LEAP Listens

An EVP shouldn’t be a big launch that quickly fizzles out. It needs to feel true to the people it represents, and become part of everyday working life.

In this special two-for-one episode, Zosia Hedges and Helena Smith from InHealth Group join Sara and Roger to share how InHealth worked with LEAP Create to build The Compass, a new EVP shaped with colleagues from the ground up.

They explore the value of honest colleague research and co-creation, why real staff photography helped people recognise themselves in the work, and how The Compass is now being woven into recruitment, appraisals, manager conversations and everyday communications.

LEAP Listens is brought to you by LEAP Create, an award-winning people communications agency.  Find out more at leapcreate.co.uk

How do you grow from 300 to more than 1,000 people without losing the culture that got you there? Clare Altmann-Richer from Neko Health joins Sara and Roger to explore how the business is embedding its “Vitals” into hiring, onboarding, leadership and everyday decision-making, while keeping teams connected to its mission across countries, roles and working patterns. 

They also discuss how Neko Health is helping clinicians see the real impact of their work and creating a sense of belonging for team members who may only work a few shifts each week. Clare shares why culture cannot simply be expected to scale on its own, it has to be deliberately built into the way an organisation operates.

LEAP Listens is brought to you by LEAP Create, an award-winning people communications agency.  Find out more at leapcreate.co.uk

In this episode of LEAP Listens, Sara and Roger are joined by internal communications and change specialist Rachel Tolhurst to explore why empathy should sit at the heart of organisational change. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience, Rachel shares practical lessons from leading change programmes across a range of organisations, explaining why understanding employees' emotions is just as important as delivering the message. 

From mergers and redundancies to AI adoption, Rachel shares real examples of how organisations can handle difficult conversations with honesty, dignity and trust, helping employees feel informed, respected and supported through change 

LEAP Listens is brought to you by LEAP Create, an award-winning people communications agency.  Find out more at leapcreate.co.uk

In this episode of LEAP Listens, Sara and Roger are joined by organisational anthropologist Dr Alex Gapud to explore what organisations can learn when they look beyond surveys, spreadsheets and engagement scores. Drawing on his work studying workplace cultures from the inside, Alex explains why understanding people's lived experiences is essential for building authentic employee value propositions that employees genuinely recognise and trust.

The conversation explores the gap between what organisations think employees value and what people actually experience day to day. Alex shares why qualitative research can uncover insights that numbers alone often miss, and why the most effective EVPs are built around real human stories rather than assumptions made in the boardroom. 

LEAP Listens is brought to you by LEAP Create, an award-winning people communications agency.  Find out more at leapcreate.co.uk

In this episode of LEAP Listens, Sara and Roger are joined by internationally recognised HR thinker and transformation expert Perry Timms to explore the idea of the 'polymorphic organisation' a business designed to adapt, shift and evolve as the world around it changes. Drawing on decades of experience across HR, organisational design and change, Perry explains why companies need to balance the demands of today with the realities of tomorrow, and why rigid structures are no longer enough.

From agile working and self-managed teams to future skills, leadership and employer brand, the conversation explores how organisations can become more adaptive without losing stability.

LEAP Listens is brought to you by LEAP Create, an award-winning people communications agency.  Find out more at leapcreate.co.uk

In this episode of LEAP Listens, Sara and Roger are joined by communications and change specialist Howard Krais to challenge one of the workplace’s biggest assumptions: that employee engagement scores actually tell us anything useful. Drawing on decades of experience in internal communications and organisational change, Howard explains why leaders obsess over metrics that rarely lead to action, and why trust is the thing organisations should really be measuring.

From survey fatigue to people-centred change, Howard shares a more practical approach to listening at work, one built on transparency, follow-through and making employees feel genuinely heard. The conversation explores why most surveys fail to drive meaningful change, how organisations can close the feedback loop properly, and why listening is becoming one of the most important leadership skills in modern business.

LEAP Listens is brought to you by LEAP Create, an award-winning people communications agency.  Find out more at leapcreate.co.uk

PR isn’t usually the first channel that comes to mind in employer branding, but maybe it should be.

In this episode of LEAP Listens, Jules Fisher from Merchant joins Sara MacGregor and Roger Cayless to explore how PR can play a much bigger role in shaping how organisations are seen by potential candidates, especially those who aren’t actively job hunting.

From uncovering stories already sitting within your business to building credibility through media, thought leadership, and even LLM visibility, the conversation looks at how PR can help create a more consistent, compelling employer brand beyond your careers site.

If you’re only thinking about job ads and social when it comes to talent attraction, this one might change your perspective.

LEAP Listens is brought to you by LEAP Create, an award-winning people communications agency.  Find out more at leapcreate.co.uk

Psychological safety is often talked about as a cornerstone of healthy workplace culture. But what does it actually look like in practice, and why do so many organisations still struggle to create it?

In this episode of LEAP Listens, Barbara Phillips, founder of Brownstone Communications, joins Sara MacGregor and Roger Cayless to explore how AI could help employees, managers and HR navigate workplace culture, rights and responsibilities more confidently.

Barbara shares the thinking behind EDI Guru, an AI assistant trained on UK equality and employment law that allows users to confidentially explore workplace scenarios, understand policies, and better prepare for difficult conversations. The tool aims to help people access the information they need without fear of judgement or retaliation.

 From promotion decisions to tricky workplace conversations, the episode looks at how better access to the right information could help people navigate challenges at work with more confidence. 

LEAP Listens is brought to you by LEAP Create, an award-winning people communications agency.  Find out more at leapcreate.co.uk

Crisis rarely gives you notice.

In this episode of LEAP Listens, communications consultant Sarah Farrow joins Sara MacGregor and Roger Cayless to share what internal comms teams need in place before the worst happens.

Drawing on her experience leading communications through the sudden closure of a government-funded organisation, Sarah explains how to prepare for the crisis you hope never comes, from risk mapping and scenario planning to keeping knowledge from becoming currency.

With just 24 hours between finding out and telling the entire organisation, this is a candid conversation about honesty and leadership,  because in a crisis, it’s not perfect wording that people remember, it’s how you made them feel. 

LEAP Listens is brought to you by LEAP Create, an award-winning people communications agency.  Find out more at leapcreate.co.uk

We’ve all been to internal conferences that promised transformation… but delivered coffee, croissants, and one too many PowerPoint slides. This week, we’re joined by Abi Humayun, co-founder of People Activation, who’s on a mission to change that.

Abi shares how her team creates internal events that don’t just engage the room, they change minds and shift behaviour. Think: employee-led storytelling, co-created content, even a live rap battle. 

From building belief before people walk through the door to sustaining momentum long after it ends, this episode is packed with proof that internal comms can be as bold, human, and high-impact as any external campaign.

LEAP Listens is brought to you by LEAP Create, an award-winning people communications agency.  Find out more at leapcreate.co.uk