HR technology: Talking about Training and Communications
HR technology projects require both cultural change management and practical technical training to succeed. This article explores how to balance “soft” communication strategies with “hard” education about system functionality, emphasizing that correct technology usage by end-users is critical to project success.
It’s National Sickie Day. Let’s analyse this dangerous abstraction…
National Sickie Day highlights the highest absence rates of the year, but labeling certain reasons as “bad” absences—like depression or seasonal mood disorders—is dangerous. The article argues that wellbeing is individual, and workplaces must stop homogenizing absence and instead tackle stigma around mental health reasons for time off.
Talent attraction: four ways to ensure you’re being inclusive
Ensure inclusive talent attraction by defining job requirements clearly, broadening recruitment to diverse candidate pools, and building a strong employer brand that reflects your organization’s values and competitive advantages.
How to keep your workforce happy on Blue Monday
Blue Monday—the third Monday in January—is often the year’s most depressing day due to post-holiday letdown and mounting pressure. HR can boost workforce morale through practical strategies like encouraging praise, promoting self-kindness, and building in recovery time and rewards.
Do you get the ‘silent terror’ of Pure OCD?
Pure OCD involves intrusive, unwanted thoughts that feel terrifying to sufferers because they contradict their values. Without visible physical compulsions like other OCD variants, it’s considered the hardest form to treat and requires exposure to distressing thoughts rather than avoidance behaviors.
This is what effective leadership starts with
Effective leadership starts with identifying employees with the right attributes—adaptability, drive, and curiosity—and creating a culture of growth, collaboration, and progression. With 84% of businesses facing leadership shortages, developing future leaders through structured programs and shared vision is crucial for competitive success.
What does your favourite emoji say about you?
Your favorite emoji reveals insights about your personality and communication style. While the laughing-tears emoji is statistically most popular, emojis serve as a universal language to soften text-based communication and convey emotion that words alone cannot express.
Book review: Enhancing Employee Engagement: An Evidence-Based Approach
This book review examines an evidence-based guide to enhancing employee engagement, evaluating its practical value for HR directors and business professionals. The 137-page volume presents a nuanced engagement model centered on meaningfulness, HR practices, and performance management, though the reviewer notes it combines valuable actionable insights with repetitive narrative and problematic elements.
Testing Times: UAT, Test, Pilot and Parallel Run
Learn the four critical testing phases for HR tech implementations: User Acceptance Testing, Quality Assurance, Piloting, and Parallel Runs. Understand when and how to apply each testing approach to avoid delays, budget overruns, and ensure successful system go-live.
“Meaningful conversations can happen at any time and can be of any length,” says Birthe Mester, Deutsche Bank
Birthe Mester, Global Head of Performance, Engagement & Culture at Deutsche Bank, discusses how meaningful conversations drive organizational performance. She emphasizes that these conversations can occur anytime and at any length, requiring genuine listening, mutual trust, and unconditional appreciation rather than lengthy formal meetings.
It’s not personal, just business – reflections on the CIPD’s Essential Interpersonal Skills Course
The CIPD’s Essential Interpersonal Skills course explores how workplace success depends on mastering difficult conversations and listening skills rather than technical expertise. Through interactive exercises and group reflection, participants discover that personal reputation, communication style, and emotional awareness—not competition—determine whether colleagues follow or resist you.
HR technology implementation: the Building Blocks
This guide to HR technology implementation explores how to lead your project through the critical in-project phase. Learn to make contextual configuration choices, work effectively with consultants, and avoid common mistakes by taking an active role rather than passively following supplier recommendations.
Why HR can’t rely on best practice anymore – part 2
HR departments must adapt beyond traditional best practices to remain relevant as the gig economy reshapes the workforce. With over one-third of US workers and 1.1 million UK workers now in flexible roles, organizations need to strategically integrate contingent talent while safeguarding worker rights and building long-term relationships with skilled freelancers.
HR – no longer the poor relation of the business
HR departments must invest in specialized technology to deliver measurable business results and shed outdated myths. Moving beyond spreadsheets to modern HR software enables data-driven decision-making, reduces administrative burden, and positions HR professionals as strategic business enablers rather than administrators.
Organisations should approach apprenticeship levy as an investment, not a tax
Organizations should view the apprenticeship levy as an investment opportunity rather than a tax to maximize its value. The levy provides funding for higher-level skills development, employee engagement, and addressing skill shortages, with unspent funds expiring after 24 months on a rolling basis.
Digital transformation is workforce transformation: Why HR must assume a leadership role
Digital transformation fails without workforce transformation. HR must lead change management efforts, addressing employee concerns and engagement while helping organizations navigate complex process redesigns and skill requirements. Success depends on clear communication and understanding the emotional impact of change on employees.
How EI makes your board more effective and benefits the whole organisation
Emotional Intelligence (EI) in leadership teams naturally fosters diversity and collaboration more effectively than quotas alone. By developing EI skills—such as self-awareness, emotional resilience, and conflict management—senior leaders create a culture of openness that enhances board effectiveness and organisational performance.
Managing change at Swinton Insurance
Swinton Insurance recently underwent a major change programme to modernize systems and adapt to evolving customer preferences for digital and phone services over traditional branch visits. The restructuring involved branch closures and organizational changes, supported by a £45m investment in digital capabilities and guided by clear people principles emphasizing sensitivity and respect.
Are we setting our leaders up to fail?
Traditional top-down leadership cultures place unrealistic expectations on leaders to know everything and perform flawlessly, setting them up for costly mistakes. HR can support leaders by fostering a culture that values authenticity, accepts failure as a learning opportunity, and provides development support rather than blame.
Employee benefits: the impact of salary sacrifice changes on cycle-to-work schemes
Salary sacrifice schemes are being trimmed back, but cycle-to-work programs remain exempt. These schemes allow employees to purchase bikes and equipment at a discount while saving on National Insurance contributions, benefiting workers, employers, and society through improved health and reduced emissions.
