Villanova University Graduate Programs in Human Resource Development
Villanova HR Tea Podcast
HR Tea is a podcast featuring interviews with HR Leaders, Researchers, Students, and Influencers. HR Tea takes trending topics and research in human resources, steeps them for 30 minutes or less and leaves you with fresh-brewed ideas on how to drive high-performing, inclusive organizations and create meaningful work experiences. HR Tea is brought to you by Villanova HRD, the Graduate Programs in Human Resource Development at Villanova University.
Season 5
Season Five:
About the Season: “Workplaces that prioritize well-being see employees who are more engaged and productive.” SHRM Newsletter. Organizational wellness programs have been around for ages, but at the same time well-being is a trending topic and well-being programming is constantly evolving to meet new needs or changing interests. Everyone is talking about well-being right now, but what do we mean by well-being anyway? Organizations need to answer this question for themselves, thinking broadly about all the different types of well-being and making sure they are offering solutions that meet the varied needs of diverse employees. Our guests include organizational researchers, HR leaders, executive coaches, a diversity officer, and a family & alternative medicine physician. Season 5 launched in September 2023.
The Host: Season five is hosted by Dr. Heather Cluley. Heather is an HRD faculty member with a passion for work-family integration and experimentation and the overall benefits of well-being. Connect with Heather on LinkedIn.
The Team: Season Five was curated, edited, and produced by our team of HRD faculty, staff, and students including Jennifer Casalino, Tiana Drake, Marisa D’Errico, Keith Grohowski, Bethany Adams, and our host, Dr. Heather Cluley.
About the Host:
Dr. Heather Cluley hosted season 5 of HR Tea. Heather earned her Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior at John Molson School of Business, Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. She has an MS in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and a BS in Public Health Education and Psychology. Heather has worked in various project management roles in health promotion and health care communications in public and private health care settings.
Connect with her on LinkedIn!
2023
Let's Talk Well-Being!
Welcome to Season 5 of HR Tea. This season of HR Tea will focus on topics related to well-being and how organizations can meet the varied needs of diverse employees. Guests will include researchers, HR leaders, DEI specialists. and even a physician. We hope you enjoy your listening this season!
2023
Leading Well-Being
In this episode, Samantha Kahn discusses founding Lighthaus Coaching as a way to help other achievement-oriented women move beyond defining themselves exclusively by their status at work and, by doing so, helping them create a life they love. When these leaders become more bal, they also lead by example, showing employees what success and well-being can look like when prioritizing oneself as well as one’s work.
2023
The Benefits of Coaching
In this episode, executive coach Kelly Meerbott talks about her work with top leaders who are often burned out. To help them regain a sense of well-being and purpose, executives have to be willing to become uncomfortable if they are going to truly benefit from coaching. Emotional intelligence training is often the key to helping them achieve the best version of themselves.
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2023
Go Practice Well-Being
In our final episode, we put it all together. Now is your time to go practice well-being. Too often, well-being gets lost in our busy schedules, our deadlines, our strategies. If we want to truly offer well-being as a practice for our employees, it's time we start practicing it ourselves. Go give it a try!
2023
Worker Well-BEEing
In this episode, IO Psychologists and CoFounders of WorkrBeeing, Patricia Grabarek and Katina Sawyer kick off the season by unpacking the word well-being. Well-being means different things to different people and it’s made up of many different parts, not just physical and mental health. Through their research, Grabarek and Sawyer have found that the best way for organizations to support employee well-being is by developing leaders and managers to better support the unique needs of each employee.
2023
A Physician's Perspective
In this episode, we have a physician's perspective on well-being. Dr. Adam Gavsie describes well-being and health not just as the absence of disease but so much more. In fact, he says “what is it not?” Dr. Gavsie sees his mandate as helping patients “realize their own potential to cope with normal stress, be able to work productively, and to contribute to their community". Organizational research has also supported the link between employee well-being and productivity – when organizations support employees’ mental, physical and other types of health, they also support their ability to contribute to the organization.
2023
The Positive Impact of DEI
In this episode, Joseph Starchia, a recruiter in the DEI space, says we need to “make sure that we're not hiring people into burning buildings and then they're complaining about the smoke and the fire.” Organizations need to create inclusive and healthy work environments if they expect employees to be well and do well. DEI is ultimately intertwined with well-being because people can only fully contribute at work when their physical, mental, financial and social needs are supported. When diverse voices are included in wellness program planning, only then will diverse needs get met. Otherwise, organizations make big investments and employees respond with “Thank you. But that's not what we need."
2023
Creating the Culture
In this episode, Chief People Officer for Staples Stores, Sarah Goggin, advocates for kindness, understanding, and thoughtfulness as the primary way to help employees meet their well-being needs. Creating that culture of caring and flexibility takes effort and intention, but it is the path forward for supporting well-being for their mostly retail workforce.
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2023
Technology's Impact
In this episode, Work-Family Researcher Ariane Ollier Malaterre discusses the ways that work technology can support or harm well-being. The bright side of technology offers connectedness, communication, efficiency and well-being when paired with proper digital regulation. The dark side comes with the electronic leash, unsustainable availability expectations, “bossware” AND anxiety, stress and burnout. This is what happens when boundaries blur between work and the rest of life. Dr. Ollier Malaterre believes that organizations can find common sense solutions that are also a win-win for both employees and organizations.
2023
Working Parents' Perspective
In this episode, Scott Behson talks about his interviews with business leaders, CHROs, CEOs and small business owners (the topic of his book called The Whole Person Workplace). His key learning is that the best employers value their employees as whole people. Organizations that recognize, appreciate, and try to help employees rise to meet their life challenges, priorities, and passions outside of work also have employees who engage, who innovate, and who stay. He also talks about working dads' particular struggles and how HR can gear programs to meet dad’s needs. Resources.