Blog: An anti-engagement manifesto
A few weeks ago, in my Alien Abduction blog, I promised a bit more on the topic of employee engagement. So here is the employee anti-engagement guide…It is a pretty well-established fact that when it comes to keeping people enthusiastic, money is surprisingly far down the list of effective motivators! Fat salaries and bonuses […]
Blog: Crisis stories – What RBS’ Stephen Hester can teach us
RBS‘ Stephen Hester has emerged to apologise to his customers for the ‘technical issues’ that have left millions of customers frozen out of their accounts. Interestingly, he used the analogy of delayed planes waiting to clear after heavy rain to highlight the fact that the backlog of problems needs time to be fixed. I’ve talked […]
News: Redundancies to leap as employers bid to cut staff costs
Amid warnings of a deteriorating economic situation, UK employers are shifting their focus towards making voluntary redundancies and outsourcing loss-making services in a bid to cut staffing costs. Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, told MPs on the Treasury Committee today that the economic situation had now worsened to such an extent […]
Blog: Still waters run deep – Never underestimate an introvert
Google is one incredible business. Not just because it has revolutionised the way we search for ‘things’ on the internet, but because of how the company’s progression is fuelled by great ideas and innovative thinking. The search engine gives staff free time to develop their own ideas for the business, and many of the […]
Blog: 5 ways to get creative with fundraising in the workplace
If you think fundraising means suffering through yet another temptation-filled bake sale, think again. There are a number of ways to get creative with fundraising in the workplace. Doing so will benefit not just the charity but your company as well, building morale and injecting a bit of fun into the everyday routine. We’ve […]
Blog: How can you make performance management more social?
The workplace today has changed beyond recognition; new technology is continuously bringing efficiencies to our way of working. However, one thing remains constant – the performance appraisal process. Now, consider Generation Y for a moment, will they be content to wait for their annual or bi-annual review to find out how they’re doing? Probably not! […]
Blog: Is HR really out of touch?
The study by Kenexa reported on HRZone last week has some interesting findings but I doubt it comes as a huge shock to HR. HR has a massive role to play in building a high-performing culture and contributing to the bottom line – but at the moment so many HR professionals are managing the nuts […]
Strategy: 5 things to consider when adopting HR shared services
HR Shared Services centres are posited as a way to reduce costs and increase efficiencies in administration, but setting up such arrangements can be a daunting task. HR case management firm Dovetail Software has identified five areas that it says are often overlooked but critical to success. These are: Standardizing common HR processes including […]
Ensuring collaboration works
With new and updated HR legislation coming into effect all the time, HR departments need to stay on the ball to remain compliant. Mistakes in this area can have serious consequences and a negative impact in both a regulatory and employee well-being sense. As a result, it can help if HR executives put their […]
Blog: who holds the real keys to the organisation anyway?
What is the narrative of your movie reel? The rank-and-file workforce had weathered layoffs, had their commissions slashed, and on top of that, their salaries had been frozen over the past five years. However, the chief executive’s decision was this — let’s have the senior management team take a lavish trip down to Bermuda and […]
Blog: 3 tips for better feedback reception
Recognise This! – How you receive feedback is as important as how you give it. We can’t be great 100% of the time. Yes, we all work hard and want to do a good job, but sometimes we miss the mark. Or perhaps the “mark” moved on us and we didn’t adjust in time. Frankly, […]
Whistle while you work to keep the workplace spirits up
Whistle while you work still has resonance it seems, according to research from music licensing organisations PPL and PRS for Music. A study of 1,008 small and medium enterprise owners found that over three quarters (77%) reckon that playing music in the workplace increases staff morale, and creates a better atmosphere and working environment for staff […]
Blog: HR – also known as The A Team
Are you the Mr. T of your organisation? By that I don’t mean do you wear excessive amounts of gold bling, have a slightly dubious Mohican and yell “Quit your jibber-jabber!” in meetings. I mean if there is a problem, if no-one else can help, and if they can find you, maybe your staff can […]
Talent Spot: Joris Luijke, Atlassian’s vice president of HR
Joris Luijke, vice president of talent and HR at fast-growing Australian software company, Atlassian, has followed in his father’s footsteps by choosing HR as a career. “When I was young, my father tried to convince me not to do HR. So just to annoy him, I went to work in HR!” he laughs. Luijke did […]
A typical HRD: Part 4 – FTSE 250 companies
The focus and pressure on top HR directors in commerce and industry has never been greater than it is today. As a result, over recent years, their remit has evolved to require a far broader, more business-oriented background and set of skills than was previously the case. But this situation has, in turn, led […]
In a Nutshell: Five considerations to help boost staff innovation
Although a much over-used term, ‘innovation’ means to invent or apply new ideas, methods, approaches and the like. Although it sounds simple enough, creating an environment in which employees feel empowered, engaged and trusting enough to let their creative juices flow freely is easier said than done. So here Joris Luijke, vice president of […]
How to communicate effectively with hard-to-reach workers
In tricky economic times, effective internal communications can have a vital role to play in helping to keep staff morale up and anxiety down. All too often these days, however, communication activity can end up being focused almost exclusively online, creating the risk that workers without access to the latest social media tool or even […]
News: Police shared service move could see 1,100 jobs outsourced
Local press reports suggest that around 1,100 posts across the three police forces of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire could be outsourced along with back office services, which include HR. Later this month, the three forces plan to publish proposals for private companies to supply HR, finance and IT services to their respective police authorities. […]
Blog: Tips on how to create a powerful employer brand
We recently held an employer branding event held at The Sanctum Soho Hotel with some great insights from brands such ITV and TMP Worldwide who outlined their own employer branding journeys. What became clear is that with the right resources – and of course budget – employer branding messages can be very powerful. But how […]
Performance psychology in action
A goodly number of businesses and public authorities are now starting to adopt performance psychology techniques as a means of trying to enhance how their employees operate on a day-to-day basis. Performance psychology combines business, sports and positive psychology, with the aim of enabling individuals, teams and groups to flourish and become the best that […]