If you’re like most HR and People Operations leaders today, you’re looking for HR podcasts to quickly absorb new information to make sure you can bring the right tools and strategies to your organization.
In a world where trends fast and furious, and new information comes from every corner, we have to find ways to stay on top of things.
With this list of informative and thought-provoking podcasts, you can take full advantage during your morning routines, lunch breaks, or even while brushing your teeth.
We know that you are looking to be the most successful HR and People Ops professional you can possibly be. And that is why we have compiled a list of the best HR podcasts — including recommendations from influential thought leaders in the industry — to make sure that we are feeding your ambition with the right HR information.
No matter what stage of career you’re in, there’s a little something for everyone on this list. And if we missed anything, let us know! We’re always chatting away on LinkedIn.
Top HR Podcasts, from A to Z
Well, we start with C. But you get the point …
CIPD
Recommended by Carly Kastel, Talent Management Generalist at Midaxo.
Host: CIPD
About: Often referred as the “professional body for HR and people development.” This podcast offers the voice of a worldwide community of members who are committed to championing better work and working lives. Since the series for this podcast began, hundreds of people have taken a turn in the podcast hot seat and CIPD has charted the ebb and flow of an HR profession that’s fast-evolving into an innovative powerhouse.
Favorite episode: “Handling harassment: are you getting it right?“: With scrutiny high and both employees and consumers demanding more transparent business practices, it is essential that HR teams have appropriate policies, processes, and practices in place. Julie Dennis, ACAS, talks about how you can best handle harassment claims and the future of non-disclosure agreements.
Digital HR Leaders
Host: David Green
About: This podcast has an accompanying video series for those who prefer a visual component to their learning. Green speaks with senior HR leaders who are leading the charge toward a more data-driven and digital HR landscape.
Most episodes are around 45 minutes long, allowing Green and guests to delve into a fair amount of detail on the subject at hand. Past topics include collaboration on hybrid teams, employee experience during rapid growth, and strategic workplace planning-as well as case studies on employers like MetLife, H&R Block, Spotify, and more.
Favorite episode: “Creating a Supportive Work Culture by Nurturing Mental Health & Wellbeing”: In this episode, Green interviews Jacqueline Brassey, Chief Scientist and Director of Research for People and Organization Performance at McKinsey and Co. about one of the most important issues in the workplace today. Brassey illustrates how toxic culture impacts employee burnout and offers neuroscience-backed strategies for fostering resilience and confidence.
Drive Thru HR
Host: Mike Van Dervort and Robin Schooling
About: Drive Thru HR is a long-standing podcast that’s been delivering quick and insightful conversations on the latest trends, challenges, and innovations in Human Resources since its inception on February 1, 2010. Hosted by Mike Van Dervort and Robin Schooling, the show focuses on real-world HR issues, providing practical advice and expert perspectives to help professionals navigate the evolving workplace landscape.
Over the years, Drive Thru HR has produced over 1,600 episodes, featuring discussions on a wide array of topics from technology and recruiting to talent management, leadership, and organizational culture. The podcast celebrated its 15th anniversary this year (2025), and you can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and the WRKdefined Podcast Network.
Favorite episode: “Sr. Leaders Reimagined: A New Era with Mark Fogel“: In this episode, Schooling and VanDervort link up with HR consultant Mark Fogel to explore the challenges and opportunities for late-career professionals in HR. They emphasize the importance of continuous learning, networking, and adaptability, and encourage senior HR leaders to continually redefine their value proposition by embracing agility and leveraging their extensive networks.
Getting Personal
Host: Lauren Schneider (yes, that’s me!)
About: Getting Personal with Compt is a show that features individuals dedicated to building a better human experience at work.
Most episodes are 20 minutes long. A wide range of workplace-related topics covered include handling grief in the workplace, the impact of lifestyle benefits, and strategies for recruitment and hiring.
Favorite episode: In this episode, Sabrina Greenwood-Briggs educates us about the philosophy behind meaningful employee benefits and why extra dollars on a paycheck just don’t cut it.
HR Break Room
Host: Caleb Masters and Chelsea Justice, Paycom
About: A podcast from your friends working in Human Resources, dedicated to bringing you interesting break room conversations with experts on the hot topics of HR and HR Technology industries, one cup of coffee at a time. This podcast is designed to inspire you to harness the power of HR technology to empower your people and organization.
Favorite episode: “Challenge the Status Quo: Empowering Women in the Workforce“: This episode explores how leadership development programs can create more diverse and inclusive workplace cultures, with a focus on supporting today’s female top performers.
Featuring Margaret Spence, global business strategist and founder of the Employee to CEO Project, the discussion highlights the benefits of having women in leadership and how HR can play a key role in fostering this change.
HR Confessions
Host: Rebecca Taylor and Kim Rohrer
About: HR Confessions takes a candid and humorous storytelling approach to exploring the dynamics of the modern workplace through the eyes of two seasoned HR founders. The podcast is hosted on Apple Podcasts and SkillCycle, a company which Taylor co-founded.
The podcast covers various topics, including the implications of artificial intelligence in HR, navigating workplace incidents in the age of social media, and transforming toxic work cultures.
Favorite episode: “From Perks to Purpose: How One HR Leader Tripled Employee Retention“: We love this episode because it’s aligned with everything we preach about offering perks at work. Here, Taylor and Rohrer discuss the concept of “HR debt” — the accumulation of redundant tools, unnecessary platforms, and superficial perks that don’t do anything for the employee experience. They share the story of Daniela, a VP of HR who turned around a toxic sales culture with high turnover and six-month tenures by ditching ineffective perks and focusing on career pathing and learning programs to drive meaningful growth.
HRchat Podcast
Host: Bill Banham, HR Gazette
About: A series of interviews with high-profile HR pros and business leaders who help make a difference to the day-to-day lives of Human Resource executives. This 15-25 minute podcast will open your eyes on discussions related to all areas of HR, including Talent Management, HR Tech, Learning and Development, Company Culture, Employment Law, and Business Strategy.
Favorite episode: “Mental Health, Women in Leadership, and Global HR Collective with Matt Burns“: This episode emphasizes the importance of prioritizing mental health in the workplace, along with advancing women’s roles in leadership positions. Matt Burns, founder of Global HR Collective and member of the Forbes Human Resources Council, advocates for HR professionals to develop advocacy programs, support mental health initiatives, and create opportunities for women entrepreneurs.
HR Happy Hour
Host: Steve Boese and Trish McFarlane
About: HR Happy Hour is the longest running and top downloaded HR podcast. It focuses in teaching HR professionals about the most important news and trends on human resources, management, leadership, and workforce technology.
Favorite episode: “DEI Strategy and Leadership Accountability for a Changing Workplace“: Steve was joined by Stacia Sherman (RedThread Research) and Carole Jackson (Mercer) to share insights on the latest HR technology market ecosystem, and the emerging solutions and capabilities to help support programs linked to making organizations more diverse and inclusion. There is also additional advice for HR and business leaders who are thinking about these solutions for the first time.
Recommended by Stacey Jaffe Wachtfogel, Head of People at Gotham Greens
HR Leaders Podcast
Recommended by Neil Williams, Vice President, People & Culture at HealthAxis Group
Host: Christopher Rainey
About: This podcast shows in-depth discussions with senior HR executives and thought leaders who share their journey, experience, insights and lessons learned. Each episode of the podcast explores a new topic and features successful HR leaders from the world’s leading brands. What does the future of work look like? Why is it changing? What are leading organizations doing about it?
Favorite episode: “The Evolution of Leadership Development and Learning“: Join Susie McNamara, VP Global Leadership Development and Learning at Fortive, to discuss the evolution of leadership and development and learning. Listen to learn about the “Employee Happiness Index” and a way to get benchmark insights from the world’s most engaged workplaces.
HR Party of One
Host: BerniePortal
About: HR Party of One is a weekly YouTube series as well as an HR podcast. Each episode is under 15 minutes long, delivering the perfect snack-sized HR content. With topics ranging from emerging trends to evergreen HR FAQs, HR Party of One is a great go-to for early and mid-career HR professionals who only have a few minutes to spare. Loaded with practical advice for tackling HR initiatives like succession planning, payroll audits, and skills-based hiring, HR Party of One is a valuable resource for HR practitioners who have their sights set on leadership positions.
Favorite episode: “What is Upskilling?”: In this 5-minute episode, HR professionals can learn what upskilling really means, how it benefits talent development, and how to facilitate upskilling within your organization to improve employee engagement and performance and combat the ongoing talent shortage.
The HR Social Hour Half Hour Podcast
Recommended by Amanda Brunson, Global HR Business Partner at Sabre Corporation.
Host: Jon Thurmond and Wendy Dailey
About: Interviews with fellow HR practitioners about connecting, giving back, and building your network. This podcast also has an active chat on Twitter to engage with their listeners on a daily basis, Join them each week for the podcast and the fourth Sunday of each month.
Favorite episode: “Special Episode- Jon & Wendy talk to Amy Spurling of Compt“: Shameless plug for a podcast our CEO was featured on. Here’s their review of the episode: “We talk about why Amy started Compt to help HR professionals manage perks for remote employees, why personalizing perks is beneficial, and how COVID-19 has changed many employers’ perception of remote work. We also discuss Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and starting your day with chocolate cake!”
HR Works
Recommended by Danny Rose, Head of U.S. HR Strategy & Talent Management at BioNTech SE..
Host: James Davis
About: HR WOrks is a podcast focused on providing clear, relevant, actionable information on topics that matter to HR professionals through engaging and insightful interviews with experts and thought leaders.
Favorite episode: “10 Minutes of Recognition Makes All the Difference“: The term “recognition” gets used a lot, and for good reason. Organizations spend so much money, time, and training getting the right people on board. All of that vanishes when that employee walks out the door.
In many cases, retaining employees is achievable with the right set of tools aimed at employee engagement, all under 10 minutes. Join Gregg Lederman, keynote speaker and bestselling author, to learn more.
IdeaCast by HBR
Host: Porter Braswell, Harvard Business Review
About: A weekly podcast featuring the leading thinkers in business and management. This podcast features lively interviews with industry professionals, scientists, and journalists, covering one general topic or issue per episode. It’s categorized as a People Management and Marketing podcast, but it allows HR professionals to uncover so much more.
Favorite episode: “Race at Work: Lessons in Diversity and Culture from Mastercard“: This episode is about the role race plays in our careers and lives. In this episode, Porter Braswell, the host, speaks with Donna Johnson, former chief diversity officer at Mastercard, about leading the charge on changing company culture and how diversity can drive real business results.
Inevitable: The Future of Work
Host: Amy Dufrane of HR Certification Institute and Joe Mechlinski of SHIFT
About: This is a podcast all about HR’s evolving impact on people, processes, and profitability. The episodes revolve around stories and research, surrounding tech, automation, people management and more to highlight what is coming in the future of work.
Favorite episode: “Affordable People-Centric Company Perks”: This is a shameless plug to the episode our CEO, Amy Spurling, was on. In the episode, Amy focuses on strategies to stand out to highly skilled labor in today’s competitive labor market, the importance of perks in creating an engaged company culture, and how to create a personalized perk program.
I Hate It Here
Host: Hebba Youssef
About: ”I Hate It Here” is a candid podcast hosted by Hebba Youssef, Chief People Officer at Workweek. What sets Youssef apart is how genuine, charismatic, and funny she is. She’s one of the top HR thought leaders to follow in 2025, and her show provides a platform for HR professionals to discuss the challenges and intricacies of the human resources field, and how they deal with them firsthand.
Most episodes are just under an hour long, and they cover topics like the impact of remote work on professional relationships and the evolving dynamics of office interactions. She and her guests offer practical advice, personal anecdotes, and plenty of laughs to keep the conversation light.
Favorite episode: S7 E4: “Unwrapping the Secrets to Better Workplace Connections” with Ross Langley: Youssef and guest Ross Langley from Snappy delve into the importance of connection, gifting, recognition, and appreciation in fostering successful organizations. They address the growing issue of workplace loneliness and discuss innovative, personalized strategies to enhance employee connections.
Nine-to-Thrive HR
Host: Human Capital Institute
About: Looking for fresh content to solve your human capital issues but don’t have a full hour? Listen to this podcast to gain access to leading HR professionals from Fortune 1000 companies, as well thought-leaders, authors, and academics to cover everything from talent acquisition and analytics to engagement, retention, and development.
Favorite episode: “Engaging the Millennial Sales Force at a Distance“: the challenge of engaging Millennial employees gets even harder when they’re salespeople living and working in the field. This podcast explores ways to use technology to build culture and connect remote Millennial sellers to the organization.
People Managing People Podcast
Host: David Rice
About: People Managing People is tailored for people managers and culture creators who want to build workforces that stand the test of time. Each episode features conversations with innovators and thought leaders, exploring topics like technology integration, performance management, workplace culture, and employee experience.
This podcast is particularly valuable for people leaders, managers, and HR professionals committed to building the workplace of the future and developing the talent necessary for organizational success.
Favorite episode: “Why Good Leaders Matter More Than Ever: The Real Cost of ‘Unbossing’“: In this episode, Rice connects with Jordana Cole, founder and principal consultant at Ignited, to discuss the evolving roles of leaders and the potential pitfalls of gutting middle management. She points out that middle managers, especially those at upper-middle levels like directors and senior managers, are critical for bridging strategy and execution, and offers high-level strategies for how to support, develop, and utilize these often-maligned and overlooked roles.
Punk Rock HR
Host: Laurie Ruettimann
About: On this weekly podcast, Ruettimann tells stories that help leaders transform the workplace. Through interviews with HR leaders, Ruettimann reveals the mindsets and best practices that illustrate “how to create workplace cultures that support, empower, and engage workers in a meaningful way.” With a long history of telling stories about work, Ruettiman uncovers the strategies, trends, and practices that are transforming work culture.
Most episodes are under 30 minutes and feature an interview with one HR leader around a specific theme. More inspirational than tactical, Punk Rock HR offers a look inside the world of HR at organizations across industries.
Favorite episode: “How to Ask for Help”: Ruettimann interviews speaker, coach and workshop facilitator Deborah Grayson Riegel, the bestselling author of “Go To Help: 31 Strategies to Offer, Ask For, and Accept Help.” The two explore what keeps people from asking for help, the cultural messages we receive about needing help, and how to ask for help to achieve your goals as well as tips on offering help to others to gradually change the cultural attitudes around it.
Recruiting Future
Host: Matt Alder
About: Geared toward talent acquisition leaders, the Recruiting Future podcast shines a spotlight on practitioners who are effectively combating the challenges of the fast-changing world of talent acquisition. With insights from thought leaders on trending topics and case studies on employers of choice, this podcast offers a range of ideas and inspiration for leaders in all industries.
Recruiting Future publishes new episodes twice per week and most episodes are less than 30 minutes, so this show is an easy way to stop on top of HR’s biggest trends. The podcast also offers a monthly round-up episode, which summarizes the key takeaways from that month’s episodes in just 10 minutes.
Favorite episode: “The Power of Difference”: Named after the book by writer, broadcaster, and consultant Simon Fanshawe, this episode explores the root of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives and urges leaders to rethink their approach to DE&I in the workplace. Moving away from mere representation and into a place of celebrating (and reaping the benefits of) our differences benefits employees, work culture, and the bottom line.
TalentCulture #WorkTrends
Host: Meghan M. Biro
About: #WorkTrends is an HR podcast and Twitter chat sponsored by talentculture. On the show, Biro tackles trending HR topics, such as employee engagement, the role of AI, and managing organizational culture. Many episodes feature conversations with leading experts, tech vendors and HR practitioners.
While each episode is a digestible 20 minutes or fewer, the podcast’s website offers an added bonus: an accompanying blog post for each episode with a high-level outline and pull quotes. The companion Twitter chat takes place from 1:30-2:00 pm Eastern and revolves around a monthly theme, which is listed on the podcast’s website.
Favorite episode: “How Women Can Uplevel Their Power in the Workplace”: This episode tackles the important challenge of gender disparity from all angles. Biro offers strategic advice to women who want to grow their careers, and also advises business leaders on how they can better support women in the workplace and clear barriers to building a more inclusive culture.
The Hennessey Report
Recommended by Emma Plouffe, VP of People & Culture at Vicarious Surgical
Host: Dave Hennessey of Keystone Partners
About: The Hennessy Report discusses critical issues impacting business success and emerging trends impacting HR and the overall business. Key topics addressed during the series so far include leadership transparency, DEI, and talent acquisition. Interviews include Lisa Kelly-Croswell, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Boston Medical Center, Paul Davies, Head of People Operations at GE, Katie Burke, Chief People Officer at HubSpot, Dave Almeda, Chief People Officer at Kronos, Inc. and many more.
Favorite episode: The HR leader who recommended this podcast to us, Emma Plouffe, said her favorite episode was episode 44 with Emma Woodthorpe, CHRO of Mercury Systems. She continued, “I love this podcast because the CPO’s & CHRO’s are authentic and share actionable tips for current and aspiring People Leaders. Emma’s episode is one that resonated with me above all the rest. I love the quote she shared “You can please all the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, you will never please all of the people all of the time.”
Transform Your Workplace
Host: Brandon Laws
About: The Transform Your Workplace podcast features interviews with HR experts and entrepreneurs on the big ideas that can transform an organization, from culture and technology to social purpose and career development. While this podcast is geared toward HR leaders, everyone on the HR team can learn a lot from every episode.
Most episodes are under 40 minutes and occasional bonus episodes are under 15 minutes. Past topics include managing burnout, quiet quitting, social purpose, and many more of today’s most pressing HR trends.
Favorite episode: “Employee Engagement: Eliminating Quiet Quitting”: In this episode, Laws talks with Joe Galvin, Chief Research Officer of Vistage about the epidemic of low employee engagement, the rise of ‘quiet quitting’ and what leaders can do to address the challenges of the hybrid/remote workplace without sacrificing their expectations or productivity.
Vantage Circle HR Influencers
Host: Vantage Circle
About: The Vantage Circle HR Podcast interviews HR thought leaders who discuss engagement, compensation, benefits, and everything related to HR. They also cover best practices and trends in HR innovation.
Favorite Episode: “Focusing on Moments That Matter to Your Employees.” Episode guest Tim Ringo, an award-winning author and keynote speaker, talks about the moments that matter in HR. Especially when it comes to the employee experience, moments that matter is often regarded throughout the employee lifecycle.
From onboarding surveys and performance reviews to exit interviews, nowadays, many HR leaders are looking at these significant moments as a tool to help them better understand employees.
Workology
Host: Jessica Miller-Merrel
About: Workology is a podcast for the disruptive workplace and HR leader who’s tired of the status quo. The host, Jessica, sits down with guests weekly to discuss trends, tools and case studies for the workplace business leader in 25-minute, bite-sized episodes.
Favorite episode: “How to Use LinkedIn to Build a Personal Brand”: In this episode, guest Sandra Long shares an interesting point: most people spend more time planning vacations than working on their personal brand (largely because so few people take their personal brand seriously). She discusses how LinkedIn users should make their online presence reflect who they are in real life. And she gives actionable tips for figuring out what makes you unique and what you want to express to others.
More HR resources to bookmark
Here are a few more comprehensive resources that can help expand your learnings:
Sign up for the Getting Personal newsletter and join hundreds of other HR professionals in staying up-to-date on the recent HR data, tools, trends, people to follow, must-read articles, and conferences.
New here? We’re Compt: A global lifestyle benefits platform where companies empower employees with benefits and rewards they’ll use and appreciate – whoever and wherever they are in life.
Interested to see how an employee stipend and benefit platform like Compt can maximize the ROI of your employee benefits program? Request a demo today.
Editor’s Note: Originally published in 2019, this post has been recently updated for clarity and relevance for our readers. As of 2025, all links and content are up to date.
