A Personal Look at Workforce Planning

Host Cindi Koetzle speaks with Bonterra’s Chief Impact Officer Kenrick Fraser about how organizations are moving beyond legacy CSR models to create social impact programs that better serve employees and nonprofits alike. Their conversation explores why employee participation has plateaued, how the “glacial middle” of management can become an unintended barrier to engagement, and why data helps leaders connect CSR to productivity, skill development and retention. Kenrick shares how organizations can design programs for today’s distributed workforce by offering in-person, virtual and asynchronous opportunities that reach remote, frontline and deskless employees. They also discuss how technology, AI-powered personalization and unified impact data make participation easier while reducing administrative burdens for nonprofits. Kenrick explains how a more connected approach to CSR strengthens employee communities, expands nonprofit capacity and turns social impact into a more measurable part of the employee experience.

Fresh from the SHRM 2026 Annual Conference, OrgChart CEO, Tom McCarty, breaks down the trends that defined this year's conference: from the rallying cry of "Taking Back HR" and the shift from reactive to strategic, to AI's growing role in the function, and Oprah's challenge to build cultures where people truly feel seen. Plus: what HR leaders should prioritize for the rest of 2026.

HR has always been at the center of the employee experience, but today's most effective HR leaders are storytellers. They’re shaping the narratives that define culture, drive engagement, and align organizations through change, and, in order to do this, they need the right tools and skillset. In this episode, we sit down with Kimberlee Henry, CMO of OrgChart, to explore how HR can step into the role of chief organizational storyteller, from crafting authentic hiring narratives to communicating through layoffs and reorgs with clear visuals and data points.

Tom McCarty, CEO of OrgChart, recently visited the podcast to speak about the growing importance of strategic workforce planning. We discussed the need for continuous iterations when scenario planning and the importance of having a strong baseline of HR data, but we didn’t get to discuss one area that all HR leaders are considering when planning for the future: AI. In this podcast, we will discuss how leading HR teams are shaping their workforce to incorporate AI.

In this episode of Nine to Thrive HR, host Cindy Koetzle speaks with OrgChart CEO Tom McCarty about why strategic workforce planning is more important than ever as organizations face rapid growth, transformation, and the growing influence of AI. The conversation explores how leaders can better prepare for the future by defining a clear long-term vision, understanding their current organizational structure and talent landscape, and continuously monitoring progress through scenario planning and agile decision-making. They also discuss the limits of spreadsheet-based planning and the value of visual, real-time workforce data in helping HR leaders move beyond administrative tasks and into more strategic, human-centered conversations that support both business goals and employee success.

The workplace is shifting again and HR is caught in the middle. In this episode, we explore isolved’s HR’s New Balancing Act: 7 Trends to Watch in 2026 report and what it reveals about today’s talent market, the rise of AI in HR and the growing importance of trust and clarity. From rethinking hiring and upskilling to simplifying benefits and protecting employee data, this conversation breaks down how HR leaders can balance business needs with employee expectations and turn change into a strategic advantage in 2026.

After surveying over 1,000 HR leaders, AbsenceSoft's 2026 State of Leave and Accommodations report revealed that the nature of leave and accommodations requests has fundamentally shifted in ways most compliance professionals aren't prepared for. For the third year running, caseloads continue climbing, but it's not just the volume that's changed. The types of requests employees are making, the tools HR teams are using to manage them, and the compliance risks lurking in seemingly helpful shortcuts are creating a perfect storm. If you're still managing your programs the way you did three years ago, or if you think AI is just a future concern, this conversation will change how you think about risk, resources, and what it takes to stay compliant in 2026.

Host Cindi Koetzle welcomes David Ly, CEO and Founder of Iveda, for a practical conversation on how AI is moving from buzzword to business-critical tool in HR, learning, and operations. Drawing on more than two decades in AI-powered video and vision technology, David explains why AI is suddenly “everywhere” now—affordable computing power, accessible interfaces, and off-the-shelf solutions—despite having been in the background of our lives for years in tools like streaming recommendations and automated data organization. He and Cindi explore how AI can transform onboarding and training by using video, computer vision, and augmented reality to capture best practices from tenured employees, provide real-time guidance to new hires, and act as a “force multiplier” for coaches and trainers. They also tackle employee concerns about job loss, reframing AI as a shift in roles rather than a replacement for humans, and discuss how better training, fewer errors, and faster support ultimately improve customer experience and ROI.

Host Cindi Koetzle welcomes Robert Hargrove—author and founder of the Harvard Leadership Research Project, Masterful Coaching. Hargrove offers a window into his current experiences of HR practitioners existing in organizations' pre strategic business partner model. A bold reminder to continue the work of capability building to prepare, partner and perform alongside the business to elevate strategic HR roles into trusted, collaborative and valuable players. After Hargrove shares his observations of underutilized HR professionals, they talk change management, crafting a shared vision and building alignment—the latter demanding far more time, intention, and relationship-building. If you are interested in learning more about the Strategic Human Resource Business Partner model certification course, check us out at hci.org

On this episode of Nine to Thrive HR, host Cindi Koetzle chats with Kerry Hecht, Founder and CEO of 10K Humans, to explore the powerful intersection of market research and HR. Drawing on decades in an empathy-driven research field and her experience as a small-business owner, Kerry explains how customer insights translate into people strategies: attracting the right candidates, strengthening engagement, and retaining talent. The conversation unpacks why validated feedback loops matter, how employee engagement correlates with customer satisfaction, and what to do about common pitfalls—stakeholder bias, “respondent fatigue,” and the gap between stated values and lived experience. Kerry highlights the rise of personalization at scale through data and technology, and offers practical ways HR can borrow from research playbooks—continuous listening, iterative refinement, and persona development (including AI-assisted personas) to bring workforce data to life. Whether you’re designing programs, influencing senior stakeholders, or steering change one “toothpick turn” at a time, this episode delivers actionable ideas to make organizations more human-centric and competitive.