HR Party of One: top five episodes of 2023

Executive overview

A solo HR practitioner reviews the five most popular episodes from her channel's 2023 run. Each episode targets a recurring pain point for HR parties of one: boundary-setting, AI literacy, communication hygiene, and personal branding.

HR pros gain the most by knowing what is not their job — and holding that line.

Top five episodes

1. Office gossip vs. strategic communication — distinguishes gossip from legitimate employee concerns, covers do's and don'ts, and frames HR as the communication hub between employees, the org, and external stakeholders. Culture tone starts with HR.

2. Pros and cons of AI in the workplace — surveys what AI tools like ChatGPT can and cannot do for HR, flags risks, and argues that understanding AI is now a baseline competency for the role.

3. Four things HR is not — covers requests HR professionals should not field (e.g., financial advice), why attempting to help in those areas creates liability, and how to redirect employees.

4. How to establish your personal brand — distinguishes self-perception from how others perceive you, covers branding qualities specific to HR, and extends the lesson to org-wide culture.

5. Ditch the birthday cake — argues that organising birthday celebrations should not fall to HR; uses a comedic sketch to make the point and connects it to the broader theme of hat-count reduction.

Channel milestone

Surpassed 500,000 views and 10,000 subscribers in 2023.