Leadership: six reasons why HR should be considered in top level management
For too long HR professionals have been denied a seat the top table – but it’s time that people skills took centre stage in the boardroom again. Let’s face it, and if we were to be strict about it, there is only one reason why HR should be considered in top level management and it’s […]
The secret about disciplinary investigations that HR professionals won’t tell you
No names, no job titles, no companies. HR After Dark features totally anonymised opinion pieces from HR professionals, consultants and industry commentators. No holds barred, no censorship, nothing but raw opinions on issues that matter to HR. OK so here it is. Are you listening? Are you prepared to (maybe) be a little bit shocked […]
People management: how to create a psychologically safe environment at work
How psychologically safe is your workplace? If you want to attract and retain valuable team members, it’s time to get to grips with this. Psychological safety, in a work capacity, is all about creating environments in which employees feel accepted and respected. There are ways to identify if your workplace is psychologically safe or unsafe. […]
Five ways for women to take the reins on their leadership development
In addition to the demanding tasks and huge responsibility placed on all leaders, women leaders have additional challenges to contend with. Here are five ways to approach these obstacles and develop further in your leadership role. My niece has just co-written a brand new BBC book Doctor Who: The Women Who Lived, Amazing Tales for […]
Why showing up as the best version of yourself will help your career
Feeling the pressure to fit in? Here are eight steps to help you show up as the best version of yourself. “I just didn’t fit in. I felt awkward, uncomfortable and different, somehow marginalised in the meeting. I really want to talk about it.” These were the initial words that a client shared with me at her […]
Leadership tips: why managers must put ‘care’ at the heart of their people strategy
Economic volatility, rapid technological change and political uncertainty have created a challenging environment for business in recent years, which is why the issue of care is more important than ever before when it comes to managing employees. Care in business? Why in a business context, would we need to mention care? At first glance this […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
Why leaders need to put on their oxygen mask and take care of themselves
If leaders don’t look after their own wellbeing first and foremost, they won’t have the capacity to care for their people and organisation properly. It might seem counter-intuitive, in a world where ‘servant-leadership’ is widely recognised as a concept, to write an article about why leaders need to look after themselves. This article came about […]
Tame your inner-critic: how self-criticism limits employee productivity
Do you have an inner critic? Here’s how your negative, self-doubting thoughts can play out in the workplace and impact productivity. Over the past ten years of working with employees at different points in their career (leaders and managers included), it has struck me that we all experience, to some degree at some point in […]
Why a ‘snowplough’ leadership team will deliver results
What has snowploughing got to do with successful leadership? Vishal Chhatralia, Vice President of Digital Marketing at RS Components, offers his thoughts. ‘Snowplough’. Not usually a word used to refer to a workplace leadership team, but in this instance it works. Right now you’re probably wondering: what does that mean? And also, how can I […]
Book review – The Business of Excellence: Building High-performance Teams and Organisations
HRZone has a range of books available for review. If you would like to receive one of our business books, free of charge, please contact the editor on editor at hrzone dot com and we can send you a list of what’s available. In return, we ask for a 400-700 word review of the book, its […]
HR books for review: what has HRZone got available?
HRZone has a range of books available for review. If you would like to receive one of our business books, free of charge, please contact the editor on editor at hrzone dot com and let us know what you’re interested in. In return, we ask for a 400-700 word review of the book, its content […]
Small company super-glue: how to grow up without growing apart
A micro business doesn’t need to talk about culture to have it perfectly formed. When you are a bunch of folks starting-up, you’ll have found a very natural super-glue. As a business owner scaling up, sticking together is altogether harder. Here is how to navigate from micro-business into fully-fledged SME without losing the magic of […]
What are the top dos and don’ts when it comes to implementing change in a business?
Change is really hard. There’s no need to make it harder. Find out the top dos and don’ts for implementing change in business effectively. Change usually needs a moment of catastrophe, realisation or inspiration. Avoiding catastrophe, and deliberately creating that moment of realisation or inspiration requires something that goes beyond rational good sense to something […]
How to become an HR trendsetter
If you’re looking to get ahead of the curve in the HR industry, you need to look beyond what’s happening in the HR space itself. If you could forecast an early trend, you could capitalise on it because you’d be one step ahead of everyone else. This isn’t just true for investors in the stock […]
Remote working: why virtual teams fail and how you can avoid it
Recruiting and managing a virtual team requires a whole different approach to office-based staff and there’s plenty that can go wrong if leaders don’t take this into account. Research shows that a worrying two out of every three experienced managers fail in their first attempt at running a virtual team. This matters greatly now because […]
Modern leadership: why a responsive management style is the future
In today’s ever-changing business environment, there isn’t one management style or technique that works all the time – what’s required is a responsive approach to stay ahead. The world has changed. As new demands from both the market and employees come to the fore, traditional management styles are being overtaken by a new leadership mindset. […]
The eight core capabilities that future leaders need
It’s difficult to plan for future leadership roles when we don’t know what the future holds. Jenny Straumers from Cirrus offers some advice. The future is uncertain and unpredictable. Organisations everywhere face the challenge of planning for future leadership roles, even though we’re not actually sure what many of those roles will look like. Digital […]
