Are you a fan of podcasts?
When your average day is filled with HR admin, coming up with strategies for more effective remote working, and numerous meetings with business leaders, keeping up with reading the latest news and trends can be hard.
Luckily, with the ever-increasing number of podcasts to choose from, you can listen to the latest updates in HR. Whether you have 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or one hour to spare, this list of podcasts for HR can help you stay up to speed and gain some new insights on employee development.
1. CIPD podcast
With each episode lasting 20 – 30 minutes, professional HR body, the CIPD, interviews HR and L&D thought leaders across various industries and sectors every month. They discuss topics and HR good practices related to health and wellbeing, employee relations, D&I, and more.
Check out this episode: Workforce monitoring – how far is too far?
Technology has played a crucial role in helping businesses and their workforces to shift to homeworking as a response to the disruptions caused by COVID-19. But with an increasing number of employers investing in remote surveillance software, people are wondering, ‘how much is too much?’.
The podcast episode explores the pros and cons of workforce surveillance, and how it will impact the trust between the employer and their employees. The guests (CIPD’s former Head of Research Edward Houghton, researcher and broadcaster Dr Stephanie Hare, Bank of Etihad’s CHRO Daniel Sharaiha) also provide some advice and considerations to keep in mind for those wishing to implement workplace surveillance technology.
2. HR Happy Hour
Any HR-related topic (workforce management, HR technology, leadership) that you can think of, the HR Happy Hour has got it covered. As the name suggests, there is a light-hearted approach in the way co-hosts Steve Boese and Trisha McFarlane engage their guests as they discuss various HR topics. If you love podcasts and can set aside some time for them, with longer episodes of 30 – 45 minutes uploaded several times a week, HR Happy Hour will keep you entertained.
Check this episode out: Sustaining innovation in the modern HR function
With HR trying to keep up with the continuous changes caused by COVID-19, HR innovation might be the last thing on their minds. But podcast guest, Bayer’s Senior Vice President of HR Innovations Melissa Harper, talks about just that, as well as how to keep employees engaged in a tough operating environment. She shares how, by creating a culture of flexibility and listening to employees, making their approach individual and personalised, businesses can prepare for the ‘Next Normal’.
3. HR Grapevine podcast
If you’re pressed for time, this podcast might be the one for you. The HR Grapevine podcast discusses the latest HR issues in news headlines, condensed into short, 10 – 15-minute episodes.
Check this episode out: Remote work director: Do you need one?
With remote working propelled by the global pandemic, major companies like Facebook have increased their efforts in ensuring a successful remote working culture for the long term. The episode delves into whether remote working needs a specific role to oversee and manage it. The speakers discuss the pros and cons of having a ‘remote work director’, the fact that not all employers and employees are fans of remote working, and how plausible it is for other companies to follow suit.
4. XpertHR podcast
This podcast series by leading online HR resource and legal advice provider, XpertHR, delivers practical and legal advice concerning some of HR’s most pressing issues. The topics covered in these 20 – 30-minute episodes are very specific, including managing pay, avoiding discrimination claims, understanding the key elements of whistleblowing during COVID-19, and handling flexible work requests.
Check this episode out: How to encourage mental health wellbeing among employees
Employees’ poor mental health is one of the biggest concerns arising from long-term homeworking (which many workers were not familiar with). This episode goes through some of the mental health challenges employers and employees face, as well as practical advice on how to tackle these challenges.
5. McKinsey Podcast
Being in HR also requires you to stay updated on other business departments and to understand the business as a whole. This podcast, by consultant firm McKinsey & Company, features conversations with global experts on business and management topics. If you are an international company or manage a distributed workforce, the podcast also helps with gaining relevant business insights into different regions.
Check this episode out: The value of talent management
How can you get value from your talent? In this episode, the guests (McKinsey partners Carla Arellano and Mike Barriere) propose to look at how to match value to talent in a different way. Essentially, the goal is the same: how do we get the right people in critical roles? But they argue that there is a more effective way this can be achieved to ‘turbocharge performance’.
6. HRchat
Increasing in popularity, the HRchat by HR Gazette is a weekly podcast covering big HR issues: leadership, talent, D&I, recruitment, employee engagement, performance and company culture.
Check this episode out (scroll down the page for the list of podcasts): The art of creating great places to work (episode 208)
What do you need to have a great working environment? This episode discusses how businesses should look to invest in employees’ total wellbeing to create a thriving culture, which will enable them to work at their best. The episode continues on to define what a thriving culture is, the elements that make up total wellbeing, and how businesses can offer better ways for employees to be happy and healthy.
What’s your favourite podcast to listen to, and which topics are you most interested in?
Hannah Mandapat
Marketing Executive
Hannah has over five years of experience in the technology space, having worked in various marketing roles involving copywriting, social media management, and email marketing.
