Belonging at work is one of those things everyone claims to care about… right up until someone shows up as their full self and suddenly it’s “not professional!” 

I hate the idea that someone has to assimilate to belong, so Erica Lydell and I pull the curtain all the way back on masking, identity, neurodiversity, and why belonging is less warm fuzzy feeling and more daily emotional CrossFit. 

If you’ve ever been the only one in the room (or felt like you had to earn your seat) this episode will hit you square in the gut…in a good way!

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. Check them out ⁠⁠⁠here.

0:02:23 - Erica’s Experience Riding a Camel

0:07:02 - Learning That Belonging at Work Isn’t Automatic

0:10:02 - Having to Mute Yourself in Professional Settings

0:18:13 - The Concept of Professionalism

0:26:59 - What Does Belonging at Work Feel Like?

0:42:01 - What Leaders Need to Understand About How Identities Impact How People Show up at Work

0:49:29 - Where to Find Erica

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 Erica:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-lydell-b0933840/ 

Follow Hebba: 

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

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Okay, friends…this episode is pure fun (okay, a little usual chaos too) in the best way, because I sat down with my actual direct report, Madison Montgomery, who confessed ON AIR that she has never listened to my podcast. 

And honestly? Fair. 

We talk generational gaps (including the infamous “generational shits” typo I will never emotionally recover from) and the magical Venn diagram that forms when an HR Millennial and a Gen Z truther try to get work done together. 

It’s lowkey unhinged, but I hope some of you have this much fun with your own direct reports!

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. Check them out ⁠⁠here.

0:01:34 -  Hebba Prepares to be Questioned

0:10:09 - Things People Ops Leaders Get Wrong Early in Their Career

0:19:13 - Inheriting Madision as a Direct Report

0:25:39 - How Hebba’s Management Style Evolved Over the Years

0:37:07 - Things Hebba Has Learned From Madison

0:47:10 - Rapid Fire Questions

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 Madison:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madison-montgomery14/

Follow Hebba: 

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

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

This episode might be my most unhinged and enlightening one yet. 

The first half is a live coaching session where I fully spiral about my impatience and need for constant clarity (yes, I’m aware of the irony). 

In the second half, we go deep on how your leadership style isn’t just who you are, but it’s who work and past experiences have trained you to be. 

My guest, leadership coach Mary Pat Jacobs, helps me unpack the mess with empathy, humor, and more therapy-adjacent insights than I was emotionally prepared for. 

Buckle up and get ready to take some notes, friends!

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. Check them out ⁠here.

0:04:12 - The Coaching Agreement  

0:07:42 - Determining Success During Coaching

0:18:41 - The Story Hebba Tells Herself About Disappointment

0:27:23 - How Feeling Disappointment Impacts Hebba

0:42:31 - Patterns that Most OFten Shape How Leaders Show up at Work

0:46:21 - How Early Career Experiences Subtly Shape Default Leadership Styles 

0:51:22 - Helping Separate Who People Are From What Work Taught Them to Be

0:54:28 - A Belief Most Professionals Need to Unlearn to Grow

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 Mary:

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

Follow Hebba: 

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

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Look, I know sometimes we like to pretend work exists in its own little bubble, but in reality, the world outside your office door affects…A LOT at work. 

This week, I’m joined by my friend and returning guest Dave Garcia to talk about how immigration, inflation, and global chaos are all shaping company culture in real time.

We’re unpacking what it means to lead when people are scared, burned out, or just tired of pretending things are “fine.” 

Because the truth is that employees crave predictability in unpredictable times, and it’s on leaders to step up, define the mission, and actually mean what they say!

So if your company culture feels a little shaky lately, this one’s for you.

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. Check them out here.

0:02:47 - The Ripple Effect Immigration Has Inside of Workplaces

0:10:08 - How the Displacement of People is Shaping How Employees Think About Belonging

0:22:21 - What Responsibilities do Employers Have to Create Safety for Immigrants?

0:30:58 - How Financial Pressures Like Inflation are Showing up at Work

0:47:47 - How World Events Like War, Protests, and Climate Disasters Show up at Work

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 Dave:

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

Follow Hebba: 

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

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

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. Check them out here.

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. Check them out ⁠here. ⁠

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