The HR Podcast | Built for Business

You've rolled out a new AI tool and half your team seem to be working around it rather than with it. That's not stubbornness, it's a trust problem, and journalist Katie Jacobs has spent the past year finding out why. In this episode you'll hear what's actually driving AI adoption in business right now, why some workers are quietly sabotaging AI strategy instead of getting on board, and what that t...

When Sarah and her team audit a new client, right to work checks are non-compliant somewhere between 80 and 90% of the time. In this episode, business immigration advisor Ian Hamilton joins the podcast to walk through exactly what employer right to work compliance actually requires — for British and Irish nationals, EU nationals, and everyone on a visa in between. You'll learn the difference a sha...

If an enforcement officer knocked on your door tomorrow, would you know what they'd be checking? The Fair Work Agency launched in April, bringing four enforcement bodies under one roof. In this episode, CEO Lisa Pinney OBE explains Fair Work Agency compliance, from National Minimum Wage to holiday pay, how enforcement actually decides who to visit, and what a risk-based approach to employment law...

Half your team wants the same six weeks off, and most of them aren't asking to change their contract — they're stitching together annual leave, dependant leave, and adjusted hours to get through the summer. In this episode, Sarah Ropek and Claire Cathcart discuss practical, tested ways to manage school holiday annual leave without a rigid policy getting in the way, why flexible working for...

The four-day working week keeps making headlines, yet most UK businesses still work a traditional five-day week. So what's actually going on? In this episode, you'll hear what two conflicting 2025/2026 studies really say about four-day week trial success rates, why the model suits some businesses far better than others, and the practical questions — pay, contracts, holiday calculations, cu...

If one of your employees found out exactly what their colleague earns tomorrow, would your business survive that conversation? Pay transparency UK legislation is on its way, EU rules are already driving change, and around a third of UK job adverts still don't include any salary information at all. In this episode, you'll learn why banning pay conversations rarely works in practice, how sal...

Your employee just filmed themselves quitting on TikTok, had a very public vent about work on Instagram, or posted something entirely unrelated to work that's still found its way to your desk — and you have to deal with it. In this episode, you'll learn what UK employment law actually allows when it comes to employee social media misconduct, why "these are my own views" disclaime...

There's no legal maximum workplace temperature in the UK — and that surprises almost everyone who asks about it. As amber heat warnings have become a regular part of the British summer, HR managers and business owners are getting the same message on repeat: "it's too hot in the office, can I work from home?" In this episode, you'll learn exactly what UK workplace temperature...

Ask an employer who's responsible for employee development, and most will say the employee needs to drive their own growth. Ask the employee, and most will say their employer doesn't take any responsibility at all. That disconnect shows up whether you're a five-person business with no training budget or a 10,000-person organisation with a dedicated learning and development function. In...

Wellbeing problems rarely announce themselves. Nobody walks into your office and says "I'm burnt out" before it's already a crisis — instead, it shows up in small, easy-to-miss changes: someone who's usually chatty goes quiet, a high performer starts working later and later, or a normally reliable team member misses a deadline for no obvious reason. In this episode, you'l...

When the same employee seems to be off sick every Monday, it's easy to assume the worst. But before you jump to conclusions, it's important to understand what might really be driving the pattern. In this episode, you'll learn how to approach Monday sickness absence fairly, spot attendance patterns early, and manage short-term absence without creating unnecessary legal risk. We discuss...

Only 7% of UK workers now wear a suit to work. The era of formal dress codes has largely passed — but employers still have a say in what people wear. The question has become more nuanced, not less relevant. In this episode: whether a dress code policy is still relevant, why guidelines work better than rigid rules, what UK law allows employers to require, how tattoos and piercings fit in, and why h...

If you're still relying on CVs to make hiring decisions, you might be missing your best candidates. Skills-based hiring is becoming increasingly common, with more employers using practical assessments and skills tests to predict job performance rather than relying solely on work history and qualifications. At the same time, AI is changing how candidates present themselves and how employers eva...

Is a CIPD Qualification Worth It? An Honest Career Assessment If you're in HR or thinking about moving into it, the CIPD question comes up constantly. Is it worth the cost? Do hiring managers actually care, or is it just a box they've been told to tick? And if your career is going fine without it, should you bother? In this episode: the three levels and what they're for, whether CIPD m...

Should You Introduce Stay Interviews? An Honest Assessment An exit interview happens when someone has already decided to leave. The feedback is useful for the next person — but it's too late to help the one walking out the door. A stay interview flips that. You have it while someone is still there, still engaged, and still worth keeping. Oxford Economics puts the average cost of replacing an e...

Employment Rights Act 2025: Why You Can't Just Fire Them Anymore When we first answered "why can't I just fire them?", employees needed two years before unfair dismissal protection applied. From 1 January 2027, the Employment Rights Act 2025 reduces that to six months. Unfair dismissal claims are up 72% year on year. The average case takes 33 weeks. The compensation cap is being...

Authenticity at Work: Where Does It Cross Into Oversharing? Half of UK workers find oversharing annoying — but many would leave if they couldn't be themselves. Where's the line? This episode unpacks it. Listen now. "Bring your whole self to work" sounds positive until you're sitting next to someone describing their UTI in graphic detail. Authenticity at work genuinely matters...

What Great HR Mentoring Looks Like (And Why Most Gets It Wrong) Most people have had a mentor who didn't really mentor them. The sessions happened, the conversation was pleasant, and nobody was sure what the point was. Mentoring ranked number one in LinkedIn's Learning Report for L&D priorities — yet only 52% of those who say a mentor is important to their career actually have one. In...

Why Candidates Are Ghosting You (And What To Do About It) Candidates ghosting your recruitment process? This episode covers why it happens, what your hiring process signals, and how to fix candidate experience. Listen now. If candidates are disappearing after interview invitations — or not showing up on day one — the instinct is to blame applicants. But 56% of UK employers admit they're likely...

Pet Bereavement Leave UK: Should You Offer It? No legal obligation exists for pet bereavement leave in the UK — but what should you actually do? Practical advice for small business owners handling this well.   If an employee came to you tomorrow morning, red-eyed, and told you their dog had died — what would you do? There’s no legal entitlement to pet bereavement leave in the UK, but that doesn’t...

Culture Integration After a Team Merger: What Actually Works Merging two teams with different cultures? This episode covers what leaders get wrong in M&A and how to make culture integration actually work. Listen now. If your business has just merged two teams — through an acquisition, a restructure, or a cost-saving consolidation — you already know the business case. What nobody prepares you f...

Toxic High Performer: What To Do When They Deliver But Destroy Your top performer hits every target but makes everyone else miserable. Here's how to handle a toxic high performer before it costs you the team. Listen now. If your best performer is also your biggest problem, you're not alone — and you're not imagining it. Toxic workplace culture costs the UK economy over £20 billion a ye...

How to Create an Inclusive Workplace: The Small Things That Make a Big Difference Episode Summary Inclusion isn't a policy document. It shows up in the small, everyday decisions — whether your team socials always end up at the pub on a Friday, whether there's somewhere quiet for someone to decompress or pray, whether a new mum returning from maternity leave has a private space to express m...

Most managers are promoted because they're great at the job — then expected to just know the people stuff. In this episode, Claire Cathcart and Sarah Ropek cover the HR basics every manager actually needs, where the line sits between HR's job and the manager's job, how to make policies less overwhelming, and what happens when managers avoid people issues altogether. Giving good feedbac...

In this episode, Sarah Ropek and Claire Cathcart explore why performance improvement plans (PIPs) have developed such a negative reputation and whether the problem is the process itself or how it’s used. Many employees see a PIP as a sign that their job is already at risk, but Claire and Sarah discuss why that perception exists and what often goes wrong in performance management before a formal pr...