Wellness and personal performance made easy: Part 2
We continue our journey towards great personal energy, efficiency, productivity and enjoyment of both our personal and professional lives, by examining more simple lifestyle changes that are tried and tested and proven to result in people feeling great and performing to the best of their abilities. Prepare yourself for a good night’s sleep every evening […]
Wellness and personal performance made easy: Part 1
During the last 15 years of delivering wellness solutions to businesses, two things have become very clear. The improvements that people would like to make to their wellbeing are usually very simple; the most popular including the desire to get fitter, increase energy levels, lose weight, sleep better and experience an improved sense of balance […]
Flexible working changes – a smorgasbord of opinions on right to request
From today, 20 million people (according to BIS) now have the right to request flexible working from their employer. BIS have said that over half of businesses who allow flexible working see improved relationships, 40% report productivity boost and 38% see drop in staff absence. The salient points: The change affects those who have over […]
Leading the way: Tackling stress from the top
It is the norm for physical health issues to be discussed openly in most organisations, but mental health remains very much a taboo topic. We’ve witnessed people from all parts of society speak up about mental health, except in the business world. So it’s up to business leaders to ensure that it can be talked […]
Men’s Health Week: better sleep is four simple steps away
It’s Men's Health Week, and while sleep issues can affect anyone, there are a few specific ways in which men manage themselves and their approach to professional life that are clear triggers to poor quality or quantity of sleep. So what are the details when it comes to men and sleep? One issue is that […]
Men’s Health Week 2014 – Is there a role for business to tackle men’s mental health?
This is men’s health week. Many people question why there is a need to focus specifically on men’s health….surely health is important to everyone? It’s because men are known to monitor their health much less than women and they’re also less inclined to seek help when they need it, usually in the hope the problem […]
Employee wellbeing: supporting personal issues at work
Tackling tough work issues is one thing, but what about when the problems are wrapped up in situations at home, in relationships, debt, or bereavement? When complicated personal issues are involved, managers can sometimes prefer to keep their distance and hope the issue goes away. At the Royal College of Nursing, we have 850 staff who […]
Why do women take more sick leave than men – and what can we do about it?
This article is part of our in-depth content series on women in the workplace – take a look at the full list of articles today and increase your knowledge of a range of issues relating to women in the workplace, including sickness absence, impostor syndrome and mental health. Last year, a study by Octopus HR found that women take […]
How can I cope better with setbacks?
Jan Hills is one of our regular contributors – this article was adapted from the content in her new book, Brain-Savvy HR, available to buy in hard copy and for Kindle on Amazon. You and a colleague have been working on a new project proposal which gets rejected by the board. You're gutted, and finding […]
Personality profiling – a pigeon hole in disguise
There are few activities in the learning and development world that have a more consistent and broad appeal than personality profiling questionnaires or psychometric tools. The profiles of which reveal how we engage, communicate and manage. The results come in different forms. Belbin Team Role, for example, uses labels such as Shaper or Team Worker, […]
The HR of today v the HR of tomorrow
This article is based on submissions to a new academic journal, the Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, by Paul Sparrow and Cary L. Cooper. The journal is published by Emerald Group Publishing and provides insight into best practice and how HR can add value in a sustainable way. The journal covers a range of […]
Corporate psychopaths and mental health
This article was written by Clive Boddy and Derek Miles. Clive and Derek are, respectively, Professors in Leadership and Human Resource Development at Middlesex University Business School. You can email them at c.boddy@mdx.ac.uk or d.miles@mdx.ac.uk. In relation to a previous article in HR Zone on how corporate psychopaths influenced the workplace, one commentator on the […]
How to make Happy Hour from 9-5
What is the ultimate role of HR? Is it all about benefits, processes, perks, hiring and firing? I say NO – the ultimate role of HR is to create a happy workplace. And while this may seem like a Pollyanna daydream, it makes a ton of business sense. Happy employees are not simply in a […]
Stress is helpful – but if you think it’s not, it’ll mess with your head
Stress seems to be something we are all subject too. In a recent survey by ThoughtLeaders 83% of people said that they had experienced stress that affected their performance at work. We mostly talk about the negative impacts and whilst they are many there is some interesting research that may have us thinking differently about […]
Which jobs make you happy?
The BBC has a story covering Cabinet Office research on the jobs most likely to make you happy and the jobs most likely to leave you miserable. The research is part of a wider move towards including notions of wellbeing and happiness on the public policy agenda. Top five jobs Clergy Chief executive/senior official Agriculture […]
UN International Day of Happiness – what does it mean to be happy at work?
Did you know there’s a dedicated word in the Scandinavian languages for the concept of being happy at work? In Danish, the word is: arbejdsglaede. Wonder what this says about the working culture of the Danes that they have such a word and we don’t? Today is the United Nations International Day of Happiness, an […]
Mental illness at work – a manager’s guide
Mental health literacy is the extent to which lay people are able to recognise mental illnesses in people that they meet in daily life. Whilst we know that people are pretty good at spotting stress or even depression they are much less able to recognize schizophrenia or identify a personality disorder in a colleague. Improving […]
Eight strategies to improve quality and balance in life
Regularly we read news stories about how many hours staff work beyond those they are contracted for. It’s claimed that one in five employees in the UK regularly worked unpaid overtime last year, worth over £33bn pounds to the economy. There’s even a day dedicated to working your proper hours, which this year was February […]
Wellbeing at work – new report looks at how far we’ve come and where we’re going
What are leading companies doing on employee well-being and health at work? What have been the key developments in the last year on important topics such as employee engagement and mental health? These questions are answered in the latest report from Good Day at Work, who each year compile in-depth analysis and insight from some […]
Global business growth jeopardised by lack of adaptability
The results of Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2014 were just released. The main finding is a significant gap between the talent and leadership challenges that organisations face and their readiness and ability to respond. A majority (86%) of the 2500 business and HR leaders surveyed recognised the need to take action on critical issues […]