How to change habitual behaviour by remodelling your brain
This article was adapted by Amy Brann from her book '‘Make your brain work' and offers insights on how to alter negative behavioural habits which can impact the morale, engagement and trust of the people you work with. This article originally appeared on our sister site TrainingZone. As professionals, do we fully appreciate how tiny differences […]
Paradise Lost? Trust and big business
Trust, like love, makes the world go round. Academic writers and practitioners alike believe that it has significant benefits. Trust can lower costs, as it removes the need for significant monitoring and controls. It encourages customers to return and can give companies 'the benefit of the doubt' – and often precious additional time – when […]
After Condé Nast ends its internship programme, what do companies need to know?
Last week there were reports that Condé Nast, whose titles include Vogue and GQ, would be ending its internship programme in the US after being sued by two former interns. In the UK, the fashion industry was given a sharp warning last year when HMRC cracked down on unpaid schemes, and in June 2013 it […]
The talent retention war is real – and you’re losing
The war for talent is a hot, hot game — and your current policies may be leading top professionals to say sayonara to you and your organization. According to recent studies, the average employee turnover rate is predicted to rise from 20.6 percent in 2012 to 23.4 percent by 2018. This represents 192 million separations. […]
Doing business in Germany – cultural considerations for HR
The Federal Republic of Germany is the European Union’s most populous country, the EU’s largest economy and the world’s fourth largest economy. According to the IMF, Germany has achieved a GDP of $US3.4 trillion in 2011, and enjoys a relatively low unemployment rate of 5.7% which is significantly lower than most EU countries. Germany’s economy […]
Finding the X Factor – the neuroscience of presence
You will have experienced the feeling of a person, maybe a leader, shop assistant or friend who is completely focused on you and your needs. Their level of connection is palatable. For me it is best summed up in the words of a West African greeting, ‘Sawa bona,’ which translates to ‘I see you.’ The […]
A recipe for successful onboarding – and a handy onboarding checklist
Put yourself in the shoes of a new recruit in your organisation. You’re starting your dream job and you’re very slightly nervous. After all, it’s your first day and you want to make a good impression. So far, it’s been fairly easy…your offer letter told you to report to the Human Resources Office and you […]
So how do you enhance your impact on your firm’s strategy?
Managers we come across in our work who are involved in the strategy process of their organisations are often curious to know whether their own approach is sufficiently ‘strategic’ and whether they could or should be doing it differently. This curiosity reveals a lack of awareness of how strategy is done elsewhere, something Gary Hamel […]
Putting employees in control of their personal development
Organisations invest enormous amounts of time, effort and money in the personal development of employees, yet results are patchy at best. Is it time to hand control back to the employees themselves? The process of personal development, with its objectives, support structures, training tools, feedback sessions and reviews can be painful. Even mature businesses with […]
Leadership development is not working. Here’s why…
If your reaction to my rather controversial title was to want to close the internet page and go do something else you are probably having an avoidance reaction! Your brain experienced the title as a threat. You probably felt you really don’t want to read about this but as a professional you decided to scan the […]
Employment law timeline and changes 2013 and 2014
In the past couple of years we have witnessed a sea-change in UK employment law, for example the increase in the qualifying period of continuous employment to claim unfair dismissal to two years, the introduction of fees for the first time in the employment tribunal and the new concept of settlement agreements which have replaced […]
Six steps to build cast-iron resilience
Personal resilience – simply expressed as our ability to deal with everyday challenges and maintain a positive state of resourcefulness – is influenced by two factors: how we feel physically and how we feel mentally. The issue for many people is that their approach to maintaining a resilient state is reactive rather than proactive. We’re […]
The Age of Individualism – meeting the 21st century’s big HR challenge
The world of work is evolving rapidly and the companies that understand the changes that this brings will be the winners of the future. The way organisations think about how employees are engaged with the aims of the organisation has changed radically in the last 50 years after remaining essentially static for the industrial age […]
Talent acquisition and HR should be at the heart of M&As
M&As are common – 111 M&As took place in the UK in the second quarter of 2013 alone[1] – yet there is no one-size fits all formula to ensure smooth transitions. M&A is time-consuming and stressful and it is only by placing Talent Acquisition at the heart of M&A that the maximum value can be […]
A guide to creating employment ads that stick to the rules
Recruitment can be a huge task, and when you’re looking for new candidates you want to be as pro-active as possible. Effective job ads are key to attracting the right candidates, and in a highly competitive market a good ad can make your job spec stand out from the crowd. It’s fine to use your […]
Interview: Alistair Rennie, Managing Director of Foosle.com
Is recruitment going through a crisis and if so, why? There is a crisis but it’s nothing new. For a long time, the recruitment industry has failed to evolve in line with the on-going challenges faced by employers and candidates. The industry has been sluggish about dealing with the frustrations employers have had for years: […]
What is a ‘mentally healthy workplace’?
We have been working with mental health charity Mind on a series of articles exploring mental health in the workplace. Take a look at the full content series today to get insight and advice on how to improve mental wellbeing throughout your organisation. As part of Mind’s Taking Care of Business campaign, we often highlight the importance […]
Can your leaders achieve change? Here’s what the data says
Most companies are going through change of some type and some sectors are experiencing unprecedented transformational change; that is change that shifts the underlying assumptions and norms of the way the organisation and even the industrial sector operates. We wanted to understand how leaders were perceived to be doing in leading this change and their […]
Employee engagement is about more than just a survey
I work with many organisations that have made a significant investment in money and resources, over multiple years on large unwieldy surveys producing tons of data but making very little impact on increasing or sustaining engagement. Engagement surveys are a useful and valuable diagnostic, they take a ‘temperature check’ of the organisation at point […]
Financial services & manufacturing leaders ‘worst in UK’
The Financial Services and Manufacturing industries have the weakest leaders in the UK, according to a detailed study released this morning by Head Heart + Brain, a leadership development consultancy. To gauge the standard of leadership in different industries, Head Heart + Brain commissioned a poll of more than 2,000 people which asked UK workers […]
