The HR Room Podcast

Five years into gender pay gap reporting in Ireland, are we actually making progress towards pay equality? Or are employers simply reporting the same inequalities year after year?

In this episode of The HR Room, we're joined by Jennifer Keane, founder of paygap.ie, a platform that has collected more than 4,000 gender pay gap reports from over 2,000 Irish companies.

Jennifer joins Mary and Dave to explore what the data is telling us about gender inequality in Irish workplaces, why progress has been so slow, and whether reporting requirements are doing enough to drive meaningful change.

We discuss some of the worrying trends emerging from the data, including the persistent underrepresentation of women in senior leadership, significant gender bonus gaps, and the challenges employers face in turning reporting into real action.

Jennifer also shares the story behind paygap.ie, why she took it upon herself to make Ireland's gender pay gap data more accessible, and her plans for Close the Gap, a new initiative bringing together experts to tackle the inequalities women experience throughout their working lives.

In this episode, we discuss:

Why Jennifer created paygap.ie and the importance of making gender pay gap data publicly accessible.

What more than 4,000 reports reveal about the state of gender pay equality in Ireland.

Why the gender pay gap has fallen by only around two percentage points among employers reporting consistently.

The persistent lack of women in senior leadership and the impact this has on pay and bonuses.

Why gender pay gap reporting alone isn't enough to deliver meaningful change.

The role of pay transparency, accountability and organisational culture in addressing workplace inequality.

Why employers need to move beyond compliance and take meaningful action to close the gap.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

paygap.ie – Explore Ireland's gender pay gap data

Gender Pay Gap Data Studio – Interactive Report

Close the Gap – Launch Event, November 16th

About The HR Room
The HR Room is Ireland's longest-running HR podcast, brought to you by Insight HR. Each episode explores the latest trends, challenges and developments affecting employers and HR professionals, with expert insights and practical advice to help organisations navigate the changing world of work.

Have a question, a suggestion for a future episode, or an experience you'd like to share? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out to Dave at dcorkery@insighthr.ie.

Don't forget to subscribe to The HR Room for more expert insights, practical advice and conversations on the biggest challenges facing employers and HR professionals today.

Get in touch with our team to learn more.

Website: www.insighthr.ie
Email: info@insighthr.ie
Phone: 056 770 1060

Would you erase decades of professional experience from your CV to improve your chances of getting hired?

That's exactly the advice given to this week's guest, Leslie Yazel, an experienced journalist and editor who has worked with publications including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and Glamour.

Leslie was advised to create an 'ageless' CV, removing years of valuable career experience in an effort to appeal to recruiters and hiring managers. She subsequently wrote about the experience in The Times, raising some uncomfortable questions about age discrimination in recruitment.

In this episode of The HR Room, Leslie joins Mary and Dave to explore why experienced professionals can find themselves increasingly overlooked in the recruitment process, and what employers might be missing out on as a result.

From unconscious bias and exclusionary language in job advertisements to the challenges facing older women in the workforce, we examine how ageism manifests itself in recruitment, and what HR professionals can do to create fairer, more inclusive hiring practices.

In this episode, we discuss:

Why experienced candidates are being encouraged to remove decades of career history from their CVs.

How language like 'dynamic', 'high energy' and 'culture fit' can unintentionally exclude older applicants.

Why employers may be undervaluing experience, particularly when facing skills shortages.

The additional challenges facing older women in recruitment and career progression.

How assumptions about 'overqualified' candidates can lead employers to overlook excellent talent.

The benefits of age diversity and multigenerational workplaces.

The potential for AI-powered recruitment tools to reinforce existing biases.

Practical steps HR professionals and hiring managers can take to identify and address age discrimination.

Resources mentioned:

Leslie Yazel's article in The Times: How to age-proof your résumé and get hired in your fifties

Irish Life's 100+ research, exploring Irish attitudes towards ageing, longevity and working life.

Need support with your recruitment processes?
At Insight HR, we help organisations develop fair, effective and legally compliant recruitment practices, ensuring they can attract and retain the best talent without unnecessary barriers or bias.

Get in touch with our team to learn more.

Website: www.insighthr.ie
Email: info@insighthr.ie
Phone: 056 770 1060

Have a question, a suggestion for a future episode, or an experience you'd like to share? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out to Dave at dcorkery@insighthr.ie.

Don't forget to subscribe to The HR Room for more expert insights, practical advice and conversations on the biggest challenges facing employers and HR professionals today.

Change is inevitable in the workplace, but getting employees to embrace it is rarely straightforward. Whether it's the introduction of new technology, organisational restructuring, redundancies or new ways of working, even the most carefully planned changes can be met with resistance.

So why do employees resist change, and what can HR professionals and business leaders do to bring their people along with them?

In this episode of The HR Room, we're joined by Dr Síle Walsh, organisational development specialist, researcher and award-winning author of Inclusive Leadership: Navigating Organisational Complexity, alongside Mary Cullen, Founder and Managing Director of Insight HR.

Together, we explore the psychology behind resistance to change, the common mistakes organisations make when implementing change initiatives, and why even seemingly minor changes can provoke strong emotional reactions.

We also discuss the importance of two-way communication, how HR can identify the underlying causes of employee resistance, and the role of leadership in building trust throughout the change process.

In this episode, we discuss:

Why employees resist change, even when the benefits seem obvious.

The psychological impact of change, including uncertainty, loss of autonomy and threats to professional identity.

Common mistakes organisations make when planning and implementing change.

Why effective change management requires genuine two-way communication, rather than simply explaining decisions.

How HR professionals can identify patterns of resistance and address employees' underlying concerns.

The importance of involving employees early in the change process.

Why leaders need to be honest about uncertainty rather than making promises they cannot keep.

How HR can influence senior leadership and challenge poorly planned change initiatives.

The importance of leadership behaviour, perception and trust during difficult organisational changes.

About Our Guest
Dr Síle Walsh is an organisational development specialist, researcher and award-winning author of Inclusive Leadership: Navigating Organisational Complexity. She works with organisations and leaders to navigate complexity, develop leadership capability and manage organisational change.

Find out more about Síle and her work: https://www.elis-advantage.eu/

How Insight HR Can Help
Managing organisational change can be challenging, particularly when it involves restructuring, collective redundancies, offshoring or significant changes to how employees work.

At Insight HR, our experienced consultants support organisations through complex change processes, helping employers manage employee relations, communicate effectively and minimise workplace risk.

To find out how we can support your organisation, get in touch:

Email: info@insighthr.ie
Phone: 056 770 1060
Website: https://insighthr.ie

Get in Touch
Have a question, feedback on this episode or a topic you'd like us to cover on The HR Room? We'd love to hear from you!

Email us at info@insighthr.ie, or message Dave at dcorkery@insighthr.ie and don't forget to subscribe to The HR Room for more conversations on the issues shaping today's workplaces.

Addiction remains one of the most misunderstood and stigmatised issues in the workplace. While organisations have made significant progress in supporting employee mental health and wellbeing, many employees struggling with addiction still feel unable to speak openly about their experiences, fearing judgement, damaged career prospects or even dismissal.

In this episode of The HR Room, we're joined by Darren Grady, who spent 14 years concealing his recovery from addiction throughout a successful corporate career.

With Darren, Mary and Dave explore the hidden reality of addiction in the workplace, the trust gap between employees and HR, and why high-performing employees can often conceal serious struggles behind professional success.

The conversation also examines the difficult balance HR professionals must strike between supporting employees and protecting their organisations, and what employers can do to create an environment where people feel safe seeking help.

Guests:

Darren Grady - Recovery Advocate and Speaker

In this episode, we discuss:

Why employees experiencing addiction or recovery may be reluctant to disclose their circumstances to HR.

How workplace stigma, confidentiality concerns and fears about career progression contribute to a culture of silence.

Why high performance can mask addiction, and how organisations sometimes overlook problematic behaviour from successful employees.

The challenges of balancing employee wellbeing, workplace safety and disciplinary responsibilities.

The role of HR policies, Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) and occupational health in supporting employees.

How organisations can build greater trust, reduce stigma and create safer pathways for employees to seek support.

Practical steps HR leaders can take, from reviewing policy language and training managers to reconsidering workplace drinking cultures.

Need support with your HR policies or employee wellbeing strategy?
At Insight HR, we help organisations develop practical, legally informed HR policies and procedures that protect their businesses while supporting their people.

Get in touch with our team at info@insighthr.ie or call 056 770 1060 to find out how we can help.

Stay connected with The HR Room
Subscribe to The HR Room wherever you listen to your podcasts, and follow Insight HR on LinkedIn for more conversations, insights and practical advice on the issues shaping today's workplaces.

We all experience stress at work. Deadlines, demanding workloads and competing priorities are part of working life. But how do you know when everyday workplace stress is becoming something more serious? And what can you do when the pressure just doesn't let up?

In this episode of Wellness Works, a mini-series of The HR Room Podcast, Dave is joined by Laura Barry, Head of People Development at Insight HR, to explore the difference between stress and burnout, how to recognise the early warning signs, and what finding a healthy work-life balance actually looks like.

We discuss why burnout isn't always accompanied by a drop in performance, why simply encouraging employees to become more resilient isn't enough, and how organisations can inadvertently contribute to stress through the way work is designed and managed.

Laura also shares practical advice for managers on recognising when someone on their team might be struggling, how to start supportive conversations, and the small changes individuals can make to create a healthier, more sustainable relationship with work.

In this episode, we discuss:

The difference between everyday stress and burnout, and how to recognise when pressure becomes unhealthy.

The early warning signs of burnout, including those that are easily overlooked.

Why high-performing employees can still be experiencing burnout.

The workplace conditions and psychosocial hazards that contribute to chronic stress.

What healthy work-life balance really means, and why it looks different for everyone.

How managers can recognise and respond to signs of stress within their teams.

Why workplace wellbeing initiatives need to be supported by healthier working practices.

Practical steps you can take this week to manage stress, recover and regain balance.

Get in Touch
Insight HR can help your organisation take a proactive approach to managing workplace stress and supporting employee wellbeing. From tailored Stress and Burnout workshops to management training, organisational culture audits and wider HR support, our team can help you create a healthier, more sustainable working environment.

Get in touch with us at info@insighthr.ie or call 056 770 1060 to find out more.

Visit www.insighthr.ie for more information on our services.

About The HR Room Podcast
The HR Room Podcast is brought to you by Insight HR, where we speak with HR leaders, legal experts and workplace specialists from across Ireland about the issues shaping the future of work.

If you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with colleagues or friends.

We're always keen to hear your feedback and suggestions for future episodes.