Mission impossible: how to ensure that no employee suggestion is left behind
Employee suggestion schemes fail when organizations lack faith in their ability to deliver change. Success requires a credible campaign with clear evaluation criteria, stakeholder involvement, and commitment to implementing ideas—not just collecting them.
Four leadership rules for the ultimate away day
Leadership away days are most effective when leaders remove their armor through vulnerability, disrupt existing patterns, and create meaningful connections. Expert advice reveals how companies can transform these off-site events into opportunities for strategic thinking and team development in times of rapid change.
Feedback: the gift that keeps on giving
Feedback is essential for employee development and business progress, yet most leaders struggle to deliver it constructively. Research shows many avoid difficult conversations or become aggressive to move past them quickly, undermining workplace effectiveness.
The state of family-friendliness in UK financial services
UK financial services lags behind other sectors in offering flexible working arrangements, despite major firms like RBS and PWC investing in family-friendly workplace initiatives. Part-time work remains significantly less common in finance than across the broader economy.
Return to work interviews: making them work better
Return to Work Interviews (RTWIs) significantly reduce absence rates when consistently completed, but many organizations struggle with implementation due to managers lacking training and confidence in discussing sensitive health issues with staff.
Hello, Future: is there a place for retail workers?
As automation handles routine retail tasks like inventory and product distribution, the future of retail work depends on whether stores embrace experience-focused roles. Retail workers will need to shift from transactional duties to building customer relationships and providing personalized expertise that AI cannot replicate.
SMEs can learn lessons from Sports Direct scandals
Growing businesses must prioritize employee welfare and strong leadership to avoid reputational damage. SME owners can learn from Sports Direct’s scandals that neglecting staff wellbeing and employment standards, regardless of company size, creates lasting brand harm and accountability falls to leadership.
“Our people are our principal asset and key to our success.”
The Keil Centre, a Scottish organization of chartered psychologists and ergonomists, achieved Investors in People Platinum status by prioritizing staff as their principal asset. They fostered a collaborative culture through open communication, staff consultation, and autonomy, ensuring employees feel invested in business success and organizational values.
You can’t deliver a marathon project at a sprint
Successful project delivery requires careful preparation before execution. Like world-class athletes training for races, project managers must invest time planning strategy, clarifying purpose, and establishing team dynamics before diving into work—you can’t sprint a marathon.
Adopting European Works Councils to give staff a greater voice
European Works Councils give employees a direct voice in company decisions by creating structured dialogue between staff and senior management. While mandatory for large EU multinationals, UK businesses could adopt this model to improve employee engagement and transparency without excessive regulation.
Red light for BA performance appraisal system
British Airways faces potential industrial action over a new performance appraisal system that uses red, amber, and green ratings to evaluate cabin crew. Union officials argue the “never-ending continual improvement” scoring makes it nearly impossible for employees to succeed, creating feelings of constant judgment and inadequacy.
Shoring up employee relations in the Brexit aftermath
Brexit creates workplace uncertainty affecting employee relations and trust. Employers should provide clear, consistent communications and develop a strategic approach to managing staff concerns about job security, finances, and workplace conflicts arising from diverging political views.
We can do this the easy way or the hard way…
Informal conflict resolution at work is cheaper, better for team morale, and less disruptive than formal processes, but managers often lack confidence and emotional intelligence skills needed to handle difficult conversations effectively.
Zero-hours contracts – friend or foe?
Zero-hours contracts, which guarantee no minimum hours of work, have faced criticism over misuse by some businesses. However, completely avoiding them may push employers toward less secure alternatives for workers. Used transparently to meet genuine fluctuating business needs, zero-hours contracts can be a legitimate flexible staffing solution.
Can you immediately dismiss an employee for gross misconduct?
Gross misconduct can justify summary dismissal without notice, but employers must still follow proper investigation and disciplinary procedures. Examples include theft, violence, and serious insubordination. Immediate dismissal without process may be considered unfair by employment tribunals.
EU ‘snooping’ ruling: it’s about trust, not rights
Europe’s top court ruled that workplace message monitoring doesn’t violate employee rights, but the real issue is building trust between managers and employees rather than relying on surveillance to ensure compliance and engagement.
EU ‘snooping’ ruling: is it even morally ok to snoop on staff?
The European Court of Human Rights ruled employers can monitor employee communications if proportional, raising questions about workplace trust and surveillance ethics. While such monitoring may deter misconduct, it risks disengaging staff and relies on subjective interpretation by fallible humans.
EU ‘snooping’ ruling: your questions answered
A European Court of Human Rights ruling permits employers to monitor workers’ private messages on work accounts during working hours. However, UK private sector employers aren’t directly bound by the decision, though they must still consider it when facing employee claims. Experts say the ruling largely aligns with existing UK employment law.
EU ‘snooping’ ruling: it’s time to recognise the social world we now live in
The European Court of Human Rights ruled employers can monitor staff work emails and private messages, sparking debate about the blurred line between personal and professional communication in the digital age. As technology blends work and personal devices, distinguishing between legitimate employer oversight and privacy violations becomes increasingly complex.
Improving employee satisfaction in transportation and logistics
A driver shortage threatens the UK transportation industry, with employee retention and satisfaction presenting major HR challenges. Leading logistics organizations are implementing best practices including improved manager communication around absence, mobile self-service tools, and transparent workforce processes to boost employee engagement and commitment.
