The value of navel gazing and why HR must focus on the future

There’s no doubt that one of HR’s most time consuming preoccupations is reflecting on its own future. Communities like HRZone provide us with a wealth of rich information but have certainly contributed to the amount of introspection taking place as well. And then you’ve got people like me finding something to challenge the HR profession […]

How to implement a volunteering strategy

When implemented effectively, an employee volunteering programme will enhance your brand reputation locally, allow your staff to build relationships both in and outside the workplace, develop the skills of your workforce and create a positive impact on the community.  Implemented badly, employee volunteering schemes lack engagement with staff, consume time better spent in the office […]

What role will social media play this year in promoting employee voice?

This issue was tackled in-depth in our latest report, ‘Workplace trends of 2015: What they mean for you,’ which has been produced in association with Acas and the CIPD, and looks at five key workplace trends for the year ahead and explores what they mean for HR professionals. Each trend has three expert contributions. We […]

HRZone relaunch: Registration & user profiles

We’ve put community at the heart of the new HRZone design, so in addition to making the site generally easier to navigate and better looking, we’ve also done a lot of work on making the site as interactive as possible – we want to hear your thoughts on what we write, and we want to […]

Five steps to being productive when travelling

We’re all on the road more and more these days as we travel for meetings or to meet colleagues in other divisions. And yet we also need to be productive when we’re travelling to ensure we don’t get back to a nightmare inbox or drop the ball on important projects that can’t afford to be […]

Workplace giving: new research sheds light on the gap between interest and action for Millennials

Modern workplaces increasingly recognise the need for a more flexible approach when it comes to how they reward and manage their staff, and in particular the expectations of a growing Millennial workforce. Many are adapting by offering flexible, individually-tailored benefits packages, but one area that has remained fairly static within this mix is the option […]

How can companies succeed in a digital economy?

The digital age is moving at such a pace that it is fundamentally transforming the way that organisations operate.  With digital here to stay, companies which do not embrace the opportunity, risk joining the growing list of old-economy organisations that have fallen by the wayside.  Yet there is no single way to prepare for success […]

HRZone relaunch: The Missing Features

What’s missing, why, and when will it return? Whilst redesigning the site, we've had to prioritise a few areas to make sure that the relaunch goes to plan, and that there is as little disruption to you all as possible. For this reason, we've had to leave a few familiar features off the site for […]

Tailored recruitment testing – how to make it better

As many have unfortunately experienced, making the wrong hiring decision can carry a significant financial penalty. Industry estimations  put the costs  at up to 15 times annual salary which is why recruiters and HR professionals  alike have looked to mitigate the risk of making a bad hire through the adoption of recruitment testing. The practice […]

Five mistakes leaders make when managing virtual teams

As a manager and leader of virtual teams, who would you consider the elite group ensuring that your virtual team projects are successful? Would your answer be stakeholders, perhaps consumers of your product or service indicated by revenue, employees, or assigned team leaders? A good answer would be everyone above who are benefactors of the […]

HRZone relaunch: A sneak peek at your new homepage

Not only will the new site look great, we’re also filling it with more quality content than ever before It’s all well and good us making HRZone look prettier and easier to use, but our efforts would all be in vain if the content wasn’t up to scratch too. We’ve got lots of exciting plans […]

How learner data is going to shake up learning and what HR needs to know

There is a lot of talk about big data and how it will transform businesses and help them become more responsive to customer needs. The same thinking can be applied to corporate learning and development. To date, HR managers and L&D professionals have approached skills development from either a business need perspective or to meet demand […]

Employee Engagement Excellence programme to launch in US and UK

Over the next year the very best examples of employee engagement in North America will be recognised and amplified as HRZone launches the Employee Engagement Excellence programme in the United States. The programme combines an awards program and a one-day practical conference and aims to push employee engagement to the forefront of the business agenda. Both […]

It’s time to get grown up about empowerment

Today, no-one I meet suggests we should build organisations where staff are less empowered, where more command and control is needed, and where workers are put to task under clear instruction and without the need to engage them. But despite the obvious appeal of an empowered organisational culture, it seems hard to achieve. In Roffey […]

Shift workers risk mental and physical health

Staff working shifts outside the hours of 0700-1900 hours are at higher risk of developing chronic health conditions and serious illness, and could even be risking a decline in cognitive function a recent survey revealed. In this article, Gary Cattermole, director at award winning employee engagement consultancy and staff survey specialist, The Survey Initiative, explains […]

HRZone relaunch: The transformation begins!

After a long wait, the new HRZone is nearly here! We’ve already shared the reasons behind the redesign in our earlier update, we also got your feedback on what you want to see from the site in our survey, and now we can finally begin the process of switching the site over to its new […]

How understanding the brain can help you understand your colleagues across the globe

It's Neuroscience Learning Month on HRZone. You're reading one of the pieces that's been written to help you develop a sound understanding of why neuroscience principles are important to business, and a basic understanding of how you can apply them effectively. There's loads more content going live over the month to help you on your […]

Employee Engagement Awards 2015 – announcing the inaugural winners

The Employee Engagement Awards were set to recognise the great work that companies across the UK are doing when it comes to putting engagement at the heart of their strategy – we’re very pleased to announce the winners for our first year! Hundreds of companies entered the awards, ranging from start-ups to multinationals including Lidl, […]

Sticking with those management resolutions in 2015

A new year brings with it the opportunity to set new goals and start afresh, and managers across the country will be looking to do just this in 2015. However, we all know it is easy to make resolutions, but much harder to stick to them. Our advice is to break your goals down into […]

Avoid winter coughs and colds

You’ve heard it before: ‘don't go outside in this weather, you'll catch a cold’. But colds are actually caused by viruses, not cold weather. It is true that you are more likely to get a cold during the winter months, but that's because we spend more time in confined, unventilated spaces with larger groups of […]