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Happy hour? A conversation about alcohol and work – culture, risk and belonging
From post-deal drinks to client events and team celebrations, alcohol is woven into workplace culture. Yet when something goes wrong, it’s rarely seen as ‘just a drink’.
With new duties on employers to prevent sexual harassment, and growing attention on workplace risk and inclusion, it’s time to take a more intentional look at how alcohol shapes workplace culture – and the risks it carries.
This short, focused webinar will explore:
• How alcohol contributes to conduct, harassment and reputational risk
• The assumptions we make about what’s normal, social or expected
• How alcohol intersects with inclusion, wellbeing and boundaries
• What to think about when conducting risk assessments and looking at policies
• Practical steps to build positive connection while protecting what matters
Speakers:
Helen Dallimore
Head of Training, Byrne Dean
An experienced facilitator, trainer and former employment lawyer, Helen works with organisations to strengthen leadership capability and embed respectful workplace behaviours. She brings particular expertise in creating inclusive cultures where people feel safe, respected and able to thrive.
Cicilia Wan
Principal Consultant, Byrne Dean
A former employment lawyer and experienced Headof Employee Relations in global financial services, Cicilia has seen first-hand how alcohol canaffect conduct at work. She brings deep expertise in leadership, culture and managing people risk.
Steven McCann
Founder and Director, MCG Consulting
A leading voice in workplace addiction and recovery inclusion, Steven advises organisations on addiction awareness, recovery-informed culture and social mobility. He has spoken at the Bank of England and works regularly with law societies, the Legal Services Board and institutions across law, finance and corporate sectors.
International employment lawyer Samantha Mangwana joins byrne∙dean to lead on workplace behaviour and culture strategy
A leading employment and discrimination lawyer joins our team.
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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