Digital HR Leaders with David Green

Most organisations say Strategic Workforce Planning is a priority. Far fewer are prepared for what that actually requires. Because the challenge isn’t just predicting how many people you’ll need. It’s understanding how work itself is changing, how skills are shifting beneath stable job titles, and how today’s hiring, reskilling, and entry-level decisions are quietly shaping capability and leadership risk years into the future. In this episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, David Green is joined by Vincent Barat, Founder and CEO of Albert, to explore whether organisations are thinking about Strategic Workforce Planning at the right level - and what it really means to make workforce planning truly strategic in today’s environment. Drawing on Vincent’s experience working at the intersection of business strategy, skills, and workforce dynamics, this conversation explores: Why SWP is shifting from a planning exercise to a capability and risk discipline What truly puts the “strategic” in Strategic Workforce Planning beyond headcount and budgeting Where organisations most often struggle when trying to move from SWP theory to execution How AI is reshaping skills and tasks beneath job titles, and the implications for reskilling and redeployment Why reduced entry-level hiring today could create leadership and succession challenges tomorrow The practical priorities HR and people analytics leaders should focus on right now  This episode is sponsored by Albert.  Albert is your strategic workforce planning co-pilot, built for global HR leaders who are done with Excel, chaos, and finance-led headcount cuts.  Albert helps you decode complex people data, anticipate change, and make confident, cost-saving decisions on skills and hiring without hiring a single analyst.  Discover how to handle the people side of your long-range plan with zero guesswork at albertapp.com/davidgreen  Links to resources: The SWP Cookbook 

People analytics has spent years building credibility through data. Now the pressure is different. Business leaders aren’t just asking for insight - they’re expecting direction. Where should we invest? What should we stop doing? What risks are we not seeing yet? But many teams still find themselves pulled back into reporting cycles, ad-hoc requests, and an overemphasis on metrics that don’t always lead to better decisions. So what shifts when people analytics starts operating more like a product and less like a project function? In this episode, David Green is joined by Ashar Khan, Head of People Insights and Solution Design at Autodesk, to explore how the function evolves from delivering data to shaping choices at scale. Join this conversation as they discuss: The skills and mindsets modern people analytics teams need beyond technical expertiseWhat an effective people analytics operating model looks like in practice The core capabilities required to bridge HR technology and HR strategy Where “metric fixation” leads organisations toward false confidence and poor decisions Why the assumption that AI automatically means “fewer people” misses the bigger picture Practical advice for CHROs building or redesigning a people analytics function today This episode is sponsored by Worklytics. How productive is your organisation, really? Worklytics makes it clear - with privacy-first insights from everyday work data. See how meeting volume, manager effectiveness, collaboration health, and AI adoption are impacting your team’s focus, efficiency, and outcomes - so you can make smarter decisions, faster. No surveys. No assumptions. Just clear insight into work. Right now, Worklytics is offering podcast listeners a free 30-day trial of their productivity analytics dashboard. Learn more at worklytics.co/productivity Link to resources: The Strategic Workforce Planning Handbook  David Edwards’ Dark Artistry Newsletter 

AI is changing tasks. Skills strategies are evolving. And yet visibility into capability, cost, and risk across the workforce often remains fragmented. So how do organisations move from reacting to workforce change, to planning for it in a way that actually shapes business outcomes? In this episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, host David Green is joined by David Edwards, strategic workforce planning practitioner, advisor, and author of The Strategic Workforce Planning Handbook, to explore what it really takes to make strategic workforce planning work in practice. Join this conversation as they discuss: Why workforce planning can feel “deceptively threatening” inside an organisation  What changes when leaders shift from thinking about headcount to thinking about capability, capacity, cost, and risk over time  What goes wrong when people analytics and workforce planning operate in parallel Why looking beyond permanent employees reveals hidden workforce risk How AI is forcing organisations to rethink work design, not just skills strategies The stakeholders' strategic workforce planning really needs This episode is sponsored by Worklytics. How productive is your organisation, really? Worklytics makes it clear - with privacy-first insights from everyday work data. See how meeting volume, manager effectiveness, collaboration health, and AI adoption are impacting your team’s focus, efficiency, and outcomes - so you can make smarter decisions, faster. No surveys. No assumptions. Just clear insight into work. Right now, Worklytics is offering podcast listeners a free 30-day trial of their productivity analytics dashboard. Learn more at worklytics.co/productivity . Link to resources: The Strategic Workforce Planning Handbook  David Edwards’ Dark Artistry Newsletter 

AI was supposed to make work more efficient. So why are people busier than ever? As organisations move into 2026, many leaders are realising that while technology has changed quickly, the fundamentals of how work gets done haven’t kept up. Activity is increasing, output is accelerating in places - yet coordination, focus, and decision-making often feel harder than before. So what’s actually going on? In this episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, David Green is joined by Philip Arkcoll, Founder and CEO of Worklytics, to unpack this very question.  Join this dynamic duo, as they discuss: What the data reveals around where organisations were getting stuck in 2025, and how the way we work is changing in 2026 What collaboration and activity data reveals that traditional HR metrics often miss Why decision-making, not output, is becoming the primary bottleneck in AI-enabled organisations How increasing spans of control are reshaping the role, and load, of managers The emerging divide between teams and individuals who are benefiting from AI and those who aren’t What HR and people analytics leaders can do to measure, diagnose, and redesign how work actually happens This episode is sponsored by Worklytics. Worklytics helps leaders understand how work actually happens with data-driven insights into collaboration, productivity and AI adoption.  By analysing real work patterns - from meetings to tool usage - they empower teams to work = Learn more at worklytics.co/ai  Link to resources: 5 Ways Work Will Change in 2026 

Why are so many HR leaders experiencing “what just happened?” moments at work - and what does it really take to respond to authoritarian leadership with courage instead of fear? That’s the question Kristen Kavanaugh, Leadership Strategist, former Head of DEI and Talent Management at Tesla, explores in this episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast. In this episode, host David Green sits down with Kristen to unpack what happens when fear quietly becomes the operating system inside organisations, why authoritarian leadership styles are becoming increasingly normalised, and how HR leaders can reclaim their agency in environments shaped by power, pressure, and public leadership behaviour. Tune in and learn: Why fear-based leadership creates short-term gains but long-term damage Why HR leaders often underestimate the agency they actually have How Kristen’s Agency Loop framework helps leaders navigate tension, misalignment, and difficult decisions What courageous leadership looks like as AI reshapes roles, skills, and power at work Why HR has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape a more humane future of work This episode is sponsored by Worklytics. Worklytics helps leaders understand how work actually happens with data-driven insights into collaboration, productivity and AI adoption.  By analysing real work patterns - from meetings to tool usage - they empower teams to work = Learn more at worklytics.co/ai  Link to resources: Courage over Fear: Harness the Power of Agency to Lead in Uncertain Times 

Why do organisations keep repeating the same mistakes when it comes to hybrid work - and are they now doing the same with AI? That’s the question Brian Elliott, one of the most respected voices on the future of work, explores in this episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast. In this episode, host David Green sits down with Brian to unpack why the hybrid and return-to-office debate continues to create tension between leaders and employees, despite years of data and experience, and the striking parallels between how organisations handled hybrid work and how many are now approaching AI adoption. Tune in and learn: Why the hybrid and return-to-office debate continues to divide leaders and employees What the evidence says about making hybrid work effective for both people and the business The similarities between hybrid work decisions and today’s AI adoption challenges How AI is changing entry-level roles and long-term talent pipelines The biggest barriers organisations face when trying to change long-established ways of working Why leadership behaviour ultimately determines whether change sticks This episode is sponsored by Worklytics. Worklytics helps leaders understand how work actually happens with data-driven insights into collaboration, productivity and AI adoption.  By analysing real work patterns - from meetings to tool usage - they empower teams to work = Learn more at worklytics.co/ai  Link to resources: Five leadership lessons for "tough" CEOs The burnout age The job market and AI