The HR Hub

How many meetings have you sat through where someone blamed "those gen z's" or "okay boomer'd" their way out of a real conversation? Generational researcher Cam Marston is back to talk about what actually works when you're trying to build teams across four generations. We discussed the real differences (not the lazy stereotypes), why Gen X leaders might need to rethink their "figure it out" leader...

Jennifer McClure founded DisruptHR 12 years ago. Since then, over 10,000 people have taken the stage at events worldwide to share ideas about work and the workplace. In this conversation, we dig into what disruption actually looks like for mid-level HR professionals who aren't always in the room where decisions get made. Jennifer shares how she went rogue to pilot new technology, why she was once...

Podcast Description: It's the end of 2025 and Angela Nguyen from The Leader Within Podcast and I are compared notes. What themes kept showing up in our conversations this year that we think will endure? We dug into systems thinking - HR has always been interconnected but we haven't always used that perspective to solve recurring problems. Angela spoke about what she's seeing with AI adoption: orga...

Reference checks: the hiring step everyone does but most recruiters think is dumb. In this episode, James Lord breaks down what HR professionals can do differently to actually learn something meaningful about candidates when they do reference checks. James (of RefApp) shares insights from years working with reference checking companies, including the uncomfortable truth that 8% of references are f...

We all want to hire the right person, but what if the skills you're looking for today won't matter in six months because AI is changing so much? In this episode, I talk with Matt Alder, a talent acquisition futurist and host of the top-ranked Recruiting Future podcast, about how rapidly changing skill requirements are forcing us to rethink everything about hiring. Matt breaks down the "half-life o...

Virtual team building could make anyone cringe. The invite shows up, eyes roll, and half the team is suddenly googling "how long does food poisoning last". And most of us in HR were never actually trained for this. We're just handed the task on top of everything else. So I talked with Lee Rubin, co-founder of Confetti, about what makes virtual events work (and what makes them flop). We talked abou...

If you're in HR and deal with payroll - or just need to work closely with them - getting this wrong can damage your career. Steven Van Alstine from the National Payroll Institute walks us through what HR professionals need to understand about payroll to avoid costly mistakes. And to be more effective in that critical relationship! We cover what payroll actually does beyond "paying people," the cri...

Is your HR strategy isn't aligned with your business strategy? You might think it is, but when Nadia Uberoi walks through what alignment actually looks like - the quarterly planning meetings, the initiative prioritization, the pushback on random requests - it becomes clear most of us are just reacting, not strategizing. Nadia heads people operations at Garner Health. It's a rapidly growing 400-per...

Why can't employers find workers when talented people can't find jobs??Dr. Nita Chhinzer from the University of Guelph joins me to unpack what's happening in job markets right now. Employers are drowning in thousands of identical AI-polished resumes while qualified candidates are locked out of opportunities. So how do we fix that? Well part of it is assessments. Nita's research identifies four thi...

Feeling overwhelmed at work isn't the same as feeling burned out. What's happening right now might be worse. Josh Cardoz, Chief Creative and Learning Officer at Sponge, recently wrote a white paper called "Mobilising Generation Numb" that captures what's he believes is really going on in workplaces. And it resonates. People are showing up but they're detached. They're going through the motions wit...

Working moms are burning out at higher rates than almost any other group in the workforce. The reasons are complicated, but it will clearly impact organizations. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Rosina McAlpine about what's really happening with working parents and what might actually help. Dr. Rosina is a work and family wellbeing expert who works with HR leaders to build family-friendly workplac...

Too often, people blame workplace problems on another generation. Baby Boomers won't change. Gen X is disengaged. Millennials are needy. Gen Z won't work hard. I have always wondered if this was mostly wrong. And... it is. Generational researcher Cam Marston has spent decades studying how different age groups work together, and he joined me to bust some myths. In this conversation, we get into wha...

Are reference checks worth the effort? Most HR professionals have never actually changed a hiring decision based on a reference check. So are we wasting our time, or are we doing wrong? James Lord has spent 10 years in the reference checking industry and argues we're missing the point entirely. Instead of using references to confirm decisions we've already made, he explains how to turn them into a...

As an HR Consultant I'm commonly asked "how much severance should I pay?" and the answer is it depends and maybe you should consult a lawyer. This episode is for Americans. I spoke with employment lawyer Leah Stiegler from Woods Rogers who outlined what drives severance decisions in America. We cover the critical difference between what you're legally required to pay (often nothing) and what makes...

Have you ever wondered why payroll seems so inflexible? Even annoying? Or why they seem to get upset over minor things? I certainly have. Steven Van Alstine from the National Payroll Institute joined me to break down the typical relationship between HR and payroll departments. And, of course, give us advice. In this episode: The hidden complexity behind what looks like "just pressing a button" Why...

The hybrid work debate isn't going away, so we need to consider the research. Most companies sent people home during the pandemic and didn't do much to support a different work style. And they haven't fixed this post-pandemic either. Spoiler alert: it's not working. Dr. Peter Cappelli, Director of Wharton's Centre for Human Resources, and workplace strategist Dr. Ranya Nehmeh joined me to discuss...

Is AI in recruiting revolutionizing or just hype? Matt Alder, talent acquisition futurist and host of the top 1.5% Recruiting Future podcast, separates fact from fiction in this conversation about what AI can actually do for your hiring process right now. If you've been wondering whether the hype is worth paying attention to - or if you're tired of vendors promising AI will solve all your hiring p...

Is AI going to replace your entire workforce or transform how we perform talent management. To some degree? The answer is more nuanced than the extreme hype would suggest. Dr. Reece Akhtar, organizational psychologist and CEO of Deeper Signals, cut through the hype to talk about what's actually happening in talent management. As someone who teaches at NYU and writes for Forbes and Harvard Business...

60% of people have been in a workplace romance - and 43% of those apparently end in marriage! So maybe we shouldn't be trying so hard to prevent them? But we should take precautions. Management-side attorney Leah Stiegler from Woods Rogers joined me to discuss the messiest workplace romance situations she's encountered (think: affairs, stalking, and executives caught on video with prostitutes). Mo...

I always wondered if my workaholic dad's habits were healthy. Or if he was driven by the urge to be a dedicated provider? Turns out there's a big difference between working hard and being a workaholic - and workaholics could be costing organizations. Dr. Catherine Connelly from McMaster University is shared more eye-opening research on an HR topics - this time workaholism and the connection to wor...

So I just learned about PEOs (Professional Employer Organizations) and these are so well established in the USA but news to me! Paul Aemisegeo from Payroll Mart gave me the straight talk on what PEOs actually do versus what they promise to do. If you're a smaller organization dealing with expensive health insurance, multi-state compliance headaches, or just trying to offer competitive benefits wit...

Most retention strategies are just expensive band-aids. This week I spoke with Dr. Roger Gerard, who spent 23 years as Chief Learning Officer in healthcare and has a refreshingly simple perspective on how to keep people around. Roger breaks it down to five promises that leaders need to make - and more importantly, keep. Those promises have to do with listening with respect, helping people grow, he...

How does HR impact a company's sale price? Lindsay Osmond, former VP of HR and current business optimization expert, discusses the role HR plays in making companies 'sellable'. From employment contract liabilities to cultural red flags that derail deals, Lindsay explains what buyers really look at when they are making a decision. The information she shares can help position you as a strategic busi...

You've invested in coaching training for your managers. You've rolled out the initiative company-wide. So why does it still feel like you're pushing a boulder uphill? HR consultant Debbie Pearmain has spent 25 years watching organizations struggle with this exact problem. In this episode, she reveals the uncomfortable truth: most coaching cultures fail because companies are only training half the...

Is your organization ready for the impact of AI? In this both reassuring and alarming episode I spoke with Ross Sparkman, Senior Director of Workforce Strategy at Walmart and author of "Strategic Workforce Planning," to address one of the biggest concerns facing HR at the moment. Ross brings his wealth of experience from roles at Meta and Nike to shed light on how AI will transform the workplace—n...