<![CDATA[Lies of HR]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/lies-of-hr Most of what HR preaches sounds good on an office wall and falls apart the moment it meets reality. Lies of HR takes one comfortable HR belief at a time — "people first," "hire for culture fit," "engagement equals productivity" — calls it what it is, and takes it apart in three steps: the myth, the cold truth underneath it, and the reframe an honest leader uses instead. Not HR-bashing — just swapping things that sound good for things that actually work.

Created by Martin Spiteri Schillig, drawn from sixteen years running HR inside iGaming, working alongside founders and leaders who were openly sceptical of much of what HR preached. The arguments and the point of view are his. The voices you hear are AI — but every episode is built from his own notes. A new Lie drops regularly.

Full written breakdowns, sources, and the mailing list: liesofhr.com

]]> RSS.com 2026.701.120359 Sun, 05 Jul 2026 19:45:18 GMT en 0b88741e-80c7-54c3-a0de-9cb0b978dc63 https://media.rss.com/lies-of-hr/podcast_cover_20260619_030631_26ebeaa5928f254427dac00749b98774.png Lies of HR https://rss.com/podcasts/lies-of-hr no © 2026 Martin Spiteri Schillig Martin Spiteri Schillig Martin Spiteri Schillig false episodic podcast Malta, Malta Malta, Malta true <![CDATA[Perks Equal Care — Why the Office Playground Is a Costume | Lies of HR #5]]> "Perks prove you care." Nap pods, craft beer on tap, catered dinners, wellness apps — the perks arms race is sold as proof a company is devoted to its people.

In Lie No. 5 of Lies of HR, we take it apart: why perks are weak, extrinsic motivators (and can even erode the drive that actually matters), how "free" dinners and all-inclusive campuses are really extraction dressed as generosity, why "unlimited PTO" makes people take less time off, and what a major Oxford study of 46,000 workers found about corporate wellness apps — that they do almost nothing. Then the reframe: fix the work, not the worker.

The voices are AI; the arguments come from Martin Spiteri Schillig's sixteen years in HR.

Full written breakdown, sources, and the mailing list: https://liesofhr.com/lies/perks-care

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/lies-of-hr/2957752 79808fe1-0d30-4217-8fb7-e42cec200cea 1520 full 1 1 5 5 Sun, 05 Jul 2026 19:42:00 GMT false true Malta, Malta <![CDATA[Retain, retain & retain — HR's Most Comfortable Lie | Lies of HR #4]]> Retain at all costs." The 95% retention slide gets the biggest applause in the room — but a glowing number can be the proudest slide and the emptiest.

In Lie No. 4 of Lies of HR, we take it apart: why the lifelong-employee era is long dead (median tenure is down to 3.9 years), the crucial difference between regretted and non-regretted turnover, how a frozen job market created "job hugging" that makes retention numbers dangerously deceptive, and why forced retention and AI flight-risk surveillance rot a company from the inside. Then the reframe — trade the cage for a launchpad, and treat departures as a graduation, not a divorce.

The voices are AI; the arguments come from Martin Spiteri Schillig's sixteen years in HR.

Full written breakdown, sources, and the mailing list: https://liesofhr.com/lies/retain-retain-retain

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/lies-of-hr/2946924 2f7ab650-37a6-443d-b74d-f4ee7a8fe906 1259 full 1 1 4 4 Sat, 27 Jun 2026 09:46:38 GMT true Malta, Malta <![CDATA[Engagement Equals Productivity — The Dial That's Wired to Nothing | Lies of HR #3]]> "Push the engagement score up and performance follows." It's a multi-billion-dollar corporate obsession — and the dashboard dial it's built on is wired to nothing.

In Lie No. 3 of Lies of HR, we take it apart: how the whole industry misread its own science (correlation is not causation), what longitudinal research actually found about the engagement-performance link, why global engagement can fall to record lows while business output holds steady, and how the myth has mutated into AI surveillance that measures activity instead of value. Then the reframe — fix the work, not the mood.

The voices are AI; the arguments come from Martin Spiteri Schillig's sixteen years in HR.

Full written breakdown, sources, and the mailing list: https://liesofhr.com/lies/engagement-productivity

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/lies-of-hr/2928680 be3b7f52-48f8-475b-963d-80487900f11a 1112 full 1 1 3 3 Fri, 19 Jun 2026 16:51:47 GMT false true Malta, Malta <![CDATA[Hire for Culture Fit — Why It Backfires | Lies of HR #2]]> "We only hire for culture fit." It sounds like a commitment to quality — but in practice it often just means "people like us," and it quietly builds a comfortable, fragile monoculture where nobody sees the problem coming from a new angle.

In Lie No. 2 of Lies of HR, we take it apart: where "fit" really comes from, why it screens out the difference a team actually needs, how AI threatens to automate yesterday's hiring bias at scale, and why hiring for culture add — not culture fit — is the more honest goal.

The voices are AI; the arguments come from Martin Spiteri Schillig's sixteen years in HR.

Full written breakdown, sources, and the mailing list: https://liesofhr.com/lies/cultural-fit

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/lies-of-hr/2928675 c2fe3acc-be65-4f98-b3a1-60110de42f41 1191 full 1 1 2 2 Fri, 19 Jun 2026 16:51:24 GMT false true Malta, Malta <![CDATA[People First — HR's Most Comfortable Lie | Lies of HR #1]]> "We put our people first." It's on every careers page — and it's a promise reality eventually forces companies to break. In the first episode of Lies of HR, we take the myth apart: why it erodes trust, how AI is exposing the gap between what companies say and do, and what an honest leader does instead.

The voices are AI; the arguments come from Martin Spiteri Schillig's sixteen years in HR.

Full written breakdown, sources, and the mailing list: https://liesofhr.com/lies/people-first

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/lies-of-hr/2928241 eb71c472-b5dd-43cc-890a-13fce1d69895 1295 full 1 1 1 1 Fri, 19 Jun 2026 16:41:42 GMT false true Malta, Malta