The People Agenda

In this episode Chris and LACE Partners co-founder and COO Cathy Acratopulo speak with Dave Page, co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer of Actual Experience. We get to the root of some of the challenges and assumptions in hybrid working and digital employee experience. It's clear that the preference to work from home is going nowhere, so the importance of getting digital EX right is paramount. Liste...

Late in 2022 our team interviewed 30 CPOs from a variety of industries to determine what the “One Big Thing” keeping them up at night was. We were interested in getting a tech vendor’s perspective on our research. Our host Chris teams up with Chris Horton to speak with David Carling, a solutions consultant at Applearn, to comment on how well our research assumptions match what they are seeing in t...

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...

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...

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 candida...

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 happeni...

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...

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 int...

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/

We recently hosted a roundtable for Mervyn Dinnen's latest book "Digital Talent". As part of our One Big Thing research we found that digital talent was one of the main concerns for CPO's, either attracting and/or retaining said talent. Chris is joined by Mervyn Dinnen, Chris Horton and Tim Ringo as they reflect on some of the key discussion points that were raised.

When resourcing for talent should businesses focus finding it internally rather than looking externally. How can businesses better advertise their opportunities to internal talent? Emily Fryer joins Chris as they chat about this topic with Tom Baker who is Head of Talent & Resourcing at M&G plc.

In this episode Chris speaks to Gary Stringer, from HowNow, about an article he has written on the 7 HR Trends to Win 2023. In it Gary identifies the top trends HR can take advantage of to start the next year strong.

Chris and LACE managing director Cathy Acratopulo speak to Jim Macleod about all things DE&I. Jim shares his stories about leading diversity and inclusion initiatives within the military space. They also discuss the important role culture plays in enabling an inclusive work environment.

Are there specific traits that separate a good Chief People Officer from a great one? Why should it be seen as one of the most fundamental roles in the organisation? Is it undervalued at C-suite level? How far does the remit stretch and where does it start/end? We ask these questions and more in the latest HR on the Offensive podcast, with Aaron Alburey and Cathy Acratopulo giving their thoughts b...

Chris with Emma Leonis-Hughes speak to Nelson Sivalingam from HowNow and author of Learning At Speed. Nelson gives a brief overview of the 3 sections covered in his book. Additionally, the book can help deconstruct and optimize learning strategies.

What is a lost employee? How does it impact payroll? The two Chris's speak to Daniel Greaves from Brown Brothers Harriman about this topic. Additionally, they share their own examples of how businesses have addressed this issue.

When we talk about management empowerment, what do we mean? How can management empowerment effect the employee experience? Chris and Emma Leonis-Hughes chat with Yvonne Wilcock, CEO of Empowering People Group and AdviserPlus, on what businesses can do to empower their managers.

What is the single most pressing concerns on CPO/CHROs right now? What is the 'one big thing' they would like to fix in the next 12 - 18 months? Getting their employee value proposition right? The impact of flexible/hybrid working? Attracting and retaining talent? Cathy and Chris' Horton and Howard discuss in our latest podcast, which follows on from research just released by LACE Partners which y...

How can you accurately measure the correlation between employee experience and customer experience? How can you avoid survey fatigue? Chris and Emma are joined by Kevin Campbell from Qualtrics to talk about his perspective on the topic.

Chris and fellow LACEr Rebecca Addison talk to Ewart Campbell about a few of the DE&I initiatives he’s spearheaded; they also discuss what businesses can do to address their unconscious bias and why it's necessary to maintain DE&I initiatives long-term.

As part of a collaboration for financial wellbeing week Chris and Adam Morris from LACE speak to Therese Procter, global advisor at Wagestream about their The Cost of Living Report 2022. What can businesses do to help their employees through these difficult times?

Ahead of national inclusion week. Chris is joined by two LACErs Rebecca Addison and Eve Edmonds to discuss inclusivity in the workplace and why it's important. How can larger businesses create a more inclusive work environment?