Workplace Surgery

Workplace Surgery: Should you offer free gym perks?

So yeah, I mean, I think You're always going to hear kind of negative conversations around things like gym memberships and fruit in the break room and ping pong tables and stuff like that. That's not to say that these th

Workplace Surgery: Motivating quiet teams during slow periods

Definitely. And that's a good idea as well, isn't it? To keep it, to test it. And try all these things or give people flexibility. It's not that everyone has to get a free gym or everyone gets a cleaning stipend. Maybe t

Workplace Surgery: Inclusive hiring and supporting candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds

The first thing I'd say is good for you thinking about hiring candidates from backgrounds that are disadvantaged in various ways and giving people a chance. I quote this all the time, but Adam Grant in his book Hidden Po

Workplace Surgery: Judging an employee's private social media

Indeed they are Fabulous, fabulous. Okay, so it's on to my favorite time of the week. It's time for the World Famous Weekly Webisode where we wrap up your questions to Leanne

Workplace Surgery: Workplace relationships and promotions

Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. So onto question number 2, it's all about workplace relationships. This person writes, I've been casually seeing someone at work for about a year, and until now we've worked on different dep

Workplace Surgery: When the toxic person is the founder

I think people need to go and listen to your podcast right now. No, not right now because we've got one last question. Um, and so we get a lot of questions around about toxic managers. We've had toxic superstars, we've h

Workplace Surgery: Where has all the energy gone?

It is. It's time for the World Famous Weekly Episode where we wrap up your questions to Leanne. Yes, this is where we take some questions and we put them to Leanne and she answers them effortlessly. Apart from, I think t

Workplace Surgery: My best employee doesn't want a promotion

I think, I think the answer could be both and neither. The assumption that you're making is that a great individual contributor, a technical employee, who is brilliant at their job is going to be great managing the peopl

Workplace Surgery: Are exit interviews a waste of time?

Yes, there is. Well, yes, there's lots of different things. I still think exit interviews serve a purpose. I think it's difficult when the manager leads the exit interview because that's just an awkward situation if you

Workplace Surgery: My star player has become my biggest headache

What did I do? What did I do? Right. Oh no. All right, so we're gonna go into our 3 questions. First question is about a star player who's turned into the biggest headache. So this person writes, I run a small company an

Workplace Surgery: Why does returning to work feel harder than the work itself?

Fabulous. Okay, so question number 2 is about returning to work and the struggles of turning to returning to work. This person writes, hi, Al, Leanne, and I, I'm gonna add Dr. Jake because I didn't know you were gonna be

Workplace Surgery: Why is my team working hours I never asked for?

Okay, so question number 3, as you requested. Uh, hi, Alan and Ian. I run a— and Dr. Jake. I run a small consultancy, fully flexible, no core hours. As long as the work gets done, I don't care when people do it. Good for

Workplace Surgery: How to Praise Introverts

I like working 8 hours a week. Okay, so question number 1, Leanne. Am I missing something with record So, I keep hearing that people need more recognition at work, probably from Leanne, and most of my team are pretty int

Workplace Surgery: Acknowledging Financial Anxiety

Really? Yes, because I think that's what a lot of managers would ask, going, if I can't fix it, do I even bring it up?

Workplace Surgery: Handling Unpopular Corporate Mandates

Excellent advice. Excellent advice, as always, as always, Leanne. Right, okay, so we've got question number 3. This person is complaining that they didn't make the return to office decision, but they're having to impleme

Workplace Surgery: Applying psychology in everyday life

Very interesting. Okay. I think you, you HR nerds are going to love that. Okay. On to my favorite time of the week, the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery, where I put your questions to Leanne. Leah, I have 3 question

Workplace Surgery: The hardest workplace problem Leanne has solved

Right, well, I've got another one for you, Leanne. Uh, question number 2, what's the hardest workplace problem you've ever had to solve, Leanne? Oh, it's a good one It is. I really had to think about this one, and I'd st

Workplace Surgery: Is work-life balance realistic in competitive industries?

I love that. I love that. I must have heard that story half a dozen times, and I love hearing it. Brilliant. Okay. And it was called shitposting. That's what— that's officially where you're coming down on. You're going t

Workplace Surgery: The accidental sales manager

Yeah, absolutely And then you can jump in. All right. So welcome. So this is— I've got to say, World Famous Weekly Web Episodes. You haven't said a bit. I was just saying, World Famous Weekly Web Episodes, where you writ

Workplace Surgery: The workaholic wellbeing hypocrite

There we go. That's your new TED Talk, The Notion of Demotion. I like it. I like it. Okay, on to question number 2. This person says they're a hypocrite, but they don't know quite how to stop. So they write, I tell my te

Workplace Surgery: Loyalty vs. honesty with a 7-year employee

Okay. Now on to question number 3. I'm hoping that it's not too serious because of my laughter. Uh, okay. So how do you balance loyalty with honesty? One of my first employees been with me for 7 years. She's loyal, she c

Workplace Surgery — Q1: How do I stop being the person everything falls on?

I'll cut that out. Keep that in. Okay. Welcome back. Welcome back. We— it is time for the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery where I put your questions to Cait Donovan and Leanne. By the way, quick shout out to Jeremy

Workplace Surgery — Q2: Hiding the wires as a senior leader

Excellent, excellent answer. Okay, so question number 2 is kind of simply, it touches on a lot of things you've just been saying there. So question number 2, it says, I'm a senior leader and I'm burning out, but I genuin

Workplace Surgery — Q3: Trapped in a culture of meeting overload

Fabulous Thank you so much. Okay, final question here. And this person, he says, I've got no time to actually think. It said, I spend 3 quarters of my day in meetings. By the time I get to actual thinking work, I'm cogni

Workplace Surgery: The drained team lead

I do feel really bad because this is probably literally the 3rd person, 3rd time we've ever spoken. And all of those times I have taken the chronic piss out of you. So I'm so sorry about that. I do. I was going to say, a

Workplace Surgery: The group chat trap

That hurts. That's really hard. I don't even mean just at work, but just to find out people who you think think of you one way are talking about you differently when you're not around. Gosh, that, you know, just pulls us

Workplace Surgery: The executive presence problem

Right. Okay. Moving on. Moving on. This, this person writes, I've been a director for about 18 months and I keep getting the same feedback. I'm great at execution, but I may need more. And they've got these, again, these

Workplace Surgery: Asking for feedback and not acting on it

We'll find out together. Okay, so it's time for the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery where I put your questions to Leanne. Um, we have 3 questions. I'm gonna basically put them to Leanne as I just described, and she

Workplace Surgery: Why isn't anyone using our wellbeing benefits?

Brilliant. Okay. Onto question number 2. Thank you, Leigh. Onto question number 2. Why isn't anyone using our wellbeing benefits? We offer a range of wellbeing benefits like support resources, initiatives, and time off,

Workplace Surgery: If people keep leaving, is it really a hiring problem?

I am Yes. So if people keep leaving, is it really a hiring problem? So this person says, we put a lot of effort into hiring and feel like we bring in good people, but a pattern's emerging where they leave in the first 12

Workplace Surgery — Quiet quitting after a return-to-office mandate

I've checked out, but I'm doing the hiding. My company mandated a full return to the office about 8 months ago. At the time, I pushed back internally and found it frustrating, but now I've just stopped. I turn up, I do m

Workplace Surgery — The toxic high performer

So this person says, I've got a salesperson who brings in a huge chunk of our revenue, but they're widely seen as difficult to work with. They're talking over people, they're taking credit and making others feel small. W

Workplace Surgery — Small business culture vs. £15k pay rise

Oh, now that is the title of a great Oh, there's, there's so many little clues in this, isn't there? Yes. Lee, unpack like, like it's Christmas morning

Workplace Surgery: engagement surveys

Yeah Be interested. Okay, so I think it's on to our world-famous weekly workplace surgery where I put your questions to Leanne. Leanne, I have 3 questions, as would be my wont. Question number 1, should I bother with eng

Workplace Surgery: generational friction

I doubt it. I think he would have made a funny joke or Compared, I don't know, brought in pirates or something Maybe, maybe. But I think that's a really good point that a lot of people think I'm going to do an engagement

Workplace Surgery: new job red flags

I love it. I love it. Um, you did a segment. If this, if you're listening, the person who wrote this, and also you, um, you're, you have a similar thing. Leanne did a little segment, um, a little while ago, and I can't r

Workplace Surgery — AI skills vs experience

It is time for the world famous weekly workplace surgery where I put your questions to Leanne normally, but now I'm putting them to Jake, Dr. Jake, and Leanne as well. So we've got question number 1, which is around prio

Workplace Surgery — disappearing EDI values

Let Jake go first. No, let Jake go first Jake

Workplace Surgery — the accidental manager trap

What? I know. I am shook. That happens? Well, unfortunately it did happen in this case. This person says, I was promoted because I was good at my job, but no one ever trained me to manage people. I was just given a team

Workplace Surgery: cash reserves & team resentment

Yeah, mixing it up. Okay, so on to our world-famous weekly workplace surgery where I put your questions to Leanne. Okay, I've got 3 questions here. Leanne, question number 1. I've just— it could be summed up by this: sho

Workplace Surgery: managing an undermining friend

Thank you for, uh, waiting till I had a mouthful of water for that. I wish it was Guinness. Okay, so question number 2, how do you manage a friend who now reports to you? This person writes, I was promoted 6 months ago t

Workplace Surgery: balancing benefits with sustainability

So it sounds like that's unfortunately the end of your friendship, but hopefully the beginning of a new relationship. Okay. So last question here, Leanne. How far should I go with employee benefits? I run a small growing

Workplace Surgery: Enforcing an RTO mandate you don't believe in

Anyway, we're not talking about Theresa May. We're talking about this person who has to push through an RTO mandate and they don't think it's a good idea. Lea, thoughts? Tricky, tricky, tricky, isn't it? I think—

Workplace Surgery: Complicity when your employer treats others poorly

Yeah, yeah. It's a tough one though. It is, it is a tough one. I mean, I think ultimately, given the current job market, given the economy, given the state that the world is on fire, it's very, very understandable that y

Workplace Surgery: Scaling culture as the team grows

Okay, so how do you scale culture without losing it? You don't. You can't. Because the culture that you need at a scrappy start with 8 people is very different to the culture you're going to need as an organisation of 35

Workplace Surgery — the toxic high-performer

Yeah, sounds good. Sounds good. Okay, so we're on to the world famous weekly webisodes where we wrap up your questions, Leanne. We have 3 questions Did you do it right?

Workplace Surgery — the 'silent' meeting

Okay Question number 2. Now, I chose this because it's kind of similar. But a little nuanced to question number 1. So this one is about same voices dominating every meeting and how you can fix it. So I run a team where a

Workplace Surgery — the overwhelmed founder

So I think there's 3, there's 3 answers here Yeah

Workplace Surgery: The nepotism trap

Yes So, between a rock and a senior leader. Here we are. I'm in charge— this person writes, I'm in charge of hiring, and after a lot of work, I felt pretty happy with my shortlist of 3 very strong candidates. However, no

Workplace Surgery: The vanishing spark

Yeah, agreed. Okay. Question number 2, where did their spark go? I manage a team of 12, and until recently, a few of them were absolute superstars. Proactive, full of ideas, always one step ahead. Now they're just fine.

Workplace Surgery: The transparency gap

Have you had a conversation with your manager about why they're doing this? Great question

Workplace Surgery: Is unlimited holiday worth it?

Superb. So the question is, unlimited holiday, a bit of a fad, or is it worth it? So this person writes, I run a small business, 4 employees. We offer unlimited holiday. I picked it up from a previous company I worked at

Workplace Surgery: Lifting morale after a draining year

I think Forward that's a really good point. What a phrase. How do you help a team recover after a long draining stretch and brackets and maybe rebuild energy without pretending everything's fine? The 2 key phrases I hear

Workplace Surgery: The '30-second' interview

Always Okay, so this person writes, what do you do when you know in 30 seconds it's not a fit? Okay. We've been interviewing for a few roles recently, and we're struggling with something. Sometimes within the first 30 se

Workplace Surgery: Breaking into business psychology

But padded it with stuff that is complete nonsense Right. Because even the name of it, like neurolinguistic programming, sounds sciency to those people who aren't scientists

Workplace Surgery: Common people problems in business

Yep Is that fair?

Workplace Surgery: Mistakes leaders make fixing culture

That they're trying to fix culture, that they think they can fix culture. Culture is really complicated and really nuanced. We don't have an agreed definition on culture as psychologists. We don't have an agreed methodol

Workplace Surgery: Trends for aspiring business psychologists

A.I., definitely, I think goes without saying at this point, doesn't it? Yeah

Workplace Surgery: DiSC personality tools

Thank you Not contractually obliged to say that. Um, I really do enjoy them. Okay, onto, uh, my favourite, my former favourite time of the week, which is the world famous Weekly Workplace Surgery, where I put your questi

Workplace Surgery: Should small businesses hire younger workers?

Dead easy. Right, next one. Should I hire younger workers? Don't answer. I know what your answer is, but don't answer yet. This person, they've got some legitimate concerns. They run a small business and lots of mixed op

Workplace Surgery: Standing out in occupational psychology

No Okay. So this one's about tips for becoming a chartered occupational psychologist. I do want you to define that term in a second. Okay. So someone has said, I'm just finishing my MSc in org psychology, organizational

Workplace Surgery: Motivating a team nearing retirement

Is it a true? Sounding very, very Yorkshire, that. Is it a true? If you've got a question you want me to put to Leanne, then check out the show notes and send us over. We're always interested, and I really, really enjoy

Workplace Surgery: When a career coach crosses a line

I shall leave all the links in the show notes Fabulous. Okay. Question number 2. My career coach crossed a line. How do I disengage properly? Oh dear. Right. Okay. So I hired a career coach to help me navigate a toxic wo

Workplace Surgery: Is employee NPS a good idea?

Love it. Love it. Cool. Okay, Leigh, that's brilliant. Thank you. I've got a 3rd question for you if you've got the appetite for it Sure

Workplace Surgery: Earliest Signs of Burnout

No I feel like I just, just shut the door on So go manifest and visualise. I am manifesting some amazing answers to this week's surgery questions, which are coming up right now. Question 1, Leanne, what's the earliest si

Workplace Surgery: Finding a Good Manager

A little detached, we are. Anyway, on to question number 2. Is it really that hard to find a good manager? Leanne? Yes Next question

Workplace Surgery: I Hate My Job — First Step

Yes. Anyway, right. Okay. On to question number 3. This person simply says, I hate my job. What's the first step? Sorry to hear that. I hate my job. I'm not even sure how it got this bad, but I feel completely stuck, lik

Workplace Surgery: culture diagnostics beyond surveys

Al is from Scottish descent I am of Scottish descent, and I cannot do for the life of me. My brother does an amazing—

Workplace Surgery: building high-performance teams without burnout

Love that. Love that. Okay. Question number 2, how do I build a high-performance team that doesn't settle for second best? Hi, Leanne. What is the best way you've actually found to achieve high performance out of your te

Workplace Surgery: when policies say balance but staff disagree

Lovely. Lovely. If you wanna learn more about the RX7, which those 3 are one of the— are 3 of the 7 Rs that Leanne's developed, Then just check out the show notes. You can actually book a call with Leanne and she'll talk

Workplace Surgery Question of the Year: My Ex is My New Boss

Yes, absolutely. The best of the best. So the likes of Coinbase came out of there. Stripe didn't come out, I don't think, but something else did. There's lots of like major companies you've heard of which are YC So you'd

Workplace Surgery: Is It Unprofessional to Skip the Office Christmas Party?

We do! Yeah, but it's not professional

Workplace Surgery: Can an Employer Decline an Occupational Health Referral?

Yes, absolutely. Okay. So on to question number 2. Again, occupational health. Now, we had a few of these the last few weeks. We've got the lovely Harry from Smart Clinic who's been answering these for us. So here is the

Workplace Surgery: Is My Manager Quietly Sabotaging Me?

On to question number 3. Is my manager quietly sabotaging me? No, no, no. I'm fairly new to my role. I'm filling a post they struggled to hire for, and while I may not have all the official experience, I'm the only one d

Workplace Surgery: Secret Santa for the CEO

I dunno Ask them

Workplace Surgery: Occupational health vs. home-working adjustments

I believe we need a hero too. Let's head over to Harry Kramer, shall we, over at Smart Clinic. Harry, help! Oh, goodness me. If I had a penny for every time I was asked about working from home and whether it's medically

Workplace Surgery: Building a competency model from scratch

Yes, there are existing models that you can use. It's very cool that you want to build it yourself. Equally, are you sure? Because that's a big old project, that. That's a time-consuming project to build a competency fra

Workplace Surgery: Hiring people who think like you vs challenge you

We do, we have Harry back this week. We continue understandably to get a fair few questions about occupational health because as an occupational psychologist, there's an assumption that these 2 worlds collide in and cros

Workplace Surgery: How honest should I be about my mental health?

I've got a little twitch. I've got something in my eye. Question number 2, how honest should I be with my employer about my mental health? So I, this person writes, I'm finding things tough at the moment. It's starting t

Workplace Surgery: Have you ever regretted not taking a risk?

I think we just need to shift it Just need to shift it. Just, just, yes. Right. Okay. So on to some new shift. Have you ever— this person writes, have you ever regretted not taking a risk? Hi, Al and Leanne

Workplace Surgery: Calling out a micromanaging colleague

Interesting. Okay. Thank you very much. That was a good one. I really, really liked that one. Yeah. This is sounding more and more professional by the week Oh, thank you

Workplace Surgery: Occupational health for small UK employers

Okay, so on to question number 2. Do I need to offer occupational health as a small UK employer? So this person says, I've just taken on my first employee. I'm a small business in the UK. I want to try and work out what

Workplace Surgery: Reaching the top but feeling flat

Yes No, question number 3. Harry, you've put me off. I've made it to the top, so why do I feel so flat? I'm in a senior leadership role, something I've worked towards 4 years on paper, I've made it, but lately I feel com

Workplace Surgery: imposter syndrome as a business owner

Lovely. Also get in touch if you have an idea for The Truth, Lies and Work. Very much like to hear your thoughts. Okay, it's on to my favourite time of the week, which is our world-famous weekly workplace surgery where I

Workplace Surgery: ADHD workplace adjustments

Okay, Leanne, onto question number 2. Um, what kind of workplace adjustments can I expect after an ADHD diagnosis? I've recently been diagnosed with ADHD. and told my employer. To their credit, they've brought in occupat

Workplace Surgery: re-engaging a switched-off top performer

Excellent advice. Go and check out smartclinic.com. For more of that. Okay, question number 2. How do I talk to a top— sorry, this is question number 3. How do I talk to a top performer who's completely switched off? So

Workplace Surgery: Trained team to stop thinking

Love it. Love it. If you've got a question for the Truth or Lies segment, then Drop us an email, check on the show notes, you can find all our details in there. Okay, on to my favourite time of the week, which is the wor

Workplace Surgery: Occupational health from employer's perspective

He is. He is. Yeah, we, we do get some questions around areas that aren't in my wheelhouse really, in terms of occupational health or very HR. based questions. So that's when we look for experts in our network, like Harr

Workplace Surgery: Managing first remote hire without micromanaging

Okay, on to question number 3. How do I manage my first remote hire without becoming a micromanager? This is great. This is— I like when people ask questions like, this is about to happen, I want to avoid this, so what d

Workplace Surgery: Christmas bonus or gift?

I think it might be the title. How dare you? How dare you, sir? So it's onto my favourite time of the week, which is the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery, where I put your questions to Leanne. Not done it for a week

Workplace Surgery: Presenting a strategy you don't believe in

No, no I'm in a leadership role and I've been asked to roll out a strategy I don't fully agree with. I understand where the decision's coming from, but I'm struggling with how to present it to my team with any conviction

Workplace Surgery: New hire 40 minutes late on day one

Fair enough. Great answer. Great answer. So question number 3, should I get rid of a new hire after a bad first day? So this person writes, I recently gave a young guy a chance. He was eager to get his foot in the door,

Workplace Surgery: Managing hiring chaos without spending a fortune

Bet they're a pain in the arse to work with. Bet they are. Anyway, we're on to the World Famous Weekly Workplace Surgery where I put your questions to Leanne. By the way, are there any links in the show notes for the pre

Workplace Surgery: Can I say no to my manager's lunch invite?

Question number 2, my manager invited me for lunch. Can I say no? So last week my manager asked me if I wanted to go to lunch together, and I'm a bit unsure about it. To be honest, I'd rather keep things strictly profess

Workplace Surgery: Opting out of birthday collections

50 quid a month? It's a big team. Hi, Leanne. My team's birthday celebrations at work include a $25 contribution each for food, decorations, and a gift. To be honest, I'm not comfortable paying that. I can afford it. But

Workplace Surgery — remote employee with two jobs

Okay, Leanne, I think it's time for our world-famous weekly workplace surgery where I put readers' questions, not readers, listeners' questions to— who reads a podcast? I know someone who does read a podcast

Workplace Surgery — motivating your team to upskill

I think my first question is, why, why do you want your team to upskill? And what value is that gonna add to their role within the organisation? Because, I mean, I absolutely applaud your, your efforts here, and you're r

Workplace Surgery — new job full of red flags

That's why she's a psychologist. Okay, so question number 3 and the final one. I've just started a new job and it's full of red flags. Should I get out now? I accepted a lower-level role out of necessity after 6 months o

Workplace Surgery: Toxic superstars

Well, talking of glorious messiness of human nature, which is a beautiful turn of phrase, by the way, it's time for our world-famous weekly work— work— surgery. Oh no, it's time for our world-famous weekly workplace surg

Workplace Surgery: Keeping remote teams connected

Lovely. So, I think the things that you've tried are quite natural things for a business owner to try, and that you think connection is about being friends, you think connection is about us all getting on and having fun

Workplace Surgery: Founder wellbeing

Love it. Love it. Okay, well, good luck with that. Um, question number 3, how do you protect your wellbeing as a founder? By the way, if you are a founder, then, um, drop me an email. We're building something for you and

Workplace Surgery: Building a reliable team when you're used to doing it all yourself

Yeah That is a TV show I'd watch. 2 TV detectives, Judge and Cable. Get in my office, Cable! Anyway, right, so let's move on to the world-famous weekly workplace surgery. Where I put your questions to Leanne. Lee, I've g

Workplace Surgery: Letting someone go who's trying their best

This one's a bit of a sad one. What do you do when you know you have to let someone go even though they're trying their best to stay? So this person writes, I've got an employee who was put on a PIP. That stands for Perf

Workplace Surgery: Keeping great people when you can't compete on pay

No, no, you go first We've got an interview this Thursday coming out with Josh Levine, and he talked exactly about this. And in fact, he interviewed someone called Gary Ridge, who was the CEO for a long time of WD-40, yo

Workplace Surgery: Is DiSC profiling useful for leadership?

Now it's onto my favourite time of the week. Well, one of the favourite times of the week. to enjoy Gin Friday. It is time for the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery, where I put your questions to Leanne. If you've ne

Workplace Surgery: How do senior leaders answer tough questions without committing?

Interesting. Thank you very much. Okay, so question number 2, how do senior leaders answer tough questions without actually answering them? Oh, this is going to be interesting. I've noticed something in company all-hands

Workplace Surgery: What do you call the role when you step back from your business?

Okay, Le, I've got a final question for today, which is from a business owner. It says, I want to hand over the day-to-day running of my business, but what kind of role am I actually hiring for? This is really, really go

Workplace Surgery — unfulfilling work, great team

Lee. In this situation, it's important to know that this is not a long-term solution for you, but it is a good short-term solution while you're figuring out what is gonna be meaningful and fulfilling work to you, because

Workplace Surgery — building genuine passion in your team

I mean, it's a big ask for, to expect any employee to care about your business as much as you do. That's not impossible, but it's a big ask and you need to be very intentional about how you build your environment and you

Workplace Surgery — the brilliant employee who's a terrible manager

Absolutely. Okay, so on to question number 3. I promoted a brilliant employee, but she's a terrible manager. Can I keep her? 9 months ago, I promoted one of our strongest performers into a management role. She's hardwork

Workplace Surgery: Do Engagement Platforms Actually Work?

It's time for the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery, where I put your questions to the lovely Leanne. You know by now, if you— that Leanne is a Do you know what? I'm not gonna say it. I say it every week. She's, she'

Workplace Surgery: Refused Unpaid Leave

Well, I do have some thoughts, but as this starts as a very HR-rooted question, I thought we'd bring in the advice of our friends over at The Curve Group. Um, regular listeners would have heard them before. The Curve Gro

Workplace Surgery: Experience vs. Talent in Hiring

Yeah, that's the simplest version. So you've basically just done that to this person. So no wonder they're a little bit narked. Okay, so question number 3, Leigh. Are we too focused on experience? Are we missing out on r

Workplace Surgery Q1: Resolving deadlock after a serious complaint

This is a difficult situation, and unfortunately, there's probably no quick-fix solution. If you're happy that you've dealt with the grievance in the correct manner, so whether it's formal or informal, you followed the r

Workplace Surgery Q2: Best recruitment tools for small businesses

Okay, great. So question number 2, is there actually a good recruitment tool for small businesses or are we stuck with job boards? Interesting. Interesting. I run a small business team of 7. We're trying to hire a couple

Workplace Surgery Q3: Bank holiday leave with compressed hours

Absolutely. Thank you, Liam. Liam Reid from Curve. Okay, so question number 3, how does bank holiday leave work if you do compressed hours? Oh, this is a great question. And what I like about this is that I think if I'd

Workplace Surgery — hiring your spouse

And now, Al, I believe it is your favourite time of the week It is. It's time for the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery, where I put your questions to Leanne. Leanne is a chartered occupational psychologist and exper

Workplace Surgery — how far should wellbeing go?

Excellent question. Very simple answer. If you are a UK business, that employs 2 or more people, you have a legal obligation to order the stress risk factors within your business every 12 months. And if you have more tha

Workplace Surgery — can DISC fix team tensions?

Brilliant. Okay, so question number 3, can DiSC, D-I-S-C, actually help with team tensions, or is there something better? There's something better. Was there more?

Workplace Surgery: Do Investors Care About Culture?

Fabulous. It's time for my favourite time of the week, which is the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery, where I put your questions to Leanne. Leanne is a chartered occupational psychologist who's an expert in work, th

Workplace Surgery: Should I Tell My Boss I'm Burnt Out?

Okay, on to question number 2, Leigh. Should I tell my boss I'm burnt out, or should I just push through and hope it gets better? I've been in a leadership role for about 7 months, managing a team of 11 in a company of a

Workplace Surgery: Gathering Peer Feedback Without Being Thrown Under the Bus

Okay. Onto question number 3. I've been asked to gather peer feedback, but why would anyone open up to me? My manager's asked me to speak to my teammates and gather feedback on our team culture and work environment, basi

Workplace Surgery: thanking an employee who's basically family

Okay, it's my favourite time of the week. It's the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery where I put your questions to Leanne. Leanne's a Chartered Occupational Psychologist. She's here to answer your work-related questi

Workplace Surgery: hiring remotely for the first time

Okay, great advice. Question number 2, what should I look, what should I watch out for when hiring remotely for the first time? I run a fully remote business and I'm about to make my first hire. Congratulations. I found

Workplace Surgery: keeping morale up in uncertain times

There you go. Someone who's an expert in remote First, I would have thought someone like Leanne. Okay, so question number 3: How do I keep up, keep morale up when everything feels uncertain? I'm a manager in the US feder

Workplace Surgery: Best Places to Work Remotely and Feel Inspired

Fabulous. Okay, Leanne, it's now my favourite time of the week. It's the World FM's Weekly Workplace Surgery where I put your questions to Leanne. You know all this, just tune out for 10 seconds. Leanne is a Chartered Oc

Workplace Surgery: Do I Have to Fake It to Get Promoted?

There's a lot of episodes there There's a lot. There's 200-odd episodes. Yeah, so we get a little drunker on that one. Actually, we don't get drunk at all on this one, just to be clear. Okay. Question number 2. Do I have

Workplace Surgery: What Does Purpose-Driven Leadership Really Look Like?

Love it. In your own skin. I love it. Okay. Question number 3, Leanne. What does purpose-driven leadership really look like in practice? This is a great question. I want to know the answer to this question. I should know

Workplace Surgery: Getting Back into Routine After Time Off

You've got a little podcast, that's cute I know, thank you. Available wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Um, oblonghq.com is our organisation. You'll find me on LinkedIn. Um, I say it every week, but I believ

Workplace Surgery: Why Is Hiring So Brutal When You're Starting Out?

No, I thought that was some really, really good tips though Oh, thank you very much. Thank you. Okay, so we're on to question number 2. Why is hiring so hard? I'm right at the beginning of launching my business, and hone

Workplace Surgery: Managing Someone Who Keeps Pushing It

Okay, Lee, question number 3. How do you manage someone who keeps pushing it? I've read this before Push it real good

Workplace Surgery — firing a client over a 2am call

Hmm Honestly, I'm ready to let them go. Good. But when I told a friend, they said I was overreacting. I just need firmer boundaries. Am I being emotional? Is it okay to fire your top client if they're wrecking your menta

Workplace Surgery — am I building a great place to work?

Okay, question number 2. Am I doing enough to make this a great place to work? Oh, oh, lovely. I run a business in the UK with 30+ employees, and I've been trying to build a workplace people actually enjoy being part of.

Workplace Surgery — why did they only offer part-time after I quit?

Absolutely. It's a good look. Let us know how it goes. Okay. Question number 3. Why did they only offer what I asked for after I quit? Oh no. This person works in the public sector. Said, like a lot of people, I've been

Workplace Surgery: Question 1 - Supporting a colleague through menopause

So that is our hot take for this week. But now it's time for Al's favourite time of the week. What time is it? It's time for the world famous Workly Wee with Sergei. One of them. We've had a week. Yeah, come on. It's tim

Workplace Surgery: Question 2 - Motivating a disengaged team

What a great question Brilliant question. These are great. Do you know what? I'm loving the questions at the moment

Workplace Surgery: Question 3 - Letting a star employee go

Fabulous answer as always, my love. Okay, so question number 3, how do you let a star employee go when they've crossed the line? Oh no. I'm looking for some advice on what's turned into a really tricky situation. We've g

Workplace Surgery: The DEI overload dilemma

I'm ready. So question number 1, is it fair to ask diverse employees to do extra DEI work just because of who they are? So this person writes, I'm at a huge company and it says it's committed to diversity and inclusion,

Workplace Surgery: First-time manager assertiveness

Nope. Cool. So question number 2, how can I learn to be more assertive as a first-time manager? I love questions like this. I recently got promoted to my first management role at a big tech company, and while I'm excited

Workplace Surgery: The 'I've stopped caring' slump

Yes, she will. Okay, so question number 3, is it normal to stop caring when your company doesn't value you? Oh, hi, Al and Leanne. Oh, hello. Hi, honey.

Workplace Surgery — Do anonymous surveys actually work?

What a great question. And this is right, right up my street, Al. Like you said, you put 50p in me and now I'm gonna go. Are employee surveys a good way of gaining feedback? Yes, but they're not the only way of gaining f

Workplace Surgery — How do I know if I'm any good at interviewing?

They are good, aren't they? Um, I say this with love, you're probably not a very good interviewer. And that's not because you're not a good interviewer, it's because you probably haven't taken the time to understand what

Workplace Surgery — I got the job… so why am I terrified?

Beautiful. Okay, so question number 3, Leanne. Um, I got the job, so why are you terrified? I do. I just got a job offer. It's something that I've worked really hard for and I should feel really excited, but honestly, I'

Workplace Surgery: Freelancers and sick clients

And now, Al, I believe it's time for your favourite time of the week It is. It's time for our world-famous weekly workplace surgery. I almost said it's— I've had a holiday. I've had a holiday. It's time for our world-fam

Workplace Surgery: Surviving a toxic job

Brilliant. Okay, so the second question I've got here is, how do you survive a toxic workplace when you can't afford to leave? So this person writes, I'm 29 and I've been working at the same corporate job for 5 years. Th

Workplace Surgery: Scared to manage people

Okay. Question number 3. I'm scared to manage people. Would a course help me get over that? So this listener writes, I've been offered a chance to step up and lead a small team, and I want to say yes, but if I'm honest,

Workplace Surgery: How to run a wellness challenge people actually want

Well done I know, it only took me like 2 years to get it right. So if you've not listened before, we have questions from listeners. I put them to Leanne, she solves them, we all go home. That's how it works. So question

Workplace Surgery: Starting over after business failure

Any other letters in your sack, Al? Let's just go root to root. It's like carry on podding. Uh, yes. So this question number 2, is it possible to start over after your business fails? Well, I can answer that. Yes, it is.

Workplace Surgery: HR and return-to-office mandates

Um, that's like saying, is it normal behaviour from accountants? We can talk about stereotypes and, and what people enjoy moaning about on LinkedIn, That's not my experience of HR, and there are some many incredible HR p

Workplace Surgery: can business owners put their wellbeing first?

You, you, this is very normal. Very, very normal. And I think there's a couple of things here. First of all, and this is a bit of tough love, you haven't run out of time. You've just chosen to prioritize other things. An

Workplace Surgery: is 50% staff turnover in two years a red flag?

Good advice, Al Okay. Question number 2, is my staff turnover high? I like questions like this because they They're kind of like, a lot of people have these questions, go, I don't know. So I am a business owner and I've

Workplace Surgery: what to do when your employer isn't helping you grow

Love it. Great answer. On to question number 3. My employer isn't helping me grow. Help! What do I do? I'm feeling really stuck at work right now. The company I work for is desperate for people. They're constantly hiring

Workplace Surgery: Six interviews, then a pay cut?

Okay get the interview in the first place, and he told me I'd done a great job, but that the recruiter had taken the question about the salary difference very, very personally. Apparently, if I didn't have an internal co

Workplace Surgery: I hate working — is that bad?

How well do you know this person? Yeah, maybe they're a little bit of a What do they, what do the kids call them now? Snakes

Workplace Surgery: Can managers still have mates?

Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. So, this last question comes from a listener who writes, can managers have mates? Just in case, mate is a UK thing or an Australian thing as well. It doesn't mean like mate as in like mate f

Workplace Surgery — why do people quit instead of speaking up?

Very good question, and obviously one that We could probably spend 2 hours talking about. But the, the crux of that question, why does quitting feel easier than speaking up? Because for a lot of people, it just feels saf

Workplace Surgery — Gen Z text speak vs Gen X boss

Okay, question number 2, Leanne, and I'm going to apologise to everyone. in advance because I'm going to use some Gen Z language here and it's going to be so cringey, we'll have to take it offline. Okay, so this person w

Workplace Surgery — 30 employees and zero HR policies

Gotcha Now we've had a few similar to this, but I wanted to bring it back because I think that it asks a really interesting question. So, our startup is about to hit 30 employees. I'm suddenly panicking about HR. Being h

Workplace Surgery: After 30 years, I've become invisible

This is why I say this bit. This is the world-famous weekly workplace surgery where I put your questions to Leanne. You know this, you've listened to this before. Leanne's a chartered occupational psychologist. She's an

Workplace Surgery: The CEO's nephew applied

So last week, our CEO casually mentioned his nephew had applied for a job in my department. Keep an eye out for Jamie's application, he said. He's just finished his master's in UX at a good university. Then yesterday, HR

Workplace Surgery: Faking online activity

Um, which is very different to a mouse jiggler. We discovered We discovered a couple of weeks ago. Yep. So they're basically trying to pretend that they're at work when they're away. The strange part is we've never monit

Workplace Surgery: Inherited a Toxic Department

I don't, I don't envy the person in this role, but also I'm kind of excited for you because this is a really cool opportunity. If they've already burnt through 3 managers and you could be the person to turn this around,

Workplace Surgery: Operations Director, Not HR

I've documented what was reported, spoken privately with the supervisor, But now I'm completely out of my depth. We have no formal HR department, just an outsourced payroll service. Our company has never dealt with somet

Workplace Surgery: Consultants Stealing My Ideas

Okay. There's a few things here. First of all, what you've described there is kind of what consultants do. And I say that as a consultant. Consultants typically will, the first phase of that project will just be to talk

Workplace Surgery: Am I mentoring my replacement?

I feel like I've been properly told off. It's my favourite time of the week now. This is the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery. This is where I put your questions to Leanne. This is where Leanne is a chartered occupa

Workplace Surgery: Personality tests ruining teams

Okay. Right. This is, this is, this, this is a good one. HR is obsessed with personality tests and now everyone is a colour. Oh, Leanne, you are gonna get into this one. Recently, our new Chief People Officer discovered

Workplace Surgery: The calendar bully

All right. The next question says, my productivity is being hijacked by a calendar bully. I'm a senior developer who blocks out 2-hour deep work sessions in my calendar 3 times weekly for complex coding, an arrangement m

Workplace Surgery #1: My ex is now my boss

Fabulous. Okay, on to my favourite time of the week, which is the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery, where I put your questions to Leanne. You know this, Leanne's a Chartered Occupational Psychologist who's an expert

Workplace Surgery #2: Top performer or high-functioning alcoholic?

Good luck and Godspeed. Okay, question number 2. Top performer or high-functioning alcoholic? Possibly both. Continue

Workplace Surgery #3: The secret Slack channel

Question number 3, the secret Slack channel Oh yes, let's see

Workplace Surgery Q1: 'Authentic self' or authentically unhinged?

Fabulous. Okay, it's now time for my favourite time of the week, the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery. This is where I put your question to Leanne, who is a chartered occupational psychologist who's an expert in wor

Workplace Surgery Q2: 'Anonymous' feedback or CEO spy mission?

I'm not sure there is an answer. I'm not sure there is, but I just, I picked it out because I thought it was really funny. Uh, and I'm so sorry if you're a big believer in, um, in, in, um, conspiracy theories, but if you

Workplace Surgery Q3: AI-powered cheating or workplace innovation?

Anyway, you got me a bit pink by saying I sounded sexy. I'm gonna move on to question number 2. I'm not sure if I'm angry or impressed by our sneaky team. Um, I manage a team of content creators who work remotely. Last m

Workplace Surgery: From friend to boss

Yes, almost a year old. We're on question 1 for this week, or 142 if we're being specific. Are you ready for it, Leanne? Yes

Workplace Surgery: The unlimited holiday trap

We don't like ambiguity. We don't like uncertainty. We don't know how to deal with it, how to react to it. It's just not, it's not great. The intention behind an unlimited holiday policy is really, I get it, I get it. Bu

Workplace Surgery: The HR battleground

This is from— is this from Google? I don't think it's from Google. As an HR director, I'm receiving heated emails from both sides, some claiming it's destroying work-life balance, others saying the previous system was in

Workplace Surgery Q1: My boss keeps adding context (but they're wrong)

Yes Okay, so the question number 1. My boss keeps adding context, but he's actually wrong. So this person writes, my new manager constantly interrupts me during presentations and team meetings to add context to the room,

Workplace Surgery Q2: My top performer is toxic

What you have here, friend, is what is called a toxic superstar. I will leave a link in the show notes to a couple of episodes we've done talking about this, where I'm Which, with, uh, Dr. Ryan Sherman from Hogan Assessm

Workplace Surgery Q3: My employee disclosed their depression

Hope it works out for you. Let us know. Let us know. Okay, so question number 3. My employee disclosed their depression to me, but now what? What do I do? One of my direct reports has become increasingly withdrawn and th

Workplace Surgery: toxic gossip culture

Did I say psychology? Yeah, but it doesn't matter

Workplace Surgery: the after-hours club problem

It's always going to be the way, isn't it? You're not going to be able to be in every conversation at every point in time. There's going to be an element of some decisions you won't have as big an impact on. The key, I t

Workplace Surgery: the 'unlucky' employee

Um, if you're listening to this, you're going, occupational health, um, I feel like we should have that, uh, then definitely check out Harry Kramer's company, smartclinic.com. Um, he's a previous guest, friend of the sho

Workplace Surgery: Hotdesking Rights for Neurodivergent Employees

Okay, on to my favorite time of the week. It's time for the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery, where I put your questions to Leanne. Just in case you haven't worked it out yet, Leanne is a chartered occupational psyc

Workplace Surgery: New Manager Avoids Negative Feedback

Absolutely. Okay. So the second question I've got here is, new manager hates giving negative feedback to their team. I became a manager for the first time a few months ago, and it was always my dream to be the world's be

Workplace Surgery: Coworker Takes Credit for Your Ideas

Okay, right, we'll cut that bit out. Don't worry, don't worry, you'll still have a job. Okay, question number 3: Coworker is accidentally taking my credit. Okay, I do like my job and the team I work in, but I've got a bi

Workplace Surgery: Are All Employee Surveys the Same?

That's me That is her over there. That's the lady woman over there who's my wife, my co-host, and my world. Anyway, just in case you hadn't worked it out yet, Leanne is a chartered occupational psychologist with decades

Workplace Surgery: Redundancy Red Flags

Okay, Lee, right, so question number 2, and I'm going to summarize it saying redundancy red flags. This person says, how do I know if I'm And what do I do if I am? So here we go. I can see the writing on the wall at my c

Workplace Surgery: Why Do My Manager's Resolutions Die by February?

I think there's an element of smiling and nodding until it blows over if this is the behavior pattern that your manager is into. It's how, how much it's worth your time and effort. I think what I'd say is that if there's

Workplace Surgery: Crushing commutes

I'm ready The office commute is crushing my soul. Is it just January blues, or is it time to quit? Here's the letter. I'm really struggling with motivation since returning to our new hybrid schedule, or schedule, not sur

Workplace Surgery: Reigniting your top performers

What else you got, Al? Who else did we get letters from this week? Well, here we go. My best performers are turning into robots. How do I bring back their spark? So this person writes, as a manager of a team, I'm seeing

Workplace Surgery: The wellness program backlash

Lovely, lovely. Good luck with that. Um, question number 3: my team thinks our new wellness program is just corporate BS. How do I prove we actually care? I launched our company's new wellness initiative back in October

Workplace Surgery: standardising management across locations

I leveled up in 2024, Al She did, she did. Oh dear, this is not a good start. Um, and, um, and she is an expert in workplace culture, and she's here to answer your questions. Okay, question number 1: my managers have gon

Workplace Surgery: burnout in engineering teams

Gather the data. Get the data. You've got the anecdotal data, and that's great, but senior leaders want cold, hard numbers. There's going to be many different data points, as you've referenced, in terms of work performan

Workplace Surgery: adapting to AI changes

Analyst Analyst, that's the word. The first 3, the 4 letters threw me off, didn't quite know how to say it. First, as a research analyst in an intelligence firm, we've just started implementing AI tools that management s

Workplace Surgery: middle management burnout

Yes, but it shouldn't be every day. I think middle managers do have a hard time because you, you get it from all angles, don't you? And, and it, it, it's a lot. So there's a few things here that I think require a bit of

Workplace Surgery: team division post-restructure

Okay, so the second letter we've got, again email, is— says, says this: Our software company recently went through a restructure where we merged with our legacy systems team who've been with us 5 and a half years. With o

Workplace Surgery: wellbeing on a budget

Oh dear I know I might have started this a little bit too effusively. Um, and also noticed, I've also noticed more people working through lunches or logging on during evenings. I want to make wellbeing a priority, but un

Workplace Surgery: Burnout and KPIs

Yes I've recently been promoted to Head of Sales and now manage a team of 12. Well done. The team's numbers are good, but I'm getting a bit uncomfortable with the relentless focus of KPIs. Every Monday morning, everyone'

Workplace Surgery: Remote work boundaries

Yeah, very common problem. And I think we actually— I think, was it last Tuesday we talked about the latest research is out on hybrid and remote work? And that is a recognised problem with remote working and working from

Workplace Surgery: Christmas party dilemma

Fancy The works. It's costing around £300 This is a British person. Hello, Brit. £300 per head, but I felt the team deserved it. Yesterday I accidentally overheard 2 team members discussing plans to leave the official pa

Workplace Surgery: The overwhelmed EA

Well, a few different things going on here, isn't there? First of all, congratulations for showing how valuable you are and, and how Yeah, how much value you add to the organisation to be given these extra tasks. Scope c

Workplace Surgery: The accidental salary reveal

Oh, we all know where this is going. Who's getting paid more? Well, I was shocked to discover huge disparities. For example, 2 of our key software developers are doing identical work but have a £15,000 difference in sala

Workplace Surgery: The anonymous suggestion box shenanigans

I think you should address it head-on with some humor. Here's what I'd do, right? I would get a small ball pit and put it in the break room. I would get a couple of space hoppers and put it at the desk that you suspect t

Workplace Surgery: Seasonal Productivity Dips

1.6 decades. It's her job to give our lovely listeners advice on work-related problems. So talking of problems, here's the first one, Leanne. Every year I seem to face the same challenge. From about mid-November, it feel

Workplace Surgery: Supporting a Grieving Employee

Oh God I know. I'm struggling with a delicate situation. One of my most valued team members lost their partner suddenly 6 weeks ago. Oh yeah, a bit sad. They've returned to work, and whilst I want to be supportive, I'm n

Workplace Surgery: Social Media and Company Reputation

Lan Len. A prominent member of our sales team has a pretty colorful social media presence. She frequently shares details about her partying and dating life Including some rather questionable photos. There you go. Why? I

Workplace Surgery: Toxic employee, massive revenue

One of my sales executives, who I'll call Alex, brings in nearly half of our company's revenue, but they're becoming increasingly toxic to our workplace culture. Alex essentially operates like a lone wolf, coming and goi

Workplace Surgery: Bullying from a manager

Anyway, Leanne, I've got an odd one for question number 2. It's actually from Reddit, so no one's written in with this. I found it, I found it on Reddit, and I thought it was Sure. So I'll read this to you. I work in mar

Workplace Surgery: Workplace jealousy

You know you shouldn't scale back what you've done. Why would you want to make yourself less successful to fit in? Don't let these people pull you down. Absolutely not. And also, I've— do you know what, this sounds so fa

Workplace Surgery: Company Culture Post-Acquisition

I think a lot of it comes down to being authentic and thinking about, you know, if you're— this is marketing, isn't it? It's— you'll speak to this much better than I can, Al, but it's about understanding, um, you know, t

Workplace Surgery: Green Initiative Generational Divide

Okay, question number 2. We are transitioning to become a fully eco-friendly operation, which includes going paperless in our admin processes and introducing new digital workflows. The younger staff are fully behind this

Workplace Surgery: The Jekyll-and-Hyde Boss

Okay, question number 3: I am really struggling to understand my boss's Jekyll and Hyde personality. Getting juicy already. At work, she's incredibly harsh, berating team members publicly, sending very abrupt emails at m

Workplace Surgery: Navigating deception in the workplace

Okay, question number 1. I'm in a difficult position at work and I really need advice. My manager reports directly to our CEO and has been consistently saying a major project is back on track and meeting all milestones,

Workplace Surgery: Reevaluating employee benefits packages

So is it really as simple? I mean, this could be literally the only 2-word reply we've got to a clinic question. Is it really as simple as just going, what do you want? And then here's my secondary question for you, Leig

Workplace Surgery: Managing political discussions in a diverse workplace

I love it. Okay. Right. We've got the 3rd question here, which is very similar to the article you mentioned earlier. And we have to— we had to feature this today because for obvious reasons. I manage a team of much young

Workplace Surgery: Handling mental health leave requests

Absolutely right. Okay, it's on to my favorite time of the week, which is the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery, where I put your questions to Leanne. Lee, I've got 3 questions this week. Are you ready for question n

Workplace Surgery: Personality testing in hiring

Lovely. Great answer, love. I've got question number 2 here, and I think you're gonna like this Okay

Workplace Surgery: Family dynamics in a family-run company

Okay, on to question number 3. Um, this person writes in and says, I've been an EA to the CEO. I'm guessing that means that they're an executive assistant to the chief executive officer of a family-run software company f

Workplace Surgery: Should you report a colleague who automated their job?

Let's do it So I'm a data analyst and I've recently discovered that my colleague Who has the same role and salary as me has automated most of their work. They're now actually only working about 4 hours a day while I'm pu

Workplace Surgery: Introverts vs forced social events

Excellent advice. Okay, question number 2. This person writes, my company has become very focused on workplace culture since we returned to the office. Good, good, good. While I appreciate that they're trying to boost mo

Workplace Surgery: Staying visible while working remotely

Fabulous. Okay, question number 3, Leanne. The company I work for is adopting a hybrid model 6 months ago, but I've chosen to go to remain fully remote due to family care responsibilities, a choice that was supposedly su

Workplace Surgery: Proving the ROI of wellbeing initiatives

Born ready, Al Born ready, baby. Okay. I own a consulting firm with 8 full-time employees and Okay

Workplace Surgery: Employee engagement vs. satisfaction

Question number 2, Lee. I'm a product manager at a software development company, and I really do like my job and I love my team. However, our CEO has been talking a lot about improving employee engagement. They've used t

Workplace Surgery: Balancing client demands and employee wellbeing

I run a small digital marketing agency with 14 employees. We've been growing rapidly over the past year, which has great for business, but I'm starting to see some concerning signs among my team. Our clients are demandin

Workplace Surgery: Defining company values in a growing team

Excited, excited. Tell you what else you're gonna be impressed by is Leanne's ability to answer your letters. They're not real letters, they're emails, but that you write. This is the time for the world-famous Weekly Wor

Workplace Surgery: Fear of change in family business succession

I mean, in short, yes, you are probably being a little old-fashioned. Um, but here's the thing, right? I think, I think we need to separate the 2 main things in your, in your question and under your 2 main concerns. One,

Workplace Surgery: Fostering culture in a remote team

Okay, so question number 3, Lee, I think is right up your street, and you'll see why in a second. I run an online marketplace for handmade goods that's grown from a side hustle to a team of 40 over the past 3 years. We—

Workplace Surgery: Underperforming Long-Term Employee

Yes One of my senior account managers who's been with us for 8 years has been underperforming for the last 6 months. Client feedback has been increasingly negative, and I've noticed a drop in the quality of their work. I

Workplace Surgery: Work-Life Balance in Accounting

Excellent. Okay, on to our second question, Le. This person writes, I'm a partner at a mid-sized accounting firm with about 50 employees. Our industry is known for long hours, especially during tax season, but I'm growin

Workplace Surgery: Boosting Engagement in a Non-Profit

This is tricky and one that I'm actually reading more and more about recently, other business owners who are experiencing a similar scenario. The, the, the challenge is, yes, we're going to derive meaning and purpose fro

Workplace Surgery: Oversharing at work

Oh, well, that was a continuity nightmare. Thank you for that. Question number 1. This is about handling an employee who overshares personal information. They say it's quite fun. I run a marketing agency with about 30 em

Workplace Surgery: Scaling company culture during rapid growth

Congratulations on your rapid, rapid growth, Techstarter We've gone from 15 to 50 employees, 5-0, in just 18 months. And while I'm— whilst I'm thrilled with our success, I'm struggling to maintain the close-knit, innovat

Workplace Surgery: Managing office romances

Ooh Whoa. And political conflicts of interest. Okay, so this person writes, I own a small firm with about 40 employees. Recently, I've become aware of a romantic relationship Between one of our account managers and a mem

Workplace Surgery: open office headphones dilemma

I wouldn't ban headphones. I think that'd be, that would be the best, most positive note to get off on. Um, do you know what this is? And we've actually, we've actually talked around this quite a bit the last few episode

Workplace Surgery: modernising the law firm

and support staff to offer more flexible working hours. While I recognise the potential benefits of flexible working, I have concerns about its impact on our practice. For example, client expectations, court schedules, a

Workplace Surgery: attracting young talent

Yeah. And I'm gonna have a look, give you a little bit of tough love, OP, here. You run a design studio. Your job is to design things that make people happy. So it sounds to me like you are a little bit sore that you've

Workplace Surgery: feeling excluded from an office clique

Sure Hi, Leanne. This is, this is already informal. I like it

Workplace Surgery: giving feedback to a more experienced team member

Are you ready? Yes

Workplace Surgery: getting honest feedback from employees

Right. I feel, have you been listening at all? Honestly. Right, friend. Okay, employee engagement. First of all, externally led. You need somebody else to come in and assure them on that confidentiality and anonymity. If

Workplace Surgery: Encouraging initiative in your team

The audio destination for business professionals It can

Workplace Surgery: Politely declining extra tasks

Fabulous. Okay, Lee, I've got a rather bit of a sad one for, uh, for question number 3 Yeah

Workplace Surgery: Socialising with your boss

Okay, so this 3rd question, Leanne, I'm chuckling because it could be a bit juicy, could be a bit gossipy. But this is anonymous, so I will not be identifying anyone here for obvious reasons. I've got a bit of a tricky s

Workplace Surgery: Leading a more experienced team

So this person writes, here's the deal. I just got promoted to manage a team that's a little bit older and a little bit more experienced than I am. Don't get me wrong, they're great at what they do, but I'm feeling a lit

Workplace Surgery: Disagreeing with your boss in a meeting

Yes Okay, so this person writes, how do you handle disagreeing with your boss in a meeting? I've got some strong opinions, but I'm not sure if it's okay to speak up or if I should just nod along and keep my thoughts to m

Workplace Surgery: Encouraging PTO without guilt

Okay. So this person writes, I own a medium-sized business in the financial services sector. Now, this is quite interesting because it's linked very much to, I think, what you were talking about with Australia that's hap

Workplace Surgery: blindsided by a resignation

So it's now time for our world-famous weekly workplace surgery, where I put your questions to Leanne. Leanne, are you ready for question number 1? I'm ready

Workplace Surgery: championing unwanted change

So this is— this question is from a manager. So I'll keep this quick. My company is introducing a new piece of software that is vastly different to the one I use. I can see why they want to change things up. This is the

Workplace Surgery: can people really change?

Final question Okay, Lee, so this is someone who is a business owner who's writing in. This is all I've got, and you'll see why in a second

Workplace Surgery: 'Am I stealing from my boss?'

So we are now at the part where it is the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery with Leanne Elliott, my co-host and wife That's me

Workplace Surgery: Choosing who to make redundant

Okay, question number 2, Leanne. Are you ready for this question? Yes

Workplace Surgery: 'Do I lie about being unemployed?'

Okay, next question. I don't know whether you're going to be able to answer this exactly because they do ask whether it's illegal to do that, and we don't know where this person is, uh, but let's just hear your thoughts

Workplace Surgery: memes in work chats

Yes, well done. You said it perfectly. I've been practising in the shower. Uh, if you, if you do, by the way, if you do have some thoughts on what, uh, what the future of the world would look like, what future work would

Workplace Surgery: pets on Zoom meetings

Yes This one's a little bit closer to home, I think. So, I own an agency and most of my team work remotely, as I do. We have regular Zoom calls, but one team member always brings along her cat. So for the first 5 minutes

Workplace Surgery: transitioning to management

Oh, I enjoy a tone Yeah. I'm interested to hear whether you pick it up straight. Well, I'm sure you will pick it up, but interested whether you address it straight away. I've been at the same firm. So this is the person

Workplace Surgery: Freelancer exclusion

So come back. I'll cut that out Keep that in. Welcome back onto my favourite time of the week, the world-famous weekly workplace surgery, where I put your Questions to business psychologist Leanne. Leah, are you ready?

Workplace Surgery: Retaining key employees

Yes So this one's a little— I can totally relate to this one. It's a bit heartbreaking. He says, I run a small business that I've nurtured and grown with care over the years. Recently, I faced a troubling trend, several

Workplace Surgery: Encouraging honest feedback

Yeah I manage a medium-sized team, and lately I've noticed my guys are hesitant to give honest feedback. Either to me or to each other. It started to stifle our innovation and improvement, and I feel like we're stuck in

Workplace Surgery: Handling an Uncomfortable Co-worker

Yes I've recently— this is what they've written— I've recently started a new shift at my job, and while I'm on good terms with most of my coworkers, there's one who consistently makes me feel uncomfortable. This male cow

Workplace Surgery: Summer Fridays at Risk

So question number 2. When I started my current job, one of the big perks they advertised was Summer Fridays, where we'd finish the day at noon Hey!

Workplace Surgery: Setting Boundaries with Your Team

So what's, what's this? So they're, they're a head, a head of regional head? Yes, they're a department head, and they've got no problem with anyone coming to them and telling them about their work, Problems, issues, anyt

Workplace Surgery: building rapport in a new leadership role

Okay, welcome back. We are out in the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery where we have 3 questions that I'm going to put to Leanne. Although, did you just say that we've— there's one for me, so maybe only 2 for you? T

Workplace Surgery: dealing with burnout and social isolation

Hmm I'm also really worried about trying to get people at work to like me, because if they don't, then everyone at work will know I'm not a great person to hang out with. I'm at the point of thinking I should just abando

Workplace Surgery: success - logic or manifestation?

So, this listener says, I've been learning about successful people like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Larry Ellison. They all seem to think and make decisions using logic and first principles. But on YouTube, business gurus

Workplace Surgery: Cryptic meeting invite from HR

Yeah, I really like it. If you've not heard it before, then essentially I take your questions or questions that we've found, just anonymous questions, but usually on the internet, and I put them to Leanne and Leanne answ

Workplace Surgery: Leaving a micromanager

I worked for a micromanager with a superiority complex. Even as a manager, I had to show her presentations before presenting them to customers. She reviewed emails and was always in everyone's business, so it wasn't just

Workplace Surgery: Managing your circle

I've hijacked the final question, Al, and I have one for you I wondered why, why I hadn't got a note down here for the third one

Workplace Surgery — reporting a coworker

Hmm But he didn't seem to get it. He couldn't see that he'd done something wrong. So I reported him to HR, but I feel awful about it. Was I in the right? Perhaps should I have been more supportive? Lee. It's a hell of a

Workplace Surgery — should I quit at 25?

No, she shouldn't quit Yes. No, you shouldn't. You shouldn't quit right now. The reason is you don't— this requires exploration. You're 25. This isn't an uncommon problem. This isn't an uncommon problem when you're 35. S

Workplace Surgery — surviving redundancy culture

A PIP is a performance improvement plan. Um, so it's the, it's the action plan that's developed as part of a performance management process to, with the intention, developed with the intention to help you improve, um, an

Workplace Surgery: Diversity in rural areas

Have you? Yeah, I've got one for you

Workplace Surgery: Inconsistent workplace initiatives

So this person writes, my manager keeps implementing new initiatives to improve workplace culture, but none of them ever stick. She seems to jump from one shiny new idea to the next without giving any of them a real chan

Workplace Surgery: Difficult business partner

Hmm, that's kind of a tough one because up until halfway through or three-quarters of the way through that, I thought maybe it's just your business partner is venting. Maybe this is how they work through problems. Um, an

Workplace Surgery: Surprise resignations despite great benefits

Yes Okay, so this person writes, we recently lost another long-term employee who we believed was loyal and engaged. Their sudden resignation caught us completely off guard, and it's not the first time that this has happe

Workplace Surgery: What employee engagement actually means

Yeah, it's a bit corporate speak, I guess. Employee engagement is actually a psychological term rather than a corporate term. It basically means how, how much people give a monkey's about your business and how much they

Workplace Surgery: When you want to give up

So this is from a business owner. So he said, I'm a business owner who built a good company, but I'm exhausted from fighting fires every day. It feels like all I do is deal with team problems instead of focusing on growi

Workplace Surgery intro

In talking of, uh, of getting every— letting everyone have a voice, I think it's time for us to let HubSpot have a voice, who pay our bills. So we're going to take a short break. We're back in a second with the Weekly Wo

Workplace Surgery: motivating stagnant teams

It can But come back

Workplace Surgery: evolving company culture

Question number 2. I have built a smallish consultancy up from scratch where it was just me in my spare room to a proper office with 14 employees. But in the last 9 months, I just feel like we're not the same company any

Workplace Surgery: setting boundaries and preventing burnout

Oh, um, yeah, again, without a bit more information context, you know what I'm like, I'm always like, it depends. I need a bit more, I need a bit more info, a bit, I need a bit more insight. But I guess off the surface o

Workplace Surgery — quitting without a job lined up

Welcome back. Let's kick off this weekly workplace surgery with the first question. By the way, if you have a question you'd like me to put to Leanne about the workplace, check out the show notes for our email address. A

Workplace Surgery — taking time off after resigning

Mm-hmm I just gave my employer my notice for quitting and I have an entire week off. Not 3 months, but I take a week off before I start my new company. But I feel guilty for taking that time off, and I don't really know

Workplace Surgery — is a £100k watch a reasonable goal?

I have a question for you. I saw this online, I saw it on Reddit, and I thought, I wonder how Al would answer this. So this person says, is making $5,000 a month online actually attainable? I keep seeing posts on social

Workplace Surgery: creepy boss encounters

So come back I'll cut that out. Keep that in. Welcome back. Let's kick off the weekly workplace surgery with the first question. Leanne, are you ready?

Workplace Surgery: mini-surveys for team feedback

So question number 2 is from Amanda Wilcox, which is— who's the operations director at MAP, which is an outsourced accountancy firm based in the UK, growing pretty quickly. Here's the question. One of our managers has as

Workplace Surgery: transitioning into leadership

Yes Okay. So this one is, I like this one. Okay. I like this one. You'll see why. I recently got promoted to a team leader position and I'm facing challenges with my new team. They've been together for a long time and I'

Workplace Surgery: The micromanager with a diagnosis

It could be nononymous. Yeah. So, so let us know if you've got a question. Oh, and by the way, Leanne doesn't see these beforehand No

Workplace Surgery: 'Am I being unfair?'

Yes Okay, now this one is definitely anonymous, um, and you will see why. Because even—

Workplace Surgery: Contractors and company culture

Yes This person writes, our organisation uses a couple of outside contractors when we need them, usually about once or twice a month. These contractors work remotely and so far seem happy enough, but I feel like I should

Workplace Surgery: recruiting sales superstars

Welcome back. Is it the clinic? Is it the surgery? Is it another name? Nobody knows, but Al has used all 3 in this episode. Al, do we need a jingle? Yeah, we're gonna have to come up with a jingle, a name. I'm gonna do a

Workplace Surgery: NPS scores for culture measurement

Sure Okay, so I've got a second question here, and it's about NPS surveys. So I think this is quite a new manager, as in like someone who maybe has a business for 2 or 3 years. I'm trying to read between the lines here.

Workplace Surgery: dealing with a drunken employee

Luckily, I can edit this. It is strange living with an introvert. I don't know whether any of your listeners have got— are slightly more extroverted than your partner, because even after 17 years, I still will ask— I'll

Workplace Surgery: pride in being busy and hustle culture

No. And yes. And leave There you go. So what you're saying is that no, you shouldn't try and fit in. Yes, you should just do your work, um, in, in the hours that you're allowed. And if that's not good enough, then just g

Workplace Surgery: The aggressive interviewer

And for me, as somebody who cares deeply about their time, I did the math on how many hours I was spending every year to actually just commute my physical body from home to And when I did that math, I started to realize

Workplace Surgery: Quitting for mental health

So I thought, oh, you know, I'll just do a handful of interviews in a neighboring city that I can easily drive to, but I won't be easily recognized in should the HR executive walk through the lobby while I'm sitting ther