How to Survive a Toxic Workplace with HRManifesto’s Leigh Elena Henderson

It Gets Late Early: Career Tips for Tech Employees in Midlife and Beyond

Have you ever questioned whether you're in the right company or on the right career path? Are you suffering from burnout or feeling trapped in a toxic work environment and need to talk to someone but have no one to turn to whom you can trust? Today, I have an HR expert turned content creator who knows precisely what that's like, and she's here to offer sound advice on how you can survive as an employee in Corporate America - in a hilarious, candid way.

Leigh Elena Henderson - who, despite rising to prominence on the youthful TikTok, calls herself a “geriatric millennial” - has 20 years of Corporate America experience supporting five Fortune 100 companies as a Human Resources (HR) executive and has completed a master's in both business and HR. But even in these world-class household name-type organizations, Leigh has experienced firsthand the effects of a toxic workplace. That’s why she started putting out the cathartic, comedic, and constructive content we know as HRManifesto. It’s also how she began coaching corporate employees and HR practitioners across industries to find their best footing at work.

What I love most about Leigh’s content is that she is free to say what many of us are thinking but cannot utter out loud…if we want to stay employed, that is. Focused on tragic work realities and inspired storytelling, the goal of HRManifesto is to unify followers around the shared human experience of work and provide coaching on how to survive the workplace and maximize professional success. Leigh uses her corporate knowledge, education, experience, and expertise to help people get out of terrible situations and into fulfilling and joyful careers.

Join us as we talk candidly about the corporate employee experience - and how it starts from the moment you hand in your resume to when you actually become an employee. We discuss the warning signs of a toxic work environment, biases that exist in the workplace (including age bias), and what you can do to survive or get away from such an environment. While we laughed a ton during our conversation (and I think you will, too), many of the issues we touched on were really serious. You might even see yourself in the scenarios we discuss. So don't miss out on this episode of It Gets Late Early.

"If you're not honest with how you're really feeling and what you're not receiving and how you're not thriving and the people around you that don't value you (and perhaps you don't value them back), if you're not honest about that and accepting of that reality, you will never be spurred into action. You will never take the actions required to get out of that workplace."

- Leigh Elena Henderson

In This Episode:

-How Leigh got into the world of content creation from her beginnings in Corporate America

-One big reason we all should be thanking Gen Z - especially older generations

-Indicators that you are in a toxic workplace and why people react the way they do

-How one person’s toxic is…another’s dream scenario?

-Age discrimination towards younger workers and why some companies don't have 24-year-old executives

-Why age inclusivity in DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging) hasn’t even come on the radar yet at many companies

-How coded language cloaks ageism

-How can organizations increase their age diversity and enhance their DEIB initiatives?

-Red flags in the interview process that indicate you could be walking into a toxic workplace

-Mindset shifts to empower yourself during the interview process

-How Leigh thinks Corporate Tech is the biggest offender in exploitative interview processes

-Why Leigh thinks companies should pay you to interview there - especially if you’re jumping through hoops and giving presentations

-Leigh's tips on how to best navigate a job interview with a younger interviewer

-How to get out of a toxic workplace

-How, sometimes, people shouldn’t even give two weeks' notice before they quit

-The unifying aspect of the shared experience of work - and who misses out on this

-How social media helped us during and after the COVID era

-What’s next for Leigh - you won’t want to miss it!

And much more.

Resources:

-When You Have a Gap in Your Resume: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuqGUI-tYHq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D

Connect with Leigh Elena Henderson:

-Website: https://www.thehrmanifesto.com/

-LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leighelena/

-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hrmanifesto/

-TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hrmanifesto

Connect with Maureen Clough:

-Instagram: @itgetslateearly - https://www.instagram.com/itgetslateearly/

-YouTube: @itgetslateearly - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGrHwk-y7ERaq7bCSjZYf1A?sub_confirmation=1

-Website: itgetslateearly.com - https://www.itgetslateearly.com/

-LinkedIn: maureenwclough - https://www.linkedin.com/in/maureenwclough/

-Facebook: It Gets Late Early - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088694515585

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy