Bridging the Gen Z Generational Gap with Marcia Homer
Release Date: 07/29/2025
Nicole Blevins on HR Burnout
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Nicole Blevins discusses HR burnout with Brandon Laws, describing HR professionals as the "emotional sponge" of organizations. She explains how HR workers struggle to recognize burnout in themselves despite helping others with similar issues, particularly solo practitioners lacking peer support. Nicole shares practical strategies including setting boundaries, scheduling breaks, using music for decompression, and building professional networks. The key message: HR professionals must proactively prioritize their own mental health and apply the same self-care they advocate for employees. A QUICK...
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Leading in Layers with Lawrence Armstrong
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Connecting the Frontline: Rethinking Workforce Communication with Victoria Dew
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In this episode of Transform Your Workplace, host Brandon Laws welcomes back , founder and CEO of , to unpack findings from her latest research report, . Victoria shares what her team discovered after interviewing communication leaders across 18 industries — from manufacturing and healthcare to construction and education — about the urgent need to better connect with deskless and frontline workers. Together, Brandon and Victoria discuss how to bridge the gap between corporate and hourly employees, why 72% of frontline workers don’t understand company strategy,...
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Be Yourself at Work with Claude Silver
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In this episode of Transform Your Workplace, host Brandon Laws sits down with Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX and author of Be Yourself at Work: The Groundbreaking Power of Showing Up, Standing Out, and Leading from the Heart. Together, they unpack what it really means to lead with humanity in today’s workplace. Claude shares stories from her own journey—from leaving a two-decade advertising career to building one of the most human-centered cultures in business—and offers practical wisdom for leaders who want to foster authenticity, connection, and belonging on...
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BONUS EPISODE: Nicole Blevins on How HR Can Support Internal HR
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HR consultant Nicole Blevins discusses building effective partnerships between internal HR teams and external consultants. She emphasizes starting with clear role definitions, addressing concerns through curiosity rather than defensiveness, and positioning consultants as supportive extensions rather than threats. Success requires open communication, regular check-ins, and customizing support based on each team's unique needs. TAKEAWAYS Start relationships with clear expectations by mapping roles and responsibilities to avoid conflicts over unmet assumptions Address resistance through...
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Wellness 2.0 - How to Build a Sustainable Workplace Culture with Danielle Dinkelman
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Danielle Dinkelman shares her journey into corporate wellness, shaped by personal injury and witnessing her husband's burnout. She emphasizes that effective wellness programs require shared responsibility between employers and employees, focusing on five key areas: rest, fuel, play, connection, and purpose. Success depends on authentic leadership commitment rather than incentive-driven programs. TAKEAWAYS Rest is productive, not a distraction — leaders must recognize that sustainable performance requires intentional recovery time. High-impact wellness coaching achieves 20-40% utilization...
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The Importance of Embodied Safety at Work with Josh Durham
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Construction veteran and certified polyvagal professional Josh Durham returns to explore “embodied safety” — a whole-person approach that connects physical, psychological, and physiological safety. He and host Brandon Laws discuss why practices beat policies, how simple sensory cues (calm voice, clear signage, clean spaces, brief breathing drills) help teams operate in a focused “play zone,” and practical steps leaders can use to build respectful worksites that improve retention, decision-making, and outcomes. Key Timestamps 00:00 — Welcome & sponsor; why embodied safety...
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Leading with Heart under Pressure with Nir Megnazi
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Leadership coach Nir Megnazi discusses leading calmly through uncertainty in this Transform Your Workplace podcast. He explains how overwhelming change causes leaders to freeze, micromanage, or become emotionally reactive. Megnazi emphasizes that effective leadership requires emotional awareness—identifying and naming feelings before acting on them. He argues leaders must shift from prioritizing results to enabling team success by understanding individual strengths and creating environments where people can reach their potential, ultimately achieving exponentially better outcomes. ...
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Fixing What’s Broken at Work with Melissa Swift
Transform Your Workplace
Melissa Swift discusses why modern work is dangerous, boring, and frustrating—comparing today's tech overload to the early industrial revolution. She advocates for human-centric workplace design, reducing work intensification, and treating employee feedback as valuable data rather than complaints. TAKEAWAYS Work intensification is real: Employees are doing more tasks per hour with denser workloads, like carrying bricks instead of sponges Technology waste is massive: 42-43% of time with workplace tech is wasted; half of employees want old systems back Focus on retention over recruiting: HR...
info_outlineHR expert Marcia Homer discusses the workplace dynamics between Gen X managers and Gen Z employees. She explains how different generational upbringings create workplace conflicts - Gen X grew up as independent "latchkey kids" while Gen Z is the most connected and supervised generation ever. Homer emphasizes that Gen Z isn't lazy but wants to work differently, seeking purpose, flexibility, and growth over grinding. The solution lies in improved communication, patience, and non-judgmental curiosity from all generations.
TAKEAWAYS
- Different upbringings create conflict: Gen X developed independence while Gen Z grew up highly supervised and digitally connected
- Gen Z seeks purpose over burnout: They want meaningful work, flexibility, and regular feedback rather than grinding for status
- Communication is key: Success requires patience, clear expectations, and non-judgmental curiosity from all generations
[00:38] - How Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z grew up differently
[01:06] - Gen X as "latchkey kids" - independent, unsupervised upbringing
[02:30] - Gen X values: resilience, "suck it up" mentality, separating work and personal life
[04:26] - Gen Z as most connected and supervised generation ever
[04:56] - Impact of major events on Gen Z: 9/11, 2008 crisis, climate change, COVID
[06:28] - Workplace conflicts between Gen X managers and Gen Z employees
[10:45] - COVID's impact on workplace dynamics and remote work shift
[11:22] - Debunking the "Gen Z is lazy" myth
[11:53] - What Gen Z actually wants: purpose, flexibility, growth over grind
[13:26] - The positive shift Gen Z brings to workplace conversations
[14:44] - Advice for Gen Z: slow down and learn the rules of the game first
[16:55] - Gen Z prefers real-time feedback over annual performance reviews
[19:04] - Gen Z tendency to overshare personal information at work
[21:05] - Gen Z's digital tool proficiency and time management skills
[22:57] - Career development conversations with Gen Z
[25:28] - The core solution: better communication and psychological safety
[27:24] - Approaching conflicts with "non-judgmental curiosity"
[29:11] - Communicating across multiple generations as a senior leader
[31:56] - Key motivators for Gen Z retention and engagement
[34:22] - Skills leaders need for 2030 workforce dominated by Gen Z
[36:34] - Resources: "Play the Game" book and GenZWorkplaceFixes.com
A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST
Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR
Host: Brandon Laws
In Brandon's own words:
“The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders.”
About Xenium HR
Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR.
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