Managers often say that handling difficult conversations is one of the hardest parts of the role. But it’s not just managers. We all have conversations we find hard and tend to avoid. It could be that we need to say something and we’re worried it might upset the other person. It could be that we need to talk about something that’s been bothering us and we feel quite strongly about it. Or it could be that we need to call something out when it would be easier not to. Because… Read More »How to handle difficult conversations as a manager

Whether you’re deep in performance review season or approaching mid-year reviews, this tends to be a busy and demanding time for HR. The performance review process is a significant project to coordinate and one most HR teams care deeply about getting right. It places a real demand on managers’ time and it’s not generally something employees look forward to either.  In recent years, we’ve seen a strong focus on ongoing feedback and regular performance conversations as part of broader performance management approaches, which is great. But most organisations still need a formal moment… Read More »Performance Reviews: How to support your managers in 2026

Over the past year or so, many of the conversations I’ve been having with HR and L&D leaders have circled around the same question: AI has quietly embedded itself into everyday work. It’s supporting planning, analysis, communication, and tracking progress in ways that were simply not possible a few years ago. That naturally raises questions about which parts of the manager role still need to sit with people, and which don’t.  What I’m seeing isn’t organisations wanting to remove managers altogether. It’s more a sense of uncertainty about what managers should now be focusing on.  For a long time,… Read More »Redefining the middle manager for 2026

  When I think back to 2025, it felt like a year where the pace of change just kept picking up. Work was shifting quickly, and for many people it felt like it was happening faster than they could comfortably keep up with. AI moved from something we actively chose to use. To something sitting quietly in the background of everyday work. And while that made some things easier, it also created new challenges. Particularly around how people learn, adapt and keep adjusting as work continues to evolve. So, I want… Read More »How AI is influencing workplace learning in 2026

This year, we’ve seen AI become mainstream in our lives and gain ground in our organisations. It’s everywhere – in how we search, how we shop, how we read our emails, and increasingly, how we work. Its rise has been fast. AI has embedded itself into day-to-day workflows in a matter of months, not years, and while most of us do find it genuinely helpful, it’s also evolving quicker than people, and whole organisations, can keep up with. We’re seeing access to AI tools grow across businesses, but many employees… Read More »The New Manager Skills for 2026: What Leaders Need in an AI-Driven Workplace

As the year starts to wrap up, planning conversations are in full swing. Many HR and L&D teams are looking ahead to 2026 and where to focus next. This is a great opportunity to step back and make sure your learning and development plans are genuinely aligned with your organisation’s goals, not just a continuation of what’s been done before. Here are a few things we’d suggest thinking about as you plan for the year ahead.   1. Look back before you look forward Before jumping into new priorities, take… Read More »Planning for L&D Success in 2026

One of the trickiest questions in HR and L&D is how to measure training impact. It’s the question you face when you’re trying to get sign-off in the first place, when you need to show the business that training will make a difference. And it’s the question that comes back after delivery, how can we see that it worked? The truth is, a strict ROI of leadership training in the finance sense is near impossible unless you’re willing to invest in a full-scale analysis project. But that doesn’t mean you… Read More »Measuring Training Impact in Leadership Development

A lot of new managers are thrown in at the deep end. They go from being an individual contributor to suddenly having people to manage, often without anyone clearly defining the role or what’s expected. That lack of clarity can lead to all sorts of problems, such as confusion, frustration, inconsistency, and burnout, both for the manager and their team members. It’s a common issue. Smart, motivated people take on management roles for the first time and are left to figure it out for themselves. They don’t always make the… Read More »Defining the People Manager Role: A Practical Guide for HR and L&D Leaders

In our last blog, we explored why so many first-time managers struggle and why that matters. If you missed it, you can read it here.  In this blog we dig deeper into what to do about it. How do we help new managers succeed in the role, and avoid the uncertainty and confusion that often comes with it? At Willow & Puddifoot, we’ve worked with hundreds of emerging leaders and newly promoted managers. We’ve heard first-hand what they find tough, what makes them doubt themselves, and what helps them grow. And the same… Read More »A Practical Framework to Support First-Time Managers