The Circle Back Initiative’s founder, Steve Gard, and Canva’s talent attraction lead, Charlotte Anderson, spoke to The HR Leader about why they’re on a mission to make sure candidates are treated well. Mr Gard explained why he began The Circle Back Initiative, and Ms Anderson commented on why Canva has embraced the ethos behind the initiative. The discussion delved into why the promise to treat candidates well is a win for both job seekers and employers in terms of branding and EVP. For candidates who have experienced 'ghosting' and poor treatment during the job application process, job hunting with organisations who have signed up to The Circle Back Initiative will be a welcome change.

Head of people and culture at DiviPay, Olga Klimentieva, shared with The HR Leader insights into her work at a growing tech firm that specialises in corporate cards and expense management. Ms Klimentieva spoke about why she thinks of her role as an “enabler” at DiviPay, the new training programme she’s launched, and why working in HR in a start-up/scale-up is so rewarding. She also shared her views on talent acquisition and why they’ve focused on this area.

Upward bullying — when managers are bullied by their subordinates — is a very real concern that organisations need to be aware of. Maureen Kyne shared with The HR Leader what upward bullying is, signs to look out for, and what businesses should be doing to support employees that experience upward bullying. Ms Kyne explains in this episode why defining upward bullying is so important and why it needs to be handled in the right way.

Mid-tier law firm, Macpherson Kelley, shared insights into its DEI policy and working group with HR Leader. Olivia Holmes, Macpherson Kelley’s national HR manager, and Emma Berry, a commercial associate with the firm (and member of the DEI working group), shared the pillars of their DEI policy, what they’re hoping to achieve with it and its supporting working group, and where they’d like to see things go in five years’ time. Ms Berry also explained why she is volunteering to be part of the group, what she’s passionate about in the DEI space, and the positive impact this work is having on her engagement with Macpherson Kelley.

Coaching is a term often heard in the workplace, but frequently misunderstood.

Coaching isn’t mentoring, and it’s not ‘covert’ performance management. Coaching, when used properly, is a powerful tool for helping employees realise their full potential.

Lisa Croxford spoke with The HR Leader about her experience as a coach, explaining how coaching can be used to help employees and leaders grow.

In this episode, Ms Croxford references the below: The Coaching Habit - Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever, Michael Bungay Stanier Organisational Coaching Essentials (Level 1), IECL coaching course, https://www.iecl.com/

Sue Sumskis shared with The HR Leader why organisational trauma needs more than an EAP, as well as discussing her work with the Australian Compassion Council. Ms Sumskis is the director of professional education programs and the head of mental health at the Nan Tien Institute. Listen to the podcast for her insights on organisational trauma to understand the effects of a trauma on an overall business, as well as a discussion on leadership and compassion, and why people should be ‘in the moment’. Ms Sumskis shared the below references for listeners who would like to do further reading on this topic:

• Brown, EH 1997, ‘Improving organisational health by addressing organisational trauma’, Journal of Organisation Change Management, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 175-178.
• Hormann, S 2007, ‘Organizational Trauma: A phenomenological study of leaders in traumatised organisations’, Dissertations & Theses. http://aura.antioch.edu/etds/184
• Hormann, S & Vivian, P 2005, ‘Toward an understanding of traumatised organisations and how to intervene in them,’ Traumatology, vol. 11, no. 3, pp.159-169.
• Long, S 2012, ‘Trauma as cause and effect of perverse organisational process’, in  E Hopper, Ed., Trauma and organisations, New International Library of Group Analysis, Karnac, London, UK
• Ryan, KD & Oestreich, DK 1998. Driving fear out of the workplace: Creating the high-trust, high-performance organisation, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, USA.

Women and leadership - most would agree there’s still plenty of work to be done in this area.

Kim Wiegand, the founder of Julip, helps women in professional services find pathways to leadership roles. Ms Wiegand shared her insights with The HR Leader about what’s holding women back from leadership positions, how learning and development can help, and other issues related to leadership progression for women. Ms Wiegand has shared the below resources for listeners of this podcast: 

• Build confidence through curiosity
• The hidden load: How 'thinking of everything' holds mums back (research article on the mental load, referencing research by Allison Daminger, a doctoral candidate in sociology and social policy at Harvard University, 2019.)
• Diversity of the judiciary: 2021 statistics (Research in the UK states that female lawyers leave private practice en masse at 19-20 years in. Female participation goes from 56 per cent at 19 years to 38 per cent at 20 years. Women leave just as they hit leadership capability and opportunity.)
• Julip research will be released later this year

Culture and values, they’re terms that HR knows well, but are they going to the heart of what people really mean by them?

Lyndal Hughes joined The HR Leader to share her insights, including why she asks organisations what they “prize” rather than what they value. She also spoke about how culture is intertwined with leadership and organisational health, and how to influence culture in a business.

As Australia emerges from COVID-19 lockdowns, some organisations might be regrouping and considering redundancies. Michael Byrnes, partner at Swaab, spoke with The HR Leader about redundancies, some of the areas to watch out for in terms of potential discrimination, and why it’s helpful to to have legal professionals work alongside HR on redundancies. Mr Byrnes reminded listeners that, “businesses need to remember … redundancy is about the position, not the person.” Note from the editor This podcast was recorded in June 2022.

How workspaces impact employee psychology, dealing with corporate psychopaths, and moving people on from a business – The HR Leader discussed all of these issues with workplace relations specialist, Paul O’Halloran. Mr O’Halloran is a partner at Colin Biggers & Paisley Lawyers. He kindly shared insights with The HR Leader to help listeners think wisely about how they manage their physical workspaces, what they might want to do if they find themselves working with a corporate psychopath, and some considerations when exiting people from a business. During the discussion, Mr O’Halloran referenced the below: Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work, Dr Paul Babiak and Dr. Robert D. Hare