Don't Talk To HR

About Don't Talk To HR

HR is broken. Employees don't trust it. Executives question its value. And nobody's saying it loud enough. Hosted by Amy Hanlon-Rodemich (Amy HR), former Fortune 100 Chief People Officer, and co-host Neeru Mehta, this podcast tackles the real conversations happening behind closed doors, and the ones that should be. We cover HR leadership, workplace culture, employee trust, psychological safety, leadership accountability, AI and the future of work, people strategy, organizational transformation, company culture, employee advocacy, HR technology, change management, business acumen, and what it actually takes to make work feel human again. Whether you're an HR leader, a people manager, or an employee who has felt unheard at work — this show is for you. New episodes every week. Subscribe so you never miss one. Connect with and hire Amy H-R: www.amyhr.com 📖 The best selling book of the same title, Don't Talk to HR, is available on Amazon and donttalktohr.com

Publisher

Elysia Skye

Category

business · business · business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

3 Jun 2026

Latest episode

7 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

11 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   7 Aug 2026

   What HR Won't Tell You (Until Now)

   Connect with Amy to have her speak at your conference, workshop or event. https://www.amyhr.com Ever wondered what HR actually thinks but never says out loud? This episode answers the questions people ask HR behind closed doors and rarely get a straight answer to. What's a red flag in a workplace most people miss until it's too late? What should you actually ask in an exit interview to get real change? Why do so many companies still force everyone back in the office, even when the data says otherwise? And what's the one thing that has to happen before you can trust HR again? This episode breaks down the real thinking behind workplace decisions that affect your career, your trust in leadership, and whether you speak up when something feels off. No corporate spin. No rehearsed answers. Just the honest version. If you've ever felt unseen at work or wondered whether HR is actually on your side, start here. Do talk to HR. Just the right kind. Visit https://www.donttalktohr.com/ and purchase the #1 Best Selling book, Don't Talk to HR, and the companion, The CPO Toolbox.

2. 

   29 Jul 2026

   Burnout Nearly Broke Me. Here's What I Learned...

   Connect with Amy to speak at your conference, workshop, or event: https://www.amyhr.com Every HR leader spends their career taking care of everyone else. But who takes care of HR? In this very personal solo episode, Amy Hanlon-Rodemich shares the story she almost never told. From leading through the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine to navigating a breast cancer diagnosis while serving as Chief People Officer, Amy opens up about the burnout that quietly built over years of putting everyone else's needs before her own. She shares why burnout isn't a personal failure, why vulnerability actually makes leaders stronger, and the lessons every HR professional, executive, and people leader needs to hear before they reach their breaking point. If you've ever felt like you have to keep pushing, keep performing, or keep carrying everyone else, this conversation is for you. Whether you're a Chief People Officer, HR Business Partner, manager, executive, or simply someone who spends their life taking care of others, this episode is a reminder that your well-being matters too. If this conversation resonates with you, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another leader who needs to hear it. Check out https://www.exceptionalwomenalliance.com Visit https://www.donttalktohr.com/ and purchase the #1 Best Selling book, Don't Talk to HR, and the companion, The CPO Toolbox.

3. 

   22 Jul 2026

   Why Employees Don't Trust HR (And How We Fix It)

   Connect with and hire Amy HR: https://www.amyhr.com Why do so many employees distrust HR? More importantly, what can HR leaders do to change that? In this special panel discussion on Don't Talk to HR, Amy HR is joined by global HR leaders Sergio Fasce, Eric Sorin, Jeffrey Becksted, and Lisbeth Nielsen for an honest conversation about one of the profession's toughest challenges. Together, they tackle the uncomfortable truths behind HR's reputation, why employees often see HR as protecting the company instead of supporting people, and what it will take to rebuild trust in the workplace. The panel also explores how AI is reshaping the HR profession, why the future of HR depends on becoming more strategic, and how HR leaders can navigate the tension between serving the business and advocating for employees without losing credibility. In this episode, you'll learn: Why employees often struggle to trust HR The real role of HR in modern organizations How AI will transform the HR profession Why HR has an identity crisis and what comes next How to build credibility with both employees and executives What the future of HR leadership looks like in an AI-powered workplace Whether you're an HR executive, people leader, or business leader, this conversation will challenge the way you think about the role of HR and what it takes to become a trusted strategic partner. About the Panel: Lisbeth Nielsen is a senior global HR leader with extensive experience leading people strategy in complex international organizations. She is passionate about creating high-performing cultures where employees thrive, leaders grow, and businesses succeed. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisbeth-nielsen08/ Sergio Fasce is a global HR executive, author, and AI thought leader with decades of international leadership experience helping organizations transform through innovation, leadership, and workforce strategy. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergiofasce/ Eric Sorin is an international HR executive with deep expertise in organizational transformation, leadership, and workforce strategy. Throughout his career, he has helped global organizations align people, culture, and business performance while advocating for greater transparency and trust between employees and leadership. https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-sorin-798726/ Jeffrey Becksted is a seasoned technology and transformation leader with extensive experience helping organizations navigate digital change, leadership development, and large-scale business transformation. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-becksted-068b37/ Visit https://www.donttalktohr.com/ and purchase the #1 Best Selling book, Don't Talk to HR, and the companion, The CPO Toolbox.

4. 

   15 Jul 2026

   Why Great HR Leaders Think Like CEOs with Kathy Ross

   Connect with and hire Amy HR: https://www.amyhr.com What if the biggest thing holding HR back is the way we communicate? In this episode of Don't Talk to HR, Amy HR sits down with executive leader Kathy Ross to discuss why HR professionals often struggle to earn credibility in the executive suite and what separates strategic HR leaders from administrative ones. They explore why HR must stop speaking "HR" and start speaking the language of business, how AI can elevate strategic work instead of replacing it, and why business acumen is becoming the defining skill for the next generation of HR leaders. About Kathy Ross:
Kathy Ross is a transformational executive with deep expertise in HR technology, business transformation, and revenue growth. Throughout her career, she has held leadership roles at ARAMARK, ADP, Abbott, Paylocity, and Sequoia, driving growth across sales, operations, product management, client experience, and P&L leadership. She has led large-scale business transformations, helped launch innovative products, and guided organizations through significant periods of growth and change. Kathy is also a passionate advocate for leadership development, mentoring future executives, and advancing women into senior leadership roles. In this episode, you'll learn: • Why HR must stop speaking "HR" and start speaking business • How to earn a seat at the executive table • Why business acumen is the missing skill for many HR leaders • How AI can eliminate administrative work while elevating strategic HR • What CEOs really expect from their HR business partners • How to connect people metrics to financial outcomes executives care about Visit https://www.donttalktohr.com/ and purchase the #1 Best Selling book, Don't Talk to HR, and the companion, The CPO Toolbox. Connect with Kathy:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathyrossga/

5. 

   8 Jul 2026

   Why Your Best Career Move in HR Is Befriending the CFO - with Tom Beaudoin

   Connect with and hire Amy HR: https://www.amyhr.com If you want a longer career in HR, get close to your CFO. That's the advice Amy gives every HR leader she mentors, and in this episode she sits down with a CFO who helped shape how she thinks about the relationship. Amy is joined by Tom Beaudoin, former CFO of Nuance Communications and a finance leader with more than 50 years of experience scaling global teams across tech. Tom calls the HR-finance dynamic a sibling relationship, two functions competing for attention from the CEO when they should be partnering for influence. Together they cover: Why HR's tunnel vision on the CEO quietly costs the function credibility with every other leader at the table. How to walk into a board meeting with a budget ask and actually get it approved, including the $500K HCM proposal Amy fumbled early in her career because she didn't speak finance. The dashboard metrics every CHRO should be presenting quarterly, and why hiding your own HR numbers destroys trust faster than any bad result would. Why companies eliminating HR entirely are about to learn an expensive lesson, and where the real opportunity sits in the HR-IT partnership for AI rollout. The one habit that separates HR leaders who get promoted from those who plateau. Tom also shares a story from early in his career, when a senior executive complained that the young auditors asked stupid questions. The corporate controller's response shaped how Tom mentored people for the next four decades. Connect with Tom: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-beaudoin New episodes dropping weekly. Like, subscribe, and leave a comment with topics you want us to tackle. Connect with Tom at https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-beaudoin-146569ab/ Visit https://www.donttalktohr.com/ and purchase the #1 Best Selling book and the companion, The CPO Toolbox. #HR #HumanResources #Leadership #DontTalkToHR #CFO #BusinessAcumen #FutureOfWork #AI #PeopleOperations

6. 

   1 Jul 2026

   How AI Will Reshape Every HR Team (And Why Most Aren't Ready) with Sergio Fasce

   Connect with and hire Amy: https://www.amyhr.com/ AI isn't coming for HR. It's already here. And the gap between HR teams that are leading this shift and those still figuring out where to start is growing fast. In this episode, Amy and Neeru are joined by Sergio Fasce, former SVP of HR at Nokia, where he supported 80,000+ employees across 120 countries. He was also the former CEO of Alcatel-Lucent Italy, and current AI startup advisor. Together, they dig into what AI actually changes for HR teams, why tools alone aren't the answer, and how the profession either steps up as the orchestrator of enterprise transformation or risks becoming irrelevant. They cover why the first one to two layers of HR roles could be replaced by AI, how a company that didn't exist six months ago is already competing with enterprise giants, why 40,000 roles have already been renamed at Accenture, what "learning in the flow of work" actually means when the S-curves are shrinking to weeks, and why HR leaders who don't master AI will be replaced by those who do. They also get into the dark side: surveillance, psychological safety, hallucinations, bias in candidate screening, and why AI being a probabilistic machine changes how every leader needs to think about risk. New episodes dropping weekly. Like, subscribe, and leave a comment with topics you want us to tackle. Sergio Fasce is a senior global executive with experience across HR, business leadership and enterprise transformation. Most recently he served at Nokia as Global SVP HR, with responsibility for approximately 84,000 employees across more than 120 countries. Earlier in his career he also held CEO and operational leadership roles with direct P&L responsibility. His work focuses on the intersection of business strategy, operating model, leadership and workforce strategy. He is particularly interested in how AI, especially Agentic AI, is reshaping enterprise execution, decision-making and organizational design beyond traditional productivity use cases. Sergio regularly advises and speaks on AI-driven transformation, leadership, workforce evolution and the future operating model of organizations. Connect with Sergio: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sergiofasce Visit https://www.donttalktohr.com/ and purchase the #1 Best Selling book and the companion, The CPO Toolbox.

7. 

   24 Jun 2026

   Do We Even Need HR? A 4-Time CEO Answers

   Connect with and hire Amy HR: https://www.amyhr.com When executives were surveyed for the #1 bestselling book Don't Talk to HR, many said HR's purpose is "to protect the company." Some asked whether HR should exist at all. So Amy brought in someone who has run four companies to settle it. In this episode, Amy is joined by Elizabeth Stephenson, CEO of Systm Foods, former President of FIJI Water and The Wonderful Company, former Chief Strategy Officer at AlixPartners, and bestselling author. Her take: HR is fundamental, and when it fails, that's a reflection on management, not just HR. Together they cover: The three strategic levers that define HR's value proposition: company size, stage of evolution, and the maturity of the HR function itself. Why moving investigations to legal only works above roughly $2 billion in revenue. The "B and C player" trap, where companies park weak performers in HR and then wonder why the function underdelivers. Why the most exceptional HR leader Elizabeth ever worked with started as a CPA. What AI can automate in the first one to three layers of HR, and what it never will. Why HR matters most when companies are in distress, paying 15 to 25% interest on debt while the AI bubble makes everything look fine from the top. Elizabeth also shares the leadership philosophy she gives every team: if a headhunter calls with a life-changing offer, come talk to me early. I'll be your reference. New episodes dropping weekly. Like, subscribe, and leave a comment with topics you want us to tackle. Connect with Elizabeth at linkedin.com/in/elizabethannestephenson Visit https://www.donttalktohr.com/ and purchase the #1 Best Selling book and the companion, The CPO Toolbox.

8. 

   17 Jun 2026

   How to Rebuild Employee Trust in HR - The Framework That Jumped Engagement 23 Points

   Connect with and hire Amy HR: https://www.hrrevolt.com/contact HR is supposed to advocate for employees. Employees think HR only protects the company. Executives agree. Both sides see it, and neither side trusts the other because of it. So how do you fix a reputation problem that's baked into the job description? In this episode, Amy and Neeru get into the tension between the corporate police role and the employee advocacy role, why those two functions are fundamentally at odds, and what happens when HR tries to play both at the same time. They break down the "flipping the pyramid" framework they built at GlobalLogic, where employee and management advisory councils engaged employees on solving big problems and helped drive engagement scores up 23 points during a pandemic. They also share what trust through transparency actually looks like in practice, why they believe investigations should be pulled out of HR entirely, and how layoffs destroy trust when handled without empathy. New episodes dropping weekly. Like, subscribe, and leave a comment with topics you want us to tackle. Visit https://www.donttalktohr.com/ and purchase the #1 Best Selling book and the companion, The CPO Toolbox. #HR #HumanResources #EmployeeTrust #Leadership #DontTalkToHR #WorkplaceCulture #PeopleOperations #EmployeeEngagement

9. 

   11 Jun 2026

   5 Reasons Employees Don't Trust HR

   Connect with and hire Amy HR https://www.amyhr.com 64% of employees say they've had a bad experience with HR. When two career HR leaders surveyed their combined 20,000 LinkedIn followers and interviewed CEOs, board members, investors, and executives, the results came back at a 3.1 out of 5. That's a C-minus for an entire profession. In this episode, Amy and Neeru break down the five themes that kept coming up: A lack of trust, empathy, and confidentiality. Too much focus on paperwork and policies. A gap in business acumen that's costing HR its credibility. A system that doesn't set HR professionals up to succeed. No clear value proposition, which is leading some executives to ask whether HR should exist at all. They also share the story of a company that hired consultants to run "anonymous" employee feedback sessions, recorded every word, and played the highlights for management. People were disciplined for speaking up. Nobody talked again. These are HR nightmares that should NOT be happening and this show is here to change the HR landscape in favor of the people. New episodes dropping weekly. Like, subscribe, and leave a comment with topics you want us to tackle. Visit https://www.donttalktohr.com/ and purchase the #1 Best Selling book and the companion, The CPO Toolbox.

10. 

    4 Jun 2026

    30 Years in HR Revealed the 4 Forces About to Reshape Every Workplace

    Connect with and hire Amy H-R https://www.amyhr.com Your workplace is being reshaped by four forces at once, and ignoring even one of them is already costing you people. In this kickoff episode we explore generational expectations that don't align, the post-COVID workforce that never went back to "normal," AI moving faster than your org chart, and global instability that's draining your employees before they even open their laptops. You'll also hear why two career HR leaders with 55 combined years almost called their #1 bestselling book "HR Sucks," what real feedback from executives, board members, and employees revealed about the profession's reputation, and why they believe HR needs a full revolution, not a refresh. Amy Hanlon-Rodemich spent 30 years as a Chief People Officer at companies like Nokia, GlobalLogic and Milestone Technologies. Neeru Mehta spent 25 years scaling organizations across tech, SaaS, and global markets with Chief People Officer positions at Neurealm and yellow.ai. Together, they built a patented AI career app, wrote the book, and launched this podcast to take the conversation public. New episodes dropping weekly. Like, subscribe, and leave a comment with topics you want us to tackle. Visit https://www.donttalktohr.com/ and purchase the #1 Best Selling book as well as the companion, The CPO Toolbox.

11. 

    3 Jun 2026

    Don't Talk To HR - Coming VERY soon!

    amyhr.com donttalktohr.com

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