It's Time for Change

It's Time for Change Let’s put the human factor back into business. Real change doesn’t come from rigid frameworks. It’s not about ‘fixing’ people.

Helping leaders lead people (not just projects) | Culture, performance, & leadership | Partnerships, strategy, & support | Chartered Psychologist | 🎙 Host of Beyond the Water Cooler It comes from conversations that make space for reflection, connection, and clarity - and from support that meets people where they’re at. I support leaders navigating the more human (& often messier) side of work - t

he stuff that affects how people feel, how they show up, and how well they perform. In a nutshell: People Strategy = Leadership, Culture, and Performance. Yes, I’m a psychologist, consultant, and coach, but mostly I’m the person organisations come to when something’s simply not working and they don't know what to do about it - whether it’s a team dynamic that’s off, a manager who's overwhelmed, a culture that doesn’t match what’s written on the wall - that’s when I get a call. And it’s certainly not about just ticking boxes. It’s about understanding what’s going on beneath the surface and creating the conditions people need to thrive - so your culture holds strong, even when the pressure’s on. There’s no one-size-fits-all-off-the-shelf-quick-fix. Whether I’m working with you through a retained partnership, facilitating team development, or coaching leaders through complex people challenges, it’s always:

- Bespoke
- Practical
- Psychology-backed
- Human-focused

Oh, and often - quite fun! Because when we get people right, we get business right. Fancy a chat about how we might work together?

📧 lisa@itstimeforchange.co.uk
🌍 www.itstimeforchange.co.uk
☕ https://itstimeforchange.co.uk/contact

🎙 Beyond the Water Cooler is where I chat with brilliant guests about leadership, culture, neurodiversity, burnout, and all the real stuff that affects how we work. Listen here: https://itstimeforchange.co.uk/podcast

🖊 Or check out my blog for honest advice and topical takes on people strategy, performance, mental health, and more: https://itstimeforchange.co.uk/blog

🌟 Client feedback? Head to Google or check out the testimonials on my site. They’ll tell you what it’s like to work with me - and why my clients tend to stick around. Off-duty you’ll find me hiking, travelling in our motorhome, wrangling children, and definitely enjoying a G&T (or 2).

23/04/2026

We ask managers to fill gaps and keep things moving, but rarely give them space to step back and actually look at what’s driving the problem.

What keeps coming up in conversations is this tendency to go for the quick fix: someone leaves, there’s a gap, we rush to recruit. It’s so easy to stay in that mode - head down, firefighting, always busy.

But the more I talk with leaders, the more it’s clear that real value lies in SLOWING DOWN enough to look at the system as a whole, not just the team or department in front of us.

Instead of asking “Who do we need to hire?” try: “Why are these gaps appearing?”

What habits, decisions or patterns are building those gaps over time? And how much are culture, leadership and management practices shaping what skills and capabilities actually grow?

Strategic review might feel uncomfortable and take more time and collaboration, but moving beyond obvious gap-filling can make the difference between a culture that’s always on the back foot, and one where people really thrive.

Download the free insight to action resource 'Beyond Skills Gaps: Building a Culture Where People Thrive', for practical ideas on shifting the focus from reactive hiring to building a culture where people grow, perform, and want to stay https://itstimeforchange.activehosted.com/f/51

21/04/2026

The teams winning right now aren’t the ones drowning in work. They’re the ones who’ve figured out how to strip back the unnecessary stuff.

You know the drill - endless meetings that go nowhere, reports no one reads, ‘urgent’ tasks that aren’t actually important. It’s exhausting, and worse, it’s pointless. All that stuff doesn’t make you better at your job or as a team. It just gets in the way.

The smart teams are doing less. They’re giving themselves room to actually think. To step back, ask: Does this matter? And if it doesn’t - drop it. Because they’d rather spend time on what moves the needle.

If this is something you know needs addressing in your team - take 15 minutes to listen to ‘What High-Performing Teams Will Do Differently in 2026’

https://itstimeforchange.co.uk/captivate-podcast/what-high-performing-teams-will-do-differently-in-2026/

Skills gaps aren’t always about missing skills.What I keep noticing is that when a hiring gap appears, the conversation ...
16/04/2026

Skills gaps aren’t always about missing skills.

What I keep noticing is that when a hiring gap appears, the conversation almost immediately turns to recruitment. It's predictably about finding the 'right person', but rarely involves stepping back and asking why that gap is there in the first place.

I recently talked to Charlotte Harris from Nicholsons, who offered a different lens - thinking systemically about where future talent comes from and what really shapes people’s ability and appetite to thrive. Her perspective resonated with a pattern I keep seeing: experience and knowledge often get concentrated in one part of the business, while younger or newer people have the drive and curiosity but don’t always get a seat at the table early enough, or the opportunity to challenge and contribute.

It’s easy to get caught in busyness, replacing leavers and plugging the gaps, but harder to carve out the space to ask richer questions about capability, inclusion, and the stories people are actually living at work.

If you listen, I suspect you’ll notice similar threads in your own organisation.
Would be interested to hear what you’re seeing.

🎧https://itstimeforchange.co.uk/captivate-podcast/why-skills-gaps-keep-growing-and-what-leaders-miss/

14/04/2026

The meetings that should’ve been emails. The processes that made sense in 2010 but now just suck time. The ‘urgent’ culture that burns people out but never actually gets you ahead. I call these ‘zombie practices’.

These habits don’t just stick around - they shamble on, draining energy, killing creativity, and making everyone too busy to ask: Is any of this still working?

And under this pressure, most teams don’t innovate. They revert. Back to old ways, bad habits, and the myth that ‘harder’ means ‘better’.

I explain why high-performing teams in 2026 won’t push harder. They’ll lead differently in ‘What High-Performing Teams Will Do Differently in 2026’ it's a 15 minute listen that will shift your thinking about how you lead.

https://itstimeforchange.co.uk/captivate-podcast/what-high-performing-teams-will-do-differently-in-2026/

09/04/2026

We don’t overlook burnout because we’re indifferent, it’s more because it tends to blend in. It's a slow burn.

It doesn’t announce itself with fireworks. It lingers, normalises, fades into the background - until it doesn’t.

That’s when you notice that the person who always delivered now seems more hesitant. The leader who you saw as steady and centred now snaps for seemingly no reason. And the team that hummed along nicely now feels… off.

But no one really says it out loud.

Most organisations focus on firefighting when it’s already out of control - trying to fight the fire that they could have put out a lot easier had they noticed it sooner.

But the early signs are hard to spot, easy to mistake, and even easier to ignore.

This comes at a huge cost, and it’s so unnecessary.

My advice - don’t turn a blind eye because it will come back to bite you.

For more on this and other unseen people challenges leaders must face in 2026 listen here: https://itstimeforchange.co.uk/captivate-podcast/the-5-unseen-people-challenges-leaders-must-face-in-2026/

07/04/2026

Too often, leaders talk about being an ‘employer of choice’ like it’s a badge you earn once 🏆 - then stick on the website for good. However, the reality can shift quickly. It depends entirely on whether people actually want to be here, and whether the conditions make that possible every day.

Robin Rogers named something that’s been showing up in real work: thriving isn’t just about hiring the best people - it’s about creating a culture where the values, principles, and passion are genuinely shared... not broadcast, but lived.

When leadership looks at employee experience as an active choice, it changes things. Recruitment becomes less about filling roles and more about building belonging. Performance isn’t just tracked, it’s felt in the quality of connection.

Recommendations don't come from a good reputation or a strong policy - but in people believing that what’s happening matches what’s promised.

It makes me wonder - are we paying enough attention to the everyday signals about whether people are actually thriving, or just hoping our efforts are enough?

If your organisation wants to get better at noticing those signals and taking action that drives real, sustainable change, let's talk.

Share what makes your company somewhere that employees would choose.

Listen to more of the conversation here: https://itstimeforchange.co.uk/captivate-podcast/what-being-an-employer-of-choice-really-means-in-todays-world/

02/04/2026

Stress is accepted as the norm in a lot of workplaces.

And that’s where the real risk lies.

When something is just “how things are,” we stop questioning it. Leaders stop noticing the gradual shifts - in themselves, in their teams.

Performance doesn’t collapse overnight. It fades. Decisions slow. Conversations shorten. Patience wears thin.

By the time it’s obvious, the cost of it has already started to eat away at people.

We tend to ask: How much can people cope with?

But we should be asking: How can we reduce stress across the board? What am I missing?
And, just as importantly, who’s looking out for those under the most pressure?

Listen to more on this here: https://itstimeforchange.co.uk/captivate-podcast/the-5-unseen-people-challenges-leaders-must-face-in-2026/

Most organisations don’t struggle to attract people. They struggle to give them a reason to stay.I keep coming back to t...
31/03/2026

Most organisations don’t struggle to attract people. They struggle to give them a reason to stay.

I keep coming back to this idea of being an “employer of choice”. It’s a phrase that gets used a lot, but when you look a little closer, it often lives more in language than in experience.

What actually shapes that experience is much more ordinary....

The day-to-day moments.
How work feels.
Whether people understand why what they do matters.
Whether they feel part of something, or just passing through.

Purpose plays a big part in that. Not the version companies claim to have, but the one people can see and connect to in their own role. And when the impact isn’t immediate or visible, that link can get lost more easily than we realise.

Flexibility comes up a lot too. And not just where people work, but how work fits around their lives. The organisations that seem to hold on to good people are the ones that allow movement, not just progression. Different paces. Different paths.

And then there’s leadership. The everyday version of it. Being present. Paying attention. Setting standards, while recognising people are human.

None of this is complicated. But it does require intentionality and consistency.

I’ve written more about what this looks like in practice in the piece below. 👇🏻

I'm interested to hear how well aligned the language and experience are in your organisation.
And if your organisation wants to reduce the disconnect, let's talk.
That's the work It's Time for Change does.

https://itstimeforchange.co.uk/rethinking-what-makes-an-employer-of-choice/

26/03/2026

How brave are you, really, as an organisation, when it comes to encouraging people to tell their stories?

It’s one thing to talk about culture or values - it’s another to invite people to share what it’s actually like day-to-day, and then really listen to what comes back. I keep seeing organisations invest so much energy in employer branding and collecting polished testimonials that sound impressive. But they feel distant. And questionable.

What comes through much stronger, every time, is when people are trusted to speak truthfully, even if it’s a bit clunky or unfiltered. That’s where you hear what it means to work here - not just the version drafted for the careers and recruitment pages.

If you asked your team tomorrow, what story would they tell about working with you?

Would it show you as the sort of employer you want to be - or flag up things you’re not seeing from the inside?

There’s no easy shortcut. The best workplaces I see are led by people who are willing to make space for the unvarnished stories, even when it’s uncomfortable. What better story than one that says: we asked, we listened, we responded. And here is the sequel.

I’ve pulled together some of the key insights and actions on what it means to be an employer of choice in this free download https://itstimeforchange.activehosted.com/f/49

Would love to hear what you’re seeing.

24/03/2026

Too often, managers assume that silence means everything is running smoothly.

But what I keep seeing is that silence is rarely about harmony - it’s often about fear. Real issues don't just disappear because nobody complains. Prisca Bradley referenced a 2025 Unite survey of members showing that over half had faced sexually offensive jokes or unwanted advances - but the majority didn’t report it.

Embarrassment, concern for their career, or the sense that nothing would be done kept them quiet. That pattern is still cropping up, even in progressive workplaces.

You can have policies and meetings about respect, but if reporting feels pointless or risky, most people simply keep their heads down. When employees don’t expect to be listened to or believed, performance and trust drain away bit by bit.

Sometimes I wonder, what goes unsaid here? When do we let silence stand for agreement or safety, when really it’s about shutting people down?

Interested to hear what you’re noticing - you can listen to more of the conversation here: https://itstimeforchange.co.uk/captivate-podcast/harassment-at-work-the-leadership-responsibility-we-cant-ignore/

We like to believe that being an “employer of choice” comes down to pay and perks, but it often has more to do with how ...
19/03/2026

We like to believe that being an “employer of choice” comes down to pay and perks, but it often has more to do with how people are treated on an ordinary day.

What comes up, again and again, is how much people notice when their workplace actually cares about their lived experience - not just the values it claims to care about. The challenge is, it’s one thing to say your leadership is “human-centred” or your culture is “inclusive” - it's quite another to see what that really looks like...

when things get busy,
or people want different things from their work,
or someone’s having a tough time in their personal life.

The message is clear: genuine care, respect for what matters to individuals, and compassion are not “soft” at all - in fact, they sit right next to high standards and accountability. The best cultures don’t trade one off one for the other.

I had an honest conversation with Robin Rogers, Director of Economy and Place at Oxfordshire County Council, digging into what actually matters day to day.

Would be interested to hear how you would define an 'employer of choice'. If you want to listen, the new episode is now up: https://itstimeforchange.co.uk/captivate-podcast/what-being-an-employer-of-choice-really-means-in-todays-world

18/03/2026

What's my one consistent piece of advice?
Enable people to be human, at work.

That's something I have to keep reminding leaders because it's too easy to focus on outcomes by numbers.

One way of going about that is by doing less to achieve more.

That creates the space for us to:

- do what is needed of us WELL by removing the barrier that is stress, caused by too much on our plates
- adjust how we're operating in a changing context, because we notice
- identify and address the little blocks that stop people being happy and performing well.

When we focus on those incremental steps, the cumulative impact on happiness and performance over time is astounding.

Sometimes the best thing we can do is pause, listen, and clear the path for our teams to be at their best, one small step at a time.

How are you creating the space for your workforce to be human?


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