{"podcast":{"title":"The HR Life Podcast","slug":"the-hr-life-podcast-7368906","podcast_index_feed_id":7368906,"rss_url":"https://feeds.transistor.fm/the-hr-life-podcast","website_url":"https://thehrlifepodcast.transistor.fm/","image_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/BVjrIn3cLzcZ9amAQWcRnMP_HccdWgMf8DJ0MnI2Q0w/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9jODk0/MWQzOTZhY2IyMDVi/ODhhMWZmY2EyZTFl/ZGU0Ny5wbmc.jpg","author":"Tony Benjamin","episode_count":61,"summary":"The HR Life Podcast is a show about the work-life experience of those of us in Human Resources and business leadership. This long-form podcast is a conversation, casual, and not always the corporate line. Hosts and guests touch on everything from serious or even controversial topics to the absurdity of modern American business practices. Your hosts are Tony Benjamin, owner and founder of The Grange Strategic HR Consulting, and Steven J. Smith, Author of The Hiring Tree: Laws of Applicant Attraction and all-around important guy. Guests include the best minds in the HR world. Join the show weekly.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-29T00:17:32.802408+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-hr-life-podcast-7368906"},"episode":{"title":"EP 56 Where's My Ashtray, Hire Right Fire Fast, and the OceanGate Culture Collapse with Bryan McCurdy","slug":"ep-56-where-s-my-ashtray-hire-right-fire-fast-and-the-oceangate-culture-collapse-with-bryan-mccurdy","published_at":"2026-07-07T12:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-hr-life-podcast-7368906/ep-56-where-s-my-ashtray-hire-right-fire-fast-and-the-oceangate-culture-collapse-with-bryan-mccurdy","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-hr-life-podcast-7368906","url":"https://share.transistor.fm/s/dd7f3de1","audio_url":"https://media.transistor.fm/dd7f3de1/425d4625.mp3","summary":"What does a foreman burning a coworker with a cigarette have to do with a submarine imploding two and a half miles under the Atlantic? On this episode, Tony and Steve sit down with Bryan McCurdy, HR Director at Hughes General Contractors, to find out. Bryan didn't set out to work in HR (nobody really does, apparently), but nearly twenty years later he's running people operations for a seventy-year-old, third-generation family construction company He explains why he failed a forty five minute personality test at Target during a Christmas hiring push, why the traditional job posting is broken, and why he'd rather hire for what someone is great at than spend forever trying to fix what they're bad at. The conversation gets even more interesting when the guys pull the OceanGate Titan disaster into the mix, using it as a gut punch example of what happens when leadership refuses to listen to the people warning them something is about to break. Learn more about Bryan McCurdy at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-mccurdy-shrm-cp-ab703630/ Recovery Friendly Workplace of Utah: https://rfwutah.org/ Learn more about Fantastic Tony Benjamin at: https://www.thegrangellc.com/ Learn more about Steven \"Big Deal\" Smith at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/ Learn more about the Books mentioned on the podcast at: https://thehiringtreebook.com/hr-life-podcast Learn More about the Netflix film Titan at: https://www.netflix.com/title/81712178 Learn more about Dyno Outfitters at: https://www.utahviaferrata.com/ Learn more about MegastarHR at: https://www.megastarhr.com/ Learn more about Pucks for Autism at: https://www.pucksforautism.com/ Learn more about Thrive Life Project at: https://www.thrivelifeproject.org/","meta_description":"What does a foreman burning a coworker with a cigarette have to do with a submarine imploding two and a half miles under the Atlantic? On this episode, To…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":5331,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-hr-life-podcast-7368906/episodes/ep-56-where-s-my-ashtray-hire-right-fire-fast-and-the-oceangate-culture-collapse-with-bryan-mccurdy/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-hr-life-podcast-7368906/ep-56-where-s-my-ashtray-hire-right-fire-fast-and-the-oceangate-culture-collapse-with-bryan-mccurdy.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}