The case for and against: should we get rid of unpaid internships?
There are plenty of contentious issues in HR and the workplace, and we think it's important to get a balanced discussion going on some of the bigger questions out there. In this series, we'll be asking HR experts and practitioners to give us opposing viewpoints on a key issue, and we welcome your input too! […]
CEOs can no longer ignore the importance of a healthy corporate culture in 2017
Back in the good old days it was possible for a big company to defend its market position by splurging on advertising. Whenever new competition came along, the CEO and the Board would sign a large cheque to a top-flight ad firm, and they would cover the town, TV, and radio with adverts for their […]
Automation, data science and rigid workplaces
A hearty welcome to our latest round up of HR news, opinion, research and assorted blogs. This week we're putting a tech slant on our selection of articles, looking at how technology is changing the workplace, and how HR can help businesses adapt. Let us know what you think of the articles we've shared below, […]
HR in retail: interview with Spencer Allcock, Senior Consultant, Kantar Retail
Spencer Allcock is a senior consultant with analysts Kantar Retail. We asked Spencer five questions: What are senior leaders in major retailers focused on at the moment? What areas of people management in retail are businesses struggling with? What are the big trends affecting the retail industry over the next few years? How can HR […]
HR in retail: interview with David Bannister, ex-HRD, River Island
David Bannister recently left River Island after a year as their interim HR Director. He runs his own consultancy, Empowering People Ltd, specialising in management and consulting in reward, performance management, change management and leadership, executive coaching and career coaching. He was previously interim HR Director at Wiggle.co.uk and, before that, Group HR Director at New Look. […]
HR in retail: interview with Bruce Walcroft, Solutions Consultant, CoreHR
Bruce Walcroft is Senior HCM Solutions Consultant with technology company CoreHR. At CoreHR he is involved in pre-sales demonstrations of platforms and features and offers solutions consultancy and expertise to a range of businesses across multiple sectors. He has been in the HR technology industry for over 15 years. We asked Bruce four questions: What […]
How immersive Corporate Social Responsibility can make the (working) world a happier place
A staff survey we ran a few years ago highlighted that among other internal programmes, our staff really wanted to do more for charity. We already have a Charity of the Year programme, whereby the whole team spends time and money supporting a cause local to Milton Keynes – but it was clear from this […]
Organisational development practitioners: beware the silver bullets
Delegates of my facilitated interventions sometimes express a view that what I do is some kind of 'magic'. They reflect on their experience of me not having said much, asking a few questions, getting them talking and, as a result, them experiencing moments of clarity and deepened relationships. I see these observations as a sign […]
Feedback: the gift that keeps on giving
Stuart Duff, head of development at business psychologists Pearn Kandola, shares his thoughts on the challenges of giving feedback and managing performance. Providing feedback: A leader’s greatest challenge? Feedback. It’s a hot topic across all industries. But still key for a business to progress and for employees to act effectively and develop. There are many ways […]
“Having a company priority focused so heavily on people and engagement is a great privilege”
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 us about […]
HR then and now: how a decade has changed the workplace
In daily life, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day issues and miss the bigger trends. Consider the many changes that have happened in the past ten years: in 2006, there was no iPhone, Twitter was still in development, Facebook’s user base consisted mostly of hip college students, and Disney and Pixar were […]
A snowball started rolling: lessons from Norway about gender quotas on boards
What are the main lessons that we can learn from the Norwegian women quota for corporate boards? The quota was introduced in 2002. In most countries in Europe the number of women on boards today are several times higher than it was in 2002. This is illustrated by the EU statistics displayed in the graph below. How […]
The state of family-friendliness in UK financial services
Over the last few years, academics and professionals alike have been documenting the gradual shift toward more flexible ways of working, in part facilitated by an evolution of Government legislation. Research has shown that flexible work can improve staff retention, improve morale and increase productivity. However, the definition of flexible working is broad and ill-defined […]
The grey area of the parent trap and the failure of work to tackle it
I’m going to make a bit of a generalisation and say that there are really only two ways of working in our society. One way is task-orientated and the other way is clock-based. You can imagine this as the difference between a freelancer’s life and an office worker’s life. Task-orientated work If you’ve ever worked […]
Family-friendly workplaces: the role of mental wellbeing
Mind urges employers to create mentally healthy workplaces by tackling the causes of work-related stress and poor mental health at work, supporting members of staff experiencing a mental health problem, and promoting wellbeing for all employees. Workplace wellbeing initiatives can benefit all employees, including parents with mental health problems. Mental health problems can affect anyone, […]
What can organisations do to stop older workers disengaging from the workforce?
Early retirement: facts, forces, and erroneous solutions The ageing workforce is creating unprecedented challenges for organizations and governments. By 2030 the number of people aged over 55 in high-income countries will have grown to 500 million. However, it can also present opportunities for policy makers and employers. PricewaterhouseCoopers suggested that “the ageing workforce offers a […]
Taking one for the team: why it’s time to ditch the dogma of individual rewards
For the past ten years, I have been interested in the area surrounding how and why employees at work are rewarded for their results. This has led me to think about the conventional approach of rewards, and how they are at odds with desirable behaviour. More and more, organisations are aiming for teamwork to improve performances […]
Looking ahead in 2017: What will be trending in HR tech?
In 2016 we saw disruption and change in the UK market for HR systems, and 2017 looks to be the same. But change – and in particular, adoption rates – for new people technology is more cloud than blue sky. Few ideas come totally out of that blue and we can therefore find some pretty good clues about what […]
Soft skills analysis: Theresa May
It can’t be easy to be Theresa May. The comparisons to Thatcher, the near obsession with her shoe collection rather than her policies and the famous “bloody difficult” aspersions to name but three. But what about leadership and soft skills? May has steadfastly directed herself away from a gregarious style of leadership, some might say […]
2017 trends, extreme talent acquisition and the struggle between HR & marketing
Welcome to 2017, and your latest round up of HR articles and blogs for you to enjoy over your your morning coffee or lunchtime break. Let us know what you think of the articles we've shared in the comments below, or tell us what you've enjoyed reading! Strategy – Is Universal Basic Income the answer to an […]