Is ‘fit’ the new bias?

We go out of our way to recruit candidates who suit the particular culture of our workplace. But is this another form of discrimination, and could it be holding your company back? You’ve probably heard these sorts of comments before: “They’re good, but I’m not sure they fit in with the team” or “They have […]
Work teams need these six things to be successful

Historically, when it comes to people performance, we’ve always focused on the individual, forgetting about the importance of teamwork. Human beings are naturally social creatures and the impact that team dynamics can have in the workplace is huge. Research shows that employees who fit well with their job, team and organisation have greater job satisfaction, […]
Male managers command less authority in ‘female’ jobs

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 […]
Taylor Review analysis: The future of work is already here

The future of work is not a destination we’re heading towards. It’s somewhere we’ve already arrived at. Everything we’ve taken for granted about work is changing; the ways in which we forge a career, commute and learn, who we work with and how long we work for are all being transformed. What we want from […]
“I usually choose one day a week where I make it my goal to only focus on one task at a time.”

We’re always curious to hear how our members and contributors tackle the challenges that the ever-changing world of HR throws at them. We’ve got a wealth of experience and knowledge across the site, and what better way to showcase the diversity of our community than to get them to walk us through an average day? Want to […]
Tackling Taylor: “Good Work” deserves defence

I’m dismayed at the early critique of the Taylor review. The headlines and analysis do our professions no credit. This is a report promoting “good work” and good work to me deserves defence. Read here what and why. At the end please note you’ll also find your speed-read of the substantive points. What’s the story? […]
How to take control of your company culture

While most people join companies for the job and the salary, they stay there because of the culture. Deep down, most of us want to be part of a group that has the same belief systems and passions. Financial rewards are necessary, but they don’t actually make us loyal or happy in the long term. There’s […]
Four reasons to ‘diet’ your internet consumption

My family and I have been taking a day off a week from gadgets and the internet for over three years now – that means no smartphones, no internet, no computers and (mostly) no streaming or gaming. There are six of us (seven if you count the dog): me, my wife, Caroline, and our four […]
Employment tribunal fees unlawful, says Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has ruled that employment tribunal fees are unlawful. This has been a real shock decision that not many people were expecting. In this article we look at the main findings of the court and the impact on employers. The judgement and key points in summary: Employment Tribunal fees are unlawful because of […]
“I am proud of my ability to gain the trust of both the leadership team and my colleagues”

Taking on a new role is as challenging as it is exciting. In this series we will be talking to HR professionals who are getting to grips with a new job and finding out what attracted them to the role, as well as what their key priorities are for the months ahead. Want to tell […]
Working from home? Research finds employee self-regulation is the key to success

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 […]
The Journey to Digitization: The Executive View

The Plainspeak Analyst is Katherine Jones, Partner and Director of Talent Research at Mercer, the world’s largest human resources consulting firm. Her job is to design and deliver insight research and services to Mercer’s global clients. She was previously VP, Human Capital Management Technology Research at Bersin by Deloitte. She has a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Cornell University. […]
Book review: The Sleep Revolution: Transforming your Life, One Night at a Time

HRZone has a range of books available for review. If you would like to receive one of our business books, free of charge, please contact the editor on editor at hrzone dot com and we can send you a list of what’s available. In return, we ask for a 400-700 word review of the book, […]
Insight into the financial impact of investing in people

Angelo Piccirillo is partner and co-founder at conveyancing firm AVRillo. The company ranked 12th in the Great Place to Work Best Workplaces list for 2017 and is a strong supporter of proving the value of investing in your piece. In this interview Angelo tells us about how best to go about proving the value. Jamie Lawrence, […]
Why is financial wellbeing growing and what are employers doing?

Jamie Lawrence, Editor, HRZone: Why are so many organisations focusing on financial wellbeing now? What’s the imperative? Tom O’Byrne, CEO, Great Place to Work: There are a number of factors driving it – social, economic, political, cultural. For example, many younger people coming into the workforce have little financial education or experience around things like […]
Are we nearly there yet? Measuring progress on your journey to agile performance management

For managers, one of the comforts of traditional performance management is that it is a well-understood process, it’s formal and orchestrated, and once it’s done, there is a whole year (or at least 6 months) before HR bother managers about it again. Such comfort is one of the main obstacles preventing the shift to adoption of […]
10 (scientifically-proven) tips for being a better boss

The future of work is being shaped by extraordinary changes in technology, globalisation and overwhelming information flow. Workers are asking for something different from their bosses. They want clear expectations, accountability, a strong sense of purpose, and ongoing feedback and coaching. This blog provides 10 recommendations to help leaders become better bosses by shifting their […]
What more can we do to promote women in tech?

Despite hiring people from all over the globe, Norway is where the company I work for, Auka, is based and was founded. Norway is one of the most progressive countries in the world in terms of gender equality. In a recent World Economic Forum report about the global gender gap, Norway was ranked a close […]
“We use data insights to inform priorities in our people and talent agenda,” says law firm HR Director

Chris Oglethorpe is HR Director at law firm Gowling WLG. He was previously an HR Director at RBS. Gowling WLG was ranked 27th in the ‘Large category’ (organisations with 500+ employees) in the annual Best Workplaces. The organisation has been ranked since the awards began in 2001 and their 2017 result is three places ahead of […]
Let’s get the ball rolling on mental health in the workplace

According to figures from XpertHR, the median number of employees per HR practitioner was 62.5 in 2016. Meanwhile, approximately one in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year according to mental health charity, Mind. This means that HR professionals will, on average, oversee 15 staff with mental health conditions […]