HR Leader Podcast Network

In this special episode of The HR Leader Podcast, we showcase one of the headline speakers for the upcoming Bold Ideas in HR event, Taylor Dee Hawkins, about the moral and commercial imperatives to best practice with management of a workforce that is more diverse than ever before and the benefits that come with it. Host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Taylor Dee Hawkins, the Foundations for Tomorrow managing director, about the work that she does, the extent to which business leaders are ready and able to lead so many different generations in the workforce, leaders’ cognisance of the need to do so, the dangers in not properly managing workers of all ages, the questions that businesses need to ask of themselves, and the practical steps to be taken. To learn more about Bold Ideas in HR, click here.

In this special episode of The HR Leader Podcast, we showcase one of the headline speakers for the upcoming Bold Ideas in HR event, Kylie Fuller, about whether diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) remains good business or rightly under the microscope. Host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Kylie Fuller, the managing director of Fuller Potential, about her work, why it is important to take stock of where we’re at with DEI practices in the workplace, why it is necessary to ensure that DEI remains fit for purpose, whether Australia is an inflection point for DEI (like in the US), and whether she is optimistic that we can have productive conversations about the way forward. To learn more about Bold Ideas in HR, click here.

In this special episode of The HR Leader Podcast, we showcase one of the headline speakers for the upcoming Bold Ideas in HR event, Steve Glaveski, about whether Elon Musk was right to fire four in five Twitter (now X) employees. Host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Glaveski, the CEO and co-founder of Collective Campus, about his corporate innovation consultancy and start-up accelerator and why he does this work, why it’s important to explore whether or not Elon Musk should have fired so many Twitter employees, why HR managers and C-suite professionals need to be examining whether such an approach is necessary for their businesses, why inaction is not an option in the current climate, and whether he is optimistic that Australian business leaders can draw the right lessons from Musk’s Twitter experience. To learn more about Bold Ideas in HR, click here.

In the current climate, businesses are seeing less need for middle managers – this is not only concerning for those professionals but also detrimental to long-term business health. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with BoldHR founder Rebecca Houghton about the work she does and why it’s meaningful, the emergence of the Great Flattening, its implications for the workforce, the outsized impact that middle managers have, why businesses misunderstand the impact that middle managers have, and moving past inaccurate perceptions. Houghton also delves into how Australian businesses are reacting to this trend, being perceived as fiscal bloat, how lower-level employees are exacerbating this trend, what we’ve learnt from previous instances of this workplace trend, the consequences of the current iteration of the trend, and the questions and practical steps that businesses need to ask and implement respectively.

In the face of voluminous market and cultural change, the ways in which recruiters and hiring managers operate need to evolve, one professional argues. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with TRC chief executive Geoff Millar about his background in recruitment, why it’s been a meaningful career path, the peaks and troughs he’s seen in the recruitment space, what the current careers landscape looks like, why recruiters need to re-evaluate the ways they do things, and whether approaches with businesses are becoming outdated. Millar also discusses the dangers of falling behind on new-age thinking, questions to ask of a business in order to improve approaches to recruitment, practical steps to be taken, and what is exciting about such change for hiring managers and recruiters.

Here, a leading employment and labour lawyer reflects on what we’ve learnt in the last year and a half from the Secure Jobs, Better Pay legislative changes and what it all means for the market moving forward. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Norton Rose Fulbright partner Alexandra Shields about her work in employment and labour law, the “human element” of such legal practice, what the recent Secure Jobs, Better Pay amendments are and why they were introduced, the key takeaways from the last 12 to 18 months following the passage of the amendments, and the issues and challenges that have arisen. Shields also delves into how best to respond to those issues and challenges, the more encouraging developments from the last 12 to 18 months, whether developments in the market can be attributed to the amended legislation, why changing the employment and labour market is a longer-term project, going by the “vibes”, how employers should respond to the current climate, considering their reputations, and what is best practice for lawyers in this space moving forward.

With political polarisation on the rise worldwide and with Australia’s federal election less than a fortnight away, it is fundamental that business leaders find ways to ensure greater connectivity and collegiality for their workforces. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Adelaide-based Moira Were, the mayor of the City of Onkaparinga, co-founder of Collab4good and co-founder of Chooks SA, about her varied work, whether political polarisation at work has gotten worse, the issues and consequences that arise from such workplace tension, and how difficult it might be for HR teams to navigate such matters. Were also delves into the practical steps that business leaders and HR teams must take to mitigate political polarisation, the need to avoid toxic discourse among staff, striking the right balance with healthy debate and allowing individuals to be themselves, and how teams can ensure civil conversations ahead of next week’s federal election.

Here, we discuss SuperFriend’s recently released Indicators of a Thriving Workplace Key Insights report, what it says about the state of affairs in the Australian workforce, and what constitutes best practice moving forward. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with SuperFriend chief mental health adviser Dr Natalie Flatt about the recently released Indicators of a Thriving Workplace Key Insights report, the key takeaways and findings from that report, how much work is still required to ensure that workplaces of all stripes can thrive, and the confusion that business leaders may feel in determining the best path forward. Flatt also discusses the cause of such confusion, tailoring a business’s strategic approach, rethinking leadership and management tactics, other practical steps that must be taken, and leaning into the framework detailed by SuperFriend.

In Labor’s pre-election budget, Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced a ban on non-compete clauses for workers earning less than $175,000. Here, we unpack implications for businesses, workers, and the political climate, as well as the consequences not only for employment law but also for M&As and litigation. In this episode of The HR Leader Show, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks to employment law partner Fay Calderone, from national law firm Hall & Wilcox, to discuss the announced ban on non-compete clauses for non-high-income workers in the 2025 budget, the response from businesses and employment lawyers, and the likely consequences for the M&A market and litigious climate. Calderone also delves into the divide between political impressions of this announcement versus the business reality, striking the right balance between employee freedom and business protections, who employment lawyers will have to collaborate with moving forward, what constitutes best practice for lawyers looking ahead, and her broad guidance to businesses in the wake of the announced ban.

In this special episode of The HR Leader Podcast, produced in partnership with Avature, we unpack the revolutionary impact of artificial intelligence on the daily operations of human resources teams and how such professionals can and should take advantage. Host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Avature founder and chief executive officer Dimitri Boylan about the volume of change he has witnessed in the market in recent decades, how disruptive and transformative AI will be relative to past technological shifts such as the “dot-com boom” and the lessons to be gleaned, how HR teams can leverage it to address their unique challenges and tips for navigating setbacks when integrating AI. Boylan also delves into “being on the leading edge versus the bleeding edge”, keeping pace with rapid advancements, ticking the right boxes when triaging urgent priorities, what’s working and not working out in the market, the regulatory state of affairs, and the questions HR needs to ask of itself at this critical juncture. To learn more about Avature, click here.