Episodes

  • 189 | 5 Ways to Answer Questions in Important Meetings (When Your Mind Goes Blank)
    Nov 6 2026

    Have you ever been asked for your opinion in a meeting and suddenly found your mind going completely blank? It can be especially uncomfortable when you're speaking with senior leaders or discussing an important issue and feel under pressure to come up with the "right" answer straight away.

    In this episode, Fay explores why mind blank moments happen and shares five practical techniques you can use when you're put on the spot. From buying yourself valuable thinking time to using coaching questions to move the conversation forward, you'll hear simple approaches that can help you feel more confident and credible in important meetings.


    What You’ll Learn
    • Why stress and pressure can make it harder to organise your thoughts and recall information in meetings
    • How a deliberate pause can help you move out of panic mode and think more clearly
    • A simple way to clarify questions while giving yourself valuable thinking time
    • Why you don't need to come up with a perfect answer to make a useful contribution
    • How to respond professionally when you genuinely don't know the answer
    • The benefits of preparing notes and key information before important meetings
    • How coaching questions can help a team think more clearly about a problem without rushing to a decision


    Chapters

    [00:00] Introduction

    [02:43] The Psychology Behind Mind Blank Moments

    [04:40] Tip 1: Remember to Pause

    [05:57] Tip 2: Clarify the Question

    [07:40] Tip 3: Take the Pressure Off Yourself

    [08:38] Tip 4: Be Honest When You Don't Know

    [10:14] Tip 5: Ask a Coaching Question

    [11:34] Example: Coaching Questions in Action

    [13:10] Why Coaching Is Valued at Leadership Level

    [14:11] How to Get More Support

    [14:48] Closing


    Useful Links and Resources
    • Connect with Fay Wallis on LinkedIn
    • Learn about Fay’s Inspiring HR Leadership Programme
    • Treat yourself to a copy of The Essential HR Planner


    Helpful Episodes to Listen to Next
    • Episode 162: How to Feel More Confident Speaking Up in Leadership Meetings
    • Episode 86: How to Stop Other People Taking Credit for Your Ideas in Meetings
    • Episode 73: 5 Ways to Feel More Confident in Your Next Interview, Meeting, or Presentation


    Enjoyed This Episode? Don’t Miss the Next One!

    Sign up for the free weekly HR Coffee Time email for useful HR resources, ideas and new episode updates to support you in your HR career.

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    15 mins
  • 188 | “That’s Not Special, That’s Just Me”: How to Spot the Strengths You Can’t See (with Michele Deeks & Martin Galpin)
    Oct 23 2026
    Have you ever dismissed something you do brilliantly because it feels easy? Perhaps a colleague has praised you for something and you've thought, "That's nothing special. Doesn't everyone do that?" The challenge is that some of our greatest strengths can be hidden in plain sight because they come so naturally to us.In this episode, we explore why recognising and using your strengths can have a powerful impact on your wellbeing, performance and enjoyment at work. We also look at why many people spend too much time relying on learned behaviours rather than the things that genuinely energise them.To help us unpack this topic, I'm joined by chartered psychologists Michele Deeks and Martin Galpin, co-founders of Work Positive and creators of the At My Best strengths tools. Together, we discuss the research behind strengths-based approaches, how to identify your own strengths, and simple ways managers, leaders and teams can help people recognise what they do best.What You'll LearnThe difference between a genuine strength and a learned behaviour, and why recognising the distinction mattersWhy the strengths that come most naturally to you can be the hardest ones to spotHow focusing only on weaknesses can limit development and prevent people from excellingPractical ways managers can help team members identify and use their strengths more oftenWhy detailed positive feedback is more powerful than generic praiseHow reflecting on times when you've been at your best can help you identify your strengthsA simple team activity that encourages colleagues to recognise and appreciate each other's strengthsChapters[00:00] Introduction: Hidden Strengths[00:31] Welcome, Guests & HR Planning Day[03:35] What Are Strengths?[04:21] Strengths vs Learned Behaviours[05:47] Fay's Personal Example: Time Management[06:43] The Impact of Overusing Learned Behaviours[08:26] Why Focus on Strengths at Work?[10:28] Fixing Weakness vs Building Strength[12:16] The Cost of No Positive Feedback[12:37] How Managers Can Weave In Strengths[13:06] The Leaving Party Effect[14:29] The Power of Detailed Positive Feedback[16:37] The Ripple Effect & Strengths Blind Spots[21:22] Using Strengths Cards with People Facing Redundancy[23:08] The Research Behind Strengths[27:10] Wellbeing & Financial Performance: Oxford Research[28:37] How to Identify Your Own Strengths[32:03] The Story Behind the Strengths Cards[35:24] Team Activities with the Strengths Cards[39:02] Book Recommendation & Job Crafting[43:46] Wrap UpUseful Links and ResourcesConnect with Michele Deeks on LinkedInConnect with Martin Galpin on LinkedInVisit the Work Positive websiteExplore At My Best resources and strengths toolsTry the free Strengths Self-Reflection ToolConnect with Fay Wallis on LinkedInLearn about Fay’s Inspiring HR Leadership ProgrammeTreat yourself to a copy of The Essential HR PlannerBook your ticket for one of the HR Planning DaysBooks & Articles Recommended in This EpisodePersonalization at Work: How HR Can Use Job Crafting to Drive Performance, Engagement & Wellbeing, by Rob BakerJournal article:Flourishing in New Zealand Workers: Associations With Lifestyle Behaviors, Physical Health, Psychosocial, and Work-Related Indicators (2015),by Lucy C. Hone, Aaron Jarden, Scott Duncan and Grant M. SchofieldMichelle McQuaid’s research on strengths-based organisational changeUniversity of Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre:Workplace Wellbeing and Firm Performance, by Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Micah Kaats and George WardHR Coffee Time Episodes to Listen to NextEpisode 47:Discovering Your Values to Help Your HR Career, with Zoe HawkinsEpisode 173:How to Build a Better Workplace Culture, So People Thrive at Work, with Aoife O'BrienEnjoyed This Episode? Don't Miss The Next One!Sign up for the free weekly HR Coffee Time emailExclusive offer from HR Coffee Time’s sponsor, C-meHR Coffee Time listeners can book C-me’s 90-minute High Performing Team Workshop, with five High Performance profiles and a Team Wheel, for £499 (saving more than £2,500). Ideal for a Christmas team day or end-of-year get-together. Places are limited, so find out more and apply at https://colour-profiling.com/hrcoffee
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    46 mins
  • 187 | What’s Next for Your Career? 4 Options to Help You Decide
    Oct 9 2026

    Career progression does not always have to mean securing a promotion or climbing further up the career ladder. You may want to deepen your expertise, move into a different area of HR or explore a completely new path.

    In this solo episode, Fay talks you through four possible career directions: growing in your current role, stepping up, moving sideways or stepping out. She also shares practical questions to help you decide which direction feels right for the next stage of your career.

    What You’ll Learn
    • Why meaningful career growth does not always require a promotion or a new job title
    • How growing in your current role could help you develop your expertise, confidence or strategic impact
    • Questions to consider if you would like to step up into a more senior position
    • How a sideways move could broaden your experience and support your longer-term career goals
    • Practical ways to explore stepping out of your current career path before making a major change
    • How to identify the work, strengths and experiences you would like more of in your career
    • Why choosing a general direction can help you make more deliberate decisions, even if you do not have every detail worked out yet

    Chapters

    [0:00] Introduction: The Four Career Directions

    [01:15] Option 1: Grow in Your Current Role

    [03:28] Option 2: Step Up into a More Senior Role

    [05:21] Option 3: Move Sideways

    [07:03] Option 4: Step Out - Leaving Your Current Path & Exploring New Options

    [08:48] How to Choose Which Career Direction Is Right for You

    [10:19] Using The Essential HR Planner to Turn Your Decision Into a Plan

    [11:37] Closing: What Do You Want Next from Your Career?

    Useful Links and Resources
    • Connect with Fay Wallis on LinkedIn
    • Learn about Fay’s Inspiring HR Leadership Programme
    • Treat yourself to a copy of The Essential HR Planner

    Enjoyed This Episode? Don’t Miss the Next One!

    Sign up for the free weekly HR Coffee Time email for useful HR resources, ideas and new episode updates to support you in your HR career.

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    13 mins
  • 186 | How Integrating Practical HR Training into Manager Development Helped Managers Succeed (with Amy Critchley)
    Sep 29 2026
    Managers are expected to handle everything from one-to-ones and development conversations to absence, performance issues and disciplinaries. Yet many step into management without having been properly taught how to deal with these responsibilities. For HR and People professionals, finding a way to build managers’ knowledge and confidence without overwhelming them can be a real challenge.In this special bonus episode of HR Coffee Time, Fay Wallis is joined by Amy Critchley, Head of People at Indigo Networks. Amy explains how she created a management development programme from scratch after joining an organisation that had not previously had a dedicated HR or People team.Amy shares practical ideas for combining essential HR knowledge with wider management development, making potentially dry subjects more engaging and helping learning stick. She also explains how the programme strengthened relationships between managers and changed the way they worked with the People team.What You’ll Learn How to decide which topics to prioritise when creating a management development programmeWhy combining practical HR knowledge with wider management skills can make training more effectiveIdeas for making subjects such as absence, investigations, disciplinaries and employment law more engagingHow to accommodate different learning preferences without relying on lengthy presentations or uncomfortable role playWays to support learning beyond the workshop through e-learning, workbooks, drop-in clinics and People Partnering sessionsHow real-life scenarios, discussion and peer learning can build managers’ confidenceSigns that manager training is working, including stronger peer relationships and a more positive relationship with the People teamChapters [00:00] Introduction: Why managers matter[01:14] The challenge of developing managers[02:02] The Workforce Success Stories Summit[02:49] Meet Amy Critchley: building a management development programme[04:11] How Amy identified the need for manager training[05:47] Deciding on the training content[08:28] Combining HR knowledge with management development[09:50] Designing engaging, brain-friendly training[13:27] Wraparound support: e-learning and drop-in clinics[15:28] From drop-in clinics to people partnering[17:46] Measuring success: executive buy-in and manager engagement[20:18] Changing the perception of HR[24:16] Making learning stick: worst-case scenarios and one-to-ones[29:06] How the programme changed HR's perception in the business[32:43] Book recommendation and wrap-upUseful Links and Resources Learn more about the Workforce Success Stories SummitConnect with Fay Wallis on LinkedInLearn about Fay’s Inspiring HR Leadership ProgrammeTreat yourself to a copy of The Essential HR PlannerBook Recommended in This Episode The Trainer’s Toolkit: Bringing Brain-Friendly Learning to Life, by Kimberly Herr and Larry ReynoldsAmy recommends this practical resource for ideas on keeping training real, recognising the different needs of people in the room, creating multisensory learning and managing the state of the group.Helpful Episodes to Listen to Next Episode 129: Five Essential Techniques to Become a Great Manager, with James RoseEpisode 118: 9 Tips to Unlock Training Success When You're a Busy HR ProfessionalEnjoyed This Episode? Don’t Miss the Next One! Sign up for the free weekly HR Coffee Time email for useful HR resources, ideas and new episode updates to support you in your HR career.Exclusive offer from HR Coffee Time’s sponsor, C-meHR Coffee Time listeners can book C-me’s 90-minute High Performing Team Workshop, with five High Performance profiles and a Team Wheel, for £499 (saving more than £2,500). Ideal for a Christmas team day or end-of-year get-together. Places are limited, so find out more and apply at https://colour-profiling.com/hrcoffee
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    36 mins
  • 185 | Cancer at Work: How to Support Employees Through Diagnosis, Treatment and Beyond (with Tara Ferguson)
    Sep 25 2026
    Cancer affects far more people in the workplace than many of us realise. As HR professionals, there may be times when you're supporting an employee with a cancer diagnosis, someone undergoing treatment, a colleague living with the long-term effects of cancer, or an employee who is caring for a loved one affected by it.Knowing that support matters is one thing. Feeling confident about what to say, what practical help to offer, and how to create the right support across your organisation is another.In this episode, Fay is joined by Tara Ferguson, Founder of Onward With You. Drawing on more than 20 years in senior HR roles and her own experience of being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023, Tara shares practical advice to help HR teams and managers better support people affected by cancer at work. Together, they explore the role good line management can play, the reality of living with cancer beyond active treatment, and the steps organisations can take to build greater cancer confidence.What You’ll Learn Why cancer should increasingly be considered a long-term condition rather than a short-term illnessThe scale of cancer's impact on today's workforce, including employees with caring responsibilitiesWhat Tara's line manager did that made such a positive difference during her diagnosis and treatmentWhy work can sometimes play an important role in someone's recovery and wellbeing during treatmentWhat HR professionals need to understand about legal protections and reasonable adjustmentsHow to approach the first conversation when someone shares a cancer diagnosis with youPractical steps organisations can take to improve awareness, support and manager capabilityChapters [0:00] Introduction: Cancer at Work[01:15] Meet Tara Ferguson[02:50] Tara's Story: From HR to Cancer Diagnosis[03:48] The Changing Face of Cancer in the Workplace[05:12] How Tara Is Now: The Ongoing Impact[08:07] Cancer in the Workplace: The Statistics[11:36] What Good Line Manager Support Looks Like[15:32] The Positive Role of Work During Treatment[17:13] Legal Protections & Reasonable Adjustments[19:05] Supporting Employees with Hidden Cancer Diagnoses[21:40] Having the First Conversation About Cancer[24:20] Organisation-Wide HR Strategies[27:26] Book Recommendation & Resources[29:27] How to Reach Tara[29:55] Key Takeaways & ClosingUseful Links and Resources Visit Tara's website:Onward With YouConnect with Tara Ferguson on LinkedInConnect with Fay Wallis on LinkedInLearn about Fay's Inspiring HR Leadership ProgrammeTreat yourself to a copy of The Essential HR PlannerHelpful HR Coffee Time Episodes to Listen to NextEp 135 | Why & how to support women experiencing the menopause at work, with Emma ThomasBooks and Resources Recommended in This Episode The Leopard in My House, by Mark SteelTara also mentions a number of resources available through Onward With You, including:A guide covering 12 common questions HR professionals and line managers ask about supporting employees affected by cancerThe Cancer Confidence FrameworkThe Cancer Confidence HR MasterclassEnjoyed This Episode? Don’t Miss the Next One! Sign up for the free weekly HR Coffee Time email for useful HR resources, ideas and new episode updates to support you in your HR career.Exclusive offer from HR Coffee Time’s sponsor, C-meHR Coffee Time listeners can book C-me’s 90-minute High Performing Team Workshop, with five High Performance profiles and a Team Wheel, for £499 (saving more than £2,500). Ideal for a Christmas team day or end-of-year get-together. Places are limited, so find out more and apply at https://colour-profiling.com/hrcoffee
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    33 mins
  • 184 | Two Great Decision-Making Techniques for When You’re Stuck Between Two Options
    Sep 11 2026

    Have you ever found yourself going round and round in circles trying to choose between two options?

    Perhaps you’re deciding whether to recruit externally or promote someone internally, introduce a new policy or stick with what you already have, invest in a new HR system or make the current one work, or even stay in your current role or apply for something new.

    Sometimes the problem isn’t that you haven’t thought hard enough about the two options. It’s that you’ve become so focused on them that you haven’t spotted another possibility.

    In this solo episode of HR Coffee Time, Fay shares a real decision she recently struggled with while planning the 2027 edition of The Essential HR Planner, and how an unexpected suggestion helped her realise she had fallen into a common decision-making trap called narrow framing.

    Drawing on ideas from Chip and Dan Heath’s brilliant book Decisive: How to Make Better Decisions, Fay explores two practical ways to widen your thinking and get unstuck when a decision feels like an either/or choice.

    In This Episode, You’ll Learn
    • What narrow framing is and how it can limit your decision-making
    • Why the options in front of you may not be the only options available
    • How to use theVanishing Options Testto uncover different possibilities
    • Why asking someone else for their perspective can help you see what you’re missing
    • The questions to ask other people so you don’t accidentally keep them trapped inside the same narrow frame
    • How Fay used these ideas to solve her dilemma about whether to bring back the wire-bound version of The Essential HR Planner

    Chapters

    [00:00] Introduction: Stuck Between Two Options

    [00:28] Common Either/Or Decisions at Work

    [01:22] The Book: Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath

    [02:43] Fay's Dilemma: The Essential HR Planner

    [04:27] Should the Wire-Bound Planner Return?

    [05:14] Asking for Feedback to Get Unstuck

    [06:20] Claire's Game-Changing Suggestion

    [07:53] Understanding Narrow Framing

    [09:53] The Vanishing Options Test

    [12:39] Getting Another Perspective

    [13:50] How to Ask Better Questions When Asking for Advice

    [14:44] Book Recommendations: Decisive, Made to Stick, and Switch

    [15:28] Pre-Order the Wire-Bound Planner

    [16:11] Closing Thanks and Sign-Off

    Books Recommended

    The book links below are Amazon affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you.

    • Decisive: How to Make Better Decisions, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
    • Made to Stick: Why some ideas take hold and others come unstuck, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
    • Switch: How to change things when change is hard, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

    The Essential HR Planner

    If you’re watching or listening to this episode close to its release date, you should now be able to pre-order the wire-bound 2027 edition of The Essential HR Planner.

    Visit essentialhrplanner.co.uk to find out more and pre-order your copy.

    Enjoyed This Episode? Don’t Miss the Next One!

    Sign up for the free weekly HR Coffee Time email to be notified each time a new episode is released – and get free career tips, tools, and resources.

    Exclusive offer from HR Coffee Time’s sponsor, C-me

    HR Coffee Time listeners can book C-me’s 90-minute High Performing Team Workshop, with five High Performance profiles and a Team Wheel, for £499 (saving more than £2,500). Ideal for a Christmas team day or end-of-year get-together. Places are limited, so find out more and apply at https://colour-profiling.com/hrcoffee

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    17 mins
  • 183 | What Is Employee Experience? How HR Can Actually Improve It
    Aug 28 2026
    What exactly is employee experience? How is it different from workplace culture, employer brand or your employee value proposition? And what can you actually do to improve it?In this episode of HR Coffee Time, I’m joined by employee experience expert Chris Manning, People and Culture Portfolio Transformation Lead at Primark.Chris explains what employee experience really means and why it matters for organisations of every size. He shares practical ways to understand and measure the experience your employees are having, whether you work in a small organisation or a huge global business.We also explore how design thinking can help you move beyond simply listening to employees and start making meaningful improvements. Chris talks us through a practical onboarding example, showing how journey mapping can uncover friction, identify opportunities and help you design a better employee experience.And if you need to secure investment for your ideas, Chris shares practical advice on building the business case and getting the buy-in and budget you need.Whether employee experience is already part of your role, or it’s an area you’d like to learn more about, this episode is packed with practical ideas to help you get started.What You'll LearnWhat employee experience actually meansHow employee experience differs from workplace culture, employer brand and EVPWhy employee experience matters in smaller organisations as well as large global businessesPractical ways to measure employee experienceHow to gather useful feedback across the employee lifecycleWhy post-onboarding and offboarding can provide valuable insightsHow employee data can help create more personalised employee experiencesHow design thinking can help you improve employee experienceThe five stages of design thinking: empathise, define, ideate, prototype and testHow to use journey mapping to improve an experience such as onboardingHow to build a compelling business case for employee experience improvementsHow to combine qualitative and quantitative evidence to secure buy-in and budgetChapters[00:00] What is employee experience and why does it matter?[02:45] Meet Chris Manning[04:35] What employee experience really means[06:25] Employee experience vs workplace culture[07:10] Employee experience, employer brand and EVP[08:30] Why employee experience matters in smaller organisations too[10:40] How to measure employee experience[14:20] Using employee data to understand and personalise experiences[18:20] Moving from employee listening to employee experience design[19:40] Using journey mapping to improve onboarding[23:30] A free onboarding journey-mapping resource[25:25] What is design thinking?[26:50] The five stages of design thinking[29:45] How to get buy-in and budget for employee experience[33:30] Chris’s recommended resource[35:35] How to connect with ChrisUSEFUL LINKSConnect with Fay Wallis on LinkedInConnect with Chris Manning on LinkedInRead Chris’s article about employee experience inThe ELEVATE Hub magazineDownload Chris’s free employee experience journey-mapping resource:brightskyhr.co.uk/resourcesFind out more aboutThe Essential HR PlannerLearn more about Fay’s leadership programme –Inspiring HR LeadershipEnjoyed This Episode? Don’t Miss the Next One!Sign up for the free weekly HR Coffee Time email to be notified each time a new episode is released – and get free career tips, tools, and resources.Exclusive offer from HR Coffee Time’s sponsor, C-meHR Coffee Time listeners can book C-me’s 90-minute High Performing Team Workshop, with five High Performance profiles and a Team Wheel, for £499 (saving more than £2,500). Ideal for a Christmas team day or end-of-year get-together. Places are limited, so find out more and apply at https://colour-profiling.com/hrcoffee
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    37 mins
  • 182 | HR Team Building: An Activity Every New HR Leader Should Try
    Aug 14 2026

    🎁 Download your free Personal User Manual template:

    https://brightskyhr.co.uk/resources

    Taking over the leadership of an HR team can come with a long list of things you want to improve, but one of the most valuable things you can do first is help your team build trust, understand each other and work well together.

    In this episode of HR Coffee Time, Fay shares one of her favourite team-building activities: creating and sharing Personal User Manuals.

    Personal User Manuals give everyone an opportunity to explain how they work best, the strengths they bring, what helps them thrive and what their colleagues should know about them.

    They can make some of the information that is usually invisible within a team much more visible, helping people understand each other’s preferences, avoid misunderstandings and make better use of the strengths and experience already within the team.

    Fay talks you through how to run the activity, from deciding what to include in your Personal User Manuals to facilitating the sharing session and turning what you learn into practical changes in how you work together.

    In this episode, you’ll discover:
    • Why investing in relationships can create a stronger foundation when you take over an HR team
    • How Personal User Manuals can help your team understand each other’s strengths, preferences and ways of working
    • How the activity can help you start building greater psychological safety
    • Ideas for useful categories to include in your Personal User Manuals
    • Why it’s helpful to ask your team what they think everyone should include
    • How to create the right environment for people to share what they’ve written
    • Why you, as the leader, should share your Personal User Manual first
    • Questions you can use to encourage positive reflections after each person has shared
    • How to turn what you learn into practical improvements to the way your team works
    • How to keep the learning alive after the activity

    Chapters

    [00:00] Why relationships matter when you take over an HR team

    [01:20] What is a Personal User Manual?

    [02:50] Why Personal User Manuals can be so useful

    [04:55] What to include in your Personal User Manuals

    [06:50] Involving your team in choosing the categories

    [07:50] How to run the sharing session

    [08:50] Why the leader should go first

    [09:30] Encouraging positive comments and reflections

    [10:40] What have you learned about yourselves as a team?

    [11:35] Keeping the learning alive

    [12:35] Download the free Personal User Manual template

    Useful Links
    • Download your free Personal User Manual template:https://brightskyhr.co.uk/resources
    • Connect with Fay Wallis on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/faywallis/
    • The Essential HR Planner:https://essentialhrplanner.co.uk/
    • Learn about the Inspiring HR Leadership Programme:https://brightskyhr.co.uk/hr-leadership-course/

    Enjoyed This Episode? Don't Miss the Next One!

    Sign up for the free weekly HR Coffee Time email to be notified each time a new episode is released - and get free career tips, tools, and resources.

    Exclusive offer from HR Coffee Time’s sponsor, C-me

    HR Coffee Time listeners can book C-me’s 90-minute High Performing Team Workshop, with five High Performance profiles and a Team Wheel, for £499 (saving more than £2,500). Ideal for a Christmas team day or end-of-year get-together. Places are limited, so find out more and apply at https://colour-profiling.com/hrcoffee

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    14 mins