HR Superstars

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...

Everyone is rushing into AI, but few teams are preparing their data well enough to truly benefit from it. This episode features a recorded session from Thrive 2025. Guest host Anthony Onesto, VP of Platform and Product Marketing at 15Five, sits down with Nelson Spencer, Founder & CEO of efora, to discuss the data foundations HR needs before bringing AI into daily work. Nelson explains how large la...

Too many leaders still separate people and performance, as if caring about one cancels out the other. In this episode, Fringe CEO and co-founder Jordan Peace joins Karina Young to challenge that mindset. He explains how trust and genuine care empower people to do great work. Together, they explore what happens when organizations lose their sense of humanity, how fear and disconnection create cynic...

We talk a lot about strategy in HR, but not enough about the stories behind it. Too often, people-first initiatives lose their power because the "why" gets buried under data, process, and policy. In this minisode, Karina Young, VP of People at 15Five and host of HR Superstars, discusses why storytelling is one of the most overlooked skills in HR leadership. She shares how storytelling makes sense...

AI can give HR leaders what they've always wanted: more time to focus on people, not paperwork. In this episode, Karina Young chats with Anthony Onesto and Theresa Fesinstine about how people leaders can confidently adopt AI without losing the human side of leadership. They discuss what most teams get wrong about AI, how to start small without fear, and why a curious mindset matters more than bein...

HR leaders hold immense responsibility but too often lack the authority and confidence to match. In this episode, executive communications coach and world-champion debater Kate Mason joins Karina Young to explore how leaders can use everyday conversations to earn trust and build influence. Kate is the author of Powerfully Likable and has coached executives across industries on how to communicate w...

The future of work is already here, so why does HR still feel stuck in the past? Despite rising expectations, many HR teams are still relying on outdated tools like annual surveys, rigid change models, and compliance-first programs. The result: employee experiences that feel transactional instead of inspiring. In this episode, Loren Blandon joins Karina Young to talk about how HR can finally catch...

Authenticity in leadership is often encouraged, but rarely modeled at the top. And in HR, the pressure to stay polished can make vulnerability feel off-limits. In this episode, Nicole DuBois joins Karina Young to reflect on what happens when people leaders stop compartmentalizing and start leading from their full selves. Nicole, CHRO at Graham Windham, opens up about publishing a memoir under a ps...

Psychological safety is often discussed but rarely understood as a performance driver. Too often, it's treated like a value statement or one-time training session. In this episode, Dr. Bill Howatt joins Karina Young to discuss why that approach falls short and what needs to be done to make psychological safety measurable. Bill, Chief Mental Health Officer and Founder of Howatt Human Resources Cons...

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...