On episode 67 of The HR Famous Podcast, longtime HR leaders (and friends) Tim Sackett, Kris Dunn, and Jessica Lee come together to discuss Zoom backgrounds, Naomi Osaka and mental health, and LinkedIn’s acquisition of the platform Hopin.
Show Highlights
3:15 – Tim has read that it is healthier not to make your bed. What do we think? It sounds pretty gross.
4:00 – Are we sick of virtual Zoom backgrounds? Tim was bamboozled by someone’s background recently.
7:40 – First topic: Tennis star Naomi Osaka recently refused to partake in press at the French Open due to mental health reasons and later withdrew from the competition. Tim asks the crew whether high-profile people like athletes and celebrities should be forced to do press.
10:30 – JLee thinks that people like Osaka and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have extenuating circumstances because they are so famous and have such immense pressures that most people cannot understand.
13:00 – KD thinks that a lot of people in the “toughen up” camp have really grown and learned from the normalizing of mental health concerns. However, Naomi is different from the run-of-the-mill employee.
17:30 – JLee thinks it’s important to try to have empathy and grace for what people are going through without always knowing what is going on.
18:30 – KD shares his life during the pandemic where he got too into working and has had to set some boundaries in his personal life for when he can and should be working.
21:00 – Tim is concerned that there is a “mental health trap” where people that are underperforming may use mental health concerns as a faux crutch to explain their poor performance on the job.
23:20 – Naomi Osaka is dating rapper Cordae. Tim quizzes KD and JLee on his music and whether they know any of his songs.
24:30 – LinkedIn recently bought the virtual events platform Hopin. Tim thinks it’s a little clunky and isn’t great from a user experience. JLee is a fan of attending their virtual events, but wants in-person events back!