Breaking the mafia: what organisations can learn
Learn how an anti-mafia initiative in Sicily that challenged deeply entrenched cultural norms offers valuable lessons for organizations attempting cultural transformation and breaking through institutional resistance to change.
Job shadowing, mentoring & open communication: developing future leaders in the public sector
Discover how job shadowing, external mentoring, and open communication foster leadership development in the public sector. Learn key HR strategies that help emerging leaders navigate organizational change and build future-proof leadership capabilities.
The disintegrating retail economic model and the dual-pronged approach that will replace it
Retail’s traditional model is disintegrating as ecommerce grows 21% annually. Future success requires a dual approach: stores must become experiential destinations and media channels that drive consumers into brand ecosystems, while ecommerce handles product transactions.
How is customer experience affected by employee engagement?
Employee engagement directly impacts customer experience, with staff attitude and competence accounting for 62% of customer complaints. Research shows that engaged employees deliver better service quality, leading to improved customer satisfaction and business profitability.
Coffee break: Humility, robot ethics and the harm of fancy job titles
This week’s HR roundup covers key leadership trends including the role of humility in effective management, the drawbacks of overly complex job titles, and emerging guidance on robot ethics. Topics also span performance ratings, zero-hours contracts, diversity initiatives, and recruitment best practices across leading organizations.
Politician analysis: Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson, Britain’s former foreign secretary, is an unconventional politician known for his colorful rhetoric and memorable speaking style. However, his lack of diplomatic tact and offensive comments about world leaders reveal significant gaps in soft skills essential for high office.
Politician analysis: David Davis
David Davis, former Secretary of State for European Union Relations, has drawn attention for controversial comments and an unconventional path for a conservative politician. Rising from a London council estate to leadership positions, Davis exemplifies how education and determination shape political careers, though his management style and public disagreements with Prime Minister Theresa May have sparked debate.
Coffee break: Leadership training, cultural fit and a new way to tackle racism in the workplace
This week’s HR roundup covers workplace culture, recruitment strategies, employee policies, and leadership development. Highlights include insights on cultural fit in hiring, Airbnb’s anti-racism initiative, why leadership training often fails, and the importance of workplace mental health support.
Team biases: divorce your ideas
Overcome team bias by divorcing yourself from your ideas. Rather than fighting deeply wired biases through processes and self-awareness alone, acknowledge their existence and focus on making better decisions through diverse perspectives and constructive disagreement.
Simplify and direct your management style with a ‘step-up mindset’
Adopt a step-up mindset to simplify your management style by focusing on foundational skills rather than overwhelming yourself with countless methodologies. Prioritize essential management tasks like communication and performance management, then build additional capabilities as you gain experience in your role.
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.
Coffee break: Cubicle living, the ageless workforce and generationalisationism
Explore this week’s essential HR news and opinion covering workplace culture, employee well-being, leadership trends, and recruitment challenges. From aging workforces and cubicle living to the gig economy and hiring obstacles, this curated roundup highlights key topics shaping modern workplaces.
What’s happening at the frontiers of wellbeing?
Research into neuroscience, sleep, mindfulness, and financial wellbeing is reshaping workplace strategies. Emerging findings, including how emotions spread between employees during meetings, reveal psychological processes that influence organizational culture and decision-making quality.
Brand building from the inside out: employees’ role in creating an authentic culture
Strong brands are built from the inside out, rooted in a company’s authentic culture and values rather than external design alone. Employees play a crucial role in bringing this authentic brand to life, as customers instinctively detect whether a company truly lives its stated values or merely presents a hollow facade.
What can we learn from Olympic silver medals?
Olympic silver medals teach valuable lessons about handling results and managing expectations. Rather than fixating on winning, world-class athletes focus on personal performance and process improvement. Understanding that medals represent years of achievement, not just final outcomes, helps both athletes and business leaders build resilience and foster genuine pride in accomplishments.
Coffee break: Credibility, Lego offices, and why we’re all responsible for a bad culture
A curated roundup of HR news and opinion covering workplace culture, recruitment, leadership, and performance trends. This week’s selection includes insights on company culture dynamics, innovative office design, millennial leadership expectations, and workplace productivity strategies.
Factors that influence employee engagement – your complete list
Employee engagement is influenced by diverse factors spanning relationships with managers and colleagues, career development opportunities, organizational culture, compensation fairness, work-life balance, and personal resilience. Understanding these key drivers helps organizations and managers create environments where employees thrive and remain committed to their work.
Politician analysis: Donald Trump
Donald Trump rose from a privileged real estate background to build a $4.5 billion empire and develop a powerful personal brand through television and business ventures. However, his controversial political candidacy reveals the tension between authentic communication and diplomatic restraint, as his unfiltered remarks often offend despite appealing to voters seeking alternative politics.
American tech entrepeneur Vivek Wadhwa on diversity, the future of education and Apple’s innovation model
Tech entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa discusses how education systems must evolve to teach practical skills and lifelong learning rather than rote memorization, especially as advancing technologies reshape industries and job requirements. He emphasizes that future success depends on employees’ ability to adapt quickly and access diverse learning resources, including digital tutors and online platforms.
Coffee Break: Swearing, gratitude and what you need to know about the freelance economy
Explore curated HR insights on the freelance economy, workplace culture, employee wellbeing, and organizational strategy. This collection covers recruitment trends, the benefits of empowering employees, the connection between health and performance, and more essential workplace topics.
