On 16 August, it will be 30 years exactly since the death of Elvis Presley. What has this got to do with HR, I hear you ask!
Well, in an attempt to mark this occasion, HR consultancy Croner has conducted an online poll to ask employees to name the Elvis song that best describes their workplace.
It turns out that 24 per cent of employees voted for that classic song ‘Suspicious Minds’. Which is rather worrying when you think of it – do we not trust or support our colleagues at work?
Meanwhile, 13 per cent of respondents said that ‘All Shook Up’ best described their workplace, presumably brought about by feelings of stress and worry over workloads.
It wasn’t all bad news, however, as the survey also showed that 13 per cent of employees voted for ‘Good Luck Charm’ as the song that sums up their boss best, adding that their manager recognises their skills and takes them with them as they move up the career ladder. And only 5 per cent felt their boss had a ‘Wooden Heart’.
Whilst this research can be taken with a rather large pinch of salt, it still highlights common themes running through HR issues today – trust, stress, productivity, effective management etc, and there is no harm in bringing this to the fore, whatever the occasion.
Anyway, on a lighter note, I thought I would take this opportunity to ask all of you what you think would be the song that best sums up HR??
Let me think of a few now to get it going…. How about ‘Against All Odds’ by Phil Collins? Or perhaps ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’? Or ‘Working 9 to 5’ by Dolly Parton? How about ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ by the Boomtown Rats, or ‘Power to the People’ by John Lennon?!
Over to you…
Lucie Benson
