People Strategy in a Distributed World with Erin Goodey, Global People Director at Oyster

What if the key to better hiring, onboarding, and managing people is just making the complex simple? Erin Goodey shares real-world strategies to strip away unnecessary friction, leverage automation, and build resilient, scalable teams especially in a global context.

01:25 - Intro & icebreakers

04:45 - Email sign-off culture across countries

07:48 - Rapid fire: culture, RTO mandates & the future of work

09:28 - From criminology to HR: Erin's career journey

13:15 - Joining Oyster and building global HR from scratch

16:34 - Advising customers on complex global hiring strategy

18:20 - Work from anywhere: risk, maturity & legal exposure

20:32 - How Oyster sets standards while adapting to each client

25:18 - Heat maps, country selection & avoiding costly mistakes
26:45 - Planning for offboarding before you celebrate onboarding

29:33 - Pod countries: a smarter approach to global expansion

31:31 - Best entry points for companies new to international hiring

34:03 - Making the complex simple: automation & human-centered HR

37:16 - Lessons for fractional HR leaders

41:32 - Universal truths about the people profession

45:55 - The power of community & the "Unblock Me" channel

48:35 - What's on Erin's mind: geopolitics, complexity & building ahead

50:00 - Reimagining HR processes with AI from the ground up

51:38 - Pearl Diver: how Oyster saved 420 hours with an AI bot

55:56 - AI as a creative opportunity, not just a cost-cutting tool

58:37 - Who Erin's watching: companies pioneering AI-driven HR

1:00:21 - Final thoughts & close