When the business environment is volatile – driven by geopolitical instability, trade disruptions, and economic shifts – businesses must pivot quickly. In such settings, psychological safety is what allows employees to surface issues, test ideas, and learn fast, especially with RTO (return to office) policies in place.

In this opening keynote session, let’s find out how psychological safety is the number one predictor of high-performing teams, and how it can transform vulnerability into a powerful tool for strengthening culture.

Our speaker will discuss:

• Ways to confront entrenched workplace issues, such as interactions, processes, and leadership behaviours, that often go unspoken but deeply influence team dynamics.
• Creating environments where vulnerability is protected, not punished: How leaders & managers can integrate psychological safety into their behaviours.
• Incorporating a human-centric systems approach: The importance of listening and acknowledging diverse emotional needs to build trust and reduce stigma.

Apart from the lingering issues of anxiety and isolation, financial insecurity is also impacting the mental and physical health of employees. This opens up a powerful opportunity for employers to begin prioritising holistic wellbeing programmes and create a supportive workplace culture.

This holistic approach can be targeted to alleviate stress, improve financial decision-making, and ultimately drive stronger organisational resilience.

In this conversation, we tackle:

• The overlooked costs of mental health struggles – such as anxiety, burnout, and financial insecurity – on workforce productivity.
• Biggest barriers to implementing workplace health initiatives, and how organisations can address scepticism from both leadership and employees.
• Key components of a truly effective holistic wellbeing programme that fosters a culture of psychological safety and financial security

When HR leaders can clearly communicate why wellbeing matters to the business and to people, it signals authenticity and helps embed wellbeing into the company culture, and not just as an HR policy.

However, unlike revenue or productivity, wellbeing ROI is often indirect and long-term, making it hard for leaders to present a clear business case. As such, it is often still considered a ‘soft’ initiative – when the reality is that wellbeing has a financial cost if neglected, and a measurable return if implemented properly.

Let’s come together to discuss how to move wellbeing away from reactive or cosmetic efforts toward a core business and people priority.

• Making the business case: Identifying the metrics that can demonstrate the tangible benefits of wellbeing initiatives.
• Leadership buy-in: Strategies to shift senior management’s perception of wellbeing from a ‘soft’ initiative to a strategic necessity.
• Addressing structural issues: Are we designing jobs and workflows that promote wellbeing, or are we simply offering perks to offset unhealthy workloads?

Organisational change is no longer episodic – it’s continuous. For both leaders and employees, this constant churn and redoing of business models is mentally and emotionally taxing. According to 2023 research, over 70% of transformations fail, and one of the top reasons is employee resistance and change fatigue.

The emerging solution is leaning towards cultivating a resilient workforce – one that copes better with ambiguity and pressure; stays engaged longer during transitions; and, helps reinforce cultural stability when everything else is shifting.

In this panel discussion, we will unearth how to prioritise resilience-building in the workforce to achieve transformation goals.

Topics of discussion include:

• Emotional resilience during change: Strategies to support employees through emotional shifts, role transitions, and feelings of uncertainty during organisational change.
• Integrating wellbeing into change management: Creating systems that stabilise teams with transparent communication, inclusive decision-making, and scalable support mechanisms.
• Fostering emotional literacy: Cultivating self-awareness and adaptability to ensure employees thrive.

With 41% of working parents reporting that they’re too stressed to function on most days – more than double the rate of non-parents – family-related stress is fast emerging as a critical blind spot in corporate wellbeing strategies.

This session shines a spotlight on:

• The unmet needs of working parents and dependents,
• Why family-focused wellbeing can no longer be treated as an afterthought,
• How progressive employers are closing this gap – rethinking policies, benefits, and support systems to better align with the realities of today’s workforce.

Join us as we unpack the data, challenge assumptions, and make the case for why inclusive parent support isn’t just a nice-to-have, but an essential lever for engagement, productivity, and retention in an evolving talent landscape.

If you employ parents, this session isn’t optional. It’s overdue.