HR Leaders

Chris Rainey
  • 4.9 (20)
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Join host Chris Rainey on the HR Leaders Podcast, where he sits down with top Chief People Officers, CHROs, and leading HR experts to uncover the strategies, trends, and insights shaping the future of human resources. Each episode dives into best practices in people management, leadership challenges, and transformative HR innovations that impact both business success and society at large. Whether you're an HR professional or simply passionate about modern workplace strategies, this podcast delivers expert advice, real-world experiences, and the latest trends in HR, making it your go-to resource for all things human resources.

  1. 1D AGO

    How to Make AI Actually Useful in HR

    In this episode of our On The Road series, we sit down with Kalifa Oliver, Ph.D. Senior Director of Technology - People Analytics at Lowe's Companies, Inc. to explore why HR needs to stop chasing AI tools and start solving the right business problems. Kalifa now sits in technology, not HR, leading teams across engineering, product, analytics, and people data. That gives her a very different view of what HR transformation actually requires. Her message is clear: AI is not magic. It will only be useful if HR asks better questions, understands the problem it is trying to solve, and stops adding technology on top of broken or unnecessary work. 🎓 In this episode, we get into: Why HR’s role is not being replaced, but radically transformedHow to redesign work before adding AI on top of broken processesWhy leaders do not want more data, they want to know what to do with itHow HR can stop chasing AI tools and start with the problem it needs to solveWhy AI should be treated like a child that needs to be taught, not a fully grown adult 🙏 Thank you to our partner, Workhuman Discover how Workhuman helps organizations turn recognition into real business impact, building stronger cultures, more connected teams, and better visibility into the people driving performance. ✅ Learn more about Workhuman → https://www.workhuman.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    22 min

  2. 3D AGO

    How to Turn Recognition Into Real Business Data (and reduce turnover)

    In this episode of our On The Road series, we sit down with Jennifer Reimert, SVP, Consulting Practice at Workhuman, to explore how organizations can make recognition reach the people who are often hardest to reach: frontline and deskless workers. Jennifer spent 20 years as an HR practitioner and total rewards leader before joining Workhuman. She was also a Workhuman customer back when the company was Globoforce, using recognition to help bring two merged companies together when culture, identity, and belonging were under real pressure. Her message is clear: recognition cannot only work for people at a desk. If most of the work that defines your culture happens on the floor, in the field, in hospitals, in plants, in stores, or across customer sites, then recognition has to meet people where they actually work. 🎓 In this episode, we get into: Why 4–6 recognition moments in a year can help reduce turnover by halfHow to build a recognition business case that speaks the language of the CFOHow to make recognition work for frontline workers who are not sitting at a deskHow recognition data can reveal skills, networks, high performers, and hidden talentWhy recognition needs to reach people through kiosks, text, physical cards, and manager-led moments 🙏 Thank you to our partner, Workhuman Discover how Workhuman helps organizations turn recognition into real business impact, building stronger cultures, more connected teams, and better visibility into the people driving performance. ✅ Learn more about Workhuman → https://www.workhuman.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    22 min

  3. 3D AGO

    How to Find the Future Leaders Everyone Else Is Missing (before they leave)

    In this episode of our On The Road series, we sit down with KeyAnna Schmiedl, Chief Human Experience Officer at Workhuman, to explore how organizations can identify future leaders before they are already in the obvious succession pipeline. KeyAnna shares how Workhuman’s Future Leaders technology is helping companies spot the people giving off strong leadership signals across the business, including those who may not be visible through traditional talent reviews, manager nominations, or proximity to senior leaders. Her message is clear: the best future leaders are not always the most obvious names in the room. If HR can use better signals to see talent earlier, organizations can retain, develop, and invest in people before they walk out the door. 🎓 In this episode, we get into: Why the most visible people are not always the best future leadersWhy managers need to become talent exporters, not talent hoardersHow proximity bias shapes who gets noticed, sponsored, and promotedHow AI can help HR spot future leaders earlier without replacing human judgmentHow better talent signals can help companies retain future leaders before they leave 🙏‍ Thank you to our series partner - Workhuman Discover how Future Leaders helps HR teams identify rising VP+ talent earlier, build stronger succession pipelines, and develop the leaders your people already follow. ✅ Learn how to spot Future Leaders with Workhuman → https://www.workhuman.com/future-leaders/?utm_source=hr-leaders&utm_medium=partner_share&utm_campaign=1213801944017821&utm_content=null&utm_term=na_events_whl-orlando_prospecting~null_hr-leaders-podcast-recordings_1x1_5.20.2026 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    17 min

  4. 5D AGO

    Why AI Will Change How People Get Paid (and what HR must fix first)

    In this episode of our On The Road series, we sit down with Ken Wechsler, VP, Total Rewards at Akamai Technologies, to explore how AI is changing the conversation around rewards, recognition, performance, and the future of work. As a total rewards leader, Ken is now facing questions that would have seemed unlikely just a few years ago: What is our AI strategy? What outcomes are we trying to drive? How will AI change productivity, performance, and how people are rewarded? His message is clear: AI skills alone should not automatically mean higher pay. The real question is whether AI helps people deliver better outcomes, raise performance, create more value, and help the business move forward. 🎓 In this episode, we get into: Why the real question is not AI usage, but whether AI improves outcomesWhy AI is forcing rewards leaders to rethink how performance is measuredWhy being proficient in Gemini or Copilot should not automatically mean higher payHow Akamai is connecting recognition, trust, and performance in a remote-first companyHow rewards teams can use AI to move from manual analysis to strategic business partnering 🙏 Thank you to our partner, Workhuman Discover how Workhuman helps organizations turn recognition into real business impact, building stronger cultures, more connected teams, and better visibility into the people driving performance. ✅ Learn more about Workhuman → https://www.workhuman.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    19 min

  5. MAY 14

    Why Recognition Data Is the New Leadership Signal for Future Leaders

    In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast On The Road, we sit down with Eric Mosley, Founder and CEO at Workhuman to explore how recognition data, AI, and human insight are changing the way organizations identify their future leaders. Eric shares how Workhuman’s new Future Leaders capability uses recognition data, performance data, and AI to identify the people most likely to rise into senior leadership roles years before they are officially promoted. And this is where it gets really interesting. Eric says the strongest signals are not coming from a traditional succession planning form. They are coming from the language people use about each other, the recognition moments that describe how work actually gets done, and the patterns that emerge across billions of human interactions. 🎓 We get into: Why succession planning often feels too slow and bureaucraticHow recognition data can reveal hidden leadership potentialWhy deep, specific recognition creates better signals than surface-level praiseHow AI can identify future leaders two, three, or even five years earlyWhy companies need to retain and develop these people before competitors doWhy making work human still sits at the center of the entire strategy 🙏 Thank you to our partner, Workhuman Discover how Workhuman helps organizations turn recognition into real business impact, building stronger cultures, more connected teams, and better visibility into the people driving performance. ✅ Learn more about Workhuman → https://www.workhuman.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    15 min

  6. MAY 13

    7 Culture Priorities Every HR Leader Must Get Right in 2026

    In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast On The Road, we sit down with Jorge Quezada, MBA (He.Him.His), Vice President, Culture & Performance at Granite Construction, to unpack what happens when culture stops being treated as a soft initiative and starts being run as a business driver. Jorge explains why culture is the operating system of an organization, shaping how people think, act, interact, and bring the company’s mission, vision, and values to life every day. He shares how Granite is updating its culture for the next 100 years by preserving what makes the company strong, diagnosing what needs to change, and creating the conditions for people to grow, adapt, and perform. Most importantly, Jorge reveals why the future of culture belongs to leaders who stop copying best practices from other companies and start understanding what their own people, business, and operating system actually need. 🎓 In this episode, Jorge discusses: How organizations can learn, unlearn, and relearn to stay relevantHow AI still depends on human adoption, better questions, and human thinkingWhy culture should be treated as the operating system that drives performanceWhy leaders need to diagnose their own culture before copying external best practicesWhy unleashing human agency starts with challenging limiting beliefs and building confidence through action 🙏 Thank you to our partner, Workhuman Discover how Workhuman helps organizations turn recognition into real business impact, building stronger cultures, more connected teams, and better visibility into the people driving performance. ✅ Learn more about Workhuman → https://www.workhuman.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    20 min

  7. MAY 11

    Why Your People Don’t Speak Up (even when you ask them to)

    In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast On The Road, we sit down with Khalil Smith, VP, Inclusion, Diversity, and Engagement at Akamai Technologies, to unpack what it really takes to build a performance culture where people trust each other enough to speak up, challenge ideas, and grow. Khalil explains why culture is not what leaders say they want, but what the organization actually rewards, and why silence is often the clearest signal that trust has broken down. He shares how leaders can build stronger cultures by creating trust, encouraging healthy disagreement, aligning systems with values, and making recognition and feedback feel honest, specific, and useful. Most importantly, Khalil reveals why the future of culture belongs to organizations that close the gap between what they say and what they reward, creating environments where people can challenge respectfully, perform boldly, and speak up without fear. 🎓 In this episode, Khalil discusses: How culture is shaped through awareness, behavior, community, and systemsWhy recognition only works when it is grounded in honesty, specificity, and trustow leaders can create the conditions for employees to speak up and challenge ideasWhy healthy disagreement is essential for trust, performance, and better decision-makingWhy organizations must align internal reality with the values they communicate externally 🙏 Thank you to our partner, Workhuman Discover how Workhuman helps organizations turn recognition into real business impact, building stronger cultures, more connected teams, and better visibility into the people driving performance. ✅ Learn more about Workhuman → https://www.workhuman.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    18 min

  8. MAY 8

    Why Your Culture Doesn’t Feel Safe Yet (and what leaders get wrong)

    In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast On The Road, we sit down with Peter Andrew Danzig, Senior Advisor, Foundation Culture at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, to unpack what psychological safety really means beyond the buzzword. Peter explains why psychological safety is not a checklist, policy, or one-time initiative, but a belief system that has to be co-created, practiced, and reinforced through everyday behavior. He shares how leaders can build safer spaces by embracing healthy friction, operationalizing empathy, and creating room for challenge, accountability, apology, repair, and growth. Most importantly, Peter reveals why the future of culture belongs to organizations that stop treating safety as comfort, and start building environments where more people can speak honestly, move through conflict, and still feel seen, heard, and valued. 🎓 In this episode, Peter discusses: Why psychological safety must be treated as a belief system, not a checklistHow healthy friction, challenge, and disagreement strengthen trust when handled wellHow rupture and repair can help organizations move through harm, conflict, accountability, and growthWhy neuroscience, identity, stress, and life outside work all shape how people experience safety at workWhy empathy, compassion, vulnerability, and perspective-taking need to be practiced, not just understood 🙏 Thank you to our partner, Workhuman Discover how Workhuman helps organizations turn recognition into real business impact, building stronger cultures, more connected teams, and better visibility into the people driving performance. ✅ Learn more about Workhuman → https://www.workhuman.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    19 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.9
out of 5
20 Ratings

About

Join host Chris Rainey on the HR Leaders Podcast, where he sits down with top Chief People Officers, CHROs, and leading HR experts to uncover the strategies, trends, and insights shaping the future of human resources. Each episode dives into best practices in people management, leadership challenges, and transformative HR innovations that impact both business success and society at large. Whether you're an HR professional or simply passionate about modern workplace strategies, this podcast delivers expert advice, real-world experiences, and the latest trends in HR, making it your go-to resource for all things human resources.

Information

  • Creator
    Chris Rainey
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    844
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    HR Leaders

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