As technology and talent expectations transform what skills matter most, employees expect resources that push their careers forward. Employers who prioritize upskilling and reskilling have a distinct advantage over their competition and better position themselves for long-term success.
Plus, with skill gaps emerging as one of the biggest challenges in HR, reskilling and upskilling has the power to spread operational knowledge, boost employee engagement and truly align your employees — no matter when they started with your organization.
Join Dr. Michelle Weise, an award-winning author and Chief Impact Officer of the Kern Family Foundation, on this episode of the HR Break Room® as she discusses:
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Listen to our conversation with Tom Gordon, CEO and co-founder of Slim Chickens, to discuss the meteoric rise of this fast-casual restaurant. Gordon walks us through Slim Chickens’ growth from a garage in Arkansas to nearly 300 locations around the globe.
During the discussion, Gordon touches on how this bold growth plan was powered by automated tech that helped hire, onboard and develop a rapidly expanding workforce. As the franchise business continues to grow, Gordon also discusses how he and his leadership team are able to maintain Slim Chickens’ core identity from store to store.
Finally, we touch on how Slim Chickens developed a succession plan to ensure continuity to this day.
This is a must-listen conversation for hospitality professionals and growth-minded leaders alike. Check out this episode of the HR Break Room®!
Employee wellness is becoming a topic that’s garnering more attention than ever, and for good reason. Workplace wellness is a driver that can impact productivity, retention and even an employer’s ability to innovate.
Dr. Jessica Sharp, founder of Sharp Brain Consulting, joins the HR Break Room® podcast to share her insights and experiences as a consultant who specializes in helping leaders build stronger employee wellness programs.
In this episode, you’ll learn about:
Want to learn about the opportunities surrounding well-being in the modern workplace? Be sure to listen to this episode of the HR Break Room podcast.
It’s important for U.S. employers to effectively manage Form I-9 compliance. And with increased immigration enforcement, the scrutiny organizations face could be higher, too.
Now is the perfect time to reconsider your strategy for preventing I-9 compliance fines and other penalties. From conducting an internal I-9 audit to ensuring you have the most effective software to enhance your approach, there’s no shortage of best practices to help ensure your compliance.
Workplace compliance expert Dr. Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio, CEO of People Culture Data Consulting Group, joins HR Break Room® podcast host Ariana Stark to discuss simplifying Form I-9 compliance with:
Many companies face unnecessary complexity on a daily basis, wasting valuable time, adding to employees’ stress and chipping away at the bottom line.
Often, leaders will implement policies that aim to make employees lives easier, only to discover that nothing changes. And while workplace technology can help reduce complexity, the wrong tech, or even too much tech, can add to the problem instead of subtracting from it.
What steps can organizations take to eliminate wasteful processes and introduce more automation in the workplace? How does simplicity enhance your culture, employee well-being and your financial outlook?
Lisa Bodell, CEO of FutureThink, joins HR Break Room® podcast host Ariana Stark to answer these questions and discuss how:
In a September 2024 survey commissioned by Paycom and conducted by PSB Insights, 56% of HR professionals identified employee retention as their No. 1 priority in 2025. How can HR help retain employees?
One of the most powerful factors in retention is creating a sense of belonging in the workplace. Employees who feel valued and connected are more engaged, more committed, and more likely to stay. Organizations can build lasting relationships by fostering an inclusive culture of belonging that supports employees’ professional growth as well as their personal well-being.
Organizational psychologist Dr. Jessica Sharp, CEO of Sharp Brain Consulting, joins HR Break Room® podcast host Ariana Stark to discuss how to create a sense of belonging in the workplace, including:
It’s not enough to just get paid. For us to make the most informed decisions, we have to understand what makes up our pay on a deeper level. You’ve probably heard of “financial literacy,” or our ability to effectively manage money. But boosting it requires another crucial piece: pay literacy.
Through pay literacy, we have a chance to understand every component of our compensation — from earnings and deductions to taxes and benefits. In this episode of the HR Break Room® podcast, you’ll hear how it’s more than just understanding the difference between net and gross pay. It’s about access, management and knowledge.
And Jean Chatzky, bestselling author and former financial editor for NBC’s Today show, will be your guide! Join her and host Ariana Stark as they discuss:
· the value of financial literacy
· what pay literacy means and why it matters
· how employers benefit from greater pay literacy
Over the course of her illustrious and varied career, Nicole Kidman has gained valuable perspectives which she applies to her daily life, both at home and at work. No stranger to winning, innovation, caring and service, Kidman is the embodiment of Paycom’s values.
In this episode of the HR Break Room® podcast, Kidman discusses the pressures women face in the workplace, the importance of work-life balance and prioritizing compassion and empathy in our working relationships.
She also provides welcome insights on resiliency in the face of failure, admitting when you’re overwhelmed and taking advantage of available employee wellness resources.
Join us as Nicole Kidman and host Trinity Thomas discuss:
Technology isn’t just changing how we work. It also has the potential to simplify our most basic tasks. One innovation that can streamline our workday is HR automation. Human resources pros are uniquely qualified for employee-centric work and organizational goal-setting, and automating HR workflows can make a positive difference in their workday and on the employee experience as a whole.
In this episode of the HR Break Room® podcast, Sharlyn Lauby, HR consultant and founder of the HR Bartender podcast, discusses why organizations should automate repetitive tasks. Listen now to hear how you can make HR efficiency automatic as you move your organization forward.
Guest and host will discuss:
Every single person in your organization, whether they’re part of the team for a year or their whole career, will move through the employee life cycle. Are you prepared to engage them at every stage?
Listen to this episode of the HR Break Room® podcast with Dr. Jessica Sharp, founder and CEO of Sharp Brain Consulting, to learn why it’s important to consider employee life cycle management and how to set your organization up for success at every stage.
Dr. Sharp has spent years helping organizations take a neuroscience-based approach to strengthening cultures. Her insight and experience bring a unique perspective that may prove to be the catalyst your workplace is looking for as you craft a culture that attracts, engages and retains the people who help you succeed.
Dr. Sharp and our host will discuss:
· the importance of consistent training throughout the employee life cycle
· ways to sustain long-term engagement
· factors to consider around employee promotions
· tips for a smoother offboarding process
Every workplace experiences change. It can be small, like a slight tweak to a longstanding policy. Or it can be more significant, like an abrupt change to company leadership. Regardless, employers need to understand and prepare for change. But how? Even if something’s necessary, that doesn’t make it easy. Luckily, you don’t have to face it alone.
Mike Paton, host of The EOS Leader podcast and co-author of Get a Grip and Process!, joins the HR Break Room® podcast to walk us through why organizations should embrace change and practical strategies for navigating it. He’ll explore how companies stumble and what they can do to simplify, streamline and, ultimately, succeed through change.
In this episode, he’ll discuss:
The modern workplace has experienced waves of change over the last few decades. Everything from technology to workforce demographics have been transformed, so it only makes sense that office etiquette would change as well.
Trish Steed, co-founder and chief analyst for H3 HR Advisors joins the HR Break Room® podcast to map out the landscape of contemporary professional etiquette. She’ll discuss how the pandemic changed the way we work, and how the values and attitudes of younger generations contribute to the shape of organizational culture.
In this episode they’ll discuss:
· what’s driving the increasing demand for corporate etiquette training
· employee expectations in the age of social media
· how to set guidelines for updated etiquette standards
· etiquette in a multi-generational workplace
Hannibal Johnson, an author, attorney, law professor, curator of the history center Greenwood Rising and chairman of the Education Committee for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, visits the HR Break Room® podcast to discuss how open conversation and diverse perspectives in the workplace can become vital parts of your culture. In his role on the Education Committee, Johnson supports its mission to educate Oklahomans and Americans about the Race Massacre and its impact on the state and nation, remember victims and survivors, and foster sustainable entrepreneurship and tourism within the Greenwood District and North Tulsa.
Change is a part of the business landscape, and threat assessment is a rapidly evolving responsibility facing modern organizations.
Dr. Larry Barton joins the HR Break Room® to discuss the evolving nature of threat assessment and how workplace mental wellness efforts can play a role in crisis management strategies. Along the way, Barton and host Ariana Stark examine how technology, human capital management tools and simple check-ins with co-workers can be leveraged to help prevent a crisis.
Dr. Barton is the Distinguished University Professor of Crisis Management and Public Safety at the University of Central Florida and a leading expert and best-selling author in threat assessment prevention and methodology. Dr. Barton regularly addresses the FBI Academy and private sector conferences where he teaches courses in threat evaluation and crisis prevention.
For leaders grappling with dynamic workplaces, this is a must-hear discussion about threat assessment and crisis management.
Tech disengagement happens when tools intended to make our work easier actually make things more difficult. It compounds what we do, forcing us to find workarounds or abandon the tech outright. How can you bridge the gap between technology and business needs?
On this episode of the HR Break Room® podcast, HR Technology Conference co-chair Steve Boese dives into the topic and helps you identify tech disengagement and spots the pitfalls of the technology generation gap. Along the way, he’ll examine the implications of a workforce that’s struggling with tools that are supposed to help.
Boese also discusses:
In this episode of the HR Break Room® podcast, we welcome Paycom’s director of HR business services, Tiffany Gamblin, and Sharlyn Lauby, president of HR consulting firm ITM Group.
In honor of Women’s History Month, Gamblin and Lauby discuss women in the workplace, their influence and how organizations can best support them.
From women in leadership to trends in benefits policies to the engagement opportunities of employee resource groups (ERGs), our guests discuss how women can be empowered to bring their unique perspectives to work and add value that sets an organization apart from the rest.
Our guests will discuss:
As employees place an ever-increasing premium on work-life balance and mental health, time off plays an even more significant role in the modern workplace. That’s why it’s essential that the modern HR professional stay abreast of the terms, nuances and technology surrounding this benefits staple.
Trish Steed, co-founder of H3 HR Advisors joins the HR Break Room® podcast to break down the many factors of the common benefits program.
Steed brings industry insight and first-hand experience as she discusses the future of benefits, mental health, PTO policies, unpaid time off, employee vacation blackout periods and more. Drawing from her own experience, Steed also examines how automation and the right tech helps HR professionals streamline their work and uncover greater efficiency.
Trish Steed and our host will discuss:
Delayed time-off decisions can create an avalanche of problems. Scheduling is slowed down, budgeting is hampered, employee trust may erode and the risk of non-compliance fines grow ever larger. Nobody wants time-off requests to languish in limbo — and for good reason!
In this episode of the HR Break Room® podcast, HR Technology Conference co-chair Steve Boese shares his take on where pain points may arise in the time-off process when things aren’t automated, the realities of staffing shortages and more.
Listen in as Steve Boese discusses:
· the ins and outs of automated time-off request decision-making
· maintaining the human touch as you embrace automation
· developments in HR technology and the future of work
· ensuring fairness and reducing bias in time-off decision making
· the benefits of automated time-off tracking
LinkedIn’s first chief HR officer, Steve Cadigan, continues his HR Break Room® visit with a discussion about employee well-being and the idea of workplace wellness. He examines wellness in a professional context and shares ways employers can support their teams.
Cadigan earned his workplace culture expertise overseeing LinkedIn’s recruitment, engagement and culture strategies during a period of tenfold growth. He’s an avid proponent of in-person workplaces, a topic he took on in his bestselling 2021 book, Workquake.
In this second episode of his two-part discussion, Cadigan addresses:
· wellness in the workplace
· mental health and employee well-being
· the importance of a healthy workplace culture
· employee wellness programs and human connection in the workplace
Most people understand that diversity and inclusion in the workplace are important, but can we do more than simply recognizing this as a fact? Is it possible to leverage diversity and inclusion to build a positive organizational culture, improve work quality and increase productivity?
LinkedIn’s first chief HR officer, Steve Cadigan, joins the HR Break Room® podcast to answer questions about investing in the diversity of your workplace.
Cadigan earned his workplace-culture expertise as he oversaw LinkedIn’s recruitment, engagement and culture strategies during a period of tenfold growth. He’s an avid proponent of in-person workplaces, a topic he took on in his bestselling 2021 book, Workquake.
In the first episode of this two-part discussion, Cadigan discusses:
Stress has a sneaky way of turning into burnout before we can recognize the symptoms and take steps to protect our mental wellness. Can cutting-edge science help us regain some of our lost calm?
For that answer, we turned to a leading scientist.
Astrophysicist, author and all-around science ambassador Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ph.D., visits the HR Break Room® to take on the myth of multitasking. Multitasking can lower productivity, increase the amount of time needed to complete a task, create stress and lead to burnout. We often think of multitasking within the context of work; however, this applies to all areas of life.
Technology is often seen as the cause of excessive multitasking in our busy lives, but these modern tools may also provide the solution as we look for ways to cope in these times of information saturation.
Tyson discusses ways to identify the onset of burnout and proven strategies for reducing stress and recovering the ability to think clearly and effectively.
Want to learn more about how multitasking at work may be contributing to cognitive overload in your workplace? Read our blog post!
With so many administrative duties on HR’s plates, multitasking can quickly give way to mental exhaustion and cognitive overload. The solution? Automating basic HR and payroll tasks!
In the evolving world of work, automation is a double-edged sword. Sure, it opens doors to better, more efficient HR processes. But it can also introduce complex challenges.
Join Steve Boese, HR Technology Conference chair, on a journey through the world of HR automation. We’ll address the fundamental questions around the concept and how it redefines the employee experience.
In this episode of HR Break Room®, we’ll explore how to:
We’ve come a long way since the Industrial Revolution. From the electronic semiconductor to employee-guided payroll, read the story of HR automation.
As AI and other technologies continue their rapid advance, effective cybersecurity that can evolve with the times becomes equally important.
In comes John Riggi — veteran FBI agent, senior representative to the CIA, a member of the White House Cyber Response Group and the American Hospital Association’s very first advisor for cybersecurity and risk. With years of experience in a variety of fields, Riggi visits HR Break Room® to discuss all things cybersecurity.
Riggi and host Morgan Beard discuss the critical importance of data security in the sphere of payroll and HCM. Riggi also offers tips for business leaders who want to stay ahead of the curve to protect themselves, their employees and their customers.
Key takeaways from this episode of the HR Break Room include:
· understanding the importance of cybersecurity
· securing data through internal controls
· actionable tips for business leaders rethinking their cybersecurity measures
In order to create opportunities for transformational success, your employees first must have the freedom to be themselves. Emotional transparency and inclusivity are key to achieve this, and no person has demonstrated these values quite like Robin Roberts, the versatile co-anchor of the top-rated morning news program, ABC’s Good Morning America.
In this previously recorded episode of HR Break Room®, Roberts shares her perspective on the many obstacles employees may encounter and how to use that adversity to succeed in the workplace. Her unique story paves the way to opening a new conversation centered on efforts extending beyond the traditional definitions of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
Join us as Roberts recounts her path from small-town Mississippi to inspiring millions daily nationwide by sharing her journey, and ways she has worked to provide others a sense of psychological safety and well-being in the workplace.
Key takeaways
· A workplace can create a safe environment to support its employees through adversity.
· Transparency benefits people in both their personal and professional development.
· How to move past the idea that diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging efforts are more than just boxes to be checked, and move toward a more holistic, personal approach.
Guest: Futurist Mike Walsh
You may have heard about it at work or on the news. It’s artificial intelligence or “AI” for short — a complex subject that’s still evolving. While some people express concern, others are optimistic and excited. Regardless of the hype or the pundits’ daily hot take, the future of work is something nearly everyone is experiencing in real time.
Futurist Mike Walsh has been a leading authority on disruptive innovation and digital transformation. In this episode of the HR Break Room® podcast, he uses his expertise to break down all things AI and technology as he helps clarify what we can expect in the workplace during these interesting times.
Listen as Walsh and host Morgan Beard discuss:
· the quickly evolving landscape of work
· how AI will impact the workplace
· leadership challenges arising from digital transformation