Knowledge spreading key to employee engagement
Interested in employee engagement? We’re gathering the views of HR professionals across the UK who are passionate about improving engagement – we’ve got responses from HR professionals on what’s working with engagement and at the end we’ll compile a report to help UK organisations improve engagement. Be part of the movement and give us your […]
Simple tips to help you stay focused at work
Our working environment hosts a plethora of distractions making it challenging for many employees to stay focused on a task. High workloads, multitasking, meetings, open plan work environments (that are not suited to all personality types) and not to mention the constant flow of information via email, internet and social media all play a role, […]
The ‘six conditions’ of high performance
W. Edwards Deming insisted that you improve performance by improving the system not blaming people. He stated that the variation in employee performance (from their worst day at work to their best) was 5% down to the individual and 95% down to the conditions in the environment. And therefore managers should focus more attention on […]
Would you instinctively distrust a hiring algorithm?
New research from the American National Bureau of Economic Research suggests workers hired by computer algorithms stay longer in jobs than those hired by people. Across 15 companies and 300,000 low-skill service-sector hires, the NBER research compared the tenure of those hired based on algorithmic recommendations with those hired by humans. The test asked questions […]
Positive distractions are a good thing, says study
A lot has been written about negative distractions in the workplace and how it can take 25 minutes to regain your focus when interrupted. Generally speaking we treat all distractions equally but science suggests there’s a difference between those perceived as positive and those perceived as negative. According to lead author Florin Dolcos, positive interruptions […]
Why your organisation needs post-heroic leadership
Heroes, admired for their bravery and noble qualities, exist in the myths, legends and folklore in every culture. We’ve all been reared on stories in which a protagonist shows courage in the face of adversity; history has taught us about larger-than-life military and political figures; film and TV have shown us Superman, Wonder Woman and […]
HR titles are disappearing and here’s why
Forbes contributor Jacob Morgan and author of The Future of Work thinks that traditional HR titles are disappearing. Why is this happening? Partly it’s the language… “The reason for this,” says Jacob, “lies in the term ‘Human Resources’. The title sounds makes employees sound like they are fruits – lemons that companies should squeeze every […]
Josh Bersin: “HR must stop being order takers.”
Josh Bersin is one of the most recognisable faces in the HR industry and is currently Principal & Founder of Bersin by Deloitte, who provide consultancy on people strategies based on research. We conducted this interview with Josh at HR Tech World Congress, which took place in Paris in October 2015. You’ve got nine specific focuses for […]
What can HR learn from the banking sector?
No-one can be in any doubt that the banking sector is no longer a destination employer. Quite the opposite. With scandal after scandal hitting the industry, consumers and employees have lost faith and the banks have been trying to rebuild reputations ever since. Attention is firmly focused on the leaders tasked with repairing the damage and bringing […]
What can be learned from being a mutual company?
While there are more than 10,000 mutual societies in the UK including building societies, co-operatives and community benefit societies, credit unions, friendly societies and registered societies, MyCSP is the first Government mutual joint venture – a former public sector department, ‘spun out’ into a private organisation, but importantly one with a mutual structure and I […]
Risky business: how historical views of risk management limit ambidexterity
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 […]
How care home staff wellbeing affects care quality
Care home staff provide invaluable support to sick, elderly and vulnerable people, but the rewards in this industry are often in kind. A challenging and often underappreciated profession, those who enter this sector do so because they feel compelled to pursue something purposeful and giving. Care staff work in hard, emotionally demanding roles with no […]
Interview: John Timpson, Chairman, Timpson
This is an interview with John Timpson, Chairman of the Timpson high street chain. How do you see your role at Timpson now? My son James is the Chief Executive and so he deals with all the detail. My role is to support him really: I don't get involved in day to day stuff but […]
Engagement myth #3: it’s solely about the individual’s link with the company
Do you work in the voluntary sector? In conjunction with LVSC and Business Unusual, I’ll be running a free surgery where we look at engagement in the five spheres specifically in terms of dealing with internal change and engaging the private sector. Register here for this event on 27th November. The term “employee engagement” is […]
What are the requirements to qualify for shared parental leave?
Adding a new dimension of flexibility to the work environment, shared parental leave (SPL) was introduced to allow parents to share their parental responsibilities in a way convenient for them during the first year of their child’s life. A mother can share her leave with one of the following: the baby’s father, her husband, her civil partner […]
Defining the role of a ‘worker’ in an Uber world
There is often a fine dividing line in determining whether, on the one hand, an individual is an employee or worker; or whether they are a genuine self-employed contractor on the other. Emerging trends in the workplace – particularly that of “agile working” – are making this determination increasingly more complex and have somewhat muddied […]
Meeting core time and absence goals in financial services
Employers within the financial services industry have unique time and absence needs. While other industries, such as manufacturing, may be saddled with union rules and the need to track multifactor labour distribution transactions, financial services has its own share of challenges. In order to explore these issues further we recently held a roundtable discussion with […]
Are you dreaming of a compliant Christmas party?
Christmas parties are a great way to let off some steam at the end of a busy year. But if you’re not careful, hidden tax costs can make for a much more expensive celebration than you first expect. We all look forward to Christmas party season. But company parties can be tricky – and not […]
Get comfortable with changing the world of work – now’s the time to act
The world of work needs to change and in a series of articles over the last few weeks, I’ve explained why and how. Change is always a challenge to introduce and implement, and the transformational change that I advocate, which really alters outcome for organisations and their stakeholders, can be a major undertaking. Why […]
How to reduce staff turnover in IT and telecommunications
IT and telecommunications, and particularly call centres, have long been known for higher-than-average employee turnover rates. Especially when an emphasis on 24/7 customer service is core to an organisation’s success, it can be difficult for HR to authentically facilitate a culture that supports employee work-life balance without compromising efficiency and productivity. Add duty of care […]