Latest news, press and events.

Workplace behaviour and culture specialists byrne·dean have appointed Zoe Wigan as their new Head of Resolution; to lead a team of highly skilled and experienced investigators and mediators who help uncover, address and move beyond workplace difficulties.

Zoe holds a deep understanding of workplace conflict from her extensive career as an employment lawyer, spanning nearly 25 years, including several years as partner of a leading employment team and roles in-house.  

Zoe is the latest high profile hire for byrne·dean, who have recently appointed Anna Arbuthnot as COO and Samantha Mangwana as their strategy lead. Eva Edel and Sarika Rabheru - highly experienced mediators and investigators, also joined the growing resolution team in October.  

Zoe joins byrne·dean at the same time as the team celebrates 20 years of successfully helping organisations around the world navigate challenging cultural issues and create kinder, fairer workplaces.

Matt Dean, interim Chief Executive and Co-Founder, commented: “We are so pleased to have someone of Zoe's calibre coming in to lead the team at a time when the demand for our services as independent and emotionally intelligent problem solvers is growing. Zoe is a real expert in the field who really buys into the ethos of kinder, fairer workplaces. We know we are lucky to have her.”

Zoe commented: "I've admired byrne·dean's work for many years and it's a privilege to use my skills and experience in support of byrne·dean's purpose. I'm proud to be part of a team that partners with clients both proactively and reactively across all aspects of their culture and people strategy".

Helen Dallimore joined a panel event on 7 December to discuss how business leaders can take meaningful, lasting change on class inequality in the workplace.

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Using targeted training, we helped to help make conversations about inclusion a cornerstone of life in Société Générale.

Head of Strategy Samantha Mangwana joins Jerome Doraisamy, host of The Lawyers Weekly Show to discuss the approaching Workers Protection Act which becomes law this year.

The Worker Protection Act is changing the laws on sexual harassment at work, and UK HR leaders need to start preparing now. Our resident expert Samantha Mangwana writes for Personnel Today on exactly what you can do to support the intentions of the new legislation.

This week, our Co-Head of Training Alison Best played agony aunt for the Financial Times.

Image credit: FT montage/Unsplash/Dreamstime

Workplace behaviour and culture experts, byrne∙dean, have engaged leading employment and discrimination lawyer, Samantha Mangwana, to lead on their Strategy offering. Operating initially out of London and Sydney, she joins the team to use her deep, coal face experience of employment problems to provide strategic support to clients seeking cultural change.

Mangwana joins from Shine Lawyers, where she was National Head of Employment in Australia. She has advised individuals (employees, executives and partners) and  organisations on contentious workplace disputes, high-value severance negotiations and managing exits smoothly. Her experience includes working on very high-profile discrimination and whistleblowing cases, in particular within the legal and financial services sectors.

In the UK, Mangwana is widely recognised as one of the leading employment lawyers and an expert on discrimination outside the workplace context, notably representing the Fawcett Society – a national charity campaigning for gender equality – in a ground-breaking judicial review challenge to the UK government’s national budget. She is recommended by the Legal 500 UK directory as “practical, to the point and personable”; rated as a Rising Star in Legal Services by Financial News; shortlisted for Solicitor of the Year by the Lawyer magazine and named by Management Today and Sunday Times as a top young women in business.

Samantha is regularly called upon by the press to commentate on employment and discrimination law issues. She has been featured on ITN, Channel 4 News and BBC in the UK, and major national broadcasters in Australia, as well as in the FT, Guardian, and Wall Street Journal amongst many more.

At byrne·dean, Sam will join a team that’s celebrating 20 years of successfully helping organisations around the world navigate challenging cultural issues and create kinder, fairer workplaces.

byrne·dean Co-Founder and Chief Executive, Matt Dean, commented: “We are very excited to have Sam join our team. She’s passionate about the work we do and wants to put her deep experience from litigation, policy and communications to work helping to create the kinder, fairer workplaces we want. Sam’s insights and creative solutions can expand what we offer clients on the Strategy side; not only UK-based clients, but Australian and global organisations - and on all areas of workplace dynamics; things like creating a genuine speak-up culture, improving how we approach conflict in teams, and rebalancing senior teams.”

Samantha Mangwana, Strategy Lead, byrne·dean, commented: “I'm delighted to be joining byrne∙dean. My motivation in this career has been to achieve change, helping workplaces to be kinder and fairer places where people can realise their potential. The problem with litigation is that it can't do that because it is after the fact. Even where successful, the problem has already happened, with bright, talented individuals losing their careers. Instead, work at byrne∙dean is about solving those issues before they start in the first place. I'm energised about diving deep into specific challenges, one workplace at a time, to achieve meaningful, tangible change.”

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byrne·dean expert Amanda Okill features in this People Management magazine feature on the critically-important topic of the menopause in workplaces.

byrne·dean founder Matt Dean features in this important article for People Management Magazine by Juliette Rowsell.