Is there gender bias in your leadership, talent and promotion criteria?
Research shows that women need to work harder, smarter and for longer than men to get appointed into leadership roles. In order to break away from this deeply ingrained bias towards male leaders, businesses need to reassess their process and criteria for promoting talent. According to Cranfield University 29 per cent of FTSE 100 directors (executive and […]
How unconscious bias means that we get in our own way
Are women’s own unconscious biases stopping them from pursuing what they truly want in their lives? Businesses are certainly beginning to understand how unconscious bias means that some groups of people may have to ‘jump higher’ for certain roles within their companies. What is talked about less is another, more internalised, form of bias. The […]
Gender pay gap reporting – now what?
It’s been six months since the Gender Pay Gap reporting deadline – and we’re all familar with the findings. But beyond the reporting, what steps should businesses be taking to get more women into higher paid roles? On the 4th April 2018, over 10,000 companies provided mandatory data on their gender* pay gap based on six key calculations. […]
HR leadership: boosting inclusivity in your workplace
After years of hiding my own disabilities from employers, I’ve come to realise that employers can play a vital role in helping employees embrace their personal challenges and create a more inclusive place to work. As an IT contractor going from job to job, I always worried that I would miss out on a contract […]
Should smaller businesses be required to report their gender pay gap?
There have been recent calls to extend the compulsory gender pay gap reporting to smaller businesses. But is this a wise move? There has been a big push in recent years to nullify the disparities between men and women in the workplace, politics and in general society. That is why it was a welcome announcement […]
Recruitment: why ‘cultural fit’ is an essential requirement for assessing candidates
While a candidate might be technically qualified to do a job, if they’re not a good ‘cultural fit’ for the organisation and the team, it can lead to problems further down the line. Here’s how companies can reflect their unique culture in their hiring process. If recent statistics are to be believed, it appears that […]
Maternity discrimination: why do we continue to stereotype returning mothers?
While progress is being made to combat maternity discrimination, the problem of returning mothers being stereotyped and misrepresented remains – and this needs to stop if employers want to hang onto these valuable employees. Despite pregnancy and maternity being a protected characteristic under The Equality Act 2010, three in four mothers (77%) said they had […]
Working parents: shared parental leave has the potential to positively impact gender equality
With the uptake of new fathers taking up shared parental leave remaining stubbornly low, it seems a change in workplace culture and perception is needed in order for employees to truly feel the benefits. One professional dad shares his personal experience of the scheme and how it has positively impacted both his personal and working […]
Employee engagement: bridging the gap between generation Z and parents in the workplace
The US workforce is on the cusp of a significant transformation, as generation Z, the 61 million Americans born after the mid-1990s, enters the workforce. They’ll be joining a labour market that looks far different from the one their parents and grandparents joined. Technological innovation has disrupted entire industries, fundamentally changing the nature of work, […]
Maternity discrimination: five ways line managers make maternity returners want to leave
Hiring and training new staff is a costly business, so it makes financial sense to try and retain as many existing experienced employees as possible. Sadly, too many organisations are losing talent due to a negative approach to maternity returners. Did you know that there is a direct correlation between the relationship of a maternity […]
Gender pay gap: no time for short cuts
Ignore the gender pay gap at your peril – organisations that aren’t addressing this are falling behind. It’s time for HR to stop paying lip service and start creating true, systemic change. This April, more than ten thousand large firms provided details of their gender pay gap. Three quarters of them, it turns out, pay […]
Supporting women past impostor syndrome and into leadership
Women are still lagging behind when it comes to confidence in their own abilities, so how can we help the female leaders of tomorrow turn that around? Are you doing enough to support women into leadership positions in your company? If you’re not tackling imposter syndrome then the answer is probably ‘no’. Why? It is […]
Closing the gender pay gap: what HR is doing wrong
Many organisations say they want to close the gender pay gap, but rebalancing the scales requires a bigger cultural shift. Brilliant people instinctively try to ‘fix’ problems. To address senior female under-representation and the gender pay gap, executives often focus on ‘getting’ more women. This fix of representation over culture is rapidly becoming part of […]
Hearing rather than solving is the new approach to creating inclusion
Despite many organisations putting time and effort being into improving diversity and inclusion, research shows that many people still feel excluded. Could the simple approach of listening attentively to our people, without looking straight to fixing problems, be an effective solution? One of the main challenges that affects those of us who help companies and organisations […]
Gender imbalance in the social care sector: time to plug the gap
We need to make careers in the social care sector more inclusive for men – before it’s too late. In the UK currently, there is a distinct lack of male nurses, male childcare experts and male adult social carers. In fact, there is a shortage of men in the social care sector altogether – they […]
Diversity at work: the business case for an inclusive culture
Exclusion can seriously damage your business, which is why inclusion needs to be a consistent and deliberate part of your HR strategy. Head Heart + Brian recently conducted research with companies about their diversity and inclusion initiatives to learn how these successful ‘lighthouse’ organisations are moving the dial on creating an inclusive culture, with particular […]
Inclusion means everyone… doesn’t it?
Gender equality is about men, just as much as it is about women, argues diversity and inclusion specialist Nadia Nagamootoo. I speak to a lot of women about my work to create gender equality for men – often because I’m attending a Women’s Network or the audience attracts more women when the subject is about […]
STEM’s long-standing image problem: how can we eliminate it?
STEM and digital skills are essential to the UK, both within technology firms and across virtually all other sectors. We need to address the STEM image problem to get more women into the industry. STEM subjects have longed suffered from an image problem. Many people assume that roles in STEM are highly technical or dull, […]
Millennials and boomers – a workplace match made in heaven?
Similarities and differences in generations may be key to economic and business success, says Nick Gold, CEO of Jobsite. Millennials are no longer the new kids on the workplace block. With many now entering their mid-30s, they make up the largest portion of the workforce and hold around 20% of leadership positions. Definitively the generation […]
Why talking about salary from the get-go will help you attract more talent
In a society where we are used to sharing so much information, talking openly about pay still remains one of our biggest taboos. Questions about pay expectations and salary are often left to the very end of an interview process, which can waste time and leave candidates and hiring managers feeling disappointed. But when salary […]
