HR Leader Podcast Network

Coaching is a term often heard in the workplace, but frequently misunderstood. Coaching isn’t mentoring, and it’s not ‘covert’ performance management. Coaching, when used properly, is a powerful tool for helping employees realise their full potential. Lisa Croxford spoke with The HR Leader about her experience as a coach, explaining how coaching can be used to help employees and leaders grow. In this episode, Ms Croxford references the below: The Coaching Habit - Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever, Michael Bungay Stanier Organisational Coaching Essentials (Level 1), IECL coaching course, https://www.iecl.com/

Sue Sumskis shared with The HR Leader why organisational trauma needs more than an EAP, as well as discussing her work with the Australian Compassion Council. Ms Sumskis is the director of professional education programs and the head of mental health at the Nan Tien Institute. Listen to the podcast for her insights on organisational trauma to understand the effects of a trauma on an overall business, as well as a discussion on leadership and compassion, and why people should be ‘in the moment’. Ms Sumskis shared the below references for listeners who would like to do further reading on this topic: Brown, EH 1997, ‘Improving organisational health by addressing organisational trauma’, Journal of Organisation Change Management, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 175-178. Hormann, S 2007, ‘Organizational Trauma: A phenomenological study of leaders in traumatised organisations’, Dissertations & Theses. http://aura.antioch.edu/etds/184 Hormann, S & Vivian, P 2005, ‘Toward an understanding of traumatised organisations and how to intervene in them,’ Traumatology, vol. 11, no. 3, pp.159-169. Long, S 2012, ‘Trauma as cause and effect of perverse organisational process’, in  E Hopper, Ed., Trauma and organisations, New International Library of Group Analysis, Karnac, London, UK Ryan, KD & Oestreich, DK 1998. Driving fear out of the workplace: Creating the high-trust, high-performance organisation, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, USA.

Women and leadership - most would agree there’s still plenty of work to be done in this area. Kim Wiegand, the founder of Julip, helps women in professional services find pathways to leadership roles. Ms Wiegand shared her insights with The HR Leader about what’s holding women back from leadership positions, how learning and development can help, and other issues related to leadership progression for women. Ms Wiegand has shared the below resources for listeners of this podcast:  Build confidence through curiosity The hidden load: How 'thinking of everything' holds mums back (research article on the mental load, referencing research by Allison Daminger, a doctoral candidate in sociology and social policy at Harvard University, 2019.) Diversity of the judiciary: 2021 statistics (Research in the UK states that female lawyers leave private practice en masse at 19-20 years in. Female participation goes from 56 per cent at 19 years to 38 per cent at 20 years. Women leave just as they hit leadership capability and opportunity.) Julip research will be released later this year

Culture and values, they’re terms that HR knows well, but are they going to the heart of what people really mean by them? Lyndal Hughes joined The HR Leader to share her insights, including why she asks organisations what they “prize” rather than what they value. She also spoke about how culture is intertwined with leadership and organisational health, and how to influence culture in a business.

As Australia emerges from COVID-19 lockdowns, some organisations might be regrouping and considering redundancies. Michael Byrnes, partner at Swaab, spoke with The HR Leader about redundancies, some of the areas to watch out for in terms of potential discrimination, and why it’s helpful to to have legal professionals work alongside HR on redundancies. Mr Byrnes reminded listeners that, “businesses need to remember … redundancy is about the position, not the person.” Note from the editor This podcast was recorded in June 2022.

How workspaces impact employee psychology, dealing with corporate psychopaths, and moving people on from a business – The HR Leader discussed all of these issues with workplace relations specialist, Paul O’Halloran. Mr O’Halloran is a partner at Colin Biggers & Paisley Lawyers. He kindly shared insights with The HR Leader to help listeners think wisely about how they manage their physical workspaces, what they might want to do if they find themselves working with a corporate psychopath, and some considerations when exiting people from a business. During the discussion, Mr O’Halloran referenced the below: Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work, Dr Paul Babiak and Dr. Robert D. Hare

What’s the difference between leadership and management? How can Buddhist principles apply to leadership? What can the 12-step principles teach leaders? The HR Leader explored these questions with talent and capability development expert, Meredith Collins. Ms Collins is passionate about “human” skills, and she shared her understanding of Buddhist principles and the 12 steps as they relate to leadership skills. Delving into ideas like delusion and greed, and why leaders need to be aware of these issues in the workplace, Ms Collins brings an interesting lens to leadership, challenging what being a leader means and the hurdles leaders face. 

Organisations need to be smarter than ever about how they attract and consider talent. The candidate market might be tight, but there are solutions for businesses who are willing to think deeper and work harder. Stuart Freeman, head recruitment coach, and Jessica Currey, executive search consultant at the Kennedy Reid Group, were guests on HR Leader to share their insights about what they’re seeing in the recruitment market right now. Mr Freeman and Ms Currey explained why employers need to think beyond just considering a skills’ fit for new employees, as well as discussing what candidates are looking for. This episode is a must-listen for those looking to recruit in the current market.

HR has a lot on their agenda following the COVID-19 lockdowns. From working from home and four-day work weeks to building resilience, the issues that HR needs to be on top of are plenty and varied. Just Global HR Services’ managing director, Jayne Morgan, shared her thoughts on current HR topics, including considerations that need to be kept in mind when staff are working from home, the value of outsourced HR, and tips on building resilience. As Ms Morgan concluded: “We’re always learning. We just put that learning into perspective and in place and we’ll all be good.” Just Global HR Services is based in the UK but is open to working with customers in Australia. 

Creating meaningful change when it comes to diversity and inclusion requires a multi-faceted approach. Training, using data insights and facilitating employee participation can all help to shift the dial in a positive direction. Herbert Smith Freehills’ (HSF) global director of culture and inclusion, Danielle Kelly, had a conversation with HR Leader about the D&I initiatives in place at HSF, including the creation of a “people forum”. Providing insights to help others who aspire to a D&I program like HSF’s, Ms Kelly said: “When clients come to me and say, ‘We want to start on our D&I journey, can you help us?’ My first question is: what does your data look like?” Learn more by listening to the podcast below.