Episode 149

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Published on:

4th Mar 2025

How To Create a Diverse & Inclusive Workplace in 2025 | Vivian Acquah

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How do we move beyond DEI checkboxes to create truly inclusive, thriving workplaces?

In this episode, Nick Day sits down with Vivian Acquah, a leading DEI consultant at Amplify DEI, to explore how companies can build cultures of belonging, empathy, and inclusion that drive real business impact.


Vivian challenges the traditional "HR" mindset, advocating for a shift toward People & Culture—where leaders take ownership of inclusion and employees feel truly valued. She shares how Virtual Reality (VR) is transforming DEI training, why empathy is the missing ingredient in leadership, and what organizations must do to make diversity efforts stick.


She also answers a critical question: Why do so many DEI initiatives fail? From budget constraints to leadership buy-in, Vivian reveals the biggest obstacles—and how to overcome them.


If you're an HR leader, executive, or someone passionate about workplace transformation, this episode is packed with actionable insights to help you turn DEI strategies into lasting cultural change.


Like, comment, and subscribe for more conversations on leadership, workplace culture, and the future of DEI!


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Connect with Vivian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivianacquah/


Connect with Nick Day: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/



Of course, if you are an HR or L&D professional listening to this podcast and you have an HR, HRIS or L&D related vacancy that you would love some specialist HR recruitment support with – please also get in touch with me! I would love to help show you what a great HR recruitment experience feels like! You can reach out to me directly at nick@jgarecruitment.com or give me a call – 01727800377.


Thanks for listening folks – I look forward to bringing you the next episode of the HR L&D Podcast real soon!


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(00:00) Introduction 

(01:18) Why HR Should Be Replaced with “People & Culture”  

(03:45) The Importance of Work Culture  

(05:13) Empathy in DEI & Workplace Inclusion 

(09:20) Talent Attraction & Retention Challenges

(10:55) Virtual Reality in DEI 

(16:43) Why VR is the Most Effective DEI Training Tool  

(18:34) Diversity Fatigue & Why DEI Investments Fail  

(20:28) How to Integrate Technology into DEI Strategies  

(22:49) Measuring the Impact of DEI 

(25:46) The Modern Workplace & DEI Challenges in 2025  

(30:19) The Future of DEI 

(32:31) Boundaries, Neuro-Inclusion & Supporting Workplace Diversity 

(34:53) How AmplifyDEI Helps Organizations Build Inclusive Cultures 

(38:28) Fixing DEI in Your Organization  

(42:21) Rethinking DEI Budgets & Leadership Buy-In 

(49:24) Call to Action for DEI Leaders 

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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