Evidence-based agony aunt: a conversation with a defensive employee
Our evidence-based agony aunt, Jan Hills, uses findings from neuroscience and psychology to tell you how to solve your organisational problems in brain-savvy ways, that work with the mind's natural tendecies and not against it. Got a problem you want her to look at it? Drop us a line at editor@hrzone.com. We'll get back quickly. […]
Five evidence-based steps to creativity and innovation
This five-step process is based on the thoughts of Mark Batey, Senior Lecturer In Organisational Psychology at Alliance Manchester Business School. HRZone interviewed Mark in January 2017. His thoughts are based on a decade worth of research and practice with senior teams, helping them be creative and develop new strategies. Mark's approach is to draw […]
Outlook for 2017: optimism for UK employees, but will it last?
CIPD recently published their bi-annual Employee Outlook survey, so we thought it would be helpful to have an overview of the key findings and changes for our readers. Luckily, Claire McCartney was happy to help and has rounded up some of the more interesting insights from the survey below. It is encouraging to be able to […]
Whose job is it anyway? How HR can spearhead digital change in organisations
A digital shake-up is sweeping through the workplace, changing decades-old ways of working. This isn’t just an issue isolated to the IT department; digital transformation will change every part of your business. While this is a period of uncertainty for many, it is also a huge opportunity for the HR department. That’s because among others things, enterprises need their […]
How to avoid another year of Trexit
2016 was a year of divisive politics. In the UK, factions formed around the ‘Leave’ and ‘Remain’ camps. In the US, the battle lines were drawn between supporters of Trump and those of Clinton. In both cases, the rhetoric was vicious and saw a rise in hate-related incidents. It was easy to point fingers and […]
Contextualising innovation in HR: what do we mean?
Keeping pace with social, cultural and technological progression has always been key for business but these three areas now advance so fast that the task has become harder. Businesses used to keep pace by fortifying: making things stronger so they could better resist change. That’s fine when change is a series of smaller waves, but […]
HR in retail: interview with Spencer Allcock, Senior Consultant, Kantar Retail
Spencer Allcock is a senior consultant with analysts Kantar Retail. We asked Spencer five questions: What are senior leaders in major retailers focused on at the moment? What areas of people management in retail are businesses struggling with? What are the big trends affecting the retail industry over the next few years? How can HR […]
HR in retail: interview with David Bannister, ex-HRD, River Island
David Bannister recently left River Island after a year as their interim HR Director. He runs his own consultancy, Empowering People Ltd, specialising in management and consulting in reward, performance management, change management and leadership, executive coaching and career coaching. He was previously interim HR Director at Wiggle.co.uk and, before that, Group HR Director at New Look. […]
HR in retail: interview with Bruce Walcroft, Solutions Consultant, CoreHR
Bruce Walcroft is Senior HCM Solutions Consultant with technology company CoreHR. At CoreHR he is involved in pre-sales demonstrations of platforms and features and offers solutions consultancy and expertise to a range of businesses across multiple sectors. He has been in the HR technology industry for over 15 years. We asked Bruce four questions: What […]
Organisational development practitioners: beware the silver bullets
Delegates of my facilitated interventions sometimes express a view that what I do is some kind of 'magic'. They reflect on their experience of me not having said much, asking a few questions, getting them talking and, as a result, them experiencing moments of clarity and deepened relationships. I see these observations as a sign […]
Feedback: the gift that keeps on giving
Stuart Duff, head of development at business psychologists Pearn Kandola, shares his thoughts on the challenges of giving feedback and managing performance. Providing feedback: A leader’s greatest challenge? Feedback. It’s a hot topic across all industries. But still key for a business to progress and for employees to act effectively and develop. There are many ways […]
Looking ahead in 2017: What will be trending in HR tech?
In 2016 we saw disruption and change in the UK market for HR systems, and 2017 looks to be the same. But change – and in particular, adoption rates – for new people technology is more cloud than blue sky. Few ideas come totally out of that blue and we can therefore find some pretty good clues about what […]
Leading from the front: how to focus a workforce during uncertain times
Stuart Duff, head of development at business psychologists Pearn Kandola, explains how senior managers can lead by example and set a clear agenda for their workforce, even during times of uncertainty. As human beings, we need to be able to understand and make sense of our surroundings. It is this understanding that allows us to […]
“Leadership isn’t just a role; it’s a mindset with a specific set of behaviours that isn’t limited to how we run our businesses.”
We're always curious to hear how our members and contributors tackle the challenges that the ever-changing world of HR throws at them. We've got a wealth of experience and knowledge across the site, and what better way to showcase the diversity of our community than to get them to walk us through an average day? Want to tell […]
How can generosity help with managing a team?
A workplace where staff and team members are listened to, appreciated, supported and praised is a workplace where people want to give their best, where people’s ideas and creativity can unfold. Generosity helps to foster this creativity and helps to boost morale and performance as well as mental and emotional wellbeing among employees. Bringing out […]
The diversity challenge? Team cohesion grows from shared goals
Nisha from Finance eyes her lemon meringue cupcake, the topping melting in the sun. Liz from Communications forces a bright grin as she grapples with the microphone. “And the winner of the Cupcake King or Queen of 2016 is…” Nisha hasn’t mistakenly entered herself for The Great British Bake Off, she’s just struggling to enjoy […]
“We hire people who want to think for themselves, who want to be a force for good.”
OVO is a fast-growing energy company based in Bristol, already making a name for themselves both as a challenger within the industry and for having strong focus on company culture and values, having grown from a handful of employees seven years ago to over 1,200 today. We headed over to their foliage-filled office to take a look […]
Bagging a lucrative highly-paid role takes effort and time. Here’s how to focus that effort and shorten the time
There are few common traits and experiences amongst people that succeed in securing highly-paid roles. Personality, innate talent, professional networks, education, available opportunities, even chance encounters, can all play a part. To add to this, organisations are becoming increasingly meritocratic. This is a good thing, especially for those previously overlooked. However, for all those ambitious […]
Analysing the potential of psychometric fingerprints
Forensic scientists have been scouring crime scenes since the late 19th century, for one very good reason: our fingerprints are unique. They mark us out and make us identifiable. Psychologists have now discovered that the way we process information and respond in assessment tests is as individual as the ridges on our fingertips. This makes […]
Talent management: what can we learn from the Olympic ‘Atlanta debacle?’
UK Sport has been basking in glow of Team GB’s success in Rio with celebrations in London and Manchester recently. How times have changed. When Team GB returned from the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, there were no parades. We finished in 36th position, further down the medal table than Nigeria, Norway, and Bulgaria. It […]
