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PODCAST

HR Voices

HR Voices is a scenario-based podcast for People Leaders who’ve actually had to make the call. Each episode brings experienced HR and People leaders into realistic, anonymized workplace scenarios—the kind you recognize immediately. Performance issues. Messy conflicts. Investigations that don’t fit neatly into a policy box. Instead of talking about their own companies, guests react to outside cases and walk through how they’d think it through in real time. There are no right answers here. What you’ll

business management

All Episodes

17:55

The Case Against Treating Everyone the Same

HR Voices ·

2026/06/04

SummaryOn this episode of HR Voices, Rebecca Taylor talks with Alisa DiBeasi, CHRO at PHINIA, about a problem nearly every People team is facing: rising requests for flexibility and accommodations, and managers handling them inconsistently. Alisa makes the case that the usual fix, one uniform rule for everyone, is what actually breaks fairness, because the roles and lives underneath it were never the same. She lays out a different model built on reciprocity, employee-led wellbeing councils,

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31:17

The Three Moves That Enable AI Success

HR Voices ·

2026/06/02

SummaryOn HR Voices, host Rebecca Taylor sits down with Weston Fillman and Gabrielle Caron from 1Password to unpack the Meta firings over faked keyboard activity and what they reveal about how HR is supposed to roll out AI. Wes runs people operations and employee relations. Gab leads talent, culture, and growth. They argue Meta got the tool right and the rollout wrong, that change management in the AI era has to be the rollout itself, and that 1Password's 98% AI adoption is a starting line

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26:27

The Manager Accountability Trap Most Organizations...

HR Voices ·

2026/05/28

SummaryIn this episode of HR Voices, Rebecca Taylor is joined by Margie Zyble, CHRO at UC Health Cincinnati, to work through a high-stakes scenario: a company's forced ranking system produces racially disparate outcomes, a manager refuses to rank her team in the bottom tier, and HR must advise on both. Margie draws on her experience to separate the two problems, explain why most manager defiance traces back to a skill gap rather than principled dissent, and make the case for running an

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38:27

The Paradox of Well-Meaning Messages

HR Voices ·

2026/05/26

SummaryHR Voices explores real and fabricated anonymized employee relations scenarios through the lens of experienced HR and People leaders. In this episode, Rebecca Taylor is joined by D'Mar Phillips, VP of People and Culture at RS Americas, to work through "The Social Media Outing": a manager discovers via personal social media that a direct report is gay, tries to signal inclusion without disclosure, and faces a confrontation. D'Mar unpacks the difference between intent and impact,

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25:40

The Expectations Nobody Wrote Down

HR Voices ·

2026/05/21

SummaryOn HR Voices, host Rebecca Taylor and Jeannie Virden, Chief People Officer at Central Health, work through a layered employee relations scenario: an employee with an approved work from home accommodation whose manager wants to move to a PIP three months later. They unpack why the accommodation is often a distraction from the real issue, how unstated remote expectations set people up to fail, and what documentation a PIP actually requires. Jeannie makes the case that strong HR slows

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25:31

Purpose, People, and Process: The Three Things That...

HR Voices ·

2026/05/19

SummaryIn this episode of HR Voices, Rebecca Taylor is joined by Paul D. Brubaker, VP of HR for North America at KARL STORZ, to work through one of the most complex scenarios an HR leader can face: a confidential misconduct investigation has leaked from inside the function, and now HR must run two simultaneous inquiries without contaminating either one. Paul walks through his sequencing framework, explains why maintaining an open mind during a contested investigation is a form of rigor, and

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28:26

The $400K Retention Mistake: When One Counteroffer...

HR Voices ·

2026/05/14

SummaryA single counteroffer—a 22% raise to retain a valued analyst—triggered a pay equity crisis within weeks. Three teammates discovered the increase, demanded comparable raises citing discrimination, and two threatened to leave. The retained employee, furious her confidential salary became public knowledge, now distrusts leadership. HR must decide: conduct a broader compensation audit, address the perceived precedent, or risk losing the entire team.This scenario exposes the hidden cost

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29:37

The Promotion That Never Came: Investigating...

HR Voices ·

2026/05/13

SummaryA marketing manager files a pregnancy discrimination complaint after being passed over for a director promotion. The role went to a male peer with less tenure. The hiring committee's written notes cite "bandwidth" concerns three times — only for her candidacy. The company insists the decision was legitimate business planning. HR's investigation reveals a pattern that looks less like strategy and more like unconscious bias.This scenario sits at the intersection of legitimate

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28:47

The $400K Distraction: What Happens When Senior...

HR Voices ·

2026/05/12

SummaryAccording to a 2024 Society for Human Resource Management report, 67% of organizations now encourage pronoun sharing as part of workplace inclusion efforts — yet only 23% report zero employee objections. A company updates its inclusion policy to ask employees to share pronouns optionally in email signatures and during introductions. One employee refuses, stating that mandatory pronoun sharing — even optional in structure — violates his religious beliefs. Another employee argues that

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21:26

What to Do When a Manager is Accused of Theft?

HR Voices ·

2026/05/11

SummaryIn an exit interview, a departing employee discloses that her manager has been stealing several thousand dollars from petty cash over the past year. She estimates the total theft at thousands of dollars but admits she never reported it earlier due to fear of retaliation. HR must now investigate an allegation with a departing witness, limited evidence, and a manager who has no indication anything is coming. Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX, walks through the investigation

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25:37

When the Best Manager in Your Restaurant Has Sticky...

HR Voices ·

2026/05/07

SummaryA departing employee drops a bombshell in her exit interview: she watched her manager steal from petty cash for over a year. She estimates several thousand dollars. She says she didn't report it sooner because she feared retaliation and needed her job. Now HR holds a disclosure it can't ignore—but the witness is walking out the door, the manager has a strong performance record, and the evidence is thin. In this episode of HR Voices, host Rebecca Taylor sits down with Laura McLand, VP

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27:14

Why "Overqualified" Is Often a Cop-Out and a Legal Risk

HR Voices ·

2026/05/07

SummaryA hiring manager consistently rejects candidates over 50, citing "overqualification" as a retention risk—but never mentions age explicitly. HR notices the pattern and must now assess whether the business justification is legitimate or a cover for ADEA violations. In this episode, Natalie Breece, Chief People and Diversity Officer at thredUP, reveals how to separate genuine fit concerns from coded bias, what questions expose a manager's real decision-making process, and how to protect

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27:28

What You Do When Your Employee Wants to Come Back

HR Voices ·

2026/05/05

SummaryA high-performing employee leaves voluntarily, makes complaints about her manager during the exit interview, and those complaints are noted informally but never investigated. Eighteen months later, she applies to come back—to the same manager's team. Now HR is stuck: rehiring her means placing her back under the manager she complained about, but not hiring her could look retaliatory for protected complaints. In this episode of HR Voices, host Rebecca Taylor sits down with Jill

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33:11

Where HR Can Build the Most Trust from Layoffs

HR Voices ·

2026/05/05

SummaryA CFO hands HR a layoff list. HR runs the numbers and finds it disproportionately skews toward employees over 55 and women in senior roles. The CFO says it's based on performance ratings. HR pulls the data and finds significant rating inconsistencies. The CFO wants to proceed. Now what? In this episode of HR Voices, host Rebecca Taylor sits down with Lizzie Garner, Chief People Officer at ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers, to work through this fabricated-but-deeply-familiar scenario

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33:16

Should You Still Hire Him If He Lies?

HR Voices ·

2026/04/30

SummaryA top candidate for a senior finance role is discovered to have misrepresented their MBA degree during a post-offer background check, having dropped out after two years. Despite 15 years of strong experience and excellent references, the hiring manager insists on making an exception, arguing the degree is irrelevant. This directly conflicts with the organization's HR policy, which mandates rescinding offers for material misrepresentations, creating a high-stakes dilemma for HR.The

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32:13

Why You Shouldn’t Policy for Your Worst Employee

HR Voices ·

2026/04/28

SummaryA company installs productivity monitoring software on remote employees' laptops. One employee discovers it, doesn't remove it, but starts staging his screen—working on a decoy window while handling personal matters.When HR confronts him with footage showing low productivity, he flips the script: the monitoring was never disclosed, it violates state surveillance law, and it constitutes an unlawful search. Sound familiar? In this episode of HR Voices, host Rebecca Taylor sits down

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29:16

How a Complaint is a Request in Disguise

HR Voices ·

2026/04/28

SummaryMultiple employees witnessed harassment and said nothing. Some told their managers. Some figured it wasn't their place. Now HR is investigating—and the question isn't just what happened, it's what do you do with the people who saw it and stayed quiet? In this episode of HR Voices, host Rebecca Taylor sits down with Robert C. Whitehouse, Chief People Officer at MiQ Digital, to work through this fabricated-but-very-real scenario about bystander accountability. Robert brings a grounded,

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25:55

The Retaliation Question Every HR Leader Will Face...

HR Voices ·

2026/04/23

SummaryAn employee files a harassment complaint against her supervisor. HR investigates, finds it unsubstantiated, and reassigns her to a new manager. Three months later, she receives her first negative performance review in five years. Is it retaliation or real performance issues? In this episode of HR Voices, host Rebecca Taylor sits down with Lisseth Zouhbi, Chief People and Culture Officer at Child Care Resource Center, to work through this fabricated-but-very-familiar scenario and

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33:58

The Negotiation Mistake Every New Hire Makes

HR Voices ·

2026/04/21

SummaryA state passes a pay transparency law. A company scrambles to comply by posting wide salary ranges like $60K–$120K "to preserve flexibility." Then employees see the ranges and start filing complaints. Sound familiar? In this episode of HR Voices, host Rebecca Taylor sits down with Ami Graves, CHRO at Bell Techlogix, to work through exactly this scenario and uncover what a strong HR leader actually thinks about when the gray areas pile up. Ami brings 25+ years of HR leadership

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32:14

The Hiring Complaint Every HR Leader Should Prepare For

HR Voices ·

2026/04/16

Can a neurodiversity hiring program open you up to “reverse discrimination” claims—and how do you respond if it does? In this HR Voices episode, Rebecca Taylor is joined by Paula Nuzzi, CHRO at Tartar Gate, LLC, to unpack a fictional but highly realistic case: a tech company modifies interviews, mentorship, and accommodations to better hire candidates with autism and ADHD—then faces a complaint from a rejected, non-neurodivergent applicant. Paula breaks down how to design inclusive programs

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105 results

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