Why Building Better Workplaces Requires More Than Just HR Expertise

So, over and over, I keep seeing Job advertisements. And here is my respectful response.....

For a long time, workplace wellbeing, inclusion and employee engagement have been placed firmly under the HR umbrella. In many organisations, these areas are still seen as “people issues” that sit solely with HR teams, while health and safety is often viewed as a completely separate function focused on compliance, policies and physical risk. In my experience, that separation is one of the biggest mistakes employers continue to make.

Having worked across workplace wellbeing, inclusion and employee engagement, I’ve seen first hand how often organisations focus on solving the wrong problem. They invest heavily in recruitment campaigns to attract talent, create glossy employer branding strategies and launch engagement initiatives that look great externally, yet they fail to address the day-to-day workplace issues that are causing people to leave in the first place.

Employees rarely leave organisations because there wasn’t a wellbeing awareness week or because the company failed to send a monthly newsletter about inclusion. More often, they leave because they are burnt out, unsupported, overworked, excluded from opportunities, or operating in environments where poor leadership behaviours go unchecked. In some cases, they are working in environments that are physically safe on paper but psychologically draining in reality.

This is where I believe the conversation needs to change.

Creating workplaces where people genuinely thrive requires far more than traditional HR expertise. It demands a combination of skills that often sit across HR, health and safety, wellbeing, governance, operational leadership and organisational culture. In many ways, health and safety professionals have been applying preventative thinking for years—identifying workplace risks, reducing harm and creating safer environments. The same mindset should be applied to inclusion, wellbeing and employee engagement.

Throughout my career, I’ve worked closely with senior leaders, managers and stakeholders to shape workplace strategies that improve belonging, wellbeing and employee experience. That work has involved far more than simply delivering HR initiatives. It has meant advising leaders on how their decisions impact employee wellbeing, designing organisation-wide inclusion programmes, facilitating workshops, coaching leaders and helping businesses build stronger workplace cultures.

I’ve also spent a significant amount of time analysing workforce data to identify trends and risks. Whether reviewing employee survey feedback, examining representation gaps, or producing reports linked to pay gap data and regulatory commitments, the goal has always been the same: understand what employees are experiencing and use that insight to make meaningful improvements.

What stands out to me is how often businesses wait until problems become impossible to ignore. High turnover increases. Employee engagement scores drop. Stress-related absence rises. Teams become disengaged. Employer reputation starts to suffer. Only then do organisations begin asking what went wrong.

By that stage, the warning signs have usually been present for a long time.

A healthier approach is to focus on prevention. This is where health and safety thinking plays a far greater role than many organisations realise. Good health and safety professionals understand that preventing harm is far more effective than reacting to incidents after they happen. The same applies to workplace wellbeing and inclusion. Businesses should be identifying risks such as burnout, poor leadership behaviours, exclusion, excessive workloads and low psychological safety before they escalate into larger organisational issues.

I’ve also seen how workplace culture extends beyond internal policies. Managing external wellbeing providers, building partnerships, overseeing governance structures and ensuring suppliers align with inclusion standards all play an important role in creating healthier workplaces. Even employee recognition programmes can have a significant impact when they genuinely reinforce positive behaviours and make employees feel valued.

The organisations that do this well understand that workplace wellbeing is not about surface-level perks. It is not solved by fruit, free lunches, mindfulness apps or occasional awareness campaigns. Those things may have value, but they cannot compensate for poor management, unhealthy workloads or workplace cultures that leave people feeling unsupported.

More employers need to shift their thinking and recognise that creating better workplaces is everyone’s responsibility. HR teams cannot carry that responsibility alone. Health and safety teams bring valuable expertise in risk management and prevention. Leaders shape culture through their behaviour. Operations teams influence how work is structured. Procurement teams can ensure suppliers reflect organisational values.

When all of these areas work together, organisations create environments where people feel safe, supported and able to perform at their best.

Ultimately, businesses that prioritise getting the workplace right are not just improving employee experience—they are protecting performance, strengthening retention and building organisations people actually want to be part of.

And from what I’ve seen, that proactive approach is no longer a “nice to have.” It’s becoming essential.

So, if your job advertisement is the same as the one below, please do consider where the governance and alignment of the role really sit, because it's great that you are trying, but get the role right and set up to succeed.

Key responsibilities

• Act as a senior advisor to People leaders, senior stakeholders and managers on inclusion, belonging, well-being and engagement priorities

• Design and deliver organisation-wide inclusion programmes, workshops, training sessions and best practice toolkits

• Manage internal inclusion networks, including executive sponsorship, governance, budgets and annual action planning

• Lead equality analysis across people processes, providing insight-driven recommendations based on data and trends

• Manage external partnerships, industry forums and accreditation relationships, including programme governance and reporting

• Deliver inclusion-related corporate reporting (e.g. pay gap reporting, sustainability and regulatory commitments)

• Own and evolve the organisation's values, recognition, and reward schemes, working closely with internal communications

• Lead well-being initiatives, including learning programmes, partnerships and champion networks

• Oversee inclusive procurement requirements and supplier performance related to inclusion standards

• Ensure appropriate risk management and controls within the scope of the role

Skills and expertise

• Strong influencing and stakeholder management skills, including engagement with senior leaders and external partners

• Proven facilitation and coaching capability, with experience delivering training and capability building programmes

• Excellent project and programme management skills across multiple initiatives

• Strong analytical capability, including equality analysis and insights from people data and surveys

• Confident communicator with experience creating high-quality written and digital content

• Knowledge of inclusive procurement and supplier diversity frameworks

Knowledge and experience

• Solid understanding of HR practices and the employee life cycle

• Strong working knowledge of equality legislation (UK and international)

• Experience managing external forums, partnerships or industry networks

• Experience delivering well-being programmes and managing well-being providers

• Experience producing statutory or regulatory people-related reporting

• Proven experience working in global or matrixed organisations