HR People Pod – Ep 45: The problem with pay secrecy | Pressure-proof managers | Are PIPs broken?
CIPDShow Notes
Why are so many employers still hiding salary details when candidates increasingly expect pay transparency? While technical capability might win a promotion, are organisations doing enough to prepare managers for the pressure that comes with leadership? And when performance improvement plans (PIPs) are so often seen as a step towards the exit, can they still be a credible tool for improvement?
CIPD Director of Profession David D’Souza, is joined by Sally Hopper, Director of People at London Fire Brigade, and David Blackburn, Managing Director of David R. Blackburn Consulting.
Recorded: 20 March 2026
---
Explore more from this episode: CIPD – Tracking law changes: Employment Rights Act 2025
Your next listen: HR People Pod – Ep37: Leading under pressure – with Professor Kevin Fong CIPD Podcast – Episode 194: Is pay transparency good for business Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from CIPD
What opportunities does building commercial acumen as a skillset bring for the profession? Does quality of management matter more than any productivity metric? And what does it take for organisations to be bold about AI, without being reckless?
AI governance, the framework that ensures AI is deployed ethically, transparently and with proper accountability, is no longer a secondary concern. It is foundational to organisational stability and trust. Yet governance has not kept pace with implementation, exposing organisations to real business risks: loss of trust, reputational damage or litigation. But good AI governance doesn’t slow innovation. It establishes the foundations that make innovation possible.
The CIPD’s latest Resourcing and talent planning 2026 report, supported by Omni, reveals that an increasing number of organisations are extending their workforce planning timeframes from the short to the medium term. Overall, 24% take a short-term approach (up to six months), down from 31% in 2024. However just a fraction of organisations (16%) are planning more than two years into the future.
What does it really mean for an organisation to know its culture, and is it possible to borrow the best bits of someone else’s? Who should hold responsibility for shaping culture when roles and structures are shifting so fast? And as AI transforms the workplace, can it be a genuine ally in culture change rather than a threat to it?
According to UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), there are approximately 548,400 refugees in the UK – yet many highly qualified, experienced people remain locked out of meaningful work. Not by ability, but by structural barriers: recruitment processes that filter out valuable candidates, unrecognised or unfamiliar qualifications, and in many cases, a basic misconception among employers about whether refugees can legally be employed at all.