HR People Pod – Ep 47: Disability disclosure | CEO avatars | Engagement | Productivity myths

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges of disability disclosure in HR, the potential of AI in leadership, and the issues surrounding employee engagement and productivity.

Why are HR professionals still feeling forced to hide their disabilities just to get hired? Could an AI version of your CEO really replace human leadership — and what happens when technology starts delivering the messages people most need to hear from a real person? And when engagement is falling and productivity remains stubbornly low, are organisations solving the wrong problems altogether?  CIPD Director of Profession David D’Souza is joined by Clair Staines, Chief People Officer at POWWR, David Balls, Principal Consultant at Helix People Solutions, and Cheryl Samuels, People and Culture Director in the NHS and co-founder of #InclusiveHR.  Recorded: 17 April 2026  ---  Explore more from this episode:   CIPD announces Neil Carberry as new Chief Executive   Guide: Recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition   Resources: AI in the workplace    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: David D’Souza

Guests: Clair Staines, David Balls, Cheryl Samuels

Topics covered

• disability disclosure
• AI in leadership
• employee engagement
• productivity myths
• HR challenges

Keywords

• disability
• AI leadership
• employee engagement
• productivity
• HR professionals

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CIPD, POWWR, Helix People Solutions, NHS

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