Have your say on the state of financial wellbeing in UK workplaces today

How is your business tackling the damaging impact of employee money worries? Take part in our survey and receive must-know insights from our follow-up report on the state of financial wellbeing in the UK today. Money worries can have a powerful and detrimental effect on health, wellbeing, productivity, performance, interpersonal connection and more. But how […]

The borrowing behaviours of your employees: what you need to know

As an increasing number of working people find themselves in debt, it’s ever more important for employers to understand the borrowing habits of their people, so that they can offer the right support. Many people in the UK will have borrowed money at some point throughout their lives. But we are increasingly seeing evidence to […]

Sexual harassment: why employers need to listen and learn from #MeToo

One year on from the start of the #MeToo movement, the problem of sexual harassment is considered by many to continue to plague the workplace. What more needs to be done by employers?  In a recent report from the Young Women’s Trust, almost a quarter (23%) of females aged between 16 and 30 reported being […]

Office pets: the best first impression you can make?

An office pet not only boosts morale and helps reduce stress – it can also be good for a company’s bottom line, too.  Time is a precious commodity and one that few of us would ever say we have enough of. It is estimated that we spend as much as 70% of our waking hours […]

Behavioural science: joined-up brain dots for the joined-up HR professional

Didn’t get the chance to attend CIPD’s 2018 Behavioural Science at Work Conference and Workshop? We’ve got you covered – here’s a round up of the key themes, topics and takeaways from the event. Behavioural Science is safely established on the business agenda and established too with its annual place on the CIPD events calendar. I […]

Why showing up as the best version of yourself will help your career

Feeling the pressure to fit in? Here are eight steps to help you show up as the best version of yourself. “I just didn’t fit in. I felt awkward, uncomfortable and different, somehow marginalised in the meeting. I really want to talk about it.” These were the initial words that a client shared with me at her […]

Leadership tips: why managers must put ‘care’ at the heart of their people strategy

Economic volatility, rapid technological change and political uncertainty have created a challenging environment for business in recent years, which is why the issue of care is more important than ever before when it comes to managing employees. Care in business? Why in a business context, would we need to mention care? At first glance this […]

HR technology: an interview with Marc Coleman, CEO and Founder of UNLEASH

Ahead of UNLEASH World Conference & Expo 2018, we caught up with Marc Coleman, CEO and Founder of UNLEASH, to find out what’s been happening in the HR tech space over the past year and how HR should be preparing for the future. We spoke with you a year ago ahead of 2017’s HR Tech […]

Is there gender bias in your leadership, talent and promotion criteria?

Research shows that women need to work harder, smarter and for longer than men to get appointed into leadership roles. In order to break away from this deeply ingrained bias towards male leaders, businesses need to reassess their process and criteria for promoting talent. According to Cranfield University 29 per cent of FTSE 100 directors (executive and […]

The four-day work week: tips for a smooth transition

Earlier this month, the TUC called for a four-day working week. But can businesses realistically make this transition? Jade Beddington, Senior Account Director at Radioactive PR, tells the story of how the agency she works for has reduced its working days without cutting pay – something that was put into play just before the TUC […]

Predictive people analytics: how is it impacting the way we manage people?

Predictive people analytics is changing how we manage people. But how exactly? Although the emergence of people analytics in HR is increasingly well documented, how it changes day-to-day practices for HR professionals and managers has been little explored. To learn more about the impact of analytics on how people are managed, and the changing role […]

Gender pay gap reporting – now what?

It’s been six months since the Gender Pay Gap reporting deadline – and we’re all familar with the findings. But beyond the reporting, what steps should businesses be taking to get more women into higher paid roles? On the 4th April 2018, over 10,000 companies provided mandatory data on their gender* pay gap based on six key calculations. […]

How unconscious bias means that we get in our own way

Are women’s own unconscious biases stopping them from pursuing what they truly want in their lives? Businesses are certainly beginning to understand how unconscious bias means that some groups of people may have to ‘jump higher’ for certain roles within their companies. What is talked about less is another, more internalised, form of bias. The […]

Why leaders need to put on their oxygen mask and take care of themselves

If leaders don’t look after their own wellbeing first and foremost, they won’t have the capacity to care for their people and organisation properly. It might seem counter-intuitive, in a world where ‘servant-leadership’ is widely recognised as a concept, to write an article about why leaders need to look after themselves. This article came about […]

Tame your inner-critic: how self-criticism limits employee productivity

Do you have an inner critic? Here’s how your negative, self-doubting thoughts can play out in the workplace and impact productivity. Over the past ten years of working with employees at different points in their career (leaders and managers included), it has struck me that we all experience, to some degree at some point in […]

Work/life balance: why checking emails on holiday is bad for business

Our latest research revealed that 65% of respondents admitted to checking work emails while on holiday, with various degrees of frequency, and 75% said they have taken or made a work call while on leave. The higher up the organisation you are the more likely you are to be ‘checking-in’, with only 19% of senior […]

Employees who keep their smartphone close by are reducing their brain power

At Academics’ Corner we explore the latest HR research coming out of the academic sector that HR professionals need to know about. Here, Jan Hills, Partner at Head Heart + Brian, outlines a study that shows how the proximity of smartphones can impact performance at work. We all know how annoying it can be when someone keeps looking at their […]

Employee engagement: decoding social media for the workplace

Social media is an all-pervasive part of modern life, but HR teams are still struggling to keep up with the pace and develop an organisational approach to it.  You only have to look around to see how widespread social media has become. From sharing updates on the train to posting pictures while on holiday – […]

HR leadership: boosting inclusivity in your workplace

After years of hiding my own disabilities from employers, I’ve come to realise that employers can play a vital role in helping employees embrace their personal challenges and create a more inclusive place to work. As an IT contractor going from job to job, I always worried that I would miss out on a contract […]

Growth mindset: elegant theory or robust intervention?

‘Growth mindset’ initiatives have once again become a hot topic in HR circles, but not all organisations are getting it right.  Growth mindset theory, the belief that you can develop your intelligence and abilities, is appealing and seductively simple, but, just because it works in education, does that make it viable for the workplace? The answer is […]