Your 12 minute HR lesson

A lot of the time in HR, we don’t actually have power — we have influence . And the most effective kind of influence often comes from calmness. In this week’s 12-minute HR lesson, I share a story that started with a car accident (literally, half an hour before recording!) — and ended with a lesson about leadership, composure, and how to take charge when no one’s in charge. We unpack: -What it real...

Ever felt stuck in HR, waiting for the business to tellyou what to do ? In this week’s 12-minute HR lesson, I unpack how “TheRemains of the Day” taught me everything about managing up,anticipating needs, and making your HR strategy actually matte It’s less about doing what you think is right, and more about knowing what the business truly needs before they even ask. Are you a Mr. Stevens or a Mr....

This week's podcast: the secret sauce of sampling. Today I’m channelling my inner grumpy old man. We interview. We personality-test. We talk endlessly about “fit.” But we rarely ask candidates to actually do the work. Work samples — small, simple, real-world tests — are one of the strongest predictors of job success, and yet almost no one uses them. But the lesson isn't really about that. I’m chal...

There’s an old saying: “Dissecting jokes is like dissecting a frog. No one laughs—and the frog dies.” In this week’s 12-Minute HR Lesson, I’m unpacking what comedy can teach us about risk—and why playing it too safe can quietly kill your organisation’s growth.

How is a dinosaur like a piece of legislation? The lesson of Jurassic Park is chaos theory; life is too complicated to be fully accounted for by any system. It's the same with the law. The new holidays act reform will be big improvements but don't expect a perfect fix, because that's impossible.

This week's episode: Low-hanging fruit. You've written the policy, you've launched it, you've had the awareness day, you've posted the photos of people smiling in bright coloured t-shirts. You've plucked the low-hanging fruit. Now what? The problem with low hanging fruit is that it can't be picked twice. There's more work to do, and it's harder to reach, harder...

This week's podcast: Home again. How can an iconic song give you insight into your workplace language? In broad vague sloganistic safe phrases? Love as topic of music has become so generic that we cease to hear the words. But what about songs about home?

Too much of HR is treated like internal marketing. - Convincing people everything is fine. - Selling the “isn’t our company great?” message. But what if HR is closer to engineering than marketing? Think about an engineering manager in a factory. Their job isn’t to make machines look good in company colours — it’s to keep the line running. - Fix breakdowns quickly. - Do preventative maintenance bef...

HR, the law… and the Hulk? In this week’s 12-minute HR lesson, I talk about what the Hulk can teach us about managing power at work. As managers and HR professionals, we often fall into the trap of seeking agreement. But sometimes, the real superpower is knowing when to listen, when to decide, and when to move on. This isn’t about recklessness—it’s about using power wisely.

Why was Whitney Houston one of, if not the greatest? How were her live performances of 'The greatest love of all' some of the best live performances? How understanding skill vs talent helps us build better teams.

Management is hard and unpleasant, and many shy away from the unpleasant parts. But it has to be done, because systems only work if everyone pulls their weight. This lesson talks about the pressures that management places on the manager, and the managee.

We rattle off the term 'best practice' all the time, but is it true? Is there a 'right way' to do things in all situations? Let's discuss.

Maslow explained how our needs are a hierarchy, but he also had a hammer. Maybe he did some DIY on the weekends. In this episode I explain how we used to what we are good at, but we need to challenge ourselves to pick the best path, not just the most familiar.

Everyone has two parts to them, two sets of needs. What is too much to ask, and what is reasonable to ask, when it comes to enforcing the contract?

Stopping and thinking is a skill. Too little, and you blunder from mistake to mistake, too much and you get analysis paralysis. I discuss one of the great pauses of history, how the courts expect us to pause, and how that mechanism for pause is you.

Want to be wiser? Want to appear wiser? Or at least be less foolish? The answer is it depends. Have a listen.

ER is a skill set within HR that many struggle with. To make it harder, it's not even clear in the industry what people mean when they use the terms ER, or Employment Relations. In this episode I talk about the dual meanings of ER, how they are two different sets of work that require different sets of knowledge, and different sets of skills, so you can understand the differences.

Apologies are an important social tool for getting us back to harmony. But does it always work? what does sorry mean? If someone apologises, is that a giant history eraser? Do we have to accept, or can we set aside? Understanding what sorrry means, and what people mean when they say it is an important skill for every HR professional or manager.

When is a manager's style wrong? Why do we need to intervene? There are many ways of dealing with situations, but most of the time rough handling of others isn't appropriate. This lesson helps you think about how and when the ends justify the means.