Gig economy: what exactly is it?
The gig economy is a labor market where workers trade their skills and time for payment on specific projects rather than traditional employment. Powered by digital platforms and freelance marketplaces, it has grown significantly—London’s gig economy expanded 72% since 2010—but faces challenges including wage compression and tax compliance issues.
“Going into opening our new location in Dublin, we knew we were entering a war for talent.”
Liberty IT faced a competitive talent market when opening a Dublin office in 2015. The HR Director shares how they balanced maintaining core cultural values like dignity and respect while empowering the new team to shape their own identity, prioritizing cultural fit over technical skills in hiring.
If your organisation came to life as a person, how would you describe it?
Explore how personifying your organization can reveal employee engagement issues. This approach, developed by Martin Reddington, helps leaders understand the social and economic exchange between employers and employees, particularly in public sector roles where engagement often depends on organizational dynamics rather than the work itself.
Gig economy: the equality challenge?
The gig economy is reshaping work, with 20-30% of European and US workers engaging in independent work. While offering flexibility, it raises equality concerns as legislators and courts struggle to balance worker protections against exploitative practices in platform-based employment.
Why it’s HR’s job to kill organisational complexity
HR leaders can reduce organisational complexity by identifying and eliminating unnecessary activities that drain productivity and employee engagement. Complexity manifests in excessive meetings, emails, reporting, and processes—many of which add no value and frustrate staff trying to accomplish meaningful work.
Why we need simplicity to cope with complexity – mindfulness in business life
Mindfulness helps employees and leaders cope with modern workplace complexity by reducing organizational drag, improving focus, and building resilience. Research shows that distraction and multitasking significantly decrease productivity, making mental wellness practices essential for sustainable performance in volatile, uncertain business environments.
Automation & Robotic Service Orchestration: driving the evolution of HR Shared Services
Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO) is transforming HR shared services by enabling better coordination between humans and automation technology. Unlike basic RPA task automation, RSO strategically manages end-to-end services across global organizations, improving consistency and employee experience while reducing manual intervention in processes like onboarding, leave management, and employee changes.
“When you explicitly put shareholders at the top of the pecking order, the others don’t make out as well.”
Gig economy growth in America remains limited, with only about 15% of workers relying on alternative work as their primary income. Expert Rick Wartzman argues that universal basic income is unlikely without a cultural shift away from shareholder-focused individualism toward collective responsibility.
Me Inc: the rise of the freelancer
The UK freelancer workforce has grown 25% since 2009, with over 2 million people now working as independent contractors. This shift reflects changing employee priorities—flexibility and autonomy now matter more than salary and linear career paths, particularly in technology sectors facing talent shortages.
How to transfer accountability when giving autonomy: Part 1
Giving team members autonomy requires more than just delegating tasks—they must also take on accountability. This first part of a two-part series explores the common trap that prevents accountability in teams and explains why both autonomy and responsibility are essential for sustainable delegation.
How to transfer accountability when giving autonomy: Part 2
Learn how to transfer accountability alongside autonomy with five practical strategies. This part-two guide explores why “do” and “tell” leadership approaches undermine responsibility, and how to empower staff to feel genuinely accountable for their work.
True Colours: is personality testing at work useful, or even desirable?
Personality testing at work has roots in ancient traditions like astrology and temperament theory. While these tools can highlight human differences and promote understanding, experts question whether modern psychometric assessments offer genuine insight or simply perpetuate oversimplified categorizations.
“The gig economy does not have to rely on denying worker rights.”
Erin Hatton, a sociology professor, explains how the gig economy represents a return to historically insecure work conditions after a mid-20th century peak in job security and worker protections. She traces the shift back to the 1970s, when union decline, global competition, and economic recession reversed decades of labor gains.
How do psychological work stressors impact commuting behaviour?
Research reveals that psychological work stressors like abusive supervision and work-family conflict significantly increase unsafe commuting behavior. A study of 216 employees found these stressors lead to riskier driving habits, partly mediated by permissive commuting norms among colleagues.
Dave Ulrich: “50% of who we can become is nurture and can be changed through learning.”
Dave Ulrich explains how competencies—knowledge, skills, and attitudes—drive business outcomes and can be developed through learning and experience. Research shows 50% of competencies are innate while 50% can be changed through nurture, education, and pushing beyond comfort zones.
Remote workers – out of sight, out of mind?
Remote work offers flexibility for work-life balance and significant cost savings, but research reveals potential downsides including employee isolation, reduced career visibility, and intensified work hours. Communication challenges and trust issues in virtual teams may require new management approaches rather than traditional solutions.
Analysing the upcoming challenges HR is facing
HR professionals face significant challenges this April as new regulations require companies with over 250 employees to publish gender pay gaps, while minimum wage changes and apprenticeship levy rollouts take effect. These changes demand clear communication strategies and meaningful HR policies to drive real progress toward pay equality and workforce diversity.
“If you feel stuck in a rut and are not developing on a daily basis, it’s up to you to drive change.”
Personal development requires daily effort and individual initiative. This HR professional shares how they stay engaged across global teams, balancing creative work, client collaboration, and continuous learning through a structured daily routine.
“Suffering in silence is such a hard thing to bare and generates self-stigmatisation.”
Colin Minto, founder of APeopleBusiness, discusses why he went public about his OCD after 34 years of silence. He explains how suffering in isolation fuels self-stigmatization and how mental difference creates unique workplace capabilities too often overlooked by employers.
Do you have a false growth mindset?
Many organizations misuse Carol Dweck’s growth mindset research, creating a false growth mindset. This often involves praising effort alone without addressing strategy or process, which doesn’t actually develop a growth mindset. Understanding your triggers and focusing on effective learning strategies—not just effort—is key to genuine growth.
