HR Insights

World Mental Health Day is held every year on 10th October, the objective of today is to raise awareness of mental health issues globally and support those struggling with mental wellbeing. In support of this, we wanted to host a special episode of HR Insights: The Podcast for you today! Stuart is joined by Principal Researcher, Human Capital for The Conference Board; Rita Meyerson, EdD, to shine a light on the work they are doing to bring workplace wellbeing to the forefront of employer’s minds.  

Throughout their conversation, Stuart and Rita discuss a recent report by The Conference Board, that indicates that 62% of US workers feel their well-being is the same or worse than it was six months ago, despite increased corporate investments in well-being. They move on to cover what types of programs Rita anticipates emerging from the increased spending commitment to wellbeing, the difference in wellbeing from a business and human perspective, the organisational benefits for companies that prioritise wellbeing and how CEOs and CHRO’s can lead by example when fostering a culture of wellbeing within their organisation. 

Rita, leads research and generates insights for members across all facets of human capital management. Her research focuses on organisational change and culture, organisational development, and total rewards and wellbeing. She is an experienced management consultant, researcher, and educator with deep expertise in organisational strategy, culture and change management. Prior to joining The Conference Board, Rita consulted across industries and geographies to Fortune 100 companies and PE-funded start-up enterprises. Previously, she was a Director in corporate communications and human resources at American Express. 

To view the report and essay spoken about in today’s episode click the links below

• Report
• Essay

Key Timestamps:

• 01:17 – Introduction to Rita Meyerson EdD
• 07:01 – Factors contributing to the stagnation of wellbeing 
• 13:41 – Anticipated wellbeing programmes from increased spend
• 15:58 – 4 day work week and part time working 
• 18:39 – Expectations of wellbeing for leaders 
• 25:51 – 24/7 working 
• 30:20 – Chief Wellbeing Officer’s
• 33:30 – Business buy in
• 34:43 – Fostering a wellbeing culture 
• 42:35 – Aims for promoting wellbeing in the workplace

You can listen to and download HR Insights from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps. Please subscribe so the latest episodes are directly available! You can also join our HR Community and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Thank you for listening and please do review and rate us wherever you listen!

Welcome back to another episode of HR Insights: The podcast. Today Stuart Elliott is joined by Fiona McKay, CEO and Founder of Lightbulb Leadership Solutions and sister company, The Menopause Maze. Fiona shares her personal and professional journey, highlighting her move from legal work to leadership consultancy and how Lightbulb Leadership Solutions focuses on helping female-led businesses scale, while The Menopause Maze, supports women navigating menopause.

Fiona delves into her own experience with early menopause, highlighting how it affected her both physically and mentally thus fuelling her passion to change the narrative around menopause in the workplace. Fiona discusses her advocation for open conversations and structural changes within organisations amidst alarming statistics about menopausal women and their struggles in employment. She mentions her involvement in campaigning for free HRT prescriptions in England and points out how menopause is now becoming a significant issue for businesses in terms of talent retention and ESG considerations.

Fiona emphasises the importance of creating a supportive environment for menopausal women, offering practical advice on how companies can address this issue, including conducting culture audits, providing anonymity in surveys, and offering customised employee benefits.

October is Menopause Awareness Month with World Menopause Awareness Day falling on October 18th. Please click here to see how you can get involved and support such an important cause. 

Key Timestamps: 

• 01:53 – Intro into Fiona
• 06:40 – Overview of the menopause and Fiona's personal experience with early menopause
• 17:30 – Stats around the menopause in the workplace
• 21:30 – How HR can deal with the prevalence of menopause in the workplace
• 24:50 – Elevating the conversation 
• 27:50 – Starting points for companies 
• 37:50 – Importance of allyship to grow the conversation 
• 41:30 – Socio-economic issues with menopause 

You can listen to and download HR Insights from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps. Please subscribe so the latest episodes are directly available! You can also join our HR Community and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Thank you for listening and please do review and rate us wherever you listen!

Welcome back to another episode of HR Insights: The Podcast. Today Stuart Elliott is joined by Andy Brown, Leadership coach and Author of best-selling book ‘The Emotional Overdraft: 10 simple changes for balancing business success and wellbeing’ focused on the often overlooked mental and physical costs of leadership.

In this episode Stuart and Andy discuss how his love for problem-solving led him to help businesses, especially marketing agencies, optimise their structures for success. He shares his key insights on the concept of the "emotional overdraft” explained as the practice of sacrificing one’s mental and physical well-being to support business or personal success, often born from an inability to disconnect from work. He highlights the need to address the issue to avoid burnout, offering strategies like tracking behaviours, setting boundaries, and promoting awareness. Throughout the podcast, Andy emphasizes self-reflection, recognising emotional overdraft signs, and the value of coaching to foster curiosity about behaviour patterns. He concludes by advising empathy and kindness when helping someone experiencing emotional overdraft, encouraging them to seek change.

Andy Brown has over 30 years' experience as an award-winning adviser and coach for people-based businesses. He's also a podcast host and the author of Amazon #1 best seller, ‘The Emotional Overdraft: 10 simple changes for balancing business success and wellbeing' a book for entrepreneurs, leaders and founders that articulates the often overlooked mental and physical costs of leadership.

Take the Cosmo Quiz and get the book here. 

Key Timestamps:  

• 02:38 – Intro into Andy 
• 06:25 – The idea for the book
• 10:25 – Summary of the book 
• 12:50 – Causes of an emotional overdraft 
• 18:45 – Recognising you are in an emotional overdraft 
• 36:50 – Paying off an emotional overdraft 
• 44:40 – How to help someone in an emotional overdraft 

You can listen to and download HR Insights from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps. Please subscribe so the latest episodes are directly available! You can also join our HR Community and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Thank you for listening and please do review and rate us wherever you listen!

In today’s challenging market, career coaching is a pertinent topic. Today’s resident expert, Programme Director and Career Coach Kate Mansfield, is a familiar face of the show. Kate has previously written content for us and has been a guest on our news episode of HR Insights. Joining Kate is our CEO and Host Stuart Elliott to facilitate the conversation and provide our audience with the starting points they need to have those sometimes feared, career conversations. 

Throughout the episode, Stuart and Kate discuss what career coaching is and the power those conversations can carry. They touched on the challenges faced with internal career conversations and the benefits of an external coach, pushbacks from management, organisations that have good strategies in place to have these conversations and the seniority of individuals wanting these conversations. As the conversation moves on Stuart and Kate chat through The Kaleidoscope Career Model and becoming career champions. 

Kate is a familiar face to the ESHR family, she takes responsibility for designing and delivering career development programmes for CCS clients across both private and public sector organisations in the UK and internationally. Kate is also a Lead Tutor on our open Accredited Career Coach Training course and continues to coach clients individually, thoroughly enjoying working with those wishing to focus on a wide variety of career related issues from career development to career transition. 

Kate brings a particular depth of knowledge of coaching HR professionals as well as those transitioning from corporate life. Kate is also highly experienced and passionate about coaching women to evolve their careers. She is a qualified career coach trained by CCS and supported by her MSc in Organisational Behaviour. 

Key Timestamps:

• 01:46 – Introduction to Kate Mansfield
• 05:52 – Becoming a Career Coach 
• 07:59 – Challenges with internal career conversations 
• 13:13 – Pushbacks from management to have career conversations 
• 17:38 – Organisations that so well in this space
• 23:18 – Do career conversations depend on seniority?
• 28:43 – The Kaleidoscope Career Model 
• 32:00 – Challenges HR face with career conversations 
• 36:16 – Career Champions 
• 40:33 – How Kates’s research helps workplace professionals 

You can listen to and download HR Insights from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps. Please subscribe so the latest episodes are directly available! You can also join our HR Community and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Thank you for listening and please do review and rate us wherever you listen!

Today our Host and CEO, Stuart Elliott, is joined by Ruth Gellert-Neale, who speaks about strategic HR leadership. It is very difficult to execute and be a true strategic HR leader, this episode aims to guide HR leaders to be just that by using Ruth’s myriad of knowledge and expertise. 

Throughout the episode, Stuart and Ruth discuss how strategic leadership can contribute to organisational success, strategies to get businesses through times of change or crisis, ensuring the development and succession of leaders, metrics and analytics that strategic HR leadership can use to measure and improve organisational success and the challenges or barriers to effective strategic HR leadership and the routes to overcome them. They also touch on Ruth’s career story, attrition rates and how the perception of DEI has changed over the last year.

Ruth is an experienced HR Executive with a diverse portfolio of global expertise; advising C-suite leaders, as well as developing and growing teams to operationalise and deliver strategic HR initiatives. Originally from the UK, Ruth got her master’s degree in human resources from the University of Hertfordshire and is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD. Ruth moved to Singapore in 2019 and is now the Chief People Officer for APAC and EMEA for JLL Technologies, where she champions the use of AI within the HR function and has driven a culture of high performance. 

Key Timestamps

• 02:45 – Introduction to Ruth Gellert-Neale
• 13:14 – How strategic HR leadership can contribute to organisational success
• 16:30 – Understanding what strategic HR leadership is
• 20:38 – Effective strategies to manage difficult times 
• 26:56 – How strategic HR can ensure continuous development and succession of leaders
• 32:42 – Metrics for measuring organisational success
• 36:20 – The rise and fall of attrition rates 
• 39:42 – The perception of DEI 
• 42:02 – Challenges and barriers for strategic HR leadership and how we can overcome them

You can listen to and download HR Insights from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps. Please subscribe so the latest episodes are directly available! You can also join our HR Community and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Thank you for listening and please do review and rate us wherever you listen!

Welcome back to HR Insights: The Podcast Series 7! This week, Stuart Elliott is joined by global business leader and co-founder of Leadrly, Paul Stewart. Paul has spent decades transforming organisational culture and leadership through a multitude of roles and shares his insights on the fast-paced changes shaping our world today. He also offers his perspective on how important conversation is in making real change.

In this episode Paul and Stewart discuss Paul’s evolving career from economist to the founding of Leadrly, a cutting-edge leadership and AI-driven platform. He discusses the challenges of creating vs changing culture and the role of AI in today's leadership landscape, particularly how Leadrly integrates with tools to provide on-demand coaching and guidance for leaders. Paul also delves into the nuances of leadership as a conversation, the challenges faced by mid-level managers, the generational divide in communication and the misconceptions around AI in the workplace. 

Paul Stewart has a background in social sciences and spent 10 years as a bank economist. He moved into corporate strategy, focusing on strategy implementation, organisational culture, and leadership development. In 2004 he co-authored the bestseller Branded Customer Service and went on to co-found On-Brand Partners two years later. In 2022/23, he launched Leadrly, an AI-powered system that supports leaders. 

Read some of Leadrly’s blogs below:
History of leadership communication
Leading beyond downsizing – conversations matter
Embracing change: How to lead your team through transformation 

Key Timestamps: 

• 02:50 – Intro to Paul
• 06:55 – The journey into entrepreneurship
• 13:20 – Setting up Leadrly 
• 17:42 – The philosophy behind Leadrly 
• 22:45 – How Leadrly helps mid-level managers 
• 28:10 – The generational divide in technology
• 33:08 – Leadrly’s reception amongst clients 
• 39:20 – Measuring success
• 44:28 – AI’s implications for organisational culture 
• 46:44 – Advice for HR leaders implementing AI

You can listen to and download HR Insights from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps. Please subscribe so the latest episodes are directly available! You can also join our HR Community and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Thank you for listening and please do review and rate us wherever you listen!

We have another exciting episode of HR Insights: The Podcast. This week, Stuart Elliott is joined by HR Consulting Director and Thought Leader at EDLIGO, Reimund Nienaber to discuss his role of leveraging talent analytics to enhance employee satisfaction and business outcomes. He explains how EDLIGO supports companies in their digital transformation journey and the importance of understanding data to personalise career development paths.

In this episode, Stuart and Reimund begin the conversation by talking through his career and role at EDLIGO as well as the benefits of talent analytics. He emphasises the importance of starting small with data, and allowing EDLIGO’s AI driven competency frameworks to fill in the gaps, thus enhancing personalised career development paths and creating a positive impact on overall job satisfaction. The conversation then moves on to the role of talent analytics in fostering a more inclusive workplace, free of bias and ensuring equal opportunities for career advancement. Reimund expresses the concerns and scepticisms employees may have regarding the use of talent analytics and how organisations can address these to build transparency and trust.

Reimund Nienaber is passionate about Talent Development, Talent Analytics, and Learning Analytics. He is a seasoned HR leader with extensive global experience and a strong track record of driving innovation. With over 20 years of expertise in human resources and 15 years in technical and managerial roles within the telecommunications industry, he excels as a trusted senior management advisor and coach. He holds a Master Professional (CCI) in Business Management (IHK) and is a Certified Business Economist (DeLSt). His focus is on continuously improving people and processes through game-changing strategic initiatives, enabling businesses to thrive in rapidly changing environments.

Key Timestamps: 

• 03:02 - Intro into Reimund 
• 04:58 – Reimund's role within EDLIGO
• 08:28 – How talent analytics can be used to personalise career development paths for employees and improve employee satisfaction
• 12:17 - Leveraging AI to create reliable competency frameworks 
• 21:11 – How a manager can use talent analytics to identify skills gaps in their team
• 26:00 - The difference between ‘future skills’ and ‘competency’
• 29:35 – The role of talent analytics in helping us create more inclusive environments
• 38:00 – Changing the sceptics' minds on data-driven research
• 41:04 – How to use data to enhance your own performance and career growth 

You can listen to and download HR Insights from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps. Please subscribe so the latest episodes are directly available! You can also join our HR Community and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Thank you for listening and please do review and rate us wherever you listen!

We’re back with another episode of HR Insights: The Podcast!

Today, Stuart Elliott is joined by Nikki Brigati, SVP of Client Engagement at PGC Group. She joins the podcast to talk about the misconceptions of the employment landscape in the US.

When clients hire their first US workers, they often have misconceptions about the employment landscape, such as underestimating the complexity of federal and state regulations or assuming that employment practices are consistent across the country. In this episode, Stuart and Nikki discuss one of the biggest challenges clients face when hiring in the US market; navigating regulatory complexities while also understanding the cultural nuances of the workforce. Talking through what key factors US workers are driven by, for example: competitive compensation, benefits, work-life balance, and opportunities for growth when accepting a role. The use of notice periods is also discussed alongside the terminology used between the UK and US. They also chatted through the main aspects to consider when hiring in a new state as well as key advice for businesses to undertake to mitigate the risk of potential employment claims. 

Nikki specialises in the realm of Client Relations, Expansion, and Retention. As the SVP of Client Engagement at PGC Group; she focuses on building scalable client solutions, developing relationships with stakeholders at key client accounts, helping clients mitigate risk, building bespoke client solutions, and resourcing clients on the North American employment landscape to position them for growth. She also manages a team of Business and Relationship Managers across the US and UK. 

Due to her depth and breadth of experience in account management and increasing revenue through building strategic relationships with clients, Nikki has cemented herself as the go to expert and the voice of the client in PGC. 

If you would like to find out more about the US market and for advice on making your first US hire, please contact Nikki on [email protected]

Key Timestamps 

• 02:17 – Introduction to PGC
• 04:48 – Introduction to Nikki 
• 09:30 – The biggest misconceptions of hiring your first US employee
• 12:22 – The difference in employment between Democratic led and Republican led states
• 16:06 – Legislations around notice periods in the US
• 17:48 – Biggest challenges when starting out in the US
• 21:27 – 3 most important factors to consider when hiring US based employees 
• 23:08 – Paid time off and hybrid working 
• 28:44 – Factors to consider when hiring across states 
• 31:10 – Temp vs Perm hiring 
• 32:55 – Top tips for hiring in the US

You can listen to and download HR Insights from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps. Please subscribe so the latest episodes are directly available! You can also join our HR Community and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Thank you for listening and please do review and rate us wherever you listen!

Welcome back to another episode of HR Insights: The Podcast. To kick off the first career stories episode of the series, Stuart Elliott welcomed another friend of Elliott Scott HR, Ria Davey to discuss her career journey spanning multiple global locations, her development along the way amidst organisational changes and transformation, as well as the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone. 

In this episode, Stuart and Ria begin by discussing Ria’s expansive experience in the HR world. From an early career working in the Middle East, moving to Hong Kong and then on to New York, Ria explains the challenges she faced when adapting to different cultures and ways of working. The conversation then moves onto Ria’s career milestones as well as some of the obstacles she’s faced both personally and in her work life. She shares her top tips for becoming an effective business partner as well as leader, emphasising the importance of authenticity in leadership, continuous learning, and creating environments where team members feel safe to grow and challenge the status quo.

Ria Davey is the Group Director of People for D&A-Engineering at LSEG. With over 20 years of global, strategic HR leadership experience, she is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD (FCIPD), holds an MA and BSc in HRM and Psychology and a certified executive coach. A transformation specialist with a wealth of experience in engineering, fintech and data led multinationals, Ria has lived and worked in the Middle East, Hong Kong, New York, and London. 

Key Timestamps: 

• 02:09 - Intro into Ria Davey
• 07:25 - How the move to the Middle East escalated her career 
• 12:55 - Ria’s top three career milestones 
• 14:43 - The similarities and differences between working in the Middle East and Hong Kong
• 17:45 - The challenges of establishing boundaries 
• 21:30 - Career and Personal challenges 
• 27:15 - The proudest moment in Ria’s career 
• 28:20 - The core responsibilities of a People Business Partner 
• 30:50 - Key skills and qualities of a successful Business Partner 
• 34:32 - How to lead successfully 
• 39:33 - Insights on the market, future trends and direction of HR 
• 46:08 - Advice for aspiring Business Partners 

You can listen to and download HR Insights from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps. Please subscribe so the latest episodes are directly available! You can also join our HR Community and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Thank you for listening and please do review and rate us wherever you listen!

Has your voice ever been front of mind for you? Many people often dismiss how their voice sounds and comes across to people, but it is a huge part of your executive presence. Our guest today, Susan Room is a former C-suite leader and is the creator of business voice coaching. Business voice coaching helps organisations communicate in an open, authentic and inclusive way.

Today, our CEO and Host Stuart Elliott speaks to a familiar face of Elliott Scott HR, Susan Room. Susan has previously worked with us on a successful event in the UK and will hopefully be back with a webinar in the coming months for our global audience. In this episode, Stuart and Susan chat about what business voice coaching is and how it differs from other types of coaching, what a typical business voice coaching programme involves, the business case for voice coaching, measuring the success of the programme and tips for working professionals to help with their voice. 

Susan’s Make Your Mark framework focuses on developing mindset, body language, speech and voice; enhancing personal success and well-being, organisational culture and performance. Susan holds a master’s degree in Voice Studies with a Distinction from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She is an ICF Professional Certified Coach, a Voice and Speech Trainers Association member, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

If you are interested in working with Susan; you can read her testimonials here.

Key Timestamps:

• 02:21 – Introduction to Susan Room
• 10:43 – What is business voice coaching?
• 15:20 – Vocal bias
• 18:59 – Vocal Brand 
• 27:27 – The business case for voice coaching 
• 30:31 – Vocal Capital 
• 36:21 – Tone of voice
• 38:16 – What does a business voice coaching programme involve?
• 44:39 – Measuring success 
• 49.50 – Tips for working on your voice

You can listen to and download HR Insights from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps. Please subscribe so the latest episodes are directly available! You can also join our HR Community and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Thank you for listening and please do review and rate us wherever you listen!