Between the experience of living a normal life at this moment on the planet and the public narratives being offered to give a sense to that life, the empty space, the gap, is enormous (Berger, 2002, p. 176).

My interest is in the phenomenon of care within workplace relationships in the context of HRM policies and practices in higher education. From my experience in my roles as a human resource specialist, administrator in higher education and educator, I am increasingly concerned that the necessities of managing the achievement of business goals have resulted in lifeless workplaces characterised by indifference.

Care, compassion and love are applied to workplaces with the intention to increase productivity. The rhetoric, ‘people are our most important asset’ is driven by the necessity to achieve a profit and not by attention to the humility and hospitality of care for another. This, it seems, has become the new normal; the new common sense and that which is taken for granted.

In this void between the lived reality and the rhetoric, people feel insecure, manipulated and search for meaning in their work and working relationships. My work aims to open a collaborative spaces, where care full ways of being in universities have a greater sense of life, that is life-centric, holistic are explored and shared (Edwards, 2012). According to Berger (2002), “another space is vitally needed” (p. 14).