I Hate It Here

Hebba Youssef
  • 4.5 (64)
  • Management

If HR is one of the most soul-crushing industries to work in, how come we’re not talking about it more? I Hate it Here is the unflinching podcast where People professionals to talk honestly and openly about HR, sharing best-in-class resources to make the hardest job in the world that little bit easier. Hosted by Hebba Youssef, Chief People Officer at Workweek and creator of the I Hate it Here podcast and newsletter, this show is for HR People who want to get things done right - even if they do feel a bit empty inside from time to time. You’ll hear from industry insiders, not just the same old voices, sharing all the things you’re secretly thinking but never said out loud, digging into real-life examples, and delivering practical solutions and strategies for your people team.

  1. 2d ago

    The Leadership Divide (Episode 4): Trust, Belonging, and the Cost of Getting It Wrong

    Featured Guest: Allison Howell (CEO, Hogan Assessments) This is The Leadership Divide, a special series with Hogan Assessments in partnership with I Hate It Here!  --- We spent this entire series proving that leadership fails because orgs KEEP choosing leaders using criteria held together by bias and outdated tactics! In this finale, I’m bringing back Hogan Assessments CEO Allison Howell to talk about everything that breaks when bad leadership takes over, why women were never the problem (shocking absolutely no one), and how small acts of workplace rebellion can help us build something better.  Dare I say, it’s one of those convos that might even give you a little hope for the future! --- Hogan Assessments is the international leader in personality insights. With the world’s largest database of personality research and decades’ worth of experience in psychometrics, Hogan produces valid, reliable personality assessments that measure everyday strengths, potential shortcomings, and values and motivators. Hogan’s solutions empower organizations to hire the right people without bias, boost productivity, reduce turnover, promote diversity and inclusion, identify high-potential talent, develop leaders, and inspire employees to do their best.  To learn more, check them out at ⁠⁠⁠http://hogan.to/ihateithere⁠⁠⁠ --- 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 Allison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonhowell2/ Follow Hebba:  YouTube:⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn:⁠⁠⁠ https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef⁠⁠⁠ Twitter:⁠⁠⁠ https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef⁠⁠

    The Leadership Divide (Episode 4): Trust, Belonging, and the Cost of Getting It Wrong

  2. 5d ago

    S13 E5: The Group Hosts an Award Series and Starts a Cult with RyanMae McAvoy Pepin & Josiah Hernández

    Welcome to the first-ever HR Glow Up Awards! The trophies are fake, but the workplace trauma is real. I’m joined by RyanMae McAvoy Pepin and Josiah Hernández to celebrate HR’s biggest improvements, drag the practices that refuse to die, reaffirm my love for Mariah Carey, and debate everything from four-day workweeks to AI-powered layoffs.  Today’s episode is a little different, but naturally, you can expect the same amount of unhinged energy! Is it chaotic? Well, I’ll leave that up to you to decide! --- With Shapes, people management looks completely different. Think AI agents handling the routine, a secure HR core, and the ability to build any people tool your org needs, just by describing it in plain english in their built in Shapes Vibe studio. If your systems feel stuck in 2015, go check out Shapes at ⁠⁠https://shapes.co/⁠⁠ --- 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 RyanMae on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rm80920/ Follow Josiah onLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josiah23/ Follow Hebba YouTube:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef⁠⁠⁠⁠ Come join Hebba at Safe Space Summit 2026 in Huntington Beach, CA! To learn more, check out:⁠⁠ https://www.safespacesummit.com/

    S13 E5: The Group Hosts an Award Series and Starts a Cult with RyanMae McAvoy Pepin & Josiah Hernández

  3. Aug 5

    The Leadership Divide (Episode 3): Performance vs. Potential

    Featured Guest: Jackie Sahm (Vice President of Integrated Solutions, Hogan Assessments) --- We've built a world where the people who get promoted aren't always the people who should be leading, and we have enough data to stop this madness and do something about it!  In this latest episode of The Leadership Divide, Hogan Assessment's Jackie Sahm and I get into why orgs keep confusing performance with potential, why confidence gets mistaken for competence, and how we accidentally engineer the exact leadership problems we're all complaining about.  This situation is far more common than it should be, but the good news is that it doesn’t have to be! 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:56 - What’s The Difference Between Performance And Potential? 00:04:20 - What Are Orgs Actually Measuring? 00:07:01 - Why Leaders Mistake Similarity For Potential 00:11:11 - Should Intuition Ever Drive Promotions? 00:13:37 - What Does The Leadership Effectiveness Gap Look Like? 00:19:50 - Why Doesn’t The System Get Fixed? 00:27:05 - What Does A Better Talent Process Look Like? 00:33:21 - Where HR Should Start 00:42:02 - Should We Audit Promotion Decisions? 00:46:11 - What Do Orgs Keep Getting Wrong About Leadership? --- Hogan Assessments is the international leader in personality insights. With the world’s largest database of personality research and decades’ worth of experience in psychometrics, Hogan produces valid, reliable personality assessments that measure everyday strengths, potential shortcomings, and values and motivators. Hogan’s solutions empower organizations to hire the right people without bias, boost productivity, reduce turnover, promote diversity and inclusion, identify high-potential talent, develop leaders, and inspire employees to do their best.  To learn more, check them out at ⁠⁠http://hogan.to/ihateithere⁠⁠ --- 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 Jackie on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-vanbroekhoven-sahm-8263686/   Follow Hebba:  YouTube:⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos⁠⁠ LinkedIn:⁠⁠ https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef⁠⁠ Twitter:⁠⁠ https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef⁠⁠

    The Leadership Divide (Episode 3): Performance vs. Potential

  4. Aug 3

    S13 E4: Why HR Owns More Of Company Culture Than People Like To Admit (with Dani Herrera)

    I swear every company says culture matters... right up until someone has to make an actual decision.  The reason decisions don’t get made quickly enough is because of the whole "culture is everyone's job" mentality, and I think it’s time for a little more nuance! Dani Herrera and I get into why culture isn't your values page or your CEO's favorite buzzword, but instead, the behaviors your policies reward every single day.  We also unpack why HR has way more influence than we give ourselves credit for, why "best practices" is a cringey concept, and why AI is about to amplify every good (and bad) decision we've already made. --- With Shapes, people management looks completely different. Think AI agents handling the routine, a secure HR core, and the ability to build any people tool your org needs, just by describing it in plain english in their built in Shapes Vibe studio. If your systems feel stuck in 2015, go check out Shapes at ⁠https://shapes.co/⁠ --- 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 Hebba YouTube:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef⁠⁠⁠ Come join Hebba at Safe Space Summit 2026 in Huntington Beach, CA! To learn more, check out:⁠ https://www.safespacesummit.com/

    S13 E4: Why HR Owns More Of Company Culture Than People Like To Admit (with Dani Herrera)

  5. Jul 29

    The Leadership Divide (Episode 2): The Dark Side of Leadership

    Featured Guest: Jocelyn Hays (Director of Hogan Applications, Hogan Assessments) --- You know that coworker who was perfectly lovely until they got promoted and suddenly became a completely different person?  Yeahhhh….I think we’ve all been there. There’s a reason for that, though!  I’m joined by Jocelyn Hays to unpack the dark side of leadership, the 11 derailers hiding inside basically all of us, why so many orgs get this wrong, and how the exact traits that help you succeed can become the ones ruining everyone’s day when you stop managing them.  00:00:00 — Intro 00:01:27 — What Does the “Dark Side” of Personality Actually Mean? 00:03:51 — The 11 Patterns That Can Derail a Leader 00:06:48 — How Do You React When You’re Under Pressure? 00:15:52 — Why Do Derailers Stay Hidden During Hiring? 00:22:05 — When Does a Strength Become a Derailer? 00:25:51 — Why Does Stress Bring Out Our Worst Leadership Behaviors? 00:34:08 — How Can HR Spot Derailers Before They Wreck the Culture? 00:44:14 — How Do You Tell a Leader They’re Ruining the Vibes? 00:49:22 — What Are Orgs Getting Wrong About Choosing Leaders? --- Hogan Assessments is the international leader in personality insights. With the world’s largest database of personality research and decades’ worth of experience in psychometrics, Hogan produces valid, reliable personality assessments that measure everyday strengths, potential shortcomings, and values and motivators. Hogan’s solutions empower organizations to hire the right people without bias, boost productivity, reduce turnover, promote diversity and inclusion, identify high-potential talent, develop leaders, and inspire employees to do their best.  To learn more, check them out at ⁠http://hogan.to/ihateithere⁠ --- 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 Jocelyn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelynhays/   Follow Hebba:  YouTube:⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos⁠ LinkedIn:⁠ https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef⁠ Twitter:⁠ https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef⁠

    The Leadership Divide (Episode 2): The Dark Side of Leadership

  6. Jul 27

    S13 E3: Proof That The AI Productivity Obsession Is Making Everyone Worse (with Aubrey Blanche)

    I feel like every AI conversation somehow ends up in one of two places: either "AI is taking all our jobs!" or "Just use ChatGPT for everything!"  Honestly... I hate both of those convos.  So instead, I wanted to ask some much more interesting questions! Who's actually making the decisions about how AI gets used at work?  Who decided AI should be ranking candidates, or helping determine headcount?  And more importantly... should it be? I invited Aubrey Blanche to help me unpack all of it!  We talked AI ethics, human-centered design, why productivity might be the worst goal for AI adoption, and somehow ended up on Harry Potter fanfiction and Google Maps conspiracy theories.  It all connects, I promise!! 00:00:00 — Intro 00:04:08 — What's Changed Most About How You Work? 00:06:00 — Why Go Back to School for AI Ethics? 00:17:48 — Why Has Productivity Become AI's Main Goal? 00:23:29 — What Should HR Ask Before Chasing AI Efficiency? 00:25:17 — How Do You Actually Influence Executives? 00:29:01 — Is "Human in the Loop" Enough? 00:34:14 — Should AI Be Ranking Job Candidates? 00:37:54 — What's the AI Ethics Skill HR Is Missing? 00:43:41 — How Can HR Start Thinking Like an Ethicist? 00:47:14 — What's the First AI Change HR Leaders Should Make Tomorrow? --- With Shapes, people management looks completely different. Think AI agents handling the routine, a secure HR core, and the ability to build any people tool your org needs, just by describing it in plain english in their built in Shapes Vibe studio. If your systems feel stuck in 2015, go check out Shapes at https://shapes.co/ --- 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 Aubrey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adblanche/ Read: Ethical By Design: Good Technology Principles for AI Follow Hebba YouTube:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef⁠⁠ Come join Hebba at Safe Space Summit 2026 in Huntington Beach, CA! To learn more, check out: https://www.safespacesummit.com/

    S13 E3: Proof That The AI Productivity Obsession Is Making Everyone Worse (with Aubrey Blanche)

  7. Jul 22

    The Leadership Divide (Episode 1): Leadership at an Inflection Point

    Featured Guest: Allison Howell, CEO of Hogan Assessments --- This is The Leadership Divide, a special series with Hogan Assessments in partnership with I Hate It Here!  Across four episodes, we're saying the thing out loud: leadership often fails because companies pick and develop leaders based solely on vibes and tenure, then act SHOCKED when everyone's miserable.  Today, I Hate It Here's Hebba Youssef is joined by Allison Howell, CEO of Hogan Assessments, and they are not holding back! Hebba and Allison get into why trust in leadership is in the gutter, why your favorite "visionary" CEO might actually just be loud, why wanting a manager with basic communication skills is somehow considered a big ask, and more. 00:00:00 — Intro 00:04:56 – What's Shifted in Leadership Since 5 Years Ago? 00:07:27 – How the Erosion of Trust in Institutions Shows Up on a Regular Day at Work 00:11:39 – What Employees Are Asking for From a Leader, and Whether It's Reasonable 00:14:26 – Why People End Up in Management Because They Were Good at a Job, Not Because They're Good at Managing 00:18:21 – The "Dark Side": What It Costs to Misread This Leadership Moment 00:21:54 – How AI Is Reshaping Trust, Judgment, and Decision-Making at Work 00:24:08 – The Less Catastrophic (but Still Bad) Version of Getting This Moment Wrong 00:28:33 – What Orgs Consistently Get Wrong About Selecting and Developing Leaders 00:30:20 – What It Would Look Like to Get Leadership Selection Right --- Hogan Assessments is the international leader in personality insights. With the world’s largest database of personality research and decades’ worth of experience in psychometrics, Hogan produces valid, reliable personality assessments that measure everyday strengths, potential shortcomings, and values and motivators. Hogan’s solutions empower organizations to hire the right people without bias, boost productivity, reduce turnover, promote diversity and inclusion, identify high-potential talent, develop leaders, and inspire employees to do their best.  To learn more, check them out at http://hogan.to/ihateithere --- 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 Allison: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonhowell2/   Follow Hebba:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

    The Leadership Divide (Episode 1): Leadership at an Inflection Point

  8. Jul 20

    S13 E2: What If HR Stopped Playing Therapist and Started Designing Better Workplaces Instead? (with Stephanie Lemek)

    Apparently, we can’t simply leave our trauma at the door and transform into perfectly functioning corporate robots every morning.  Who would’ve thought?! Stephanie Lemek joins me to unpack what a trauma-informed workplace actually looks like, why HR needs some damn boundaries, and how something as simple as giving people more choice can completely change the way we work. Here’s what we got into:  00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:21 - What Would've Surprised Stephanie About How She Works Now, Five Years Ago? 00:08:26 — Trauma-Aware vs. Trauma-Informed 00:13:30 — The 3 Types Of Safety Every Workplace Needs 00:19:36 — Which HR Processes Are Accidentally Re-Traumatizing People? 00:26:50 — "Don't Trust HR" and Unpacking Where That Distrust Actually Comes From 00:33:07 — Hebba's Story: Grief, Anniversaries, And "The Body Do Be Keeping Score" 00:40:18 — Secondary Trauma And Compassion Fatigue In HR 00:46:16 — The One Thing To Do Differently Starting Tomorrow --- 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 on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanielemek/ Follow Hebba YouTube:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef⁠⁠ Come join Hebba at Safe Space Summit 2026 in Huntington Beach, CA! To learn more, check out: https://www.safespacesummit.com/

    S13 E2: What If HR Stopped Playing Therapist and Started Designing Better Workplaces Instead? (with Stephanie Lemek)
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4.5
out of 5
64 Ratings

About

If HR is one of the most soul-crushing industries to work in, how come we’re not talking about it more? I Hate it Here is the unflinching podcast where People professionals to talk honestly and openly about HR, sharing best-in-class resources to make the hardest job in the world that little bit easier. Hosted by Hebba Youssef, Chief People Officer at Workweek and creator of the I Hate it Here podcast and newsletter, this show is for HR People who want to get things done right - even if they do feel a bit empty inside from time to time. You’ll hear from industry insiders, not just the same old voices, sharing all the things you’re secretly thinking but never said out loud, digging into real-life examples, and delivering practical solutions and strategies for your people team.

Information

  • Creator
    Hebba Youssef
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    148
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2023 Hebba Youssef
  • Show Website
    I Hate It Here

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