News: CIPD 2012 – Four ways to ensure positive industrial relations
Even with just a threat of industrial action, the stakes are high because people are forced to take sides, which is damaging for employee engagement and the credibility of the organisation and its managers. This was just one of the insights provided by Darren Hockaday, HR director for London Overground, at the Chartered Institute of […]
In a Nutshell: Four tips for raising engagement levels
Successfully raising engagement in an organisation involves more than doing an annual engagement survey. Louise Rooney, head of HR at IT firm, ServiceSource, outlines her top tips for motivating staff to commit to the business. 1. Alignment Identifying and being explicit about the company vision and values definitely helps employees connect with the business. This […]
HRD Insight: William Hill’s David Russell on an African adventure
It’s just two months since we announced our employee project in Kenya – a major building and development project at the Ol Maisor Primary School. Our aim was to create an experience where a group of people from William Hill were able to help a rural community in Africa and by doing so learn more […]
Infographic: How staff engagement boosts business performance
Click on the image to view it full size.
News: One in 5 UK workers fail to earn Living Wage
A huge one in five UK workers fail to earn a Living Wage, with people in Northern Ireland and Wales particularly badly hit, according to research. A study undertaken by financial information services company, Markit, on behalf of management consultancy, KPMG, revealed that some 4.82 million employees across the country do not receive the £7.20 […]
News: Eight ways to cope with the clocks going back
As the clocks go back this Sunday and the days continue to darken, millions of workers will once again find themselves suffering from the winter blues as British summertime officially ends. The short days can have a significant impact on some employees’ health and wellbeing, but the time change can also lead to short-term complications […]
Blog: Employee Engagement Taskforce to unveil resources-based website
Recognize This! – Providing more than ideas and recommendations is necessary to help organisations embrace real strategies to engage employees. What does it take to move “employee engagement” from buzzword or annual survey exercise to actual workforce change? Obviously, it requires investment and commitment at an organisation level. But what could happen if that […]
Christina’s Counsel: What can we do to motivate disaffected middle managers?
Hello and welcome to this month’s dilemma: The challenge This month, an employer asked for advice on how to motivate a group of middle managers. These managers had provided feedback indicating that they were demotivated due to a lack of control as they felt that the senior management team had all of the […]
The HRZone Interview: Jon Ingham on where HR is going wrong
In the view of Jon Ingham, HR consultant, author and blogger, the current obsession of HR practitioners to be seen as business people first and HR professionals second could seriously backfire. The danger is that, by becoming too much like everyone else in the business, HR will lose sight of what its key focus should […]
Blog: Ten signs that you love your job (really)
One blogger in the HR space I’ve enjoyed reading for years now is Alexander Kjerulf (aka The Chief Happiness Officer). I just received through my feed his post celebrating 10 years of blogging (a feat I hope to accomplish someday) in which he highlighted his 10 most popular posts. Near the top of the […]
Blog: Wasabi – A lesson in effective staff communications
For global companies spanning international locations, or large organisations spread across multiple sites one of the hardest, yet most important areas to keep on top of is the stream of corporate internal communication – making sure your company delivers and receives consistent messages throughout the entire business, no matter how many locations you have. Managing […]
HRD Insight: Allianz’s Philip Gennoy on aligning HR and business goals
For Allianz Insurance’s HR director, Philip Gennoy, the key to ensuring that HR strategy and business goals knit tightly together is to keep a close eye on both the day-to-day nitty-gritty as well as the bigger, more long-term picture. The idea is that by breaking strategy down into bite-sized tactical pieces, it becomes possible to […]
News: HR needs to break out of its comfort zone, warns report
Too many HR professionals are struggling to meet the needs of a constantly changing global business environment and feel themselves paralysed in the face of seemingly monumental challenges, research has warned. The study mirrors the findings of a report published earlier this week by management consultancy, KPMG, which revealed that the majority of senior executives […]
Blog: Would you hire someone with a drug or alcohol dependency?
The HRZone community will already be well aware that getting people ‘back to work’ and reducing the welfare bill are central to this government’s ambitions. What may not be so familiar is the way in which this broader political context is reflected in policy on treatment for drug and alcohol problems. The vision of […]
The HR Headmistress: How to weed out litigious job candidates
The world is full of bounty hunters. Their game is to exploit any holes left by careless employers that could give them a chance to sue for big bucks. Most of the risks involve candidates alleging some form of discrimination on the grounds of a protected characteristic. Anti-discrimination legislation was created to help […]
CEO Insight: Spencer Ogden’s David Spencer-Percival on engagement
The workforce of 2012 is a fluid one. Gone are the days when a job was for life. But even in this time of increased job insecurity, when you would assume that most employees would cling onto their positions for dear life, the rate of staff turnover is high. Figures vary according to industry, […]
Blog: Are British workers really the most idle in the world?
British workers are among the most idle in the world, according to a book written by five Tory MPs. In the book ‘Britannia Unchained: Lessons for Growth and Prosperity’ the authors wrote: “Once they enter the workplace, the British are among the worst idlers in the world. We work among the lowest hours, we retire early and […]
Blog: Five ways to move on from a mistake
How did you react the last time you made a mistake at work? Did you hold your hands up and do your best to put the problem right – or did you berate yourself for being a failure but decide there was nothing you could do to rescue the situation? According to an article […]
Blog: Five tips for plucking up the courage to pick up the phone
I was talking with a new client last week, and she explained to me that she wasn’t one of those people who found it easy just to pick up the phone and talk to people – particularly people she had not spoken to in a while. I know that one of the best ways to […]
News: Impact of AWR 1 year on? Depends who you talk to
Research on the impact of the Agency Worker Regulations a year after their introduction has thrown up some deeply contradictory findings about the desire of employers to take on temps. One survey indicated that fewer agency personnel have been taken on as a result of the legislation, while another found that it had made no […]
