What happens when hiring shortcuts collide with a generation that refuses to stay quiet?

In this powerful conversation, Denise sits down with Ellen Raim, early career advisor and founder of People Matter, LLC, to unpack the growing trust gap in today’s workforce.

With Gen Z projected to represent 30% of the workforce by 2030 and 50% when combined with younger millennials, the cultural shift isn’t coming. It’s already here.

Ellen shares firsthand insights from working with early career professionals navigating a frustrating hiring landscape filled with ghosting, vague feedback, endless interview loops, and “entry level” jobs requiring years of experience.

They discuss:

• Why trust is eroding in hiring processes
• How AI screening may be filtering out strong talent
• The real cost of cutting internships and rotational programs
• The generational friction around communication, work-life boundaries, and transparency
• The concept of “Generational Intelligence” and why it may determine which companies win long term

This episode isn’t about blaming Gen Z. It’s about rethinking systems.

If leaders continue optimizing for speed and cost while ignoring trust, loyalty, and culture, the long-term talent pipeline will suffer.

But companies that invest in transparency, feedback loops, and early career development will build something far more powerful than efficiency. They’ll build trust.

Key Episode Segments:

1. Ghosting Destroys Trust

When candidates hear nothing after applying or interviewing, it erodes confidence in both the company and the profession.

2. Entry Level Isn’t Really Entry Level

Many so-called entry-level roles now require 1–3 years of experience, leaving true graduates locked out.

3. Feedback Is a Generational Expectation

Gen Z grew up with constant feedback. Silence feels like rejection, not independence.

4. Generational Intelligence Is a Competitive Advantage

Companies that learn to bridge generational friction will outperform those that dismiss it.

5. Hiring Is a Long Game

Speed and cost matter, but ignoring trust, culture, and development today creates talent gaps tomorrow.

In this episode of Talking TA, Denise Chaffin sits down with leadership expert and author Minette Norman, founder of Minette Norman Consulting to unpack what it truly means to lead with humanity in today’s workplace. Drawing from her 30-year career in Silicon Valley and her books The Psychological Safety Playbook and The Boldly Inclusive Leader, Minette shares real-world stories that expose the hidden costs of fear-based leadership, emotional reactivity, and exclusion.

The conversation explores why leaders don’t need to have all the answers, how listening is one of the most underdeveloped leadership skills, and why normalizing mistakes is essential for innovation and trust. Minette also dives into inclusive leadership, dismantling in-groups, and the neuroscience behind workplace exclusion. This episode is a powerful reminder that leadership is not about control or perfection, but about creating environments where people feel safe to speak up, contribute, and do their best work.

Key Episode Segments:

• Psychological safety is shaped by leader behavior

Leaders set the emotional tone, how they respond under pressure determines whether people speak up or shut down.

• Listening is a leadership skill, not a personality trait

True listening requires presence, curiosity, and resisting the urge to prepare your response while others are speaking.

• Admitting “I don’t know” builds credibility, not weakness

Leaders gain trust when they elevate others’ expertise instead of pretending to have all the answers.

• Failure must be discussed to drive improvement

Teams that openly talk about mistakes learn faster and perform better than teams that hide them.

• Inclusion is intentional, not accidental

Leaders must actively dismantle in-groups, share power, and ensure all voices are heard.

Workplace happiness is often dismissed as a “nice to have,” but this conversation makes it clear, it’s one of the most powerful business levers leaders can pull. Denise Chaffin sits down with Valerie Alexander, CEO of Speak Happiness, to unpack the real economic impact of unhappy workforces, from turnover and absenteeism to product defects, safety issues, and lost productivity.

Valerie breaks down decades of research showing that happy employees deliver better outcomes across nearly every measurable metric. The discussion goes deeper into leadership behavior, layoffs, boardroom decision-making, and why so many organizations continue to repeat costly mistakes. They explore how culture is shaped at the top, why accidental managers cause long-term damage, and what leaders can do immediately to rebuild trust after layoffs.

The episode also tackles inclusion, gender dynamics in leadership, and why systems reward the wrong behaviors. Valerie offers clear, practical frameworks leaders can use to improve workplace happiness through accomplishment, autonomy, and acknowledgment, without gimmicks or corporate buzzwords. This is a must-watch conversation for leaders who want sustainable performance, not short-term optics.

Key Episode Segments:

• Happiness Directly Impacts the Bottom Line

Organizations with happy workforces see lower turnover, fewer errors, and stronger financial performance.

• Layoffs Rarely Solve the Problem Leaders Think They Do

Short-term financial optics often create long-term damage to productivity, trust, and retention.

• Culture Is Set at the Top, Not from the Middle

Sustainable culture change only happens when leadership models the behavior they expect.

• Inclusion Drives Better Decisions, Not Just Representation

Diverse leadership teams outperform because they reduce risk and expand perspective.

• Three Things Create Workplace Happiness

Accomplishment, autonomy, and acknowledgment consistently predict engagement and