HR Voices Podcast

A Consultant’s Journey

A podcast for independent HR and people, professionals, and the businesses they support.
Hosted by Mary Asante and Charlotte Allfrey of HR Independents Ltd.
4th September 2023
Episode 6: A Consultant’s Journey
Guest: Charlie Goodman of Employee Benefits Collective
Episode 6 is the start of our next miniseries where we will be chatting to independent Consultants about their consultancy journey, the decisions they made along the way and lessons they have learnt. 
Charlie has opted for a Partnership approach to his consultant journey, we chat to him about how he got to that point and how it works.
In this episode, we also cover:
How and why Charlie made the move into consultancy
The concerns he had when considering going solo
The value of networking with communities of people who had already made the move into consultancy
The importance of knowing the limits of your expertise and when to engage other experts to support you (finance, marketing, business coaches, virtual assistants)
Pricing and being wary of how much you are giving away for free
Charlie refers to our HR Independent online community, which has 1600 members, we’d love to have you join us, just search for HR Independents on Facebook to find out more.
Thanks for listening to HR Voices! 
If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love it if you could leave us a review. 
www.hrindependents.co.uk
 
https://www.linkedin.com/company/employee-benefits-collective-llp/
 
www.ebc-llp.com
 
https://www.instagram.com/charliegoodmoney
 
About our guest:
Charlie is a Pensions and Financial Wellbeing Partner at the Employee Benefits Collective LLP, a Director of the Institute for Financial Wellbeing leading their workplace wellbeing group, Secretary of the CIPD Central London branch, and a mentor for the NextGen Pensions initiative. He qualified as a financial adviser, is an International Employee Benefits and Reward Specialist, and Certified Money Coach.

Flexible Working Recap & Thoughts

HR Voices
A podcast for independent HR and people professionals, and the businesses they support.
Hosted by Mary Asante and Charlotte Allfrey of HR Independents Ltd.
DATE: 21/08/2023
Episode 5: Flexible Working Recap & Thoughts
In this episode of HR Voices, Mary and Charlotte discuss the key takeaways from their chats with our guests over the past 4 episodes and offer their thoughts as experienced HR and People Consultants.
In this episode, we cover:
What the key challenges of flexible working are
Key benefits of flexible working to employers and employees
How business leaders may need to change their mindset on measuring performance
How culture play a key part in flexible working
There is no one size fit all approach to flexible working
Flexible working may not be right for every job role 
Flexible working may not be right for every organisation
How HR and People Consultants can support successful implementation of flexible working
Thanks for listening to HR Voices! 
If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love it if you could leave us a review. 
www.hrindependents.co.uk
 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryasante/ 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlotte-allfrey/

The Legal Side of Flexible Working

A podcast for independent HR and people, professionals, and the businesses they support.
Hosted by Mary Asante and Charlotte Allfrey of HR Independents Ltd.
07/08/2023
Episode 4: The Legal Side of Flexible Working
Guest: Kevin Poulter, Partner, Freeths LLP
In this extended episode of HR Voices, we chat to Kevin from the Employment Team at Freeths LLP about the legal side of flexible working.
In this episode, we cover:
What flexible working is from a legal perspective
The need for consideration on a case by case basis
How you should deal with flexible working requests
Protected characteristics and flexible working  
The upcoming changes to flexible working legislation
Different types of flexible working
Discrimination
How employers can handle the need for more hybrid working/presence in the workplace from a legal perspective
Thanks for listening to HR Voices! 
If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love it if you could leave us a review. 
www.hrindependents.co.uk
 
https://www.freeths.co.uk/people/kevin-poulter/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinpoulter/

Exploring Flexible Working Initiatives

HR Voices
A podcast for independent HR and people, professionals, and the businesses they support.
Hosted by Mary Asante and Charlotte Allfrey of HR Independents Ltd.
24th July 2023
Episode 3: Exploring Flexible Working Initiatives
Guest: Steve Herbert, Wellbeing & Benefits Director, Partners&
In this episode of HR Voices, Steve joins us to explore different flexible working initiatives, including the recent news about Amazon launching term time and pick and mix style contracts for their employees.
Thanks for listening to HR Voices! 
If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love it if you could leave us a review. 
www.hrindependents.co.uk
 
linkedin.com/in/steve-herbert-seminars
https://www.partnersand.com/
About Our Guest
Steve Herbert is an award-winning commentator on Human Resources (HR), Employee Benefits, Financial Wellbeing, and Pension issues.  In June 2022 he joined national intermediary Partners& in the role of Wellbeing & Benefits Director.  
Steve is a regular and sought-after speaker at events, with a unique and engaging delivery style that aims to demystify and explain complex issues to his audience.  This same approach is reflected in both his written work and regular commentary for many HR and industry-facing publications.
He is occasionally accused of making Employee Benefits interesting.

4 Day Working Week - Case Study

A podcast for independent HR and people, professionals, and the businesses they support.
Hosted by Mary Asante and Charlotte Allfrey of HR Independents Ltd.
Monday 10th July 2023
Episode 2: 4 Day Working Week - Case Study
Guest: Chris Scott, Founder & Learning Lead at Acceler8 Global
In this episode of HR Voices, we chat to Chris about how he has shifted his organisation from fully office based pre pandemic to a 4 day working week for 100% pay.
In this episode, we cover:
The honest truth about the challenges and the fears that can come up when considering the move to a 4 day working week, particularly for a client facing business 
How to measure if it is successful
Top 5 tips for implementing flexible working in your organisation
Thanks for listening to HR Voices! 
If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love it if you could leave us a review. 
www.hrindependents.co.uk
 
Connect with Chris and Acceler8 Global here:
www.acceler8.global
https://www.linkedin.com/company/acceler8global
About Chris: 
Chris Scott, 49, co-founded Acceler8 in 2015, taking a leap of faith that the market needed a vibrant, playful consultancy that focused on people engagement.
His journey to that point had been in customer facing roles, later moving into learning and development, and working with some of the top hospitality businesses in the world.
His career grew into the learning arena and that journey progressed to achieving Head of Learning & Development at Heathrow Express before exploring the agency world.
All those experiences sparked a thought in his mind that everything could be done so much better, with a focus on happy colleagues inspired to do their very best work – and in a way that leaves the planet in better condition than we found it.
He’s passionate about how people learn new things and how behaviours can change to become more helpful. He describes facilitation as his happy space, saying “When I’m working with people, challenging them, and accepting a challenge from them, I’m performing at my best. Seeing first had the rewards of my work will always be what gets me out of bed in the morning.”
Now at Acceler8, Chris has led the business for nearly 8 years and, together with the team, has grown the portfolio of clients to the level where he can confidently claim that in some way, shape or form, Acceler8’s work impacts everyone in the UK – and further afield.
From household names and worldwide brands to the smaller businesses that Acceler8 love to support, he’s proud to inspire workplaces around the world where everyone can #BeHappyBeHuman.

Flexible Working & Its Impact with Emma Cleary

Welcome to this episode of HR Voices... A podcast for independent HR and people, professionals, and the businesses they support.
Hosted by Mary Asante and Charlotte Allfrey of HR Independents Ltd.
27th June 2023
Episode 1: Flexible Working & Its Impact
Guest: Emma Cleary, Founder and Director of Flexibility Matters
In this episode of HR Voices, we chat to Emma about all things Flexible Working. Emma has been in the flexible working space for 9 years and shares the difference she has seen since the pandemic as well as her learnings. 
In this episode, we cover:
What flexible working means
How it’s important that flexible work has to work for everybody
How flexibility is linked to organisational culture
Management style & productivity
The importance of bringing people together, even if remote
Flexibility and the war for talent
The Importance of communication, including listening
For more information about the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill 2022-23: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9648/
Thanks for listening to HR Voices! 
If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love it if you could leave us a review. 
A little bit about Emma... 
Emma is committed to flexible working and has managed her recruitment business – Flexibility Matters - in exactly this fashion. Before working in recruitment, she was a full-time mum for 10 years and prior to that held business development, marketing, and sales roles for Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal, and Hobsons Publishing part of the DMGT group.
 
Flexibility Matters actively champions a healthy blend of work and life achieved through recruiting into positions that understand the benefits of flexible, remote, and WFH. This flexibility means that Emma can pursue her career in a hugely challenging & rewarding role filled with purpose and meaning, whilst allowing her to be around for her family and pursue other interests.
You can find out more about Emma and connect with her on the following social media platforms:
Website: https://www.flexibilitymatters.co.uk/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-cleary-flexibilitymatters/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/emmacleary2?lang=en-gb
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flexmatters/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flexibilitymatters/

Welcome to HR Voices Podcast

Welcome to the HR Voices Podcast, a podcast designed to bring the UK HR community and businesses together. The podcast will be informative, with lots of helpful tips and ideas to help you run your business. 
Being an HR Independent Consultant can be quite lonely. This is why HR Independents (HRi), the UK body for Independent HR and People professionals has created a home and community for HR Indies. 
The HR Voices podcast will be discussing hot topics relating to HR and business.  This will support HR Independent and People Professionals and the businesses they support. We will be bringing you practical tips, expert views and your views. 
Join Mary Asante, the Chief Executive of HRi, and Charlotte Allfrey, Operations Director of HRi and their expert guests for engaging discussions. 
We would love to hear from you and for you to get more involved. If you have topics you would like us to discuss, contact us via hrvoices@hrindependents.co.uk
Learn more about HR Independents – HRi at: https://hrindependents.co.uk/about-us/ or connect with us on LinkedIn: hr independents linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hr-independents/
Hosts:  www.linkedin.com/in/maryasante and https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlotte-allfrey
Success Together.