This Isn’t Working
Tanya de Grunwald
The podcast for employers and employees who think it’s time to talk about the failings of workplace culture - and how we can do better.
Host:
Tanya de Grunwald - Journalist, HR commentator, founder of the Good + Fair Employers Club and careers blog Graduate Fog, and listed as one of HR Magazine’s ’Most Influential Thinkers’
Host:
Tanya de Grunwald - Journalist, HR commentator, founder of the Good + Fair Employers Club and careers blog Graduate Fog, and listed as one of HR Magazine’s ’Most Influential Thinkers’
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 5, 2024 • 23min
International Women's Day: What Isn't Working?
Love it or loathe it, International Women's Day has become an essential date when every employer must... do what, exactly? And why? Does 8 March need a re-think, as well as a re-brand?
In this episode, Julie Scanlon (grumpy) and Tanya de Grunwald (grumpier) discuss whether anything about International Women's Day is still working for employers and employees, including:
- What is International Women's Day? Are we celebrating, protesting or both? And does it even have a place in the world of work?
- What's with the two themes? If the UN's is 'Invest in Women', who dreamed up the rival: 'Inspire Inclusion'? Why are we being told to make hearts with our hands - and might a different gesture better capture how grown women feel about being asked (yet again) to 'be kind'?
- What happens when employers' efforts to mark IWD clash with female employees' resentment around bread-and-butter issues like the gender pay gap, maternity policy, career progression and sexual harassment?
- Can men ever get IWD right - and are LinkedIn posts about their wife/mum/daughter cute or cringe-inducing?
- Are women having an identity crisis in 2024? Are we impossible to please, when female colleagues are divided ourselves, for example over workplace policies on menopause, menstruation and trans inclusion?
- If we had a magic wand, what would we want to see employers do for IWD? How can it be made more meaningful?
- After this 20-minute rant, is there a chance that IWD 2025 will be the best one yet - and Tanya will finally get the point of the whole thing?
Decide for yourself... Enjoy the episode!
Feb 26, 2024 • 37min
Is DEI About To DIE?
Why did Elon Musk say that 'DEI must DIE' - and how many people share his view? If there are signs that a backlash is brewing against diversity, equity and inclusion, why are HR and DEI professionals dismissing opposition as a 'right-wing culture war' that should be ignored? Is this failure to engage with criticism a further sign that something is seriously wrong with an industry that was meant to be about doing the right thing?
In this episode, Julie and Tanya discuss whether it's time for the industry to start some serious soul searching:
- What has gone wrong with DEI - and when did the trouble start?
- Why are the 'right' beliefs presented as a package, and when did it become taboo to raise questions about any of it?
- Are a small number of 'drunk drivers' taking DEI off a cliff?
- What does the growing number of tribunals relating to protected characteristics in the Equality Act tell us about the true state of workplace cultures?
- Did HR directors take their eye of the ball, failing to recognise the business risks that 'bad DEI' poses to their organisation?
- Why do some heads of DEI seem to be building an echo chamber for themselves - and when did it become normal to 'block' challenge from industry peers on LinkedIn?
- And is this the first DEI podcast to mention Triggernometry?
Will DEI survive? That depends on how the industry responds...
