Menu
Search Our Knowledgebase
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 …
When Perks Create Problem: Managing Conflict in Pet-Friendly Workplaces
I have seen firsthand how quickly a well-intentioned perk can evolve into a complex workplace challenge. What begins as a progressive, people-first initiative can (without the right structure) create tension, distraction, and even conflict. A great example of this is the pet-friendly workplace. There’s no question that pet-friendly workplaces are on the rise, albeit still […]
The Most Effective Wellbeing Policy Might be Boring…
With World Wellbeing Week in full-swing, many organizations will naturally be reviewing their wellness offerings. New apps, mindfulness sessions, wellbeing webinars, and employee challenges are likely to feature prominently in the conversation. And there is certainly a place for these initiatives. However, after years working in HR, I’ve come to believe that some of the […]
The Energy Audit: How Employers Can Help Teams Work Smarter, Not Longer
As the summer solstice approaches, it’s a natural moment to reflect on energy. Not just energy from sunlight, but human energy at work. In the workplace setting, we often talk about time, whether that be hours worked, days absent, deadlines met… But increasingly, the real differentiator isn’t actually time, it’s how effectively that time is […]
What We’re Reading: The AI-Driven Leader by Geoff Woods
For this month’s reading pick, we explored one of the biggest questions facing organizations today: how leaders can adapt and thrive in the age of artificial intelligence. That led us to The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions by Geoff Woods, a practical and forward-thinking book that examines how AI is reshaping […]
Managing Star Performers: What Employers Can Learn From the World Cup
With the start of the World Cup generating global excitement, I have been reflecting on the parallels between world‑class athletes and high performers in the workplace…and there are surprisingly quite a few. The one that stands out to me is knowing how to support and manage star performers, and this can elevate entire teams, not […]
The Unspoken Trade-Off Behind Pay Transparency
For years, HR leaders have pushed for greater pay transparency, and for good reason. Employees want clarity, fairness, and confidence that compensation decisions are grounded in something more meaningful than negotiation skills or manager discretion. And in today’s labor market, transparency has become both a competitive advantage and, increasingly, a legal expectation. But there’s another […]
Should Employees Be Allowed to Outsource Their Work to AI?
Employees aren’t waiting for formal policies to catch up. They are using AI tools to draft emails, summarize meetings, analyze data, and even produce first drafts of reports. In many organizations, this ‘outsourcing’ of tasks to AI is happening quietly, in the background of everyday work. The real question for employers isn’t whether it should […]
The Business Value of Being Yourself at Work
In conversations with clients, I’ve noticed a subtle but important shift in how organizations talk about authenticity at work. A few years ago, it was framed as a cultural or values-led initiative, but today, leaders are asking the more pragmatic question of ‘does it actually drive business performance’? From where I see it, the answer […]
The End of HR as We Know It?
For decades, organizations have been built around functional silos. HR handled people. IT handled systems. Finance handled numbers. Operations handled execution….and so on. And this model worked reasonably well in the slower, more predictable business environments. Of course, many leading organizations have already spent years breaking down at least some of these functional boundaries. After […]
Is ‘Authentic Leadership’ Putting Too Much Pressure on Managers?
Not long ago, managers were primarily measured on delivery and performance. Today, however, this has evolved, and they’re now expected to be authentic, vulnerable, strategic, empathetic, inclusive, and consistently inspiring…often all before lunchtime. The question worth asking is: has the modern leadership ideal become unrealistic? Authentic leadership, at its core, is a compelling concept. It […]
What We’re Reading: In Praise of the Office by Peter Cappelli and Ranya Nehmeh
For this month’s reading pick, we turned our attention to one of the most debated topics in today’s workplace: where work should actually happen. That led us to In Praise of the Office by Peter Cappelli and Ranya Nehmeh, a timely and thought-provoking book that challenges some of the prevailing narratives around remote and hybrid […]
The Quiet Skill Gap: What Employees Aren’t Telling Their Employers
On paper, the data looks manageable. According to the UK’s Employer Skills Survey, around 12% of employers report skills gaps, equating to roughly 1.26 million employees lacking full proficiency. But that figure only reflects what employers can see, as the reality beneath the surface is far more complex, and far quieter. Recent research suggests that […]
