Workplace Champions

Ep 27: Why Hiring Could be a GPT Sweet Spot

Brett & Jack discuss how the hiring function is expected to become the sweet spot for Chat GPT and other AI offerings as the technology emerges as a powerful tool for finding and qualifying talent for organizations. This episode features the workforce insights and commentary of CFO Jonathan Carr of Armis, CFO Céline Dufétel of Checkout.com, and CFO Dan Fletcher of Planful.

Ep 26: The Year of HR Slogans

Brett and Jack discuss the social application Workplace by Meta, and how social media continues to play an important role in human capital communications. Meanwhile, the different finance leaders share their insights on talent recruitment, retention strategies, and the increasing use of AI in various industries. Knowles emphasizes the importance of clear communication and the potential impact of AI and machine learning on accounting functions. Overall, the episode highlights the evolving rol...

Ep 25: The Chatbot Chill: Why Business Will Be Anything But Usual

Our resident thought leader Brett Knowles explains how artificial intelligence is already being used to predict employee turnover, job satisfaction, and other key metrics, allowing managers to take proactive steps to improve employee engagement and retention. Brett & Jack discuss how AI-powered performance management systems are already tracking employee performance and are providing feedback and guidance to help employees improve. This episode features the workforce insights and comment...

Ep. 24: Managers admit to “quiet firing”

Brett & Jack discuss what might be a popular response to employees "quiet quitting" or what among managers has been dubbed "quiet firing" - the withdrawal of coaching, support and career development to an employee, which results in pushing the employee out of an organization. This episode’s featured Workplace Champions share their different perspectives on how to manage their organization’s talent as a collective unit. Brett believes that human capital pain points are challenging finance l...

Ep 23: The Friday Elon Slept Late

Brett & Jack discuss the workforce rantings of Elon Musk and the new Twitter owner's November 16th deadline for employees to decide whether to leave or stay. Is Musk's leadership style solely responsible for the turmoil at Twitter or are there other contributing factors? This episode's featured Workplace Champions expose how leaders seek to optimize work environments to empower people to do their best work. While Jack views the talent mind set of each of the three featured finance leaders ...

Ep 22: Hires, Fires and a Stable Economy | A Workplace Champions Episode

Brett & Jack discuss how hiring challenges have led certain organizations to be more tolerant of poor employee behaviors – a development that could be putting growing numbers of businesses at risk. Meanwhile, Brett points out that new hires continue to fetch bigger salaries creating an imbalance with existing employee salaries. Also, performance is not driven by talent alone. Brett says product issues are sometimes thought to be talent issues leading management to put in motion a string of m...

Ep 21: The Employee Value Proposition

Brett & Jack discuss why organizations must have a value proposition for their employees.  This episode each of our featured Workplace Champions gives us different perspectives on what they've done to help attract human capital to their organizations. Again, the question management teams need to be asking:  What's the value proposition that will help us attract the best talent? This episode features the workforce insights and commentary of CFO Claire Bramley of Teradata, CFO Rajesh Gupta of ...

Ep:20: Keeping Leadership in Step with Workforce Priorities

Brett & Jack discuss how the economy's is sending the hiring environment mixed signals and how the inefficiencies of the recruitment function continue to be a drag on industry aspirations for building a more productive workforce. This episode features the workforce insights and commentary of CFO Adam Swiecicki of Brex, CFO Manish Sarin of Sprinklr, CFO Jason Keen of Mills Nebraska, and CFO Komal Misra of Starry

Ep 19: It's About the Team

Brett & Jack discuss how employee teams may hold the key to improving employee morale and retention, and why the growing popularity of remote hiring is likely to lead many more managers to leverage the powers behind objectives and key results (OKRs). Featuring the commentary and insights of workplace champions CFO Ryan Van Hatten of Prophix, CFO Danielle Murcray of Attack IQ, CFO Ryan Gwillim of Brunswick Corporation, and CFO David Barnes of Trimble.

Ep 18: The Hard Truth About Retention

Brett & Jack discuss how growing numbers of businesses are facing an employee retention crisis as they battle escalating workforce attrition and struggle to fill job vacancies. As the crisis grows in certain industries, more finance leaders are sounding the alarm on escalating business risk and dedicating more time to solving the current talent equation. Featuring the commentary and insights of workplace champions CFO Efrain Rivera of Paychex, CFO Anisha Sood of First Choice Health, CFO Wi...

Ep 17: Employers Dropping Degree Demands

Brett & Jack discuss why a 4-year degree isn’t quite the job requirement it used to be and how finance leaders are reworking their company’s talent equation. Featuring the commentary and insights of workplace champions CFO Brandon Maultasch of Moloco, CFO Steve Vintz of Tenable and CFO Kent Kelley of Unanet.

Ep 16: Hiring for Hypergrowth

Brett & Jack discuss how finance leaders of high growth firm’s are becoming increasingly focused on the ebb and flow of their firm’s talent pipelines. Featuring the commentary and insights of workplace champions CFO Gina Mastantuono of ServiceNow, CFO Josh Siegel of CyberArk and CFO Sarah Spoja of Tipalti.

Ep 15: Employee Engagement & the Less Social World

Brett & Jack discuss how learning and development is one of five key elements of employee engagement - and explore reasons why L&D too often gets overlooked. Featuring the commentary and insights of workplace champions CFO Dave Bernhardt of SentinelOne, CFO Joan Hilson of Signet Jewelers and CFO Herald Chen of Applovin.

Ep 14: When HR Becomes a Borderless Function

Brett and Jack discuss how the leadership narrative benefits hiring, and why department hiring budgets may someday soon be replaced. Featuring the commentary and insights of workplace champions CFO Cassandra Hudson of EngageSmart, CFO Nitesh Sharan of Soundhound and CFO Michael High of Shell’s Deep Water Gulf of Mexico.

Ep 13: Hiring is The Beginning of Your Go-To-Market Funnel

Brett and Jack weigh-in on Zoom firing squads, the move to hybrid workplaces and hiring’s enormous impact on your company’s funnel. Featuring the commentary and insights of workplace champions CFO Jim Morgan of CallRail, CFO Amol Chaubal of Waters Corporation and CFO Justin Judd of BambooHR.

Ep 12: Making Salary a Competitive Advantage

Brett and Jack discuss the move by Amazon and other companies to pay employees daily will trigger new approaches in salary administration. Plus, more developments in the age of the "great resignation."  Featuring the commentary and insights of workplace champions CEO Craig O'Neill of Versapay, CFO Michael Rosen of Digital Power Marketing, CFO Kurt Shintaffer of Apptio.

Ep 11: HR by the Numbers

Brett and Jack discuss the marriage of fintech and human capital management, and the of the growing mandate for employee success.  Featuring the commentary and insights of workplace champions CFO Sameer Ralhan of the Chemours Company, CFO Robert Alvarez of Big Commerce, CFO Laurence Capone of Pipedrive.

Ep 10: Where Corporate Culture Trumps Exec Comp

Brett and Jack discuss the highs and lows of executive compensation, and  why corporate culture may trump all.  Featuring the commentary and insights of workplace champions CFO Gregg Clevenger of LiveVox, CFO Charles Freund of  FLEETCOR and CFO Jill Klindt of Workiva.     Read More

Ep 10: Where Corporate Culture Trumps Exec Comp

Brett and Jack discuss the highs and lows of executive compensation, and  why corporate culture may trump all.  Featuring the commentary and insights of workplace champions CFO Gregg Clevenger of LiveVox, CFO Charles Freund of  FLEETCOR and CFO Jill Klindt of Workiva.     Read More

Ep 9: When the Mission Matters

Brett and Jack talk the power of the mission, the CEO return-to-work agenda and covid’s delta variant backlash.  Featuring the commentary and insights of workplace champions CFO Beth Clymer of Jobcase, CFO Todd McElhatton of Zuora and CFO Scott Dussault of Workhuman.

Ep 8: Building a More Inclusive Culture

Prahanth Mahendra-Rajah, CFO, Analog Devices Maria Manrique, CFO, O’Reilly Media Ian Charles, CFO, Flexe Scott McFalane, CEO, Avalara

Ep 7: Culture & Competencies

Featuring the Workplace Champions CFO Harmit Singh of Levi Strauss &Co. CFO Mark Shifke, of Billtrust CFO Bill Kelley of Treehouse Foods     Read More

Ep 6: Trust & the Individual

Featuring the Workplace Champions CFO Arleen Paladino of Crum & Forster CFO Guy Blanchard of Aerofarms CFO Mike Rasic of Synapse CFO Ross Tennenbaum of Avalara

Ep 5: Greetings From the Post Covid World

This Episode Features Human Capital Insights & Commentary from: Tom Berquist, CFO, TIBCO, Terry Coelho,CFO BioDelivery Sciences , Kevin Ingram,CFO, FM Global, Robert Linder, CFO, Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar The Workplace Champions Podcast explores the innovative workforce practices of talent-minded business leaders tasked with opening a new chapter of growth for their midsize organizations. More keenly aware of the competitive price of employee burnout and workforce attrition — man...

Ep 4: For the Luv of Dictators, Marching in Step with OKRs

This Episode Features Human Capital Insights & Commentary from: Dynshaw Italia, CFO, Soldo Brad Kinnish, CFO, Aryaka Will Bondurant, CFO, Castlight Health The Workplace Champions Podcast explores the innovative workforce practices of talent-minded business leaders tasked with opening a new chapter of growth for their midsize organizations. More keenly aware of the competitive price of employee burnout and workforce attrition — many midsize companies are today busy rethinking how t...

Ep 3: When Purpose Eases Workforce Stress | Four CFOs Tap the Powers of Purpose

This Episode Features Human Capital Insights & Commentary from: Chad Cohen, CFO, Adaptive Biotechnologies Tom Tuchscherer, CFO, TripActions Deborah Ricci, CFO, Guidehouse Dan Stokely, CFO, Ampio Pharamceuticals More keenly aware of the competitive price of employee burnout and workforce attrition — many midsize companies are today busy rethinking how they attract, hire and inspire employees. The Workplace Champions Podcast explores the innovative workforce practices of talent-min...

When Purpose Eases Workforce Stress | Four CFOs Tap the Powers of Purpose

In Search of a Culture Metric | Four CFOs Measure What Matters

  "Talent has become really important, and you have to remain constantly focused on it—today, I spend around 20% of my time on it." - Ross Tennenbaum, CFO, Avalara CFOTL: What are your priorities for the coming year? Tennenbaum: One is building out our finance and accounting talent to take us to a billion dollars’ worth of revenue and beyond. We’re at close to half a billion of revenue, and we’re looking to go well beyond that. You really need the talent that has experienced a larger s...

Ep 2: In Search of a Culture Metric | Four CFOs Measure What Matters

This Episode Features Human Capital Insights & Commentary from: Ross Tennenbaum, CFO, Avalara Kieran McGrath, CFO, Avaya Drew Vollero, CFO, Allied Universal Sandra Harris, CFO Tupperware Brands     More keenly aware of the competitive price of employee burnout and workforce attrition — many midsize companies are today busy rethinking how they attract, hire and inspire employees. The Workplace Champions Podcast explores the innovative workforce practices of talent-minded busin...

Ep1 S2: COVID Keeps People Top of Mind Among Business Leaders

COVID Keeps People Top of Mind Among Business Leaders

More keenly aware of the competitive price of employee burnout and workforce attrition — many midsize companies are today busy rethinking how they attract, hire and inspire employees. The Workplace Champions Podcast explores the innovative workforce practices of talent-minded business leaders tasked with opening a new chapter of growth for their midsize organizations.

Ep 1: COVID Keeps People Top of Mind Among Business Leaders

This Episode Features Human Capital Insights & Commentary from: Michelle McComb, CFO, Bluecore Brian Whalen, CFO, Branch Markus Harder, CFO, Contentful More keenly aware of the competitive price of employee burnout and workforce attrition — many midsize companies are today busy rethinking how they attract, hire and inspire employees. The Workplace Champions Podcast explores the innovative workforce practices of talent-minded business leaders tasked with opening a new chapter of grow...

Season Two | Welcome

More keenly aware of the competitive price of employee burnout and workforce attrition — many midsize companies are today busy rethinking how they attract, hire and inspire employees. The Workplace Champions Podcast explores the innovative workforce practices of talent-minded business leaders tasked with opening a new chapter of growth for their midsize organizations.  

30: Building a Collaborative Team | Mike DeCata, CEO, Lawson Products

More keenly aware of the competitive price of employee burnout and workforce attrition — many midsize companies are today busy rethinking how they attract, hire and inspire employees. The Workplace Champions Podcast explores the innovative workforce practices of talent-minded business leaders tasked with opening a new chapter of growth for their midsize organizations.

031: Building a Collaborative Team | Mike DeCata, CEO, Lawson Products

More keenly aware of the competitive price of employee burnout and workforce attrition — many midsize companies are today busy rethinking how they attract, hire and inspire employees. The Workplace Champions Podcast explores the innovative workforce practices of talent-minded business leaders tasked with opening a new chapter of growth for their midsize organizations.

030: Wiring Your Workforce for Real-time Strategic Data | Guardian Pharmacy

029: Mike Walters, CEO, USA, Financial (Bonus Summer Episode)

Join us when Mike Walters, CEO of USA Financial, explains how a loyal network of financial advisers and new technology adoption -- and some solid hiring -- is helping the Grand Rapids, Michigan, financial company to open a new chapter of grow

029: Mike Walters, CEO, USA Financial

Join us when Mike Walters, CEO of USA Financial, explains how a loyal network of financial advisers and new technology adoption -- and some solid hiring -- is helping the Grand Rapids, Michigan, financial company to open a new chapter of grow

028: The Culture Integration Challenge| Nicole Latimer, CEO, StayWell

027: Culture-Building & The CFO

027: Culture-Building & The CFO

026: Silicon Valley Smarts, Midwestern Culture | Dave Kellogg, CEO, Host Analytics

025: Why Hiring Must Come First | Andy McGraw, CEO, Adelman Travel

024: When the Product is Your People | Phil Carpenter, Pan Communications, Boston

   “Sometimes we’ll be competing against very large agencies that are global in nature—so they’ve got offices in New York and in Hong Kong and in Munich. At other times, we’ll be playing against a specialty firm that operates out of maybe just one geography, like San Francisco or New York, and operates only in one sector, like tech. So it’s for us both interesting and hard because we sit in the middle. We have good ways to compare ourselves against the smaller firms and to position ourselv...

023: Behold the Employee Experience | Mathew Schiltz, CEO, Conga, Broomfield, CO

022: When Hiring & Culture Are One | Ray Rothrock, CEO, Redseal, Sunnyvale, CA

The Talent Transformation | Seven Corners, Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis, Indiana—As companies grow and advance beyond their entrepreneurial roots, talent often becomes a major growth hurdle. To meet the demands of an expanding workforce, firms must steadily enhance their talent best practices. Join us when Justin Tysdal, Cofounder, Seven Corners, explains how talent became the primary path for opening a new chapter of growth for the international travel insurance firm. Guest: Justin Tysdal, Cofounder, Chief Strategy Officer Company: Seven Corner...

021: A Workforce Pilgrim's Progress | Glenn Nott, President, simPRO, NA, Broomfield, CO

020: When Scale & AI Become Part of the Talent Solution | Risk Strategies Company, Boston

Having grown to 38 offices and more than 900 employees, Risk Strategies Company has entered the ranks of leading national insurance brokers with a strut that signals an appetite for M&A. Join us when the firm’s founder and CEO, Mike Christian, explains how acquiring companies in key markets, with key business practice areas, has made the firm a discriminating buyer inside an industry known for its frequent waves of consolidation.

019: Incentives For All | Power Financial Credit Union, Miami, FL