STEM’s long-standing image problem: how can we eliminate it?
STEM and digital skills are essential to the UK, both within technology firms and across virtually all other sectors. We need to address the STEM image problem to get more women into the industry. STEM subjects have longed suffered from an image problem. Many people assume that roles in STEM are highly technical or dull, […]
What forces are threatening to disrupt your business?
Although disruption is on everyone’s lips and headlines many of today’s business conferences, the reality is that very few companies are fully leveraging the disruptive forces in a way that will deliver success in a durable manner. Time and again, we see digital transformation programmes failing (84% of all programmes do so, according to PulsePoint research). […]
How real-time technology is supporting the future of employee wellbeing
Never before have UK and international workplaces experienced such a rapid influx of new services for employees. Real-time wellbeing technology represents a booming business. But can virtual GPs and fitness apps actually deliver on promises to help make employees healthier and happier? And are there hard facts to support this? Employer provision of health and […]
Three ways to improve employee’s physical wellbeing
Maintaining and improving physical health and wellbeing in the workplace is enormously important for both employers and employees alike. From a business perspective, employees are your most important asset; without a healthy and engaged workforce, organisations will struggle to achieve productivity and profitability. In other words, companies need to take employee health and wellbeing seriously, […]
Talent management: eight golden rules to accelerate development
When you have great people, it’s natural to want them to progress as quickly as possible – so what can HR do to help develop talent more quickly? Fast emerging as the pressing talent challenge of our age is an old, perennial issue: how to accelerate people’s development and help them learn and be ready […]
Millennials and boomers – a workplace match made in heaven?
Similarities and differences in generations may be key to economic and business success, says Nick Gold, CEO of Jobsite. Millennials are no longer the new kids on the workplace block. With many now entering their mid-30s, they make up the largest portion of the workforce and hold around 20% of leadership positions. Definitively the generation […]
Off-script customer service: how to be truly human
In an increasingly automated age, customers value truly human interaction more than ever before. When customers ask to speak to a representative, whether on the phone or in person, they are in need of human help. They have rejected the automated response and want a real person to hear and manage their problem. Unfortunately, customers […]
Pension transition relief: why HR needs to understand it
Pension transitional relief is probably not a phrase that is regularly bandied about in HR circles. But it arguably should, considering the potentially negative impact on senior hires if its not factored into the recruitment process. It could mean the difference between a successful or failed hire. And that, in turn, will inevitably have implications […]
People management: nine ways to unleash staff creativity and intelligence
Co-creative working can yield impressive results for organisations, but it requires effort in order to unlock the untapped potential in your team. Unleashing the creativity and problem solving abilities of your staff often needs a conscious decision on the part of the organisation – and a specific, positive approach. It’s not something that can be left […]
Why talking about salary from the get-go will help you attract more talent
In a society where we are used to sharing so much information, talking openly about pay still remains one of our biggest taboos. Questions about pay expectations and salary are often left to the very end of an interview process, which can waste time and leave candidates and hiring managers feeling disappointed. But when salary […]
AI is increasing the skills gap. But it can help close it too
AI will take away jobs, but it will also bring about new jobs and give us the opportunity to upskill our workforce. Is your business ready to embrace this change? We tend to view artificial intelligence in the workplace in a negative light. Pessimism generally makes more noise than optimism and the hyperbole around AI […]
How leaders can help millennials address workplace stress
This year, Mental Health Awareness Week (14-20 May) is shining a spotlight on stress. In the UK, one in six adults experience depression, anxiety or issues relating to stress at any one time. MHFA England has partnered with the Mental Health Foundation to launch new research that looks at stress in the workplace. Our research found […]
Mental health at work: it’s time to be strategic
More and more businesses are focusing on mental health but their efforts are not quite hitting the mark. To really see positive results, a more strategic approach is necessary. Mental health has never been as high on the corporate agenda as it is right now and with the government pushing hard for employers to act […]
Employee volunteering schemes: how and why to introduce one
Over the last few years, it has been made abundantly clear that consumers increasingly want (and often expect) the companies they buy from to practise business sustainably and ethically, with social media empowering noisy protest where this is found lacking — from the boycotting of tax-evading companies, to the public shaming of those whose abhorrent […]
How to use diversity to create ‘good friction’
I think we’ve all heard it by now: diversity in teams and in leadership is good for business. But why is this so, and how can we use it actively in our strategic, tactical and daily business to nurture and encourage ‘good friction’? In a business world that is affected by disruption, technological and societal […]
Coping with a post-truth recruitment era
For as long as CVs dominate the first stages of a hiring exercise, we’ll continue to be in a post-truth recruitment era. If there was ever a single document responsible for misinformation and recruiting missteps, it has to be the CV. Think about it. When you’re recruiting at scale, how do you find the time […]
Communication skills: what your team say, and what they really mean…
Getting feedback from your team is a key part of employee engagement, but it’s what you do with that information that really counts. Feedback is an incredibly powerful tool; it’s something that can help uncover issues your team might be facing or on the flip side, to better recognise the things you’re doing well. As […]
What distinguishes good gamification from bad?
There’s an ongoing debate in the recruitment industry about the relative merits of gamified assessments versus game-based assessments. Which comes out as the winner? Impartial recruiters may be perplexed and amused to see the providers of these resources locking horns over this. Actually, this pantomime wrangling is merely a sideshow. The real issue that should […]
Developing technology skills in HR: a new framework
What technology skills are needed for HR to succeed in the future? Kate Wadia, Managing Director of Phase3 Consulting, introduces a new competency framework that points HR professionals in the right direction. I was interviewed this week about our current Phase 3 observations of organisational behaviour of building internal teams to support people technologies. A very clued-up […]
Risk management is not just about threats, it’s about innovation too
There’s so much rich insight coming out of the academic sector that HR professionals need to know. At Academics’ Corner we feature the best HR researchers that tell you what they’ve found and what you need to do differently on the back of the research. Get connected to the academic sector through Academics’ Corner and […]