Show Notes
What can a toxic CEO, a disgruntled employee and a desert island teach us about good HR practice? Quite a lot, as it turns out. In this episode of The HR Room Podcast, Dave and Mary are joined by Joe Redmond, HR Consultant at Insight HR, for another trip to the movies as they put the workplace practices in 2026's Send Help under the HR microscope. The film follows Linda Liddell, a highly capable but socially awkward corporate strategist who finds herself stranded on a desert island with Bradley Preston – the toxic CEO who has repeatedly undermined her career. As the traditional workplace power dynamic begins to unravel, the film provides plenty of examples of exactly how not to manage people. Using scenes from the film as a jumping-off point, Mary and Joe explore what these situations would look like in a real Irish workplace and what employers and HR professionals should do differently. It's a slightly different – and considerably more cinematic – episode of The HR Room, but behind the desert island, plane crashes and Hollywood drama are some very real lessons about leadership, workplace culture, employee relations and fair process. Because while you hopefully won't find yourself stranded on a desert island with a disgruntled employee anytime soon, the management decisions that got these characters there are much more familiar than you might think. Here are the clips we discuss if you'd like to watch along:
Clip 1 Clip 2 Clip 3 Clip 4 Clip 5
Topics we cover include:
How managers should handle difficult conversations around promotions and career progression The impact of power dynamics and poor management behaviour on employees What to do when an employee claims a colleague is taking credit for their work When undermining, exclusion and belittling behaviour could become a dignity at work issue How HR should approach sensitive conversations around personal hygiene with empathy and privacy Why employers shouldn't make assumptions about the circumstances behind an employee's personal presentation What employers should do when an employee believes they've been unfairly denied a promotion Why formal complaints are often the end result of a much longer series of workplace problems When behaviour outside the physical workplace can still fall within an employer's remit The importance of investigation, disciplinary and appeal processes when dismissal is being considered What fair redundancy consultation and selection should look like in practice
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