In part two of her conversation with Angela Wilkins-Green, Anna moves from awareness into action, exploring what line managers and HR professionals can actually do when someone in their team is struggling with perimenopause or menopause symptoms.

Angela explains what signs a manager might notice, and why the quality of your relationship with your team will determine whether you ever get the chance to help at all. The conversation is clear on one thing: you do not need to ask anyone if they are perimenopausal. You just need to notice, and ask if they are okay.

Anna shares a real example of a manager who did everything right in terms of spotting a change in performance, but whose instinct to reach for a risk assessment left his team member feeling exposed and regretful that she had said anything. Angela unpacks why that response, however well intentioned, can shut conversations down entirely, and what a better approach looks like in practice.

They cover the range of reasonable adjustments organisations can make, from a desk fan to a later start time, and why these need to be individual conversations rather than a standard checklist. Angela also introduces her one-to-one menopause audit, a structured session she runs inside organisations to help women understand their own symptoms and come away with a personal action plan.

The episode takes a broader turn as Anna and Angela discuss cultural differences in how menopause is experienced and spoken about, why men need this education just as much as women, and how mandatory awareness sessions can shift the culture in even the most resistant organisations. Angela shares the story of a male CEO who not only attended a session but led the conversation, and why moments like that change everything.

This is part two of a three-part conversation with Angela Wilkins-Green. Part three continues the discussion around coaching, confidence, and what life looks like on the other side of perimenopause.

Find out more about Angela's work at https://www.greenpathcoaching.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annathomas-hrInstagram: instagram.com/practicalmanagerTikTok: tiktok.com/@practicalpeoplemanagerThe People Expert: https://www.thepeopleexpert.co.uk

Workplace conflict is inevitable. But the damage it causes, the stress, the time, the cost, and the human toll, is largely avoidable. In this episode, Anna is joined by Pete Colby, founder of Pragmatism and a workplace mediator, trainer, and employee relations specialist with four decades of experience spanning the steel, food, and aerospace industries. Pete is allergic to grievances, as he puts it, and has spent his career helping organisations understand why the answer to conflict is almost never a formal process.

Pete explains why the root cause of most workplace disputes comes back to the same thing: a lack of confidence to have honest, human conversations early. He shares what happens when small tensions go unaddressed, how quickly emails replace conversation and positions harden, and why the most common thing people say in mediation is that they wish someone had simply asked how they were doing, often years earlier.

Anna and Pete explore the pressure managers face when they feel ill-equipped to navigate difficult conversations, particularly around topics like mental health, menopause, or race, and why the fear of saying the wrong thing so often leads to saying nothing at all. Pete shares a compelling real-world example of how a single word triggered a discrimination allegation, and how a skilled conversation turned it into one of the most productive outcomes either party could have imagined.

They also challenge the reflex to reach straight for the grievance policy, and make the case for building a culture where formal processes gather dust because they are simply never needed.

This is part one of a three-part conversation with Pete. Part two moves into mediation itself: what it is, what it is not, and how it supports people when working relationships have become truly stuck.

Find out more about Pete's work at pragmatism-uk.co.uk

Connect with Anna

Got a question or a topic you'd like covered on the podcast? Anna would love to hear from you.

Find her on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, or visit The People Expert to find out more about her work supporting line managers and HR professionals.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annathomas-hr
Instagram: instagram.com/practicalmanager
TikTok: tiktok.com/@practicalpeoplemanager
The People Expert: https://www.thepeopleexpert.co.uk

Employment tribunal claims are rising sharply, and employment lawyer Nic Elliott says AI is playing a bigger role in that shift than most HR teams realise. Nic heads the employment team at Actons Solicitors in Nottingham and is also the firm's own HR director, giving him a rare view of both sides of the desk.

In this episode, Anna and Nic get into why claims have climbed since the pandemic, the strange new dynamic AI is creating around grievances and settlements, and why so many workplace policies do more harm than good. They also talk difficult conversations, performance management done properly, and the major shift coming to unfair dismissal law in January 2027, changes that will affect an estimated 6.3 million employees and reshape how every manager approaches probation and recruitment.

Find out more about Nic's work at https://www.actons.co.uk

Connect with Anna

Got a question or a topic you'd like covered on the podcast? Anna would love to hear from you. Find Anna on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, or visit The People Expert to find out more about her work supporting line managers and HR professionals.

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/annathomas-hr
Instagram: http://instagram.com/practicalmanager
TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@practicalpeoplemanager
The People Expert: https://www.thepeopleexpert.co.uk