Dear Human Resources:

Alex Hall has been an active alumnus of the Master's degree in HR program at Western Carolina University for over a decade. His career in HR has spanned several industries, most notably Insurance where he spent nearly 12 years with Liberty Mutual Insurance. Alex is a seasoned expert in talent management. He is also passionate about the future of HR, effective systems & processes, and artificial intelligence. He recently started his own HR consulting firm, Valinor Talent Solutions. In this episode, Alex talks about the future of the HR profession and shares his thoughts about AI. Host and Producer: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

principal at the Virginia-based law firm Woods Rogers. She is a management-side labor and employment attorney who works with business leaders and HR teams nationwide. She advises employers through the entire employment life cycle, from recruitment to termination and severance to ensure their compliance and keep them out of court. In this episode, Leah discusses the legal side of Workplace Romance and various legal advice. Host and Producer: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Brandy Burch is a trailblazer in employee benefits and health insurance. She is the Founder and CEO of BenefitBay and she brings two decades of expertise in finance, technology, and human capital to the table. Her journey from single parenthood to entrepreneurship adds a unique perspective to some of her innovative solutions. In this episode, Brandy discusses how she balanced single parenthood and starting a business Host and Producer: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Cary Sparrow is the founder and CEO of WageScape. He is a former US Navy officer who served on several nuclear submarines and turned entrepreneur. He has over 35 years of combined experience in engineering, military, consulting, technology, and operations leadership. At WageSpace, Cary paves the way for HR professionals and consulting firms to predict the future of wage-pay. In this episode, Cary is going to talk about the future of wage pay. Host and Producer: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Amy Bouque is Chief People Officer for Kelly, a global leader in providing strategic workforce solutions and connecting talented people to great companies. Amy leads the human resources practices for the more than 5,000 internal full-time Kelly employees around the world. In this episode, Amy talks about ways to maintain trust and connection with remote employees. Host and producer: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Rahshea Cardiff is Vice President of Partnerships at Happy Companies. She has over 20 years of leadership experience at major Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Starbucks, and Best Buy. In this episode, Rahshea talks about “Using technology to deliver coaching”. Host and Producer: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Tiffany Houser is an Executive Coach, Leadership Development Facilitator & Trainer. She is the Founder of EVOLVE, and the Creator of Self Worth Advantage®, where she and her team work with leaders, founders, and HR, People & Talent stakeholders on transforming hidden leadership insecurities into trust, agility, and impact where they develop their teams into high-performance units. In this episodes, she talks about the massive ROI around bragging about yourself in the workplace Producer & Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Dr. Roger Gerard is the owner of Sloan & Gerard Consulting, a private consulting practice serving executives and boards in strategic planning, operational planning, executive coaching, and management development. Dr. Gerard has a 52-year career history leading executive and management development initiatives. He's the author of "Owning the Room: Leading with Mind, Heart and Spirit to Make Extraordinary Choices in a Demanding World" and "Lead With Purpose: Reignite Passion and Engagement For Professionals in Crisis". And he has co-authored “On the Mend: Revolutionizing Healthcare to Save Lives and Transform the Industry.” Producer and Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Ray Smith is Senior VP of people and culture at The Arbinger Institute. In 2022, she and her team received the Champions of Health Care Award for diversity and inclusion. In this episode, she talks about self-deception and leadership: what it is, how it impacts employees and company culture, and some strategies for overcoming self deception. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Laura Nguyen is an experienced marketing executive and entrepreneur with an extensive background in data-driven marketing, digital marketing and communications for Fortune 500 companies. She is the founder of Solle Solutions, a marketing consultancy. In this episode, Laura talks about taking a career break. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Jacquiline Wagner, Founder and President of the HR consulting firm Wagner HR talks about ways HR can help reduce employment lawsuits. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Kelly Meerbott is a TEDx presenter and leadership expert who works with senior executives and military officers. As the daughter of golf professional George Burns III, Kelly was inspired by the pivotal role of coaching in achieving excellence. She is the author of the book, From Burnout to Bliss, in which she provides practical strategies for managing burnout. In this episode, she talks about the Employee Retention Crisis. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Neil Thompson is an engineer who worked in the medical device industry and used to fail miserably at public speaking. As a result, he founded Teach the Geek. He now works with technical professionals like himself to improve their presentation skills. He also hosts the Teach the Geek podcast. And he's the author of the book, Teach the Geek to Speak: a no-fluff public speaking guide for STEM Professionals. In this episode, Mitch talks about “Public Speaking as a game changer for technical staff”. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

No more headaches with managing your leave process. Head over to Cocoon.com/hr to learn more and get up to a 50% implementation fee discount. bit.ly/46LTAM1 Dr. Andi Simon is a pioneering corporate anthropologist renowned for guiding companies through transformative change. She is the Founder and CEO of the Award-winning agency, Simon Associates Management Consultants. Her third book titled, "Women Mean Business," co-authored with Eddie Fraser and Robyn Freedman Spizman, is the topic of this episode. Host: Dr. Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

No more headaches with managing your leave process. Head over to Cocoon.com/hr to learn more and get up to a fifty percent implementation fee discount. Dr. Pam Hurley is the founder of Hurley Write Inc. She talks about “Enhancing Remote Recruitment with Effective Writing”Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D.Mixing: Kelly Minnis

No more headaches with managing your leave process. Head over to Cocoon.com/hr to learn more and get up to a 50% implementation fee discount. https://bit.ly/46LTAM1 Sergio Athanasso is Founder & Managing Attorney of Sergio Law, a US immigration law firm located in Washington, PA. Sergio Law focuses exclusively on business and individual immigration law. In this episode, Sergio talks about some legal considerations when hiring foreign workers and interns. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

No more headaches with managing your leave process. Head over to Cocoon.com/hr to learn more and get up to a 50% implementation fee discount. https://bit.ly/46LTAM1 Ty Wang left his tech job at Palantir in 2019 to build a modern, digital-first healthcare company called Angle Health. Inspired by his immigrant parents' struggles with chronic illnesses and inadequate healthcare, Ty aimed to make Silicon Valley tech company health insurance plans accessible to all employers through digitization. Ty has taken the business from $0 to over 70 million dollars in annualized revenue in the first 18 months of launching. In this episode, Ty talks about some roadblocks to health care coverage and how to overcome them. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Listening to your biological cues - Dr. Randy Brazie & Dr. Geoffrey VanderPal. Dr. Brazie is a licensed Psychiatrist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. Dr. VanderPol is a Certified Financial Planner and a professor at Purdue University Global. They are the authors of the book "The Steadfast Leader" and the co-founders of the NeuroConsulting Group. Drs. Brazie and VanderPal talk about “Listening to Our Biological Cues: Applying how our nervous systems work in dealing with safety and danger to becoming better leaders, managers, and business professionals". Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis.

Keith Goode, Vice President of Client Services at ZeroedIn, talks about HR Analytics and the Power of Predictive Models. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Dimple Dhabalia, a human-centered leadership coach and founder of Roots in the Clouds, talks about her book, Tell Me My Story– Challenging the Narrative of Service Before Self, a map to healing for those doing humanitarian work. She also talks about “generational trauma and its surprising impact on wellbeing in the workplace”. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Janice Omadeke, Founder & CEO of The Mentor Method, talks about why mentoring isn't one size fits all and about setting boundaries with your mentor. She provides some advice on what to talk about and what to never bring up. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Stefanie Krievins and her team at The Change Architects work with companies that are growing, innovating, up-skilling, and digitally transforming. Stefanie leads a firm focused on designing the workforces of the future through up-skilling plans, succession plans, and strategic execution. In this episode, Stefanie explains why meetings suck and proposes some ways to make them less painful and more productive. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Will Sealy is co-founder and CEO of Summer, a company that helps employers offer student loan benefits and simplifies access to student loan programs for borrowers. In this episode, Will talks about employers' responsibility (or lack thereof) in alleviating financial stress of their employees, in particular the provision that allows employers to match student loan payments into 401(k)s. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Dr. Hope Tiesman is a research epidemiologist at the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). She has published extensively in the field of occupational safety and health and worked with many occupations including the U.S. military, health workers, farmers, teachers, and first responders. Dr. Tiesman serves on multiple advisory boards, occupational safety and health councils, and injury research groups including the Workplace Suicide Prevention & Postvention Committee and NIOSH's Mental Health Initiative for Health Workers. In this episode, Dr. Tiesman talks about Suicide in the workplace: Why it happens, the science behind it, some tools to help detect an employee who is in distress, and some strategies for HR. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Scott Greenberg, a business speaker, writer, and coach helps leaders and teams perform at a higher level. He has given presentations in the U.S. and throughout the world with clients including McDonald's, the U.S. Air Force, TEDx, Allstate, Great Clips, RE/MAX, Salesforce, Nike, and others. His book, "Stop The Shift Show: Turn Your Struggling Hourly Workers into a Top-Performing Team", was released in 2024. In this episode, Scott talks about "Overcoming the “Kids These Days” effect: seeking to understand the values and expectations of younger generations to “earn their devotion" and what that means for employers and HR. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Sheldon Gilbert, entrepreneur and founder of Kura Labs, a cloud infrastructure computing training and job placement non-profit academy for under-served communities, discusses how alternative education paths will empower marginalized communities. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Lori Wallace, founder of Career Ecology and Social Innovator, talks about what she calls "unpacking the essence of Work-Life Empowerment" and about job search. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Jonathan Whistman, CEO of WhoHire.com and the author of The Sales Boss: The Real Secret to Hiring, training, and Managing a Sales Team, talk about why hiring sincere employees can hurt performance. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Jodi MacPherson, CEO and Co-Founder at Work Simplr talks about the impact of artificial intelligence on entry-level jobs. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Kelsey Pytlik and Rachel Bauer are the co-founders of Gild Collective, an organization dedicated to change individual views and behaviors that shift workplace cultures and break down gender barriers. In this episode, they talk about how HR managers can make a measurable difference in gender equity. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis If listeners are interested in furthering your organization's journey towards gender equity, Kelsey and Rachel have a very simple audit that listeners can fill out at gildcollective.com/start Website: gildcollective.com. You will find information on the Gender Inequity Simulator, the leadership development and inclusion training along with many other resources for bringing change to your teams.

Vicky Brown is a seasoned HR professional with a passion for helping entrepreneurs succeed. She has extensive experience in HR management, strategy, and transformation across diverse industries. In this show, Vicky talks about debunking common at-will employment misconceptions. Vicky's gift for our listeners: The Ultimate HR Workflow Guide at www.morehumanmoreresources.info/podcastgift Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Dr. Suzanne Wertheim is a linguistic anthropologist expert with over two decades of experience in the subject of inclusive language. Her recent book, The Inclusive Language Field Guide: 6 Simple Principles for Avoiding Painful Mistakes and Communicating Respectfully offers principles to guide all kinds of communication with all kinds of people. In this show, Dr. Wertheim talks about common interview language that causes companies to lose out on potential hires, and on workplace language that can get you canceled. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Jeremy Vesta is Chief Financial Officer of Curally. With his background as an economist and a wealth of experience in business leadership, Jeremy is passionate about helping companies optimize their investment in their most valuable resource—their employees. He empowers businesses to create a thriving and productive workforce. In today's episode, he shares his insights on how to impact employee health insurance expenses. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Summer Davies is a 15-year award-winning leadership development expert focused on cultivating thriving work environments where people feel equipped, capable, valued, and connected. Summer has been coaching, teaching, and studying leaders around the world. She lives in Parker, Colorado. In this show, Summer talks about the role of empathy and emotional intelligence in leadership development. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Shane Foss is the founder & CEO of Hooray Health. Shane Foss has over 20 years of tenure as an executive in the medical industry. Shane served as Chief Commercial Officer of ProNerve, The Chief Operating Officer of EmployerDirect Healthcare, and Partner at Castle Development Group. At Hooray Health, where he is the CEO, Shane and his team focus on offering peace of mind to lower-income individuals and families who face medical challenges, while also providing business owners with an affordable way to reward and retain employees. In this episode, Shane talks about how small businesses and nonprofit owners can afford to offer healthcare to their employees. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Gianna Ricciardi is co-founder and Practice Leader at Vita Assure, a Canadian brokerage firm that specializes in employee benefits for small and medium-sized enterprises in Quebec and Ontario. Gianna has 20 years of experience working with the payroll, HR, and finance departments to create employee benefit plans that take into account the changing demands of the workforce. In this episode, Gianna talks about how to modernize benefits by adopting technology, and how foreign businesses with teams in Canada can offer competitive employee benefits. Gianna will also talk about ways to care for employees who suffer from anxiety and depression. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Dr. Jonathan Baktari is a CEO, a vaccine expert, and a physician with specialties in internal, pulmonary, and critical care medicine. Dr. Baktari has launched multiple innovative startups that leverage technology that expands and disrupts traditional markets. He has also focused on growing a corporate culture that empowers the leadership and staff to innovate. In this episode, Dr. Baktari talks about what he believes are the top 5 underrated CEO skills. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Sally Loftis is the Managing Director at Loftis Partners, a 100% woman-owned human resources consulting firm located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Loftis Partners specializes in strategy, people, facilitation, and pay justice. In this episode, Sally talks about HR and consulting; some dos and don'ts and how to start an HR consulting practice. https://www.loftispartners.com/ Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Chellie Phillips is a sweet-tea-sipping, sassy Southerner with a passion for helping dynamic, driven, career-minded professionals write their own success stories. She's a coach, corporate trainer, and motivational speaker, as well as the author of two award-winning books: When In Doubt, Delete It, and Get Noticed, Get Hired. Her new book is titled, Culture Secrets. In this episode, Chellie discusses some ways to become irresistible in today's digital job marketplace. chelliephillips.com Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Darren Short has managed Learning & Development teams for 31 years in both the United States and the United Kingdom. This includes 15 years of leading HRD in global high-tech multi-billion dollar companies. In this episode, Darren talks about how technology is changing the way people learn at home, and how that is transferring into the workplace to change what employees expect of HR in their organization. Darren's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darren-short-63653010 Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

In this episode, we talk about employee happiness and why work-life balance doesn't make any sense. Rob Dubin is an entrepreneur who created multiple 7-figure businesses. At age 42, Rob and his wife moved onto a 40-foot sailboat to spend the next 17 years sailing around the world studying… Guess what… Happiness! Rob combines lessons learned sailing with the science of happiness to teach courses that increase engagement, reduce resignations, and end quiet quitting. www.robdubin.com Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. www.DearHumanResourcesPodcast.com Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Christophe Martel is the Co-founder and CEO of FOUNT, a company that focuses on employee experience and on removing friction from work. In this episode, Christophe will talk about some aspects of Employee Experience: What it is? How COVID has changed Employee Experience, and what HR and organizations can do to improve it. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Anitra St. Hilaire is an HR professional with more than 25 years of experience who is currently employed at ThreeFlow. Anitra talks about recruiting remote workers: some myths about remote work, what qualities are most sought after, and she gives her take on the future of remote work. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Lily Zheng is a sought-after diversity, equity, and inclusion speaker, strategist, and organizational consultant who specializes in hands-on systemic change to turn positive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion intentions into positive DEI outcomes for workplaces. Lily has been featured in and writes for media outlets including the New York Times, NPR, Harvard Business Review, Quartz at Work, and HR Executive. They are the co-author of the book Gender Ambiguity in the Workplace and of a second book, The Ethical Sellout. They are also the author of, DEI Deconstructed: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Doing the Work and Doing It Right. They talk about why DEI initiatives often don't work. And we'll discuss what leaders can do when employees push back on DEI initiatives and when they claim that it is reverse discrimination. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Carrington Smith Trabue is a former trial lawyer, book author, single mom, and owner of Carrington Legal Search. For the past 22 years, Carrie has advised executives on careers and life. She talks about some legal employment trends in compensation, benefits, and remote work, and about advising executives on careers and life. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

John Robertson is the Founder and President of FORTLOG Services. He is a Workforce Wellness Expert and a Culture Alignment Specialist with over 30 years of experience in crisis intervention. He talks about resolving root workplace causes of crises as opposed to treating crises. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

In this episode, we welcome Wellness Officer Percy, a brown and white bunny rabbit in a tiny K9 police uniform and his spokesperson, Lieutenant Michelle Brazil. They work at the Yuba Police Department in Yuba City, California. This forward-thinking police department in Northern California recruited a bunny rabbit as part of a push to focus on the mental health of its staff. Emotional support animals have become increasingly popular in recent years. A fardel of research studies concurs about pets' health benefits for their owners. Studies show that just petting an animal can decrease depression and anxiety, and it can boost emotional and cognitive brain activity. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis https://www.yubacity.net/city_hall/departments/police_department https://www.facebook.com/yubacitypolicedepartment/

Deb Calvert is the President of People First Productivity Solutions and founder of People First Leadership Academy. Previously, she was an HR Director with a Fortune 500 company. She talks about why the elimination of employees' performance reviews is a growing trend and suggests some new ways we can assess employees' performance. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D Mixing: Kelly Minnis

Dr. Divyang Purohit talks about his recent research article about graduate students' jobs and career choices and how HR professionals can attract them. His article was published in the European Journal of Training and Development. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

The goal of the Series "It's Personal" is to get to know the HR person behind the books, the research articles, and the lectern. Our guest is Dr. Jia Wang, a professor in the Department of Educational Administration & Human Resource Development at Texas A&M University. Her research areas include Career/Family Issues, Crisis Management, National and Cross-Cultural Human Resource Development, Workplace (In)civility, and Workplace Learning. Host: Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D. Mixing: Kelly Minnis

We welcome Albrey Brown, General Manager and Senior Vice President of Strategy at Joonko, a large platform focused on recruiting underrepresented talent. Joonko has been used in large organizations such as Adidas, American Express, Crocs, and PayPal. Mr. Brown was recently featured in Fast Company where he talked about Diversity & Inclusion. Before working at Joonko, he built out Diversity, Equity & Inclusion programs from the ground up at DocuSign and Airtable.