In this episode of The View, Neil Armstrong speaks with Hannah Foster, Chief People Officer for the NHS in Devon, about what modern recruiters can borrow (and adapt) from one of the world’s most complex and mission-driven systems.
Together they dig into how the NHS is navigating extreme pressure by leaning into trust, empowerment, and wellbeing, rather than just metrics. You’ll hear how they’ve built people-centred recruitment strategies under duress – and how those lessons can apply in the private sector: more humane hiring, better data, and building systems that don’t erode the people they serve.
If you lead hiring in high-stakes, high-change environments, this is a chance to hear how a system under strain is still innovating from the inside out – and how we all can raise the bar for recruitment that sustains, not just scales.
These are approximate points in the video where key themes are introduced and discussed. Use them to skip to the parts that interest you most:
00:00 – Neil and Hannah set the context: NHS pressures, people strategy, and what the private sector might learn
03:00 – How Devon NHS frames its people agenda in a complex, resource-constrained system
07:30 – Wellbeing, trust & psychological safety; How they build trust in times of stress, and why that’s foundational
12:45 – Empowerment & devolved decision-making. Where the NHS gives people power to act – and how that shifts outcomes
17:20 – Data + systems as enablers. How they use joined-up data and tech to track and improve without dehumanising
22:50 – What private organisations can adopt, adapt, or avoid from the NHS’s playbook
26:30 – Hannah & Neil wrap up: key mindset shifts, what to try first, and questions to carry forward
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