What really makes or breaks early-stage hiring?

In this brutally honest episode of The HR Club, Shivani Pande sits down with Sanam Rawal, Partner at Metamorph, who has spent over a decade advising startups on how to build teams that last.

Together, they cut through the fluff to discuss:

🚫 Why “growth prospects” is a lazy excuse in interviews

🏛 The pedigree trap: Why IITs and IIMs don’t guarantee fit

👀 Toxic founder habits that scare away great talent

⚖️ Rockstar hires vs. cost-efficient builders — who should you bet on?

🧠 How to resist VC-driven panic hiring

💡 Interview questions that reveal startup readiness

Whether you’re a founder making your first few hires or a candidate eyeing the startup world — this is your BS-free masterclass.

🔔 Subscribe for more unfiltered conversations from the heart of startup hiring.

In this episode, Shivani speaks with Rick Rubin, founder of iRewardify and a pioneer in the rewards and recognition (R&R) industry with 25+ years of experience.

Together, they explore:

💡 The difference between value-based and performance-based rewards

💡 Why rewards should never be just a transaction

💡 How personalization, empathy, and timing change the game

💡 The evolving role of gift cards, swag, and experiences

💡 Common R&R misconceptions HR leaders fall into

Rick shares hard-won lessons from scaling a business from $6M to $800M, why recognition must be intentional, and how to drive impact without relying on cash alone.

🎧 Whether you’re building culture from scratch or rethinking your existing recognition strategy—this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.

In this episode of The HR Club, Shivani Pande sits down with Babu Vittal — one of India’s most respected HR leaders (ex-Flipkart, Reliance, Vedantu, Ula, ShopClues, ) — for a no-fluff, deeply honest conversation about what it takes to scale teams without losing people, purpose, or sanity.

Drawing from his experience with 3 startups that turned unicorns, Babu shares:

• Why “hire fast, fire fast” is flawed thinking

• How HR teams can prepare before growth hits

• Signs your early team may be hitting a plateau

• Why founders need to stop hiring without clarity

• The invisible cost of scaling no one talks about

• How to keep your startup spirit alive—without mimicking others

• Real mistakes from Babu’s own journey (including one that stalled a whole acquisition!)

🎧 Whether you’re a founder, first HR hire, or scaling-stage operator—this is the masterclass on hypergrowth you didn’t know you needed.

What really goes into recruitment marketing? In this episode of The HR Club, Shivani Pande sits down with Mariano Aragunde — former recruitment marketing lead at IBM and Workday — to unpack the evolving world of employer branding.

From building global campaigns to attracting cybersecurity talent through alternate reality games (yes, really!), Mariano shares stories, hard truths, and playbooks from a decade in the field.

🔍 Topics we cover:

• Recruitment marketing vs. employer branding — what’s the difference?

• How to collaborate better with recruiters

• The truth behind “too many applications”

• Low-cost and no-cost tactics that actually work

• Why most employer branding sounds the same (and how to fix it)

• A breakdown of platforms: LinkedIn vs. Instagram vs. GitHub

• Real-life campaign wins (and fails)

• The one hiring metric every company should track

If you’re a recruiter, talent marketer, or HR leader — this one’s a must-listen.

👇 Drop your favorite insight in the comments.

📌 Subscribe for more conversations with global people leaders.

#RecruitmentMarketing #EmployerBranding #HRPodcast #MarianoAragunde #TheHRClub #TalentAttraction #RecruitmentTips #ShivaniPande

In this episode of The HR Club, host Shivani Pandey sits down with Elisa Garn — a dynamic HR leader with two decades of experience — to unpack the 3 Faces of HR: the Traffic Cop, the City Planner, and the Mayor.

This metaphor isn’t just fun — it’s a powerful way to reflect on your HR role today and the kind of leader you aspire to be.

🎙️ Topics we explore:

• What these 3 HR personas mean for your career

• Generalist vs. Specialist — where should you start?

• Building influence with leadership (and when to push back)

• Networking as a long-term HR career advantage

• How to stay strategic when you’re the only HR in the room

Elisa also shares her bold, unconventional job search story — and what it taught her about branding and opportunity.

If you’re a founding HR hire, an HRBP aiming for the next level, or just figuring it all out — this episode is for you.

👥 Connect with us on LinkedIn

🔁 Share this episode with your HR circle

⭐️ Follow the podcast for more real conversations from the world of People & Culture

In this episode of The HR Club, Our host Shivani Pande dives deep with Tiffany Castagno, CEO and founder of Cepher, to uncover the secrets behind building a workplace culture worth catching.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to build a culture of intent starting from the onboarding stage.

• Why culture contribution is more impactful than culture fit.

• Practical strategies to empower employees as culture shapers.

• The role of trust and psychological safety in creating thriving teams.

• Real-world examples of companies that get culture right (and wrong).

Join us for an engaging conversation packed with actionable insights for HR leaders, managers, and founders passionate about creating inclusive and intentional workplace cultures.

Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review if you found this episode valuable!

🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.

🎙️ New Year. New Faces. New Conversations.

Kicking off 2025, The HR Club welcomes Shivani Pande as our new host! 🎉 In our first episode, we sit down with Gil Cohen, Lead Consultant at Employee Experience Design, to discuss:

👉 Company values: Real or ridiculous?

💡 Are company values actually guiding decisions—or are they just nice words on a wall? Gil shares real stories, practical advice, and bold insights on how to make values authentic and impactful.

🎧 Tune in now and join the conversation!

#TheHRClub #PodcastLaunch #CompanyValues #HRLeadership #BoldConversations

Building financial infrastructure for the free world (Founders Series). Tune into a conversation with Spencer Schneier, founder of http://Commenda.io. Spencer, a proud college dropout, talks about his journey of “Building Financial Infrastructure for the Free World”. He also talks about his philosophy on building a strong founding team and his advice to founders wanting to take their companies global. Host- Dheeraj Mehndiratta Founder at wrky.ai Featuring Spencer Schneier | Founder at Commenda. "The HR Club" presented by team wrky.ai.

The latest one in "The HR Club" where we hosted "Madhur Khake" Lead- Talent & Culture @Dyte talking about

Leveraging community in the Talent space - The story behind The Talent Deck, Host- Dheeraj Mehndiratta Founder at wrky.ai Featuring Sufiyan Sait | Community at The Talent Deck. "The HR Club" presented by team wrky.ai.