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Ideas & Insights
We would like to share some of our latest thinking about the big issues in HR. Please let us know what you think …
Reimagining Workplace Leadership and the Future of Work
Our Founder & CEO, David Fairhurst, recently had the pleasure of joining Carmen Sederino on the Beyond the Keynote podcast for a conversation that was both deeply personal and highly practical. They explored what really sits behind the speaker .. the experiences, stories, setbacks, and reinventions that shape how they show up in front of others. Across […]
What We’re Reading: Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson
For this month’s reading material, we turned our attention to communication and collaboration at work, and that led us straight to Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson. After weighing up a number of popular titles on personality and behavior, Erikson’s book stood out for one prominent reason: it promises to explain why people so often […]
Why Apprenticeships Are No Longer Just for Entry-Level
We’ve all heard the old stereotype: apprenticeships are for entry-level roles. A foot in the door for young workers with limited experience who are trying to get some experience. But that notion is rapidly becoming outdated. Thanks to the evolution of apprenticeship models and the growing diversity of industries embracing them, apprenticeships are now powerful […]
OrgShakers Welcomes Carlos Butler-Vale
OrgShakers is delighted to welcome Carlos Butler‑Vale to our global team of senior People & Culture experts. Carlos joins OrgShakers with more than a decade of experience leading enterprise‑level transformation across worldwide organizations. Operating at the intersection of technological innovation, talent strategy, and organizational performance, Carlos has helped drive large‑scale pivots across Technology, Finance, Supply […]
The Slippery Slope of a Side Hustle
In today’s fast-evolving labor market, the ‘side hustle’ phenomenon has become more than just a trend, it’s now a reality for the majority of workers. Recent surveys show that nearly 90% of American job seekers report having worked a side hustle, and41% admit to juggling that gig alongside their primary job…even during work hours. This […]
Is ‘Pulling a Sickie’ a Sign of Something Deeper?
Every February 3rd, the tongue-in-cheek awareness of National Pull a Sickie Day sweeps through newsfeeds and office corridors in the UK. It acts as a cheeky reminder that many of us have (at one point or another) called in sick when we weren’t truly unwell. And whilst it is only human to wake up some […]
Unconventional Perks That Actually Boost Retention
In today’s tight labor market, traditional perks like free snacks or standard health insurance packages aren’t enough to keep top performers from walking out the door. In the post-COVID years, we have seen a seismic shift in what employees value most: autonomy, personalization, psychological safety, and meaningful support for their lives. With this in mind, […]
How Leaders Can Inspire Trust Without Oversharing
Research consistently shows that high-trust organizations enjoy significantly better outcomes, with employees reporting lower stress, higher productivity, and stronger engagement when trust is present. Yet trust has a fragile foundation: too little transparency breeds suspicion, while too much disclosure can confuse, overwhelm, or sometimes even undermine leadership credibility. The Trust Deficit and What It Means […]
The HR Budget Trap: How to Spot (and Stop) Wasted Spend
Year after year, well-intentioned HR budgets leak value through hidden cracks: unused subscriptions, redundant processes, poorly structured benefits, and tech sprawl that siphons dollars without lifting performance. The result? HR spend rises even as strategic impact stalls. And according to SHRM, HR costs per employee have more than doubled between 2022 and 2025, reaching a […]
What We’re Reading: 12 by Rodd Wagner and James K. Harter
The new year is a time when many organizations will reflect on performance, engagement and leadership capability, and with this in mind it felt fitting to choose a book that goes back to the fundamentals of what actually makes people thrive at work. After reviewing several strong contenders, we landed on 12: The Elements of […]
OrgShakers Welcomes Jenn Oswald
OrgShakers is delighted to welcome Jenn Oswald to our global team of senior People & Culture experts. Jenn joins with 25 years of experience helping early‑stage and high‑growth companies establish scalable People functions. She has served as the first CPO or Head of People for eight organizations, partnering closely with founders and CEOs to build […]
Rethinking Flexibility: How Smarter Work Design Can Boost Performance
In recent years, flexibility has evolved from a ‘nice-to-have’ perk into a strategic performance enabler. With the pandemic acting as a sudden catalyst for remote and hybrid working, flexibility was forced into the fabric of companies whether they were ready for it or not. It’s now years later that many of us see that there […]
