Fudia Smartt

I am an Employment Lawyer with over 15 years’ experience in dealing with all aspects of employment law. I have developed a wealth of experience in advising clients of all sizes (both employers and employees), not only on the black letter law, but also matters of an interpersonal nature.

At byrne·dean I’m part of both the Training and Resolution teams. In my resolution work I help organisations solve tricky people issues before a lawyer is needed. In my training work I design and lead workplace training sessions to clients of all sizes on an array of topics including diversity, employee engagement, wellbeing, discrimination, futurism as well as on specific employment law matters. I am accredited in both MBTI© and DISC© psychometric tests and use some of the broader concepts from these tests in my training to assist clients (both on an individual and corporate basis) in better understanding themselves and others, which helps to create more harmonious workplaces.

As a self-confessed “people enthusiast”, I regularly write and vlog about issues impacting the world of work; from balancing working and parenthood to the impact of artificial intelligence and automation in the workplace. In particular, I am very interested in futurism and the world of work. As the use of artificial intelligence increases, we need to improve our softer skills such as empathy, kindness, creativity and adaptability in order for businesses and individuals alike to thrive. Diverse, inclusive and engaged workplaces are therefore not only ethically sound but good for business.

It is a pleasure to work at byrne·dean and to assist in its mission to create kinder, fairer and more productive workplaces. Given that the average person is estimated to spend a third of their life at work, I consider this mission to be of utmost importance.