About this podcast
🎙️ Buzzing About HR
Straight-talking HR for the people doing payroll, sales and playing workplace therapist before lunch.
If you run a UK small business, or you're the HR-of-one trying to keep the wheels on, this podcast is for you.
No corporate jargon.
No "synergy."
Just real answers to the people's problems no one warned you about.
Hosted by award-winning HR expert Kate Underwood, each episode tackles the moments small business owners actually face:
• The employee who's brilliant at the job and causes chaos in the team
• The manager who avoids hard conversations until they turn into a bonfire
• The "small issue" grievance that suddenly becomes a formal complaint
• The sickness pattern is suspiciously linked to Mondays and payday
• The resignation that makes you think, " What did we miss?"
You'll get plain-English UK employment law, practical advice on performance, absence, hiring and retention, and grown-up culture conversations, all usable the same day. No theory. No paperwork museums. No advice that only works in big HR departments with unlimited budgets.
This is also a permission slip to lead like a human. Clear standards. Fair boundaries. Decent communication. Less drama. The goal is a calmer workplace, fewer sleepless nights, and a team that actually wants to stick around.
And yes, Hazel the office dog pops up too. Because nothing says "people management" quite like a judgmental stare from a Wellbeing Officer who's never written a policy in her life.
☕ Start here: take the FREE HR Health Check and see where your risks and your quick wins are hiding.
New episodes every Tuesday.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 98 episodes
- What Employers Must Do Before 30 October To Prevent Sexual Harassment · 19 min · Season 2 Episode 47The harassment duty steps up on Friday 30 October. Employers must now take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, a higher, more active bar, and a new third-party…
- How To Hire Well When AI Writes The Applications · 19 min · Season 2 Episode 46There's a surge in AI-generated job applications, and it's broken the old signals, polished cover letters and CVs now tell you almost nothing, while burying employers in volume…
- Menopause Support That Protects Retention · 18 min · Season 2 Episode 45World Menopause Day is the way into a bigger subject: retention. Kate looks at how good, well-meaning workplaces quietly push out their most experienced people, often women going…
- How Small Businesses Build Real Workplace Wellbeing · 19 min · Season 2 Episode 44National Work Life Week and World Mental Health Day, and what wellbeing actually means in a small business once you take away the fruit bowl. Kate makes the case that wellbeing…
- The October Employment Law Changes With The Right Dates · 28 min · Season 2 Episode 42October isn’t a single HR deadline, it’s a cluster of dates that can catch even well-run businesses out if you diarise the wrong one. We put every change in one place, in the…
- Stop Polishing The Poster And Train Gary · 23 min · Season 2 Episode 42Episode summary: It's National Inclusion Week (14 to 20 September), with Global Workplace Culture Day on Friday 18 September, so Kate makes the case that culture is behaviour…
- If You Cannot Prove It Was Fair You Are Exposed · 29 min · Season 2 Episode 41Imagine it is March and a letter lands asking you to set out, step by step, why you dismissed someone last autumn. You remember being fair. You remember a meeting. You think…
- All Reasonable Steps · 27 min · Season 2 Episode 40A customer crosses the line, your team freezes, and the shift carries on because nobody is sure what they are allowed to do. That moment is not just awkward, it is risk. From 30…
- September Is When You Make October Easy · 34 min · Season 2 Episode 39October 2026 is shaping up to be the biggest single month of HR change for small UK employers, but it is only frightening if you leave it until October. I break it down into two…
- You Can Get Ahead Of October 2026 And January 2027 · 14 min · Season 2 Episode 38Autumn doesn’t just bring darker mornings, it brings deadlines. With October 2026 and January 2027 lined up back-to-back, UK employment law changes are about to hit in clusters…
- What Does Uncapped Unfair Dismissal Risk Do To Small Businesses · 15 min · Season 2 Episode 37A room full of 69 employers, coffee that’s slightly too hot, and one question on my mind: if I could get one thing across before everyone rushes back to work, what would…
- Probation Drift Is The Real Office Villain · 15 min · Season 2 Episode 36Hiring a school leaver in August feels like pure optimism: a bright new starter, a handshake, a start date, and you get back to your week. But there’s a timing detail in UK…
- If You Hired Since July, The 2027 Clock Is Already Ticking · 17 min · Season 2 Episode 35You can feel it in early August: the office is quieter, half the team is away, and you finally get a clear hour to think. That’s exactly when the most dangerous HR deadlines…
- Mid Year Review · 13 min · Season 2 Episode 34Halfway through the year is where most small businesses quietly lose momentum and, sometimes, their best people. We are busy, we are heads-down, and suddenly it is July and…
- The Office Kettle Has Never Been The Problem; · 13 min · Season 2 Episode 33Your employee handbook can be quietly betraying you. Not because you have bad intentions, but because policies drift while life moves on: new UK employment law, day one rights…
- SMART Objectives · 15 min · Season 2 Episode 32Your team set SMART objectives in January, you file them away, and by July half of them are pointless. Sound familiar? We are pulling apart the real reason performance reviews…
- Contract Changes Without Fire And Rehire · 16 min · Season 2 Episode 31You’ve got a contract term you regret. Maybe it’s overtime you can’t sustain, enhanced sick pay that keeps biting every winter, or a bonus structure that looked generous when the…
- *SPECIAL* When The Tequila Was Not In Budget · 15 min · Season 2 Episode 30A summer Friday work BBQ can feel harmless right up until it isn’t. One drink too many, an argument in front of clients, a messy taxi story that surfaces secondhand, and by…
- Probation Is Not A Free Pass Anymore · 15 min · Season 2 Episode 29That familiar small-business safety net, “they’re under two years so we can let them go”, is about to shrink dramatically. With the Employment Rights Act changes taking effect on…
- The Practical Guide To Menopause Support For Small Businesses · 15 min · Season 2 Episode 28Someone on your team used to be unflappable, then suddenly they’re overheated, not sleeping, forgetting things, snapping over tiny issues, and quietly losing confidence. Many…







