Is Usain Bolt sprinting all day? Why ‘always on’ isn’t working

Usain Bolt is an amazing sprinter. The fastest man ever recorded. But, how much of his time do you think he spends sprinting? More than me for sure, but relative to the time available to him, it is a miniscule fraction that he spends running out on the edge of his capability. A professional athlete […]

Your guide to the mysterious world of ‘priming’

One of the most subtle, mysterious and potentially powerful techniques managers can use to help people change behavior is something called priming. It involves placing cues in people’s environments that can subconsciously influence their behavior. The objective is to try to nudge people toward behaving in a certain way. Now this may sound a bit […]

The not-so-good, bad and ugly of management

A good manager should make people feel appreciated, valued and respected. Good managers build positive relationships with their teams and a culture of trust and engagement which motivates people to do well. A poor manager, on the other hand, can make employees feel under-valued, demotivated and demoralised. Employees with poor managers work in an environment […]

Why putting pressure on people is a good thing

One technique open to the team leader, business leader, chief executive, is to put staff under pressure to raise their game. There are different forms of words that do this, but essentially it comes down to two things: Accountable individuals are pushed to commit, to deliver something beyond what they believe is possible Having made […]

Your 10-step survival guide to making redundancies

Why me? Is a question common to any HR professional that has had experience of handling redundancies. It is often the first thing an employee at risk of redundancy will ask and is often fuelled by emotion, indignation and a sense of injustice. The wrong response can easily inflame the employee’s sense of dissatisfaction and […]

Three quick wins for workplace productivity

We’d all like to be a little more productive right? Finding ways to stop procrastinating and get things done? Easier said than done though. With more distractions in our workplaces – emails, social media, phone calls – being and staying productive is a challenge. The good news is that by adopting better habits, productivity can […]

Overcome impostor syndrome once and for all

Do you suspect that you are a fraud and do not deserve the success you have achieved? Have you ever worried that you’re not really as good at your job as everyone says you are? Do you dismiss your successes as being down to luck, the work of others or timing? Are you worried that […]

How honest is your culture?

Jan Hills writes on neuroscience and how it can improve personal performance, team performance, organisational outcomes and leadership behaviour. She has had a varied career in HR, including over 10 years as a consultant and coach. Jan now runs Head Heart + Brain, a consultancy dedicated to brain-savvy HR and to improving all aspects of […]

Game-changing individuals make game-changing organisations

Everyone wants to work for a game changing organisation but the harsh reality is there are very few that really succeed in changing the game. Yes there are the likes of Google and Apple but these organisations are in the minority – they are the organisations everyone aspires to recreate. But the reality is that […]

Personal development resolutions for the modern workplace

Striking the perfect work/life balance can sometimes feel like an overwhelming task. The average day rarely feels long enough to get everything done and the pressure can have a negative impact on your professional life. Personal goals sometimes take a back seat, but it is important to ensure they are not resigned to the bottom […]

Saying you’re ‘commercially-focused’ is fashionable, but it’s hardly ever true

No names, no job titles, no companies. HR After Dark features totally anonymised opinion pieces from HR professionals, consultants and industry commentators. No holds barred, no censorship, nothing but raw opinions on issues that matter to HR. When the lights go down, HR After Dark comes out to play. See it all here first. Want […]

Tackling unconscious bias in HR departments

With HR departments increasingly having to implement diversity initiatives, specifically within staffing and recruitment, one area that is growing in importance is that of unconscious bias. The main aim here is how to tackle the “unconsciousness” element, as most of us already know that we are biased in one way or the other. But what […]

Talent Identification – a never ending evolution

For the first time in nearly a decade the issues of retention, engagement and attraction of talent will rise to the top of the talent management agenda and unsurprisingly the demands for top quality leadership will feature strongly in the mix. With global economies showing signs of growth, opportunities for employees to move on are […]

Risk appetite – to hire exceptional candidates, we must tolerate uncertainty

You’re down to the final two candidates, Steady and Star, for a high-stakes job. By now they’ve been through a number of exercises which reflect a thought-through person specification. Choose Steady and there’s good evidence existing performance will be sustained but dramatic improvement is unlikely. Choose Star and the organisation could improve radically, but it […]

Competent individuals – at risk from social undermining?

Complexity is everywhere in the business world today. Businesses struggle with issues such as global interconnectedness, sustainability, hyper-competition and pervasive organisational change. And naturally, we all believe that the more skilled and competent our workforce, the more able we are to manage these issues successfully. We never focus on competence As HR professionals and managers, […]

The Neuroscience of Interviewing – Part 2

This article is the second of a two-part series. View the first article: The Neuroscience of Interviewing – Part 1 Welcome back. I am so glad to see you again and that you have chosen to continue our dialogue. You will remember from our last meeting that we explored the topics of growth and fixed […]

Why do we not talk about behaviour change in L&D?

“You know, you’re just like my grandmother”. As statements go, it wasn’t inherently controversial. But the fact that I was saying it to a 12 year-old boy certainly got everyone’s attention. Especially the boy’s. It was a technique I’d learnt as a psychotherapist. Say something to wrong-foot the client, to grab their attention and make […]

How unconscious bias impacts on training design

HRZone will be exhibiting at Learning Technologies on January 29th and 30th at Olympia 2 in London. The exhibition, which brings together leading companies in the training and HR sphere, is completely free to attend, and there's a paid-for conference programme that offers insight from thought leaders in the L&D sphere. Topics to be explored […]

Unconscious bias: a module in your modern management programme?

There has been much talk about Unconscious Bias in recent years. It is a hot topic on tips of tongues across the HR world. The focus is often on its impact on recruitment, selection and talent management – ensuring a fair organisation with a talented and diverse workforce. And that is no surprise when HR […]

Coherence – the brilliant future for leaders

For decades we have been led to believe that addressing behaviour is the key to consistently improving performance. It's a logical argument, after all behaviour or what we do affects the results we achieve but what about all the things that affect behaviour? If we want to permanently improve performance and results then we need […]