Overcoming a defensive culture at Pharmacist Support
How can an organisation turn a defensive culture into one where best intentions are assumed? Melissa Cochrane of Pharmacist Support shares her experiences of navigating this behaviour change at the charity.
What can a play about football teach us about leadership?
Sometimes the best leadership lessons don’t come from the boardroom. They come from the stage. Here, Leadership expert Deborah Wain shares three insightful takeaways from a stage production on Gareth Southgate’s tenure with England’s football team.
Progress through transparency: A turning point for disability inclusion in the workplace
Following the publication of a landmark report on workplace disability inclusion, Gethin Nadin urges employers to move past quotas and give disabled people the opportunities they deserve.
Over half of leaders regret replacing people with AI: Will you be next?
In the race for artificial intelligence (AI), firms have already begun to make redundancies. But a recent survey from Orgvue reveals that over half of business leaders now regret their decision. Quentin Millington of Marble Brook explores how replacing people with machines may do more harm than good.
Out with ‘ostriching’, in with tackling challenging conversations head-on
By avoiding awkward conversations, we could be making the situation worse. As uncomfortable as it may feel, we need to communicate and, oftentimes, do so sooner rather than later. Here’s how.
The compassionate leadership guide: A five-step model for building caring communities at work
Belonging to a cohesive group is a fundamental human need, yet forging strong connections is difficult in our tech-obsessed, individualistic world. It’s no surprise, then, that ‘Community’ is this year’s theme for Mental Health Awareness Week (12–18 May 2025). Here, Karen Liebenguth explores how leaders can enable caring communities at work to underpin a supportive work culture where people feel they belong.
Ten ways to inspire and encourage intrapreneurship
Organisational innovation has never been more important. Harnessing this means learning from and nurturing our risk taking, visionary and resourceful intrapreneurs. With buy-in and direction from leadership, intrapreneurs can add real knowledge and value to organisations.
Ageism at work: Three ways to foster intergenerational inclusion
At work, do you actively seek the perspectives of colleagues significantly older or younger than you? Or do you naturally gravitate towards the opinions of those closer to your age? If it is the latter you are not alone. Here, David Bowes, Head of People at Insights, outlines the overlooked issue of ageism at work and offers three ways to champion intergenerational inclusion.
From automation to augmentation: Upskill your workforce for the AI era
As AI accelerates changes in the workplace, the risks of skills erosion and the need for complex resilience are growing fast. Professor Tom Calvard of the University of Edinburgh Business School examines the latest research, urging HR leaders to rethink how they support learning and development in an age of automation, augmentation and disruption.
HR supervision: The support your people team deserves
The emotional toll of HR work is often hidden – and rarely supported. Dr Jo Burrell, Clinical Psychologist at Ultimate Resilience, makes the case for HR supervision as a critical tool to protect wellbeing, improve decision-making, and build stronger people teams in today’s high-pressure workplaces.
The BBC’s workplace culture review: An expert’s reaction
Workplace culture expert Ellie Herriot shares her thoughts on the BBC’s workplace culture review from earlier this week.
Gallup 2025: Employee engagement decline causing US$438 billion in lost productivity
Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2025 report makes for bleak reading. Last year, employee engagement fell by 2%, equating to US$438 billion in lost productivity. Here, HRZone’s Managing Editor Becky Norman explores the study’s major findings and shares responses from industry experts and practitioners.
Snowflakes or Boundried? The truth about Millennial managers
Millennials now make up the largest group of managers in today’s workforce, yet outdated stereotypes continue to undermine their influence. Ella Overshott, Director of Pecan Partnerships, explores the real traits of Millennial managers, debunks the ‘snowflake’ myth, and offers actionable insights on how organisations can better support and empower this vital generation of leaders.
Apprentice dismissed after colleague ‘poked finger-sized holes’ in his sandwiches
A culture of ‘banter’ among apprentices at Scania truck depot quickly spiralled into a dismissal and employment tribunal. HR adviser Kate Palmer shares the cautionary tale of the tampered sandwich…
Holding the rope after the UK Supreme Court verdict: A guide for inclusive HR leadership
How can organisations respect the Supreme Court’s clarification of “woman” in the Equality Act while continuing to uphold their commitment to trans and nonbinary inclusion? In a values-led call to action, inclusion expert Joanna Lockwood urges leaders to hold the rope and build cultures where everyone still belongs.
£1 million wake-up call over University of Edinburgh’s grievance failures
After a decade-long dispute, the University of Edinburgh has had to pay out over £1 million to an engineering professor for claims of unfair dismissal. Legal expert Rhys Wyborn examines where the university went wrong, and how businesses must use this as a cautionary tale to review their own grievance procedures.
Workplace stress and happy economics: Insights from one million employees revealed
Lord Mark Price, former MD of Waitrose and Founder of WorkL, examines data from over a million employees on the realities of workplace stress and why it’s the enemy of productivity and retention.
Stuck in a rut: How to make good decisions, fast
Decisions are the gateway from the present to the future, for organisations, teams and individual managers. In a complex and evolving world, we must be skilled at making sound choices. Quentin Millington of Marble Brook looks at why we get stuck in a rut, and offers practical ways to make good decisions at pace.
Disability pay gap reporting: More harm than good?
Business Disability Forum’s new research shows mandatory disability pay gap reporting may not be the answer to workplace inclusion. It might even lead to damaging consequences for both employers and disabled employees.
Progress or PR spin? Gender pay gap 2025 shows it’s still a man’s world, just with better reporting
The results of this year’s gender pay gap report are out, but do the results point to progress or PR spin? HRZone columnist Deborah Hartung believes reporting is a tick-box exercise for most and urges HR to go beyond the bare minimum.
