HR Leader Podcast Network

AVL Wines people and culture director, Tash Cahill, joined The HR Leader to talk about how she has achieved a senior HR role so quickly in her career, the support she’s received to help her achieve success, and how she’s crafted her role so HR at AVL Wines can have the most impact. Ms Cahill knew that she wanted a career in HR, rather than falling into it like many in the profession. This gave her a bit of a head start in the industry. She also credits the support AVL Wines has given her in stepping up into a senior role as integral to her success. As a younger leader, Ms Cahill shared her perspective with The HR Leader on why it’s advantageous for a business to have both older and younger professionals in leadership roles, with the different perspectives of both benefiting a business.

Leroy Wilkinson-Maher, the managing director and founder of Dhiira, sat down with The HR Leader to discuss what organisations can do to increase inclusion and equitability for Aboriginal people. In this second part of the conversation, Mr Wilkinson-Maher provided some insights for organisations looking to better understand the history of Aboriginal people, what positive changes businesses can support, and the role of HR in driving change that helps Aboriginal people.

The head of HR at Haleon ANZ, Abby Krause, joined The HR Leader to talk about the organisation’s rebrand, how they’ve designed their offices to reflect the changing needs of their workforce, and how DEI has been considered throughout that journey. Haleon ANZ includes well-known brands from Sensodyne and Voltaren through to Panadol, Centrum, and ChapStick. Ms Krause shared how they were able to draw on insights from their extensive leadership team to shape the culture for Haleon ANZ. She also spoke about her interest in creating inclusive spaces for people, citing examples of how their new offices accommodate accessibility, parental, and religious needs. Ms Krause concluded the podcast discussion with tips and insights that other organisations can consider to make their workspaces hybrid-working friendly. She shared that their approach is to follow a philosophy rather than a policy, enabling them to be flexible around different people’s needs.

Niall O’Rourke, partner at Sharp and Carter, spoke with The HR Leader about what the recruitment firm does to keep wellbeing front and centre. Sharp and Carter’s website calls out their ‘culture of uncommon care’. Mr O’Rourke described how this is reflected in the business, including assigning a founding member of their firm to look after the wellbeing of employees. Mr O’Rourke shared with The HR Leader why the firm rewards all of their employees, understanding that every role contributes to the commercial success of the business.  He also spoke about what being an ‘ethical recruiter’ entails, relating that if you wouldn’t place your family member in a position, why place a candidate in that role? As Mr O’Rourke summed up, they treat both clients and candidates as customers – a candidate sees first hand the level of detail they go into to make a placement, which helps inform them as a client what the process looks like client-side.

Mimma Mason, business development director of the clinical assessments arm in APAC for Pearson, joined The HR Leader to talk about her role as a cognitive scientist, and how her speciality relates to HR and people leaders. Ms Mason shared what she means when she refers to a ‘career passport’ and how it reflects a need to look beyond skills to the candidate/employee’s experience more generally. Ms Mason also discussed with The HR Leader how to identify when an employee is being challenged at the right level to promote learning, citing what to look for as an indicator that an employee is being overchallenged.  Discussing what agile learning looks like, the podcast conversation delved into what businesses need to consider in terms of an individual’s capacity to learn, as well as what to look for in L&D professionals to secure learning talent that can act agilely to meet a business’ needs.

Leroy Wilkinson-Maher, the managing director and founder of Dhiira, sat down with The HR Leader to discuss what organisations can do to increase inclusion and equitability for Aboriginal people. In the first of this two-part special podcast, Mr Wilkinson-Maher shared insights into his career journey to date, starting with a school-based traineeship with a bank, to working in HR and now managing Dhiira, which he describes as an “intentional disruptor”. He shared: “I've ended up here now in this company, which is fundamentally an intentional disruptor. We want to undo the bricks and mortar that have been the foundations of mainstream businesses since Australia was colonised… what I'm trying to [ask] now is: how do we humanise the world through the Aboriginal perspective and through the Aboriginal lens?” Part one of the podcast concluded with Mr Wilkinson-Maher sharing three mistakes he sees businesses making when it comes to DEI and Aboriginal people. In part two, Mr Wilkinson-Maher provides some insights for organisations looking to better understand the history of Aboriginal people, what positive changes businesses can support, and the role of HR in driving change that helps Aboriginal people. Part two will be released on 14 October 2022.

Kate Newey, the head of human resources at Adaptalift Group, sat down with The HR Leader to talk about the challenges and the opportunities involved in being a parent and a senior part-time employee. Ms Newey discussed what it was like adjusting to being a part-time HR professional and establishing new boundaries to juggle work and home duties. She also shared how she has created the right team and ways of working for her HR function to support their approach to flexible working. The conversation also touched on what it was like as a senior HR professional to work through the beginnings of the pandemic, and the challenges COVID-19 continues to present – including when employees are looking after unwell children, or businesses are trying to bring workforces together to network and collaborate.

Belinda Leon shared with The HR Leader her experience being diagnosed as an adult with ADHD, her tips for employers on supporting a neurodivergent workforce, and DEI at Bendigo Bank. Ms Leon looks after employer branding at Bendigo Bank. She spoke with The HR Leader about her career trajectory, how it’s helped to have a variety of experiences, and what being diagnosed with ADHD has meant for her in terms of her work. Talking about how Bendigo Bank has supported her, Ms Leon also related how the bank’s EVP captures their commitment to DEI. Understanding neurodiversity is an important element of DEI, and Ms Leon provided some tips for how organisations can best help those who are neurodivergent.  Ms Leon stated to HR Leader (for those who are curious if they have undiagnosed ADHD): “I recommend reading (reputable) articles, speaking to their doctor and asking for a referral to a psychiatrist to be assessed. That can take a while – I had a five-month wait and I think the times have only gotten longer since then.” Ms Leon has kindly provided the below links in relation to this podcast episode: https://www.additudemag.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/howtoadhd Information about ADHD symptoms in adults: https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-symptoms-test-adults/ Note from the editor: If you’re currently experiencing any of the issues we’ve discussed above and would like to reach out for help, you may wish to contact Lifeline: www.lifeline.org.au

Anu Villarosa, the HR Director at Pitcher Partners and parent of four, shared how she balances work and her personal life without sacrificing career goals or time with family. Ms Villarosa spoke about her path to the role of HR Director and how she unapologetically moved forward in her career while also building her family. She shared tips for women to achieve equality in the workplace, looking at behaviours like over-apologising and over-explaining, and suggesting alternative ways to communicate that are more gender neutral. The conversation also included insights into different learning paths for women at work, as well as who Ms Villarosa herself looks to for inspiration now that she’s in a senior HR role.  In the discussion, Ms Villarosa referenced Justine Figo’s networking group of senior HR practitioners who have been supporting each other through the challenges of COVID-19, and Ms Figo’s new book: On the same page.

Sally McKibbin from Indeed sat down with The HR Leader to talk about recruitment in relation to automation, inclusion and hiring graduates. The conversation explored the impact of automation on recruitment. Ms McKibbin also talked about what can be done to make recruitment a more inclusive process, including understanding the impact of job ad language and placement. Rounding out the episode, Ms McKibbin spoke about why organisations should pay attention to graduate hiring, and provided some insights for any graduates listening who would like to purse a role in the HR or recruitment industry.