Episodes
Episode 273: The Myths, Facts, and Business Impact of Menopause with Karissa Pfeffer
In episode 273, Coffey talks with Karissa Pfeffer about how perimenopause and menopause quietly drive attrition among experienced women and what employers can do to recognize, support, and retain them.
They discuss Karissa’s path from corporate finance at Rocket Mortgage to workplace menopause consulting after mistaking her own symptoms for burnout; the difference between perimenopause and menopause, typical onset ages, and surgical or chemically induced menopause; perimenopause symptoms like brain fog, poor word retrieval, fatigue, and hot flashes that undermine on-the-job performance; why managers misread perimenopause as burnout, disengagement, or declining performance in strong employees; the recognize, respond, refer framework that keeps managers supportive without diagnosing employees; how existing health plans, EAPs, and menopause benefit vendors often already cover what employees need; menopause accommodation laws and executive orders emerging in Illinois, Washington, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and the United Kingdom; the replacement cost of losing senior women leaders and why menopause support is a retention strategy rather than a wellness perk; using attrition data for women aged 35 to 55 to measure hidden workforce risk; low-cost first steps including ERG subgroups, manager training, and prescription coverage reviews for hormonal and non-hormonal therapies; and how the flawed 2002 Women’s Health Initiative study fueled two decades of fear about hormone replacement therapy.
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Episode 272: Inclusive Recruiting Means Finding the Best Talent Available with Amie Fox
In episode 272, Coffey talks with Amie Fox about inclusive recruitment as a skills-first strategy — and why getting disability inclusion right across the hiring lifecycle unlocks better outcomes for all types of diverse talent.
They discuss inclusive recruitment defined as removing intentional and unintentional barriers so the best-skilled candidate can move through the process without obstruction; honest, specific job descriptions that reflect actual role requirements rather than aspirational proxies and that allow unqualified candidates to self-select out; disability as the inclusion starting point — with the disability community twice as likely to be unemployed as non-disabled peers despite being frequently over-educated; the average $300 cost of a reasonable accommodation in the US and available government funding through state and county workforce boards to offset it; skills-based hiring as the most equitable screening approach because it focuses on demonstrable job-relevant competencies rather than credential proxies; AI and assistive technology as equalizers for candidates and employees with disabilities, enabling participation and independence in ways previously unavailable; designing the application process intentionally — including accessibility of job postings, assessments, and office environments — to remove barriers before the interview stage; how to handle disability disclosure in interviews, ask practical accessibility questions, and kick the elephant out of the room without legal risk; the medical model versus social model of disability and why moving past fear of offense is the key to unlocking genuine inclusion conversations; and onboarding as the most critical retention tool — including pre-start communication, 90-day planning, accommodations setup before day one, and maintaining connection so new hires know where the bathroom is.
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Episode 271: HR News: The Court Calls Fireflies.ai to the Stand with Mallory Herrin
In episode 271, Coffey talks with Mallory Herrin about recent workplace news stories involving AI note-takers, executive accountability, sex discrimination, and performance feedback.
They discuss how an AI meeting transcript became evidence in a gender discrimination lawsuit; why vague termination explanations invite employees to assume discriminatory intent; the admissibility and reliability of AI-generated transcripts in litigation; the board ouster of Better.com CEO Vishal Garg after $1.5 billion in losses; why leader behavior and judgment are legitimate, quantifiable performance criteria; an Arkansas hospital’s loss in a sex discrimination case brought by a male surgical tech barred from deliveries; why bona fide occupational qualification defenses rarely survive inconsistent application; how third-party referral sources pressure employers into unlawful employment decisions; survey data showing 43% of managers entered employee names, performance details, or PII into public AI tools; the difference between consumer AI accounts and enterprise agreements with zero data retention; why AI chat logs are discoverable in employment litigation; the need for written AI policies, training, and HR support; why subjective feedback like “executive presence” fails employees; and why continuous real-time coaching beats annual performance reviews.
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Episode 270: Employer Responses to Domestic Abuse with Mollie Campbell
In episode 270, Coffey talks with Mollie Campbell about how domestic abuse silently impacts the workplace and employers’ moral and business case for addressing it.
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They discuss the prevalence of domestic abuse and why survivors are skilled at hiding it; the broad definition of domestic abuse; the workplace impact of domestic abuse on productivity, absenteeism, engagement, and retention; behavioral and physical warning signs managers can watch for — without diagnosing — and how to have a compassionate, open-door conversation that offers resources without overstepping; the critical importance of individualized employee safety planning when a protective order is in place; the tension between training managers to recognize warning signs and avoiding hypervigilance or over-diagnosis; the eight components of the Safe Place Workplace Program; and resources for survivors, including the National Domestic Violence Hotline, domesticshelters.org , and the Employers Against Domestic Abuse Alliance website.
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Episode 269: What 11,000 Undercover Interviews Reveal About Retention with Clint Pulver
In episode 269, Coffey talks with Clint Pulver about what 11,000 undercover employee interviews revealed about why people stay, why they leave, and what separates managers who are merely tolerated from the ones employees call mentors.
They discuss the gap between how leaders perceive their own organizations and the reality employees experience — and why employees rarely tell their boss the truth; the four manager archetypes — the removed manager, the buddy manager, the controller, and the mentor — mapped against the twin variables of standards and connection; mentorship over management as the consistent differentiator in organizations where people thrive and stay; the five Cs of mentorship — confidence, credibility, competency, candor, and care — and how each can be developed, not just inherited; why there is no universal retention formula and why getting to “the part about the individual” outperforms any generational strategy or workplace perk; the currency of recognition and why personalized, moment-based acknowledgment drives engagement far more than standardized rewards; the status check as a practical alternative to performance reviews — three questions that open a real conversation about what an employee needs, what’s blocking their success, and what would keep them; why leaders who say they don’t have time to connect are simply choosing other priorities, and what it costs them; and the difference between collaboration and control in difficult conversations, including how candor and trust work together when a manager can’t give an employee what they’re asking for.
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