A brief 2 minute peek into the wonderful conversation with Dr James Cusack - Full Episode - Episode 2 of series 7.

Bio – Dr James Cusack, CEO - ⁠Autistica⁠

In 2015 James became the national autism charity, ⁠Autistica’s, ⁠Director of Science. During this time, he has been at the heart of the charity’s growth and impact, including devising and overseeing its national research network; identifying, supporting and funding high-impact scientific studies; making Autistica a global leader in authentic community involvement and making health inequalities a priority for the charity, its beneficiaries and governments around the world.

In August 2020 James became the first openly autistic charity CEO and leads the world-renowned organisation.

Before joining Autistica, James had a successful career working for the ⁠University of Aberdeen⁠ in autism research.

James has a degree in psychology, a PhD in Biological Motion perception and undertook post-doctorate research with the University of Aberdeen before joining Autistica and being recognised as a rising star by the ⁠Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) ⁠and named in ⁠The Shaw Trust 100 Disability Power 100⁠ a list of the most influential disabled in the UK.

Throughout his career as a researcher and with Autistica, James has championed the needs and rights of those diagnosed with autism. James most recently unveiled ambitious goals that aim to transform the future of autistic people by 2030.

Podcast Outline

• Early Years & Influences

• Career Path

• ⁠Dame Stephanie Shirley⁠ - The Autistica Story

• Autism and Leadership

• Neurodiversity in the Workplace

• ⁠The Future - 2030⁠

• Sharing an insight that could help others in a leadership role

Bio – Dr James Cusack, CEO - Autistica

In 2015 James became the national autism charity, Autistica’s, Director of Science. During this time, he has been at the heart of the charity’s growth and impact, including devising and overseeing its national research network; identifying, supporting and funding high-impact scientific studies; making Autistica a global leader in authentic community involvement and making health inequalities a priority for the charity, its beneficiaries and governments around the world.

In August 2020 James became the first openly autistic charity CEO and leads the world-renowned organisation.

Before joining Autistica, James had a successful career working for the University of Aberdeen in autism research.

James has a degree in psychology, a PhD in Biological Motion perception and undertook post-doctorate research with the University of Aberdeen before joining Autistica and being recognised as a rising star by the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) and named in The Shaw Trust 100 Disability Power 100 a list of the most influential disabled in the UK.

Throughout his career as a researcher and with Autistica, James has championed the needs and rights of those diagnosed with autism. James most recently unveiled ambitious goals that aim to transform the future of autistic people by 2030.

Podcast Outline

• Early Years & Influences

• Career Path

• Dame Stephanie Shirley - The Autistica Story

• Autism and Leadership

• Neurodiversity in the Workplace

• The Future - 2030

• Sharing an insight that could help others in a leadership role

• Close

Series 7 (Leadership) - Episode 1. 100% Fluff-Free ED&I Sue Johnson

Our guest, Sue Johnson, has had a fascinating and very successful career, from the shop floor, and supply chain to becoming a leading voice in all matters concerning diversity and inclusion. She’s working with corporations around the world. Sue has a direct, engaging and highly effective way of covering key aspects, of what can lead to challenging introspection within the boardroom. She is highly adept at conveying the importance of introducing an effective Equity Diversity and Inclusion strategy within a business.

A podcast that is well worth a listen if ED&I is on your to-do list, for improvement, implementation or review.

Content

· Early Years & Influences

· Sue’s Career path Nestle, PwC, Odgers Berndston

· What is EDI and why is it important for employers?

· Examples of EDI failures, and how not to do it.

· A word about being “fluff-free”.

· Addressing bias, unconscious or conscious

· Advantages of a proactive approach

· Recruiting for success

· The future – where should we be in 5 years?

· A lesson learnt/ single insight to share that could help others.

Q&A - A sample of the questions provided by our audience ahead of recording the podcast. A big thank you to all who submitted their questions.

Q1. Holly Marsh, Talent Development Manager in London asks -

"Many organisations use apprenticeships as a tool to bring in new talent and diversify the workforce. What are the the main challenges associated with this and what solutions can be put in place?"

Q2. Kiera in Birmingham asks "Can you give an example of how you make your direct reports feel a sense of inclusion, belonging, and equity on a daily basis?"

Bio ⁠– Sue Johnson⁠

Sue Johnson is the Managing Partner of ⁠Inclusion & Diversity Consulting at Odgers Berndtson⁠. Having spent the first 15 years of her career in Operations and Sales, Sue has first-hand knowledge and experience of how and why Inclusion & Diversity, as an integral part of the organisation DNA, will step change business performance.

Prior to joining the Odgers Berndtson group, Sue was the Global Chief Diversity Officer for the Nestle group, and then led the Inclusion client practice at PwC Switzerland. Sue has worked cross-industry and cross-border, with clients from: Private banking, Sporting organisations, Pharma & Life science, Humanitarian sector, FMCG and Life sciences.

Sue is a renowned and passionate advocate for Inclusion and has spoken at the United Nations, Catalyst, women’s forum etc. and specialises on educating Executives, guiding, and challenging them to deliver results as organisations embark on their journey of cultural change.

Sue is ensconced into Warwickshire village life, being a School Governor (a much easier task in some ways than running the PTA!), writing grant letters to rebuild the local scout hut (£24k down this year, £41 to go), baking cakes for the local Library café, entering multiple categories in the village show and playing for the local B tennis team - whilst spending as much time as possible on adventures with her kids.

Nestlé: Good food, Good life | Nestlé Global

PwC UK - Building relationships, creating value

Executive Search and Recruitment - UK & International | Odgers Berndtson

IDCN - Home

Get a flavour of our fabulous chat with Sue Johnson, covering key aspects and the importance of introducing an effective Equity Diversity and Inclusion strategy within your business.

Full episode release date - 11th September.

· Early Years & Influences

· Career path

· What is EDI and why is it important for employers?

· Examples of EDI failures, how not to do it.

· A word about being “fluff free”.

· Addressing bias, unconscious or conscious

· Advantages of a proactive approach

· Recruiting for success

· The future – where should we be in 10 years?

· A lesson learnt/ single insight to share that could help others.

Bio ⁠– Sue Johnson⁠

Sue Johnson is the Managing Partner of ⁠Inclusion & Diversity Consulting at Odgers Berndtson⁠. Having spent the first 15 years of her career in Operations and Sales, Sue has first-hand knowledge and experience of how and why Inclusion & Diversity, as an integral part of the organisation DNA, will step change business performance.

Prior to joining the Odgers Berndtson group, Sue was the Global Chief Diversity Officer for the Nestle group, and then led the Inclusion client practice at PwC Switzerland. Sue has worked cross-industry and cross-border, with clients from: Private banking, Sporting organisations, Pharma & Life science, Humanitarian sector, FMCG and Life sciences.

Sue is a renowned and passionate advocate for Inclusion and has spoken at the United Nations, Catalyst, women’s forum etc. and specialises on educating Executives, guiding, and challenging them to deliver results as organisations embark on their journey of cultural change.

Sue is ensconced into Warwickshire village life, being a School Governor (a much easier task in some ways than running the PTA!), writing grant letters to rebuild the local scout hut (£24k down this year, £41 to go), baking cakes for the local Library café, entering multiple categories in the village show and playing for the local B tennis team - whilst spending as much time as possible on adventures with her kids.

In this special episode we meet hugely experienced and successful business owner and Health & Safety Consultant Sarah Daniels. Sarah appeared as one of our contributors to offer thoughts on the HReSource survey and our conversation proved one that deserved airing in full...so here it is. We cover a range of issues from workloads to the Governments response to Covid-19 and the subsequent lessons we should be learning. BIO Sarah Daniels Supercharged and pragmatic Risk Management Practitioner, with big hair, she loves chocolate, Cake and Gin & laughs like a Dragon! Sarah is a Chartered Practitioner by profession. She founded the bespoke Health and Safety Consultancy The RedCat Partnership Ltd in 1999, after she found that helping people suited her skill set & personality more than the Enforcement work, she was doing! As if running one business wasn’t enough, she opened No8 Thorpe Road a shared office space back in 2014 before hybrid working was a real thing! Like RedCat No8 has exceptional sustainability credentials, and a personal service. Enabling Sarah to have the workspace she has always desired. If Sarah wasn’t helping folks with their Risk Management, she would be a florist, or a gardener preferably living in Northern Portugal. https://www.redcatpartnership.co.uk/

This video features three individuals who have reviewed this years survey and work directly with HR teams across the UK.

Each provides a view on key aspects of the findings.

Innes Clark - Head of Employment at Morton Fraser

Lucy Cotterell - HR Consultant at Mogers Drewett

Sarah Daniels - Health & Safety Consultant at The RedCat Partnership

Business owners have faced more challenges and changes over the past three years than any time in living memory. Each decade presents its own issues. In recent history, The financial crisis of 2008/9 and the subsequent recession were certainly no easy ride.

To obtain a copy of the survey email info@hresource.co.uk

The recession of 2008 was tough, however, combining the impact of global and local events we can start to put the past three years into perspective. We’ve had to deal with Covid-19, the aftermath of Brexit, global warming, the largest European conflict since the end of world war two, the resultant energy crisis, inflation and subsequent rapid rise in interest rates leading to a cost-of-living crisis and widespread industrial action. It all adds up to a bitter cocktail of pain and uncertainty for business owners and their employees.

For this year’s HReSource survey respondents were asked to submit their insights across a wide variety of topical issues impacting the productivity and overall performance of their respective organisations. The objective was to understand the response to those challenges and informed views on immediate actions and priorities as they prepare for yet another difficult year.

The results highlight the need for businesses to remain agile and connected to their workforce.

Headline findings feature the highest-ranked priorities for 2023.

The greatest challenges facing employers.

Plus this year’s report also highlights the distinct shift in priorities of employers in the UK, notable when we contrast with findings from pre-pandemic surveys.

HR professionals are at the sharp end of tackling the issues arising out of the mix of local, national, and global events. Unsurprisingly those reporting an increase in workload stand at 81% with those stating a “significant rise in workload” increasing by 44% over our 2018 survey.

These findings reflect the difficulties employers are having in retaining talent and subsequently resourcing appropriate replacements.

Julie Ouzman Group HR Director at Holdcroft Motor Group, Stoke-on-Trent, confirmed, “Retention of staff will be our greatest challenge this year due to pay and working patterns for certain roles within the company. The opportunity will be to grow our own 'apprenticeship scheme' for technicians across the group.”

Ceri Mallon, HR Manager at Everun, Belfast, on the topic of challenges ahead added, “Retaining key employees as the business grows - important to ensure that we keep experience and knowledge within the business as we onboard new employees.”

Innes Clark, Head of Employment Law at Morton Fraser LLP commented "It is very interesting to see that almost a quarter of respondents selected Flexible Working as the area of law they would like to have reviewed. Whilst the Government is due to implement reforms to this area it is unlikely that these will satisfy employers given that the proposed changes are largely employee rather than employer friendly."

David Laud of HReSource commented on the findings, “Business owners need to move swiftly, adapt to remain resilient and deliver their plans. Those that succeed will be organisations that demonstrate agility and an ability to flex with the trends accelerated by recent world events.”

The answer may not be as simple as implementing a 4-day week, which most respondents will consider over the next two years. What is clear is that doing nothing and expecting things to improve could be a highly risky strategy.

In this episode of Insight we meet someone I’ve not seen, in the flesh, for over 40 years. We were at school together, a Grammar school in Gloucester of which he is now rightly regarded as one their high achiever alumni. After exams one of us formed a punk then indie band, getting signed by Virgin and the other joined an insurance company…

My guest has had a quite the career, not least because he penned and performed one of the all time classic alternative rock tracks “Unbelievable” but essentially he didn’t rest on his laurels and has gone on to work and continue to collaborate with some of the biggest stars in the music industry.

Bio – Ian Dench

Ian Dench is a highly successful and critically acclaimed musician and songwriter. He originally found fame as the guitarist and primary songwriter for the electronic rock band EMF, best known for their 1991 hit "Unbelievable”. The band enjoyed eight top 30 hits in the UK Singles Chart and three UK top 30 albums. Of course, “Unbelievable” was the big hit, making no.3 in the UK charts and no.1 in the US. His song writing talent has earned both Golden Globe and Grammy nominations for his work on Beyonce’s "Once In a Lifetime." He also won an Ivor Novello award for composing Beautiful Liar, performed by Beyonce and Shakira, in the Best-Selling British Song Category, 2008. As is often the case successful song writing can result from the spark of collaboration and Ian has worked on a number of joint projects notably with music executive and composer Amanda Ghost.

His career in music has also included time as an industry exec as Vice President in charge of A&R at Epic Records in New York.

Before Fame

Ian attended The Crypt Grammar School in Gloucester from 1975, where one year at Prizegiving, his chosen prize of "100 Greatest Rock Licks" was somewhat frowned upon. Ian began his music career with Gloucester punk band Curse. He later became a member of the bands Apple Mosaic (signed with Virgin Music), EMF and Whistler.

Trivia

His guitar riff for "Unbelievable" was named as one of the 100 Greatest Guitar Riffs by BBC Radio 2 in 2014.

Family Life

He learned classical guitar from his father, Harold Dench.

Also Associated With

Ian has worked with many artists in addition to Beyoncé and Shakira these include Brian Eno, Tom Jones, Dido, Ian Brown, Amanda Ghost, Florence and the Machine, Texas, Sub Focus, Beverley Knight, Alesha Dixon, All Saints, Tina Arena, Boy George, Daniel Merriweather and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks.

Ian Dench – Twitter @liveid6

Outline

· Early years - Cheltenham

· School – prize giving and beyond choosing a career path

· Musical influences

· Punk, Curse and Apple Mosaic

· EMF origin story – honorary forester

· Writing, rehearsing, and releases

· Chart success and dealing with fame, fans, friends and family

· Sustaining the band, brand and business

· Creative collaborations – Amanda Ghost

· VP A&R New York - Epic Records

· LGM Records, Sine Digital Marketing Agency

· Future plans and projects

· A lesson learnt/ insight to share that could help others.

POD PEEK - Extracts from the full 50 minute podcast

Bio – Ian Dench

Ian Dench is a highly successful and critically acclaimed musician and songwriter. He originally found fame as the guitarist and primary songwriter for the electronic rock band EMF, best known for their 1991 hit "Unbelievable”. The band enjoyed eight top 30 hits in the UK Singles Chart and three UK top 30 albums. Of course, “Unbelievable” was the big hit, making no.3 in the UK charts and no.1 in the US. His song writing talent has earned both Golden Globe and Grammy nominations for his work on Beyonce’s "Once In a Lifetime." He also won an Ivor Novello award for composing Beautiful Liar, performed by Beyonce and Shakira, in the Best-Selling British Song Category, 2008. As is often the case successful song writing can result from the spark of collaboration and Ian has worked on a number of joint projects notably with music executive and composer Amanda Ghost.

His career in music has also included time as an industry exec as Vice President in charge of A&R at Epic Records in New York.

Before Fame

Ian attended The Crypt Grammar School in Gloucester from 1975, where one year at Prizegiving, his chosen prize of "100 Greatest Rock Licks" was somewhat frowned upon. Ian began his music career with Gloucester punk band Curse. He later became a member of the bands Apple Mosaic (signed with Virgin Music), EMF and Whistler.

Trivia

His guitar riff for "Unbelievable" was named as one of the 100 Greatest Guitar Riffs by BBC Radio 2 in 2014.

Family Life

He learned classical guitar from his father, Harold Dench.

Also Associated With

Ian has worked with many artists in addition to Beyoncé and Shakira these include Brian Eno, Tom Jones, Dido, Ian Brown, Amanda Ghost, Florence and the Machine, Texas, Sub Focus, Beverley Knight, Alesha Dixon, All Saints, Tina Arena, Boy George, Daniel Merriweather and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks.

Ian Dench – Twitter @liveid6

Outline

· Early years - Cheltenham

· School – prize-giving and beyond choosing a career path

· Musical influences

· Punk, Curse and Apple Mosaic

· EMF origin story – honorary forester

· Writing, rehearsing, and releases

· Chart success and dealing with fame, fans, friends and family

· Sustaining the band, brand and business

· Creative collaborations – Amanda Ghost

· VP A&R New York - Epic Records

· LGM Records, Sine Digital Marketing Agency

· Future plans and projects

· A lesson learnt/ insight to share that could help others.