About this episode

Alastair and HR consultant Farzana Parkar discuss the future of HR in 2026, focusing on culture, communication, and generational differences in the workplace.

Alastair welcomes Farzana Parkar, an HR consultant at face2face HR and who describes herself as an Xennial with 15 years’ experience in HR. In this episode, Farzana and Alastair explore what working in HR really looks like in 2026, from Gen Z’s reluctance to “play the game” and the importance of robust onboarding, to the disconnect between what companies promise during recruitment and what employees actually experience when they arrive. As the first HR guest on the podcast, Farzana works with businesses of all shapes and sizes, helping them navigate the increasingly complex world of people management, workplace culture and employment law. The discussion also looks at why culture must start at the top, how poor management drives disengagement, why communication needs to be personal and omnichannel. Farzana also talks about how AI may be changing recruitment, while making the human touch more important than ever. Farzana Parkar Takeaways: Generational conflict often comes not from personality clashes, but from different assumptions about office presence, response times, communication and what respect looks like Good onboarding matters more than ever: younger employees often expect…

People in this episode

Host: Alastair Greener

Guest: Farzana Parkar

Topics covered

• HR in 2026
• workplace culture
• communication
• generation gap
• employee engagement

Keywords

• HR
• Gen Z
• onboarding
• employee experience
• AI in recruitment
• workplace management
• communication styles

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: face2face HR

More episodes of Alastair Greener Generationally Speaking

• Writing in the Age of AI: Why Human Storytelling Matters More Than Ever · July 20, 2026 · 35 min
• The Art of Speaking Up: A Gen Z's Journey From Shy to Stage · June 22, 2026 · 36 min

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