We are a team of experienced culture change specialists, led by Dr Susan Hetrick.

Founder and Managing Director

Dr Susan Hetrick

An Organizational Psychologist and HR Leader, Susan’s career has spanned more than 35 years. Susan has worked with many organizations including the World Bank Group, Arab Banking Corporation, RBS Group, Aegon, HSBC and Deloitte based in the UK, USA, Europe, and more recently in the Middle East.

Susan is the founder of Zuhra Consulting with clients from the professional, technology, education, financial and legal sectors.

Susan has implemented large scale transformational change programmes that focus to strengthen corporate cultures and enable every individual to fulfil their potential. Her work centres on building and strengthening helathy workplace cultures through people strategies.

Susan is the author of Toxic Organizational Cultures and Leadership: How to Build and Sustain Healthy Workplace Cultures published by Routledge in 2023 and currently nominated for Business Book of the Year.

Dr Susan has a doctorate from City University Business School, and a Masters in Industrial Relations from Warwick University. She has published numerous articles on corporate culture and HR in global organizations, and co-authored the book: Corporate Reputations, Employer Branding and People Management for advanced HR Practitioners.

Susan serves as Chair of the Board for Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre since 2021.

Associate Consultant

Lisa Dick

Lisa is a HR Consultant with over 15 years of experience, having spent time working in both the private and public sector. She specialises in employee relations, management development and employment policy writing, helping organisations to create and maintain healthy and productive work environments. She is passionate about creating working environments that are diverse and inclusive and has been involved in several initiatives and projects that support organisations to achieve their Diversity, Equality and Inclusion goals. 

Lisa is an accredited workplace mediator and holds the ACAS certificate in workplace mediation. She has successfully resolved a number of workplace disputes, using her skills and experience to bring ongoing workplace conflicts to satisfactory resolution. 

Lisa is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and holds the Level 7 Diploma in HR Management. She is committed to continuous professional development and loves to share her knowledge and experience with others. 

In her free time, Lisa enjoys going to the theatre and walking her 2 Cockapoos, Cooper and Daisy. She is an active fundraiser for Muscular Dystrophy UK, a charity close to her heart. 

Associate Consultant

Andrew Penker

Andrew has gained over 30 years’ experience in national, international and global HR roles with Hilton Hotels Corporation, Royal Bank of Scotland, Vets Now, and ICAS – the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

He is an independent HR Consultant delivering strategic projects, change initiatives, organisational design, communication, and team development with coaching and mentoring, for clients including BTA – Bruce Tait Associates, MND Scotland, Citizens Advice & Rights Fife, and M&T Hotels. 

Andrew is the Founder of XSectorMentor.com, a mentor development programme for companies to start and scale mentoring in their company, and across professions and sectors.

He is the Associate Director of BTA Knowledge, leading on the delivery of Insights and Influence for the charity sector in Scotland, and sits on the CIPD Scotland Policy forum.

Andrew is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD, and a Member of the Institute of Leadership.  He holds a Masters in HR Management, Certificate in People Analytics (Wharton), and is a certified Coach (AoEC), and accredited Mentor (EMCC). He is a licenced Thomas International Practitioner. 

Andrew is a current Judge for the prestigious annual HR Networks Scotland awards

Andrew is about to publish his first book on ‘the Great Reset’ with Bookboon, a book designed to provide context and next steps to companies navigating the changing world of employment post-pandemic, and as part of the accelerating digital transformation trajectory.

Operations & Management Executive

Lauren McAlpine

Lauren is an experienced, reliable and highly effective Executive Assistant who works closely with Susan and the team to ensure the smooth running of operations within zuhra.

Lauren is skilled in communication, team organisation, event management, and project planning. She brings warmth, tenacity and efficiency to her work.

Research Assistant

James Preston

James is our Research Assistant supporting our work in running qualitative focus groups, surveys, as well as keeping up up-to-date on new research findings.

James is interested in what makes organisations tick and is currently completing a degree in Psychology at Aberdeen University. In his spare time, James is the co-founder of Lunar Scotland, an organisation bringing the electronic music community to gigs in Scotland and France wand he has recently set up a new Electronic Music Society to build a community of interest.

James completed his Duke of Edinburgh award, which involved working for a charity specialising in young people’s mental health.