From No. 10 to your office - managing the anxiety of a new leader

Keir Starmer has announced he is resigning as Prime Minister, and Andy Burnham - the former Greater Manchester Mayor who returned to Parliament only weeks ago - looks the overwhelming favourite to replace him. For the country it is a moment of flux. For HR professionals, it is a familiar scenario - a new leader arriving at the very top, and everyone below them suddenly recalibrating.

Because a change at the top is never contained to the top. "A new leader at the top isn't just a headline. It's a psychological reset for everyone below them," says Janine Jacobs, Co-Founder of HappyHQ. "People start scanning for signals immediately. What matters now? Who's in favour? What's about to change? Left unmanaged, that uncertainty breeds gossip, not readiness."

The rumour mill starts turning

Tracey Beveridge

Head of People, Personnel Checks

Tracey Beveridge, Head of People at Personnel Checks, has lived through several handovers - steering the business from one founder serving as CEO to the other stepping in as Managing Director, then supporting a management buyout that passed the company to the next generation. The pattern, she says, is predictable.

"The first thing that almost always happens is the rumour mill starts turning. Whether it's a new Prime Minister moving into Downing Street or a new leader taking over a business, uncertainty creates speculation."

Crucially, familiarity does not inoculate people against unease - a point with obvious resonance when the presumed successor is as well known as Burnham. "Even when employees already know the incoming leader, change can still make people feel unsettled," Beveridge adds.

Get ahead of the narrative

The clearest thread running through every expert's advice is the same: fill the silence before someone else does. "If communication is slow or unclear, people will fill the gaps themselves, and gossip quickly replaces facts," says Beveridge. Jacobs frames it almost identically - "Silence gets filled with speculation, so fill it with facts instead."

Anthony Sutton

Founder, Cream HR

Honest framing, Jacobs argues, means resisting two equal and opposite temptations: overselling the change, and pretending nothing will shift. "Tell employees what you know, what you don't, and when they'll find out more." That candour about the unknown is not a weakness but the point. "Being honest about the unknowns builds trust far more effectively than trying to have all the answers," says Beveridge.

Anthony Sutton, Founder of Cream HR, sees the upside in getting this right. "A change in leadership, whether in government or the workplace, naturally creates uncertainty," he says. "HR teams play a vital role in helping employees navigate that transition by communicating openly, setting clear expectations and giving people confidence in the organisation's direction. When change is managed well, it can become an opportunity to build trust rather than anxiety."

Protect what already works

New leaders are, understandably, keen to make an early mark. The risk is that employees quietly assume everything familiar is about to be swept away. Part of HR's task is to reassure people about continuity as much as change. "New leaders are naturally keen to make an impact, but employees can worry that everything familiar is about to disappear," says Beveridge. "HR should reinforce the values, routines and ways of working that will remain the same, giving people confidence that not everything is being turned upside down."

Jacobs makes the related point about culture, which cannot simply be decreed from a new corner office. "Culture isn't imposed from the top, it's negotiated. What sticks is what gets rewarded and repeated day to day, by everyone, not just the person at the top." Her rule of thumb is blunt: "Co-created values stick. Announced ones don't, unless there are stories to back them up."