It’s that time of year again: spooky season!

Which means Jessica Winder is back, I’ve got my pumpkin cold brew, and we’re diving headfirst into the terrifying (and somehow hilarious) world of HR horror stories. 

From mysterious “sick leaves” to love spells gone wrong, these are the tales that make you question how any of us still have jobs. 

Fair warning: if you thought your HR nightmares were bad…buckle up! 👻

Teamtailor is the fun, intuitive ATS that candidates actually like and recruiters don’t dread opening on Monday mornings. Create branded career sites, automate the boring stuff, and give candidates the hiring experience they dream of  — without burning out your team.

0:00:57 - HR Horror Stories Intro

0:01:44 - Story One: Hit List Hotline

0:04:44 - Story Two: The Sick Leave That Wasn’t

0:07:26 - Story Three: The Extermination Incident

0:13:51 - Story Four: The Baby Onesie Stalker

0:22:09 - Story Five: The Lady in White

0:26:50 - Story Six: Love Spells and Employee Relations

0:26:50 - Story Seven: The Catastrophic Security Breach

And if you love I Hate It Here, sign up to Hebba’s newsletter! It’s for jaded, overworked, and emotionally burnt-out HR/People Operations professionals needing a little inspiration.

https://workweek.com/discover-newsletters/i-hate-it-here-newsletter/

And if you love the podcast, be sure to check out  https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here for even more exclusive insider content!

Follow Jessica:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicadwinder/

Follow Hebba: 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Motherhood at work. 

Just saying that out loud makes my blood pressure spike a little, not gonna lie!

Because being a mom already feels like the challenge of a lifetime, and then you add performance reviews, “flexibility” that’s anything but, and coworkers who suddenly forget how calendars work when daycare pickup time hits? It’s all mess! 

But motherhood also changes how folks lead, empathize, and show up, in ways that deserve way more respect than they get. 

This week, I sat down with Erin Grau, co-founder of Charter, to talk about the real cost (and quiet power) of being a mom at work, and what needs to change if we actually want to keep them there.

0:03:32 - One Part of Life Outside of Work That Shapes How You Show up at Work

0:06:16 - The Real Cost of Motherhood in the Workplace

0:09:06 - Has Erin Felt the Penalty of Being a Mom at Work Before?

0:13:51 - How Erin Changed When She Returned to Work After Becoming a Mother

0:21:50 - Why Does the Data Show that Moms Earn Less and Get Promoted Less Than Their Peers?

0:27:15 - How Performance Review and Manager Biases Play Into Motherhood

0:30:16 - One Company Policy That Can Change the Game for Mothers

0:38:28 - How Leaders Can Retain Working Mothers

0:45:17 - How Coworkers Can Foster Better Environments

0:53:27 - A Future of Work Designed With Moms at the Center

Teamtailor is the fun, intuitive ATS that candidates actually like and recruiters don’t dread opening on Monday mornings. Create branded career sites, automate the boring stuff, and give candidates the hiring experience they dream of  — without burning out your team. Visit teamtailor.com

And if you love I Hate It Here, sign up to Hebba’s newsletter! It’s for jaded, overworked, and emotionally burnt-out HR/People Operations professionals needing a little inspiration.

https://workweek.com/discover-newsletters/i-hate-it-here-newsletter/

And if you love the podcast, be sure to check out  https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here for even more exclusive insider content!

Follow Erin:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eringrau/

Follow Hebba: 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Look, I love a good policy binder as much as the next HR nerd (okay, maybe sometimes even more). 

But here’s the thing no one wants to say out loud: 

Sometimes the “right” answer on paper is actually the wrong move in real life. 🙃 

In this episode, I sat down with Stephanie Schuler to talk about the messy, gray, can’t-Google-it moments where consistency, fairness, and actual human judgment all collide. 

The easy answers may not always exist, but the better ones do! 

Teamtailor is the fun, intuitive ATS that candidates actually like and recruiters don’t dread opening on Monday mornings. Create branded career sites, automate the boring stuff, and give candidates the hiring experience they dream of  — without burning out your team.

0:02:34 - One Hard Truth About Work

0:04:37 - When Policies Aren’t Written for Edge Cases

0:06:13 - Does Law School Help with HR Practices?

0:07:48 - When Following a Policy Actually Causes Harm

0:11:21 - Who Should Have the Power to Override Policy?

0:15:13 - Consistency Vs Fairness

0:19:21 - Keeping Exceptions From Turning Into Favoritism

0:22:25 - What to Say to a CEO Who Only Wants Things “By the Book”

0:26:53 - Recovering From Broken Trust

0:31:08 - Is HR the Enforcer of Policy, or the Translator?

0:35:48 - Breaking Rules as an HR Manager

0:41:46 - One Policy Stephanie Wishes Never Existed

And if you love I Hate It Here, sign up to Hebba’s newsletter! It’s for jaded, overworked, and emotionally burnt-out HR/People Operations professionals needing a little inspiration.

https://workweek.com/discover-newsletters/i-hate-it-here-newsletter/

And if you love the podcast, be sure to check out  https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here for even more exclusive insider content!

Follow Stephanie:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sdshuler/

Follow Hebba: 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Being the only at work isn’t just lonely, it’s heavy. 

It’s the unspoken pressure of carrying an entire group on your back while still trying to do your actual job, all while dodging microaggressions and pretending you don’t notice the side-eyes in meetings. Been there too many times!

In this episode, I sat down with Amina Gass to name the emotional labor that underrepresented folks shoulder every day, and we talk about how allyship, mentorship, and how genuine inclusion can make the difference between burnout and belonging.

0:02:05 - One Hard Truth About Work

0:05:02 - What Being the “Only” Feels Like in the Workplace

0:09:23 - How Emotional Labor Shows up for Women of Color vs Their Peers

0:15:18 - How Microaggressions Compound the Experience of Loneliness Over Time

0:29:30 - Myths About Representation That Should be Debunked

0:31:54 - What Does Support Look Like Beyond Token Gestures?

0:44:44 - If Orgs Were Serious About Change, What Would Look Different Tomorrow?

Choosing the wrong HR platform is rife with regrets: losing a top performer, promoting the wrong person, or failing to engage your team when the business needs it most.

Fortunately, you don’t have to choose between investing in people programs and consolidating your tech stack. With Lattice, you can have both.

Visit ⁠⁠⁠lattice.com⁠⁠⁠ to learn more.

And if you love I Hate It Here, sign up to Hebba’s newsletter! It’s for jaded, overworked, and emotionally burnt-out HR/People Operations professionals needing a little inspiration.

https://workweek.com/discover-newsletters/i-hate-it-here-newsletter/

And if you love the podcast, be sure to check out  https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here for even more exclusive insider content!

Follow Amina:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aminagass/

Follow Hebba: 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

If you’re still debating whether HR deserves a seat at the table, let me save you the suspense: 

Your seat is already cemented there. 

Hell, depending on the day, it might even be a throne!

And today, I’ve got Ana King, CPO at SAPI, joining me to dig into this hard truth. 

With experience at Twilio, Trainline, and Google, Ana knows firsthand that no leadership meeting should ever happen without the leaders in the room, and that includes People Leaders.

We’re not support, we’re strategy. And if your exec team hasn’t figured that out yet…buckle up.

0:01:25 - One Hard Truth About Work

0:04:56 - Why No Leadership Meeting Should Happen Without Leadership in the Room

0:07:35 - Why Does HR Even Need to Earn a Seat at the Table?

0:11:27 - The Consequences of the “Earn It” Narrative

0:16:03 - A Time When Excluding People Leaders Backfired

0:19:21 - The Direct Link Between a Strong People Leader in the C-Suite and Commercial Success

0:21:50 - Why HR is a Strategic Partner, Not Just a Support Function

0:25:40 - What Separates Modern Leaders Today from Traditional Head of HR Roles

0:30:27 - Balancing Being an Employee Advocate and Being Accountable to the Business

0:36:22 - Why HR Sees Things That Nobody Else Can See in an Org 

0:40:51 - How AI Will Reshape Everything We Do

0:47:07 - Ana’s Vision of the C-Suite of the Future

Choosing the wrong HR platform is rife with regrets: losing a top performer, promoting the wrong person, or failing to engage your team when the business needs it most.

Fortunately, you don’t have to choose between investing in people programs and consolidating your tech stack. With Lattice, you can have both.

Visit ⁠⁠lattice.com⁠⁠ to learn more.

And if you love I Hate It Here, sign up to Hebba’s newsletter! It’s for jaded, overworked, and emotionally burnt-out HR/People Operations professionals needing a little inspiration.

https://workweek.com/discover-newsletters/i-hate-it-here-newsletter/

And if you love the podcast, be sure to check out  https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here for even more exclusive insider content!

Follow Ana:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastancu/ 

Follow Hebba: 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Hard truth: work wasn’t built for all of us to thrive. 

Neurodivergent folks seem to deal with a lot of norms when they aren’t the problem—the systems are. 

I’m joined by Tameka Allen, founder of ModCulture and all-around brilliance-unlocker, to talk about how workplace “norms” actually exclude, alienate, and erase so many people. 

From the myth of “professionalism” to the way orgs treat neurodivergence as a personal issue instead of a design flaw, we’re pulling no punches. 

If you’ve ever side-eyed a workplace policy and thought, “who is this even for?” this one’s for you!

0:01:55 - One Hard Truth About Work

0:02:57 - What Does Being Neurodivergent Mean?

0:05:43 - A Workplace Norm We’ve Accepted as Normal that Wasn’t Built With Neurodivergent People in Mind

0:10:28 - Why Orgs Treat Neurodiversity Like a Personal Issue Instead of a Systems Issue

0:26:19 - How Does Professionalism Become a Code Word For Conformity and Masking?

0:35:02 - Workplace “Norms” to be Aware of That Alienate Employees

0:46:13 - Myths About Neurodivergence at Work That Need to End

0:50:23 - What Would an Ideal Workplace Look Like?

Choosing the wrong HR platform is rife with regrets: losing a top performer, promoting the wrong person, or failing to engage your team when the business needs it most.

Fortunately, you don’t have to choose between investing in people programs and consolidating your tech stack. With Lattice, you can have both.

Visit ⁠⁠lattice.com⁠⁠ to learn more.

And if you love I Hate It Here, sign up to Hebba’s newsletter! It’s for jaded, overworked, and emotionally burnt-out HR/People Operations professionals needing a little inspiration.

https://workweek.com/discover-newsletters/i-hate-it-here-newsletter/

And if you love the podcast, be sure to check out  https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here for even more exclusive insider content!

Follow Tameka:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamekanallen/

Follow Hebba: 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

When people say “the future of work,” I usually want to roll my eyes so hard they get stuck. 

But let’s be honest: It’s chaos out there! 

We’ve been sold the dream of four-day work weeks, AI saving us from boring tasks, and companies suddenly caring about wellbeing. Funny, RIGHT? 

Instead, we’ve got AI gutting industries, a labor market so messy the president literally fired the stats guy, and climate change knocking on the office door. 

In this episode, I sit down with Aparna Rae to ask the only question that matters: is the future of work completely f*cked, or can we actually build something better?

0:03:38 - One Hard Truth About Work

0:06:43 - The Future: Optimism, Doom, or In Between?

0:10:41 - AI Hype Vs Reality

0:18:30 - Could AI Lead to a Work Week Utopia, or Just More Work?

0:25:06 - How Geopolitics Impacts How and Where We Work

0:31:36 - Are Governments Prepared for the Disruption AI Could Bring?

0:36:47 - The Most Underused Force Shaping the Future of Work Right Now

0:43:13 - The Likelihood of Mass Job Displacement Vs Mass Job Transformation

0:52:46 - How AI Will Impact Our Life OUTSIDE of Work

0:58:34 - One Hard Truth Every HR Leader Needs to Accept About the Next 20 Years of Work

1:05:42 - What Work Looks Like in 2035

Choosing the wrong HR platform is rife with regrets: losing a top performer, promoting the wrong person, or failing to engage your team when the business needs it most.

Fortunately, you don’t have to choose between investing in people programs and consolidating your tech stack. With Lattice, you can have both.

Visit ⁠lattice.com⁠ to learn more.

And if you love I Hate It Here, sign up to Hebba’s newsletter! It’s for jaded, overworked, and emotionally burnt-out HR/People Operations professionals needing a little inspiration.

https://workweek.com/discover-newsletters/i-hate-it-here-newsletter/

And if you love the podcast, be sure to check out  https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here for even more exclusive insider content!

Follow Aparna:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aparnarae/

Follow Hebba: 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Remember when getting the top job was THE dream? 

Corner office, big paycheck, fancy title, and all the LinkedIn glory shots you could handle!

Yeah…now for a lot of folks, it feels more like winning a free trip to a haunted house. 

In this episode, I had a fun but important chat with Ciara Lakhani to unpack why so many people are quietly saying, “Hard pass” to climbing the ladder. 

We’re talking burnout, invisible costs, shifting definitions of success, and why ambition doesn’t have to mean signing up for 80-hour workweeks and emotional whiplash. 

Newsflash: You can be wildly ambitious about your craft without ever wanting your boss’s job, and that’s not a failure, it’s a choice!

0:02:47 - One Hard Truth About Work

0:04:57 - Realizing Your Team Isn’t Interested in Climbing to the Top

0:08:06 - How the Idea of Success Has Shifted for This Generation of Workers

0:15:43 - Why Top Jobs Aren’t Appealing to Most People Anymore

0:18:06 - The US’s Perception of Work vs Other Countries

0:22:01 - What Does it Take to be a Great Leader Today?

0:27:51 - Why People Are More Reluctant to Take on Leadership Roles

0:22:01 - What Does it Take to be a Great Leader Today?

0:32:35 - The Invisible Cost of Leadership

0:37:17 - Is Opting Out of Leadership the Same as Lacking Drive?

0:40:21 - How Cutting Middle Management Impacts Leadership

0:41:55 - Getting More People Interested in Leadership

0:44:18 - Advice for Somebody Considering a Top Job, But Quietly Questioning It

Choosing the wrong HR platform is rife with regrets: losing a top performer, promoting the wrong person, or failing to engage your team when the business needs it most.

Fortunately, you don’t have to choose between investing in people programs and consolidating your tech stack. With Lattice, you can have both.

Visit lattice.com to learn more.

And if you love I Hate It Here, sign up to Hebba’s newsletter! It’s for jaded, overworked, and emotionally burnt-out HR/People Operations professionals needing a little inspiration.

https://workweek.com/discover-newsletters/i-hate-it-here-newsletter/

And if you love the podcast, be sure to check out  https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here for even more exclusive insider content!

Follow Ciara:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciaralakhani/

Follow Hebba: 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

You ready for a nice reality check?

I hope so, because today’s episode is built around three hard truths about your career that no one talks about enough:

Working hard isn’t a promotion strategy. 

Getting fired might be the thing that finally sets you free. 

If no one with decision-making power knows what you do…you’re invisible. 

I brought on April Little, executive coach, Time 100 Creator, and someone I’ve been professionally stalking on LinkedIn for years, to unpack all of it.

We’re breaking down what it really takes to get ahead, how to show up as a visible leader even if you’re working remotely, and why a career low might actually be your launchpad. 

This episode is part truth bomb, part therapy, and a full-on masterclass in owning your career narrative!

0:01:56 -  When April Found Out She Was on the Time 100 Creator List

0:04:40 -  A Generally Hard Truth About Work

0:07:49 -  Why Work Alone Won’t Get You Promoted

0:10:28 -  Tactical Ways to Build Relationships With Decision Makers

0:14:15 -  When You Do Everything Right and Still Can’t Get Promoted

0:17:50 -  Why Getting Fired Can Be a Gift

0:24:31 - The Difference Between a Career Low and an Opportunity to Course Correct

0:27:23 - Being a Visible Leader While Working Remotely

0:31:06 - Challenging the Idea That Working in an Office Makes You More Committed

0:33:51 - Rewarding Excellence in a Way That Doesn’t Depend on Physical Presence

0:47:56 - Where to Find April

And if you love I Hate It Here, sign up to Hebba’s newsletter! It’s for jaded, overworked, and emotionally burnt-out HR/People Operations professionals needing a little inspiration.

https://workweek.com/discover-newsletters/i-hate-it-here-newsletter/

And if you love the podcast, be sure to check out  https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here for even more exclusive insider content!

Follow April:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprillatoyalittle/

Follow Hebba: 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Have you ever seen a CEO post online and thought, “Who approved this…and why was it them?”

I think we all have at this rate!

In this episode, I’m joined by the iconic Sarah Reynolds, marketing exec, pay equity champion, and all-around ethical disruptor, to unpack what happens when CEOs throw ethics out the window.

From public tantrums to private chaos, we talk about the ripple effects of bad behavior in the C-suite and what it really means for employee trust, brand integrity, and workplace culture in general!

Some of these CEOs are deff getting coal for Christmas. Some should get an audit.

Either way, we had way too much fun breaking it all down, so if you’ve got a story of CEO drama, you might have to send it in. Part two is practically writing itself.

0:03:24 - One Hard Truth About Work

0:06:24 - A CEO Scandal Sarah is Thinking About

0:12:28 - The First Move When the CEO Becomes the Problem

0:16:38 - Scandals You Can Recover From Vs Scandals You Can’t Recover From

0:28:13 - Sarah’s Live Reactions to CEO Scandals

0:43:44 - A CEO’s Second Wind After a Scandal

0:57:25 - Final Thoughts and Advice Around CEOs Behaving Badly

And if you love I Hate It Here, sign up to Hebba’s newsletter! It’s for jaded, overworked, and emotionally burnt-out HR/People Operations professionals needing a little inspiration.

https://workweek.com/discover-newsletters/i-hate-it-here-newsletter/

And if you love the podcast, be sure to check out  https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here for even more exclusive insider content!

Follow Sarah:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahlizreynolds/ 

Follow Hebba: 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef