SMEs can learn lessons from Sports Direct scandals

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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’

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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

ryanking999

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?

caitlin_cahill

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 […]

How to strike fear into your team and alienate colleagues

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This article is not about putting shackles on personality but it is about understanding what is, and definitely what is not, appropriate behaviour for a manager to exhibit in the workplace. Being a manager is a tough job. When you want to say something, instead of blurting it out you need to consider the impact […]

Politician analysis: Donald Trump

andykatz

Donald John Trump, the man that Barack Obama has recently labelled “unfit” to be president of the US could potentially hold that very office on Tuesday November 8th 2016. We ask, how does a man who is widely reported to be brash, rude and more than a little economical with the truth, get to be […]

Essential presentation skills for introverts

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Those of us who try to go through life unnoticed will often panic at the thought of having to give a presentation. It doesn’t matter if it’s to a small board, a book-club, or a major conference audience with hundreds of people, we simply don’t like having to get in front of a group of […]

Helping employees manage their emotional investment

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Some jobs require a great deal of emotional investment, such as being front of house with the necessity to be perpetually polite and perky. But what does it cost the said staff member to put up this façade day in and day out? Are they simply soaking up negativity like a sponge with long-term impacts upon […]

Personality in sport: British Olympians on and off the field

dagdurrichphotography

As the Olympic Games opening ceremony draws near, the world is immersing themselves in the details about the athletes that are representing their countries and latching on to their favourites. Scanning the competitor pool, it’s easy to see there are as many different individual personalities types represented in the games as there are countries. Looking […]

Getting to day 1: HR’s crucial role in the E.ON carve-out

michael_luhrenberg

Corporate transformations may be increasingly common, but that’s little consolation to those charged with executing them. E.ON’s recent split into two companies was about as complex a transformation as one can imagine, with an almost impossible timetable. The results speak volumes about the importance of good strategy, planning, and execution.  They also serve as an […]

Breakfast Insight: A Simple Model of Motivation

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Breakfast Insight is your short dose of new ideas and food for thought, perfect to watch with your morning coffee. Today we're chatting to Carole Gaskell, founder of Full Potential Group. Contact or ask Carole a question on Twitter at @fullpotentialgr. Carole tells us about: The 'motivation as energy' argument – our 'inner fire' Why helping […]

Breakfast Insight: Talent breadth v depth

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Breakfast Insight is your short dose of new ideas and food for thought, perfect to watch with your morning coffee. Today we're chatting to Caroline Gourlay, an experienced business psychologist and founder of Bath-based Caroline Gourlay Consulting. Contact or ask Caroline a question on Twitter at @carolinegourlay. Caroline tells us about: Whether people are predisposed to a […]

What three attributes do CEOs want from their next HR Director?

studiophoto

According to our research*, while 81% of CEOs see HR playing a critical role in developing business strategy, only 32% of them intend to recruit their next HRD internally. Why is it that 50% of the CEOs surveyed feel it’s necessary to look outside their company to find the talent to align their people strategy […]

What does a brain-savvy leader look like?

dny59

It's Neuroscience Learning Month on HRZone! You're reading one of the pieces that's been written to help you develop a sound understanding of why neuroscience principles are important to business, and a basic understanding of how you can apply them effectively. There's loads more content going live over the month to help you on your […]

Why is insight important and how can you have more

mediaphotos

It's Neuroscience Learning Month on HRZone! You're reading one of the pieces that's been written to help you develop a sound understanding of why neuroscience principles are important to business, and a basic understanding of how you can apply them effectively. There's loads more content going live over the month to help you on your […]

How to form new behavioural habits

grinvalds

It's Neuroscience Learning Month on HRZone. You're reading one of the pieces that's been written to help you develop a sound understanding of why neuroscience principles are important to business, and a basic understanding of how you can apply them effectively. There's loads more content going live over the month to help you on your way, […]

Taking a look at the Great Feedback Debate

gustavofrazao

It's Neuroscience Learning Month on HRZone. You're reading one of the pieces that's been written to help you develop a sound understanding of why neuroscience principles are important to business, and a basic understanding of how you can apply them effectively. There's loads more content going live over the month to help you on your way, […]

It’s one thing to create a culture of innovation, but how do you sustain it?

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And they all lived happily ever after.  The trouble is, successfully building a culture of innovation isn’t like a fairy story. Sure there have been triumphs and disasters along the way; moments when the plot seemed to be leading you inexorably towards failure, or twists of fate which led you along unexpected pathways, but innovation […]

Engaging your people in the innovation journey

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There are many roads to building a culture of innovation within an organisation and one of the key tasks for the leadership team is to identify and scope the transition matrix which optimises results for their own business. Some may opt for a business wide transition, whilst others may prefer to smooth the way via […]

How should I conduct a disciplinary procedure?

maybefalse

Every business should have a disciplinary procedure to help employers deal with situations of misconduct or poor performance in the workplace. While some employers may have a separate capability procedure, others may address performance issues under their disciplinary rules. Implementing a good disciplinary procedure will promote fairness and transparency across the workforce, as it ensures […]