Episodes

  • Season Recap and Predictions

    Season Recap and Predictions
    Jul 7 2025
    As Season 9 of the HR Data Labs podcast comes to a close, join David and Dwight for a reflective look back at the season’s episodes, guess, and key topics. They revisit their predictions from the Season 8 finale, evaluate hits and misses on trends like AI adoption and expected DEI shifts. Finally, they peer into the future, offering bold new predictions for what HR professionals can expect regarding financial strategies, AI integration, and the evolving landscape of HR data and analytics. [0:00] Introduction • Welcome, David and Dwight! • Today’s Topic: Season Recap and Future Predictions for HR Data [4:43] Reflecting on Season 9 & announcing our new live podcast • Expect a renewed focus on AI in HR in Season 10 • Our new live podcast series: Brown Bag Lunch! [15:25] Grading our Season 9 predictions • Reviewing AI adoption trends in customer service • Assessing DEI changes from the new administration’s policies [20:55] Predictions for Season 10 • Dwight’s prediction: Anticipating a slight loosening of organizations’ cautious financial strategies • David’s prediction: Forecasting a widening gap between organizations embracing AI in HR and those delaying adoption [28:14] Closing Thanks for listening and stay tuned for Season 10! Quick Quote “I’m predicting that people will start to adopt [AI], slowly at first, but then in a storm—and I’m talking in the next six months. People will see they can’t get away from [AI].” To schedule a meeting with us: https://salary.com/hrdlconsulting For more HR Data Labs®, enjoy the HR Data Labs Brown Bag Lunch Hours every Friday at 2:00PM-2:30PM EST. Check it out here: https://hrdatalabs.com/brown-bag-lunch/ Produced by Affogato Media
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    31 mins
  • Amri B. Johnson - Rethinking DEI to Create Anti-fragile Organizational Cultures

    Amri B. Johnson - Rethinking DEI to Create Anti-fragile Organizational Cultures
    Jun 19 2025
    Send us a text Amri B. Johnson, inclusion strategist and founder of Inclusion Wins, joins us this episode to discuss the tumultuous climate of DEI practices in today’s organizations and how companies can navigate toward more effective inclusion strategies. [0:00] Introduction Welcome, Amri! Today’s Topic: Creating Anti-fragile Organizational Cultures [7:27] How to begin tackling DEI challenges Shifting current DEI practices built on outdated paradigms Understanding viewpoints of those with opposing opinions [16:39] Navigating DEI amidst anti-DEI rhetoric Recognizing that people are multi-dimensional, not two-dimensional Building trust within an organization to improve inclusion [30:55] Helping employees overcome fear of organizational change Recognizing the root cause of employee concern Focus on building relationships and engaging with colleagues [35:27] Closing Thanks for listening! Quick Quote: “A lot of DEI practices in the US are based on paradigms of old. We need to think about what’s possible now . . .” To schedule a meeting with us: https://salary.com/hrdlconsulting For more HR Data Labs®, enjoy the HR Data Labs Brown Bag Lunch Hours every Friday at 2:00PM-2:30PM EST. Check it out here: https://hrdatalabs.com/brown-bag-lunch/ Produced by Affogato Media
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    38 mins
  • Charlie Sull – How AI Can Actually Measure Company Culture

    Charlie Sull – How AI Can Actually Measure Company Culture
    Jun 12 2025
    Send us a text Charlie Sull, Co-Founder of CultureX and Culture Researcher at MIT, joins us this episode to explore how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the way we understand and measure corporate culture. He explains why traditional employee surveys fall short and how AI tools are providing new insights into what employees really think about their workplace culture. [0:00] Introduction Welcome, Charlie! Today’s Topic: Using AI to Understand and Improve Corporate Culture [5:30] Why should anyone care about cultural measurement? We know culture is important, but many still see it as an ethereal concept that’s difficult to manage Why so many people think corporate culture is marketing nonsense [13:22] How is culture actually measured? Why 1-to-5-point scale surveys fail to capture true sentiment Using LLMs to analyze and distill human sentiment from employee reviews [24:13] Why is AI a better way of measuring company culture? Why deciphering complex employee sentiments is nearly impossible with traditional surveys The newfound flexibility of gathering data for culture analysis using AI tools [35:08] Closing Thanks for listening! Quick Quote “[With traditional 1-to-5-point scale surveys] you’re not getting any information. If you’re trying to measure company culture with this robotic, repetitive low quality data, you just can’t understand . . . what your employees are saying.” To schedule a meeting with us: https://salary.com/hrdlconsulting For more HR Data Labs®, enjoy the HR Data Labs Brown Bag Lunch Hours every Friday at 2:00PM-2:30PM EST. Check it out here: https://hrdatalabs.com/brown-bag-lunch/ Produced by Affogato Media
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    37 mins
  • Charlene Li - Proven Strategies for Integrating AI in the Workplace

    Charlene Li - Proven Strategies for Integrating AI in the Workplace
    Jun 5 2025
    Send us a text Charlene Li, author and analyst, joins us this episode to discuss proven strategies for safely and successfully rolling out AI solutions to employees within an organization. She also compares the roles of generative AI and AI agents in the workplace. [0:00] Introduction Welcome, Charlene! Today’s Topic: Proven Strategies for Integrating AI in the Workplace [5:43] What are the biggest challenges HR faces with moving Generative AI into the workplace? Developing a strategic, rolling 18 month plan for AI implementation How HR can avoid stumbling through an AI rollout with a proper governance plan [15:15] How can HR teams avoid stumbling with AI initiatives? Building a minimum viable team to champion the AI integration strategy The importance of training everyone in the organization [31:25] How does generative AI compare to AI agents? Managing a team of people and AI agents Understanding how AI agents are designed and how to best prompt them [42:47] Closing Thanks for listening! Quick Quote “Yes, humans need to be in the loop, but the real power of AI is when you take the human out of the loop because you trust it.” To schedule a meeting with us: https://salary.com/hrdlconsulting For more HR Data Labs®, enjoy the HR Data Labs Brown Bag Lunch Hours every Friday at 2:00PM-2:30PM EST. Check it out here: https://hrdatalabs.com/brown-bag-lunch/ Produced by Affogato Media
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    45 mins
  • Susan LaMotte - Unlocking the Power of Custom Insights

    Susan LaMotte - Unlocking the Power of Custom Insights
    May 29 2025
    Send us a text Susan LaMotte, the founder and CEO of exaqueo, joins us this episode to discuss the intricacies of acquiring custom data for your organization, how to pull the most impactful insights from that data, and how to secure support (financial and otherwise) for data collection. [0:00] Introduction Welcome, Susan! Today’s Topic: The Importance of Custom Data for HR and the Future of Benchmarking [5:55] What are HR teams missing when working with large amounts of data? Data vs. insight Critical data analysis that many HR teams overlook [17:01] How to gain useful insights from HR data? Quantitative vs. qualitative insights How organizations can address and accommodate their employees’ personal needs [30:51] How can you get the data you need? Seeking data and insights from outside the digital norms like social media HR teams’ ability to secure necessary funding for data collection [41:46] Closing Thanks for listening! To schedule a meeting with us: https://salary.com/hrdlconsulting For more HR Data Labs®, enjoy the HR Data Labs Brown Bag Lunch Hours every Friday at 2:00PM-2:30PM EST. Check it out here: https://hrdatalabs.com/brown-bag-lunch/ Produced by Affogato Media
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    43 mins
  • Michael Gomez - The Secret Sauce to Better Employee Engagement

    Michael Gomez - The Secret Sauce to Better Employee Engagement
    May 27 2025
    Send us a text Michael Gomez, CHRO at Tasty Restaurant Group, joins us this episode to discuss what drives employee engagement and the steps organizations can take to boost their own employees’ engagement. [0:00] Introduction Welcome, Michael! Today’s Topic: The Secret to Better Employee Engagement [3:21] What’s the “secret sauce” for better employee engagement? Understanding the interdependency of various systems within an organization How to build trust within an organization [8:30] How to create more engagement within an organization Why employee feedback is a powerful tool for driving engagement Offering employees meaningful benefits that won’t compromise their take-home pay [27:32] How can organizations begin boosting employee engagement? Letting your employees know that you want to understand their challenges How to garner leadership support [30:40] Closing Thanks for listening! Quick Quote “[Employee engagement] is about aligning from leadership through all levels of the organization on what’s important.” Connect with Mike: · LinkedIn Connect with David: · LinkedIn · david.turetsky@salary.com Connect with Dwight: · LinkedIn · Dwight.brown@salary.com Podcast Team · HRDataLabs@Salary.com To schedule a meeting with us: https://salary.com/hrdlconsulting For more HR Data Labs®, enjoy the HR Data Labs Brown Bag Lunch Hours every Friday at 2:00PM-2:30PM EST. Check it out here: https://hrdatalabs.com/brown-bag-lunch/ Produced by Affogato Media
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    33 mins
  • Sarah Katherine Schmidt – Revolutionizing Performance Management for Today's Workforce

    Sarah Katherine Schmidt – Revolutionizing Performance Management for Today's Workforce
    May 22 2025
    Send us a text Sarah Katherine Schmidt, Vice President at Peoplelogic, joins us this episode to discuss why performance management fails so many employees today and how improving performance management increases employee engagement and retention. [0:00] Introduction Welcome, Sarah! Today’s Topic: Revolutionizing Performance Management for Today's Workforce [4:27] Why Sarah advocates for agile performance reviews How regular feedback reduces recency bias and improves accuracy Why psychological safety should be built into an organization’s promise to its employees [13:24] How does agile performance management help improve engagement and retention? Addressing the needs of the varied generations in the modern workforce How to bring managers and employees onto the same page [24:42] How do organizations roll out agile performance management? Key mindset shifts leaders must make for successful implementation Letting the business set the norms for performance [32:37] Closing Thanks for listening! To schedule a meeting with us: https://salary.com/hrdlconsulting For more HR Data Labs®, enjoy the HR Data Labs Brown Bag Lunch Hours every Friday at 2:00PM-2:30PM EST. Check it out here: https://hrdatalabs.com/brown-bag-lunch/ Produced by Affogato Media
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    35 mins
  • Desiree Goldey - Why Organizational Confusion Fails Employees

    Desiree Goldey - Why Organizational Confusion Fails Employees
    May 8 2025
    Send us a text Desiree Goldey, Director of Marketing at ZRG Partners and Founder of Do Better Consulting, joins us this episode to discuss how the disconnect between talent and HR teams impacts an organization’s employees, both current and future. [0:00] Introduction Welcome, Desiree! Today’s Topic: Fixing the Disconnect Between Talent and HR Teams [4:32] How do we know there’s a disconnect between talent and HR? Root causes of talent-HR miscommunications Challenges in transforming company cultures [10:53] How does the disconnect impact the recruiting process? How candidates experience a company’s confusion and mixed messaging Resume insights and advice, including why AI tools are essential in applicant-heavy job markets [24:30] How does the disconnect affect employee engagement? The toll on company culture and morale Challenges facing remaining employees after a significant layoff [36:10] Closing Thanks for listening! Quick Quote “When there’s a state of confusion [within a company], who suffers? It’s the employee.” To schedule a meeting with us: https://salary.com/hrdlconsulting For more HR Data Labs®, enjoy the HR Data Labs Brown Bag Lunch Hours every Friday at 2:00PM-2:30PM EST. Check it out here: https://hrdatalabs.com/brown-bag-lunch/ Produced by Affogato Media
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    38 mins