Onboarding: why new starters need a ‘travel guide’
Joining a new company can be a bit like entering a foreign country, so how can we better translate the new language, customs and traditions for new starters during the onboarding process? When we go on holidays to a different country, we usually take a travel guide with us. We want to know the basics […]
Is your team suffering from innovation stress?
As more businesses seek to transform and disrupt, the under-explored phenomenon of innovation stress is likely to increase. To mark National Stress Awareness Month 2019, we shine a spotlight on the detrimental impact of pushing employees to innovate without clear guidance. Although others have used the term ‘innovation stress’ before me, it is not a […]
Recruitment: four common hiring mistakes and how to avoid them
When hiring new candidates, employers need to carry out their due diligence checks – but there are a number of things that can go wrong. Here’s how to avoid them. Performing background checks on candidates is a crucial part of the hiring process for many employers. However, it can also be complex, especially when it […]
Leading the savings revolution: why it’s time to change perceptions on pensions
This April saw total minimum auto-enrolment contributions rise from 5% to 8%. While this is a step in the right direction for turning the dial on pensions, we must not get complacent in our efforts to change perceptions on saving for the future. Since its introduction in 2012, auto-enrolment has slowly increased its impact on […]
Stress Awareness Month: managing stress in a modern ‘always on’ work environment
With technology and an always-on culture contributing to our highly stressed workforce, Stress Awareness Month is the perfect time for HR professionals to remind themselves of the multi-faceted approach to combatting stress among employees. In the modern world of work there are times when we need to work outside of our normal hours; meaning early mornings, late […]
The future of HR: from human resources to human revolutionaries
Artificial intelligence may be able to take on certain tasks in the workplace, but human soft skills will always be in demand – it’s up to HR to champion and support them. The tech revolution dominates most conversations about the changing face of our world and, inevitably, business. The consequence of digital transformation is that the […]
Disability discrimination at work: how to protect your business and employees
Disability discrimination is still a widespread problem, and there’s much that can be done to address this. Here, we outline how to help protect your business from accusations of disability discrimination. Under the Equality Act 2010, it is illegal for employers to discriminate against someone on the basis of their race, religion, sex, disability, sexual […]
Leadership: confidence is king when it comes to crowning successful leaders
A lack of confidence is a career killer for those in leadership positions, so it’s essential that others see you as confident if you want to get ahead, according to new research. Confidence is a critical state for leaders. Whilst competency criteria may not explicitly require it, confidence is the prerequisite for success. An apparent […]
Soft skills: how different perceptions impact workplace conflict
Workplace conflicts are often about differences in perception. Getting around this is about figuring out how to reconcile the two perspectives. Interpersonal conflict at work is surprisingly common and yet this can be a difficult fact to swallow, for employees and managers alike. Where is the conflict coming from? What is fueling it? What can […]
Solving the flight risk issue: can people analytics tell the difference between employees, inmates and livestock?
The way we use people analytics to track the movements and behaviours of employees has alarming similarities to the way farmers monitor herds and prison officers guard their convicts. Below is a compelling argument for why this needs to change in order to drive more positive outcomes for both employees and businesses. By Max Blumberg and James […]
Pursuing talent: how existing employees can help you recruit
Data will be at the heart of future recruitment decision making as organisations harness the powerful insights they hold on their databases. Every organisation regards talent acquisition and retention as vital to its success, get it right and the business could be on the right path for future growth, but get it wrong and the […]
Disconnecting belonging from exclusion to create workplace harmony
Is there an untethered link between belonging and exclusion? And, if so, how can we break apart these polarities to create truly inclusive workplaces? I have a problem with the idea of belonging. Why? Because belonging is almost always defined by its polar opposite: excluding. Most of the time, our sense of belonging is defined […]
Disappointing gender pay gap results: it’s time for a fundamental cultural shift
With no significant improvement in the gender pay gap between 2017 and 2018, it’s time for employers to radically change their approach to building a diverse workplace in order to make progress in the coming year. “Imagine a workplace where women don’t have to spend extra, or any, energy fighting for fair pay or defending […]
Leadership: why HR has a responsibility to build a sense of belonging among employees
It’s been proven that individuals and teams perform best in environments where they feel a sense of belonging. Leadership teams should be doing everything they can to help encourage this. A mountain of research spanning almost 200 years and looking across multiple cultures and contexts demonstrates beyond doubt that the single biggest predictor of our […]
‘Do I belong here?’ The question potential employees are asking themselves
Employers need go far beyond the tick-box exercise of recruiting diverse talent to develop a dynamically rich and inclusive workplace culture. Making employees feel like they belong within your business may be the answer, but what does this actually entail? Diversity and inclusion experts have long sought to diversify the attraction and recruitment process. Unconscious bias […]
Three ways to develop a sense of belonging in the workplace
Within any organisation, the need to feel like part of a team and to develop a sense of belonging is a vital to ensuring a comfortable working environment, and to a certain extent, increasing productivity. Whether you’re a new starter though, or simply joining a new team within a company that you’ve worked in […]
How to measure and improve your employee experience
What defines and differentiates your company’s employee experience? Knowing how to engage your existing staff and attract new ones is vital when creating an environment people are proud to be part of. Every organisation has a unique employee experience, and to improve this means rethinking more than just tools and processes. It’s important to consider the […]
Why companies need to open up the dialogue around diversity
Creating a workplace culture that is truly diverse is not about ticking the ‘right’ boxes, it requires a shift in the way organisations communicate with their staff, HR teams and new recruits. Workplace diversity isn’t about recruiting a bunch of people from different backgrounds. That’s just a diversity of faces, and only leads to employees having to […]
Five simple stages to creating a wellbeing strategy that drive positive business results
It is said that people are the backbone of any successful business, and employee wellbeing initiatives are now considered a ‘boardroom priority’. But in order to get results from your wellbeing efforts, it’s important to have a cohesive plan that’s built around the needs of your business. Encouraging your colleagues to lead healthy and fulfilling […]
How to create a healthy feedback culture
The giving and receiving of constructive feedback should be embedded into workplace practice, but to succeed it requires a culture built on self-compassion. The importance of developing a feedback culture at work and how it supports professional growth is often discussed, yet still not fully understood. One of the reasons it’s so hard to achieve is because for […]
