
Transform Your Workplace
The "Transform Your Workplace" podcast, renowned as a top-rated HR and leadership podcast, covers into all aspects necessary for creating an outstanding workplace. It features a diverse lineup of industry experts, authors, speakers, HR professionals, and entrepreneurs worldwide who share their insights and big ideas for organizational transformation. Every week, the podcast explores a fresh topic, encompassing various subjects such as human resources, effective communication, cultural development, personal and business growth, leadership, and the latest workplace trends, such as A.I.
Latest episodes

Aug 22, 2017 • 32min
The Positive Effects of Magnetic Leaders
Attracting and retaining the right talent is one of the biggest challenges of running a successful business. So, what’s the secret? The key, according to Roberta Chinsky Matuson, is magnetic leadership. Listen in as the author of The Magnetic Leader: How Irresistible Leaders Attract Employees, Customers and Profits, reveals what she’s learned about humanizing the workplace, the mistakes many leaders make and how magnetic leadership can attract and motivate employees—and new customers. How to Support this Show: Subscribe on your favorite podcast app (iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, etc.) Review us on iTunes Take our survey and we'll enter you in a drawing for a free book Follow Xenium HR (@XeniumHR) and Brandon Laws (@BrandonLaws) on Twitter and LinkedIn Learn more about Xenium HR at xeniumhr.com About the Guest: For more than 25 years, Roberta Matuson, president of Matuson Consulting, has helped leaders in Fortune 500 companies, including Best Buy, New Balance, The Boston Beer Company and small to medium-size businesses, achieve dramatic growth and market leadership through the maximization of talent. The world’s largest employment source Monster and retail giant Staples turn to Roberta for advice on matters related to talent. She is known world-wide as “The Talent Maximizer®.” Roberta, a leading authority on leadership and the skills and strategies required to earn employee commitment and client loyalty, is the author of the newly released Talent Magnetism (Nicholas Brealey, 2013) and bestseller, Suddenly In Charge: Managing Up, Managing Down, Succeeding All Around (Nicholas Brealey, 2011), a Washington Post Top 5 Business Book For Leaders.

Aug 15, 2017 • 33min
Why They Follow - How to Lead with Positive Influence with Author Scott Love
How do you establish yourself as a leader who people want to be around, support, and follow? How do you nourish a thriving, growing, constantly developing culture? Scott Love, author of Why They Follow: How to Lead with Positive Influence joins the podcast for a discussion of his book and how to become the kind of leader no employee ever wants to stop working for. Find out what truly drives people to stay at an organization, an easy development program you can establish for little to know cost at your company, and more! How to Support this Show: Subscribe on your favorite podcast app (iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, etc.) Review us on iTunes Take our survey and we'll enter you in a drawing for a free book Follow Xenium HR (@XeniumHR) and Brandon Laws (@BrandonLaws) on Twitter and LinkedIn Learn more about Xenium HR at xeniumhr.com About the Guest: Scott Love is a published author (Why They Follow: How to Lead with Positive Influence), a business writer, a professional keynote speaker, and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Huffington Post, Selling Power Magazine, and dozens of business trade journals and newspapers around the globe. He is a popular media personality and is a frequent guest on dozens of business and management podcasts. Scott shows managers how to get employees to work hard, stay longer, and care more. As a high-stakes headhunter and former Navy leadership trainer, he gives managers tactical ways to build employee loyalty and tap into employee intrinsic motivation so that companies will accomplish their missions, increase retention, and attract high achievers.

Aug 14, 2017 • 4min
Next Level Leadership
Next Level Leadership course courses.xeniumhr.comEnter promo code "PODCAST" for 25% in August and September 2017 Transcript: Brandon: Hey, Brandon here, and welcome to a special edition of the HR for Small Business podcast. We have a special announcement today. We’re rolling out, for the first time ever, a web-based course on Teachable.com’s platform called “Next Level Leadership.” And I have Suzi Alligood with me, who is the creator of the content to discuss the course. Suzi, why did we build the course? Suzi: We have a workshop that we facilitated for years at Xenium called “Leadership Essentials” and it happens to be one of our highest attended sessions. We wanted to convert that content into an e-learning format—not only because we want to reach more people—but also we have current clients who have employees out of our local area and we wanted them to achieve the same benefits as our live workshop while remaining at their own location. So we decided to leverage Teachable.com’s platform, and modify our live workshop to be a great user experience on an e-learning platform. Brandon: What can people expect in this course? Suzi: It is a self-guided course, and it is very comprehensive. It might take the average student two hours to complete the course—but they can complete it at their own pace. It incorporates a couple different mediums, including video and video discussion between leader—where we leveraged some of our subject matter experts and actual senior leaders at Xenium to participate in discussion. Also, we have quizzes and self-guided activities for each section. The self-guided activities are the most beneficial, in my opinion, because it provides the student the opportunity to take the information that they are learning from the course and apply it in their workplace, and test it out and make improvements and ultimately gain confidence in how they might become a better leader. Brandon: Who is this course built for? Suzi: This course is for anyone who is aspiring to be a leader of others or is current a leader of others—particularly new leaders who made the recent shift from individual contributor to leader. Also it’s great for people who have been in a leadership position for some time and want to brush up and hone some of those skills. Brandon: This is an exciting time for us as we launch this course in August 2017 for $49. Go to courses.xeniumhr.com to find “Next Level Leadership.” For August and September only, we’re offering podcast listeners 25% off by entering the promo code PODCAST when you check out.

Aug 8, 2017 • 38min
Transformational Talent with Matt Schwartz
Ever wonder what the best and brightest recruiters are doing to find top talent? Matt Schwartz, Founder and President of MJS Executive Search offers up his thoughts on recruiting, retention, employer branding, company culture, the job market, and shares his methodology on transformational talent. How to Support this Show: Subscribe on your favorite podcast app (iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, etc.) Review us on iTunes Take our survey and we'll enter you in a drawing for a free book Follow Xenium HR (@XeniumHR) and Brandon Laws (@BrandonLaws) on Twitter and LinkedIn Learn more about Xenium HR at xeniumhr.com About the Guest: After nearly two decades in retained executive search, Matt has an instinctive and thorough understanding of what his clients actually want. And time and again, he has been able to meet their challenges. Matt honed his technical knowledge during the 90s dot com boom. He began at Gundersen Partners, LLC, then moved to Heidrick and Struggles, where he became a principal in the Global Consumer Practice. He grew adept at finding key executives in fast-moving consumer goods, retail, fashion and luxury, sports /media and entertainment, and corporate communications.

Aug 1, 2017 • 42min
How to Navigate a Drastic Career Change
You've gone to school, done the internships, gotten the certifications, landed the dream job, and spent 10 years establishing yourself in the field...but eventually you burn out and miserable, for myriad reasons. Is it too late to change? What else could you do? How do you continue to support yourself while starting over, especially if that involves going back to school? How do you determine your next career? Wendy Gilbert, HR Account Representative at Xenium, went through this exact experience when shifting out of the mental health counseling field into human resources. Listen in as she shares her story, all its turns and bumps and lifts, and offers up lessons learned and advice to others in the same situation. How to Support this Show: Subscribe on your favorite podcast app (iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, etc.) Review us on iTunes Take our survey and we'll enter you in a drawing for a free book Follow Xenium HR (@XeniumHR) and Brandon Laws (@BrandonLaws) on Twitter and LinkedIn Learn more about Xenium HR at xeniumhr.com About the Guest: Wendy Gilbert joined the Xenium team as an HR Account Representative in April 2015. Her prior experience includes recruiting and general HR for companies including Daimler Trucks North America and Banfield Pet Hospital (Mars, Inc.). Before entering into a career in HR, Wendy was a mental health therapist for over 10 years specializing in crisis intervention, EAP, group facilitation and conflict mediation and is a past-president of the Oregon Counseling Association. Wendy earned her Masters degree in Psychology from Lewis & Clark College and has since earned her PHR and SHRM-CP certifications.

Jul 25, 2017 • 25min
How to Retain Your Best People with Jeff Kortes
It’s straightforward stuff: retaining your talented employees is necessary for your organization to grow and thrive. What’s less straightforward is where to start with accomplishing that task. What kind of turnover is healthy turnover, and what can you do about the preventable turnover? What kind of data tracking should you be doing, and how do you use those numbers to make improvements? What’s an easy way to go about stay and exit interviews to ensure you’re getting honest, raw feedback? Jeff Kortes, employee retention speaker and author, joins Brandon Laws in a discussion of all things employee retention. Listen in to hear about practical tips and tools to introduce into your workplace practices as well as the meaning of Jeff’s “C.R.A.P.” leadership system and what it could do for your company and people. Read the full transcript here. Click here to sign up today for Xenium's 2017 What People Want From Work Survey. How to Support this Show: Subscribe on your favorite podcast app (iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, etc.) Review us on iTunes Take our survey and we'll enter you in a drawing for a free book Follow Xenium HR (@XeniumHR) and Brandon Laws (@BrandonLaws) on Twitter and LinkedIn Learn more about Xenium HR at xeniumhr.com About the Guest: Jeff Kortes didn’t become an employee retention speaker, author and expert by accident. His early career spanned 25 years as a human resources professional, trainer, and consultant. He has held leadership roles in companies such as ConAgra, Midas International, SPX, and Regal Ware, Inc. Jeff's no-nonsense approach is reflected in his C.R.A.P. Leadership System, which instills positive supervisory and managerial behavior while driving results in the organization. Jeff also works as a “headhunter,” finding candidates to fill organizations’ talent needs and constantly learning about what drives candidates to choose one employer over another. Jeff speaks and conducts workshops nationwide as an employee retention trainer. He draws on his experiences as a human resources professional, father, coach, martial artist and U.S. Army veteran to provide thought-provoking programs that yield results.

Jul 18, 2017 • 40min
Why Great Leaders Work on Themselves First
To be a great leader, you must first establish and follow your own life plan. That’s the premise of the book Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want, co-written by Daniel Harkavy, founder and CEO of Building Champions. On this week’s episode, Angela Perkins of Xenium HR guest hosts the podcast and talks with Daniel on why big-picture life planning is as important as planning for your next vacation. Read the full transcript Click here to sign up today for Xenium's 2017 What People Want From Work Survey. How to Support this Show: Subscribe on your favorite podcast app (iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, etc.) Review us on iTunes Take our survey and we'll enter you in a drawing for a free book Follow Xenium HR (@XeniumHR) and Brandon Laws (@BrandonLaws) on Twitter and LinkedIn Learn more about Xenium HR at xeniumhr.com About the Guest: Daniel Harkavy Get the Life Plan Tools

Jul 11, 2017 • 30min
How to Guarantee a Great Hire
The recruiting and onboarding process allow an employer to set the tone and expectations for a new employee's experience with a company. So how do you ensure that it's a successful process that attracts not only someone with the skills for the job, but someone with the right personality for your company? Jenny Berkedal, Director of Employee Experience at Metal Toad Media, joins the podcast to share how she approaches hiring and to offer tips to hire for cultural alignment within a competitive industry. Click here to sign up today for Xenium's 2017 What People Want From Work Survey. How to Support this Show: Subscribe on your favorite podcast app (iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, etc.) Review us on iTunes Take our survey and we'll enter you in a drawing for a free book Follow Xenium HR (@XeniumHR) and Brandon Laws (@BrandonLaws) on Twitter and LinkedIn Learn more about Xenium HR at xeniumhr.com About the Guest: Jenny Berkedal is the Director of Employee Experience (HR + Recruiting) at Metal Toad Media. Jenny's career is anchored in the desire to hire great people and then construct the most effective conditions for each person to thrive. She believes that we thrive when immersed in an atmosphere of trust and in a culture that supports us to play to our strengths. Her passion to grow people is guided by two strengths of her own: strategic thinking that informs decision-making and a drive to learn that helps her constantly improve. She is impassioned to create lean processes and innovate solutions to combat inefficiencies, close skill gaps, promote engagement, and increase performance in the workplace.

Jul 5, 2017 • 30min
Why Growing Beyond 10 Employees is so Painful
Getting your company off the ground to a sustainable place should be the hardest part of starting a company, right? That’s what many think, and how the growing pains and problems that occur within larger organizations go unanticipated or considered until it’s too late. Rick Thomas, business advisor at Pilot Wealth Management, joins Brandon Laws in a discussion of the common issues companies experience when they go from 10 employees to 20 employees and beyond, and how you can lay the groundwork for a successful organization – no matter its ultimate size. Click here to sign up today for Xenium's 2017 What People Want From Work Survey. How to Support this Show: Subscribe on your favorite podcast app (iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, etc.) Review us on iTunes Take our survey and we'll enter you in a drawing for a free book Follow Xenium HR (@XeniumHR) and Brandon Laws (@BrandonLaws) on Twitter and LinkedIn Learn more about Xenium HR at xeniumhr.com About the Guest: Over his thirty year career Rick has leveraged his diverse background and interests in business leadership, culture and communication to create a unique offering of advisory services. Through his work as a trusted advisor, Rick has facilitated success in organizations from small partnerships to multi-billion dollar corporations.

Jun 27, 2017 • 40min
How a Fear-Based Work Environment Could be Holding your Organization Back
Fear can often be a helpful emotion – it keeps us from ending up in risky, potentially harmful situations. But when does fear hold us back from reaching our full potential either as individuals or organizations? Darrin Murriner, author of Corporate Bravery: Eliminate Fear-Based Decision Making, joins the podcast to discuss how mistrust and being overly cautious can set us back personally as well as how it can impact a company’s growth and success. Drawing on personal stories, the current political climate, and more, listen in on the discussion and find out how encouraging people to be comfortable with the potential for failure leads to ultimate success. Click here to sign up today for Xenium's 2017 What People Want From Work Survey. How to Support this Show: Subscribe on your favorite podcast app (iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, etc.) Review us on iTunes Take our survey and we'll enter you in a drawing for a free book Follow Xenium HR (@XeniumHR) and Brandon Laws (@BrandonLaws) on Twitter and LinkedIn Learn more about Xenium HR at xeniumhr.com About the Guest: Darrin Murriner has over a decade experience with some of the largest corporations in America. Darrin has worked as an outside consultant, led operations and finance teams and worked in risk management. These experiences has provided the thesis for Corporate Bravery. In addition to his corporate experiences, Darrin has also started businesses as well. He founded BabysitEase with his wife Peggy in 2005 and the local news site Fort Thomas Matters in 2008. In late 2014 he started his latest venture - Stockpilz.com, a marketplace for commercial paper, with the idea that business to business sourcing can be accomplished more efficiently. He is currently the President and Co-Founder of Cloverleaf, a development tool for teams. In addition to his business experiences he lives with his wife Peggy and three children in Fort Thomas, Kentucky - a small suburb located a couple miles from Cincinnati, Ohio.