Five mistakes leaders make when managing virtual teams
As a manager and leader of virtual teams, who would you consider the elite group ensuring that your virtual team projects are successful? Would your answer be stakeholders, perhaps consumers of your product or service indicated by revenue, employees, or assigned team leaders? A good answer would be everyone above who are benefactors of the […]
Listen to the research: negotiation doesn’t just mean haggling
If you watch too many business-based dramas, or television shows about wannabe entrepreneurs, you could be forgiven for believing that negotiation is a means of demonstrating machismo and wringing out an extra few percent from a sale or an investment, just for the sake of the cameras. Or that it’s an all-night, shirt-sleeved argument to […]
Interview: Simon Wells, Terrorist Negotiator, HM Government
Simon Wells has spent the past 13 years as a crisis negotiator in the UK and overseas, including on behalf of the UK government with terrorist groups. He has 30 years’ experience with the Metropolitan Police including 20 years specialising in using behavioural science to benefit law enforcement, the military and special forces units across […]
Interpreting social signals in the workplace
Most people agree that communication is key to a happy and productive working environment. However, when that communication is non-verbal are we able to deal with and interpret the messages correctly? In this article I want to touch upon how we communicate at work and what role ‘social signals’ play in our daily conversations with […]
Four ways your employee survey is holding back internal communications
The degree of success enjoyed by your organisation’s internal communications can depend on many factors – yet ultimately all decisions you make on these matters rely on good quality information. And where does much of that information come from? The employee survey, naturally, by now a traditional (but not necessarily venerable) annual event for many […]
The four facets of communication at work
Ask ten people what they think contributes to a successful working environment and you can bet your bottom dollar the majority will agree on one factor – communication. We recognise and value communication for its contribution to a better workplace through the efficiencies it brings, performances it enhances, trust it builds and morale it nurtures. […]
Book Review: Stories That Move Mountains: Storytelling and Visual Design for Persuasive Presentations
STORIES THAT MOVE MOUNTAINS: Storytelling and Visual Design for Persuasive Presentation – Sykes, Malik & West (2012) I work in management by day wearing variety of hats, but by night I am a fiction writer. Among the very first things to understand, if you want to sell your work, is that you must create convincing […]
In a nutshell: core values communication
Monica Walls is vice president of HR a Nexenta Systems, a Californian storage software firm with a worldwide presence. Here she describes the steps she takes to ensure that the company’s core competencies are communicated worldwide using its performance management system. 1. Core values It was essential to identify the core values and […]
The art of change management
When an organisation has to effect fundamental change, it usually implements it from top to bottom. Typically back room operations as well as the products and/or services that it offers will all be affected. As a result, a 360 degree investigation and feedback process can be a good place from which to start. […]
Blog: What’s your communication style?
You communicate in your own particular way – we all do. Over the years you’ve developed your own natural communication style. To come across confidently and to look as though you’re in control, it helps if you’re aware of this style. People with good communication skills already know what’s good and what’s bad about their […]
A five-step programme for creating a healthy corporate culture
Each company has a corporate culture that will work either for you or against you – but don’t even think about ignoring it. Corporate cultures comprise a collection of attitudes, policies and values that steer the way in which employees behave. An HR director who believes that a healthy culture is important and takes […]
News: Govt unveils “traineeships” to make youth work-ready
The coalition government plans to launch a new “traineeship” scheme, which is intended to ensure that 16-to-24 year olds are ready for the world of work. It has just published a discussion paper laying out its “vision” for the initiative and is asking employers and training providers to comment on the proposals before the fine […]
Blog: Four simple ways to improve how senior leaders communicate
Happy New Year to you all! Some of the great blogs and articles I’ve read on HRZone across 2012 were about HR’s role in supporting leaders. They led me to think back to a number of recent conversations I’ve had with our Strategic Communication Research Forum members about the overall issue of leadership comms across […]
Talent management in a post-recession world
The UK may have officially emerged from recession towards the end of last year, but many employers are still worried about the stability of their workforce – especially if greater business confidence and improving job opportunities make it more likely that talented staff will start jumping ship. In our HR 2012 Salary and Market Insight […]
Book Review: Face to face in the workplace: A handbook of strategies for effective discussions
Face-to-face skills are what people require every day because they work with others. Some of these skills are what my mum might have called “common sense” and others are akin to a martial art in that each movement is practised to perfection in order to ready the individual for battle. Julie Cooper’s book is […]
Employee engagement – and how to get it
The McLeod Review concluded two years ago that levels of employee engagement in the UK were disappointingly low, largely because managers had failed to realise the importance of the concept. The review, led by David MacLeod and Nita Clarke, was commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Its findings were welcomed by […]
In a Nutshell: Five tips for becoming a staff motivation expert
A lot of managers consider themselves to be experts in the area of employee motivation. This is because we are all employees of one type or another and so we believe that everyone feels the same way that we do, explains John Sylvester, executive director of motivation and performance improvement agency, P&MM. However, the […]
Blog: Five ways to ensure your meetings are effective
HR can play a big role in improving organisational communication simply by establishing a precedent for office meetings. Effective office meetings lead to improved communication in the workplace, higher levels of productivity, and increased employee morale. So how can you get the most out of meetings in your company? 1. Establish a Meeting Objective: The meeting organiser should […]
Talking Point: Christmas – Is it really the season to be jolly?
A lot of employees are more likely to be looking for a bit of help and support rather than a party this Christmas. While it’s a rollercoaster time of year for people at the best of times, the financial squeeze is bringing with it new pressures that are generating their own potential problems and stress. […]
What can HR learn from the sales team?
Every business professional could improve their performance by adopting tried-and-tested selling techniques. But it is particularly true of those working in HR, a profession that requires top quality people and communication skills and the ability to win boardroom buy-in on often alien concepts ranging from workplace wellbeing strategies to the latest employee benefits. But […]
