Why compassionate leaders do come first
Unless you have a fear of flying and have never dared set foot on an aircraft, you will be familiar with the safety briefing that instructs passengers, in an emergency, to ensure they attach their own oxygen mask before tending to others. The rationale being that you will be of little use to anyone else […]
Why leaders need to be positive thinkers
It takes a lot of work to create a world-class organization. It’s hard to develop a successful team. It’s not easy to build a great culture. It’s challenging to work toward a vision and create a positive future. It’s difficult to change the world. As a leader, you will face all kinds of challenges, adversity, […]
Fostering a leadership pipeline: a springboard for long-term success
As we fast progress towards a ‘digital first’ nation, there’s no denying that technical skills are and will be the centre of our professional and personal lives. However, wherever you look, and whoever you talk to, we’re all being told the same thing – we’re facing a major talent shortage. This couldn’t be clearer than […]
Do the best leaders have big mouths?
While selecting good leaders is a focus for all businesses, there is growing concern that not many firms are actually good at it. The failure rate of senior executives remains alarmingly high, with estimates varying between 30% and 60% within 18 months of appointment. These failures are associated with large costs, too, with conservative estimates […]
How to make change easier and smoother
It is getting harder to change. We are surrounded by a heady concoction of accelerating technological change, unremitting global socio-political unrest, and persistent economic frailty. However you want to characterise the times we live in, social, economic and commercial stability is not a part of it. And against this backdrop, it is hard to find […]
HR challenges for 2017 – and beyond
The Hackett Group’s 2017 HR Key Issues report had much to reveal about the state of the profession – and the challenges and opportunities it faces in the near future. Based on a survey of executives from more than 180 large international companies, the report paints a picture of HR at a turning point in its […]
We need to talk about race: why are we making so little progress on ethnic diversity?
We’re making significant progress with gender diversity in the workplace. Yet when it comes to race and ethnicity, advancements have been harder to see. Only 6% of top management jobs are held by black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) leaders. That is simply not good enough when you consider BAME groups make up 12% of […]
How leaders are silencing their people
This article was co-authored by Megan Reitz and John Higgins of Ashridge Executive Education. How confident are you that your team are telling you the things you really need to hear? If there was serious malpractice going on in the business, would employees speak up or would they remain silent? Are people on the front […]
Speaking truth to power: the empowering culture
This is one of the key findings to come out of research from Ashridge Executive Education which looks at the dynamics of ‘speaking truth to power’ and provides practical advice on how leaders can improve dialogue in their organisation. Leaders’ ability to manage the subtle nuances that influence why people speak up – or choose […]
Speaking truth to power: the adjudicated culture
This is one of the key findings to come out of research from Ashridge Executive Education which looks at the dynamics of ‘speaking truth to power’ and provides practical advice on how leaders can improve dialogue in their organisation. Leaders’ ability to manage the subtle nuances that influence why people speak up – or choose […]
Speaking truth to power: the directive culture
This is one of the key findings to come out of research from Ashridge Executive Education which looks at the dynamics of ‘speaking truth to power’ and provides practical advice on how leaders can improve dialogue in their organisation. Leaders’ ability to manage the subtle nuances that influence why people speak up – or choose […]
Speaking truth to power: the dialogic culture
This is one of the key findings to come out of research from Ashridge Executive Education which looks at the dynamics of ‘speaking truth to power’ and provides practical advice on how leaders can improve dialogue in their organisation. Leaders’ ability to manage the subtle nuances that influence why people speak up – or choose […]
Book review: Riding the Leadership Rollercoaster
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, […]
If you want to be a great leader, it pays not to be too smart
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 […]
Inclusion is the glue: 5 ways to create a holistic diverse and inclusive company
Corporate recruiters and headhunters spend an exorbitant amount of time and effort to recruit diverse talent. Even when organisations are serious about diversity– as with an ever growing number of companies – it is not enough to merely push for more diversity. By merely creating diverse teams without appropriate organisational and managerial interventions, companies run […]
Male managers command less authority in ‘female’ jobs
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 […]
Mental health at Crossrail, the ROI of wellbeing and wellbeing optimism
Christina Butterworth is Occupational Health and Wellbeing Strategy Lead at Crossrail. We caught up with Christina at this year’s Good Day At Work Conversation, organised by Robertson Cooper. She was previously Head of Health and BG Group and is on the board of the National School of Occupational Health. Jamie Lawrence, Editor, HRZone: What have you learnt […]
4 companies on how to win at leadership development
Leadership is a hugely important factor for any organization. Given how important it is to have great leadership in place, developing first-time or more junior managers is of vital importance. Having the support and processes in place to take young managers and help them flourish, though often overlooked, makes all the difference! We spoke 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 […]
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 […]