Louise Harding spoke to HRD about leaving a legacy and the human factors that drive growth
As the chief people office for a company with a 186-year history across Australia and New Zealand - Louise Harding says the best things to do are to leave a legacy on both their people and the industry.
“We’re deeply committed to fostering an inclusive culture—it’s not just a principle; it’s embedded in how we work. Eighty percent of our workforce say we’re inclusive, reflected in our diverse teams across culture, religion, and identity," Harding told HRD.
"We support this through leadership development, awareness training on unconscious bias and hidden disabilities, and partnerships like Ability First.
“We invest in career pathways for First Nations people and gender-inclusive policies like menopause and parental leave. Over 80% of our workforce are women, and we champion female leadership. Inclusion is part of our DNA—our people genuinely care and drive it forward with purpose.”
David Jones opened its first store in Sydney in 1838 and has 40 stores across Australia and New Zealand.
Harding – whose career spans more than 25 years – started off wanting to be a business leader and used her education to steer her in that direction, studying Business Administration and Human Resources Management at RMIT University.
During her years of study and working in business, her true passion of managing people emerged, telling HRD "a business' greatest asset is its people".
“That’s why I gravitated to human resources because it sits in the perfect intersection between business strategy and getting results – so I wanted to focus on how to get the most out of everyone. Human resources play a central role in shaping workforce culture,” Harding said.
It was also understanding how to harness the capabilities of a business’ workforce that intrigued her – working across several industries from financial services to hospitality, and most recently, retail.
“I've been lucky to be able to continue to learn. I love working with talented leaders and teams that show me the critical areas of HR and craft my skills - talent development, your technical skills, culture, engagement and leadership.”
Through her career working for companies such as Lion and Bega Cheese Limited, Harding said the driver for success in any business is down to its people and how you utilise that is the difference between doing well and struggling.
“It’s a theory I’ve been able to test throughout my career. A strong people-first culture is critical to sustainable results. Focusing on emotional intelligence and empathy to really connect with people is a key way to successfully lead a team,” she said.
“On top of that, you then need to lead and mentor those teams to create the best performance. I get that fire in my belly when my team feel empowered, untied and inspired. I work with some amazing people and investing in them to create great opportunities is what makes them even more amazing – and it also creates the next generation of people and culture leaders."
Training and developing a team are vital, not just to address current workforce challenges, but wider developments, too – such as the use of artificial intelligence (AI). This, Harding said is the biggest technological change since the introduction of the internet.
“We're still navigating the pace of change and are at the beginning of the journey we've invested in. We’re looking at streamlining our recruitment process to use in our high-volume recruitment. We're investing in other tools, too, to help optimise inventory and buying.”
The company are creating an environment that brings people along the AI journey to build awareness and upskill them to deal with the future working landscape.
“The challenge is balancing AI adoption with governance and the right capabilities, while unlocking productivity and smarter decision-making—enhancing, not replacing, human roles. We're introducing a digital literacy program to help empower teams to embrace AI within clear guardrails. This supports our transformation journey and aligns with broader retail shifts toward digital innovation,” Harding said.
So how can AI best be implemented? To Harding, it’s about “creating an environment where people feel confident experimenting, using AI to drive deeper data insights while removing fear and sparking curiosity."
It’s a major industry shift, Harding concluded, "so investing in culture, tools, systems, and future-ready capabilities is essential—reframing AI not as a job threat, but as a powerful enabler of progress.”
