Episode 161

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Published on:

26th Aug 2025

Belonging, Inclusion & the Future of Human Connection at Work with Greg Morley

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What does it really mean to belong at work? In this episode of the HR L&D Podcast, Nick Day sits down with Greg Morley — global HR leader, former Head of DEI at Moët Hennessy, and author of BOND: Belonging and the Keys to Inclusion and Connection.

Greg shares powerful insights from his 20+ year career at Disney, Hasbro, and LVMH, where he led multicultural teams across the US, Europe, and Asia. Together, Nick and Greg explore:

  • Why belonging is the foundation of inclusion and employee engagement
  • How leaders can build psychological safety and connection in diverse workplaces
  • The challenges of driving global DEI initiatives across regions and cultures
  • Practical steps HR professionals can take to embed inclusion into daily practices
  • Why belonging is the future of work — and how it impacts retention, innovation, and growth

Whether you’re an HR leader, people manager, or business owner, this conversation will help you understand why belonging matters and how you can create a workplace where everyone feels valued and connected.



📖 Learn more about Greg’s book BOND here: https://www.gregmorley.com

Greg’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregcmorley/


Nick Day’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/


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(00:00) Introduction & Greg’s Global HR Journey

(04:28) Early Life and Cross-Cultural Influences

(08:15) Career Path: From GE to Disney to Hasbro

(12:47) Lessons from Leading at Disneyland Paris

(17:36) Building Teams Across Asia (Hong Kong & Shanghai)

(23:04) Transition to LVMH and Global DEI Leadership

(28:55) Why Belonging is the Foundation of Inclusion

(34:12) Writing *BOND* – The Keys to Inclusion & Connection

(39:44) Regional Differences in DEI: Asia vs. Europe vs. US

(45:31) Leadership, Empathy & Human Connection

(50:08) Creating Psychological Safety at Work

(55:23) Practical Actions HR Can Take to Foster Belonging

(01:01:42) The Future of Work: Inclusion as a Strategic Advantage

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About the Podcast

The HR L&D Podcast
Leadership, recruitment, culture. Conversations with HR's best
HR gets handed the problems nobody else wants to own. The restructure, the grievance, the engagement survey that came back badly. And then gets asked why people are leaving.

I'm Nick Day. I run an HR recruitment agency, which means I spend most of my week on the phone to HR directors, HR leaders and people leaders talking about what the job is actually like rather than what's written on the job spec. This HR Podcast came out of those calls. I kept hearing things worth repeating, and nobody was repeating them.

Every week I sit down with HR leaders, chief people officers, L&D specialists and the occasional academic who has changed how I think about work and people engagement. We get into leadership, and what happens when someone brilliant at the technical side gets promoted into managing humans.

Employee engagement past the survey score. Diversity, equity and inclusion in a climate where saying those words out loud has become a decision in itself. Pay transparency, talent management, reducing bias in hiring, HR digital transformation and the HCM systems everyone is being sold. And of course we cannot forget HR AI tools and platforms that are flooding the landscape as AI in HR becomes a hot topic every people leader is keen to understand and leverage.

Wellbeing comes up constantly, and it usually turns into the same question. Who looks after the HR team.

I'm not an HR practitioner and I don't pretend to be. I'm the person who hires them, which puts me in a useful position. I get to ask the obvious question that everyone in the room already knows the answer to and nobody says.

No script and no polite version. Mostly it's the conversation you'd have with someone doing your job at a different company, if you ever got the chance to sit down with them.

If you work in HR, people management or L&D, or you're building a career in it, start by subscribing to The HR L&D Podcast. We have had guests including Stephen Covey, Alan Stein Jnr, Andrea Wareham and Dr. Thom Mayer among other HR Leaders who are shaping the future of work and leadership.

Need HR staff? I run JGA Recruitment, an HR and payroll recruitment agency. www.jgarecruitment.com or info@jgarecruitment.com

Want to be on the show? Nick@jgadigital.com

If payroll is closer to your world, I also host The Payroll Podcast, the most listened to payroll show in the world.

Topics include HR leadership, workplace culture, retention, people management, employee engagement, diversity, equity and inclusion, DEI strategy, AI for HR, AI recruitment tools, talent management, HR digital transformation, HCM, staff wellbeing, pay transparency, reducing bias, L&D and HR recruitment.

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Nick Day