HRchat Podcast

Latest Episodes:

SHRM Partners with William G. McGowan Charitable Fund with Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. and Diana Spencer May 27, 2022

Show notes

In February, the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund, a family foundation dedicated to furthering the compassionate philanthropy and the ethical leadership of William G. McGowan, in partnership with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), announced the first‑ever Ethical Leader of the Year Award. Candidates were nominated by a colleague, assessed by a selection committee of peers, and evaluated on their principles.

The award will be presented by the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund at the opening session of SHRM’s Annual Conference & Expo next month. The winner will be honored in front of the nation’s leading businesses in New Orleans and will receive a $25,000 cash prize to donate to a nonprofit of their choice.

In HRchat episode 441 Bill talks with McGowan Fund Executive Director Diana Spencer and Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., President and CEO of SHRM about the award. Listen too, as Johnny shares what to expect in New Orleans and what's coming up for SHRM members later this year.

Questions For Johnny Include:

What does it mean to you to be a value-driven leader?
Why did SHRM partner with the Ethical Leader of the Year Award?
After the nominations have been submitted, the final list of candidates will be determined by a committee of national leaders, including the following judges: Marna C. Whittington, Committee Co-Chair, Leo Denault, Chairman and CEO of Entergy Corporation, Dan Cardinali, President and CEO of Independent Sector, Caroline W. Nahas, Senior Advisor at Korn Ferry, and Chair of the Board of Advisors of the Anderson School of Management at UCLA and you. Talk to me about how the board was selected and what the board represents in terms of inspiring leaders.
What's coming up for SHRM over the next 12 months? Any announcements you can make on the show today?

Questions For Diana Include:

How, in the eyes of the students and participating institutions, the evolution of McGowan Fellows Program and the focus on ethical leadership has led the McGowan Fund to create the Ethical Leader of the Year Award?
The award will be presented at the opening session of SHRM’s Annual Conference & Expo, expected to host over 15,000 attending in person and virtually. Why is the SHRM conference the right place to showcase the award?
You've said: "We believe that the very best leaders approach ... challenges with a well-defined ethical framework. They use this framework to make their decisions on how to meet the goals of their companies while being responsible and responsive to the needs of society, their customers, and their employees." What advice would you offer to leaders looking to improve and project the ethical framework of their organization?

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Recruitment and B2B Events in the UK with Louise Triance May 26, 2022

Show notes

In this HRchat episode, we consider what's working in Recruiting and B2B events in the UK.
Our guest is Louise Triance, MD at UK Recruiter, a leading dedicated news and networking platform for the UK recruitment sector. She is a Recruitment Industry Connector, Live Webcast Expert, and Event Organiser & Advisor. Louise helps vendors ‘under the landscape’ create “go to market” propositions. She is also a trained psychometric assessor.

Louise created and manages the UK Recruiter knowledge network which was established back before recruitment networking even existed. The network is a comprehensive set of information, services and links to all in the UK recruitment industry.
Over the past 20 years, she has hosted hundreds of events for recruiters, blogged regularly for more than a dozen years, and published in excess of 1000 weekly newsletters to an organically grown network of 30,000+ recruitment professionals.

Questions Include:

Why are in-person events back and what are the unique post-pandemic challenges?
How have hybrid work hours affected the events space? Is it harder to attract attendees because they are simply not in the office 5 days a week? Is it different for recruiters because they are client-facing?
Supplementing all valuable information in your Recruitment Start-Up Centre; you regularly host live chat events on RecruiterZone, including one in April focused on the most common challenges faced by high-growth start-up recruitment businesses. Can you share what you discussed and list a few of those biggest challenges?
You recently interviewed Alison Humphries for a RecruiterZone show about The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Recruitment Leaders. Can you share some of those habits and why they matter?
What are 3 or 4 things you wish someone had told you before you started your own recruitment journey?
You recently wrote 'How to Transform Your Website into a Recruitment Tool'. Can you share your tips?
Talk about the Recruitment Technology Innovation & Social Media Showcase happening on the 23rd June 2022 with 20 of the top tech providers within the recruitment industry, live and in-person.

We do our best to ensure editorial objectivity. The views and ideas shared by our guests and sponsors are entirely independent of The HR Gazette, HRchat Podcast, and Iceni Media Inc.

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Remaining Healthy as we Return to the Office with Joy Altimare, EHE Health May 24, 2022

Show notes

Employees are returning to the office en masse. Having peace of mind for on-site returns is something that cannot be overlooked and is needed as we transition from pandemic to endemic.
In this HRchat episode, we consider what employees can do to remain healthy as they return to on-site work. We also consider the wellbeing responsibilities of employers.
Bill is joined by Joy Altimare, Forbes Communication Council Member and CRO at EHE Health, a 100-year-old preventive healthcare company still paving the way for worksite returns to result in a happy, healthy, and productive workforce through wellbeing measures.
Joy has helped lead strategic growth and brand innovation across a range of highly competitive, rapidly evolving marketplaces for more than 20 years. As Chief Revenue Officer at EHE, Joy is responsible for driving growth across EHE Health’s expanding product ecosystem; directing revenue generation as the company rapidly scales and breaks barriers in the employer health landscape.
Questions Include:

What are the challenges faced by HR teams and the C-suite when trying to ensure employees return to the office in happy and health-conscious ways?
How should HR pros and leaders handle objections from employees worried about physically returning to the office?
Given the omicron variant has swept through the US and elsewhere, 80 million+ Americans have been diagnosed with at least one variant, and two-thirds of Americans have been fully vaccinated, are corporate vaccine mandates still necessary to abate health worries from returning employees?
How has the pandemic impacted the importance and relevance of preventive health? How will this trend impact employers and what can they do to plan for the long term?
Amid the Great Resignation, has there been an increased demand for more preventive healthcare measures for new employees?
How does EHE differentiate its offerings from others in the marketplace? Why should companies consider adding these benefits for employees?
You are also a Founding Member at Chief, a private network designed for the most powerful women in executive leadership to strengthen their leadership, magnify their influence, and pave the way to bring others with them. Tell us more!

More About EHE
EHE Health is galvanizing a bold new vision to highlight the power of prevention. Prevention for EHE is not a single doctor’s visit or exam, it is a proactive journey. EHE utilizes online platforms such as Pulse Virtual & Digital for your convenient access, data-informed trends to assess your health, coupled with their mentorship program. Their program allocates a mentor for each patient that helps them navigate their health journey. This gives them access to consulting, strategies, and tailored health recommendations specifically for them.
We do our best to ensure editorial objectivity. The views and ideas shared by our guests and sponsors are entirely independent of The HR Gazette, HRchat Podcast, and Iceni Media Inc.

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Unlocking Mental Fitness Potential of Employees with Dr. Bill Howatt May 20, 2022

Show notes

In HRchat episode 438, we discuss ways to unlock the mental fitness potential of employees and what it means to create a psychologically safe work environment.

Bill Banham's returning guest is Dr. Bill Howatt, founder and CEO of Howatt HR Consulting.
Bill refers to himself as a behavioral scientist with a keen curiosity for how employees and employers can work together to reduce mental harm and promote mental health in the workplace.

He is known internationally and is one of Canada’s top experts in workplace psychological health and safety. Dr. Bill is on the CSA OHS Standards Steering Committee and Chair of the CSA Standard Z1008: Management of Substance-Related Impairment in the Workplace. He is the co-creator of the Psychologically Safe Workplace Awards.

Questions include:

You help workers and leaders unlock their mental fitness potential. Tell me about how you do that.
The effects on employees of two years of pandemic/remote working
Create a psychologically safe workplace - How does remote working complicate efforts to create a psychologically safe workplace?
You recently shared a post on LinkedIn about ghosting in the workplace. Can you talk about it and some of the effects ghosting can have on employee mental health?

We do our best to ensure editorial objectivity. The views and ideas shared by our guests and sponsors are entirely independent of The HR Gazette, HRchat Podcast, and Iceni Media Inc.

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Psychological Safety in the Workplace with Dionn Schaffner, Aurea May 19, 2022

Show notes

DEI is front and center in the corporate world, and for good reason. Highly inclusive companies innovate faster, attract top talent, and, according to Forbes, are more likely to hit their financial targets by up to 120%. Unfortunately, however, too often we see diversity initiatives like hiring diverse applicants turn DEI into performative quotas.

Today's guest says that, by combining remote work with new technologies, companies can turn the tides of their company’s DEI programs to focus more on building inclusive work environments to help all employees feel valued and safe.

Bill Banham is joined by Dionn Schaffner, Chief Diversity Officer of enterprise software company Aurea. Listen as Dionn shares ways she is incorporating DEI into the tech Aurea and its clients use in order to make teams feel more included within their company’s virtual culture. Be it including pronoun distinction in their video conferencing tools or prioritizing accessibility design elements in virtual workplace environments, technology has the ability to foster inclusion and connection.

Questions include:

Why is psychological safety so important in work settings?
What are ways leaders can build psychological safety in their workplace?
Is it always the leadership's responsibility to set the tone for this? Are there things an average employee can do to help their peers feel psychologically safe?
In two mins or less, what results do we see when a workplace is psychologically safe? How does this fit into the broader DEI conversation?

We do our best to ensure editorial objectivity. The views and ideas shared by our guests and sponsors are entirely independent of The HR Gazette, HRchat Podcast, and Iceni Media Inc.

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Kazoo Aquires WorkTango with Rob Catalano May 17, 2022

Show notes

The HR tech space has been consolidating heavily over the past few years while money is pouring into this space like never before amid the pandemic and upheaval of the workforce. Funding in the sector totaled nearly $7.5 billion at the end of 2021 – more than the totals for 2019 and 2020 combined.
Kazoo, the all-in-one employee experience platform, recently announced the acquisition of WorkTango, the Toronto-based employee experience survey and people analytics company.

Bill is joined by WorkTango Chief Engagement Officer & Co-Founder, Rob Catalano.
Questions Include:

Why partner with Kazoo? Before we get into the functionalities, what was the brand fit?
Short term: Kazoo and WorkTango will initially operate their platforms individually as they work to fully integrate both the teams and the solutions. You will join Kazoo’s executive team as Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer. Tell me about the transition period and what it will; mean for your customers in the short term.
Longer-term: Through this acquisition, Kazoo will expand its capabilities with WorkTango's comprehensive employee listening solution that gathers employee feedback via configurable templates, intelligently analyzes the data in automated dashboards, and recommends next steps for people leaders based on those insights. Additionally, Kazoo will leverage WorkTango's expertise in data, analytics, and AI across the platform to unlock a more complete understanding of an employee's day-to-day experience. Tell me about the new combined functionality you'll now offer to customers.
Any advice for others thinking of starting an HR tech business?
What are your predictions for the HR tech space over the next 12-24 months?

As the HR tech space continues to grow, Kazoo’s acquisition aims to create better technology experiences for both HR leaders and employees, and provide the only solution in the market with employee engagement, recognition and performance management capabilities in a single platform.

Through this acquisition, Kazoo will expand its capabilities with WorkTango's comprehensive employee listening solution.
For more details, you can find the full press release linked here.
We do our best to ensure editorial objectivity. The views and ideas shared by our guests and sponsors are entirely independent of The HR Gazette, HRchat Podcast, and Iceni Media

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The Power of Music in the Office with Jamie Sura, TouchTunes May 13, 2022

Show notes

Now more than ever employees highly value their everyday work experience. Company culture is evolving to encompass the things that make people want to come to work.
In this HRchat episode, we consider the power of music in the workplace.
Bill's guest this time is Jamie Sura, Senior Vice President of Sales for TouchTunes, the jukebox mobile app bringing team-sourced music to help create vibrant and engaging office environments.
Jamie is responsible for driving continuous revenue growth through effective channel management and strategic sales initiatives.
Questions Include:

Given the context of the Great Resignation and the difficulty of attracting and retaining employees, why do you believe companies must find new and innovative employee benefits to attract talent and keep existing employees happy?
TouchTunes has launched a new music solution for workplaces called TouchTunes Unlimited to help create a vibrant and engaging workplace culture for employees. Who should select the music played in offices? HR, leaders, employees, all? What checks can be in place to ensure the music is apt for office culture?
How do you believe tools like TouchTunes Unlimited help to improve workplace culture?

More About Jamie Sura
Previously at TouchTunes, Jamie was responsible for National Accounts, the Technical Services team and Canada, and also supported the transformation and reorganization of the Inside Sales team.
Prior to joining TouchTunes, Jamie served as Vice President, Small and Medium Business at Bell Canada. Mr. Sura previously held a number of leadership, operational and strategic sales and management roles with small and large companies including IBM and Snap-On Tools. Mr. Sura holds a BA with a major in Physics from Colgate University.
About TouchTunes
TouchTunes is an interactive music platform that has over 70,000 digital jukeboxes in bars, restaurants and beyond. With TouchTunes Unlimited, TouchTunes is expanding to bring an interactive music experience, enjoyed by millions of people every week, to offices and workplaces nationwide.
We do our best to ensure editorial objectivity. The views and ideas shared by our guests and sponsors are entirely independent of The HR Gazette, HRchat Podcast, and Iceni Media Inc.

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WFH and Employee Benefits with Karen Mangia, Salesforce May 12, 2022

Show notes

In this HRchat we talk about employee benefits and the dangers of burnout. Our guest today is Karen Mangia, VP of Customer and Market Insights at Salesforce. She is a TEDx Speaker and best-selling author, now publishing her latest book, Success From Anywhere, detailing the shifting landscape of working from home and what that means for the success of your business.
Incredible figures have endorsed Success From Anywhere, including Arianna Huffington, Founder of the Huffington Post, and Toni Rodoni, CEO of Salesforce!
Questions Include:

What will it take for us to close the gap between what employers are willing to offer and what employees expect?
What are some of the most innovative new benefits organizations are offering now?
What new benefits are being offered to Salesforce employees?
What matters more: employer brand or benefits?
Burnout is the topic of our time. What advice do you have for employees who are struggling with burnout?
What are your top 3-5 predictions about the future of work?

We do our best to ensure editorial objectivity. The views and ideas shared by our guests and sponsors are entirely independent of The HR Gazette, HRchat Podcast, and Iceni Media Inc.

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Candidate Assessments and Pre-Hire Tech with Josh Millet, Criteria May 10, 2022

Show notes

There were 11.3 million job openings in the US at the end of January 2022 – a number that has been surging as an unprecedented proportion of employees leave their companies. The Great Resignation is being driven by a range of factors – from greater labor mobility to rapidly shifting employee demands.
This means companies have to be capable of hiring the right employees quickly and at scale through broadening their talent pools, cutting time-to-hire, and onboarding employees who will improve the company’s culture, increase diversity, and drive productivity.
In an era of high turnover and constantly shifting talent pools, can assessment technologies help to predict long-term talent outcomes or is it a resource only designed for the hiring and onboarding stages?
That's a key question today's guest tries to answer. Listen too, as we consider the challenges faced by larger organizations when competing to attract talent faster is a post-pandemic world of work.
Bill is joined by Josh Millet, Founder and CEO of Criteria, a talent decisions platform on a mission to help companies make objective, evidence-based talent decisions that both reduce bias and drive outcomes.
Josh founded Criteria in 2006 with a vision to create a SaaS-based pre-employment testing service that would make the highest quality employee assessment tools accessible to companies of all sizes.
Criteria helps organizations make objective, evidence-based talent decisions that both reduce bias and drive better outcomes for their teams.
Questions Include:

Much of the help you offer is top-of-funnel - can you talk about the assessments and pre-hire tools you offer?
You also help with talent mobility. What do you do to help with internal movement?
How can assessments cut down on the number of interview stages and speed up time-to-hire?
Criteria has a broad range of assessment and related tools. That includes purchases of an EQ assessment company out of Australia and, recently, a video recruitment platform. EQ - assessment - how reliable? Video recruiting - what more can be gained for virtual face-to-face screening?
Later this year you'll be administering 1 million assessments in a single month and you project 10 million assessments will be conducted by Criteria software in 2022! What kind of data does that offer?
In a time when it's hard to find top talent, can assessments put off some candidates?

More About Josh
Prior to launching Criteria, Josh co-founded an online test preparation company, Number2.com, which was acquired by Xap Corp of Culver City, CA, in 2002. After the acquisition, Josh served as the President of Xap's test prep division. He has co-authored testing-related articles published in the Journal of Educational Computing and the American Psychological Society Observer. Josh holds a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University, where he was a Fulbright Scholar and a Mellon Fellow.
More About Criteria Corp
Criteria is an assessment company dedicated to helping organizations make better talent decisions using objective, multidimensional data. By combining leading-edge data science with rigorous validation backed by I/O psychologists, we provide the most precise assessments available. Our suite of assessments is the most comprehensive on the market and covers aptitude, personality, emotional intelligence, risk, and skills to provide the most robust picture of talent. Since launching in 2006, our assessments have been administered more than 25 million times.
We do our best to ensure editorial objectivity. The views and ideas shared by our guests and sponsors are entirely indep

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How to be a More Impactful CHRO with Norm Smallwood, RBL Group May 06, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Bill Banham talks with Norm Smallwood, a recognized authority in developing businesses and their leaders to deliver results and increase value.
In 2000, Norm co-founded The RBL Group, an advisory firm to the world's top HR leaders, with Dave Ulrich. His current work relates to increasing business value by building “outside-in” organizational, leadership, and people capabilities that measurably impact market value.

Questions For Norm Include:

How would you describe the evolution of HR?
What are some trends you're seeing in human capital analytics?
What are the KPIs to consider when hiring a CEO?
What about the KPIs for hiring and measuring HR leaders?
What is your take on succession planning? Is there a best way to do it?
What have the best companies done to develop the leaders with the right capacity to lead successfully? Can you give some examples of companies getting it right?

More About Norm Smallwood
Norm partners with clients to increase the contribution of people to the business by aligning the organization to foster high-performance cultures that resonate with customers. Outputs include distinctive organizational capabilities and a recognizable leadership brand. Success is defined as increased confidence in the future by investors, customers, and employees. This translates in publicly traded firms to a higher stock price and a strong reputation for the business.
In 2010, the Harvard Business Review recognized Norm in an ad for the magazine as doing “innovative and ground-breaking work on effective leadership.”
Norm has co-authored eight books, and he has published more than a hundred articles in leading journals and newspapers. Norm has been a frequent blogger on HBR Online where his blog on Personal Leader Brand was highlighted as one of ten most read of 2010.
He was a faculty member in executive education at the University of Michigan in the Ross School of Management between 2001 and 2003. For several years, Leadership Excellence magazine has ranked
Prior to co-founding The RBL Group, Norm was a founding partner of Novations Group, Inc. where he led business strategy, organization design, and human resource management projects for a wide variety of clients spanning multiple industries. Before this, he was an organization development professional at Procter and Gamble in a start up business in Georgia and in Calgary, Alberta, with Esso Resources Canada.
We do our best to ensure editorial objectivity. The views and ideas shared by our guests and sponsors are entirely independent of The HR Gazette, HRchat Podcast, and Iceni Media Inc.

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