Thought Leadership
11 Dec 2025
Redefining Candidate Experience - Making recruitment feel human again
Guest writer, Paula McInally from West Midlands Combined Authority, reframes candidate experience as the true measure of modern recruitment, showing how small human moments build trust, confidence and lasting engagement. Personal contact, inclusive adjustments and accessible processes benefit candidates through clarity and dignity. For employers, they strengthen reputation, widen access, improve outcomes and position recruitment as a strategic lever for culture and community trust.
11 Dec 2025
Beyond Breakfast: Why Culture and Strategy Are Part of the Same Meal
In her latest article, Michelle O’Neill explores why public sector transformation succeeds only when the human experience and organisational direction move in sync. She highlights how coaching and mentoring create the space people need to process uncertainty, rebuild identity and connect emotionally with what change means for them, not just the system.
11 Dec 2025
The Power of Partnership: How Regional Collaboration is Shaping the Future of Local Government Talent
Local government is facing a critical moment in its talent pipeline, and early collaboration may be the key to changing the story. In this article, Chloe Herrmann explores how the LGA and WMCA early careers pilot is reshaping how councils reach young people long before they enter the job market. By bringing together national branding, regional expertise and authentic local voices, the campaign demonstrates the real power of partnership. It shows why councils investing now, collectively, will be the ones who secure the talent they need tomorrow. A forward look at what’s possible , and a call to think differently about workforce futures.
13 Nov 2025
Is outsourcing investigations the strategic advantage the Public Sector has been overlooking?
Rachael Simpson challenges the public sector’s instinct to keep workplace investigations in-house, exposing the risks of delays, bias, and strained relationships. For employees, outsourcing offers impartiality, quicker resolutions, and confidence in fairness. For employers, it safeguards trust, ensures legal robustness, reduces hidden costs, and signals strong leadership by valuing investigations as a strategic lever for culture, not just compliance.
13 Nov 2025
Leading in the Age of Emergence
Matthew Hotten explores how leadership must evolve in an era where change is constant and unpredictable. Traditional step-by-step frameworks no longer fit a world shaped by disruption and the pace of BANI. Leaders must shift from managing change to leading through it—embracing ambiguity, fostering adaptability, and supporting teams in real time. Emotional intelligence, sensemaking and trust are now core tools. For organisations, the challenge is to build cultures that thrive amid uncertainty, where adaptability is a way of working. In today’s world, change isn’t managed—it’s lived.
13 Nov 2025
We don’t need more AI hype, we need each other - especially in local government
AI isn’t about shiny tools — it’s about people, culture, and confidence. Local government doesn’t need more hype, it needs shared learning. The Festival of AI in Practice will spotlight real stories from councils using AI with purpose, collaboration, and care — proving that transformation is built from the ground up, not bought in.
16 Oct 2025
More Change to Support “The Change”
Lorna Wells highlights how menopause support has shifted from a workplace taboo to a strategic priority. For employees, this means recognition, adjustments, and a culture that enables them to thrive through a natural life stage. For employers, it’s a reminder that the stakes go beyond compliance: supporting menopause effectively reduces litigation risk, retains experienced talent, strengthens wellbeing, and reinforces the public sector’s reputation as an inclusive employer of choice.
16 Oct 2025
Small actions, big impact -Inclusion at the WMJobs Public Sector Careers Expo
Lucy Hall highlights how inclusion is built through small human interactions rather than policy alone. For jobseekers, it means feeling seen, heard and supported. For employers, it’s about adapting language, pace and approach with empathy. For organisations, it’s proof that genuine inclusion happens face-to-face, turning curiosity into confidence and breaking down invisible barriers.
16 Oct 2025
Tri-sector Challenge 2025: Collaboration, Competition and a Glimpse of the Future
Matthew Hotten highlights how the West Midlands Tri-sector Challenge shows leadership in public services moving from siloed approaches to collaborative, cross-sector problem solving. For participants, it means stepping outside their comfort zones, leading under pressure and building the skills needed to navigate uncertainty. For organisations, it’s a reminder that leadership development must keep pace with the realities of modern public service: complex challenges, shared responsibilities and the need for trust-based collaboration.