Happy Thursday, everyone. I'm Frank Richardson, an organisational psychologist observing the workplace with curiosity and care. Each week, I share insights to help HR leaders better understand the people behind the processes and build cultures where both individuals and organisations can thrive.
Organisations have never been more deliberate about what they stand for. Most have a wellbeing strategy, a parental leave policy, a commitment to developing their own people, and a benefits package with flexibility front and centre. Four essays on the distance between what's on the page and what actually happens.
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Most organisations have parental leave policies. Fathers who use them still face real career consequences.
The policies exist. The language is right. Some companies have even made leave more generous. And yet fathers who take their full entitlement still report informal penalties: passed over, sidelined, seen as less committed. This piece looks at why the gap between policy and practice is so persistent, and what actually needs to change beyond updating the handbook.
Companies say they invest in their own people. Internal moves are still harder than leaving.
Internal mobility is one of those things nearly every organisation says it values. It appears in engagement surveys, culture decks, and town halls. And yet the people who try to move internally often find the process slower, less supported, and harder to navigate than simply applying somewhere else. This piece looks at why intent and experience stay so far apart, and what it costs when capable people conclude leaving is easier than staying and growing.
💬 Which of these feels most familiar in your organisation?
A new survey found that workplace sports teams boost morale. That might be true. It's also beside the point.
Morale and stress are different things, and a shared Tuesday evening kick-about is unlikely to address the conditions producing either. This piece looks at why wellness initiatives keep landing at the wrong level, what the research actually says about reducing burnout versus managing its symptoms, and why organisations keep reaching for the visible fix over the structural one.
Research consistently shows that employees with unlimited leave take less time off than those with a set allowance.
"Take what you need" sounds generous. In practice, it transfers the burden of deciding what's acceptable back onto the employee, in an environment where nobody really knows what acceptable looks like. This piece uses Reddit threads and behavioural science to explain why unlimited leave tends to backfire, and what it means for how organisations design benefits that actually work rather than ones that look good in a job ad.
How's the depth of today's edition?
If any of these hit differently read together, I'd love to hear it.
Until next week,
Frank
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