Do you want to know what is really going on out there in the world of HR? Get podcasting. Whilst books and seminars have traditionally been popular sources of new or thought-provoking topics, they are beginning to look a little outdated.

Like any industry book, podcasts offer wide-ranging discussions on pretty much everything from simple practical advice to strategic thinking and behavioral science. However, podcasts can also bring subjects to life by sharing real life experiences of HR professionals who are experimenting and succeeding on a daily basis. Not to mention a long list of hosts who pleasingly turn the idea of HR being boring on its head.

There has never been a better time to get podcasting, so to help you find your favorite we have put together a list of the 33 leading HR podcasts.

Punk Rock HR

By Laurie Ruettimann
Listen length: quick chats and discussions
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

Speaker and author Laurie Ruettimann records a regular podcast in between helping companies with their HR challenges or, as she terms it, ‘fix work’. Her 101 episodes to date, primarily involve discussion points with a guest alongside short ‘mentorship Friday’ chats direct to her listeners. Covering wide-ranging subject matters, tune in to learn more on topics including, the future of work, what makes a great HR professional and ethical leadership.

HR Uprising

By Lucinda Carney
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | TuneIn | iTunes

The HR Uprising podcast, hosted by psychologist Lucinda Carney, aims to help colleagues develop the skills and confidence to rise up through their organizations to deliver real, lasting value. Publishing around once a week, each episode includes real-world experts from the likes of Siemens and EasyWeb. The most recent recording, ‘Furloughing Facts and Fiction’, is well worth a listen right now.

Ask A Manager

By Alison Green
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

Writer and author Alison Green’s ‘Ask A Manager’ podcast is based on her book of the same title which covers how to navigate clueless colleagues, lunch-stealing bosses and ‘the rest of your life at work’. Topics discussed within weekly episodes include angry coworkers, getting your tone right as a leader and whether you need to be a jerk to succeed.

DriveThru HR

By Mike VanDervort, Robin Schooling, DwaneLay and Crystal Miller-Lay
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

One of the longest running continuous HR radio shows, DriveThru HR broadcasts three times a week with different guests covering everything from HR tech, talent management, company culture and beyond. Recent episodes include contributions from Upwork, SHRM and even Sir Bob Geldof.

Host’s favourite episode: Have a Quarantini with Robin and Michael

“I love it because it was sheer joy to bring our HR community together for an hour during these crazy times.”
Mike VanDervort

HR Breakfast Club

By Genevieve Jacobs
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

The world of work from Australia with a legal spin; HR Breakfast Club offers up discussions covering a range of HR topics predominantly from an employment law perspective. Typically posted monthly up until December last year, recent expert discussions include non-disclosure agreements, workplace bullying and whistleblowers.

CIPD Podcast

By CIPD / Nigel Cassidy
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Soundcloud | iTunes

The monthly CIPD Podcast offers a slick look at the key issues concerning HR and people development professionals, including expert insight and guest contributions from the likes of the Financial Ombudsman and Carers UK. Recent episodes cover the issues of carers in the workplace, inclusion and workplace planning.

That HR Podcast

By People Management magazine
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | Soundcloud | iTunes

The monthly That HR Podcast, created by the folks over at People Management magazine, takes an informative and lively look at serious HR issues including workplace conflict, IR35 and the four-day workweek with a range of guests. Also listen out for Tim’s Pointers too, for his tips on listener’s workplace worries.

HR Leaders Podcast

By Chris Rainey
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

The HR Leaders podcast offers real thought leadership on issues such as diversity, inclusion and people analytics with expert guests from market-leading organizations including Unilever and Lego, alongside academics in the field from the likes of Harvard Business School.

The Future of Work

By Jacob Morgan
Listen length: quick chats and deep-dives
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

An engaging and insightful podcast series, The Future of Work typically takes a deep look at specific topics with guests from within the corporate world and thought leaders across disciplines. Nearly 400 episodes to date have covered topics such as the importance of being human at work, addressing the talent challenge and how different CEOs lead by example.

Scaling Culture

By Ron Lovett
Listen length: discussions and deep-dives
Listen on: Spotify | Google Podcasts | iTunes

Join Ron Lovett (who is obsessed with culture) as he speaks with thought leaders and culture experts who share their experiences with building incredible high performing cultures.

“This podcast was started to bridge the gap in the culture podcast base as we hadn’t found anything that was providing the how-to/systems & processes and exactly how to build culture. We really achieve this with the broad spectrum of guests. We also wanted to tap into incredibly bright culture focussed individuals from incredible companies that no one gets to hear from.

“I love the episode with Shari Conway at Southwest Airlines. It’s such an iconic company that hasn’t wavered in all these years from culture and even in one of the hardest-hit sectors, they are still embracing strong values and incredibly resilient culture to get them through.”

Host & founder, Ron Lovett

21st Century HR

By Lars Schmidt
Listen length: quick chats and discussions
Listen on: Spotify

The 21st Century HR podcast series aims to explore how to build butter businesses through modern approaches to managing people. Every week, host Lars Schmidt discusses topics such as hacking culture and inclusion with expert input from the likes of Allegis, Mastercard, Spotify and Reddit.

Employment Law Matters

By Daniel Barnett
Listen length: quick chats
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

Hosted by employment law barrister Daniel Barnett, this podcast is the perfect mobile legal advice resource for HR professionals covering a range of timely topics in a practical way. Posting a couple of times a week, recent episodes on furlough leave, handling employee bereavement and flexible working are all well worth a close listen to in the current climate.

HR Happy Hour

By Steve Boese and Trish McFarlane
Listen length: quick chats and deep-dives
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

Since 2009, the HR Happy Hour podcast has been bringing thought leaders, HR and tech pioneers as well as academics, to discuss the most important topics impacting the workplace. Recording twice a week, recent episodes cover coronavirus, fertility benefits and people analytics.

Emotion At Work

By Phil Willcox
Listen length: deep-dives
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

As the name suggests, this podcast series takes a detailed look at how emotions at work impact a range of topics, from organizational change and digital body language through to direct looks at depression and emotional intelligence.

The Anxious Achiever

By Morra Aarons-Mele / Harvard Business Review
Listen length: discussions and deep-dives
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

Another podcast taking a good look at mental health at work, The Anxious Achiever is on a mission to reframe how individuals and organizations on the whole think about anxiety and mental health. Hosted by Morra Aarons-Mele, recent episodes include, Designing the Mentally Healthy Workplace and Managing the Stress and Uncertainty of Coronavirus and are well worth a listen.

Nine to Thrive HR

By Alan Mellish / HCI
Listen length: quick chats
Listen on: PlayerFM | iTunes

The Nine to Thrive HR podcast is the perfect series for time-poor HR professionals who need the latest insights in 15 minutes of less. The show takes a look at topics including HR analytics, strategic HR and planning for the digital workforce with expert insights from the likes of Allianz and NASA.

TalentCulture #WorkTrends

By Meghan M Biro
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

Meghan Biro takes listeners on an entertaining and informative journey through an array of topics affecting the HR professionals who have ‘been in the HR trenches for years’ and are now ready to look to the future. Posting weekly, listen in for great chats with HR practitioners and tech vendors on topics spanning attracting talent to creating great employer brands.

HR Studio Podcast

By A.J. O’Connor Associates
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

The HR Studio Podcast aims to help build the next generation of HR leaders through discussions with thought and business leaders on the most critical success factor of any business – its people. With 101 episodes in the bag so far, listen in for chats with experts on psychological safety, culture and engagement.

The CulturING Podcast

By Tynan Allan
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | iTunes

This new podcast takes a specific look at ideas surrounding organizationalculture with the viewpoint of healthy company cultures being the untapped fuel to growth. Every episode features a related professional for a discussion around one topic, ranging from a day in the life of a culture professional to the importance of listening to employees during periods of rapid growth.

Illuminate HR

By Nate Randall
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | TuneIn

The Illuminate HR podcast posts once a week and hosts discussions with people leaders and researchers to deliver ‘visionary thought leadership across the human work life continuum’. Recent episodes have covered topics including making work personal, treating the whole person and the talent mobility revolution.

Talk Talent to Me

By Hired
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

Talk Talent to Me chats through issues affecting recruitment with business leaders in the field. Billed as a ‘fast-paced rough-and-tumble tour’ through the strategies and trends affecting the recruitment industry, the show covers themes including building trust with hiring managers and assessing for culture fit with voices from Grindr, Zillow and others.

Honest HR

By Callie Zipple / SHRM
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | iTunes

The Honest HR podcast looks at the ‘uncomfortable, ugly, complicated and sometimes beautiful’ truths about the workplace through discussions with HR specialists and SHRM members. Sadly, host Callie Zipple passed away last year, but the 44 episodes she recorded are well worth a listen to with topics spanning the war for talent to employee recognition.

Culture First

By Damon Klotz / Culture Amp
Listen length: discussions and deep-drives
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

Another of the new, hotshot podcast series is presented by Culture Amp with a close look at how to better the experience people have within organizations. Posting twice a month, the series includes discussions with the likes of Simon Sinek on topics spanning infinite mindsets and resilience to empathy, compassion and scaling culture.

“I started my career working as an HR practitioner in Australia, then co-founded a mental health campaign before spending five years growing Culture Amp from one hundred to a few thousand customers and a few other twists and turns in between.

“This podcast is a culmination of all that work and the conversations I’ve had along the way packed up to try to inspire leaders to create workplace cultures where people can do the best work of their life.”
Damon Klotz

Happiness at Work

By Management 3.0
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

Through interviews with authors, coaches and industry experts, the Happiness at Work podcast is dedicated to workplace happiness and how to turn the exception into the norm. Posting weekly, recent episodes including The Power of Humour During Trying Times and The Importance of Agile in the ‘Age of ‘Corona’ are well worth a listen as we all adapt to a new reality.

POW: The Psychology of Work

By Richard Chataway / ABP
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | TuneIn | iTunes

The POW podcast series has 13 episodes in the bag to date but is already ranking as one of the most listened to business management podcasts on iTunes. Presented by the Association for Business Psychology, each episode takes a good look at a range of topics with insight from some of the brightest thinkers – and doers – in the field of business psychology. Recent interviewees include Claudia Hammond, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s ‘All in the Mind’ discussing the psychology of money, and Neil Morrison, HR Director at Severn Trent on the subject of encouraging social mobility.

Epic Company Culture

By Josh Sweeney
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM

The Epic Company Culture podcast aims to give business leaders, HR professionals and ‘company culture aficionados’ the insight they need to take their organizations to the next level. Tune in for discussions between host Sweeney and expert guests on subject matters spanning core values to employee empowerment.

Digital HR Leaders

By David Green
Listen length: discussions and deep-dives
Listen on: Spotify | AnchorFM | iTunes

Posting every week, Digital HR Leaders hosted by David Green, homes in on HR leaders who are pushing a data-driven and digital HR agenda. For inspiration and advice on driving transformation in your organization, and preparing for the future of work, this is the podcast for you.

HRchat Podcast

By Bill Banham
Listen length: quick chats and discussions
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

HR chat is a prolific podcast series that features a series of discussions and interviews with high-profile people thinkers on topics spanning tech and culture to talent and employment law. Recent episodes cover coronavirus, creating a business case for HR transformation and managing change.

HR Works: The Podcast for Human Resources

By Chris Ceplenski
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Soundcloud | PlayerFM | iTunes

Across more than 100 episodes to date, HR Works provides clear and actionable insights on topics that matter most to HR professionals. Hosted by Chris Ceplenski, each episode takes a close look at one topic with an expert guest with recent discussion points including harassment, inclusion and driving diversity.

HR unConfidential

By Gina Flaig and Turiya Gray
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Soundcloud | PlayerFM | iTunes

Posting every other week, HR unConfidential offers a behind-the-scenes look at life in human resources and what’s really going on in the workplace. The entertaining hosts (who are also best friends) share unfiltered, personal stories on various topics with advice on issues that matter – without the corporate buzzwords.

Humans of HR

By David Guazzarotto and Michelle Farrar-Eagles
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | PlayerFM | iTunes

Billed as real people talking about real topics, Humans of HR covers everything from HR tech and talent management to diversity and inclusion with an array of guests in conversation with the lively host voices of Guazzarotto and Farrar-Eagles.

All About HR

By Neelie Verlinden
Listen length: discussions
Listen on: Spotify | TuneIn | iTunes

A new addition for 2021, All About HR is a relatively new bi-weekly HR podcast that aims to give listeners the real deal! Hosted by Neelie Verlinden from the AIHR Academy, each episode features an industry expert and HR thought-leader from the likes of Eventbrite’s CHRO with recent episodes covering remote working, humanizing HR, and the future of rewards. And make sure you stick around for the end where guests share their epic wins and fails!

ProjectHR

By Jennifer Orechwa
Listen length: discussions and deep-dives
Listen on: Spotify | TuneIn | iTunes

A new addition for 2022, ProjectHR is a weekly, award-winning podcast about current thoughts and trends in the world of HR. Hosted by Jennifer Orechwa, episodes take a candid look at a range of HR topics spanning CSR and gamification to employee relations through interviews with industry experts, authors, and executives.

“My favorite episodes of late include our episode with Perry Timms on the transformative potential of HR, our discussion with Jennifer Moss about her book, The Burnout Epidemic, and I very much enjoyed learning about the benefits of microlearning from JD Dillon!“

ProjectHR producer, Jacqui Gregory