Talent Spot: Gill Crowther, HR director at Nominet
By the time Gill Crowther, director of HR at Nominet, had finished university, she already knew that she wanted to work in HR. She had studied engineering, but the fact that she seemed to be very good at getting people to help her with her studies gave her a “moment of revelation” that management […]
Christina’s Counsel: Help! My boss is creating a long hours culture
The challenge Recently appointed in a relatively new company as its first HR manager, my client has a dilemma. She described with some dismay her fear that the managing director was starting to instil a long hours’ culture in the organisation. No explicit statement existed in this regard, but some behavioural trends, which seemed […]
The HRZone Interview: The CMI’s CEO Ann Francke on management
Ann Francke only started her new job as chief executive at the Chartered Management Institute on 12 June, but she is already on a mission. As you’d expect, she not only wants to encourage more managers to gain professional qualifications, but she also wants them – and their employers – to recognise the power of […]
Is leadership development really the answer to your problems?
The idea that there is a key requirement for ‘better leadership’ as the ‘answer’ to most, if not all, business and organisational problems remains prevalent. Numerous surveys by management consultancies reinforce the notion that there is a leadership talent ‘gap’ and, by extension, a need for more and better leadership development activity. This idea […]
In a Nutshell: Five considerations when creating a welcome pack for new hires
When lastminute.com moved its group headquarters to a swanky new Farringdon office in April, it seemed like a good chance to revamp its welcome pack for new joiners. As a result, it turned to us, the same language consultancy that had worked on the ‘tone of voice’ of its marketing collateral a few years before, […]
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: 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! […]
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 […]
Blog: Isn’t the ‘seven second’ performance appraisal throwing the baby out with the bath water?
An article in People Management regarding the new approach by mining company, First Quantum Minerals, which hangs on the idea of a ‘seven second’ performance appraisal form, reminds of the appeal associated with those ‘2 second’ pop-up tents you see advertised. It’s the promise of convenience, ease, speed and time not wasted doing something you are not […]
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, […]
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 […]
News: Men v women or men + women?
Men and women have different leadership strengths, and organisations need a balance of both if they are to be truly effective. That’s the conclusion of a new study from Talent Innovations which analysed feedback results of nearly 14,000 managers to identify the differences in how men and women were rated against a set of 18 […]
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 […]
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 […]
In a Nutshell: Five top tips for staying stress-free
Stress is now the leading cause of long-term sickness absence in the workplace. A survey published recently by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and private health insurance company, Simplyhealth, revealed that nearly two-fifths of the 592 UK employers questioned had seen an increase in stress-related absence among their employees over the last year. […]
Talent Spot: Community blogger, Bob Bannister
Being stuck at airports for hours on end is one of the most energy-sapping and irritating things about traveling. Yet for Bob Bannister, managing director of training provider, iManage Performance, it proved to be fortuitous. He explains: “In the mid-90s, I was working for Philips and doing a lot of sourcing from Eastern Europe, which […]
News: HR employers do little to keep staff despite skills shortage fears
While two out of five employers in the HR sector are worried about losing staff, around the same number are doing nothing to keep them, according to a study. Unsurprisingly then, Reed’s HR 2012 Salary and Market Insight report also revealed that nearly half of all junior HR managers were either actively searching or plan […]
Blog: Steve Jobs and valuing the ‘B’ players
Recognise This! – There are always B players in any organisation who are just as important to your success as A players, if in a different way. During the last few months, one of the top books has been the Steve Jobs autobiography. It’s a fascinating read and doesn’t hold back on both the […]
In a Nutshell: Five tips for doing an MBA while working full-time
Stephanie Murphy, currently an interim HR business partner at EDF Energy, has just graduated from the Open University with an MBA. She acknowledges that the things she learned while undertaking the course have proved invaluable in her work as an HR and business professional. But completing a qualification like this while in full-time employment […]
Blog: The disciplinary power of slapping someone’s legs with a wet fish
Disciplinary stages: 1 – verbal warning. 2 – written warning. 3 – a slap round the back of the legs with a wet fish. 4 – final written warning. Well, not really, but I’m sure I’m not the only one to have fantasised about having an additional, more impactful sanction somewhere along the line! […]
