Taking one for the team: why it’s time to ditch the dogma of individual rewards

For the past ten years, I have been interested in the area surrounding how and why employees at work are rewarded for their results. This has led me to think about the conventional approach of rewards, and how they are at odds with desirable behaviour. More and more, organisations are aiming for teamwork to improve performances […]

8 winning tactics for creating gold medal teamwork

This article was written by Mandy Flint & Elisabet Vinberg Hearn, authors of ”The Team Formula”. The Olympics are now in our rear view mirror. This is a good time to review and learn from the teamwork that goes into making an Olympian successful. Team GB had magnificent success at the Olympics. That kind of success […]

The diversity challenge? Team cohesion grows from shared goals

Nisha from Finance eyes her lemon meringue cupcake, the topping melting in the sun. Liz from Communications forces a bright grin as she grapples with the microphone. “And the winner of the Cupcake King or Queen of 2016 is…” Nisha hasn’t mistakenly entered herself for The Great British Bake Off, she’s just struggling to enjoy […]

Just how can you quickly spin up teams on the fly and make them more efficiently?

In response to today’s rapidly changing contexts, businesses are regularly reviewing their lists of projects, closing down some and kick-starting others. With this constant flux, building teams on the fly and expecting quick results is becoming a common occurrence in modern organisations. What type of leader is best suited to build them and what should […]

Do team members retaliate or cooperate when co-workers call in sick?

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 […]

Team biases: divorce your ideas

I’m biased. I glaze over when people talk about processes. Learning and Development processes, management processes, the list goes on. Why? Because I haven’t seen one that works. And another thing: When I express an idea, I do so because I think it’s a good idea and I’ll defend it. And when the stakes are […]

If you want trust, you have to invest in culture

Trust is big business. From Davos down, business leaders are consulting oracles like Edelman’s Trust Barometer or the CIPD’s Employee Outlook Report in order to increase trust in their organisations, inside and out. It’s a perfectly sensible goal. The commercial advantages of trust are well documented: when employees trust leaders and each other, it reduces […]

Breakfast Insight: The question of senior team effectiveness

Breakfast Insight is your short dose of new ideas and food for thought, perfect to watch with your morning coffee. Five minutes' of interesting ideas or questions to inspire and make you think. Grab your cup and watch now. Today we're chatting to Justin Hughes, Managing Director of consultancy Mission Excellence and a former member of […]

Standardisation is creating a massive talent hotbed

The standardised work we are all so familiar with as being a cornerstone of a Lean philosophy does not produce quality, reliability and repeatability, it generates world class skill and the basis of a talent hot bed. Read this article to understand the process of world class skill generation and give standardisation a meaning. I […]

Interview: Tom Berquist, CEO, Saba

Tom Berquist is the new CEO of HR technology company Saba Software and member of the Saba Board of Directors. He has been involved in enterprise software for many years, including nine in executive leadership roles at Corel (CEO) and Ingres (CFO). Before that, he spent a decade at investment banks Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Piper […]

Passionate employees deliver superior CX

Why do passionate employees lead to a great customer experience? Because employees who take pleasure from what they do will naturally provide a better experience to the customer.  Engaged employees are loyal and loyalty, if correctly channelled, leads to increased productivity which, in turn, leads to a better customer experience and ultimately improved company performance. […]

Three things talent professionals must know

Pretty much every report I read on talent management and succession points to high levels of dissatisfaction in organisations. CEOs aren’t happy and the people on the receiving end generally feel the same. We can fix this, but there’s no magic wand. As I reflect on the experience I have from organisations such as Tesco, […]

How to integrate outsiders into your team

I’ve just written a book about outsiders. Called The Outside Edge, its focus is on helping outsiders understand themselves, as well as how they can succeed in a world made by insiders.  But what about those insiders (i.e. everybody else), having to work with outsiders: perhaps having to integrate them into a team and encourage them […]

Book review: The Team Formula by Mandy Flint & Elisabet Vinberg Hearn

Title: The Team Formula: A Leadership Tale of a Team Who Found Their WayAuthors: Mandy Flint & Elisabet Vinberg Hearn ISBN: 978-1780923475 This book was reviewed by David Evans of Burn Bridge Associates. This is a ‘leadership tale of a team who found their way’, to quote the sub-title of this very readable book. Following in the footsteps of a […]

There’s no place for egos in a highly effective team

I have always had a keen interest in sport, of any kind really….watching it, playing it…rugby, athletics, tennis and, more recently, golf (under duress) and cycling (only gentle encouragement needed).  So when the Tour de France descended on the beautiful Yorkshire countryside recently, I felt compelled to go and observe the technicolor shirts of the […]

Is loneliness the next workplace ticking time bomb?

Four in 10 report having no close friends at work at all, according to a new survey of 5000 people by relationship charity Relate. Most workers also have much more contact with their boss and colleagues than with their own friends or close family. The study found a link between low self-esteem and poor work-life […]

Leadership – too much, too soon?

As we get into the swing of 2014, it’s a different business landscape than that of the start of 2013. The news agenda is a lot more upbeat, with positive statistics around economic growth, decreasing rates of unemployment, and UK businesses successfully leading the way with entering into new markets. Recruiting leaders – tough nut […]

How can I support my partner when they’re stressed with work?

Work stress can affect our personal lives and our relationships, particularly if both partners are under significant stress. But learning to support each other in productive ways can strengthen the relationship, reduce stress and improve mood. Research suggests that couples who actively manage stress together improve their relationship durability over time. Listen and support: Questioning, […]

Five steps to building a robust sales team

The approach of a new year and the continuing recovery of a still-turbulent economy are prompting a rush of objectives amongst businesses. Whether aiming to increase sales, drive profitability, break into new territories or increase market share, managers throughout the world continue to face a key challenge: how to build and maintain an effective sales […]