HR Leaders

We spend all our time fixing business workflows, so why is HRs own workflow still broken?
In the most recent HR Leaders Podcast episode, I had an inspiring conversation with Jeffrey Schmitz, Former Chief People Officer at Zebra Technologies.
He explains how his team successfully restructured their entire HR operating model by separating daily tactical operations from long-term talent strategy. By replacing fragmented, manual support with a centralised service hub and self-service workflows, Zebra built a scalable foundation for digital transformation while keeping culture at the centre.
5 things you’ll learn from this episode:
The structural model shift that allowed Zebra to transition from 60 HR Business Partners down to 8
The simple "start at the centre" rule that turned daily support tickets into an operational data goldmine
The non-negotiable tech stack foundation HR teams must build before attempting to deploy AI tools
The single candidate trait Zebra looks for that matters far more than rare technical AI expertise
The culture stewardship strategy Zebra used to navigate a massive M&A carve-out and hybrid work shift

🙏 Thank you to our series partner, Arist
Meet the end-to-end AI agent for enablement that finds talent gaps, builds personalized interventions, and delivers learning directly in the flow of work → https://arist.com/resources/webinars/agent?utm_source=hr_leaders_podcast&utm_medium=sponsored&utm_campaign=hr_leaders_podcast_cr_june_2026
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HR fixes everyone else's workflows, but who fixes HR's?
In the most recent HR Leaders Podcast episode, I had an inspiring conversation with Barbara Matthews, Chief People Officer at Remote.
She explains how her team successfully operates across 85 countries without traditional office mandates or endless meetings. By replacing friction with clear asynchronous documentation, Remote maintains connection and speed at scale.

5 things you’ll learn from this episode:
Integrating AI into performance management and HR operations
Building trust and culture in fully remote asynchronous teams
Transitioning HR from lagging reporting to predictive indicators
Developing leadership pillars and manager capabilities
Prioritizing human power skills and process mapping in tech adoption

🙏 Thank you to our series partner, 365 Talents
Download the free toolkit and get your 2026 skills strategy moving faster → https://365talents.com/en/lp/hr-skills-strategy-toolkit/?utm_source=hr_leaders&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=july_2026
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Many HR teams struggle to move beyond transactional order-taking. Ty Beasley, Chief Talent Officer at RSM US LLP, shares how grounding HR in financial realities transformed his team into trusted strategic advisors.
Through the Drive Peak Performance framework, RSM redesigned performance advisor training and held partners directly accountable for the talent experience. This strategy replaces rigid office mandates with physical agility to support individual employee growth.
This episode provides a concise roadmap for connecting talent strategy directly to business growth. It shows leaders how to build a stronger HR function that drives measurable business outcomes.

🎓 In this episode, Ty discusses:
How leading without a title empowers junior staff to take early initiative.
The finance immersion that taught HR to analyze financial statements.
Why Drive Peak Performance serves as the firm's talent North Star.
How redesigning performance advisor roles improved coaching quality.
Why partners are directly rated on the talent experience.

🙏 Thank you to our series partner, 365 Talents
Download the free toolkit and get your 2026 skills strategy moving faster → https://365talents.com/en/lp/hr-skills-strategy-toolkit/?utm_source=hr_leaders&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=july_2026
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Employee benefits can be the second-biggest people cost, yet many global organisations cannot clearly see what they offer, what they spend, or what value each provider delivers.
In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast, I had an inspiring conversation with Chris Bruce, CEO and Co-Founder at Origin. He explains why fragmented policies, spreadsheets, and local systems have kept benefits out of strategic business conversations.

🎓 In this episode, Chris discusses:
Why one of the biggest people costs remains largely invisible, leaving leadership teams unable to make informed decisions about benefits.
How AI changes a 12.5-year manual challenge by turning thousands of policies, handbooks, and agreements into structured data.
Why benefits data must live inside daily workflows if organisations want it to remain accurate after the initial review.
What co-creating technology with multinational employers reveals that industry expertise alone cannot uncover.
How benefits can become a strategic workforce lever, supporting cost control, employee experience, expansion, compliance, and retention.

🙏 Thank you to our series partner, 365 Talents
Download the free toolkit and get your 2026 skills strategy moving faster → https://365talents.com/en/lp/hr-skills-strategy-toolkit/?utm_source=hr_leaders&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=july_2026
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

AI is changing work faster than most people expect.
The real question isn't whether jobs will change, but whether employees and leaders are prepared to adapt. In this episode, Jacob Morgan, Best-Selling Author, Keynote Speaker and Founder of Future Of Work Leaders, explains why employee experience must evolve and what organisations can do to stay ahead.
Jacob introduces the Eight Laws of Employee Experience, showing how organisations can return to the fundamentals while adapting for an AI-driven future. He explores why leaders must balance empathy with accountability, create cultures where difficult conversations drive innovation, and invest in internal mobility rather than leaving employees uncertain about what's next.
For HR and business leaders, this conversation is a reminder that AI doesn't remove the need for great leadership, it raises the standard. Whether you're redesigning employee experience, preparing your workforce for AI, or helping people take ownership of their careers, this episode offers practical ideas for building organisations that are ready for what's next.

🎓 In this episode, Jacob discusses:
Why the Eight Laws of Employee Experience matter now and how they help organisations adapt to an AI-driven workplace.
The balance between empathy and accountability and why high-performing cultures need both to succeed.
Why employees must become active owners of their careers instead of waiting for organisations to shape their future.
How leaders should prepare their workforce for AI, from internal mobility to better workforce planning.
Using AI as a competitive advantage to learn faster, build new opportunities and stay ahead of change.

🙏 Thank you to our series partner, 365 Talents
Download the free toolkit and get your 2026 skills strategy moving faster → https://365talents.com/en/lp/hr-skills-strategy-toolkit/?utm_source=hr_leaders&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=july_2026
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.