Alex Atherton's biography
- Expert in managing intergenerational teams
- Expert in recruiting and retaining Gen Z talent
- Former secondary school headteacher of 3 schools across 12 years in inner London
Alex Atherton is a speaker and consultant who works with senior leaders in education and local government, helping them manage their demanding roles and achieve a better work-life balance.
Having spent nearly 25 years in the public sector, primarily in senior leadership positions, Alex truly understands the pressures leaders face. Alex began his career as a secondary school headteacher at a young age, where he quickly realised the need for support. With the help of a coach, he learned to navigate the complexities of leadership and transitioned from feeling frantic to fulfilled. This experience inspired him to assist others in similar positions.
As well as being a leadership coach, Alex helps businesses address the challenges of recruiting, retaining, and engaging Gen Z, the youngest generation in the workplace. In his talks, for which he was named Best Newcomer at the 2025 Speaker Awards, Alex shares the solutions to ensure organisations can recruit and retain the best of this generation in any industry. He also uses his experience to teach teams how to overcome the challenges faced by intergenerational teams to help them move their organisation forwards, faster.
Alex's showreel and videos
Topics, sessions and talks
Recruiting & Retaining Gen Z
In today's fast-changing job market, attracting and retaining Generation Z talent is a major challenge for organisations. Born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s, Gen Z represents a significant generational shift, making traditional recruitment methods ineffective. Alex Atherton, a former secondary school headteacher, offers insights into this misunderstood generation. Through engaging talks, he provides practical strategies to bridge generational divides, helping leaders effectively motivate and retain young talent. Attendees will learn key Gen Z characteristics and effective recruitment and retention strategies.
Managing Intergenerational Teams
Do age gaps hinder productivity, or do attempts at communication never quite connect? Are age and generation gaps an elephant in your organisation's room? In this talk, Alex examines the issues from a range of angles and demonstrates not only how to overcome them but also how to use them to move the organisation forward faster.
From Frantic To Fulfilled
Senior leadership roles in the public sector are unbelievably tough. Our society needs high-quality people to do these jobs well, but there is little interest in their job satisfaction or health. People assume that senior leaders cannot have a problem given their ‘high salaries, big offices, and cushy jobs’. Senior leaders can also be poor at caring for their own development and well-being, too often aiming for survival at the cost of the outcomes they seek. In this talk, Alex describes what public sector leaders can learn from existing research and apply it to the best effect on their professional lives. He does so in the context of his public sector career and those he has worked with since.
Managing The Multigenerational Workplace
Alex Atherton's keynote on managing the multigenerational workplace addresses the unprecedented age diversity in today's organisations, where four or more generations, from Baby Boomers to Gen Z, work side by side. This diversity offers unique opportunities and challenges, particularly in communication, technology, and work-life balance. Alex, passionate about age diversity, provides practical strategies to bridge generational divides. Attendees will learn to create inclusive environments that maximise each team member's potential.
Gen Z is reshaping the workplace with their unique perspectives and values, creating challenges in recruitment and retention for many organisations. Often, there's a disconnect as older generations struggle to understand Gen Z's aspirations, affecting motivation and engagement. Alex Atherton, a former secondary school headteacher, offers insights into this misunderstood generation. His talks provide practical strategies to bridge generational divides, helping leaders effectively motivate and retain young talent. Attendees will learn key Gen Z characteristics and strategies for successful engagement.
Why we recommend booking Alex
Book Alex Atherton to empower your leaders with insights on engaging Gen Z in the workplace. With extensive public sector experience, he understands their challenges and offers practical strategies to thrive amidst chaos. Transform your team's approach to recruitment and retention, ensuring a vibrant, balanced work environment.
Alex is well-versed in the challenges and opportunities for Generation Z. A great source of knowledge that businesses need to appreciate and action to secure their workforce of the future in the ongoing battle for talent. A focused, articulate speaker with a fantastic appreciation of his material, delivering a practical session full of value and information to act upon.
We are about to be big recruiters of Gen Z. Alex gave our Leadership Conferences a fascinating presentation on the considerations we all need to make as managers to recruit and retain the next generation and beyond. I think there was a lot of 'oh... yeah!' moments, and the realisation that we need to work with the next generation to make our company a great place to work, and to a great place to stay.
Alex offered a thought-provoking insight. He has a very engaging style as a speaker, and his background as a headteacher meant his insights were grounded in real experience and he had a genuine respect for the young people he was advocating for. He was the highest rated external speaker throughout the event - 94% rated him good or excellent.
