People Managers
Learning sticks when it’s shared: Why human learning communities more vital than ever
Samantha Hall shows that workplace learning transforms when people feel connected to others. She explores how communities spark joy, build psychological safety and accountability, surface tacit knowledge, strengthen culture and resilience, and keep development alive long after formal sessions, especially as AI speeds up access to information but not belonging. In my work as a Talent Development Manager, and in my spare time running a sober community (Sober Circle), I’ve seen first-hand how powerful community can be. Whether it’s colleagues…
The six biggest challenges keeping L&D professionals up at night
L&D teams are operating in a climate of constant change. Economic pressure, digital acceleration and shifting workforce expectations have placed capability development at the centre of organisational strategy. Yet teams responsible for delivering this capability often face shrinking budgets, rising expectations and increasing scrutiny. Totara share a resource to help. A new eBook from Totara, The Six Biggest Challenges Keeping L&D Professionals Up at Night, examines the forces shaping the future of workplace learning. It highlights the tensions many HR…
The Uncertainty Toolkit – book review
Cathy Hoy investigates why competency-based L&D falls short when uncertainty, not skill, blocks performance. Drawing on Sam Conniff and Katherine Templar Lewis’s new book The Uncertainty Toolkit, she highlights evidence from UCL research, practical exercises and new metrics for tolerance. The aim is to shift teams from threat to challenge. Book: The Uncertainty ToolkitAuthors: Sam Conniff and Katherine Templar Lewis For years, learning and development has been built on competency; we spot a gap, design a course, and measure if…
AI jobs apocalypse… or bonanza?
Will AI steal our jobs? Wrong question. AI performs tasks and most jobs involve a combination of tasks. The AI impact depends on organisational choices, not just the technology. David Buchanan and Steve Macaulay explore how the outcome for jobs depends on a combination of replacement, compensatory, and augmentation effects. AI may steal bits of your job, but very few jobs will be completely stolen. Simple admin, content generation, customer support, data entry, financial analysis, and manufacturing tasks can be…
The return of the ‘office first’ culture and what that means for learning
As organisations shift back to office-first policies, L&D has a critical role to play. Jennie Marshall explores how learning professionals can turn a logistical pivot into a cultural opportunity, redefining connection, trust and inclusion, and ensuring that presence in the office doesn’t come at the expense of performance or purpose. It’s back. The phrase that many thought we’d left behind in 2019: “We’re returning to the office.” After years of hybrid experiments, kitchen-table working, and virtual everything, many organisations are…
How coaches can use AI in practice without becoming “prompt jockeys”
AI can be genuinely useful in coaching, but only when it serves the craft, not the other way round. The goal is not to turn coaches into people who spend their days iterating prompts. It is to help them do better work, more consistently, with clearer boundaries. AI for the parts of coaching that benefit from structure and reflection, while keeping the relational, ethical, and contextual judgement firmly human In practice, that means using AI for the parts of coaching…
The learning crisis no one wants to trace back to recruitment
AI-polished job applications hide how people really learn. Dmitry Zaytsev talks through hiring using simple games to reveal learning readiness early. Dmitry’s case study shows why behavioural signals like persistence and attention matter more than credentials for talent, L&D, onboarding, and building learning cultures that actually stick in modern organisations. In many organisations, learning and development begins only after a person has signed a contract. By that point, L&D teams inherit a challenge they did not create: they are asked…
Should we be buying AI coaching in 2026, or stick with human?
AI coaching tools are everywhere, promising scale, savings and 24/7 support. But should HR really be buying them, or sticking with human coaches? As organisations plan for 2026, the real question is how to blend both wisely. Jonathan Passmore explores what the evidence says, and what HR should do next Coaching is now a mainstream development tool in many organisations. At the same time, AI coaching agents are moving from novelty experiments to products available off the shelf, like Microsoft 365. For HR, the commissioning…
The Traitors: Jobs most likely to get you banished or murdered
As TV show The Traitors UK fuels watercooler chat, Shane Duffy argues the castle is really a bias lab. From teachers to barristers, players are judged by their job title before they speak. Analysis shows who gets targeted, who survives and what workplaces can learn about trust, status and threat. As the nation remains gripped by the latest season of The Traitors UK, Shane Duffy, Managing Director of serviced office brokerage Click Offices, warns that the hit BBC show offers…
What should HR leaders be looking out for in 2026?
From pay transparency to the right to disconnect, HR leaders face a perfect storm of regulation, technology and rising expectations in 2026. What really matters, what’s overhyped and where should teams focus first? Veronique Lemaire cuts through the noise with practical insight for navigating change without losing people or momentum The future of work is a red-hot topic as the global economy realigns amid developing regulations, rapid technological shifts and changing employee expectations. A third (34%) of jurisdictions predict an uptick in the complexity of HR and payroll services, according to the latest Global Business Complexity Index. This is…
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