HR Insights - The Podcast. Series 7: The Latest News, October

Last season, our ‘Latest HR News’ episodes were some of the most loved by our listeners, as the role of HR continues to develop, we had to bring them back for series 7!

In this instalment, our CEO and Host, Stuart Elliott, is joined by Paul Knight, Senior HR Executive Leader and Consultant and Katy Goldwater, Chief People Officer to discuss topical themes and trending articles across the HR space. 

Stuart, Katy and Paul start the conversation by discussing a topic that has continued to be prominent post Covid; hybrid working, reflecting on whether this topic needs to be parked and if it has had an effect on those starting their careers. Moving on, they touch on the topic of intergenerational working as the current workforce is navigating the most crossover in generations in the workplace than ever before. As the conversation continues, Stuart, Katy and Paul discuss whether the cover letter is still necessary and if hiring should be left to the HR department, taking diverse hiring into consideration. Finally, they move on to chatting through AI within the HR function and the future of work and whether it is dependent on the future of reward.

As a more light-hearted topic, Stuart, Katy and Paul discuss social media’s role in HR and whether the use of it is making HR cool again, through the use of TikTok and influencers in the space. 

Get to know our guests:

Katy Goldwater is a Chief People Officer with 25 years of experience spanning multiple industries. Katy started out as a consultant and spent a large part of her career with large multi-national General Electric in various divisional and regional HR roles. During Covid she took a career leap into the big tech industry and helped Bytedance, the parent of TikTok, scale in EMEA. She has lived and worked in the US and Russia and will shortly be relocating to Athens and Greece with her husband and two children. Katy loves variety and change in the context of HR and is especially passionate about helping smart people to develop science-based products that are good for our world. 

Paul Knight is a seasoned People Leader with over 30 years of experience and a proven track record of driving organizational change, transformation, and growth in dynamic sectors such as media, sports, and technology. Paul has extensive experience as a board-level business partner, working with leading brands such as Siemens, Serco, BBC, Burberry and DAZN. Paul has successfully led high-impact HR initiatives, including supporting the launch and expansion of DAZN’s sports streaming service, scaling headcount by 300%. He has also played key roles in organizational restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, and change management. As a consultant and interim HR director, Paul has supported companies across various industries, delivering people strategies, enhancing employee value propositions, and implementing systems that streamline HR operations. 

You can listen to and download HR Insights from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and most popular podcast apps, subscribe so the latest episodes are directly available!

Key Timestamps:

00:57 – Introduction to Katy and Paul

02:50 – Hybrid working 

09:31 – Intergenerational workforces

19:51 - Google vs Start-Ups

22:45 – The mystery of the cover letter

25:30 – Should hiring be left to HR 

31:23 – Diverse hiring 

46:41 – AI in HR

54:00 – The future of work 

58:50 – Social media is making HR cool again

Articles referenced, please note that some require subscriptions to access:

• Mining Boss Opposes Staff Leaving Office for Coffee
• The Future of Work Navigating Intergenerational Discord
• The Mystery of the Cover Letter
• Stop Leaving Hiring to your HR Department
• Majority of UK HR Leaders Yet to Make use of Gen AI, Survey Suggests
• Most Employers Ditch Diverse Recruitment Amid ‘Anti-Woke’ Backlash
• Why the Future of Work Will Depend on the Future of Total Rewards
• Social Media is Making HR Cool Again