Atkinson HR

15/09/2026

Grief has a way of showing up long before anyone says the word out loud.

Often it starts the moment someone hears a hard diagnosis, and it sits quietly alongside them at their desk for months before any loss has even happened.

We talk to a lot of people managers about this, and one thing keeps coming up. Grief support tends to only kick in after a bereavement: a kind card, a few days off, maybe a check in. But caring for someone you love, and carrying that worry while still turning up to work each day, takes something out of a person too. And it's often the people who seem to be coping best who are quietly running on empty.

Policies alone were never going to hold all of that. A handful of fixed bereavement days can't really flex to how long grief takes, or how differently we each carry it. Two people can lose a parent in the same week and need completely different things from their manager, shaped by everything from their upbringing to how close they were to the person they lost.

What we've noticed makes the biggest difference isn't a better policy. It's a manager who checks in gently and actually means it, who offers flexibility without needing someone to prove they need it, and who isn't afraid of getting the words a little wrong as long as they show up with kindness. That kind of compassion takes practice, and a bit of courage, but it makes such a difference to the person on the other side of it.

If this is something you care about in your own workplace, Compassionate Employers is running a session on exactly this: Compassion at Work: Caring, Bereavement and Inclusive Leadership.

We'd recommend joining this afternoon, especially if you're a people manager, DEI professional or workplace champion.

All the details and joining link can be found here:

Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

14/09/2026

We've been working on something exciting... 🤗

Introducing the Atkinson Learning Circles, our new quarterly space for CEOs, trustees, senior leaders, people managers, and HR professionals to talk through real Strategic HR challenges together.

Bring an issue you are working through, and the group will ask questions to help you reach your own solution, rather than handing you advice. If you don't have an issue to bring, come along anyway. Listening in and asking questions of others can be just as valuable.

We'll be launching our first session on Monday 5th October at 12pm. One hour, facilitated by Sarah Ellis, shaped entirely by what the room brings.

Open to anyone in our community.

Interested? Learn more and register: https://www.atkinsonhrconsulting.co.uk/webinars

07/08/2026

A bittersweet end to the week. @ Aspiring CEO Programme March–August cohort had their last session yesterday 💜

5 months ago, 20 strangers joined our welcome session and shared what they hoped to get from the programme. Since then, they've got to know themselves and each other through Lumina Profiles, built the skills to lead others through anti-oppressive leadership, coaching and communication, and learned to lead organisations through strategy, resources and risk.

Along the way, there's been a visit to , 1-2-1 coaching, and plenty shared in our learning community. Most of all, they've built a community of fellow leaders to learnings, insights and wins with in the years to come.

Being the delivery partner on this programme, and watching this group grow, has been a real privilege. We'll miss this cohort, and we can't wait to see what they do next.

04/08/2026

"Organisations get stuck when they think the tick box is enough. And then life happens."

A key takeaway from Bo at our Inclusive Leadership 101 webinar in June.

We host free webinars every month on the real people management topics, featuring leaders from across the sector. Honest conversations, real insights and practical takeaways.

🔗 Link in bio to see what's coming up and to catch the recordings.

02/08/2026

Most job adverts describe a role. Very few describe what it is actually like to work at an organisation.

Claire Sanders recently found herself on the other side of the recruitment process, actively job hunting. In our blog, she shares what stood out, what didn't, and why it matters for employer brand.

Candidates notice whether the salary is mentioned, whether anyone gave them a straight answer before they applied, and whether a rejection ever came at all. For values-led organisations, this matters more than most.

Your recruitment process is not separate from your employer brand. It IS your employer brand, playing out in real time.

Claire's piece pulls together what actually shapes a candidate's view of an organisation, and five practical steps HR leaders can take to close the gap between what you say and what candidates experience.

🔗Link in bio

31/07/2026

This month's newsletter is out 💜

A new PM, a consultation on pay, and a few home truths about the summer slowdown. Plus two board roles worth knowing about and a webinar from our partners at ACEVO.

Not signed up? Link in bio.

23/07/2026

The Atkinson HR team were on the road last week, from London to Leeds!

Sarah and Matilda spent Thursday at the Northern Regional SU Reception, hosted by Leeds University Union. They ran breakout sessions and heard first-hand what's shaping priorities across the SU sector as everyone gears up for the new academic year.

Great to catch up with familiar faces and meet some new ones. Thanks for a brilliant afternoon, Leeds University Union .

15/07/2026

We love hearing feedback like this.

One attendee's words after a recent training session, shared in the photo above, sum up exactly what we hope people take away from working with Lou Chiu, one of our People and Development Consultants.

Lou works with organisations across coaching, mediation, facilitation, EDI diagnostics and allyship training. Every organisation and challenge is different, but her approach stays the same: honesty about the harder conversations, and a genuine belief that people do their best work when they can bring their whole selves to it.

That's what we care about at Atkinson HR too. We'd rather have the honest conversation than the easy one, and we're always focused on building practice that lasts, not just ticking a box.

If your organisation could use some support with coaching, facilitation, mediation or EDI work, get in touch, we'd love to hear from you.

13/07/2026

We're in the swing of delivering the last few sessions of ACEVO's Aspiring CEO Programme, and we're loving every part of it.

Watching the cohort grow in confidence, challenge each other and build genuine connections across the sector has been a real privilege.

The next cohort starts in September. If you're working towards a CEO role in civil society, or know someone who is, now's the time to apply - there's just a few spaces left!

10/07/2026

Meet Sheldon, the newest addition to our Lumina Spark case studies 🐱

Sarah on our team had a few sessions booked in and used Sheldon as a willing (if unaware) test subject. His profile came back outcome-focused, tough, competitive and surprisingly logical. Which tracks, given she told us that he runs a mile from anyone who comes to the door and refuses to eat food that's more than 30 seconds old.

Lumina Spark has a way of revealing things about people (and apparently cats) that you don't always expect.

If you want to find out what your team's profiles look like, we'd love to help.