HR for small business: why everyone needs a mentor

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In my line of work, I support heads of HR, HR directors, and L&D managers in both large corporations and SMEs, and I’ve noticed a remarkable difference between them. The HR job description can cover an incredibly diverse spectrum. Is this down to the role or the type of person in it? Are they naturally […]

The ethical employee: a look at moral behaviour

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In parts 4.1 and 4.2 of this discussion we looked at how our actions cascade outward through the organisations we work in, and how even our smallest actions can generate dramatic effects. We saw the importance of ‘the whole of us’ to the workplace, and that each of us is far more than just a […]

The ethical employee: what we bring to our business

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Let’s begin this part of our analysis with a brief thought experiment… Imagine, just for a moment, that there is a part of you that is nothing more than a ‘work delivery unit’ (WDU). This is the part of you that fulfils your contract of employment to the letter. It’s the part of you that […]

The ethical employee: we have the power

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In previous articles in this series I’ve talked about the nature of ethics, outlining three basic moral aims that we can use in assessing the morality of our businesses and our own management practice. These are: To nurture others To nurture our species as a whole To nurture all life I’ve discussed at a high […]

Man trouble: HR’s role in men’s mental health

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We have a professional duty to put in place psychological safety mechanisms and measures to protect employees’ mental health based on analysis and evidence. While analysing workforce demographic comparisons – including comparing male and female* employees – are helpful to highlight key concerns for HR, e.g. performance and flexible working, it seems that mental health […]

Digital wellbeing: caring for employees in an ‘always on’ culture

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In today’s world, digital technology is everywhere and within a relatively short time it has become embedded in our social fabric. Such is the speed of technological change that its absorption into our day-to-day lives has occurred very rapidly, but without the research into its impact that precedes the introduction of medical interventions. As a […]

Change management: how to shift the behaviours and mindsets of your people

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Why do people resist change? It’s a simple question and yet it is one that sits at the heart of successful change management. The first step in understanding people lies in understanding yourself. Gallup’s 10 reports to share with your leaders in 2019 includes the statistic that managers account for at least 70% of the […]

Ethics in the workplace: the ethical manager

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In the third article of this nine-part series on ethics in the workplace, Luke Andreski investigates what it means to be an ethical manager, asking ‘can managers be both successful and ethical in a competitive workplace environment?’ So far in our discussion I’ve focussed on ethics at an organisational level. Ethical organisations are increasingly seen […]

Workplace productivity: enabling our brains to be more productive at work

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There are a number of factors that influence productivity and how effective our brains are during the working day. Unfortunately, the set-up in most organisations is the opposite of what it needs to perform at its best. Centuries ago, most workers would have been involved in manual labour and that work would have been limited […]