HRchat Podcast

“I think I’m resigning.” Jennifer Outlaw still remembers blurting those words out in a meeting, and the clarity that followed. That single moment opens a bigger conversation about career reinvention, values-based leadership, and what it really means to be successful when the job looks great on paper but feels wrong in your body. Pauline James is joined by Jennifer Outlaw , a values-rooted leadersh...

Workplace wellbeing is everywhere, yet too many programs still feel like duct tape on a deeper problem. Bill Banham sits down with Professor Jo Yarker, Professor of Occupational Psychology at Birkbeck University of London and managing partner at Affinity Health at Work, to get practical about what actually drives healthy performance and what HR leaders can do when quick fixes fail. We dig into why...

Your HR tech stack can feel like a living creature: new tools arrive, contracts renew, integrations sprawl, and suddenly you are paying multiple vendors for the same capability. We wanted a grounded conversation on how to regain control, so Bill Banham brought back Matthew Hamilton , VP of People Analytics and HRIS at Protective Life, to talk about building a guiding HR tech strategy that actually...

For decades, careers have been framed as a linear path, one that builds, peaks, and then winds down. But what if that model no longer reflects how we live and work today? In this episode of The Next Chapter , Pauline James , CEO of Anchor HR, speaks with Dr. Suzanne Cook , a Canadian social gerontologist and adult educator whose research is reshaping how we understand later-life careers. At the he...

In this episode of the HRchat Podcast, host Bill Banham is joined by Ingo Piroth, Chief Revenue Officer at Emapta Global , a leader in building high-performing global teams for some of the world’s fastest-growing companies.  Listen as they explore how outsourcing and offshore teams are evolving into a strategic lever for workforce transformation. With over 30 years of experience across global tech...

Hiring used to be about looking shinier than the competition. Now that AI can polish any resume to perfection, the real work is separating signal from noise—and telling the truth about what it takes to thrive. In this episode, Bill Banham sits down with Bryan Adams , CEO and founder of Happydance , to unpack why employer branding is key to business strategy, why “friction by design” beats mindless...

AI is no longer a future concept—it’s embedded in day-to-day HR operations. But with adoption comes pressure: to prove ROI, manage new risks, and rethink workforce strategies. In this episode of the HRchat Podcast, Bill Banham speaks with Craig McCoy, Chair of the HR Connection Group and a trusted advisor to boards and C-suite leaders across the UK. With leadership experience at Sky, BT, BUPA, and...

The future of work isn’t about trends - it’s about design. From the Cpl studio in Dublin, Bill Banham sits down with Barry Winkless, Head of the Future of Work Institute at Cpl and author of Future Work World , to explore what’s really changing in work, HR, and leadership - and what organizations need to do next. Barry shares a practical framework for understanding the future of work through three...

What does it take to scale technology without leaving your people behind? Bill Banham sits down with Valerie Capers Workman - CHRO at Empower Pharmacy and author of Quantum Progression - to unpack the real playbook for building an AI-enabled workforce that is faster, fairer, and future-ready. Valerie makes a clear case: human AI collaboration works when employees know exactly what to use and why i...

The ground keeps shifting under every org chart, and AI is speeding up the tempo. We sit down with Tom McCarty , CEO of OrgChart , to map a practical path to an AI-ready organization that doesn’t lose sight of people. Tom has helped thousands of companies redesign during M&A, hypergrowth, and downturns, and he shares why most reorgs fail before they start: leaders don’t have a single, live vie...

Your brain doesn’t “age out” of growth. With Dr. David Rock of the Neuroleadership Institute, Pauline James unpacks the science showing why learning capacity stays strong well into our later years and how motivation, novelty, and meaningful challenge keep cognition sharp. We share the practical moves that help senior talent thrive: mentoring that activates reward networks, reverse mentoring that s...

What if most workplace well-being initiatives miss the real issue—not how people feel at work, but how the job itself is designed? In this episode of the HRchat Podcast, host Bill Banham is joined by Carol Atkinson , Professor of Human Resource Management at Manchester Metropolitan University, to rethink what “good work” actually looks like in practice. Beyond pay and benefits, Carol argues that d...

In this episode of the HRchat Podcast , host Bill Banham is joined by Perry Timms , author of Transformational HR and founder of PTHR, to explore how HR leaders can design for constant change rather than react to it. Together, they unpack Perry’s updated HR operating model — one built on product thinking, systems design, and behavioural science . You’ll hear how HR teams can treat services as evol...

Careers don’t peak and fade—they evolve. In this episode of the HRchat Podcast , host Pauline James is joined by Dr. Ben Zweig , economist, data scientist, and CEO of Revelio Labs , to unpack what AI, remote work, and risk-off hiring really mean for later-career professionals. The data-driven headline may surprise you: while AI exposure is dampening demand for junior roles, experienced roles remai...

In this episode of the HRchat Podcast, Bill Banham is joined by future of work strategist Danny Stacy to unpack the growing disconnect between what employees now expect from work - flexibility, trust, and purpose — and the legacy systems many organisations still rely on. The result of that gap? Disengagement, burnout, and quiet opting out. Danny argues that the fix doesn’t start with perks or plat...

What if the fastest way to modernise HR isn’t ripping out systems or buying another mega-platform but connecting what you already have in a smarter way? In this episode of the HRchat Podcast, Bill Banham sits down with James Davies , CEO of Kinetic Data , to explore how an agility layer can transform fragmented HR and enterprise processes into simple, human-centred workflows employees actually use...

What if mental fitness sat on your calendar like any other business priority? We sit down with Ryan Komori , founder and CEO of Savor Lining, to map a practical path from good intentions to real behavior change at work. Ryan shares a raw account of his own burnout and recovery, then lays out a system that helps teams build skills before crises hit: anonymous, therapist-led classes scheduled during...

Benefits have become the make-or-break factor in how people choose employers, stay engaged, and perform at their best. We sit down with Neil Ryland , CRO at Benifex, to unpack the Big Benefits Report 2025–2026 and translate its findings into practical plays HR teams can run now. From measuring ROI to closing the “value void,” this conversation maps the shift from perks to performance. We dig into...

Want a clear view of where HR in Ireland is heading and how to prepare your team for what’s next? Bill Banham sits down with Alison Hodgson, Market Director at CIPD Ireland , to map the practical priorities that will define people leadership in 2026: target operating models tuned to strategy, a smarter approach to productivity in hybrid work, cultures that enable creativity, and talent systems bui...

The hidden cost of untreated menopause in the workplace isn’t just personal discomfort—it’s lost productivity, stalled careers, and organisations quietly losing experienced talent. In this episode of the HRchat Podcast , host Pauline James sits down with Dr Woganee Filate , respirologist, sleep medicine physician, and co-founder of Loom Women’s Health, to unpack how menopause directly affects perf...

What if the biggest AI disruption isn’t at the entry level, but right in the middle of your org chart? Bill Banham sits down with Brian Kropp, VP of Global Insights at Heidrick and Struggles, to explore why the winners are treating AI as a people and change problem, not a tech project—and how that shift rewrites HR’s mandate. We start with speed. Startups jump from idea to pilot in 30 days; large...

In a tight labour market, employers can’t afford slow, unclear hiring - yet moving fast without fairness creates risk, bias, and damage to your employer brand. In this episode of the HRchat Podcast, Bill Banham welcomes Stuart Potter , Senior Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University and contributor to digital skills initiatives supporting SMEs, to explore the real-world use of AI, automation, and empl...

Is mid or late career really a slow fade — or could it be a powerful new beginning? In the first HRchat episode of 2026, host Pauline James is joined by career development pioneer Gillian Johnston to challenge outdated ideas about career progression, age, and value at work. Drawing on nearly five decades shaping career standards and programmes in Canada and internationally, Gillian reframes work b...

With the support of Personio, we’re bringing Disrupt back to Dublin with a format built for action: five-minute lightning talks, auto-advancing slides, and zero fluff. After years of webinars and multitasking, Dublin gets a night where ideas hit hard, conversations move fast, and the network you build matters. Ahead of the festive break, Bill Banham sat down with Disrupt Dublin co-organizer Ben Ge...

What if the biggest disruption to work isn’t AI, automation, or hybrid models—but a 100-year-old idea about when careers are supposed to peak and decline? In episode 868, Pauline James speaks with Lisa Taylor, CEO of Challenge Factory , about why traditional career models are fundamentally broken in a world where many people will live well into their 80s and beyond. Together, they unpack how outda...