HR Unlocked with Lisa Oakley

People Associates & iHeartRadio NZ
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HR Unlocked with Lisa Oakley is a leadership conversation series where thoughtful HR and business leaders share lived experience on people, risk, culture, and compliance. It is designed for business owners, senior leaders, and HR professionals across Australasia to learn from real decisions and leadership judgment. The show is a platform to honour the contribution of leaders willing to share their experience.

  1. 7h ago

    Darren Levy & Justine Farrington | Leadership, Culture & the 5 Cs of Future Work

    What if the behaviours that helped you succeed in the past are the very behaviours holding you back now? In this episode of HR Unlocked, Lisa Oakley speaks with Darren Levy and Justine Farrington from Human Synergistics New Zealand about leadership effectiveness, behavioural change, coaching, culture and preparing people for an increasingly uncertain future. Justine describes her passion for helping people understand the patterns, mindsets and behaviours that shape how they lead. As pressure, ambiguity and expectations increase, habits that once worked can become default responses that keep people stuck. Darren sees similar challenges in organisations, including increasing demands, depleted resources and burnout becoming a cultural artefact. He argues that leaders need to challenge the beliefs they treat as fixed truths, particularly the idea that “this is just who I am”. Behaviour can change, even when doing so takes real effort. The conversation explores how Human Synergistics diagnostics can help make those patterns visible. Darren and Justine explain why leadership tools need to be fit for purpose and supported by credible research, and why understanding the gap between how we see ourselves and how others experience us can create powerful opportunities for development. Lisa, Darren and Justine also discuss the difference between intention and impact. A leader may genuinely intend to provide clarity, confidence and support while others experience control, manipulation or excessive pressure. Both perspectives can exist at the same time. The opportunity comes from understanding that gap and deciding what to do differently. Through practical coaching examples, the episode shows how deeply personal motivations can drive professional behavioural change. From a leader learning to let go of perfectionism and rescue less, to another recognising that changing how he led could help him create better memories with his children, the conversation demonstrates why identifying “what’s worth changing for?” matters. The discussion then turns to the future of work. Rather than trying to perfectly predict what comes next, Darren identifies five areas leaders can start developing now: AI capability, critical thinking, curiosity, change and culture. Technology matters, but Darren argues that competitive advantage will also depend on what happens “between your two ears”: how well people think, question, adapt and shape the environment around them. Change is another major theme. Darren argues that simply having experienced change does not mean someone knows how to lead it. He advocates for a more human-centred approach built around readiness, willingness and ability, with people involved rather than having change simply done to them. The conversation closes with culture and team performance. For Darren, culture is something every person contributes to. Leaders need to intentionally cultivate the environment around their people, while high-performing teams need alignment, commitment and growth rather than assuming everyone is already on the same page. What You’ll Learn Why leadership effectiveness starts with understanding your own behavioural patterns How habits that once supported success can become limiting over time Why self-awareness alone is not enough without action The difference between leadership intention and how behaviour is actually perceived Why feedback from others is valuable even when you disagree with it How diagnostics can help leaders identify blind spots Why leadership and culture tools need to be fit for purpose The role evidence and research should play when choosing leadership diagnostics Why coaching works best when it goes beyond simply having a good conversation How leaders can identify what is genuinely worth changing for Why perfectionism, control and rescuing others can undermine both leaders and teams How changing behaviour at work can positively affect life outside work Why pausing creates more choice between reacting and responding How leaders can reframe beliefs such as “that’s just who I am” Why yesterday’s successful behaviours can become today’s constraints Darren’s five Cs for the future of work Why AI capability is only one part of future leadership capability Why critical thinking becomes more important as AI makes information easier to generate How curiosity helps leaders notice weak signals and challenge assumptions Why psychological safety should not become an excuse to avoid difficult conversations Why experiencing change is different from being capable of leading change How readiness, willingness and ability influence successful change Why leaders should walk alongside people through change rather than drag them through it How shared vision and involvement can improve change outcomes Why conflict can be productive when it is not automatically treated as negative Darren’s perspective on New Zealand’s tendency towards avoidance Why avoiding hard conversations can contribute to organisational inertia How leaders can find a “third way” between being overly passive and overly aggressive Why clarity and direct feedback do not need to become personal or hostile What “above the line” constructive leadership looks like Why culture needs to be intentionally cultivated How leaders contribute to the culture they complain about What constructive leadership looks like through achievement, self-actualisation, capability building and connection Why feedback is essential for high performance Why team performance begins with alignment before commitment and growth How organisational culture is made up of multiple team subcultures Why leaders should focus on what sits inside their sphere of control and influence Key Takeaways What got you here may not get you there. Behaviours that previously created success can become liabilities when the environment or leadership expectations change. Intention does not equal impact. Leaders need feedback from others to understand how their behaviour actually lands. Self-awareness is only the beginning. Real development happens when awareness moves into acceptance, experimentation and behavioural change. Find what is worth changing for. Personal motivation can be far more powerful than simply being told to become a “better leader”. Create space before reacting. A deliberate pause gives leaders greater freedom to choose how they respond. Future readiness is not only about AI. AI capability needs to sit alongside critical thinking, curiosity, change capability and culture. Change should be done with people, not to people. Readiness, willingness and ability are fundamental to sustainable change. Being nice and being effective are not the same thing. Avoiding hard conversations can create inertia and undermine performance. There is a third way between passive and aggressive leadership. Leaders can provide clarity, speak openly and challenge people without making the conversation personal or hostile. You are part of the culture. Culture is not something solely created by the CEO or HR. Every person contributes to what is reinforced, tolerated and normalised. High-performing teams start with alignment. Before focusing on delivery and growth, teams need clarity about why they exist and how they want to work together. Leadership is about creating the conditions for others to become better. Darren’s closing challenge is for leaders to examine where they spend their time and whether they are genuinely cultivating the environment their people need. About Darren Levy Darren Levy works with Human Synergistics New Zealand, bringing more than 18 years of experience supporting frontline teams, executives and boards. Known for his dynamically challenging approach, Darren focuses on asking strong questions, challenging conventional thinking and turning insight into practical action. His work spans leadership development, organisational culture, behavioural change, team effectiveness and preparing leaders and organisations for the future of work. About Justine Farrington Justine Farrington brings more than two decades of consulting and coaching experience, supported by a background in psychology and a deep understanding of human behaviour. Her work helps leaders and teams understand their patterns, mindsets and behaviours, identify what may be getting in the way, and find more effective ways of working. She is particularly passionate about creating the space for leaders to reflect, challenge familiar stories and make meaningful changes that extend beyond work into their wider lives. Why This Episode Matters Leaders are being asked to navigate more change, more technology and more uncertainty, often while their own capacity feels stretched. It is tempting to respond by searching for another model, tool or prediction about what the future will look like. This conversation brings the focus back to behaviour. How are you showing up? What beliefs are driving that behaviour? How are other people experiencing you? What are you avoiding? What are you willing to change? And what kind of environment are you creating around the people you lead? For Darren and Justine, those questions remain fundamental regardless of what technology comes next. Resources & Links Human Synergistics New Zealand: https://hsnz.co.nz Connect with Darren Levy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenllevy/ Connect with Justine Farrington on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justine-farrington-9500829/ HR Unlocked: https://linktr.ee/hrunlocked See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  2. 2d ago

    Brooke Campbell - Skyline | From HR Leader to Enterprise Leader

    Brooke Campbell’s career has taken her from HR specialist to a role spanning people, corporate affairs, communications and sustainability across an international business. In this episode of HR Unlocked, Brooke joins Lisa Oakley to unpack what she has learned along the way, including why some of the most valuable development for an HR professional happens when they become curious about what sits outside the traditional HR remit. As Chief People and Corporate Affairs Officer at Skyline Enterprises, Brooke is part of the executive leadership team helping shape organisational capability, culture, stakeholder engagement and sustainability as the New Zealand-headquartered business continues to grow internationally. For Brooke, becoming an enterprise leader meant moving beyond the mindset of only contributing when the conversation was explicitly about people. She argues that the “magic” happens when People leaders are thinking about marketing, P&L and commercial opportunities, while operational and finance leaders are also thinking about people. That does not mean HR should take ownership of everything. Brooke describes the trap of becoming the organisational “letterbox”, taking an issue, doing the work and handing the answer back. Instead, she encourages HR teams to focus on supporting outcomes by coaching, challenging, questioning and providing expertise while leaving leaders accountable for leading their people. The conversation then looks at what those ideas mean across a global workforce. Brooke shares Skyline’s experience of taking a New Zealand business and culture into international markets, while recognising that values may be expressed differently across locations. Skyline’s core values, “We’re brave. We care. We do.”, were surfaced through employees rather than created solely in a boardroom, and became particularly important as the organisation navigated COVID across multiple jurisdictions. Brooke and Lisa also discuss talent attraction in Queenstown, the importance of aligning the external employer brand with the lived employee experience, and the wider ecosystem required to attract people and their families to a region. Her legal background brings another dimension to the conversation. Brooke argues that HR professionals need to understand how to apply the law, rather than simply follow a process, recognising that the legally safest answer may not always be the best people answer. Legal guardrails still matter, but so do judgement, organisational risk appetite and the unique circumstances of each employment relationship. The episode finishes with Brooke’s perspective on AI in tourism and a simple challenge to leaders: get into the business, listen to what people are actually experiencing and stay curious about what is happening beyond your own function. What You’ll Learn How Brooke moved from specialist HR roles into enterprise leadership Why curiosity is an important modern leadership capability Why HR professionals need confidence to step outside the traditional HR lane What cross-functional thinking looks like in practice Why people issues are also commercial, operational and strategic issues The difference between supporting outcomes and delivering outputs Why HR should not become the organisational “letterbox” How coaching and challenging leaders builds stronger accountability Why trust and relationships matter when influencing leaders What Brooke has learned from supporting an international workforce from Queenstown Which basic employee expectations remain similar across cultures Why getting on the ground matters when working across different countries How local cultural context can reveal issues that are difficult to understand remotely Why Skyline calls Queenstown its “support office” rather than its “head office” How corporate affairs, sustainability and people strategy can connect Why employees should also be understood as a stakeholder group How shared organisational values can coexist with different local cultures How Skyline surfaced its global values What COVID taught Brooke about crisis leadership Why values become especially important when there is no existing playbook The importance of maintaining a long-term view through crisis How Skyline balanced organisational survival with employee care The challenges of communicating with a predominantly frontline workforce Why organisations need to intentionally embed lessons after a crisis How Brooke’s view of organisational change evolved after COVID What Skyline has learned about attracting talent to Queenstown Why recruiting a person can also mean considering their partner, family and wider support system The relationship between external brand and internal employee experience Why existing employees and leaders can be an organisation’s strongest ambassadors The wider infrastructure challenges involved in attracting talent to resort towns Why applying employment law is different from simply following process How organisational risk appetite affects HR decision-making Why employment relationship problems often begin long before HR becomes involved How expectation setting and feedback can prevent issues from escalating Brooke’s call to move from discussion to action on women in leadership Where AI could create value in tourism Why AI may be most useful in removing friction around the customer experience Why leaders need to spend time where the work is actually happening Key Takeaways HR needs to understand the whole business. Brooke believes People leaders create more value when they contribute to commercial, operational and strategic discussions rather than remaining inside a functional box. Curiosity creates opportunities. Brooke describes her own career as more opportunistic than deliberately designed, with curiosity helping her step into new areas. Do not confuse influence with ownership. HR can coach, challenge and provide expertise without taking responsibility for every people outcome. Relationships matter. Being able to say “I told you so” is less valuable than maintaining enough trust for a leader to seek your advice again. Global consistency does not require identical local experiences. Shared values can provide the foundation while different cultures bring those values to life differently. Values matter most when the playbook disappears. Skyline’s experience through COVID reinforced the importance of knowing who the organisation is and what it stands for. Getting the basics right still matters. Respect, meaningful work, fair remuneration and clear communication remain important regardless of where employees are based. Talent attraction is bigger than the candidate. Location, family, housing and support networks can all influence whether someone can realistically make a move. The law is a guardrail, not a substitute for judgement. HR professionals still need to understand context, risk and the human consequences of decisions. Many employment problems start much earlier than the dispute itself. Recruitment promises, expectation setting and feedback can all influence whether a relationship later deteriorates. AI should help people deliver better experiences. Brooke sees opportunity for AI to remove transactional friction rather than replace the human core of tourism. Leaders need to get closer to the work. Brooke’s closing challenge is to listen, observe and engage directly with the people doing the work rather than attempting to lead entirely from a distance. About Brooke Campbell Brooke Campbell is the Chief People and Corporate Affairs Officer at Skyline Enterprises. She leads Skyline’s people, corporate affairs, communications and sustainability functions and is a member of the organisation’s executive leadership team. Her remit includes organisational capability, culture, governance support, stakeholder engagement and sustainability strategy across the international Skyline Group. Her career has developed from traditional HR and employment relations experience into broader enterprise leadership, giving her a perspective that connects people strategy with commercial performance, corporate affairs, sustainability and international growth.  Why This Episode Matters HR is often encouraged to “get out of its lane”, but Brooke’s perspective adds an important qualification. Getting closer to the whole business does not mean taking responsibility for everything. It means understanding enough about commercial performance, operations, customers, risk and strategy to ask better questions, provide better advice and help leaders make stronger decisions. That distinction becomes even more important as organisations face international growth, workforce change, AI and increasingly complex employment environments. Brooke’s closing message is particularly practical: get into the business and listen. If leaders are not talking with the people on the factory floor, in the kitchen, in the office or at the frontline of the customer experience, Brooke questions whether they can really understand what their people need or lead as effectively as they should. Resources & Links Skyline Enterprises: https://skylineenterprises.co.nz/ Connect with Brooke Campbell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brooke-campbell-7063a015/ HR Unlocked: https://linktr.ee/hrunlocked See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  3. Oct 28

    Sandy Gibbs - Tribe | CVs, Interviews & What Great HR Leadership Looks Like

    HR professionals spend their careers helping other people develop, prepare for opportunities and navigate change. But how good are they at doing the same for themselves? In this episode of HR Unlocked, Lisa Oakley speaks with Sandy Gibbs from Tribe about preparing for career opportunities, creating stronger CVs, interviewing effectively and understanding what organisations increasingly expect from senior People & Culture leaders. Sandy sees a changing HR market, with growing businesses recognising the need for dedicated People & Culture capability while larger organisations reconsider how their HR operating models need to evolve. She also believes professionals need to become better prepared for their own career moves rather than waiting until an opportunity appears. The conversation gets practical quickly. Sandy explains why a CV needs more than responsibilities, why achievements should demonstrate commercial outcomes, and why AI can help with wording but should never remove the individual's voice and evidence from their CV. Lisa and Sandy also unpack interview preparation, nerves, over-talking, researching the people interviewing you, choosing strong career examples and answering seemingly simple questions such as, “Tell me about yourself.” The discussion then moves beyond getting the job and into what makes HR leadership genuinely effective. From enterprise thinking and learning agility to organisational fit, career development and building accountability into the wider business, Sandy shares what she sees distinguishing technically capable HR professionals from those who become trusted senior leaders. For Sandy, great HR leadership is not about HR holding responsibility for everything. The strongest practitioners equip leaders to own the people responsibilities within their own teams, giving HR the space to guide, influence and operate more strategically. What You’ll Learn What Sandy is currently seeing in the New Zealand HR and People & Culture market Why HR professionals need to prepare for career opportunities before they need their next role How to make a CV sound like you rather than something generated entirely by AI Why CV achievements need evidence, context and commercial outcomes How to demonstrate the why behind your work Why strong interview preparation helps reduce over-talking How to keep interview answers concise while still giving enough evidence Why a small number of strong career examples can answer many different interview questions Whether older career examples are still relevant in interviews How to answer “Tell me about yourself” How to approach questions about weaknesses and development areas Why researching your interviewers can be as valuable as researching the organisation What questions candidates should ask at the end of an interview Why HR professionals need to demonstrate thinking beyond their functional lane How learning agility and curiosity show up in senior leadership Why chemistry and organisational fit matter alongside capability Why HR professionals often neglect their own career and development planning What separates good HR leadership from great HR leadership Why great HR leaders build accountability in others rather than holding everything themselves How listening and asking better questions can increase your influence Key Takeaways Preparation starts before the interview. Career achievements, evidence and impact should be captured continuously rather than reconstructed when you suddenly need a CV. AI can help wordsmith a CV, but it shouldn’t write your career story for you. The facts, achievements and evidence still need to belong specifically to you. Commercial outcomes matter. Senior HR professionals need to demonstrate how their work contributed to organisational results, rather than only describing HR activities. The “why” matters. Explaining the rationale behind a decision helps move an example from transactional delivery towards strategic and commercial thinking. Interview technique is an art. Strong candidates know when to stop talking and give interviewers the opportunity to ask for more detail. Fit goes both ways. Capability alone cannot guarantee that a person, leader and organisation will work well together. Thought leadership is demonstrated, not declared. Curiosity, learning agility and the quality of the questions you ask can show how you think without needing to tell people you are strategic. Great HR leaders create accountability outside HR. They help business leaders become capable people leaders instead of positioning HR as the owner of every people decision. HR professionals need to practise what they preach. Career planning, feedback and development should apply to HR teams just as much as the rest of the organisation. You don’t always need to have the answer. Listening well and asking the right question can sometimes create more value than immediately providing advice. About Sandy Gibbs Sandy Gibbs brings 25 years of recruitment experience and leads Tribe’s HR consulting capability while also working across executive search in HR and People & Culture. Her extensive experience working with both employers and candidates gives her a practical view of what organisations are looking for, what helps professionals stand out and the common mistakes people make when navigating their own careers. Why This Episode Matters HR professionals are often very good at helping everyone else with performance, development, succession and career planning. Their own careers can be a different story. This episode offers a practical look at how HR professionals can better articulate their impact, prepare for opportunities, navigate interviews and think about the kind of organisation and leadership environment where they will actually thrive. It also challenges HR leaders to think beyond technical expertise. As organisations expect more commercial and enterprise-wide contribution from People & Culture, curiosity, learning agility, accountability and the ability to influence outside the HR function are becoming increasingly important. Resources & Links Tribe: https://www.tribegroup.com/ Connect with Sandy Gibbs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandygibbs-peopleandculture/ HR Unlocked: https://linktr.ee/hrunlocked See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  4. Oct 26

    Deepika Jindal | Job Crafting, Political Skill & the Future of HR

    A job description might tell you what a role is supposed to be. It does not necessarily tell you how somebody actually lives that role. In this episode of HR Unlocked, Lisa Oakley sits down with Dr. Deepika Jindal, Subject Group Lead for Management at the University of Auckland and Director of the Master of Business Management programme, to explore the relationship between work, identity, leadership and the changing role of HR. Deepika's research interests include job crafting and career crafting. At the centre of the conversation is job crafting. Deepika describes job crafting as the way people proactively shape the tasks, relationships and meaning within their roles. While a job description may be given from the top down, individuals inevitably bring their own strengths, passions and preferences to how that job is performed. That agency can create stronger engagement and more meaningful work, but it also needs to work for the organisation. Deepika argues that managers can benefit from having job crafting conversations alongside traditional performance discussions so that individual preferences, team requirements and organisational outcomes remain aligned. From there, Lisa and Deepika explore the wider skills required of modern HR professionals. They discuss why knowledge alone is not enough, and why problem solving, ethical judgement, political awareness and the ability to work with incomplete information matter so much in real organisational environments. Deepika explains that HR professionals need to be comfortable with complexity and ambiguity rather than expecting every workplace issue to have a clear black-and-white solution. The conversation also reframes organisational politics. Rather than seeing political skill as manipulation or self-interest, Deepika describes it as the ability to understand different stakeholder interests, read the environment and influence towards an outcome that benefits both people and the organisation. HR's position across teams, functions and leadership levels can give practitioners a valuable view of those dynamics and an opportunity to build bridges across the organisation. The episode then moves into leadership, trust, fairness and judgement before turning to careers themselves. Deepika challenges the idea that our identity should be tied to a particular job title. Instead, she discusses the concept of “possible selves”, recognising that careers and professional identities can continue to evolve throughout our lives. She closes by sharing her current research into career crafting among New Zealanders aged 65 and over, examining meaningful paid and unpaid work, identity, wellbeing and how organisations might better retain the experience and capability of older workers. What You’ll Learn What job crafting actually means Why most people are already crafting their jobs, whether they realise it or not How job descriptions differ from the reality of how people perform their roles Why agency can improve meaning, engagement and performance How managers can introduce job crafting into performance conversations When job crafting can create problems for teams or organisations Why collaborative job crafting can help teams allocate work more effectively The relationship between autonomy, engagement and job crafting Why line manager behaviour has such a significant influence on employee experience Why having good HR policies is not enough if managers implement them inconsistently How organisations can balance consistency with different team contexts Why professional development needs to be connected to individual motivation Different ways professionals can maintain their relevance without necessarily completing another full qualification Why practical skills matter alongside academic knowledge Why HR professionals need to become comfortable operating in grey areas How data, judgement and instinct can work together in workplace decision-making The role HR can play in bridging academia, evidence, leadership and practice Why different leaders may require different influencing approaches How organisational politics can be viewed as a positive professional capability What it means to “read the room” Why listening, observing and sitting with discomfort are important leadership skills The difference between respectful disagreement and simply being agreeable How cognitive dissonance can affect HR practitioners and leaders What “disagree and commit” can look like when different perspectives are genuinely considered How HR can balance commercial requirements with human consequences Why fairness and consistency matter so much to employee perceptions Why good intentions do not automatically create positive employee experiences How trust develops through consistent behaviour over time Why technical expertise needs to be paired with people skills How judgement develops through experience, reflection and failure Why scenario planning and cross-functional perspectives can strengthen decision-making Why professional identity should not be tied too tightly to a job title What “possible selves” means for career development How meaningful work may change later in life Why organisations should think differently about retaining older workers Key Takeaways People naturally shape their jobs. Job crafting recognises that people adapt tasks, relationships and meaning to make roles more personally meaningful. Job crafting works best when it creates a win for everyone. Individual agency still needs to align with team and organisational needs. HR requires skills, not just knowledge. Problem solving, ethical judgement and the ability to navigate ambiguity are critical because real workplace problems rarely come with every piece of information. Political skill does not have to mean manipulation. It can mean understanding competing interests and knowing how to influence towards a useful outcome. Context matters. HR has a valuable organisation-wide perspective, but different functions, leaders and subcultures may require different approaches. Judgement is learned. Experience, reflection, success, failure, information and perception all contribute to the judgement calls people make. Fairness matters as much as intention. Employees respond not only to what leaders intended, but to what was implemented and how they experienced it. Trust is built through consistency over time. Words alone do not create credibility. People watch what leaders repeatedly do. Your job title is not your identity. Keeping a more flexible sense of professional identity creates room for different careers and future possibilities. Career development does not stop at a particular age. Deepika's current work examines how people aged 65+ continue crafting meaningful careers through both paid and unpaid work. About Dr. Deepika Jindal Dr. Deepika Jindal is the Subject Group Lead for Management at the University of Auckland, where she teaches human resource management and related courses. She is also Director of the Master of Business Management programme and maintains active research interests in job crafting and career crafting. Deepika chairs HRNZ's Academic Network Committee and is a member of its Auckland Regional Network Committee. Her recognition includes HRNZ's Academic Impact Award in 2023, along with the 2025 Leadership Award and HR Person of the Year recognition discussed in the episode. Why This Episode Matters HR professionals operate in the space between competing interests. They are expected to understand organisational strategy while also understanding how decisions affect people. They need evidence, but they also need judgement. They need technical capability, but they also need relationships, influence and political awareness. Deepika's perspective brings academic research into those very practical realities. This episode is a reminder that the future of HR will not only depend on knowing more. It will depend on becoming better at interpreting complexity, reading context, building trust and helping people find meaning in changing work. Resources & Links Connect with Dr. Deepika Jindal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepika-jindal/ HR Unlocked: https://linktr.ee/hrunlocked See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  5. Oct 21

    Fiona Hewitt - Unboxable | Future Fluency, Workforce Design & the Evolution of HR

    The future of work is already happening. So how should HR respond? In this episode of HR Unlocked, Lisa Oakley speaks with Fiona Hewitt, Founder and Managing Partner of Unboxable, about how organisations and People & Culture teams can prepare for a future that cannot be neatly predicted. For Fiona, the goal should not be “future-proofing”. There is no fixed playbook because nobody knows exactly where technology, workforce expectations and business conditions will take us. Instead, organisations need to become future-fluent, building their ability to adapt as conditions change. That creates a significant challenge and opportunity for HR. Fiona expects the makeup of HR teams to change as technology increasingly automates areas such as compliance, payroll and frontline support. At the same time, she sees greater demand for capability in workforce planning, workforce intelligence, leadership, organisational design and operating models. The conversation challenges the familiar call for HR to earn “a seat at the table”. Fiona argues that HR needs to go further and actively help form the decisions that shape the organisation, including technology, strategy and how work itself is designed. Lisa and Fiona also explore what an operating model really means. It is not simply an organisation chart or a restructure. It includes how value is delivered, how decisions are made, operating rhythms, capabilities and how work is organised. From there, the conversation moves into the role of AI, change, culture, strategic influence and the increasing need for HR professionals to understand the business beyond their own functional expertise. Fiona argues that credibility at senior levels comes not only from knowing HR, but from understanding the commercial context, sector and organisation well enough to contribute from an enterprise perspective. The episode ultimately asks a bigger question: if work becomes more flexible and capability-based, could even the traditional concept of a “job” need to evolve? Fiona closes with an idea that has shaped her own career in workforce transformation: building people, leaders and organisations that are “ready for anything.” What You’ll Learn What Fiona means by future fluency Why future-proofing organisations may be the wrong goal How technology could reshape the structure and capability of HR teams Why workforce planning and organisational design need deeper HR capability Why organisational design is much more than restructuring or moving boxes on an org chart What an operating model actually means in practice Why HR needs to move beyond simply asking for a “seat at the table” How HR can become involved earlier in technology, strategy and business decisions Why the future of work may be better understood as the evolution of work Why organisations need to learn to lead with change, rather than through it How language such as “clarity over certainty” can influence how people respond to change How AI may reduce transactional HR work while increasing the need for strategic capability Why HR business partnering is likely to become even more commercially focused How Centres of Excellence may need to connect more closely with strategy and business operations Why the future of work should not sit in a separate programme How HR teams can “breadcrumb” future-focused thinking into work they are already doing Why Fiona believes HR should become an architect rather than the “ambulance at the bottom of the cliff” How commercial understanding strengthens HR influence Why “next practice” can sometimes be more useful than relying solely on best practice What CEOs should expect from their People leaders Why culture will become even more important as organisations become increasingly adaptive How organisations can balance current pressures with preparing for what comes next Why AI capability inside HR itself matters How strategy may need more flexibility as conditions change Why the traditional concept of a job could eventually become less rigid What changing jobs could mean for careers and transferable capability Why Fiona sees potential in the rise of the generalist What it means to build an organisation that is “ready for anything” Key Takeaways You cannot future-proof against a future you cannot predict. Fiona’s alternative is future fluency: building the ability to adapt as conditions shift. HR capability needs to shift. Technology may reduce some transactional roles while increasing demand for workforce planning, organisational design and strategic capability. Org design is not the same thing as restructuring. It is about how an organisation delivers value, makes decisions, structures work and operates. HR needs to move beyond having a seat at the table. The opportunity is to actively shape business, technology and workforce decisions. The future of work does not need to be another separate HR programme. Future-focused capability can be built into leadership, culture and other work already underway. HR’s value is shifting from support towards architecture. Fiona argues that People functions can help design the organisation rather than only responding once problems appear. Credibility requires business fluency as well as HR expertise. Understanding the organisation, industry and commercial context strengthens influence. The traditional job may not remain as fixed as it is today. More fluid use of capability could change how organisations deploy people and think about careers. Preparing for tomorrow needs to begin today. Organisations cannot wait until the change arrives before building capability. Being “ready for anything” does not mean predicting everything. It means developing enough adaptability in people, leadership and the organisation to respond effectively when conditions change. About Fiona Hewitt Fiona Hewitt is the Founder and Managing Partner of Unboxable, a New Zealand-based workforce transformation consultancy working with boards, executive teams and organisations to build the leadership, workforce and organisational capability needed to respond to technology, changing workforce expectations and evolving business conditions. She is also co-founder of Able, an AI consultancy focused on helping organisations build AI capability in their people. Her work spans workforce transformation, organisational design, operating models, strategy, leadership and preparing organisations for the evolution of work. Why This Episode Matters A lot of discussion about the future of work focuses on technology. This conversation goes deeper into the organisational questions underneath it. If AI changes how work gets done, organisations will need to rethink how decisions are made, how capability is deployed, what leaders are responsible for and how People & Culture functions create value. For HR professionals, the opportunity is significant. The profession can remain primarily focused on administering and supporting the organisation, or it can develop the commercial, organisational and workforce design capabilities needed to help shape what the organisation becomes next. As Fiona puts it, HR has the opportunity to move from being the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff to the architect with the builder at the top. Resources & Links Unboxable: https://unboxable.co.nz/ Connect with Fiona Hewitt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionahewitt/ Hr Unlocked: https://linktr.ee/hrunlocked See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  6. Oct 19

    Claire George - Sport NZ | Leadership & Better Workplaces in Sport

    How do you build People & Culture capability when you're supporting more than 150 organisations, all with different structures, resources, challenges, and communities? In this episode of HR Unlocked, Lisa Oakley sits down with Claire George, Acting Business Capability Manager at Sport New Zealand, to explore what it takes to strengthen leadership and people capability across the sports sector. Rather than supporting one internal workforce, Claire and her team work across Sport New Zealand's partner organisations, helping lift capability in areas including governance, technology, change management, commercial capability, and People & Culture. For Claire, relationships are fundamental. Sport New Zealand is also a funder of many of the organisations it supports, which means creating enough trust for leaders to openly share when things aren't going well is critical. When those relationships exist, Claire says there is an opportunity to do some powerful work. The conversation explores the realities facing sporting organisations that don't have dedicated HR teams. In many cases, people responsibilities sit with a CEO, finance professional, or another leader alongside their existing role. Claire shares why the answer isn't adding more complexity, but making good people practices simple, practical, and easier to apply. Lisa and Claire also unpack the unusual dynamic created when people care deeply about the organisation they work for. In sport, work can be closely connected to someone's identity, community, recreation, and personal relationships. That passion can create extraordinary engagement and commitment, but it can also make change more emotionally charged and make it harder for people to switch off. Wellbeing and burnout are therefore important parts of the conversation, alongside the responsibility organisations and individuals have to create sustainable ways of working. Claire also shares lessons from Sport New Zealand's leadership development programmes, including the importance of embedding te ao Māori rather than treating it as an add-on, creating genuinely diverse cohorts, and giving leaders opportunities to learn from one another. Ultimately, this episode is a practical conversation about keeping People & Culture grounded in what organisations and people actually need: trusted relationships, good conversations, strong leadership, simple processes, and capability that prepares the sector for what's next. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN How Sport New Zealand supports People & Culture capability across more than 150 partner organisations Why trusted relationships are essential when influencing without direct authority How to decide when a sector-wide solution works and when an organisation needs tailored support Why People & Culture needs to connect with organisational strategy The realities of managing people without a dedicated HR function Why HR should make doing the right thing easier, not more complicated How good questions help diagnose the real people issue Why relationships can be considered a synonym for leadership Which fundamental HR processes smaller organisations need to get right Why performance conversations matter for both high and lower performers How People & Culture expertise can add value to senior leadership conversations Why passion can be both a strength and a challenge in sporting organisations How someone's work, identity, community, and personal life can become intertwined in sport Why organisational change can become particularly emotionally charged in purpose-led environments How boards can think more deliberately about CEO capability and recruitment Why organisations shouldn't expect to find a leadership "unicorn" How scaffolding capability around a leader can be more effective than expecting one person to do everything Why collaboration between sporting organisations is a strength of the sector How passion can contribute to burnout when people struggle to switch off Why recovery sometimes requires doing something completely different from your work How EAP and professional supervision can support people working in challenging roles What Sport New Zealand has learned from its leadership development programmes Why embedding te ao Māori strengthens leadership development How the Puna leadership framework supports leadership capability Why diversity within leadership cohorts creates richer learning How changing expectations around work, technology, and volunteering could reshape the sports workforce Why retaining capability within the sector can matter as much as retaining someone within one organisation How AI and technology could free people to focus on more valuable human work Why the future of People & Culture should involve greater simplicity, not greater complexity KEY TAKEAWAYS Relationships are fundamental to leadership. Being able to build trust, have real conversations, work through difficult issues, and understand what's happening for people is a genuine leadership capability. People & Culture doesn't need to be complicated. Processes, policies, and systems should make it easier for people to do the right thing. Context matters. The HR answer isn't automatically the right organisational answer. Small organisations still need the fundamentals in place, particularly employment agreements and effective performance conversations. Performance isn't only about addressing problems. Regular conversations help high performers stretch, develop, and avoid leaving capability untapped. Passion is a major strength in sport, but it comes with leadership challenges. When someone's work is closely connected to their identity and community, change and conflict can become more personal. Highly engaged people can still burn out. Leaders need to understand the difference between commitment and sustainable performance. Organisations don't need leaders who can do everything. They need to understand what capability they need now, what can be developed, and what can be complemented by the wider leadership team or board. Collaboration is a major strength of the sports sector. Organisations and leaders can build capability by sharing knowledge and learning from each other. Te ao Māori can create a powerful foundation for leadership development when it is genuinely embedded rather than treated as an addition. Technology should reduce the administrative burden and create more time for the human work that matters. The more transactional work technology removes, the more valuable skills such as relationships, feedback, conflict management, curiosity, and good conversations become. Future capability needs to be considered at a sector level. Someone moving from one sporting organisation to another doesn't necessarily mean capability has been lost. People professionals need to understand the organisation before prescribing the solution. Bring your expertise, but be curious first. ABOUT CLAIRE GEORGE Claire George is Acting Business Capability Manager at Sport New Zealand, where her work focuses on strengthening organisational and people capability across the sports sector. Working with more than 150 Sport New Zealand partner organisations, Claire supports capability development across People & Culture alongside a wider team working across areas including governance, technology, change management, and commercial capability. Her work spans leadership development, organisational capability, wellbeing, performance, change, and helping organisations create practical people practices that work within the realities of their size and resources. Claire is particularly passionate about relationships, building sustainable workplaces, developing strong leaders, and helping sporting organisations create environments where people feel connected, supported, and able to perform at their best. WHY THIS EPISODE MATTERS Sport presents a unique People & Culture challenge. Many organisations operate with small teams, limited resources, passionate volunteers, and no dedicated HR function, while the people working within them can have an unusually deep personal connection to the organisation, sport, and community. That creates enormous potential, but also real challenges around leadership, change, wellbeing, performance, and burnout. Claire's experience offers lessons that extend well beyond sport. For HR professionals, CEOs, boards, business owners, and people leaders, this episode is a reminder that good People & Culture isn't about building more processes. It's about understanding context, creating trusted relationships, simplifying the fundamentals, having conversations early, and building the capability people will need for the future. RESOURCES & LINKS Sport New Zealand: https://sportnz.org.nz/ Connect with Claire George on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-george-a90713110/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  7. Oct 14

    Nicki Mackay - FMG | Leadership, Trust & Keeping Business Moving

    What happens when someone with deep operational experience steps into the Chief People Officer role?⁣⁣In this episode of HR Unlocked, Lisa Oakley sits down with Nicki Mackay, Chief People Officer at FMG, to explore leadership, trust, resilience, culture, and the future of People & Culture.⁣⁣After 17 years at FMG across operational and leadership roles, Nicki brings a practical understanding of the business. She shares how moving between roles has challenged her assumptions, strengthened her commercial understanding, and shaped her approach to executive leadership.⁣⁣A central theme is perspective. Nicki explains why technical expertise builds credibility while leadership builds influence, and why People & Culture must help people thrive while keeping the business moving.⁣⁣She also explores trust, self-awareness, and constructive challenge, reflecting on the Auckland Anniversary floods and Cyclone Gabrielle. Experiencing a year's worth of claims in just two weeks taught her valuable lessons about staying calm, supporting teams, and leading through uncertainty.⁣⁣Nicki discusses decision-making under pressure, why perfect information rarely arrives on time, and how leaders must combine data, judgement, and instinct while remaining ready to adapt.⁣⁣The conversation also covers career agility, performance, motivation, generational diversity, mutuality, and Nicki's leadership philosophy: be your story, own it, live it, love it.⁣⁣𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧⁣• How operational experience strengthens People & Culture leadership and commercial understanding⁣• Why changing roles challenges assumptions and broadens perspective⁣• Why technical expertise builds credibility while leadership builds influence⁣• How People & Culture can maintain organisational momentum⁣• What CEOs and executive peers need from a Chief People Officer⁣• Why relationships and respectful challenge strengthen executive teams⁣• How self-awareness and active listening improve leadership ⁣• What Cyclone Gabrielle taught Nicki about trust, resilience, and crisis leadership⁣• Why leaders must make decisions with incomplete information⁣• How career agility creates opportunities beyond rigid career plans⁣• Why performance issues may reflect role fit, strengths, or motivation⁣• How beliefs, values, and individual drivers influence behaviour⁣⁣𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬⁣• Perspective matters. Moving across an organisation builds context and improves judgement.⁣• People & Culture should enable progress. Early involvement, commercial understanding, and strong relationships help businesses move forward.⁣• Trust is built before a crisis. Everyday relationships provide the foundation for extraordinary moments.⁣• Resilience means moving forward. Crisis leadership requires calm, awareness, judgement, and support for others.⁣• Decisions can't always wait. Leaders must act with incomplete information and adapt as circumstances change.⁣• Careers aren't concrete. Flexibility creates opportunities that rigid plans may miss.⁣• Performance depends on context. Strengths, motivation, role fit, and individual circumstances all matter.⁣⁣𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐲⁣Nicki Mackay is Chief People Officer at FMG. With more than 15 years at the organisation, she has held operational and leadership roles across area management, agribusiness, claims, recovery, and executive leadership.⁣⁣Nicki joined FMG's executive leadership team as Chief People Officer in 2023, bringing extensive operational experience to the People & Culture function.⁣⁣Her leadership approach centres on trust, curiosity, connection, practical judgement, and creating conditions for people to perform at their best. She is passionate about leadership, culture, resilience, organisational agility, and helping people navigate change while staying connected to their strengths and values.⁣⁣𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬⁣People & Culture leaders need more than HR expertise. They need commercial understanding, operational awareness, strong relationships, sound judgement, and the ability to influence across an organisation.⁣⁣Nicki's career demonstrates how operational experience can shape executive leadership, culture, crisis response, and the People & Culture function.⁣⁣As organisations face accelerating change and uncertainty, leaders will rarely have perfect answers. They'll need to trust their judgement, understand their people, act with integrity, and move forward when waiting is no longer useful.⁣⁣For HR professionals, executives, people leaders, business owners, and anyone navigating leadership or career change, this conversation offers practical insights into trust, agility, resilience, and keeping people and business moving.⁣⁣𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 & 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬⁣• FMG: https://www.fmg.co.nz/⁣• Connect with Nicki Mackay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicki-mackay-b8501158/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  8. Oct 12

    Rose Powell - Vitaco | Future Skills, AI & Building Capability on the Factory Floor

    What happens to the future of work if half your workforce gets left behind? In this episode of HR Unlocked, Lisa Oakley sits down with Rose Powell, General Manager People & Capability at Vitaco Health Group, to explore what future-focused People & Culture looks like inside a complex, vertically integrated organisation. Rose's leadership philosophy was shaped early in her career when she moved from a command-and-control manufacturing environment into the very different world of higher education. It was there that she began recognising empathy, care, and connection not as leadership weaknesses, but as strengths. That experience helped shape the servant leadership approach she continues to practise today. At Vitaco, Rose leads People & Capability across a workforce spanning manufacturing, distribution, science, quality, sales, marketing, and corporate functions. She explains how Vitaco's Mini Business Unit model, Pillar Fundamentals, and skills matrix give manufacturing employees a structured pathway to build capability, learn end-to-end processes, progress their careers, and increase their earning potential. The conversation also tackles a bigger question facing manufacturing: what skills should organisations be developing when technology is changing the work itself? Rose shares her involvement in industry and vocational education, why future manufacturing workers will need a different capability mix, and why organisations also have an obligation to help their existing people become more adaptable. She discusses the value of reverse mentoring, including what Vitaco has learnt from younger interns bringing new AI knowledge and ways of working into the organisation. For Rose, capability is more than knowing how to perform today's job. It means understanding how that job may need to be done differently and having the will to make that change happen. That becomes particularly important with AI. Rose warns of the risk of creating a divide between employees who sit behind desks and those who don't. With many frontline employees traditionally lacking company emails, laptops, and access to the same digital tools as corporate teams, she argues that organisations need to be intentional about democratising access to technology, information, and learning. Rose and Lisa also explore how strong cultures survive rapid growth, what constructive employer-union relationships look like, and why trust is built well before anyone reaches the bargaining table. For Rose, regular conversations with delegates and genuine relationships mean disagreement does not have to destroy trust. What You'll Learn How Rose's early career experiences shaped her servant leadership style Why empathy, care, and connection can be leadership strengths What People & Culture looks like across a complex, vertically integrated workforce How Vitaco develops manufacturing capability through its Mini Business Unit model How skills matrices can connect learning, career progression, and remuneration Why capability development needs both technical and human skills How employers and unions can collaborate on workforce development Why traditional qualifications may not always keep pace with changing jobs What future manufacturing employees will need to succeed Why existing employees need support to remain adaptable as technology changes How reverse mentoring can bring new skills into an organisation What younger workers can teach established leaders about AI Why capability is about more than knowing how to perform today's job How purpose can support innovation and organisational growth Why AI risks widening the gap between desk-based and frontline employees How Vitaco is increasing frontline access to digital information and learning Why organisations need to democratise access to technology How culture can remain strong as organisations scale Why consistency of purpose and messaging matters during rapid growth What constructive employer-union relationships look like in practice Why relationships with union delegates matter outside collective bargaining How trust allows employers and unions to disagree constructively Why People & Culture professionals need genuine commercial understanding Why frontline leaders need more than technical expertise How organisations can identify and develop leadership potential earlier Why workforce planning increasingly needs to focus on capability rather than fixed job titles Key Takeaways Empathy, caring, and connection aren't weaknesses in leadership. For Rose, recognising those qualities as strengths fundamentally changed the way she leads. Developing frontline capability works best when employees can clearly see how learning connects to their role, career progression, and earning potential. Future manufacturing capability will look different as automation, data, new systems, and AI change the nature of work. Organisations have a responsibility to develop the people they already employ, not simply recruit different skills when technology changes. Reverse mentoring gives organisations an opportunity to learn from younger employees who may already be highly comfortable with emerging technologies. For Rose, capability is a combination of knowing how to do the job, understanding how it might need to be done differently, and having the will to make that happen. AI capability cannot be limited to employees with laptops and company emails. Otherwise, organisations risk creating a new workforce divide. Modernising only part of the workforce limits both organisational performance and future talent pipelines. Giving frontline employees greater digital access can improve their ability to access business information, learning platforms, and their own information. Strong organisational cultures require consistency as businesses grow. People need to continue understanding the organisation's purpose and what makes it distinctive. Constructive union relationships are built outside bargaining. Frequent dialogue and genuine relationships with delegates create a stronger foundation when disagreement occurs. Trust doesn't require agreement. It requires consistency, legitimacy, and relationships strong enough to withstand disagreement. People & Culture professionals need to understand how their organisation actually operates, creates value, and makes money. Technical excellence doesn't automatically translate into great people leadership. Frontline leaders need support to build confidence and people capability. Future workforce planning needs to consider capabilities as much as job titles because organisations cannot know exactly what every role will look like in the years ahead. People want to understand why change is happening, have a voice in it, and know their contribution matters. About Rose Powell Rose Powell is General Manager People & Capability at Vitaco Health Group, where she leads the People & Capability framework supporting a vertically integrated Trans-Tasman workforce across manufacturing, distribution, science, quality, sales, marketing, and corporate functions. Her work focuses on aligning workforce capability with organisational growth, developing future skills, strengthening leadership, and creating practical pathways for employees to build their careers. Rose brings extensive experience across manufacturing, higher education, and complex workforce environments. Her leadership philosophy is strongly influenced by servant leadership and a belief in growing others, building relationships, and creating opportunities for people to succeed. She is also actively involved in conversations around vocational learning and the future skills needed by New Zealand's manufacturing and food and beverage sectors. Why This Episode Matters The future of work isn't only happening in offices. As AI, automation, data, and digital systems reshape organisations, one of the biggest workforce challenges will be ensuring frontline and non-desk employees have access to the same opportunities to learn, adapt, and remain relevant. Rose offers a practical view of what that looks like inside a large manufacturing environment, from structured capability pathways and digital access to reverse mentoring, vocational education, leadership development, and constructive relationships with unions. Her perspective also challenges organisations to think beyond simply recruiting the skills they'll need next. Future readiness means investing in the people already inside the organisation and creating the conditions for them to evolve alongside the work. For HR and People & Culture professionals, executives, manufacturing leaders, operational managers, and anyone thinking about AI and workforce transformation, this conversation offers practical ideas for building capability without leaving people behind. Resources & Links Vitaco Health Group: https://vitaco.co.nz/ Connect with Rose Powell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rose-powell-9a00728/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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HR Unlocked with Lisa Oakley is a leadership conversation series where thoughtful HR and business leaders share lived experience on people, risk, culture, and compliance. It is designed for business owners, senior leaders, and HR professionals across Australasia to learn from real decisions and leadership judgment. The show is a platform to honour the contribution of leaders willing to share their experience.

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