Mindsets. Do you really know what one is?
Mindsets – they seem to be increasingly popular, yet misunderstood and misused. More seriously, the word ‘mindset’ often appears without definition, without its underlying assumptions about personality and people made clear, or any explanation of why one mindset might be better than another. At a recent HR conference, for example, I became increasingly frustrated by […]
Book Review: The Values-driven Organization
HRZone has a range of books available for review. If you would like to receive one of our business books, free of charge, please contact the editor on editor at hrzone dot com and we can send you a list of what's available. In return, we ask for a 400-700 word review of the book, […]
Exit the leadership vortex: to whom do operational leaders ultimately owe allegiance?
I was recently at a function at the House of Commons at which the seasoned CEO of a multinational financial services organisation aptly described the environment of business leadership much akin to operating in a vortex. In reality, amidst widespread confusion, if not chaos, leaders lack effective control of the speed, direction, indeed the ultimate […]
Three things to avoid when facing change
There is a wealth of fantastic knowledge available on how to lead and manage through change. All of which I have found to be essential when navigating some tricky waters. But the best lessons I have personally learned from have been those based on experience. Every role that I have held has included some form […]
How do the ‘HR elite’ spend their time?
Do you know what your HR leader does every day? Understanding how your colleagues work is fundamental to being a key cog in an efficient and effective HR team. Additionally, when you’re looking to secure your dream HR job, knowing how effective HR teams work together can be invaluable. Knowing the professional priorities and patterns […]
Five choices to extraordinary productivity
The dramatic increase in the power of technology means that it’s never been easier to accomplish great things.Yet paradoxically, these same technologies can make it harder than ever to do the things that are important to us. It’s a paradox that lies at the heart of the on-going productivity debate. Every day we’re faced with […]
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 […]