Show Notes
Whilst we’re seeing tons of innovation in some of the key employee processes, reward and recognition can often be put in the ‘too difficult’ box. Recognition efforts often lack differentiation and are just vanilla or one-size-fits-all, and flexible benefits packages, meant to deliver choice, can too often feel overwhelming or unclear to employees. This week’s guest Rachel Richards, Reward and People Operations Director at Virgin Group, joins Lucy to share how they have broken away from the usual script. She shares their new benefits arrangements and how they've made them feel more meaningful, clear, and truly relevant. In this episode you’ll hear how to engage your employees in shaping reward and recognition, how to create benefits from a position of trust and provide an offering that feels inclusive, brand-aligned and genuinely compelling - without increasing spend. It’s a conversation about trust, transparency, and the courage to break away from vanilla rewards to build something that reflects modern lives and makes employees proud. Chapters (00:03) Revolutionizing Employee Benefits at Virgin (08:30) Enhancing Employee Benefits Through Engagement (16:29) Empowering Flexibility and Wellbeing at Work (24:56) Designing Employee Benefits With Purpose Contact Rachel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelreclarke/ Disruptive HR Website: www.disruptivehr.com Join the Disruptive HR Club https://disruptivehr.com/the-club/ Email: [email protected]
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Is HR ready to become People and Culture? HR may have moved beyond its traditional role, is it really ready to become something bigger? For organisations to succeed, they need engaged people working in high-performing teams. But creating that kind of workplace requires HR to think differently about how we align purpose, values, strategy, processes and behaviour, and how we create cultures that are not only high-performing, but fair, kind, inclusive and sustainable. Join Lucy and David Liddle as they discuss replacing adversarial grievance and disciplinary procedures with a resolution-first approach, why compliance and compassion aren’t opposites, how traditional processes can destroy trust and relationships, and what becomes possible when we assume that adults are capable of resolving many workplace issues themselves. They also look at the future role of HR: spending less time managing bureaucracy and more time listening, interpreting people data and helping leaders anticipate what may happen next. Finally, they explore why AI is fundamentally a people and culture issue and the opportunity for HR to shape its adoption so that it augments human capability without diminishing judgement or connection. David is CEO of the TCM Group and President of the People and Culture Institute. For more than 25 years, he and his team have worked with organisations around the world on conflict resolution, leadership development and cultural change. Chapters
In this episode of HR Disrupted, Lucy Adams is joined by Andy Doyle, Chief People and Agent Officer at Kantar. While much of the conversation around AI focuses on hype or fear, Andy shares a grounded, practical perspective on how Kantar has embedded AI agents into the heart of its HR operations. Lucy and Andy dig into why Kantar chose to take this path and how their ambitions evolved along the way. What started as a cost and efficiency conversation quickly expanded into something far more strategic – rethinking how work gets done and what HR’s role should be in that shift. Andy shares the realities behind building AI capability in-house, the importance of leadership courage, and why HR professionals need to get comfortable owning technology, not just responding to it. The discussion also tackles the implications for the HR function itself. As AI agents take on more transactional work, what’s left for HR? Andy offers a clear view: this is an opportunity for HR to become more impactful, not less – but only if it’s willing to step up, experiment, and lead from the front. This episode is a practical look at what it really takes to move from AI curiosity to meaningful transformation. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and why AI is dominating the agenda 07:30 Why Kantar decided to invest in AI agents 18:45 What they actually built – from payroll to employee support 30:10 Lessons learned and challenges along the way 41:20 The future role of HR in an AI-enabled organisation About Andy DoyleAndy Doyle is Chief People and Agent Officer at Kantar. Connect with Andy on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajdoyle/ Useful Links Find out more about Disruptive HR: www.disruptivehr.com Get in touch: [email protected] Check out The Disruptive HR Club: https://disruptivehr.com/ https://disruptivehr.com/the-club/
n this episode, Lucy Adams is joined by Eva Murciano to explore one of the biggest challenges facing organisations today: how to keep careers moving in environments where people stay for a long time. Drawing on Eva’s experience at the European Central Bank, they unpack the tension between having a highly committed, purpose-driven workforce and the unintended consequences of low turnover; stagnation, limited progression, and skills that risk becoming outdated. Their conversation challenges the traditional idea of career progression as a ladder to climb. Instead, Lucy and Eva discuss the need to reframe careers around growth, skills, and experiences. They explore why both employees and managers often resist internal mobility, and what organisations can do to shift mindsets. From redefining success to making movement the norm rather than the exception, this episode offers practical insight into what it really takes to future-proof careers. Eva also shares how the ECB is experimenting with a structured approach to mobility through its “3–5–8 model,” encouraging employees to think proactively about their next move. It’s an honest discussion about what works, what’s still evolving, and why HR has a critical role to play in nudging both individuals and leaders towards more dynamic, flexible career paths. Chapters00:00 – Rethinking careers in a fast-changing world08:12 – The hidden challenge of long-tenured workforces16:45 – Why internal mobility is so hard to make happen25:30 – The 3–5–8 model: encouraging movement and growth33:10 – What HR can do to shift mindsets and behaviours About Eva MurcianoEva Murciano is an HR leader at the European Central Bank, with a focus on talent, development, and organisational effectiveness. She is passionate about enabling people to grow through diverse experiences and helping organisations build more agile, future-ready workforces. Contact Eva https://www.linkedin.com/in/eva-murciano-831a5a13/ Useful LinksFind out more about Disruptive HR: www.disruptivehr.comGet in touch: [email protected] out The Disruptive HR Club: https://disruptivehr.com/https://disruptivehr.com/the-club/
In this episode, Lucy Adams and Karen Moran take stock of the people and work trends that are likely to shape 2026. Drawing on what they’re seeing across organisations right now, they focus on the changes that genuinely matter for HR and leaders, from shifting employee expectations to the growing pressure on organisations to operate with greater trust and transparency. They explore how ideas about leadership, performance and culture are continuing to evolve, why traditional HR models are being stretched, and what this means for areas such as hybrid working, capability building and organisational design. The discussion highlights where HR can add the most value over the next few years, and where it may need to step back from long-established but increasingly unhelpful practices. Lucy and Karen also reflect on what this moment means for HR more broadly, and how teams can prepare for 2026 in a way that is pragmatic, human and grounded in reality. The HR Disrupted podcast will be taking a break due to other commitments but the conversation very much continues! For more insights from Lucy and the team at Disruptive HR, check out the website at www.disruptivehr.com. Chapters 00:00 – Looking ahead: Why 2026 is a turning point for work09:10 – Shifting expectations: What employees and leaders want next21:05 – Rethinking HR models: What may need to change or disappear34:00 – What’s next: Preparing for 2026 Useful Links Find out more about Disruptive HR: www.disruptivehr.comGet in touch: [email protected] out The Disruptive HR Club: https://disruptivehr.com/the-club/
HR doesn’t struggle with not having enough data - we’ve got tons of it. Engagement scores, churn and absenteeism rates, performance ratings, DEI metrics - the works. But can we honestly say we’re brilliant at using that data to drive our people strategies? The answer is probably, “not yet.” So, this episode explores how we can get better at turning data into real insight and how that insight can help us build more trust, better performance, and stronger cultures. Lucy is joined by Jenny Deaborn who’s spent her career helping organisations do exactly that. Her new book, The Insight-Driven Leader, is a practical roadmap for HR teams and leaders who want to make analytics genuinely useful and human. Drawing on over 100 one-to-one interviews with CEOs, CHROs and board members, Jenny explains why the best organisations aren’t using “magic” HR metrics – they’re just using familiar ones with far more rigour. She unpacks why “regrettable attrition of top performers in critical roles” beats a single company-wide turnover number every time, how to define “top performer” and “critical role” with real fidelity, and why every good HR metric should be in service of a small handful of measures the board genuinely cares about. They then dig into what it really means to be an insight-driven leader rather than just “data-informed”: connecting people data with customer metrics to show where revenue, risk and growth are truly sitting in your workforce. Jenny shares practical examples of using AI to join up disparate data sources, warning that technology is no longer the barrier – mindset and culture are. Chapters 02:15 – Jenny’s story: neurodiversity, quotas and the credibility that comes with numbers 08:35 – Business-first HR: the tiny set of people metrics CEOs and boards really care about 16:50 – From data-informed to insight-driven: joining HR, CRM and ERP data (and where AI helps) 25:20 – Is your culture ready for analytics? Plus practical first steps for aspiring insight-driven CHROs Disruptive HR Find out more about Disruptive HR: www.disruptivehr.comGet in touch: [email protected] out The Disruptive HR Club: https://disruptivehr.com/the-club/ Contact Jenny https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennydearborn/