This Isn’t Working

Who is to blame for the DEI lawsuits? Finally, we have some answers! Here is the second slice of our three-part interview with Neil Morrison, group HR director at the British water company Severn Trent. With reference to high profile cases including Lloyds Banking Group, Thames Valley Police, the Open University and Cambridgeshire County Council, we ask: - Why don’t DEI and HR professionals unders...

In this ground-breaking episode, a sensible, experienced, centrist HR director busts multiple taboos - answering questions about how and why DEI has gone wrong in so many organisations. Neil Morrison, group HR director at Severn Trent, gets into race, disability, trans inclusion, Israel/Gaza… the lot. We cover: - Was it a mistake for brands to rush in with statements about Black Lives Matter?  - W...

IS STONEWALL CRUMBLING – AND HOW SHOULD EMPLOYERS REACT? As any smart HR professional who's been paying attention will know, suddenly everyone is talking about Stonewall – and not in a good way. Once considered a solution – a trusted, credible advisor on best practice for workplace policy concerning sexual orientation (or ‘gay rights’) – now the organisation is viewed as a problem by many employer...

UNFLATTERING BUT POSITIVE – AND ESSENTIAL READING FOR EVERY HR PROFESSIONAL IN THE UK That’s Julie and Tanya's verdict on the new Inclusion at Work Panel report, released last week by the Department of Business and Trade. Have you read it yet? If not, why not? In Episode 4 of *This Isn’t Working* Julie Scanlon and Tanya de Grunwald take a deep dive into what many people quickly started calling ‘Ke...

There are still too many unpaid internships around, but there are fewer than there were - and that's partly thanks to Tanya de Grunwald. In this episode, Julie Scanlon interviews her co-host about her 'dark past' calling out Simon Cowell, Tony Blair and Philip Green over unpaid internships. The pair discuss why Tanya's activism was so successful in the 'golden era' of the 2010s, where and why prog...

Love it or loathe it, International Women's Day has become an essential date when every employer must... do what, exactly? And why? Does 8 March need a re-think, as well as a re-brand? In this episode, Julie Scanlon (grumpy) and Tanya de Grunwald (grumpier) discuss whether anything about International Women's Day is still working for employers and employees, including: - What is International Wome...

Why did Elon Musk say that 'DEI must DIE' - and how many people share his view? If there are signs that a backlash is brewing against diversity, equity and inclusion, why are HR and DEI professionals dismissing opposition as a 'right-wing culture war' that should be ignored? Is this failure to engage with criticism a further sign that something is seriously wrong with an industry that was meant to...