The Undercurrent: Conversations Shaping UK Wellbeing & DEI
In 2025, we were delighted to welcome Naseem Smith as our Employer Partnerships Manager at Parent & Professional.
Over the past year, Nas has been immersed in the People, HR and DEI space — attending conferences, leadership events and roundtables to stay close to what employers are really experiencing on the ground.
Her event diary included:
- Fairer Consulting Conference
- World of Learning
- City HR Association
- REBA
- D&I Leaders
- Dive In Festival
Rather than just tracking trends, Nas focused on the conversations behind the scenes — what People leaders are under pressure to deliver, where priorities are shifting, and what’s quietly becoming non-negotiable.
The big themes picked up:
- Leadership capability is front and centre
With tighter budgets and greater scrutiny, leadership teams are being asked to clearly demonstrate purpose, values and impact — particularly around inclusion, wellbeing and culture. - Skills-building matters more than ever
Empathy, curiosity, perspective-taking and collaboration came up again and again as essential leadership skills — especially in a complex global and political climate. - Retention is still fragile
Despite expectations that post-pandemic churn would ease, many organisations are still seeing high levels of talent movement — particularly among women, younger employees and under-represented groups. - Flexibility and values are deal-breakers
Return-to-office conversations are resurfacing, but employees continue to weigh up whether leadership behaviour truly aligns with stated values. - DEI is being reframed — not removed
Language is shifting towards fairness, engagement, wellbeing, culture and mobility. The labels may be changing, but the work — creating equitable opportunity — remains just as critical. - AI is everywhere, but caution is growing
AI featured heavily, alongside growing awareness of bias and the importance of keeping human judgement and connection at the centre of people decisions. - Data matters — but storytelling makes it land
Organisations are gathering more employee data than ever, but real change happens when insights are turned into a clear story leaders can act on. Connecting data to impact — like retention, progression and belonging — is what drives meaningful decisions, not dashboards alone.
Nas will be sharing more of these insights with our community throughout the year — helping employers stay grounded in what’s really shaping the people agenda as we move into 2026.
Taken together, these themes give a picture of what People leaders are dealing with right now — more pressure, higher expectations, and less room for missteps. The focus is shifting away from ticking boxes and towards decisions that genuinely support people and strengthen culture.
Stay Connected with Nas
Nas will be sharing these insights each quarter in “The Undercurrent: Conversations Shaping UK Wellbeing & DEI” — a regular feature in our newsletter bringing together reflections from industry events and conversations with HR and DEI leaders.
If you’d like to connect or explore a potential partnership, Nas would love to hear from you. She’s always happy to chat with employers and People leaders who are thinking carefully about what comes next.
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