develop leaders and teams. Judgment, creativity, and adaptability become increasingly more important than knowledge or technical skills. In this episode of HR Superstars, Karina Young sits down with Chris Walker, entrepreneur and author of The Frequency Era, to discuss how AI is reshaping the role of HR. He expl...

HR and people leaders often feel pulled in a hundred directions, leaving little time for strategy or growth. What if you could reclaim that time and make a bigger impact without working longer hours? In this episode, Karina Young sits down with Nelson Spencer, founder of Augie Ventures. They discuss how AI and intelligent agents can help you offload repetitive tasks, streamline workflows, and ampl...

Managers are being asked to do more than ever. They're expected to coach, support well-being, drive performance, and navigate uncertainty, often without the necessary systems or tools to do it effectively. In this episode of HR Superstars, Karina Young sits down with Sara Canaday, leadership strategist and award-winning author, to explore how HR can better support managers. Sara explains why manag...

Implementing AI isn't about systems or workflows alone. It's a human transformation that touches every role, skill, and interaction. This is why HR needs to lead the change. In this episode, Karina Young is joined by Dr. Jeff Smith, author and COO at 15Five, to discuss how HR can guide organizations through this shift. Jeff shares strategies for managing change with empathy, upskilling employees,...

What if the way we develop leaders is exactly why they end up stuck in the day-to-day instead of driving results? In this episode of HR Superstars, Karina Young, VP of People at 15Five, makes the case that most organizations are developing strong people managers when what the business needs are system leaders. If your leaders are struggling, this episode will help you figure out why and what HR ca...

Most HR professionals didn't step into HR to spend their days putting out fires — but that's exactly where so many end up. When the reactive cycle takes hold, confidence fades, credibility takes a hit, and the meaningful work keeps getting pushed to "next week." In this episode, Karina Young sits down with Lisa Young, founder of HRHQ, an online HR community and education platform, to talk about wh...

Performance Improvement Plans often get a bad rap. When they're misused or poorly implemented, PIPs can create more harm than good. In this episode of HR Superstars, Karina Young, VP of People at 15Five, clears up the misconceptions and explains how PIPs can be a valuable tool for employee growth. Karina shares how PIPs should be about clarity, alignment, and development, not punishment. She discu...

Compensation is often treated as a once-a-year task when it should be viewed as an ongoing, strategic tool that drives business success year-round. In this episode of HR Superstars, Karina Young chats with Roger Lee, CEO and Co-Founder of Comprehensive, about how HR leaders can change their approach to compensation. Roger breaks down how to move beyond the annual merit cycle, ditch the spreadsheet...

Uncertainty is an inevitable part of HR leadership, but how can we navigate it with confidence and clarity? In this episode of HR Superstars, Karina Young is joined by Kat Kibben, founder of Three Ears Media and recruiting expert, to explore practical ways HR leaders can build resilience and lead effectively in times of change. Kat shares her personal journey, from living in a van to becoming a bu...

Leadership training is one of the most common investments organizations make, but it is also one of the easiest to get wrong. Many companies track attendance, but few measure whether managers actually lead differently afterward. In this episode of HR Superstars, Karina Young sits down with Nicole Roberts, Founder & President of People Solutions Group, to discuss how to design leadership developmen...

The future of HR is here, and it's evolving faster than ever. Recorded live at the HR Superstars Summit, Karina Young asks Dana Calder and Dr. Dieter Veldsman the five burning questions HR leaders are asking as they navigate this new, data-driven, and AI-powered era of work. As HR teams encounter new challenges and opportunities, this episode provides actionable insights on how to remain focused,...

Technology decisions can shift dramatically when HR steps in with a human-centered perspective. In this episode, Kate O'Neill, CEO of KO Insights and author of What Matters Next, explains how HR can influence innovation before decisions are locked in. She shares why employee experience, ethics, and organizational performance belong at the center of technology conversations, not after rollout plans...

HR leaders are feeling the squeeze. With limited resources and growing pressure to improve engagement, performance, and retention, many are tasked with building manager support systems from scratch, often without the time or tools to do it effectively. In this episode, Morgan Webb, Senior Strategic Advisor at 15Five, and Yen Tan, Evangelist, Expansion & Manager Products at 15Five, share how HR can...

The more friction you have in an organization, the harder it is to move forward. In this episode of HR Superstars, Karina Young sits down with David Hassell, CEO of 15Five, to discuss how trust, awareness, and conscious leadership can foster a culture of growth and empower teams to achieve their full potential. Drawing from the practices of conscious leadership, David explains how perception shape...

High performers are often seen as the ones you don't have to worry about. But behind consistent output and quiet competence, there can be early signs of burnout and disengagement. In this episode, Melanie Naranjo joins Karina Young to challenge how companies define top talent and why performance without support leads to retention risk. Melanie, Chief People Officer at Ethena, shares a candid persp...

If HR wants to evolve, doing things the same way year after year won't cut it. Change requires bold, new strategies. In this episode of HR Superstars, Karina Young is joined by Crystal Boysen, Chief People Officer at Sprout Social, to challenge traditional HR thinking around risk, planning, and employee value. Crystal discusses why fear-based policies and over-engineered processes create friction...

If you're in HR, you're already working with data, whether you realize it or not. Every time you spot a pattern, have a feedback conversation, or reflect on team dynamics, you're using data to make decisions. In this episode, Dr. Dieter Veldsman, Chief HR Scientist at AIHR, shares ways HR leaders can feel more confident using data in their everyday decisions. He explains what it means to be data-l...