James Hancock leads the mwah. Making Work Absolutely Human business across the USA and broader Americas. Founded in 2016, mwah. Making Work Absolutely Human exists to make work better for more people.

This means Inclusion and Diversity, Belonging, Flexibility, and other workforce dimensions cannot be dismissed as afterthoughts, but rather, must be included as fundamental to the way we approach our relationships with one another and ultimately, in how we design work.

He firmly believes Virtual Reality (VR) has the ability to illuminate human connectivity and has seen it allow participants to walk in the shoes of another. When the VR experiences are complemented by real conversations on how it feels to be excluded, have your power diminished, be ignored – only then are your eyes truly opened to the lived experiences of others. You suddenly get a whole new appreciation of why Inclusion and Belonging matter - to make work, interaction, relationships and life richer. That makes Diversity and Inclusion real, way beyond an ‘HR thing’ to something that is absolutely and inherently human.

With deep expertise in Business, Human Resources and Organizational Psychology and multidisciplinary roles and experiences across HR, Strategy, Business Management and Digital - including time on the oft-misunderstood trading floor of a bank – he has rich experiences to draw upon. This also demonstrates his strong personal empathy, genuine care and ability to build relationships with people from all walks of life, different lived experiences and contexts.

James has partnered with a range of clients – both public and private, across industries and scale to design work, people practices and to truly harness the power of VR. He has presented at the Annual Australian Human Resources Institute Diversity and Inclusion Conference and the HR Tech Summit, provided insights to HRM Online and Human Resources Director Magazine and worked closely with the Development Advisory Board of Be Center – a child-centred play therapist for kids dealing with trauma.On Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Belonging, James says,

“Belonging is about feeling. It’s about an affinity for a group, a situation or context. It’s that moment in time, ideally occurring frequently,

where you feel you fit in. And it goes well beyond ‘bringing your whole self’, it is a fundamental and necessary condition to allow you to give your best and fullest contribution – at work, and beyond”.

He is excited to continue to partner with forward-thinking organizations to use VR to create meaningful blended learning experiences that trigger empathy, and create the foundation for a very different conversation about our personal role in creating Inclusion and Belonging at work.