What do we do next? The only leadership question you need to ask
Andrew’s insight in this article is based on three years spent with the Royal Navy, examining their attitudes and. From this experience he wrote a book, Royal Navy Way of Leadership. Every time we put ourselves in dangerous situations there are leadership lessons to be learned. Mountaineering and military operations are some of the best places […]
Inappropriate workplace relationships: a job for the CIA?
How do the French people feel about the Francois Hollande affair? While recent polls showed that one in eight French people take the view that the matter is a private affair for M Hollande and his family (and therefore a non-issue, never mind a scandal), members of the EU are taking the view that with […]
UN International Day of Happiness – what does it mean to be happy at work?
Did you know there’s a dedicated word in the Scandinavian languages for the concept of being happy at work? In Danish, the word is: arbejdsglaede. Wonder what this says about the working culture of the Danes that they have such a word and we don’t? Today is the United Nations International Day of Happiness, an […]
Budget 2014 – what does it mean for HR?
George Osborne said that today’s Budget was made for building a resilient economy – a Budget designed for makers, doers and savers. The BBC’s Robert Peston said it felt like a ‘very Tory Budget.’ Overall, the GDP forecast is expected to grow by 2.7% in 2014 and 2.3% next year, then 2.6% in 2016 and […]
Technology alone moves no mountains – HR must understand this
Building a boat without a bottom In the past, enterprises have been guilty of simply trying to buy performance increases. One of the biggest money-sinks in this vein has been software, with decision makers often at fault for pumping money into expensive products without doing the correct research or installing the right infrastructure around it. […]
Why reward is so important for ‘Best Companies’
As the Sunday Times publishes the 2014 showcase of ‘best companies to work for’, there is no doubt that engagement is good for employees, good for business and good for the economy. A read of the rigorous research outlined in ‘The Evidence’ [PDF, 1.1mb] paper from the Employee Engagement Task Force will confirm the link […]
Covert recordings – admissible as evidence?
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has held that secret recordings of private deliberations made in the course of grievance and disciplinary proceedings can be admissible in evidence. There has been a steady stream of EAT level decision in this area, and this case, Punjab National Bank (International) Ltd & ors v Ms S Gosain UKEAT/0003/14/SM, […]
Bill Gates: “Robots are about to take your job.”
Bill Gates has said that software automation will replace a lot of jobs within 20 years. The billionaire, who founded computer giant Microsoft in 1975, was talking in Washington DC at economic think tank The American Enterprise Institute. He said that technology would reduce demand for jobs, particularly at the lower end of the skill […]
Mental illness at work – a manager’s guide
Mental health literacy is the extent to which lay people are able to recognise mental illnesses in people that they meet in daily life. Whilst we know that people are pretty good at spotting stress or even depression they are much less able to recognize schizophrenia or identify a personality disorder in a colleague. Improving […]
Eight strategies to improve quality and balance in life
Regularly we read news stories about how many hours staff work beyond those they are contracted for. It’s claimed that one in five employees in the UK regularly worked unpaid overtime last year, worth over £33bn pounds to the economy. There’s even a day dedicated to working your proper hours, which this year was February […]
Engage and retain staff in 2014 and beyond
It’s a common misconception that an individual’s performance at work is based solely on just their capability. Whilst possessing the right skills and abilities is important, in today’s competitive business world, it is based on so much more than this. The silent threat of ghost turnover The period of economic recession played host to […]
Mobile manners – make sure you’re minding yours!
A while ago I was doing some work in Geneva and talking to one of the participants in my group about the importance of the relationship with their line manager. She looked at me rather sadly and said “Well my line manager certainly doesn’t value or respect me.” I asked her for an example of […]
Wellbeing at work – new report looks at how far we’ve come and where we’re going
What are leading companies doing on employee well-being and health at work? What have been the key developments in the last year on important topics such as employee engagement and mental health? These questions are answered in the latest report from Good Day at Work, who each year compile in-depth analysis and insight from some […]
Onshoring and employee engagement – is there a link?
Over the past few decades China has become the manufacturing centre of the world, but a trend that started in the US is filtering to UK shores as businesses are starting to bring their manufacturing bases back home. This on-shoring shift in business behaviour is of course great news for the UK economy, and has […]
Interview: Adrian Furnham, Professor of Psychology, UCL
Q: Can you outline what staff go through during times of upheaval and turbulence? Those made redundant or even moved to a new position often experience a well known shock cycle. There are many version of this stage-wise or cycle theory based on the death and dying literature. There are different, but related concepts or […]
Outsourced HR: valuable or suffering from performance issues?
The rise of process outsourcing There has been a boom in recent years within the business process outsourcing (BPO) market, with an increasing number of organisations outsourcing or offshoring functions to specialist agencies in an attempt to drive efficiency during the global economic crisis. For HR departments, administratively burdensome tasks were the first in line […]
LIVE COVERAGE: CIPD HR Analytics 2014 conference
How can you better use people metrics in your organisation? What do you need to know about HR analytics and what it will bring to business? On Wednesday February 12th these questions will be answered at the CIPD’s HR Analytics Conference 2014, held near King’s Cross, London. HRZone will be in attendance and will be […]
Emotional Intelligence – the dark side is in the detail, not the concept
In response to the very interesting article by Adam Grant entitled ‘The Dark Side of Emotional Intelligence.’ It’s true when people get to know their emotional capacity and understand their own emotions they can use them more effectively for both good or bad. However… Emotional intelligence (EI) is a tool used to build communication skills […]
Early Conciliation – what does it mean for employers?
Anne Sharp, Chief Executive at workplace experts Acas, explains how the introduction of a new service called Early Conciliation in April this year will change how workplace disputes are dealt with in future. From 6 April this year anyone thinking of making an employment tribunal claim will need to contact Acas first. We will then […]
Global business growth jeopardised by lack of adaptability
The results of Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2014 were just released. The main finding is a significant gap between the talent and leadership challenges that organisations face and their readiness and ability to respond. A majority (86%) of the 2500 business and HR leaders surveyed recognised the need to take action on critical issues […]
