CIPD

What opportunities does building commercial acumen as a skillset bring for the profession? Does quality of management matter more than any productivity metric? And what does it take for organisations to be bold about AI, without being reckless?

Lisa Pearl, People and Change Director at the CIPD, is joined by new CIPD Chief Executive, Neil Carberry.

Recorded: 16 October 2026

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Your next listen:

CIPD Podcast 235: Can AI governance drive innovation?

HR People Pod – Ep 59: Strategic workforce planning | Skills forecasting and productivity | Iced coffee debate

CIPD Podcast 225: HR’s role in boosting workplace productivity

Additional resources:

Explore this year’s CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition programme

Resources | AI in the workplace

Neil Carberry: people professionals are central to performance and productivity

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AI governance, the framework that ensures AI is deployed ethically, transparently and with proper accountability, is no longer a secondary concern. It is foundational to organisational stability and trust. Yet governance has not kept pace with implementation, exposing organisations to real business risks: loss of trust, reputational damage or litigation. But good AI governance doesn’t slow innovation. It establishes the foundations that make innovation possible.

Join Nigel Cassidy and this month's guests – Helen Dutta, Director of Governance & HR at DACS; Ray Eitel-Porter, AI expert, Senior Research Associate at Jesus College Cambridge and award-winning author; and Sharon Hill, Director of People at Pay.UK, as we explore how organisations can overcome the perception that governance stifles innovation, and instead build the guardrails that make AI investment and exploration sustainable.

In this episode, our panel explores:

• Why AI governance has lagged AI implementation, and the implications for organisations and workforces
• The importance of ensuring AI governance is a continuous, people-centred process that evolves alongside technology and ways of working
• Why effective AI governance acts as an enabler of innovation, through creating confidence and trust

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Your next listen:

CIPD Podcast 229: From AI experimentation to AI maturity

HR People Pod – Ep 57: Innovation | Is ‘resilience’ a tainted word? | Dealing with AI grievances

CIPD Podcast 219: Dealing with AI use in recruitment and job applications

More from this episode:

AI in the workplace: Insights, guides, case studies

Guide: How people professionals can develop, deploy and use AI in an ethical, legal and sustainable way

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The CIPD’s latest Resourcing and talent planning 2026 report, supported by Omni, reveals that an increasing number of organisations are extending their workforce planning timeframes from the short to the medium term. Overall, 24% take a short-term approach (up to six months), down from 31% in 2024. However just a fraction of organisations (16%) are planning more than two years into the future.

So how can organisations build a strategic workforce plan for three to five years out, when the pace of change makes even the near future hard to predict?

Plus, as recent City & Guilds research suggests that a shortage of so called ‘soft skills’ is restricting productivity and growth – how should we be recruiting and developing those skills in the workforce?

And finally, hear more on whether these HR leaders would bring an iced coffee to a job interview...

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What does it really mean for an organisation to know its culture, and is it possible to borrow the best bits of someone else’s? Who should hold responsibility for shaping culture when roles and structures are shifting so fast? And as AI transforms the workplace, can it be a genuine ally in culture change rather than a threat to it?

Leah De Silva, Senior Programme Manager for the CIPD Trust, is joined by authors of Rapid Reculturing, Alex Bailey, award-winning psychologist, and Kerri O’Neill, Chief People Officer at Ipsos UK and Ireland, and two-time CIPD HR30 recipient.

Recorded: 18 September 2026

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Additional resources:

Tool: Quick wins to improve workplace culture

Factsheet: Organisational climate and culture

People Management: Why measuring organisational culture often goes wrong

Book: Rapid reculturing: Transforming organizations at pace and scale

Your next listen:

CIPD Podcast 220: Do leaders establish culture, or are they a product of it?

HR People Pod 46: Measuring culture, driving performance – with Hani Nabeel

CIPD Podcast 233: Courageous conversations

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According to UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), there are approximately 548,400 refugees in the UK – yet many highly qualified, experienced people remain locked out of meaningful work. Not by ability, but by structural barriers: recruitment processes that filter out valuable candidates, unrecognised or unfamiliar qualifications, and in many cases, a basic misconception among employers about whether refugees can legally be employed at all.

Join Nigel Cassidy and this month's guests – Jenny Walton, CEO at Refugee Employment Network; Nikki von Bulow, Director of HR Consultancy Services and CIPD Trust Rebuilding Futures Mentor; and Oksana Hulyk, Legal Adviser and HR Professional – as they draw on lived and professional experience to explore how people professionals can remove these barriers and open up meaningful employment for refugee talent.

In this episode, our panel explores:

• What role people professionals can play in removing barriers to refugee employment, from right-to-work misconceptions to recruitment processes that filter out valuable candidates
• Why supporting refugee employment is a workforce strategy, not a philanthropic gesture
• How to equip line managers with the skills and confidence to support refugee talent once they’re in post

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Your next listen:

CIPD Podcast 226 – Closing skill gaps from within: the case for internal mobility

CIPD Podcast 217 – Willing and able: Unlocking opportunities for prison leavers

More from this episode:

Guide: Hiring refugees – Guide for people professionals (CIPD Trust)

Case study: Rebuilding Futures and forming a friendship that goes beyond mentoring (CIPD Trust)

Website: Refugee Employment Network

Refugee Employment Network: Training for Employers

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When it comes to AI-generated grievances, is this really a new problem for the profession, or a familiar one that AI has simply thrown into the spotlight? Has ‘resilience’ become a bit of a tainted word, quietly placing all the onus on the individual to cope? And during a period of labour market stagnation, how do organisations create the conditions for innovation to thrive without relying on an inflow of new talent?

CIPD Head of Membership, Oli Howard, is joined by Rebecca Monk, Chief People Officer at Softcat plc and Trish Hewitt, Founder and Managing Director at Haylo HR and CEO of Resolution at Work.

Recorded: 04 September 2026

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Additional resources:

Report | Labour Market Outlook – Summer 2026

Guide | Resilience: Guide for people professionals to support employees

Employment Law | AI and technology in the workplace: UK employment law

Resources | AI in the workplace

Your next listen:

CIPD Podcast - Episode 233: Courageous conversations

HR People Pod – Ep 39: Rewriting the rules on workplace conflict – with David Liddle

HR People Pod – Ep 28: Hilary Scarlett special – Neuroscience for organisational change

CIPD Podcast – Episode 223: Beyond learning - Mobilising L&D for organisational change

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Why does the question of L&D's return on investment refuse to go away, decade after decade? What does it really mean to measure success as a learning and development function — and are we often measuring the wrong things entirely? And as organisations transform at pace, what will businesses be asking of L&D professionals in five years' time that they aren't asking today?

Jo Squires, CIPD Learning Designer, is joined again by David James, Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning and host of The Learning and Development Podcast, where in part two of this two-part special, they explore how L&D can build credibility and prove its impact, the enduring skills that will keep the profession relevant, and what lies ahead for L&D as the world of work continues to change.

Recorded: 7 August 2026

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Additional resources:

L&D tools: Building your business case – a practical pathway

L&D tools: A performance-led approach to skills and capability planning

Article | Performance focused L&D business partner

Your next listen:

HR People Pod – Ep 55: L&D – From order-taker to strategic partner - with David James

CIPD Podcast 202: Evidence-based L&D – Asking the right questions

The Learning and Development Podcast with David James

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How often do we shy away from tough conversations, or avoid workplaces issues in the hope they’ll simply resolve themselves? It’s human instinct to avoid the uncomfortable, after all. But what impact is this avoidance having in our workplaces? Performance issues go unaddressed, poor behaviour gets worked around, and tension between colleagues is smoothed over rather than named. Left unresolved, these situations can breed misunderstanding, strain relationships, and quietly erode culture and performance. So what do courageous conversations actually look like in practice? 

Join Nigel Cassidy and this month's guests – Joan O'Connor, Head of Leadership Practice at 10Eighty; Jo Carlin, Chief People Officer at Effective Energy Group; and Corinne Micallef, director, facilitator and coach with the National Theatre's Theatreworks programme – as they explore how people professionals, line managers and business leaders can move from avoidance to having courageous conversations. 

In this episode, our panel explores: 

• Why courageous conversations are a core leadership skill rather than a nice-to-have – and what happens when organisations avoid them. How does silence become an organisational risk? 
• What’s the difference between a ‘difficult’ conversation and a ‘courageous’ one. How can we build embed courage as a daily practice. 
• What holds people professionals, business leaders and line managers back from speaking up – and what helps them push through it?

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Your next listen: 

• CIPD Podcast 214: Success starts small – Building sustainable workplace habits 
• CIPD Podcast 212: Creating a culture of psychological safety at work 
• HR People Pod – Episode 52: Courageous leadership, clarity and organisational falafel – with Diana Osagie 

More from this episode: 

• CIPD Profession Map – Professional courage and influence 

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How can L&D build the infrastructure, capabilities and credibility needed to become a true growth engine within organisations? What role should L&D play as businesses adopt a more skills-based approach? And when it comes to habitual learning, is the responsibility with the organisation, the individual, or both?

Jo Squires, CIPD Learning Designer is joined by David James, Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning and host of The Learning and Development Podcast, where in part one of a two-part special, they explore how L&D can position itself as an engine for growth and the importance for individuals to make learning a habit.

Recorded: 7 August 2026

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Additional resources:

L&D tools: A performance-led approach to skills and capability planning

Analysis | How L&D can create value: Focussing on skills development

L&D tools: Building your business case – a practical pathway

Your next listen:

CIPD Podcast 232: The journey to a skills-based organisation: The role of L&D

HR People Pod 54: Future planning as a discipline – with Tom Cheesewright

The Learning and Development Podcast with David James

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Curate, create, communicate – why are these three Cs so pivotal to future-proofing your career? What's the risk of dehumanising work through automation? And how can we help leaders think about the future without oversimplifying it or overwhelming them?

CIPD Director of Profession David D'Souza is joined by Applied Futurist, Tom Cheesewright as they explore why planning for the future isn't a one-off decision, but a discipline organisations have to build in.

Recorded: 09 June 2026 at CIPD Festival of Work

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Your next listen:

CIPD Podcast 213: Skilling up your organisation now and for the future

CIPD Podcast 232: The journey towards a skills-based organisation: The role of L&D

HR People Pod – Ep 49: Business impact | Employee empowerment | Change readiness in an AI world

HR People Pod – Ep 43: Inside Davos – AI, work and the future of identity - with Allyn Bailey

More from this episode:

Topic: AI in the workplace

Thought leadership: The future of work – Insights for senior leaders on drivers of change

Analysis: Evolution of the people profession

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