In this episode of the Future of Work Hub’s Peer-to-Peer podcast, Julia Paulding is joined by Ewen MacPherson, Group Chief People Officer at Havas. They discuss the evolving role of HR as a strategic force – from designing holistic, human-centred employee experiences to building skills-based organisations that prepare people for an AI-enabled future.

In this episode of the Future of Work Hub's ‘In Conversation’ podcast, Lucy Lewis is joined by Professor Binna Kandola, co-founder and senior partner at Pearn Kandola. With over 40 years’ experience researching bias, organisational culture and leadership, Binna shares insights on the current state of psychological safety and what this means for workplace culture. They discuss how to create psychologically safe environments, the distinction between safety and comfort, and the practical steps leaders can take to build resilience and foster inclusive teams.

In this episode of the Future of Work Hub's ‘In Conversation’ podcast, Lucy Lewis is joined by Stephen Isherwood, Chief Executive of the Institute of Student Employers (ISE). With over two decades’ experience at the forefront of graduate recruitment and early-careers strategy, Stephen shares insights on the current state of the graduate and early careers market and what this means for employers' long-term succession pipelines.  They discuss the growing impact of AI on early career roles, the shift towards skills-based hiring, and how significant demographic changes, including falling birth rates and longer working lives, are set to reshape how organisations plan for their future people needs.

In this episode of the Future of Work Hub's In Conversation podcast, Lucy Lewis sits down with Professor Gina Neff, Professor of Responsible AI at Queen Mary University of London and Executive Director of the Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy at the University of Cambridge - an independent research centre that aims to make digital technologies work for people, society and the planet. They discuss why the real value from AI will come not from top-down efficiency drives but from empowering people on the ground to negotiate, reimagine and shape how these tools are used.

Key takeaways:

1. Reframe AI as a tool for transformation, not just efficiency: Organisations that treat AI adoption purely as a cost-cutting or efficiency exercise risk missing its greatest value. The biggest productivity gains will come not from automating today's tasks but from empowering teams to reimagine the products and services they deliver. 
2. Empower frontline workers to shape how new technologies are used: Top-down mandates can stifle the creativity that drives innovation. Give employees at every level the space to experiment with how they work with new tools and how they are deployed within their teams. 
3. Close the gap between investment in technology and investment in people: Communicate a clear narrative that connects technology adoption to better work, not fewer workers, and invest in the team structures, skills development and cultural conditions needed to realise the return. 
4. Build equity into your AI strategy from the outset: Female-dominated roles are at a disproportionate risk of automation and women remain underrepresented in technical and decision-making roles. Diversify the teams building and deploying AI and invest in reskilling pathways that channel affected workers towards the high-touch, interpersonal roles that will endure. 
5. Build resilience by creating space for negotiation: Lasting organisational resilience comes from cultures where people feel they are part of the solution. Give employees genuine agency to be entrepreneurial and creative with new technologies.  

 In this episode of the Future of Work Hub’s In Conversation podcast, Lucy Lewis sits down with Barry Schwartz, emeritus Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College and Visiting Professor at the Haas School of Business at Berkeley. Barry draws on 50 years of research at the intersection of psychology, behavioural economics and business to explore what motivates people at work. They discuss how fostering meaningful work and autonomy offer significant opportunities for organisations to unlock better outcomes and why trust – rather than rules and incentives – should be the foundation of effective leadership.

Key takeaways

1. Prioritise meaningful work. The long-standing Industrial Age belief that pay is the primary motivator to work still shapes how many organisations design jobs, yet research shows that people do their best work when they are given autonomy, opportunities to think and collaborate, and feel that their work matters.
2. Create an employee proposition grounded in what people actually want from work. Engage in open, ongoing dialogue to understand what motivates employees and remain flexible as expectations shift amid economic uncertainty and technological disruption.
3. Make wellbeing intrinsic to job design. Organisations often focus wellbeing offerings on peripheral benefits rather than addressing what happens at the workplace itself. Move wellbeing in from the fringes by building autonomy, meaning and appropriate levels of responsibility into job design.
4. Give employees real autonomy to unlock frontline workforce insights and better workforce engagement. Command-and-control models lead managers to prioritise authority over empowerment, even when this comes at the cost of the bottom line. Create genuine opportunities for employees to use their judgment. Foster trust and mutual respect with the workforce to unlock the wisdom of those closest to day-today operations.
5. Embrace "good enough" to reduce decision overwhelm. While choice and autonomy are essential to wellbeing, too much choice between workplace tools, technologies and pathways can overwhelm employees. Delegate decisions to trusted colleagues and use feedback mechanisms between leadership and employees to continuously adjust and maintain the right balance for your workforce. 

In this episode of the Future of Work Hub’s Peer-to-Peer podcast, Julia Paulding is joined by Richard Vanner, Human Resources Director at WTW. They discuss the importance of sustaining a strong, consistent culture through rapid growth and transformation and how technology and AI are reshaping workforce design and skills, emphasising that how change is delivered matters just as much as what is implemented. 

In this final episode, Lucy and Julia reflect on the insights shared across our “In Conversation” and “Peer-to-Peer” podcast series. Together, they draw out the key themes that defined 2025 and consider what employers should be prioritising to build resilience and momentum in the years ahead. Across the conversations, a consistent message has emerged: people strategy is business strategy. The real risk is not uncertainty itself but failing to invest in capabilities that build resilience and the ability to respond to change. 

In our latest Peer-to-Peer podcast, Julia speaks with Jenny Shiers, Chief People Officer at Unily, about crafting truly personalised employee experiences, reducing digital friction to unlock focus, and creating the organisational velocity needed to pivot quickly and deliver on strategy.

Human skills, agility and proactive workforce planning

In our launch episode, Julia Paulding, Chief People Officer at Lewis Silkin, sits down with Rob Worrall, Head of People at BDO UK, to explore the future of work - and it’s looking optimistic.

They discuss how organisations can stay ahead by investing in human skills, embracing flexible working models, and engaging future talent from day one. It’s a conversation packed with peer-to-peer insights for business leaders, people managers and anyone navigating the evolving workforce landscape.

Key takeaways include:

• Early talent engagement: embed values from the first interaction
• Flexibility in hybrid/agile working: serve clients and teams
• Training for people managers: build confidence at all career stages
• Amplifying human skills: curiosity, creativity, collaboration
• Long-term planning: stay agile while thinking ahead

In this episode of the Future of Work Hub’s Peer-to-Peer podcast, Julia Paulding, Chief People Officer at Lewis Silkin, sits down with Cathy Temple, Head of HR, EMEA at Salesforce. They discuss HR’s evolving role in AI-driven workplace transformation, emphasising the need for trust, transparent communication, human-centric leadership and continuous upskilling to build agile, future-ready organisations.