You’ve probably felt it, or been told before: “Emotions don’t belong at the workplace.” 🙅‍♀️

But here’s the thing. Emotions exist everywhere at work, whether you like it or not.

Behind every passive-aggressive Slack message, every awkward silence where nobody names the tension, every meeting that should’ve been an email…there’s an emotion driving it. 😨😬🙄

And ignoring them isn’t making your org more professional. It’s costing you - in performance, team connection and missed opportunities. 

We’ve seen first-hand how learning to understand and work with emotions - rather than around them - can genuinely transform your organisational culture. So our Learning & Development duo Rebecca Trouwee and Sanne Creusen joined Flo to share their best tips and tools!

What you’ll learn: 

• What emotions actually are, according to science

• Why nobody talks about emotions at work (and why we should)

• How to adapt your emotional language to your org culture

• Responding vs reacting: how to constructively handle intense emotions

• How HR can help build a healthier workplace emotional culture 

• An easy 4-step Monday morning challenge to build your ‘emotional agility’

  
  

This isn’t about managing stress or crying episodes in the bathroom. It’s about understanding the everyday emotional undercurrent that shapes how teams perform, leaders communicate and drives the behaviours behind your organisational culture & values.

Essential listening for HR professionals, people managers, and founders - especially the ones who think emotions are just ‘fluff’.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Imagine…

01:51 What IS an emotion?

03:14 Emotions at work: Real stories

05:39 Why nobody talks about it - and why we should

09:54 Work emotions = “unprofessional”?

12:57 “Decoding” - build your emotional vocab

15:14 Freezing vs the power of silence

19:03 Emotions vs facts: Adapting your language to your org culture

22:46 Read the room: acknowledge the feelings!

28:47 How HR helps build the right emotional culture

35:12 Why this topic matters

36:21 Your 4-step Monday morning challenge

USEFUL RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE

Books

• Liz Fosslien & Mollie West Duffy - No Hard Feelings

• Susan David - Emotional Agility

Research

• Stanford study on the impact of suppressed emotions

Frameworks

• Wheel of Emotions

• Tuckman’s Team Development Model

• CliftonStrengths 

Thought leaders

• Simon Sinek

• Shelley Johnson

Want to dive deeper into this topic? Sanne & Rebecca regularly deliver our signature ‘Emotions at Work’ training & workshops to clients across the Netherlands and remotely. Email [email protected], or find out more on www.7people.team. 

Ever felt like the exception? The only one in the room who looked, thought or grew up different? 

Most of us have been taught that being different is something to manage: to tone down, work around or adapt. But what if the very thing you’re trying to suppress...is actually what makes you a better leader?

On this episode of the 7people Podcast, we’re joined by two guests on a mission to challenge society’s expectations of leadership - and redefining what’s possible when we embrace leading by our unique differences, instead of copying the mould.

• Ingeborg van Harten, founder of 7people

• Ingrid Tappin, leadership strategist, founder/CEO of Diverse Leaders in Tech and author of “Exceptionals” 

Through relatable stories and learnings from their extensive professional leadership experience, they’ll unpack: 

• The “Sameness Trap” in leadership, hiring and the age of AI - and its hidden business cost

• The “2 Lanes” of leadership: How to shift from “expected” to “exceptional”

• Using our “Origin Stories” to build more exceptional teams

• Identity Intelligence: the missing ‘puzzle piece’ and secret booster for high performance

• Why DEI without Identity misses the point

• How exceptional leaders turn difference into competitive advantage

Whether you’re a founder, manager or HR professional - or just anyone who’s ever felt like “the exception” - this episode will give you the recognition, inspiration and practical tools to embrace the power of your differences, and challenge what great leadership really looks like!

Chapters

00:00 Being the “exception”

06:04 The Sameness Trap & “7 vinkjes”

10:54 The cost of rewarding sameness 

13:14 Lane 1 vs Lane 2 Leadership 

16:52 Why exceptional leaders get overlooked

19:26 Lane 2 Leadership in practice 

23:25 Identity Intelligence: Unlock your Origin Story

26:10 Identity: the missing piece in DEI

28:49 The secret performance booster

31:50 Applying Identity Intelligence in practice

34:27 Final takeaways

Learn more

🌐 www.7people.team

🌐 www.weareexceptionals.com 

🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/ingridtappin/ 

🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/ingeborgvanharten/ 

📘Ingrid’s book “Exceptionals: How to turn identity into your greatest leadership advantage” is available now from all major Dutch bookstores, and online shipping across Europe: https://weareexceptionals.com/book 

“Can you build us a high-performing team?”

It’s the #1 question People & Culture professionals get from leadership.

Short answer: HR can coach, enable and guide. But high performance starts with - and must be owned by - the team’s managers.

7people founder Ingeborg van Harten joins Flo to unpack what truly drives team performance - and why most organisations are measuring the wrong thing.

Some of the topics we cover:

• What factors really drive performance
• HR’s true role in performance management 
• Performance vs Impact: Why most teams are measuring the wrong thing
• From forming to performing: Navigating (and accelerating) the stages of team development  
• How leadership behaviour makes or breaks teams
• Why team culture is the type of behaviour you accept - good or bad 
• How to handle underperformance - and the importance of having the difficult conversations early

Because business performance = people performance. And high-performing teams start with leaders who model and manage the right behaviours…with HR as the coach behind the coach.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Intro

00:27 Why Performance isn’t HR’s Responsibility

02:53 What Makes a High-Performing Team?

05:58 Team Performance vs Individual Impact

09:34 How to Measure Impact: Behaviour vs Output

11:17 Performance is Contextual

12:36 From Forming to Performing: Stages of Team Development

15:37 How to Handle Underperformance

20:17 HR’s Role: Coaching the Coaches

22:02 Clarity is Key: Define Performance Expectations

22:57 Managing Team Culture

25:41 Final Takeaways

LEARN MORE:

www.7people.team

What does it actually take to build a successful remote-first organisation - one that scales, performs, and stays connected across continents? 🌐

We sat down with Job van der Voort, CEO of Remote, the company helping thousands of organisations hire and operate globally without an office.

He shares the lessons, tips and actual practices Remote uses to build its own global culture, trust and performance across 50+ countries.

What you'll learn:

• Why most companies manage remote work wrong - and how to fix it

• The essential communication and ways of working rules to minimise miscommunications, Slack chaos and unnecessary meetings

• Practical tips for designing connection without an office

• Why culture is an “emergent property,” not something you enforce

• The real reason companies push return-to-office mandates (hint: it's more about trust than productivity)

• How Remote redesigned performance reviews to achieve 1800 reviews in 48 hours!

• Managing timezones, salaries and benefits across borders

Irresistible organizations aren't built by accident.

Whether you're a People leader, founder, HR professional or manager, this episode is your blueprint for building a remote team that performs and feels connected, wherever your employees sit.

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a show rating or let us know in the comments!

CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro & today's guest

02:15 Can you 'create' remote culture?

04:41 Async-first principles

06:25 Remote's work communication rules (assume positive intent)

10:11 Managing the Slack chaos

12:18 1800 performance reviews in 48 hours?!

19:33 Why companies REALLY struggle with remote work

24:22 Job's top remote work priority

25:07 Top tips for building connection remotely

28:22 Managing comp & ben globally

Thank you Personio for making our podcast possible 💖

What's the REAL secret to being a great boss, according to People & Culture experts?

The answer's simpler and more boring than you might think...but rarely done well in practice!

HR expert and and author Roland Grootenboer (Google, Blendle, "Het boek waarvan je baas niet wil dat je het leest") joins us to break down the '3 beautiful basics' leaders need to help their people thrive: Clarity, Consistency and Empathy.

When leaders get those basics right, everything else, from performance to engagement to wellbeing follows more naturally.

Listen now to learn how!

What you'll learn in this episode:

• What separates 'good' bosses from 'great' ones?

• Empathy: how to make it a competitive advantage, and why it doesn't just mean being 'soft'

• Assume good intent: how distrust poisons culture
• The importance of boundaries: You are not your employee's therapist

• Why lack of clarity causes resentment and keeps you stuck

• The hard truth about leadership: the boring basics are the most important

Chapters

00:00 - Intro

01:02 - About today's topic and guest

02:08 - Empathy: why & how to do it better

05:47 - Empathy = key to engagement

08:45 - Radical candor: Good empathy is not being 'soft'!

11:12 - Bridging the People vs Business needs gap

14:14 - Don't scar on the first cut

16:08 - Underperformance: a system or person issue?

19:31 - Consistency & boundaries: Managers are not therapists!

24:57 - Clarity: The importance of clear expectations

28:58 - Adapting leadership styles to context

35:01 - Final takeaways

Useful resources mentioned in this episode

• Harvard Business Review study on Empathy: https://hbr.org/2004/01/what-makes-a-leader
• Kim Scott's 'Radical Candor' model: https://kimmalonescott.medium.com/what-is-radical-candor-learn-the-basic-principles-in-6-minutes-50391b3ad76a

New leadership, new investors, M&As...most orgs will face changes in their journeys. But why do so many big changes fail, even when the strategy was solid?

Because most leaders ignore the human side of change.

This episode we're joined by org change expert Toni Cairns (fractional Chief People Officer and founder of YellowBox), to learn how we as HR professionals can help guide orgs to survive and thrive through big changes.

What you'll learn:

• The top 3 mistakes orgs make in managing changes

• The importance of (over)communication
• How to build a change plan 101 (using ADKAR*)
• What actually causes the friction during change clashes
• Managing emotional responses with the 'change curve'

• Common change scenarios - and how to do them better

*ADKAR: Awareness / Desire / Knowledge / Ability / Reinforcement

Whether you’re in HR, a founder, or a leader facing big changes, this episode is packed with expert insights, real case stories and practical tips to help your next change run smoother.

Let us know in the comments if you enjoyed this episode!

Chapters

00:00 Coming up…

01:05 Toni Cairns: Change expert

03:12 Top 3 Change Do’s & Don’ts

04:22 Change Curve model (Kubler-Ross)

07:08 Change plans & comms

Change cases

11:59 Leadership changes: Founder to CEO

15:59 Always ask “why”

18:30 Leadership changes: Old vs new (more corporate) guard

23:09 After investment

27:15 M&A, mergers, takeovers - overcommunicate!

32:08 When M&As go wrong

34:22 Managing the emotional fallout

Intermezzo

39:11 1 big change vs lots of little ones over year?

Proudly pragmatic

41:58 Making Change Plans 101 (ADKAR)

43:33 Key takeaways

Gen Z in the workplace: lazy, entitled…or huge untapped potential?

Gen Z expert Laura Bas helps us bust the myths and explore what the new generation really wants from work - and why HR leaders and managers need to pay attention.

Every new generation entering the workforce gets labelled "difficult". But despite the stereotypes, Gen Z employees aren't here to break the workplace - they're updating it (maybe for the better).

Are they really lazy and entitled...or are we overlooking what really drives them?

💡 What you'll learn:

• Decoding the Gen Z stereotypes

• The "4 C's" Gen Zers value most at work
• Where Gen Zs can make the biggest impact
• Effective Gen Z managing and coaching

• Practical tips to attract, motivate and retain Gen Z talent

Helping your Gen Zers thrive is not only good leadership, it's essential to the future of work and your org's success.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Coming up…

01:18 Laura Bas - Gen Z expert

Gen Z decoded

03:00 Gen Z’s generational ‘updates’

06:56 Lazy - or strategic?

08:18 Delusional - or craving clarity?

09:58 Gen Z’s #1 work priority

12:05 Appreciation, celebration, connection

13:56 The ‘3 shame’ of criticism

15:48 Feedback, Gen Z style

18:11 Gen Z leadership

20:33 Greedy for money - or living reality?

Getting the best out of your Gen Zs

24:03 Top 4 focus areas for retention

28:30 Rethinking recruitment

31:46 Managing and leading Gen Zs

34:00 Final takeaways: The 4 C's

WANT TO LEARN MORE?

7people:

🌐 Website | 🔗 LinkedIn | 📸 Instagram

👤 Paul Butler | 👤 Florentine van Lingen

Laura Bas:

🌐 Website | 🔗 LinkedIn | 📸 Instagram

📖 Pre-order Laura’s upcoming book “De GenZclopedie: Alles over het aantrekken en beouden van jong talent"

KPIs…OKRs…WTF?! 🤯

Organisational goal setting sounds simple - until you try it. Most teams end up with vague goals, confusion and zero connection to what people do day to day.

So where does it go wrong? And how do you fix it?

This episode, we’re joined by Koen Veltman (Organisation Builders, ex-McKinsey), to learn what it really takes to set effective goals - especially in growing teams.

You’ll learn:

• The biggest goal-setting mistakes teams make (and what to do instead)

• The “goosebump test” for writing goals people care about

• Rethinking goal setting as a communication and alignment tool

• KPIs, OKRs, OGSM, moonshots, rocks...what's the difference? Which works best when?

• How HR teams can turn vague strategy into real, people-focused outcomes

• Actionable tip to make org goals work, no matter your size, stage or chaos level

Whether you're in HR, People & Culture, ops, or leadership, this episode will help you rethink how your company sets and tracks what matters.

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate us 5 stars and follow the show! It helps us create great new People & Culture content and reach new audiences who might find it helpful 😉

CHAPTERS

Goal setting mistakes

00:00 Why goal setting is hard (Choices)01:15 Today’s guest: Koen Veltman02:12 Defining ”goals” vs purpose, vision etc04:18 Strategic pillars to goals: bridge the gap06:45 Aligning org structure to goals

08:22 Choose your focus > doing it all

Decoding Goal Methodologies

10:30 Why multiple systems can work!

11:48 KPI vs OKR: What’s the difference?

13:28 Goals = communication tool

15:11 OKRs: “Goosebump” objectives

18:42 OKRS: Measurable outcomes

20:50 Creating good Key Results

24:30 OGSM - too vague

25:16 Rocks - keep it simple

27:53 Koen’s favourite goal system?

Intermezzo

29:04 Meaningful vs measurable goals?

Making it practical

30:33 Aligning HR KPIs + company strategy

36:27 Start off simple: Skip OKRs for now?

39:35 Final takeaways

🧹 What's the messiest HR legal issue you've had to clean up?

Misclassified contractor? Regrettable indefinite extension? Settlement talks gone 🤯?

Chances are, some better documentation, clearer expectations, or stronger grip on the rules could've saved you some serious headaches (or avoided the problem altogether).

This episode, Paul and Flo are joined by Frank Penders: employment lawyer at OTIS Advocaten, with 15+ years experience advising both employers and employees.

Together, they'll unpack the most common legal blind spots they see in their everyday work - the pitfalls that can trip up even seasoned HR teams, especially in the complex maze of Dutch employment law.

Packed with expert insights and practical tips from both legal and strategic HR angles, you'll learn how to spot early red flags, mitigate issues before they blow up, and fix issues fast if they do.

🧠 Just a few of the topics we cover:

• Job offer changes: What's binding, what's fixable

• Settlements (VSOs): Building strong cases and fair offers

• Contract renewals: Managing risk, uncertainty and regrets

• Contractor misclassification: Common misunderstandings and workarounds

  
  

Big thanks as always to our friends at Personio, for powering the 7people podcast 💜

CHAPTERS

00:00 About today’s guest and topic

Case 1: Contractor misclassification - employee vs freelancer?

02:55 Case 1: Contractor misclassification

04:43 Grey area: Friendployee or Freelancer?

06:53 Control over work

06:43 Pay arrangements

08:40 Working hours/full time 9-5

10:08 Risks for getting it wrong

11:39 Overseas freelancers

13:38 Check (or adjust) the contract

15:08 Easier to become employees?

Case 2: Contract renewals - employee uncertainty

17:35 Case 2: Fixed vs indefinite contracts

18:07 POV: HR’s business POV

19:48 POV: Employment lawyer’s POV

20:26 Indefinite first - fix with settlement later?

Case 3: Settlement/VSOs

25:11 Case 3: Building a strong VSO case

27:50 Settlement offers: What and how much?

32:12: More ‘expensive’ cases

33:35 The road to court…

Intermezzo - true or false

35:30 Dismissal during probation

36:33 Employee legal advice during settlements

37:52 Pulling back accepted job offer

Final tips: proudly pragmatic

40:47 Be clear + transparent

Ever thought of the People Experience at work as a product, just like Netflix or Uber Eats?

Enjoy this bonus clip from our last episode with Luke O'Mahoney from SapienX, where we dive even deeper into how to really start thinking of People Experience as a Product, with a worked case example of a Work From Home policy.

Just like Netflix or Uber Eats, an organization's employee experience is a central shared product, used by multiple user groups, in different ways with differing needs to ensure their success.

And similarly, you can also use agile product/UX thinking to solve your organizational people problems. With way more efficiency, effectiveness and strategic impact than in traditional HR!

If you're new to Product PX, we suggest starting with our full episode with Luke for the full context to this bonus clip (linked in shortcuts).

Happy listening, and let us know what you think!