• What actually needs to change at work for AI to have a true impact?
    Jul 15 2026

    In this special episode of The HR Leader Podcast, produced in partnership with ELMO, we reflect on the workplace shifts that must occur if business use of new technologies can meaningfully transition from experimental to foundational.

    Host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Inventium founder and organisational psychologist Dr Amantha Imber about how Australian workplaces are falling behind global counterparts on AI implementation and therefore failing to have a bigger impact, key findings from ELMO's HR Industry Benchmark Report and what it says about the state of affairs, why adoption isn't translating into impact, why HR needs clear metrics for AI transformations, prioritising outcomes over activity, and how ELMO's AI Maturity Assessment tool can assist workplaces in moving forward.

    To learn more about ELMO, click here.

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    24 mins
  • HR's role in building real confidence and adoption with AI usage
    Jul 13 2026

    In transforming a workplace's behaviours around technology and ultimately productivity and innovation, human resources teams have a real opportunity to partner with business leaders to help staff move out of the experimentation phase and make meaningful impacts.

    In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy welcomes back Publicis Groupe ANZ and APAC chief talent officer Pauly Grant to discuss why such transformation is so essential in the new financial year, the need to explore how best to utilise new technologies and effectively roll them out, how she and Publicis Groupe approached the problem through its PL.AI Ground initiative, the need for community-led, collegiate dialogue around AI usage and implementation, the business's headline lessons and takeaways from its program, the role of HR in such initiatives, overcoming challenges, and what constitutes real confidence and adoption of AI in Australian workplaces.

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    21 mins
  • 'Happy people don't sue'
    Jul 8 2026

    In this special episode of The HR Leader Podcast, produced in partnership with Danny King Legal, we explore the increasing prevalence of employment disputes and how businesses must put culture, care, and communication at the centre of the employee experience.

    Host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Danny King Legal principal Danny King about her passion for employment law, the most common disputes being lodged at the moment, what gives rise to such disputes, avoiding black-and-white approaches to managing staff, building the right kind of culture, employer mistakes when terminating employment, the place for employee benefits, putting in place proper documentation, policies, and processes, and how best to optimise the employee benefits approach as part of broader considerations around workplace experience.

    To learn more about Danny King Legal, click here.

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    29 mins
  • The workplace is not high school
    Jul 6 2026

    Ensuring workers can meaningfully engage with colleagues and understand how best to communicate under pressure is a critical but oft-overlooked skill that HR must be on top of.

    In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with communications and leadership specialist Leah Mether about what constitutes high school-like behaviour or communication at work, how and why it occurs, whether the frequency of such conduct is increasing, the steps that HR must take to ensure professional, mature conduct across the workplace, and how best HR can manage such a priority amid myriad competing priorities in a tech-driven professional landscape.

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    27 mins
  • Building the psychologically safe workplaces that employees want, expect, and demand
    Jul 1 2026

    In this special episode of The HR Leader Podcast, produced in partnership with DLPA, we explore the fundamentals of building workplaces that are psychologically safe, cater to employees' holistic wellness needs, and understand that "if people don't want to be your employee, then the benefits [offered] are pretty meaningless".

    Host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Dynamic Leadership Programs Australia (DLPA) chief executive Karlie Cremin about the work of DLPA across Australian businesses, the difference between proactivity and reactivity in embedding psychosocial risk prevention into everyday work practices, the role of leaders in better managing psychosocial risks, going beyond baseline initiatives, what workers expect from their employers right now, why it "starts with strategy", and how DLPA supports businesses in navigating such matters.

    To learn more about DLPA, click here.

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    23 mins
  • Navigating the implementation of period leave policies
    Jun 30 2026

    With advocates pushing for reproductive health to have its own leave entitlements, businesses and their HR functions must consider both the benefits and trade-offs inherent with the potential introduction of such allowances for workers.

    In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Probiotec Limited chief people officer Annalinde Nickisch about the push from unions and other stakeholders for the National Employment Standards to include leave entitlements for reproductive health, why this push is happening, the existing concerns and unintended consequences of such entitlements, the possibility for unconscious bias, the broader place for gender-based entitlements, how HR can interpret the current state of affairs and advise their workplaces accordingly, and broader best practice for HR on this issue.

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    24 mins
  • Rapid AI adoption, psychosocial risks, and new workplace hazards
    Jun 25 2026

    In this special episode of The HR Leader Podcast, produced in partnership with Dynamic Leadership Programs Australia (DLPA), we explore the new and emerging risks and hazards for workplaces to contend with in times of technological change and what the HR function can do about them.

    Host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with DLPA chief executive Karlie Cremin about AI adoption-inspired psychosocial risks and what HR needs to observe, the extent to which businesses are on top of such issues right now and the need to be proactive, what regulators will be looking for, the nexus between these issues and burnout and overwork, best practice steps for HR and leadership to take, and opportunities for leaders and HR to step up in challenging times.

    To learn more about DLPA, click here.

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    24 mins
  • The shift towards practical work design
    Jun 22 2026

    Redesigning traditional workplace structures to better accommodate idiosyncratic worker needs is nuanced, with no one-size-fits-all solution available. However, in an evolving professional and technological landscape, HR has a real opportunity to make a difference and ensure workers can focus on what truly matters.

    In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with GumGum director of people and culture, Emma Mani,about:

    • Why she loves working with humans.
    • What practical work design means.
    • How certain trends have accelerated in recent years.
    • Lingering issues to be addressed by resigned work practices, and cultural and economic hurdles to overcome.
    • Implementing mindset shifts alongside structural changes.
    • The place for microshifting.
    • How HR can get started in redesigning work practices.
    • Practical steps to take in enacting new measures, and bringing the business along for the ride.
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    25 mins