Securing HR’s place at the strategy ‘top table’
Business strategy matters. It is an organisation’s means of laying out its mission, its values and objectives, as well as being the key to unlocking growth. Everyone's role within an organisation is influenced by the direction of its strategy – what they do, what they don't do, and how they do it. Successful strategy requires […]
Do employees have to be paid for ‘sleepovers’ and travelling time?
Summary: The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) recently clarified the correct approach to determining what hours are to be paid at the minimum rate of the National Minimum Wage (NMW). The EAT found that a claimant who had to perform ‘sleepovers’ in the homes of care service users was entitled to the NMW for all the […]
What’s the most embarrassing mistake you have made at work?
Yesterday concrete accidentally leaked into the control room of the Victoria Line, leaving tens of thousands of rush-hour commuters trying to find another route home. Nigel Holness, Operations Director for London Underground, said that contractors had been working in an area next to the Victorial line signal control room. He said: "These works involved the use […]
HR departments – are they user friendly?
No one can argue that the role of HR is extremely complex, providing a wealth of services from aligning the workforce with business strategy to supporting new employees with induction enrolment. How an organisation’s community perceives HR will greatly depend on many things, but for me the top three are: What does HR stand for, […]
State of wellbeing and productivity in the financial sector
New research produced by the Bank Workers Charity in partnership with Robertson Cooper has identified that the financial sector need to recognise and prioritise the impact that non-work pressures are having on employees and in turn on the organisations themselves. The findings show that financial worries, caring responsibilities and concerns about the future are all […]
How to ask for a promotion or pay rise
January is typically a good time to review business strategies and plans, and set personal goals for the next 12 months. For many companies, it is also the time of year when performance reviews are conducted and potential pay raises considered. Salary review requests are not to be undertaken lightly, and discussions around pay rises […]
Applying Gladwell’s “10,000 hour rule” to advances in HR technology
In Malcolm Gladwell's 2008 bestseller Outliers, the popular author known for his provocative assertions supported by memorable anecdotes and scientific research (some might say cherry-picked research) introduced the "10,000 hour rule.” The rule posits that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert and likely very successful at anything. He gives examples […]
How can HR support managers in helping their teams support change?
In the second of two articles on change, Valerie Nichols explains how HR practitioners can support managers in helping their teams to ride the waves of change and avoid a wipe out. Read the first article on handling resistance to change. Any manager in your organisation who is trying to implement change will probably have […]
Interview: Ann Francke, Chief Executive, Chartered Management Institute
Why is the pay gap still prevalent when more and more women are in the workplace? In this practical report, Cherie Blair CBE and Ann Francke explain why and – more importantly – what you can do about it. 1. How are employers’ expectations of managers changing? One of the biggest expectations of managers today […]
Night work ‘throws body into chaos’
Researchers have warned that night shifts throw the body ‘into chaos’ and could cause long-term damage. Scientists at the Sleep Research Centre in Surrey said that the scale, speed and severity of damage caused by wakefulness at night was a surprise. They said that night work has profound effects on the body, altering everything from […]
What is open innovation and what can it do for business peformance?
What is open innovation? The theme of innovation is nothing new, but ‘open innovation,’ – where organisations look beyond traditional company boundaries for inspiration and new ideas – is a relatively new concept, and it’s something HR Directors should be taking notice of. The concept of open innovation originated, like so much modern business practices, […]
Changing world of work must drive management makeover
Management needs a makeover if optimism is to fuel long-term growth and companies are to prepare effectively for the future business landscape, said the Chartered Management Institute recently. CMI’s survey of 750 of the UK’s top leaders identified where managers will need to excel by the end of the decade if the UK economy is […]
The formula for an antidote to Blue Monday
Blue Monday; January 20th 2014, officially the most depressing day of the year. A gloomy combination of poor weather, the arrival of Christmas credit card statements, still a while to pay day, already failing New Year’s resolutions… This is also the time of year when most people feel dissatisfied at work and, if they’re not […]
Will 2014 be the year of innovation for HR?
January is traditionally a month for both personal and professional resolutions. Unlike the personal promises currently being made to join the gym, start a diet or break a bad habit, the workplace is crying out for cast-iron commitments from their employees. Can you imagine what could be achieved if we entered the new year with […]
How unconscious bias impacts on training design
HRZone will be exhibiting at Learning Technologies on January 29th and 30th at Olympia 2 in London. The exhibition, which brings together leading companies in the training and HR sphere, is completely free to attend, and there's a paid-for conference programme that offers insight from thought leaders in the L&D sphere. Topics to be explored […]
Doing business in Russia – cultural considerations for HR
The Russian Federation is the world’s largest country, stretching across the northeast of Europe and the north of Asia. Russia borders fourteen other countries and is situated across eight separate time zones. It experiences some of the world’s harshest weather, with winter temperatures plunging to an average low in Moscow of -10C in February and […]
How Netflix reinvented HR
Sheryl Sandberg, COO at Facebook, called this document one of the most important to ever come out of Silicon Valley. Written by Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, and colleagues, the document sets out the techniques used to shape culture and motivate high performance at TV-on-demand company Netflix Warning: some of the ideas are out there. […]
Government-backed mediation pilots – one year in
One year in, Anna Shields, Director of Consensio, looks at how successful a Government-backed mediation scheme has been to date. In June 2012, the Government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) launched and funded a pilot project to increase the use of mediation in the workplace. The long-term aim of this initiative was to […]
Sixth sense a myth, heightened awareness a truth
New research suggests people can reliably detect a change in their surroundings, even if they cannot accurately describe what the change was. The research suggests the ability is due to cues picked up from conventional senses such as sight. Because it has been little understood in the past, it has formed a key part of […]
Love thy colleague, says new study
New research suggests that the more love co-workers feel at work, the more engaged they are. I should point out that this is companionate love, not romantic love – productivity will not increase if the workplace becomes a free-loving commune (actually, I don’t know that. Perhaps it would?) Companionate love is based on warmth, affection […]
