HRchat Podcast

In this episode of the HRchat show, Bill Banham talks with Margo Crawford, Founder & Chair of Business Sherpa Group. Margo is a Canadian expert on small and mid-sized businesses, including leadership, succession, and strategy. She values knowledge sharing and often speaks both as a keynote speaker and panelist for national events. She was named Business Woman of the Year, Women’s Business Network, and HR Professional of the Year by the HR Vision Awards.Questions for Margo include:How can AI-fuelled technologies enhance HR functions within small and medium-sized businesses? As part of your answer, please discuss the potential applications of AI in recruitment, employee engagement, talent management, performance evaluation, and workforce analytics.What are the potential pitfalls of removing humans from many of these processes?Navigating the Ethical Implications of AI Adoption in Canadian SMEs: Please can you provide insights into some best practices for ensuring responsible AI adoption and suggest strategies for mitigating ethical risks in the HR context? (data privacy, algorithmic bias, transparency, and accountability).Preparing the Workforce for AI Integration in Canadian SMEs: Can you share practical tips and strategies for HR professionals to support employees in transitioning to an AI-powered work environment?How will the rise of AI on the workforce particularly impact SMBs? Please include mention of the need for upskilling and reskilling initiatives.You were recently involved with a panel focused on how businesses can build value by navigating business transitions with strong succession planning. Tell us more. More About MargoIn her previous role as President and CEO of the Business Sherpa Group (BSG), she grew BSG to support over 500 small and midsized businesses throughout Canada and internationally by building a team of strategic and operational professionals who provide flexible consulting services in Human Resources, Cloud Based Accounting, Managed Recruitment, and Executive Solutions.Prior to BSG, Margo was co-founder of Meriton Networks, an optical telecom start-up, and was instrumental in building a company with locations around the world, raising over $75M in equitySupport the showFeature Your Brand on the HRchat PodcastThe HRchat show has had 100,000s of downloads and is frequently listed as one of the most popular global podcasts for HR pros, Talent execs and leaders. It is ranked in the top ten in the world based on traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness. The podcast is also ranked as the Best Canadian HR Podcast by FeedSpot and one of the top 10% most popular shows by Listen Score. Want to share the story of how your business is helping to shape the world of work? We offer sponsored episodes, audio adverts, email campaigns, and a host of other options. Check out packages here. Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our newsletter Check out our in-person events

In this episode of the HRchat show, we discuss:How your work environment can impact engagement and performance levelsRetaining your top talentWays employees can keep up to speed with changes brought on by AI and machine learningHow leaders can inspire innovationThe guest this time is Barry DiRaimondo, CEO & Chairman of SteelWave, LLC, a company that creates innovative work environments where people are inspired to go to work.Questions for Barry include: SteelWave creates innovative work environments where people are inspired to go to work. Can you share a couple of use cases?Where should innovation in a company come from? The work environment, leadership, HR, employees, partners, all of the above?What is your philosophy regarding managing your talent, and how might it differ from other traditional offices? Should leaders hire based on fit over skills/qualifications?What does it mean to have a strong work ethic?What are some of the biggest mistakes you see CEOs make when working with HR departments?How has SteelWave retained talent at the top of their respective practices for, in some cases, decades while both CRE and the workforce, in general, are afflicted by a quiet quitting crisis and work-from-home scenarios? How do you keep your best people? Technology and AI are constantly changing the way we do business. What should companies do to keep their employees up to speed so they don't fall into the skills gaps?More About Barry DiRaimondoBarry is an outspoken thought leader in addressing challenges and intrepid opportunities for investment in the modern commercial real estate (CRE) marketplace and is frequently invited to speak at conferences and industry panels. He additionally serves as an expert commentator and has appeared in Bloomberg, Fortune, the San Francisco Standard, the Los Angeles Times, and the International Business Times (IBT).He began his career as a General Contractor for Custom Designs Construction, having previously earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from Cornell University.With over four decades of experience in the industry, Barry oversees strategic investments and operations across all Steelwave LLC commercial real estate (CRE) and company-related matters, includiSupport the showFeature Your Brand on the HRchat PodcastThe HRchat show has had 100,000s of downloads and is frequently listed as one of the most popular global podcasts for HR pros, Talent execs and leaders. It is ranked in the top ten in the world based on traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness. The podcast is also ranked as the Best Canadian HR Podcast by FeedSpot and one of the top 10% most popular shows by Listen Score. Want to share the story of how your business is helping to shape the world of work? We offer sponsored episodes, audio adverts, email campaigns, and a host of other options. Check out packages here. Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our newsletter Check out our in-person events

According to a recent Glassdoor survey conducted by The Harris Poll, over two-thirds (68%) of U.S. employees would like a way to ask their coworkers and company leaders questions anonymously at work. In addition, 3 in 5 U.S. employees (63%) wish they had an online community where they could get career advice on dealing with workplace-specific challenges.Glassdoor recently unveiled new community features that enable users to anonymously or openly connect in real-time with other professionals about their company and industry on desktop or mobile devices.As a worldwide leader in insights about jobs and companies, Glassdoor’s reviews and ratings have disrupted how millions of people find jobs and research companies. With these new features, Glassdoor says it will help empower employees to build communities and gain helpful insights from colleagues and other professionals to advance their careers.Joining Bill to explain what this all means for employers and employees is Glassdoor CEO, Christian Sutherland-Wong.Questions for Christian include: To usher in a new era and evolve the product experience, Glassdoor has revealed a new logo and brand identity that emphasizes the connections made throughout careers. Tell me more.Tell us about Glassdoor's annual DEI Transparency Report and why it matters. Let's now talk about some of the new community features released by Glassdoor:Users can have candid conversations in real-time with online communities to ask questions, get answers, network and confidentially share their professional and personal perspectives in a supportive space. How is this helping employees?Users can join conversations in hundreds of ‘bowls’ on a wide range of topics, from Industry Bowls like Finance to Interest and Identity Bowls like ‘Working Moms’ or ‘Black in Tech’ to private Company Bowls where users can engage with coworkers and leaders at their company. How are these bowls being used? What new avenue does this open up to users to share ideas?When conversing, users have the option to be fully anonymous or reveal elements of their identity like company name or job title. So there are ways to use the new features for networking?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.   Support the showFeature Your Brand on the HRchat PodcastThe HRchat show has had 100,000s of downloads and is frequently listed as one of the most popular global podcasts for HR pros, Talent execs and leaders. It is ranked in the top ten in the world based on traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness. The podcast is also ranked as the Best Canadian HR Podcast by FeedSpot and one of the top 10% most popular shows by Listen Score. Want to share the story of how your business is helping to shape the world of work? We offer sponsored episodes, audio adverts, email campaigns, and a host of other options. Check out packages here. Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our newsletter Check out our in-person events

In HRchat episode 617, we ask "Do HR pros get AI?". Listen as we discuss the realities associated with increased adoption of AI in the workplace and ways HR pros can prepare and adapt to changing ways we work.Bill Banham's returning guest is Lila Nazef, Vice President of Sales & Marketing (North America) at Neocase, a Saas platform for automating HR Service Delivery.Questions for Lila include:Let's start our conversation about the impact of AI on businesses by hearing your experiences. How is the increasing use of AI at Neocase changing the ways your team works?What would you say to those that fear AI is going to replace the work of HR?Can AI and deep language models do a better job than humans? Do HR pros still struggle with how AI will impact functions over the coming years? How is AI disrupting HR processes?What are some key considerations when evaluating HR technology partners that incorporate AI?How can AI transform such HR operations as employee relations?How can HR adapt and future-proof itself for a work environment that includes AI?Lila will be a virtual speaker at the Oct 4 Norwich AI Summit, co-produced by the team at HR Gazette. Learn more here. About NeocaseNeocase is a pioneering Saas platform for automating HR Service Delivery. Their clients use Neocase to achieve faster time to value through reduced implementation costs and make real productivity gains by reducing the time spent on administrative tasks through processes automation and workflow efficiencies. Their HR digital platform includes collaborative Case Management, Business Process Automation, Electronic Document Management, Personalized Knowledge Base, Self-Service Portal, Pre/Onboarding, Transitioning, and Off-boarding workflows and Analytics. Delivered in the cloud and leveraging the latest technological innovations, the Neocase® solutions integrate with core HR platforms including Workday (Certified Partner), SAP/SF, Oracle, Talentsoft and other third-party applications to achieve seamless user experience and automation.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 IceniSupport the showFeature Your Brand on the HRchat PodcastThe HRchat show has had 100,000s of downloads and is frequently listed as one of the most popular global podcasts for HR pros, Talent execs and leaders. It is ranked in the top ten in the world based on traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness. The podcast is also ranked as the Best Canadian HR Podcast by FeedSpot and one of the top 10% most popular shows by Listen Score. Want to share the story of how your business is helping to shape the world of work? We offer sponsored episodes, audio adverts, email campaigns, and a host of other options. Check out packages here. Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our newsletter Check out our in-person events

Joining Bill Banham on the show this time is Ben Whitter, a 2-time best-selling author, and Founder/Chief Experience Officer at HEX Organization and author of the summer 2023 book, Employee Experience Strategy.  Ben is recognized as one of the world's leading management thinkers & he is acknowledged as a leading authority on employee experience (EX) globally. Ben has pioneered & popularized the concept of EX worldwide.Ben is also the Founder of the World Employee Experience Institute (WEEI) and a sought-after international keynote speaker. He has given talks and masterclasses on EX to audiences in +40 countries.Ben's client list includes world-leading brands like Unilever, Microsoft, GSK, JP Morgan Chase, FedEX, Deutsche Telekom, Ogilvy, Ford, Suntory, and Sanofi. Furthermore, he has been endorsed publicly by the UK Parliament and the British Royal Family!Questions for Ben include:Tell us how you were endorsed by the British Royal Family!Why do you believe that HR teams and colleagues have a big influence and impact on the company, but the Holistic Employee Experience (HEX) is far too big for HR alone? You suggest "Employee experience is a team game and requires all leaders, teams, and people (employees & workers) to play their part in its success. If EX gets stuck in one department, impact is limited. If EX is given to and led by the organization, great things happen, and fast." Tell us more.In a recent LinkedIn post, you write "Human milestones matter, and they need to matter more to employers. EX strategies fall down when they centre themselves on what the organizational leadership thinks is important rather than what employees & workers KNOW is important in their experience of work & life. A solution is to ask people about what matters most to them (and their families) and then co-create policies, products, and experiences that deliver on their unique human experience... Get out there & meet the audience where they are." Tell us more and, as part of your answer, can you address the concern leaders and HR pros have in asking too many questions about employees' personal lives? We do Support the showFeature Your Brand on the HRchat PodcastThe HRchat show has had 100,000s of downloads and is frequently listed as one of the most popular global podcasts for HR pros, Talent execs and leaders. It is ranked in the top ten in the world based on traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness. The podcast is also ranked as the Best Canadian HR Podcast by FeedSpot and one of the top 10% most popular shows by Listen Score. Want to share the story of how your business is helping to shape the world of work? We offer sponsored episodes, audio adverts, email campaigns, and a host of other options. Check out packages here. Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our newsletter Check out our in-person events

In this episode of the HRchat podcast, we ask: What is stopping HR from becoming culture catalysts and driving innovation and how can HR do a better job of attracting diverse talent into organizations? Bill Banham's guest today is Margaret Spence, CEO and Founder of The Inclusion Learning Lab. With expertise in HR compliance, talent management, women's leadership development, and DEI, she empowers organizations to create inclusive work environments. As a top HR speaker, author, facilitator, and content creator, recognized for her thought leadership with top industry awards including the Diversity Innovators award. Margaret is shaping the future of workplace inclusion. It is Margaret’s unwavering belief that inclusion drives innovation, and sustainable change while empowering individuals and organizations to thrive.Questions for Margaret include: What stops HR from becoming effective culture catalysts to drive innovation?While HR typically focuses on building inclusion within the organization do you feel that there is enough focus on how the functional role of HR supports inclusion?How can HR do a better job of attracting diverse talent into organizations? How can the C-suite help to ensure HR has the support needed to create more diversity in the workplace? How does HR utilize AI-powered talent data to tell better stories that engage leaders and drive change and make better decisions around candidate attraction, hiring, and retention decisions?Why do you believe SHRM is a great resource for HR pros? What are the specific steps HR can take to not only become trusted advisors, change agents, and culture catalysts and develop inclusive leadership skills?More About Margaret Spence, Founder – The Inclusion Learning LabMargaret Spence is a transformational keynote speaker, author, business strategist, and visionary dedicated to creating inclusive work environments and driving sustainable change through strategic action. With over two decades of experience, she founded The Inclusion Learning Lab, an organization at the forefront of advancing workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).Margaret's expertise in human resources compliance, talent management, and women's leadership development has earned her recognition as a top speaker at industry conferences and a trusted advisor to organizations seeSupport the showFeature Your Brand on the HRchat PodcastThe HRchat show has had 100,000s of downloads and is frequently listed as one of the most popular global podcasts for HR pros, Talent execs and leaders. It is ranked in the top ten in the world based on traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness. The podcast is also ranked as the Best Canadian HR Podcast by FeedSpot and one of the top 10% most popular shows by Listen Score. Want to share the story of how your business is helping to shape the world of work? We offer sponsored episodes, audio adverts, email campaigns, and a host of other options. Check out packages here. Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our newsletter Check out our in-person events

Jennifer McClure, international speaker and co-founder of DisruptHR, discusses the growth and evolution of DisruptHR and the challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. She emphasizes the importance of bringing different voices and perspectives to disrupt HR events. The speaker also highlights their favorite talk from a Disrupt HR event and the type of speakers they would like to see at a disrupt HR event.

In this HRchat episode, we talk about AI and its impact on SMBs.Our returning guest is Geoff Webb, VP Solutions, Product, and Marketing Strategy at isolved, an employee experience leader, providing intuitive, people-first HCM technology.Geoff is on a mission to help customers define a more human approach to HCM and HR tech. He does this by working closely with isolved's tech, marketing and go-to-market teams. With over 25 years of experience in the technology industry, Geoff is regularly cited in industry and business publications on a number of information technology trends as well as executive leadership strategies.Questions for Geoff include:With the popularity of ChatGPT, what should HR, benefits and payroll professionals consider about AI-based tools and ways they can augment the HR function?Do you think the whole generative AI craze will slow down or is it a conversation that's here to stay?isolved recently ran a survey of over 2,000 full-time employees in the U.S. about their thoughts on AI. What findings surprised you?What’s an important consideration about AI that many SMBs might be overlooking?Being on the road, you meet with lots of isolved’s customers. What does the average small business think about how AI can impact them (good or bad)?If we’re having this conversation a year from now, how do you expect what we’re discussing to change or stay the same?How can we connect with you and learn more about isolved?What does the data tell us about AI at work?How can AI fill a major gap that SMBs have for talent or workforce management: What is that gap and how can AI help fill it?AI will continue to replace traditional roles. Any predictions for future jobs that will be created as a response?About isolvedThe isolved solutions are delivered directly or through a partner network to more than five million employees and 145,000 employers — who use them every day to boost performance, increase productivity, and accelerate results while reducing risk. Our HCM platform, isolved People Cloud, seamlessly connects and manages the employee journey across talent management, HR & payroll, workforce management and engagement management functions. No matter the industry, we help high-growth organizations employ, enable and empower their workforce by transforming employee experience for a better today anSupport the showFeature Your Brand on the HRchat PodcastThe HRchat show has had 100,000s of downloads and is frequently listed as one of the most popular global podcasts for HR pros, Talent execs and leaders. It is ranked in the top ten in the world based on traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness. The podcast is also ranked as the Best Canadian HR Podcast by FeedSpot and one of the top 10% most popular shows by Listen Score. Want to share the story of how your business is helping to shape the world of work? We offer sponsored episodes, audio adverts, email campaigns, and a host of other options. Check out packages here. Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our newsletter Check out our in-person events

Bill Banham's returning guest today is Dave Ulrich. Dave has been ranked as the number one management guru by Business Week, profiled by Fast Company as one of the world’s top 10 creative people in business, a top-five coach in Forbes, and recognized on Thinkers50 Hall of Fame as one of the world’s leading business thinkers.Dave has a passion for ideas with impact. Dave and his colleagues at the RBL Group have 30+ years of experience in helping organizations and individuals succeed through HR practices in talent, leadership, and organization. Questions for Dave include:You're one of the most successful, respected, and well-known voices in the world of work. You have probably received every accolade out there. What motivates you to continue to contribute to the HR space? What would you hope your legacy will be in the world of work?Evolution of Employee Experience to Personalization: How has the concept of employee experience shifted in the past 10 years?Can you tell us about how, if at all, the expectations of Gen Zers differ from past generations and how that impacts the ways the employer brand, HR processes, and company culture shows up? Tech is increasingly impacting the employee experience and changing the ways HR departments operate. How will generative AI and deep language models shake up the HR function in the coming years? Keep up to date with the latest content from Dave by subscribing to the Human Capability Impact newsletter. Parts of this conversation with Dave were included in the special 600th episode of the HRchat that also featured Josh Bersin. Listen to episode 600 here. We doSupport the showFeature Your Brand on the HRchat PodcastThe HRchat show has had 100,000s of downloads and is frequently listed as one of the most popular global podcasts for HR pros, Talent execs and leaders. It is ranked in the top ten in the world based on traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness. The podcast is also ranked as the Best Canadian HR Podcast by FeedSpot and one of the top 10% most popular shows by Listen Score. Want to share the story of how your business is helping to shape the world of work? We offer sponsored episodes, audio adverts, email campaigns, and a host of other options. Check out packages here. Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our newsletter Check out our in-person events

Tune in to today's episode to get tips on ways HR tech companies can drive more traffic to their site, increase exposure, and help meet marketing and branding goals with strategic content.Bill's guest this time is Valerie Morris, digital marketing strategist, speaker, author, and consultant, helping busy experts share their brand message and expertise with the world with the power of authority-building content. She helps them position themselves as leaders in the field with the power of digital marketing, social media, and strategic content. She also teaches others how to do the same to with smart systems for strategic marketing success.With experience in the HR tech space and others, Valerie and her team focus on authority-building content, designed to position client brands as experts in their industry.  Questions for Valerie include: In a crowded tech market, how can vendors differentiate their content to stand out and attract the attention of business leaders and HR professionals?How important is understanding the unique pain points and challenges faced by business leaders and HR professionals in creating relevant content?What types of content formats have proven to be most effective in engaging and educating this audience?How does one strike a balance between providing valuable information and subtly promoting your tech product or service in your content?What metrics and KPIs should HR tech vendors focus on to measure the success of their content marketing efforts?What are some common mistakes or pitfalls HR tech vendors should avoid when creating content?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. Support the showFeature Your Brand on the HRchat PodcastThe HRchat show has had 100,000s of downloads and is frequently listed as one of the most popular global podcasts for HR pros, Talent execs and leaders. It is ranked in the top ten in the world based on traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness. The podcast is also ranked as the Best Canadian HR Podcast by FeedSpot and one of the top 10% most popular shows by Listen Score. Want to share the story of how your business is helping to shape the world of work? We offer sponsored episodes, audio adverts, email campaigns, and a host of other options. Check out packages here. Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our newsletter Check out our in-person events