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Podcast

What are employers getting wrong about ‘LGBT’?’

Employers – we need to talk about pronouns. And ‘LGBT’. And Pride. And Stonewall. And staff networks. And diversity training that only gives one side of a complex and nuanced story. Oh, and drag queens… This is an interview with Kate Barker, CEO of the UK charity LGB Alliance. So, what are employers getting wrong […]

October 8, 2024
Podcast

Fixing the DEI damage: What should stay – and who should go?

How can employers fix the damage caused by bad DEI? And are DEI professionals part of the solution – or the problem? In the third and final part of our conversation with Neil Morrison, Group HR Director at British water company Severn Trent (which has 10,000 employees), we discuss these questions – and much more: […]

October 3, 2024
Podcast

Who is to blame for the DEI lawsuits? An HR director reveals the truth

Who is to blame for the DEI lawsuits? Finally, we have some answers! Here is the second slice of our three-part interview with Neil Morrison, group HR director at the British water company Severn Trent. With reference to high profile cases including Lloyds Banking Group, Thames Valley Police, the Open University and Cambridgeshire County Council, […]

September 24, 2024
Podcast

Is DEI doomed? An HR director speaks!

In this ground-breaking episode, a sensible, experienced, centrist HR director busts multiple taboos – answering questions about how and why DEI has gone wrong in so many organisations. Neil Morrison, group HR director at Severn Trent, gets into race, disability, trans inclusion, Israel/Gaza… the lot. We cover: Could this conversation be a turning point for […]

September 18, 2024
Podcast

Is Stonewall crumbling – and how should employers react?

IS STONEWALL CRUMBLING – AND HOW SHOULD EMPLOYERS REACT? As any smart HR professional who’s been paying attention will know, suddenly everyone is talking about Stonewall – and not in a good way. Once considered a solution – a trusted, credible advisor on best practice for workplace policy concerning sexual orientation (or ‘gay rights’) – […]

May 16, 2024
Podcast

‘Kemi’s’ new DEI report: Exciting or embarrassing for employers?

UNFLATTERING BUT POSITIVE – AND ESSENTIAL READING FOR EVERY HR PROFESSIONAL IN THE UK That’s Julie and Tanya’s verdict on the new Inclusion at Work Panel report, released last week by the Department of Business and Trade. Have you read it yet? If not, why not? In Episode 4 of This Isn’t Working Julie Scanlon […]

March 26, 2024
Podcast

Why are unpaid internships still happening?

There are still too many unpaid internships around, but there are fewer than there were – and that’s partly thanks to Tanya de Grunwald. In this episode, Julie Scanlon interviews her co-host about her ‘dark past’ calling out Simon Cowell, Tony Blair and Philip Green over unpaid internships. The pair discuss why Tanya’s activism was […]

March 12, 2024
Podcast

International Women’s Day: What’s not working?

Love it or loathe it, International Women’s Day has become an essential date when every employer must… do what, exactly? And why? Does 8 March need a re-think, as well as a re-brand? In this episode, Julie Scanlon (grumpy) and Tanya de Grunwald (grumpier) discuss whether anything about International Women’s Day is still working for […]

March 4, 2024
Podcast

Is DEI about to DIE?

Why did Elon Musk say that ‘DEI must DIE’ – and how many people share his view? If there are signs that a backlash is brewing against diversity, equity and inclusion, why are HR and DEI professionals dismissing opposition as a ‘right-wing culture war’ that should be ignored? Is this failure to engage with criticism […]

February 27, 2024

Your Host: Tanya de Grunwald

Journalist, HR commentator, founder of the Good + Fair Employers Club and careers blog Graduate Fog, and listed as one of HR Magazine's 'Most Influential Thinkers'

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This Isn’t Working
This Isn’t Working

The podcast for employers and employees who think it’s time to talk about the failings of workplace culture – and how we can do better.

Host:
Tanya de Grunwald – Journalist, HR commentator, founder of the Good + Fair Employers Club and careers blog Graduate Fog, and listed as one of HR Magazine’s ’Most Influential Thinkers’

Listen OnApple Podcasts
Would You Hire An Eddie Izzard? (Ft. ‘Dr P’)
byTanya de Grunwald

Should people have to pretend their male colleague is female (or vice versa) just to keep their job? Until now, ‘trans inclusion’ has asked employers to put the comfort of trans-identifying staff first. But is it time for a more balanced approach, considering the impact on everyone around them, and the productivity of the organisation that employs them? 

Is using someone’s preferred pronouns really a small courtesy, or is it a greater imposition than it seems? And is affirming trans-identifying people actually helping them, or are their colleagues unwittingly digging them deeper into a belief that’s doing them harm?

To explore these questions, Tanya de Grunwald is joined by Dionne Joseph, a London-based clinical psychologist with more than 30 years’ experience who writes as ‘Dr P’ on X.
 
They ask:

– Did employers get so fixated on pronouns and toilets that they missed the bigger picture? Dionne argues they ‘made a molehill out of a mountain’, when the real question was whether some of these colleagues’ needs could ever be met in a workplace.

– What happens to a team’s productivity when everyone in the meeting is asked to pretend John is Jane? Drawing on the classic Stroop experiment, Dionne makes the case that asking people to override their instinct to recognise sex slows thinking, dampens performance and puts staff on edge, which is hardly a ‘small courtesy.’

– Is ‘I don’t mind a man wearing a dress to work, as long as I don’t have to pretend he’s a woman’ really a workable compromise? Tanya describes the unspoken power dynamic of small talk at the biscuit table. Dionne sees cross-dressing at work as a boundary violation and warns that every concession an employer makes will simply be followed by the next demand.

– Are employers doing trans-identifying staff any favours by affirming them? From office crowdfunders for top surgery to unsupervised staff network lunches, Dionne argues that every colleague who plays along risks digging the person deeper into what she sees as a mental health problem rather than an identity.

– Has the ‘kind’ employer quietly become a coercive controller of its female staff? Dionne says she is inundated with messages from women dreading Monday morning. She argues that mandatory lanyards, training and Pride screensavers impose a belief system on the very people expected to keep quiet about it.

– Why can’t staff admit that a colleague’s presentation gives them ‘the ick’? Tanya tackles the argument that any such reaction is on a par with racism. Dionne, who is black, explains why she finds that comparison profoundly insulting.

– Should employers be asking whether staff on high doses of cross-sex hormones are fit for safety-critical roles? Dionne argues the effects of these hormones on mood and cognition have never been properly studied. She says she’d want anyone taking them in a high-risk job, such as pilots, air traffic controllers or surgeons, to have regular neuropsychological testing.

Tanya isn’t asking Dionne to write anyone’s HR policy. As she says, that’s a job for employers and their lawyers, and a follow-up is already on the cards over at her new business network platform This Is Working (ThisIsWorking.net).

But she’s convinced this is a conversation sensible employers are already having behind closed doors, about who they hire, what they’re asking colleagues to go along with, and who is really paying the price for ‘inclusion.’ 

This is not one for the faint-hearted, but it might just be the conversation everyone’s having out loud a year from now.

Enjoy the episode…

Join Our New Network: This Is Working
https://thisisworking.net

Dr P on X
https://x.com/Psychgirl211

Would You Hire An Eddie Izzard? (Ft. ‘Dr P’)
Would You Hire An Eddie Izzard? (Ft. ‘Dr P’)
September 30, 2026
Tanya de Grunwald
Has America Really Dumped DEI? (Ft. Andrew Crapuchettes)
September 17, 2026
Tanya de Grunwald
‘No Debate’ Is Dead – What Now? (Ft. Nick Wallis)
September 9, 2026
Tanya de Grunwald
Did The HR Industry Kill Jason Arday? (Ft. Jaco van Zyl)
August 25, 2026
Tanya de Grunwald
Why Has Pride Died? 7 Reasons The Big Brands Bailed
July 22, 2026
Tanya de Grunwald
Have Employers Missed The Vibe Shift? (Ft. Brendan O’Neill)
March 3, 2026
Tanya de Grunwald
Is HR Holding Back British Business? (Ft. Akua Reindorf, Octavius Black, Neil Morrison, Steve Harrison)
February 24, 2026
Tanya de Grunwald
How Should Employers Handle Activist Staff? (Ft. Jaco van Zyl)
January 20, 2026
Tanya de Grunwald
Pronouns v Profit: Are UK Firms Poised To Dump DEI? (Ft. Patrik Schumacher & Paul Sweeney)
November 19, 2025
Tanya de Grunwald
Who Will Win The War On ‘Woke’ Workplaces? (Ft. Eric Kaufmann)
October 22, 2025
Tanya de Grunwald
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