Talent & Skills
From cost centre to growth engine: Enter the Chief Revenue Officer of Talent
Barb Hyman argues that talent acquisition and talent management must stop operating in silos and start acting as a single business engine. By connecting hiring, internal mobility and learning to commercial outcomes, organisations can reduce restructuring costs, deploy skills more effectively and make talent a genuine driver of value creation. Somewhere over the Atlantic, I keep circling back to a question I hear in boardrooms everywhere: why do we still treat talent as a cost centre, when in reality it…
From crappy tasks to the C-suite: fixing the female leadership pipeline
Women often outperform men on key leadership measures, particularly collaboration, relationships and crisis management, yet barriers still block their route to senior roles. David Buchanan and Steve Macaulay examine the evidence and set out what HR and L&D can do to strengthen the leadership pipeline and stop wasting valuable talent. Recent studies have found that women make better leaders than men. This is a compelling reason, beyond equality and diversity, for appointing women to senior management positions. In this article,…
Executive sponsorship is mostly theatre. Here’s what real looks like
Ben Satchwell argues most executive sponsorship is theatre: a budget sign-off, a launch email, a kick-off cameo. Prosci research shows active, visible sponsorship is the biggest driver of change success. Ben sets out five behaviours real sponsors demonstrate, from owning the why to spending political capital and handling resistance personally. Ask any capability framework project who the executive sponsor is and you will get a name instantly. Ask what that sponsor actually does, and the answer is usually thinner: they…
The future of work isn’t a younger workforce. It’s more flexibility
Sara Daw argues that L&D must look beyond traditional full-time employment to unlock the value of a multigenerational workforce. By embracing fractional, flexible and blended working models, organisations can retain experienced talent, strengthen mentoring and succession planning, and gain the fresh insights needed to build greater resilience for the future. How do L&D professionals plan for the future of work? Focus may logically fall on developing the younger workforce to ensure business longevity. But today’s workplaces are already multigenerational, and…
The skills gap putting your hiring at risk, and what it’s really costing you
Background screening is often treated as an administrative task, but its risks demand far greater capability and consistency. In this article, Mat Armstrong argues that for L&D and HR leaders, outsourcing screening should be seen not only as a compliance safeguard, but as a smarter response to skills gaps internally. Background screening is one of the most risk-sensitive tasks in the hiring process. It demands consistency, attention to detail, and the ability to spot anomalies under pressure. Yet in most…
The executive pipeline is missing neurodivergent leaders
Redefine leadership around outcomes rather than personality to stop neurodivergent talent being overlooked. Dr Jo Perkins explains how narrow executive archetypes, subjective promotion processes and low psychological safety exclude capable leaders, and why structural neuroinclusion can strengthen decision-making, innovation, resilience and organisational performance at the highest level of business leadership. One dimension remains consistently underrepresented within executive leadership: neurodiversity. Neurodiversity refers to the natural variation in how human brains function. Estimates suggest that 10–20% of the global population is neurodivergent,…
The invisible workload of leading organisational change
Build change capability across every leadership by combining mindset shifts, practical training and coaching. Melanie Franklin explains why people development professionals must make change management explicit, scalable and aspirational, helping managers respond confidently to uncertainty, support their teams and turn constant disruption into a source of organisational strength and progress. With every business under constant pressure to adapt to technological, environmental, and social shifts, change has become a permanent part of working life. Yet while 61% of organisations recognise change…
My journey from HR to the c-suite, and what I learned along the way
A cold shift in a supermarket set an unexpected career in motion. Tom Emery traces the decisions led to the C-suite. Reflecting on setbacks, stretch roles and hard-won lessons, he shows how adaptability, relationships and courage can shape a career in the people profession far more than any grand plan. I was an accidental HR professional. Growing up, I wanted to work in public relations. I loved the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. The characters, the outfits, the champagne and I thought…
Striking the right balance between productivity and workplace wellbeing
Build sustainable productivity by redesigning work around focus, recovery and realistic capacity. Aleks Szymanski explains how leaders can reduce overload, encourage breaks, set clear expectations, use technology thoughtfully and model healthy boundaries, creating cultures where wellbeing strengthens performance, engagement, retention and resilience rather than competing with them at work daily. For years, productivity and wellbeing were framed as competing priorities. Push harder, the thinking went, and performance would rise, even if people paid the price. Today, that approach is proving…
Beyond the management ladder: Why Gen Z is redefining career success
Rethink training, leadership and career progression to retain Gen Z talent. Tara Ceranic Salinas explains why younger workers value time, flexibility, mastery and meaningful impact over traditional management titles, and how organisations can create learning cultures that build skills, recognise strengths and support sustainable growth at work for everyone involved. Every generation has their own ideas about what work should look like. Climbing the corporate ladder and reaching the pinnacles of management used to be the aim, but Gen Z…
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