HR Leader Podcast Network

Late last year, the chief people officer for Gilchrist Connell was announced as the national law firm's new chief executive – a role she assumed in July. Here, she reflects on her vocational experience and details how coming from an HR background and wearing "many, many hats" lends well to leading a large legal practice. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with G...

A recent Fair Work decision noted that a primary carer doesn't have to be the sole carer in order to receive primary carer parental leave. Here, a senior lawyer unpacks the decision and what it means for employers and lawyers moving forward. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Meredith Kennedy, a special counsel at national law firm Maddocks, about her work...

Here, we explore the need for business leaders and workplaces to "earn the commute" of their staff members returning to the office, including by way of imbibing a common purpose of the broader approach. Host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Canon Oceania director of people and finance David Field about his remit at Canon, how he has found the transition from technical legal specialist to having a bigg...

Here, a senior HR adviser reveals the non-negotiables driving Australian candidates, why outdated recruitment tactics backfire, and how to fix hiring in a market where flexibility and respect reign supreme. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Kace O'Neill speaks with Gartner's senior HR principal, Jasleen Kaur, about why Australian talent prioritises work/life balance over pay, how outd...

Almost all Australians know someone who has been diagnosed with cancer or will have been diagnosed themselves. However, our workforce has a long way to go when it comes to having open, supportive conversations about workers who fall ill. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Publicis Groupe chief talent officer in APAC and ANZ, Pauly Grant, about her journey t...

For many businesses, employing fractional professionals – who are highly committed and engaged – to lead can be the way for those entities to deal with the myriad market challenges they face. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy sits down with The CFO Centre group chief executive Sara Daw to discuss her professional journey and embrace of greater flexibility and variety...

In an age of information overload, bringing things back to basics and ensuring workforces are getting the fundamentals right is essential to ensuring healthy, happy and productive staff. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Rodney Cottam and Chris Paterson from Run Rocket Run about their journeys in the corporate, armed services, and professional sporting wor...

What did this HR partner do when she walked into her first defence event in her early 20s, wearing a bright pink suit, and realised she was the only woman in the room? In this special episode of The HR Leader Podcast, produced by our sister brand, Defence Connect, we explore this question and much more. In the premiere episode of The Progress Report, produced by HR Leader's sister brand, Defence C...

Former CEO of an AFL side turned ethical leadership expert Matt Finnis unpacks the habits of inclusive workplaces, strategies for navigating polarising debates, and why transparency is non-negotiable in 2025. Formerly CEO of St Kilda Football Club and corporate lawyer and now CEO at Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership, Matt Finnis spoke to HR Leader journalist Kace O'Neill to discuss key themes...

The fierce debate over flexible work arrangements shows no signs of slowing down, thrust into the spotlight by the recent Australian federal election and high-profile corporate mandates. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, Host Kace O'Neill sits down with Neal Woolrich, director in Gartner's HR Advisory team, to navigate the complex terrain of post-pandemic work. Woolrich, drawing on his uni...

The NSW government's proposed overhaul of the workers' compensation scheme has ignited fierce debate. In this recent episode of the HR Leader Podcast, host Kace O'Neill sits down with Chantille Khoury, partner and practice group leader for workers' compensation at Law Partners, to dissect the draft reforms and their potentially seismic impact. Khoury details how the reforms would devastate support...

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, working life has changed significantly. Now, research is starting to identify certain professional and environmental trends that businesses need to be on top of. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy is joined by the founding board director of R U OK?, Graeme Cowan, to discuss why uncertainty is so prevalent in workplaces in the curre...

In this special episode of The HR Leader Podcast, we showcase one of the headline speakers for the upcoming Bold Ideas in HR event, Taylor Dee Hawkins, about the moral and commercial imperatives to best practice with management of a workforce that is more diverse than ever before and the benefits that come with it. Host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Taylor Dee Hawkins, the Foundations for Tomorrow...

In this special episode of The HR Leader Podcast, we showcase one of the headline speakers for the upcoming Bold Ideas in HR event, Kylie Fuller, about whether diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) remains good business or rightly under the microscope. Host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Kylie Fuller, the managing director of Fuller Potential, about her work, why it is important to take stock of wh...

In this special episode of The HR Leader Podcast, we showcase one of the headline speakers for the upcoming Bold Ideas in HR event, Steve Glaveski, about whether Elon Musk was right to fire four in five Twitter (now X) employees. Host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Glaveski, the CEO and co-founder of Collective Campus, about his corporate innovation consultancy and start-up accelerator and why he do...

In the current climate, businesses are seeing less need for middle managers – this is not only concerning for those professionals but also detrimental to long-term business health. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with BoldHR founder Rebecca Houghton about the work she does and why it's meaningful, the emergence of the Great Flattening, its implications for th...

In the face of voluminous market and cultural change, the ways in which recruiters and hiring managers operate need to evolve, one professional argues. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with TRC chief executive Geoff Millar about his background in recruitment, why it's been a meaningful career path, the peaks and troughs he's seen in the recruitment space, what...

Here, a leading employment and labour lawyer reflects on what we've learnt in the last year and a half from the Secure Jobs, Better Pay legislative changes and what it all means for the market moving forward. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Norton Rose Fulbright partner Alexandra Shields about her work in employment and labour law, the "human element" of...

With political polarisation on the rise worldwide and with Australia's federal election less than a fortnight away, it is fundamental that business leaders find ways to ensure greater connectivity and collegiality for their workforces. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Adelaide-based Moira Were, the mayor of the City of Onkaparinga, co-founder of Collab4go...

Here, we discuss SuperFriend's recently released Indicators of a Thriving Workplace Key Insights report, what it says about the state of affairs in the Australian workforce, and what constitutes best practice moving forward. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with SuperFriend chief mental health adviser Dr Natalie Flatt about the recently released Indicators of...

In Labor's pre-election budget, Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced a ban on non-compete clauses for workers earning less than $175,000. Here, we unpack implications for businesses, workers, and the political climate, as well as the consequences not only for employment law but also for M&As and litigation. In this episode of The HR Leader Show, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks to employment law partner F...

In this special episode of The HR Leader Podcast, produced in partnership with Avature, we unpack the revolutionary impact of artificial intelligence on the daily operations of human resources teams and how such professionals can and should take advantage. Host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Avature founder and chief executive officer Dimitri Boylan about the volume of change he has witnessed in the...

When it comes to creating thriving workplaces, a more idiosyncratic approach to gendered needs may well be what businesses have long been missing. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Dr Michelle McQuaid, an honorary fellow at Melbourne University's Centre for Wellbeing Science, about the importance of speaking about gender in the workplace in non-traditional...

In this episode of the HR Leader podcast, host Kace O'Neill sits down with Rachel Voysey, founding director and principal psychologist of the Relationship Room, to unpack the complexities of workplace relationships – from platonic bonds to office romances. With over a decade of expertise in relationship dynamics, Voysey unpacks HR's delicate role: addressing these dynamics without moral judgment,...

Remuneration and incentives have always been a Pandora's box for business leaders. In the post-pandemic climate, however, in which employee values have shifted, the equation has become trickier. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with TalentCode HR founder and managing director Trudy MacDonald about the difficulties business leaders have long had with implementi...