Chris along with Evan Wynne are joined by Deirdre O'Shea who is the Associate Professor of Work and Organisational Psychology at the University of Limerick. She has come onto the podcast to give an academic perspective on the state of wellbeing and how this is impacting organisations.

Many organisations are putting a lot of emphasis on their employees' mental health these days Should organisations be thinking more holistically in terms of employee wellbeing? Listen now to hear Deidre explain what she meant by the ‘misapplication of wellbeing’ that some organisations are creating.

Chris and Debbie Mitchell are joined by Rob Boland, COO of Reward Gateway, on this podcast. Reward Gateway is an employee engagement platform that consist of several features with the aim to boost employee experience. One of these features include improving employee wellbeing. They recently published a report on the 2023 employee engagement trends. In the report there are five strategies that can be implemented to help improve employee engagement. Listen in as Rob briefly outlines the topics of the five key strategies in the report.

The talent marketplace connects and matches people with job opportunities, it’s enabled by people and technology. Rather than a single place or system they need to use it’s more of an approach to talent management. Chris and Chris Horton speak to Dan Whitehead about the talent marketplace. Listen now as they ask what are the benefits of using a talent marketplace for both the recruiter and candidate? What does it look like when it’s done well?

Who can help HR with employee mental health and wellbeing. 2 in every 5 employees experiencing anxiety, stress and depression related to work. How can businesses address this issue? This week Chris talks with Charlie Winton, Founder of OK Positive Listen to discover how Charlie's mental health journey led to him creating OK Positive.

Chris is joined by three LACErs, Adam Morris, Becky Jones, and Chris Horton to have a fireside chat about hybrid working. Hybrid working was one of the issues CPOs were most concerned about in the next 12-24 months according to our One Big Thing research. Most problems arise when hybrid working practices clash with organisations’ business strategy. What can businesses do to avoid this from happening?

How has the perception of pensions changed over time? In the past final salary schemes were commonplace which encouraged long-service in a company. Pensions should be seen as a contribution not a deduction. Chris along with Chris Kirby discuss payroll with the founder of PayCaptain, Simon Bocca. They discuss how the term financial wellbeing is being misused and should organisations' support their employees who lack financial literacy.

Why are one-to-ones important? What makes an effective one-to-one? Being a people manager is a challenging role even more so post-Covid. Chris and Debbie Mitchell speak to Anna Rasmussen, CEO and founder of OpenBlend. Most people managers lack support, Anna explains how OpenBlend can help.

Flexible working is here to stay. What can organisations do to strike the right balance with hybrid working? Chris and Chris Horton discuss the ongoing challenges with flexible working with Olga Needham, Senior HR Director at Tokyo Electron Europe. Olga gives her views on employee's right to request hybrid work and its implications.

The pandemic has shifted what good people management looks like as now managers need to consider both hybrid and in office workers. Success in people management requires certain traits, such as empathy and inspiration, which cannot be taught. Chris and Kat Bernardes are joined by Mitch Lassman from Diageo as they discuss line manager capability and whether we should we be pushing every manager into the role of people management?

In this special edition of the HR on the Offensive podcast, Chris Kirby talks to Sam Isaac from Neeyamo about their January event - 'Evolve Beyond Borders' - which will be a global hybrid event with both online and offline sessions, including one in London that the team at LACE are involved in.

Register for the event here -https://www.evolvebeyondborders.com/