Research on teaching experiences related to converting the theoretical critique of HRM into practical action is scarce. In this article, we scrutinize our own development as HRM teachers in our quest for critical and reflective teaching praxis. We address teaching HRM as a practical activity and use our own teaching materials from the years 2011–2015 to identify three phases in the development of our teaching: telling, challenging, and engaging. All three phases rely on somewhat different tactics and teaching methods when incorporating critical HRM traditions and reflection into course design. We argue that in order to encourage critical thinking towards HRM we as teachers need to, firstly, reflect on our own practice. Reflection demands time and commitment– both rarities in today’s academia, characterized as it is by pressures to publish in top-tier journals. Secondly, we need to use students’ experiences and expectations of HRM as a starting point when planning our teaching. However, incorporating critical content is a balancing act in today’s university context, which increasingly underlines the employability of students.