HRchat Podcast

The days of mandatory office attendance are (mostly) behind us, but how do you maintain a vibrant workplace culture when your team is scattered across 15+ countries? In this conversation, Dessalen Wood, Chief People Officer at Syntax, reveals the company's innovative approach to workplace flexibility that's become their competitive advantage.

Drawing from 25 years of experience across retail, entertainment, and t...

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Carrie Bates isn't just celebrating over a decade of sobriety—she's revolutionizing how workplaces approach addiction recovery. As Director of Strategic Growth and Advocacy at Caron Treatment Centers, Carrie brings a powerful dual perspective to the conversation on substance dependence in professional environments.

Over 26 million Americans report struggling with addiction, with c...

The future of workforce efficiency is skills-based, and organizations that fail to make this pivot risk being left behind. Shrikant Pattathil, President and CTO of Harbinger Group, joins Bill Banham to unpack why skill proficiency has become a critical metric for organizational success in today's hyper-personalized, hyper-automated workplace.

Shrikant reveals that companies implementing skills-first approaches are see...

What happens when one executive combines legal expertise with human resources leadership? Joshua Horenstein, Senior Vice President, Chief Legal and Human Resources Officer & Corporate Secretary at Innophos, reveals the powerful advantages of his dual role in this fascinating conversation.

Leading both legal and HR departments for a global phosphate company with 1,500 employees worldwide, Joshua leverages his unique pos...

Bob Goodwin welcomes Gena Smith, North American CHRO for luxury powerhouse LVMH, for a masterclass in leadership development and cultivating excellence across iconic brands like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Tiffany.

Gena shares her unexpected journey from small-town Texas to leading human resources for one of the world's most prestigious luxury groups. A pivotal study abroad experience in Greece awakened her pas...

Imagine a world where job candidates arrive with an ironclad guarantee that they can apply the skills listed on their resumes. That's the vision shared by Dan Benveniste, Founder and CEO of SkillWaze, a company that’s redefining career readiness through AI-powered, skill-based learning.

Dan and his team just announced the acquisition of tilr.com, a leading learning management and credentialing platform. Together, they’re buildi...

Yesterday at the 2025 SHRM Annual Conference & Expo in San Diego, the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund named Brian Moynihan, CEO at Bank of America as this year’s Ethical Leader of the Year Award winner.

Brian Peckrill, Executive Director of the McGowan Fund, presented the award and praised Ethical Leader of the Year Award winner Brian Moynihan's commitment to ethical leadership. With this honor, Brian Moynihan joins an e...

"AI is not going to replace workers – it's going to create super workers." This powerful insight from Lila Nazef, VP of Sales and Marketing North America at Neocase and attendee at this week's SHRM Annual Conference and Expo, sets the tone for a fascinating exploration of how artificial intelligence is transforming HR service delivery while addressing common concerns about this rapidly evolving technology.
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What happens when 19 million jobs face potential displacement from automation and AI? And why aren't half of all workers using AI at all? Dr. James Atkinson, Vice President of Thought Leadership at SHRM, uncovers these startling insights and more in our illuminating conversation about workplace transformation.

Fresh from celebrating his one-year anniversary at SHRM after an impressive 11-year tenure in HR research at ...

What makes a truly effective CHRO in today's complex business landscape? Chelle O'Keefe, Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer at Associa, brings refreshing clarity to this question through her remarkable journey from psychology graduate to C-suite leader.

The power of Chelle's approach lies in her unique perspective: despite never taking a formal business class, she's mastered the exe...

Your next hire could be a deepfake. Identity fraud in employment has exploded, with a 30% increase in 2025 alone and experts predicting one in four candidates will use some form of deepfake technology by 2028. This isn't just resume padding—it's a sophisticated attack on your organization.

Joelle Smith, President of First Advantage Corporation, reveals how the convergence of massive data breaches, advanced AI, an...

The U.S. faces a talent crisis with millions of skilled candidates overlooked due to outdated hiring practices. The SHRM Foundation's Center for a Skills-First Future aims to bridge this gap by transforming how employers approach talent acquisition.

In this HRchat conversation with Bill Banham, SHRM Foundation President Wendi Safstrom reveals why skills-first hiring has moved to the forefront of strategic thinking for...

The gap between casual ChatGPT users and organizations with massive AI teams seems unbridgeable for most departments. But what about that middle ground where small teams can leverage AI effectively without specialized expertise?

Dr. Tim Scarfe, CEO of Machine Learning Street Talk, discusses practical AI implementation for smaller organizations with hosts Pauline James and David Creelman in this HRchat conversation. 

Running...

What does it mean when a Vice President, Global Talent Acquisition declares "recruiting is broken"? Jenn Cunningham of Pearson doesn't just diagnose the problem – she offers a vision for how artificial intelligence can bring the human element back to hiring.

Drawing from her fascinating career journey from McDonald's store manager to leading global talent acquisition at a major education company, Jenn e...

The boundary between professional and personal life has never been more blurred. As Dr. Alexander Lovell, Research Director at the O.C. Tanner Institute, reveals in this compelling episode, employees worldwide are increasingly operating in "survival mode" rather than thriving at work, and the consequences extend far beyond productivity metrics.

Alex introduces guest host Dr. Bill Howatt to the "Survival Cont...

In a world increasingly dominated by AI-powered recruiting tools, the human touch of employee referrals might just be your organization's secret weapon. Mike Stafiej, CEO and founder of ERIN, joins Bill Banham on the HRchat Show to reveal how properly implemented employee referral programs drive five times more hires while cutting turnover in half.

"Employee referrals is not a new concept," Mike acknowledges...

Meet the woman who understands how robots think and more importantly, how we think about them. Professor Kerstin Fischer brings over 20 years of research expertise to this fascinating exploration of human-robot interaction and what it means for our workplaces.

The conversation delves into a critical distinction most of us miss: the power of embodiment. While we're all getting comfortable with screen-based AI like Chat...

What does it take to create a unified culture when your team spans 50 countries and includes thousands of employees? Sue Quackenbush, Chief People Officer at Dynatrace, reveals the secret sauce behind their "real vibes, real people" approach that keeps their global workforce connected.

With 33% of Dynatrace's 4,000+ employees working fully remotely and the rest following a hybrid model, Sue explains how they...

In this episode, Bill Banham talks with Marina Farthouat, the new Vice President, People at Oyster - the global employment platform that enables companies to hire, pay, and care for distributed teams. 

Marina brings a refreshing perspective to the HRchat Show about transforming workplace norms through remote and distributed teams. Drawing from her diverse background spanning investment banking to startups, Marina shares why her most...