What is the connection between being able to communicate with someone and being able to build and maintain trust with that person? How do you overcome or mitigate the challenges related to trust, best effort, safety, and more in a multi-lingual workplace?

In this 17-minute episode, Saúl Rodriguez explores the answers to these questions and more in a very straight-forward discussion, including practical strategies that are helpful.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

>Connect with Saúl Rodriguez on LinkedIn
>Saúl's bio
>US Bureau of Labor Statistics

Brain Chatter, a podcast where we listen past the daily noise and explore topics at the intersection of leadership, workplace culture, profit, and sustainability.

How can our organization retain our most valuable team members? The costs of turnover are startling and the benefits of key person retention are exponential. In this 23-minute episode, Ryan McShane explores what you or I can do to retain our best team members, through meaningful and practical engagement.

Ryan goes through some of the characteristics which are most foundational and important in an ideal, successful team member. These individuals and the teams populated by them have major impacts on organizational success, customer and stakeholder success, and by extension, the success of every individual associated with the org. This episode discusses "the what" and "the how" of engagement that maximizes success.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

>Connect with Ryan McShane on LinkedIn
>Ryan's bio

This episode edited by Michael Gordon.

Brain Chatter, a podcast where we listen past the daily noise and explore topics at the intersection of leadership, workplace culture, profit, and sustainability.

Getting promoted at work is not always straightforward. In this 28-minute episode, Alisa Patel, a VP of HR, talks candidly about what you need to do in order to be promotable, to learn about opportunities inside your company, and to effectively communicate your interest in the right way to the right people.

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About Alisa:

Alisa Patel is a strategic, people-focused HR executive with more than 20 years of experience leading human resources initiatives that drive both business performance and employee engagement. She currently serves as Vice President of Human Resources at Aalberts Surface Technologies, where she partners closely with senior leadership to shape workforce strategy, strengthen organizational development, and align HR practices with broader business goals.

Alisa is a certified SHRM-CP and a graduate of the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business Executive Program in Strategic HR Planning. She’s deeply committed to continuous learning and advancing excellence in the HR field.
Her experience spans employee relations, workforce planning, talent development, internal communications, and benefits strategy — all with a focus on building strong, inclusive, and high-performing workplace cultures.
At the core of her work, Alisa is passionate about empowering teams and creating people-first solutions that support long-term growth, productivity, and organizational success.

Aalberts is a global Dutch industrial technology company that designs and
manufactures specialized engineering systems and components used in
buildings, manufacturing, transportation, and semiconductor production.
Aalberts HQ is in Utrecht, Netherlands and the company was founded in 1975. Today the company employs over 13,000 people across multiple continents.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

>Connect with Alisa on LinkedIn
>Aalberts Surface Technologies

Thanks to Michael Gordon for editing this episode.

Brain Chatter, a podcast where we listen past the daily noise and explore topics at the intersection of leadership, workplace culture, profit, and sustainability.