Syme Drummond Ltd

12/06/2026

🗣 “Leaders today do not usually struggle to identify a performance gap. What they often struggle with is practising radical candour.”

Ritu Anand at People Matters says that leaders today face a new challenge. It is not only about giving feedback, but about finding the right balance between empathy and accountability. As teams become more diverse in age, career stage, and expectations, performance conversations are also becoming more emotionally complex.

Many leaders are reluctant to address performance gaps directly. They may soften or delay tough conversations to keep relationships positive. However, avoiding feedback can lead to bigger problems in the future.

Anand points out that empathy and accountability can work together. Empathy means understanding the person, their situation, and what drives them. Accountability means being clear about what results and standards are expected. Clarity helps balance these two. Feedback should be based on data, clear goals, and what you can actually observe.

Trust during tough feedback depends on the relationship you have built. If employees see you as fair, consistent, and invested in their success, they are more likely to accept difficult conversations in a positive way.

How do you make sure feedback in your organisation is honest and helpful?

As performance discussions grow more complex, HR leader Ritu Anand explains why empathy, clarity and continuous dialogue are essential for effective feedback.

10/06/2026

How might things get better if your commercial and technical teams worked more closely together?

Anna Flynn, writing in Training Journal, points out a challenge many growing organisations face. While different working styles can boost performance, a lack of alignment often leads to friction when it matters most.

Here are some key points to think about:

🔹 Commercial and technical teams usually have different priorities, which can cause misalignment when the pressure is on.
🔹 Having a shared culture doesn’t mean everyone thinks the same way. It’s about having a clear purpose and consistent behaviours across teams.
🔹 Structured communication helps prevent misunderstandings and keeps information moving smoothly between departments.
🔹 When teams understand each other’s challenges, it’s easier to work together and make better decisions.
🔹 Recognition and development should match what motivates each team, which helps keep people engaged and encourages them to stay.

The article makes it clear that alignment isn’t purely about culture. It directly affects how well teams deliver, how efficient they are, and how the organisation is seen by both current and future talent.

This raises an important question for leaders: Where could better alignment between teams lead to better results in your organisation?

Anna Flynn explains why commercial and technical teams often pull in different directions, and how growing tech businesses can build shared purpose without flattening diversity. She explores culture, structured communication […]

08/06/2026

What becomes possible when difficult conversations are handled with clarity and care?

A recent article from McKinsey & Company points out that leadership often depends on the choices we make. Kurt Strovink, Meagan Hill, Mike Carson, and Eric Sherman focus on how courage matters in daily interactions, not only in times of crisis.

“Courage is… the willingness to face what is real, invite challenge, and repair trust.”

The article describes a pattern many organisations will recognise. When conversations are avoided, small issues build over time, relationships weaken, and performance is affected. When leaders address them directly, teams tend to stay aligned and resilient.

Here are a few practical ideas that stand out:

⭐ Encouraging open disagreement helps bring out better ideas and leads to stronger decisions.
⭐ Dealing with unspoken tensions early keeps them from hurting teamwork.
⭐ Being clear about expectations, while staying respectful, helps teams perform better.
⭐ Giving regular and specific feedback supports growth and keeps people engaged.

One point that stands out is the emphasis on consistency. These conversations are not one-off events. They are part of how leaders build trust, set direction, and support their teams day to day.

This raises a good question: Where could more direct and constructive conversations help your team work better together?

https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/courageous-conversations-how-to-lead-with-heart

05/06/2026

Strong strategies can seem perfect on paper, but what really makes them work in the real world?

Polly Robinson, in a recent Growth Space article, points out a challenge many leadership teams know well. The plan is rarely the problem. What really matters is how people work together each day to make progress.

It’s easy for strategy and culture to drift apart. As companies grow, habits that once helped can start to get in the way. Decision-making gets muddled, accountability drops, and leaders end up stuck in day-to-day details.

🗣 “Strategy rarely fails because it’s wrong. It fails because the organisation’s habits haven’t evolved to support it.”

So instead of rewriting the plan, the focus should be on how leadership teams work. Clear ownership, better accountability, and thoughtful decision-making often separate real progress from frustration.

This is a helpful way to look at things. When progress slows down, the real question might not be about the strategy, but whether the organisation is ready to make it happen.

💭 What are your thoughts on this matter?

Why do good strategies fail to deliver results? Often the issue isn’t the plan but the culture and leadership behaviours behind it. This practical guide explains how strategy and culture become misaligned and what leadership teams can do to close the gap.

03/06/2026

Why do even skilled leaders sometimes find it hard to make decisions when the pressure is on?

Melissa Kalt, writing in Entrepreneur, shares a neuroscience perspective. When we’re stressed, our brains focus more on logic and control, which can get in the way of creative thinking and slow down decisions.

The article says that many leaders get into a “checked up” state, where they focus too much on analysis and stop coming up with new ideas. This often leads to overthinking, slow decisions, and lost momentum right when clear action is needed.

One helpful tip is to separate coming up with ideas from judging them, instead of trying to do both at the same time. This can help you get back into a good flow and make better decisions when things get stressful.

It’s a good reminder that hesitation doesn’t always mean someone isn’t capable. Often, it’s just a reaction to pressure that can be handled by changing how you approach the situation.

A neuroscience-backed explanation of why high achievers struggle with decisions under pressure and how to break the cycle by separating ideation from ex*****on.

01/06/2026

Do organisations pay enough attention to high-volume hiring compared to specialist recruitment?

In his blog, Matt Charney argues that high-volume hiring is often overlooked in talent acquisition, even though it is key to business continuity and workforce stability. He compares this to the strong focus on executive and specialist hiring, where most sourcing and outreach efforts are concentrated.

📌 High-volume roles are described as essential to operational delivery, yet frequently under-resourced in strategy and investment
📌The article points out that many of these jobs need processes designed for scale, not highly personalised recruitment methods.

The article notes that frontline hiring is under more pressure as labour demand changes. Some sectors are seeing more hourly jobs, while others are shrinking. At the same time, fewer entry-level hires are making job seeker pipelines more complicated, with more overqualified applicants and higher dropout rates after offers.

The article also looks at how AI affects recruitment. Automation can make high-volume hiring faster, but it can also lead to more applications and make it harder to spot the right job seekers. It also raises questions about transparency, trust, and how clear the process is for job seekers.

Where do you think organisations should focus most today: investing more in recruitment technology, or improving how they design operations and the job seeker experience for high-volume hiring?

High volume hiring, often undervalued, is critical for business continuity, focusing on operational efficiency rather than individual candidate quality. Employers face challenges due to a mismatch …

29/05/2026

Clarity tends to make hybrid working far more effective.

In an article for HRZone, Jacqueline Towers outlines why many hybrid policies fall short. The issue is rarely the concept itself, but how disconnected policies can become from day-to-day reality.

High-profile examples have shown what happens when expectations are unclear or inconsistent. When policies overlook how teams actually work, or when managers are expected to enforce rules they do not support, frustration builds quickly.

A key theme running through the piece is alignment. Policies tend to work better when organisations are clear on their priorities, recognise that different roles require different approaches, and give managers the flexibility to shape arrangements that reflect real needs.

The article also highlights the need for transparency and good data. If there is no clear reasoning, set exceptions, or a way to measure results, policies may cause more tension than unity.

It is a useful prompt for any organisation reviewing hybrid working. The strength of a policy often comes down to how well it reflects reality rather than how well it is written.

Responsible for updating your organisation’s hybrid work policies? To avoid making the same mistakes that put Amazon and Paramount in the headlines, Jacqueline Towers outlines five strategic questions to explore before policy change begins.

27/05/2026

Making thoughtful decisions under pressure can shape how leadership is experienced day to day.

In HRZone, Karen Liebenguth outlines a practical way to approach ethical dilemmas at work. Instead of focusing only on theory, the focus is on how leaders respond in real situations where the right path is not always clear.

The framework is built around a simple but challenging change: slow down, pay attention to what is happening, think about your values, consider how your choices affect others, and learn from each decision. These situations often require trade-offs between integrity, performance, and wellbeing.

A key idea is to make “life-affirming choices,” even when it feels uncomfortable or risky. Over time, these decisions build personal credibility and influence the culture around you.

This approach gives a practical way to view leadership, not as a list of rules, but as a series of choices made in moments that test your judgement and sense of responsibility.

Struggling to handle moral predicaments at work? Leadership coach Karen Liebenguth provides a practical framework that will help you navigate ethical dilemmas – no matter how large or small – and make life-affirming choices.

22/05/2026

Recruitment has grown more complex as organisations compete for specialised skills and adapt to hybrid work and new HR technologies.

This TechTarget article by Eric St-Jean explains how a structured recruitment strategy helps organisations attract suitable job seekers and align hiring with broader business priorities.

The article defines a recruitment strategy as a long-term approach to sourcing, attracting, and hiring talent. It distinguishes strategy, which sets direction, from ex*****on, which involves the processes, tools, and resources needed to implement the plan.

Several elements are commonly highlighted as part of an effective recruitment strategy:

• Align hiring priorities with business goals and workforce planning
• Use technology such as applicant tracking systems and recruitment analytics
• Strengthen employer branding to improve job seeker attraction
• Expand sourcing channels to build stronger talent pipelines

According to TechTarget, organisations that regularly review their recruitment processes and job seeker experience are better positioned to compete for skilled workers.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Learn how to build a recruitment strategy with 10 key steps, including evaluating policies, using recruiting technologies and strengthening the employer brand.

20/05/2026

How might things look if your organisation put adaptability ahead of predictability?

This Deloitte report points out a challenge many leaders face. The need to move faster is growing, but traditional planning cycles are falling behind.

Here are some important themes influencing decisions today:

🔹 Speed is now a key competitive factor, and many leaders are focusing on how quickly they can respond to changing market needs.
🔹 The usual growth curve is getting shorter, so organisations need to reach the next stage of growth much sooner.
🔹 Focusing on people when using AI is working better than relying only on technology.
🔹 Creating value is becoming more important than just cutting costs, especially where there are limits to what people can do.
🔹 Rigid structures are being replaced by more flexible ways to organise work and skills as needs change.

The report also notes a clear change in thinking. Competitive advantage now depends less on technology alone and more on how people use judgement, creativity, and adaptability with it. Organisations that plan how people and AI work together are seeing better results.

This gives leadership teams something to think about. Where can you rethink how work is organised, instead of just speeding up what you already do?

Our 2026 survey reveals a shift from tensions to tipping points. What intentional choices can organizations make to adapt continuously, move with speed, and lead with a human edge?