MAD Leaders Podcast: workplace culture, employee health and wellbeing

Our podcast guest today, Charles Alberts, Global Head of Wellbeing and People Experience at law firm Clifford Chance, tells us why his answer to this question is reverse mentoring.

In this episode he explains, alongside his mentor Giulia, why reverse mentoring has been such a powerful experience for both of them, which has built their empathy and understanding of one another 'hugely'. In fact, it even gets quite emotional at times!

If you've ever been curious about reverse mentoring, then this episode could be the nudge you need. Charles now describes it as one of the "genuine joys" of his career and it's clear how much he learnt from the experience which has helped him in his job.

Remember you can find out more, and join the Make a Difference Leaders Club here:

https://makeadifference.media/join-leaders-club/

Time line of podcast conversation:

00:00 Welcome and Leaders Club

00:35 This Week’s Challenge

01:19 Meet Charles and Giulia

02:17 What Reverse Mentoring Is

03:36 Nerves and First Impressions

05:48 Giulia’s Lived Experience

06:38 Building Psychological Safety

08:53 Intentional Structure vs Coffee

11:09 Key Learnings and Assumptions

16:32 Calling Out Behavior

17:50 Disability Inclusion and Language

19:48 How to Make It Work

22:27 Why Leaders Should Make Time

26:22 Alien question

28:06 Wrap Up and Subscribe

AI is the biggest workplace behaviour change since the industrial revolution, says this week’s guest, Helen Matthews, former CPO of creative hot houses Weber Shandwick and Ogilvy UK.

She’s just completed a qualification in Generative AI in Business from the University of Cambridge and admits to being fascinated by the topic and voraciously consuming anything that mentions it.

For her, the biggest challenge she has encountered - which she talks through in this podcast episode - is how to create the psychological safety around AI to make people feel comfortable using it in the office. 

She describes the difference between safety levels at home compared to the office as the ‘adoption gap’. It falls to the CPO, often, to bridge this gap and take the pressure from CEOs who are increasingly investing in AI tech and want to see a return.

In this conversation she discusses, not only psychological safety but also guardrails and ethics giving strategic, but also practical, advice.

For instance, she covers how to leverage early adopters, how to ensure people get time to learn and make mistakes and why co-creation is so important in this space.

As well as this, she also talks about what concerns her most about AI, now and going forward, and what we can all do to shape a better AI future.

AI, and its impact on employee health and wellbeing and workplace culture is one of the hottest topics currently being debated and it's essential all businesses think about it now - that's why we're running a free webinar on Tuesday 17th March 9am - 10am, 2026. For more info and to register, see here:

https://makeadifference.media/featured/ai-workforce-health-culture-risk-webinar/

Time stamp of conversation:

00:00 Welcome to the Leaders Podcast + How to Join the Leaders Club

00:44 Bonus: Free AI Workplace Webinar (March 2026)

01:29 The AI Adoption Gap: Leaders Under Pressure, Employees Anxious

03:15 Building Psychological Safety: Training, Guardrails & Safe Sandboxes

05:58 Why People Play with AI at Home but Avoid It at Work

07:33 Wellbeing Risks: AI Coaches, Therapy, Hallucinations & Human Checks

10:10 Creativity & Connection: Early Adopters, Communities, and Real Collaboration

12:56 Where to Start: Practical Steps, Governance, GDPR & Upskilling Options

15:29 AI and Creativity: Craft, Ethics, and Using AI Without Replacing Humans

17:11 The Next 5 Years: Agents at Work, Shaping the Future, Ethics First

20:27 The Alien Question + Sustainability: Invest in People, Don’t Humanize AI

22:52 Wrap-Up: Thanks for Listening, Share the Episode & Subscribe

There’s a lot of truth in the old adage ‘people don’t leave companies, they leave bad managers’. 

Bad managers are terrible drains for business because they adversely affect employee engagement, productivity and wellbeing. Not only that, they can collectively impact the organisation’s entire workplace culture, regardless of what the C-suite says the company’s values are.

So, how do you ensure you get good managers in place? And - perhaps a less common question in traditional career structures - how do you ensure those people who don’t want to progress via people management continue to have fulfilling alternative career paths? And what is the link between career fulfilment and wellbeing?

Today’s guest Claire Burns, People Director at textile firm Abraham Moon and Sons, has got answers to these questions as well as highly practical solutions.

For instance, she talks us through her innovative ‘try before you buy’ approach, as well as her strength-focused strategy to returning parents. We also talk about the undeniable, but sometimes overlooked, link between career fulfilment and employee health and wellbeing.

Why not, like Claire, join Make A Difference Media's Leaders' Club - find out more here

Timeline of conversation:

00:00 Introduction 

00:44 The Challenge of People Management

01:36 Practical Solutions for People Management

02:48 Implementing the Try Before You Buy Approach

05:51 Career Progression for Skilled Employees

12:59 Honest Conversations and Employee Wellbeing

14:40 Flexible Working and Career Paths

16:33 The Link Between Career and Wellbeing

20:10 Final Thoughts and Alien Question

21:51 Conclusion and Goodbyes

Of all the different specialisms, within the wider arena of workplace culture and employee health and wellbeing, DEI has arguably found itself in the eye of a cultural and/or media storm most.

And that means the people leading on DEI, or with a remit that touches on inclusion, have often found themselves - very suddenly - the one in the organisation that everyone is looking at to ‘fix’ a cultural problem. 

Obviously, this is a lot of pressure and can be extremely stressful. In this podcast Annisha Taylor, who is group head of equality, diversity and inclusion at Ofcom, talks candidly about this pressure she experienced in former roles and - crucially - how she responded to it.

While undoubtedly stressful at the time, she reflects on these moments in this podcast and actually concludes that they have been pivotal in her career progression because she learnt so much from them. She generously shares exactly what in this chat.

00:00 Introduction to the Leaders Podcast

00:35 This Week's Challenge: Navigating DEI Crises

01:37 Guest Introduction: Anisha Taylor

01:58 Facing the DEI Challenge: Anisha's Experience

04:58 Lessons Learned and Advice for DEI Professionals

09:00 Implementing Lasting Changes in DEI

11:25 The Need for Proper Resourcing in DEI

12:35 The Challenge of Communication in Organizations

12:50 The Role of EDI Leaders

13:16 Understanding Different Perspectives

13:38 Navigating Senior Management

15:31 Building Relationships with Senior Leaders

16:55 Embedding EDI into Organisational Fabric

18:58 The Alien Question: Pitching for Wellbeing

21:25 Final Thoughts and Takeaways

When your work involves employee health and wellbeing, and you're trying to change culture, you often meet resistance.

Sarah Churchman has a wealth of experience facing down taboos, stigma, stereotypes and internal resistance - she worked in HR roles at PwC for 20 years, latterly as Chief Inclusion, Culture & Wellbeing Officer.

In this podcast, she talks us through how she does it - taking the menopause as an example. While this word, and its associated symptoms, are now talked about openly this is only due to trailblazing work from culture changers like Churchman.

She talks about the traits needed to face resistance, and share some of her top practical tips. Also her advice on moving employee health and wellbeing to become a culture issue, taken seriously by senior management, as happened in her time at PwC.

Podcast timeline:

00:00 Introduction to the Leaders Podcast

00:35 This Week's Challenge: Overcoming Resistance

01:30 Meet Sarah Churchman: A Trailblazer in Workplace Wellbeing

02:19 Facing Resistance: The Menopause Case Study

04:03 Connecting and Supporting Employees

06:38 Engaging Male Leaders and Overcoming Taboos

14:07 The Role of Intuition and Data

16:13 Future Challenges and the Importance of Human Leadership

18:23 Conclusion, Final Thoughts and, of course, the Alien Question!

It makes sense that engaged employees are happier and more productive at work but - in this episode - you’ll hear concrete evidence that you can use in your business case that proves this link. 

Jo Moffatt, who is Advisory Board member for not-for-profit Engage For Success shares the findings of recent research which highlights the impact of Health and Wellbeing initiatives, and the benefits of listening to and valuing employees.

Not only that, she gives you hard data (freely accessible) on the link between engagement and not only productivity but talent attraction, talent retention, reduced turnover, profitability and shareholder returns. 

But the big question is - how do you engage your employees to reap these benefits? Well, don’t worry, Jo shares her 4 most important actions to achieve this. She also lots of practical tips along the way, many of which don’t cost anything except effort and consistency.

Timeline of podcast:

00:00 Introduction to the Leaders Podcast

00:35 This Week's Challenge: Engaging a Disengaged Team

01:06 Guest Introduction: Joe Moffitt from Engage for Success

01:39 Defining Employee Engagement

02:43 Engage for Success: UK Employee Engagement Survey

05:02 Key Findings from the Survey

11:23 The Four Enablers of Engagement

19:00 Survey Fatigue vs. Inaction Fatigue

20:35 Engaging Senior Management

25:32 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

It used to be enough to ask a couple of questions about how employees were feeling about their wellbeing in an annual, or twice yearly, survey and that was enough to assess 'engagement'.

But those days are over. With hybrid working, geopolitical uncertainty, increasing desire for purpose and a host of other factors, employee expectations have shifted.

To talk us through tackling this change, is Euromonitor's Global Director: Culture, Engagement and Inclusion, Adeife Onwuzulike, who is currently grappling with exactly this challenge.

She covers a huge variety of topics with practical and strategic advice such as: the importance of co-design and collaboration; the multigenerational workforce; measurement; intersectionality and much more!

One thing she makes crystal clear is that engagement today is all about participation two ways and employees want to be talked 'with' and not 'to'. She explains how she is doing this. She even sings at the end, so stay tuned for that, and, of course, the alien question....

Remember you can join our Leaders Club by emailling [email protected]

Time line of conversation:

00:00 Introduction to the Leaders Podcast

00:35 This Week's Challenge: Employee Engagement

01:44 Guest Introduction: Aade Zalucki

02:34 Designing a New Employee Experience Survey

03:51 Measuring Employee Experience

08:35 The Importance of Wellbeing and DEI

11:52 Building Trust and Collaboration

13:45 Generational Differences in the Workplace

18:48 Effective Communication Strategies

23:28 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

With neurodiversity talked about so much more today in the media than ever before, many employees are diagnosing, not only themselves, but their family members too. This, coupled with the long NHS waiting lists for formal diagnoses, means employees are increasingly looking to employers to bridge the gap. But what should they do? And is it reasonable to cover employees' family members too?

This is what happened at BNP Parisbas and, in this episode, Health & Wellbeing Lead Lauren Lunniss explains what a 'wake up' call it was to discover so much demand - and how she systematically dealt with it. Lunniss is a self confessed lover of numbers and spreadsheets and, in this episode, shares some golden nuggets on this front on the link between uptake of services and productivity.

Remember you can join our Leaders Club by emailling [email protected]

Time line of conversation:

00:00 Introduction to the Leaders Podcast

00:35 This Week's Challenge: Addressing Neurodiversity

01:19 Expert Insight: Lauren Lni's Experience

01:28 The Growing Awareness of Neurodiversity

01:48 Developing an Inclusive Program

04:11 Survey Insights and Initial Steps

07:18 Collaborating with Healthcare Providers

08:55 Creating a Comprehensive Support Pathway

09:47 The Importance of Follow-Up Care

13:58 Measuring Impact and Success

18:36 Building a Supportive Community

23:43 Final Thoughts and Future Plans

25:29 The Alien Question: Making the Case for Wellbeing

27:34 Conclusion and Call to Action

Today is a very special episode because, for the first time, we have two brilliant guests answering this question not just one - both of them specialise in the legal industry, which is a hot bed for this scenario where managers are under pressure to perform and so, at times, deprioritise people and, even, can lack humanity as well as endangering their own wellbeing.

One is Sam Jardine, Partner at Fieldfisher LLP and LawCare Chamption, and the other is Elizabeth Rimmer, CEO of LawCare, which promotes and supports good mental health in the legal industry across the UK and has just launched its latest report, Life in Law 2025.

This is a fascinating wide ranging conversation, with loads of practical ideas and tips, as well as a bit of philosophy, AI predictions and even poetry. Check out the conversation breakdown below to see just how much ground is covered!

00:00 Introduction to the Leaders Podcast

00:35 This Week's Challenge: Prioritizing People in High-Pressure Environments

01:29 Expert Insights: Sam Jardine and Elizabeth Rimmer

02:10 The Legal Industry's Pressure Cooker Environment

05:31 The Impact of Empathy and Humanity in Management

07:43 Positive Management Stories and Their Impact

08:34 Valuing People Management in the Legal Sector

09.35 Results of the recent LawCare study

12.04 How could line managers be encouraged to focus on better people management

17.25 The challenge hybrid working brings

20:35 The Role of Self-Awareness in Effective Management

26:27 The Importance of Human Skills in the Age of AI

29.00 Measuring Kindness

30.00 The Alien Question, and wrap up

Have you ever found yourself drawn into that trendy narrative that young people today are SO flaky, needy, impatient, demanding, challenging, obsessed with their mental health and not dedicated enough to their work? Or maybe the line managers you work with have said this to you?

Well, this is definitely the episode for you as our guest Alex Smith, Global Lead for Lifestyle, Leisure, and Wellbeing at Unidays, shares his unique and at-the-coalface insight into the mindset of young people today. You will have 'aha' moments and relate to younger generations differently in future.

Alex delves into the importance of self-awareness and understanding the different life experiences that shape team members' perspectives. He highlights practical strategies for fostering a supportive and inclusive environment.

The discussion touches on the evolving nature of the job market influenced by AI and the importance of creating opportunities for diverse talents. The episode closes with the usual ‘alien question'!

To join our Leaders Club click here: https://makeadifference.media/join-leaders-club/

Timeline of conversation:00:00 Introduction to the Leaders Podcast

00:35 This Week's Challenge: Managing a Multi-Generational Team

01:35 Guest Introduction: Alex Smith

01:48 Alex's Experience with Multi-Generational Teams

02:34 Understanding Generational Differences

03:43 Strategies for Effective Management

08:06 The Role of Empathy and Self-Awareness

09:32 The Impact of AI on Graduate Jobs

15:11 Addressing Mental Health in the Workplace

18:51 Final Thoughts and Takeaways

21:25 The Alien Question

22:22 Conclusion and Farewell