How to design and conduct an effective assessment day
Assessment centres allow you to interview several candidates in one day and see considerably more behaviours and characteristics than you would in conducting a one hour interview. The assessment centre process must be a positive experience for the candidates involved as they will be assessing you as a company too. First impressions count on both […]
Rethinking your workforce management solution – what the data says
The Sierra-Cedar 2014-2015 HR Systems Survey White Paper, 17th Annual Edition, took a close look this year at how organisations are leveraging one of the most overlooked areas of HR Technology: the workforce management solutions set. These HR applications are used to allocate the actual work of employees and a growing number of contingent workers, […]
HR and health: The hard work starts here
Wellbeing and work. For HR at least the two ideas are synonymous but it’s only relatively recently that some of our biggest businesses and CEOs have settled down to consider this new world view. Perhaps they’ve been distracted by the huge numbers flying around: absenteeism costs £29bn a year, presenteeism £15bn and mental ill health […]
What’s new in neuroscience? Reporting from the NeuroLeadership Summit 2014
I'm just back from the NeuroLeadership Summit. Before I went Jamie [HRZone editor] asked me to write an article on what's new in neuroscience that’s relevant to HR. Judging by last year, I thought I would have loads of new science from the summit, but to be honest the approach to the agenda this year […]
All change for the workforce after three days of awesome new technologies for HR in Las Vegas
The 17th annual HR Technology conference, the world’s leading event focused on technology for human resource executives and professionals, took place in Las Vegas last week. At the conference, we heard from a long line up of great speakers who confirmed what we already know: The modern workforce is changing, and our use of technology […]
How to deal with the politics of data
I am fed up with hearing about the exciting potential of data. We all know there is serious value in data. There is no news there. And yet 90% of companies have chronic problems with missing, outdated and inaccurate data[1] and in two thirds of organisations the majority of time is wasted on consolidating data instead […]
HRZone are the exclusive media partner to the EE Awards
You've got one day to get your entries in for the Employee Engagement Awards as the deadline is TOMORROW – get your entry in now and make history in the first ever Employee Engagement Awards! We’ve got some great news – we are the exclusive media partner to the Employee Engagement Awards, newly launched for this year. […]
Engaging through powerful, authentic conversations
Low levels of employee engagement are still burdening many organisations if the findings of a recent survey by The Oxford Group reflect what’s happening more broadly. In a survey of 1000 ABC1s (upper middle class, middle class, lower middle class), only a third of UK employees said their relationship with their boss was characterised by […]
Interview: Shauna O’Handley, Head of Talent Value Proposition & Performance, Misys
Shauna O’Handley in 15 seconds Shauna O’Handley is Head of Talent Value Proposition & Performance at financial risk management and banking software company Misys. Misys has over 4500 employees around the globe. She was previously Head of HR Transformation for Transport for London, where she Designed and delivered a comprehensive HR transformation programme that delivered cost […]
Top tips to retain your graduate talent
A report from leading advisory firm CEB, published in August, highlighted that a quarter of graduates leave their first job within a year of starting it with an estimated sunk cost in the UK of £112m in 2013. What can businesses do to retain their graduate talent? Here are my top five tips: 1. Employ the […]
Seven ways to help staff look after their back
The cost of absence and lost productivity due to back injury or pain is a major consideration for many organisations. This week is back care awareness week so here are 7 ways that you can help everyone in your organisation take care of their back every day. 1) Keep everyone moving Sitting still has been […]
The shadow side of leadership – hubris, derailment and overdrive
Dark side characteristics are found in almost everybody’s make up. Anyone working with executives will be aware of how a tough focus can lead to unhelpful behavioural features that strains relationships. There are, of course, steps that leaders can take to minimise the risks resulting from the dark side of leadership. Ashridge’s latest research, The Leadership […]
How businesses can follow best practice when it comes to work experience
While the Office for National Statistics has recorded youth unemployment figures steadily falling, it seems that the number of businesses bemoaning the lack of young people with workplace ready skills isn’t. Research from Barclays found that one-in-five businesses said young people were “not ready” for entry level jobs, with 55 per cent claiming school leavers struggled […]
James Purvis, CERN, on human resources at the world-famous nuclear physics lab
This is the second interview in a two-part series – the first looked at talent acquisition at CERN. 1) Tell us a little about the structure of the HR function at CERN e.g. is there a strategic business partnering focus? Is there a VP that sits on the board? Our HR department has a frontline […]
Why HR needs to take religion seriously
This article is based on the chapter ‘Religion in Organizations: Cognition and Behaviour’ by Gary R.Weaver and Jason M. Stansbury from Religion and Organization Theory: Research in the Sociology of Organizations. HR Zone has exclusive free access to this chapter throughout October. For more information and to read the book chapter click on the link. www.emeraldinsight.com/tk/HRZoneReligion Religiously-influenced behaviour […]
Managers, it’s time to walk the talk on communication skills
Most managers and leaders think they have strong communication skills and that are adept at managing others. Those reporting to them might think otherwise – even if they don’t openly say so. Most of us think we are good at communicating. We don’t know what we don’t know and that is not the best place […]
A new ‘relationship agenda’ for HR?
The Tomorrow Company with other partners including the CIPD recently published a research report called ‘Tomorrow’s Relationships – unlocking value.' This echoes some of the key themes in my book published by Gower in 2013; namely, that risk in relationships is not given the attention it deserves alongside other aspects of business; the need for […]
Addressing bereavement at work – why it’s time for employers to act
Last week Acas launched its good practice guide for businesses on managing bereavement at work. Such guidance is long overdue. How well employees are supported by their employer following a bereavement can be something of a lottery, with some disparities, even within the same organisation, in the way line managers handle bereavement and in the […]
Is it about time we forget Ebbinghaus?
The importance of Ebbinghaus Most Learning and Development professionals know of Hermann Ebbinghaus and the Forgetting Curve that his research developed in the late 1800’s. From a workplace performance perspective, we need to ensure that whatever skills or knowledge that need to be learnt to impact behaviour, gets remembered and can then be applied back […]
How can we approach live online learning to ensure good practice?
With the advancement of technology the benefits of delivering some learning and marketing through webinars and live online learning have become clear over recent years. There are cost savings for organisations and individuals with regards travel, accommodation, facilities and time away from work. The impact of good live online learning, or so-called ‘virtual training’, can […]
