Who would be the protagonist if a story about the world of work was to be written in 2021? Would it be technology, Covid19, artificial intelligence, big data, capitalism, bureaucracies or the humanity of people “affectionately” referred to as human capital? The 2021 SIOPSA conference seeks to re-introduce humanity and the people that form part of the workforce as the lead characters in the world of work. This is on the backdrop of the various elements that have taken precedence and overshadowed what Deloitte (2021) refers to as an organisation that is “distinctly human at the core”.