HR Break Room

Guest: David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe

In this episode of the HR Break Room® podcast, host Morgan Beard sits down with Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Maraniss to discuss Oklahoma native, athlete and sports legend Jim Thorpe.

Maraniss shares insights on workplace leadership, inclusion and determination he learned as he wrote the biography Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe.

Maraniss and Beard also touch on the values Thorpe demonstrated throughout his life and how he continues to inspire today as the namesake of the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award.

In this episode, Maraniss discusses:

• perseverance as a leadership trait
• the wide-reaching impact of Thorpe's athletic career
• Thorpe's legacy as a pioneer of diversity and inclusion

Guest: Candace Nelson, author and founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes

Candace Nelson, entrepreneur, author and founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes, makes her first visit to the HR Break Room® podcast. From a self-made pastry chef to a permanent judging spot on Food Network's Cupcake Wars, Candace Nelson has rewritten the recipe on turning a passion into a successful career.

After opening the world's first cupcake bakery in 2005, Nelson continued to grow, becoming an angel investor and author of two books, the most recent being Sweet Success: A Simple Recipe to Turn your Passion into Profit, hitting shelves in November 2022.

Candace joins host Morgan Beard to discuss her first foray in the cupcake market, women in entrepreneurship and how shaping her own mindset was instrumental to her success.

In this episode of HR Break Room, Nelson discusses:

• how mindset plays a role in entrepreneurship
• tackling imposter syndrome
• female representation in the startup and venture capital arena

Guests: Christie Schmidt, manager of HRIS, and Sarah Johnson, payroll supervisor

What if there were a way to fix a problem before it became a problem? Paycom's Beti guides employees to do just that.

With Beti, employees find and fix potential problems ahead of unpleasant payday surprises. Christie Schmidt, Paycom's manager of HRIS, and Sarah Johnson, payroll supervisor, join Morgan Beard to highlight industry-first technology and why it's vital to millions of employees.

In this episode of HR Break Room®, Schmidt and Johnson discuss:

• the consequences employees may face without Beti
• how Beti simplifies life for employees and employers
• misconceptions around employees doing their own payroll

For more on Beti, check out our recent blog where renowned real estate investor and consultant Barbara Corcoran discusses the advantage of employee-driven payroll

Guest: AJ Griffin, Paycom's director of government and community affairs

An expanding company brings excitement, hope and, of course, growing pains. AJ Griffin, Paycom's director of government and community affairs, joins host Morgan Beard to discuss the obstacles a business faces as it grows.

In this episode of HR Break Room®, Griffin explains:

• the most important considerations for business growth
• the difference between federal and state compliance regulations
• how businesses can keep up with regulatory changes

For more on how growing companies can reduce the risk of audits and penalties, check out our on-demand webinar, Scaling for Success: HR Compliance for Now and the Future

Guests:

Steve Boese and Trish McFarlane of H3HR

Mark Stelzner and Kimberly Carroll of IA

Stacey Harris of Sapient Insights Group

HR Tech is one of the biggest and most prestigious human resource conferences in the world, bringing the industry's top thought leaders to the forefront.

HR Break Room®'s Morgan Beard sat down with several guests during this year's conference to talk about the importance of HR tech and HR's place in the world today.

In this "best of" compilation from Las Vegas, Morgan speaks with Steve Boese and Trish McFarlane of H3HR, Mark Stelzner and Kimberly Carroll of IA and Stacey Harris of Sapient Insights Group.

The conversations cover a wide array of topics including:

• the importance of HR Technology Conference
• how the world of HR is changing
• how companies can best prepare for the future

Guest: Ben Brooks, founder and CEO of PILOT

As a part of Paycom's HR Tech series, HR Break Room®'s Morgan Beard sat down with Ben Brooks, an executive coach and thought leader, for a wide-ranging conversation in Las Vegas.

From HR practitioner to the founder of his own company, PILOT, Brooks taps into his expertise of career coaching to discuss the state of HR, the workplace and the future of both.

"Work can be a transformative, exciting place where we meet best friends and have these transformative, amazing experiences. But it takes each one of us being a real active owner in our careers," Brooks said.

In this episode of HR Break Room, Brooks discusses the:

• importance of career development in regards to retention
• difference between the "great resignation" and "quiet quitting"
• blurring of work-life balance

Guest: Kim Hancock, vice president of human resources

When you're a state-of-the-art aviation company, streamlined and reliable processes are essential in everything you do. And when safety is absolutely critical during every part of your process, eliminating distractions and inefficiencies can have an enormous impact felt by everyone in the organization.

As the vice president of human resources for a large firm that repairs and tests commercial aircraft engines, Kim Hancock has helped her workplace achieve next-level productivity and safety increases. Due in large part to a solid HR technology strategy including employee-driven payroll, Hancock and her organization empowered employees with innovative tech that helped them stay focused on their vital work of maintaining and testing aircraft engines.

Key Takeaways

In this episode of HR Break Room®, host Morgan Beard sits down with Kim Hancock, an aerospace manufacturer's vice president of HR, to discuss:

• the importance of HR tech from someone with hands-on implementation experience
• how HR tech impacts employee engagement, company efficiency and even safety
• why corporate culture and employee experience are directly linked to the quality and effectiveness of workplace technology

Guest: Seth Mattison, Future of Work Keynote Speaker

2020 reshaped norms across society, including unprecedented dynamics in the workplace. Two years later, the dust has settled and a new question has emerged: What is the future of work?

Business strategist Seth Mattison has spent his career researching how the world of work is changing. According to him, we're building the workplace of the future right now.

"We are the architects of what the future of work is going to look like, and I think it's really important for all of us to take ownership," Mattison said.

In this episode of HR Break Room®, Mattison discusses:

• how workforces can become future-ready
• generational dynamics and their impact moving forward
• the importance of employee engagement

To learn more about the future of work, watch our on-demand webinar, Employee Engagement: Strategies for Success With Seth Mattison.

Guests:

Adam Ballard, VP of Marketing

Casey Twenter, Senior Creative Director

From TikTok to TV, Paycom has partnered with influencer Corporate Natalie to reach audiences nationwide with its message on the power of employee-driven payroll through Beti®. But how did these efforts come to fruition?

Paycom's vice president of marketing Adam Ballard and Casey Twenter, senior creative director, join host Morgan Beard for a discussion on what it takes to make these campaigns happen.

"One of the things I really enjoy most about working on a brand like Paycom is we're really limited only by our own imagination of where we could go," Ballard said.

In this episode of HR Break Room®, Ballard and Twenter discuss:

• nuances of the creative process
• the importance of resonating with the right audience
• concepts on marketing innovative technology
• how employees do their own payroll with Paycom

Guest: Sharlyn Lauby, consultant and HR Bartender founder

The future of work is changing, but what does that mean for current and future employees?

In this episode of HR Break Room®, training consultant and HR Bartender founder Sharlyn Lauby discusses the role of learning and development programs and how they're adapting to the ever-changing work landscape. Lauby offers her take on how these programs must be flexible to all employees, regardless of generation or skill level.

To learn more about the evolution of learning and development, watch our on-demand webinar, From Training to Thriving: Sharlyn Lauby's Keys to a Skilled Workforce.