HR Insights: The Podcast, Series 6 - The Latest in HR News - January

Stuart Elliott

By Stuart Elliott

 with 

Amelia Lavery

Amelia Lavery

Lee Murphy

Lee Murphy

Welcome back to another installment of ‘The Latest HR News’. This week our host Stuart Elliott is joined by Amelia Lavery and Lee Murphy to discuss the latest topical news articles in business and HR.

In this episode, Stuart and our guests talk about the ever-prevalent topic of hybrid working and the importance that should be placed on workplace culture to foster a healthy work balance. As Amelia points out, ‘the culture sets the tone in the context of how everyone reacts together.’ They also examine the top five priorities for HR Leaders in 2024 which includes topics like management development, organisational culture, HR tech and more, and their ranking of these in terms of building a productive work environment. Further trending topics were touched upon such as AI; the need to embrace this as it becomes more advanced and the potential difficulties of working with Gen Z amidst anecdotal accusations of tardiness and disinterest. As well as the more provocative subjects discussed, they also converse over more entertaining topics such as so-called ‘Mondayitis’, using too much corporate jargon in the workplace and setting business New Year's resolutions. 


Amelia Lavery has over 18 years of experience in HR, starting her career in the Banking industry. She brings deep experience in HR Business Partnering having performed country, regional and product line roles. Sector wise, Amelia has worked across Financial and most recently Corporate Services at Vistra where she has recently been appointed as the Global Head of Talent Acquisition. Lee Murphy is a seasoned Human Resources executive with diverse global experience leading teams to deliver strategic HR initiatives. In a career spanning more than 25 years, Lee has worked in increasingly senior roles for global technology companies such as Google, Microsoft and Nokia. Most recently, Lee was Group Chief Human Resources Officer with FWD and is currently an adviser to Hupo, a technology enabled coaching platform in Asia Pacific.

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Key Timestamps:

  • 01:02 - Intro into Amelia Lavery
  • 02:08 – Intro into Lee Murphy
  • 04:30 – Hybrid Working 
  • 10:25 – Leadership strategies for a strong work culture
  • 19:15 – Top 5 priorities for HR leaders in 2024
  • 25:27 – AI & technology
  • 35:25 – Gen Z
  • 54:50 – ‘Mondayitis’
  • 59:38 – Buzzwords in the workplace
  • 64:20 – Business Resolutions for the New Year 


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

Additional articles: