Standing up for the workplace wellbeing profession

The role of health and wellbeing professionals is not to be a positive and shining beacon of light for the company. Their aim is to improve the health of both the business and its people by ensuring employees feel supported, respected and included.  Telling people you work in health and wellbeing is like saying you studied leisure and […]

Is a four-day working week really possible?

Advances in technology, stagnant productivity levels and a greater focus on employee wellbeing has opened up the debate on what a typical working week could look like in the future. The working world is rapidly evolving, not only as a result of the introduction of revolutionary technologies, but also due to changing employee viewpoints, attitudes, and expectations. People’s […]

Working parents are an absolute must for companies

Becoming a parent equips you with a huge range of transferable skills for the modern workplace, including networking, communication and time management. A new dad goes for an interview at a consultancy firm and hears: “There are two types of people, those who want to be home for bedtime, and those who don’t, and this job […]

Why flexible working beats the 9-5

The workplace has changed dramatically, in part because advances in technology have enabled remote and flexible working, but not all employers can see the benefits. Work to live, or live to work – whichever way round you see it, employees still have lives to lead alongside their jobs. Ultimately, and sadly for Dolly Parton, working 9-5 […]

How to make flexible working work

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. In the UK, various government policies officially aimed at supporting […]

Global mobility: it’s time to stop neglecting your approach to extended business travel assignments

In the first of this two part article series, Professor Dickmann looked at the issues around ensuring the success of the short-term assignment (STA) in global mobility. In this second part, he looks at the much neglected topic of extended business travel assignments/assignees (EBT). Frequent business flying and extended business travel (EBT) – usually for […]

Stress in the workplace: four ways HR can help alleviate this prevalent employee burden

Stress in the workplace can reduce productivity and negatively affect staff health. But with the right support system in place it can be managed to create a better working environment for everyone. According to a survey by online work management platform Wrike, 94% of workers experience stress, with almost a third describing their stress levels […]

Four reasons why you should consider the needs of your employees with family and caring commitments

With an increasing number of people juggling work and caring responsibilities, employers should pay more attention to the detrimental impact this can have on both individuals and businesses. To help more employers understand the challenges faced by their employees with family and caring commitments, how this can impact their business, and what they can do to better support […]

The four-day work week: tips for a smooth transition

Earlier this month, the TUC called for a four-day working week. But can businesses realistically make this transition? Jade Beddington, Senior Account Director at Radioactive PR, tells the story of how the agency she works for has reduced its working days without cutting pay – something that was put into play just before the TUC […]

Work/life balance: why checking emails on holiday is bad for business

Our latest research revealed that 65% of respondents admitted to checking work emails while on holiday, with various degrees of frequency, and 75% said they have taken or made a work call while on leave. The higher up the organisation you are the more likely you are to be ‘checking-in’, with only 19% of senior […]

A lesson from Winnie the Pooh on ‘doing nothing’

What can we learn from Winnie the Pooh in the new Christopher Robin film? That doing nothing from time to time should not be sniffed at. Last week, I went to the cinema to see the Christopher Robin film with my mum (we are both big fans of Winnie the Pooh). I was anticipating a […]

Book review – Too Fast to Think: How to Reclaim your Creativity in a Hyper-connected Culture

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, […]

Maternity discrimination: why do we continue to stereotype returning mothers?

While progress is being made to combat maternity discrimination, the problem of returning mothers being stereotyped and misrepresented remains – and this needs to stop if employers want to hang onto these valuable employees.  Despite pregnancy and maternity being a protected characteristic under The Equality Act 2010, three in four mothers (77%) said they had […]

Work/life balance: ditch the clichés

In an always-on world, can we really ever completely separate our work life from our personal life? Rather than striving for the impossible, is it better instead to take a more holistic approach to achieving better health and productivity in all aspects of our lives? Although many of us strive to achieve it, improve it, […]

Financial wellness: what will drive demand in 2018?

In 2017, the financial wellness market exploded as more employers grasped the extent of the UK’s problem and how it impacts both the productivity and health of their people. A quarter of respondents (27.5%) to our latest research (The Financial Wellness Playbook 2018) reported that levels of financial stress in their organisation were greater than […]

It’s National Sickie Day. Let’s analyse this dangerous abstraction…

I’ve been indundated with ‘news’ around National Sickie Day today – the day of the year when absences due to sickness are highest. Many factors explain the high absence rate, including job interviews for those spurred by the new year into jumping ship, an increase in flu and colds due to the cold weather and general […]

Seven employee benefits that help build resilience

There’s an interesting relationship between stress and productivity. A little stress at work can actually do us good – helping us focus and prepare the body for action. But it can also lead to mistakes, cause difficulty when making decisions and impact our ability to concentrate. There are also physical side effects of stress – […]

6 ways to support the health and wellbeing of shift workers

For someone standing on the outside, it’s hard to fathom how such a rewarding and compassionate profession can be equally frustrating, demoralising and, to put it frankly, bad for one’s physical and mental health. Working in the NHS as a young, single woman, I would often work overtime, miss tea breaks due to unplanned emergency […]

What to do when you want to prepare for retirement

When I wrote The Good Retirement Guide 2018 I had one overriding objective: to help people achieve a better retirement. Over the years I have drawn on my experience in financial services regulation, on giving business and taxation advice and, significantly, helping people prepare for retirement. Below are some practical hints and tips from my […]

Blood cancer: what you should know if an employee is diagnosed

Managers and HR professionals can play a key role in supporting someone who is living with, or recovering from, blood cancer – so it’s important to know where your responsibilities lie. This article was co-written by Rose Sunter, Partner specialising in employment law at Sharpe Pritchard LLP and Emily Peters, Patient Information Officer at blood cancer research […]