What makes the Japanese railways so efficient?
It was a Sunday night at a quiet and emptying train station, close to the end of shifts. I was met by a man in an immaculate uniform and as sharp-looking as he would have been at 9am on a Monday morning. He was taking the trouble of speaking with the occasional passengers as they […]
Managing the pitfalls of meaningful work
Today’s shifting social and economic landscape has encouraged a focus on conscious capitalism and a move away from short-term profits alone to take into account the wider interests of a range of different stakeholders. From the employee perspective has come a renewed interest in creating jobs that are meaningful and full of purpose. It is […]
HR dreams, family leave and the need for evidence-based practice
Top of the day to you, and welcome to our latest round up of news, blogs and opinion from across the HR industry. Let us know what you think of the articles we've shared, and tell us what you've enjoyed reading this week too! Future work – The top jobs in 10 years might not […]
Twitter chat: How can HR help overcome the biggest challenges in retail?
Retail is one of the most disrupted industries out there – from the move to online shopping to the implications of Brexit and the Living Wage, it's a tough time for leaders and employees alike. Following on from our insightful roundtable on the key trends affecting the retail sector, we broadened out the conversation with […]
Evidence-based agony aunt: starting difficult conversations
Our evidence-based agony aunt, Jan Hills, uses findings from neuroscience and psychology to tell you how to solve your organisational problems in brain-savvy ways, that work with the mind's natural tendecies and not against it. Got a problem you want her to look at it? Drop us a line at editor@hrzone.com. We'll get back quickly. Question: […]
Evidence-based agony aunt: a conversation with a defensive employee
Our evidence-based agony aunt, Jan Hills, uses findings from neuroscience and psychology to tell you how to solve your organisational problems in brain-savvy ways, that work with the mind's natural tendecies and not against it. Got a problem you want her to look at it? Drop us a line at editor@hrzone.com. We'll get back quickly. […]
How leaders can stir up creativity in meetings
This piece is based on the thoughts of Mark Batey, Senior Lecturer In Organisational Psychology at Alliance Manchester Business School. HRZone interviewed Mark in January 2017. His thoughts are based on a decade worth of research and practice with senior teams, helping them be creative and develop new strategies. Mark's approach is to draw together […]
Feedback: the gift that keeps on giving
Stuart Duff, head of development at business psychologists Pearn Kandola, shares his thoughts on the challenges of giving feedback and managing performance. Providing feedback: A leader’s greatest challenge? Feedback. It’s a hot topic across all industries. But still key for a business to progress and for employees to act effectively and develop. There are many ways […]
“Having a company priority focused so heavily on people and engagement is a great privilege”
Taking on a new role is as challenging as it is exciting. In this series we will be talking to HR professionals who are getting to grips with a new job and finding out what attracted them to the role, as well as what their key priorities are for the months ahead. Want to tell us about […]
A snowball started rolling: lessons from Norway about gender quotas on boards
What are the main lessons that we can learn from the Norwegian women quota for corporate boards? The quota was introduced in 2002. In most countries in Europe the number of women on boards today are several times higher than it was in 2002. This is illustrated by the EU statistics displayed in the graph below. How […]
“It will be the collaboration and thinking styles that make a project a success.”
We're always curious to hear how our members and contributors tackle the challenges that the ever-changing world of HR throws at them. We've got a wealth of experience and knowledge across the site, and what better way to showcase the diversity of our community than to get them to walk us through an average day? Want […]
Personality at work: are you from the dark side…?
You have both light and dark personality traits If you’re a Star Wars fan you’ll no doubt be familiar with the ‘dark side of the force’, the battle between light and dark with characters drawing power from the mystical dark side. The idea that we can have both light and dark aspects of our personality, […]
The role of feedback in performance management – the conditions for success
There are lots of companies making changes to their Performance Management systems and most of the changes revolve around feedback. But have we got it right? Those of you who read our articles and regular newsletter will know we have views on the role of feedback that are, some would say been quite controversial. We […]
You can’t handle the truth: Are you being bullied or performance managed?
You’re being bullied, but an inner voice is telling you it’s performance management. You’re good at your job but whatever you do is never good enough for your manager. When you try to discuss your concerns, your manager says, “I don’t control how you feel, only you control how you feel”, making you feel victimised. […]
Coffee Break: Trust, culture management and the importance of being liked at work
Here is your weekly list of news, opinion and interesting blogs from across the HR world, selected by us so you don't have to spend your coffee break scrolling through newsfeeds. Let us know what you've enjoyed reading this week, or tell us what you think of the articles we've shared in the comments below. […]
Older workers deprived of performance appraisals and training in the UK – what can we do?
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 […]
“Operational excellence cannot be one of fifteen initiatives you have running.”
This is an interview with Justin Hughes, a former Red Arrows pilot and the Managing Director of Mission Excellence, a consultancy that partners with organisations committed to high performance. His new book, The Business of Excellence: Building high-performance teams and organizations, is out now, published by Bloomsbury. Jamie Lawrence, Editor, HRZone: What did your time […]
Book review: What is global leadership?
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, […]
The five temptations leaders must avoid
When it comes to working with leaders the most consistently lacking behaviour seems to be discipline. Now I know that most of you are reeling reading this and probably thinking ‘how dare he’ but now’s the time to be really honest with yourself – we all get a little distracted from time to time. In […]
Coffee Break: Diversity, multitasking and why disruptive tech needs a reality check
Welcome to another one of our Coffee Break round-ups, where we'll be listing our favourite bits of news and opinion from across the HR world, like this piece earlier in the week about what it's like to work in the UK for international employees (TLDR: we drink a lot, and the tea round is fraught […]