NHS and employee engagement – what works?
Employee engagement is increasingly being seen as a priority by employers. Nowhere more so than in the NHS. Research has shown that NHS Trusts which effectively engage their employees have higher levels of staff wellbeing and more satisfied patients; they have better clinical outcomes and they are more efficient. It’s increasingly clear that engagement is […]
Social recruitment to find top talent
The upsurge in social media use continues to promote the growth of online communities around the world. For businesses today, the expanding role that these channels play in peoples’ daily lives has made them increasingly attractive talent harvesting tools. We spend more time than ever on social networks, and forward-thinking businesses looking to capitalise on […]
“The HR department is not on my side.”
There was an interesting thread recently on social sharing site reddit. The author asked: “What's the biggest incorrect fact you've always believed and insisted you were right, until you learnt how wrong you were?” There were some very interesting responses. Did you know, for example, that all different tastes can be detected on all parts […]
Gender bias in HR recognition programmes
Recognition is a key tool for driving engagement and can range from a simple ‘thank you’ to a large financial bonus. However if it is to be effective, HR teams need to understand what drives behaviours and align these with the desired organisational goals. Compelling evidence exists that points to clear differences between how men […]
25 useful business travel apps for HR
The modern business traveller doesn't have to rely on flight numbers written on bits of paper or printing out maps as there are lots of apps to help make a trip go smoothly. With our sister communities BusinessZone and AccountingWEB, we asked our social media followers for their business travel app recommendations. We've also suggested […]
Meeting the mobile recruitment challenge
According to the Mobile Operators Association, the use of mobile phones by UK adults has soared over the past decade and a half. In 2000, just half of UK adults had a mobile phone – in 2013 that figure stands at 94%. Consumers are hugely connected to their devices, and recruiters need to be aware […]
Building HR readiness – are you ready?
Frank M. Horwitz is Professor of Global HRM specialising in emerging markets. He is Director of the Cranfield School of Management’s Executive MSc Programme in International Human Resource Management. He has lived and worked on four continents. Human Resource Readiness – what is it? How ready are our people to create customer value in a […]
Talent Identification – a never ending evolution
For the first time in nearly a decade the issues of retention, engagement and attraction of talent will rise to the top of the talent management agenda and unsurprisingly the demands for top quality leadership will feature strongly in the mix. With global economies showing signs of growth, opportunities for employees to move on are […]
What the HR profession can learn from the advertising industry
Two different worlds with two very different outlooks. But that’s why advertising has interesting insights to offer the enlightened HR professional. Even the hard-drinking, chain-smoking, misogynist world of 1960s advertising from the classic American series, Mad Men, has something to teach the HR profession of today. Kodak visit the agency to discuss their innovative new […]
Social media screening – is it ethical?
Social media is one of the most popular forms of communication in the 21st century, with over 1.6 billion monthly users. Anyone can connect with anyone else, or find out information about them that may not otherwise be available. Social media and recruitment With this in mind, it was only a matter of time before […]
Special Air Service – what can HR learn from the elite British Army regiment?
This article was written by Joff Sharpe, who spent time as an officer in the SAS. He has also been Group HRD of the Trinity Mirror Group and HRD for PepsiCo. After Piers Morgan hired me as HR Director, he found out that I had been in the SAS, and he thought it was pretty […]
Risk appetite – to hire exceptional candidates, we must tolerate uncertainty
You’re down to the final two candidates, Steady and Star, for a high-stakes job. By now they’ve been through a number of exercises which reflect a thought-through person specification. Choose Steady and there’s good evidence existing performance will be sustained but dramatic improvement is unlikely. Choose Star and the organisation could improve radically, but it […]
The cost of procrastination
In some ways, as a supplier, I still consider myself a relative newbie to the HR and L&D circuit. With that said, I’ve been a client and internal key stakeholder for many years so can, I believe, offer a beneficial perspective on a widespread malaise common in dealing with HR Professionals – PROCRASTINATION – with […]
France moves to ban out-of-hours working
Dan Pink says that mastery and autonomy are key to employee productivity, so will banning work emails after 6pm – in an effort to improve work-life balance – actually harm engagement and success? France has just introduced rules to protect roughly a million people in the digital and consultancy sectors from receiving work email outside […]
Competent individuals – at risk from social undermining?
Complexity is everywhere in the business world today. Businesses struggle with issues such as global interconnectedness, sustainability, hyper-competition and pervasive organisational change. And naturally, we all believe that the more skilled and competent our workforce, the more able we are to manage these issues successfully. We never focus on competence As HR professionals and managers, […]
Are line managers doing performance management or forms management?
How’s this for a performance management scenario: It’s mid-February and a manager in your organisation bursts into an employee’s office. “HR’s getting really annoyed. I was supposed to submit everyone’s performance plan no later than the end of January. Here’s your plan from last year. The work hasn’t really changed and you’re doing a great […]
The Neuroscience of Interviewing – Part 2
This article is the second of a two-part series. View the first article: The Neuroscience of Interviewing – Part 1 Welcome back. I am so glad to see you again and that you have chosen to continue our dialogue. You will remember from our last meeting that we explored the topics of growth and fixed […]
Interview: Gerry Wyatt, Operations Director, graduate-jobs.com
1. What are today’s graduates looking for from modern employers? To be honest, I don’t think the fundamentals of what the majority of graduates are looking for have changed all that much over the years. They’re eager to start their career and discover the working world, and the typical graduate is looking to do so […]
Corporate psychopaths and mental health
This article was written by Clive Boddy and Derek Miles. Clive and Derek are, respectively, Professors in Leadership and Human Resource Development at Middlesex University Business School. You can email them at c.boddy@mdx.ac.uk or d.miles@mdx.ac.uk. In relation to a previous article in HR Zone on how corporate psychopaths influenced the workplace, one commentator on the […]
Lean meetings – bringing agility to your business meetings
We’ve all participated in a “bad” meeting – they’re all too common in the corporate world today. But, why do good meetings go bad? Often, it’s due to the way a meeting is structured: too many agenda items, or a vague agenda. Maybe you joined because the boss called the meeting, and you felt compelled […]
