Show overview
I Hate It Here has been publishing since 2023, and across the 3 years since has built a catalogue of 131 episodes. That works out to roughly 110 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence, with the show now in its 7th season.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 47 min and 57 min — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Business show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 4 days ago, with 20 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2024, with 46 episodes published. Published by Hebba Youssef.
From the publisher
If HR is one of the most soul-crushing industries to work in, how come we’re not talking about it more? I Hate it Here is the unflinching podcast where People professionals to talk honestly and openly about HR, sharing best-in-class resources to make the hardest job in the world that little bit easier. Hosted by Hebba Youssef, Chief People Officer at Workweek and creator of the I Hate it Here podcast and newsletter, this show is for HR People who want to get things done right - even if they do feel a bit empty inside from time to time. You’ll hear from industry insiders, not just the same old voices, sharing all the things you’re secretly thinking but never said out loud, digging into real-life examples, and delivering practical solutions and strategies for your people team.
Latest Episodes
View all 131 episodesS12 E5: Certified System Girlie Meets Another Certified System Girlie with Liz Clarke
AI Readiness Gap: There's No True Playbook for AI Development, So Here's the Next Best Thing with Lauren Gregor
S12 E4: The Emotional Tax of Doing HR Correctly with Stacey Nordwall
AI Readiness Gap (Part 1): We're Not Ready (And That's Okay) with Parijat Sarkar
S12 E3: Your Job is NOT Your Whole Personality, and We Need to Talk About It with Lauren Schneider
Better Decisions: You're Data Rich And Decision Poor, And It's Showing with Doug Melton
S12 E2: Courage Over Compliance: A Conversation We Should've Had Already with Keisha Toussaint
Newsflash: You've Been Doing Compensation Wrong This Whole Time (with Candor IQ's Haris Ikram)
Better Decisions: The Leaders Getting AI Right Are Doing Something Most Orgs Refuse to Do with Marinus van Driel
Most AI conversations I sit through are either full of hype that doesn't hold up or sooo doom-and-gloom that I leave feeling like I should update my resume and move to a cabin. This episode is neither of those things, and that's exactly why I loved it! I sat down with Marinus van Driel, a partner at Aon who leads their workforce transformation team, to talk about what's actually happening with AI and workforce strategy in 2026, and more importantly, what leaders are getting catastrophically wrong about it. The short version: most organizations are treating AI like a cost-cutting lever when they should be using it to redesign how work gets done entirely. The longer version is in this episode, and it's worth every minute! Aon’s Human Capital capabilities help organizations make confident workforce decisions by connecting advisory, insights and data across health benefits, talent and retirement. By aligning people strategies to business outcomes, we enable leaders to drive engagement, manage program sustainability, and build a resilient workforce ready for what’s next. Learn more at Aon.com 00:01:45 - Marinus’s Background 00:03:12 - The Biggest AI/Trends in 2026 (So Far) 00:08:09 - How We Can Prepare for Major Changes in the Workplace 00:14:12 - What Leaders Need to Know so They Can Understand AI More Effectively 00:19:15 - How HR Can Separate Fear-based Decisions into Strategy 00:25:30 - What Leaders Are Doing Differently to Become Forward-thinking Orgs 00:30:53 - What Companies Keep Getting Wrong About AI, and What a Better Decision Looks Like 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 Marinus: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marinus/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef
S11 E10: Engagement Scores Don't Lie, But the Way You're Using Them Absolutely Does with Anne Maltese
We have all handed an engagement score to a CEO, watched them nod confidently, say something completely incorrect about what it means, and had to just sit there smiling while dying a little inside. Just me? …Definitely not just me. The number isn't always lying, but the questions we've been asking for the last decade might be! My guest today is Anne Maltese from Quantum Workplace, and she has spent nearly 20 years watching what happens when people data lands in executive rooms, between the good, the bad, and the deeply cringe-worthy. We're getting into new ways to think about engagement, smarter questions to bring your leadership team, and why the disengaged people on your team might not be who you think they are. Buckle up! --- Quantum Workplace helps leaders build thriving teams that fuel business success. We give leaders at every level a clear path forward—by unlocking critical talent insights across engagement, performance, and development. With clarity and confidence, people leaders can act decisively, scale leadership quality, and strengthen connection and performance. Trusted by thousands of people-focused companies, Quantum Workplace makes it easier to keep teams aligned, empowered, growing, and valued on the path to business success. Visit quantumworkplace.com to learn more. --- 00:02:13 - Something New Anne Wants to Learn This Year 00:05:11 - The Biggest Shift Anne Has Seen Around How Orgs Talk About Engagement 00:11:20 - Is Your Engagement Healthy? 00:16:39 - Smarter Questions to Walk Into an Exec Room With Instead of Just Standard Engagement Scores 00:27:01 - What Does it Mean if Someone is a Top Performer, But Disengaged? 00:34:24 - What Good Data Storytelling Looks Like in Practice 00:38:35 - Does Data Show That HR Leaders are Thriving? 00:42:23 - How HR Should Start Rethinking Measuring and Reporting Engagement 00:48:03 - What Gives Anne Hope For the Future --- 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 Anne: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-maltese-0b9a876/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef
S11 E9: Your L&D Strategy Is Broken and No, a Workshop Won't Fix It with Hanan Sahourieh
L&D gets done dirty constantly and I have been saying this for years!!! It's the function that gets underfunded, overcomplicated, blamed for culture problems it didn't create, and somehow still expected to fix everything with a workshop and a Kirkpatrick model. Hanan Sahourieh got into all of it: why L&D functions fail before they even get started, how ego and power dynamics quietly destroy learning cultures, what trust actually looks like when you have to rebuild it from scratch, and the mistakes learning professionals make without even realizing it. Oh, and she wrote a book called Everybody Be Cool which is the most accurate title for an L&D book I have ever heard in my life. --- Quantum Workplace helps leaders build thriving teams that fuel business success. We give leaders at every level a clear path forward—by unlocking critical talent insights across engagement, performance, and development. With clarity and confidence, people leaders can act decisively, scale leadership quality, and strengthen connection and performance. Trusted by thousands of people-focused companies, Quantum Workplace makes it easier to keep teams aligned, empowered, growing, and valued on the path to business success. Visit quantumworkplace.com to learn more. --- 00:01:42 - Something New Hanan Wants to Learn This Year 00:04:30 - The First Thing Hanan Notices When L&D is a Mess at an Org 00:07:35 - The Story Behind Hanan’s Book Title, Everybody Be Cool 00:13:12 - Why Cross-functional Leaders Keep Over-engineering Stuff That Isn’t Theirs to Run 00:19:44 - Pushing Back on a Senior Leader When They Think They Know Better Than the Learning Team 00:25:52 - A New Idea in L&D Right Now 00:30:29 - How to Build Trust That’s Brand New or Even Lost 00:38:16 - Some of the Most Common Mistakes Learnig Professionals Make Without Realizing 00:42:13 - The Single Most Important Thing HR Should Get Right About Learning in Year One 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 Hanan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hananharb/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef
S11 E8: The Most Important Hire I Ever Made Ended Up Replacing Me with Morgan T. Stanley
Okay so this episode is a little different, because the layers here are a lot. Morgan T. Stanley is my guest today, and yes, that is her real name, and yes, we have laughed about it many times. We started as peers, then somehow ended up in a manager-direct report situation, then became peers again, and NOW she has my old job! We discuss everything — how we met, what it was like when the dynamic shifted, what she changed after stepping into the role, and how leadership has genuinely changed her as a person. This one felt less like an interview and more like two people who've seen each other grow up in this industry, finally putting it all on the table. --- Quantum Workplace helps leaders build thriving teams that fuel business success. We give leaders at every level a clear path forward—by unlocking critical talent insights across engagement, performance, and development. With clarity and confidence, people leaders can act decisively, scale leadership quality, and strengthen connection and performance. Trusted by thousands of people-focused companies, Quantum Workplace makes it easier to keep teams aligned, empowered, growing, and valued on the path to business success. Visit quantumworkplace.com to learn more. --- 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:39 - One New Thing Morgan is Learning This Year 00:04:30 - How Hebba and Morgan Met 00:15:59 - How Hebba and Morgan Have Learned From Each Other Over the Years 00:21:44 - When Morgan Stepped Into Hebba’s Old Role 00:36:24 - What Changes Did Morgan Make After Stepping Into Hebba’s Old Role? 00:41:51 - How Morgan’s Relationship With Power and Responsibility Have Evolved 00:48:45 - How Morgan’s Role Has Changed Her --- 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 Morgan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morgantstanley/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef
Better Decisions: We've Been Running Retirement Plans on Autopilot and It Shows with Melissa Elbert
Retirement planning is one of those topics that always feels confusing and overwhelming…until someone finally comes along and breaks it down in a way that makes sense. In this episode, I'm joined by Melissa Elbert from Aon to talk about why so many retirement strategies are lowkey failing employees, the outdated assumptions driving bad benefit decisions, and what HR and finance leaders should be paying attention to right now, before it becomes a bigger problem later. If you've ever felt like retirement was a gray area nobody fully explained to you, this might give you a better understanding! Aon’s Human Capital capabilities help organizations make confident workforce decisions by connecting advisory, insights and data across health benefits, talent and retirement. By aligning people strategies to business outcomes, we enable leaders to drive engagement, manage program sustainability, and build a resilient workforce ready for what’s next. Learn more at Aon.com 00:01:40 - How Leaders Should Rethink Retirement Decisions 00:03:10 - Outdated Assumptions About Retirement 00:09:16 - How Orgs Can Balance Flexibility and Sustainability 00:13:40 - What Signals Should HR Leaders be Looking to Now to Make Smarter, Long-term Retirement Decisions? 00:20:25 - What Role Should HR be Playing With Finance When Accessing Benefits? 00:24:26 - One Retirement-related Decision Companies Keep Getting Wrong 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 Melissa: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-elbert-b709b65/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef
S11 E7: The Authenticity They Want vs. The You They Can't Handle with Madison Butler
Today, we're talking about a topic that shouldn't be controversial but somehow still is, which is being authentic at work! As most of you already know, most workplaces either treat authenticity like a performance or punish you the second you actually show up as yourself. I'm joined by Madison Butler, who literally wrote a book about this, and we're getting into why authenticity feels so dangerous, why corporate America says they want it but freaks out when you deliver, and how to practice authenticity without tanking your career. If you've ever felt like you're performing a version of yourself at work instead of just existing, you’ll probably relate to this discussion! Quantum Workplace helps leaders build thriving teams that fuel business success. We give leaders at every level a clear path forward—by unlocking critical talent insights across engagement, performance, and development. With clarity and confidence, people leaders can act decisively, scale leadership quality, and strengthen connection and performance. Trusted by thousands of people-focused companies, Quantum Workplace makes it easier to keep teams aligned, empowered, growing, and valued on the path to business success. Visit quantumworkplace.com to learn more. (00:00:00) Intro (00:04:53) Something New Madison Wants to Learn This Year (00:09:12) What Prompted Madison to Publish a Book? (00:14:45) What Authenticity at Work Means in 2026 (00:25:00) Why Does Being Authentic at Work Still Feel Dangerous for So Many People? (00:30:25) Madison’s Personal “Toolkit” (00:36:55) Is the Average Exec Constantly Trying to Grow, or Complacent in Their Power? (00:45:37) Building Authenticity at Work Without Turning it Into Weird Cultural Theater (00:48:36) How to Practice Authenticity in a Way That is Safe and Strategic 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/bluehairedunicorn/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef
S11 E6: Your Old Playbook Died and Nobody Told You with Various Guests
I'm doing something a little different today and revisiting Season 6 where I asked every single guest the same question: “What's one thing HR folks should rethink?” And honestly, I've been in this whole new and rethinking era lately, writing about it in the newsletter, talking about it nonstop on the pod, and it just felt like the right time to bring these answers back because, let's be real, we all need the reminder! Work is changing faster than it's ever changed before, which means the cadence of how we think about things has to change too. Sometimes I genuinely worry that the solutions I built six weeks ago don't even work for today, let alone six months ago! So consider this your dose of inspiration, hearing from some of my favorite guests on all the things we should be rethinking. Hopefully it sparks something in you, or at the very least, makes you feel less alone in the chaos. Quantum Workplace helps leaders build thriving teams that fuel business success. We give leaders at every level a clear path forward—by unlocking critical talent insights across engagement, performance, and development. With clarity and confidence, people leaders can act decisively, scale leadership quality, and strengthen connection and performance. Trusted by thousands of people-focused companies, Quantum Workplace makes it easier to keep teams aligned, empowered, growing, and valued on the path to business success. Visit quantumworkplace.com to learn more. 00:01:28 - Improving Equitable Operations in Your Org 00:04:01 - Just Be Honest About Your Culture to Candidates 00:13:35 - Embracing People’s Passions Outside of Work 00:16:42 - When Leaders Are a Common Blocker to HR 00:18:52 - Finally Holding Leaders Accountable 00:21:55 - Why HR Should be Thought of as a Creative Department 00:23:27 - Addressing Employee Turnover and Going Back to the Basics 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 DeMario: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/demario-bell-7a510994/ Follow Joel: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joellalgee/ Follow Justin: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justingignac/ Follow Morgan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morganbwilliams/ Follow Jessica: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicadwinder/ Follow Nikki: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkirap/ Follow Halai: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/halai-shukran/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef
S11 E5: We're Rewriting Leadership Rules Because Yours Were Never Meant for Us with Amanda Litman
We're out here constantly hearing that Gen Z is "so different" and Millennials "just don't get it," but nobody ever stops to ask how or why they're different. It's not because we're lazy or entitled (though I know that's everyone's favorite narrative). It's because we looked at the leadership systems y'all built, said absolutely not, and decided to burn it all down and start over! Amanda Litman and I got into the leadership myths that are finally dying, why vulnerability isn't a weakness, how social media completely changed what leadership looks like, and why so many of us refuse to let our jobs become our entire personality. This episode is for anyone who's ever felt gaslit for having boundaries, anyone who's been told they're "too much" for expecting basic humanity in the workplace, and anyone who knows the way things have always been done is not the way things should keep being done. Quantum Workplace helps leaders build thriving teams that fuel business success. We give leaders at every level a clear path forward—by unlocking critical talent insights across engagement, performance, and development. With clarity and confidence, people leaders can act decisively, scale leadership quality, and strengthen connection and performance. Trusted by thousands of people-focused companies, Quantum Workplace makes it easier to keep teams aligned, empowered, growing, and valued on the path to business success. Visit quantumworkplace.com to learn more. 00:05:41 - One New Thing Amanda Wants to Learn This Year 00:15:07 - Why Are Leadership Myths Continue to Persist? 00:20:51 - Seeing More Representation in Entertainment Media and Exec Boards 00:26:41 - What Earned Authority Looks Like Now vs a Decade Ago 00:29:36 - Where Orgs Consistently Misread Next Gen Employees 00:36:41 - How Younger Generations Manage Power Struggles 00:42:46 - How Loyalty is Perceived Among Different Generations 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 Amanda: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandalitman/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef
S11 E4: Decentering Work: What Happens When Your Job Isn't Everything with Ayanna Kelly
Why does work feel so empty right now? Like…we followed the rules and did the hustle. We even swallowed parts of ourselves to survive professionally, and yet, here we are grieving something we can’t quite name. I often say that the most interesting things about me have nothing to do with my career, and it’s nice when those things have time to shine, y’know? I sat down with Ayanna Kelly to dig into the hard stuff: why we're all grieving the workplace we thought we'd have, why monetizing our passions sometimes kills the joy, and what it actually means to decenter work from our identity when we've spent our whole lives tying our worth to our job titles. If you’re looking for new definitions of success that don't require you to sacrifice your entire nervous system, this is for you! Quantum Workplace helps leaders build thriving teams that fuel business success. We give leaders at every level a clear path forward—by unlocking critical talent insights across engagement, performance, and development. With clarity and confidence, people leaders can act decisively, scale leadership quality, and strengthen connection and performance. Trusted by thousands of people-focused companies, Quantum Workplace makes it easier to keep teams aligned, empowered, growing, and valued on the path to business success. Visit quantumworkplace.com to learn more. It’s vulnerable, but somehow still hopeful 00:01:55 - The First Time Hebba Met Ayanna 00:08:40 - Something New Ayanna Wants to Learn This Year 00:11:15 - Why Does Fulfillment at Work Feel so Hard Right Now? 00:17:06 - What We’re Grieving About Work That We Haven’t Talked About Out Loud 00:24:51 - Why Are We Expected to Monetize Our Passions? 00:38:40 - Being Your True Self at Work After Years of Emotional Suppression 00:46:55 - Why Meaningful Work Doesn’t Have to Be Central to Your Identity 00:52:49 - Ayanna’s Advice for Rethinking About Fulfillment 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 Ayanna: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayannaskelly/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef
S11 E3: R.I.P. to Traditional Careers as we Know Them with Cassandra Babilya
I’ve been thinking a lot about how aggressively we were sold the idea of career growth, and how nobody ever explained what happens when you get there and it still doesn’t feel good! This episode is a big, honest reset on what careers even mean these days, because the whole traditional career ladder thing hasn’t been the same since the early 2020’s. Cassandra Babilya and I talk about why stability is basically a myth now, why doing everything “right” doesn’t guarantee fulfillment, and why portfolio careers, flexibility, and values are replacing titles and ladders. If your definition of success is quietly changing and you’re wondering how you can define it in a way that fits the times, come listen to our chat! Quantum Workplace helps leaders build thriving teams that fuel business success. We give leaders at every level a clear path forward—by unlocking critical talent insights across engagement, performance, and development. With clarity and confidence, people leaders can act decisively, scale leadership quality, and strengthen connection and performance. Trusted by thousands of people-focused companies, Quantum Workplace makes it easier to keep teams aligned, empowered, growing, and valued on the path to business success. Visit quantumworkplace.com to learn more. 00:01:53 - Something New Cassandra Wants to Learn This Year 00:04:06 - Why Traditional Career Ladders are Kinda Broken These Days 00:09:42 - What Does a Modern Career Actually Look Like Today? 00:17:22 - What Skills Matter More Than Job Titles? 00:27:52 - Should HR be Giving Different Career Advice to Early Career People Now? 00:35:18 - Redefining Professional Success in the Modern Era 00:38:56 - Why Are We Still Pretending Career Progression is the Same? 00:42:35 - How to Approach the Idea of Reshaping Career Paths 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 Cassandra: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassandra-babilya/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef
S11 E2: Is Industry the Most Honest Show About Modern Work? with Dave Garcia
This week I’m feeling extremely pop-culture-brained because my fav show Industry is back, and if you think it’s just a show about finance…I’m here to inform you it’s actually a horror story about work. We’re talking: ambition with zero guardrails, power with zero accountability, jobs becoming entire identities way too early, and the whole nine yards. From an HR lens, it’s equal parts fascinating and deeply unsettling, but there are plenty of valuable takeaways nonetheless! I brought back my fellow Industry lover and friend, Dave Garcia, to unpack what the show gets right, what it exaggerates, and why it feels uncomfortably familiar. Quantum Workplace helps leaders build thriving teams that fuel business success. We give leaders at every level a clear path forward—by unlocking critical talent insights across engagement, performance, and development. With clarity and confidence, people leaders can act decisively, scale leadership quality, and strengthen connection and performance. Trusted by thousands of people-focused companies, Quantum Workplace makes it easier to keep teams aligned, empowered, growing, and valued on the path to business success. Visit quantumworkplace.com to learn more. 00:04:17 - How Hebba and Dave Started Watching Industry 00:05:37 - One New Thing Dave Wants to Learn This Year 00:08:17 - What Industry Says About Work, and Why We’re Talking About It 00:20:38 - How Grind Culture Reveals Socialized Dysfunction 00:31:06 - Accepting Status in Exchange for Safety 00:38:53 - How Power Affects Corporate Dynamics 00:49:32 - What Industry Gets Right About How Meritocracy Actually Works 00:59:57 - The Critiques of Hustle Culture 01:08:20 - What Industry Reveals About What Most Workplace Conversations Avoid 01:13:01 - Uncomfortable Conversations Industry Might Force You to Have 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
S11 E1: HR’s Ins and Outs (and What We’re Officially Done Tolerating) with Jessica Winder
Welcome to a new season of your favorite podcast!!! It’s the new year, which means the internet is yelling about new goals, new strategies, and new tools, while HR is still over here duct-taping broken systems and being told (once again) to do more with less. So this season, I picked a very simple theme: NEW. New ideas. New rules. New levels of honesty about what’s actually working and what needs to be dragged out back and retired. We’re kicking things off with an Ins and Outs episode, which is basically the stuff HR has been whispering about in group chats. And because this topic deserved real honesty, I brought back my favorite fellow shit-talker, Jessica Winder! Quantum Workplace helps leaders build thriving teams that fuel business success. We give leaders at every level a clear path forward—by unlocking critical talent insights across engagement, performance, and development. With clarity and confidence, people leaders can act decisively, scale leadership quality, and strengthen connection and performance. Trusted by thousands of people-focused companies, Quantum Workplace makes it easier to keep teams aligned, empowered, growing, and valued on the path to business success. Visit quantumworkplace.com to learn more. 0:05:44 - Something New Jessica Wants to Learn This Year 0:12:23 - Ins and Outs, Inspired by TikTok 0:21:23 - Clarity Around Learning Skills vs Vibes-based Expectations 0:28:48 - Stop Assuming Everybody Wants to be Managers 0:35:27 - AI as a Co-pilot vs a Human Replacement 0:40:25 - Hiring Fewer, Better Defined Roles vs Overhiring 0:40:25 - Stop Pretending Pay is Not a Cultural Issue 0:56:45 - Why HR Needs a POV, Not Neutrality 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