May 19, 2025 • 20 mins
In this episode of the HRchat Show, Bill Banham talks with Douglas Leach about the upcoming Disrupt London and HR Analytics Summits.
Doug's journey to founding the HR Analytics Summit reads like a masterclass in entrepreneurial resilience. Launching his venture in October 2019 - mere months before a global pandemic would shut down in-person events worldwide - Doug faced what seemed like insurmountable challenges. But as he reveals in this captivating conversation, what initially appeared disastrous ultimately became advantageous.
"Not every disaster is a disaster," Doug shares, explaining how multiple postponements created extended marketing windows that drove registrations. By the time the event finally happened in 2021, it had completely sold out. Even a venue cancellation one month before the show transformed into a blessing when they secured the prestigious Brewery venue at a discount, accommodating their larger-than-expected audience.
The discussion dives into the current people analytics landscape, revealing surprising disparities in implementation maturity. While some organizations operate sophisticated systems seeking marginal improvements, others – including unexpectedly large companies – still rely heavily on Excel. Doug offers a memorable analogy: "Big companies are oil tankers, small companies are speedboats," explaining why smaller, more agile organizations often implement modern analytics solutions more efficiently than their enterprise counterparts struggling with legacy systems.
Artificial intelligence emerges as a central theme throughout the conversation. Doug and Bill highlight the significant challenge organizations face when implementing AI: employee skepticism and fear of replacement. The discussion ventures into thought-provoking territory when addressing Bill Gates' recent prediction that AI might enable two-day workweeks. While acknowledging the potential benefits, Doug raises important questions about economic implications, as he imagines shareholders saying: "If we can get away with having two days a week work, why should we be paying people for five days?"
Connect with Doug on LinkedIn or at hranalyticssummit.com to learn more about his work transforming the people analytics landscape.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the HR Chat Show, one of the world's
most downloaded and sharedpodcasts designed for HR pros,
talent execs, tech enthusiastsand business leaders.
For hundreds more episodes andwhat's new in the world of work,
subscribe to the show, followus on social media and visit
hrgazettecom and visit.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
HRGazettecom.
Welcome to another episode ofthe HR Chat Show.
Hello listeners, this is yourhost today, bill Bannam, and
joining me on the show today forthe very first time is Douglas
Leitch, founder of the popularHR Analytics Summit and guest
co-host of Disrupt London 24.0,happening May 29th.
(00:45):
With nearly 15 years ofexperience navigating the varied
and occasionally chaoticlandscape of events and
conferences across numerouscompanies and business models,
doug founded the HR AnalyticsSummit back in October 2019,
perfectly timed, as fate wouldhave it, just before the global
(01:06):
pandemic, and we're going to getinto that in just a second.
Hey, doug, how you doing?
Welcome to the show thank you,bill.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Yeah, very well, thank you you well.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I am good, I'm excited for our chat.
Uh, be on my reintroductionjust now.
Why don't you take a minute ortwo and introduce yourself to
our listeners and, as part ofthat, tell them, tell them what
gets you up in the morning?
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Okay.
So yeah, I'm the founder of theHR Analytics Summit.
As my bio suggested, I'veworked in events for quite a
long time before the greys tookover the top of my head.
But, yeah, I started my ownbusiness, fatefully, in October
2019.
And then, almost immediately,the pandemic broke out, which
(01:46):
proved its own challenge.
But, as I say, we can get intoa little bit of that down the
line.
What gets me up in the morning?
Um, I love the excitement ofcreating events.
I love, um, I love creatingwhat is essentially something
from nothing.
You know, an event is just anidea, really, when you start.
So that's one of the mostexciting things I find that you
can just sort of come up with anidea, talk to people and
(02:09):
convince people that it's goingto be really good to come along
and people go.
yes, I believe you and I willcome along and support you on
this.
I find that really exciting.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
And why specifically the HR analytics space?
Doug, what would appeal to youabout that area when you were
thinking about creating an eventseries?
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Well, I mean, it's kind of a trifecta of a few
things really.
I've worked across so manydifferent industries working in
events.
I was working in a company thatwell, most of my career has
been fairly industry agnostic,so we did events across all
sorts of industry sectors, jobtitles, locations, et cetera,
(02:50):
and the HR crowd were always areally nice bunch, always
friendly, happy to speak open,so they were great fun to deal
with.
I worked at another companythat specifically looked at data
analytics events and obviouslydata analytics is always in the
papers, always in the news, it'severywhere, it's everything,
and that's only served to growin recent years.
(03:12):
And so I was sitting downlooking at forming my own events
company and essentially Ilooked at right, well, I like
the HR lot, what's big at themoment, data analytics and then
landed upon sort of HR analyticsand people analytics and
strategic workforce planning,those sorts of topics, and so
did a bit of research into it.
Um, I mean, obviously HR is areally I like HR as a discipline
(03:35):
.
Uh, I feel it's it's a greatcause to get behind.
Um, you know, I our eventsupports mind the charity.
It's something really close tomy heart.
And, again, for professionalswho can support things like
well-being and inclusivity anddiversity, those sorts of nice
topics.
It's something I'm really happyto support.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the HR Chat
Podcast.
If you enjoy the audio contentwe produce, you'll love our
articles on the HR Gazette.
Learn more at hrgazettecom.
And now back to the show.
We're going to come back to theHR Analytics Summit in just a
minute, but, as I mentioned inthe intro, I have the privilege
(04:20):
and honor, sir, to beco-producing uh, our latest
disrupt london with you.
Uh, it's on may 29th.
It's at the brand new wavemaker office, which is, uh, just
off southwark bridge.
Uh, doug and I have been busygetting our lineup of speakers
(04:41):
together.
Uh, those include suzanne lucas, aka the evil hr lady.
Uh.
Andres garcia, group head ofpeople analytics and workforce
planning group hr over at legaland general.
Ira watts uh, who, um, it'sjust joined the lineup just
today.
Uh, and he's the senior manager, strategic people information
(05:04):
over at fidelity international.
Ria west, who's the head ofpeople experience at wavemaker,
and a whole bunch more speakers.
There'll be somewhere between10 and 14 speakers.
Each of the speakers speaks forfive minutes, 20 slides, 15
seconds per slide.
So it's that usual rapid firelightning talk format.
(05:26):
Listeners, if you are in thelondon area, come and join us,
be there or be a rectangle.
Uh, what excites you about theevent on may 29th?
Dog?
Speaker 3 (05:38):
I'm really excited to see how it works.
With regards to the ignitepresentation format, um, I mean,
most of my career it's beenyour sort of standard at least
30 minute presentations.
That can be quite stodgy, soI'm quite keen to see how the
specific format forces people tobe ruthlessly efficient with
(06:01):
the way that they do theirpresentations, to be fast moving
, to be as economical aspossible with their time, to see
what messages they get across.
Really, that's the thing I'mmost excited about, cause, again
, it's not really anything I'veever seen okay.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Well, if you enjoy it , then I think I'll have to get
you on stage at another disruptand you can give it a go
yourself so I've done a couplenow.
uh, it takes a lot of practice,that's sure, because five
minutes it ain't long and those,those slides do rotate very
quickly.
Uh, but listeners, if you dowant to come along, uh, it's all
over eventbrite and linkedinthe disrupt london linkedin page
(06:40):
, and doug and his team arepromoting that kind of it as
well, so do check it out, comeand join us.
Let's get back to talking aboutthe People Analytics Summit.
Having launched the AnalyticsSummit just before the global
pandemic hit Doug, what keylessons did you learn about
resilience, innovation andhaving to pivot in a crisis and,
(07:02):
as part of that that perhapsyou can share, how have those
lessons shaped the growth ofyour event since then?
Speaker 3 (07:07):
The pandemic was marked, obviously, with a huge
amount of uncertainty for quitea long time.
So it meant, when we wereinitially we launched in like
October 2019, I believe we wereplanning to have the event in, I
think it was April, uh, 2020,so a sort of six month odd run,
(07:28):
uh, to get it done, sorted andand delivered, and then,
obviously, the pandemic hit.
So it was.
It just meant a huge amount oftime in flux, um, so, while we
were waiting to find out whatwas going to happen, and then
then you know, the lockdownshappened and the sort of
decision was taken out of myhands.
In that regard, it actuallyworked out to be quite
(07:49):
beneficial in the end, whichsounds weird.
So I suppose one of the lessonsis not every disaster can be a
disaster.
It can actually be quitefortuitous, because it meant we
had to delay the events on threeseparate occasions, so by the
time it actually rolled around,it wasn't until like 2021, which
(08:10):
meant that we had threelead-ins for the events, so
three opportunities that wecould talk about.
You know how it's early birdpricing and how it's coming, and
, and you know this, thisevent's on the horizon but it's
approaching bird pricing and howit's coming and you know this
event's on the horizon, but it'sapproaching quickly and all
this sort of stuff.
So it meant by the time thefirst event rolled around, it
had sold out.
(08:31):
It was we had to get.
We had a disaster as well, inwhich the original venue that it
was planned for about a monthbefore I phoned up just to check
it was all sorted and goingahead, and they were oh, did you
not get?
Did we not send you an email?
Or did did you know, lucy, notcall you?
Yeah, no, we're not doing anyevents for the time being.
So, no, we haven't got yourevent.
(08:52):
So I was like, oh my god.
And then it meant again, in theend, we, we ended up getting a
much, much better venue.
Um, we, we.
It was held at the um, at thebrewery on Chiswick Street, next
to Barbican, which is a reallynice venue.
I was desperate, they weredesperate, so, with like a month
to go, so they gave me a reallygood price and so again, it
(09:14):
increased the venue.
The venue was much nicer, itwas much bigger, it meant that
it could accommodate all theseextra people that we had, and so
again, by the time the actualevent happened, it was a huge,
huge success.
And in the events world, if youdo a good event, it's kind of
the easiest job in the worldbecause everyone has a great
time.
The next question you have withthem is when's the next one?
(09:36):
Where can I sign up?
And it just sort of makes lifea whole lot easier.
If you do an event that isaverage or an event that is poor
, you might as well be startingagain the next year.
You know it's a verycompetitive landscape, so if
you're not performing with adegree of excellence, then
you're starting again really.
So I mean, lessons learned isnot every disaster is a disaster
(09:58):
.
It can be good, there can begoodness there that you just
need to uncover and again acertain amount of grit and carry
on.
It wasn't the best time.
Obviously.
I was just eating throughsavings at the time because it
was like just waiting for thingsto happen, but stead the course
and pulled it off in the end,which was great.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Once in a while, an event series is born that shakes
things up, it makes you thinkdifferently and it leaves you
inspired.
That event is Disrupt HR.
The format is 14 speakers, 5minutes each and slides rotate
every 15 seconds.
If you're an HR professional, aCEO, a technologist or a
community leader and you've gotsomething to say about talent,
(10:45):
culture or technology, disruptis the place.
It's coming soon to a city nearyou.
Learn more at disrupthrco.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Well, kudos, you create great events and you are
fairly unique in the space interms of events in London as
well.
Your other point there was lotsof other events happening, so
you know competitive landscape.
There are two key events, Ithink, that happen in London
each year for HR analytics, soyou're well positioned there as
well.
So sounds like a wonderfulbusiness model.
(11:19):
So kudos to you.
Business model, sir.
So kudos, thank you to to you.
Uh, okay, so 2021 is when you,when you got things off the
ground following the pandemic.
Over the past four years, doug,your event has grown lots and
lots.
What, what trends or industryshifts do you think have fueled
the rising importance of peopleanalytics, and how is your event
uniquely positioned to addressthose evolving needs?
(11:42):
And I guess I'll throw in thereas well, because we have to
talk about it on every show thatwe do these days how is the
rise in AI shaking things up inthe world of people analytics?
Speaker 3 (11:54):
I mean I can only really talk about it from what
I've seen.
So, as I say sort of quiteoften, I'm no expert in people
analytics in the practical sense, if that registers.
I speak with a lot of peoplewho are running people analytics
systems, who are implementingthem, who are upgrading, who are
renovating, who are revampingor again just introducing these
(12:17):
systems, and so all myinformation is secondhand.
From what people are saying,the trends we're seeing, I mean
a lot that the industry isgrowing massively at the moment.
There's a lot more solutionsout there that are credible,
that are off the shelf andimplement they work.
(12:38):
They're good.
I think a lot of.
There's still a huge amount ofdisparity with regards to the
complexity and the finesse ofthe people analytics systems
that are in place.
Some are really mature and theyare trying desperately hard to
get those marginally small gainsin that respect.
(12:58):
And there are still somecompanies that don't even really
have a people analytics system,companies that don't even
really have a people analyticssystem and they're at that
wonderful place of the journeywhere it's all the low hanging
fruit where for implementing arelatively basic system can
still reap huge, huge rewards.
So we're still seeing, I meanthe industry is moving forward
as a whole, but we're stillseeing quite a few companies
that actually aren't really toofar along and I'm not going to
(13:22):
say any companies, but somecompanies that you would be
quite surprised in in which youwould think you should be much
further along in this than theyactually are.
There's still quite a fewpeople out there with Excel,
spreadsheets and things likethat, whereas you would assume a
lot of companies actually wouldbe at the forefront.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
And I'm guessing here in terms of being at the
forefront, we're talking moreabout larger organizations,
right?
Those still struggling to catchup are generally the smaller
companies, or actually, are theymore nimble?
Are they in your experience,from what you've seen, are the
smaller companies actuallygetting to grips with things in
a better way?
Speaker 3 (13:56):
In my experience, the smaller companies are generally
the most agile, as in I mean,the big companies are oil
tankers, the small companies arespeedboats, you know.
So it's it's takes a long timeto move, to move the big oil
tankers, and there's a hugeamount of you know, disparate
systems that are all workingtogether, which you know you
knock one out and the wholething falls apart and then
(14:17):
suddenly you know it's linked topayroll and people aren't
getting paid and that's that'snever a good place to.
So I think generally you see alot of the smaller companies who
are able to implement thesesystems and a lot of the small
companies as well.
You know they're coming fromcloud based systems that are
much easier to integrate or justupgrade and bolt things on,
whereas you find a lot of themore traditional systems still
have sort of in-house solutionsthat they work with as well.
(14:41):
But then I mean the other partof the question was about AI.
I mean that's obviouslyprogressing really, really
quickly.
Still a huge amount ofskepticism about AI, a lot of
the stuff around it as well.
I mean I've spoken with variouspeople who are implementing AI
programs and I mean half oftheir job is essentially
(15:02):
convincing their own employeesthat they're not implementing a
system that is designed toreplace them, because that's
obviously going to dampenenthusiasm towards technology
like that.
So a lot of it comes down tokind of trust and so I think a
lot of companies.
It depends on the historicalnature of various companies if
(15:22):
they've earned that trust or ifthey haven't.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
and yeah, it's, uh, it's an interesting place to be
yeah, so as as we record thisconversation today, which is
middle of april, uh, just a fewdays ago, bill gates made some
comments around uh, withinaround about the next 10 years,
I think he said uh, certainlythe near future is is, is the
quote um, a lot of people canexpect to be down to a two-day
(15:47):
work week because because of aiuh, I was I was recording
another episode with someoneelse yesterday.
He was very optimistic abouthow ai will just help existing
employees and not replace them.
I am not as optimistic.
I'm more, perhaps, towards thebill gates camp here.
What, what's your take?
Where do you think?
(16:07):
Where do you think the world ofwork is taking us in terms of
number of days folks can expectto have paid employment in the
near future?
Speaker 3 (16:16):
um, well, I mean looking at the various
experiments run in in um anumber of european countries.
You look at the sort ofcompressed hours model of
working four days, but longerhours and that's as far as I'm
aware have been shown to be very, very successful with regards
to actual workload.
I mean, it's, it's, it's aninteresting I mean you look at
(16:38):
the speed that AI is progressing.
If we use the litmus test ofWill Smith eating spaghetti.
You look at the video that wasreleased a year and a half ago
versus the video that wasreleased recently, it's coming
along in leaps and bounds withregards to the sophistication of
that sort of technology.
(16:58):
I think I mean, it's the dreamreally, isn't it to work less
and be able to have more freetime.
I think the problem is alwaysgonna be at longer heads with
regards to companies andshareholders and things like
that.
I mean, really, at the end ofthe day, I find it at times hard
to see that if we can get awaywith having two days a week work
(17:21):
, why should we be paying peoplefor five days a week?
And we're all kind of not manypeople can make ends meet on
that basis.
So I think that's going to bethe challenge really.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Shameless plug.
Regular listeners of this showwill know that I am not afraid
of a shameless plug.
Uh, please, to check out myprevious uh interview with the
amazing joe o'connor, ceo andco-founder over at work time
revolution, who talks exactlyabout this stuff.
Uh, so, at work time revolution, they focus on um espousing the
virtues in countries likecanada and ireland and the us
(17:55):
and the uk and elsewhere, of thefour-day work week.
So check out that episode,listeners.
Um continuing through here,though, doug people analytics
can sometimes seem abstract oroverly technical to outsiders.
How does the HR analyticssummit bridge that gap, making
complex insights actionable andrelevant for business leaders?
(18:18):
How do you guys, I guess, offertakeaways that people can
action post-event?
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Well, I mean, we put together the agenda in a sort of
with a strategic focus, sowe're not really going down into
the full nuts and bolts, ifthat makes sense.
So it's generally taken from astrategic standpoint, that is,
looking at more generalizedlessons, so, rather than the
sort of ins and outs of codingand things like that.
(18:45):
But, to be honest, it'sgenerally down to our speakers.
As I say, we spend a hugeamount of time finding the right
speakers, engaging the rightpeople, having back and forth
and trying to find topics whichare appealing, which are
practical, which arethought-provoking, um, as well
as finding ways that ouraudience are really gonna gonna
(19:07):
have fun and engage, uh.
So again, and also with thehelp of our sponsors, uh, to put
forward their material in a waythat shows the benefits of
their own individual solutions,as well as the sort of
implementation side of things aswell.
So, as much as I would love toclaim credit, it's more the
talent of the uh, the speakersthat we have on board very good,
(19:29):
I've got so many more questionsfor you.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
however, I am conscious that you and I need to
save a bit of time to talkabout, uh, the event happening
uh in london on may 20 may.
So, with that said, just onemore question for you for today,
and that is how can ourlisteners connect with you?
So maybe LinkedIn emailaddresses you told me that
you're not on the Instagramanymore, so that's out of here.
And, of course, how can theylearn more and maybe apply for a
(19:53):
ticket to HR Analytics Summit,to HR?
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Analytics Summit Sure thing.
Well, I mean, I'm on LinkedInnamed Douglas Leach, L-E-A-C-H.
The company's on LinkedIn aswell.
Hr Analytics Summit you canGoogle HR Analytics Summit or
there's wwwhranalyticssummitcom.
And if you want to email me, mydirect email is douglas at hr
(20:19):
analytics summitcom, or our moregeneral one of info at hr
analytics summitcom.
But, as I say, type in hranalytics summit and we're bound
to come up excellent.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Well, that just leaves me to say for today I
will be uh, harassing you tocome back on again, I'm sure
pretty soon.
But for Doug Leach, thank youvery much for being my guest.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
And listeners as always.
Until next time, happy working.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Thanks for listening to the HR Chat Show.
If you enjoyed this episode,why not subscribe and listen to
some of the hundreds of episodespublished by HR Gazette and
remember for what's new in theworld of episodes published by
HR Gazette and remember for.
Welcome to the HR Chat Show, one of the world's
most downloaded and sharedpodcasts designed for HR pros,
talent execs, tech enthusiastsand business leaders.
For hundreds more episodes andwhat's new in the world of work,
subscribe to the show, followus on social media and visit
hrgazettecom and visit.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
HRGazettecom.
Welcome to another episode ofthe HR Chat Show.
Hello listeners, this is yourhost today, bill Bannam, and
joining me on the show today forthe very first time is Douglas
Leitch, founder of the popularHR Analytics Summit and guest
co-host of Disrupt London 24.0,happening May 29th.
(00:45):
With nearly 15 years ofexperience navigating the varied
and occasionally chaoticlandscape of events and
conferences across numerouscompanies and business models,
doug founded the HR AnalyticsSummit back in October 2019,
perfectly timed, as fate wouldhave it, just before the global
(01:06):
pandemic, and we're going to getinto that in just a second.
Hey, doug, how you doing?
Welcome to the show thank you,bill.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Yeah, very well, thank you you well.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I am good, I'm excited for our chat.
Uh, be on my reintroductionjust now.
Why don't you take a minute ortwo and introduce yourself to
our listeners and, as part ofthat, tell them, tell them what
gets you up in the morning?
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Okay.
So yeah, I'm the founder of theHR Analytics Summit.
As my bio suggested, I'veworked in events for quite a
long time before the greys tookover the top of my head.
But, yeah, I started my ownbusiness, fatefully, in October
2019.
And then, almost immediately,the pandemic broke out, which
(01:46):
proved its own challenge.
But, as I say, we can get intoa little bit of that down the
line.
What gets me up in the morning?
Um, I love the excitement ofcreating events.
I love, um, I love creatingwhat is essentially something
from nothing.
You know, an event is just anidea, really, when you start.
So that's one of the mostexciting things I find that you
can just sort of come up with anidea, talk to people and
(02:09):
convince people that it's goingto be really good to come along
and people go.
yes, I believe you and I willcome along and support you on
this.
I find that really exciting.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
And why specifically the HR analytics space?
Doug, what would appeal to youabout that area when you were
thinking about creating an eventseries?
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Well, I mean, it's kind of a trifecta of a few
things really.
I've worked across so manydifferent industries working in
events.
I was working in a company thatwell, most of my career has
been fairly industry agnostic,so we did events across all
sorts of industry sectors, jobtitles, locations, et cetera,
(02:50):
and the HR crowd were always areally nice bunch, always
friendly, happy to speak open,so they were great fun to deal
with.
I worked at another companythat specifically looked at data
analytics events and obviouslydata analytics is always in the
papers, always in the news, it'severywhere, it's everything,
and that's only served to growin recent years.
(03:12):
And so I was sitting downlooking at forming my own events
company and essentially Ilooked at right, well, I like
the HR lot, what's big at themoment, data analytics and then
landed upon sort of HR analyticsand people analytics and
strategic workforce planning,those sorts of topics, and so
did a bit of research into it.
Um, I mean, obviously HR is areally I like HR as a discipline
(03:35):
.
Uh, I feel it's it's a greatcause to get behind.
Um, you know, I our eventsupports mind the charity.
It's something really close tomy heart.
And, again, for professionalswho can support things like
well-being and inclusivity anddiversity, those sorts of nice
topics.
It's something I'm really happyto support.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the HR Chat
Podcast.
If you enjoy the audio contentwe produce, you'll love our
articles on the HR Gazette.
Learn more at hrgazettecom.
And now back to the show.
We're going to come back to theHR Analytics Summit in just a
minute, but, as I mentioned inthe intro, I have the privilege
(04:20):
and honor, sir, to beco-producing uh, our latest
disrupt london with you.
Uh, it's on may 29th.
It's at the brand new wavemaker office, which is, uh, just
off southwark bridge.
Uh, doug and I have been busygetting our lineup of speakers
(04:41):
together.
Uh, those include suzanne lucas, aka the evil hr lady.
Uh.
Andres garcia, group head ofpeople analytics and workforce
planning group hr over at legaland general.
Ira watts uh, who, um, it'sjust joined the lineup just
today.
Uh, and he's the senior manager, strategic people information
(05:04):
over at fidelity international.
Ria west, who's the head ofpeople experience at wavemaker,
and a whole bunch more speakers.
There'll be somewhere between10 and 14 speakers.
Each of the speakers speaks forfive minutes, 20 slides, 15
seconds per slide.
So it's that usual rapid firelightning talk format.
(05:26):
Listeners, if you are in thelondon area, come and join us,
be there or be a rectangle.
Uh, what excites you about theevent on may 29th?
Dog?
Speaker 3 (05:38):
I'm really excited to see how it works.
With regards to the ignitepresentation format, um, I mean,
most of my career it's beenyour sort of standard at least
30 minute presentations.
That can be quite stodgy, soI'm quite keen to see how the
specific format forces people tobe ruthlessly efficient with
(06:01):
the way that they do theirpresentations, to be fast moving
, to be as economical aspossible with their time, to see
what messages they get across.
Really, that's the thing I'mmost excited about, cause, again
, it's not really anything I'veever seen okay.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Well, if you enjoy it , then I think I'll have to get
you on stage at another disruptand you can give it a go
yourself so I've done a couplenow.
uh, it takes a lot of practice,that's sure, because five
minutes it ain't long and those,those slides do rotate very
quickly.
Uh, but listeners, if you dowant to come along, uh, it's all
over eventbrite and linkedinthe disrupt london linkedin page
(06:40):
, and doug and his team arepromoting that kind of it as
well, so do check it out, comeand join us.
Let's get back to talking aboutthe People Analytics Summit.
Having launched the AnalyticsSummit just before the global
pandemic hit Doug, what keylessons did you learn about
resilience, innovation andhaving to pivot in a crisis and,
(07:02):
as part of that that perhapsyou can share, how have those
lessons shaped the growth ofyour event since then?
Speaker 3 (07:07):
The pandemic was marked, obviously, with a huge
amount of uncertainty for quitea long time.
So it meant, when we wereinitially we launched in like
October 2019, I believe we wereplanning to have the event in, I
think it was April, uh, 2020,so a sort of six month odd run,
(07:28):
uh, to get it done, sorted andand delivered, and then,
obviously, the pandemic hit.
So it was.
It just meant a huge amount oftime in flux, um, so, while we
were waiting to find out whatwas going to happen, and then
then you know, the lockdownshappened and the sort of
decision was taken out of myhands.
In that regard, it actuallyworked out to be quite
(07:49):
beneficial in the end, whichsounds weird.
So I suppose one of the lessonsis not every disaster can be a
disaster.
It can actually be quitefortuitous, because it meant we
had to delay the events on threeseparate occasions, so by the
time it actually rolled around,it wasn't until like 2021, which
(08:10):
meant that we had threelead-ins for the events, so
three opportunities that wecould talk about.
You know how it's early birdpricing and how it's coming, and
, and you know this, thisevent's on the horizon but it's
approaching bird pricing and howit's coming and you know this
event's on the horizon, but it'sapproaching quickly and all
this sort of stuff.
So it meant by the time thefirst event rolled around, it
had sold out.
(08:31):
It was we had to get.
We had a disaster as well, inwhich the original venue that it
was planned for about a monthbefore I phoned up just to check
it was all sorted and goingahead, and they were oh, did you
not get?
Did we not send you an email?
Or did did you know, lucy, notcall you?
Yeah, no, we're not doing anyevents for the time being.
So, no, we haven't got yourevent.
(08:52):
So I was like, oh my god.
And then it meant again, in theend, we, we ended up getting a
much, much better venue.
Um, we, we.
It was held at the um, at thebrewery on Chiswick Street, next
to Barbican, which is a reallynice venue.
I was desperate, they weredesperate, so, with like a month
to go, so they gave me a reallygood price and so again, it
(09:14):
increased the venue.
The venue was much nicer, itwas much bigger, it meant that
it could accommodate all theseextra people that we had, and so
again, by the time the actualevent happened, it was a huge,
huge success.
And in the events world, if youdo a good event, it's kind of
the easiest job in the worldbecause everyone has a great
time.
The next question you have withthem is when's the next one?
(09:36):
Where can I sign up?
And it just sort of makes lifea whole lot easier.
If you do an event that isaverage or an event that is poor
, you might as well be startingagain the next year.
You know it's a verycompetitive landscape, so if
you're not performing with adegree of excellence, then
you're starting again really.
So I mean, lessons learned isnot every disaster is a disaster
(09:58):
.
It can be good, there can begoodness there that you just
need to uncover and again acertain amount of grit and carry
on.
It wasn't the best time.
Obviously.
I was just eating throughsavings at the time because it
was like just waiting for thingsto happen, but stead the course
and pulled it off in the end,which was great.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Once in a while, an event series is born that shakes
things up, it makes you thinkdifferently and it leaves you
inspired.
That event is Disrupt HR.
The format is 14 speakers, 5minutes each and slides rotate
every 15 seconds.
If you're an HR professional, aCEO, a technologist or a
community leader and you've gotsomething to say about talent,
(10:45):
culture or technology, disruptis the place.
It's coming soon to a city nearyou.
Learn more at disrupthrco.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Well, kudos, you create great events and you are
fairly unique in the space interms of events in London as
well.
Your other point there was lotsof other events happening, so
you know competitive landscape.
There are two key events, Ithink, that happen in London
each year for HR analytics, soyou're well positioned there as
well.
So sounds like a wonderfulbusiness model.
(11:19):
So kudos to you.
Business model, sir.
So kudos, thank you to to you.
Uh, okay, so 2021 is when you,when you got things off the
ground following the pandemic.
Over the past four years, doug,your event has grown lots and
lots.
What, what trends or industryshifts do you think have fueled
the rising importance of peopleanalytics, and how is your event
uniquely positioned to addressthose evolving needs?
(11:42):
And I guess I'll throw in thereas well, because we have to
talk about it on every show thatwe do these days how is the
rise in AI shaking things up inthe world of people analytics?
Speaker 3 (11:54):
I mean I can only really talk about it from what
I've seen.
So, as I say sort of quiteoften, I'm no expert in people
analytics in the practical sense, if that registers.
I speak with a lot of peoplewho are running people analytics
systems, who are implementingthem, who are upgrading, who are
renovating, who are revampingor again just introducing these
(12:17):
systems, and so all myinformation is secondhand.
From what people are saying,the trends we're seeing, I mean
a lot that the industry isgrowing massively at the moment.
There's a lot more solutionsout there that are credible,
that are off the shelf andimplement they work.
(12:38):
They're good.
I think a lot of.
There's still a huge amount ofdisparity with regards to the
complexity and the finesse ofthe people analytics systems
that are in place.
Some are really mature and theyare trying desperately hard to
get those marginally small gainsin that respect.
(12:58):
And there are still somecompanies that don't even really
have a people analytics system,companies that don't even
really have a people analyticssystem and they're at that
wonderful place of the journeywhere it's all the low hanging
fruit where for implementing arelatively basic system can
still reap huge, huge rewards.
So we're still seeing, I meanthe industry is moving forward
as a whole, but we're stillseeing quite a few companies
that actually aren't really toofar along and I'm not going to
(13:22):
say any companies, but somecompanies that you would be
quite surprised in in which youwould think you should be much
further along in this than theyactually are.
There's still quite a fewpeople out there with Excel,
spreadsheets and things likethat, whereas you would assume a
lot of companies actually wouldbe at the forefront.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
And I'm guessing here in terms of being at the
forefront, we're talking moreabout larger organizations,
right?
Those still struggling to catchup are generally the smaller
companies, or actually, are theymore nimble?
Are they in your experience,from what you've seen, are the
smaller companies actuallygetting to grips with things in
a better way?
Speaker 3 (13:56):
In my experience, the smaller companies are generally
the most agile, as in I mean,the big companies are oil
tankers, the small companies arespeedboats, you know.
So it's it's takes a long timeto move, to move the big oil
tankers, and there's a hugeamount of you know, disparate
systems that are all workingtogether, which you know you
knock one out and the wholething falls apart and then
(14:17):
suddenly you know it's linked topayroll and people aren't
getting paid and that's that'snever a good place to.
So I think generally you see alot of the smaller companies who
are able to implement thesesystems and a lot of the small
companies as well.
You know they're coming fromcloud based systems that are
much easier to integrate or justupgrade and bolt things on,
whereas you find a lot of themore traditional systems still
have sort of in-house solutionsthat they work with as well.
(14:41):
But then I mean the other partof the question was about AI.
I mean that's obviouslyprogressing really, really
quickly.
Still a huge amount ofskepticism about AI, a lot of
the stuff around it as well.
I mean I've spoken with variouspeople who are implementing AI
programs and I mean half oftheir job is essentially
(15:02):
convincing their own employeesthat they're not implementing a
system that is designed toreplace them, because that's
obviously going to dampenenthusiasm towards technology
like that.
So a lot of it comes down tokind of trust and so I think a
lot of companies.
It depends on the historicalnature of various companies if
(15:22):
they've earned that trust or ifthey haven't.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
and yeah, it's, uh, it's an interesting place to be
yeah, so as as we record thisconversation today, which is
middle of april, uh, just a fewdays ago, bill gates made some
comments around uh, withinaround about the next 10 years,
I think he said uh, certainlythe near future is is, is the
quote um, a lot of people canexpect to be down to a two-day
(15:47):
work week because because of aiuh, I was I was recording
another episode with someoneelse yesterday.
He was very optimistic abouthow ai will just help existing
employees and not replace them.
I am not as optimistic.
I'm more, perhaps, towards thebill gates camp here.
What, what's your take?
Where do you think?
(16:07):
Where do you think the world ofwork is taking us in terms of
number of days folks can expectto have paid employment in the
near future?
Speaker 3 (16:16):
um, well, I mean looking at the various
experiments run in in um anumber of european countries.
You look at the sort ofcompressed hours model of
working four days, but longerhours and that's as far as I'm
aware have been shown to be very, very successful with regards
to actual workload.
I mean, it's, it's, it's aninteresting I mean you look at
(16:38):
the speed that AI is progressing.
If we use the litmus test ofWill Smith eating spaghetti.
You look at the video that wasreleased a year and a half ago
versus the video that wasreleased recently, it's coming
along in leaps and bounds withregards to the sophistication of
that sort of technology.
(16:58):
I think I mean, it's the dreamreally, isn't it to work less
and be able to have more freetime.
I think the problem is alwaysgonna be at longer heads with
regards to companies andshareholders and things like
that.
I mean, really, at the end ofthe day, I find it at times hard
to see that if we can get awaywith having two days a week work
(17:21):
, why should we be paying peoplefor five days a week?
And we're all kind of not manypeople can make ends meet on
that basis.
So I think that's going to bethe challenge really.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Shameless plug.
Regular listeners of this showwill know that I am not afraid
of a shameless plug.
Uh, please, to check out myprevious uh interview with the
amazing joe o'connor, ceo andco-founder over at work time
revolution, who talks exactlyabout this stuff.
Uh, so, at work time revolution, they focus on um espousing the
virtues in countries likecanada and ireland and the us
(17:55):
and the uk and elsewhere, of thefour-day work week.
So check out that episode,listeners.
Um continuing through here,though, doug people analytics
can sometimes seem abstract oroverly technical to outsiders.
How does the HR analyticssummit bridge that gap, making
complex insights actionable andrelevant for business leaders?
(18:18):
How do you guys, I guess, offertakeaways that people can
action post-event?
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Well, I mean, we put together the agenda in a sort of
with a strategic focus, sowe're not really going down into
the full nuts and bolts, ifthat makes sense.
So it's generally taken from astrategic standpoint, that is,
looking at more generalizedlessons, so, rather than the
sort of ins and outs of codingand things like that.
(18:45):
But, to be honest, it'sgenerally down to our speakers.
As I say, we spend a hugeamount of time finding the right
speakers, engaging the rightpeople, having back and forth
and trying to find topics whichare appealing, which are
practical, which arethought-provoking, um, as well
as finding ways that ouraudience are really gonna gonna
(19:07):
have fun and engage, uh.
So again, and also with thehelp of our sponsors, uh, to put
forward their material in a waythat shows the benefits of
their own individual solutions,as well as the sort of
implementation side of things aswell.
So, as much as I would love toclaim credit, it's more the
talent of the uh, the speakersthat we have on board very good,
(19:29):
I've got so many more questionsfor you.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
however, I am conscious that you and I need to
save a bit of time to talkabout, uh, the event happening
uh in london on may 20 may.
So, with that said, just onemore question for you for today,
and that is how can ourlisteners connect with you?
So maybe LinkedIn emailaddresses you told me that
you're not on the Instagramanymore, so that's out of here.
And, of course, how can theylearn more and maybe apply for a
(19:53):
ticket to HR Analytics Summit,to HR?
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Analytics Summit Sure thing.
Well, I mean, I'm on LinkedInnamed Douglas Leach, L-E-A-C-H.
The company's on LinkedIn aswell.
Hr Analytics Summit you canGoogle HR Analytics Summit or
there's wwwhranalyticssummitcom.
And if you want to email me, mydirect email is douglas at hr
(20:19):
analytics summitcom, or our moregeneral one of info at hr
analytics summitcom.
But, as I say, type in hranalytics summit and we're bound
to come up excellent.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Well, that just leaves me to say for today I
will be uh, harassing you tocome back on again, I'm sure
pretty soon.
But for Doug Leach, thank youvery much for being my guest.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
And listeners as always.
Until next time, happy working.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Thanks for listening to the HR Chat Show.
If you enjoyed this episode,why not subscribe and listen to
some of the hundreds of episodespublished by HR Gazette and
remember for what's new in theworld of episodes published by
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