In episode 88 of the SWP Podcast, I sit down with Graham Seward to explore strategic workforce planning inside one of the world’s most complex healthcare systems – the NHS. Graham shares his journey from service improvement and public health into workforce planning, and why he came to see workforce not simply as an enabler of change, but as the change itself. We unpack the challenges of planning across multiple providers, professions and competing priorities, from attraction and retention through to social care, skills and the growing impact of AI and genomics. Graham also shares a fascinating medical apprenticeship initiative designed to create new pathways into medicine for people who may never have considered the traditional route. We also explore why service design, workforce and finance need to be planned together from the outset, and why progress in complex systems often comes through accumulating small but meaningful wins.

Episode 87 of the SWP Podcast features Jared Johnson, Lead Business Consultant – People Analytics & Insights at Target, in which we sit down to explore how one of the world's largest organisations has embedded Strategic Workforce Planning as a genuine business capability. Jared shares his accidental journey into SWP, why executive sponsorship from both the CHRO and CFO has been fundamental to Target's success, and how People Analytics and workforce planning work hand in hand to drive better decisions. We also tackle one of the profession's most challenging questions: should workforce planning be held accountable for preventing large-scale layoffs? Jared introduces his thought-provoking "Ladder of Alternatives" framework, offering practical strategies for helping organisations make more proactive workforce decisions before redundancies become necessary. Whether you're building or maturing your SWP capability, this episode is packed with practical insights and fresh thinking

In episode 86 of the SWP Podcast, I sit down with Sheri Feinzig, Adjunct Professor in NYU's Human Capital Analytics and Technology program, to explore one of the defining challenges facing organisations today: how to embrace AI without compromising workforce capability. We unpack why organisations should be thinking beyond short-term productivity gains, the risks of over-relying on large language models, and how poor governance, biased data and unchecked automation can create long-term consequences. Sheri shares why workforce planners are uniquely positioned to lead scenario planning around AI adoption, protect future capability pipelines and help organisations make better decisions today for the workforce they'll need tomorrow. It's a thought-provoking discussion that challenges some of the biggest assumptions surrounding AI and reinforces the critical role SWP professionals have in shaping a responsible future of work.