The HR L&D Podcast

Most organizations think fertility is a private matter. It is not. It is a silent talent drain hiding in plain sight. Employees quietly step back from opportunities, and by the time HR notices, the resignation letter has already been written.

This episode is sponsored by Deel.
Hire, manage and pay, anyone, anywhere: https://www.deel.com/nickdayhr/

In this episode of @thehrldpodcast, Nick Day is joined by Jennifer Elworthy, a career and fertility coach and Director of Engagement at Fertility Matters at Work. Jen's own path into this work began in 2015, when a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, a miscarriage, and a second ectopic pregnancy left her navigating PTSD while working at a senior level in the media industry. Despite it all, with the right manager and the right support in place, she was promoted, and she now spends her career helping organizations turn good intentions into meaningful workplace policy. That lived experience, paired with the research she leads at Fertility Matters at Work, is exactly what she brings to this conversation.
Nick and Jen explore why fertility remains one of the least discussed issues on the HR agenda despite affecting one in six people globally, and why the myth that it is not happening in your business is quietly costing UK employers an estimated 217 million pounds a year. They unpack the four questions every manager should ask when an employee discloses a fertility challenge, why 87% of managers have no training despite being the first point of disclosure for 70% of employees, and why a policy sitting in a dusty folder means nothing without a culture of psychological safety to back it up. They also dig into why fertility is not a women's issue, the hidden struggles of the childless not by choice community, the often overlooked reality of pregnancy and parenting after loss, and why career ambition and fertility treatment are not mutually exclusive, no matter how well meaning the advice to just relax might be.
In a world where 38% of employees have left or considered leaving a role due to lack of support, this episode makes the case that the real barriers were never about policy documents. They are about silence, stigma, and managers who want to help but were never given the tools.
A must-listen for HR leaders, L&D professionals, and anyone responsible for building a workplace where employees don't have to choose between their career and their fertility journey.
Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thepayrollpodcast for more great content!

Guest and Host:
Jennifer Elworthy's Website: www.jenniferelworthy.com
Jennifer Elworthy's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferelworthy/
Fertility Matters at Work: fertilitymattersatwork.com
Nick Day's LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nickday
Find your ideal candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea
Sign up to the HR L&D Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7
Stay tuned for the next episode of the HR L&D Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon!

Timestamps:
(00:01) One in Six Face Infertility, Yet It's Still Hidden at Work
(03:24) Jen's Story: Ectopic Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and a PTSD Diagnosis
(10:05) What Real Support Looks Like: Policy, Manager Training, and Culture
(13:17) Why Fertility Is Missing From the HR Agenda
(17:27) Coaching From the Scar: What HR Never Hears in the Coaching Room
(20:32) Quiet Quitting and the Hidden Cost of an Unsupported Workforce
(24:28) Why 87% of Managers Have No Training for This Conversation
(26:17) The Four Questions Every Manager Should Ask
(29:14) Fertility Is Not a Women's Issue: Protecting Career Ambition
(35:01) When IVF Doesn't Work: Supporting the Childless Not by Choice
(37:45) Becoming Fertility-Friendly: Accreditation and the Power of Storytelling
(41:28) Life After Loss, the Future of Work, and Rapid-Fire Vault Questions

Most organizations think they have an AI tool problem. They do not. They have an AI behavioral problem. The licenses get bought, the workshops happen, and by Monday morning, people are back to working exactly as they did before.

This episode is sponsored by Deel.
Hire, manage, and pay anyone, anywhere: https://www.deel.com/nickdayhr/

In this episode of @thehrldpodcast Nick Day is joined by Jamie Bykov-Brett, an AI transformation strategist, TEDx speaker, and co-founder of the Executive AI Institute. Jamie's path into AI started in youth work, supporting young people from marginalized backgrounds into STEM careers. It was there, back in 2014, that he began forecasting how automation would reshape the workforce, discovering along the way that technology adoption rarely fails because of the tools themselves; it fails because people were never taken through the change. That change management lens is exactly what he brings to AI training and organizational transformation today.
Nick and Jamie explore why one-off AI workshops rarely create lasting behavior change, and why real transformation starts with human-centric skill development, not the tools. They unpack the "eliminate, automate, delegate" framework for deciding where AI actually belongs in a workflow, why psychological safety is the missing ingredient in most AI rollouts, and how legacy failed change projects can quietly sabotage adoption before training even begins. They also dig into why your most resistant employees might be your best future change agents, why highly technical people sometimes struggle most with AI adoption, why organizations should expect a temporary dip in performance during rollout rather than instant ROI, and what it actually looks like to design an AI learning intervention that turns AI into a daily working habit rather than a novelty.
In a world where organizations are under pressure to prove AI adoption is working immediately, this episode makes the case that the real barriers were never technical. They are emotional, cultural, and behavioral, and the organizations that address that will be the ones that actually get results.
A must-listen for HR leaders, L&D professionals, and anyone responsible for making AI adoption actually stick inside their organization.
Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thepayrollpodcast for more great content!

Guest and Host:
Jamie Bykov-Brett's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiebykovbrett/
Jamie Bykov-Brett's Website: bykovbrett.net
Nick Day's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/
Find your ideal candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea
Sign up to the HR L&D Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7
Stay tuned for the next episode of the HR L&D Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon!

Timestamps:
(00:01) Why AI Training Fails: The Behavior Problem, Not a Tool Problem
(03:27) Jamie's Journey: From Youth Work to AI Transformation Strategist
(09:05) The AI Adoption Gap: Rising HR Burnout Despite AI Investment
(10:47) AI as a Mirror: Why Technology Reflects Your Organization's Culture
(14:30) Human-Centric Skills First: Curiosity, Creativity and Critical Thinking
(20:31) The Eliminate, Automate, Delegate Framework
(23:09) Designing AI Interventions That Actually Fit Your Organization
(27:43) Turning Resistant Employees Into Change Agents
(33:11) The Hidden Fears Driving AI Resistance
(37:03) Case Study: How Insights Achieved a 9.7 NPS on AI Training
(39:59) Why L&D Should Expect a Performance Dip Before AI Pays Off
(45:43) Rapid Fire: Career Advice, Leadership, and HR's Future

Most HR leaders think a resignation starts the day someone hands in their notice. It doesn't. It starts months earlier, the moment someone decides it's no longer worth speaking up. And almost nobody in HR is measuring it.

This episode is sponsored by Deel.
Hire, manage and pay, anyone, anywhere: https://www.deel.com/nickdayhr/

In this episode of @thehrldpodcast, Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment Group, breaks from his usual format for the first time in more than 200 episodes. There is no guest this time, just Nick, a microphone, and one idea he cannot stop thinking about. After 24 years of exit interviews and placing over 10,000 professionals across 40+ countries, he has built his own coaching framework around fear. This episode is where he unpacks it in full.
Nick introduces the idea of the fear tax, the invisible cost every organisation pays when people stop raising problems, ideas, and concerns out loud, and breaks down why silence looks like a wellbeing problem but spends like a balance sheet one. He contrasts a manager who unknowingly built a culture of fear with a leader whose team openly flagged a critical mistake before it went public, walks through his own fear equation of anxiety plus uncertainty multiplied by imagination, and explains why fear in capable people rarely looks like fear at all, instead disguising itself as caution, busy bravery, perfectionism, or imposter syndrome. He also shares the BOLD protocol, a four step method for catching fear in the three second window before it wins, backed by research from Stanford and UCLA, and gets personal about a lesson he learned the hard way with his own father.
In a world where HR is expected to protect culture, retain top talent, and prove ROI on every initiative, this episode makes the case that the biggest lever HR has never measured is right in front of them. It is whether people feel safe enough to speak.
A must-listen for HR leaders, people managers, and anyone who has ever sat in a meeting, known exactly the right thing to say, and said nothing.
Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thepayrollpodcast for more great content!
Nick Day's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/
Find your ideal candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea
Sign up to the HR L&D Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7
Stay tuned for the next episode of the HR L&D Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon!

Timestamps:
(00:01) Rachel's Story: The Resignation That Started Eight Months Early
(02:16) Why Nick Broke Format for His First-Ever Solo Episode
(04:38) James: The Manager Who Built a Fear Culture Without Raising His Voice
(07:03) Naming the Fear Tax
(09:07) The Real Cost of Losing Good People
(11:31) Why Your Speak-Up Culture Is Your Talent Strategy
(13:55) Amy Edmondson's Research: Why Quiet Teams Aren't Healthy Teams
(18:32) The Fear Equation: Anxiety Plus Uncertainty, Multiplied by Imagination
(22:01) From Fear Culture to Courage Culture: James's Turnaround and Fear's Disguises
(28:41) The Courage Window and the BOLD Protocol
(35:15) HR's Blind Spot: Practicing Psychological Safety and Convincing Skeptical Leaders
(43:14) The Monday Morning Move and Closing Thoughts

This episode is sponsored by Deel.
Hire, manage and pay, anyone, anywhere: https://www.deel.com/nickdayhr/

In this episode of @thehrldpodcast Nick Day is joined by Nelly Salinas, a global HR operations leader and Director of Global HR Operations at Accertify Inc. Nelly's path into HR started nowhere near HR. She began her career in industrial engineering and IT project management before discovering that projects rarely fail because of technology, they fail because people were never aligned in the first place. That engineering lens is exactly what she brings to global HR operations today.
Nick and Nelly explore why the future of HR will not belong to the most human leader alone, but to the hybrid leader who can connect people, process, systems, data, and strategy in one conversation. They unpack where AI is genuinely creating value in HR right now versus where organizations are mistaking experimentation for transformation, why AI can make recruiters lazy if it replaces human connection instead of freeing up time for it, and how homogenized AI written CVs are making it harder than ever to spot real talent. They also dig into the near impossible balancing act of standardizing HR processes across global regions without losing local nuance, why data literacy and change management are becoming non-negotiable skills, the ongoing debate over whether payroll should sit inside HR or finance, and what a realistic first step into agentic AI actually looks like for HR leaders who have not started yet.
In a world where HR is being asked to improve employee experience, scale global operations, adopt AI responsibly, and still deliver measurable outcomes, this episode makes the case that technology and humanity were never competing priorities. The job has always been to bring both together.
A must-listen for HR leaders, global operations professionals, and anyone trying to figure out what skills will actually matter in the next phase of HR.
Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thepayrollpodcast for more great content!
Nelly Salinas's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nellysalinascabala/
Nick Day's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/
Find your ideal candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea
Sign up to the HR L&D Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7
Stay tuned for the next episode of the HR L&D Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon!

Timestamps:
(00:01) Why HR Is Asking the Wrong Question About AI
(02:46) From Industrial Engineering to Global HR Operations
(05:04) HR's Collaboration Gap With IT
(07:13) What It Means to Be a Hybrid HR Leader
(08:52) Where AI Is Actually Showing Up in HR
(10:31) Is AI Making Recruiters Lazy?
(15:28) Experimentation vs Real Transformation
(17:56) Standardizing Global HR Without Losing Local Nuance
(21:51) The Skills HR Leaders Need to Future-Proof Their Careers
(26:06) HR as Strategic Partner, Not Back Office
(29:59) Using AI and Data Analytics to Drive Real HR Insights
(31:56) Getting Started With AI and the Future of Agentic HR

This episode is sponsored by Deel.
Hire, manage and pay, anyone, anywhere: https://www.deel.com/nickdayhr/

In this episode of @thehrldpodcast Nick Day is joined by Dr. Thom Mayer, emergency physician, crisis leader, NFL Players Association Medical Director, and bestselling author of Leadership Is Worthless But Leading Is Priceless. Having led through 9/11 at the Pentagon, the national anthrax response, and medical training on the ground in Ukraine, Dr. Mayer brings a career forged under the highest pressure imaginable to challenge everything we think we know about what it means to lead.
Nick and Dr. Mayer explore why the concept of leadership has become dangerously hollow, why every person on your team is already a leader whether you treat them that way or not, and why innovation never moves at the speed of genius but always at the speed of trust. They unpack the critical difference between bravery, courage, and tenacity, why making failure your fuel is the foundation of elite performance, how victim mentality disappears the moment people own their agency, and why calling someone a future leader is one of the most toxic things you can say. They also examine how AI is being dangerously misused as a substitute for leadership wisdom and why luck is really just a discipline meeting opportunity.
In a world where trust is eroding, burnout is rising, and pressure is relentless, this episode makes the case that the leader you have been looking for has been there all along and it is you.
A must-listen for HR leaders, L&D professionals, and anyone ready to stop talking about leadership and start actually leading.
Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thepayrollpodcast for more great content!
Dr. Thom Mayer's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thom-mayer-md-40342024/
Nick Day's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/
Find your ideal candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea
Sign up to the HR L&D Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7
Stay tuned for the next episode of the HR L&D Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon!

Timestamps:
(00:01) Why Leadership Is Worthless But Leading Is Priceless
(02:09) Everyone Is Already a Leader, Not a Future One
(05:15) The We Suite vs The C Suite, Empowerment Over Hierarchy
(08:10) Vulnerability, Authenticity and Making Failure Your Fuel
(15:23) Leadership as Identity vs Leadership as Behavior
(18:12) Leading Through 9/11, the NFL and Ukraine
(22:36) Bravery, Courage and Tenacity, Three Very Different Things
(28:44) Can AI Close the Leadership Gap or Is It Widening It
(39:00) The Book and Why It Is Not Just Another Leadership Book
(43:06) Luck, Discipline and Saying Yes to the Invitation
(46:11) Limiting Beliefs and How They Hold Leaders Back
(50:24) How to Sustain Leadership Performance and Connect with Dr. Thom Mayer