HR Leader Podcast Network

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.

When it comes to creating thriving workplaces, a more idiosyncratic approach to gendered needs may well be what businesses have long been missing. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Dr Michelle McQuaid, an honorary fellow at Melbourne University’s Centre for Wellbeing Science, about the importance of speaking about gender in the workplace in non-traditional ways, why it is so difficult to have such conversations in the current climate, her two components to best practice when it comes to gender equality at work, and ensuring that such conversations are prioritised by the business and C-suite. McQuaid also delves into the practical ways that HR teams can implement new frameworks, the commercial incentive for doing so, the first steps that HR must take, empowering the workforce to make such changes (against the backdrop of the rising tech oligarchs and sociocultural shifts), and why mental health is front and centre of this broader discussion.

In this episode of the HR Leader podcast, host Kace O’Neill sits down with Rachel Voysey, founding director and principal psychologist of the Relationship Room, to unpack the complexities of workplace relationships – from platonic bonds to office romances. With over a decade of expertise in relationship dynamics, Voysey unpacks HR’s delicate role: addressing these dynamics without moral judgment, spotting subtle red flags like dips in team trust or favouritism, and navigating power imbalances that erode cohesion. From discreetly managing fallout to understanding how secrecy breeds “intuitive distrust”, Voysey emphasises policies that balance empathy with accountability. While workplace relationships are inevitable, Voysey stresses that education on professional versus personal connections – and compassionate, transparent leadership – can mitigate risks without stifling the human connections that drive engagement.

Remuneration and incentives have always been a Pandora’s box for business leaders. In the post-pandemic climate, however, in which employee values have shifted, the equation has become trickier. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with TalentCode HR founder and managing director Trudy MacDonald about the difficulties business leaders have long had with implementing successful remuneration and incentive strategies, how COVID-19 spawned a shift in employee thinking around work/life balance, the Great Exhaustion and its implications, the impact of resenteeism, and how difficult it is for employers to cater to idiosyncratic needs of all staff. MacDonald also reflects on whether employees are staying put right now (following the Great Resignation), employee disgruntlement amid high inflation and a cost-of-living crisis, how the latest WGEA data might impact employee thinking, the steps that HR professionals and C-suite executives need to take, measuring success, and the folly of viewing remuneration as an isolated issue.

“Nothing sharpens the mind,” a leading barrister says, like the threat of serious financial penalties or imprisonment. Under the newly legislated wage theft laws, businesses need to ensure their payroll and other administrative processes meet the requisite standard. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy welcomes back Sydney-based barrister Ian Neil SC to discuss why employment and industrial relations law is such a meaningful vocational path for him, what the new wage theft laws are and how they came about, the most common reasons why employers will fail to comply with existing law, and why old excuses will no longer fly. Neil also delves into the consequences of non-compliance with the new legislative landscape, community perceptions about the new laws, the questions businesses must ask of themselves in getting their systems up to scratch, the role of HR in ensuring compliance, how HR can balance such duties against other priorities, and he also fleshes out other key aspects of the new Closing Loopholes legislation.

Donald Trump’s presidency has already begun reshaping the corporate and political landscape in the US, with executive orders rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and clean energy efforts. What impact does this have on organisational culture globally? In this episode of the Relative Return Unplugged Podcast – produced by the wealth portfolio at HR Leader’s parent company, Momentum Media – Associate Professor Nathan Eva from Monash Business School discusses the global implications of Trump’s “me-first agenda” on business and workplace culture, including within Australia. He explores the risks of deprioritising diversity, how Australian leaders can resist these trends, what organisations can do to stay committed to fairness, equity, and sustainability amid political and social upheaval, and the leadership qualities needed to navigate this challenging new era.

The year 2024 was eventful for industrial relations (IR) disputes, with major Australian organisations facing off against disgruntled workers and unions in standoffs that caused a media frenzy. Here, one IR expert breaks down these major disputes and offers an outlook on why employers can’t afford to ignore the 2025 IR wave. In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Kace O’Neill speaks with Workvergent founder and managing industrial relations consultant Troy Gread to unpack the most polarising disputes – from the Woolworths’ Christmas showdown to Sydney’s train strike chaos – and what they reveal about the battles ahead. On the eve of a federal election, with IR battles and multi-employer bargaining on the rise, Gread reveals why 2025 could be a tipping point for employers and HR teams. Whether it’s navigating union tactics, Gen Z worker activism, or the hidden costs of lost productivity – the rapidly changing industrial landscape continues to evolve.