In Conversation with Dr Kathryn Page, Leadership Partner at ByMany
HR has been through the wringer lately. From being the ‘bad guys’ during layoffs to the ‘fun police’ during RTO, a lot’s been happening. If you could clear the air right now, what is the one thing you wish every employee understood about HR?
Dr Kathryn Page:
HR professionals often get a bad rap – and often unfairly in my experience. Most HR professionals (and I put myself as an organisational psychologist in this bucket) care deeply about people. It is often why we were drawn to the profession. What is difficult however is that we often sit in the middle of tensions that don’t have easy answers. We are navigating the needs of employees, leaders, customers, regulators and the business all at once. Many days it feels like trying to solve a rubiks cube (minus the YouTube videos that explain exactly how to solve them!)
HR requires a weird mix of skills. You have to be part lawyer, part therapist, and part data analyst. If we stripped away the job title, what is the one ‘superpower’ you rely on most when the office is on fire?
Dr Kathryn Page:
Sensemaking.
In my work, I spend a lot of time helping leaders navigate complexity, uncertainty and change. The temptation in those moments is to rush to solutions. I’ve learned that the most valuable thing you can do is slow down long enough to understand what’s really happening. Often the issue presenting itself (or that others are adamant you need to solve) isn’t the issue that needs solving. The ability to listen deeply, spot patterns, challenge assumptions and help people make meaning together is invaluable when organisations are under pressure.
If you could describe the current ‘mood’ of the workforce in 2026 using just one word, what would it be? Why?
Dr Kathryn Page:
I’d say ‘Stretched’.
People are being asked to deliver more, adapt faster and absorb constant change, often without removing anything from their plate. AI, transformation programs and economic pressures have increased expectations, but many organisations are still operating with assumptions about capacity that no longer hold true. The challenge for leaders isn’t helping people squeeze more into the day. It’s designing work that is sustainable in a world that never stops accelerating.
It is a common notion that an HR team is called upon by leadership only during times of crisis. Have you ever felt that pressure to be the ‘fixer’ in a broken system?
Dr Kathryn Page:
As an advisor to HR leaders, one pattern I see repeatedly is the expectation that HR will solve problems that were never created by HR in the first place. A great example of that is burnout or engagement issues – two issues that leaders often expect HR to deal with. But both of these issues originate in the way work is designed and led at the business or work group level.
One of the most powerful shifts I see in leading organisations is moving from asking, “How do we help people cope?” to asking, “What are we asking people to cope with?”
What is the biggest myth about working in HR that you wish would die?
Dr Kathryn Page:
That HR are responsible for employee wellbeing. Yes, we can influence this and maybe run more programmatic responses. But programs alone (and therefore HR people) can’t make people more resilient, productive or adaptable. I would 100% agree that those skills matter – in fact, I would say they are absolutely vital for work today. However, I also know from my two decades of research in organisational psychology and public health that work itself is one of the strongest drivers of mental health, engagement and performance.
In my view, the future of HR isn’t helping people survive work. It’s helping organisations design work that is good for people in the first place.
HR is often described as a thankless job—you’re the villain when things go wrong and invisible when things go right. Why do you stay? What is the specific feeling that reminds you, ‘This is why I do this’?
Dr Kathryn Page:
Because work matters. We spend more of our waking lives working than doing almost anything else. Work shapes our health, confidence, relationships, identity and sense of contribution. It is, as I alluded to in my response to the previous questions, a social determinant of health
What keeps me passionate about this work is seeing the ripple effect. When a leader changes how he or she leads, a team might start having better conversations. When conversations improve, someone might feel safe enough to speak up. When people speak up, a source of frustration that’s existed for years might get redesigned and removed.
Those moments may seem small, but these small moments compound. And when we improve work, even in small ways, we improve lives.
What is one task AI will never be able to replace in your people strategy?
Dr Kathryn Page:
AI will help us analyse work. It won’t replace our responsibility to decide what good work looks like. The most important questions organisations face are fundamentally human ones: What kind of culture are we creating? What trade-offs are we willing to make? How much is enough? What does success look like?
Technology can help answer operational questions. Humans still need to answer moral ones.
What is one book every leader in HR should read?
Dr Kathryn Page:
I’m biased, but I would love leaders to read my book, Good Work: Transform your work from the inside out. I have written this book partly for HR Leasers as a bit of a distillation of two decades of knowledge into a blue print of sorts. Outside of this, I’d encourage leaders to read broadly beyond traditional HR texts.
One book I’d recommend is The Good Jobs Strategy by Zeynep Ton. Its central argument is that investing in better jobs isn’t at odds with performance and can be a driver of performance. At a time when many organisations are trying to balance productivity, wellbeing and adaptability, that’s an important idea for leaders to wrestle with.
If you had an unlimited budget for one year but could only spend it on one area of the employee experience (e.g., wellness, learning, compensation, physical space), where would it go and why?
Dr Kathryn Page:
Work design. Without hesitation. In fact, I wouldn’t spend it on wellbeing programs. I’d spend it on improving the quality of work itself. The way work is designed (i.e. things like workload, autonomy, role clarity, connection, learning opportunities and recovery) shapes almost everything else. It influences performance, engagement, wellbeing, retention and innovation.
I’d invest in helping leaders redesign jobs, teams and systems so that good work becomes the default, not something employees have to fight for. In my experience, the highest-return wellbeing strategy isn’t a wellbeing program. It’s better work. It is not as easy to do as implementing a program but over time, I genuinely believe creating better work will help to create a better world.
Dr. Kathryn Page is an organizational psychologist, author, and leadership partner at ByMany, who has spent her career asking one big question: What makes work good for us? Based in Melbourne, she has worked with leaders across industries to design work that protects people, fuels wellbeing, and unlocks performance. Her clients include some of the world’s largest companies and health systems, and her research is cited broadly. Her new book, Good Work:Transform Your Work from the Inside Out (Wiley, May 11, 2026), shows how leaders and teams can design work that’s both human and high performing. Learn more at bymany.com.au
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