The HR Huddle

Hosted by WRKdefined Podcast Network

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Episodes

220

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Welcome to the HR Huddle, the ultimate resource for all things HR. Cause when the shit goes down, you've got to huddle up. The HR Huddle is comprised of three unique mini-shows: Spilling The Tea On HR Tech — Join Stacey Harris and Cliff Stevenson as they break down the latest happenings in HR and HR tech. HR We Have a Problem — Join Cliff Stevenson as he tackles the messy stories everyone in human resources has, featuring industry guests working on solving these problems. The Pivot Effect is where followers become leaders. Join Teri Zipper and Susan Richards for the stories, skills, and mindset shifts that get you there.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

October 15, 20261 hr 21 min

Spilling The Tea on HR Tech- SAP Buys TechWolf, UKG Opens to Claude and ChatGPT, and the Hidden Cost of AI Shortcuts

Recorded on the road, between hurricanes and a packed conference schedule, this quick-turnaround episode has Stacey Harris and Cliff Stevenson sharing the HR tech stories everyone will be talking about at HR Tech next week. Stacey calls in from Workday Rising with the latest on Sana, the new Sana Agent Builder, agent-to-agent collaboration, and ambient agents. The two also recap Cornerstone Connect at Chicago’s historic Drake Hotel, including how customer advisory board feedback is shaping the way the team presents its AI maturity data. They also share what they learned visiting Vensure in Atlanta.  On the news front, they break down SAP’s acquisition of TechWolf and Salesforce’s reported $2B purchase of Listen Labs. They also cover UKG opening its platform to Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini, ServiceNow’s standalone Flow for AI-powered service management, Canva’s push into workplace productivity tools, and Dayforce’s new Chief Product and Technology Officer. Then they turn to the bigger picture: a UC Berkeley study finding that just ten minutes of AI use can erode persistence on hard tasks, California’s No Robo Bosses Act, iCIMS data showing U.S. hiring down 7% while job openings rise, and why losing entry-level jobs puts the future talent pipeline at risk.  The episode wraps with a preview of an upcoming series on women founders and leaders in AI, a full fall event schedule, and the 29th Annual HR Systems Survey, which launches November 6. You can catch Stacey’s keynote debut at HR Tech on Wednesday afternoon. 

October 8, 202641 min

The Pivot Effect: Leading with Faith, Kindness, and Community: Denise Melton's Path to House of Hope

What happens when the job you build to solve a problem turns into your calling? On this episode of The Pivot Effect, Teri Zipper and Susan Richards talk with Denise Melton, pastoral counselor and Executive Director of Cumberland Children's House of Hope and the Threads of Hope Thrift Store.  Denise started out managing medical, dental, and legal offices. Then she turned her basement into a childcare center so she'd have care she could trust for her own son. That small fix became one of the most respected preschools in town. Through it, she got to know local law enforcement and the Department of Children's Services, and she saw firsthand what children in crisis go through. Those relationships led her to volunteer at House of Hope, one of Tennessee's first transitional homes for children removed from unsafe homes. Within two years, she became its first paid director.  Denise talks about the leaps that only looked sudden, the hard seasons that tested her faith, and the moment she almost walked away. She also shares why House of Hope takes no government funding, how she hires people who may outgrow the organization, and why asking for help is a leadership strength. If you're thinking about your next pivot, she has a simple reminder: it doesn't cost anything to be kind. 

October 1, 20261 hr 19 min

Spilling The Tea on HR Tech- $300M+ in HR Tech Deals, a SHRM Rebrand and the AI Reality Check

HR tech conference season is here, and this week's tea is piping hot. Stacey Harris and Cliff Stevenson of Sapient Insights Group cover the deals, the debates, and what it all means for your organization.  They start with a big round of deal news. Phoenix Education Partners agrees to acquire Fuel50. BoomerangHR raised $12.7M for its solution that tracks and manages former employees. Spott raised $21M for recruiting agency tech, and Dave Duffield led a $250M raise for Ridgeline, which offers an investment management solution. From there, they react to the rebrand of SHRM's annual conference and discuss whether the use of OKRs is actually the best way to assess performance. They also look at the growing strain on middle managers, why AI shouldn't be grading its own work, and Amazon’s rehiring of former employees, some of whom had been laid off.  Cliff also shares takeaways from NAPEO2026 and O.C. Tanner ‘s annual conference, and Stacey previews her HR Tech keynote and what's coming in this year's research. 

September 25, 202624 min

HR We Have A Problem: Hallway Truths from NAPEO 2026: The Real State of PEOs

In this special episode of HR We Have a Problem, Cliff Stevenson steps out of the studio and takes you to NAPEO 2026 in Marco Island, Florida, the annual conference of the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations. There's no single guest this time, just unfiltered hallway and show-floor conversations with the people building, running and partnering with PEOs.     Cliff explores the tipping point small businesses hit when DIY HR stops working, and why the PEO value proposition is shifting from "save money" to "make money." He also looks at the "rising tide lifts all boats" culture where competitors help each other grow, and how AI and shorter job tenures are changing what HR tech users need. Along the way, you'll get a sneak peek at what Sapient Insights Group's upcoming HR Systems Survey is revealing about PEO growth.   We want to hear from you. Have you hit that "I need help" moment in your business? Leave a comment or email Cliff directly at cliff@sapientinsights.com.     HR We Have a Problem is produced by Sapient Insights Group and is part of the WRKdefined and HR Channel networks. 

September 17, 20261 hr 6 min

Spilling The Tea On HR Tech: Salesforce Bets Big on HiBob, AI Agents Break Their Own Guardrails, and More HR Tech News

Stacey Harris and Cliff Stevenson are back with more tea on the biggest HR tech stories of the last two weeks.  From a major AI security scare to a $166M investment shakeup, this episode covers a lot of ground on where the HR tech market (and the money) is heading.  In this episode:  Salesforce leads a $166M investment in HiBob, signaling HiBob’s shift from an HR suite provider to organizational intelligence platform  People moves: After nearly 20 years of service, Armin Taghinia departs Workday and moves to AI-native system provider Sol; Sarah Kennedy Ellis joins Workday as CMO; Jeremy Shapiro joins NYU's human capital management faculty; Phenom Cloud names Sasidhar Kalagra as its new CEO.  Mark Stelzner's take on why vendor relationship resilience matters as much, if not more, than feature checklists  Building a "shared yardstick" for AI: can we actually measure whether these systems understand work?  What labor market data reveals about who's actually feeling the squeeze right now and who isn't  The Hugging Face/OpenAI breach: how AI agents found a way around their own guardrails, and what it means for how we prompt and monitor these systems  Mike Boufford, Anthropic’s head of people, and recruiting expert Tim Sackett, will close HR Tech with a not-to-be-missed fireside chat.    Why on-premise HR systems aren't fading as fast as everyone once presumed.  Self-checkout theft data raises the issue of whether new workplace tech should be implemented “just because we can.”  

September 10, 202635 min

The Pivot Effect: From theater, to seminary to corporate boardrooms, Communication is the common thread in Peter Novak's pivots

On this episode of The Pivot Effect, hosts Teri Zipper and Susan Richards sit down with Peter Novak, founder and CEO of Strictly Speaking Group, for a conversation that spans seven years in a Jesuit seminary, a rare doctorate in dramaturgy, twenty-two years teaching at the University of San Francisco, and a second career coaching some of the world's biggest corporations on high-stakes communication.  Peter shares how his winding path from theater to the priesthood to academia to executive coaching taught him that every human problem is, at its core, a communication problem. He dives into the unique challenges non-native English speakers face in the workplace from accent bias to phrasal verbs to the surprising research on what "confidence" actually sounds like in English and makes the case for keeping the human at the center of communication in an increasingly AI-driven world.  Whether you're navigating your own career pivot, leading a global team, or just curious how a Jesuit seminarian ends up coaching Fortune 500 executives, this episode is full of insight on the skills that transfer across any career and why it's never too late to pivot. 

September 8, 202637 min

HR We Have A Problem- Igniting Employee Engagement: A Conversation with Mental Fitness Coach Todd Bertsch

Disengagement and burnout have barely budged in decades — Gallup still puts disengagement at 80%+. In this episode, host Cliff Stevenson sits down with mental fitness coach Todd Bertsch to talk about the early warning signs of burnout, why lasting change usually starts with an interruption rather than a pep talk, and a simple mindset shift — from "I have to" to "I get to" — that applies to everything from AI adoption to hybrid work.  Todd shares the thinking behind his book Ignite Your Spark and his SQ Spark Assessment, which measures how "lit up" someone really is at work, plus why a 30-minute weekly one-on-one can be one of the highest-leverage things a manager does for retention.  Guest: Todd Bertsch, mental fitness coach and host of The Bolt podcast  Website: toddbertsch.com  About the show: HR We Have a Problem breaks down the biggest issues in HR today and what to actually do about them. 

September 3, 20261 hr 28 min

Spilling the Tea on HR Tech- Workday's $43B Buyout Rumor, Remembering Dolly Parton

In this episode, Stacey and Cliff remember Dolly Parton and her legacy as a philanthropist and advocate of workers’ rights and pay equity.   In business news: Checkr acquires Truv, Lattice acquires Pando, and Adam Weber launches Helm. Silver Lake reportedly in talks to take Workday private in a $43B deal. Mobley v. Workday hiring discrimination case moves forward with broader scope. Workday deepens its Compa partnership for real-time market data. Mike Schumacher joins isolved as chief sales officer. Google pays $10M for Spirit Airlines corporate data to train AI. A Chinese university study finds AI use boosts homework scores but tanks exam performance. The Dutch Data Protection Authority flags AI hiring tools for violation of the EU AI Act. New research documents the pay equity gap for Australian women in leadership. Bill Gates writes a 6,000-word essay on the dangers of AI.

August 20, 20261 hr 27 min

Spilling The Tea On HR Tech- A Big Clarity Deal and More AI Chaos

Hosts Stacey Harris, Sapient’s chief research officer and managing partner, and Cliff Stevenson director of research and principal analyst, break down the week's biggest HR Tech news.  In this episode:  A preview of Sapient Insights Group's research heading into HR Tech 2026 (Oct 19–24), plus a security scare from this week's research roundtables.  Deel pushes past $1.5B in annual recurring revenue and acquires identity-verification company Clarity.  Oracle taps Google's Gemini model for its agent studio and the hosts discuss what matters most to those using AI models.  Darwinbox launches Cortex, an AI-native HCM platform designed to operate within a full work context.   The Guardian, isolved’s new AI agent powered by Claude, and its "glass box" approach to resolving payroll issues.  Cornerstone appoints Vincent Belliveau as chief commercial officer and Anna Goldberg as VP of AI product management; founded in 1999, HR.com goes up for sale after Debbie McGrath announces retirement.  New research on AI's uneven impact across age groups, why only one in 20 HR jobs requires AI skills, and TalentNeuron compares its data with that generated by LLMs.  The hosts discuss Jess Von Bank’s post on why people need to read past headlines claiming AI changes the way people work.  Performance ratings and AI bias, the emergence of the "forward-deployed recruiter,” and, according to the National Women’s Law Center, women accounted for 100% of the labor force decline in July.    Anthropic announced invisible watermarks will be added to Claude-generated text to comply with the EU’s new AI transparency rules — and the backlash appeared within days.  Pete Tiliakos on earned wage access and treating pay as integral to many life moments, not a periodic back-office process.  Catch Stacey and Cliff this fall at NAPEO, O.C. Tanner's Influence Greatness, Cornerstone Connect, Workday Rising, HR Tech 2026, Oracle AI World, and Dayforce Discover.  Follow Sapient Insights Group on LinkedIn and Instagram for updates, and subscribe for weekly HR Tech news and insights. Produced by Kelly Koon, Linda Galloway, Summer Orellano, Kohle Harris, and Kaitlin Diamond.

August 13, 202635 min

The Pivot Effect- From Cleaning Fees to C-Suite Sales: The Wild Career Pivot of Summer Orellano

On this episode of The Pivot Effect, part of Sapient Insights Group's HR Huddle series, hosts Teri Zipper and Susan Richards sit down with Summer Orellano, who now leads sales at Sapient, to talk about her winding career journey from managing Airbnbs in Florida, to joining Sapient as a contract office administrator, to stepping into a sales leadership role while seven months pregnant with her third child.  Summer, Teri, and Susan dig into what it really takes to pivot: showing up even on the hard days, taking feedback well, bringing authenticity into sales, and recognizing skills you didn't know you had. It's an honest conversation about non-linear career paths, mentorship, and betting on yourself.  In this episode:  How Summer's move to Florida led to an unexpected connection with Susan  Why "right place, right time" isn't the whole story  Turning operations and admin experience into a sales career  Why authenticity and constructive criticism matter in sales  Summer's advice for anyone standing at the edge of a pivot  Connect with Summer Orellano on LinkedIn and Facebook.  Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe for more conversations on leadership, culture, change, and HR technology, and check out our other shows: Spilling the Tea on HR Tech, and HR We Have a Problem.