Épisodes

  • HR We Have A Problem: Throwback Thursday: Teri Zipper & Melissa Reeve on Becoming Hyper-Adaptive

    HR We Have A Problem: Throwback Thursday: Teri Zipper & Melissa Reeve on Becoming Hyper-Adaptive
    Oct 22 2026
    Throwback Thursday: We’re revisiting one of our favorite conversations from HR, We Have a Problem. Teri Zipper talks with Melissa Reeve, creator of the Hyper-Adaptive Model and author of Hyper-Adaptive: Rewiring the Enterprise to Become AI Native, about why successful AI integration means spending 70% of the effort on people and only 30% on technology. They discuss how jobs will be deconstructed and reassembled as AI automates tasks, why every organization needs an “AI North Star,” and the structures companies need to build to support the shift. Her message is even more timely today. Key points covered include: ↪️ An “AI North Star” gives employees a clear, compelling business goal, so they understand why the organization is adopting AI and how their roles connect to that mission. ↪️ AI activation hubs and councils give AI leads programmatic support, building networks that spread learning and get relevant information to the frontlines quickly as new capabilities emerge. ↪️ Protected time and safe spaces let employees explore AI through their own curiosity. One example is “prompting parties,” where teams compare approaches and discover what’s possible together. ↪️ Empathy mapping helps identify the tasks employees dislike, like bug chasing, testing, and invoice processing. Showing how AI can handle those tasks shifts the mindset from fear of job replacement to capability enhancement. Whether you missed it the first time or you’re ready for a refresher, this thought leader conversation is worth another listen!
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    36 min
  • Spilling The Tea on HR Tech- SAP Buys TechWolf, UKG Opens to Claude and ChatGPT, and the Hidden Cost of AI Shortcuts

    Spilling The Tea on HR Tech- SAP Buys TechWolf, UKG Opens to Claude and ChatGPT, and the Hidden Cost of AI Shortcuts
    Oct 15 2026
    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.
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    1 h et 22 min
  • The Pivot Effect: Leading with Faith, Kindness, and Community: Denise Melton's Path to House of Hope

    The Pivot Effect: Leading with Faith, Kindness, and Community: Denise Melton's Path to House of Hope
    Oct 8 2026
    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.
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    41 min
  • Spilling The Tea on HR Tech- $300M+ in HR Tech Deals, a SHRM Rebrand and the AI Reality Check

    Spilling The Tea on HR Tech- $300M+ in HR Tech Deals, a SHRM Rebrand and the AI Reality Check
    Oct 1 2026
    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.
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    1 h et 20 min
  • HR We Have A Problem: Hallway Truths from NAPEO 2026: The Real State of PEOs

    HR We Have A Problem: Hallway Truths from NAPEO 2026: The Real State of PEOs
    Sep 24 2026
    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.
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    33 min
  • Spilling The Tea On HR Tech: Salesforce Bets Big on HiBob, AI Agents Break Their Own Guardrails, and More HR Tech News

    Spilling The Tea On HR Tech: Salesforce Bets Big on HiBob, AI Agents Break Their Own Guardrails, and More HR Tech News
    Sep 17 2026
    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.”
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    1 h et 6 min
  • The Pivot Effect: From theater, to seminary to corporate boardrooms, Communication is the common thread in Peter Novak's pivots

    The Pivot Effect: From theater, to seminary to corporate boardrooms, Communication is the common thread in Peter Novak's pivots
    Sep 10 2026
    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.
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    36 min
  • HR We Have A Problem- Igniting Employee Engagement: A Conversation with Mental Fitness Coach Todd Bertsch

    HR We Have A Problem- Igniting Employee Engagement: A Conversation with Mental Fitness Coach Todd Bertsch
    Sep 8 2026
    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.
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    38 min