HR Happy Hour Network

When AI Changes How Experience Is Built: Trust, Data, and the Future of Work
Host: Trish Steed
Guest: Michele Bodda, Group President, Experian Housing, Verification Solutions and Employer Services at Experian Employer Services

Summary
On this episode of the HR Happy Hour, Trish Steed is joined by Michele Bodda of Experian Employer Services to explore how Experian is approaching some of the most consequential moments connecting employers, employees, consumers, and financial institutions. Michele shares how her nearly three decades at Experian have shaped her perspective on leadership, innovation, and the importance of staying curious throughout a career. She also explains why Experian entered the employer services market and how the company’s experience managing sensitive information and high-trust interactions translates into HR compliance, employment and income verification, tax credit management, and other employer services.
The conversation also explores Experian’s expanded relationship with Workday, which adds more than 15 million payroll records from Workday’s network to Experian Verify and supports Experian’s continued expansion of its income and employment verification network. But the discussion goes well beyond technology and data.
Michele and Trish examine what happens as AI and automation become embedded in processes once driven primarily by human expertise. As technology produces more insight and handles more routine work, organizations will have to think differently about how people—particularly those early in their careers—develop the knowledge, judgment, and experience needed to act on those insights.
Throughout the conversation, one theme remains constant: trust. Whether someone is applying for a job, renting a home, securing a mortgage, or navigating an employment relationship, accurate, secure, and reliable information can have an enormous impact on the outcome.

Topics include:
The connection between employment verification, compliance, tax credits, and the broader employee experience
How Experian’s expanded Workday relationship strengthens its verification network
Why every employment or income verification represents a meaningful moment in someone’s life
How reliable data becomes even more important as organizations increase their use of AI
The challenge organizations face in deciding what comes next in their AI and technology journeys
Why developing human judgment and experience may become one of the most important workforce issues of the next several years
How trusted partners can help HR teams manage complex compliance requirements while keeping their focus on employees

Thank you for joining the show today! Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!

Employees recognized for milestones are three times more likely to believe their company actually cares about them. Three times. So why are companies so bad at it? The stale bagels. The branded swag. The audacity.
Workhuman believes milestones deserve their moment. A space for the people who know you best — your actual work circle — to reflect on your journey, your wins, your impact. The inside jokes. The big moments. All of it.
It's called Service Milestones. AI finds the right people. Automation handles the rest. And employees choose their own reward — from millions of options, curated just for them.
Milestone like you mean it with Workhuman, a proud supporter of the HR Happy Hour Podcast. Find out more at workhuman.com.

The "Spooky" Side of Small Business Culture: Fixing Hidden Ghosts and Silos Before Year-End
Host: Sabrina Baker

Summary
Cultural breakdowns in small businesses rarely start with a dramatic, headline-making crisis. They start as quiet friction points in the dark—ghosted feedback, zombie policies, and department silos—that everyone senses but nobody talks about out loud. Because of the close proximity in small businesses (1–500 employees), these "cultural ghosts" ripple through the workforce fast, eroding trust and setting up a wave of January resignations.
In this episode of HR Connection, Sabrina Baker breaks down why small business leaders often default to silence and confrontation avoidance, sharing a jaw-dropping real client story of how conflict avoidance can backfire. Learn how to use neutral third-party focus groups, run quick 3-question pulse surveys, audit outdated handbook policies, and equip managers with feedback frameworks like COIN and Start/Stop/Continue to fix culture issues before year-end.

Topics include:
Introduction: The "Spooky" Cultural Monsters
Why Halloween is the perfect metaphor for small business culture. Unpacking the three big monsters lurking in small companies: Ghosted Feedback Loops, Zombie Policies, and Silo Vampires.
SECTION 1: Communication & Confrontation AvoidanceWhy small business leaders default to silence when news is uncertain or bad, and how information vacuums breed worst-case assumptions. Plus, a real-life cautionary client story about a demotion announced live during an all-hands meeting.
SECTION 2: The Top 3 Focus Group ComplaintsUnpacking the three most common complaints heard during employee focus groups: constant changing of direction without context, uneven manager information cascading, and highly unrealistic expectations around scope and timeframe.
SECTION 3: Survey Methodology & Third-Party TrustWhy small businesses are never too small for surveys, why employees open up to third-party facilitators faster than internal HR, and the 3 go-to pulse survey questions every small business should ask.
SECTION 4: Zombie Policies & Departmental SilosHow to spot outdated handbook rules (from fax machine policies to punitive sick leave notes) and why Sales and Finance are the most severely siloed departments in small operations.
SECTION 5: Tactical Manager Frameworks & Stay InterviewsStep-by-step coaching tools for managers: Using the COIN method (Context, Observation, Impact, Next Steps) and Start/Stop/Continue for feedback, plus 3 critical Stay Interview questions to ask in November.
SECTION 6: Actionable Homework & Wrap-UpA 3-step action plan to conduct a cultural ghost hunt in your organization before the holiday slowdown.


Thank you for joining the show today! Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!

Workhuman is a proud supporter of the HR Happy Hour Network.
Here’s a wild stat: 6 in 10 employees have never been meaningfully recognized for a work anniversary. Think about that. Five, 10, 20 years of someone’s life — and too often, the moment falls flat. Workhuman’s Service Milestones® makes recognition more personal, memorable, and impactful. Milestone tracking happens automatically through your HRIS, the right colleagues are inspired to share stories and congratulations, and employees get access to rewards they actually want.
Ready to make your milestones meet the moment with Workhuman? Click the banner on this episode’s page or follow the link in the show notes to learn more.

AI for Frontline Workers: Creating a Better Employee Experience
Hosts: Steve Boese
Guest: Gretchen Alarcon, GVP/GM of HCM and Payroll at UKG

Summary
On this episode of the HR Happy Hour, Steve Boese is joined by Gretchen Alarcon to explore how AI can help organizations create a better experience for frontline workers while also helping managers make smarter workforce decisions.
Gretchen shares how UKG is approaching AI from both sides of the employee experience. For workers, that can mean making everyday tasks—like requesting time off, understanding a paycheck, accessing support, or navigating a leave of absence—faster and easier. For managers, AI can bring together information about skills, availability, overtime, scheduling, and workforce needs to help them make more informed decisions.
The conversation also looks at the connection between schedule stability, skills, pay, and retention. For frontline employees, knowing when they will work and what they will earn matters. AI can help organizations create schedules that meet operational needs while considering the people behind those schedules. It can also connect employees with training and certifications that may lead to additional hours, greater earning potential, and new opportunities.
Steve and Gretchen also discuss the role employers can play in supporting financial wellness, including greater pay transparency, earned wage access, and helping employees better understand the resources available to them.
As organizations prepare for 2027, Gretchen offers a simple framework for thinking about the frontline workforce: find them, enable them, and keep them. That means finding people with the right skills, continuously developing the workforce with accessible learning, and creating an experience that gives employees the clarity and support they need to stay.

Topics include:
How AI can simplify everyday HR interactions for frontline employees
Why schedule stability can have a direct impact on employee retention
Connecting skills and certifications to hours, pay, and career opportunities
Financial wellness and support for employees living paycheck to paycheck
Preparing frontline employees for an AI-enabled workplace
How leaders should think about finding, enabling, and retaining frontline talent in 2027


Thank you for joining the show today! Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!

Workhuman is a proud supporter of the HR Happy Hour Network.
Here’s a wild stat: 6 in 10 employees have never been meaningfully recognized for a work anniversary. Think about that. Five, 10, 20 years of someone’s life — and too often, the moment falls flat. Workhuman’s Service Milestones® makes recognition more personal, memorable, and impactful. Milestone tracking happens automatically through your HRIS, the right colleagues are inspired to share stories and congratulations, and employees get access to rewards they actually want.
Ready to make your milestones meet the moment with Workhuman? Click the banner on this episode’s page or follow the link in the show notes to learn more.

Making Change Stick: How HR Leaders Build Trust, Alignment, and Adoption
Hosts: Mervyn Dinnen
Guest: Amanda Arrowsmith, Executive Director of People and Culture at the Royal British Legion

Summary
In this episode of HR Means Business, Mervyn is joined by Amanda Arrowsmith to explore what it takes to lead meaningful organizational change.
Amanda shares why successful transformation starts by connecting every initiative back to organizational purpose and strategy. She also explains why organizations sometimes need to do less, slow down, and create stronger foundations before moving forward. Rather than measuring success simply by whether a project launches on schedule, leaders need to consider whether people can actually adopt the change and whether it improves how work gets done. A major part of that process is the role of managers. Amanda describes managers as the “secret sauce” of successful change because they are the people translating organizational decisions into everyday conversations with employees. Giving managers early information, practical tools, space to ask difficult questions, and a clear understanding of the “why” helps them communicate change in ways that make sense for their individual teams.
The conversation also explores employee voice, change fatigue, resistance, and the importance of allowing employees to make sense of change for themselves rather than telling them how they should feel about it. Amanda explains that leaders need to recognize the potential loss of agency and identity that can accompany even positive changes and create space for people to work through those reactions.

Key Takeaways
Turning long-term organizational strategy into manageable stages of change
Why successful transformation requires prioritization and organizational capacity
Building alignment between strategy, leaders, teams, and everyday work
Creating meaningful employee voice without requiring consensus on every decision
Recognizing and responding to change fatigue and resistance
Measuring change through both business outcomes and employee behavior

Thank you for your continued support of the show and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!

Workhuman is a proud supporter of the HR Happy Hour Network.

Here’s a wild stat: 6 in 10 employees have never been meaningfully recognized for a work anniversary. Think about that. Five, 10, 20 years of someone’s life — and too often, the moment falls flat. Workhuman’s Service Milestones® makes recognition more personal, memorable, and impactful. Milestone tracking happens automatically through your HRIS, the right colleagues are inspired to share stories and congratulations, and employees get access to rewards they actually want.

Ready to make your milestones meet the moment with Workhuman? Click the banner on this episode’s page or follow the link in the show notes to learn more.

Take a Different Seat: What Are We Really Looking for at HR Tech Events?
Host: Chris Havrilla, Podcast Host & Founder of AI Alchemists™
Guests: Joanna Clark and Matthew Brown

Summary
What are you looking for when you walk into an HR technology conference? A new solution? The latest AI announcement? A vendor shortlist? A glimpse at where the market is headed?
In the debut episode of Take a Different Seat, host Chris Havrilla starts with that seemingly simple question and invites two experienced HR technology leaders to examine it from very different seats.
From the buyer perspective to the vendor and customer experience side, the conversation explores what really happens when organizations, technology providers, and practitioners come together at industry events. The answer turns out to have far less to do with collecting product information and much more to do with understanding the problems organizations are actually trying to solve.
The discussion digs into the growing disconnect between buyers and sellers, the pressure to adopt AI, and the danger of applying new technology to processes built for yesterday’s work. Instead of starting with a product or feature list, the group makes the case for starting with the business problem, asking better questions, and staying curious long enough to understand what a solution will actually mean inside a specific organization. As the conversation progresses, another important gap emerges: the difference between what technology looks like in a demo and what it takes to make that technology successful on day one. Buyers may not always know what questions to ask, while providers can easily allow their own talking points to drive the conversation. The challenge for both sides is to move beyond the pitch and get closer to the realities of the work, the organization, and the people who will ultimately use the technology.
And by the end of the episode, the original question has changed. Instead of asking people at the next industry event, “What are you here to see?”, perhaps the better question is: “What do you need to learn more about?”

Topics Include
Why the same HR technology event looks very different depending on the seat you're sitting in
How buyers can move from shopping for solutions to understanding the business problem
Why AI is exposing old processes rather than automatically fixing them
The disconnect between technology demos and the reality of implementation
Why learning, curiosity, and better questions matter more as technology changes faster


Thank you for joining the show today! Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!

Workhuman is a proud supporter of the HR Happy Hour Network.
Here’s a wild stat: 6 in 10 employees have never been meaningfully recognized for a work anniversary. Think about that. Five, 10, 20 years of someone’s life — and too often, the moment falls flat. Workhuman’s Service Milestones® makes recognition more personal, memorable, and impactful. Milestone tracking happens automatically through your HRIS, the right colleagues are inspired to share stories and congratulations, and employees get access to rewards they actually want.
Ready to make your milestones meet the moment with Workhuman? Click the banner on this episode’s page or follow the link in the show notes to learn more.