Heroes of HR

Heroes of HR

Heroes of HR is a podcast for HR, payroll, and talent leaders navigating the real challenges of today’s workforce. Each episode features candid conversations with leaders from growing, people-intensive organizations who are managing hiring, retention, compliance, payroll and change in real time. We talk about what’s top of mind, what’s working, what’s not and how they’re leading through workforce complexity without losing sight of the people behind it. If you’re building teams, supporting managers and solving operational challenges every day, you’ll hear something familiar and useful in every episode. Brought to you by isolved. Learn more about isolved Visit the isolved website to learn more Learn more about isolved People Heroes Community here

Episodes

HR Can’t Be Strategic While Doing Everything. Tony Buffum Says Build the Ecosystem | SHRM ‘26

September 30, 2026 • 11 mins
The fastest way for HR to become more strategic may be to stop trying to do everything itself. HR leaders are buried in administration while organizations demand more strategic partnership, technology adoption, change management, and employee leadership. Tony Buffum argues that the answer isn’t building bigger HR kingdoms. It’s building an ecosystem of external partners who can take work off the team’s plate. In...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Your Org Chart Is Already Outdated. Tom McCarty on What AI Changes | SHRM ‘26

September 29, 2026 • 11 mins
If your org chart is built from yesterday’s data, your workforce plan may already be wrong. Most companies still treat the org chart, workforce planning, position management, and organizational data as static paperwork. Tom McCarty argues that approach breaks down almost immediately because organizations change every day. AI adds another layer: agents and agentic work now need to be considered alongside people when companies...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

AI Gives HR Time Back. Todd Bertsch Says Don’t Waste It | SHRM ‘26

September 25, 2026 • 16 mins
The real opportunity with AI isn’t doing more work. It’s giving HR the time to become more human again. AI can automate the questions, paperwork, and repetitive tasks that keep HR buried. But human connection, leadership, empathy, listening, and difficult conversations are still the work that matters. Todd Bertsch argues that AI’s biggest HR benefit may not be productivity at all. It may be giving people their ti...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

AI Is Exposing HR’s Messy Data. Susan Richards on Why Compliance Is Suddenly Everywhere | SHRM ‘26

September 24, 2026 • 11 mins
AI is forcing HR to confront the data, systems, and compliance problems that manual work used to hide. HR technology has spent years patching problems together with disconnected systems, spreadsheets, and human intervention. Now AI, compliance, risk, data quality, and HR technology are forcing those problems into the open. Susan Richards says the pressure is no longer just about adopting new technology. It is about whether the und...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

HR Fundamentals Still Matter in the AI Era. Steve Safier Explains Why | SHRM ‘26

September 24, 2026 • 17 mins
AI can accelerate HR work, but without strong fundamentals, the technology only makes bad thinking faster. AI is changing how HR gets work done, but strategy, fundamentals, judgment, and human capital expertise still matter. Steve Safier argues that HR professionals need to understand the underlying discipline before reaching for AI, while also connecting recruiting, engagement, learning, performance, and culture into one coherent...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

HR Keeps Putting People in Boxes. Steve Browne Says It’s Time to Let Talent Expand | SHRM ‘26

September 21, 2026 • 9 mins
HR says it’s about people, but too often the system measures limitations instead of creating room for people to do more. What if HR’s biggest mistake is measuring what people can’t do instead of expanding what they can? Steve Browne argues that too much HR still relies on rules, rigid roles, and hierarchies that box people in. His alternative is simple: strengthen people’s talents, connect the dots, and bui...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

The Hardest Part of HR Is Getting Leaders to Act. Stephen Explains Why | SHRM ‘26

September 21, 2026 • 8 mins
The hardest part of HR isn’t spotting the problem, it’s getting leaders to act before the problem reaches the frontline. A change can be backed by data, obvious to the people closest to the work, and still go nowhere. For HR Business Partner Stephen Richardson, the real challenge is turning insight into action while helping employees absorb culture change, system change, engagement, and organizational change without ma...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

HR Tech Has a Listening Problem. Sarah White Says Buyers Are Done With the Noise | SHRM ‘26

September 19, 2026 • 16 mins
HR buyers don’t need more features, they need vendors to actually listen, simplify, and build what people will use. There are 580+ vendors on the floor, yet buyers are still struggling to find software that makes sense. Sarah White argues the problem isn’t a lack of innovation. It’s a failure to listen. Product strategy, customer feedback, UX, design partners, and market clarity all break down when vendors build ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Your Leadership Team Makes Million-Dollar Decisions. Lorne Epstein Explains What Matters | SHRM ‘26

September 19, 2026 • 10 mins
In a world moving faster by the minute, decision-making has become a leadership skill you can’t afford to leave to instinct. Leadership teams make decisions worth millions, yet most organizations have no real way to understand how those teams make decisions under pressure. Cognitive flexibility, risk appetite, ambiguity tolerance, and team chemistry matter more when the ground keeps moving. In this episode… Lorne Eps...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

AI Should Make HR More Human. Noah Mithrush Explains What Comes Next | SHRM ‘26

September 19, 2026 • 22 mins
AI is moving into HR fast, but the real question is whether it gives people more time to be human. AI is changing HR’s job description. Frontline workers make up about 80% of the global workforce, yet they’re often left out of strategy. At the same time, HR teams are buried in tactical work while AI, automation, agents, security, compliance, and employee expectations keep accelerating. In this episode… Noah Mit...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

AI Is Changing HR. Lois Gordon Says Don’t Forget the Humans | SHRM ‘26

September 19, 2026 • 12 mins
The technology is moving fast, but the bigger HR challenge is preparing people for what comes next. HR has spent years talking about becoming more strategic. Now AI is accelerating that shift, but it also raises a harder question: what happens to the people whose work is changing? AI, workforce transformation, employee communication, compliance, and business partnership are becoming one conversation. In this episode… Lois ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Promoting Great Workers Into Management Is Failing. Lisa Perez Says Here’s Why | SHRM ‘26

September 10, 2026 • 9 mins
Your best individual contributor can become your worst manager when nobody teaches them how to lead people. The biggest management mistake may happen before someone even gets the job. Organizations promote high performers into leadership, then expect people skills to magically appear. The result is weak management, frustrated teams, and missed potential. Leadership training, people skills, internal mobility, and manager developmen...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Going Global Is Easy. Staying Compliant Isn’t. Lisa Explains the Gap | SHRM ‘26

September 9, 2026 • 9 mins
Hiring internationally sounds simple until the laws, compliance, payroll, and local requirements start piling up. Safeguard Global helps companies expand internationally, stay compliant, hire globally, and manage HR without having to build everything from scratch in every new market. With operations across 187 countries and a network of more than 400 local in-market experts, the goal is to make global expansion less risky and more...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Neurodiversity Could Be Your Productivity Advantage. Lee Explains Why | SHRM '26

September 7, 2026 • 9 mins
Companies keep asking how to manage neurodivergent employees. The better question may be whether they know how to communicate with them. Lee Judson’s work is about neurodiversity, communication, onboarding, management, and workplace productivity. Her research points to a striking business case: companies with neurodiverse teams can see 30% more productivity and higher ROI. In this episode… Lee explains why different ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

HR Is Running on Empty. John Says It’s Time to Refuel | SHRM '26

September 7, 2026 • 18 mins
You can’t keep pouring into everyone else when your own tank is empty. John Bernatovicz gets blunt about burnout, self-care, emotional safety, and what it really means to transform how people feel at work. For HR professionals, “How are you doing?” should mean more than “I’m good, bro.” This conversation gets into authenticity, productive safety, listening without trying to fix everything, and c...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Your Employees’ Money Problems Follow Them to Work. Kyle Has a Fix | SHRM '26

September 7, 2026 • 11 mins
Financial stress doesn’t clock out when employees walk into the office. It follows them in, drains their focus, and can keep them from bringing their whole self to work. Kashable is tackling that problem by combining low-cost credit, financial coaching, budgeting, and financial wellness into an employee benefit. The bigger idea is simple: give people both a safety net for emergencies and the education to build stronger finan...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

AI Isn’t Just a Tool Anymore. Joey Thinks It’s Becoming Your Coworker | SHRM ‘26

September 2, 2026 • 16 mins
HR has moved past asking, “What is AI?” Now the question is, “What problem can it actually solve?” Joey Price sees the conversation shifting from AI hype to real use cases, smarter questions, and technology that can produce meaningful work. AI coworkers, AI agents, digital employees, HR tech, workforce transformation. The bigger shift is how we think about the technology itself. When AI can hold a conversat...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Your Employees Are Burning Out. Jocelyn says HR Needs to Start Listening | SHRM '26

August 31, 2026 • 15 mins
Companies keep asking employees to do more with less, then wonder why engagement drops. Jocelyn King says burnout isn't just about workload. It's what happens when people become overwhelmed, disengage, and eventually decide they're done. Burnout, employee engagement, listening strategies, remote work, employee experience, workplace culture. The challenge is understanding what employees are actually experiencing without crossing pe...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

HR Is an Impossible Job. Jennifer Says That's Exactly Why It Matters | SHRM ‘26

August 28, 2026 • 36 mins
HR doesn't have a finish line. Employees change, work changes, technology changes, and expectations keep moving. Jennifer McClure argues that HR isn't supposed to "solve" the workplace once and walk away. The job is to keep adapting, keep learning, and help people thrive. Agility, AI, people strategy, employee experience, leadership, workforce transformation. Jennifer sees HR as one of the most important functions in the organizat...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

HR Just Got a Lot More High-Tech. Jan Mack Tells Us What Comes Next | SHRM '26

August 27, 2026 • 20 mins
For 1,500 employees, payroll used to take Community Living Concepts three weeks. Today, it takes 48 hours. Jan Mack says the bigger win isn't just speed. It's giving HR teams their time back so they can focus on people instead of paperwork. AI, employee engagement, payroll, learning, compliance, workforce capital management. Jan's experience shows what happens when HR technology stops being back-office software and starts changing...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    Stuff You Should Know

    Stuff You Should Know

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    Crime Junkie

    Crime Junkie

    Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.

    Dateline NBC

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    The Breakfast Club

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

Explore

iHeart

Live Radio

Podcasts

Artist Radio

Exclusives

News

Features

Events

Contests

Photos

Information

About

Advertise

Blog

Brand Guidelines

Contest Guidelines

Subscription Offers

Jobs

Get the App

Automotive

Home

Wearables

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.

  • Help
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • AdChoicesAd Choices