Blog: Ten top tips to appear more confident
If you’re keen to come across more confidently, here are 10 tips to do just that: 1. Know what you look like Find out how people perceive you…if you look as though you lack confidence, then people will treat you as though you do. In other words, you’re already on the back foot and […]
Talent Spot: Simon Linares, group HR director at Telefonica Digital
When Telefónica Digital launched last year, group HR director Simon Linares had the daunting but exciting prospect of helping to create a very different organisational culture from that of its parent company. Its parent, Telefónica, is the Spanish owner of mobile operator O2, of which Linares was formerly group HR director too. But his […]
Blog: HenryTalk – Any answers for all your questions Part 1
HRZone’s Any Answers has been busy lately and we’ve been going through the recent posts to pick out a few highlights. All of these questions are still live so, if you want to add anything, just follow the links and get in touch. First is a tricky situation for bigharry, who is moving out of management […]
Talking Point: Does HR have a role in CSR programmes?
The role of HR in corporate social responsibility programmes is not dissimilar to that in any other company initiative. But given widespread confusion as to what CSR actually comprises, HR personnel could be forgiven for wondering exactly how they fit into the broader picture. A common definition of CSR is a corporate programme that […]
Blog: Becoming a Time Lord – Progressing your career without benefit of hindsight
Meg Burton’s interview in my last blog prompted some thoughts about how we create that awareness of what our gap is… You know the gap that with hindsight we can see as clearly as the nose on our face (if you missed it click here). Unless you have Dr Who like abilities we don’t […]
Is the HR recruitment market starting to recover?
The overall HR recruitment market has seen a marked improvement recently, with a cautious but steady rise in new vacancies. Here we look at individual sectors in more depth: Financial services There have been a few significant HR moves at the senior executive level recently and we expect that to impact hiring as new […]
News: 22,500 new HR jobs created over last year
While the number of HR professionals employed in the UK has risen by 20% over the last year, vacancies for senior interim staff leaped by a huge 45% during the first nine months of 2012 alone. According to an analysis of data from the Office for National Statistics undertaken by specialist HR recruitment agency Ortus, […]
Blog: National Work-Life Week: Getting women on the board
Everywhere I turn the debate about getting more women into British boardrooms continues. Last week we learnt the government is building a team of allies to fight the EU’s proposed introduction of mandatory quotas. The week before, BBC2 aired the second part of Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Hilary Devey’s investigation into why so few women […]
HRD Insight: Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s Leigh Lafever-Ayer on flexible working
This week is National Work-Life Week, which is intended to encourage both employers and their employees to think about how they can strike a better work-life balance. One popular flexible working method is home-working and people who do so are reportedly less stressed and feel happier that they are getting the balance between the two […]
News: Higher stress levels and longer hours with us for next 3 years
Increasing numbers of UK workers are suffering excessive pressure in their job as they work longer hours than ever – and the situation isn’t expected to change any time soon. According to a survey of 1,606 companies across the world conducted by professional services firm Towers Watson, a third acknowledged that employees were under […]
Blog: Why competency frameworks are like potatoes
I always think about Competency Frameworks as being like a potato. Not because they are muddy, starchy and sprout a bit when left in a dark cupboard, but because they provide a good solid basis and you can do loads of different things with them. Yet also like spuds, they are often either under-utilised, or […]
Blog: How to undertake staff communications with pizzazz
Over the years some have found that HR communication has become somewhat synonymous with flat messages, full of corporate jargon that take up space in their inbox and rarely entice the recipient to open, let alone read it… Until now. With all the developments in modern technology HR departments all over the world should be […]
Infographic: What do staff look for in their line managers?
Well-being at work: Learning to love what you do
One of the strongest predictors of health and well-being turns out to be the quality of our social connections. Yet, have you ever turned up for a doctor’s appointment, had your blood pressure taken and then been asked some rather direct questions about your social life: Do you often get together with family and friends? […]
Blog: Just what is an executive coach exactly?
What do Andy Murray, Mo Farrah, Jessica Ennis and Robbie Grabarz have in common? They have a coach who has made a difference. Whether it be Ivan Lendl, Fuzz Ahmed, Toni Minichiello or Alberto Salazar, all have been accredited with making the difference between success and failure by their charges. In […]
Blog: Working your business skills on the dating scene
Many of our finely tuned business skills can be applied to the dating scene. Match.com’s resident clinical psychologist, Dr Cecilia d’Felice, shares her advice on how you can transfer your business expertise to your dating toolkit: Research You wouldn’t turn up to a business meeting unprepared and the same diligence should apply to a date. […]
News: Lack of first aid skills leads to death of 140,000 workers each year
Although up to 140,000 people die each year due to lack of access to first aid, about half of all UK employers have no formal processes in place to assess workers’ needs in an emergency. According to research conducted among 4,000 people by One Poll on behalf of St John’s Ambulance, less than 20% acknowledged […]
Blog: How ‘big data’ can help you maximise your people investment
Recognise This! – Your single greatest “expense” is your employees. Big Data can help you get the most out of that investment. Big data (the ability to analyse lots of complex data quickly) is coming into its own. The Harvard Business Review blog published this excerpt of an article on “Big Data’s Management Revolution” saying, […]
Dealing with a double whammy: RTI and pension auto-enrolment
To describe pension auto-enrolment and Real-Time Information as hot topics in the payroll world would be something of an understatement. Over the next five years, HR and payroll departments will have to deal with two of the biggest changes to hit them in decades. RTI, which goes live in April 2013, means that information […]
Blog: Recruitment – The growing trend of asking curveball questions
HR professionals are often swamped by candidates that look similar on paper, with similar work experience, education and qualifications. When faced with equally qualified candidates, it can be difficult to find a point of differentiation. Obscure interview questions such as ‘how do you fit an elephant into a fridge?’ or ‘why are manhole covers […]
