Dr Susan Hetrick

Why organisations work with Susan Hetrick

• A working operating model for toxic culture, not a moral framing of it. Her four-stage progression gives a board language to discuss what stage they are in, before deciding what to do.
• The RESPECT framework as a remediation sequence, used inside her book and consultancy at zuhra. It anchors the conversation in specific leadership behaviours rather than values posters.
• Practitioner credibility from senior HR roles at the World Bank Group, RBS, HSBC, Aegon and Deloitte, paired with a doctorate from City University Business School. She has run the function she is now critiquing.
• A published, peer-reviewed thesis (Routledge, 2023; 2024 Business Book Awards finalist) that gives the room a single, citable reference point rather than a deck of opinions.

Biography highlights

• Author, Toxic Organizational Cultures and Leadership: How to Build and Sustain a Healthy Workplace (Routledge, 2023). 2024 Business Book Awards finalist.
• Co-author with Professor Graeme Martin, Corporate Reputations, Branding and People Management: A Strategic Approach to HR.
• Doctorate in Organisational Psychology, City University Business School.
• Senior HR leadership roles inside the World Bank Group, RBS Group, HSBC, Aegon, Arab Banking Corporation and Deloitte.
• Academic appointments at the Universities of Aberdeen, Glasgow and London, Birkbeck College and Helsinki School of Economics.
• Founder of zuhra consulting; Chair of the Board, Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre.
• Keynote, CIPD Annual Conference 2023, to an audience of 600+ HR professionals.

Biography

Most organisations describe culture as something they have, not something they do. That language is what allows toxic patterns to harden inside otherwise functional companies, often for years before the board treats them as a strategic risk. Susan Hetrick’s work is built around closing that gap.

Her book Toxic Organizational Cultures and Leadership (Routledge, 2023) sets out a four-stage account of how cultures degrade and a remediation sequence she calls the RESPECT framework. The book reached the 2024 Business Book Awards shortlist and is now used by HR leaders looking for a structured way to brief their executive committees.

She brings 35 years of senior HR practice to the argument, including roles inside the World Bank Group, RBS, HSBC, Aegon, Arab Banking Corporation and Deloitte. Her doctorate in Organisational Psychology is from City University Business School, with academic appointments at Aberdeen, Glasgow, London, Birkbeck and Helsinki School of Economics.

Today she runs zuhra consulting, a specialist culture practice, and chairs the boards of Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre. The combination matters because it gives senior teams a counterpart who has sat in their seat, written the academic case, and is now operating the remedy with paying clients.

Key speaking topics

• Toxic organisational cultures
• Healthy workplace culture design
• Leadership behaviour and culture risk
• Corporate reputation and HR strategy
• Culture transformation in regulated industries
• Board oversight of people risk
• Organisational psychology in practice

Ideal for

• CHROs and senior HR leaders facing engagement, attrition or conduct concerns
• Boards and audit/risk committees treating culture as a governance risk
• Executive teams entering or recovering from restructure, acquisition or scandal
• Regulated sector leadership groups (financial services, professional services, public bodies)

Audience outcomes

• A four-stage diagnostic that lets a leadership team locate where their culture currently sits
• The RESPECT sequence as a practical guide to leadership behaviours that repair, rather than mask, cultural damage
• A clearer board-level language for naming culture risk before it becomes legal or reputational exposure
• A reading of how HR, legal and executive functions need to operate together to prevent toxicity recurring