Workhuman Live Forum London 2025

This March, Workhuman Live Forum returned to London for its biggest year yet! Hundreds of HR leaders gathered for a day dedicated to elevating the workplace experience.

Guided by returning MC Holly Ransom, we explored what it takes to build fearless organisations, uncovered the latest in data-driven storytelling, and looked ahead to the future of human intelligence—all with extra networking time and plenty more.

Read on for the highlights, and stay tuned for details on our next event!

Want to Improve Your Organisation? Make It Fearless

Celebrated author and Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson was the first to take the stage, ready to educate us all on creating a fearless organisation.

Building on her seminal book, she explored the immense advantages of fostering true psychological safety at work, while dispelling common misconceptions about what it really means. It's about embedding practical systems that support high-quality conversations. That doesn't mean they're easy, but they are a crucial step towards building fearless organisations that thrive.

It's also a way of creating teams that embrace dissent to uncover solutions. To build strong teams in an uncertain world, we must aim high, team up, fail well, learn fast - and repeat on the path to success!

The Future of Human Intelligence

Next up was Workhuman CEO Eric Mosley, offering a glimpse into the future of work and how AI will shape that future.

Human Resources teams are an incredibly rich source of data - from individual skills to how people show up to work, how they collaborate, and ultimately how work gets done. AI presents a huge opportunity to harness that data at a scale that would be impossible for humans alone.

Eric explored how advanced AI tools are parsing recognition messages to reveal the reality of how people work together. With this deep data and multiple sources across a career, you can build a detailed understanding of collaboration and business success—and even plan for future skills shortages.

That's the power of Human Intelligence, the biggest release in Workhuman's history, designed on the principle that AI should amplify humanity, not replace it. The future is human intelligence—the combination of AI and human data—and with high-quality recognition data, that future is bright

Crack the Culture Code: Become an Anthropologist in Your Own Organisation

Culture means different things to different people, but it is a vital driving force at every level of your organisation—and it's where corporate culture expert Jitske Kramer thrives.

In this session, she took an anthropological approach to corporate culture, starting with an understanding of the subtle dynamics that shape decisions and interactions at the heart of how humans work. We are wired to respond to hierarchy in predictable ways, creating systems to bring order to the chaos of everyday life.

This vibrant presentation was led by the message: 'make the strange familiar and the familiar strange.' Everything we do at work is culture, and understanding that helps us shape collective behaviour towards shared strategic goals.

It All Starts with the Human: Evidence Based Strategies for a Brighter Future for Employees, Organisations and Societies

Dr. Meisha-ann Martin, VP of People Research at Workhuman, shared how businesses can create a better environment through effective recognition. Workhuman's research shows that recognition leads to lower turnover, higher engagement, improved safety, and better financial results.

Beyond business outcomes, recognition fosters a thriving culture where people can excel. It all starts with appreciating how others contribute, transforming both the giver's and receiver's experiences.

Meisha-ann's three tips: Be a good human. Appreciate others. Check in with people, even if you're not their leader. By embracing these practices, we can improve both our personal lives and the businesses we're part of.

Customer Panel - Featuring Rio Tinto, Galderma, British Airways

We were excited to host an energetic discussion with customers Vale Ruta, Christopher Jones, and Karolina Cardoso, alongside Workhuman CHXO KeyAnna Schmiedl and Holly Ransom.

We heard how BA used recognition as a strategic tool to ensure people felt valued, especially in the wake of COVID. The organisation took proactive steps to address low morale and engagement through recognition, resulting in a significant increase in eNPS scores.

At Galderma, they embarked on a complex journey, including a rebrand and an IPO. What began as a cost-saving initiative to consolidate recognition efforts evolved as they went public. They broadened recognition to everyone and celebrated meaningful work moments, leading to results such as lower turnover potential, with 3-5 awards given annually.

Rio Tinto recently marked their first year with Workhuman, starting with the goal of understanding behaviours. With a large population of mining workers, linking recognition with safety was a key priority. They also focused on finding creative and inclusive ways to engage their large offline population, helping to shape a bespoke programme.

KeyAnna brought it all together by highlighting the elements that make Workhuman unique and demonstrating how thinking differently can lead to tangible results for both people and businesses.

Data-Driven Storytelling: Elevate HR's Role in Shaping the Future

The final keynote featured people analytics expert David Green, who discussed HR's potential to shape strategy through storytelling—provided it has the right data. One key insight: people remember stories 22 times better than facts alone, a principle central to David's work at Insight222, where he helps people analytics leaders craft compelling narratives.

People analytics has moved to the core of HR, aligning with HR's shift from support function to strategic partner to the CEO and board. Stories ensure data insights lead to real, actionable outcomes.

We had a great time at Forum 2025 in London. If you joined us, we hope you made valuable connections and left with fresh insights—and a tiny rain drum! If you missed it, our next event is in Paris this October, with another in London in 2026. Fill out the form below for updates and early registration.