I Hate It Here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Okay, we made it! WHEW. Welcome to the final episode of I Hate It Here for 2025, which feels both celebratory and mildly unhinged. This episode is me doing what I do best: yappin with people I deeply admire and respect, asking them about their wishes for HR in 2026…while also openly admitting that I’m lowkey a little scared of what’s coming next. The market is weird AF, recruiters are exhausted, candidates are frustrated, and the tools are absolutely not keeping up! But instead of spiraling alone (okay, spiraling less), I wanted to end the year by bringing some of my fav people together, because the only reason I’m still standing in this job is community, collective honesty, and the belief that if we keep talking about what’s actually happening, HR might just survive, and maybe even win. 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. 0:00:36 - Cassandra Babilya’s Wish for 2026 0:13:05 - Stacey Nordwall’s Wish for 2026 0:20:26 - Morgan Williams’s Wish for 2026 0:25:38 - Cassidy Edward’s Wish for 2026 0:32:36 - Tara Turk-Haynes’s Wish for 2026 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 Stacey: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/staceynordwall/ Follow Morgan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morganbwilliams/ Follow Cassidy: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassidy-edwards-yyom/ Follow Tara: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ttaraturkhaynes/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Raise your hand if you’ve worked in a toxic environment before! That’s probably 99.9% of you, so today we’re talking about those negative environments that get inside your nervous system and refuse to leave quietly. The kind that turn you into a hyper-vigilant, over-prepared shell of yourself who flinches at a sporadic calendar invite titled “Quick Sync.” I brought back one of my favorite humans, close friend, returning guest, and resident shit talker Chris Hagood, because he actually understands the emotional underlayer of work, and I don’t mean just the LinkedIn version. We get into how toxic cultures shape your identity, follow you long after you leave, and what it takes to unlearn survival mode when chaos becomes your baseline. 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. 0:02:43 - How Lived Experiences Shape Your Reaction to Toxicity at Work 0:08:30 - Minimizing Toxicity Because You’re Conditioned to “Just Deal With It” 0:14:44 - Why Old Patterns Get Reactivated in Toxic Workplaces 0:17:20 - Why People Doubt Themselves More After a Toxic Job and Not During 0:20:27 - The First Step to Undoing a Toxic Environment 0:40:37 - How Toxicity Distorts Your Sense of Value, Competence, or Belonging 0:45:24 - How Tolerating Toxic Behavior Creates Long-term Damage 0:48:07 - What Habits Stick With You After Surviving a Toxic Workplace? 0:51:58 - Advice to People Currently Working in a Toxic Environment 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 Chris: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisrhagood/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Listen, I tried so hard not to cry recording this episode. Today George Boone and I are talking about grief, the thing that HR loves to pretend can be solved with a three-day bereavement policy and a sad little “OOO.” But grief is messy and human and shows up everywhere: in how you work, lead, love, set boundaries, and literally get out of bed. George and I both carry losses that changed us forever, and instead of shoving that into the corporate void, we’re unpacking what it actually means to keep showing up while your heart is busy learning a whole new shape. It’s honest. It’s tender. And somehow…it’s also hopeful. 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. 00:04:27 - Yes, George Boone IS Related to Daniel Boone and Benson Boone 00:08:43 - The Grief That Shaped George the Most as a Person 00:16:45 - How Grief Shows up at Work 00:27:38 - How Grief Shows up in Your Style of Leadership 00:34:03 - The Loneliness That Comes With Grief 00:39:32 - Functioning at Work While You’re Experiencing Grief 00:58:02 - How Grief Makes You Softer/Sharper 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 George: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgelboone/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Workplace culture rewires us in ways that could take a whole lifetime to understand. It shapes our identity, confidence, authority issues, communication style, and even how we show up outside of work without realizing it! And Jessie Stettin and I go there: your real life shows up at work too, influencing how you lead, handle conflict, and how you interpret every “quick chat” from your boss. Who would have thought that things you did as a child still influence your work identity in such sneaky ways??? Culture is this invisible exchange constantly happening in both directions, shaping you while you’re shaping it…whether you signed up for it or not. 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. 0:05:00 - How Jessie Became an End-of-Life Doula 0:10:09 - Childhood Rules We Assumed Still Applied at Work, But Don’t 0:18:50 - Lessons About Authority and Belonging at Work 0:26:41 - Cultures That Have Shaped How Jessie Thinks About Success 0:36:47 - Being Stuck in an Environment Where You Feel Like You Don’t Belong 0:42:43 - A Point in Your Career When You Can Influence Your Culture 0:56:02 - How Jessie Would Redesign How People Socialize 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 Jessie: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessiestettin/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

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

When people say “the future of work,” I usually want to roll my eyes so hard they get stuck. But let’s be honest: It’s chaos out there! We’ve been sold the dream of four-day work weeks, AI saving us from boring tasks, and companies suddenly caring about wellbeing. Funny, RIGHT? Instead, we’ve got AI gutting industries, a labor market so messy the president literally fired the stats guy, and climate change knocking on the office door. In this episode, I sit down with Aparna Rae to ask the only question that matters: is the future of work completely f*cked, or can we actually build something better? 0:03:38 - One Hard Truth About Work 0:06:43 - The Future: Optimism, Doom, or In Between? 0:10:41 - AI Hype Vs Reality 0:18:30 - Could AI Lead to a Work Week Utopia, or Just More Work? 0:25:06 - How Geopolitics Impacts How and Where We Work 0:31:36 - Are Governments Prepared for the Disruption AI Could Bring? 0:36:47 - The Most Underused Force Shaping the Future of Work Right Now 0:43:13 - The Likelihood of Mass Job Displacement Vs Mass Job Transformation 0:52:46 - How AI Will Impact Our Life OUTSIDE of Work 0:58:34 - One Hard Truth Every HR Leader Needs to Accept About the Next 20 Years of Work 1:05:42 - What Work Looks Like in 2035 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 Aparna: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aparnarae/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Remember when getting the top job was THE dream? Corner office, big paycheck, fancy title, and all the LinkedIn glory shots you could handle! Yeah…now for a lot of folks, it feels more like winning a free trip to a haunted house. In this episode, I had a fun but important chat with Ciara Lakhani to unpack why so many people are quietly saying, “Hard pass” to climbing the ladder. We’re talking burnout, invisible costs, shifting definitions of success, and why ambition doesn’t have to mean signing up for 80-hour workweeks and emotional whiplash. Newsflash: You can be wildly ambitious about your craft without ever wanting your boss’s job, and that’s not a failure, it’s a choice! 0:02:47 - One Hard Truth About Work 0:04:57 - Realizing Your Team Isn’t Interested in Climbing to the Top 0:08:06 - How the Idea of Success Has Shifted for This Generation of Workers 0:15:43 - Why Top Jobs Aren’t Appealing to Most People Anymore 0:18:06 - The US’s Perception of Work vs Other Countries 0:22:01 - What Does it Take to be a Great Leader Today? 0:27:51 - Why People Are More Reluctant to Take on Leadership Roles 0:22:01 - What Does it Take to be a Great Leader Today? 0:32:35 - The Invisible Cost of Leadership 0:37:17 - Is Opting Out of Leadership the Same as Lacking Drive? 0:40:21 - How Cutting Middle Management Impacts Leadership 0:41:55 - Getting More People Interested in Leadership 0:44:18 - Advice for Somebody Considering a Top Job, But Quietly Questioning It 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 Ciara: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciaralakhani/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

You ready for a nice reality check? I hope so, because today’s episode is built around three hard truths about your career that no one talks about enough: Working hard isn’t a promotion strategy. Getting fired might be the thing that finally sets you free. If no one with decision-making power knows what you do…you’re invisible. I brought on April Little, executive coach, Time 100 Creator, and someone I’ve been professionally stalking on LinkedIn for years, to unpack all of it. We’re breaking down what it really takes to get ahead, how to show up as a visible leader even if you’re working remotely, and why a career low might actually be your launchpad. This episode is part truth bomb, part therapy, and a full-on masterclass in owning your career narrative! 0:01:56 - When April Found Out She Was on the Time 100 Creator List 0:04:40 - A Generally Hard Truth About Work 0:07:49 - Why Work Alone Won’t Get You Promoted 0:10:28 - Tactical Ways to Build Relationships With Decision Makers 0:14:15 - When You Do Everything Right and Still Can’t Get Promoted 0:17:50 - Why Getting Fired Can Be a Gift 0:24:31 - The Difference Between a Career Low and an Opportunity to Course Correct 0:27:23 - Being a Visible Leader While Working Remotely 0:31:06 - Challenging the Idea That Working in an Office Makes You More Committed 0:33:51 - Rewarding Excellence in a Way That Doesn’t Depend on Physical Presence 0:47:56 - Where to Find April 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 April: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprillatoyalittle/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Have you ever seen a CEO post online and thought, “Who approved this…and why was it them?” I think we all have at this rate! In this episode, I’m joined by the iconic Sarah Reynolds, marketing exec, pay equity champion, and all-around ethical disruptor, to unpack what happens when CEOs throw ethics out the window. From public tantrums to private chaos, we talk about the ripple effects of bad behavior in the C-suite and what it really means for employee trust, brand integrity, and workplace culture in general! Some of these CEOs are deff getting coal for Christmas. Some should get an audit. Either way, we had way too much fun breaking it all down, so if you’ve got a story of CEO drama, you might have to send it in. Part two is practically writing itself. 0:03:24 - One Hard Truth About Work 0:06:24 - A CEO Scandal Sarah is Thinking About 0:12:28 - The First Move When the CEO Becomes the Problem 0:16:38 - Scandals You Can Recover From Vs Scandals You Can’t Recover From 0:28:13 - Sarah’s Live Reactions to CEO Scandals 0:43:44 - A CEO’s Second Wind After a Scandal 0:57:25 - Final Thoughts and Advice Around CEOs Behaving Badly 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 Sarah: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahlizreynolds/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

So if you didn’t know,I love a good career pivot story! Today’s guest is basically the poster child for burning it all down and starting over, in the best possible way. I first found Ash Hynie on TikTok like any good millennial does, instantly became obsessed, and then fully fangirled when we met IRL at a conference! In this episode, we talk about why your job isn’t your identity (even if capitalism told you otherwise), how terrifying and freeing it is to start over, and why transferrable skills are your secret weapon, even when you feel like you have none. 0:02:42 - A Hard Truth About Work 0:05:00 - Ash’s Wild Career Arc: Chef, Engineer, HR, and Tech CEO 0:08:10 - One Hard Truth About Changing Careers That Nobody Talks About 0:15:50 - When Ash Realized Her Dream Job Wasn’t Actually Her Dream 0:28:42 - Advice for People Transitioning Into Something New 0:33:31 - A Skill That Has Helped Ash in Every Role She’s Had 0:40:11 - Things We Tend to Overlook About Transferrable Skills 0:44:23 - Advice For People Who Don’t Know What They’re Good At 0:47:38 - Are There Skills You Need to Unlearn in Order to Grow? 0:54:01 - What Prepared Ash to Become a Founder and What Caught Her Off Guard 0:57:10 - One Question Everyone Should Ask Themselves Before Chasing the Next Role 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 Ash: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ash-hynie/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Burnout is basically an epidemic. And HR? We’re patient zero! In this episode, I sat down with my brilliant friend Eva Bak to talk about what burnout actually looks like in our world—the mental load, the emotional labor, and the whole exhausting mess of trying to help people while drowning ourselves. We get into the duality of being HR (hello therapist and policy enforcer), the unspoken trauma of offboarding, and why community is the only thing keeping us semi-sane. If you’ve ever cried in a supply closet or considered moving to the woods…this one's for you. 0:03:01 - What is One Hard Truth About Work? 0:05:17 - Eva’s Interesting Trajectory Into HR 0:08:48 - Defining Burnout 0:17:43 - Important Factors That Contribute to Burnout in HR Today 0:26:21 - How Burnout Shows Up In HR vs. Other Departments 0:29:01 - Warning Signs of Burnout at Work 0:34:33 - Eva’s Personal Experience with Burnout 0:40:11 - Why Are HR Professionals So Prone to Burnout? 0:56:24 - Advice For HR People Currently Experiencing Burnout 1:00:19 - How Eva Hopes HR Culture Will Address and Reduce Burnout SPONSOR COPY GOES HERE TIMESTAMPS (from Madison) 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 Eva: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eva-bak-8b7a9820/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Operating without trust in HR is almost IMPOSSIBLE. The even crazier part is that trust can be destroyed instantly if you say or do the wrong thing! I mean, I’ve never met a human being who says they love micromanagement. In this season finale, Minda Harts and I are dragging trust issues into the light! We’re dissecting her Seven Trust Languages, why “transparent” leadership feels like a bad magic trick, and how to rebuild trust after your org set it on fire. Remote teams, chaotic offices, leaders who think trust = “just do what I say”—we’ve got the receipts and the solutions. Multi-state compliance is a nightmare—but SixFifty makes it easy. Get instant answers to employment law questions, generate a compliant multi-state handbook in minutes, and stay ahead of changing laws with automated updates. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SixFifty.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! Whether you’re scaling fast or filling a critical role, Oyster helps you tap into the global talent pool and navigate international hiring with confidence. Hire full time talent or work flexibly with contractors- hire remotely, manage payroll, and ensure compliance ethically, with real employment experts by your side. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠oysterhr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! 0:02:10 - One Thing About Work Minda Wishes More Leaders Understood 0:06:11 - Symptoms of a Communication Crisis at Work 0:11:11 - How Do you Repair Trust When It’s Broken? 0:16:03 - Trust Violations and Their Impact 0:19:43 - Exploring the Seven Trust Languages 0:27:58 - The Moment Minda Was Inspired to Develop The Seven Trust Languages 0:36:46 - Manifesting Trust in the Remote World 0:44:16 - Practical Steps to Take to Enhance Trust in Your Org 0:48:38 - The Future of Trust in Workplace Culture 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 Minda: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mindaharts/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Look, we’ve all been there at this point: Your company claims it's “all about accessibility,” but somehow, employees still struggle to find answers to basic questions. Leadership preaches an open-door policy, but good luck getting a response anytime soon. And don’t even get me started on the “We’re ADA compliant!” flex like it’s some kind of gold medal when it’s actually the bare minimum! That’s why I brought in the brilliant friend Lia Seth, Director of People at Cylinder Health, disability advocate, and self-proclaimed Accessibility Queen, to break down why access and accessibility aren’t the same thing, how hustle culture is sabotaging your teams, and why your transparent pay philosophy might still be leaving people in the dark. We’re calling out gatekeeping, ghosting, and performative corporate nonsense, because employees deserve better, and HR is done cleaning up avoidable messes! Multi-state compliance is a nightmare—but SixFifty makes it easy. Get instant answers to employment law questions, generate a compliant multi-state handbook in minutes, and stay ahead of changing laws with automated updates. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SixFifty.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! Whether you’re scaling fast or filling a critical role, Oyster helps you tap into the global talent pool and navigate international hiring with confidence. Hire full time talent or work flexibly with contractors- hire remotely, manage payroll, and ensure compliance ethically, with real employment experts by your side. Visit ⁠⁠⁠oysterhr.com⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! 0:02:24 - One Truth About Work Lia Wishes More Leaders Understood 0:07:40 - What Access and Accessibility Means in the Context of Your Workplace 0:09:16 - The Biggest Misconceptions Between Access and Accessibility 0:13:49 - Why Employees Feel Shut Out 0:20:17 - Why Access to Leadership is a Barrier in Some Companies 0:26:49 - An Example of a Small Change That Can Create Genuine Access for Employees 0:31:06 - How Tech Can Unintentionally Create Accessibility Issues 0:39:04 - Gatekeeping Behaviors in the Workplace and How to Dismantle Them 0:49:34 - How Companies Can Move Past Performative Accessibility 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 Lia: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liaseth/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

I hate to say it, but your “amazing culture” might be a lie. Today, Latesha Byrd and I are ripping off the culture band-aid to expose what’s actually happening in your org! You know the drill: shiny values on the wall that nobody abides by, all-hands full of empty promises, and that lovely gaslighty feeling when leadership says “we’re family” but acts like a toxic ex. We’re explaining why “bring your whole self to work” is a scam if your culture is performative, how to spot and fix the disconnect between what leaders say and what employees live, and the corporate red flags that scream RUN, along with the green flags worth fighting for! Multi-state compliance is a nightmare—but SixFifty makes it easy. Get instant answers to employment law questions, generate a compliant multi-state handbook in minutes, and stay ahead of changing laws with automated updates. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SixFifty.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! Whether you’re scaling fast or filling a critical role, Oyster helps you tap into the global talent pool and navigate international hiring with confidence. Hire full time talent or work flexibly with contractors- hire remotely, manage payroll, and ensure compliance ethically, with real employment experts by your side. Visit ⁠⁠oysterhr.com⁠⁠ to learn more! 0:01:40 - One Truth About Work Latesha Wishes More Leaders Understood 0:03:51 - How to Define Real Culture and How to Tell When It’s Missing 0:10:39 - When a Company’s Culture Initiative Falls Completely Flat 0:19:03 - Why Performative Actions Ruin Trust at Work, and How to Fix It 0:22:47 - The Role Communication Plays in Shaping Culture Narratives at an Org 0:26:30 - Towing the Line Between Being Inspiring and Being Honest About Challenges 0:31:32 - How to Hold Leaders Accountable 0:37:31 - The “Red Flag or Green Flag?” Game 0:41:10 - If Latesha Could Redesign Culture From Scratch, What Would She Prioritize First? 0:46:16 - What the Next Generation of Employees Will Expect From Real Workplace Culture 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 Latesha: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lateshabyrd/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Look, I’ll be honest: most “leadership experts” lowkey make me want to throw my laptop into a pool. But Dr. Matt Poepsel? This man’s the REAL DEAL! Marine veteran, Ironman triathlete, PhD in psychology, and the actual godfather of talent optimization (no, really, he wrote the book on it)! So when he says leadership today is broken, you listen. Today, we’re dragging egos, calling out the “hero leader” BS, and answering the question employees are too scared to ask: Why are so many leaders terrible at their jobs? From vulnerability without oversharing to why your status reports are already obsolete, this is the leadership reset you didn’t know you needed. Multi-state compliance is a nightmare—but SixFifty makes it easy. Get instant answers to employment law questions, generate a compliant multi-state handbook in minutes, and stay ahead of changing laws with automated updates. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SixFifty.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! Whether you’re scaling fast or filling a critical role, Oyster helps you tap into the global talent pool and navigate international hiring with confidence. Hire full time talent or work flexibly with contractors- hire remotely, manage payroll, and ensure compliance ethically, with real employment experts by your side. Visit ⁠oysterhr.com⁠ to learn more! 0:02:30 - One Truth About Work Matt Wishes More Leaders Understood 0:03:37 - How to Build Self-awareness as a Leader 0:06:57 - When A Leader’s Ego Gets in the Way of Good Leadership 0:09:36 - Spotting the Difference Between Authentic Leaders and Stiff Leaders 0:12:58 - A Game-changing Moment in Matt’s Leadership Journey 0:19:21 - What Employees ACTUALLY Want From Leaders 0:22:19 - If a Manager Only Has Time to do One Thing, What Should it Be? 0:27:07 - A Small Action Leaders Can Take That Has a Huge Impact 0:32:41 - The Fine Line Between Vulnerability and Oversharing 0:34:39 - Navigating Leadership in an Era of Burnout, Layoffs, and AI 0:40:03 - Something Every CEO Should Understand About Their Company 0:43:41 - Rewriting the Playbook on How Companies Develop Leaders 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 Matt: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattpoepsel/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Whether we like it or not, office politics are an unavoidable part of corporate life. But don’t worry—you’re in for a TREAT today because one of my absolute favorite humans, Jessica Winder, is back on the pod, and we’re diving into the BS of corporate life in detail! You know, the kind where you’re expected to read minds, kiss ass, and perform miracles while leadership acts like promotions are some kind of Da Vinci Code situation. We’re talking about why “being liked” often beats “being right,” how LinkedIn is just one giant performance of corporate cringe, and why trust is literally cheaper than surveillance (but somehow, companies still don’t get it). There’s value in learning how to play the corporate game without compromising your integrity, so let’s get into it! Multi-state compliance is a nightmare—but SixFifty makes it easy. Get instant answers to employment law questions, generate a compliant multi-state handbook in minutes, and stay ahead of changing laws with automated updates. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠SixFifty.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! Whether you’re scaling fast or filling a critical role, Oyster helps you tap into the global talent pool and navigate international hiring with confidence. Hire full time talent or work flexibly with contractors- hire remotely, manage payroll, and ensure compliance ethically, with real employment experts by your side. Visit oysterhr.com to learn more! 0:03:17 - One Truth Jessica Wishes More Leaders Understood 0:04:16 - What Does Kissing Ass Mean in the Workplace? 0:06:02 - When Good Work Isn’t Enough to Get Ahead 0:08:57 - Unwritten Rules of Career Advancement That Nobody Talks About 0:12:06 - Is Playing Office Politics Part of the Job, or is There Another Way to Succeed? 0:15:01 - How Race and Gender Tie Into Unspoken Rules of Advancement 0:24:23 - Hebba’s Round of Spicy Questions 0:35:11 - How Jessica Would Rewrite the Rules of Career Advancement 0:38:44 - Employees Who Feel Stuck Because They Refuse to Kiss Ass 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

This should come as no surprise anymore, but your employees aren’t just asking for certainty these days, they’re BEGGING for it! And yet, most workplaces still operate like a Magic 8 Ball: "Ask again later," "Outlook not so good," and my personal favorite, "Cannot predict now." Cool, cool. So why do we keep acting shocked when people quit over unclear expectations, bad leadership, and the soul-crushing weight of "figure it out yourself" culture? Joining me today is Kat Kibben, recruiting expert and professional truth-teller, to drag the leadership myths we’re all tired of and drop some real talk on how to actually make work WORK for people! We’re breaking down why humans would rather deal with a known disaster than unknown chaos, how bad managers create generational trauma in the workplace, and the one thing leaders always get wrong about certainty. Lots of gems in here, so buckle up! 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. Multi-state compliance is a nightmare—but SixFifty makes it easy. Get instant answers to employment law questions, generate a compliant multi-state handbook in minutes, and stay ahead of changing laws with automated updates. Visit ⁠⁠⁠SixFifty.com⁠⁠⁠ to learn more! 0:03:51 - One Truth About Work Kat Wishes More Leaders Understood 0:05:05 - Why Do Humans Crave Certainty So Much? 0:08:25 - How Leaders Can Make Employees Feel Safe 0:19:43 - Why Not Every Good Employee Needs to Be a Manager 0:24:38 - What Does Creativing Clarity Actually Look Like? 0:31:58 - How Good or Bad Communication Shapes Teams Over Time 0:38:34 - Bouncing Back From a Toxic Boss/Environment 0:46:13 - One Thing Leaders Often Get Wrong About Providing Certainty 0:49:33 - One Message Leaders Should Repeat to Their Teams During Uncertain Times 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 Kat: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrinakibben/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: MONEY. 💸 And who better to talk about money with than compensation guru Matt McFarlane? In this episode, we’re ripping apart everything you think you know about fair pay. Why do employees feel stiffed? Are pay gaps accidental or systemic? And why the hell is talking about salary still taboo? We’ll also be discussing why fair pay is still a myth at most companies, how to handle founders who treat compensation like a dark art, and what actual pay transparency looks like (hint: it’s not just publishing salaries). 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. Multi-state compliance is a nightmare—but SixFifty makes it easy. Get instant answers to employment law questions, generate a compliant multi-state handbook in minutes, and stay ahead of changing laws with automated updates. Visit ⁠⁠SixFifty.com⁠⁠ to learn more! 0:01:57 - One Truth About Work Matt Wishes More People Understood 0:03:20 - What Being Paid Right Actually Means, and Why Companies Get it Wrong 0:06:58 - What “I Don’t Feel Like I’m Being Paid Fairly” Really Means 0:08:50 - Why is Talking About Pay Such a Taboo Topic at Work? 0:11:49 - Should Employees Know What Their Coworkers Make? 0:14:36 - Are Pay Gaps Intentional, or a Result of a Broken System? 0:19:56 - If Matt Could Change One Thing About Compensation, What Would It Be? 0:22:36 - Dealing With Founders Who Don’t Want to Define Anything Compensation-related 0:27:50 - What Role Should Managers Play in Pay Equity? 0:34:03 - What Does a Truly Fair, Inclusive, and Modern Compensation Philosophy Look Like? 0:39:47 - One Thing Matt Nerds Out About When It Comes to Compensation 0:41:25 - How Matt Would Rewrite the Unwritten Rules About Money at Work 0:47:45 - A Conversation About Money That Matt Wishes He Had Earlier in His Career 0:52:00 - What Workplace Money Utopia Could Look Like in 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 Matt: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewmcfarlane/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Let’s get one thing straight: People Leaders are tired of companies pretending they care about equity while quietly rolling back DEI initiatives and gaslighting employees into thinking they’re the problem. So I brought in someone I admire DEEPLY, Cierra Gross, Founder of Caged Bird HR and Wrk Receipts, to drag corporate America’s favorite lies—and yes, it got spicy! We’re discussing why “accountability” is a corporate buzzword for “we’ll investigate ourselves and find no wrongdoing,” how Gen Z is forcing much-needed change at work, and the invisible barriers that sabotage equity. Cierra’s app, Wrk Receipts, is also about to be a problem, in the absolute best way possible! 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. Multi-state compliance is a nightmare—but SixFifty makes it easy. Get instant answers to employment law questions, generate a compliant multi-state handbook in minutes, and stay ahead of changing laws with automated updates. Visit ⁠SixFifty.com⁠ to learn more! 0:02:22 - One Truth About Work Cierra Wishes More Leaders Understood 0:04:42 - Why Accountability and Equitable Outcomes are Top Priorities Right Now 0:12:31 - What Accountability and Equity ACTUALLY Means in the Workplace 0:15:24 - What Happens if Companies Don’t Care About Adapting? 0:23:10 - The Gap Between What Employees Expect and What Companies Deliver 0:25:12 - Why Don’t Companies Have an Incentive to Live Up to Their Ideas? 0:41:03 - Invisible Systems and Habits That Quietly Sabotage Equity and Fairness 0:49:55 - A Necessary Shift to Make Accountability and Equity Non-negotiable 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 Cierra: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cierragross/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssefTwitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Employees aren’t just asking for feedback—they’re begging for it. So why are we still serving them stale, twice-a-year performance reviews like it’s 1999? This week, I’m sitting down with Jessica DeVlieger to unpack why your team is secretly screaming, “Just tell me if I’m doing a good job!”—and how leaders keep missing the mark. We’re digging into: 🔥 Why employees ALWAYS know who’s underperforming before managers do (and the awkward truth about what happens next) 🔥 The #1 reason managers avoid tough feedback 🔥 How to fix performance convos so they actually help people grow 🔥 Why your fancy new HR tech might be making things worse, and how to use it right At the end of the day, employees just want to know where they stand! 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. Multi-state compliance is a nightmare—but SixFifty makes it easy. Get instant answers to employment law questions, generate a compliant multi-state handbook in minutes, and stay ahead of changing laws with automated updates. Visit SixFifty.com to learn more! 0:01:53 - One Truth About Work Jessica Wishes More People Understood 0:07:32 - How Jessica Became a Performance-focused CEO 0:10:18 - Why “Traditional” Performance Management Doesn’t Work Anymore 0:13:12 - When Employees Want to Know Where They Stand, What Does That Mean? 0:16:52 - One Thing Leaders Often Misunderstand About Performance Conversations 0:21:02 - How to Create a Culture Where It’s Normal to Talk About Performance and 0:27:35 - The Performance Gap Jessica Wants to Fill, and Why It Matters 0:33:13 - Jessica’s Take on a Ratings System Approach to Performance Management 0:34:14 - The Biggest Mistake Companies Make in Implementing Performance Management Software 0:38:34 - How Jessica Would Redesign Performance Management, From Scratch 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/jessica-devlieger-7623305/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Let’s talk about fairness—or, more accurately, let’s talk about how your company is probably failing at it! You know the drill: the ‘neutral’ policies that somehow always disadvantage the same people, the DEI initiatives that start and end with a Slack emoji, the performance reviews that feel more like a lottery than actual feedback. This week, Zach Nunn (founder of Living Corporate and certified corporate truth-teller) joins me to rip apart the illusion of fairness at work! We’re talking remote work double standards, the sneaky policies that keep marginalized employees stuck, and why ‘transparency’ is often just corporate code for ‘we’ll tell you the rules but not how to win.’ If most workplaces were actually fair, we wouldn’t need this episode! But since that’s not our reality yet… press play and let’s get figure it out together. 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. Multi-state compliance is a nightmare—but SixFifty makes it easy. Get instant answers to employment law questions, generate a compliant multi-state handbook in minutes, and stay ahead of changing laws with automated updates. Visit SixFifty.com to learn more! 0:03:43 - One Truth About Work Zach Wishes More Leaders Understood 0:11:30 - What is Living Corporate and What Inspired Zach to Start It? 0:17:02 - What Most Companies Get Wrong About Fairness at Work 0:25:42 - Defining a Fair Workplace and How It Feels to Employees 0:38:52 - Policies That Seem Neutral, But Actually End up Being Unfair 0:52:54 - One Thing HR Should Stop Doing Immediately to Build Fairer Workplaces 0:53:50 - What Gives Zach Hope? 0:56:32 - Get in Touch With Zach 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 Zach: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharynunnphr/ Follow Hebba: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef