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WTF is Business Casual

WTF is Business Casual

By: Rise Human Resources
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About this listen

Buckle up for real HR stories that'll make you laugh, cringe, and thank your lucky stars you're not that guy.

WTF is Business Casual is the HR podcast where two seasoned consultants—Sarah Bursten and Jenny Lavey, co-founders of RiseHR—dish on wild workplace fails, toxic bosses, employee drama, and leadership gone wrong. With 35+ years of combined experience in HR, leadership development, and people management, they offer surprisingly useful advice wrapped in real talk and hilarious storytelling.

If you’re an HR professional, small business owner, people manager, or just someone who’s survived office politics, this show is for you.

Subscribe to WTF is Business Casual—because work is weird, leadership is messy, and people always be peopling.

Hosted by Sarah Bursten & Jenny Lavey | RiseHR
www.risehumanresources.com

© 2025 WTF is Business Casual
Economics Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • “Halfway There” Won’t Cut It: HR’s Guide to Performance Management Fails
    Jul 2 2025

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    Jenny and Sarah get into the HR trenches to talk about every people leader’s favorite nightmare: managing performance issues without a single documented conversation, aka zero receipts!

    From the leader who drops a “we’ve got to let them go” bomb via text, to the one with a novel-length complaint file (and zero follow-up), they break down the real reason performance management so often goes sideways and how to stop making it harder than it needs to be.

    This isn’t about paperwork for paperwork’s sake. It’s about protecting your team, your company, and your own reputation.

    Inside the episode:

    • The three manager types that derail performance conversations (Avoider, Documenter, Talker)
    • The low-lift documentation system to track conversations without creating more work
    • How to actually say the hard thing with clarity and kindness
    • Tips for using AI as your HR sidekick, not a crutch
    • A spicy reminder that facts > feelings (especially in court)

    Documentation doesn’t have to be scary. But skipping it? That’s what gets you sued.

    Highlights:
    [00:02] Oversleeping, storms, Post Malone, and bad kid karma
    [18:15] “I need to fire her yesterday!”... but no one’s talked to her yet
    [24:40] Documenters, Avoiders, and Talkers—pick your manager archetype
    [37:18] The “SBI” method: Situation. Behavior. Impact. (Facts, not feelings.)
    [45:22] Using AI (yep!) to clarify your language, remove bias, and stay human
    [58:10] What HR wishes every leader knew and why feedback is a love language
    [1:05:30] “I hope every time you hear Bon Jovi, you think of performance management.” You're welcome.

    Pro Tip:
    If your performance conversations live in your head and not on paper, you’re not leading, you’re guessing.

    Need help having the hard conversation? Slide into our DMs with your workplace dilemma, we just might unpack it on the show.

    Resources:

    • SBI Method (Situation – Behavior – Impact): Use this as a framework for informal documentation and feedback conversations.
    • CPR Framework for crucial conversations: Content → Pattern → Relationship – useful for evaluating when a situation moves from a one-off to a larger issue.
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    55 mins
  • Workplace Shenanigans: There’s Cheese in the Ceiling! (and Other HR Violations)
    Jun 18 2025

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    In this episode of WTF is Business Casual?!, Jenny and Sarah go full rogue with a chaotic, hilarious deep dive into the strange world of workplace shenanigans. The pranks that made the office fun… until they didn’t.

    This episode is a tribute to the coworker chaos that somehow made your 9-to-5 bearable.

    You’ll hear:

    • 💻 Why “lock your computer” is more than just IT’s favorite slogan
    • 🧀 The cheese prank that cleared a whole office
    • 🌶️ A popcorn machine saga featuring jalapeño drama and The Corn Stars™
    • 🤮 The fake vomit prank so real it almost got Jenny fired (by herself)
    • 💬 The signs that say “please stop talking to me,” and why some of us need them daily

    Because in HR, it’s all fun and games… until it’s an incident report.

    Highlights
    [00:01] Jenny and Sarah introduce “shenanigans”
    [05:12] Coffee plug? Yes! But also, lock your damn screens, people.
    [13:40] IT threats, fake emails, and one panicked new hire
    [20:55] Pranks that aged poorly (but still kinda funny)
    [31:22] Jalapeño popcorn: the crime, the all-caps email, the apology from The Corn Stars™
    [42:03] Vomit phobia + Oscar-worthy performance = prank perfection
    [57:44] Spray bottles, whipped cream, and a workplace almost-wet-t-shirt-contest
    [1:08:30] Sticky notes, ceiling cheese, and the great Babybel Cheese War
    [1:16:10] Submit your own shenanigans for a future episode!

    We want your prank stories!
    DM us on Instagram @‌WTFisBusinessCasual with your favorite office pranks (the wins and the ones that went too far). Bonus points for photos, trauma, or HR investigations.

    Get yourself some freshly roasted coffee - I finally tried it, and it’s amazing! (tell them we sent you!)

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    48 mins
  • WorkHuman Deep Dive (Part 2): The Future of Work: It’s Complicated (But Still Human)
    May 28 2025

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    In Part Two of our deep dive into the WorkHuman Conference, WTF is Business Casual hosts Jenny and Sarah pick up where they left off—this time digging into the big, bold conversations around AI, leadership, and what it really takes to build a human-centered workplace.

    Trevor Noah set the tone with humor and heart, reminding us that curiosity isn’t optional—it’s essential. And while AI dominated the agenda, the real takeaway? It’s not about replacing humans. It’s about empowering them.

    In this episode, they tackle:

    • How AI is already shaping team dynamics (for better or worse)
    • Why HR should be steering the AI conversation, not just reacting to it
    • How curiosity, resilience, and re-skilling are muscles every leader needs to strengthen

    Less hype, more human. And maybe a few laughs along the way.

    🎧 Hit play—because the future of work isn’t waiting, and neither should you!


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    59 mins
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