Episode 158

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Published on:

15th Jul 2025

Why HR Leaders Deserve a Seat in the Boardroom | Andrea Wareham

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What does it really take for an HR leader to make the leap to the boardroom?


In this episode of the HR L&D Podcast, Nick Day sits down with Andrea Wareham, former Chief People Officer at Pret A Manger and now a Non-Executive Director (NED) across multiple organizations. With 20+ years of experience shaping people strategy at one of the UK’s most iconic brands, Andrea breaks down the real blueprint for HR leaders who want to operate at the highest level of business.


Whether you're an aspiring CHRO or already operating at senior level, this episode will give you the tools to expand your impact, build influence, and shape the future of business from the top down.


Listen now and unlock your path to board-level leadership.



Andrea’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreawareham/

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


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(00:00) Preview 

(01:28) Introducing Andrea Wareham

(05:39) Why HR Leaders Belong in the Boardroom  

(10:37) Managing Pressure and Building Trust at Executive Level  

(13:54) Becoming a Public-Facing People Leader  

(15:09) Pret’s People-First Philosophy 

(18:23) The People Lens Boards Are Missing  

(21:34) What It Really Takes to Become a Non-Executive Director  

(25:03) How to Add Value as an NED  

(31:07) Why NED Roles Are So Rewarding  

(35:23) How HR Leaders Can Start Building Board Influence  

(38:40) Driving Board Diversity Through HR Perspective  

(41:12) Top Tips for Aspiring NEDs  

(46:29) Advice for Future HR 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.

About your host

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Nick Day