What makes a successful management team?
This piece was written by Alison McSparron-Edwards, founder and managing director of Consultrix. Leaders come in all shapes and sizes. It is important for business owners to recognise this. Although many people have different management and leadership skills, there are qualities that must be identified in order to culminate in a successful management team and therefore […]
Employment law: The risks of offering unpaid internships
This article was written by Joanna Cowie, Senior Associate at SA Law LLP. What can organisations do if they want to offer short-term unpaid work experience placements to graduates without facing the risk of attracting unwelcome attention from HMRC? Once again the controversial issue of unpaid internships has hit the headlines this week with the […]
Five social phenomena that HR should be aware of
This article explores five social phenomena and gives examples of how they may occur in a business setting. If you're interested in this area, you may wish to read the following articles: Twenty emotions and feelings that drive motivation Twenty ways your brain helps you make terrible decisions Decision-bias in HR – are you making […]
Creating a financial rewards package to retain talent
John Styring, MD of Igloo Books, discusses how to create a viable financial incentive package for SMEs that reaps rewards for staff and employers alike. There’s no denying it – money is a key motivator. So it should come as no surprise that, although by no means the only way of keeping a company motivated […]
Decision-bias in HR – are you really making fair decisions?
Read Jan's other articles: What should HR professionals know about neuroscience? How understanding neuroscience can increase the ROI on your training investment What is decision bias? Decision bias is a combination of economics and psychology. Behavioural economics looks at understanding how humans make decisions in reality rather than, as traditional economic theory would assume, completely […]
When does management humour stop being funny?
This article was written by Dr Oliver Mallett, Lecturer in Management at Durham University Business School. The content here is based on research conducted with Dr Robert Wapshott, with funding from the UK's Economics and Social Research Council and will be published in the British Journal of Management. Humour has an important role to play at […]
Book review: “What’s Stopping You Being More Confident?”
This book was reviewed by Deborah Bishop, Director of Work Tree Consulting. Title: What’s Stopping You Being More Confident?Authors: Robert KelseyISBN: 978-0857083098 Introduction When I contacted Jamie at HRZone and offered to do a book review, I had a choice from a list. This book was of interest to me as I have noticed in […]
The importance of employee motivation in training
This article was written by Jason Silberman, marketing director at WalkMe, an interactive online guidance system and engagement platform. Training is one of those terms that elicits a range of responses, depending on the individual. Employees will groan internally, and try to hide the bitterness from their expressions. To them, school was thankfully over, and […]
Top tips – employee engagement in the retail sector
This article was written by Nigel Garrett, Business Development Director at Workplace. In today’s challenging economic climate, the effective engagement of employees in the retail industry is an increasingly vital requirement to maintain exemplary customer service levels and maximise sales. Making employees feel valued and striving to build genuine relationships with them can help retailers to […]
Over a quarter of HR departments are ineffective, say senior HR professionals
Twenty-six percent of senior HR professionals think their HR function is ineffective, according to research released by a management consultancy. Over a third (37 percent) of senior HR professionals feel the purpose and values of their HR function are poorly defined. The research, from Orion Partners, polled 67 HR leaders and senior professionals at both […]
Business lifecycles and the need for different leaders at different times
This article was written by Allison McSparron-Edwards, founder and managing director of Consultrix. The five stages of the corporate life cycle It may seem fairly obvious but as companies grow they appear to follow a corporate life cycle including Creation, Growth, Maturity, Turnaround and Decline. [Kimberley, J. R., Miles, R. 1980., and associates The Organisational […]
Employee RE-engagement… a different kettle of fish?
This article was written by Hugh Tonks, CEO of Thymometrics, which provides constant, real-time monitoring of employee satisfaction over time. External and internal barriers to engagement To paraphrase the opening to Tolstoy’s magnificent Anna Karenina, "All engaged employees are alike; each disengaged employee is disengaged in their own way." To understand this is to recognise […]
Are we all guilty of romancing leadership?
This article was written by Karen Drury, consultant with Maven International (UK) Ltd. “The first myth of management is that it exists. The second myth of management is that success equals skill.”Robert Heller We’ve heard a lot about leadership in the past months – the death of Margaret Thatcher, unrest over Cameron’s leadership and of course, the […]
Contextual search – the future of the recruitment CRM?
Recruitment – tapping into the mine of applicant data This article was written by Tony Conibear, European Business Development Director at Bond International Software. Over the past decade, recruiters have been provided with tools to accumulate vast quantities of information on the skills and job suitability of candidates. However, this increase in both the quantity […]
Twenty ways your brain helps you make terrible decisions
Twenty cognitive biases and how they push you towards illogical decision-making Confirmation Bias The brain’s tendency to give more weight to information that confirms or backs up existing beliefs or theories. This tendency applies to new and existing information. People are also likely to remember and prioritise information from memories that confirm their beliefs. Post-purchase […]
Victimisation and discrimination — important new lessons for employers
This article was written by Jessica Corsi, Partner at UK employment law firm Doyle Clayton. A recent prominent case in which a banker was fired from her job after it was found she was suing her previous employer for sex discrimination brings important lessons for all firms. What happened in Bouabdillah v Commerzbank AG? In […]
An introduction to workplace giving
This article was written by Peter O’Hara, CEO of Workplace Giving UK. At the beginning of the year, the Government launched a consultation on proposals to reform Workplace Giving. This form of charitable giving (also known as Payroll Giving or Give As You Earn) enables employees to donate to charity directly through their pay. Although […]
Employees and social media – managing expectations on the four types of content
Prof. Steven Van Belleghem is author of The Conversation Company and The Conversation Manager (Kogan Page). Follow him on Twitter @StevenVBe. Every company dreams of having a small legion of employee-ambassadors. After all, employees can and do have a huge effect. The company’s reputation gets a positive push. It suddenly becomes easier to find employees. […]
The Engine of Profit: getting the best ROI from your staff
This article was written by Alan Pannett, co-author of Key Skills for Professionals. If you are intent on obtaining stronger ROI from your people, by fine tuning the ‘engine of profit’ in your business, you will need to interpret wisely the five factors identified by David Maister, when he was researching and teaching at Harvard […]
The Emperor Ulrich’s new clothes: re-evaluating the role of HR Business Partners
This article was written by Roger Edwards, SVP and Principal Consultant, Pilat HR Solutions. Amazingly, it’s now over 15 years since Dave Ulrich launched the HR model or concept that would bear his name and the development of centres of excellence and HR Business Partners (HRBPs) have been largely at the centre of HR development […]
