The Human Factor Podcast by SAP

In Part 1, we're joined by Dave Horrocks from Peak 4, who shares his extensive experience from the world of elite sport. Together, we unpack the intangible nature of performance and how it's influenced by everything from mindset and culture to technology, data, and generational change.

This week on The Human Factor, we're tackling a bold question: can bad bosses ruin lives? It's a provocative title—but backed by real research. As we heard in our recent episode with Brian Dow, your immediate line manager can have more impact on your mental health than almost anything else at work. In this episode, we're joined by Debra to explore the psychology behind leadership, the difference between intent and impact, and the behaviours that define both “bad bosses” and great ones. Packed with stories, reflections, and practical advice, this is a must-listen for anyone who leads—or wants to lead better.

This week on The Human Factor, we're tackling a bold question: can bad bosses ruin lives? It's a provocative title—but backed by real research. As we heard in our recent episode with Brian Dow, your immediate line manager can have more impact on your mental health than almost anything else at work. In this episode, we're joined by Debra to explore the psychology behind leadership, the difference between intent and impact, and the behaviours that define both “bad bosses” and great ones. Packed with stories, reflections, and practical advice, this is a must-listen for anyone who leads—or wants to lead better.

In Episode 55 of The Human Factor, we explore a simple but powerful question: what really makes work a great place to be? We're joined by Brian Sutton, Client Relationship Manager at A Great Place to Work, for an honest conversation about belonging, culture, and the importance of feeling valued and energised at work. Is creating a positive workplace just a nice idea—or a critical factor in boosting engagement, retention, and mental well-being?

In Episode 54 of The Human Factor, we return to the world of sport, an industry that often shines a light on key human factors. This time, we're looking at things from a macro perspective with insights from Karl Fitzpatrick, CEO Warrington Wolves. We explore two big themes: growth—both within the organisation and in team performance, and climate— the cultural environment that shapes how it feels to work there. With research showing workplace culture is becoming a vital metric, and with generational shifts impacting loyalty, Karl shares his approach to building an organisation where people want to join, stay, and thrive.

In Episode 53 of The Human Factor, we dive into the critical topic of mental health—what it is, why it matters, and how we can better support ourselves and others, especially in the workplace. Despite growing awareness, more than 1 in 7 people in the UK say their mental health is at its worst, with young people struggling the most. So how do we break the stigma and create real change? We're excited to welcome Brian Dow, Chief Executive of Mental Health UK, who shares expert insights on recognising mental health challenges, offering support, and fostering a healthier work environment.

In Episode 52 of The Human Factor, we delve into the core of leadership, focusing on execution, performance and standards —topics that shape the future of work. Despite ongoing discussions, global engagement remains low, and many are searching for new opportunities. Why is this the case, and how can leaders change it? We're excited to welcome Dave Kline, who brings invaluable insights into leadership principles, non-negotiables, and blind spots. Together, we explore strategies to foster engagement, sustain high standards, and achieve consistent performance. Join us for actionable tips and wisdom that will elevate your leadership game.

How can we take greater control over the conditions of our lives to ensure? How can we better understand the factors that influence our wellbeing on a day-to-day basis and what can organisations do to improve this? Christine Armstrong joins us on the Human Factor Podcast to share unique insights on this important topic. In this episode of 'The Human Factor', Christine Armstrong shares invaluable insights on how to create a buzzing workplace without falling into the trap of burnout. Listeners will learn actionable strategies for managing expectations, achieving a healthy work-life balance, and fostering a positive workplace culture that supports employee well-being. Guest Speaker - Christine Armstrong: https://url.sap/7u2c3s Learn how SAP SuccessFactors HCM solutions help you optimise the way employees work, managers manage, and organisations adapt: https://url.sap/phbbt4

In Episode 50 of The Human Factor Podcast, we explore 'The Era of Digital' with music industry veteran Tony Harlow. From CDs to streaming, the digital shift has revolutionized how talent is found, music is consumed, and revenue streams are built. Tony shares insights on adapting to global disruption, balancing long-term talent development, and connecting with audiences in a digital world. Join us as we discuss how leaders navigate change and ensure the industry thrives in this dynamic era.

We all have heard of The Red Cross. We've seen the famous logo on the news in conflicts around the world. Unfortunately, they are an ever-present on the news these days. But what drives someone to run into danger when the bombs and bullets are flying around? How do you manage an organisation and its employees who are in harms way on a regular basis? Whilst we sit at comfortable desks, they are facing the horrors of war and conflict on a daily basis. Today, we are joined by Audrey who will help us with a deeper insight into working for a humanitarian organisation and some of the challenges this presents.

In this episode, we explore the concept of "Voice" and its critical role in understanding and responding to stakeholder sentiments. We'll dive into the importance of sentiment analysis, effective listening strategies, and how to overcome common barriers to truly capturing and interpreting valuable insights. Join us as Sally Winston shares top tips and practical advice on translating these insights into actionable outcomes for your organisation.

Around 1 in 10 of the world's population is affected by Dyslexia (and other reports suggest maybe 1 in 5), with around 3% seriously affected by it. There have been many famous, accomplished people with Dyslexia, including Tom Cruise, Mohammed Ali, Richard Branson, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci and not forgetting The Fonz, Henry Wrinkler. But what is it, and what is it like to live with on a daily basis? It's likely something you have heard of, and maybe associated with a struggle to spell words. However, its much broader than that, and can affect coordination, organisation and memory. Struggling with Dyslexia can have a profound effect on young and old, in the home and at school or work. We are going to explore the topic today with our guest Jamie.

As Catrin and Osian have grown the business and built a team – we have many questions. How have they managed to espouse what Crwst meant to them to the people now working for them – how have they built the skills, established the standards & consistency of experience and created brand advocacy and employee advocacy – there is much for us to learn, debate and discuss!

The world of technology has been supercharged recently with Artificial Intelligence capability. That said, AI has been around for far longer than most of us appreciate but it has really exploded into the market place in the last couple of years, and really starts to demand an answer to the question – “where will this take us?” The big question though is what can we really do with this technology? Can we separate myth from fact and navigate a journey to successfully deploying the technology to make a real difference at work? We explore this and more with our guest Andi Britt, who leads IBM's Talent & Engagement Practice for Europe - covering all aspects of Cloud, Cognitive & Digital HR Transformation, Organisational Change Management & Learning.

Wind the clock forward to 1995 and our guest today made a contribution to the evolution and progression of the HR organisation that is still accepted, utilised and debated today. The Ulrich Model. A model designed to help HR think and organise itself to maximise contribution and support the more strategic elements of the business strategy. A model adopted by many organisations but its success in many cases dependent on many factors – cultural buy in, exec alignment, strong leadership and a philosophical attitude that embraced the growth and contribution of all employees.

Guest Celyn Jones brings to light how those human factors combine to create great performances, and we are looking forward to exploring these factors from his perspectives as an actor, a screenwriter and as a producer.

You are about to undertake a change. It might be a small change. It might be a major transformation. You have decided you will need some external help to support your own teams. How do you go about selecting a partner to help your organisation? How do you define what you are looking for? Where do you look and what characteristics are important?

You are about to undertake a change. It might be a small change. It might be a major transformation. You have decided you will need some external help to support your own teams. How do you go about selecting a partner to help your organisation? How do you define what you are looking for? Where do you look and what characteristics are important?

“We need to change how work is done, or we need to recognise that our most important asset is our people” – these are statements that are made year in year out – yet, not much seems to change. So what is the secret – how do we actively engage our people, how do help them to thrive, to grow and be able to bring their best selves to work every day. A culture which is inclusive and built on trust, fairness and inclusivity. In this episode we will explore this challenge in real detail with Will and delve into some of his tips on how he runs a successful and happy organisation at The Timpson Group.

In this episode, we will be exploring how do we ensure that organisations are “fit for today, but also fit for the future”. We will explore this from an organisation perspective, but also from the provision of public services perspective. What is the importance of developing existing and new skills, enabled by technology advances, to drive the execution of processes and delivery of services to citizens and the workforce.

The Art of Communication is the information that builds the connection in so many ways.

In this conversation, Gethin provides a scene-setting overview of the well-being landscape post-pandemic. The discussion focuses on whether organisations are returning to pre-pandemic practices or embracing a new era of well-being. Gethin reflects on the changes in the workplace experience since the dramatic events of Covid, offering insights into emerging trends and shifts in how companies approach employee well-being now that the pandemic is receding into the past. From a broader perspective, companies with incomplete well-being initiatives might face challenges in building a positive and inclusive workplace culture. A lack of diversity and inclusion efforts, for instance, could contribute to a less supportive and harmonious work environment.

In this episode Eric Tinch will explore this challenge in real detail and delve into the complexity of not only influencing senior stakeholders on the critical priorities, but then making it happen across the organisation and establishing / sustaining momentum.

Sile Walsh talks about what is inclusive leadership? How is leadership in times of disruption and volatility and the role of leadership in creating psychological safety and empathy.

Michael Esau and Simon Humphreys discuss key highlights as the podcast enters its third year. Reflecting on our most recent episodes from 2023, exploring the key talking points and take aways from nine podcasts released so far in the year whilst looking forward to episodes to be released later in year.

As human beings – what do we set out to achieve every day? From a human psychology perspective we know that all humans want to have a productive day in a relative sense, need to have a feeling of achievement, attainment or a feeling of being appreciated. As we have said on a regular basis on the podcast – what needs to happen for a person to go home at the end of the day and say “I had a good day”. Throughout our series – we have touched on this topic many times, but there is still much to learn. Many of us operate within a team structure. We discussed team dynamics with the wonderful Paul Gustard and how he aligns, connects and drives the performance of his teams. Damian Hughes very kindly shared his views on how a performance culture is created. But we want to dig deeper into something we believe to be absolutely fundamental and a question that persists – how is the overall climate created and sustained by leaders, but also by the team itself to ensure goals are met, standards are maintained and all parties feel they are operating in a equitable and inclusive environment? The word culture has been front and centre over the last 3 years especially in a business context and culture is integral to achieving on a day to day basis. Climate however is different – climate describes what it “feels like” to be in that team, in that group/situation and how is that climate conducive to people achieving their goals? Its our view that building and sustaining standards requires a considerable effort, building a culture of continuous growth requires a commitment from everyone – so the question persists – how is that done, how is that achieved? We will be exploring all this today with Maggie and tapping into her extensive experiences.

In all walks of life, and one of the great natural feelings of being a human being is that gut instinct for something. That feeling about something, a feeling in the stomach, a nagging doubt or a natural intuition. It's fair to say we will have all experienced it at some point in our life. In the world of business or sport or any industry where decisions made purely on instinct can be extremely costly, turning instinct into hard fact is an absolute imperative. In the world of work, this is where reporting and analytics support the process in a very big way and this is where the importance of raw data surfaces its head again. Data pulled from multiple sources can be examined to support or reject hypotheses (those gut feelings). In the world of sport, analytics has become more and more integral to successful performance across a multitude of processes and disciplines - providing insights into individual and team performance both on and off the field of play. For example – it is used to determine tactics to win a match, it is used to monitor and prevent injuries to players, it is used to assist decisions made on buying or selling players where huge sums of money are spent on talent. To support this, more and more data is captured and analysed than ever before. How then can technology sift through all this data and provide insights that will lead to the promised land of successful performance outcomes. For this episode we will be diving back into the world of football and are super excited to be joined by someone who is leveraging analytics in a VERY big way to support the organisation and performance of his club TSG Hoffenheim in the German Bundesliga – the highest football league in Germany.

Over the last 15 to 20 years as the age of consumerisation and digital has taken hold – the fabric of how we live our lives has changed beyond recognition. We now have the capability to curate and design the experiences that help us to live our life the way we wish – how we communicate, how we learn, how we connect, how we shop, how we transact, how we consume music, entertainment. This has then led to a broader decision about how the different elements are connected together – so I can surface data in one location, access all records at any one time, connect different devices around a home or with my car and much more. Organisations in the last 20 years and this very much links into the future of work, have needed to understand this changing context and replicate the experiences people are having at home. For many this has required a reimagination of data, process, insights, roles, operating models, permission models and much more – but it has presented an amazing opportunity for organisations to enhance how they execute their strategy, drive efficiencies when possible and be even more effective with all decision taken related to people. We welcome the opportunity to discuss this enormous topic with Marc Starfield who has been championing and creating integrated and connected platforms and experiences over the last 15 to 20 years, most recently as the Group Head of HR Programmes and Systems at Vodafone.

Originally composed of 20 street performers in 1984, Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group completely reinvented circus arts and has become a world leader in live entertainment. Established in Montreal, the Canadian organization has brought wonder and delight to over 180 million spectators with productions presented in 450 cities in 60 countries. Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group currently employs 4,000 people, including 1,300 artists, who originate from nearly 50 countries. The key question however – how do they do it??. As spectators, we marvel at the skill, the daring, the execution of acts we can only dream about, but it doesn't happen by accident. Creating the culture and conditions for this amazing talent to grow and prosper takes real commitment and real focus. This begins by finding the right talent, bringing them into the organisation and then preparing them to participate in amazing shows. These can be complex processes that require time, patience, structure, leadership and much more. In this episode – we will be exploring with Marie Noelle what happens behind the curtain every day to help create the greatest show on earth.

Inclusivity, parity, acceptance, fairness, equality, diversity – these are common descriptive labels that we hear and see every day. As we begin 2023 a question that needs to be asked – are we making enough progress? Last summer the England womens football team, known as the Lionesses, won the European Championship for the first time. It was an amazing tournament and one that will hopefully inspire younger generations to break through glass ceilings everywhere. But where do we go from here. The title of the episode today, “They think its all over, its only just begun” was an amazing way to summarise the success of the Lionesses, but also the tournament as a whole and what it could mean for womens football. Nearly 12 months on and the women's game has gone from strength to strength with games taking place in landmark stadiums and achieving record crowds but the question still persists – why has it been so hard to achieve?Achieving parity has been an issue for many years, but creating the climate and conditions where people are treated equally and inclusively remains a perennial challenge. In addition we have the ongoing debate surrounding generational shifts and the significance of the England women's team winning the Euros and its ability to inspire the next generation should not be lost, But rather than just focus on the younger generations, we should also consider the transition from younger generation to middle age and how does age change our mindset. Do our life goals and priorities change when we reach mid-life? Is enough done to support people through the mid-life stage to enable it to be more productive and less disrupted. We will be discussing these important topics and more with Gabby today and delving into her experiences of growing up in a sporting family and observing first hand her own experiences relating to inclusivity, achieving parity and also what it means for people when they approach mid-life.

Throughout our podcast series we have touched on the areas of performance and personal growth. A common thread throughout many of the conversations has been the importance of doing the basics brilliantly as part of our daily performance. What we haven't perhaps discussed so far what “performance” actually means and how do we influence it, improve it and benefit from it. Over the last couple of years the term “high performance” has been coined and used extensively and I believe that has perhaps created a perception that only a small percentage can actually achieve “high performance” and can act as an inhibitor. So what is the bedrock of performance??? I love the quote from James March (Professor at Stanford University) “Neither Success nor Change requires dramatic action. The conventional, routine activities that produce most organisational change require ordinary people to do ordinary things in a competent way” which reinforces the theory that the execution of the basic fundamentals are the bedrock and foundation of our performance every day. We will be exploring all this today with Danny and tapping into his work over the last 25 years working with an array of organisations, leaders, and individuals to drive their best level of performance and unblocking the myriad of barriers that often get in the way.

A question - “how well do you know yourself?” Not at a superficial level, but really know yourself. Is understanding oneself something we need to do consciously, is it something that we discover across our lifetime – some may even ask “why is understanding self so important in the first place”? Aristotle once said – “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”. The author Doris Mortman stated “until you make peace with who you are, you will never be content with who you are” We believe that understanding self is indeed the route to helping us fulfil potential, to realise goals and to achieve a degree of acceptance in relation to who we are. When I was younger, I would have given my right arm to be quicker like my brother, I wanted the confidence of my friends and at times I was envious they could do things I couldn't and it had a significant impact on my esteem and confidence. In recent times the term “imposter syndrome” has become much more common and I believe this is a direct correlation of how well we understand self, our capabilities, capacity and impact on others. We will be exploring all this today with Glenn and tapping into his work over the last 25 years working with an array of organisations, leaders, individual contributors and helping them to fully achieve their potential and goals and to truly get a grasp on self and why they do what they do.

In 2017, Googles DeepMind AlphaGo artificial intelligence defeated the worlds number one Go player Ke Jie. This was considered significant as Go is one of the worlds most complex games and this capability was thought to be another 20 years or so away. The AI built its capability by studying historical matches and playing thousands of games against itself to learn strategies. This felt like a tipping point for technology, finally beating its human creator with more than just brute force techniques. Five years on, the debate is less about what AI can do, and more about the ethics and morality of AI and Robotics. As organisations seek to embrace productivity savings and improvements from use of this technology, there are a number of talking points about the direction of travel that we will look to explore in this podcast. Questions such as should you say please and thank you to a chatbot, why are people outraged when we kick a robot dog, how can we build trust in AI rather than suspicion and doubt.

Through the pandemic and coming out the other side, there were so many column inches on what happened through that time, what it meant for the future and coined the now massively evolved term “The Great Resignation”. There is no doubt that things are different, that period of time arguably “shined a light” on changing expectations, preferences, perceptions towards work – but arguably, it has been a long time coming and maybe we need to take a fresh look at what it actually means to operate in this new era. Throughout our series we have discussed and explored many of the topics that influence the human being in the workplace and we have discussed & debated the convergence of business, HR, people and technology on a few occasions. As we move into this new era, there is real merit in exploring this further and question whether it is time to change the narrative a little in terms of how organisations drive change, how technology is underpinning and enabling that change and what it means to the individual in terms of adoption and consumption. We will be exploring this today with David and through the lens of his work as the Director of Research at the Fosway Group and how they advise organisations who are navigating their way through this ever-changing world that we live and work in.

The first definition of culture comes from 19th-century British anthropologist Edward Tylor: Culture...”is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”. Culture has been called “the way of life for an entire society” In addition to its intrinsic value, culture provides important social and economic benefits. With improved learning and health, increased tolerance, and opportunities to come together with others, culture enhances our quality of life and increases overall well-being for both individuals and communities. A question however – how is it really created and how is it created at scale? As the world around us evolves at a rate of knots, we have discussed many times on the podcast the changing preferences and expectations of the modern workforce, so how do organisation build, shape and retain a progressive culture that reflects the organisation and results in a successful organisation, happy employees but crucially happy customers. We will be exploring this today with Sue and through the lens of a family business of multiple generations, where values and culture are absolutely central to their longevity and success.

It has been over one hundred years since the job interview was started by the inventor of the alkaline storage battery, movie camera and the lightbulb – that person was Thomas Edison. In 1921, Edison was a genius and frustrated with the university graduates who would ask him for a job, and so he developed a general knowledge test. The questions were a mix of literature, history, geography, with some related directly to the job available. The Smithsonian Institute reports only 7 percent of applicants could pass the 146 question quiz. Newspapers of the time reported Edison's new method of eliminating candidates, which led to more companies using questionnaires. Eventually, the process evolved into the system most firms use today. As we head further into this decade, I'm sure aspects of what Edison did 100 years ago will still exist in some processes today, but the whole process of sourcing, attracting and actually recruiting someone is very different today and much debate centres on who actually is in control of the process today – the candidate or the employer. The attraction and retention of talent has always been a perennial challenge, but data is telling us that it is getting harder. Taking into account demographic changes, an aging workforce, the impact of Brexit, there are more open positions today than required candidates. When we also consider more people are choosing to work for themselves, we can see why attraction and retention is getting harder. Is it more than that? Has consumerisation also changed how we look at the process, expecting a seamless, frictionless process, not a long, drawn-out clunky process. It's clear there is much to debate. We are delighted to be joined by our guest today who has metaphorically and literally brought “A Fresh Perspective” to the world of attraction and recruitment and will be sharing her thoughts and insights on what has changed, what is working and what needs to be different in the future of the most competitive marketplace in the world.

By 2025 27% of the working population will come from the GenZ population. When we look at the changing demographic, the age profile is shifting quite significantly. There is a greater influx of younger talent moving into the workplace and in years to come will be the future leaders of those respective organisations. One of the greatest gifts and challenges however when working with young talent is the identification and nurturing of the skills and capabilities that lie within each individual. There are no shortcuts to development, some will develop quicker, some will possess natural ability or wisdom that belies their years. What is clear however, is that it requires great responsibility and commitment. A great example of nurturing and developing young talent is in the world of football, where talent can be signed or associated to a club from ages as young as 6 or 7. In this episode we are joined by an individual who has devoted much of his career to developing young talent. Paul was a member of the Manchester United coaching team for over 25 years and was instrumental in the growth & development of several players who have gone on to represent Manchester United's first team and win some of the highest honours in the game – including winning the World Cup with their respective countries. We will be tapping into Paul's experience and his rich insights into the challenges and complexities of accelerating and nurturing the development of young talent.

Paying people for services delivered has been around for millenia. In the early days, the currency of pay was commodities such as food, salt, grain, clothes, land grants, shelter and even beer. But payroll as a term started to gather pace in the 17th century and Payroll as a term can be traced back to around the middle of the 18th Century. Payroll itself being an amagulation of two words to indicate how much pay is given to a list of employees (ie roll). Taxes have been also around for a long time and in the UK, there have been taxes on fireplaces, windows, printed wallpaper, hats, playing cards and even candles. But in 1798 Income Tax was introduced in the budget by William Pitt the Younger, to help pay for weapons and equipment for the upcoming Napoleonic Wars. This new tax started at 2 old pence in the pound on incomes over £60 and forms the modern day concept of payroll taxes. Since then, the frequency of payroll has been reasonable stable. Generally stabilising into weekly or monthly pay cycles. But, in recent times, we have had a crippling pandemic. We have seen war in Europe. We have seen significant increases in costs of living and wage freezes. We are starting to see strike action and worker discontent across many UK sectors demanding pay increases to keep pace with inflation. All this has led to significant employee hardships across many industries. So what can be done to help? Today, we will be exploring how organisations can help employees who are struggling with earned wage access, also known as pay on demand.

At some point, we have all likely set goals for ourselves. Whether they are new years resolutions, goals for work, or personal goals the process we went through may have been different. Goals to give up smoking, take the dog for more walks, or losing weight may feature in our home life, and at work, goals such as securing a volume of sales, or increasing customer satisfaction could be set to measure our job performance. The goals we set for ourselves (or maybe someone set them for us) can drive us to better performance, a healthier lifestyle and/or personal development. However, poorly set goals can also have a toxic effect on our self esteem. In this episode, we will be discussing goal setting, goal measurement, and goal achievement largely in the context of the sporting world and primarily in football. Studies, for example by Edwin A. Locke who is a pioneer in goal-setting theory, have shown that the more specific and ambitious the goal can be, the higher the likelihood of performance improvement as a result. Whether it be at home or at work, as long as the person accepts the goal, has the ability to attain it, and does not have conflicting goals, then there is a positive linear relationship between goal difficulty and task performance. But our conversation today wont stop at setting goals, we will also explore how we monitor and measure our performance against those we set, and what should we do if we achieve or fail the goals.

Throughout our careers, many of us will fondly recall successful teams we were a part of with a smile and a glint in our eyes. We will reminisce about the bonds and connections made and the mutual success achieved. There will have been something about the team which made it special – the key question - what was it? What specifically made that team successful and a pleasure to be part of. On the flip side – we can all think back to teams we didn't enjoy being a part of and the variety of reasons that determined that experience. We have concluded through this series that the psychology behind us as people is crucial when we think about the design of work and teams – we need certain things to happen to enable us to be successful. For the majority of people, they want to be successful, they want to grow, be a part of something – but the dynamics of a team can get in the way. The culture of it, the different roles, how is accountability shared, where does the decision-making lie, what if people don't get on – this is the reality of a dynamic team and it doesn't happen by accident. Today we will explore this topic in detail with someone who has been a member of many successful teams and is now heavily involved in the curation, growth and development of a team in the elite sporting arena of Rugby Union.

Guests: Mark Brooks Lewis, Founder & CEO of LavaSource HR, and Tom Holmes, Co-Founder and Director of Veran Performance During our podcast series, the role of HR has been central to many of our conversations. As the custodian for people, HR arguably has a more important role than ever in charting a course into the next phase of the world of work. Over the last 50 years, HR as a function has been through many iterations and there are more column inches to read than is feasible on what the future of HR looks like. In the past HR has perhaps been its worst enemy and has viewed its future and relevance through its own lens a little too much. As we come through the pandemic, its clear the world of work wont be the same and a major driver of that change is the workforce. A group of people who in parts of the world are voting with their feet. Its argued that the Great Resignation in some quarters has been over played and that may be the case, but we have other data points to show the issue in front of us. Just look at Gallup data over the last 10 years on employee engagement – people may not be leaving in the numbers quoted, but it doesn't mean the people working for you are engaged and happy. So I think as we head into this decade, there is a real opportunity for the future of HR and the future workforce to converge – to create a sustainable future for organisations built on a workplace experience that engages and enables individuals to be their brilliant best every day. Today – we will be tapping into the thoughts of Tom and Mark who both operate at this intersection every day. Key Topics The role of HR today, tomorrow and in the future….. Insights on the key changes that HR needs to make as a business partner? How the workforce is changing the game for organisations and HR Observations on the changing workforce and its implication for attracting, retaining and growing How can HR and the workforce converge and collaborate in the future to design an engaging and progressive workforce experience. Personal tips, hints and a smattering of wisdom…

The Human Factor Ep 18: Finding Your Voice Guest: Caroline Goyder, Global Voice Coach, Author and TedX Speaker When I was very young – the thought of public speaking was the most terrifying thought. My parents would often encourage me to compete in the Eisteddfod – a welsh festival of the arts where people would compete against other schools in singing competitions or recitals – I would take part, but my lack of confidence was evident and I struggled to express myself. The moment when I would walk into the middle of the stage was so scary and the experience would leave scars. For me personally – finding my voice has been a lifetime pursuit. Its something I have never mastered, I have had many dips in my confidence and times when I felt that my voice wasn't worthy and sometimes imposter syndrome would kick in. I would often ask the question – is it up to me to speak up, be persistent with my opinion or did I need the help of others to listen? I have often reflected that there is an assumption, that “speaking up” and “having a voice” was something that we all should be able to do, but it isn't that simple for many people. On this episode we are going to explore this often “assumed” thought that everyone has a voice with our guest Caroline. Key Topics Challenging the assumption – do we all have a voice? The barriers to finding our voice and feeling confident to “lean in” Some of the key principles to building confidence in our thoughts and articulating them? Some of the tips and techniques to help us feel more confident when delivering our thoughts with others? How we master the communication of a message – our body, tone of voice and words Personal tips, hints and a smattering of wisdom….