Are line managers doing performance management or forms management?

How’s this for a performance management scenario: It’s mid-February and a manager in your organisation bursts into an employee’s office. “HR’s getting really annoyed. I was supposed to submit everyone’s performance plan no later than the end of January. Here’s your plan from last year. The work hasn’t really changed and you’re doing a great […]
How can HR support managers in helping their teams support change?

In the second of two articles on change, Valerie Nichols explains how HR practitioners can support managers in helping their teams to ride the waves of change and avoid a wipe out. Read the first article on handling resistance to change. Any manager in your organisation who is trying to implement change will probably have […]
How you should handle resistance to change

In the first of two articles on change, Valerie Nichols explains how HR practitioners can support managers in helping their teams overcome the fear of change. You can read the second article here, "How can HR support managers in helping their teams support change?" Here’s a key challenge for HR. Imagine a manager in your […]
A recipe for successful onboarding – and a handy onboarding checklist

Put yourself in the shoes of a new recruit in your organisation. You’re starting your dream job and you’re very slightly nervous. After all, it’s your first day and you want to make a good impression. So far, it’s been fairly easy…your offer letter told you to report to the Human Resources Office and you […]
Unconscious bias: are you guilty of blocking the talent pipeline?

A man stood in the L’Enfant Plaza metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin. It was a cold, January rush hour morning. Over a period of 45 minutes, he played six Bach pieces. Only seven people stopped to listen. 27 gave him money but continued to walk. He collected $32 in […]