Greg Dyke, in conversation with Adam Kirtley, gives frank insights into what it means to be a leader and what is key. Greg explains how important the way people are managed is to the success of the business and wonders why this doesn’t always happen. He goes on to explain the qualities of a good leader and how to assess success, using a personal, nightmarish situation to illustrate the point. Selling change is key to employee engagement with the process. Experience at the NHS had an impact on how he achieved change at the BBC. Greg explains the cost- effective strategies he used to improve relationships, enabling him to get agreement on some tough decisions. Leadership training, Greg says, is a must for supporting managers in their jobs. He then tells us how he used ‘public money’ to build a more caring culture and describes the cost benefits of doing so, despite repeated media criticism. At LWT, big, unpleasant changes needed to be made to the company. This was done using a sensible long-term view and treating people properly. Greg tells Adam how he views the differing roles of line managers and HR managers and explains why HR was centralised at the BBC. We hear that encouraging a culture where risk and innovation are important and that getting information to everyone, especially in a big organisation like the BBC, is crucial. Adam asks Greg about his failures. Not following ‘rules’ has had mixed results in his career at the top. He also concedes that impatience is, to some extent, a weakness. Finally, hear Greg’s two top tips that listeners should follow to win at leadership.

This podcast examines the business case for diversity with HR managers who have already seen the benefits. Trevor Phillips, Chair of the new Commission of Equality and Human Rights, explains how better access to information and eventually new legislation, will take diversity and equal opportunity forward the UK.

Practitioners talk about the role of line managers in the learning and development field and the importance of L&D at a strategic level. You can also hear the conclusions of the latest CIPD survey.

Three practitioners explain how they have increased employee engagement and how these efforts have benefited their organisations. Mike Emmott, the CIPD’s adviser on Employee Relations, reveals the results of a recent survey of employee engagement.

Specialists and practitioners discuss pay strategy and its link to performance. The proper communication of reward plays an important role in how pay and benefits are perceived.

Experts and practitioners talk about their experience of talent management in this CIPD podcast, the last in a series of four.

Experts and practitioners talk about their experience of change management in this CIPD podcast, the third in a series of four.

This podcast, the second in an initial trial series of four, focuses on the subject of leadership.

This podcast, the first in a series of four, includes exclusive interviews with some of the top speakers at the CIPD’s Annual Conference and Exhibition in Harrogate (October 2006).