Financial wellbeing – time for businesses to act?
As we move further into 2017 and still counting the cost of our Xmas extravagances, many of us will be watching the pennies. January is traditionally a difficult time for families in the UK. Getting through the month is estimated to be a struggle for one in four adults and it’s a time of year when […]
Who are you under your suit?
Steve Jobs once said that intuition is more powerful than intellect. As it turns out, he was onto something big. And the scientific community backs him up. It seems we’ve been giving intuition far too little respect. “Intuition will tell the thinking mind where to look next.” – Jonas Salk The importance of slowing down […]
Personality at work: are you from the dark side…?
You have both light and dark personality traits If you’re a Star Wars fan you’ll no doubt be familiar with the ‘dark side of the force’, the battle between light and dark with characters drawing power from the mystical dark side. The idea that we can have both light and dark aspects of our personality, […]
Coming to terms with discrimination: how to push past adversity and take control
I was training in London recently and one participant, Jasmine*, mentioned that she had experienced 'horrendous' sexual harassment in her previous workplace that had affected her both mentally and physically. She had lost weight, could not sleep and, at one point, thought she might have been diagnosed with clinical depression if she had consulted a […]
Going beyond the stereotypes: managing employees with Asperger’s
Asperger's syndrome (AS) is a condition occurring in about 1 in 200 of the population. It lies on the autistic spectrum and until recently has been a condition about which little is known in the employment context. What is interesting about AS is that it is both a disability protected by law, and at the […]
“Engagement is about what happens at the actionable step.”
At the recent Engage for Success conference, Dr John Neil, who led the management buyout of logistics and manufacturing company Unipart, said that engagement is about "what happens at the actionable step," highlighting the importance of measuring whether engagement has resulted in a genuine improvement to process or service. He added that growth and productivity […]
How to keep team players engaged
This was authored by Patrick Lencioni with assistance from Steve Turner and Mike Snelling. With the triple whammy of austerity, exiting Europe and its uncertain impact and the need for a government to demonstrate a new type of leadership it’s no wonder that when we at The Table Group consult in organisations we are hearing […]
What makes the ideal team player?
This was authored by Patrick Lencioni with assistance from Steve Turner and Mike Snelling. When it comes to visible team performance we in the UK have seen some amazing examples in recent times. From the history-making season Leicester City FC just completed to the now four-times Tour De France winning Sky team. It makes us […]
Why do good people do bad things?
Over the last few decades, ethical scandals in business have been increasing. This could be due to increased media attention around the issue, or due to an actual increase in the number of occurrences: ultimately, it’s hard to say. After all, there are many factors which can be attributed to the rise in numbers. Digital […]
Infographic: What are the main challenges facing customer support?
It's HR in Retail month on HRZone! We're focusing on all things retail – check out our HR in retail hub to read all our great content! Research into the customer support field in the UK has highlighted a juxtaposition emerging based on the level of importance being placed on contact centres vs the relative […]
How is customer experience affected by employee engagement?
It's HR in Retail month on HRZone! We're focusing on all things retail – check out our HR in retail hub to read all our great content! When it comes to the root causes of customer complaints, evidence demonstrates that it is staff performance that is the biggest culprit. A survey of 3,000 consumers by […]
The stark nature of wisdom – and what you need to know to have more of it
There's so much rich insight coming out of the academic sector that HR professionals need to know. At Academics' Corner we feature the best HR researchers that tell you what they’ve found and what you need to do differently on the back of the research. Get connected to the academic sector through Academics’ Corner and […]
What your voice in the workplace says about you
In business we usually get things done by talking. But how well are you doing this? Kate Laws from people business Connor takes a look at why it’s important to assess your communication and influencing skills at work. When it comes to business, talk isn’t cheap. From the board room to the shop floor, the […]
Politician analysis: Boris Johnson
His heroes are Winston Churchill and the Mayor from Jaws. He has been described as colourful, flamboyant, and unpredictable. His imaginatively offensive comments about many of the world’s political leaders will no doubt be recalled for years to come. Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, or should we say the Rt. Hon Boris Johnson our foreign […]
In praise of procrastination: the good, the bad, the ugly
Are you a procrastination PRO? As a matter of fact, I have never met anyone who never procrastinated in their life, including myself. I write and blog about personal effectiveness and smart working amongst other things, but after accepting Jamie’s [HRZone's editor] offer to write for HRZone about this very topic, I proceeded to postpone […]
How to deal with people you just want to strangle
One of the most common challenges I’m presented with as a behaviourist, is how to handle individuals who exhibit especially challenging behaviours. The fact is that the larger the group of people, the more likelihood there is for conflict and the more likely we are to work with or alongside people that we don’t especially […]
SMEs can learn lessons from Sports Direct scandals
Setting up a business is undoubtedly hard but the relationships in a start-up are often relatively simple – as a business owner you have responsibilities to yourself and to your clients. When your venture starts to really grow, you take on another major responsibility, and that’s to your staff. It’s not just you anymore: it’s […]
Simplify and direct your management style with a ‘step-up mindset’
Type ‘Management Styles’ into Google and you will get over 13 million+ results. Anyone inspiring to become a manager (or existing managers) may very well be overwhelmed by this figure. Question: Where do you start when considering your own management style? Answer: Get the foundations in place. Simplify your management style and find a direction that suits you […]
Adopting European Works Councils to give staff a greater voice
Instilling a culture of strong employee engagement is becoming increasingly important for businesses to retain talent and improve productivity. Andrew Bailey, elected UK representative to the Bilfinger European Works Council, looks at how adopting a European approach to industrial relations can help UK companies deliver greater transparency between senior management and the wider workforce without […]
What can we learn from Olympic silver medals?
It isn’t just world-class athletes who are driven by a desire to come first, to win a Gold medal, to stand on the top step of the podium and to bask in the glory of winning. But in any event, there can only ever be one winner. So one of the key psychological aspects of […]
