WTF is Business Casual
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
Episodes
14 episodes
Gen Z at Work: Lazy, Loud, or the Wake-Up Call Corporate Needed?
Gen Z has officially entered the chat and corporate America isn’t ready.Jenny and Sarah rip into the chaos (and low-key brilliance) of the newest generation in the workplace. Are they entitled job hoppers with no soft skills… or...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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1:01:11
The Detachment Paradox: Why HR Bias Punishes Employees Who Unplug
Employers love to say they support work-life balance and encourage you to take your PTO. But here’s the workplace reality: when employees actually unplug, they’re often seen as less committed, and less promotable. Welcome to the det...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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38:11
WTF Meetings: Why Your Workplace Productivity Is Dying in Conference Rooms
Jenny and Sarah rip into the black hole of modern work life: meetings. Endless updates, back-to-back Zooms, and “quick syncs” that somehow eat your entire day. It’s no wonder productivity is tanking.They break down:Why update...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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32:30
Leadership Boundaries: Non-Negotiables That Keep Teams Sane
Jenny and Sarah lay down the leadership boundaries that keep their teams sane, their workdays functional, and their patience intact.From bosses who brag about “open door” policies but vanish when the tough stuff hits, to leaders who thin...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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34:49
Brains That Work Differently: Why Your Team Needs Both
Jenny and Sarah get real (and a little vulnerable) about what it actually looks like to build something together when your brains couldn’t be wired more differently.From inner monologues that never shut up to brains that see zero
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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1:02:23
Rest, Recovery, Repeat: What Work Can Learn from Marathon Training
Jenny and Sarah get real about how the pressure to always exceed expectations at work is quietly fueling burnout, quiet quitting, and toxic workplace culture.They swap HR stories (some hilarious, some horrifying) about leaders who...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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58:17
“Halfway There” Won’t Cut It: HR’s Guide to Performance Management Fails
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 ...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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54:39
Workplace Shenanigans: There’s Cheese in the Ceiling! (and Other HR Violations)
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 tri...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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48:18
WorkHuman Deep Dive (Part 2): The Future of Work: It’s Complicated (But Still Human)
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 ...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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58:39
WorkHuman Deep Dive (Part 1): No BS Lessons on HR, Culture, and Leading Humans.
In Part One of our two-part deep dive into the WorkHuman HR conference, Sarah and Jenny unpack their favorite moments, biggest surprises, and most impactful insights from the event. They tackle some provocative HR realities—like why your...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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1:02:40
Interviewing? Maybe Leave Your Mom at Home.
In this laugh-and-learn episode, Jenny and Sarah take you inside the beautiful mess of modern recruiting. From jaw-dropping candidate missteps to the surprising rise of parental involvement in job applications (yes, it’s happening), they break ...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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59:18
Work Hard, Play Hard... Or Just Take a Nap? Corporate Phrases That Drive Us Bananas!
Jenny and Sarah tear into the corporate phrasebook, dissecting the BS behind sayings like "work hard, play hard" – which usually translates to the soul-crushing reality of the Hotel California of the workplace ("you can check out any time you w...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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57:36
Episode 2: Taking the Cake
“Who the F*ck stole my sandwich?!” Join Jenny and Sarah as they hilariously dissect the wild world of workplace food culture in “Taking the Cake." From stolen lunches to the mystery of the missing cake, no crumb is left unturned.Ever had...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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42:02
Episode 1: Welcome to the S*** Show!
Get ready to dive into the hilarious and often unbelievable world of HR with your new favorite podcast, WTF is Business Casual?! Hosted by friends and business partners Jenny and Sarah, this is episode one, and they're not holding back. &...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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26:15