The Practical People Manager with Anna Thomas – Details, episodes & analysis

One in ten women leave their careers because of menopause. Many more stay but struggle in silence, masking their symptoms and running on empty while nobody around them knows why. In this episode, Anna is joined by Angela Wilkins-Green, an ICF-accredited executive and transformation coach and menopause workplace specialist. With over 25 years in senior leadership roles, Angela now works with organisations to embed menopause awareness, manager training and one-to-one coaching support that goes well beyond the policy document.

Angela begins by unpacking the difference between perimenopause and menopause, and the reality may surprise you. The lead-up to menopause can start in a woman's late thirties and last up to fourteen years, and the earliest signs are often psychological rather than physical: anxiety, low confidence, mood changes, and a gradual sense of not feeling like yourself anymore.

Anna shares her own experience navigating a GP system that initially offered little clarity, and Angela explains why women need to advocate for themselves in a healthcare landscape that is still catching up. They discuss the wide range of symptoms that extend far beyond hot flushes, why a standalone menopause policy rarely makes the difference organisations think it will, and what genuinely effective workplace support looks like in practice, including the role of menopause champions and the new Employment Rights Act menopause action plans that came into force in April 2026.

The business case is clear: if organisations are not having this conversation, they are losing experienced women, often without ever knowing why.

This is part one of a three-part conversation with Angela. Part two explores what practical support looks like for individuals and teams.

Find out more about Angela's work at https://www.greenpathcoaching.com

Connect with Anna

Got a question or a topic you'd like covered on the podcast? Anna would love to hear from you. Find Anna on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, or visit The People Expert to find out more about her work supporting line managers and HR professionals.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annathomas-hr
Instagram: instagram.com/practicalmanager
TikTok: tiktok.com/@practicalpeoplemanager
The People Expert: athrconsultancy.co.uk

One in six people in the workplace will have a diagnosable mental health condition at any given time. Yet the biggest barrier to getting help is not the availability of support. It is silence. In this episode, Anna is joined by Yohan Macdonald, founder of Great Minds Training, who has been specialising in mental health, wellbeing, diversity and inclusion since 2015, delivering programmes for organisations including the NHS, IBM and the FA.

Yohan speaks from lived experience. He struggled with anxiety and depression for close to a decade before finding his purpose in workplace wellbeing, and that personal understanding shapes everything he teaches. He explains why stigma remains stubbornly persistent, why managers often talk themselves out of having difficult conversations, and why the wrong thing to say is nothing at all.

A highlight of this episode is Yohan's SAFE conversation framework, a practical four-step approach designed to help managers start mental health conversations with confidence. It covers how to set up the conversation in the right environment, ask open and relevant questions, focus on listening beyond just words, and respond with genuine empathy.

Anna and Yohan also address one of the most common objections managers raise: the idea that mental health has become the new bad back. Yohan's response reframes where the real risk to organisations actually lies, and makes a compelling case for why early intervention matters far more than scepticism.

This is part one of a three-part conversation. Part two looks at what organisations can do to shift from a reactive to a proactive culture around mental health and wellbeing.

Find out more about Yohan's work at https://greatminds.training

Connect with Anna

Got a question or a topic you'd like covered on the podcast? Anna would love to hear from you. Find Anna on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, or visit The People Expert to find out more about her work supporting line managers and HR professionals.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annathomas-hr
Instagram: instagram.com/practicalmanager
TikTok: tiktok.com/@practicalpeoplemanager
The People Expert: athrconsultancy.co.uk

If you manage people, chances are someone on your team has ADHD, whether they have told you or not. In this episode, Anna is joined by Ellie Kay, an ICF-accredited ADHD and AuDHD coach, neurodiversity specialist, workplace mediator, and keynote speaker. Ellie was diagnosed with combined-type ADHD at 45, after more than two decades running her own business, and now uses that lived experience alongside deep professional expertise to help both individuals and organisations navigate neurodiversity at work.

Ellie shares what it felt like to finally get her diagnosis, why so many adults and particularly women go undiagnosed for years, and how ADHD can look very different from the stereotypes most of us grew up with. From hyperfocus and creative thinking to time blindness, people-pleasing, and struggles with admin, this conversation paints a much fuller picture of what ADHD actually looks like day to day in a working environment.

Anna and Ellie explore the practical role line managers play in supporting neurodivergent team members, and why curiosity is the single most important skill you can bring to those conversations. Rather than trying to fix or diagnose, Ellie makes the case for a strengths-based approach that helps people thrive where they naturally excel, while putting the right support in place for the areas where they struggle.

They also tackle the question of psychological safety: why some employees are reluctant to disclose their diagnosis, what good and bad manager responses look like, and how to open a conversation even when you are not sure what to say.

This is part one of a three-part conversation with Ellie. Part two covers the different types of ADHD, how it intersects with autism, and how managers can ask better questions.

Find out more about Ellie's work at elliekay.co.uk

Got a question or a topic you'd like covered on the podcast? Anna would love to hear from you. Find Anna on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, or visit The People Expert to find out more about her work supporting line managers and HR professionals.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annathomas-hr
Instagram: instagram.com/practicalmanager
TikTok: tiktok.com/@practicalpeoplemanager
The People Expert: https://www.athrconsultancy.co.uk