You've seen the headines: "DEI must die," "Progressive diktat," "A lightning rod for controversy."

It is no secret that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are taking flak in the court of public opinion.

But beyond the media spats, like Elon Musk's "DEI must die" quip, HR leaders across the western world are seeing real cuts to their DEI budgets.

In Episode 4 of series 3, Woosh Raza, director of people, culture and inclusion for the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) joins former HR magazine editor Jo Gallacher to explore why DEI is encountering scepticism, and what HR leaders can do to safeguard their own efforts.

The UK is in the grip of a mental health crisis.

Some 20-30% of UK working adults showing signs of emotional exhaustion, and burnout has been stuck firmly on HR's agenda for the past four years.

And while HR is well adapted to support employees' mental wellbeing – does the responsibility really lie fully on HR?

In the latest episode of the HR Most Influential Podcast, Rachel Lewis, multi-award winning occupational psychologist and programme director at Birckbeck, University of London, sits down with former HR magazine editor Jo Gallacher to explore the suffocating world of stress.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform HR.

But just like any tool, it needs direction.

After all the hype of 2023, it's fair to say that we're all quite excited – or worried – about AI. But how many of us actually know how to start introducing it to our jobs in a useful way, beyond asking ChatGPT a few questions and getting bored?

In the third episode of HR Focus, we look at how HR leaders can introduce AI to their talent management processes – in a controlled and purposeful manner.

HR magazine Jo Gallacher sits down with experts Duncan Miller, global head of marketing at HR software company Cornerstone, and Natalie Sheils, chief people officer at AI-forward marketing company Mosaic Group, to find out the practical steps behind introducing AI to your talent management processes.

Many thanks to our sponsor Cornerstone, the cloud-based people development software provider.

Read Cornerstone's UK Talent Health Index ebook now here.

The Talent Health Index self-assessment is available here.