Best Banter Bandits Podcasts (2024)

1
33: 033 - July 2024 23:56

25d ago23:56

23:56

We are more than halfway through the year and halfway through summer. The world of work has not thrown as many surprises at us over the last month but enough to ensure that Greece’s six day work-week did not feature in our top three. With Foxconn keeping married women out from certain roles, a promotion recession and neurodiversity becoming a valua…

1
32: 032 - It’s our Birthday! 20:14

2M ago20:14

20:14

You heard us singing "Happy Birthday," and now it's time for a very special occasion on HR Bandit! The tables have turned, as host Ankita takes an unexpected seat in the guest chair while Apoorva fires off a round of questions just for her. Listeners are in for a real treat as they uncover the backstory behind the podcast's mysterious "HR Bandit" n…

1
31: 031 - April 2024 - Google firings, 2024 Work Trend Index & Starbucks DEI move 29:10

3M ago29:10

29:10

April has been a whirlwind of developments. It was tough to choose, but here are our top stories from the month gone by. Google faced significant turmoil as a group of employees protested against the company’s cloud contract with Israel leading to 50 employees being terminated. Meanwhile, Microsoft's 2024 Work Trend Index report provides a fascinat…

1
30: 030 - Dell's RTO power move, Novo Nordisk on stress and BCG's latest report 24:04

4M ago24:04

24:04

To say that March has been eventful is an understatement. It was difficult to pick just three, but here are our top picks from the month gone by. Dell's move to block promotions for its remote workers is something we did not expect. Does this set the stage for others to follow suit? Novo Nordisk, on the other hand, is doing everything it can to bri…

1
29: 029 - In conversation with Saurabh Nigam: 4 years of Covid, layoffs & HR in startups 34:42

5M ago34:42

34:42

It has been four years since COVID-19 first appeared in the media across multiple countries around the world. With it came a host of changes, including multiple waves of layoffs. Meanwhile, startups have had their own peaks and troughs. Welcome to our first of many bonus episodes this year. This episode, Saurabh Nigam, Vice President - Human Capita…

1
28: 028 - Australia's Right to Disconnect, 4-day work week (again) & pay season incoming 17:06

5M ago17:06

17:06

A lot has been happening in February! Australia joins the growing list of countries to adopt the right to disconnect, the biggest four-day work week experiment ever celebrates its first anniversary and it’s pay season (almost). All this in addition to three other pieces of news we had to mention. Join Ankita & Apoorva as they dive into the top thre…

1
27: 027 - Predicting 2024 36:34

6M ago36:34

36:34

Is 2024 going to be the year where we see some calm or is it more of the same? What do we expect to see in the world of work and what should we be prepared for? Join Ankita and Apoorva as they take a quick look at the year gone by and make predictions for the year ahead. How many do you think we'll get right? Apoorva’s LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin…

1
26: 026 - 2023 Wrapped 22:20

8M ago22:20

22:20

2023 has been quite the year! Join Apoorva and Ankita as they put a bow on the year and walk through the top three trends and events from the world of work in 2023. Not surprisingly, GenAI and all other forms of AI get a mention along with the over 240,000 and counting layoffs in 2023 and the most apt ‘word of the year’. We’ll be back next year and…

1
25: 025 - 70-hour work week, Nobel prize for economics & the great gloom 33:37

9M ago33:37

33:37

The most famous entrepreneur in India just called for corporate leaders to have the country’s youngsters work 70-hour work weeks. Meanwhile, Harvard economic historian Claudia Goldin won the 2023 Nobel economics prize for her work on gender pay gap reigniting conversation on the gender divide and experts say the ‘great gloom’ is upon us. October ha…

1
24: 024 - The Sceptic and Psychometrics 40:07

11M ago40:07

40:07

This episode we are switching things up. Those who’ve known me for a while, are well aware of my scepticism of psychometric tests. Placing them in the same bucket as tarot and palm reading, I enjoy taking them but never believe them. Join me on our 24th episode as I chat to Melvyn and Maya – two fellow HR professionals who make a living off psychom…

1
23: 023 - Coursera’s Global Skills Report, NYC Wages & the B-Suite 30:43

1y ago30:43

30:43

July arrived and how! Amidst more research reports being released, Uber, Doordash and other food delivery companies are threatening or already suing over the new NYC minimum wage law. Meanwhile, middle management continues to be squeezed between top down directive and employee backlash. Join Ankita and Benvon O’Grady as they discuss Coursera’s Glob…

1
22: 022 - 2023 Work Trends Report, Work’s PR Problem & Pride 39:38

1y ago39:38

39:38

Almost halfway through the year and our best mix yet! The Work Trends report for 2023 is out. Work continues to get a bad rap despite workers being happier at work than ever before. And it would be a sin to record an episode during Pride month and not talk about how to be a good ally. Join Ankita as she chats with Kevin Empey about top picks from t…

1
21: 021 - Marriage economics, Disco & kindness 33:55

1y ago33:55

33:55

May is always our favorite month of the year. On our second birthday, join Ankita as she chats with Marc Effron about the economics of marriage, why a revamp of an existing people analytics tool is still exciting and if kindness is a topic worth discussing. And don’t forget to say hello - drop Ankita a tweet, message her on LinkedIn or email us at …

1
20: 020 - New EU legislation, Human Capital Trends 2023 & AI pause 37:59

1+ y ago37:59

37:59

The world of work continues to be an exciting place as the European Parliament passes new legislation to boost pay transparency. Not only will job postings have payment information, employees too now have the right to ask for compensation information. Meanwhile, Deloitte’s Human Capital Trends 2023 continues to dominate conversations despite having…

1
19: 019 - The short work week, Nintendo & Adobe’s colour-coded offices 35:54

1+ y ago35:54

35:54

Almost one-fourth of the current trip around the sun in and the world of work hasn’t failed to stir things up. With the results of the biggest 4-day workweek experiment now out, it must be talked about (again). Nintendo meanwhile is playing the infinite game. Holding true to what CEO Satoru Iwata said 10 years ago, here’s a lesson for all the other…

1
18: 018 - Predicting 2023 43:49

1+ y ago43:49

43:49

Is 2023, going to be the year where we see some calm, or is it more of the same? What do we expect to see in the world of work and what should we be prepared for? Join Ankita and Krish Shankar as they take a quick look at the year gone by and make predictions for the year ahead. https://www.amazon.in/CATALYSE-POWER-YOUR-PEOPLE-ECOSYSTEM/dp/93552011…

1
17: 017 - Goodbye 2022 34:10

1+ y ago34:10

34:10

To say 2022 has been an eventful year would be an understatement. While many touted this to be the year when we’d finally see some calm and stability, the year clearly thought otherwise. Join Ankita and SV Nathan as they reflect on the year gone and share their top observations from 2022. A healthy, dose of optimism, childlike wonder, and the perfe…

1
16: 016 - Macroeconomics 101 32:59

1+ y ago32:59

32:59

The word of the season: Macroeconomics! Be it in the emails sent to employees by Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk, or in financial reports; macroeconomics is no longer a topic that can be ignored. The current time has everyone wishing they’d taken their econ classes a little more seriously. Join Ankita as she and Neil Morrison, Director HR with Severn …

1
15: 015 - Trending Terms: The Great Regret, Act Your Wage & Neurodiversity 46:15

2y ago46:15

46:15

It’s been a season of trends. So far, we’ve come across great regret, quiet quitting, quiet firing, act your wage, moonlighting, the crying CEO and more. Some here to stay while others have been a fleeting memory. Catch Ankita as she chats about her current favorites with Ian Iceton. Tune in for a conversation on the Great Regret, Acting our Wage, …

1
14: 014 - Roe vs Wade, Corporate Hypocrisy & Allyship 35:34

2y ago35:34

35:34

On June 24, the US Supreme Court overruled Roe. More recently, Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert called out corporate hypocrisy on climate action as the US climate, tax, and healthcare package now known as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 comes close to becoming law. Join Ankita & Yetunde as they discuss this, allyship, and more. Drink recommendations,…

1
13: 013 - 5 months of war 33:51

2y ago33:51

33:51

On 21st February 2022, the world looked on in horror as yet another catastrophic world event unfolded. Five months later, it continues to put pressure on the world. In this episode, we’re switching up things a little. Instead of discussing the top three world events impacting the world of work, we narrow it down to just one. Per IMF, Global economi…

1
12: 012 - Microsoft’s new announcement, Supertokenism & AI 42:33

2y ago42:33

42:33

On 8th June, Microsoft announced four changes to enhance its work culture. What were the real reasons behind these changes? What is ‘supertokenism’ and why is it fast becoming a trending hashtag, and lastly, what is happening in the world of AI and work? Join Ankita as she discusses these and more (psst…angel investing) with her latest guest on the…

1
11: 011 - The 3 R’s: Recession, Retention and Responsibilities 40:18

2y ago40:18

40:18

Join Ankita in conversation with one of the dream guests for the pod–the one & only Dave Ulrich, the ‘Father of Modern HR’. Take a listen as we talk about inflation, impending recessions, Ukraine, retention, curiosity, the only constant in the unchanging world, and meritocracy. Stay tuned till the end, where Dave shares some advice for Elon Musk on…

1
10: 010 - One year old 30:46

2y ago30:46

30:46

HR Bandit turns one year old & what better way to celebrate than with the person who helped create it all. Join Ankita as she chats with Rajita Singh, HR Head for Broadridge Financial Solutions India Private Ltd about how it all began, favorite topics, where the pod is headed, and more. Get a glimpse into the vision and to Season 2 right here. Base…

1
9: 009 - Governments & future of work 34:32

2+ y ago34:32

34:32

Right to request for remote work, gender pay gap reporting and more recently, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act - Join David Collings and Ankita as they discuss the impact of laws in defining the future of work. https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/Legislation/Right-to-Request-Remote-Work-Bill-2021.html https://www.i…

1
8: 008 - Predicting 2022 40:13

2+ y ago40:13

40:13

A lot happened in 2021 and we’ve seen quite a few big headlines over the last 12 months. It began with the Gamestop short selling, we saw El Salvador adopt cryptocurrency like no other, and ended the year with everyone searching the internet for metaverse-related content. Not only that, the world’s supply chain broke with a new shortage every week …

1
7: 007 - Metaverse, Goal Setting & Happy Holidays! 41:12

2+ y ago41:12

41:12

Meta & Metaverse took over the news last month. Is the change in name an indication of where the world and more specifically work is headed? Does goal setting as an exercise still work or should we let go of the process? Find out more on both when Ankita speaks to Ananya, Country HR Director for Unilever Sri Lanka. And lastly Happy Holidays. It’s b…

1
6: 006 - Pay transparency, data security and Innovation 44:51

3y ago44:51

44:51

In this episode, we’re traveling back in time and picking up topics that have been under debate for at least a decade if not more. With pay now being more transparent than ever and is it finally time for organizations to consider making their pay ranges public? On a related note, how good is HR with data security, and finally, the age-old topic of …

1
5: 005 - Culture, climate change and Google’s Work Location Tool 30:57

3y ago30:57

30:57

How does company culture work when employees can now be located anywhere? Does it continue to be as important as before? With IPCC declaring Code Red, is it time for organizations to make Deloitte’s lead and pull employees into the conversation? And finally, Google launched its work location tool empowering employees to understand how pay changes w…

1
4: 004 - 4-day workweek, no meetings and languishing 35:12

3y ago35:12

35:12

Iceland declared its 4-day workweek experiment a resounding success. With New Zealand, Germany, Spain, and the UK looking to follow suit is a compressed workweek the new norm? TheSoul Publishing is attempting to abolish emails and meetings thereby entering territory no organization has ventured into before and Adam Grant finally put a word on how w…

1
3: 003 - Employee petitions, vaccination & The Great Resignation 33:32

3y ago33:32

33:32

Apple fired Antonio Garcia Martinez in May & received an open letter in response to Tim Cook’s return to office plan. Covid-19 vaccinations are stressing employers and ‘The Great Resignation’ has gained recognition as the top phrase of the month. Join Ankita and Shalini Pillay, India Leader for Global Capability Centers, KPMG India for an honest ba…

1
2: 002 - Basecamp, Microsoft’s Work Index Report & Ageism 28:52

3y ago28:52

28:52

Jason Fried on 26th April announced 6 big changes at Basecamp. Microsoft released its Annual Work Trend Index Report–7 trends listed, not all surprising but a gold mine of data and insights. For the last story, Forbes recently closed applications for its first-ever women 50 over 50 in the US. In addition, insights into Raj Raghavan’s & Ankita’s top…

1
1: 001 - Zoom fatigue, communication and the diversity debate 28:17

3+ y ago28:17

28:17

Join Ankita a.k.a the HR Bandit for a fun-filled conversation on what’s happening around the world and its impact on how we work. News, events, research, crazy ideas, and work experiments – this podcast covers it all. All views, expressed are that of the speakers and are not the positions, strategies, or opinions of the organizations they are assoc…