Remuneration and incentives have always been a Pandora’s box for business leaders. In the post-pandemic climate, however, in which employee values have shifted, the equation has become trickier.

In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with TalentCode HR founder and managing director Trudy MacDonald about the difficulties business leaders have long had with implementing successful remuneration and incentive strategies, how COVID-19 spawned a shift in employee thinking around work/life balance, the Great Exhaustion and its implications, the impact of resenteeism, and how difficult it is for employers to cater to idiosyncratic needs of all staff.

MacDonald also reflects on whether employees are staying put right now (following the Great Resignation), employee disgruntlement amid high inflation and a cost-of-living crisis, how the latest WGEA data might impact employee thinking, the steps that HR professionals and C-suite executives need to take, measuring success, and the folly of viewing remuneration as an isolated issue.

“Nothing sharpens the mind,” a leading barrister says, like the threat of serious financial penalties or imprisonment. Under the newly legislated wage theft laws, businesses need to ensure their payroll and other administrative processes meet the requisite standard.

In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy welcomes back Sydney-based barrister Ian Neil SC to discuss why employment and industrial relations law is such a meaningful vocational path for him, what the new wage theft laws are and how they came about, the most common reasons why employers will fail to comply with existing law, and why old excuses will no longer fly.

Neil also delves into the consequences of non-compliance with the new legislative landscape, community perceptions about the new laws, the questions businesses must ask of themselves in getting their systems up to scratch, the role of HR in ensuring compliance, how HR can balance such duties against other priorities, and he also fleshes out other key aspects of the new Closing Loopholes legislation.

Donald Trump’s presidency has already begun reshaping the corporate and political landscape in the US, with executive orders rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and clean energy efforts. What impact does this have on organisational culture globally?

In this episode of the Relative Return Unplugged Podcast – produced by the wealth portfolio at HR Leader’s parent company, Momentum Media – Associate Professor Nathan Eva from Monash Business School discusses the global implications of Trump’s “me-first agenda” on business and workplace culture, including within Australia.

He explores the risks of deprioritising diversity, how Australian leaders can resist these trends, what organisations can do to stay committed to fairness, equity, and sustainability amid political and social upheaval, and the leadership qualities needed to navigate this challenging new era.