Steve 0:09 The HR Happy Hour Network is proudly sponsored by Workhuman. The workplace is changing fast—and the leaders who understand what's coming will have the advantage. Workhuman's annual Trends Webinar returns January 29th with research-backed insights on the hottest trends shaping 2026. Discover how top organizations are navigating AI, psychological safety, performance, and equity to outperform their competition—plus exclusive findings from McKinsey's Women in the Workplace 2026 report. Featuring an expert panel from McKinsey and Workhuman, you'll get the intelligence you need to lead with confidence this year. Join the Trends Webinar live January 29th at noon Eastern, or catch the replay on demand. Register for free @Workhuman.com. Steve 0:52 Welcome to the HR Happy Hour show. Really the HR Happy Hour Network, I should say we are doing kind of our year end, wrap up, year forward, preview show. My name is Steed Boese. I'm with Trish Steed. Trish, how are you today? Trish 1:07 I am fantastic for a Monday, how's that? Steve 1:11 As best you can be, right, on a Monday morning in cold January, but sun is out, so I feel pretty good today, actually. Trish 1:19 Yeah, you know what? Here in Colorado, it has been winter, like finally hitting it's been so warm here, I actually worked on Friday, I'll sort of tell on myself, at a ski lodge while the whole family was out skiing. Steve 1:34 What did you do? Were you taking the tickets, helping people get on and off the lift? Trish 1:39 I was working hard. Man, no, you know what? I actually, I don't know how do you feel about this? Like, I've always been a fan of like, getting out of your office, wherever that is, even your home office can start to feel a little claustrophobic. And when I was a leader, I would tell my people, like, go work somewhere. Pick a lake or a creek or whatever, a field, right? Work somewhere else. It sort of sparks new... Steve 2:00 I'm going to pick the lake over the creek. The creek doesn't sound as fun. Yeah, I get what you're saying. Trish 2:06 I do. Yeah. So I was overlooking the ski lift. Now, the only thing I will say is, like, toward the end of the day when I was kind of, like, starting to look where all my people were, because there were, like, five or six of them. I hadn't seen them for a while, and then I saw, like, the rescue snowmobile go up the hill, and I thought, Oh no, that That better not be one of my people. But it wasn't. And it actually wasn't anybody. They were just making a run, I think. But yeah, other than that, it's been good. Steve 2:33 Good, yeah, I'm excited. We had kind of a transition week, right that first week back to work right in the New Year's really tough. It's really weird, and it's like, oh my gosh, I'm getting I have to get used to it again. But I think we're ready to go for a great year. And it's also been a really good year, looking back, right? We think about the year for us, for H3 HR Advisors, for the network, huge growth in the audience around the world, really. And I think as we, as Karen, worked on kind of prepping some of the notes for today's show, one of the things she told us Trish was we had audience for the podcast on the network, allll the shows on the network, from 177 different countries last year, which is mind blowing to me, that at least somebody from all those countries turned up, which is outstanding! Trish 3:24 Yeah, you know what? I think has been fun over the years too, because this will be our, well, your 18th season, I guess my what would that make me? My 14th season, doing this, right? 14 years for me and 18 for you, like, that's crazy, but it's when we do get an opportunity to go out into the world and speak in different countries. I always, always get stopped about the show, like talking about the show, how they listen to the show. So that's been fun, too. You know, people who recognize us when we're out and about all over the world, really? Steve 3:57 Yeah, that's been great. And we've we made a lot of changes to the show, we adopted a new technology platform to record the show on, which has been a great thing for us. And one of the things that the platform did, and I'll shout them out, it's Riverside. They don't sponsor us, but we love the Riverside platform, and I highly recommend it for anybody who's doing this sort of thing. It created a little Riverside Wrapped, HR Happy Hour Network wrap for us, similar to the Spotify wrapped Trish. And why don't you like take a guess at what our most used word on the podcast across the network was in 2025? Trish 4:30 Let's see, could it be AI? Steve 4:32 You got it! clip 4:35 ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai. Ai, ai, ai,.... Trish 4:48 You know what? I'm glad it was, but like to me that it's like a personal challenge to step it up a level this year and have that not be that the most used word. Steve 4:59 That's a good question or notion, I guess I'd say Trish, if you could choose or kind of architect the conversations, what word would you want us to use the most in 2026 as we talk to people from across the world of work? Trish 5:19 You know what? Okay, I hadn't thought this through, but something around people or human, humanizing... Steve 5:25 Human would be good, right? Trish 5:26 So for us, I think elevating the way that we talk, elevating the people we talk with, about that connection between AI and the human practicality, and I think we've already started that won't go into this year very much, but we did talk with um Alison Stevens from Paychex and around the 2026, business leader priorities. And of course, AI is in there, but we talked a lot with her about just how we like humanize that, right? So to me, that's how we're going to sort of uplift the conversation. Steve 5:59 I hope we talk a ton this year about well being and mental health and financial health. It's featured prominently in our 2026 workplace Trends Report, which is out now, and folks can download off H3HR.com I hope we talk a lot about that, about how these technologies and other issues and other factors influencing the world of work, how they show up in people's just, how they feel about themselves, how they feel about their work, their health, their well being, how they're showing up in their communities. I'm worried this year, going into this year, about just a lot of tensions around right in our environment and our climate and folks got to show up to work every day too, right amongst all of this, and it's a challenge, right for sure, and I think talking about ways that organizations can better step up for their people and take care of them while taking care of their business and their customers. Trish 6:59 We can do both. Steve 7:00 That, to me, is what I hope we talk about a lot this year. Trish 7:03 You know? I like that. I wrote it down health, but also, like, I'm thinking holistically, right? We've talked for years about bringing your whole self to work. Well, we really do. And I think from a tech standpoint, that's where we fall behind, is, how do we provide services and offerings and benefits. You and I obviously love benefits, especially you, but yeah, what are some of those benefits that people can really be helped with during these tough times? I mean, we say this every year, it feels like okay, next year is going to be not so divisive, but we're a country that's pretty divided on lots of issues. So as the CEO or the head of HR, like knowing that your workforce is divided, how do you start finding those little moments to bring people together on something that resonates with everyone? I think it's through benefits, it's your healthcare, it's your financial health, it's all the things you're mentioning, right? Steve 7:59 Yeah, for sure, we talked about a lot of topics right over the course of the year on literally hundreds of shows across all the titles on the network. We said the most most used word was AI. But we also talked a lot about hybrid and flexible work and new patterns and design of working. Talk a lot about leadership. We talked a lot about collaboration, reskilling, upskilling, Gen Z. You know, we have the Gen Z podcast, the Play by Play, but we also talked about Gen Z a little bit on the show as well. And so did Mervyn on his show, maybe Trish real quick before we cut to some interviews we did with the other network hosts, what were one or two or three, or however many? You want to talk about some of your highlights of the year on 2025 and maybe for folks who are new to the show, or newer to the show, maybe want to point them back to 2025 and say, Hey, this was a really good conversation, a good topic, and this stood out for me. Trish 8:54 Okay, so putting my back to being a business leader, HR, leader, hat on. So I look for shows that that really challenge us, but also teach us, so that you take something tangible back to your work. So my first one, the reason it's my favorite, you'll understand, was at Workhuman Live with Tom Libretto, who's the president of Workhuman. And the reason, two reasons, it's my favorite, number one, because it's live. We love doing our live shows, just the energy having the audience in front of us that felt really, really good. But we talked about everything AI, and so for me, I pick it because if I were a listener wanting to go back and actually learn about all the different aspects of AI and how you can measure it differently, Workhuman was the the business that's actually showing how to do that more than anybody else we've talked to, hands down. So I would listen to that show. I picked two because they really helped me personally, and maybe you personally. The first was with Caitlin McGregor, the CEO of plum. It was a big show around skills and durable skills, which we hadn't done one before. But also, if you check out plum their website, they have a free profile. Do you remember doing this? So we did our profiles to see and it's not about what it's not about assessing what skills you have. It was really about how much energy does it take you to do a certain skill, right? So, for example, teamwork, maybe teamwork, maybe I'm more of a loner, and I like it's so it takes more energy to work on a team, but maybe you're the opposite. So you and I actually sat down and did our plum profiles and compared, and I do think that helps us work together well, because we sort of know not what you can't do or what I can't do, but what takes more energy for you to do and less for me and vice versa. I thought that was super helpful. I'm going to mention Bill McGowan from Clarity Media Group, because he has a book called "Speak Memorably." I'm not a huge fan of reviewing books, but this one actually changed monumentally the way I present. So if you're wanting to brush up your presentation skills, think about the way that different slides or bits of information kind of connect, how to keep your audience involved in the story, how to change it up and keep it fresh, all those things. So my last one was just sort of a fun one, which it turned out to be our most downloaded, most listened to on the entire network, which was overcoming addiction. And our friend Brian Wempen has a book called "F*** My Demons," and so but talking to someone who really understands what it means to have an addiction, and that's not just, you know, drugs or alcohol, it could be gambling, it'd be shopping, it could be eating, right? So just thinking about and knowing that we all like, if you're an HR leader, for example, or you're a small business owner, there are people in your company that are fighting with some sort of an addictive habit, right? Maybe it's smoking, maybe it's whatever, right? But so just thinking about that, thinking about, what can we be doing to help each other as people and support overcoming addictions that we have? Steve 12:15 Yeah, those were all great, great examples of shows and great examples of the wide range of things we'll take on on the network. I had a couple I'll throw out there real quick that stood out to me. We talked about hybrid work a lot again this year, and I think finally that'll probably start dying down. But we did sort of almost a back to back pair of episodes on almost both sides of the hybrid, working, flexible, remote working coin. We had Peter Capelli on, who had written a book this year about basically the benefits of being in the office and in person work. And it was a really good book. Actually, we read it before the show, and it wasn't kind of this draconian, oh, butts in seats. Let's you know, I you're slacking off if you're if you're not working in an office. It was much more about what is gained, or maybe differently said, what is lost by the lack of interpersonal, you know, face to face human connection in work and workplaces, and really balanced book, I thought. And had a lot of great ideas about even making hybrid work more successful. Trish 13:15 Before you go to the next one, like Peter Capelli is, like, if you gave someone the title, like, godfather of the workplace, like, that's who it is, right? Just from someone like young me growing up reading his stuff. But when we heard, you know, we heard the pitch about the book, I did not want to like it. I'm a huge fan of, like, I just said at the top right, working from somewhere else. I literally left that conversation with him with pages of notes of things that I want to do differently because he made such a good argument. So even if you're someone that's like, Oh, we don't believe in that, I challenge you to listen like it was a good one. Yeah. Steve 13:55 And then, and then to follow that up, we had Cali Williams Yost on. I can't remember who came first in the order of shows, but she talked eloquently about flexibility, intentionality in the design of work. And she, of course, is so eloquent about discussing, hey, it's not about where you're working. It's about how work is designed, how reward mechanisms are designed, performance mechanisms are designed, freeing up people to do their best work. She's great. I love her. I would talk to her every month if we could. And I don't want to say they're they're completely opposite. If you really listen to both the shows and dig into them, they're not on opposing planes, really. They're really not even though the headlines might read their they're coming from two different points of view, on hybrid work and remote work and in person work. But I loved presenting both angles of that issue this year. And then I'll mention one more real quick, which was we had a guy on head of HR named Paul Yater, from a company called 84 Lumber, which is. Kind of a regional lumber Supply Company, which I know them from. They were big in the Northeast, where I used to live. Trish 15:06 They're i n Colorado too. Steve 15:07 Yeah, he was great about talking about upskilling and reskilling and training the next generation of workers for positions and hands on work, and just so optimistic. And they had such a great approach to bringing in new talent to 84 lumber and developing that talent and really working with them to help them succeed. So I love the show. If you're someone who's thinking about, hey, how do we sort of cultivate that next generation right in our workplace, it's a great resource I'd love, I encourage you to listen that conversation. And he was a super guy, too. So I love that show a lot. So those were three that stood out to me this year. Trish 15:42 Like, no lie, I would have never thought of working at any lumber, anything right by the end of that episode, his energy, his just knowledge, because he's also the CIO, so he gets that whole like technology people angle I legit want. You're lucky you didn't lose me. Like I drive by 84 Lumber now every time go, that's my backup plan. No kidding, the culture there is bar none. I mean, like so yes, also, if you know anyone who is looking for work in a very supportive environment and who promotes from within, very quickly, check out 84 Lumber. I would have never considered it. And I absolutely would consider working them with them, just because of Paul. Steve 16:27 Yeah, he was fantastic. So those are the ones that stood out to me. Trish, one of the things we want to do on this show, sort of our kickoff show, if you will, is hear from some of our other network hosts. So we were able to sit down prior to this and talk with Mervyn Dinnen, with Jack McFarlane and with Nick Schlemmer to reflect on their last year on the podcast network, and what they're planning for 2026 and what they're looking forward to. So let's hear from those guys, and then we'll come back and kind of wrap up the show and talk about 2026. Steve 17:06 We are with Mervyn Dinnen. He is the host of HR Means Business. Mervyn, Happy New Year. How are you? Mervyn Dinnen 17:13 I'm happy new year. To you too. I'm good. I'm very good. I've had a few days away sunning myself, and I'm back full of energy, ready to go for 2026. Trish 17:24 You have a nice tan. You're like, sun kissed. Mervyn Dinnen 17:30 Yeah, yeah. I like that. I like that, yes. Trish 17:33 Well, good. Well, thank you for for jumping on here. I know we want to just talk with you a little bit about kind of the the year we just are finished with, and then the one coming ahead. So kind of just as a point, for anyone who's not familiar with you, you actually started podcasting in what, November 21 of 2022, you've been a podcaster over three years now. Can you believe that? Mervyn Dinnen 17:58 It's flown by, it's flown by, and it's interesting. How the narrative changes and shifts, and there's always something new to talk about. And, yeah, it's, it's kind of, you know, this year has been, I won't say crazy, but I mean, it's kind of like every every other week, there's something new. Trish 18:18 So true! Steve 18:19 Mervyn, you did a lot of really interesting shows. You have a great lineup of guests. You know, you some of the great folks in HR that we know from the UK and from Europe. But guys talk about culture a lot and how HR influences business outcomes. What were some of the high points for you? If you had one or two from 2025, of shows that you did that you thought, wow, yeah, this was a great conversation. Mervyn Dinnen 18:44 Well, obviously, loads of them were great conversations. But no, I think that. I suppose there were three or four themes that kept coming through. Culture was important. And, you know, hr's role in shaping culture, in kind of, you know, facilitating change and things like that seem to be recurring. There seemed to be new research coming out two or three times during the year about that. Also, I think that certainly the beginning of the year, I had two or three conversations around kind of dealing with people. I know Xena Everett is an award winning author, was talking about, you know, the complexities of of everyday people, problems in the workplace. Ronan Harrington also was talking about high performance cultures, and I think that was quite important about how we, I suppose, not handle people but, how we, I suppose, enable people to bring their best selves to work and to give them the platform to do what they want to do. Change came up quite a few times as well. Lucy Adams, for example, another kind of award winning author, was about facilitating change. So I think the themess were there, and AI crept in once or twice towards the end. But yeah, no, it's been quite varied. A lot of it is about developing the workforce of the future. I do talk and write quite a bit around multi generational and intergenerational workforces, and there was quite an interesting one in the middle of the year with a lady called Lindsay Simpson, who runs a business called 55 Redefined. And that was, I suppose we're so used to with the generational thing, talking about Gen Z and things. But hers was slightly different in that she had identified a number of people who were 55 plus, who had possibly semi retired, or, you know, standing back from the workplace, but suddenly got almost like a not a second wind, but kind of missed the nip and tuck, we'd say, over here, of business. And she put together a project where she got a number of people who were ex bankers to come in and actually do a project for a major bank. And they were all people over the age of 55 and that's where her business has come from. So this kind of multi generational workforce from people coming in at 19, 20, and people in their 50, 60, 70s still working. I think that's quite a key theme, and I expect to see a lot more of it next year. Trish 21:29 Yeah, I love the themes you were talking about, because I think one of the things I find most helpful about these conversations you've had throughout the year is it really doesn't exclude HR professionals from those elements of culture. So you also kind of talk about how cultural we shape culture for an HR, right? But it also shapes us. So I did just in numerous conversations you've had, kind of get that it's, it's inclusive of the HR professional or leader, right? And that it's all also about, like, what we think we can be doing different better. You mentioned change, right? So I love that, because we hear a lot of podcasts, and it's often about, what can we do for employees, or what can we do for leaders, but we're sort of left out, yeah, and I do appreciate when you kind of throw that in there in your conversations, that it includes us as well as HR professionals. Mervyn Dinnen 22:23 I try to make sure there's an HR angle! Steve 22:26 Yeah, and you do, and it's, it's great that you, you're diving into these topics that are right at that intersection of people and organizational initiatives and outcomes. Mervyn, I, you know, want to think about moving forward in 2026 I've been thinking about, we've Trish and I have had a couple meetings already about, hey, what are we really going to be diving into in 2026 is there one or two things you're already thinking about? Hey, this is on my agenda. I'm interested in this, and we'd like to bring some of these conversations forth on HR means business, in 2026 what? What do you think is coming? Mervyn Dinnen 23:01 Well, I guess as we go through the next 12 months, kind of AI, will change things in leaps and bounds on an almost weekly or monthly basis, there'll be something different, something new, some new way of maybe looking at things. So I'm expecting quite a bit of that. I think, I mean, I would like to think it's kind of a lot about the people. And having had a number of conversations this year about HR's impact on kind of, you know, change and things like that, it's actually how we can support the people, how we can kind of help them to achieve their goals, to achieve their best, and maybe, you know, give them opportunities to grow and develop more. Trish 23:49 Yeah, I like where you said impact. I wrote it down. I thought, Oh, that's a powerful one, seeing what the impact is on each of these people that you're going to be talking with, and I think you're already on that path. Honestly, like you, you definitely, of course, you're on our network, but I love being a listener, because I actually learned from every single episode and even the one that you mentioned about being over 55 so I turned 55 this year, and I thought about how how different my career might have been if I had made a different choice from human resources and being a recruiter back in the day. And yeah, so I do appreciate when you sort of share those things too, and I hope you do more of that. So I know we do a lot of you know, like you said Gen Z talk, but yeah, I'd love to think about, like, what is X doing now, and can we, like, reimagine, maybe, how we can make that impact. Steve 24:39 So if I ever get that old, Mervin, I'll tune in to those episodes myself, because I think it's a great topic. Mervyn man, it has been so much fun working with you over these last couple of years. We're excited for 2026 for tons of great HR Means Business episodes. Happy New Year again. Thanks for taking a few minutes during the festive period, as they say, and Thanks for Thanks for stepping in for a few minutes. Mervyn Dinnen 25:08 No, it's a pleasure. It's been a pleasure. And as as always, it's been a pleasure to work with both of you on the podcast. And I look forward to whatever 2026 has to bring! Steve 25:23 Mervyn Dinnen, number one Arsenal fan as well. I think still top of the table, yes, yes, yes, which has got to be like a lit lifting your mood as well. Mervyn Dinnen 25:33 But there's a big game I don't want to date when we're having this conversation. We got a big game tomorrow night. Steve 25:39 Okay? Exciting, good stuff. So tune in to HR Means Business on the HR Happy Hour Network, and look forward to more in 2026. Mervyn, thanks again, and we'll see you soon. Steve 26:04 We are with Nick Schlemmer and Jack McFarlane. They are the hosts of the Play by Play on the HR Happy Hour Network. Guys, Nick, Jack, how are you and Happy New Year. Jack McFarlane 26:12 Yeah, we're doing great. Happy New Year! Steve 26:16 Good to see you, man. It's been a great year on the Play by Play. Trish, and I'll credit to you, by the way, maybe you should just say a few words first. I think the Play by Play was your idea, going back a few years now. Trish 26:28 You know what it was, and we weren't sure. The boys were kind of interested. Weren't exactly sure if they were interested in you've been doing it, what? Three years now, we just hit three years. Jack McFarlane 26:40 No, it's four four years, right? Because we started in 2022. Trish 26:45 Oh my gosh, four years! Jack McFarlane 26:47 So it's been four years, and we recorded our first episode for next year, yesterday, and we realized that it's been five calendar years of recording, because it was the end of 2022 and now beginning 26 so yeah, it's been crazy. Trish 27:00 Well, how abou, Nick question for you. I know that when we first started out, it was sort of like, what is this even going to be so in these now four plus years, what have you taken away from just doing a podcast in general, and maybe more specifically, this one? Nick Schlemmer 27:16 Yeah, you know, like you said, we were questioning whether or not, you know how it would turn out, how it would play out, whether or not we wanted to, you know, go full force into this four or five years ago, but it's been amazing. You know, I've had so much fun getting to do these every month with Jack, maybe sometimes twice a month with him, and I've learned a lot of what it takes to, you know, talk professionally. I've gained a lot of experience in that with some of the amazing guests we've had on our show, and then just learning, you know, how to talk to a camera. You know, we're not talking to a crowd, necessarily, they're listening. But I mean, just it's helped me perform better in the school aspect of things, just being in a room full of people and being willing and able to just get up there and start talking, it's been great. Trish 28:10 Good. Jack, how about you? I mean, you've always been a little bit of a fearless public speaker. What? How does podcast differ? And maybe another question would be, while you've been in college, you're both in college, near completion. I mean, how, how have you changed being a podcaster for for good or for bad? Jack McFarlane 28:33 Yeah, I've definitely changed a lot. Like you said, I'm a pretty confident public speaker. So it was, it was an interesting change. The first couple episodes, talking just in front of a camera. It's it's totally different, because it's like Nick said, there is no one there to look at, and that kind of makes me more confident when there are people there. So at first, first couple episodes, it was a little nerve wracking. You know, you never quite know how you're going to react in front of a camera. So I'd say, over the past four years, I've gone from slightly nervous to maybe overly confident. So I mean, I feel so comfortable. I could get in front of a camera talk all day, maybe better than if there were more people. So maybe it's switched for me, haven't had the public speak in a while other than the podcast, so I just feel so comfortable now, just the growth through the four years. And then another big part for me is the research side. So that's helped a lot with school. Podcasts, as you two know, better than anybody, takes a lot of time and a lot of research, and you've got to do the right research. So not only have I learned communication and like winging it because it never goes to plan, but also just how to do proper research, and those are the biggest things for the past four years that I've learned. Steve 29:44 I wanted to ask the guys, Trish, it's like they either like you said, they're both winding down their college careers, almost done, but have been doing the podcast for a while now, too, and they both have grown a lot. Right? When they first started the podcast, they kind of were just college kids, right? But now they both have had a lot of experience in the professional world, whether it's jobs, part time, jobs, internships, doing speaking at their jobs, etc, etc. I'd love to hear from the guys. I'll start with you, Nick like, how do you've just, how do you think you've sort of grown throughout the the time of the podcast. Just as as a as someone getting ready to launch their full time professional career pretty soon, Nick Schlemmer 30:29 I think, you know, in these past four years I've, I've grown a lot in that aspect. Like you said, we started off pretty much just freshmen in college, ready, just ready to see what, see what it entails. So this kind of it definitely helped boost my confidence in the in the school aspect, like I said earlier in the professional aspect. But yeah, I've grown so much in the last four years, just as myself, professionally, physically, mentally, emotionally, and I can attribute a lot of that to to this show. You know, everything that Jack's put into it, that I put into it, it's, it's been really good for me. Steve 31:10 Jack, same question to you, like you, like you said as a freshman going into college, to where you are now, just just knowing you, it's night and day. You're like a polished professional now, and, yeah, I'd love for your thoughts on just perspective over the last four years too. Jack McFarlane 31:25 Yeah, that's That's fantastic, just thinking back on how little Nick and I were, and maybe age wise, because Nick is very tall, but professionally, this show has been fantastic. The biggest thing for me is all the guests we have. We've had a lot of really great guests. And just by not even necessarily interviewing them, but just by seeing the way they speak, hearing what they're talking about, the way that they're acting, you know, their nonverbal, their verbal communication, all that, I try and take mental notes of all that and incorporate that into when I'm doing an interview, when I'm doing the podcast, when I'm meeting with the professor, whatever it may be. Another benefit of the podcast is just on your resume. I've put this on my resume, I think started two years ago, once we had a decent body of work and some pretty good, polished shows. And I think every interview I've done since I've got multiple questions about it. So it is definitely like a standout on a resume, and that has helped tremendously. Steve 32:24 Cool. Trish 32:25 I think that's good for other people who might be on the fence about whether or not they would ever start a podcast, right? You don't think about all of the benefits that can come after several years of doing it. I know that there's, you know, there are statistics that say that most people stop doing things after about 12 months would be the max, right? People give up. And so my last question is, for we'll go to Nick first: what has kept you going? What really keeps you going when it comes to doing this? Is it the networking that you're doing? Is it something else? Is it technical abilities? What keeps you going with this? Nick Schlemmer 33:03 You know, straight away, I've always been a huge family guy, so getting to see my family once or twice a month for, you know, an hour or so at a time, just doing that, and being able to do it with Jack and now with Carleigh as well in the background, and she joins the show every now and then. That's been the main factor in it, just having fun with them, we laugh, we smile. It's always just been so fun. Trish 33:31 Love it. How about you, Jack? Jack McFarlane 33:33 Yeah, for me, I mean, that's obviously a big part, just getting to see everybody, but I'm a very competitive person, as you guys probably know, I'd say. So what keeps me going is just the drive to be the best. We want to make the show even better. We want our podcast to be successful. And we always joke in our year interview that we'll be in that top 10 most listened to, you know, right next to Joe Rogan, one day, we're going to be higher than Joe Rogan. Like, I just want, I just want to be the best. So that's what keeps me going. Steve 34:02 I love it. Hey guys, we want to make sure we carve out a minute or two though to talk about, maybe pick one or two highlights from the year of 2025, shows you did a bunch of really great shows this year. Is there? Is there something that stands out, whether it's a guest, a topic, even it's just a segment? I'll throw it to you. Jack first, what's, what's your, what's your Play by Play highlight of 2025, Jack McFarlane 34:24 that's, that's fantastic question. There. There are two things that jump out to me. The first would be our March Madness show. But just because I nailed my predictions so good, I don't I, my bracket was in the top million in the world. So that's a huge standout to me, on a personal level, just getting that all right for the first time ever felt really good. Second thing was our show on social media, but how it can negatively affect your business, because a lot of people see it as a positive, which it is, but you have to be careful. So I just thought that was the most interesting show. I learned the most from that on the negative effects that social media can have on your business. Steve 35:01 Nick, How about you? What's your what's your standout moment from 2025? Nick Schlemmer 35:07 I think you know, in shows specifically, I love doing the year reviews, getting to do our predictions, but then also look back and see how we did on last year's predictions and everything that's happened over the year, those are definitely what I enjoy the most recording. I also love whenever Jack or myself throws in an unexpected game time segment, because then you're going into like you have no idea what's about to happen, that those are always a blast. Trish 35:37 Yeah, your game times are fun. I want to give you both a compliment, though, because when I listen, and this was sort of the intent of the show, right? Is to hear what people in Gen Z are really thinking about business, but about just life, not only do you do those things, but I wrote down atmospheric river. You guys had a segment where you talked about atmospheric rivers, and I'm sitting there thinking, like, what is that? Right? And so literally, the next day, I'm watching the news, and they're talking about atmospheric rivers. So I've had so many moments where you all bring something up and that I've never heard of, and I go to learn about it, and then within a few days, I'm suddenly hearing about it. Do you guys get that or do you feel that? Jack, how about you? Jack McFarlane 36:23 Yeah, that we were just talking about this over the holidays about the atmospheric river. I've heard it everywhere. I mean, I can't, for the life of me, ever recall one time hearing that we do a what in the world segment about the atmospheric river, and I see it. I see it every week, every week on the news, reading about Google, something about atmospheric river. So the other one that goes along with that is also from another what in the world segment, and it was the lab grown meat. I had never heard of that. I've seen that a couple times on the news, not as much, but yeah, there's definitely been some weird stuff like that. Trish 36:58 So totally of value. Well, what about for the coming year? Obviously, we're at the New Year. What are you guys excited about? Nick, what about you, whether it's a topic or maybe a dream guest that you want to try and get on the show? You want Joe Rogan on the show? Nick Schlemmer 37:15 He would be an amazing person to have on the show. I know Jack really wants him on the show. You know, I have to dig deeper and think about who I would I would want to bring on the show, but just looking forward to 2026, I know me and Jack, we want to continue producing, you know, high quality podcasts and keep making these videos for all of our listeners. But we also want to try and bring in some guests that just more guests. I know we've been talking about it more. We've done a lot of shows, you know, with just me and Jack, and then also bringing in Carleigh. I think for 2026 really want to push to to bring in more people on the show. Trish 37:57 Yeah, I think it's nice when you do, especially when you're talking about different professions. I know you've had, you know, construction covered and some others, but I was recently just out in the world and met a girl who is, like the Illinois Ambassador for Women entering the plumbing profession. So, like, maybe that would be a good guess. But I think that, you know, bringing younger people on as guests. It actually helps those of us who have been in the business for a very long time understand not just what's on your mind, but what skills you all are bringing to the table beyond just a college degree, right? It's life experience as well. Jack, what about you? Any any dream topics or dream guests; or what are you planning for the year? Jack McFarlane 38:43 Yeah, I'll go super quick here to not spoil too much. But for 2026 I plan on we kind of just started in our most recent show with more of an overview of the total business and efficiency as a little sneak peek for everybody. My goal, my like ideal idea, is to have each episode centered around one specific aspect of the business, basically breaking it down, department by department, and showing how Gen Z is improving and making it more efficient and using technology to make each department better. Now that Gen Z has been in the workforce for a couple years, we're starting to get data on that stuff. So the whole goal this year for me is to kind of do a business breakdown through each episode with Gen Z. So that's as much as I'll say, and you guys will just have to listen for the rest. Trish 39:30 That's exciting. I mean, don't you think like they're morphing? That's not where they were three years. No, I think it's great. Steve 39:37 It's a reflection of the evolution of the show, the guys getting more experience, getting smarter, getting more confident, but also, yeah, as Jack indicated, you know, the oldest Gen Zers are, what, 2620, you know, in that range, right? They're, they're out. It's not a brand new thing, right? Everybody's going to work today. Gen Z where they're working right, either right next to them or nearby, right, like Gen Z's it's not, oh my god, Gen Z is coming. Gen Z's here, right? And I think the impetus for this show, and why it will continue, I think, is that so many folks like us here want to talk about Gen Z and Gen Z this, and Gen Z that? Well, we didn't want to do that. We wanted Gen Z to talk. We wanted to hear their voices and their perspectives, and which is why I think the show's so great, and I'm excited for the 2026 on the Play by Play guys, and want to thank you for taking a few minutes real quick. Last thing I know, this will air later. But who's going to win the University of Utah versus University Nebraska-Lincoln bowl game? I don't know the name of it, I think it's the Las Vegas Bowl. Steve 40:46 It's the Vegas Bowl. Yeah, on New Year's Eve. Steve 40:50 Jack, I'll throw it to you. Jack McFarlane 40:52 I mean, we're a 14 point favorite for a reason. Am I right? Go Utes baby. Come on. Nick Schlemmer 41:01 Oh, yes, overtime thriller. Go Big Red. Steve 41:05 You guys might need to do a special like New Year's New Year's Eve live show to talk about this. Steve 41:13 They are Nick Schlemmer and Jack McFarlane. They are the host of the Play by Play on the HR Happy Hour Network. Thanks guys for joining us and Trish, good stuff. Thank you. Trish 41:25 Thank you. Jack McFarlane 41:25 Yeah, thank you guys. Nick Schlemmer 41:26 Thank you. Steve 41:28 All right, it was great to hear from Mervyn and Nick and Jack. I'm so excited for them, and I'm excited for the network too. Trish, we got some things coming up, some new things. We're probably hopefully going to add a couple of titles this year. We'll see. I don't think we can't really announce that yet, but hopefully we'll have an announcement soon on that. And what are you excited for in 2026, Trish on the network and outside the network as well? Trish 41:52 You know, it's funny so many things. I think that this is the time of year where we as an H3 HR team, get together, we talk about the coming year, what we want to do, both personally, professionally, and that's exciting, but just something you just said at the beginning of the show kind of caught my attention, and I'm going to make that what I want to do, where you're talking about sort of comparing two shows, right, seeing both sides. I think we should maybe try and do that, whether it's quarterly, let's, let's specifically seek out, right? If we do a show that's really potentially controversial or just a different opinion, let's try and find someone with maybe an opposing view and bring that sort of whole picture to the audience. I think that could be really fun. What about you? Steve 42:33 I love that idea. I mean, for me, I want to continue to dig into people's experiences at work, and how external factors and and the climate and technology and the design of work, etc, how they impact real people and their experience of work and their lives, right? And how that shows up in their engagement, in their well being, and their financial health, all the things, right? So it's like I said earlier, it's a big theme throughout our big 2026, workplace Trends report. I want to lean into it some more. I love talking about the technology, right? We talk about it a lot, especially, particularly on the HRHappyHour show on the network, and I love working with our friends and partners to talk about the latest and greatest and new technology. I want to make sure we're mirroring those conversations with the impact of those technologies, and how those technologies are showing up in workplaces, and how they're affecting people's lives, good and bad, hopefully for the good. But you know, I'd love to dig into some of the stories behind the technology too. So those are what I'm looking forward to the most, Trish. Probably doing some more video this year as well. We've talked about that some but, yeah, I'm excited. I'm really enthusiastic about this year. Trish 43:46 You know what? I think we've been doing it just when you were talking there about the specific title, HR Happy Hour, because that is our technology-forward show, right? Yeah, and it's not that we don't talk about people, but we're really talking about the benefits of technology. Maybe it's already looking back at 2025 is start and pairing up when we talk with a vendor about a certain technological advancement, then see, do we have an actual practical show of how that manifests in the workplace? And if we don't, maybe that's the connection. Maybe it's not so much opposite sides of an issue. Maybe it's the tech side and the people side, right? So lots. Here's the thing, Steve, I mean full credit to you. I know you don't like to give yourself credit for you. Created this space, right for all of us. Myself as a practitioner, was a listener for many years. First, I just want to thank you, because every time you talk, I learn something or it sparks an idea, and I know that's what happens with the listeners, too. And so I think that the more that we keep just sort of, I don't know, thinking about something in a new way, we're not just trying to be the same HR Happy Hour from 2009 right? We're not just adding shows willy nilly because they're shows, right? Yeah. It's really trying. To elevate what we're providing to business leaders so that they can do better in their workplace, right? So, thank you. Steve 45:07 That was kind of you. Thank you. I couldn't do this without you. Of course, we couldn't do this without our wonderful colleague. She's the producer who runs everything behind the scenes. Karen Steed, thank her. She is amazing. Thanks to Mervyn Dinnen, of course, Jack McFarlane, Nick Schlemmer; more to come on the network. I'm so excited. Thanks to our friends at Workhuman, of course, they were with us all year in 2025 supporting the network, and we can't wait to continue working with them. Trish, this has been super fun. Here's to 2026! Trish 45:37 Cheers with my coffee. Steve 45:40 All right, thanks so much for listening. Everybody. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Go to hrhappyhour.net for more. For Trish Steed, my name is Steve Boese. Thanks for listening. And here's to a great 2026! Transcribed by https://otter.ai