What I learned in prison about behavioural change
For a decade, behaviour change expert and author Nik Kinley worked as a forensic psychotherapist, trying to change the behaviour of hardened prisoners. In brief article he shares what it taught him about people and how it helps him now help people in organisations change their behaviours. I spent the first six years of my […]
10 questions: how well do you know your workforce?
Many young and fast growing companies are expanding and recruiting fast. While these are exciting trends, new challenges are quickly emerging regarding their people. When everyone was co-located in the same office, and everyone knew everybody, knowing your workforce was easy. Now these companies are bigger – and people are dispersed across different offices 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 […]
Four principles for instilling cultures of creativity
The number of job descriptions that now list ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ amongst the list of characteristics applicants need to have seems to have skyrocketed. Really, they just want someone who can take the initiative and think outside the box. But organisations don’t need to hire in new talent to find these qualities. Instilling a culture of […]
Welcome to the new and improved HRZone!
After a long wait, here’s our overview of the new design and what we like best about the new site. It’s finally here, we can show off the new look HRZone and tell you the bits we like best. We’re really pleased with the new site layout and navigation and hope you will find the […]
HRZone relaunch: The Missing Features
What’s missing, why, and when will it return? Whilst redesigning the site, we've had to prioritise a few areas to make sure that the relaunch goes to plan, and that there is as little disruption to you all as possible. For this reason, we've had to leave a few familiar features off the site for […]
How do you make change the ‘new normal?’
It takes lots of small steps to make big changes happen inside an organisation, especially one where cultures and working practices have become deeply ingrained. When I was appointed technical director for Harvey Water Softeners 18 months ago, I began making plans for a wide reaching, two-year change programme. Now, at the halfway point, here […]
Rethinking HR delivery in the NHS
Persistent cost pressures and HR functions facing continual scrutiny on efficiency means that NHS organisations are having to fundamentally rethink how they provide HR services. But new HR initiatives are emerging for departments needing to create efficiencies in the back office without sacrificing quality. Although the £2bn a year of NHS additional funding announced in […]
Stakeholder engagement is key to successful change
Many have been led to believe that project management, change management and related fields, are simply a matter of organisation – working the right processes and tasks, writing the correct documents and having good governance mechanisms in place and so on. People just distract and get in the way. Some tend to concentrate on these […]
Can you manage the dynamics of organisational change?
Organisations seeking a blueprint to address the increasing pressures and demands of the rapidly changing corporate landscape are often confronted with change models that are too academic, too static or overly simplistic for their needs. A structured yet flexible model is essential and to work effectively requires outstanding leadership behaviours at all times, to proactively […]
Older workers would struggle in job beyond retirement age, study finds
Employers estimate that nearly one in three older workers would have problems performing in their current role after retirement age, according to a new study. Over half of employers expect an increase in the number of older workers in their business over the next few years, but are concerned that 31% would not be able […]
Four deadly mistakes of 360-degree feedback
If you Google the term 360-degree feedback, you’ll get over 17 million results, many of which offer insights ranging from the blindingly obvious to the banal. While 360-degree feedback can be a highly beneficial process, it does need some care to get it right. HR teams must therefore look beyond the basics. In particular, you […]
NHS toolkit launched to better link staff pay to performance
An online toolkit has been launched to help place more emphasis on linking pay to performance in NHS organisations. The resource, by NHS Employers, will provide advice, support and best practice examples, and forms part of the Agenda for Change (AfC) framework, which was introduced in 2004 and covers one million NHS staff. Changes were […]
Interview: Gary Luffman, Director, thinkchange consulting
Gary Luffman is an Occupational Psychologist and Director of think. change. consulting. Gary and the think. change. team focus on bringing together business expertise, neuroscience and psychology to help understand more about our own and others’ brains. This forms the basis of practical and tangible applications in the workplace to help individuals and organisation succeed […]
Can businesses help solve the food waste crisis?
Here are some shocking stats. Just the bread and cereal products thrown away in UK households could lift 30 million of the world’s hungriest people out of malnourishment All the world's nearly one billion hungry people could be lifted out of malnourishment on less than a quarter of the food that is wasted in the […]
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 […]
Change management: convincing, delivering & sustaining effective change
Regardless of business size or sector, there are three key aspects to consider when approaching change management. Intellectual Understanding – why the change is necessary Emotional Engagement – stakeholder discussions and the perceived ownership of the changes Sustained Action – how to implement long-term transformative benefits that provide value Ignoring these principles can have an […]
How can HR support managers in helping their teams support change?
In the second of two articles on change, Valerie Nichols explains how HR practitioners can support managers in helping their teams to ride the waves of change and avoid a wipe out. Read the first article on handling resistance to change. Any manager in your organisation who is trying to implement change will probably have […]
The eight personalities involved in change management programmes
A change management programme aims to increase efficiency, allow employees to be utilised elsewhere and helps to make a better product or deliver a service for less, yet the key to successful change is people. Without their support and engagement, the time to get a change project up and running can double, or worse a […]
Book Review: Turn the Ship Around! by David Marquet
Title: Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders Authors: David MarquetISBN: 978-1591846406 This book was reviewed by David Evans of Burn Bridge Associates. The theme of this book is the change in leadership approach introduced by a Retired US Submarine Captain in order to get away from the blind obedience that […]
