The Human Factor Podcast by SAP: Recent Episodes
SAP SE
The Human Factor Podcast series hosted by Michael Esau (Global HXM Value Advisory) and Simon Humphreys (Global HXM Solution Advisory) will be exploring topics, trends, challenges, and opportunities facing organisations today. Listen as Michael and Simon explore with their guests including HR leaders, influencers, experts, authors, and advisors from inside and outside of the SAP ecosystem their insights, experiences, and guidance on relevant topics from the world of work. On each episode, they will be discussing in detail with guests the topics and themes that challenge and inspire us every day and their impact on the success and sustainability of our organisations.
All episodes are available via popular podcast platforms including SoundCloud, iTunes, and Spotify.
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As human beings – what do we set out to achieve every day? From a human psychology perspective we know that all humans want to have a productive day in a relative sense, need to have a feeling of achievement, attainment or a feeling of being appreciated. As we have said on a regular basis on the podcast – what needs to happen for a person to go home at the end of the day and say “I had a good day”.
Throughout our series – we have touched on this topic many times, but there is still much to learn. Many of us operate within a team structure. We discussed team dynamics with the wonderful Paul Gustard and how he aligns, connects and drives the performance of his teams. Damian Hughes very kindly shared his views on how a performance culture is created. But we want to dig deeper into something we believe to be absolutely fundamental and a question that persists – how is the overall climate created and sustained by leaders, but also by the team itself to ensure goals are met, standards are maintained and all parties feel they are operating in a equitable and inclusive environment?
The word culture has been front and centre over the last 3 years especially in a business context and culture is integral to achieving on a day to day basis. Climate however is different – climate describes what it “feels like” to be in that team, in that group/situation and how is that climate conducive to people achieving their goals? Its our view that building and sustaining standards requires a considerable effort, building a culture of continuous growth requires a commitment from everyone – so the question persists – how is that done, how is that achieved?
We will be exploring all this today with Maggie and tapping into her extensive experiences.
In all walks of life, and one of the great natural feelings of being a human being is that gut instinct for something. That feeling about something, a feeling in the stomach, a nagging doubt or a natural intuition. It’s fair to say we will have all experienced it at some point in our life.
In the world of business or sport or any industry where decisions made purely on instinct can be extremely costly, turning instinct into hard fact is an absolute imperative. In the world of work, this is where reporting and analytics support the process in a very big way and this is where the importance of raw data surfaces its head again. Data pulled from multiple sources can be examined to support or reject hypotheses (those gut feelings).
In the world of sport, analytics has become more and more integral to successful performance across a multitude of processes and disciplines - providing insights into individual and team performance both on and off the field of play. For example – it is used to determine tactics to win a match, it is used to monitor and prevent injuries to players, it is used to assist decisions made on buying or selling players where huge sums of money are spent on talent. To support this, more and more data is captured and analysed than ever before.
How then can technology sift through all this data and provide insights that will lead to the promised land of successful performance outcomes.
For this episode we will be diving back into the world of football and are super excited to be joined by someone who is leveraging analytics in a VERY big way to support the organisation and performance of his club TSG Hoffenheim in the German Bundesliga – the highest football league in Germany.
Over the last 15 to 20 years as the age of consumerisation and digital has taken hold – the fabric of how we live our lives has changed beyond recognition. We now have the capability to curate and design the experiences that help us to live our life the way we wish – how we communicate, how we learn, how we connect, how we shop, how we transact, how we consume music, entertainment. This has then led to a broader decision about how the different elements are connected together – so I can surface data in one location, access all records at any one time, connect different devices around a home or with my car and much more.
Organisations in the last 20 years and this very much links into the future of work, have needed to understand this changing context and replicate the experiences people are having at home. For many this has required a reimagination of data, process, insights, roles, operating models, permission models and much more – but it has presented an amazing opportunity for organisations to enhance how they execute their strategy, drive efficiencies when possible and be even more effective with all decision taken related to people.
We welcome the opportunity to discuss this enormous topic with Marc Starfield who has been championing and creating integrated and connected platforms and experiences over the last 15 to 20 years, most recently as the Group Head of HR Programmes and Systems at Vodafone.
Originally composed of 20 street performers in 1984, Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group completely reinvented circus arts and has become a world leader in live entertainment. Established in Montreal, the Canadian organization has brought wonder and delight to over 180 million spectators with productions presented in 450 cities in 60 countries. Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group currently employs 4,000 people, including 1,300 artists, who originate from nearly 50 countries.
The key question however – how do they do it??. As spectators, we marvel at the skill, the daring, the execution of acts we can only dream about, but it doesn’t happen by accident. Creating the culture and conditions for this amazing talent to grow and prosper takes real commitment and real focus. This begins by finding the right talent, bringing them into the organisation and then preparing them to participate in amazing shows. These can be complex processes that require time, patience, structure, leadership and much more.
In this episode – we will be exploring with Marie Noelle what happens behind the curtain every day to help create the greatest show on earth.
Inclusivity, parity, acceptance, fairness, equality, diversity – these are common descriptive labels that we hear and see every day. As we begin 2023 a question that needs to be asked – are we making enough progress?
Last summer the England womens football team, known as the Lionesses, won the European Championship for the first time. It was an amazing tournament and one that will hopefully inspire younger generations to break through glass ceilings everywhere. But where do we go from here. The title of the episode today, “They think its all over, its only just begun” was an amazing way to summarise the success of the Lionesses, but also the tournament as a whole and what it could mean for womens football. Nearly 12 months on and the women’s game has gone from strength to strength with games taking place in landmark stadiums and achieving record crowds but the question still persists – why has it been so hard to achieve?Achieving parity has been an issue for many years, but creating the climate and conditions where people are treated equally and inclusively remains a perennial challenge.
In addition we have the ongoing debate surrounding generational shifts and the significance of the England women’s team winning the Euros and its ability to inspire the next generation should not be lost, But rather than just focus on the younger generations, we should also consider the transition from younger generation to middle age and how does age change our mindset. Do our life goals and priorities change when we reach mid-life? Is enough done to support people through the mid-life stage to enable it to be more productive and less disrupted.
We will be discussing these important topics and more with Gabby today and delving into her experiences of growing up in a sporting family and observing first hand her own experiences relating to inclusivity, achieving parity and also what it means for people when they approach mid-life.
Throughout our podcast series we have touched on the areas of performance and personal growth. A common thread throughout many of the conversations has been the importance of doing the basics brilliantly as part of our daily performance.
What we haven’t perhaps discussed so far what “performance” actually means and how do we influence it, improve it and benefit from it. Over the last couple of years the term “high performance” has been coined and used extensively and I believe that has perhaps created a perception that only a small percentage can actually achieve “high performance” and can act as an inhibitor. So what is the bedrock of performance???
I love the quote from James March (Professor at Stanford University) “Neither Success nor Change requires dramatic action. The conventional, routine activities that produce most organisational change require ordinary people to do ordinary things in a competent way” which reinforces the theory that the execution of the basic fundamentals are the bedrock and foundation of our performance every day.
We will be exploring all this today with Danny and tapping into his work over the last 25 years working with an array of organisations, leaders, and individuals to drive their best level of performance and unblocking the myriad of barriers that often get in the way.
A question – “how well do you know yourself?” Not at a superficial level, but really know yourself. Is understanding oneself something we need to do consciously, is it something that we discover across our lifetime – some may even ask “why is understanding self so important in the first place”? Aristotle once said – “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”. The author Doris Mortman stated “until you make peace with who you are, you will never be content with who you are”
We believe that understanding self is indeed the route to helping us fulfil potential, to realise goals and to achieve a degree of acceptance in relation to who we are. When I was younger, I would have given my right arm to be quicker like my brother, I wanted the confidence of my friends and at times I was envious they could do things I couldn’t and it had a significant impact on my esteem and confidence.
In recent times the term “imposter syndrome” has become much more common and I believe this is a direct correlation of how well we understand self, our capabilities, capacity and impact on others.
We will be exploring all this today with Glenn and tapping into his work over the last 25 years working with an array of organisations, leaders, individual contributors and helping them to fully achieve their potential and goals and to truly get a grasp on self and why they do what they do.
In 2017, Googles DeepMind AlphaGo artificial intelligence defeated the worlds number one Go player Ke Jie. This was considered significant as Go is one of the worlds most complex games and this capability was thought to be another 20 years or so away. The AI built its capability by studying historical matches and playing thousands of games against itself to learn strategies. This felt like a tipping point for technology, finally beating its human creator with more than just brute force techniques. Five years on, the debate is less about what AI can do, and more about the ethics and morality of AI and Robotics. As organisations seek to embrace productivity savings and improvements from use of this technology, there are a number of talking points about the direction of travel that we will look to explore in this podcast. Questions such as should you say please and thank you to a chatbot, why are people outraged when we kick a robot dog, how can we build trust in AI rather than suspicion and doubt.
Guest David Perring, Director of Research at Fosway Group, provides insight on the role and deployment of technology in the digital age.
Through the pandemic and coming out the other side, there were so many column inches on what happened through that time, what it meant for the future and coined the now massively evolved term “The Great Resignation”. There is no doubt that things are different, that period of time arguably “shined a light” on changing expectations, preferences, perceptions towards work – but arguably, it has been a long time coming and maybe we need to take a fresh look at what it actually means to operate in this new era.
Throughout our series we have discussed and explored many of the topics that influence the human being in the workplace and we have discussed & debated the convergence of business, HR, people and technology on a few occasions. As we move into this new era, there is real merit in exploring this further and question whether it is time to change the narrative a little in terms of how organisations drive change, how technology is underpinning and enabling that change and what it means to the individual in terms of adoption and consumption.
We will be exploring this today with David and through the lens of his work as the Director of Research at the Fosway Group and how they advise organisations who are navigating their way through this ever-changing world that we live and work in.
The first definition of culture comes from 19th-century British anthropologist Edward Tylor: Culture…”is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”.
Culture has been called “the way of life for an entire society” In addition to its intrinsic value, culture provides important social and economic benefits. With improved learning and health, increased tolerance, and opportunities to come together with others, culture enhances our quality of life and increases overall well-being for both individuals and communities.
A question however – how is it really created and how is it created at scale? As the world around us evolves at a rate of knots, we have discussed many times on the podcast the changing preferences and expectations of the modern workforce, so how do organisation build, shape and retain a progressive culture that reflects the organisation and results in a successful organisation, happy employees but crucially happy customers.
We will be exploring this today with Sue and through the lens of a family business of multiple generations, where values and culture are absolutely central to their longevity and success.
It has been over one hundred years since the job interview was started by the inventor of the alkaline storage battery, movie camera and the lightbulb – that person was Thomas Edison.
In 1921, Edison was a genius and frustrated with the university graduates who would ask him for a job, and so he developed a general knowledge test. The questions were a mix of literature, history, geography, with some related directly to the job available. The Smithsonian Institute reports only 7 percent of applicants could pass the 146 question quiz. Newspapers of the time reported Edison’s new method of eliminating candidates, which led to more companies using questionnaires. Eventually, the process evolved into the system most firms use today.
As we head further into this decade, I’m sure aspects of what Edison did 100 years ago will still exist in some processes today, but the whole process of sourcing, attracting and actually recruiting someone is very different today and much debate centres on who actually is in control of the process today – the candidate or the employer.
The attraction and retention of talent has always been a perennial challenge, but data is telling us that it is getting harder. Taking into account demographic changes, an aging workforce, the impact of Brexit, there are more open positions today than required candidates. When we also consider more people are choosing to work for themselves, we can see why attraction and retention is getting harder. Is it more than that? Has consumerisation also changed how we look at the process, expecting a seamless, frictionless process, not a long, drawn-out clunky process. It’s clear there is much to debate.
We are delighted to be joined by our guest today who has metaphorically and literally brought “A Fresh Perspective” to the world of attraction and recruitment and will be sharing her thoughts and insights on what has changed, what is working and what needs to be different in the future of the most competitive marketplace in the world.
By 2025 27% of the working population will come from the GenZ population. When we look at the changing demographic, the age profile is shifting quite significantly. There is a greater influx of younger talent moving into the workplace and in years to come will be the future leaders of those respective organisations.
One of the greatest gifts and challenges however when working with young talent is the identification and nurturing of the skills and capabilities that lie within each individual. There are no shortcuts to development, some will develop quicker, some will possess natural ability or wisdom that belies their years. What is clear however, is that it requires great responsibility and commitment. A great example of nurturing and developing young talent is in the world of football, where talent can be signed or associated to a club from ages as young as 6 or 7.
In this episode we are joined by an individual who has devoted much of his career to developing young talent. Paul was a member of the Manchester United coaching team for over 25 years and was instrumental in the growth & development of several players who have gone on to represent Manchester United’s first team and win some of the highest honours in the game – including winning the World Cup with their respective countries. We will be tapping into Paul’s experience and his rich insights into the challenges and complexities of accelerating and nurturing the development of young talent.
Paying people for services delivered has been around for millenia. In the early days, the currency of pay was commodities such as food, salt, grain, clothes, land grants, shelter and even beer. But payroll as a term started to gather pace in the 17th century and Payroll as a term can be traced back to around the middle of the 18th Century. Payroll itself being an amagulation of two words to indicate how much pay is given to a list of employees (ie roll). Taxes have been also around for a long time and in the UK, there have been taxes on fireplaces, windows, printed wallpaper, hats, playing cards and even candles. But in 1798 Income Tax was introduced in the budget by William Pitt the Younger, to help pay for weapons and equipment for the upcoming Napoleonic Wars. This new tax started at 2 old pence in the pound on incomes over £60 and forms the modern day concept of payroll taxes. Since then, the frequency of payroll has been reasonable stable. Generally stabilising into weekly or monthly pay cycles.
But, in recent times, we have had a crippling pandemic. We have seen war in Europe. We have seen significant increases in costs of living and wage freezes. We are starting to see strike action and worker discontent across many UK sectors demanding pay increases to keep pace with inflation. All this has led to significant employee hardships across many industries. So what can be done to help? Today, we will be exploring how organisations can help employees who are struggling with earned wage access, also known as pay on demand.
At some point, we have all likely set goals for ourselves. Whether they are new years resolutions, goals for work, or personal goals the process we went through may have been different. Goals to give up smoking, take the dog for more walks, or losing weight may feature in our home life, and at work, goals such as securing a volume of sales, or increasing customer satisfaction could be set to measure our job performance. The goals we set for ourselves (or maybe someone set them for us) can drive us to better performance, a healthier lifestyle and/or personal development. However, poorly set goals can also have a toxic effect on our self esteem.
In this episode, we will be discussing goal setting, goal measurement, and goal achievement largely in the context of the sporting world and primarily in football. Studies, for example by Edwin A. Locke who is a pioneer in goal-setting theory, have shown that the more specific and ambitious the goal can be, the higher the likelihood of performance improvement as a result. Whether it be at home or at work, as long as the person accepts the goal, has the ability to attain it, and does not have conflicting goals, then there is a positive linear relationship between goal difficulty and task performance.
But our conversation today wont stop at setting goals, we will also explore how we monitor and measure our performance against those we set, and what should we do if we achieve or fail the goals.
Throughout our careers, many of us will fondly recall successful teams we were a part of with a smile and a glint in our eyes. We will reminisce about the bonds and connections made and the mutual success achieved. There will have been something about the team which made it special – the key question - what was it? What specifically made that team successful and a pleasure to be part of. On the flip side – we can all think back to teams we didn’t enjoy being a part of and the variety of reasons that determined that experience. We have concluded through this series that the psychology behind us as people is crucial when we think about the design of work and teams – we need certain things to happen to enable us to be successful. For the majority of people, they want to be successful, they want to grow, be a part of something – but the dynamics of a team can get in the way. The culture of it, the different roles, how is accountability shared, where does the decision-making lie, what if people don’t get on – this is the reality of a dynamic team and it doesn’t happen by accident. Today we will explore this topic in detail with someone who has been a member of many successful teams and is now heavily involved in the curation, growth and development of a team in the elite sporting arena of Rugby Union.
The Human Factor Ep 19: The Evolving Role of HR and the Agile Workforce Guests: Mark Brooks Lewis, Founder & CEO of LavaSource HR, and Tom Holmes, Co-Founder and Director of Veran Performance
During our podcast series, the role of HR has been central to many of our conversations. As the custodian for people, HR arguably has a more important role than ever in charting a course into the next phase of the world of work. Over the last 50 years, HR as a function has been through many iterations and there are more column inches to read than is feasible on what the future of HR looks like.
In the past HR has perhaps been its worst enemy and has viewed its future and relevance through its own lens a little too much. As we come through the pandemic, its clear the world of work wont be the same and a major driver of that change is the workforce. A group of people who in parts of the world are voting with their feet. Its argued that the Great Resignation in some quarters has been over played and that may be the case, but we have other data points to show the issue in front of us. Just look at Gallup data over the last 10 years on employee engagement – people may not be leaving in the numbers quoted, but it doesn’t mean the people working for you are engaged and happy.
So I think as we head into this decade, there is a real opportunity for the future of HR and the future workforce to converge – to create a sustainable future for organisations built on a workplace experience that engages and enables individuals to be their brilliant best every day.
Today – we will be tapping into the thoughts of Tom and Mark who both operate at this intersection every day.
Key Topics
The role of HR today, tomorrow and in the future…..
Insights on the key changes that HR needs to make as a business partner?
How the workforce is changing the game for organisations and HR
Observations on the changing workforce and its implication for attracting, retaining and growing
How can HR and the workforce converge and collaborate in the future to design an engaging and progressive workforce experience.
Personal tips, hints and a smattering of wisdom….
The Human Factor Ep 18: Finding Your Voice Guest: Caroline Goyder, Global Voice Coach, Author and TedX Speaker
When I was very young – the thought of public speaking was the most terrifying thought. My parents would often encourage me to compete in the Eisteddfod – a welsh festival of the arts where people would compete against other schools in singing competitions or recitals – I would take part, but my lack of confidence was evident and I struggled to express myself. The moment when I would walk into the middle of the stage was so scary and the experience would leave scars.
For me personally – finding my voice has been a lifetime pursuit. Its something I have never mastered, I have had many dips in my confidence and times when I felt that my voice wasn’t worthy and sometimes imposter syndrome would kick in. I would often ask the question – is it up to me to speak up, be persistent with my opinion or did I need the help of others to listen?
I have often reflected that there is an assumption, that “speaking up” and “having a voice” was something that we all should be able to do, but it isn’t that simple for many people.
On this episode we are going to explore this often “assumed” thought that everyone has a voice with our guest Caroline.
Key Topics
Challenging the assumption – do we all have a voice?
The barriers to finding our voice and feeling confident to “lean in”
Some of the key principles to building confidence in our thoughts and articulating them?
Some of the tips and techniques to help us feel more confident when delivering our thoughts with others?
How we master the communication of a message – our body, tone of voice and words
Personal tips, hints and a smattering of wisdom….
The Human Factor Ep 17: The Dynamics of Organisational Change Guests: Helen Adams, Senior Director of Global HR Transformations at Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Ann Hawkins, Transformational Lead at Walgreens Boots Alliance
Change is constant and all around us. Some change only affects us, and as such, is easier to stay in control of. But organisation change is more complex. The involvement of others adds a number of additional challenges, such as understanding who is impacted, who cares about it, gaining consensus of the need to change and so on. When you are leading this work in one of the worlds largest organisations, the challenges are magnified even further.
The dynamics of organisational change can be complicated. It is multifaceted and for us is based on four key considerations. What is humanly desirable, the reason for the change, is it technologically feasible and is it economically viable for the organisation. Working with our guests over a sustained period of time – we developed the fourth dimension together which is organisational readiness to even execute the change. Its okay knowing you need to change, but organisationally, are you actually ready and able to do it?
We are now in an era where the pace of change is relentless and the pressure internally and externally to evolve can be intense, so how do we do this? How do we get an organisation to align around a change? What does that look and feel like? We are going to explore this complex topic with our guests Helen and Ann and we hope to get a glimpse into their successes, lessons learned, some of the scars, and I’m sure, some of their tips too!
Key Topics • A perspective on organisational change – is it like climbing a mountain? • Building the case for change and argument • Seeking stakeholder alignment – the approach and logic • Assessing and establishing the readiness of the organisation to change • The personal investment – what is needed from a change agent? • Building and Keeping Momentum – Insights and Reflections • Tips, Hints and Wisdom!
The Human Factor Episode 16: Designing a User Experience That Has an Impact Guest Speaker: Caitlynn Sendra
The world of work is changing, and our series of podcasts has been touching on different aspects of these changes. One area we haven’t yet covered is the topic of user experience and adoption. A badly designed technology solution can kill a project very quickly. But we are seeing an explosion of technology solutions now in our daily lives – internet banking, online shopping, navigation aids, entertainment streaming and so on. So as users we are used to consuming technology, but how do organisations design and deploy workplace technology solutions so that they can be easily used from day one, with minimal explanation, but also ensure that it is easy to consume and adopt.
In episode four of our podcast series, our guest Vikas Shah talked passionately about the topic of Human-Centric Design and in this episode we are going to deeper into this and explore how technology can be designed for successful outcomes. What are good design principles and what are some of the pitfalls to avoid. How can we use psychology best practices to ensure that we keep the user at the centre of our solution
How we work in the future will be different, old structures will be different and we need to look very differently at how organisations will succeed by truly leveraging the individual contributions and brilliance of all employees.
Key Topics - How do we design a solution that people will want to use - Why is this important in the world of work, given that technology is changing our lives at home. - How can we incorporate that knowledge into our future solutions - What makes a solution “sticky” - What are examples of where this has gone wrong in terms of poorly designed solutions or bad algorithms in the past - how did they manifest themselves as poor solutions and why - A sharing of top tips, hints and wisdom!
The Human Factor Ep 15: The Power of Philosophy Guest: Russell Martin, Head Coach, Swansea City Football Club
A question - What do people want from their place of work? A fair answer – they want to enjoy it. I think that is a fair assumption. There are often other contributing factors too – People want to perform at their best, they want to achieve something, they want to grow, they want to feel appreciated, feel safe, feel recognised and valued – all of these factors apply to all people – irrespective of role. Our understanding of the importance of these points were becoming apparent way before the pandemic, but they have undoubtedly come into stark focus as more and more people change jobs, change lifestyles and shift priorities.
So what is it that attracts someone to a certain organisation? Is it the rewards? Have they worked with someone before and want to work with them again? Is it the reputation of the organisation? The likelihood is – it will be a mixture of those things, but what has become more important than ever – is the importance of the culture of the organisation, how things are done, what it feels like to work there, the leadership culture and all of that can be summed up in one word – a philosophy. What is the philosophical approach to how the work is done which in simple terms is becoming a major differentiating factor in the attraction, development and growth of talent in organisations today.
In this episode we are super excited to be joined by someone who believes passionately in having a clear philosophy and a clear identity in how things should work in his team and organisation. We will explore his personal philosophy, but more importantly, how that is applied and shared with his team and other members of his coaching team. We will also understand how it is reinforced with the team, the younger players and how a feedback culture is crucial to supporting it.
Key Topics
Why is having a clear identity / philosophy so important?
What is the philosophy connected to – is it a link to values or just a belief?
How do you begin to articulate and share with your team?
How is it reinforced particularly with younger talent where the growth trajectory is different?
How is the culture shaped with feedback, analysis, insights to drive the change in behaviour or mindset?
Personal tips, hints and a smattering of wisdom….
The Human Factor Ep 14: Growing Your Brand Through People Guest: David Hieatt, Co-Founder of Hiut Denim and Co-Founder The DO Lectures
Our brand is a commitment. It is a commitment to our customers and to the people who work with us. It signifies something, it means something. It connects people, creates communities and it can inspire. Many brands bring with them a philosophy – a desire to do something in a certain way, with a certain style. It is often reflected in mindsets and behaviour. In an organisational context, its fast becoming an imperative. One of the things we have learnt from the impact of the pandemic – employees are making clear choices and decisions about where they want to work and how. Research has long told us that organisations that truly create an environment that enables all employees to be their best, feel connected/engaged outperform the competition.
This episode will delve into the experience of David in growing brands and executing powerfully through his people. As David once said “you hire great people and then get out of their way” – we will tap into David’s philosophy for his business, his people and the role of every single employee in the success of his organisation. We will also discuss the ideas and passion that seek to differentiate and progress the industry that Hiut is a part of. As always, we hope to pick up a tip or two a little bit of wisdom from David’s experiences with his own companies and through his amazing work @ dolectures.
Key Topics:
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Introduction to Hiut and Dolectures
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A perspective on “brand” and how you bring that commitment to life
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The importance of philosophy and how it can differentiate?
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How you create an inclusive environment where everyone buys into the philosophy and become brand ambassadors?
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From a growth perspective – how has Hiut scaled and grown the brand and brought it life?
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Lessons learnt and top tips….
The Human Factor Ep 13: The Future World of Work Guest: Jason Averbook, CEO of Leapgen
For the last 18 months, we have talked about nothing but the impact of Covid and the pandemic and what it means to the world of work. We have debated at length where we will work, how we will work, the role of HR in facilitating these changes and what the implications are for organisations that don’t reimagine and evolve.
In this episode we cut to the chase on what the “The Future of Work” truly will look like, needs to look like and what the implications are for HR, organisations and individuals. We tap into the thoughts of Jason and his forthright views on what needs to change and needs to change NOW!
Key Topics: - What is changing in the world of work and what does it really entail? - Are we making progress in creating a sustainable future? - What in particular should we be focusing on? - What challenges still need to be overcome and what’s stopping organisations? - What are the implications for HR – what does this particular organisation look like in the next 10 years? - Top tips and pieces of wisdom.
The Human Factor Ep 12: Pushing Boundaries to Make the Planet More Sustainable
Guest: Dr Adriana Marais, Theoretical Physicist, Technologist & Founder of Proudly Human
For many of us that are considering a new role, we look at the usual items such as pay scale, location, what is the manager like, what skills do we need and so on. But what if there is no baseline? What if that new role is to create something entirely new, and to make it even harder, it could also be in a hostile environment. Our next guest wanted more than the usual job hunting challenges, and volunteered for a one way trip to colonise Mars. Aside from the technology challenges of such an ambitious venture, there is a significant human aspect to that, such as creating a new community, working in and being a part of a high performing team, as well as the psychological challenges of breaking links with all that we know back on Earth.
Since that time, the MarsOne venture did not ultimately proceed due to funding, but Adriana then founded Proudly Human, which balances working towards the off-world settlements of the near future with uplifting communities already living in extreme environments on Earth. Proudly Human’s Off-World Project is a series of habitation experiments in the most extreme environments on Earth to prepare for life on the Moon, Mars and beyond. The projects will promote companies developing technology for sustainability, facilitate skills development, boost research, innovation and technology towards off-grid functionality, as well as provide a vision for young people of community spirit in even the harshest environments through grit, imagination, research and technology.
How does someone take such momentous decisions, and then how does someone lean into it and prepare for all the challenges that they raise.
Key Topics
What are the motivating factors in making such a significant change in life
What are some of the human elements involved in making a change of this magnitude
How can we apply the potential experience that MarsOne would have offered back on Earth
A key component of life on a new planet was sustainability, what can we be doing to use that technology to help our planet
What are Proudly Human looking to achieve and how does this relate to the every-day person in the street
The Human Factor Ep 11: The Relativity of Success - Finding Your Inner Giant
Guest Speakers: John Amaechi OBE, Organisational Psychologist and Founder APS Intelligence and Michiel Verhoeven, UKI Managing Director at SAP.
As we continue to adapt to the changing conditions created by the pandemic, a raging debate is taking place on what the world of work should look like. Is it virtual, should we all return to the office, is it something in between – that debate will rage for some time. The other major debate raging is less about where we work, but how we work. The sheer impact of the pandemic has created a pendulum shift in what is important to people today when it comes to work? Our expectations and preferences have been changing for some time – but the spotlight is now firmly fixed on how we create the future of work, both physically and culturally.
In this episode we are going to explore some of these questions from a couple of perspectives – firstly how are organisations reimagining their workforce proposition – ranging from evaluating the workplace experience, bringing in new leadership models and how success is measured – but we will also look at the question through the eyes of the individual. We have seen the very best of the human spirit over the last few years with amazing contributions from all walks of life – looking to make a difference, big and small. Despite great adversity – the will from people to make a difference and to achieve something will never die. There are many problems to solve and people are willing and wanting to step up.
How we work in the future will be different, old structures will be different and we need to look very differently at how organisations will succeed by truly leveraging the individual contributions and brilliance of all employees.
Key Topics :
What is changing? What is Different? What does it Really Mean?
Our perspectives on the importance of culture to individual and organisational success?
How are organisations culturally reimagining the future world of work?
How are we redesigning our approaches to leadership?
How can organisations truly capitalise on the collective brilliance of its workforce?
We will look practically at the transformation happening within SAP UKI and what it means organisationally but also to the individuals?
A sharing of top tips, hints and wisdom!
The Human Factor Ep 10: The Attraction of Talent in a Digitally Changing Environment
Guest Speakers: Nicola Johnson, Director of Centre of Excellence at Bentley Motors and Jane Harrington, HR Digital Transformation Manager at Bentley Motors.
The disruptive nature of the world we live in today is forcing us to change. Adapt or don’t exist is a comment that we have spoken about on the podcast previously. Every facet of the organisations we work in or the choices we make in how we live our lives change far more frequently than ever before. One of the biggest disruptions is without doubt the changing profile of the working demographics and the preferences that we have surrounding how and where we work.
In this episode we are going to explore how an organisation going through its own transformation is tackling the strategic imperative of attracting talent and how it is overcoming some of the challenges prevalent today in sourcing and hiring talent into their organisation. The war for talent has existed for many years, but talking to several organisations in recent times, it has now become more difficult than ever.
Key Topics How are we reflecting our brand values, our strategy and brand commitment to future candidates?
How is the changing strategic direction of the organisation also reflected in external campaigns?
What are some of the complexities that are being seen in sourcing and finding talent?
What are we observing in terms of the changing expectations of candidates?
What do we see as an optimal strategy to find and attract talent in the coming years?
The Human Factor Ep 9: The Future Role of the Leader
Guest Speaker: David Williams, Founder & CEO Impact International
The old adage has always been “that people leave bosses/leaders and not organisations”. It is a common tail. No matter how much truth there is in that statement, it is clear that at all levels of an organisation from a first line manager to a senior executive, a leader can have a material impact on how we feel about our place of work, our engagement and our wellbeing.
As we move through one of the most disruptive times in recent history to more of a hybrid and virtual working model, the requirements and demands of what is deemed to be the role of the leader will change considerably. This of course is in addition to all of the other changes happening in the world of work including skills shortages, demographic changes, workplace expectations and the list goes on.
In this episode we delve into what that change means in reality and what organisations need to be doing differently to prepare and support their leaders with this hugely changing context. David and his team at Impact International have been immersed in these challenges and the expectations of leadership for the last 40 years bringing inspiration and change to the world’s leading organisation. To this day, one of my most powerful learning experiences was working with Impact during our global leadership programme “One Extra Degree” over a decade ago.
Key Topics • What is the definition of “leadership” today in 2021? • During this critical period of change – what are some of the key challenges for organisations? • How do organisations define what the role of the leader is? • What are some of the most effective ways of developing leadership capabilities today? • Top thoughts and takeaways and what’s next?
The Human Factor Ep 8: Building a High-Performance Culture and Sustaining It
Guest Speaker: Professor Damian Hughes – The Liquid Thinker
For many years, there have been countless studies to understand what constitutes “performance” It is something that we all marvel at, whether it be on the stage in the west end, or a musician at a concert or your favourite sports player performing at the top of their game. It can take our breath away, we feel inspired by it and sometimes in awe of it. Yet – do we understand what goes into that performance both individually and collectively. Do we truly understand the ingredients that sustain performance? Also do we appreciate the relativity of performance and the impact of non-performance to us as human beings?
This episode will delve into what performance really means, but critically what is the impact of non-performance on our engagement, our wellbeing and mental health. Professor Damian Hughes has devoted so much of his career understanding the dimensions that create a performance culture and has worked alongside several sporting and private sector organisations. We are looking forward to getting into his mind to unearth his insights, his observations, his reflections and hopefully a tip or two.
Key Topics
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What is your definition of “performance”?
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How do teams and organisations go about building a “high performance culture”?
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What are the critical dimensions / ingredients for sustaining performance and a self-sustaining culture?
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In your opinion – what is the role of the leader in the process?
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What is the impact of a non-performance culture on the engagement and well-being of human beings?
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Top Thoughts and Takeaways – What Next?
The Human Factor Ep 7: How Crucial is Data and a Consistent Data Model to the Success of an Organisation Today?
Guest Speaker: Mark Cunningham, CEO, Anchorstone Consulting
We have never gathered as much data as we do today. This is also true for HR within an organisation. Gone are the days of personnel files held in dusty file cabinets. The challenge is what to do with it. Keep it, discard it, mine it, trust it, share it, etc. With the advent of GDPR we also need to be very precise on who is given access to it.
This podcast will explore some of the thinking around how organisations are managing their HR data and how the data itself is becoming increasing more valuable to the wider business.
Key Topics: • How important is the single source of truth in today’s business world? • How can data integrity be assured and data secured? • Best-of-breed islands or ERP and what is the impact on data in these models • What does having good, integrated data result in businesses being able to achieve – reporting, insights, growth, etc • Top tips and guidance for listeners
The Human Factor Ep 6: The Convergence of HR and Technology for a Better Outcome
Guests: Meg Bear, Chief Product Officer, SAP SuccessFactors and Marc Havercroft, Chief Customer Officer, SAP SuccessFactors
For the last 20 years, we have talked about, creating an experience based on self-service. There was this drive to enable people to own their data, performance, career and be in control of their destiny. It’s fair to say, that technology perhaps didn’t fulfil the expectation, but did it enable or substantiate the philosophy that we should be able to curate our own experience, to have fully autonomous micro experiences always on, consuming the capability to assist in achieving our desired outcomes?
This episode will explore how people, technology and design have all started to converge as we hoped it would. The age of digital and consumerisation have radically changed our preferences, our expectations and the fabric of how we live our lives. Is it all about the technology, or do we need to consider the broader impacts and outcomes? How are we focusing more on driving consumption, instead of just thinking about the functionality of the capability and how are really ensuring that we are achieving better outcomes consistently and sustainably.
So the question is – what does this convergence really mean and how it is driving a better outcome for employees and organisations?
Key Topics • The advancement of technology over the last 5 years • The importance of a reinvigorated experience putting people at the centre • The critical balance of “relevancy” and “functionality” – capability that adds value • Moving at the pace of customers – truly enabling them to meet their challenges • Continuing the innovation cycles • Top thoughts and takeaways – what Next?
The Human Factor Ep 5: Delivering On Your Purpose – Executing The Basic Fundamentals
Guest : Harriet Green OBE, Global Business Leader | Executive Chair, Mission Beyond | Board Member | Influencer and Mentor | Diversity & Inclusion Activist
As we continue to operate and work in highly disruptive and changing times, having absolute clarity on your vision and purpose has never been more important. Having relevancy in your purpose, has major implications for your customers, your employees and your future employees. We know that the people coming into the workplace in the next 5 years are very much “values driven” and have high expectations on what an organisation stands for, how it operates and whether it will deliver an experience that is compelling to that potential employee.
This episode explores the thoughts and insights of Harriet Green, OBE who has been leading organisations in all corners of the globe over the last 25 years. A global executive who has transformed organisations she was leading, guided by her philosophy and principles of growth, diversity/inclusion, employee engagement to meet the ever-changing demands of markets and consumers.
Key Topics How important is organisational purpose today? The relationship between strategy and purpose – how they co-exist? How do you convey your purpose in your brand? Bringing your purpose to life – how do you execute through the basic fundamentals How crucial is the role of the leader today? Top Tips / Guidance for Listeners
The Human Factor Ep 4: A Human Centered Approach to Design Thinking and Change
Guest Speaker: Vikas Shah MBE DLEntrepreneur | Non-Executive Director | Investor
Over the last 5 years, as we have moved into the “era of experiences”, we have become much more mindful of the experiences that we create for our people. We hear statements such as “being human centric”, “creating a great employee experience”, “treating colleagues as consumers”. The key question however – why has it become so important? Hasn’t it always been important?
This episode will explore the thoughts and insights of Vikas Shah, MBE DL, who has championed a “human centric” approach for the last decade. Indeed an article he wrote back in 2015 inspired a group of people at SAP to take step back and take a look at how we designed a different way to work with and help our customers to navigate change. The article truly inspired us to think differently, but it also opened our eyes to how difficult it can be to change the culture of an organisation, to influence others to think differently and we will discuss some of those points today.
Key Topics - Understand what a human centred approach really means - Vikas broke design thinking into 3 x different parts – what drove that thinking. - The importance of being “human centred” today, more than ever. - What stops organisations from following this approach – fear, cultural, its too hard, they don’t get it, they don’t care! - How has Vikas’s thinking evolved taking into account the shifting sands of the modern world - Top Tips / Guidance for Listeners Guest: Vikas Shah, MBE DL | Entrepreneur |Non-Executive Director | Investor
The Human Factor Ep 3: Is Technology the Catalyst for a Transformation?
Guest Speakers: Elaine Bergin, Director of Colleague Experience Delivery, BT and Leila Romane, Head of HXM for SAP SuccessFactors, SAP
We have often remarked that without the required capability, it is impossible to change/transform, but just because you have the capability, it doesn’t mean you will. In essence, choosing a solution or technology is often the easy bit, but actually getting an organisation to commit to changing and then executing on the change is by far the most difficult task.
This episode will explore the complexities of enabling a business transformation and the role that technology can play as a catalyst and enabler for the transformation. We will discuss the importance of building the central argument/strategy to secure stakeholder support /commitment, working alongside key stakeholders in finance and procurement, but also the process of finding the right solution and partner to enable the transformation.
Key Topics - Change and Transformation – what do they really mean? - The challenge of gaining executive and line of business support to change? - The complexities of securing investment amid competing priorities - Using technology as a catalyst to accelerate and effect a change in the organisation - The criticality of change management to embed and anchor the change - Top Tips / Guidance for Listeners
The Human Factor - Ep 2: The Future Direction Of Learning And Content In The Virtual World
Guest Speakers: Steve Johnson, MD & Lisa Johnson, Projects Director, Dynamic Business Services and Donald Ross, Head of Learning and Development Solutions, SAP EMEA North
The topic of learning and content has arguably come into more of a sharper focus in recent times. The shift to a virtual world in the pandemic is no doubt a contributor, but like many things, we can chart back 5 years to the explosion of consumerisation and social to see when our preferences started to change and how we shifted to a different view of consuming technology and content.
This podcast will explore some of the thinking around how organisations and learners are approaching learning today. The differing views on learning strategy, how organisations are now able to truly operationalise a more blended approach to learning and pushing more self-directed experiences. We will also look how technology is bringing learning into the flow of work and linking together critical business and learning processes in one place.
Key Topics: - What does the world of learning look like today? - How has the pandemic influenced our approach to learning and how it is delivered to the end-user? - What significant changes in approach have we observed in terms of how organisations are looking at content and technology with a view to the future? - Top Tips / Guidance for Listeners
The Human Factor - Ep 1: Employee Experience and Well-being – What Does It Really Mean Today?
Guest Speaker: Gethin Nadin, Multi-award-winning Psychologist • HR Author • Inspiring Leader 2021 • 2x Top Global EX Influencer • 4x HR Influencer • Chief Innovation Officer at Benefex/Zellis • Wellbeing & Employee Experience Expert • FRSA •
The topic of employee well-being and employee experience have become somewhat intertwined in recent times. There is no doubt, that organisations are placing much more emphasis on building a better experience, but what does that really entail and how does that manifest/impact on the wellbeing of employees?
Join Michael and Simon for a conversation with Gethin Nadin, best-selling employee experience author as they explore why the employee experience has become so important, what organisations are doing differently to make this happen, but crucially recognising the impact the overall experience has on our health and wellbeing. Gethin shares his thoughts and perspectives on how organisations are becoming better at listening, understanding their employees better and how they are creating the conditions where all employees are able to be their best every day.