MAD Leaders Podcast: workplace culture, employee health and wellbeing

Sir Charlie Mayfield, former chairman of the John Lewis Partnership and lead of the government’s independent Keep Britain Working review, joins us on the MAD Leaders Podcast today.

He discusses the 'growing issue' of employees becoming economically inactive, and the huge effect it's having on the UK's productivity and economy, not to mention individuals' happiness levels.

He gives us his thoughts on why people struggle to return once they leave work for health reasons. He argues the UK lacks systems, incentives and data to support health in work, too often leaving responsibility to individuals and the NHS, and calls for “rehumanising” workplaces through better relationships, earlier intervention, and continuous employer-employee contact.

Mayfield describes progress with 200+ vanguard employers and mayoral authorities, regular public updates, and a proposed workplace health system centred on shared responsibility, stay-in-work and return-to-work plans, access to case managers and rapid treatment, and data-driven “intelligence” via a confidential prototype app.

He frames this as a major, low-cost growth and productivity opportunity, including for SMEs and young people, and sees careful use of AI as supportive.

Time stamp of conversation

00:00 Welcome to Mad Leaders

00:44 Meet Charlie Mayfield

02:14 Why Workplaces Fail Health

04:15 Vanguard Employers Explained

04:44 SMEs and Human Work

07:00 Sharing Lessons Beyond Vanguards

09:13 Health as Growth Engine

12:33 Fear and Stigma Barriers15:23 Early Intervention for Mental Health

19:26 Workplace Health System Blueprint

21:05 Stay In Touch Days21:22 Case Managers And Care

23:02 Data Driven Visibility

24:45 Building Trust To Speak Up

26:33 Confidential Workforce App

30:13 Beating Complexity At Work

34:44 Helping Young People Thrive

38:31 AI And Rehumanising Work

42:56 Final Thanks And Wrap

In this special episode of the Make a Difference Leaders podcast, we are in conversation with former Health Minister and mental health reform advocate - Sir Norman Lamb.

He's passionate about shifting from managing employee mental health as a problem to treating people as human beings (so passionate, he's just written an entire book on the topic!).

Drawing on his background in government, the NHS, and employment law, Lamb argues society and workplaces intervene too late, letting people fall into crisis.

He urges employers to focus on prevention through better workplace culture and evidence-backed line manager training.

He warns against “medicalising” distress caused by toxic environments and advocates addressing root causes rather than defaulting to antidepressants.

The discussion also covers UK productivity, record ill health absence and presenteeism, Charlie Mayfield’s prevention-focused analysis, the “Higher Health” soft-skills programme for young people and NEETs, AI-driven anxiety and the need for humane communication, rebuilding community and social connection (including social prescribing), and a proposed “wellbeing premium” to incentivise employers via National Insurance discounts.

Time stamp of conversation:

00:00 Welcome to Leaders

00:44 Meet Sir Norman Lamb

02:45 Preventing Workplace Crisis

04:40 Training Compassionate Managers

07:11 Productivity and Wellbeing

08:46 Prevention and Soft Skills

11:15 Stop Medicalizing Distress

13:03 Humane Change in Hard Times

15:29 AI Anxiety and Control

20:20 Rebuilding Community Connection

22:04 Business as a Force for Good

24:20 Wellbeing Premium Proposal

26:10 Final Thanks and Subscribe

In this episode we discuss why workplace wellbeing still lacks credibility in 2026 and what can be done about it.

Our experts this week are Hannah Pearsall, recent Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing at recruitment giant Hays, and Claire Agate, Senior Consultant and Occupational Psychologist at Affinity Health at Work.

Pearsall has completed the University of Nottingham's MSc in Workplace Health and Wellbeing (graduating top in her year, no less!) and has been involved in Affinity’s research into creating a professional framework for the industry.

The conversation covers a raft of topics such as the lack of clear career pathways, the problem of language, lived experience as a common career entry point and Affinity's work on a new professional framework.

Time stamp of conversation

00:00 Welcome and Leaders Club

00:44 The Credibility Challenge

01:57 Why Roles Lack Definition

04:53 Qualifications Build Gravitas

07:23 Building a Professional Framework

09:46 Framework Pillars Explained

11:38 Proving Impact With Data

15:01 Future of the Profession

19:07 Educating Leaders and Government

24:05 Getting Boardroom Buy In

27:22 Alien Pitch Job Design

29:37 Wrap Up and Subscribe

In this podcast episode, Dawn Dallas, Director of People Experience at Allianz Insurance, talks about the practical steps involved in creating a Domestic Abuse Strategy that actually works.

As she says, statistics for England and Wales show that one in four women and one in six men will experience domestic abuse and the majority (51%) will not talk about it due to stigma. She believes it’s employers’ role to support employees in dealing with this issue, particularly line managers faced with a colleague experiencing it.

Topics covered include: psychological safety, face to face connection, engaging senior management, consistency, line manager training, mental health first aiders with specialist expertise, an online hub and the importance of communicating about the strategy.

Time stamp of the conversation:

00:00 Welcome to Leaders

00:35 The Workplace Challenge

01:37 Why Allianz Acted

02:34 The Support Gap

04:04 Lived Experience First

05:19 Building the Policy

08:09 Resources and Hub

09:10 Iterating the Strategy

10:10 Launching the Campaign

13:40 Challenges and Buy In

15:36 Employee Response

17:02 AI and Policy Writing

19:57 Top Tips to Start

21:36 Breaking Shame and Stigma

22:43 The Alien Question

25:13 Closing and Subscribe

With AI transforming the workplace so rapidly, it has huge implications for not only employee productivity, but also health and wellbeing. For this week’s episode we’re joined by Sheila Champion-Smeeth, Cisco’s Global Head of Wellbeing, People, and Communities, who calls on professionals to “take a beat” and consider these implications carefully.

She argues AI should build capability and free time, but leaders and individuals must consciously use that space for strategy, skill-building, wellbeing, and human connection, rather than simply producing more. 

She also talks about burnout - a topic close to her heart, having suffered personally - as well as the need for leadership role modelling and balancing automation with key human skills. 

Fear of AI taking jobs is also addressed, with many practical tips for managers on how to lead constructive conversations.

00:00 Welcome to the podcast

00:35 This Week’s AI Challenge

01:06 Meet Sheila from Cisco

02:48 AI as Capability Builder

04:00 Using Freed Time Wisely

07:53 Recovery Like Athletes

09:51 Fear and Mindset Shifts

13:15 Automation vs Augmentation

17:38 Protecting Human Connection

21:44 AI and Burnout Risks

24:57 Hiding Struggle at Work

26:31 Happiness Summit Takeaways

28:10 The Alien Budget Pitch

29:57 Final Thanks and Wrap Up

In this episode, Ruth Jackson, Chief People Officer at The Gym Group, discusses workplace culture and how to engage frontline staff across 260 UK sites and over 2,000 employees - most of whom aren't desk based.

She covers a raft of practical strategies such as centring on the employee life cycle, which is at the heart of the government's Keep Britain Working approach - of which the Gym Group is a vanguard.

She also touches on communication formats and the importance of managers cascading messages and anchoring to company purpose.

Time line of conversation:

00:00 Welcome to the podcast

00:44 The Multi Site Challenge

02:41 Reaching Frontline Teams

04:09 Managers as Comms Hubs

04:54 Female Health First Pilot

07:08 Grassroots Channels That Scale

09:38 Life Cycle Wellbeing Strategy

12:02 Running ERGs Across Sites

13:19 Face to Face and Tech Blend

14:49 Purpose Brought to Life

19:55 Measuring Culture and Retention

22:24 Mentoring and Reverse Mentoring

24:19 Future Culture Priorities

26:18

The Alien Question Finale

27:54 Wrap Up and Subscribe

In this latest MAD Leaders Club Podcast, Nic Marshall, People Director, shares how Welcome Break has cultivated connection between employees - especially different generations, and made people feel valued and recognised.

She also explains the importance of employees getting behind the values and purpose of the organisation and how she's done this.  And she covers why success depends heavily on approachable managers who recruit for attitude and guide younger workers while enabling reverse mentoring across generations. 

This focus on building social wellbeing has led to teams that have a sense of pride and camaraderie, and that work better together. She shares, too, how Welcome Break encourages employees to take part in community volunteering and how those that do are more engaged at work.

Nic touches on practical steps she's taken to embed social wellbeing as well as reward and recognition.

Time stamp of conversation:

00:00 Welcome to Leaders Podcast

00:44 The Connection Challenge

01:19 Meet Nic Marshall

03:32 Connection Through Purpose

05:17 Creating Space on Site

06:41 Recruiting for Attitude

07:59 Generations and Mentoring

11:27 Volunteering and Community

13:35 Peer Recognition Postcards

17:01 Little and Often Rewards

19:36 Unlimited Budget Ideas

21:17 Hybrid Work and Inclusion

24:09 Are We All Social

25:28 The Alien Pitch Finale

26:34 Wrap Up and Subscribe

In this episode, we discuss how family-friendly employers can encourage senior dads to be visible as parents with Elliott Rae, Founder of Parenting Out Loud, Equal Parenting Week and Working Dads Summit. 

Rae argues senior leaders strongly shape workplace culture and dads’ willingness to take enhanced paternity leave or work flexibly, and explains how fear of judgement and presenteeism drives concealment of caregiving. 

He links equal parenting to reducing the motherhood penalty and gender pay gap, and outlines practical actions employers can take across policy, culture and leadership.

This wide ranging conversation also touches on traditional masculinity,  the ‘masculinity crisis’, creating safe spaces for male leaders through storytelling, and proposes societal investments such as shared parental leave, a four-day week, affordable childcare and cost-of-living reforms.

Time Stamp of Conversation

00:00 Welcome to Leaders

00:49 The Senior Dads Challenge

01:55 Why Leaders Shape Culture

04:34 The Case for Equal Parenting

05:58 Policy Fixes That Work

07:38 Flexible Work Beyond Hybrid

09:21 Culture and Manager Influence

11:35 Why Men Stay Silent

13:11 Stories That Shift Leaders

17:08 Make the Business Case

18:39 Tailor and Measure Actions

21:11 Progress Takes Time

22:05 Is There a Masculinity Crisis

25:19 Alien Budget Big Ideas

28:56 Final Thanks and Subscribe

If you’re in any doubt that Reward & Benefits can transform culture, or how, and looking for creative inspiration to replicate BA’s success at your organisation, then this episode is a must-listen.

Josephina Smith is Reward and Recognition Director at the airline and has boundless enthusiasm for this topic.

A former CPO, she sees herself as not a “reward professional” but as a “reward change professional”. This distinction informs the way she operates and, particularly, her drive to communicate the discipline’s strategic advantage across the company, from function to function. 

Time stamp of conversation:

00:00 Welcome to Leaders Podcast

00:44 This Week’s Challenge

01:06 Meet Josephina Smith

03:18 Reward as Culture Change

04:50 Cost Conscious Not Cutting

06:57 Trends Shaping Benefits

09:21 BA Global Benefits Overhaul

11:11 Trust Through Face Time

12:16 Reward Psychology and Creativity

13:18 Cross Functional Influence

14:54 Comms Clarity and Personalization

18:11 Personalized Total Reward Video

22:04 Digital Buzz and Suppliers

24:27 AI Powered Benefits Future

26:42 Advice for Reward Pros

28:04 The Alien Budget Question

29:28 Wrap Up and Subscribe

New figures released on Parent Mental Health Day on January 30th confirmed the hunch that working parents are feeling the strain more than ever. (We wrote about the findings, here, on www.makeadifference.media).

But it can be tricky for employers to know how to support working parents, and how involved to get. Today's podcast guest is trailblazing HR professional Carly Stanley, Chief People Officer at outdoor advertising company, JC Decaux.

In this episode, she talks us through - with her trademark honest how her company - shifted from a hierarchical, presenteeism culture to one focused on psychological safety.

As she explains, this starts with listening, building trust with leaders, understanding the business and using data plus coaching to unblock difficult conversations (something she believes employers who want to effect real culture change must embrace, however uncomfortable).

She emphasises there is no 'magic pill'  but shares her experience and the actions she's taken, including a raft of progressive benefits.

00:00 Welcome to Leaders Podcast

00:44 Working Parents Under Pressure

01:29 Meet Carly Stanley

04:29 Building Trust First

07:33 Listen Then Use Data

09:15 Coaching for Safety

11:15 Support in Practice

13:27 Policy Versus Culture

16:29 Fertility and Pregnancy Benefits

21:38 Return to Work Program

23:26 Milestones and Impact

24:16 The Alien Budget Question

26:07 Wrap Up and Subscribe