Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Meanwhile at Work

Digital transformation has a dismal record; and the technology often isn’t the problem. Alex and Laura talk about why transformation depends on people, culture and the “human skills” organisations too often dismiss as soft. From curiosity and critical thinking to the things younger workers once learned simply by being in the room, they ask whether work is changing faster than our ability to prepare people for it.

AI is moving faster than the institutions trying to govern it, while power and value are concentrating in a handful of technology companies. But what does that mean for the people entering work now? Alex and Laura explore the AI arms race, regulation, the prospect of a new class of precarious workers and whether the opportunities that built previous generations of careers will still exist for the next one.

The return-to-office debate is often framed as home versus office. Alex and Laura think that misses the point. They look at what people actually gain from being together - collaboration, relationships, learning and those unscheduled conversations where work gets done - and why mandating attendance without creating those conditions is unlikely to solve anything. Underneath it all sits a bigger question: how much do organisations trust their people?

When somebody leaves, the instinct is to replace them. Same role, same skills, same job description. But what if the gap they leave is an opportunity to build something different? Alex and Laura talk psychological safety, diversity of thought, shrinking skills half-lives, performative AI adoption and why building the workforce you need next means stopping trying to recreate the workforce you had before.

The pandemic changed more than where people work. For many senior leaders, it changed what they are prepared to give to work - and what they expect back. Laura and Alex explore personal purpose, autonomy, legacy, work-life balance and what happens when your own values no longer fit the organisation around you. Can work fulfil your purpose and should we expect it to?

What happens to corporate purpose when the political weather changes? As organisations become quieter about DEI, sustainability and other commitments they once championed, Alex and Laura ask what leaders do next. They explore shareholder value, legacy, talent, inclusion and whether leaders need new spaces to work out how to do right by their people and businesses without simply following whichever way the pendulum swings.

Work is changing too quickly for careers built around fixed qualifications, rigid hierarchies and jobs designed for yesterday. Starting with risk and the fear of change, Alex and Laura end up somewhere bigger: rethinking the contract between employer and employee. Could skills families, mobility and continuous learning create careers that are better suited to whatever technology does next?