HR Works: The Podcast for Human Resources

Guest: Nadian Zak, Senior Vice President of People, Vertava Health HR represents the middle ground between employees and employers. That gives HR a special kind of power that is neither from-the-top leadership nor that of a general employee. Rather, they have the power to influence both sides to reach their strategic outcomes. Today's HR Works Podcast 5-Minute Friday guest, Nadian Zak, Senior Vice President of People at Vertava Health (https://vertavahealth.com/) shares this view and explores this and other topics including why HR would be well-positioned to be an executive-level leader. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to check out the rest of the interview which will be shared on the “Faces of HR” (https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/category/faces-of-hr/) column next Thursday, May 13th. Remember you can always follow us on Twitter at @HRWorksPodcast (https://bit.ly/3l0dzP3), and we are also now available on Spotify (http://spoti.fi/3t8of13) and Audible (http://adbl.co/30uhdaq).

What do poor diversity, hostile work environments, corporate espionage, and poor safety cultures have in common? They can all be found long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. Whether you are talking about the Empire, the Rebellion, or even the First Order, the organizations that populate the Star Wars universe have a lot to learn from HR and safety professionals. I hope you all enjoy this lighthearted diversion from our often much more serious topics. I am very pleased to be joined today by Simplify Media’s own Justin Scace, a colleague of mine who is the Editor of the Environmental, Health, and Safety Daily Advisor. Justin is also the host of our sister podcast, EHS on Tap. We actually recorded another episode with an EHS perspective that is live right now (https://ehsdailyadvisor.blr.com/podcast/ehs-on-tap-e69-star-wars-day/).

Guest: Karen Crone, CHRO at Paycor. Employers often recognize employees' work milestones, but what about their life milestones? When organizations recognize life milestones, it shows they care about employees beyond their capacity as a worker. Today I am happy to share a few minutes of my recent interview with Karen Crone, CHRO at Paycor (https://www.paycor.com/) about this and other topics. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to check back next Thursday, May 6th when I’ll release the rest of the episode on our “Faces of HR” (https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/category/faces-of-hr/) column. Also, we are now releasing a new longer episode every Tuesday and one of these shorter episodes every Friday, so make sure to tune twice a week for more great HR-related episodes. Remember you can always follow us on Twitter at @HRWorksPodcast (https://bit.ly/3l0dzP3), and we are also now available on Spotify (http://spoti.fi/3t8of13) and Audible (http://adbl.co/30uhdaq).

Guests: Ofer Reiss, CEO & Owner of ProfCheck LTD, and David Garcia, the CEO of ScoutLogic. In this episode, we are going to discuss background checks. So many organizations require background checks on potential employees, and there are countless services out there to assist you. But not all background checks are equal, and there are some tricky compliance issues to navigate as well. Finally, the pandemic has changed the nature of background checks as well. You may have noticed that we have been releasing a podcast every Tuesday and Friday. We are pleased to announce that this will be our permanent schedule for the foreseeable future. Every Tuesday we will launch a full-length episode of HR Works, and every Friday we’ll release our much shorter 5-Minute Friday episodes. Additionally, we are now available on Apple Podcast, Audible, and Spotify, so if you prefer to listen via one of those services, you can now! We are pleased to have two experts with us to examine these issues. First, we have Ofer Reiss, CEO & Owner of ProfCheck LTD (https://www.profcheck.co/), a new layer of security that conducts background checks and ongoing monitoring to defend employers from inner threats. Offer worked for over twenty years with the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel doing everything from heading counter-terror interrogation schools to conducting polygraph exams. We also have with us today David Garcia, the CEO of ScoutLogic (https://www.scoutlogicscreening.com/), a national pre-employment background check company located in the USA. David has over 25 years of experience in securing new clients, increasing revenue, and delivering superior client satisfaction in the B2B field. He is also an advisor to NVP and their portfolio companies, working with founders and sales and marketing leaders to help them grow their businesses. Remember you can always follow us on Twitter at @HRWorksPodcast (https://bit.ly/3l0dzP3), and we are also now available on Spotify (http://spoti.fi/3t8of13) and Audible (http://adbl.co/30uhdaq).

Have you ever accidentally hired a terrorist? What about an ax murderer? Today I am happy to share a few minutes of my recent interview with two background check professionals. I’ve asked each to share with us their most interesting background check story, and they may shock you. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to check back next Tuesday, April 27th for the rest of the interview Remember you can always follow us on Twitter at @HRWorksPodcast (https://bit.ly/3l0dzP3), and we are also now available on Spotify (http://spoti.fi/3t8of13) and Audible (http://adbl.co/30uhdaq).

Today’s podcast is part of the HR Daily Advisor’s HR Employee Benefits Week (https://interactive.blr.com/Employee-Benefits-Week-2021/schedule-2926SW-81071W.html)which takes place all this week of April 19th. We’ll be offering unique and exciting content every day this week discussing, you guessed it, employee benefits. We’ll be examining everything from how the need for benefits has changed over the last year and why including which benefits don’t matter as much anymore and which new benefits are a must-have. I’ve included a link to an overview of the week in the description. In this episode, we are going to discuss these and related benefits topics with Carla DeMello, President, Employee Benefits at GCG (https://gcgfinancial.aleragroup.com, an Alera Group company. Carla is responsible for driving the strategic direction of the employee benefits division along with all aspects of client experience and operations oversights. As the leader of employee benefits, she focuses on ensuring GCG delivers exceptional service by overseeing the teams, solutions, and infrastructure to meet the ever-evolving benefits landscape. With over 15 years of benefits administration and operations experience, Carla has helped organizations think beyond the conventional delivery of service support, transforming corporate operations into a strategic business driver. With relevant prior experience in human resource, labor, benefit administration and insurance carrier environments, Carla’s background provides a breadth of perspectives when it comes to understanding the interests and intricate operations of each stakeholder. Remember you can always follow us on Twitter at @HRWorksPodcast (https://bit.ly/3l0dzP3), and we are also now available on Spotify (http://spoti.fi/3t8of13) and Audible (http://adbl.co/30uhdaq).

This week’s HR Works 5 Minute Friday is part of the HR Daily Advisor’s HR Employee Benefits Week (https://interactive.blr.com/Employee-Benefits-Week-2021/schedule-2926SW-81071W.html) which takes place for the entire week of April 19th. We’ll be offering unique and exciting content every day of that week discussing, you guessed it, employee benefits. We’ll be examining everything from how the need for benefits has changed over the last year and why including which benefits don’t matter as much anymore and which new benefits are a must-have. We are pleased to kick off HR Employee Benefits Week with our guest Gianna Driver, Chief People Officer at BlueVine (https://www.bluevine.com/). If you enjoy this interview, get the rest of it on Monday, April 19th in our Faces of HR (https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/category/faces-of-hr/) column. Remember you can always follow us on Twitter at @HRWorksPodcast (https://bit.ly/3l0dzP3), and we are also now available on Spotify (http://spoti.fi/3t8of13) and Audible (http://adbl.co/30uhdaq).

Way back in April of 2019 I spoke with today’s guest about virtual reality and sexual harassment. Some things have changed since then (I’m looking at you the pandemic), some things are the same (I’m looking at you ineffective sexual harassment training). Either way, we are very pleased to with us again today Morgan Mercer. Morgan is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vantage Point (https://www.tryvantagepoint.com/), an organization that strives to leverage virtual reality immersive technology to tackle complex training challenges, such as sexual harassment training and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Prior to founding Vantage Point, she concurrently served as the Head of Digital for an e-commerce startup and as an Analyst for a digital agency where she has worked on high-profile contracts focused on attitude change and behavior change within the domain of complex social issues. She has been featured on the BBC, in British Vogue, Bloomberg, The Guardian, Wired, VentureBeat, and many other media outlets. Remember you can always follow us on Twitter at @HRWorksPodcast (https://bit.ly/3l0dzP3), and we are also now available on Spotify (http://spoti.fi/3t8of13) and Audible (http://adbl.co/30uhdaq).

In this episode, I am happy to share a few minutes of my recent interview Morgan Mercer. Morgan is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vantage Point (https://www.tryvantagepoint.com), an organization that strives to leverage virtual reality (VR) immersive technology to tackle complex training such as sexual harassment training and diversity, equity, and inclusion. In this shorter episode, we'll look at how training has changed since the pandemic, what lessons we have learned, and how what we'll need to remember going forward. The rest of the podcast, which will focus on VR sexual harassment and DEI training will be aired next Tuesday, April 13th. Remember you can always follow us on Twitter at @HRWorksPodcast (https://bit.ly/3l0dzP3), and we are also now available on Spotify (http://spoti.fi/3t8of13) and Audible (http://adbl.co/30uhdaq).

April is stress awareness month, and for that reason, I wanted to talk with someone about the presence of stress in the workplace, the role of stress in and out of work, and most importantly, how organizations can get in the right mindset and make a difference when it comes to mental health in general. I am pleased to have with us Leigh-Ann Larson, Founder and CEO of Eleveate Counseling (https://www.elevate-counseling.com/). Leigh-Ann graduated from Bridgewater State College in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education, with a double minor in Health Promotion and Psychology. She took this foundation and in 2005 with a Masters Degree in Education, specializing in Mental Health Counseling, also from Bridgewater State College, designed a Holistic Model of Healing combining the tenants of Physical, Emotional, Mental and Spiritual Well being as the foundation in which she has built her clinical meaning-making and personal life practice. Remember you can always follow us on Twitter at @HRWorksPodcast (https://bit.ly/3l0dzP3), and we are also now available on Spotify (http://spoti.fi/3t8of13) and Audible (http://adbl.co/30uhdaq).