PeopleTalk Podcast

This week's PeopleTalk podcast welcomed a guest to mark our 30th recording to begin the conversation with Paul, Rachel and Chris around Diversity & Inclusion.Good people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives are vital to an organisation’s success — both inherent diversity (e.g., race, gender) and acquired diversity (experience, cultural background) are associated with more sales revenue, more customers, greater innovation and higher profits (HBR, 2016).  We welcomed Jessica Hornsby from  Equalital joined us this week (www.equalital.com) .  At Equalital, they use proven psychology to actively advise clients how to find, develop and motivate the very best talent, nurturing and capitalising on the unique perspectives each person can bringWe really didn't scratch the surface and all came away with plenty questions and points for discussion and will definitely carry this on during future episodes  #diversity #diversityandinclusion #diversityequityandinclusion

This week, we have a relaxed conversation around identifying what you need as a business - is it management, or is it leadership?With management being more procedural - what needs to get done and how - versus leadership which focuses more on inspiring your people to produce their best, how do you understand which approach is needed and when?We start the conversation by defining each and asking how business goes about developing leadership skills and management skills - what programmes are available and how you choose the right development approach for your needs. Times are changing, and so is the approach to developing leadership skills, especially considering changing working environments, and so we touch on this aspect.Conversation then moves to how organisations frame a role, and how the language they use to describe leadership or management gives candidates a snapshot of how that organisation perceives positions of responsibility.Chris proposes that management tends to focus on what has occurred, versus leaders that tend to look forward at what is yet to come - perhaps this is a differentiator? Is one bad and one good?Overall, it is important to realise that modern business needs elements from both, and both roles have their place in making an organisation successful. Enjoy this weeks episode and, as always, we would love to engage with you on the topic. Join the conversation on our LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-peopletalk-podcast/

Skills Vs. Attributes - do you know the difference?This weeks episode looks at the difference between skills and attributes, how each are developed, and the impact of each on employee capability.We start off by asking Chris how each is evidenced through the recruitment process and what is best practice around job specifications and assessing skills & attributes at interview.importantly, we also discuss how individuals demonstrate attributes through 'standard' CV's. We then go on to discuss that as you advance up the career ladder, attributes become more important due to leadership roles focusing on supporting businesses through change and or difficulty, changing what you are looking for in these individuals.Of course we see skills shortages mentioned everywhere throughout the press. Have you ever seen an attributes shortage receive the same coverage? Especially with the need for key attributes needed for effective remote working.At the core of this subject of course is how you develop both skills and attributes, and our conversation continues into how businesses can do both and the considerations that need to be made for the different approaches needed.We hope you enjoy the conversation and, as always, if you have any friends or colleagues that you think would enjoy this podcast, please bring them into the conversation.Enjoy the episode.

This week Chris leads us on a great conversation around your Employee Value Proposition (EVP). This is an episode that was recorded a few weeks ago that unfortunately Rachel was unable to join us in recording - don't worry, she is back to full fitness and back with us on the PeopleTalk Podcast!So what is an employee value proposition?As a business, your employee value proposition is the value that you are able to offer your employees, including benefits, environment and the like.This week, me and Chris reflect on our understanding and experience of EVP, how this has changed with the onset of remote and hybrid working, and how employers should now be communicating their EVP to potential and existing employees.The conversation then moves on to how SME's should approach EVP (it is not just a focus for large corporates!), how you need to follow up with your promised benefits and not just pay lip service to them, and whether you can use personal development as part of your EVP.As ever, we love this topic and would love to hear your thoughts. As a topic there is so much to consider around how you structure your EVP and how you keep it current, and so would love to hear your experiences with this.Enjoy the episode.

Happy Birthday....to us!!!!     This week, 'The Peopletalk Podcast' turns 1!! We started out 12 months ago as 3 people coming together to talk about our weeks in the World of People and to act as a support network to each other, a way of sharing our thoughts in the midst of a global lockdown. This week we reflect on our first year as a podcast, our favourite episodes and themes and a few thoughts on the next 12 monthsDiscussing how in years to come these episodes will be like mini time capsules, allowing us to reflect on the changing world through crazy times and look back on what has stuck around, what has flexed and what has returned to the way it was before. Such a cool way of looking at it we thought!So Happy Birthday us and we hope to be celebrating many more in the years to come 

Imposter SyndromeAs we do most week, the subject was recommended to us as a topic, so we start with a good old google search to define and give us some starting structure..... "Imposter syndrome is loosely defined as doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud"Interestingly it went on to say that It disproportionately affects high-achieving people, who find it difficult to accept their accomplishments.This week we covered a range of areas including Our personal experiences...first leadership roles, starting businesses and podcasts...we've been there!How do we support through training within businesses?As it impacts our high achievers, it may not be noticeable, how do we create an environment to have open conversation and support?How do we ensure we limit the impact through a recruitment process and the importance of a full ranging approach to recruitment#podcast #podcasting #impostersyndrome #HR #Humanresources #thepeopletalkpodacast

Resilience This week we chatted about resilience. A great follow up conversation to lasts weeks focus on Mental Health in the Workplace. Paul lead this week and was honest to say he has had a week to forget...isolating after a family member tested positive for Covid (don't worry, they're fine), a lightning strike leading to no internet and any entertainment for home bound Children and being forced to work from home!! Paul was reflecting on his tough couple of weeks and was reading this article (https://positivepsychology.com/resilience-in-the-workplace) and thought it would not only be a timely conversation for him but also a great follow on from last week. The article summarised by saying... "Broadly speaking, resilience is the ability to ‘bounce back’ when encountering the challenges that are an inevitable part of life. The workplace presents a different range of stressors to employees. What is resilience in the workplace? Why is it even important? Can individuals even become more resilient anyway? The exciting thing about resilience is that it is a skill. Like any skill, with practice, resilience can be learned." We covered a few areas in this chat including- What does it actually mean? Why do we recruit for resilience? Is it essential (eg trading conditions or environmental conditions) or do we cover bad behaviour in the business by asking others to tolerate it by showing resilience?How can we develop it in our teams?How do we better support our teams? 

We were joined by another guest this week, which centred around the so very important theme of Mental health in the Work PlaceWe welcomed Chris West.Chris has a huge passion for helping and developing people. Whether this has been supporting team members, peers, graduates, customers or appearing at events and being the one in a group of friends that is there to help. A career in FMCG Sales leadership over nearly 20 years, leading teams, P&L management and national retailer relationships. We know that the last 18 months have been very tough for lots of people and Chris has been open and honest that  physically he struggled with two knee operations, mentally he struggled with the death of two friends. So maybe this has acted as the catalyst for him to make a shift in career away from the corporate environment in to consulting where he will specialise in Advanced Grief recovery, mental health first aid and coaching.This weeks chat was a starting point, a way for us to continue the conversation and give some sight on the value it brings to a business to offer support and create a culture that encourages the conversation.Chris started with the facts...Grief is the conflicting feelings caused by the end of or change to a familiar pattern or behaviour. 72M days lost per year (Mental Health First Aid England is the source) £34.9BN cost to businessesTrue cost estimated to be £105BNWe all have mental health – it’s just where we sit on that scale that’s relevant. Exactly the same as physical health!

31st episode of the PeopleTalk podcast and we're talking about all the positives that we feel are here to stay after the last 18 months and how we are seeing them impacting our worlds in HR, L&D and recruitment.....the overriding theme we chatted through....people are key to business success!! We were are all in agreement that our businesses have sensed and are seeing real positivity and pace in business in the UK in particular, early signs that we may being seeing global talent mobility slowly starting to open up again and that businesses are thinking more than 4 weeks ahead again! A few of the themes we covered- The importance of HR- if the function didnt have a seat at the table, it  does now!Remote working- think more about flexible working; it is more than just WFH...ability to get the job done when it suits you but how do businesses adapt to this. Wellness- is firmly on the agenda with real meaning now not fluffy things!- burnout, mental health, work/life balance are rightly being openly talked about and supported.Onboarding and Company Culture-  the importance of truly understanding your culture and how you bring people in to the business rather than simply relying on the 'office vibe' and free coffee/drinks!Training- a lot of businesses have realised the need to invest here to develop their people. More so in some cases where businesses have realised they can't rely on more casual/informal development in an office environmentLeadership skills- the remote/hybrid leader is evolving. The need for leaders, who have demonstrated adaptability, is #1 on the must have list in recruiting currently.

This week in the UK the sunshine has made an appearance and as we are lucky enough as individuals to have our own businesses and be able to work around this so, we headed out for the day yesterday and thought it might be topical to reflect up on how the change in the seasons can effect employee motivation. HRmanaging your team's attendance at work can sometimes be challenging ? Absence hasn't been managed effectively and sick pay is essentially seen as another way to take holiday.  If you look at the trends in absence very often there will be patterns with the same offenders RecruitmentIn these unprecedented times have traditional peaks changed? Are we seeing trends in the current market?L&DWith spring, is it time for new beginnings and people are generally more energised? Do you see any particular trends in demand for training I.e. teambuilding events? 

This week we reflect upon a topic that Paul came across recently in the Harvard Business Review, the topic of Limits to performance – but more specifically, how some peoples high levels of performance do not translate well when they are promoted. As always, we chat openly around the subject through the lenses of each of Worlds; L&D, Recruitment and HR People Development- Putting in plans to develop and nature high performing talent is key, but what about raising the conversation with those who may not make the next career step in your business, should we have this conversation? Should we have it early or should we support the person if they want to make the move and see if things work?Recruitment- this has huge implications when it comes to a business's hiring strategy. We discussed, hiring potential v's 'ready made', Internal v's external hiring considerations, is there such thing as over promotion? HR– more often than not, the payoff for performing well is that you get the opportunity to climb the career ladder – so if we are saying this can be a poor decision for the individual and the business, how else can we manage performance and reward?

As the World slowly splutters back to life, we chat about the early impact this is having on our Worlds of HR, L&D and Recruitment As we all feel our way back in to some normal life again, how is this journey looking around work, does anyone have the answers and do we foresee this changing as time goes on??We meander our way (as usual!) through the subject this week covering off;- For some businesses, this is feeling like 'start up' territory again...exciting but plenty to do!- Will a nervy candidate market cause challenges in sectors in growth mode?- We have missed the human interaction...but will making time to do it again be a priority? 

This week we attempt to tackle the massive subject that is Social media in 20 minutes!! This will lead to a few spin off episodes to discuss a few topics in more detail. Today, lead by Rachel, we give summary to how Social media impacts each of our Worlds in HR, L&D and Recruitment.Last year over 70% of 18-34 year olds found their new job via socialRecruiting via Social...Do you know and understand your target audience?Creating the right content remains keyPaid marketing is driving increase in performance and reach...therefore we must think like marketeersLearning content is being driven by the 'Youtube effect'Do you HR policies cover Social content?We would love to continue this conversation in further episodes and would love to connect with any digital marketing people or employee lawyers with interest in this space and get you involved...find us via our links in the bio

We hit the quarter century this week with the 25th episode of the PeopleTalk podcast. Today...building trust through recruitment & onboarding, firstly is it possible and more importantly how can we do it. With the changing world of the last 18 months one trend that is shining through currently...the breaking of trust with current or past employers who have gone back on their word and how this is carrying over into recruitment processes for new opportunities...so how so do we build trust from the very first conversation to ensure we bring the best people in to the business and as a candidate you find the right role....and just importantly keep them!With Chris leading today, he has seen that this seems focussed around a couple of key areas currently; flexibility of working in office/remotely and talk of bonus/commission and cynicism around it being paid. So with this in mind how do we build trust with prospective team members through a recruitment process... Today we chatted about-- the moving landscape- if you are still finding your way....be honest!- create open dialogue...and make it 2 way...this has to be right for both sides- don't follow others, be true to you and what your business needs- The opportunity to 'test' each other through a process is key...no surprises on day 1Our key take aways as always revolve around openness, honesty and transparency of conversation 

This week we're talking about the importance of the working environment to employee performance. With the World slowly returning some degree of freedom to us....we hope....today we talked specifically around what the working environment can do to impact performance of the business through the eyes of HR, L&D and Recruitment Rachel started us off defining the 2 aspects to the working environment:Physical environment – contentedness, health and well-being, Open offices were designed for open communication, collaboration and knowledge sharingBehavioural  environment – shaping work enjoyment, working relationships & processes – influenced by leaders & managers We go on to cover a range of topics (some actually related to the title today!) including; Have we seen the trends in environment before but not on this scale? how do you define a culture if you never come together?Do some businesses want to come back in to the office but are too scared to go against the grain of flex and hybrid trends?

This week, Paul lead our conversation around the topic of 'Team Building' which saw us focus particular attention on people returning to a physical office in the coming weeks and months. We feel this is the start in a series of chats around team building , particularly around the building of blended teams, mixing those in office and those remotely joining the set up. Communication and clarity are keyExpectation setting What does 'team' mean in the businessHow to remind yourself that teams all think differently

An ongoing theme in the world of people in the workplace is that of talent. We ourselves have talked around this subject quite a bit recently. Businesses are always on the look-out for their next rising star, or are putting considerable effort to talent development within their business. We discuss this from a slightly different angle today around the question that Paul poses....Is there anything wrong with 'just' being a 'worker'?  What does it mean to be an individual that is happy with their current position, and what does it mean for a business to have employees that don't have lofty aspirations of senior leadership?As always we cover a range of views over the 20 minutes this week which included;businesses should recognise that a team needs a core of solid, stable and reliable workersAs we every sports team, we need the 'water carriers', those who don't seek the spot light and turn out 7/10 every weekIt's still ok to have a high performing culture and bring those in to the business that don't want to over achieve at every turnHow do you develop these individuals in a different way?Leaders may need to learn that some people 'just' want to be solid at their current job

What do you want to be when you 'grow up'We are back for another week of interesting conversation around people in the world of work and this week, as it is National Careers week here in the UK, we are continuing our theme of career development which has seen us cover a few areas over the past weeks including talent engagement and apprenticeships, posing the question....what do you want to be when you grow up!! National Careers Week promotes careers guidance across the UK. National Careers Week started in 2010, after a conversation about how to help students make effective choices about their future career. Now National Careers Week is a celebration of all things careers guidance, which aims to support young people leaving education and moving on to employment. Chris hosts our chat this week, telling us how he often often starts his conversations with potential candidates. When speaking to candidates for the first time, regardless of career journey or level of role, he positions a question to get people talking that always gets a laugh...I'm keen to find out what you want to be when you grow up....and most answer the same way....I am not quite sure I know! As always, our conversations jump around and we cover a range of subjects which include..The growing theme of non linear careers are now meaning the journey is always differentCareers should always be evolving, how have companies change to adapt to thisSome plan whilst others meanderThought diversity is essential in every business, we should remember this when hiringShould you let people leave as a way of them learning and welcome them back in the future? So we pose this questions....What type of career planner are you and is there a right way to do things??

Episode 20!! Today we're talking about the benefits of small teams and the (potentially negative) impact that one person can have on the performance of the team and what happens when you have an employee who isn't happy or not performing at work, they suddenly become a drain on the energy of the team, affecting morale and have the effect of a rotten apple in a fruit bowl!Today we cover a range of themes, as always, including;the benefits of smaller teamswhy a reduced report line can helpcreating diversity of thought in teamswhy do we ignore poor behavioursperformance management isn't just for managing poor performanceEnjoy this week's chat and as always please rate, comment and share if you've enjoyed! 

So,  in the UK it's #NationalApprenticeshipweek which follows on from last week's podcast when we talked about talent engagement and the benefits of young workers in business and rising stars.We were delighted to welcome our first guest!! We found just the person to talk to... the fabulous Ziggy Pindoria whose business is Aspire2Learn (https://aspire2learn.com/).   Ziggy's mission is to enable a positive change in life when starting in your career and provide continued opportunity to develop knowledge, skills and behaviours relevant to your chosen profession through delivering training and apprenticeship training.We chatted about all things apprenticeshipsWhat are apprenticeships?Best practice in terms of attracting the right people into apprenticeships and matching with the employer? (recruitment)The benefits to business and how not to do it….Ziggy has some great examples!Benefits of work based learningBenefits to employee’s and how apprenticeships can shape career pathwaysAnd as always we finished with our takeaways and top tips to developing a skilled and motivated workforce through the use of ApprenticeshipsWe would love to continue our thinking around talent development, so if you are a willing guest let us know!!