The Black Box of employee engagement
About a month ago, I started working with a new client, helping them to create an employee engagement forum. They had put together a group of representatives and I went in to speak with them. When I walked into the room, I could feel the tension, a tight feeling as if everyone were holding their […]
“That’s not what I signed up for!” Linking job role, illegitimate tasks and wellbeing…
There’s so much rich insight coming out of the academic sector that HR professionals need to know. At Academics’ Corner we feature the best HR researchers that tell you what they’ve found and what you need to do differently on the back of the research. Get connected to the academic sector through Academics’ Corner and […]
The workplace of the future – time for a more considered view?
A new report from CIPD indicates that nearly a quarter of employees (23%) are worried that at least part of their job could soon be automated [PDF]. The pace of automation and the development of artificial intelligence in the workplace has been the subject of innumerable articles in the media, many of them of a somewhat hysterical nature. […]
If it can be routinized, it will be: the charter for HR
The Plainspeak Analyst is Katherine Jones, Partner and Director of Talent Research at Mercer, the world’s largest human resources consulting firm. Her job is to design and deliver insight research and services to Mercer’s global clients. She was previously VP, Human Capital Management Technology Research at Bersin by Deloitte. She has a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Cornell University. […]
“I believe we need to be ensuring learning is practical and real for those in the workplace.”
We’re always curious to hear how our members and contributors tackle the challenges that the ever-changing world of L&D throws at them. We’ve got a wealth of experience and knowledge across the site, and what better way to showcase the diversity of our community than to get them to walk us through an average day? Want […]
The myth of empowerment: how to give your direct reports real ownership over their work
There are several factors that prevent managers from taking a stronger hand in leading their people to success. One of those is the Myth of Empowerment: that the way to empower people is to leave them alone and let them manage themselves. This is false empowerment, and probably the number one myth in the workplace. […]
Tie real consequences to performance to create empowerment and accountability
In order to empower your direct reports and make accountability work, it’s not enough to chant the slogan around the office and hope people get it. First, accountability works only as a management tool if the employee knows in advance that she will have to answer for her actions. IF you tell an employee that […]
Employee accountability: it means nothing without clear expectations
Remember that the first and most important element in creating real accountability is spelling out expectations up front in clear terms. If you are the boss, your number one responsibility is to make absolutely sure that every person you manage understands exactly what he is expected to do and exactly how he is expected to […]
What you can do about the workplace gender gap
For a long time, many people saw workplace diversity as little more than a box-ticking exercise, or simply a banner for companies to wave. Thankfully, these attitudes are disappearing and now workplace diversity is increasingly being recognised for what it is: crucial for business success. In recent years, HR departments have made huge and tangible […]
HR and the bigger world picture: how can it make an impact?
We live in extraordinary times – the political landscape is coping with post-truth propaganda and organisations are grappling with an unprecedented rate of change and disruption. I believe that the enterprises that will not only survive but outperform in the future will be the ones that amplify the power of their people. As HR professionals, we […]
HR, up your impact: what gets measured gets done
Once we are clear on the strategic goals and focus areas for HR, we need define our targets and how we measure our progress. Through this we are influencing what gets done, so we need to get it right. Otherwise, we divert resources and investment to potentially damaging number chasing. In the first article of the series, […]
HR, up your impact: what happens when reality bites?
“Plans are nothing; planning is everything” said Dwight D. Eisenhower. It’s one thing to come up with some goals and to have ways of measuring performance. What is vital is that we adapt when there are inevitable deviations from the plan – there may be opportunities to capitalise on and challenges to address. In this third article of this series, […]
Transaction cycles: a simpler future for an effective HR function?
In large organisations, HR can be an unknown world for employees. In their view it should be quite simplistic. It pays them, hires new employees for them and helps develop them. These apparently straight forward requests, however, come with complex and lengthy processes spread across multiple, unseen and sometimes seemingly unconnected teams. Isn’t it time we […]
Four ways for HR to become a force for innovation
HR is increasingly being challenged to help with generating greater innovation. Our responses typically have been to tackle the usual suspects. We invest in innovation training. We include “the ability to innovate” in our leadership promotion criteria. We adapt our psychometric assessments to try and spot the innovators. Unfortunately, these interventions rarely create truly innovative […]
British resilience demands… resilient Britons
How resilient are you? A friend of mine was asked this question in an interview recently. It is a difficult one to answer and – put on the spot – we would all answer that resilience is, of course, one of our biggest assets. But is it? For all of us? Right now, it needs […]
Reflections from the 2017 CIPD L&D Show: attention spans and a marketing approach to talent
Most of us paid attention when in 2016 we learned that the average adult attention span had decreased to just eight seconds and was now shorter than that of a goldfish. I am fascinated for HR, for Talent and Learning professionals and for learning tech providers as to the implications at work. Bear with me […]
Is your dress code fit for 2017?
Recently the media has been full of reports about MPs calling for tougher laws on dress code discrimination. Gary Cattermole, Director of award-winning employee engagement and employee research provider, The Survey Initiative, discusses why the issue is so vital and provides advice on how to create an inclusive dress code in your organisation. I think […]
How to build an award-winning company culture
How do you create a fantastic working environment and a happy workforce? It’s the million dollar question that we believe we’ve found some answers to. Simply Business has been named the Best Company to Work For two years in a row, topping the Sunday Times list in both 2015 and 2016. The rankings are based […]
Leadership development isn’t working. Why?
Blaire Palmer has been in the leadership development field for nearly two decades. And in that time she’s experienced plenty of fads. But rarely has she come across leadership development that really works. In this two-part series Blaire busts some myths about leadership development and offers some alternatives that might actually create more leadership. You […]
What should modern leadership development look like?
Blaire Palmer has been in the leadership development field for nearly 2 decades. And in that time she’s experienced plenty of fads. But rarely has she come across leadership development that really works. In this two-part series Blaire busts some myths about leadership development and offers some alternatives that might actually create more leadership. If […]
