Brexit and business planning: do you know who your workers are?
Brexit creates urgency for organizations to understand their workforce composition and skills gaps. HR professionals must leverage data analytics to identify labor dependencies, particularly regarding migrant workers, and make informed business decisions amid regulatory uncertainty.
HR data and GDPR: what you need to know about consent (and why not to rely on it)
GDPR imposes stricter rules on HR data processing, but relying on employee consent is misleading and problematic. Due to the power imbalance in employment relationships and the regulation’s strict consent requirements, employers should instead rely on legitimate legal grounds like contractual necessity and legal obligations to process employee data.
The insidious problem of men not taking parental leave, resilience and the mental stress of Brexit
Men avoid parental leave due to fears it will damage their careers, research shows. Organizational culture that penalizes flexibility and job insecurity from Brexit compound these concerns. Addressing workplace stigma around caregiving is essential to improve male participation in family responsibilities.
I wanna be a famous HR writer!
Aspiring HR writers must establish professional credibility and find their unique voice to stand out in a crowded blogging landscape. Success depends less on publishing frequency and more on combining workplace expertise with authentic perspective and authoritative insights.
Book review: Humans are Underrated
Geoff Colvin’s “Humans are Underrated” examines critical workplace skills needed as artificial intelligence advances, arguing that human capabilities remain invaluable despite technological disruption. This comprehensive, well-researched book offers HR professionals valuable insights and storytelling material for employee engagement and organizational strategy.
If it can be routinized, it will be: the charter for HR
Mercer research shows 93% of CEOs plan organizational redesign for efficiency and agility, with many eliminating routine roles through automation. HR now faces a critical challenge: securing skilled workers amid talent scarcity, immigration restrictions, and workforce transitions from retiring employees and departing skilled professionals.
HR and the bigger world picture: how can it make an impact?
HR professionals can drive organizational impact by aligning talent strategies with corporate goals. Key priorities include redesigning organizations to enable change through empowered team networks, and developing leaders with emotional intelligence and authoritative styles that inspire rather than command.
HR, up your impact: what gets measured gets done
Effective HR measurement drives organizational success. This article explores how to set meaningful performance metrics across four strategic HR areas—including organization redesign, leadership capability, and tracking progress—ensuring resources focus on goals that genuinely benefit the business rather than vanity metrics.
Four ways for HR to become a force for innovation
HR can become a force for innovation by empowering frontline employees, eliminating annual performance cycles, restructuring teams, and reimagining HR’s own role. Traditional HR processes prioritize compliance over creativity, crushing the conditions needed for innovation to thrive.
A new wave of AI and what it means for recruitment
AI and deep learning are transforming recruitment by addressing long-standing challenges: 85% of job applicants receive no response, while 71% of employers struggle to find candidates with required skills. New AI-powered solutions promise to streamline hiring and reduce the average time to fill positions.
Greatest extension of workers’ rights or a great big headache for SMEs?
Theresa May’s employment law announcement expands workers’ rights including gig economy protections, unpaid care sabbaticals, and mental health discrimination coverage. While presenting some challenges for SMEs around unpaid leave and sabbaticals, businesses gain certainty from retained EU employment standards and predictable National Living Wage increases through 2022.
Artificial intelligence equals artificial jobs…?
Artificial intelligence is transforming how we work, offering automation, increased engagement, and better accessibility for employees. From smart assistants that schedule meetings to chatbots integrated into everyday apps, AI is making workplace information more accessible and personalized than traditional intranets.
Is it HR’s duty to resolve the ‘productivity puzzle?’
HR can help resolve the UK’s productivity puzzle by enabling employees to take responsibility for their own learning. However, most organizations fail to facilitate this because of barriers like time constraints, budget limitations, outdated resources, lack of choice, and insufficient manager support.
Sir Ken Robinson: “There are processes that are more likely to encourage innovation than not.”
Sir Ken Robinson explains how organizations can foster innovation by developing employees’ creative skills through deliberate processes like Pixar’s “plussing” method, which encourages building on ideas rather than dismissing them.
Gig economy: what’s its place in the future of work?
The gig economy is reshaping how work will be organized in the future, driven by four key forces: social shifts toward flexible work locations and purpose-driven roles, technological advances enabling remote work and automation, commercial pressures for business agility, and regulatory responses to growing self-employment.
Address skills shortages with talent pools and the hidden workforce
Explore how tapping into talent pools and the hidden workforce—including stay-at-home professionals, retirees, and skilled workers outside traditional employment—can help organizations address critical skills shortages in today’s job market.
Gig economy: the challenges of managing a freelance workforce
Managing a freelance workforce presents significant visibility and management challenges for HR teams. Key issues include uncontrolled costs when workers bypass HR processes, IR35 compliance risks with long-term contractors, and security vulnerabilities from informal hiring practices. Establishing centralized oversight and standardized processes is essential for mitigating these risks.
Gig economy: how to integrate it into a wider talent acquisition strategy
Learn how to integrate freelancers and gig workers into your talent acquisition strategy. With UK freelancing projected to grow significantly, discover why companies need a compelling Contingent Value Proposition to attract top gig economy talent in a competitive market.
Gig economy: what exactly is it?
The gig economy is a labor market where workers trade their skills and time for payment on specific projects rather than traditional employment. Powered by digital platforms and freelance marketplaces, it has grown significantly—London’s gig economy expanded 72% since 2010—but faces challenges including wage compression and tax compliance issues.
Gig economy: the equality challenge?
The gig economy is reshaping work, with 20-30% of European and US workers engaging in independent work. While offering flexibility, it raises equality concerns as legislators and courts struggle to balance worker protections against exploitative practices in platform-based employment.
